UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

A MANUAL

GEEEK ANTIQUITIES

3 6 8 9

STANDARD WORKS.
HISTORIES OF LITERATURE .

A HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE. From the Earliest Period

to the Death of Demosthenes. By F. B. Jevoxs, M.A., Litt.D. Second Edition.

Cloth, Ss. 6d.

" Beyond all question the best history of Greek literature published." — Spectator.

" Mr, Jevons' work is distinguished by the Author's thokough acquaintance with

THE OLD WRITERS. . . . His great merit lies in his excellent exposition of the

political and social causes concerned in the development of the Literature of

Greece." — Berlin Philologische Wochenschrijt.

A HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE. From the Earliest Period
to the Times of the Antonines. By the Rev. C. T. Cruttwell, M.A., formerly
Fellow of Merton CoUege, Oxford. Fifth Edition. Cloth, 8s. 6d.

" Mr. Cruttwell has done a real service to all students of tlie Latin language
and literature. . . . Full of good scholarship and good criticism.."— Athenceum.

"A most serviceable — indeed, indispensable — guide for the student. . . . The
general reader' will be both charmed and instructed." — Saturday Revieic.

A LITERARY HISTORY OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By the

Rev. C. T. Cruttwell, M.A., formerly Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. lu
Two Vols., Demy Svo, Handsome Cloth, 21s.
"Mr. Cruttwell has accomplished his task with remaukable success. His History
is eminently readable." — Athtnmim.

AMTIQUITIES, COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, AMD PHILOSOPHY.

ROMAN antiquities (A MANUAL OF). By William Rajisat,

M.A., late Professor of Humanity in the University of Glasgow. Revised and
Edited by Rodolfo Lanciani, D'C.L. Oxon., LL.d'., &:c., Professor of Classical
Topography in tlie University of Rome. Fifteenth Edition. lOs. 6d.

"The chief interest in the New Edition centi-es in the chapter on Roman Topo-
graphy, which has been entirely re-written by Prof. Lanciani, the greatest living
authority on this subject. ... It is the best and handiest guide yet produced." —
Athenceum.

PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF THE ARYAN PEOPLES : A

Manual of Comparative Philology and the Earliest Culture. By Dr. O.
SCHRADER, of Jcua. Translated from the Second German Edition by F. B.
Jevons, M.A., Litt.D. In Large Svo, Handsome Cloth, 21s.

"Dr. Schrader's great Work." — The Times.

" It would be hard to find any book more to be recommended to the early student
in Piiilology and Prehistoric Archaeology." — Classical Review.

THE VOCABULARY OF PHILOSOPHY; op, Student's Book

of Reference. On the basis of Prof. Fleming's Vocabulary. Re-constructed and
partly Re- written by Henry Caldekwood, LL.D., Professor of Moral Philosophy
in the University of Edinburgh. Fifth Edition. 10s. 6d.

London : CHARLES GRIFFIX & CO., Ltd., Exeter St., Strand.

A MANUAL

GREEK ANTIQUITIES.

BOOKS I.~Y. BY

PERCY GARDNER , M.A., Litt.D.

LINCOLN AND MERTON PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL ARCHEOLOGY
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

BOOKS VI.— IX. BY

FRANK BYRON JEVONS, M.A., Litt.D.

PRINCIPAL OF BISHOP HATFIELD'S HALL; IN THE
UNIVERSITY OP DURHAM.

SECOND EDITION.

OTitf) Elluc^tratians.

LONDON:
CHARLES GRIFFIN AND COMPANY, Limited

EXETER STREET, STRAND.

1898.
[All rights reserved.']

3U57^^

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &= Co.
At the Ballantyiie Press, Edinburgh

■-^ a C JL

,4^ i\ri

Library

DF77

Gr |7m

PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The second edition is a reprint of the first; but a consider-
able number of corrections have been inserted in the text,
and a few addenda are printed at the end.

The authors owe most of these improvements to the
suggestions of critics in English and Continental Reviews,
all of which they have carefully considered.

March, 1898.

I'KEFACE

The present work is an attempt to compress into a single

C) volume, for the use of students, an introduction to all the

main branches of Hellenic antiquities — social, religious, and

-- political. Hitherto, in England, such information as is here

! supplied has appeared only in the form of dictionaries. For

rj many purposes the aljAabetic arrangement under subjects

y is best, but a more logical and systematic arrangement has

also its advantages. In Germany several monumental works

J have appeared in which Greek antiquities have been syste-

;. matically treated, such as the Handbooks of Karl Fr. Her-

N mann and Iwan von Miiller. Writing on a far smaller scale,

Ci we make no attempt to rival these great works in fulness

or detail; but we do endeavour to present to the English

reader the elements of the subject in a more readable

form.

The share in the work taken by each of the two contri-
butors is stated on the title-page. Each writer is wholly
responsible for the part which he has contributed. In dealing
with a subject of such vast extent, it is clear that no two
scholars could in all cases write from complete or first-hand

VI 11 PREFSCTT

knowledge This is a defect inseparable from the plan of
the work.

Illustrations are sometimes introduced, especially in Books
III. and lY., but limits of space required the reduction of
their number to a minimum. A complete and ordered series
of illustrations for all branches of Greek Antiquities will
be found in Schreiber's Atlas of Classical Antiquities, edited
in English by Mr. W. C. F. Anderson, which may advan-
tageously be used as a companion to the present volume.

August 1895.

CONTENTS

BOOK I
THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

CHAP.

I. THE LAND AND PEOPLE
II. THE CITIES : ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN

III. THE HOMERIC HOUSE ....

IV. PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES
V. THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN

PAGE
I

BOOK II

RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

I. NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION

II. BORROWED ELEMENTS IN RELIGION

IIL CLASSIFICATION OF MYTHS .

IV, FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON .

V. THE HOMERIC AND HESIODIC PAN THEON

VI. THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES .

68
82
88

94
loS

121

BOOK III

CULTUS

I. SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES

II. TEMPLE-PROPERTY ....

in. ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES

lY. ORGIASTIC CULTS

163
186
196
212

CONTENTS

CHAP.

V. TEMPLE-RITUAL .
VL SACRIFICE .
VIL DIVINATION AND ORACLES
VIIL THE PUBLIC GAMES .
IX. THE MYSTERIES .
X. THE ATTIC CALENDAR

PAOB

222

251
269
274
286

BOOK IV
THE COURSE OF LIFE

I. CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION
IL PHYSICAL TRAINING ....
IIL DAILY LIFE OF MEN ....

IV. TRAVELLING

V. POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN
VL TREATMENT OF DISEASE
VIL BURIAL AND TOMBS ....

297

3'3
3^5
336
340

355
360

BOOK V
COMMERCE

L AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE .

IL MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS

III. COMMERCE AND TRADE-ROUTES .

IV. THE MONEY-MARKET AND COINS

370

377
386

394

BOOK VI
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

I. THE HOMERIC STATE ....... 404

IL THE HISTORY OF THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION . 414

IIL THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 423

IV. CRETE ..... . 432

CONTENTS

CHAP.
V. THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS

VI. ATHENS : METICS, CITIZENS, DEMES, TRIBES

VII. ATHENS : THE MAGISTRATES IN GENERAL

VIII. ATHENS : THE MAGISTRATES .

IX. ATHENS : THE BOUL^ AND THE AREOPAGUS

X. ATHENS : THE ECCLESIA ....

XL ATHENS : FINANCE

XIL THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS

XIIL ATTIC LAW : LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LIFE

XIV. ATTIC LAW : LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE

PERSON .

XV. ATTIC LAW

XVI. ATTIC LAW

XVII. ATTIC LAW

XVIII. ATTIC LAW

THE LAW OF PROPERTY
THE LAW OF INHERITANCE .
MARRIAGE LAWS .
OFFENCES AGAINST THE STATE
XIX. THE LAWS OF GORTYNA ....
XX. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ATHENS .
XXL LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS
XXII. GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER

PACK

440

454
463
468

484
492
504

514
526

534
537
542
553
558
560

574
581

597

BOOK VII

SLA VERY

L THE SOURCES OF THE SLAVE SUPPLY . . . 6tI

II. THE EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES . 617

IIL EMANCIPATION AND PRICE OF SLAVES . . 622

IV. THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY 625

BOOK VIII
WAR

I. ARMOUR AND DRILL

II. ARMY Organisation

630

635

CONTENTS

CHAP.

III. THE ARMY IN THE FIELD

IV. SIEGE WARFARE AND FORTIFICATIONS
V. THE TRIREME ....

VI. NAVAL WARFARE . . . ,

BOOK IX
THE THEATRE

I. THE ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA . . . .

n. THE BUILDINGS

III. SCENERY

IV. THE ACTORS AND THEIR COSTUMES

V. THE PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A PLAY

662
671
685
695
704

Appendix A. — List of Works on Greek Anti-
quities 713

„ B. — Addenda 718

General Index 721

Index of Greek Words . . . . . . y^^

MANUAL OF GREEK ANTIQUITIES

BOOK I

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE
CHAPTER I

THE LAND AND PEOPLE

It is universally allowed that the position and physical features
of a country have great influence on the life and manners of its
inhabitants, and nowhere may we more clearly trace such
influence than in the case of Greece. Although Greece is not
so large as Portugal, yet the extent of its coast is greater than
that of the whole coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Everywhere
deep bays and long arms of the sea stretch inland, so that
scarcely any race of Greeks was out of sound, and none out
of sight, of the sea. Cicero with truth writes,^ "ipsa Pelo-
ponnesus fere tota in mari est." Only the people of Arcadia,
of Doris, and a few other parts were without a port. And as
the sea ran into the land, so the land ran into the sea in long
promontories continued far out by chains of islands. The
voyage from Greece to Asia, to Italy, to Sicily, and to Crete
may be made without ever venturing more than a few leagues
from land. If overtaken by a storm anywhere in his own seas,
the Greek could in a very short time reach either a protected
harbour or an island to leeward of which he could lie in quiet
and safety.

In the infancy of navigation the efifect of the chains of
islands which lured the mariner from the mainland from one

^ De Jiepvbl. ii. 4.

2 THE SUEROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

to another, and offered him constant shelter and protection,
in producing a roving and mercantile spirit, must have been
very great. Starting from Argos, for instance, a ship could
sail northwards to Thessaly, or crossing the isthmus, by the
Gulf of Corinth, to Leucas and Epirus, without once reaching
the open sea; and could pass eastwards amid a cluster of
islands as far as Rhodes. If the west coast of Scotland were
bright and fertile, the sea there warm and calm, and America
only fifty miles beyond the Hebrides, then Scotland might
resemble Greece, and it is easy to imagine how wealthy and
powerful it would have become in the Middle Ages. In Greece
the winter lasts but four months, and for all the rest of the
year in the morning a breeze blows down the ^gean from the
north, falling towards sunset and being replaced in the night
by a light wind from the south. ^ Therefore the sailor can rely
on the winds to favour his course, and can calculate his times
with nicety.

The configuration of the Peloponnesus was compared in
ancient times to that of a plane leaf, and in the Middle Ages
to that of a mulberry leaf, and the comparison is apt. If a
mulberry, a vine, or sycamore leaf be taken and laid on its face,
the back will present a set of ridges starting from the stalk and
ending at the points of the leaf, with valleys between the ridges.
The highlands of northern Arcadia represent the stalk, and from
them run five ridges, one westwards through Achaia, one east-
wards through Argolis, and three southwards towards the three
great southern promontories of Greece. Arcadia itself is partly
a medley of rocks and hills strewn in Alpine profusion, and
partly a lofty tableland surrounded by higher hills, and having
a comparatively rigorous climate. Between the offspringing
ranges of hills are river-valleys, fertile, rich, and warm, dotted
in ancient times with wealthy towns, and now at last beginning
to recover some of their ancient prosperity.

The same formation is repeated in northern Greece. The
great ranges of the Cambunian Mountains and of lUyria in the
north shut off Greece from the lands of the barbarians, and
Pindus and its offshoots run south to the extremities of Attica
and of Euboea, breaking off the land into smaU districts, each
with its own valley, and each with its own lake or river. Thus
it results that the whole of Greece proper may be divided into
three sets of districts, each with different physical characters,
and appropriate each to a different kind of life.

^ Curtius, H'mtory of Greece, cliap. i.

THE LAND AND PEOPLE 3

The first set of districts comprises the plains about the
mouths of streams. The largest rivers of Greece, leaving aside
the Epirote Achelous, such as the Alpheus and Eurotas, are
but small streams ; some of the most celebrated, as the Inachus
and Ilissus, are but mountain torrents. The upper courses of
these streams are straitened by the hills, but as they approach
the sea their bed widens out, and they pass througli a triangle
of alluvial soil. In such deltas are built almost all the oldest
great and wealthy Greek cities, Athens, Argos, Sicyon, jMessene,
and the rest. Landwards these cities only have communica-
tions by mountain-passes or along a narrow belt of shore; but
their face is towards the sea, and their natural outlet in that
direction.

The second class of districts consists of the mountain regions.
Among these the most important are Epirus, ^tolia, Doris,
Locri, and the greater part of Arcadia. The nature of the
Greek highlands is determined by the character of the rocks
of which they are composed. This is almost everywhere cal-
careous stone ; and the consequence is the existence of a
multitude of sharp or rounded peaks, of caves and of fissures,
KaTd/3o6pa, mostly natural, though in some cases made by man,
through which rivers often flow for a considerable distance
without reaching the surface. In ancient times the mountains
of Greece were covered with forest, and inhabited by a numerous
and hardy race of herdsmen and hunters. The mountain
valleys were highly cultivated, producing abundance of corn,
and up the sides of many of the hills may still be traced the
artificial terraces formed for the culture of the vine.

The third class of districts comprises the elevated inland
})lains or tablelands surrounded by mountains. This is an
ordinary formation in Greece. The largest tableland is that of
Thessaly, the whole surface of which is drained by the branches
of a single river, the Peneius, which cuts through the mountain
barrier at the vale of Tempo, and so reaches the sea. The
greater part of Boeotia is likewise a plain encircled by moun-
tains, as is the district of Mantinea and Tegea in Arcadia.
These districts belong neither to the mountain nor the sea ;
they are mostly rich and fertile ; but their climate is bleaker
and severer than that of the plains near the sea. " In March,"
writes Ernst Curtius, "one finds Tripolitza (Tegea) in deep
winter, in Laconia and Argos the spring is progressing, wliile
at Calamata (Messenia) a summer sun already glows." ^ But

* Peloponnesos, i. 52.

4 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

of course by winter is not to be understood a winter of snow
and ice.

Greece lies in a region particularly subject to the influence of
earthquakes and volcanic action. At present there are no
active volcanoes in the country ; but in the second century B.C.
there was a terrible submarine eruption close to the island Thera,
when flames rose through the sea, and a new island was thrown
up between Thera and Therasia. In the days of Pliny these
islands were still liable to eruptions. Earthquakes have been
frequent in certain regions from the earliest times. Sparta
was visited thus more than once in the course of her history.
In B.C. 464 the houses of the town were shattered, many
Lacedaemonians lost their lives, and Taygetus itself lost one of
its peaks. Achaia and the Corinthian Gulf are especially in
the track of these subterranean convulsions : the Achaian cities
of Helice and Bura were destroyed in historic times, B.C. 372.
Athens, on the contrary, is comparatively exempt, whence
it results that so much of the Parthenon is still standing,
while most of the temples in other parts of Greece have
been completely shattered by earthquakes. Earthquakes also
have had much to do with the deep fissures of the mountains,
their caves and rugged edges, and have produced in many
cases deep and narrow, or even subterranean courses for the
streams.

The climate of Greece was praised by the ancients for its
avoidance of the extremes both of heat and cold. This is its
character as compared with the plains of Asia Minor or the
highlands of Syria, which suffer from both extremes, rather
than as compared with Western Europe. Attica is especially
free from cold and wet, and the heat in the middle of summer
is tempered by a charming sea-breeze. Still the present average
of annual temperature (63.5 degrees) is rather high, according
to our notions. About the middle of January snow falls, but
does not lie long. It is succeeded by rains, and usually by
the beginning of March spring is in full progress. The corn
is cut in IMay, after which a few months of heat and drought
occur. Such is now the climate of Attica. Some of tlie sea-
board plains of the south, such as that of Messenia, are still
warmer, and the air being less bright and clear than in Attica,
the heat there is more oppressive. On the other hand the
hilly districts and tablelands of the interior experience a very
severe winter at times. In Arcadia and Boeotia the snow
sometimes lies for weeks, and most of the hills of Epirus are
capped with snow from November to March. The summer

THE LAND AND PEOI'LE 5

heat in these inland districts is also great, and not tempered
by proximity to the sea. The wind from the north-east, Bopea?,
is the coldest ; the north-west wind, Ze^v/^os, soft and dry ; the
south-west, NoTo?, moist. The scirocco, which blows from the
south-east, is noted for causing lassitude and depression of
spirits.

Greece is still an extremely picturesque and beautiful country.
For those who specially admire bold outline of hill and rock,
and distant views of mountain, sea, and island seen through
an atmosphere of brilliant purity and sometimes tinged with
splendid colours at sunrise and sunset, no country could be
more admirable. The prospects are wide and varied. From
the Kock of Corinth, Parnassus and Athens seem quite near
to the spectator. From the moderate height of Pentelicus,
near Athens, one can watch the shadows on the hills of Euboea,
At sea landmarks at a distance of twenty miles are perfectly
clear. But in the softer and more pleasing features of land-
scape Greece is deficient. The lakes and rivers are insignificant,
the culture of the valleys, except near Patrae, poor. Above all
there is a terrible want of trees on the hills. There is little
doubt that in the early times of Greek history the country
was well wooded ; and as a result the rainfall was much greater
than at present, the rivers fuller, the land more fertile, and
the climate cooler and more temperate. At the same time the
swamps, now a constant source of malaria and fever, were kept
drained by the industry of the inhabitants. The wasting aAvay
of the forests began very early. Even Plato ^ laments the
decline of vegetation, and compares the bare hills of Greece to
the limbs wasted by disease of a once robust body. Within
historical times in ancient Greece the size and energy of the
rivers greatly decreased, and plains which had once been fertile,
like that of Mycenae, became dry and barren. Therefore we
must not forget, in judging ancient Greece by modern, that the
former was cooler, more rainy, and more fertile, with a richer
vegetation, and waving forests where now there is only bare
stone and rock.

During the historical age only a moderate proportion of the
Hellenes dwelt in Hellas. They were spread over all the
shores of the Mediterranean and Euxine, and experienced all
climates from the burning heat of Gyrene to the fogs and frosts
of the Crimea. Throughout lower Italy, Sicily, and Asia
Minor all the harbours and the strips of land by the sea-shore

^ Critias 1 1 1 B.

6 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

were in their hands. ^ Yet we are justified in confining our
remarks on the physical surroundings of the Greeks to Hellas.
When the Hellenes went out to found colonies they were
already a nation with formed manners and customs, and dis-
position which might indeed be modified by new surroundings
but could not be radically altered. The facile Greek could
easily adapt himself to his neighbours, and become, while still
retaining his cherished native tongue, half-Gaulish at Massilia,
half- African in Gyrene, half- Scythian in Russia. But it was
European Hellas, with the islands, and the kindred coast of
Asia Minor alone which formed the Greek race and impressed
upon it the characters which it was to bear for all time. In
no Greek colony did a moral or intellectual life arise capable
of eclipsing or rivalling that of the mother country. In popula-
tion and wealth Tarentum and Antioch might surpass Argos
and Athens, but could not rival them in art and literature.

In fact in both the physical and the moral characteristics of
the Greeks may be seen the influence of their native country.
Their bodily frames acciuired vigour from toiling up the moun-
tains and labouring at the oar, while the genial winds and
fostering sun gave grace and symmetry to their limbs. Their
strength and activity were nurtured by daily gymnastic exer-
cise, and a glow of health maintained by constant bathing
and an open-air life. Of their physique it is fair to judge
from their art, for although this no doubt loves the ideal, yet
the sculptors must have found their prototypes in real life.
All Greeks were not so happily framed, but some must have
been ; and it is hard to imagine that so splendid an ideal of
manly and womanly beauty could have arisen in any other
country. To this day travellers often remark on the extreme
beauty in face and shape of young Greek peasants in certain
districts. The peoples of the south do not eat and drink like
those of the north, and lack their restless energy and hardy
perseverance ; but under favourable circumstances they are
more supple, as muscular, and as active. If we may trust
most the later and more realistic sculptors, the ancient Greeks
were not so much distinguished for force, though by no means
wanting in that, as for beauty of outline and a noble propor-
tion throughout. We know less of the forms of Greek women,
because the statues which have come down to us preserve
comparatively few types ; and realistic statues of beautiful

^ Cicero, Repuhl. ii. 4, "All the lands of the barbarians are surrounded
by a sort of Greek fringe."

THE LAND AND PEOPLE J

women were for obvious reasons rcire. A soft and sensuous
beauty specially distinguished the ladies of Ionia, and the
sinewy Lacouian girls must have furnished apt models for the
statues of Artemis the huntress.

The moral character of the race also owed much to mountains
and to sea. The mountains, by dividing town from town and
shutting off tribe from tribe, encouraged in them a strong love
of independence, and a spirit to preserve it. It is ever the
people of the hills who maintain tlieir autonomy in the face of
an invader to whom the plains submit. The presence of the
sea stimulated their faculties and roused their curiosity. Every
day brought strangers and new kinds of merchandise to their
shores, to furnish fresh stimulus and to prevent them from
rusting in sloth. Their land was not rich enough to save them
from the necessity of daily toil and exertion, yet it answered
readily to their efforts. Their climate was gentle and genial
enough to encourage a somewhat sensuous and pleasure-loving
disposition, such a disposition as art and poetry love best, and
yet not soft enough to produce enervation and luxury. In
disposition, in temper, and stability, the Greek races differed
much one from the other. But as a whole the people of Hellas
surpassed all nations, ancient and modern, in one quality. This
is the love and perception of a mean or measure in all things.
In physical growth, intellectual pursuits, and moral conduct
they seemed to move by a certain rhythm. The sense of mea-
sure marks their philosophy, their poetry, and their art, and
there can be no doubt that tlie more of measure that we dis-
cover in their religion, their thought, and their private life, the
nearer we shall be to understanding them.

To the above-mentioned threefold division of the physical
surface of Greece correspond the classes of its inhabitants. We
might divide these by races into Dorian, Ionian, and ^Eolian.
But far deeper than the distinctions of race lie those produced
by life and employment. When the Dorians settled at a
maritime city like Sicyon or ^gina, they soon came to re-
semble the lonians in manners and external character, only
preserving some remains of their gravity and staidncss of
demeanour. The term /Eolians, too, includes races differing
one from the other so much as the Boeotians and the ^tolians.
We shall therefore prefer the division which was recognised in
Attica in Solon's time, and divide Greeks into three classes, as
inhabitants of the mountains, the shore, and the plains. To
the end the peoples of the mountains remained comparatively
rude and therefore simple, retaining the virtues and the vices

8 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

of semi-barbarians. In the later times of Greece they became
mercenaries in troops, like the Swiss in the Middle Ages. In
earlier times they composed the armies which marched under
the headship of Sparta. Sparta, though situated in a river-
valley, was yet the head of the hill-tribes. Its manners and
customs all bespeak an origin among rude herdsmen and
hunters. The conservatism of Sparta corresponds to the stag-
nation of the clans living in remote mountain glens, on whom
the course of Greek development had no effect, who knew
nothing of arts, or letters, or commerce. In Arcadia the
primitive, even the pre-Hellenic religions of Greece found a
dwelling-place. It was the land of nymphs and river-gods, of
Pan and his rout, of the herdsman's god Hermes. Supersti-
tions of all kinds sheltered themselves among its hills. The
people of ^tolia never, until the Koman conquest, gave up
their predatory and piratical habits. Like the Highland clans
of Scotland some centuries ago, they lived by the plunder
which they amassed in incursions into neighbouring lands. All
the cities near had to pay them tribute. The Epirotes, who
may fairly be considered as Greeks by blood, long maintained
a rugged independence under native chiefs, who were little
more than leaders in war.

It was in the cities of the shore and the islands that all that
we think of as specially Hellenic in art, philosophy, and literature
developed. Yet Greece could not have spared her rude moun-
taineers. As the mountains formed a backbone to the land, so
the mountaineers formed a backbone to the race. But for the
Arcadian and the Dorian, the fate of Miletus would have over-
taken Athens. As in modern England so in Greece there was
a constant overflow from the country to the cities ; and when a
new colony was planned or an expedition undertaken, many of
the recruits came from the hills. The Greek of the shore and
the sea was more quick-witted and active than the mountaineer,
with far more understanding, taste, and refinement, but with a
certain tendency towards idleness and gossiping, and towai'ds
overreaching. In modern Greece these vices are very widely
spread ; but one may still get beyond them after a day's march
into the hills of the interior.

In the plains and tablelands there was space for a wider
division between rich and poor than among the mountains or
in trading cities. This was especially the case in Thessaly,
where a chivalrous aristocracy possessed the soil and oppressed
its cultivators. This wealthy class was given to horse-riding
and gymnastics, and possessed the usual virtues of slaveholders,

THE LAND AND PEOI'LE 9

while the poor, the Penestse, acquired the vices of slaves. In
Boeotia the people were noted for their gross feeding and
gluttony, which was a consequence of the richness of their
soil, and reacted upon their brains, which were duller than
those of their neighbours. Other plains of Greece were small ;
but their tendency, as far as it went, was towards producing
social inequalities and aristocratical government. In Attica, in
the time of Solon, the Pediaei were devoted to aristocracy, and
the flatter countries were the strongholds of oligarchical insti-
tutions. Even the rich valleys of Laconia and Messenia were
in later times full of the large properties of a few wealthy pro-
prietors. But the only aristocracies which encouraged literature
and art were those of the great cities.

As the special home of culture, Athens needs a few separate
remarks. Whatever might be the case with the Piraeus, Athens
itself was by no means exclusively a city of the sea. The
Athenian territory comprised all Attica, a district greater than
that of any other city of Hellas, except Sparta. Attica consists
of an agreeable mixture of hills and plains. In the latter, barley,
the olive, and the fig flourished abundantly, though the soil was
somewhat poor and needed careful tilling. Parnes and Pente-
licus aff'orded good pasturage for sheep and goats, and Hymettus
fed innumerable bees. In early Athenian times each wealthy
citizen spent much of his time at his country house : it was not
until the Peloponnesians had made themselves masters of the
country that all Athenians were cooped up in the city and
became a purely urban population. And the Athenians them-
selves were ready to acknowledge their debt to the climate of
their district. The air of Athens is the driest and brightest in
Greece ; and the ancients used to say that the wits of the people
partook of the character of their air, while on the other hand
the fogs and mists of Boeotia ^ tended to induce, no less than
their rustic plenty and habits of gluttony, stupidity in the
Boeotian population. It is not fanciful to connect with this
clearness of air the keenness of sense which the Athenians
enjoyed, and the finish which that keenness of sense caused
them to cultivate in their works of plastic art, temples, and
pictures, and in their music and acting. And the fine taste
which accompanies fine sense they exercised in other fields,
oratory, philosophy, and poetry ; while the keenness of wit
which was native to them made them quick in discovery and
ever ready to imbibe new ideas.

^ So in Pindar, Botunla Cj, 01. vi. 1 53.

lO THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

CHAPTER II

THE CITIES: ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN

Scattered as they were through all lands, from the banks of
the Indus to the coast of Spain, and from the Crimea to the
deserts of Africa, men of Greek race must have experienced all
climates, and chansijed, in accordance with their material sur-
roundings, many of their customs. But wherever they dwelt
out of Hellas proper, one feature specially distinguished them,
that they dwelt in cities; and about the city all their life
grouped itself. Alexander the Great's plan for holding the
East rested entirely on the frequent foundation of Greek cities,
and to this day there is an irresistible tendency among those
of Greek race to flock into towns and leave the life of the
country to duller races.

But of course, though to us the Greeks appear as a race of
citizens, their cities were gradually evolved out of earlier forms.
The city resulted from a combination of villages, Kco/xai, and if
it fell into the hands of its enemies, was broken up into villages
again. The history of Mantineia is in this respect specially
interesting. When the Spartans conquered Mantineia, ^ they
destroyed the wall, and compelled the people to separate into
their original villages; and it was not until the victories of
Epaminondas that the wall of Mantineia was again built to
enclose the inhabitants. So Athens, as Thucydides tells us,^
sprang from an amalgamation of early hamlets, in the time and
under the influence of Theseus.

Greece is a land of hills ; and whenever the traveller in
Greece sees before him a detached hill advancing from the
main range into one of the little plains which open on to the
sea, he is at once almost sure that he is looking on the site of
an early city. On such eminences, at some distance from the
shore for security from pirates, yet not out of reach of it, and
surrounded by a plain, were situate Athens, Argos, Corinth,
Mycenae, and almost all the cities which were early great.

Recent excavations have enabled us clearly to trace in the
case of acropolis hills of early cities, such as Athens, Mycenje,
and Tiryns, three uses in three successive ages.^ In the earliest

1 Hellen. v. 2, 4. 2 jj, i^_

3 See, among other works, Botticher's Akropolis von Athen, Schliemann's
Tiryns, &c.

THE CITIES 1 ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN I I

period which we can discover they were roiiglily walled in and
covered with small cabins, mere village-fastnesses, whither the
dwellers in the plains around could flee in case of invasion or
attack by pirates. Some early graves cut in the rock belong
to this stage. Next we find them surrounded by far more care-
fully made and elaborate walls, and occupied by the splendid
palaces of races of wealthy rulers, of which palaces that un-
earthed at Tiryns may best give us a notion. It was thus that
acropolis-rocks were used by the lines of kings of whom we
hear in legend, and of whom the Homeric poems are full. In
the third period, which belongs to recorded history, the heights
are used no longer for the dwellings of men but for the temples
of the deities of the state, as well as, in the last resort,
fortified posts whence tyrants might control the cities around,
or from the walls of which the citizens might repel the attacks
of the enemy.

With the growth of security and population the cities spread
downwards ; an agora and a town were formed at the foot or
on the lower slopes of the hill, the top of which remained fort-
fied and the seat of ancient religious cults. ^ At the nearest
point of the coast a small harbour-town was formed, a sort of
marine suburb of the mother city. Thus Athens had Pircef^s ;
Corinth, Lechteum and Cenchrese ; Argos, Kauplia; and Megara,
Nissea. At a later time long w^alls ^ were in many cases built
from city to harbour, in order to prevent an enemy from cutting
oft" the one from the other ; but this did not take place until
after the Persian wars. The circumstances under which those
of Athens were built are notorious. Some part of their course
may even yet be traced When in and after the ninth
century B.C. the Greeks began to found colonies, they often
chose sites in foreign lands close to the sea-shore or on the
banks of a great river, as suited the interests of trade ; and
commercial cities so founded always looked back with the
utmost veneration to the rock where stood the oldest shrines
of their mother city.

Of the cities of the times of Homer we have to judge partly
from the terms in which he speaks of them, partly from the
facts revealed in the recent disinterment of INIycenae. The
most frequent phrase of Homer in reference to cities is cvkti-
[X€vov TTToXUOpov, wcU built, on which phrase the admirably

^ See Thuc. ii. 15, for a full account of this process in the case of
Athens.

^ For representations of Greek walls and gates, see Schreiber's BUderallas.
pi. xlviii.-l.

12 THE SUEROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

preserved walls of Tiryns and Mycenae, walls of massive Cyclo-
pean construction, form the best commentary. What is above
said as to the position of early cities is confirmed by Homer's
occasional application to them of the term ^Jve/xoets, windy. The
iise of other Homeric epithets seems less appropriate. When
he calls a city evpvxopos and cvpvdyvta, broad spaced and broad-
streeted, we must allow a considerable margin for poetic and
imaginative fervour, for in ancient as in modern cities the
oldest streets were almost always the most narrow and irregular.
So, too, when Homer calls a city populous, evvaiofMevov,^ we
must understand the phrase in connection with the usual size
of early cities, and suppose that the poet meant to contrast it
with a mere open village. This Homer shows himself, for
when he distinguishes a group of Argive cities, he does so not
by any characteristic belonging to their importance or position in
commerce, but by the circumstances of their position and terri-
tory. Thus Ira is grassy, Trotvjecro-a,^ Antheia deep-meadowed,
fSaOvXeifjios, Pedasus and Pyrasus are flowery, Epidaurus vine-
clad, and so forth. Such language shows how much in its
infancy was the pushing, restless, trading city-life of later
Greece. Nevertheless, in his mention of the agora, he shows
us the germs of that life.

As time went on and commerce increased in the Greek cities,
many of the functions for which the agora had served were
carried on in more convenient and sheltered places. First the
administration of justice was removed. Next went the meetings
of political and deliberative assemblies, though these lingered
longer in democratic than in aristocratic communities. ^ Even
at Athens the Ecclesia was transferred from the agora to the
Pnyx, and later to the Theatre of Dionysus. By degrees the
agora was appropriated to commerce and social union.

Pausanias ^ distinguishes two kinds of agora, the old, and the
Ionian or new. The former was more rambling and scattered,
and the streets went through, not merely to it. The latter was
square or oblong, surrounded by continuous arcades ; often even
completely enclosed by arcades and doors. In the later Greek
foundations the market-place was of immense size. Thus at
Syracuse a large number of troops under Dion encamped in the

^ The word evvaiofj-evov may, however, mean well situate or well built.

2 11. ix. 150.

2 At the same time the word dyopd ceased to be used of the assembled
people as well as the place. Cp., however, yEsch. in Ctes. 27 : dyopdiu
TToirjaaL tup (pvKdv. The verb dyopeveiv bore testimony to the old use.

* vi. 24.

THE. CITIES: ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN I 3

agora,^ and when, in Timoleon's time, the population of the
city had fallen off, cattle could pasture on the grass which grew
there in places. ^ The arcades also gained in stateliness, trees
were planted for the convenience of loungers, and fountains
built, and the whole place rendered attractive.^ In the neigh-
bourhood of the agora of most cities were the great temples,
especially those of local heroes; here statues were erected in
vast quantities, and here the /SovXevr/jpLov and other public
offices were to be found. Through the arcades, a-roat, and at
the feet of the statues, were crowded the stalls of the vendors
of all kinds of commodities, a particular part of the area being
appropriated to the sale of each class of ware. These separate
divisions and districts were named from the articles sold in
each, such name being sometimes singular in form and some-
times plural ; each was full of a-Kr^vat, or booths, divided one
from another with wicker crates, ykppa,^ which seem to have
been permanent or only cleared away in case of necessity. The
most important of all the markets to Athenian tastes was the
t'x^*^?, or fish-market ; next to it came the \vrpai, or crockery-
market, the wine-market, and the slave-market. One region
was called the yvvaiKeta dyopa,^ a phrase which has caused
much controversy in modern times, chiefly because it is known
that women did not frequent the market as purchasers. Some
think that in the ywatKeta dyopd specially womanly articles,
such as paint and perfumes, were sold ; some think that the
sellers there were women, who certainly did sometimes act in
that capacity ; and some think that women stood there for hire.
Some special articles were not only sold in the agora, but taken
also round to the houses by women ; thus bread was dispensed
by the dpToirioXtSes, and ribbons by a raLVLOTrcoXis. No doubt
when the agora was full the noise and confusion w^ere distract-
ing ; sellers calling their wares, purchasers cheapening goods,
and the ayopavo/xot Avandering about to detect false weights and
settle the many disputes which were sure to arise. Also the
agora was frequented by all wdio sought publicity — tlie masters
of the Socratic elenchus, rhapsodists, poets who wanted to recite
their verses, and musicians whose art claimed recognition. Pro-
bably to most of the latter classes the bell which announced tlie
opening of the fish-market, ringing at a fixed time every day,

' Diod. XX i. 10. Cp. Cic. Vcrr. iv. c. 53.

2 Plut. Timol. 22.

^ So by Ciinon at Athens. Plut. Cimo7i, 13.

* Demosth. de Cor. § 169.

5 Theophr. Char. 2 ; Pollux, x. 18.

14 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

was a formidable rival. Wliile it was considered churlish for
a man entirely to absent himself from places of public resort,
yet the ordinary Athenian gentleman would not spend too
much of his time in the agora. Loungers, dyopaioi, had a bad
reputation.

At Athens the principal market was in the inner Ceramicus.^
On one side of it was the /Saa-iXetos crTod, so named from the
King Archon who sat there, near which were portrait-statues
of Timotheus, Conon, and Evagoras, the Cyprian king, together
with an image of Zeus Eleutherius. By these was the stoa,
containing pictures of the twelve great gods, also of Theseus,
Demos, and Democracy, and of the battle of Mantinea, in
which the Athenians fought on the Spartan side. Next stood
a temple of Apollo Patroiis, and one of the Mother of the Gods,
and close by the Senate-house of the five hundred. Further
on was the Tholus where the Prytanes sacrificed, and the
statues of the Athenian eponymous tribal heroes, on the basis
of which the official notices of the government were posted.
Besides these might be mentioned the temples of Hephaestus
and Aplirodite Urania and Pandemos, together with the stoa
called Poecile, containing the pictured battles of the Athenians,
the altar of Pity, and many other erections. The whole market-
place was a vast museum of splendid works of art, as indeed
are those of all the cities described by Pausanias. By a strange
contrast in the open space in the midst of the agora camped
the Scythian ro^oTai, the policemen who kept order in the
Athenian assemblies. Athens had other smaller markets be-
sides that of the Ceramicus, for instance, a corn-market, a-rod
aA.</)tT07rcoAts, built by Pericles.^ In addition Piraeus had two
markets, one close to the sea and one further inland.

A very appropriate adornment of one of these lesser Athenian
markets was the building now often called the Tower of the
Winds, but more properly the Clepsydra of Andronicus of
Cyrrhus. We may suppose such buildings to have been in
Hellenistic times very usually erected by wealthy citizens for
the public use. It is adapted for several purposes. First, it
is a clepsydra or water-clock. The grooves in the stone by which
the water ran still remain. Sundials, ttoXol or yvw/xoves, are
carefully marked out on its flat sides. It is octagonal, and on
each side is an apjDropBiate relief representing the particular wind
which blew from the quarter towards which it is turned. On
the top a bronze Triton turned with the breeze, and indicated

* Fausan. i. 3. '^ Aristoph. Eccles. 686.

THE CITIES : ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN I 5

with a staff which wind was blowing. Thus the building
answered the double purpose of a town-clock and a weather-
cock. Representations of it are given in many modern books,
such as that of Guhl and Koner.

In Sparta in early times the agora was kept free of buildings
and adornment, the great legislator Lycurgus fearing that these
would divert the attention of the people from business, or
perhaps not wishing to make the place too attractive. But
after the Persian wars the Spartans erected on the later market -
])lace from Persian spoils a stately series of arcades, where were
the offices of government. Of the other noble market-places of
Greece, such as those of Argos, Corinth, and Magalopolis, com-
plete descriptions are given by Pausanias the traveller.

One noteworthy feature of many agoras was the inclusion in
them of a tomb or a shrine of the founder, real or mythical.
Thus in the agora of Patrse was the grave of Patreus, in that
of Gyrene the grave of Battus ; and in the agora of Elsea in
Mysia was a stone on which the people sacrificed to Thersander.^

Athens being the most important of Greek cities, and at the
same time one of the best preserved, it will be advisable to give
a few other details as to its plan. As the Agora was the centre
of the commercial and social life of Athens, so the Acropolis
was the centre of the religious and the Pnyx of the political
life. The Acropolis rises abruptly from the plain. The extreme
dimensions of the rock on which it is built are at the summit
about 1 100 feet by 450. The height above the level of the
city is nearly 300 feet. Inside the walls of the Acropolis stood
the Parthenon and Erechtheum and the colossal standing figure
of Athena. The approach from the city, which has been traced
by means of the excavations of Beule, passed through the
magnificent Propyliea of Pericles, works of the highest archi-
tectural beauty, full of the paintings of great masters, and
commanding a grand view of hills and sea. Close under the
lofty walls of the Acropolis is a cluster of public buildings — the
Theatre of Dionysus, where the plays of the great tragedians
were continually acted ; the Odeum of marble erected in the
time of the Antonines by Herodes Atticus ; the Temple of
Asklepius, which was practically the great hospital of Athens,
and other buildings. Close to the Acropolis, on the north-west,
is the rugged rock called the Hill of Ares, 'Apetos vrayos, the
liars' Hill of the New Testament, where met in old days the
court of the Areopagus, up which one may still climb by the

^ Pausan. vii. 20, 5 ; riiidar, Pylk. v. 87 ; Pausan. ix. 5, 14.

THE CITIES : ARRANGEMENT AND PLAN I J

rough stone staircase used in ancient times, and whence one
may look down into the gloomy cleft sacred to the Erinnyes.
A little beyond this hill lies another, on the summit of which
is an enclosure of horse-shoe form, and in the midst an altar of
Zeus Hypatus. Formerly this spot was taken for the Pnyx,
but Curtius and other modern writers have rejected this view.
About the foot of these hills, to the north and west of the
Acropolis, clustered thickest the houses of the Athenian people,
an open space here and there marking the site where stood a
temple or other public building.

Proceeding in the opposite direction, towards the east, from
the Acropolis would be passed first the refxevos of Zeus, where
the splendid Temple of Hadrian, of which the remains are
still stately, afterwards stood, and then the bed of the Ilissus,
which might usually be passed in summer dry-shod.^ Beyond
was the Panathenaic stadium, which hides, after the manner of
stadia, its head in the hills, and which was rebuilt in white marble
by Herodes Atticus. It was necessary to pass outside the walls
of Athens to reach the Academy, the Lyceum, the Cynosarges,
and the other great gymnasia where the Athenian youth
exercised themselves.

The streets of the older Greek cities were mostly narrow and
crooked. At Athens the despot Hippias found it necessary to
impose a tax on the owne-rs of houses whose doors opened out-
wanls, or whose upper story projected beyond the lower.^
After his expulsion the Areopagus passed regulations on the
subject, and inflicted fines for transgressions. Pavements, such
as those of the Pompeian streets, were very unusual in Greece
before the Roman times, and lighting of streets was unknown.
Torches, SaSe? or Aa/x7raSes, were carried by all who went
abroad, unless the moon happened to be very bright.^ Aristo-
phanes in the Wasps* gives us an amusing description of a
party of men picking their way through the unpaved streets at
night with the help of a lantern, and in great fear of mischance.
The mud through which these worthies wade is deep, although
the weather seems from the context to be dry. We find
frequent allusions in the comedians to the dirt of the streets
and open places, in which no doubt the inhabitants piled their
refuse of all kinds, trusting that the scavengers would take it
away.^ If we add that the Athenian houses, and all buildings

^ Plato, Phcedrus, 229 A. - Arist. (Econom. ii. 5.

^ Arist. Clouds, I. 614, /iTj irpio), trai, 8q.5' iireLdr) (pQs 'ZeX-qyai-rj^ /ca\6f.
"* Lines 245 sqq.

^ Tliucydides says of the streets of Platocce, iy aKhri^ Kal ttt^Xc^ (ii. 4).

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

except those belonging to the State or the god?, were built of
wood and imburned brick,^ though sometimes coated with fine
plaster, Kovtafia, and presented to the narrow street a dead wall,
only sometimes varied with device or decoration, and with very
small breaks for windows, we shall destroy the notion that the
Athenian streets were stately and attractive, whatever the open
si)aces may have been. In fact, the crowding of the country-

FiG. 2.— A Street in Pompeii. (Ovekbeck, Fumpcii, p. 233.)

folk into Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian war pre-
vented the rich burghers from building fine houses, as they
otherwise might have done had fresh space been available.
And for this reason the private houses of Athens were, until
a late period, less splendid than those of other cities. But

' Whence the phrase for housebreakinf:^, toixw/JUX^'^j ^.o dig through
walls of houses as did the Platieuns. Thuc. li. 3. So Pint. Dem. ii., tovs

70i\0l$ TTT/XiVoi'S ?xo/j.ei>.

THE CITIES : ARRANGEMENT AND RLAN 1 9

fine houses doubtless arose in the suburbs in later times.
The narrowness of the streets of Argos was fatal to Pyrrhus
when he forced his way into the city. But the streets through
which processions passed must have been broader and more
imposing.- Thus the street of the Tripods, wherein were set up
the tripods won by Athenians in musical and other contests,
and the street of the Hermse^ at Athens were wider and adorned
with many fine monuments. These contained the better houses.
Many streets were appropriated to the dealers in particular
articles ; for instance, the Kt/^wTOTrotoi (boxmakers) and the
€piioykv(f)d<; at Athens had streets named after them. In front
of most of the houses stood rude pillar-like figures of Apollo
'Ayvtev?, and often also of Hecate. Little shrines of these and
other deities were of frequent recurrence.

Hippodamus of IVIiletus - was the first to introduce regularity
into town building. This architect laid out the Piraeus and
the new cities of Thurii in Italy and Rhodes. Dinocrates,
following in his footsteps, constructed Alexandria on most
methodical plans. These cities were laid out with wide streets
at rvj}\t angles one to the other, and had many open spaces.
Temples were erected in them, not on spots hallowed by
legend, but where they would show best and be most acces-
sible. Large stose and gymnasia adorned the most frequented
streets. The streets of Alexandria in particular were really
fine ; we are told that one stretched uninterrupted from the
western to the eastern gate, a distance of thirty stadcs, or more
than a league, and had a breadth of more than a hundred feet.
The houses of the same city were all built of stone or brick,
and never of wood, wliicli was in older cities a common
material. Some of these houses rose to a height of three
storeys, and from their flat roofs a good view over the city
might be obtained. In the same city a great feature was the
Royal Palace of the Ptolemies, which occupied from a fifth to
a third of the entire area of the towm, and included, together
with endless halls and apartments, the Museum with all its
literary treasures. The places above mentioned being maritime,
the builders of them bestowed on their docks and arsenals
great labour and expense. Moles Avere built to protect their
harbours from injury, and on the island of Pharos at Alex-

^ The Hermrc were not, however, confined to this street, but to be found
in all parts of the city. On these Hermce Hipparchus engraved moral
saws. Plato, Ilipparch. 22S.

2 Arist. Pol. ii. 5, For fuller information ou these matters see Krause'a
De'inokratts.

20 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

andria was erected the great lighthouse which has ever since
been renowned.

Some of the cities built by the successors of Alexander in
Asia were constructed most methodically, and included refine-
ments quite new in the history of civic architecture. Thus of
the city of Nicaea, built by Lysimachus, it was said that you
could stand by a stone in the agora and look through the four
principal gates of the city, which were turned to the four points
of the compass. At Antioch on the Orontes there were pillared
arcades on each side of the principal streets, so that a man
might go on wet days dry-shod for mile after mile. Close to
the same city was the park of Daphne, a place where all that
was beautiful in nature was cultivated in profusion. Older
towns had their trim olive and myrtle groves, but this was the
first city to possess something like what we should call a park.

The suburbs of ancient as of modern cities were more loosely
built, witli spaces between the houses, gardens, and open places.
In the immediate vicinity of the principal city gates, outside
them, the roads were flanked with rows of handsome marble
monuments erected over the dead. But these were not of a
character to cause depression and melancholy, rather calculated,
on the other hand, to please and refresh by the beauty of their
designs and reliefs. Frequently on the outskirts of a town was
the temple of some popular deity, with its spaces and groves,
and a little town of the ministrants to the temple. Thus in
the suburb of Corinth called Craneion was situate the great
temple of Aphrodite, which was the centre of the dissolute
life of the place, as the agora was of the commercial life. We
can better understand the life and character of Diogenes the
Cynic if we reflect that it was here that his cask was placed
during part of his life.

These suburban temples were in some cases the seats of
games. Then they were surrounded by an extensive re/xevos,
which included a stadium, a theatre, the shrines of inferior
deities and daemons, and a number of statues set up by grateful
cities or by winners at the games. There were also, in the
case of the great centres of worship, treasuries belonging to
various cities and states specially erected to contain their votive
ofl'erings. Around the refxevos at the time of the solemn festival
were set up the tents and huts of thousands of visitors from all
parts of Greece, and the booths of those who frequented such
places of assembly with goods for sale. The whole neighbour-
hood bore for the time the appearance of a fair, and sacrifices,
processions, and feasts crowded one another all day.

THE HOMERIC HOUSE 2 1

The water supply of tlie Greeks was rendered cnsier from
the fact that Greece is a land of springs and streams, and it was
seldom necessary to bring a supply from a distance by canals
or aqueducts. When such necessity was imposed the Greeks
did not raise their watercourses in Roman fashion on arches
striding imperially over the valleys, but made the best use of
existing slopes and gradients.^ At the city end of an aqueduct,
or over a city spring, was almost always erected a stately grotto,
with marble pillars and steps. Hither in the morning would
flock the girls with their water-pots, as we see them flocking
in the paintings on those very hydrice which they carried,
many of which are preserved in modern museums. Often the
spring Avas without the walls, in which case the water-carriers
had often to dread an ambush of an enemy in its neighbour-
hood.

In the numerous public buildings of Greece — the gymnasia,
the baths, the Government buildings, the innumerable halls
and arcades — the men passed the greater part of their time.
It must never be forgotten that during the great time of Greece
these were the real dwelling-place of the freeman. The private
houses were quite of secondary importance, the men only
retired to them to eat and to sleep ; all their energies centred
about the market-place, the council-hall, the gymnasium, and
the theatre. It was not until the decline of Greece had set
in that the private buildings at all rivalled the public ones in
splendour.

CHAPTER III

THE HOMERIC HOUSE

The plan and arrangement of houses in the Homeric age is a
subject which has of late years roused a good deal of interest,
and called forth several dissertations.^ Such of these as were
written before the discovery of the ancient palaces on the
acropolis hills of Tiryns and Mycenae are necessarily out of
date, since it is indubitable that this discovery has given us
important data. On the other hand, it is a mistake to recon-

^ Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, iv. 377.

2 A list of these at p. 170 of vol. vii. of the Journ. IIcll. Stud. See
also my chap. iv. m Nexo Chapters in Greek Ilistori/ ; Bie in Jahrbuch des
Arch. Inst. 1891, p. I ; Lange, Ilaus und Halle, 1SS5 ; and Joseph, Paldste
des Ilomcrischen Epos, 1893.

2 2 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

struct the Homeric palace entirely on the basis offered by
remains of the Greek heroic age, since it appears certain that
there was a considerable gap . in time between the civilisation
revealed by the spade in Argolis, and that reflected in the
poems of Homer. The plan we propose to follow is to take
our start from the Homeric poems, but to welcome any light
which may be gained from the comparison of the palaces at
Mycenae and Tiryns.

The houses of Homeric chiefs consisted of three parts, avA?},
Soj/xa or jxeyapov, and OdXa^ios,^ of which the first was the
front court, the second the hall of the men, the third the
apartments of the women. All these parts will be reviewed
in order. All were enclosed by a massive stone wall, doubtless
of Cyclopean construction.

As one approached the house this wall would be most con-
spicuous, with the roof of the buildings within it showing over
the top. Vivid are the words in which Odysseus as he ap-
proaches his own house describes it to Eumaeus, " There is
building beyond building, and the court is furnished with wall
and battlements, and there are solid twofold doors; no man
might scorn it."^ This wall was for defence rather than any
other purpose. It was pierced only at one point and at that
defended by massive folding- doors, Ovpai 8lkXl8€<s. Outside
the wall, on either side the doors, were stone seats, eSpai, which
seem to have commanded a wide prospect, for the wooers sit
there and see the ship of Telemachus sail into harbour.^

Passing through the solid doors the traveller would find
himself in an Open courtyard, avh). In front of him would
lie the lofty hall, and around him arcades or cloisters, partly
divided into small cells and chambers. Of these chambers
some served as farm buildings, as houses for the mills,^ and as
places for the storage of provisions, some as bed-rooms for male
slaves. One or two of the better ones were even used as
chambers for unmarried sons of the house : Telemachus, for
instance, certainly slept in the avX-q.^ The court was probably
in as dirty a condition as our farmyards. Eumaeus, when he
brought boars for the feeding of the suitors, let them feed at
large in the court,^ probably on the refuse there lying about.
In one corner of the court was the mysterious doXos which has

^ Jl. vi. 313, 01 oi iiroirjcrav OdXa/xov /cat Swyua /cat avXrjv.
2 Od. xvii. 266. ^ Od. xvi. 343. Cf. iii. 406.

* Od. XX. 105. Odysseus, as he lies in the aWovaa, hears the women, as
they grind at the mills, complaining.

5 Od. xix. 48. ^ Od. XX. 164

THE HOMERIC HOUSE 23

caused so much discussion. That it was not a kitchen is pro-
bable ; for we read that food was cooked in the Megaron itself.
Nor was it a treasury ; the treasury of the house certainly lay
in the women's quarters. It was circular; this the name
implies ; and from the analogy of the circular buildings still
remaining at Orchomenus and Mycenae we might conjecture
that it may have been a family burial-place. In early times
the custom of burying on the premises prevailed with several
branches of the Indo-European race.^ This however is a con-
jecture which it is impossible to verify in the present state of
knowledge. In the court was the altar of Zeus, 'EpKelos, the
" well- wrought altar of the great Zeus of the Court," - as it is
termed.

On all four sides of the court, then, were cloisters called by
the general name aWovcra, a portico supported by pillars. This
covered space, which was probably also paved, was used for
a variety of purposes. Here animals such as goats ^ and oxen
brought for household use were tethered ; and here were some-
times spread rough shake-downs for less distinguished guests to
sleep on. Odysseus, while an unhonoured guest in his own
house, slept in the aWovu-a,'^ spreading on the ground a bull's
hide and over that the fleeces of sheep. So Telemachus when
a guest at Sparta slept in the 7rp68ojxo<5.^ In this case it is
previously stated that Helen had ordered coverlets to be placed
for him vtt' aWovcrr), so that it would appear that the space be-
fore the doors was ]\irt of the aWovcra. The usual epithet
of Homer for the aWovcra is ipCSovTros,^ echoing. If it had a
pavement and a roof supported on pillars, it would richly
merit this epithet.

Through the 7rpo8o/xos or aWovcra a visitor would reach the
great doors opening into the {xeyapov, the public hall where
in Homeric days the chiefs lived among their friends and
retainers in a public life closely resembling that of Scandinavian
chiefs and mediaeval barons. Of the doors themselves we may
form a clear notion from Homer's description of those in the
palace of Alcinous,'' which are indeed described as made of gold
and silver but were no doubt in form like other doors. They
were folding, and supported on either side by a solid o-ra^/xo's
or door-post. The doors were not suspended on hinges, but
turned in sockets ; such at least is the construction found in

^ Marquaidt, liOm. Privatalterthumer, p. 350.

2 Od. xxii. 334. 3 Od. XX. 1S9.

^ Od. XX. I. 5 Qd^ jy ^Q2_

6 Od. XX. 189. 7 Od. vii. 88.

24 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

early Greek doorways such as those at IMyceiiae. Over them
was a virepOvpLov or cornice, and on them handles of metal.^
They were secured by wooden bolts, or could in some cases
be unlocked from outside by a key like that used by Penelope,
with ivory handle and bronze teeth. ^

At either end of the hall was a door, of which doors one led
into the outer court, the other into the women's apartments,
the OdXafxos. In front of both doors was a long and pro-
bably raised threshold or ovSos. The threshold in front of the
door into the court was made of ashwood, /xeAtvos ov86s ; ^ that
in front of the women's door was of stone, AatVos oijSos : a
distinction which the reader of the Odyssey must keep in mind.
When Odysseus arrives as a beggar, he takes his modest place
on the ashen threshold, and it is afterwards, when thoughts of
vengeance are thickening in his mind, that Telemachus calls
him up to a higher and more honourable place and gives him
a seat near the threshold of stone. By the ashen threshold,
against one of the pillars of the hall, was the SovpoSoKi] or spear-
stand, where guests who entered the house left their spears
behind them,* and even the master of the house kept his
spears standing.

The height of the p-kyapov was that of the house itself, and
its size so great that all the suitors of Penelope could live and
feed in it. The roof was supported by pillars which probably
stood in rows and divided the hall into three aisles or corridors.
These pillars are mentioned in one of the most picturesque
passages of the Odyssey, where Pallas spreads a light through
the hall and Telemachus exclaims,^ " A wondrous sight, my
father, meets my eyes. Meseems that the walls of the hall
and the fair main beams, and the rafters of pine, and the
pillars that sustain them, are bright to my eyes as if with
flaming fire." In this passage, too, occurs the term /xeo-oS/xat,
which has greatly puzzled commentators, but which seems in
the light of recent discovery to signify the main beams of a
house. ^

The ea-x^pa or hearth, where was done the cooking of the
house, was situate in the midst of the hall. The smoke aris-
ing from it wreathed about the hall,'^ blackening the beams
and the arms hung on the walls, and finally making its escape
through the roof. Openings in the roof are not indeed men-

1 Od. vii. 88. 2 Qd^ xxi. 7. 3 od xvii. 339.

4 Od. i. 12S ; xvii. 29. ^ Od. xix. 37.

^ See an inscription from Eleusis. Ephcmeris Arch. 1883, p. 3.

7 Od. xvi. 288.

THE HOMERIC HOUSE 2 5

tioned in Homer, but we are driven to assume their existence,
for how else could smoke leave and light enter the apartment 1
Moreover we know that a hypsethral opening belongs to the
earliest form of Graeco-Roman house ^ and was the precursor
alike of the Roman atrium and the Greek peristyle. We may
gather from a story told by Herodotus ^ that it existed in early
Greek houses, such as those of kings of Macedon, and that the
sunlight fell through it in a square patch on to the floor.
Perhaps in the Palace of Odysseus, as in that at Tiryns, the
central part of the roof was raised, with openings at the sides,
as in basilicas.

The jikyapov was by no means inaccessible to the women-
folk of the household. They did not indeed eat there with
the men, but they were frequent spectators of their eating
and amusements. The maid-servants of Penelope not only
clean and sprinkle the hall,^ wiping the tables with sponges
and removing the fragments of broken food from the floor,
but also take special charge of the braziers intended alike
for the warming and the lighting of the room, even staying
in the hall far into tlie night to replenish them with fuel.
Even the lady of the house and her daughters sometimes enter
the hall. Penelope is sitting in the hall while her white-
armed attendants go through the cleansing process already
mentioned : and when the wooers are feasting she comes ac-
companied by two of her handmaids from her chamber, and
stands, with her glistening peplos wrapped about her face, by
the inner door of the hall, irapa o-raBiibv reyeos,"^ close to one
of the main pillars. Hence she addresses Antinous, and here
she sits spinning while Telemachus and Piraeus feed together.^
Even wdien Odysseus is in the hall bathed with warm water
and anointed with oil by old Euryclea, Penelope is present,^
sitting near the ecrxapa or stove, but discreetly turning her
head in another direction.

It has been supposed by some Avriters that the /xv^os was a
definite part of the Homeric hall, just as the ala was of Roman
houses, that part in fact which lay immediately in front of the
door into the women's apartments. But it appears to me, on
the collation of a number of passages in which the term /iv^o's
occurs, that it means only the inner end of any building, i.e.,
that furthest from the outer door. Thus it is frequently said that

' Marquardt, Ri/m. Altcrth. vii. I, 212.

- viii. 137. 3 Qd^ xix. 60 ; xx. 149.

•• Od. xvi. 415 ; xviii. 209. So also Nausicaa, Od. viii. 45S.
^ Od. xvii. 97. 6 (jj, xix. 47S.

26 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

the nuptial chamber was Iv /xv^^ ^ofxov,^ and so Achilles sleeps
€v /xv^w KXiCTLrjs : and in another place we have the phrase Is
fxvxov Oakdixov.^ No doubt the [xvxos of the hall was the space on
the stone threshold by the women's door, but it would seem
that Rumpf is wrong in supposing that there was anything
special or technical in this application of the term.

That the floor of the [xeyapov between the two thresholds was
of hard earth merely is proved by the account given us of
Telemachus' proceedings in setting up the line of axes to shoot
through. We are told that he dug a straight trench right
across the hall ^ wherein to fix the handles of the axes. So
at a later time, when Telemachus and the servants wish to
cleanse the floor from the blood of the suitors, the instrument
he uses is a Xia-rpov or shovel, which would obviously only be
of use in working on an earthen floor.

There are two other buildings in close connection with the
hall, of the place of which we must speak, the baths and the
treasury or armoury.

We read in one place that when the suitors came to the
palace of Odysseus they laid aside their outer garments, x^^^^(^'^,
on the seats of the hall, and went to the polished baths,^ eujeo--
ras dcraiiLvOovs, and bathed, after which they returned to the
hall. Closer indications are wanting, but it seems to me that
the description is sufficiently definite to enable us to infer that
the baths were a separate building, and as they clearly could
not have been in the women's apartments they must have been
in the outer court, avXrj, where indeed we should have expected,
a iwiori, to find them. Odysseus, as we have already remarked,
has his bath in the [iGyapov itself after the guests have left,
but this is a curious exceptional case ; in fact the whole story
of the bath of Odysseus seems to be an episode with a flavour
of ruder times than the Homeric.

As to the position of the treasury Homer seems to be less
clear tlian in other matters. The first mention of a treasury in
the house of Odysseus occurs in the following lines : ^ —

"12s (f)dv' 6 8' v\p6po(f)Ov ddXafiov Kare/^rycraTO Trarpos
evpvv, oOi vr]TOS Xpv(To<i koX ^^aXKos eKctro, &c.,

which at first sight seem to imply a treasure-house below ground.
But doubt of this reading is at once suggested : perhaps the

^ Od. iii. 402 of Nestor ; iv. 304 of Menelaus ; vii. 346 of Alcinons.
2 Od. xvi. 285. 3 Od. xxi. 120.

4 Od. xvii. ?,T. 5 Q^i II 237.

THE HOxMERIC HOUSE 27

word 9dXa[jLos may liere not stand for treasury at all, but be
used in its ordinary Homeric sense of "women's apartments,"
so that we must pass this passage as not decisive in any direc-
tion. From the next passage of importance,^ which describes
the removal of the arms from the fxeyapov to the treasury, we
do not gain any information as to the position of the latter,
save that before the removal Euryclea shut the doors of the
fxkyapa, confining in them the women, lest they should in-
terrupt the process. The [xeyapa here are clearly not the same
as the [xeyapov, probably they are the larger rooms of the
daXajxos, where the women were used to sit at their spinning. -
If, however, we turn to the passages relating to the treasury in
later books, we shall find that it was in the women's court,^
and at its further extremity, ^aAa/xos ecrxaros. It had a roof
of beams,^ and was protected by solid doors closed with a key.^
besides the regular doors of the megaron, we also hear of an
opcroOvprj or postern, which led into a court, Aavpj, and so into
the open air.^ The position and use of this postern is a matter
of considerable difficulty and importance ; but we cannot here
discuss it.

We now pass in our account of the Odysseian house to the
third part, the OaXafxos. Dr. Hayman, in opposition to all the
ancient commentators, maintains ^ that there was not in the
house of Odysseus any portion specially devoted to women.
He therefore supposes the women's rooms to have been scattered
round the p^kyapov and over the atOova-a. We have not space
fully to examine his views, which certainly would not bear
close examination. Not only was there a women's 6dXap.os, but
we are able in some degree to trace its arrangements. In the
first place it contained the workroom or workrooms of the
women. These Homer sometimes calls pkyapa and sometimes
OdXapos. They were on the ground floor. This we know
from a passage in the fourth book of the Odyssey, Avhere Pene-
lope is represented as weeping eV ovSoG TroXvKpi^Tov daXapoio^^
surrounded by her maidens, until at the request of her nurse
she goes upstairs to the bed-chamber more especially belonging
to her,^ which was reached by a ladder, K-Ai/za^.^o And we also
know that in the midst of it was an open hypaethral court, in
which had stood in old days an olive-tree, which with his own
hands Odysseus had cut short and fashioned into a post for
his bed, building about the bed so made a chamber of stone

^ Od. xix. ad init. - Cf. Od. xxii. 15 1. * Od. xxi. 8.

* Od. xxii. 176. ^ Od. xxii. 156. ^ Od. xxii. 136.

7 Od. vol. i. 127. 8 ]. 7j8. 3 1. 760. 1^ Od. xxi. 5.

2 8 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

and roofing it over.^ This same arrangement of a court in the
women's apartments where fresh chambers could be built we
meet in the house of Priam. ^ There, inside the house, were
built fifty chambers of polished stone, where the fifty sons of
Priam slept with their wives. On the other hand the twelve
sons-in-law of Priam with their wives were not allowed, as not
kindred in blood, to sleep in the women's apartments, but had
chambers erected for them in the outer court, auA-vJ. This dis-
tinction is curious and interesting as throwing light on the
manners of the times.

The other houses mentioned in the Homeric poems may be
passed with very few words. The Palace of Alcinous, though
belonging in the main to fairyland, yet does not differ in plan
from that of Odysseus. One curious point is worth noting,
that a fire is kindled for Nausicaa in her private chamber and
food prepared there. ^ Such luxuries were probably reserved
for fairy-princesses in those rude days. The construction also
of the Hall of Alcinous, lined with plates of bronze, has often
been noted as comparable to that of the Treasuries of Mycenas
and Orchomenus, which, however, were not lined, but only
adorned with bronze ornaments. This construction was of
course oriental ; and we find it surviving in the East, even in
the days of Philostratus.* The house of Alcinous has even
a brazen floor, it is a xaAKo/^ares Sw ; this, however, must be
taken as a poetical flight. In all the description of that splendid
house the poet acts on the words of the Jewish prophet, " For
brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for
wood brass, and for stones iron." ^

In the abode of Circe ^ we find a flat roof whereon Elpenor
sleeps for the sake of coolness, and whence, rising in alarm,
he falls headlong to the ground below. But the flat roof was
not invariable at the period. Most roofs were pointed, else the
d[X€il3ovT€<s, the crossing beams which supported them, could
not with propriety have been compared to wrestlers leaning
forward to grasp one another.''' In the instance of the abode of
Eumseus, and the tent of Achilles, we may observe that even
the pressure of poverty and the necessities of a campaign,
though they affect the size and elaborateness of a house, do
not alter its general scheme.

The above passages are reprinted with a few modifications
from a paper written in i88i,^ before the important discoveries

'■ Od. xxiii. 190. 2 ji vi. 242. ^ Od. vii. 12.

^ Philostr. Vit. Apol. ^ Isa. Ix. 17. ^ Od. x. 552

'^ II. xxiii. 712. ^ Journ. Hell. Stud. iii. p. 264.

THE HOMERIC HOUSE 29

at Tiryns took place : they are not suggested by those dis-
coveries. But it will be necessary now to turn to the testimony
of excavation in Argolis, to see whether it confirms the views
here set forth.

In most respects it confirms them, and adds reality and
vividness to them. The prehistoric palace of Tiryns, a plan of
which is here annexed,^ is undoubtedly older by centuries than
the Odyssey. But it was probably built by the race among
whom the Odyssey arose ; and it is clear that the poet of the
Odyssey had in his mind a palace in many respects like the
Tirynthian model. At Tiryns we find a court, avh], with
pillared cloisters round it, and in it an altar, which we naturally
assume to have been dedicated to Zeus Herceius. At Tiryns
we find a men's hall, jxeyapov, approached through a portico,
having in the midst a hearth and pillars, dividing it into three
sections. The door-sills of this building are partly of stone and
partly of wood. We find also a bathroom, approached from the
hall by a narrow passage, and still holding a fragment of the
aa-djuvOos ; and the walls of the hall were adorned partly
with frescoes and partly with a frieze of alabaster and glass,
which we at once associate with the Homeric phrase dptyKo^
KvdvoLo. Indeed, the student who reads the Odyssey with
the plan of the Tirynthian palace before him, will sometimes
find an unexpected light. For example, when K'ausicaa is
directing Odysseus to the palace of her father,- she bids him
pass through the hall to where her mother sits by the hearth in
the firelight, resting against a pillar : this arrangement of hearth
and pillar is well illustrated at Tiryns.

There is, however, one gi^eat difficulty and apparent dis-
crepancy. At Tiryns the apartments of the women seem to
have been separate from those of the men,^ and were without
visible means of communication, whereas in the Odyssey close
juxtaposition and constant intercourse between men's and
women's apartments is constantly assumed.* Without denying
that there here remains much to explain, we may observe,
firstly, that there must have been at Tiryns some means of
communication between the men's and women's quarters,

^ From Schliemann's Tiryns, pi. ii. ^ Od. vi. 304.

^ I say seem, because the evidence of their locality is not conclusive.
Holm, for instance, thinks that Dorpfeld has wrongly assigned the
women's apartments. Holm, Hist, of Greece, trans, I, p. 171.

* Mliller {Gr. Privatcdterthumcr, p. 26) denies that in the house of
Odysseus the women's rooms were behind those of the men and in contact
with them. I cannot share his view.

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

possibly through a postern gate such as that mentioned in the
Odyssey, opa-oOvpi-j ; and secondly, that the greater or less
seclusion of women is a thing which might vary with degree
of luxury or social circumstances, a time of disturbance and
exile, such as followed the age of Tiryns, being especially likely
to break down old customs in such matters.

Limits of space have obliged me to treat of the Homeric

Fig. 3.— Plan of Palace at Tiryxs.

Palace in a summary way, without going into much detail, or
discussing controverted terms and difficult passages. ISIany
writers have thus gone into details, and it may be doubted
whether the result has repaid their trouble. There can be no
doubt that a microscopic examination of the story of Odysseus'
return and the slaughter of the suitors shows in the poet of
the Odyssey a certain amount of inconsistency. He does not
seem to picture clearly to himself tlie scene of which he writes,

PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES

or tlie locality where it took place. The episode of the fetcliing
of arms l^y Melanthiiis, for instance, is on the face of it
impossible. It is very probable that in working a variety of
current tales into a consecutive poem he incorporated phrases
which were inconsistent one with another. And it is also
probable that the houses of his own time dififered in various
ways from those of tradition and convention. Thus all that
we can hope to do is to fix a general outline, which will pro-
bably be fairly correct for the houses of the Achaean chiefs
about the time of the Dorian Conquest.

Fig. 4-— Frieze at Tirvxs. (Schliemann, Tiryns, Pl. iv.)

CHAPTER IV

PiaVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES *

Between the houses described by Homer and those of historical
Greece there is a considerable break. The Homeric araj had
in the times of Herodotus and Thucydides disappeared from

^ Among the best German works on this subject are WinckUr's
Wohiihduscr dcr Hellcncn and Lange's Uaus timl Halle. In the absence
of satisfactory existing remains of Greek houses we must turn to Touipeii
for aiil to the imagination.

32 THE SUPtKOUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

southern Greece, and was to be found only in remote districts
among tribes such as the Molossians and Athamanes. And
with the prince had disappeared his ways of living and the
hall where he dispensed open hospitality. The country-houses
indeed retained even to the late ages of Greece much of their
original character, as we shall presently see. But in the cities
there was no longer room for extensive mansions, and houses
were built for private persons and not for the benefit of a
whole community.

In fact in the best ages and the greatest cities of Greece
private houses, even of distinguished men, were in no wise
stately. Demosthenes, speaking of the heroes of the days of
]\Iarathon, says ^ that " while for the state they erected such
buildings and set up such works of art as posterity has never
been able to surpass, yet in private life they were so simple
and moderate that if any one looks at the house of Aristides or
Miltiades he will see that it is not more splendid than its
neighbours." So too Pseudo-Dicaearchus testifies^ of Athens,
that most of the houses were poor and inconvenient, so that
the stranger could scarcely realise that he was in celebrated
Athens. And this state of things was protracted and intensified
by the crowding of the city at the time of the Peloponnesian
war,^ when all the citizens flocked in from the country and
filled all the vacant spaces, so that room for the enlargement
of existing and the erection of new mansions was altogether
wanting.

The researches of Emile Burnouf ^ on the site of ancient
Athens form an instructive comment on these statements. He
discovered the sites of many hundreds of ancient houses, but
the majority seem to have consisted of a single cell, the
squared floor of which, cut in the rock, still exists. In some
cases two or three of these square depressions probably be-
longed to a single house, and sometimes several were united
together around a court or peristyle. But extensive rooms
and extended series were rare. The great houses of the
rich of later times, of which Demosthenes says that many
were more splendid than the public buildings, were mostly
situate in the suburbs of great towns where land was easier
to procure, and where room could be made for an army of
slaves.

The ground-plans of houses in the Piraeus have been laid

^ Olynth. iii. 25. ^ Frag. Hist. Gr. ii. 254.

' Thucyd. ii. 17. * Arch, des Missions Scientif.

PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES 3 3

bare by Dr. Dorpfeld.^ They were on a larger scale than
those of Athens, but their internal arrangements cannot be
clearly recovered. At iS\aiicratis in Egypt ^ and on other
ancient sites also the ground-plans of houses can be traced ;
but we have not as at Pompeii the walls, the pavements, and
the fittings, without which mere lines of foundation give us
but little help. We have therefore in the main to trust to
statements of ancient writers. The engn^avings of the supposed
house at Delos, which figures in Guhl and Koner and other
works, are not to be relied on. But in recent years M. Homolle
has recovered the foundations of a very interesting house in
that island, to which we will presently return.

The most striking difference between the larger houses of
Greece and those of modern times lies in the fact that whereas
our houses are built under a single roof and the rooms arranged
about staircases and passages, the Greek houses were built
about hypaethral or open courts. From these courts the house
received light and air ; all the rooms opened on to them and
received their light from them and not from windows in the
outer walls. To the street, houses presented almost a blank
wall ; but when once the outer door was passed, the visitor
found himself in the very midst of the life of the house, and
could see into every room of the court. Thus the houses were
adapted to a far less private life than ours, and one passed far
more than ours in the open air; and the number of slaves
constantly moving in a house would keep it noisy and lively.
Only in a very small family and in a small house could seclu-
sion even for a few hours at a time be possible.

In so slight a sketch as the present, it is not possible to
treat apart the building fashions of various Greek towns or of
successive periods. There can be no doubt that when Greece
in the age of Hellenism turned from public to private life,
that change had a great effect on the arrangements of houses,
which became far more complicated and luxurious. But after
all the change was gradual, and Ave are unable to trace it in
detail. All that is here attempted is to give some notion of
the sort of abodes usual in Greece during the ages of autonomy.

It is natural that the fashion of building should change far
more rai)idly in towns than in the country ; and it would be

^ Mitthil. d. d. lust. A then, vol. ix. Dr. Dorpfeld's plan is repeated
in Professor Middkton's article Dovius in the new edition of Smith's
Dictionary of Greek and Iio7nan Antiquities, i. p. 659.

- Naidralis, part i., by W. M. Flinders Petrie ; part ii. by E. A.
Gardner.

34 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

least liable to change in the case of farm-houses, the arrange-
ments of which are dictated by practical necessity. So we are
scarcely surprised to find still existing in Asia Minor in the
time of Galen 1 (second century a.d.) homesteads which belong
to a very early stage of Aryan culture, and which may be
regarded as in the line of descent not only of the Homeric
palace and the Greek house of historical times, but also of the
Roman atrium, and the farmsteads of Germany and England.

They consisted of an oblong building, in the midst of which
was the hearth and oven, and on either side rows of stalls for
cattle ; while opposite to the door and behind the stove was
an exedra or recess, with bedrooms to right and left of it, and
sometimes a second tier of three rooms above these. It is easy
to see how the progress of refinement might convert a house
such as this either into a Roman atrium or a Greek peristyle.

It is, however, the town houses of Greece which more par-
ticularly concern us. These we must divide into classes.

We have to speak of three classes of houses : ( i ) the mansions
of the wealthy; (2) the abodes of the poorer citizens and
metoeci ; (3) the cells of artisans and slaves. But we must
not imagine that these three classes of dwellings were locally
separate, as they may be logically separated. All were mingled
in the same blocks of buildings. This we know from many
sources, more especially from the existing ruins of Pompeii,
a town built indeed ratlier on Oscan and Roman than on
Greek principles, and yet aff"ording us abundant information
as to the customs of all ancient civilisation. At Pompeii we
find small shops and lodging-houses built into the area of the
larger houses, and reached either by means of separate entrances
or sometimes actually from the doorway of the mansion. So
at Cairo in our owm day ^ " when shops occupy the lower part
of the buildings in a street, the superstructure is usually divided
into distinct lodgings. These lodgings are separate from each
other as well as from the shops below, and let to families."
Thus it was in ancient Greek cities. When we speak of a
mansion as a thing complete in itself, we must remember the
numerous parasites which ate a way into its walls, both on the
ground-floor and the upper-floor.

Existing remains, as well as authorities for the arrangements
of ancient Greek houses, are not numerous. Vitruvius, an
architect of the Augustan epoch, has left us a detailed descrip-

^ De Ayitidotis, i. 3. Cf. Nissen, Pompeian. Studitn, p. 612.
^ Lane, Modern Egi/ptians, p. 20.

PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES 3 5

tion of the Greek house as he knew it; but his description
applies rather to the palaces of kings and wealthy nobles, erected
during the third and second centuries at Hellenistic cities such
as Antioch and Alexandria. We are therefore obliged, in place
of closely following his guidance, to piece together the scattered
details of writers like Xenophon, Demosthenes, and Aristo-
phanes. This has been done by a series of distinguished
German writers, from Becker to Overbeck ; and as they agree
in their general views, we may well accept these while reserving
our judgment for fuller evidence in matters of detail.

In building houses of any pretensions the Greeks were care-
ful in the choice of an aspect. The house was built facing the
south, ^ in such a way that the sun shone full into the pastas,
which was, as we shall see, opposite the entry. In the winter
it was desirable to have as much sun as possible, and in summer,
as the sun was nearly overhead, there was plenty of shade in
the corridors. The ancients were very studious of warmth,
owing partly to the comparative scantiness of their clothing,
and partly to the fact that their fires were of a very slight
character.

As the fronts of large houses were mostly occupied by shops
on a level with the pavement, as in the London Eoyal Ex-
change, the Greek streets cannot have been architecturally
imposing. Nor were the materials of which the houses were
built sumptuous or durable. These were usually a framework
of wood, and walls of unbaked bricks. Tovs tolx^vs 7i"i]XLvovs
€xoix€v, says Plutarch; and it will be remembered how at Plataeae,-
when the Thebans tried to seize the town, the inhabitants dug
their way through from house to house, until they had gathered
together a corps of armed men. Hence too the use of the verb
Totx^/ovxeii', which is used for burglarious entry. Xor did the
fronts of Greek houses present, like ours, windows to the street ;
the greatest break in the dead wall would be a narrow slit or
a close casement. They were to be looked at from within
and not from without. But no doubt, making due allowance
for these inevitable drawbacks, the Greeks knew how to make
the best of their materials. In the disposal of space within
the house, however, their greatest care was spent.

I insert a speculative plan of a simple Greek mansion. The
student must remember that this plan is really no more tlian a
diagram to assist our description. Greek houses were subject
in their plan to local conditions, and varied widely.

^ Xenophon, Memor. iii. 8 ; (Econ. ix. 4. - Thuc. ii. 3.

THE SUKROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

The entrance to houses was usually on a level with the street
or nearly so ; door-steps, dvafSaOixoi, were indeed at Athens for-
bidden by special law. The street door (i) was often sur-
mounted by a motto or charm, such as p^Sev eia-tro) KaKov, and
was in charge of a porter, 6vp(j}p6<5, often an eunuch, who lived
in a small cell just behind it (4), and had frequently as colleague
a dog, either a real dog or one painted on floor or wall. Before
admitting a visitor, the porter would sometimes retire to consult
with his master. On reaching the door, the visitor knocked, a
knocker, poTrrpa, being attached for the use of visitors. The
phrase for knocking is kotttclv Ovpav. In early times the
street door, auAeios Ovpa, sometimes opened outwards ; ^ but as

O' ^S

I 0000

C i

^4 i

8 •-

' o"o 'o o LiLI

0000

□

^\°

0000

/? r-

FiG. 5, —Speculative Tlax of House.

the streets grew more crowded, the inconvenience of this was
felt, and it was prohibited at Athens under penalty of a fine.
So generally in later times the door opened inward, whence a
door on opening was said ivSovvau. Through the door we enter
the TTvXtJv or dvpwv, called by Vitruvius ^ the OvpiDpelov (2), a
narrow passage which led between the porter's cell on the one
side (4), and the stables of horses on the other (3), into the
first court (A), which belonged to the male part of the family
and was called the 'AvS/awvins. In the midst was the viraiOpov,
or space open to the sky ; around the four sides ran covered
walks supported by pillars, and behind these were the rooms (8)
where slept and lived the male slaves and sons of the family

A list. (JJcon. ii. 5.

^ Vitruvius

PRIVATE HOUSES: HISTORICAL TIMES 37

when unmarried. We should indeed speak of cells rather than
rooms ; the chambers were really recesses not a fourth the size
of our rooms, and divided from the court not by doors but by
curtains let down, Tzapairerdcrixara. Hence they were also called
SwfxaTLa. They comprised bedrooms, koltojvcs, as well as rooms
for retiring. When the guests were received into the house
itself, their rooms, ^evwves, were in this first court. But more
usually in great houses the ^evojvcs seem to have been quite
outside the building. Thus Euripides ^ speaks of the l^omioi
^€vC)ve<i of the palace of Admetus, and Vitruvius confirms this
arrangement. At the end of the court furthest from the street
were larger rooms, oTkol, such as that in which the men dined,
called the avdpdv (B), which contained the ka-yapa (6). In the
kitchen were ovens, iTrvoi or Kpt/Savot, for the cooking of flesh.
Amidst these rooms ran another narrow passage, guarded by
a strong door (7)^ which was usually locked at night, leading
into the second court (C), which was that of the women, the
VvvaLKovLTis. This passage was called the fxecravkos or /ieravAog,
and it was the height of effrontery for any visitor to pass it
without an express permission from the master of the house, a
favour which was rarely accorded except to near relations and
intimate friends. The mistress of the house had the range of
the whole of it ; her dominion was bounded only by the street
door; 2 but the unmarried daughters of the house seldom passed
the fiioravXos, except on important occasions.

A somewhat vivid glimpse into the interior of the men's
apartments is given us in Plato's Protagoras, where Socrates
narrates his visit with Hippocrates to the house at Athens, in
which the eminent rhetorician was staying. " When we had
reached the porch, we stopped to finish the discussion of a
subject which had arisen on the way : so, in order not to leave
our talk unfinished, we stood arguing in the porch till we came
to an agreement. The porter, an eunuch, heard us, as I fancy ;
and probably being vexed with those who frequented the house,
because of the number of the Sophists, when we knocked at
the door, and he opened it and saw us, said, ' Ah ! more
Sophists ; he is not at leisure.' And so with both hands he
shut the door with all the vigour he could command. Then

' AIccsUk, 5J4,

2 Xen. (Econ. ix. 5. This door was closed for two purposes, I'm yUTyrc
iK(p4pr]TaL ii>5o6ev 6 Ti fxr] de?, /xrire TeKVoiroLwvrai oi oU^rai Avev t^s rj/Merepas
ypic/jL-qs.

2 Menander apnd Stob. Scrm. Ixxiv. 11 : iripas yap aSXios dvpa, eXevdepq.
yvvaiKl v€vbfJ.LaT oiKla%.

38 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

we knocked again ; and he, with door shut, answered us :
* Fellows,' said he, ' did you not hear that he is not at
leisure?' 'But, friend,' said I, 'we did not come to see
Callias, nor are we Sophists ; cheer up, for we came in hope
of seeing Protagoras. Come, announce us.' Grudgingly then
the man opened the door to us. When we entered, we saw
Protagoras walking up and down in the prostobn, and in a
line with him walked, on one side of him, Callias, the son of
Hipponicus, and his brother on the mother's side, Paralus, son
of Pericles ; and Charmides, son of Glaucon ; and on the other
side, the other son of Pericles, Xanthippus ; and Philippides,
the son of Philomelus ; and Antimoerus of Mende, who is the
most notable of Protagoras' pupils, and learns with a view to
practise, intending to be a Sophist. These were followed by
a throng listening to the talk, who were mostly strangers,
whom Protagoras attracts from all cities through which he
passes, charming them with his voice, like Orpheus, so that
they follow the witchery of his talk : in the chorus, however,
were some Athenians. I was particularly pleased as I watched
this chorus to see what care they took never to be in the way
in front of Protagoras; but when he turned, and those with
him, in good and orderly fashion, they separated in this direc-
tion and that, and, wheeling round, kept themselves always in
the rear most admirably. ' Next after him I beheld,' as Homer
puts it, Hippias of Elis sitting on a chair in the opposite
prostoon. Around him sat on benches Eryximachus, the son of
Acumenus ; and Phaedrus of Myrrhine ; and Andron, the son of
Androtion, and various strangers, some his own countrymen and
some not. They seemed to be questioning Hippias about
physics and astronomical subjects, while he, sitting on his
chair, was deciding matters for each, and going through the
questions in detail. Then, ' Tantalus, I saw ; ' for Prodicus
of Ceos was staying there : he was in a room which Hipponicus
had before used as a store-room; but now Callias, in conse-
quence of the crowd of visitors, had emptied it and made it a
guest-chamber. Prodicus indeed was still in bed, covered up,
it seemed, with fleeces and coverlets many in number ; and on
couches near there sat by him Pausanias of Ceramis [and
others]. But what they were talking about I could not tell
from outside, though very desirous to hear Prodicus, for he
seems to me an all-^vise man and a divine ; but because of the
grave tone of his voice, a certain echo rising in the house kept
making his words indistinct."

There is in this passage one important term connected with

PKIVATE HOUSES: HISTORICAL TIMES 39

the house which we have not explained. This is the irpocrTioov.
When Socrates reached the house of Callias he found on enter-
ing Protagoras walking up and down in the tt/docttwov, accom-
panied by his disciples, and Hippias seated in the opposite
TT/oocTTcoov (Iv TO) KaravTLKpv irpodTiiHo) among his followers. It is
difficult to be certain of the meaning of the terms here em-
ployed, but it would seem that the two prostoa are the two
ends of the andronitis, that next the street and that next the
women's apartments, in which case the rival Sophists mentioned
by Plato would be separated by the whole length of the first
court. The third Sophist, Prodicus, lay in one of the chambers
opening out of the peristyle. If three discussions could go on
at once in the andronitis, and three parties of pupils assemble,
it must have been of considerable size.

The ground plan of the women's court was probably in
general similar to that of the men. There was the same
hypsethral opening, with chambers round, chambers mostly
tenanted by female slaves or used as the offices of the mistress.
But here the peristyle, according to Yitruvius, stretched round
three sides of the court only. On the fourth side, that furthest,
as a rule, from the street and the [xeo-avXos, was a different
arrangement. There were here two pillars only, and between
them a recess called iracrTas or Trpoa-rds (10), which seems to have
been a shallow room with walls on three sides, but open to the
court. This Tracrras is mentioned by Xenophon,^and would appear
to be an ancient and essential part of the house, if we consider
the passage of Galen already discussed, where we find mention of
something closely resembling it in rude and primitive farmhouses.
About this recess were grouped the most important rooms of
the court. On one side of it, according to Yitruvius, was the
OdXapLos (11), the bedroom of the master and mistress of the
house, where were stored the most precious pieces of furniture
and coverlets. 2 On the other side was the a/x</)t^aAa/A09 (12),
where slept in all probability the unmarried daughters of
the house. Behind the TrpocrTas were a series of rooms (13,
14) where the women and female slaves worked by day, spinning
and weaving under the eyes of the mistress. Here the house
ended, either in a blank wall or in a garden ^ entered from the
women's rooms by a door, Kiy-aia Ovpa (15).

Such was the ideal rather than the actual arrangement of a
Greek mansion. In actual fact, doubtless the architect built

^ Memor. iii. 8, 9. - Xenoph. CEcon. ix. 3.

■^ For representations of ancient gardens, see Schreiber's BiUieratlas,
pi. Iv.

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

according to the space at his disposal and the wishes of his
cHent. In many houses some of the features mentioned would
be absent, in others they would be differently arranged from
the prescription of Yitruvius. This is notably the case with
the only Greek house which has reached us in such a state that
its restoration may be considered by no means hopeless, a
mansion of the second century B.C., excavated at Delos by M.
Homolle,^ of which we here copy the ground-plan. The door-

%M ^5

Fig. 5a.— House at Delos.

way on the street, which was encrusted with marble, led into
the vestibule A, between the chambers B and C, one of which
doubtless belonged to the porter. Through this we pass into
the peristyle D, the hypaethral opening of which is paved with
mosaic and surrounded by columns ten feet high. From this
peristyle there open off a variety of rooms of which H would
probably be the dining-hall. As besides the columns of the
peristyle, pillars of smaller size were found in the ruins, it seems

^ Bulletin de Corresp. Hell. 1884, p. 473, pi. xxi.

PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES 4 I

certain, as M. Hoinolle observes, that a second peristyle sur-
mounted the first, and about it were probably grouped the
women's rooms. These would be approached by a staircase
instead of the fxio-avXos. This arrangement of the house on
two floors instead of one was, as we shall presently see, not
unusual.

This house has only one door, that opening on the street.
A somewhat notable feature in it is presented bj the under-
ground cisterns or cellars, which are indeed, as M. Homolle
observes, very common among the ruins at Delos. The storage
of water would be at Delos specially necessary ; yet we must
suppose such cisterns, with runlets and drains, to have been
usual in Greek houses : they are even found at Tiryns.

An important subject of inquiry is the number and position
of the shrines of deities in the Greek mansion. This subject
has been of late years discussed by Petersen and Preuner,^ but
there is still considerable doubt in regard to it. Outside the
houses were many Hermae, situate, as Thucydides says,^ in front
of private houses as well as in shrines, and almost every large
house had a statue or painting or altar of Apollo Aguieus placed
close by the outer door. Suidas says that the Oeos 'Ayvuvs
was sometimes identified rather with Dionysus than with
Apollo ; and as the deity was often represented by a mere
conical pillar, it may be doubted if he was really different from
the Hermes of the street. Within the house there were many
shrines.^ The priest of any deity would naturally have a small
shrine and image of that deity in his private house. In the
bedchamber little sanctuaries of the Oeot ya/xy^Aiot were not
unusual. Indeed, private fancy might convert a house into
a nest of deities, each represented by a statue, and honoured
with a little altar ; and many small shrines have been found
in the houses at Pompeii. Plato, in the Laws,* advocates the
abolition of these ])rivate sacraria, as leading often to impiety,
and complains of the superstition of those who erect in their
private houses altars and shrines, thinking by private devotion
to get the gods on their side. But apart from these question-
able practices, it would seem that Greek houses usually had
two altars which specially belonged to the family as such.
These belonged to Zeus Herceius and to Hestia respectively.
The altar of Zeus seems to have been in the midst of the
andronitis. The altar of Hestia, which was originally the mere

' Petersen, Ifaus;/vtter ; Preuner, Uestia. ' vi. 27.

^ Some are figured in Schreiber't, Atlaf, pi. xviii. ■♦ x. {•. 909.

42 THE SUEROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

fire of the household, altered its character when regular kitchens
came into use. Hestia did not migrate to the kitchen when
the custom of having viands prepared there came in, but still
retained her post in the principal room of the house, and had
an altar in the place of the blazing fire with which she had
previously been associated. To this subject we will presently
return. On the altar of Hestia sacrifices were ofi'ered to all
gods, and such altars belonged not only to private houses,
but to each city and tribe, being found in town-halls and
prytaneia.

We must institute a brief comparison between the Homeric
and the historical Greek house. It is generally assumed that
these have nothing in common, and must be studied quite
apart. This I do not hold. I think it can be shown that the
first hypaethral court or andronitis is the successor of the
Homeric aule ; that the andron is the diminished and reduced
successor of the Homeric megaron ; and that the position and
perhaps the arrangement of the women's quarters was not
greatly changed.

Of the truth of this statement I will offer three proofs. Of
these the first arises from the probabilities of the case. A rude
farmyard like the aule, and a huge rough hall like the megaron
suited free life in the country and the rough sociability of
Homeric times. As the Greeks grew in culture and took to
living in cities, the aule would naturally become civilised, and
the rooms round it become part of the house, while on the
other hand the feeding-room of the men would lose its enor-
mous proportions and become a dining-room instead of a feast-
ing-hall. Secondly, we find that, as a matter of fact, the term
avXri is used by Greek writers to designate the andronitis.
Thus in a passage of Plutarch ^ we read of a crowd forcing the
outer door of a house and rushing across the avXr] into the
OdXafjios, that is to say, passing across the first court into the
second or gynoeconitis. But the best and most decisive of all
proofs that the av^poivlns of later Greek houses corresponds
to the Homeric avX-q, and the avS/awv to the Homeric fx^yapov
is found in the positions of the altars of deities, which are
evidently the especial features of an ancient house least likely
to be changed. In the Homeric house we found the altar of
Zeus Herceius in the midst of the aule; in the later Greek
house the same altar was certainly in the midst of the court of

^ Be Genio Socr. 32. Cf. Plato, Prolog, p. 311, where the word avKij
is similarly used.

PKIVATE HOUSES: HISTORICAL TIMES 43

the androiiitis.^ In the Homeric house the altar of Hestia was
in the megaron, and in the historical house probably in the
andron, or dining- room. ^

The floors were usually made of concrete. At^ocrTpwra, or
mosaics of stone, did not come in until the times of the Ter-
gamene kings ; but the concrete was painted in patterns so
as to please the eye. Yitruvius^ gives a complete recipe for
its manufacture in true Greek style. Whether there were
usually doors between the various rooms and the courts has been
disputed. It is evident that storehouses and places of that
kind must often have had doors which would fasten. But
the division in the case of ordinary rooms was made rather by
means of parapetasmata. When doors existed, as they certainly
did in the metaulus and probably in the thalamus, they were
usually fastened by a wooden bolt, fitting into a niche in the
doorpost, a perfect fastening for those within. But doors like
those of closets had to be fitted with locks and keys to be
opened from outside ; and in fact a certain number of bronze keys
have come down to us, and the manner in which they were
used is shown by paintings on vases. When locks were not
used, a substitute was found in the crcfipayis or seal, which was
commonly set on all doors which hid valuable property. Of
course if at any time one of these seals were found broken
some slave would be sure to suffer for it.

The light entered the Greek house mainly through the
central openings in the roofs of the courts. There were indeed
windows, OvpiSes, in the outer walls, especially of the upper
storeys, and even windows looking on the street, at which the
women would sometimes surreptitiously show themselves. As,
however, the Greeks did not, until Roman times, use glass, these
were necessarily small and often closed. They were probably,
like windows at Cairo,^ filled with wooden lattices so closely
worked as to shut out the sunlight and secure privacy. The
interior decoration of houses seems first to have been carried
out with any completeness at Athens by Alcibiades, who em-
ployed the painter Agatharchus on that task ; but the poorness
of the light within made the attempt always unsatisfactory,
nor do the greater painters seem to have undertaken it. A
commoner decoration than painting seems to have been stucco
ornaments, TrotKiA/xara.^ No paintings were found on the walls
of M. Homolle's Delian house : slabs of marble seem to have

^ Plato, Hepub. p. 328. - Cf. Agam. 1055, 'Ecrrla /x€a6/jL(pa\os.

^ vii. 4. ^ Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 6.

^ Plato, Repuh. vii. p. 529.

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

been used instead. But at a later time, as at Pompeii, paint-
ings of very moderate merit were universal.

The arrangements for the warming of Greek houses were of
a somewhat primitive character. It is supposed that large
halls were warmed by a fire lighted in the midst, of which the
smoke escaped, not by any special outlet, but by a hole in the
roof. It is generally supposed that the passage in the Wasps ^
in which Philocleon tries to escape from the house with the
smoke implies a regular chimney, but this can scarcely be
allowed. The heating of rooms was accomplished, as it often
is to this day in Southern Europe, by filling a portable brazier,
dvOpaKidj with wood or charcoal and setting fire to it. The

Fig. 6.— Window.-' (Late Greek Vasr.)

fumes of course fill the room, but this is tolerated for the sake
of the warmth. In this way light as well as heat would be
secured ; but when light without heat was required, little lamps
of metal or of earthenware were lit, and placed on shelves or
on tall lampstands, ^v/xiaTrjpta. These lamps in later times took
the place of the rude torches of Homer. Sometimes, however,
the shape of the torch was retained, but it was made in metal
and filled with resin and other combustibles, and a sort of
saucer was added to keep the burning substances from falling
on the hands.

A great house with two courts would suit the means of the
wealthy only. Persons of moderate means contented them-

Waaps, 1. 144.

Millingen, Vases Grecs, pi. 30.

PRIVATE HOUSES: HISTORICAL TIMES 4 5

selves with a small area and two sets of rooms, one set over
the otlier, of which the upper was appropriated to the women,
the lower to the men. This we learn from an oration of
Lysias,^ who describes the house of one Euphiletus as of this
character. But the wife of Euphiletus bearing a child, the
husband resigned in her favour the lower storey,^ fearing that
she might receive an injury, having daily to ascend and descend
a ladder when she wanted to wasli. He took in return the
upper storey. Whether these vireptZa or upper chambers were
usually to be found in the great houses is not certain. If they
existed, they were used only by slaves. People of a still poorer
class lived in a single room, or rather cell. The crowding in
our modern towns was far exceeded by that of the cities of
antiquity, as is abundantly proved by existing ruins, notably at
Rome and Pompeii.

Besides the private dwellings of citizens were to be found in
all great cities, more especially those of late growth, like Antioch
and Alexandria, tall lodging-houses, crvvoiKiai, piled storey above
storey, in the fashion of the Roman insulae, each storey being
probably the abode of a separate family. The different storeys
were probably reached by means of ladders. At Athens the
metoeci must have lived in such abodes, for the law would not
recognise their possession of a separate house. As the Greeks
used, not sloping, but flat roofs, o-r^yt-j, in all their houses, it
would be easy to add storey after storey to the edifice as
necessity arose. These flat roofs were also places for exercise
and for surveying the streets, and sometimes, Jn case the city
were attacked, they furnished a splendid vantage-ground for
street fighting.

The furniture of houses, like their arrangements generally,
became more and more luxurious and splendid after the political
decay of Greece had begun. Ischomachus' house, in Xenophon's
Economics, fairly represents the well-ordered but not luxurious
abode of an Athenian in the fifth century.

"]\ry house, Socrates," he says, "is not adorned with stucco
ornaments, but the rooms are all built with a view to being
as well fitted as possible to the contents for which they are
intended, so that they seemed to demand what was fitting to
each. The thalamos in a safe corner seemed to call for coverlets
and vessels of the most valuable sort ; the dry parts of the house,

^ De CcBile Eratosth. ii. 3.

- Young children also were kept in the lower part, for fe.ir of injury ;
hence the point in Acharn. 411 : dva^dSrju iroieT^, i^iv Kara^dSriv, ovk eros

46 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

corn; the cold, wine; and the light parts to require such furniture
and vessels as most need light. And I showed my wife the
living-rooms well adorned, arranged so as to be cold in summer
and warm in winter. And I took her over all the house,
shoAving her how it lies open to the south, so as evidently to
be sunny in winter and shady in summer. . . . And when we
had been over all these things, then we began to array the
furniture in sets. We began first by putting together the
things we use for sacrifice. After that we set out the female
attire used for festivals, the male attire used for festivals and
for war, then the coverlets (o-T/ow/xara) in the gynaeconitis, those
in the andronitis, women's sandals, and men's sandals. There
was one class consisting of w^eapons, one of spinning materials,
one of materials for making bread, one of cooking-vessels,
another of washing materials, another of things to do with
baking, another of things to do with setting meals. These
all we divided into sets, some for constant use, and some only
for feasts." ^

The seats used in Greek houses seem to have gone under the
names, Stcfipos, kAict/xos, and dpovos. The first of these was the
simple stool without back. Very frequently it folded like our
camp-stools, but sometimes again the legs were stiff, as in the
case of the StffipoL carried by the women of the metoeci in the
Panathenaic procession. The distinction between kAict/xos and
6p6vos is not rigidly kept. Both were seats with backs, and
usually accompanied by a footstool, but the dpovos was more
solid and square-made. The chairs which we find on vases and
reliefs combine elegance with great comfort : the sloping backs
are admirably adapted to the convenience of the sjlte^. On
the other hand the stately seats of the gods (in their temples)
and in great houses, though not so comfortable, lent themselves
very much to ornament. Backs, sides, bars, and legs offered
a series of flat surfaces, each of which was frequently inlaid
with gold and ivory or adorned with sculptural reliefs. In the
case of couches, K-AtVat, also we find lighter and heavier classes,
which may be considered as elongations of the 8i(f)po<s and the
Opovos respectively. The lighter couches were carried from
room to room and used both at meal-time and bed-time.^ They
frequently had a back, resembling exactly in shape our old-
fashioned sofas. The usual arrangement of Greek beds was
as follows : across the frame strong thongs, tovol, were stretched

' In Schreiber's Bilderatlas, pi. Ixxxvi., will be found representations of
pieces of furniture.

^ A couch is figured below, Vig. 22.

PRIVATE HOUSES : HISTORICAL TIMES 47

in order to form a support.^ On this was placed a mattress,
KV€(f)aXov or TvXelov, usually stuffed with wool, and pillows,
7rpo(TK€(fia.XaLa, for which feathers were sometimes used. Upon
these were piled various coverlets, oncrvpaL, 7re/3to-Tpt6/xaTa, or
eTTi/SXijixaTa, of wool and skin, and the recliner might, according
to the weather, lie under or on them. The Greek over-garments
acted perfectly as blankets, so that the warmth could be in-
creased at pleasure. A bed of the commoner sort, such as
Socrates used, was called o-ki/xttoi^s.

Large square or oblong tables, rpaTre^aL, were not in use
among the Greeks. At meal times a number of small three-
legged tables, TpiTToSes, were brought in by the slaves, and
placed one or two at each couch to hold the food and drink.
At the end of a meal they could easily be carried out and the
floor cleaned from the debris which accumulated there, such as
bones and other uneatable fragments.

A prominent place in the apartments of the women was
occupied by the chests and presses, XapvaKcs or Ki/?coTot, where
clothes and articles of adornment were stored. These were
large and solid, and frequently inlaid with ivory and metal,
and adorned with reliefs and designs. Sometimes they were
covered, like the chest of Cypselus,^ with mythological and
legendary scenes, every scene being accompanied with in-
scriptions to explain its meaning. Such chests are constantly
represented in later vases, together with unguent-boxes, mirrors,
and all the necessaries for female adornment.

Most large houses would have a sundial, yvw/xwv, by which
the course of time might be traced. Sometimes in place of it
a KXexpvSpa, or water-clock, was used, which marked the course
of the hours by the rise or fall of water in a graduated vessel.
Both dials and clepsydrae were also disposed in public spots in
the cities, such as the agoras.^

The earthenware in a Greek house was of extraordinary
variety, and often of great beauty. There was the vast ttlOos,
in which oil, water, or provisions were stored, which was
let into the earth and was as capacious as a modern cistern.
There were the tall tapering d/xc^opeis, which were filled with
wine and stored in cellars underground, rude vessels of coarse
clay. Of a very different fabric were another kind of vessels,
which were beautifully painted with figures, and of very ele-
gant shapes. In the vase-rooms of the British Museum is a

^ A bed described in detail, Lysistrata, 916.
"^ Fully described by Pausanias, v. 17.

3 See Chapter I f.

48 THE SUREOUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

lar^'e collection of these receptacles, which have been preserved
in large numbers to our days in consequence of the Greek
custom of placing them in graves. Some of the more notice-
able forms may be mentioned. The vSpia was used by women
for fetching water. It was a bulky vessel, distinguished by
having a third handle half-way down, to render its carriage
easier. The dii(}iop€vs was a tall, handsome vessel^ with two
large handles, used for holding wine, oil, and other liquids.
The kinds of vases used most in drinking were the Kparrip,
which was in shape like a large loving-cup, and w^as used
in mixing wine w4th water ; the olvoxoi], a sort of decanter
out of which wine was poured ; the \pvKTi]p, or cooling vessel ;
and the kvXl^, which was the ordinary drinking cuj), in shape
like a large flat wineglass with two handles, but seldom hold-
ing less than half a pint, usually more. For the kylix a drink-
ing-horn, Kepas or pvrov, was sometimes substituted. These had
a hole at the lower end, which was stopped by the thumb.
This hole w^as put to the mouth, the thumb removed, and the
vessel drained at a draught.

Another vessel in constant use was the XtJkvOos, which was
filled with oil and carried with the strigil to the bath. The
dpv/3aXXo's and the dXa/Saa-rpov, the latter of alabaster, were
used for unguents, and often imported with their contents from
the East. The (faaXat were flat saucers which would hold
solids, and the KaXadot or baskets were used for fruit or bread.

Most or all of the above vessels were also made in bronze and
silver, or, except at an early period, in glass, vaAiva l/<7rco/xaTa;2
and in wealthy houses earthenware, Kepafxeia, was probably used
but little. There was also no doubt in Greek houses a great
variety of kitchen utensils in earthenware, iron, and bronze,
of tripods, and Xef^rjres, and saucepans, and cooking-pots, but as
there is no Greek Pompeii few specimens have come down to
us. We must not, however, omit to mention a common domestic
object which time has naiurally destroyed, the ao-Kos or leather-
bottle, which was the rival of the amphora of earthenware as
a receptacle for wine.

^ Tin's class of amphorae must be distinguished from that above men-
tioned. It may be doubted whether these painted va<es were really used.
Vessels of metal would be more serviceable.

- .Achiirn. ~ ;.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 49

CHAPTEK V

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN ^

In speaking of the dress of Greek men and women there are
two distinctions which we must ever bear in mind. The first
is between the Ionic and Doric style of dress. The Ionic was
tliat used by the natives of Asia Minor, the Phrygians and
Lycians, and the Greeks who came in contact with them.
According to Herodotus ^ it was originally Carian, and adopted
from the Carians by the Greeks. The second was the national
Greek dress, which belonged to tlie primitive inhabitants of the
country, and was used by the Greeks, except the lonians, in
Homer's time, and again in the best ages of Greece. It is thus
the Doric dress that usually appears on statuary, except the
archaic.

The second distinction is between the eVSv/za, the under-
garment which was put on, and the Trept/^Xrjua or eTrt/SXi^ixa, the
cloak or mantle which was, as we shall see, merely thrown
round the form and fastened by one clasp at most. The verb
evSveaOai is used regularly for putting on the inner, TrepijSdXXea-daL
for putting on the outer garment.

But almost all Greek dresses, whether under- or over-garments,
consist in origin and essence of a square or oblong piece of
material, merely made up without or with sewing into a shape
suitable for wearing. The only exceptions to this rule are the
Ionian chiton and certain under-garments used apparently for
warmth alone, and met with occasionally in sculpture and more
frequently on vases. It may perhaps be at fh'st doubted
whether the authority of monuments of painting and sculpture
is the most satisfactory that can be procured in regard to Greek
dress. Of course in our day sculpture does not reproduce the
dress of actual daily life, but a conventional synthesis. We
have, however, no ground for supposing that such was the case
among the Greeks. Dress with them was of a character well
adapted to sculptural effect. In the later Greek reliefs, no
doubt, dress is introduced as drapery, that is rather with a
view to artistic effect than to reproducing a convenient or even
a possible way of clothing. And in archaic art we often find

^ An excellent work on Greek Dress is that of Lady Evans (Macuiillan
and Co., 1893). 2 y^ 8s.

50 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

folds and arrangements of dress of a purely conventional
character. Nevertheless monuments are on the whole the most
trustworthy, as they are by far the most complete sources of
testimony as to Greek clothing, and it is satisfactory to note
that on the whole the information thence derived is entirely
confirmed by the statements of ancient writers, as we shall see
in the course of this chapter.

That the dress worn alike by men and women in Greece was
not of a character to satisfy modern notions of comfort or even
of decency is unquestionable ; but we must make allowances
for the climate of the Greeks, the character of their civilisation,
and more especially their feeling that nudity brought no dis-
grace on a man, while women seldom mingled with men in
public. In our day in Japan, ^ a country which bears much
resemblance to Greece in social conditions, the same notions
as to dress still prevail.

There is some difficulty as to the primitive dress of the
Athenians. Homer distinctly includes them among the Taoves
eAK€;(iTwves,^ who wear long trailing garments, and we have
abundant evidence, including a statement of Thucydides,^ that,
in the time preceding the Persian wars, Athenian men wore
long linen chitons reaching to the ground, and fastened their
hair in the Ionian manner with golden grasshoppers. Herodotus,
however, asserts that the women of the Athenians wore in
early times the Dorian dress and changed it for the Ionian
on a specified historical occasion. An Attic expedition against
yEgina, probably of the sixth century* B.C., had so disastrously
failed that one survivor only returned, and he was stabbed
to death by the women with the brooches (Trepovai) of their
garments. This so much offended the Athenian people that
they compelled the women to change their chiton to the Ionian,
which did not require brooches for its support. Scarcely can
we believe, even on the testimony of Herodotus, that the
Ionian dress for men and the Dorian for women were in use
at once at Athens before the ^ginetan war ; and yet this
is what we must suppose if we accept his story.

At any rate it is certain that, before the Persian wars, the
Ionian dress was common, while from the time of the Persian
wars onwards men in Greece proper wore the Dorian dress,
and that the women also mostly wore the Dorian dress
throughout Greece proper at the same period. For in the

^ See Miss Bird's Japan, vol. i. pp. 148, 150, 154. ^ p ^iii. 685.

^ I. 6 ; cf. Aristoph. Kniyhts, 1. 1331 ; Eustath. ad II. xiii. 685.
* Herod, v. 87 : B.C. 5S0-550, according to Miiller, ^^gindica.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 5 I

case of both sexes, whereas sculpture of the early period
often represents the Ionian, that of developed Greek art repre-
sents predominantly the Dorian dress. In the sculptures from
the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, the temple at Bassae, and
other buildings of the age of Pericles and subsequent times,
the Doric dress is usually borne both 1)y men and women.

There are indeed great difficulties as to the distinction of
Ionian and Dorian dress on the monuments. There are
many instances in which the dress is clearly Ionian, others
in which it is clearly Dorian ; but there is a large class
between the two ; and it may be doul)ted whether some of
the characteristics of archaic dress, instead of being of Ionian
type, may not really be due to the peculiarities of early art.
We would take as the type and example of Ionic dress
the figures on the so-called Harpy tomb from Lycia, and of
the Dorian dress the figures of Sterope and Ilippodameia in
the pediment at Olympia.

I must describe in some detail the method of wearing the
principal Greek dresses : the Ionian chiton, the Dorian chiton,
the himation, and the chlamys. Our guides for the present
will be extant monuments ; afterwards we will consider the
testimony of writers as to the different classes which wore
these garments.

The Ionian chiton worn by women seems in shape to have
resembled a long night-gown, with two full sleeves reaching
somewhat below the elbow. That worn by men also reached
the feet. It was made of linen. The statues of the bearded
Dionysus, one of which is at the British Museum, show this
chiton as worn by men ; its wearing by women is far more
usual. Besides the Lycian tomb at the British ^luseum, the
female archaic statues at Athens, Delos, and Ephesus and else-
where bear this dress, and it appears in early Attic vase
paintings.

The Ionian chiton was worn by both men and women in
exactly the same way ; and over it was worn a heavy square
garment, doubled, and often fastened by a brooch, usually on
one shoulder. Some writers regard tliis over-garment as the
equivalent of the Doric chiton, and the Ionian chiton as an
under shift ; while some regard it as the himation, of which
we shall presently speak. The dress of men and women on
monuments like the Harpy tomb is so undistinguishable that
several of the figures now recognised as male were for a long
time supposed to be female.

The princi})le of the Doric women's chiton will be readily

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

understood from the accompanying illustrations. A piece of
square or oblong cloth or linen was taken (Fig. 8, I. I m o n), and
doubled over at the line a b, when it would present the form
a b n, where the portion a m is double. This was again
doubled at the line c d and folded backwards so as to leave the
flap I m c visible (Fig. 8, II.). The person putting it on would
now stand inside it at e f li g (Fig. 8, ITT.), and fix with buckles

Fig. 7.— Tonic Dress: M.enad. (From a Vase.)

or clasps the front and back portions together over each
shoulder at e and /. She would then let the corners a b
and c fall, and the whole chiton would be disposed about her.
The flap over at the upper part of the body was called the
diplois, St7rA.ot5iov or aTroTrruy/xa. The left side of the body
c d was thus properly shielded, but the right side a b, n o,
was comparatively unprotected, the chiton being only fastened

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN

at the shoulders and being open from the shoulder to the
ground. For this reason the chiton was often termed crxio-Tos.
To remedy this defect a girdle was used, being fastened round
the loins of the wearer ; under the girdle the dress could easily
be drawn so as to overlap and to hide the want of continuity.
ISIoreover, as the chiton was generally long, it would trail on the
ground unless raised by means of the girdle, (lovq or ^wviov,
when the superfluous length would fall over the girdle in the

A -A

}

Fig. 8.— I. ii. iii.

form of a fold or koAtto?. Sometimes the open side of the chiton
was sewed up, as is the case with the Canephorae of the Erech-
theum, and our Fig. 9, and sometimes in addition to the one
fastening at the shoulder others were added on the upper arm.
It is to be observed that the women of the Spartans, Cretans,
and other true Dorian races did not wear a xinjiv 7ro8i']pi]s such
as we have described, but a shorter garment reaching to the
knee and offering less impediment to the motion of the legs.
It was put on as above mentioned, and the diplois and girdle

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

were universal ; but sometimes it was fastened on one shoulder
only, so as to leave the right arm perfectly free. For this short
cliiton see the statue at the Vatican, which represents the girl
who won the race at Olympia, or most of the statues of the

Dorian huntress Artemis. It is
clear that the girdle afforded the
means of making any chiton as
short as the wearer pleased by
making the kolpos fuller. In the
case of most statues we see the
kolpos falling just below the diplois.
Sometimes the dipluis was made
long and the girdle passed over
that as well as the rest. It was
possible, as we see from a statue at
the British Museum, to draw over
the head the part of the diplois
which fell down the back so as to
form a sort of hood or veil, Kakvirrpa.
or KdXvfiixa. The veil was among
Greek women not usually a separate
article of dress, but only a fold of
the upper or under garment.^

When women wore a large and
thick chiton with diplois they often
wore nothing over it. Indeed the
Dorian chiton may be considered
quite as much an outer ^ as an
under garment. Pollux ^ says that
when a garment was so ample as
to serve alike as an under and an
over-garment, eVSv/xa re ofxov kol
TTepipXrifxa, it was called a ^vcnk.
This ^vcrris seems to constitute the
dress of women in such monuments
as the pediments of Olympia, and
the dress of young girls on the
Athenian stelae.
The chiton of Dorian men, which indeed was in historical
times worn by all Greeks, did not differ in shape and arrange-

^ For an instance of hiding the face with the chiton, see Phitarch, Dc
Virt. Mul. 26.
^ Thus Herodotus, in the passage already cited, calls it l/xdTio:>.
^ vii. 49.

Fig. 9.— Bronze Figure

FROM HeRCULANEUM.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN

ment from that of women, but was very much shorter, being
arranged without a diplois or kolpos, and yet reaching only
half-way down the thigh.

The himation was worn in much the same way by both
sexes, by women as the upper, by men frequently as the sole
garment. It consisted of a large nearly square piece of cloth,
doubled over {abed, see Fig. lo, I.) at the line I m, so as to be
oblong (l m c d, Fig. lo, II.). This was then taken up and the
point X placed on the left shoulder, the line x m reaching down
the chest. It was then brought round the back until the point
y passed under the right arm, which was left quite free. It
was then brought round the chest until the point z reached
the left shoulder, when the remainder z I was gathered together

Fig. io— I. ii.

and thrown over the back (Fig. lo. III.). It was not fastened
at all, but held together by its own weight and by the arms.
Thus it required skilful adjustment; but a little practice with
a blanket will soon convince the student that it could easily be
kept on except during exercise or in a high wind. The above
is the most usual mode of adjustment, but several others were
common for the sake of comfort or variety. Thus sometimes
the order of arrangement just described was reversed, and the
garment brought first round the chest, under the right arm and
then round the back, in which case the end gathered together
would hang down in front of instead of behind the left shoulder.
Sometimes when this reverse order was observed the end of the
himation was at starting placed under the left arm instead of
being thrown backward over the shoulder. Sometimes it was

THE SUmiOUNDlNGS OF GREEK LIFE

fastened on one shoulder with a fibula. Other variations may
be observed by any one who takes the trouble to examine the
monuments. It would seem from reliefs that when a Greek
sat do^vll or reclined, he usually allowed his himation to fall to
his waist, about which he gathered it.

Women commonly draw the himation over instead of under

the right shoulder and turned
up the outer fold over the
head and shoulders to form
an ample veil. A good in
stance is the colossal statue
called Artemisia in the Brit-
ish Museum. The himation
of women was called dfJiTrey^ovr]
or (fioipos.^

Such were the ordinary or
standard shapes of the Greek
garments, but of course they
varied a good deal at various
times. Thus the x^^l^^'^)
which was originally a riding
and war cloak of the Thes-
salians and other northern
races, was early introduced
into Greece and almost en-
tirely superseded the hima-
tion as a cloak for young
men and for men on active
business. The mode of wear-
ing the chlamys was very
simple. It was of oblong
shape and doubled until
nearly square, as in the en-
graving; m n thus becomes
the closed side and ab,cd the
open one. The wearer stand-
ing with his back to the
reader puts his head through at 7n e and fastens the chlamys
at e with a buckle on his right shoulder. The ends would hang
down or flap in the wind, whence they were called irrepvyes.

1 The standard work un Greek dress is Studniczka, Altgriechische Tracht.
1886. I may say, however, that though the above views correspond nearly
with those of Studniczka, they had been written and expressed in lectures
before his work appeared.

F;G. 10. — III. ASKLEPIOS.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN

In this Avay the left arm, which was in riding naturally used
only to hold the reins, would be entirely covered, but the right
quite free to hold whip or lance ; the points c d would hang down
and nearly touch the ground.

The mention made of dress in various passages in Homer
shows that at that period all Greeks wore two garments, one
under and one upper. The under garment is called in Homer
by its later Greek name, the x^''^^^?^ in the case of men, but
in the case of women it was called TreTrAos.^ No doubt it was
a garment worn in Dorian fashion, short in the case of all men
except the Taoves kXKexiraives, but longer in the case of women.
Over this the Greek men wore a double or folded garment,
called by Homer xkalva^'^ or sometimes Awtti/, which are only
older names for the Greek i/xartov. Women wore, in addition

Fig. II.— I. II.

to the TTCTrAos, a veil, KaXv-n-rpa or Kp-j8€[xvov.^ The ^'^'^"'"^
served not only as a protection against weather, but being a
large square or oblong piece of woollen, was used as a bed-
covering.

Coming down to historical times, we do not find in the case
of dress so great changes as we found in the case of houses.
First we will speak of men. In historical times the lon;^
chiton had gone out of use, except in the case of priests and
other persons of dignity, as well as those who, like the
charioteer, required protection from the wind. Men wore as

^ Od. xiv. 488, &c. This word is rendered "'doublet" by Butcher ami
Lang. It clearly, however, corresponds to our " shirt."

- Thus Athena, when arming {/I. v. 734), takes off her peplos, and puts
on in its place the chiton of her father Zeus.

2 Od. xix. 226. "* Od. xviii. 292.

58 THE SUKROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

the normal dress a short Dorian chiton and a himation. This
miglit be proved by a score of passages ; but it will be sufficient
to cite one. It is said that Hippias at Olympia ^ wore nothing
that he had not made himself ; the list of his clothes includes
for the body only t/xanov, x'-'^^^^^'^^^^ and ^lovrj, or girdle. To
this rule, however, there were exceptions. At Athens boys in
early times wore only the chiton, went yvfxvob in the snow,^ as
Dikaios Logos says in Aristophanes ; and it was not until the
time of the Peloponnesian war that they took to wrapping
themselves up in himatia. When the boys reached the
ephebic age, they wore, besides the chiton, a chlamys, the
manner of wearing which garment may be studied in the
Parthenon frieze.

At Sparta, as might have been supposed, dress was ruder and
scantier. The boys, as Plutarch ^ tells us, began at twelve years
old to go about without a chiton, getting one himation a year.
And this custom they commonly kept up even as men, going
about with the himation only ; and the Spartan himation was
a small and rough garment. It was called contemptuously
TpijSMv by more luxurious Greeks. From the Spartans the
custom of dispensing with an under-garment spread among the
hardier, more simple, or more philosophical of the Greeks.
Socrates* wore only a poor himation, the same summer and
winter, with no chiton; so did the orator Lycurgus. Gelon,
King of Syracuse, sometimes surprised the citizens by coming to
the Ecclesia a;>(iTa)v ev i/xarttf). The followers of Antisthenes
carried the custom to a further extreme. Of course when occu-
pied in physical labour, a Greek would throw aside the outer
garment and wear the chiton only. The rude chiton, fastened
on one shoulder only, ere/DO/xao-xaXos ;>(tTwv or e^w/x6s, belonged
especially to slaves and those who had to undergo hard labour.
Freemen fastened the chiton over both shoulders, a/Ac^f/xdurxaAos

X^TiOV.

Gentlemen were particular as to the way of putting on and
the way of wearing the himation. The correct way of putting
on was called IttI Se^ta dvafSdXXccrdaL. Poseidon, in the Birds
of Aristophanes,^ ridicules Triballus for putting on his garment,
cTT dpiarrepa. By the former phrase seems to be implied the
gathering together of the end of the garment and throwing it
over the left shoulder. It was also well-bred to keep the left-
hand under the himation ; and it was considered the part of a

1 Plato, Hip. Min. p. 368. ^ Nubes, 1. 964. ^ Lycurg. 16.

4 Xenoph. Memor. i. 6, 2. ^ 1. 1567.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 59

lout, aypoLKos, to hoist the ends above the knee, so as to show
the legs;i it was far better to let it trail slightly on the
ground. We hear that it was one of the affectations of the
young Alcibiades ^ to let his himation trail on the ground.

Next as regards women : of these the usual house-dress con-
sisted of the chiton, the outdoor and comi)any dress of that
together with the himation. On the Athenian stelae, young
girls commonly wear only an ample chiton ; matrons wear the
himation also ; and slaves wear a garment with long sleeves.
It has been doubted whether in addition an under-chiton,
XiTiovLov, was not frequently worn. It is difficult to settle this
point by reference to the writers ; but probability is certainly
in favour of the wearing of warm underclothing in cold weather.
We find also in sculpture a few clear instances of an under-
chiton, as in case of one of the female figures on a drum of a
column from Ephesus in the British Museum.

The Laconian women, like the Laconian men, wore fewer
and more scanty clothes than their Attic sisters. Thus we
hear ^ that Periander of Epidaurus saw the daughter of Procles,
Melitta, dressed in Laconian fashion, pouring out wine for
men at work in the fields and fell in love with her. This
Laconian dress is more closely described in the passage
dva/x7re;>^ovos Kal jxovox^tojv -qv, " She had one chiton and no
over-garment." And not only did Dorian women go about
clad in chiton only, but that chiton was quite short. This
we may judge from the numerous statues of Amazons and
Artemis, wherein the chiton barely reaches to the knee.
So too Pausanias* says of the women who ran races at
Olympia that their x^'^^^ stopped short a little above the
knee, and they showed the right shoulder down to the chest,
a statement fully borne out by the celebrated statue in the
Vatican of a virgin victorious in the race.

Sometimes the diplois of a woman's dress was not a mere
fold of the chiton, but a separate garment, put on over it ; and
those Greek women who were in fear of losing their shape wore
something remotely resembling the modern stays. This was
the (TTpocfiLov, a broad band tied round the body just below the
breasts and restraining them and the abdomen. This article
appears in vase-paintings. Archaic sculpture shows a tendency
to contracting the waist of women ; but this tendency entirely
disappears in the period of developed art : it is clear that the

^ Theoplir. Char. 4. ^ piutarch, Alcib. i.

' Pythoenetus in A then. xiii. 56. ** v. 16, 3.

6o THE SUKROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

Greeks regarded a small waist not merely as unhealthy but
as ugly.

The colours of Greek dress were many. Men indeed wore both
chiton and himation usually either of white or of some sober
colour, such as brown. But that women wore the gayest and
brightest colours we know not only from statements of writers,
but from the statuettes discovered at Tanagra. The ground-
colour of the chiton was white or yellow ; it had a broad border
either of some bright colour, red or blue, or of deep embroidery.
As to the himatia of Avomen there is no rule. They were of
the gayest colours, frequently covered with stars, flowers, or
checks, and sometimes adorned with elaborate embroidery, rows
of animals, or human figures, beautiful designs of all sorts. ^

The material of the dress of the men seems to have been
wool. The chiton of the women was of far lighter and more
elegant material, as any one may see by examining the dresses
of the figures from the Parthenon. Linen was in use from the
oldest times, but some kinds of it were of great delicacy,
particularly a variety grown in the island of Amorgus. Byssus
also, the nature of which is somewhat obscure, was a very
delicate material. At a later period, silk, /?o/x^vK'iva, a-rjpiKa,
was much used by the rich, being imported by merchants from
the far East. The silkworm itself was not introduced until
Byzantine times. As early as Aristophanes we find mention
of the djxara Sta^avrj, which were affected by courtesans, such
as the notable Coan robes. The rough working-dresses of slaves
and artisans were often of leather, sometimes of the hide of
goats or sheep with the hair on. Such was the Sucfidepa of
herdsmen, and such the aegis, which Pallas retained in a modified
form to the latest times. Homer's heroes in some cases wear
the skin of a wild beast over their armour or chitons ; thus
Paris is clad in a panther's and Agamemnon in a lion's skin,
as is Heracles in monuments of all periods. ^

A few words must be added as to Greek military dress,
though that subject belongs more strictly to the antiquities of
war, treated of in a future chapter. The Greek hoplite, of
whom a typical figure is here engraved (Fig. 13), wore on his
head a helmet of bronze or iron with tall crest of horse-
hair. Some forms of helmet, the so-called Corinthian, could

^ The colours of Greek dresses may be studied not only in the Tanagra
statuettes, but also in the female archaic figures recently discovered at
Athens. A fragment of an actual dress adorned with figures of ducks,
chariots, and other devices was found in a grave in the Crimea [Comptes
Rendus, 1S78, pi. iv.) -' II. iii. 17 ; x. 23.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN

either he drawn down over the face or rest on the hack of
I he head. Otlier forms merely fitted the hack part of the head,
leaving the face free, but sometimes having cheek pieces to
protect the cheeks. The helmet of the iNIacedonians and
Thessalians had a broad brim, like that of their riding-hats.

I'lG. 12.- Garment of Demetkk. (From a Vase by Hieron.

The heavy cuirass, which was worn over a chiton, consisted of
two plates of metal, one for the front and one for the back,
which were laced together and connected also by metal shoulder-
pieces. In early days the Homeric fxirpr], plated with metal,
was worn below the waist,i but fell out of use. From b.c. 500

^ W. Leaf, Armou7' of Homeric Heroes {Journ. Hell. Stud. iv. 73).

THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

onwards, the groin was protected by leather flaps, Trre/Dvyes,
whicli hung down to the thigh, as in our example. Pausanias
observes (x. 27, 6) that a true cuirass (yvaXov) gave sufficient
protection even without a shield ; but it was heavy and cumbrous,
and as Pausanias implies, it was to a great extent superseded

■

I^H

■

^^^^Hjl*^^^

^^^

^P^^s^'

L ^'%

^^B.:-'; j^H

1^1

F\Q. 13.— Grkek Warrior, from a Vase.

in later times by lighter cuirasses composed of linen and leather.
On Greek vases, where heroes of old time are commonly depicted,
the metal cuirass is usual. Greaves on the lower legs, fastened
by elastic metal bands, Avith sandals, completed the equipment
The thighs had to be protected by the shield.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 6t^

The student who endeavours to collect the details of Greek
dress from the surviving monuments of art must be careful to
observe that the Greek sculptors, in representing Orientals,
Persians, or Phrygians, or the imaginary Amazons, endeavour to
give their dress according to the national habit of each. Thus
both Phrygians and Persians are made to wear chitons with
long sleeves and breeches, dva^vpLSes, reaching down to the feet ;
together with the Phrygian cap, which is the well-known cap
of liberty. In vases and reliefs Paris, Anchises, even Pelops
are often represented in this Oriental costume ; so the student
must not rashly assume that because a representation is of a
hero celebrated in Greek lore, therefore the details of his cos-
tume are Greek. In the case of the Amazons the Greek
artists allowed themselves much liberty, dressing them some-
times as Orientals in long sleeves and drawers, sometimes
merely in the short Doric chiton.

If we may judge from the monuments, the clothes of
Greek children did not differ except in size from those of
adults. In sepulchral reliefs we see young girls clad in the
Ionian or the Dorian chiton, just like their mothers, of whom
they are miniature copies, even to the way of doing the hair.
On vases we see young boys, if they have any clothes at all,
wearing the chiton or wrapped in great liimatia. It would
appear, however, from an already mentioned passage^ of Aristo-
phanes that the earlier custom was for boys to wear the chiton
only.

Near home, in the streets and the agora, neither men nor
women usually wore a hat. The women arranged the himation
so as to cover the head and hide most of the face ; the men
walked bare-headed. But in going on journeys, in riding
abroad, in working in the fields, and even in the cities in bad
weather, the men would carry a hat or cap. The hat, which
was worn by the Ephebi, by those who rode on horseback and
the upper classes generally, was, like the chlamys, introduced
from northern Greece. It was called the Trerao-o?, and was in
shape flat with broad rim. It is usually represented in statues
of Hermes, who was the traveller ^;a?' excellence. The Kava-ia,
worn by Macedonian husbandmen and cavalry, was little if at
all different. But while the petasus formed an excellent pro-
tection against the sun, it was not suitable for warding off wind
and rain. So the classes most exposed to rough weather, such
as labourers, smiths, and sailors, wore the pileus, ttiAos, which

* Clouds, 964, 987.

64 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LIFE

was a soft conical cap, without peak, fitting closely to tlie
head. Already in Homer ^ we find Laertes, when working in
the field, wearing an alyeir] Kvverj, a close-fitting cap of goat-
skin ; but at a later time felt was substituted for skin. Even
the citizens of Athens in rainy weather took a felt cap about
with them to keep their ears and hair dry.

At home the Greek citizen went bare-footed ; even when
visiting a friend he would leave his shoes without, as is still
the custom in the East. But boots of some sort, and stout ones,
were necessary to any one who had to walk over the ill-paved
and rough roads of ancient Greece. The simplest form of shoe-
covering was the cravSaXiov or €/x^as, which consisted merely of
a sole, V7r68i]ixa or Kacrcru/xa, fastened below the foot by thongs of
leather passing between the toes, which were called (vyos. Such
were the f^Xavrai put on by Socrates when he went out to
dinner. 2 In the country it was usual until a late period to wear
a stout sole fastened to the foot by means of interlaced thongs,
which were secured round the ankle. For thongs of leather
the poor substituted rude cords, cnrapTia. Hunters and those
who had to make their way over rough ground required more
protection for the lower part of the leg ; but even these did
not usually wear close boots like ours. They merely extended
the crossing thongs of leather from the ankle half-way up to
the knee. These hunting-boots, evSpofxlSes or KoOopvol, may be
studied in the representations of the huntress Artemis. The
Greeks did not wear anything corresponding to our stockings.
Thus in the case of most sculptures, we see the toes uncovered,
and standing out from sandal or endromis. But this rule is by
no means universal. Like the peoples of the East and of Italy,
the Greeks sometimes wore close boots. Thus many of the
riders of the Parthenon frieze wear covered boots coming half-
way up the leg. These are also common in vase-pictures. So
too the Persian slippers, the HepartKat of Aristophanes,^ which
were worn by women, must have covered the whole foot.

One reason for the remissness of the Greeks in the matter
of head-covering was that nature had provided them with
luxuriant hair. This from the time of Homer onwards the
Ka/)7^Ko/xocL)VT€s 'A)(atofc cultivated into a long and bushy mane
such as we see on the head of the statues of Zeus. The
Spartans in particular were ver}'- proud of their long hair and
tended it carefully, considering it the badge of a free man. And
so it was, since, as Aristotle remarks, a man with long Solving

^ ITom. Od. xxiv. 231. ^ Plato, Symp. 174. ^ Clouds, 151.

THE DKESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 65

hair could scarcely engage in one of those mean and servile
handicrafts which the Greeks so despised. It will Im remem-
bered how Xerxes found the Spartans at Thermopylae combing
their long locks, and at a later period the long hair of Gylippus
roused the ridicule of the people of Syracuse,^ Dorians though
they were. We learn from Thucydides that not much before
his time the Athenians wore long hair, which they wound into
a knot or Kpo)/3vXos on the top of the head, fastened with golden
grasshoppers, xpvcroyv Terrtycov kvkfxrii Kpw/SvXov dvaSovjxevoL tiov
iv rrj K€(f)aXrj TpL)(ojv. This passage has caused much contro-
versy. When we turn to the works of Archaic sculpture we
find the hair of Apollo Dionysus and other male deities growing
long but not hanging loose. It is commonly gathered in a knot
at the back or the top of the head, or secured in plaits. The
KpiofSvXos then might be this knot or bunch of hair, but no
ancient monument represents it as secured with a grasshopper,
or indeed with a fibula of any shape ; it is bound with a simple
Tatvitt or cord.^ Professor Helbig has maintained that the
TCTTiyes were not fibulae at all. He thinks that the early
Greeks and Etruscans fixed their locks in position by means
of golden spirals, crvptyyes, which are frequently found in
Etruscan tombs, and that the name Terrt^, was given to the
spirals so arranged because of their resemblance to the annulose
body of the grasshopper. Homer's line may be compared,
7rXo)(^pol 6' OL )(^pv(TU) re kol dpyvpo) €(r4)Ti]K0}VTO.'^

But SO inconvenient a custom died in time ; when, we cannot
be sure. The monuments seem to indicate the fifth century
B.C. as the time when long hair became unfashionable ; pro-
bably at Sparta it persisted until the time of the Achaean
League.

Thus at the date of the Peloponnesian war there was a
contrast between Sparta and the rest of Greece in this matter.
At Sparta the hair of the boys was cut short, but as soon as
they came to man's estate they allowed it to grow long. Even
at other cities Kopav was a sign of a Laconian partisan, as
appears from Aristophanes.* But at Athens and the other
cities of Greece, when a boy reached the age of an €(f>i]/3os, he
dedicated his hair with various ceremonies in the temple of a
deity, usually of a river-god.^ Thus the Ephebi of the reliefs
of the Parthenon have all short hair. After long hair had

^ Thucyd. i. 6.

2 Archdol. Zcitung for 1S77, p. S9 ; Homer ische Epos. Sec. xxi.

2 11. xvii. 53. •* I\ni(/hts, 579 ; Clouds, 14.

5 ..'Eschyhit^, Choeph. 6.

66 THE SURROUNDINGS OF GREEK LlFE

ceased to be fashionable and the mark of a gentleman, the
custom completely changed, and very short hair was worn alike
by athletes and by tliose who affected a reputation for austerity ;
whence it happened that at a late time the Spartans and their
imitators wore not longer but shorter hair than other people.

The dimensions of the beard also decrease in the course of
Greek history. In early times a long full beard was regarded
as a sign of manliness, the Spartans in this matter also taking
the lead of the rest. Shaving was introduced by the Mace-
donian conquerors, who found the beards of their soldiers
inconvenient in a campaign, partly as giving the enemy a
handle to seize, partly in all probability from motives of
cleanliness. From this time on, men of the governing classes
and soldiers always completely shaved ; and the beard was
left to those who affected ancient manners, and philosophers.
It is, however, remarkable that on Athenian reliefs of the
Macedonian period, the normal citizen is always represented as
wearing a short beard, just as on the frieze of the Parthenon.
The moustache without the beard marks the Gauls and other
barbarians.

To go into the details of the hair-dressing of women would
demand a far greater space than we dispose of. The fashion
was constantly changing. JSTow the hair was confined by a
simple band, raii/ia, passed five or six times round ; now a
pointed metal coronet, o-re^aj//;, was worn above the forehead,
and the back hair confined by a net, K€Kpvc})aXos. Now the hair
was almost concealed by a kind of nightcap, /xtV/oa or craKK-o?,
either reticulated or not. More frequently still it was wound
with a broadening band, called from its shape, which resembled
that of a sling, (T(f)€v86vr). The 8Ld8y][xa, which was a simple fillet
tied in a bow at the back of the head, was worn after the time
of Alexander only by kings and queens. Frequently the hair
was allowed to hang down the back in simple curl. HetaeraB
frequently wore their hair short and hanging about their ears.

The art of beautifying was carried on with the greatest
vigour in antiquity. As women were so secluded and seldom
seen from near, the falseness of their manufactured charms had
the less chance of being detected. Athen^eus ^ quotes from
Alexis, a contemporary of Alexander, a terrible list of the
changes which courtesans brought about in themselves. The
short woman put cork in her shoes, the tall wore the thinnest
soles, the shape was dexterously moulded with cushions and pads,

^ Athen. xiii. p. 568.

THE DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN 67

the complexion was brouglit to the desired colour by means of
paint, and the hair was dyed according to fancy. Nor were
these base arts confined to women of doubtful character. The
young wife of Xenophon's Ischomachus/ who is represented
as a pattern of propriety, used white and red paint until her
husband persuaded her that he preferred nature to art. Only
among the Dorian women, who far surpassed the others in
health and strength, we hear of no painting and making-up.

The Greek lady who went abroad would carry a sunshade,
o-K'ia5etoi', in shape resembling ours, to keep off the sun. The
same implement might have been used in rainy weather, but
this does not seem to have been the case. Men, especially
elderly men and men from the country, carried a stout stick,
on which they leaned when standing, and which they used
freely on the persons of those children and slaves whom they
supposed to stand in need of correction.

^ Xenophon. (Econ. x. 8.

BOOK II

RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
CHAPTER I

NATIOXAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION

The religion of the Hellenes, as it is presented to us in Greek
literature and history, is undoubtedly a much -compounded
thing. There are in it elements derived from a great variety
of sources, sometimes completely fused together, and sometimes
very imperfectly combined. It is also vague and fluctuating in
a high degree. It is altogether erroneous to regard it as a
fixed and organised whole. We moderns approach the study
of it under great disadvantage, because our notions of religion
are taken from the history of Christianity, which is in the
main a religion of authority, originating in a single time and
a definite place. Hellenic Paganism was not made, but grew
during long ages amid varying circumstances, and subject to
all kinds of influences. It may be compared not to a temple
or palace designed by man, but to a tree, rooted in human nature
and putting forth its shoots and blossoms in due season.

In Greek religion, as it is known to us, there are various
strands. Recent writers have been more and more disposed
to trace the origin of a great part of it to that worship of
ancestors which is so marked a feature in all tribes at a certain
stage of civilisation. There may also exist in it vestiges of
tribal worship, the veneration of some hereditary totem, out of
which at a certain stage of decay there arises, by some obscure
process, a deity or deities. And some part of the religion of
the Hellenes, though not so large a part as people fancied a
quarter of a century ago, must belong to the general traditions
of the Aryan race, and have arisen from the wonder of our
remote ancestors at the facts of storm and sunshine, day and
night, summer and winter. Further, there can be no question

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN KELIGION 69

that both in pre-historic and historic times the Greeks were as
ready to accept mytliology from the nations of the East with
whom they traded and fought as they were to accept the re-
h'gious images of Oriental fabric which are still abundantly
found on many early Greek sites.

We may attempt a division of these various elements of
religion into two classes, which we may roughly term national
and borrowed. In the national class we shall include ail
that belongs to the Greek tribes as an ancestral inheritance,
whether dating from the early age of barbarism or developed
in the various lands in which they successively dwelt. In the
borrowed class we shall place not only the local elements, which
belonged rather to the various spots of Greece, than to the
people who had come to dwell there, but also all that the
Greeks adopted from the neighbouring nations. A clear and
strong line of division between the two classes can indeed
seldom be drawn. In the cultus of any given deity they are
almost sure to be intermingled ; yet an attempt to sejiarate
them may help to clear our minds, and to lay bare the rudi-
ments of the subject before us.

In the present chapter we will deal with the national ele-
ments, in the next chapter with those which are partly or wholly
adoptive.

The national or native strands in Greek religion appear to
be three, of \vhich we ^vill treat in succession : ( 1 ) Totemism ;
(2) Ancestor-worship; (3) Naturalism.

(i) It is a matter of comparatively recent discovery how large
a part is furnished to primitive religions by the class of con-
ceptions which is summed up in the word totemism. There
is still much that is obscure in regard to those conceptions ;
but writers like Andrew Lang^ have certainly succeeded in
explaining by their means some points previously inexplicable
in Greek myth and cult ; and that which has thus been
rendered intelligible belongs to the earliest strata of Hellenic
religion. If these writers have tried to carry their method
of explanation into fields where it is not altogether at home,
this is but a proceetling which we must expect in the case
of all new theories of the kind. As a matter of fact, though
apparent traces of totemism may be found in Greek mythology
and M'orship, yet a veiy small and a very unimportant part of
those highly civilised growths can be directly or completely
explained by the notions of totemism. Totemism may lie at

^ Custom and Myth. i8Sy

70 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

the foundation of much, but that foundation, as in the build-
ings of competent architects, is usually buried out of sight.

" A totem," writes Mr. Frazer,i " is a class of material objects
which a savage regards with superstitious respect, believing that
there exists between him and every member of the class an
altogether special relation. The connection between a man and
his totem is mutually beneficent : the totem protects the man,
and the man shows his respect for the totem in various ways,
by not killing it if it be an animal, and not cutting or gathering
it if it be a plant. As distinguished from a fetish, a totem is
never an isolated individual, but always a class of objects,
generally a species of animals or of plants. The clan totem is
reverenced by a body of men and women who call themselves
by the name of the totem, believe themselves to be of one
blood, descendants of a common ancestor, and are bound
together by common obligations to each other and by a common
faith in the totem. Totemism is thus both a religious and a
social system."

As to the reasons of the adoption of this extraordinary system
by savages in all parts of the world, we are entirely ignorant.
That it had ceased to have any intellectual recognition among
the Greeks of the historic age is sufficiently clear. Yet the
probability that the Hellenic race had at some time passed
through this stage of culture helps us to understand some of
their beliefs of the origin of which they themselves were
wholly ignorant. When we find in the place of honour in the
temple of Apollo at Delphi a conical stone called the 'O/x^aA.09,
we do not hesitate to say that it must originally have been
worshipped as a fetish-stone. The Greeks of Pindar's time
had another explanation ^ of the sacred character of the stone ;
but we set aside that explanation.^ In the same way we may
explain by the ideas of totennsm the veneration of the Greeks
for certain animals and plants, although they had abundant
sacred legends to account in each case for their sentiment.

There was a story that when the gods of Olympus were
threatened by the terrible monster Typhoeus they fled, all save
Zeus, into Egypt, and hid themselves in the forms of animals.

^ Totemism, pp. i, 2.

2 Cf. Pindar, Pyth. iv. 4. The Scholiast on this verse tells us that
Zeus set forth two eagles from the two ends of the earth and they met at
Delphi, whence the Omphalos at Delphi was regarded as the centre of the
world.

3 To fetishism I will return in the next chapter : whereas totemism
belongs to tribes, it belongs to localities, and so is usually a borrowed
element in Greek religion.

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 7 I

It was thus that later Greece accounted for the curious fact
tliat with each of the deities was closely associated some sacred
animal or animals — the swan, the wolf, the raven, the mouse
^vith Apollo in various sites of his cult, the stag and the bear
with Artemis, the ram with Hermes, the dog with Hecate and
so forth. In these cases the anthropological school accepts
another explanation, that the deity was originally the god of
a clan or tribe whose totem was this favourite animal. A
couple of instances will suffice.

At Athens, Athena was closely associated with the serpent.
In her temple was preserved a great snake, fed at stated times,
and supposed to be the embodiment of the Attic hero Erich-
thonius. In the great Parthenos statue by Pheidias, a snake
was represented as sheltering himself behind the shield of the
goddess, and in one of the pediments of the Parthenon he
appears at her side. The legendary King of Attica, Cecrops, is
represented in art as a snake from the waist downwards. These
facts may be reganled as proving that in Attica in primeval
days there was a clan which accepted the snake as its totem,
and that the snake as an object of cultus gave way in time to
Athena. Again there were at Athens ceremonies in which
certain Attic maidens imitated bears, and danced the bear
dance in honour of the Brauronian Artemis. In Arcadia also
the bear was connected with Artemis, and it was told how she
had turned into a bear Callisto, a mythological rival, who was
really only a duplicate of herself. This bear-godde?s Artemis
may have at some time belonged to a clan whose sacred animal
was the bear.

An explanation of this kind will almost always be possible
when the favourite of the deity is an animal or bird. When
it is a plant, such as the sacred laurel of Apollo, or the sacred
olive of Athena, a totemistic explanation may sometimes be
the best. But sometimes we shall prefer to think that the
deity has inherited the honours accorded to some fetish tree,
and that the origin of the cult is local rather than tribal.

It should, however, be observed that the worship of animals
may be explained on quite other principles than those of
totemism. As Mr. Frazer has pointed out in his Golden Boiujli,
the reverence shown by hunting tribes towards the animals
which they habitually kill is based on feelings the opposite to
those of totemism. iNIr. Frazer also maintains that there are
cases in which tree-spirits and corn-spirits are conceived in the
form of animals. Totemism being quite as much a social as a
religious system, and nothing of it being visible in the social

72 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

organisation of Greece, it must be somewhat uncertain whether
what looks like the result of totemism in Greek religion may
not have some other explanation.

'\Vhen we reach, in a future chapter, the subject of Greek
practical cultus, we shall have again to deal with conceptions
which may originate in conditions of tutemism. And in our
classification of myths we shall have to point out a certain
number which belong to the totemist range of conceptions.
But as a root-principle of Greek religion, as Greek religion
existed in historic days, totemism is not of very great import-
ance. We must pass on to other elements of greater weight.

The second great source of Greek religion which may be safely
classified as of native origin is the worship of deceased ancestors.

The worship of the dead can scarcely be said to lie on the
surface of the great Attic literature.^ That literature, in fact,
belongs rather to all time and to human nature than to a par-
ticular age and country, and what is local and temporary in
Greek thought and feeling has ever a tendency to fall into
the background in it. It represents the Greek mind in the
same way in which the Doryphorus of Polycleitus, and the
Apoxyomenus of Lysippus represent the Greek body : they
give us the better and nobler side, and put out of sight what
is mean and unworthy. In the great age of Greece, and in
the favoured city of the Athenians, religion meant the worship
of the great deities of Olympus, the highest and noblest forms
of the Greek religious consciousness. Primitive and patriarchal
elements of religion still existed, but they were thrust into
the background. Thus, as indeed a glance at Athenian sepul-
chral monuments will assure us, the worship of the dead did
not occupy among the elite of Greece the same s[iace in men's
minds which at an earlier time it had held, and which it still
held in the more conservative districts.

!N'evertheless, a careful search will disclose many passages
even in the Attic writers which illustrate this form of religion.
The opening passage of the Choephori, for example, tells of
cultus kept up at the tombs of deceased worthies. In the
Alcestis, the heroine of the play is scarcely dead before she is
invoked by the chorus as a spiritual power, able to give and to
withhold favours : —

vvv 8' €0"Tt fxaKaipa Sat/xwv,
Xo.ip\ w TTOTVi', eu h\ 8oL-)-i<;.

^ The following paragraphs are taken from a papt r contributed by the
writer to the Journal of Hellenic S'udies, vol. v. p. 125.

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 73

It is instructive to compare with such passages as these a class
of vases peculiarly Athenian, the beautiful white X-)]KvdoL,^
which bear paintings in almost all cases illustrative of the
offerings brought to the tombs of departed ancestors by sur-
vivors. The abundance of these vases proves that the ideas
which they illustrate were quite familiar to the Athenians.

At a lower level than that of poetry, in the laws and the
customs, more especially the burial-customs, of the Greeks, we
find ample proof of the tenacity w4th which they clung to the
belief that the dead desired offerings of food and incense, and
were willing in return to furnish protection and aid.

It is well known to be one of the most universal and deepest
rooted convictions among barbarians, that the dead are not
without feelings and perceptions, but remain keenly sensitive
to the treatment they receive from their kindred, and require
of them much assistance. The dead man, livhig in his tomb as
he had lived in his house, requires frequent supplies of food
and drink, rejoices in the presence of armour and ornaments,
such as he loved in life, and is very sensitive to discourteous
treatment. These ideas were part of the mental furniture of
the whole Aryan race, before it separated into branches, and
are found in all the countries over which it spread.

In the earliest of Greek graves, such as the so-called Treasury
of Atreus, at Mycenae, and the building at Orchomenus, Ave find
an inner chamber perhaps for the dead, and an outer chamber to
which those who came to pay their respects to the tenant of
the tomb probably had access, and which may have been stored
with articles of pomp and splendour, set aside for his enjoy-
ment. It is well known with what care the early Greeks
provided in the chamber in which they placed a corpse all that
was necessary for its comfort, I had almost said its existence.
Sometimes wine and food was there laid up in a little store, a
lamp was provided full of oil, frequently even kept burning to
relieve the darkness ; and around were strewn the clothes and
the armour in which the dead hero had delighted ; sometimes
even, by a refinement of realism, a whetstone to sharpen the
edge of sword and spear in case they should grow blunt with
use. The horse of a warrior was sometimes slain and buried
with him that he might not in another world endure the in-
dignity of having to walk. Even in Homeric days the custom
survived of slaying at the tomb of a noted warrior some of a
hostile race to be his slaves thereafter. After the fall of Troy

^ Cf. Puttier's useful Leci/lhes blafics Attiqws.

74 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

the captives were distributed among the chiefs ; but it was not
thought right to deprive the dead Achilles of his share, and
Polyxena was offered up at his tomb. According to the inge-
nious theory of a modern savant/ the terra-cottas so commonly
found in tombs in some parts of Greece are the successors and
substitutes of these living victims, placed like their bodies in
the grave of one who would in his future life require servants
and companions. Every one knows that the custom of sati,
whereby a wife is burned on the same pyre with her dead
husband, is barely extinct in India.

And the care for the dead did not by any means cease at
their burial. They had to be constantly tended thereafter,
their bones preserved from violence, and their tombs from
spoliation ; and at certain seasons food and drink had to be
brought them and left by their tomb for their use.

The belief in the continued need felt by the dead and to be
supplied by the living was so deep that even Christianity has
been unable wholly to abolish it, though in modern days roses
take the place at tombs of the more substantial offerings of
old times. A couple of passages from Lucian^ will serve to
summarise the ancient feeling : TreTria-revKaa-L yovv ras xpv^as
dva7re/x7ro/x€vas KarojOev SeLirveiv jxev cos otov re TreptTrero/xevas
TTyv KVLcrav kol tov Kairvov, irLveiv 8e oltto fSoOpov to fxeXi-

Kparov. TpecfiovraL rats Trap* rjfxujv x^^''^ '^^^ '^^^'^ Kadayi-

^OfxevoLS €7rt rwv rac^wv* cos el rw /xt) ei-q Karo-XeXeippevos virep
yy^S (f)iXos i) (rvyy€vrj<i acnros ovtos veKpos kol XtpioTTwv ev
avTOLs TToXireveTai.

It is true that the state of opinion which gave birth to Greek
burial-customs did not persist unchanged into historical times.
Later there was spread abroad a general belief in the existence
of a realm of spirits, presided over by Hades and Persephone,
and hidden somewhere in the deepest recesses of the earth.
At least the common people believed in the Styx and the
Cocytus, the dog Cerberus and the Elysian Fields, and the
ferry-man Charon, who conveyed souls. They even gave the
dead an obol to pay to Charon as his fee ; but this very fact
shows how persistent the belief in the connection of the future
life with the body was, for it was in the actual mouths of
corpses (the mouth being the Greek purse) that the piece of
money was placed and left. The same men who supposed that
souls went into a far country, yet believed heroes to hover

^ Rayet, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1875.
2 Lucian, Charon, 22 ; De Luctu, 9.

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 7 5

about the spot on which they were buried, like the virgins of
Leuctra, who appeared to Pelopidas when he happened to sleep
at the spot where they were buried, or like the sages whose
tombs became oracular. The upper stratum of belief was
occupied by those notions of religion and a future state which
were sanctioned by poetry, and art, and public cultus ; but in
the background still lurked many feelings which had arisen
at a time when ' the grave was regarded by all as a dwelling-
place, and the dead as by no means inaccessible to the favours
and the requests of the survivors.

M. Fustel de Coulanges^ has well shown how on this fact
of the continual presence of the dead and their need of care
and nourishment family life was, in early times, to a large
extent based. It was regarded as essential that the offerings
to the dead should not come from the hands of strangers but
from their own descendants. Hence the continuity of families
ind a strong tie of kindred to bind them together. The family
vault, where dwelt the spirits of the ancestors of each family,
became a sacred place ; the daily care of the dead, falling to
the lot of the eldest male in each family, made him appear
not only as the head and ruler of the community, but as its
priest ; as one who was in constant communication with the
unseen world, and who could confer on or withhold from other
members of it the favour of the departed. And such favour
was regarded as of great value : the dead were supposed to be
constantly interfering in the affairs of the living and still work-
ing their will in the world. As M. de Coulanges perspicuously
puts it, there was a constant exchange of services between
living and dead : the latter receiving from their descendants
physical protection with food and drink, and giving in return
the advantage of countenance and assistance in all the trans-
actions of life.

It seems then that the favours asked of the dead were
substantial enough. The exact nature of the ritual with which
ancestors were approached would not be told to any stranger ;
but if it were told, none could rightly and duly perform it ex-
cept the regular and authorised exponent : the deified ancestor
would resent as an outrage any attempt on the part of an alien
to win his favour and support.

Closely connected in cultus with the family tomb was the
family hearth. In the Homeric house this was situate in

- La Cite Antique. The views of this writer are confirmed by the
veneration paid to ancestors in our day in China and the East generally.

76 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

the fxeyapov, or feeding-hall of the men. And when, in later
and more civilised times, cooking was no longer done there,
but was removed to a separate kitchen, a hearth, ka-yapa or
ecTTia, was still retained for sacred purposes, at all events in
the houses of wealthy families. To Hestia was sacrificed the
first portion of what was eaten or drunk ; and in addition
frequent small sacrifices of oil or wine or incense were offered,
partly to Hestia and partly to the family divinities, whoever
they might be, more especially the deified ancestors. And on
occasion of all the family festivals or events — a birth, a marriage,
a denth — this altar was wreathed with flowers or glowed with
incense.

Among the Romans the conjoint worship of the Lares and
Yesta ^ seems to have been of the essence of the family religion.
But among the Greeks, and especially their wealthier and more
ancient families, this simple worship was united with that of
some of the greater and more generally recognised divinities.

The third native source of Greek religion was naturalism.
It is most difficult to say at what time or at what stage of
civilisation the worship of deities of nature arose. Recognition
of supernatural powers in the world, unless the barest animism
(with which no doubt such recognition begins), implies feelings of
wonder at the marvellous order of the universe, and a sense of
the dependence of man on higher forces than his own, which
at once raise the barbarian to a higher level, and open before
him great possibilities of progress. And on the day on which
a rude tribe recognise that there are greater powers in the un-
seen world than fetishes and their dead ancestors, they mount
a high step in the scale which leads to civilisation. When or
how this step was taken by the Greeks it is not easy to decide.
Mr. Herbert Spencer, as is well known, supposes all religion to
grow by processes of development from ancestor-worship. But
his attempts to explain how this could be have failed ; and his
theory meets with but little acceptance. It is in fact a revival
of the teaching of the Alexandrian Euhemerus, who taught
that all the deities were but deified ancestors ; nor does it seem
consistent with the evidence. To go further into the question
would take us too far from our immediate subject ; and it is
the less necessary, because among the Greeks as known to us
the worship of deities and of heroes alike was fully organised
and recognised.

It is mainly to the comparative philologists that we owe the

1 Virg. .En. v. 744.

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION y J

exposition of the great i^irL lakeii by the worship of the powers
of nature iu the various brandies of the Aryan race. By the
help of the sacred literature of India, of great though uncertain
antiquity, writers like Kuhn and Max Miiller have succeeded
in showing that Greek mythology, like the Greek language, is
a branch of a great tree, and cannot be properly understood
except by comparison with other branches, and especially of
the branch which flourished in the sacred valley of the Ganges.
Some thirty years ago the opinion was common among scholars
that by help of the Vedas Greek mythology could be satisfac-
torily analysed. But the school of Aryan comparative mytho-
logy failed in their explanations to pass a certain point, and
by a natural reaction their key, which was once over- valued,
has since been under-valued. Their philological method has
been of late years almost neglected. Aryan mythology has
given way to anthropology ; yet it is certain that the debt
owed by the science of religion to comparative mythologists
is no light one. They opened the door through which we all
pass. And after making all deductions, it remains clear that the
study of Aryan religion in the comparative spirit has greatly
aided our understanding of Greek religion in particular.

Attempts have been made to explain the mythology of all the
European nations as a series of tales based on a literal acceptance
of poetical or figurative language wherein the primitive Aryans
described the course of the sun through the heavens. To Sir
George Cox, and in a more moderate degree to Professor Max
Miiller. almost all the myths of Greece are meteorological, and
merely embody in a thousand forms the phenomena of the sun-
rise and the dawn, the daily voyage of the sun, his victory
over the clouds and his sinking to rest, on which the eyes of
our primitive forefathers are supposed to have dwelt with never-
ceasing wonder antl delight. Professor Kuhn, another great
authority on the subject of Yedic mythology, has a less narrow
circle of ideas, and less rigid canons of interpretation, but to
him also myth has to a great extent arisen from contemplation
of the facts of the world around us.

There are necessarily great dangers inherent in the system of
interpreting myths by the help of comparative philology. Thus
the comparative philologist is obliged to pay attention rather
to the names of deities than to their functions when he is seek-
ing to trace their origin. But in the case of the Greek deities,
of whom alone I am at present speaking, it is very dillicult
indeed to know the true name at all. Among the Greeks,
epithet frequently passed into name, and name into epithet;

78 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

and in many cases we cannot say which is which. Thus in the
case of Phoebus Apollo, we regard Apollo as the real name of
the god, because we know the meaning of Phoebus, " the bright
one," while we are not sure of the meaning of the word Apollo.
The chief deity of Arcadia, considered usually as a form of
Persei)hone, was commonly called Despoena, " Mistress," but
she had another name of so sacred a character that Pausanias
does not think it proper to repeat it. Kuhn, however, in dis-
regard of that fact, tries to derive the name Despoena directly
from Dasapatni, a personification of the water which falls from
the clouds in rain. Thus the liberty exercised by the writers
I have named in choosing any name or even epithet of a deity
for which to find an origin in Sanskrit gives them a freedom
which sometimes degenerates into license.

And this license is rendered easier and more fatal by the
vague and nebulous character of all mythology, of Greek
mythology in a notable degree. Every deity has several forms
and several functions, and so can be regarded in various aspects.
We may consider the root idea of Athena to be the upper air,
or the lightning, or moisture, or the dawn ; we may consider
Hera to stand for air or earth, and Hermes to be a wind-god or
a dawn-god or a god of productiveness and increase. Any of
the aspects mentioned might well in the case of these deities
be taken, not merely as an aspect, but as the principal or root
idea ; and the Sanskritic deities are decidedly even less fixed
and defined in character than the Greek. Thus it is evident
that a writer endowed even with moderate ingenuity need
seldom be at a loss if he is desirous of connecting any Greek
deity or any Greek mythological story with some Yedic proto-
type. ^

It is, however, unnecessary to be sceptical as to the validity
of all the identifications of the philological school. Some of
them are generally accepted by mythologists, others are regarded
as at all events defensible in the present condition of know-
ledge. Let us briefly examine some of the most firmly estab-
lished among them.

A feature in Greek religion, which seems to point back to
the time when their race had not been differentiated from the
original stock is the acknowledgment of the supremacy of Zeus.
It is now generally allowed that the Greek Zeus finds a parallel
to some extent in functions as well as in name in the Sanskrit
Dyaus and the Latin Jovis ; and that among other Indo-Euro-
pean races we find a corresponding deity, a deity who in a
physical aspect represents the heaven, and in a moral aspect is

NA.TIOXAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 79

fatlior and ruler alike of gods and men. In the Yedas Dyaus
is the sky, and at the same time, by Prithivi the eartli god-
dess, the universal parent. But in some ways this primeval
})air may be compared rather with the Uranus and Gsea of the
llesiodic theogony than with the far more fully humanised
Zeus and Hera; and in some of his functions, notably as
deity of the weather and the thunderstorm, Zeus may better
be likened to Indra.

There are a few other cases in which, with a greater or less
degree of confidence, we may affirm connection of name as well
as identity of function between a Greek deity and a Sanskrit
prototype. Among the clearest instances of such equation is
that of the Sanskrit Ushas, the dawn, with the Greek Eos and
tlie Latin Aurora. The Indian Yaruna also, a personification
of the overarching heaven, is regarded by most philologists as
equivalent, not only in function but also in name, with the
Greek Uranus. But even in the case of Eos and of Uranus
Greek mythologic fancy takes a way of its own, and the tales
told of those deities in Greece have not commonly a parallel
in the sacred literature of India.

When we attempt to proceed further with parallelism we
fall into great uncertainties, and find philologist differing from
philologist. Twenty or thirty years ago much importance was
attached to the able attempt of Kuhn to connect with Yedic lore
the Greek tale of Prometlieus, who hid fire stolen from heaven
in a hollow reed, in order to bestow it upon men. The name
of Prometheus was connected with pramantha, a word used in
late Sanskrit to designate the upright fire-stick, by turning
which upon another piece of Avood the early people of India
produced fire, as do still some savage tribes of men. But it is
now understood ^ that the Greek Prometheus and the Sanskrit
pramantha are not philologically connected, so that any parallel
wliich may exist between Sanskritic and Greek tales of the
origin of fire among men is likely to arise from parallel work-
ings of the mythopoeic instinct in Greece and the Far East,
rather than from the brimming into Greece by the invading
Ilellenes of tales already fixed in their primeval mythology.
And indeed the story of Prometheus, as it stands in Ilosiod,
bears very obvious traces not only of moral purpose, but of
poetic invention, and it would be strange indeed if an ethical

^ My authority is Professor A. A. Macdonell, to whose kimlnes.s I owe
valuable information in regard to the present state of philological opinion
in these matters.

80 EELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

parable could boast of transmission tlirough uncounted genera-
tions of migratory semi-barbarians.

In fact we commonly find that attempts to connect the
mythology of the Greeks with that of the Vedas fail, because
the genius of the Greeks ran from very early times in a different
line from that taken by their remotely connected cousins who
settled in the valley of the Indus. Among migratory peoples
all tradition must be in a state of flux in the absence of written
record, and there is no reason to think that the Hellenes had
developed any system of writing before they settled in the
land which bore their name. And of all tradition that which
concerns the gods is perhaps the most fluid. Beligious myths
survive when attached to cultus ; but otherwise, since no one
expects or desires self-consistency in them, they constantly
change in form, and no one accepts them unless they happen
to impress his imagination or to satisfy his sense of the fitness
of things.

Thus we can scarcely be surprised to find that where there
is some similarity of names between a personification of San-
skrit literature and a personage of Hellenic myth there is com-
monly no identity of function, or agreement in tales told
of the beings bearing those names. And when we find, as
is perhaps more often the case, a similar tale recorded in the
early books of India and the works of the Greek theologians
and logographers, it is told of personifications which have no
connection, so far as we can trace by the aid of philology, with
one another.

We may be^in with a few apparent similarities of name.
The name of Hermes, the Greek god of the wind of dawn,
and of fruitfulness in cattle, has been connected, with
very doubtful propriety, with the Sanskrit Sarama or the
Sarameyas. Sarama is the dog who is messenger of Indra
in seeking his lost cows. The Sarameyas are the two watch-
dogs of Yama, the god of death. With the former of these
beings we may perhaps compare the wind which wanders at
dawn and drives the clouds, which are in the early Indian
literature compared to cows. And perhaps as psychopompos
Hermes may be compared to the twin-hounds of Yama, since
in this character he acts in post-Homeric times as guide
and guardian of the flocks of souls as they journey to the
dark land of Hades. Also, the dog is naturally regarded
from the point of view of his voice, as the bellower; and
Hermes, whether as the wind which shouts among the trees,
or as the god of heralds, is in Greek lore the deity who is

NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 8 1

endowed with a loud voice, and who in the Homeric hymn is
said to have driven away the cows of Apollo. But there are
other functions of Hermes in which he offers no parallel to the
Sarameyas, as the inventor of the lyre, and the god of fruitful-
ness in cattle. Other identifications, based on similarity of
name, such as the assimilation to the Erinnyes of SaranyQ,
the dark storm-cloud which in the beginning wandered in
space and became, in the form of a mare, the mother of
the Asvins, and the assimilation of the Gandliarvas to the
Centaurs, may or may not be defensible on the ground of
comparative philology. This is a matter which the philologists
must settle among themselves. But to the comparative raytho-
logist such assimilations bring very little light, since the root-
idea attaching to the Indian name is in each case different from
the root-idea attaching to the Greek name.

More interesting and instructive are the cases in which we
find similarity of tale in Indian and Greek mythology, though
the tales attach to different deities.

Such for example are those tales recording the victory of
light over darkness or of the sun over cloud, in the form of a
battle between a god and a monster or dragon, which seem to
belong in some form to every country and every nation. In
Sanskrit we read of the victory of Indra over the great dragon
Ahi ; and in every nation derived from the Aryan source the
story has its repetition or its parallel. In Greek it appears in
many forms. First we have the overthrow of Typhoeus by the
lightning of Zeus ; then the shooting of the great serpent Pytho
by the sun-god Apollo ; then the destruction of the many-headed
hydra by the solar hero Herakles, or of the mis-shapen Chimaera
by the solar hero Bellerophon. In fact most of the exploits of
Herakles may be made to yield to this interpretation, though
to some of them explanations of other kinds may be more
appropriate.

It is a notable fact that the resemblances which can be traced
between the ancient religion of India and that of Hellas are as
considerable, perhaps even more considerable than the resem-
blances observable between the religion of the Greeks and that
of the Romans, although the languages of these two latter
peoples are quite akin, and they certainly held together long after
both separated from the stock which moved into India. The
mythology to be found in the Latin poets is of course merely
borrowed from Hellas ; but the primitive religion of the Romans
has quite a different cast from that of the Greeks. These facts
are significant, and show that after all Greek mythology is a

82 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

result of the same forces and the fruit of the same history which
made the Greeks in other matters that which ^ve know them to
have been. Certain tendencies no doubt they shared with all
Aryan peoples ; but the way in wdiich those tendencies worked
was distinct and national.

I have spoken of the Greeks as a race. It may occur to some
students that it would have been well to separate in treatment
the various Greek stems, Achaean, Dorian, Ionian, and speak of
the religion of each separately. This, however, is a task of
peculiar difficulty ; and there is nothing in which the historians
are less agreed than in their assignment of various deities to the
various sections of the Greek race. Greek religion can fairly
well be treated with reference to localities, and this presently
I hope to attempt ; but to treat it with reference to stems and
tribes is far less easy, and in the present state of our knowledge
might lead to a quagmire. Is Apollo mainly Dorian or Ionian?
Is Athena mainly Acha;^an or Ionian ? Such questions as these
admit of no simple and definite reply : we can answer them but
partially, and then by examining the localities rather than the
tribes which were associated with their worship.

In place then of speaking of the religion of the Greek stems,
I prefer to speak of Hellenic religion; and the religious
tendencies of the Greeks were in a measure limited and directed
by the foreign influences to which they were subjected. As
they lay nearest of all the nations of Europe to Egypt and
Babylon, Phoenicia and Asia Minor, the old civilisations of the
Eastern Mediterranean bore upon them wdth more force than on
the Latin or the Celt. To these foreign influences we must
turn our attention before attempting further to trace the rise
of the Hellenic Pantheon.

CHAPTEE II

BORROWED ELEMENTS IN RELIGION

It must be considered a total impossibility, in the present state
of our knowledge, to draw a hard and fast line between the
native and the adopted elements in Greek religion. To take
but a single example : the character and ethnology of the
Pelasgi are still matters of warm dispute ; and until it is decided
whether they were of Greek or non-Greek stock, we cannot
possibly determine whether the Pelasgic elements in Greek

BORROWED ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 83

religion were native or imported. It is in fact more than
probable that the Greeks, like the ruling* races of Asia Minor/
were in blood much mixed with the earlier inhabitants of the
land, and that only the aristocracy were of anything like pure
Aryan blood. This would account for the fact that the Homeric
mythology, which is essentially of the aristocracy, is freer from
extraneous elements than the mythology of the Greeks of his-
toric times.

All that we can attempt in the present chapter is to set
forth some of those elements of Greek religion w^hich seem in
a more marked degree to belong either ( i ) to the races, mostly
Canaanite and Semitic, of Asia INIinor and Syria; or, (2) to
the primitive inhabitants of Greece itself. Even here, we
cannot hope for a clear line of distinction ; for if, as is most
likely, the pre-Greek people of Hellas w^ere of the Canaanite
stock, they would be closely related in blood to the earlier
races of Syria and Asia INIinor, and so presumably w^ould re-
semble them in their religious notions. In that case it w^ill be
of course quite impossible to say whether the elements of Greek
religion, which seem to be non- Aryan, were taken from the
Canaanite tribes of Greece proper or of Asia Minor and the
East.

Professor Ramsay, whose knowledge of ancient Asia Minor
is undisputed, has maintained ^ that in that region the female
deities belong originally to the earlier stratum of probably
Canaanite stock, who traced descent through the mother
and not through the father, while the male deities belonged
mostly to the conquering tribes of Aryan blood, who in the
course of the second millennium B.C. became dominant in
Asia Minor, to the Phrygians, Carians, Lycians and the like.
The suggestion has a high degree of probability. I^ong ago
Professor Ernst Curtius ventured on a similar view in regard
to the Greeks. He has maintained that the great goddesses-
of Greece were mostly of Canaanite or Syrian lineage, whereas
the male deities seem rather to belong to the tribes of Hellenic
blood.

If we examine the facts of the contact between Greek religion
and that of the aboriginal races of Asia Minor, so far as those
facts can be recovered, we shall find that they point at the least
to a strong influence of the conquered on the conquering race.

The peoples of central Asia Minor were very much devoted

^ See my Nexo Chapters in Greek History, p. 3(
2 Journal nf Hellenic Stud. is. 351.

84 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

to religion. In some places their whole political organisation
was based on priestly system. The high priest was the ruling
monarch, the lands belonged to the deities, and the people were
more or less temple-slaves. Such communities were flourishing
when history first reaches Asia Minor, and even in the times
of Eoman dominion were not extinct. The high priest of Olba
in Cilicia, for instance, was governor of all the country about
that city. The various cities called Hierapolis or Hieropolis
held religious communities of strict organisation; and the
deities who ruled over these religious societies in Asia were
in most cases female, and had a marked relationship one to the
other. They were lunar goddesses or deities of that moisture
which the ancients subjected to the dominion of the moon, and
regarded as the source and secret of life and growth in the
world of plants and of animals. Such was ]\Iylitta of Babylon,
such Atergatis the great goddess of Carchemish, the capital of
the widely spread Hittite race, such was Omphale of Lydia,
such Cybele of the Phrygian coast. And with this powerful
moon-goddess was joined in various districts an efi'eminate sun-
god, acting as a sort of consort to her majesty. Thus Attis
was connected with Cybele, Sandan with Mylitta, Bassareus
with Omphale.

When the Greeks came in swarms to found colonies in Asia
Minor, they adopted as a rule for their own the deity to whom
belonged the soil on which they settled. The religious organi-
sation they accepted, no doubt with modifications, and the
temple legends they treasured up. Even the barbarous Asiatic
images, which represented locally the majesty of the deity,
they did not throw aside, but installed them in a place of
honour, in temples built by their own architects. The only
thing the Greeks usually completely changed was the name
of the deity. Just as Herodotus, in describing the deities of
Egyptians or Persians or Scythians, calls them all by good
Greek names, just as Tacitus speaks of the Germans as wor-
shipping deities whom he calls Mercurius, Hercules, and Mars,
so the Greeks naturally thought and spoke of the local Asiatic
deities whom they adopted as identical with Greek deities
whom they brought with them. Thus it came about that a
barbarous, many-breasted simulacrum at Ephesus bore the
name of the Greek virgin goddess Artemis, and had attached
to her service an entirely Oriental cortege of priestesses and
eunuchs, presided over by a priest called the Essen or King-
Bee. And the same or nearly the same deity, who was called
at Ephesus Artemis, was at Samos called Hera. Thus the

BORROWED ELEMENTS IN RELIGION 85

thoroughly Greek cities of Asia Minor imbibed Oriental religious
beliefs and legends, and transmitted them to the mainland of
Greece in connection with the names of deities of the Greek
Pantheon.

These considerations only prove that Greek goddesses were
in Asia orientalised. But it is very likely that a similar pro-
cess had gone on at an earlier time in Greece itself, and that
Artemis and Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had long before
received the impress of the religion of the pre- Greek races.
For example, the Greeks always thought of Athena as armed
and warlike. Yet the notion of an armed woman seems quite
foreign to all we know of Hellenic manners. On the other
hand, armed women, Ashtoreth, Omphale, the Amazons, and
so forth were quite usual in the mythological tales of Asia
Minor.

It is remarkable that the only deity of whose cultus we have
clear traces among the remains of the pre-historic city of
Mycenae is a female being of Aphrodisiac type, who is associated
with the dove, and in many ways calls to mind both Atergatis
and the Babylonian Mylitta. In the earliest strata of remains
on the Acropolis of Athens and elsewhere rude figures of a
similar goddess have been found. It would indeed be rash to
say that the Aryan Hellenes had no native goddesses. Accord-
ing to analogy they must have had a goddess of love to corre-
spond to the Teutonic Freya, and beings like Dione of Dodona
and Hera of Argos seem to belong to the most fundamental
part of Greek religion. Yet we can scarcely doubt that the
female side of the Greek Pantheon owed far more to the
influence of the neighbouring races than did the male side, if
we except Herakles and Dionysus.

^ye can also discern in the fabric of developed Greek religion,
besides elements borrowed from tribes of non-Aryan blood,
elements which attach less to any tribe than to certain localities.

Among the local cults of Greece are many which were
probably handed down from race to race, as successive waves
of population swept over the land. Mountains and rivers are
notable for retaining their names unchanged from age to age,
many of our own rivers, for example, bearing Celtic names
which the Teutonic conquerors preserved ; and with their
names such natural features preserved the character attributed
to them by pre-historic peoples. AYe can scarcely doubt that
such a spot as the sacred cave at Delphi, which was said before
the coming of Apollo to have been an ancient oracle of Ge, was
already marked out as a sacred spot by the primitive races who

S6 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

dwelt in Greece long before the Hellenes. And when we read
of the wells called the Palici in Sicily into which offerings were
thrown, and of sacred trees like the oak of Zeus at Dodona,
and the olive of Athena at Athens, we cannot but suppose that
these objects inherited their sacred character from a primitive
age of pure fetishism. It is, however, impossible to verify such
surmises as these or to establish them on a sure basis by quoting
ancient authorities, since Greek tradition does not go back to
the time of the first coming of the Greek stocks into the
country which was to be their home. Further treatment of
this subject we must postpone to the chapter dealing with sacred
precincts.

Besides the influence exerted upon the Greek goddesses by
the early peoples of Asia Minor and Greece, we can trace an
influence which worked in historical times on the roads of
commerce, especially in the case of Aphrodite. The Greeks
were convinced that Aphrodite came to Greece from Cyprus.
Herodotus tells us ^ that the cultus at Paphos was founded
from Ascalon, a city of Southern Syria. If this were true,
we must expect, as Tiele points out,^ that the Cyprian goddess
would resemble rather the Ashera of the Canaanites than the
Ashtoreth of the Phoenicians. Yet when the Greeks became
familiar with Cyprus, it w^as already largely in the hands of
the Phoenicians, and we must suppose that the worship at
Paphos was modified by the flourishing cult of the Sidonian
Astarte or Ashtoreth. The worship of Ashtoreth was, to our
knowledge, introduced into Athens by Phoenician merchants,
and no doubt it made its Avay elsewhere also, and influenced
that of her Greek parallel, Aphrodite.

With Aphrodite came to Greece, as it had gone with Astarte
to Cyprus, the cultus of Adonis, the eff'eminate Syrian sun-god.
The myth of the death of Adonis under the tusks of the wild
boar seems to be an attempt at explaining the rapid death of
the sweet vegetation and flowers of spring in Syria, under the
fierce heat of the sun of summer. But no myth, even among
those native to their country, was more generally accepted
among Greeks than the tale of Aphrodite and Adonis, or more
brightly embellished with poetry and sculpture.

Of late years vigorous attempts have been made to prove
not merely that the cultus of Aphrodite in Greece proper was
original and Hellenic, but even that it was from Greece rather

1 Herod, i. 105.

^ Revue de I'lfist. des Religions, iii. 169, &c.

BOliliOWED ELEMKNTS IN RELIGION 87

than from the East that the cultus of the Paphian goddess
came to Cyprus. These views liave been carried to extreme
length by Enmann,^ wlio does all lie can to minimise Phoenician
influence, and particularly Phoenician religious influence in
Greece. He tries to show that the cultus of Aphrodite came
to Cyprus from Peloponnesus by way of Cythera, and that
Herodotus is quite wrong in deriving the Paphian cult from
Ascalon ; that Cinyras was a Greek hero, and his goddess a
primitive Greek moon-goddess. The arguments of Enmann are
mainly taken from comparative philology, and he almost ignores
the mass of evidence acquired in recent years from the tombs
and temples of ancient Cyprus ; he also treats the question as
if the only two alternatives before the historian were a pure
Greek or a pure Pha}nician origin of the Aphrodite cultus. Of
course the probability is that there were in that cultus both
Greek and Phoenician elements, besides other elements derived
from the primitive inhabitants of Asia Minor and Cyprus, who
were probably of Canaanite stock. It is impossible therefore
to accede to the views of those who regard Enmann's polemic
as victorious, though it may well serve to warn us against the
danger of carrying too far views such as those of Curtius.

In consequence of one of those curious processes of syncretism
of which the history of religion is full, the myths which attached
to Aphrodite in Greece were not mostly of Syrian origin, but
came from Asia Minor. In fact, one apparently Phoenician tale
about Aphrodite which the Greeks accepted, of her riding, as
a moon-goddess should, across the sea on the back of a bull,
and landing in Crete, they transferred to Europa ; but of
Aphrodite they told the tales which belonged to the kindred
goddesses of the districts of Asia T^Iinor. The Homeric Hymn
and the Iliad lead the way by telling of the amours carried on
at the foot of Ida in the Troad between Aphrodite and Anchises,
and the favour shown by Aphrodite to Paris is but another
form of the same story. The strong attachment which in
Homer unites Aphrodite to the country of the Phrygians and
'I'rojans shows that, at all events in the country where the
Homeric poems were composed, the Asiatic origin of Aphrodite
was accepted.

Two of the great goddesses of Asia Minor were adopted by
the Greeks. Of these one is Leto or Latona, whose original
home appears to be Phrygian or Lycian.- But Leto is even in

^ Kyprox, unci i'rsprutv/ dcr Aphrolite.

- As'to Lett), st-e Kaiiisay in Juuvn. IIcU. Stud. iv. 375.

88 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

Homer but a shadowy personage, and in the later mythology
she almost disappears, though there were statues of her by cele-
brated artists. The other is Cybele, whose cultus was carried
very early from Phrygia to Crete, and there incorporated with
the tales of the birth and childhood of Zeus, which specially
belonged to that island. It was, however, only at a later time
that Cybele really found a home in the cities of Greece proper.

A rather close parallel to the history of the spread in Greece
of the cultus of Aphrodite, is offered by the history of the cultus
of Herakles. As Aphrodite came from Ascalon and Sidon, so
Herakles, at least in his Phoenician form, started from Tyre, and
made his way into Greece, through the trading stations of the
Semitic merchants. The solar character which attaches to the
Tyrian Melkarth, Herakles still preserves in Greece. And the
story told in Greece of his dog who discovered the purple-
fish, of his voyage to the Atlas mountain, his adventures in
Spain and the like, seem to be of Phoenician origin. Other tales
told of him, such as his rescue of Hermione from a sea monster
at Hium, and his servitude to the Lydian queen Omphale, seem
to be derived from Asia Minor. But the case of Herakles
radically differs from that of Aphrodite, inasmuch as there was
in the myths told about him a very notable Hellenic element.
Indeed, so many are the tales told of Herakles, and so vast the
field over which his activity is said to have extended, that we
can scarcely avoid the belief, that many Greek tribes had a
hero of their own, and that they were all absorbed by the
spreading fame of the great Hellenic hero, as rivulets flowing
from every hill and marsh lose themselves in a great river
flowing by.

Of Dionysus, the other important Greek male deity, whose
non-Hellenic origin is generally alloAved, we will treat in the
chapter which deals with orgiastic cults.

CHAPTER III

CLASSIFICATION OF MYTHS

Greek myths may be classified, not only according to the source
whence they seem to derive, but also according to their contents
and meaning. Such classification is no doubt a very difficult
task, in many cases an impossible task, since the myths, as they
reach us, are often compounded out of a number of elements,

CLASSIFICATION OF MYTHS 89

and the primitive meaning so overlaid with subsequent growth
as to be invisible. All that we shall here attempt is to single
out a few myths the meaning of which is on the surface of
things pretty clear, in order to use them as illustrations of the
different processes through which the mythopoeic faculty of the
Greeks went in the construction of their scheme of mythology.

In an able paper, contributed to the Revue de V Histoire des
Relifjions} ^I. Jean Reville has shown (i) that no key to
mythology hitherto proposed w411 unlock all the myths of
Greece, and in fact that such a general solvent cannot exist;
and (2) that of the various methods of interpretation of myth
favoured by various schools, all may be used with success upon
some myths. This seems to me the exact truth. In the great
majority of cases there is in myths an setiological element ;
they start in an attempt to explain some existing fact. But
the facts thus explained are of many classes. In this place I
shall content myself with giving instances of six classes of
myth successively: (i) animal, (2) meteorological, (3) physical,
(4) historical, (5) cultus-myths, (6) ethical. These classes are
the most important, though doubtless their number might be
increased.

(i) Animal. The beast-stories of Greece belong to the oldest
stratum of mythology. They are also very abundant. ^lany
of the deities are said from various causes to have taken on them
at some time the form of an animal. And how easily the
Greek mind, even in historical days, ran on these lines may be
seen from the passage in the Odyssey (xxii. 240) in which Athena
sits on the beam of Odysseus' house, in form like a swallow, to
watch the slaying of the suitors. Later still, Zeus w\as supposed
to have appeared to Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great,
as a serpent.

The metamorphoses of Zeus are usually the accompaniment
of his amours. He carried Europa over the sea in the form of
a bull, and then appeared to her as to Ganymedes in the form
of an eagle, Leda he approached as a swan, and Hera as a
cuckoo. Poseidon more than once took the form of a horse,
and in that shape consorted with Demeter, who had concealed
her deity in the body of a mare. The nation of the Myrmidons
was formed from ants, and the proud Cad mean race from the
teeth of a serpent. In later Greece these crude tales were often
relegated to the background, and either became themes for art
or were hidden away as sacred temple legends only to be

1 Vol. xiii.

90 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

repeated to the initiated. The lieroes born of such transforma-
tions were often the ancestors of great families or clans, and
this, fact gives a clue to their setiological origin. In some
cases at all events they seem to belong to the totemist stage
of barbarian life, to that stage in which, as already men-
tioned, the god of the tribe was in fact commonly a sacred
animal, from whom the tribe claimed its origin. It is, however,
not necessary to resort in all cases to this explanation, since the
mutation of gods and men into animals for trivial reasons is
quite familiar to the savage imagination.

(2) Many Greek myths are but a rendering in the form of a
story of meteorological facts-^^^the continually repeated move-
ments of stars, alternations of day and night, and the like. For
example, the wandering lo, who is watched by the hundred eyes
of Argus until that guardian is slain by Hermes, seems obviously
the horned moon wandering through heaven under the count-
less eyes of the stars, which the breath of morning makes pale
and closes. A very numerous class of myths records in many
forms and with all possible variations the daily conflict between
sun and cloud, between fair weather and storm. We can
scarcely doubt that the terrible Medusa, from whose neck,
when her head is cut off, spring Pegasus and Chrysaor, is the
dread storm-cloud sending out wind and lightning. And when
we read how Hermes, the wind-god, stole the cows of Apollo,
we scarcely need to compare the Yedas in order to perceive
that the myth interprets the blowing of clouds across the sky.
Herakles, again, floating on the sea in a golden bowl, is evidently
the sun at his setting. But while the meteorological character
of many Greek myths is evident, there has been among philo •
logists far too pronounced a tendency to attribute this character
to Greek myths in general, a tendency carried in the case of
some writers so far as almost to bring this method of interpre-
tation into ridicule.

(3) Other myths give an account of what goes on in the
physical world. The whole myth of Kora, for instance — her
descent into the unseen world and her return to the upper air —
is a thinly veiled account of the processes which go on in the
case of seed and crop. A-SHien we hear the story which tells
how Apollo slew his beloved Hyacinthus Avith a discus, we see
at once that it is only an embodiment in myth of the well-
known fact that the hot sun of early summer in Greece dries
up the ground and destroys the tender flowers of spring.
The Cyclopes again, who in their underground chambers forge
the thunderbolts of Zeus, are clearly the restless forces of fire

CLASSIFICATION OF MYTHS Ql

^vl^cll (l\v(>]l under tlio, volcanoes, and occasionally cause fierce
eruptions. Another group of legends sets forth as the cause
of volcanic disturbances the restlessness of giants on whom
the volcanic mountains had been thrown, as Etna on Enceladus,
to keep tliem down.

(4) Some myths again are of a historical character, briefly
summing up events supposed to have taken place at some
]\ast time. Thus many of the legends told of Herakles.
'J'heseus, and lolaus probably have a basis in fact. The slaying
of the IMinotaur by Theseus and his wars against the Amazons
are probably tales containing history if we knew how to ex-
tract it. Pausanias, speaking of the lake of Pheneus, says that
it was drained by Herakles by means of a canal, which still
existed in his time ; and in the same way the walls of Tiryns
were attributed to the workmansliip of the Cyclopes : in both
cases an existing result was ascribed to mythical causes, be-
cause those which actually produced it were forgotten. The
long-standing enmity of the people of Laconia and Messenia
was translated into myth in the contest between the Dioscuri
and Idas and Lynceus. Kor is this mode of explanation con-
fined to tales of heroes. Rivalries and disputes of deities
often take in myth the place of the quarrels of the races which
they respectively protected : the victory of Apollo over iNIarsyas
symbolises the supersession of barbarous Phrygian and Lydian
shepherds' music by that under the patronage of Apollo. The
contest between Apollo and Herakles for the possession of the
Delphic tripod is probably a record in mythic form of some
actual rivalry between the cults of the two ; and especially
the family legends, recording the birth of the ancestor of the
race from some deity, usually contain real history, as well as
mere myth.

(5) A class of legends on which light has been thr.)wn of
late years is the tPtiological cultus-myths. In many of the
sacred places of Greece, a ritual of great antiquity was practised,
the meaning of which was lost, so that acts and words of
worship had no recognised meaning. To a people so intelligent
and inquisitive as the Greeks such a state of things couH not
be satisfactory. So, whether consciously or unconsciously, but
certainly with no intention of impiety, the priests and officials
would attach to the rites some story which served to make
them more intelligible. This method of interpretation of myth
has been applied by ]Miss Harrison with considerable success
to some of the most interesting of the Attic myth?, in ])ar-
ticular to the story of the Daughters of Cecrops, and their

92 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

nursing of the earth-born child Erich thonius.^ There was at
the Hersephoria at Athens a curious custom that the two
Arrhephoric maidens took upon their heads a sacred box, con-
taining some articles the nature of which was unknown to
them, and went down by a subterranean passage to a precinct
not far from that of Aphrodite in the Gardens. There they
deposited their burdens, and took back something also covered
up. 2 It seems likely that out of this ceremony arose the myth
that when Erichthonius was confided to the daughters of Cecrops
by Athena, he was hidden in a chest which they were forbidden
to open. Two of them, however, Herse and Agraulos, could
not restrain their curiosity, and peeping into the chest, saw
there the child entwined by a snake ; and this curiosity was
punished by their madness and death. The story would
obviously have a good effect in restraining the curiosity of
the Arrhephoric girls, and there seems justification for Miss
Harrison's assertion that it owed its origin to ritual mis-
understood.

Another myth, which is probably aetiological, is narrated by
Pausanias in connection with the cultus of Ares at Tegea. The
deity was termed yvvaiKodotvas, feasted by women, and his
cult was confined to women. These cults confined to one sex
are a common fact in most naturalist religions, and we must
regard as extremely improbable from the historic point of view
the local story that the cult was established in consequence of
a victory of the women of Tegea over the Lacedaemonians. It
is far more likely that the tale sprang out of the cultus than
that the cultus arose out of the story.

Sometimes setiological legends sprang, not out of cultus, but
out of representations in art. This was the case, according to
Milclihoefer, with most of the Theban stories attached to the
Sphinx,^ a monster which was certainly, so far as art- represen-
tations go, of Egyptian origin. To cite instances would, how-
ever, lead us too far. I must content myself with one fact.
The goddess Hygieia was daughter and constant attendant of
Asklepius, and appears with him regularly on votive reliefs set
up to the healing god by votaries whom he had cured. We
have, however, at Oropus and Rhamnus another hero of healing
who takes the place of Asklepius, and appears in reliefs in the

^ Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens, p. xxxiii.
2 Pausanias, i. 27, 3.

^ Athen. Mittheil. iv. ; cf. Goblet d'Alviella, Migration des Symboles,
p. III.

CLASSIFICATION OF MYTHS 93

same form, Amphiaraus.^ And curiously enough, in votive
reliefs dedicated to Amphiaraus, Hygieia appears by his side.
A merely artistic association of form has led to her transfer to
the Amphiaraian cultus.

(6) There is also among Greek myths a class which may best
be termed ethical, a class much more abundantly represented
in some other mythologies than in that of Hellas. As the
meteorological myth starts from astronomic fact, and the cultus
myth from the facts of cultus, so the ethical myth starts from
the practical necessities of life. It springs from a human need,
either social or spiritual, and is adapted to satisfy it.

We need not consider the devising of these tales as a religious
fraud ; rather it is the result of an instinctive perception of man-
kind as to the expedient, an action of the heart on the imagina-
tion with little mediation of the brain. Thus in Argos they
made a slaughter of dogs, KvvocfiovTis eopr-q, in the dog-days of
summer, and justified the proceeding by a myth ; but it is fair
to find the real motive in sanitary precaution. So the whole
athletic training of the Greeks, though pursued in later times
for health and pleasure, was always regarded as under the
special patronage of the gods, and hence arose myths, how at
the first Olympic festival Apollo had defeated Ares in boxing,
and outrun Hermes in the stadium. But in many cases the
ethical myths resulted from deliberate intention. We may
instance the later story of Prometheus as told by Hesiod, and
the proposal of Plato in the Kepublic to teach the citizens of
his ideal state how the Gods mingled different metals, gold,
silver, copper, and iron with common earth, in order thence to
form various classes of the community.

Besides stories which can be explained, there will always be
a certain number which will defy rational analysis; and it
may fairly be supposed that some at least of these date from
extreme antiquity, and are part of that mesh of meaningless
or almost meaningless stories which seem to please thorough
barbarians in all regions, such as the African beast-stories and
those silly and never-ending repetitions which delight the rude
natives of Siberia. The proportion which these mere tradi-
tional legends bear to myths based on symbolism and purpose is
a matter as to which opinions may greatly differ, nor is it safe
to pronounce a decided opinion on the subject until it has been
more thoroughly worked out.

Out of elements thus borrowed from many sources, and amid

' Athen. MUtheil. xviii. 254.

94 KELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

a cloud of myths good and bad, we see the Pantheon uf the
Greek gradually emerging, and constantly gaining in clearness
and consistency. On the whole the progress is constantly in
the direction of the higher anthropomorphism.

CHAPTER IV

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON

In Greek religion, in early times, two processes were constantly
going on, one of decay and corruption, the other of growth
and progress. On the one hand the religious conceptions of
the more pure-blooded of the Greeks were constantly being
mixed and adulterated with local, foreign, and barbarous ele-
ments ; on the other hand many cults were rising in character,
as the nation progressed in civilisation, and becoming more fit
to embody the highest national sentiments. Amid constant
changes and developments, by degrees was formed something
like a national Pantheon. But beside the religion of the
educated, of the wealthy families, the poets, and the artists,
there survived a number of cults of a more primitive and less
civilised character. It is safe to say that, on the whole, so
long as Greece grew, her religion grew also, and local cults
had far more tendency to rise above than to sink below their
traditions. At Eleusis, for example, we can certainly trace a
rise in the character of the teaching from early times, a rise
which seems to have continued in this case even into the times
of Greek decline.

Thus in most cases it is far safer to suppose that the national
type and cultus of one of the deities of Greece would be
develo}>ed from an amalgamation of local cults than that the
local cults of that deity should be degraded offshoots of a
common stem of tradition. In the case of Apollo, for instance,
Delos and Delphi, Athens and Lycia, all contribute elements
towards the formation of a national or standard idea of the
god. AVe can scarcely suppose that the contrary process has
predominated, that a pure deity of Apolline functions brought
with them by the Hellenes Avhen they came to their seats in
Europe has been variously and locally corrupted according to
the tendencies of the several localities where he obtained
resting-places.

This is of course one of the main ditferences between Aryan

FORMATIOX OF THE PANTHEON 95

and Semitic, between natural and positive religions. Islam,
for instance, which is the clearest type of positive religions, can
degenerate, but it cannot change its character without ceasing
in some degree to be Islam. A reform in it is a reversion to
the original type. Thus it is cut off from the natural processes
of growth and development, and preserved by the spirit of its
founder, comparatively unchanged, amid the changes going on
round it. Aryan and natural religions, on the other liand, are
perpetually growing and constantly changing their forms. The
processes of natural selection and survival of the fittest go on
freely in their case, and they rise and decay just like other
institutions.

I propose to endeavour to trace in summary fashion, first,
the multiform character of Greek local cult, and then the
fashion in wdiich the national Pantheon emerged from it.

The common notion in regard to Greek paganism, a notion
most superficial and incorrect, is that the Greeks in general,
throughout their history, accepted a certain hierarchy of deities
as the ruling powers in the world, and were quite at one as
to the provinces of these deities, their parentage, and their
relations one to the other. This view is fostered by modern
dictionaries of mythology. But it is quite mistaken. It is only
by degrees that anything approaching a national Pantheon
arose in Greece, the mythologic views of tribes and cities
becoming merged to a certain extent in the general Hellenic
construction.

An instructive parallel may be found in the history of the
Greek dialects. In early Greece each town or district, Argos,
Elis, Boeotia, Euboea, had a special dialect; but by degrees
these were superseded in the case of educated people by the
literary dialect which arose at Athens, though they still sur-
vived on the tongues of the country people. In the same way,
by degrees something like a national Pantheon arose for poetry
and art, for Delphi and Athens and Olympia ; but the local
cults out of wdiich it took its rise still survived in the temples
and oracles of Greece, even to the days of the rise of Chris-
tianity. Indeed, as religion is more conservative than language,
local cults preserved a more stubborn independence than local
dialects.

If, setting aside a priori notions, we consider the facts of
religious cultus as they appear in ancient writers, especially
Pausanias, we shall soon find that the myths of the gods were
not self -consistent, and that their cultus varied from place to
place. Instead of a clearly defined system, we look on forms

gO RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

as fleeting as those of a cloud. Every seat of worship in Greece
had its own tales and its own customs, and recked but little
whether they accorded with those of other sacred places.
Often the tales thus locally accepted as to deities were quite
at variance with the usual place of those deities in the Olym-
pian assembly. One legend made Apollo the son of Athena,
another made Athena the daughter instead of the rival of
Poseidon. In the tales of Eleusis, Dionysus, under the name
lacchus, was probably regarded as the son of Persephone. In
the local religion of Arcadia, the chief place was occupied by
a deity of whom we hear only under the general name of Des-
poena, the Mistress, who was said to have been daughter of
Poseidon and Demeter, though other legends ascribed to the
same strangely assorted pair of parents the origin of the horse
Arion. In Thrace and Macedon the son was regarded as be-
longing to Ares, who in the rest of Greece was looked on as
a semi-barbarous war-god. In Boeotia, the place of Hades as
lord of the under world, and the chthonic gift of prophecy, was
taken by Trophonius, and at Oropus the same functions were
assigned to Amphiaraus, though these beings were not regarded
with veneration beyond the districts where their cult had a
home, and had no place at all in the Hellenic Pantheon. That
whole Pantheon seems like the designs seen in a kaleidoscope,
designs which consist always of the same elements, but of those
elements arranged and re-arranged in an infinite number of
ways.

I will detail a few instances of the two rules, (i) that deities
called by various names in different places were often really
identical in function; and (2) that deities called by the same
name were often really quite different.

(i) A high place in the local theology of Syracuse was held
by Arethusa, of whose adventures with the river-god Alpheius
we have stories which have pleased the fancy of modern poets
and so are well known to every one. But Arethusa is not
clearly to be distinguished from Artemis in the guise in
which she was worshipped in Peloponnese, as Potamia, the
river-goddess, the queen of nymphs, unwearied in the chase
and frequenting the thick underwood. But on the other hand
this Arcadian Artemis has very little in common with the
Boeotian or Thessalian Artemis, of whom Hecate, the goddess
of spells and enchantments, was but another name, or with the
august nature goddess, v;ho was styled Artemis by the people
of Ephesus and Perga, but who was really of distinctly Asiatic
type, and a very near relation of Cybele. Thus Artemis takes

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON 97

on her at various places the nature of Arethusa of Hecate and
of Cybele, and tales which might be appropriate to her in one
of these characters would be quite inappropriate in the other
characters.

The Dioscuri again, in their capacity of mortal heroes of the
Spartan race, patrons of arms and chivalry, are doubles of the
Messenian twins Idas and Lynceus, with whom the legend
brings them into conflict. But regarded as embodiments of
natural phenomena, the lights which shine on ships in the
Mediterranean in stormy weather, the Dioscuri are equivalents
of the Cabeiri of Samothrace, who were also twins, and are on
coins represented in exactly the same guise as Castor and
Polydeuces. In yet another aspect the Dioscuri are the stars
of morning and of evening which sliine alternately in the
heaven. And between the human and the divine aspects of
the Dioscuri there is no easy means of transition : there seems
little reason why the national heroes of the very uncommercial
and land-loving Spartans should be made supreme over the
winds and waves of the ^gean Sea, to still them at will.

Of all the Greek deities Zeus occupies, as is natural, the
most stable position. His character should vary least from
place to place ; he, if any of the dwellers on Olympus, should
preserve universally his national and epic type. And yet we
find in many parts of the Greek world forms of Zeus which
widely depart from this type. Athenseus ^ tells us of a Zeus
Peloros worshipped in Thessaly apparently as a chthonic giant
whose movements caused the earthquakes which often changed
the features of the district ; that is, performing the part else-
where given to the giants or to Poseidon. In Argos, a city
where we should expect to find genuine Hellenic influence
strong, we find a cultus of a Zeus with three eyes, a monster
whom we cannot for a moment imagine as taking a throne
in the Olympian assembly. We may fancy the contempt of
Athena and the bitter speeches of Hera if so unseemly an
apparition attempted to rule the tumults of heaven.

(2) And not only did local forms of the Olympic deities
clothe themselves in barl')aric statues, and exercise functions
which seem inconsistent with their true nature, but they were
even formally recognised as distinct entities from other local
forms of the same deities. Thus in a treaty of w^hich the text
is still extant ^ the Latians of Crete take an oath both by Zeus
Creta genes and Zeus Tallreus, as if they were two beings. AVe

1 xiv. p. 639. 2 (J I Q 2554. ]. 176.

98 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

read in Xenoplion's account of his own journeys, that on his
return from Persia he sacrificed freely to Zeus Soter and Zeus
Basileus ; but that while he was staying at Lampsacus he was
warned by a diviner that Zeus Meilichius was displeased with
him for not having done him more honour, as if this third
form of Zeus were an absolutely distinct being from the other
two.^ Xenophon also founded in Peloponnese a temple to
Artemis Ephesia, regarding her evidently as another being than
the Artemis Limnatis who had already so many shrines in that
district. So it is recorded in Suetonius' life of Augustus ^ that
the Emperor offended Jupiter Capitolinus by paying too much
attention to Jupiter Tonans. Facts like these show how deities
tended to confine themselves to their various temples, so that
religion constantly tended to lapse towards idolatry. It will
be well known to many that among the peasantry of Catholic
countries, notably Italy, there is at this day a similar rivalry
between the Madonna of one village and the Madonna of
another, which causes not only heartburnings, but not unfre-
quently deeds of violence.

In Greece inspiration was not confined to one person or to
one series of persons, but regarded as belonging to all who had
communion with any of the gods. The Pythian priestess was
inspired, but it never occurred to a Greek to form the Pythian
rescripts into a sacred volume and then to consecrate that book
as an infallible source of wisdom and truth. There was, so to
speak, free trade in inspiration. If any one chose to go to Zeus
at Dodona or Trophonius at Lebadeia instead of to the Delphic
Apollo, he was likely to get a reply of not much less value than
those received from the more celebrated sanctuary. The sooth-
sayer who consulted the flight of birds or inspected the entrails
of victims sacrificed was as good an authority as genuine works,
or works regarded as genuine, by Orpheus or MusEeus. The
l^oet among ourselves sometimes talks of his inspiration, but
this is not taken seriously, is only a fanciful form of speech.
l>ut the Greek poet whose prayer was heard and answered by
the ready Muse was reckoned as really inspired.

Thus the various cults in Greece had a fair field and no
favour. They grew slowly or fast according to the influences
which came to bear on them. Some were taken up and woven
like threads into the peplos of Greek national religion. Some
remained obscure, or were discredited and died away. Some
were rendered comparatively unchanging through being em-

^ Anabasis, vii. S, 4. ''* c. 91.

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON 99

Ijalnied in outward ceremonies and observances, or in some
noteworthy work of art. Others were shifting and changing
from age to age. Some making their way from abroad grew
more and more at one with Hellenic feelings and beliefs until
they assumed quite a national character. Others, though
born in Greece, never reached the level of the best national
life, but remained as fragments of alien and unassimilated
matter in the midst of the stream of the religious life of the
people.

There were of course in Greece deities of the state, whom
to. worship was part of patriotism; and there were family
deities, and deities of the tribe. Eut outside this correct
religion, and more and more prominently as social life decayed,
there was, so to say, a perfectly free competition among the
Greek deities for votaries, and those best succeeded who best
met the needs of worshippers. In some early representations of
the judgment of Paris, the goddesses before him are competing
not in beauty, but with gifts ; and, in fact, this idea so strongly
penetrated the story that it marks even the most modern of
^'ersions of it, Tennyson's CEnone. In the same way the Greeks
were disposed to pay most honour to that one of the gods who
gave them the best gifts. Rivalry of one another in the
esteem and in the ofierings of mortal men marks the Greek
deities in the Homeric poems, and such rivalry continued
until the Greek religion was a thing of the past.

Such rivalry might take a very open and naive form. A
votary might wander from shrine to shrine, asking help at the
hands of one deity after another, and if help came anywhere,
that would seem the best of all reasons for accounting the
deity through whom it came the most beneficent and the most
powerful of the gods, whether that deity were one of the
oldest and best established of the inhabitants of Olympus, or
some quite new importation from abroad. Every reader of
Herodotus will remember how, when meditating a war against
Persia, Croesus sent embassies to all the chief oracles of
the ancient world asking the same question, in order that he
might compare the answers. He set oracle bidding against
oracle, as in our days men set builder competing against builder,
or printer against printer. And when the Delphic Oracle
fairly won in the open competition, Croesus made it by his lavish
gifts the wealthiest shrine in the whole world. By a similar
success in meeting actual demands other temples in Greece
rose into wealth and splendour, and as they rose thus, the local
tales of which they were the outward and visible consecration

lOO RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

became more widely known, and were incorporated into the
body of the national theology.

A clear instance of the value to the fame and honour of
deities of definite gifts bestowed on men will be found in the
history of the cults of the three goddesses, Hera, Artemis, and
Aphrodite. In Homeric times Hera appears as incomparably
the greatest goddess of the three. Artemis she whips with her
own bowstring, and Aphrodite is the mark of her continual
scorn and jests. And Hera, as the stately goddess of wedded
life and the rights of matrimony, including even the bestowal
of children on her worshippers, would naturally be an object of
veneration to Greek women. Yet we find in later Greece the
cultus of Hera by no means very prominent. To take a simple
test, five or six cities in Greece proper place Aphrodite or
Artemis on their coins for every city which accords that honour
to Hera. A simple explanation of this curious phenomenon
may be found in the fact that though Hera had good gifts to
bestow they were less attractive than those of her younger
rivals, of whom Artemis was especially invoked amid the perils
of child-birth, while Aphrodite was the bestower of fortune
in love.

Coming down to a later time, a cult which continually gained
ground in Greece and never lost it was that of Asklepius.
Health is among all nations the best of good gifts of heaven,
and at a time when society was sick, and men were losing their
pristine vigour and energy, their search after health became
keener and more absorbing. Hence the rapid spread of the
cultus of the god of healing. In the period of Greek great-
ness before Alexander, we do not hear very much about
Asklepius.^ But after Greek ideas had conquered Asia, in the
time of the Diadochi, Asklepius was one of the deities whose
cultus took deep root in the forelands of Asia. This process was
aided by political reasons, since Pergamon, the capital of the
wealthy and powerful Attalid kings, had been from the first de-
voted to the adoration of Asklepius. So the Asiatic temples of
the god, which were always thronged with multitudes waiting
for advice and healing dreams, grew vast and wealthy ; and
the lustre won by Asklepius in Asia was reflected back on his
European seats, Epidaurus in particular, whicli city became in
a manner entirely sacred to him. And thus the tales about his
birth and his life became a part of the generally recognised

^ His worship was unknown at Athens till B.C. 420, when he was intro-
duced from Epidaurus.

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON lOI

mythology of Greece, and with Asklepius, his daughter Hygieia,
and his mother Coronis attained high rank in Olympus.

I cannot attempt to show in detail how, out of the unformed
and miscellaneous substance of Greek local and tribal legend
and usage, the Hellenic Pantheon was built up. Herodotus,
in a well-known passage, says that the work of construction
was mainly accomplished by Homer and Hesiod ; and in this
statement there is beyond any doubt a great deal of truth.
The works which passed under the names of Musaeus, Orpheus,
and the rest, w^ere no doubt, as Herodotus implies, of later date
than the great epics. When the recitation of the Homeric
poems at festivals became usual, and still more when they
became the ordinary subjects taught in Greek schools, they
acquired a predominance in the mind of the average Greek
gentleman which nothing could shake. And yet to such pre-
dominance there must have been local exceptions. We can
scarcely imagine the people of Ephesus or Perga allowing
currency to the story that Hera whipped Artemis with her own
bow, or the people of Argos accepting the tale that Hera was
hung from Olympus in chains; and in fact, of such local
prejudice we have an instance in the interpolation of the
passage in honour of Hecate in the Hesiodic Theogony.

Homer and Hesiod did not invent names for the gods, or
arbitrarily assign them functions. There are in the lists of
Hesiod many cases in which divinity is ascribed to arbitrary
impersonations, such as Hovo? and iMa;^)^, and in such cases the
poet may actually have been the creator of the personalities on
whom he bestows the name. But of course no poet of the
Homeric or the Hesiodic school either invented the name or
determined the functions of any of the greater deities, Zeus or
Apollo or Poseidon, or even Cronus or Rhea. All that any of
those poets did was to exercise a certain power of selection, to
choose among the names and the personalities of the gods
handed down from remote generations, and introduce among
them by degrees, one poet working on the basis of another,
a sort of system or hierarchy. They chose certain deities and
certain legends, and built for them an eternal temple of echoing
song, to protect them for ever from change and from dissolu-
tion ; and the result is patent to all those who know anything
of Greek history ; it was the formation of a sort of normal or
standard scheme of Greek mythology, which was acknowledged,
more or less, by all the better educated and more intelligent
of the Greeks, whether they dwelt on the native soil of Hellas,
amid the fertile fields of Italy, on the slopes in which Libya

I02 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

breaks down to the Mediterranean, or in the neighbourhood of
the barbarous Scythians of the steppes by the Euxine Sea.

Every Greek who was born above the ranks of the sordidly
poor went to school during boyhood; and at every Greek
school the Homeric and Hesiodic poems were made the text-
book of education. With them were associated the poems of
the later lyrical poets, such as Pindar and Simonides, and of the
gnomic writers ; but Homer and Hesiod always remained the
chief source whence came the Greek ideas as to the hierarchy
and the functions of the gods. And the training thus imparted
in youth was confirmed and consolidated, day by day, by the
power of the second education which every Greek went through,
education of the mind through the eyes, by observation of the
innumerable works of art which filled all Hellenic cities. In
art, the poetic view of the gods, started by Homer and Hesiod,
and carried on by Pindar and Simonides, and the other great
poets of early Greece, was in the main accepted and carried
out. What wonder then if the Greeks held fast those notions
as to the gods which were instilled into their minds in child-
hood, and which were enforced every day by the testimony of
poetry and art?

The Homeric and Hesiodic poems were thus the first and
most prominent cause of the formation of a Pantheon, yet the
Pantheon did not remain altogether at the Homeric stage, but
went on changing and developing. In fact, every poet who
dealt Mdth mythology exercised upon the fabric of it some
influence. Perhaps this is most notable in the case of Stesi-
chorus the Sicilian poet, who flourished in the sixth century.
Several instances are recorded in which he purposely innovated
on the received mythical versions of events. In one of his
poems he had spoken severely of Helen, describing the daughters
of Tyndareos as being made, by a special curse of Aphrodite,
8iyd[xov<s T€ Kat Tpiyafxovs koX Xiirecrdvopas. Helen in anger
smote the poet with blindness, and to appease her he wrote a
recantation or palinode in which he invented or revived the
tale that Helen never really went to Troy at all, but that it
was only her ei'SwAov, or image, which Paris carried thither
over the sea. On this the poet recovered his sight; and it
is evident that those who believed the tale about Stesichorus
would thereafter deal with stories about Helen in a cautious
mood. In another poem, speaking of the story of Artemis and
Actseon, Stesichorus rationalised it by asserting that Actaeon
was not turned into a stag, but that the goddess cast over him
the skin of a stag, in order to make the dogs attack him. And

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON IO3

in later days Paiisanias/ commenting on the poem of Stesi-
cliorus, observes that for his part he does not see that the inter-
vention of the goddess was necessary at all, since the dogs may
very well apart from her have gone mad, and torn their master
without recognising him.

Not inferior to the influence of successive poets on the ideas
formed by the Greeks of their various deities was the influence
exerted by the great sculptors and painters, Polygnotus and
Pheidias, Zeuxis and Praxiteles. This is a subject of vast
extent. Overbeck has attempted to give a systematic account
of the successive manners of representing in art the gods of
the Pantheon, and the scale on which he has found himself
obliged to work may be judged from the fact that his account
of the representations in art of Zeus alone occupies 600 large
octavo pages. Of each deity, after all the wrecks of time,
there exist scores, nay hundreds, of variant representations,
each of which bears the mark of a period, a city, and a school.

For the sake of illustration, and of illustration merely, I will
give two examples, the ■ flrst of conservatism, the second of
innovation in the artistic types of the gods.

In the case of Artemis more than in that of any other Greek
deity the early artistic representations bear an Oriental impress.
It was the custom of the sculptors of Babylon and Syria to
represent their deities as winged to signify their swiftness, and
as strangling in their arms beasts and monsters, perhaps evil
spirits in beast like shape, to signify their strength. When
Artemis first appears on Greek monuments she is usually
winged, and grasps in each hand a beast which she has over-
powered, lion, panther or stag. A good example is oftered by
the bronze plate from Olympia.- To Oriental workmen it was
natural thus to add externally to the forms of their deities
emblems of their supernatural powers. But the Greek artist
as naturally strove to incorporate his symbolism in the statue
of the deity, and not merely to add it as a supplement. Take
a quite late Greek representation of Artemis, the well-known
Artemis of the Louvre. Here swiftness and power are as
clearly indicated as in the archaic childish figure. But they
are indicated in quite another fashion, in the way of Greek
l)lastic art The swiftness of the goddess is clearly shown by
her attitude and by the length and suppleness of her limbs.
Her power over beasts is represented l)y her arrows and by the
stag on which she lays a hand, and which is the lineal descen-

1 ix. 2, 4. ^ Overbeck, Griech. Plastik; i. p. 124.

I04 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

dant of the wild creatures of the early representation. The
deity is now really translated from Babylonish into Greek.

This then is an instance of conservatism in the representa-
tions of the gods : let us take another instance to show innova-
tion. In early art the god Hermes appears very frequently,
and almost always in one connection. He acts as the herald,
the messenger of the gods, who sees that the decrees of Zeus
are carried out on earth. So he is represented like a herald,
as a staid and mature bearded man, always busily occupied
with the functions assigned him in the scheme of Olympus.^
Presently to the Greeks Hermes became in a special way the
patron of athletic sports, his figure decked the gymnasia, and
he himself became the type of all that an athlete should be.
If we come down to the time of Praxiteles we shall find that
he still represented Hermes as busy in the service of the gods,
in fact, as carrying the newly born child Dionysus to the
nymphs, who brought him up by the decree of Zeus. But the
type of the god is entirely changed under athletic influence.
He is no longer a grave herald, but a beautiful Athenian youth
in the very flower of his strength and energy. Let us come
down another century to the wonderful bronze Hermes of
Herculaneum. In him all trace of the herald, of the serious
man of business has vanished : we find instead a youth whose
agile limbs seem made for the race. He is the very impersona-
tion of swiftness and agility, a consummate athlete, the only
trace of his divinity visible lying in the wings of his feet, sole
relic of early symbolism.

These two instances must suflice to illustrate the power of
art in forming the popular conceptions of the deities; what
met the eyes of the artistic and imaginative Greek in the
market-place and the street, the temple and stoa could not fail
to mould his thoughts and to shape his religious feelings.

We must not forget that Homer represents the Ionian and
Achaean, but not the Dorian section of the Greek race. In the
Epic poems those deities and those elements of religion which
Greece owed mainly to the Dorians are omitted or appear in
the background. For example, the religious veneration of
ancestors is scarcely Homeric, and it is noteworthy that Homer
takes a lower view of the world after death than Avas usual
among the Dorians. Of this ancestor- worship I have already
spoken. But it remains to speak of other influences which,

^ So very commonly on black and early red-figured vases. See Gerhard,
Auscrlesene Vasenbilcler, passim.

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON IO5

after the Homeric age, tended to produce unity in the reHgious
ideas of the various Greek stems and cities, and so to evolve a
national Pantheon. Conspicuous among these influences are
those of the Great Games — Olympia, Pythia and the like — of
the Mysteries of Eleusis, and of the oracles, especially that of
Delphi : of these we must successively speak.

A strong and lasting tie, which bound together all Hellenes
into a certain religious unity, was the Great Games of Greece, the
Olympia, Pythia, iS^emea, and Isthmia. Of the great influence
exercised by these festivals on the physical development of tlie
Greeks, on their commerce, their art, and their institutions we
cannot here speak. What now concerns us is the influence
exercised by the festivals already named, and those other festi-
vals like them held at the shrine of the Branchidae at Miletus,
at Delos, at the temple of the Lacinian Hera in South Italy
and elsewhere, on the religious beliefs of the Greeks. That
such influence was profound and lasting we cannot doubt. We
are apt, in reviewing in our minds the outward circumstances
of festivals like the Olympia and the Isthmia, to forget their
intensely religious cast. But the religious element would never
be lost sight of by all the thousands who thronged to them.
In honour of the gods the sacrifices were offered with which the
festivals began and ended. And in fact, according to a very
plausible theory, even the physical contests, which were the
chief feature of the festivals, were the direct descendants of
bloody human sacrifices which were at the same spot offered
in pre-historic times. Nor could any Greek pay a visit to
Olympia or to Delphi at the time of the games without carry-
ing away a lively feeling of veneration for the deities to whom
those spots were sacred, and a fresh memory of the religious
myths by which such possession was explained or justified.
The Homeric Hymn to the Delian Apollo belongs essentially to
the panegyris of the lonians, who met at the sacred island in
solemn festival : at the panegyris it would be on all lips. And
in that hymn how much there is of thetilogy in the Greek if
not in the modern sense of the word ! How near it seems to
bring Apollo to all who partake of his sacred hospitality.

Such, then, was one of the functions of the great agonistic
festivals of ancient times, in making the deities in whose
honour they ^vere held, Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and Apollo,
the common possession of all who took part in the festivals.
And a similar function in relation to the worship of the great
chthonic deities, Demeter and Persephone and lacchus, was
performed by those Eleusinian Mysteries which, in the course

I06 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

of Greek history, we see gaining rapidly in importance and
spreading in influence, until from being as at first the private
possession of the Eumolpidse, they became successively Attic,
Hellenic, and even cosmopolitan. And in this case the
influence on religious belief is even more direct and striking
than in the case of the great games, since, as we know, theo-
logic doctrine was certainly taught to those who were initi-
ated : doctrine mainly mythologic, but involving distinctly the
belief in a future life and in future rewards and punish-
ments. All the Greeks believed in the existence of the soul
after the burial and decay of the body, but this is a doctrine
common to all barbarous peoples, and not essentially either
moral or immoral; but under the influence of Eleusis the
doctrine of the future life took a higher and more moral tone,
and became distinctly Hellenic, casting away the swaddling-
bands of its barbaric origin.

Another institution which tended to give to the Greeks as
such a national religion Avas that of the oracles, more especially
the greatest of the oracles, that of Apollo at Delphi. Every
one who is even passably acquainted with Greek history knows
how important a part in the afl"airs of states was played by
the responses of the Pythian god. If a war was intended, a
colony on a distant shore planned, a' policy under discussion,
in every case Delphi might be consulted. The Spartans were
especially tenacious of this religious custom, and more than
once was the course of their affairs changed by a Pythian
rescript. And not only states but also private individuals were in
the habit of seeking a way out of their difficulties by calling to
their aid the unmeasured wisdom of Apollo. The days of
those who had nothing but contempt for the oracles of Greece,
or even fancied that the power which inspired them was not
divine but diabolic, have passed away, and few people would
now hesitate to allow that their influence was on the whole
directed to good. On the whole, by consulting them, states
became wiser and more just, and even private individuals
learned lessons of wisdom and virtue, though of course in the
responses delivered to them there must have been more or less
of deception. And not only did the existence of the oracles
tend on the Avhole to the improvement of moralit}^, but they
also tended greatly to produce unity in the religious beliefs
of Greece. In them all Greeks alike could hear the voice of
the national divinities, and the numerous deputations from all
parts of Greece which were constantly jostling one another in
the courts of the Delphic temple must have realised on such

FORMATION OF THE PANTHEON 1 07

occasions, if never before, that Apollo was the leader and
inspirer of all alike.

At the time of the Persian wars the influence of Delphi
had begun to decline. And by temporising, Medising as the
Greeks called it, at that supreme crisis of history Delphi lost
for ever its undisputed place at the head of Greek religion.
That place was to some extent taken by the city which then
assumed the lead in all intellectual and moral matters, Athens.
The great deity of Athens, Athena, became to some extent
the patron of Hellas; and about her the Athenians ranged a
series of the twelve greater gods, Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and
Demeter, Apollo and Artemis, Hephaestus and Athena, Ares
and Aphrodite, Hermes and Hestia. This list does not differ
greatly from that which might be extracted from Homer ; the
chief discrepancy is the omission of Leto and the insertion of
Hestia. But if we turn to other centres of Greek religion,
we find systems of deities greatly differing from that of Athens.
At Olympia, for instance, in the list of twelve greater gods,
Demeter, Ares, Aphrodite, Hej)hsestus, and Hestia are omitted,
and in their place we find Cronus and Rhea, Dionysus, Alpheus,
and the Charites.

After speaking of the growth of national Greek religion, Ave
should perhaps say a few words as to its decline and decay.
This is a subject which it is impossible to treat in a satisfactory
way without speaking of Greek philosophy and other subjects
v/hich do not come within the scope of the present work. We
must content ourselves with a very few words.

The fact is that as Greek thought and civilisation progressed,
the educated classes in Greece outgrew their religion. Poly-
theism is necessarily less elastic as a system than monotheism,
less capable of being modified in accordance with growing
civilisation, and of being remoulded by philosophy and science.
If there be many deities, there cannot be unity of plan in the
universe, nor can it be governed by fixed laws. Even in
Homer we may see the beginnings of monotheism, which gradu-
ally spread, until in the fifth century B.C. thinking men were
practically monotlieists. Hence the conflict between morality
and religion which is dwelt on in the Republic of Plato. At
that time the old paganism survived in the beliefs of the
uneducated, and it lived on in a modified form in poetry
and art ; but its vital force was gone, and it only awaited the
death-blow of a great crisis.

That crisis came in the days of Alexander the Great. When
the Greeks became masters of the world, it soon became clear

I08 KELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

that they had no satisfactory religion to offer to mankind. The
religion of their lower classes was of a local and tribal kind,
or at most national. The Greeks could not present to bar-
barous peoples their own religious system as one to put in the
place of all others. They could not bid the conquered races
throw their idols to the moles and the bats, and worship Zeus
and Athena. Greek religion was for Greeks, and not for
mankind.

Thus when the centre of gravity of the Greek world was
shifted eastward, the national religion of Greece was fatally
injured. In its old seats in Greece and Asia, and even in the
new cities founded by the Macedonians, it lingered on, and
retained for a long time the adhesion of the people. But there
was no force to elevate and sustain it, so that the cults deterio-
rated in character ; and they could not hold their own when
brought into competition with the new deities of the East,
with Isis and Mithras and Sarapis ; and on the other hand
they could not resist the inroads of materialism. When we
read the shameless hymn addressed by the degenerate Athenians
to the libertine Demetrius Poliorcetes,^ "Other gods live far
away or have no ears ; either they do not exist, or they care
nought about us ; but thee we see before us, not of wood or
stone but living. To thee then we address our prayer," w^e feel
that there cannot be any reality of religious belief in the city
which in old days had been the most religious of Greece.

CHAPTER V

THE HOMERIC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON

T PROPOSE next to analyse and set forth the sdieme of Greek
religion as we find it in the earliest of Greek writings, the
Homeric poems.

In Homer - we find an Olympus ; that is to say, the deities
whom he recognises are not independent one of another, but
members of a regularly constituted hierarchy, recognising a
common lord or superior, and exercising proper functions, not
always indeed rigidly marked out and bounded, yet in the main

^ Athenseus, Bk. vi. p. 253.

- I use the name Homer merely for shortness and convenience. By it
I mean the authors of the Iliad and Odyssey, poems which I suppose to
belonsr subs^tantiallv to the ninth or eisrlith century.

TflE HOMERIC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON IO9

strongly indicated. The Olympian assembly meets and the
deities sit in regular order; they discuss plans and arrange
events, and Zeus himself scarcely ventures to disregard their
general feeling. Some have greater dignity, some less : it is
the part of some to speak and of others to listen. As the
chiefs meet on earth to hold councils of war and to decide the
fate of captives, so the gods meet on their sacred mountain to
hear the counsels of Zeus, and either to applaud them or to
protest against them.

The position of Zeus ^ in the assembly of Olympus is higher
and more honourable, however, than that of a head chief or
king of kings like Agamemnon in relation to his subordinate
chiefs. Ko deity would dare to dispute his will, nor even to
protest against it, unless supported by the general opinion.
Even Hera does not venture on a more open protest than epS'-
oLTap ov TOL Travres €7ratv'€0/x€v deol aXXoL. Some of the most
august of the Olympian deities have already felt the anger of
Zeus and undergone humiliating punishments, like that of Hera
when she w^as suspended from heaven with an anvil tied to
each foot. And he boasts that he could drag away by his sole
force all the gods of Olympus, with earth and sea to boot.
Indeed, his power is less limited by his subordinate colleagues
than by the dim and mysterious power of Fate, Moipa or Aura,
who sometimes overrides even his will, although in nearly all
cases his will and hers seem to be in unison.

Regarded in his physical aspect, Zeus to Homer embodies
the great vault of heaven and the upper air. He is sovereign
lord of meteorological phenomena; he gathers the clouds and
hurls the thunderbolt; guides the flight of fate-bearing birds
through the air, and is everywhere present at the deeds of men.
His power is, if not unlimited, yet of so vast extent that all
opposition to it must fail. He is the father or at least the
superior brother of all the important deities, and of undisputed
rule throughout the universe. Looked at in the highest light
he even approaches to the idea of deity held by monotheistic
peoples, as his will and the right are usually not to be separated :
he know^s the end from the beginning, and orders all things in
heaven and earth so as on the whole to be best. Other deities
descend to earth in order to carry out their wishes ; he but
sends a messenger or even acts without one from the encom-

1 For more details the reader may consult the second volume of Mr.
Gladstone's Studies on Homer. Mr. Gladstone's work is thorough and
original, and it.s value will not be disputed even by those who regret the
presence in it of theological bias.

I lO RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

passing lieaven. Yet this bright majesty has dark shadows.
The character of Zeus is, in the Iliad, strongly maiked by
sensual passion, and his government is sometimes distorted
and debased by unjust partialities, such as that which he feels
for his son Sarpedon. He is by no means above receiving
gratification of appetite from sacrifice, sacrifice which disposes
him towards the offerer, and on the occasion of the Theomachy
he is actually spoken of as rejoicing in the strife — epis — of
the immortals. In fact, the Greeks of the Homeric age did
not scruple to ascribe to their supreme deity, noble as they
thought him, the failings and vices which we may presume to
have been common in his representatives on earth, the Sior/ae^ee?

Hera is a less dignified character by far. Her powers mostly
derive from her station as Queen of Olympus, and chief wife
of Zeus. Hence the deities rise up when she enters their
assembly, and she disposes of many of the prerogatives of the
supreme god. She sends the sun to his setting even against
his will.^ She endows the horses of Achilles with a voice. ^
On one occasion she even thunders in honour of Agamemnon.
She sends Iris on frequent messages, and when she mounts her
chariot the horses leap at each step as far as a man's eye might
pierce at sea. Yet, in spite of such powers and prerogatives,
Hera is neither magnanimous nor amiable. She is swayed
beyond all the immortals by violent and unreasoning prejudices,
which Homer cannot put in a pleasing light, although in the
Iliad they tell in favour of the Greeks. Zeus taunts her with
being eager to eat up the Trojans alive; and she looks even
upon her lord in disgust when she reflects that he is partial to
the Trojans. Herakles, whom she hated, she pursued from his
birth onwards with bitter malice, receiving at last in her breast
an arrow from the unconquerable hero. And the goddess acts up
to her likes and dislikes without hesitation : her plans are carried
out alike by force and fraud. Aphrodite, Sleep, and even
Zeus himself are the victims of her wiles. Beauty and clever-
ness, etSos Kttt TTivvTrj, are the gifts which she bestows on the
daughters of Pandareus, and these she has freely to bestow;
by these she maintains her state on Olympus, but higher
qualities are wanting.

Hera is in Homer so entirely humanised that we find in her
scarcely a trace of elemental meaning. The case is quite other-
wise with Poseidon, whose nature is at once seen to be in close

- Jl. xix. 407.

THE HOMEPvTC AND HESIODIC PAXTHEON I I I

barmuny with the ek'inent he rules, the open sea. He does
not represent water in general, nor the still depths, hut rather
the waves as they leap against the shore and throw down the
rocks. He is a deity of almost measureless physical force, who
owns a sway almost independent of Zeus himself, claiming
indeed, in the fifteenth book of the Iliad, an equality of dignity
with him, and saying that by lot only was there assigned to
himself the sea rather than the heavens. Yet this va^t force
is not animated by a high soul. Poseidon is not above feeling
bitter resentment when his unworthy son Polyphemus is justly
punished by Odysseus. He is fond in an undignified degree of
sacrifices, and is ready, for the sake of gratifying a pique, to
revolt against the moral order embodied in Zeus. He is the
father too of many impious sons, such as Otus and Ephialtes,
and is like them ill-regulated in force and passion.

The highest moral attributes to be found in Olympus are
those pertaining to Athena and to Apollo. In the case of
Athena her physical and elemental meaning has so completely
fallen into the background that it is even matter of dispute
what it was. In Homer, she appears in the main as a dis-
embodied spirit, the patroness of the wisest and best of men,
the source of wise counsels in the case of men, and the teacher
to w^omen of cunning arts of handicraft. IS^othing that she
attempts ever meets wdth failure ; all deities who oppose her
designs are baffled and overthrown ; but her plans are almost
always of good moral purport. Her wishes seldom clash with the
designs of Zeus, when Zeus is ordering things as chief moral
rulei- of the world. In Olympus, Athena has the right to the
seat next to that of Zeus, which she gives up sometimes to
distinguished visitors such as Thetis ; and as Mr. Gladstone
well observes, she alone among the gods is addressed by Zeus
as <^iXov TiKos. Zeus unaided brought forth Athena from his
brain, and she is ever true to such origin, representing not the
passion, but the w^ise thought of the gods. In particular Athena
is spoken of in the eighth book of the Iliad as the constant
friend and helper of Herakles, in his labours for the good of
men ; and wiienever a Greek sets himself a task above the
ordinary matters of fighting and toiling, he is sure of the same
effectual aid. She is in the Iliad spoken of as the guardian
deity of Athens, but her connection with that great city is
not yet so close as it is to become. She is worshipped not
less earnestly at Troy, by Nestor at Pylos, by the Argive
Diomedes, and by Telemachus at Ithaca, and she accompanies
Odysseus to many far-lying lands. Neither space nor time can

I I 2 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

bar her action, and rarely indeed is she summoned in vain by
those for whom she has a favour.

Apollo is by no means fully identified with the sun. The
plague-bearing arrows of Apollo of the first book of the Iliad,
must indeed be the solar rays, but in more than one passage of
the Odyssey, the sun-god, 'HeXtos, is spoken of as a personage
quite apart from Apollo. The ])lace of Apollo also as god
of healing is taken in Olympus by Pseeon. These and other
functions were absorbed as time went on by the well established
deity of Apollo. But in Homer he is already of very high
dignity. Addressed by Zeus as <^iXe ^oipe, and one in heart
and will with the divine government, he, like Pallas, seems to be
raised above all failure and to disregard opposition. He is the
poet and prophet among the gods, ruling the choir of the Muses,
and imparting the oracles of heaven to those pious among man-
kind who seek to ascertain them. He is also lord of the bow,
which he can use for the destruction of mankind, as in the first
Iliad; but it is seldom that his bow thus sounds in wrath.
Usually his arrows merely effect the gentle removal of those
doomed by fate, more especially those who are young and
innocent ; and as the Greeks naturally made the deities of de-
struction supreme over healing and preservation, it is especially
in this latter phase that Apollo appears in Homer In the
sixteenth book of the Iliad, Glaucus calls upon him as one
always ready and able to help men in distress, and begs him to
heal his wound and give him energy for the conflict, and Apollo
at once fulfils his wish. Thus to hear a prayer breathed out in
the battlefield when the deity does not seem near, and thus to
infuse fresh life into a fainting heart belongs to but three of
the Greek deities, those invoked in the frequent formula, ai yap
Zeu T€ Trdrep kol 'AQ-qvair] Kat "Atto/VAoi'.

The dignity of Artemis is in the Iliad far inferior to that of
her brother. Her beauty is extolled by the poet ; the minis-
tration of early and easy death is confided to her in the case
of women, as it is to Apollo in the case of men, and this shows
that her power must reach widely over the earth. As Apollo
bears silver bow and golden sword, so Artemis is credited with
golden throne and golden spindle. She roams freely through
wood and over mountain, and nourishes the young of wild
creatures. Yet she is never spoken of in language of high
veneration, and there is something peculiarly humiliating in
the whipping which she receives from Hera in the Theomacliy.
Contrary to the later tradition, a greater dignity than that of
Artemis attaches to her mother Leto, who in later times almost

THE H(3MERIC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON I I 3

disa})pears, but who is always in Homer treated with much
respect, and appears as a real if a secondary wife of Zeus. In
the Theomacluj, Hermes, with marked deference, declines to
oppose her, though she is assigned as his foe ; and although
Leto never comes into the foreground in Homer, she is often
mentioned among the great goddesses of Olympus.

Demeter also remains in Homer in the background. The
phrase applied to corn, ATypjrepos aKrr}, shows that there is in
this deity a good deal of naturalism : her anthropomorphism is
far less complete than that of deities like Hera and Athena.
She seems to represent the rich mould of the surface of the
earth whence spring the crops, Ftj pJtt^/), the mother of all that
grows. She does not, however, enter at all into the action of
the niad, and seems to belong to another plane of religion.
Her daughter Persephone, too, the awful goddess of the shades
below the earth, though spoken of with reverence as severely
pure and exalted, yet does not come out as a real personality.
In Homer she is not the mere reflection of Aidoneus or Hades,
as Hera is but the wife of Zeus and Amphitrite of Poseidon.
Although Hades is own brother to Zeus, and indeed often
spoken of as Zeus Kara^dovtos, yet he does not in any way
surpass his queen in dignity. Katlier the higher duties of the
world below centre in her, and she rather than Hades himself
is the object of cultus on the earth. It is to her that the groves
belong, and the realm below is spoken of as 'AtSao Sojjlol Kal

Hephaestus is the deity of fire, but chiefly of fire considered
in one particular aspect, as the means whereby works of metal
are produced at the hands of cunning artificers. Hephaestus is
in Olympus the worker pai^ excellence: hidden in his youth by
Thetis under the stream of Ocean, he wrought for years orna-
ments for women ; grown up he makes the divine armour of
Achilles, and forms tripods so well wrought that they move of
themselves, and golden maids who have a voice and wisdom to
understand. In the Homeric age the Greeks had a naive and
Avondering admiration for works in metal of high skill, most of
which came to them from the Sidonians, and so it was natural
"that skill like that of Hephaestus should win their admiration.
Yet there adhered among them, as usually in purely military
communities, a certain contempt for the mere workman, how-
ever skilful, when compared with statesman and warrior; and
traces of this feeling are reflected from earth on to the artificer
of Olympus. He is not comely ; he is lame ; he is betrayed
by his wife. He causes a ripple of laughter to pass over the

I 1 4 EELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

Olympian assembly when he essays to act before them as cup-
bearer. In fact, when he quits his art, of which he is the
unrivalled master, he soon becomes ridiculous. In the Iliad,
Charis is assigned to Hephaestus as his wife ; in the Odyssey,
by a slight modification of the legend. Aphrodite.

Ares and Aphrodite are not only connected in Homeric
legend, but there is a strong similarity in the ways in which
they are treated in the poems. Both are regarded not without
contempt by the graver deities, and considered as children who
must be cajoled, or if necessary even chastised into doing what
is becoming. It may well appear strange that in a society so
thoroughly military as that described by Homer, the god of war
should be held of slight account. One reason of course is that
the highest warlike qualities, valour, penetrated by wisdom and
the habit of command, are not represented by Ares but by
Athena. But this again is a strange thinL:, that a woman-deity
should absorb the qualities which Greeks highly admired in
men, but never associated with women. It is evident that we
have here a problem only to be solved after a careful observa-
tion of the origin and rise of the cultus of these warlike deities.
Meantime we observe that Ares represents only headlong love
of fighting, desire of slaughter no matter in what cause, in fact
the fighting animal nature which we expect rather in the
soldier than the leader, and in the mercenary than the citizen.
Ares is never invoked in prayer, even in the stress of battle,
and his power over nature is very small, even human nature he
can only touch in the one point of warlike passion. And even
in his special pursuit Ares is not very formidable. Twice
Athena strikes him helpless to the ground, and he is no match
even for Diomedes, when supported by that goddess; he is
captured by Otus and Ephialtes, and falls an easy victim to the
plot of Hephaestus, as narrated in the lay of Demodocus in the
Odyssey. He is in fact the ruffian of the poems, and some-
times the butt.

Aphrodite is treated with little more tenderness. Her great
power is not denied, but it is represented as seldom exerted
for good. When she is wounded by Diomedes, Zeus and Athena
treat her complaints with contempt, and Athena even advises
the Greek hero to have no fear of meeting her in the field,
though he should avoid all other deities. She is exposed in a
most humiliating way in the net of Hephaestus to the contempt
of the Olympian throng. Yet when dealing wdth w^omen who
have submitted to her sway, Helen for instance, in the third
book of the Iliad, she is harsh and cruel. There is little about

THE HOMEKIC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON I I 5

her to attract any admiration but that of sense : it would be
easy to tind in the Homeric poems several women who are in
all respects more dignified than this goddess.

Hermes does not figure prominently in the Homeric poems.
He is spoken of both in Iliad and Odyssey as 8(i)T0)p edcov, giver
of increase, and is represented as that one of the deities who
is most friendly to man, and most kindly and easy going in his
transactions with the deities, as for instance when in the
Theomachy he declines the contest with Leto, and expresses
his willingness that she should give it out that he has been
defeated. He appears in the Odyssey as guide of the souls
of the dead, i/'v;(07ro/7,7ro?. He is, moreover, on more than one
occasion intrusted by Zeus with a delicate mission, as for
instance, when he leads Priam into the Greek camp in search
for the body of his son Hector, or when he is despatched to
Calypso, who was perhaps the sister of his mother, to warn her
to let Odysseus go. But in the Iliad the regular and official
courier of the gods, who carries news of the decrees of Olympus
to those whom they may concern, is Iris.

Besides these regular deities there are other more shadowy
members of the Olympian circle; Dione, the mother of
Aphrodite ; Themis, who summons the deities to the assembly ;
Paeeon, the healing god ; Helios, the sun in his material aspect,
the deity who sees all things from his heavenly abode. And
there is a host of gods and daemons of various powers who
rule the world of waters. There are the Oceanid Nymphs,
and conspicuous among them Thetis, whom Zeus himself would
fain have won for a wife. And there are the rivers, beginning
with Xanthus or Scamander, who is even privileged to take
a part in the Theomachy, and is said to have received high
honour from the Trojans. On only one occasion are these
river daemons spoken of as present at the Olympian assembly,
and they seem to constitute a sort of plebs as compared with
the aristocracy of higher deities. Nor must we omit Hebe,
whose sole function in Olympus seems to be the pouring of
wine or nectar for the assembled gods, and who is closely
attached to Hera, and said to be her daughter.

Outside Olympus there is in the Homeric mythology a sort
of background consisting of deities who do not appear to be
directly subordinate to Zeus, but retain a sort of independent
command, in virtue of age or dignity or the remoteness of their
seat. Aidoneus and Persephone are in the main Olympian
deities, although they do not make their appearance in the
assembly of the gods. But other deities are kept from Olympus

I I 6 KELTGION AND MYTHOLOGY

by stress of other things than active duties. Cronus and Rhea,
the father and mother whom Zeus has dethroned and super-
seded, live in Tartarus, and there rule over the race of Titans,
who have lost their function of governing nature. Oceanus,
the aged father of all deities, and Kerens, the aAios ye/acov, or
old man of the sea, are too aged to dance attendance on the
young ruler of the gods, and even to excite his jealousy, and
live far apart with the crowd of their nymph-daughters.
Hestia, the sacred fire of the hearth, is scarcely in Homer
personified at all.

Beside these venerable remains of an earlier state of things,
we may place the daemons of less account, who are not dignified
enough to claim the entry into Olympus, and are mostly attached
to one or other of the gods as companions and ministers. Eris
is spoken of as the sister of Ares, though we need not construe
this as implying descent from Zeus and Hera. She is madly
fond of the fierce battle-strife, in which she lives as in an
element. Her mighty shouts encourage armies for the conflict.
Also connected with Ares are Phobos, Terror,^ and Enyo, the
destroyer of cities, who marches with Ares in the van of the
Trojans. In the same category is the terrible Ker, the dark
minister of death, and the Harpies, who carry off maidens.
The Erinnyes belong to a higher strain. They embody and
scarcely disguise the feelings of remorse felt by those who have
been guilty of an evil deed. Especially they guard the sacred-
ness of the family relations, and pursue with unending per-
severance those who have violated family duties; they also
guard the rights of the poor against oppression, and punish
every sort of haughtiness and highmindedness. Stalking about
beneath the earth, they hear the complaints of the wronged,
and note the evil deeds of the oppressor, and bring redress.

Behind the might of Olympus, sometimes as it seems over-
riding it, is the mysterious force of Fate, called by Homer
Moipa or ATcra. Fully to discuss this power, which Homer
scarcely personifies, would lead us too far into the philosophy
of religion. It is, however, to be noted that Homer is less
perspicuous and self-consistent than usual, when speaking on
this subject. Sometimes he seems to speak as if fate were the
higher will of Zeus ; the word, if we may so put it, of Zeus
speaking e:c cathedra; sometimes the will of Zeus seems to be
in conflict with destiny, as when he allows, with bitter regret,
his favourite son Sarpedon to meet his death at the hands of

^ n. iv. 440.

THE HOMERIC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON I 17

Patroclus because destiny has so willed it, and yet at the same
time Zeus is debating with himself whether he shall override
destiny, and rescue his son. In many cases Homer expressly
states that something would have happened contrary to destiny,
virlp ata-av, unless such and such a circumstance had occurred.
In one case he even seems to speak of men as overriding
destiny by their valour,^ koI rore S-q p virep alcrav 'A;>(atot
(fi€pT€poL -^(Tav ; sometimes again destiny is spoken of as if it
were a power that no man and no deity could gainsay or resist.
In fact the Greeks of Homer's time had already encountered
that opposition between fate and human will which still per-
plexes and tries us in modern days. It is, however, noteworthy
as a specially Greek element in the Homeric theory, that both
alcra and [xoipa originally mean a share. It was supposed that
a certain share of good and evil was allotted to each man, and
that to alter that share was not permanently possible to human
beings.

In the separation of his gods into hostile camps. Homer gives
us a clear intimation as to his opinion of their local attribution
and their origin. Zeus alone, as supreme deity, is impartial, and
favours neither of the contending nations, prospering or sacri-
ficing each in turn in accordance with the exigencies of his
policy. He is at home alike on Olympus and on Ida. But the
other deities all have a favourite home, and belong primarily
to the people who devote to them a special cultus. The deities
who in the Theomacliy of the Iliad take the Greek side are
Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, and Hephaestus. The two
most ardent on that side are of course Hera and Athena ; and
to these two correspond the mortal champions Agamemnon and
Aclulles. The great Argive Heraeum was at the gate of the
Mycenae of Agamemnon; and there was the oldest and most
important of all cults of Hera. Athena is at Troy not piinci-
pally the patroness of the Athenians, who figure in the war but
little. Rather she must be considered as Athena Itonia, the
local deity of the Thessalian Acha?ans, among whom Achilles
was pre-eminent. Her close friendship with Dioniedes is ac-
counted for by the ancient cultus of Athena on the acropolis
of Argos, and her patronage of Odysseus by the close con-
nection in early days between Athens on the one hand and
Cephallenia and the neighbouring Ithaca on tlie other. Poseidon
is a special deity of the Ionian race, and his most ancient and
venerable seats are on tlie shores of the Corinthian Gulf, at

1 //. xvi. 7S0.

I I 8 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

iEgse and Helice. Hermes is eminently of Arcadia, the country
whence came so many of the stout spearmen of Agamemnon.
Hephaestus was in early Attic legend and cultus closely con-
nected with Athena.

The five deities then of whom we have spoken are all of
Hellenic lineage, and have their chief seats in Hellenic lands.
It may be objected that Hera had an ancient seat at Samos,
and that Pallas Athena was tutelary goddess of Ilium itself.
But the Samian worship of Hera may perhaps not have borne
the name of that goddess in the Homeric age ; and the Ilian
cult of Athena, though it became famous through the Homeric
poems, was probably not of much intrinsic importance com-
pared with that of Thessaly. If, on the other hand, we turn
to a consideration of the deities who in the Tlteomachy and
elsewhere take the Trojan side, we shall easily find reason for
their doing so. They are Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Ares, Aphrodite,
and the river-god, Xanthus.

If for a moment it shocks us to find so Hellenic a deity as
Apollo on the Trojan side, that surprise must give way at once
when we consider that Apollo was in a special degree the deity
of the Troad. His temple at Chryse was renowned early and
late in Greek history, and his cult dominated all the country
round. Of the Lycians he was the national deity ; and Trojans
and Lycians were closely allied in race, as well as on the same
side at Troy. And Apollo being the special patron of the
Trojans, it is not strange to find on the same side Artemis and
Leto, who were, at least in Greek tradition, inseparable from
him. Moreover, the Greeks were prone, as we know, to give
the name of Artemis to the forms of the lunar goddess of Asia
Minor, of the Phrygians and Carians, and she might easily be
considered as more Asiatic than Greek ; while Leto was, as we
know, the name of a Phrygian deity of great reputation, who
ruled in the neighbourhood of Hierapolis,^ and was also wor-
shipped in Lycia. Xor Avas Leto ever thoroughly admitted
into the Greek Pantheon. Ares was especially a Thracian
god ; and Thracians formed a part of the population of Asia
Minor, and brought a large contingent to the army defending
Troy. Aphrodite was almost foreign to the Greek system.
She is more intensely Trojan in her sympathies than any other
deity, a result perhaps of the instinct of the poet that she was
thoroughly Asian in character and origin. Apollo, on the other
hand, is, as we might expect, very lialf-hearted in his patronage

^ See Ramsay in Journ. Hell. Stud. iv. p. 375.

THE IIOMKI.'IC AND HESIODIC PANTHEON IIQ

of the Trojan [)eople. Xaiithus, as the local river-god, is, of
course, on the Trojan side ; and the prominent position assigned
to him bears fresh witness to the fact that the peoples of Asia
Minor raised their river-gods, such for instance as Marsyas and
Maeander, to a much higher point of veneration than did the
Greeks.

We therefore seem justified in saying that the poet of the
Iliad, in assigning partialities to his deities, proceeds on local
and tribal grounds, not on those of fancy, or any reasons based
merely on the moral nature of the gods. No doubt in de-
scribing their encounters one with the other, he works as a
poet to bring al)out a pleasing and suitable result ; even in
pairing the combatants he freely follows his fancy or his sense
of the fitness of things ; but his first grouping was prescribed
to him by what he would consider historical necessities. And
the local elements in mythology, visible even in the Iliad after
its consolidation and harmonising into its present form, are far
more clearly to be traced in the Greece of a later time. This
will clearly appear in subsequent chapters.

The poems of Hesiod, and more especially the Tlieogonij, are
constantly mentioned by writers, both ancient and modern, in
connection with the Homeric lays. The Theogony remained in
the schools a sort of handbook of divinity, and was quoted by
the defenders, and still more by the opponents of the current
notions on theology. But the information given us by Hesiod
as to the gods entirely differs in character from that given us
by Homer. From Homer we learn what the deities are
like, how they live among themselves, what is the nature
of their interference with the doings of mortals, and what
means they employ to effect their purposes. The legends as
to the genesis and mutual relations of the gods and goddesses
are in many places assumed, but are only rarely set forth at
length.

In the poems of Hesiod it is otherwise. In the Works and
Days there rules something very near monotheism : Zeus is
there spoken of as supremely just, as looking with impartial
eyes on all tlie doings of men, and meting out reward and
punishment in proportion to human merit and demerit. In the
TJieogony we find scarcely any information as to the nature of
the gods, the way in wdiich they should be addressed, or how
they may be conciliated. Their wishes and functions are not
stated ; but in the place of such information we have an
abundance of legend and myth, detailing the origin of the gods
as well as of the existing universe, exhibiting their blood

120 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

relationships to one another, and describing the great events in
the history of Olympus.

The stories which form the staple of Hesiod's Theogony
appear to be based upon a variety of local myths, partly Cretan,
partly belonging to Asia, partly current at Delphi, and partly
collected from a variety of other sacred places. But the merit
of the poet of the Theogony is that he has pieced these legends
together until they form a fairly consistent whole. The poem
is an attempt, half poetical and half philosophical, to reconcile
the legends told about the gods with the facts of the universe.
The writer does not scruple to fill in the gaps between the
deities by inventing a host of personifications — sometimes aspects
of the world, sometimes human qualities, and sometimes mere
names, — who were never really objects of worship in Greece.
There may have been many attempts to form a rational cosmo-
gony, but that of Hesiod succeeded, and his work becoming
a standard authority, the tales which he tells about various
divinities became more and more a part of their history, as
usually accepted among Greeks; and even his inventions
seemed in time to gain a certain reality, partly through their
adoption in the works of subsequent poets and artists.

It is unnecessary here to repeat the argument of the Theo-
gony^ which may be found in all works on Greek ^Mythology,
as well as in the first chapter of Grote's history. It is not so
pleasant that one would wish to dwell on it unnecessarily.
The stories it contains are no worse than those locally current
in the days of Pausanias in half the temples of Greece, or in
the days of ApoUodorus in the writincjs of the numerous
mythographers. But those were merely local, while the Greek
nation adopted the stories in Hesiod. We cannot feel surprised
when we hear that many bad men in Greece justified their ill
deeds by referring to the precedent set them by Zeus or by
Apollo. And we cannot but sympathise with the earnest
attack made on them by Plato in the Republic. Taking their
origin at a time when the race was at a low level of culture
and morality, and repeated unchanged from age to age, they
preserved into better days the impress of barbarous vices and
crimes. Few things tended more to keep down the level of
morality among the lower classes than Hesiod's Theogony ; and
nothing had greater eff'ect in producing the distrust and dislike
of popular religion which spread among the more educated
classes of Greece during the fifth century.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 2 I

CHAPTER VI

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES

In passing from the Homeric pantheon to that of historic
Greece we find a very different order of things. We pass
from the simple to the complex, from the clear to the vague
and obscure. There is a natural tendency among classical
scholars to regard what is Homeric as belonging to the earlier
history and a deeper stratum of Greek development, and to
suppose that all that is characteristic in the civilisation, the
ideas, and the religion of later Greece was thence evolved. But
no notion could be cruder or further from tlie truth. The
Homeric poems belong to the aristocracy ; they represent not
the mass of the Greek race but a small section of it. They
are not part of the stem of Hellenic nationality, but the flower
of one branch of it which came early to maturity. The time
which succeeded them was in many ways an age of retro-
gression rather than of progress; and when progress was
resumed, the Hellenic race was to a great extent changed in
ideas, as in blood : many elements which lay outside the
Homeric horizon had become prominent and important.

We must confine our remarks, however, to the subject of
religion. In this field two phenomena are strikingly present.
In the first place, the deities of historic Greece constitute a
system or a whole far less than do those of Homer : and this
takes place in spite of the great influence exercised by the
Homeric and Hesiodic poems on the religious ideas of subsequent
times. And in the second place, much of the religion of his-
toric Greece bears the impress of an earlier and more primitive
age than does the Homeric religion. The cults described by
Pausanias seem to us far nearer to barbarism than the mythology
of Pindar, and this in turn is in some respects less advanced
than the Homeric theology. When, however, we consider
religious and ethical thought rather than cultus and mythology,
we find that time does bring progress. In fact, while Greek
philosophy and speculative thought advanced steadily towards
monotheism, the religious notions of the lower orders remained
at a lower level than the Homeric.

Such facts as these make the treatment of the mythology
and theology of historic Greece in a systematic fashion one
of extreme difficulty. In fact, these were in ancient Greece

I 2 2 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

never thoroughly systematic. Attempts were from time to
time made to bring them into system, but such attempts had
but partial success. Religion varied in Greece from race to
race, from city to city, and from poet to poet; and no central
authority, not even that of Delphi, succeeded in smoothing
away local varieties. Attempts such as were made in ancient
times by mythographers from Hesiod to Apoiiodorus to arrange
the floating mass of tradition and usage could have little
success. Still smaller is likely to be the success of any modern
efforts in the same direction.

For such reasons, it seems to me unsatisfactory to pursue
the plan adopted by many able mythologists, of endeavouring
first to settle the root-meaning of a deity, identifying Athena
for exauiple with the upper air, or Apollo with the sun, and
of proceeding thence to derive by deductive reasoning all the
functions of that deity. Our method shall be inductive rather
than deductive, and I shall try to avoid the prejudices which
must arise if one starts with a ready-made system. I believe,
as I have already stated, that none of the Greek deities is
pure and uncompounded, but that all stand at the end of a
long process of development and concretion. Yet they may be
to some extent brought into line and order if we consider (i)
in what places their cultus was best established and most
ancient, and (2) what was the general character of their func-
tions in such places. In this fashion I propose to proceed.

We begin, as is natural, with Zeus. The oldest seat of his
worship was Dodona, where was his sacred oak guarded by the
Selli, " who sleep on the ground and wash not their feet," and
his celebrated oracle, as well as the multitudes of tripods dedi-
cated to him. Even to Homer's Achilles, Zeus is Dodonsean
and Pelasgic ^ —

Zev ai/a AwSwvate IleAao-ytKe TrjX69i vamv

(Tol vaiovcr' virocfirJTaL dvtTrroTroSes y^aixatevvai.

It has indeed been disputed whether these lines refer to the
Dodona of Epirus or to some place of the same name in Thes-
saly, either mother or daughter of the Epirote city, and situate
nearer to the ancestral home of the Phthiotic Achilles. But in
any case it can scarcely be denied that the cultus of Zeus in
Epirus is as old as Homer ; and at a later time we find small

1 II. xvi. 233.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTOKIC TIMES I 23

trace of a Thessaliaii Dodona. The Epirote Dodona was one
of the places inquired of by Cra3sus, at the time when he was
about to embark on his fatal war with Cyrus.

In historical times Dodona was the religious centre of the
whole north-west of Greece, Epirus, Western Thessaly, Acar-
nania, and Corcyra. Zeus was there worshipped as god of
weather and ruler of thunder-storms, so frequent on the Al-
banian hills, and as presiding over moisture, the source accord-
ing to the Greeks of life and growth. With him was associated
Dione, who in Epirus quite takes the place of Hera, though
neither there nor anywhere else does she seem to receive in-
dependent worship or to have definite functions. And Aphro-
dite, as daughter, according to early Greek legend, of Zeus and
Dione, also has a place in the local worship. In early times
the Selli seem to have been ministers of an oracle of the earth,
but in later time their place was taken by priestesses, called
IleAeiaSes, who seem to have collected the responses of the
oracle of Zeus from the whisperings of his sacred oak tree,
or from the murmuring of doves in its branches, or perhaps
from the sounds made by the wind in the tripods dedicated
to the god.

Olympus and the neighbouring parts of Thessaly were not
less than Dodona a domain sacred to Zeus. There was his
Homeric seat, and there in the fields of Phlegra took place the
memorable battles in which the earth-born giants fought against
his sway, and tried to storm his stronghold. Stories of the
conflicts of gods and daemons seem to belong to most mytho-
logies, notably to that of India; and the Gigantomachy must
be considered as the part of the history of Zeus most universally
accepted by the Hellenic race in all its seats. To the common
people it was a fairy-tale ; to the poet and the sculptor a good
subject for artistic treatment ; to the physical philosopher a
parable of the phenomena of the storm ; to the moralist a
mythical rendering of the victory of order over chaos, of the
powers of light and progress over those of darkness and destruc-
tion. Less important were the tales of the childhood of Zeus,
which were localised either on Mount Ida in Crete or on the
Lycsean mountain in Arcadia, both from pre-historic times
seats of divine worship.

It is remarkable, as Welcker ^ points out, that the early
seats of the worship of Zeus are mostly high mountains. And
this is not the case with other deities, whose temples commonly

^ (Jr. Odtterlehie, i. 170.

124 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

stand on a low hill. Ida in Crete, ^tna in Sicily, Ida in
Troas, the Peloponnesian Lycsens, the Thessalian CEta were
all occupied by sanctuaries of Zeus. Olympus, the highest
mountain in northern Greece, lent him a surname. This idea
of a god who dwelt aloft on the mountains is common to
Greeks with the inhabitants of Asia Minor and Syria. It
accompanied the Hellenic race in its migrations, and the name
Olympus was applied by that race to many mountains in various
parts of Hellas which seemed to grow near to the sky and afford
a resting-place for heavenly influences. Great mountains are
the homes of storms, and naturally the abode of deities of
weather ; yet there was probably added to this merely physical
interpretation a moral one of a higher strain. Aloft in the
mountains most men feel a certain elevation of soul and a
tendency to worship the ruler of man and nature.

The greatest sanctuary of the Hellenic Zeus was at Olympia,
which was indeed, with Delphi, the religious centre of the
Hellenic world. The cultus of Zeus on this spot appears, from
the results of the German excavations, to date only from the
Dorian invasion of Peloponnesus. ^ Yet the Zeus of Olympia
does not seem greatly to differ in character, at all events on the
physical side, from the Arcadian Zeus, who dwelt on the
a^aTov, the unapproachable summit, of Mount Lycaeus, and
who was venerated as the god of the sky and the storm by the
superstitious Arcadians. But the advent of the Dorians, and
their acceptance of the Elean Zeus as their chief deity, if it did
not change the root-conception of the god, yet tended vastly
to raise his character and extend his functions. He was ac-
knowledged as the ruler of Olympus, the father of gods and
men, and the chief source of divine providence in human life.
The more the Greeks gained in culture the more they inclined
to monotheism ; and as Zeus was the only deity who could be
regarded as supreme, his cultiis naturally gained at the expense
of that of his brothers and children. And the splendour of
the Olympic festival, the wealth heaped up in the sacred Altis
and dedicated to Zeus, above all perhaps the renown attaching
throughout Greece to the glorious colossus by Pheidias, which
stood in the temple of Zeus, contributed to spread abroad the
fame of the deity. Closely connected with the Olympian cultus
of Zeus was that of Hera, who also possessed a very ancient
temple in the sacred precinct; and Victory was especially

^ See especially Fuitwangler's Bronzen von Olympia. Remains of
Mycenaan civilisation are not found at Olympia.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 2 5

attached to him as his daughter and his minister, who flew at
his bidding, whether to crown a successful charioteer or to greet
a leader in war. We learn from the coins of Elis that the
thunderbolt and the eagle were here especially attached to his
service ; and indeed these became his attributes in all places.
The Zeus of Nemea, situated in the valley between Argos and
Corinth, was also patron of a great sanctuary and an agonistic
festival : in character he probably differed little from the Zeus
of Olympia.

At Athens, Zeus was adored under more than one form.^ As
Polieus, he received sacrifices of oxen, and his priesthood was
restricted to some of the chief families of the place. In another
aspect, as Meilichius, he embodied the softer influences of air
and sky. The Diasia, held in his honour, fell on the 23rd
of Anthesterion, the month of flowers, and seem to have cele-
brated the returning warmth and brightness of summer after
the storms in which the wrath of Zeus was displayed. And
Zeus Meilichius became in the moral as well as in the physical
sense the god of compassion and the restored favour of heaven,
purifying those who had accidentally shed innocent blood.

The conception of Zeus was, as has been already sug-
gested, probably brought by the Hellenes or their Pelasgic
predecessors from the original seats of the Aryan tribes; yet
in the conception of the deity prevalent in some localities of
Greece there maybe an admixture of elements borrowed fromnon-
Aryan sources. For instance, the Thessalian Zeus, Laphystius,
received human sacrifices even in historical times, and most
writers are disposed, when they hear of human sacrifice in Greece,
always to refer the custom to the influence of Pha^nicians or
Canaanites, worshippers of Baal and Moloch ; also the god
of merely physical attributes whom the Arcadians recognised,
who dwelt in high j^laces and uttered his voice in thunder, may
be supposed, not without reason, to be a deity of a pre-Aryan
race settled in Greece before it was conquered by the Hellenes,
a deity adopted by these latter, and gradually changed and
raised in character, as indeed usually happened with the deities
they adopted. Yet on the whole Zeus may be regarded as one
of the most unmixed as well as the highest products of the
religious feelings of the Hellenic race.

The principal seat of the worship of Hera in Greece proper
was Argos. Already in Homer, Hera is 'Apyeit] and passionately
prejudiced in favour of Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae ; but of

1 Welcker, Gottcrlehre, i. 207.

126 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

course to Homer the great cities of Argolis are all in the hands
of Achaeans, not of Dorians. It would appear that the Dorians,
when they occupied Argos, adopted the local goddess from the
race whom they conquered, carrying her worship to a higher
pitch of fame. The earlier favourites of Hera spoken of in
early Greek tales are not Dorians. Most of them are of
Thessalian race — Jason and his Argonauts ; Peleus, on whom the
goddess bestowed Thetis ; and Achilles the Achaean of Thessaly.

Being thus renowned in some of the earliest seats of the
Hellenic race, it seems likely that Hera belonged to an early stage
of the religion of Greece. It has been disputed whether she em-
bodies the earth, the moon, or the air ; and in fact the various
tales told of her indicate a connection sometimes with one and
sometimes with the other. Hera or Era ?eems to be an old
name of the earth in Greece. When Hera is said to have
borne by her own power Hephaestus or even Typhaon, we may
interpret this myth by the bursting forth of subterranean fires
from the ground. When Zeus is spoken of as embracing Hera
on the mountain top where heaven and earth meet, we naturally
identify heaven and earth with the husband and the wife re-
spectively. It is but a repetition in the language of current
Greek mythology of the old story of the union of Uranus and
Gaea. Yet on the other hand Hera is sometimes identified with
the lower air, while Zeus is regarded as the upper sky, in the
story for instance of Ixion, who mistook a cloud for Hera;
and this was the view adopted by philosophers and theosophers,
from Plato, who quibbles about "H/oa and d-qp in the Cratylus,'^
downwards. It is again certain that there was in Hera some-
thing of the moon-goddess : this appears from the story of lo,
and is clearly established by the close connection maintained
by the Greeks between Hera and the deities of partuiition.

On whatever physical facts, however, the idea of Hera is
based, what is certain is that she was worshipped in historical
Greece in thoroughly anthropomorphic fashion, and not either
as physical fact or intellectual abstraction. In discussing the
origin in the phenomena of the world of Greek deities we must
never forget that the origin was seldom present to the minds of
their worshippers.

At Argos, Hera was the great deity of marriage with all its
duties and consequences. Her chief temple was situate, not
in the city, but on the skirts of Mount Euboea near Mycenae.
In it was the great statue by Polycleitus, embodying the highest

1 P. 404 c.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 27

idea of matronly grace and dignity to be found in the world.
The details of the statue carried allusions to myths of the
goddess. The lofty crown or polos on her head was adorned
with figures of the Charites and the Horse. In one hand she
held a sceptre surmounted hy a cuckoo, the bird whose form
Zeus took to win her affection ; in the other she held a pome-
granate, the symbol of fertility. Her daughter Hebe stood by
her side. Hera was the mother and the mistress of the
Eileithuiap, the deities of child-birth, and could withhold or
grant their aid at her pleasure, and fertility in marriage itself was
also dependent on her will. Yearly at the festival of the Heraea
the mystic marriage of Zeus and Hera was celebrated afresh ; as
the sacred day recurred, the goddess was supposed to become
again a virt^in, and to take on herself the wifely and maternal
duties of her Olympian dwelling. Hera was venerated at
Olympia, and games were even celebrated in her honour ; but in
that spot, the favourite abode of Zeus, she could scarcely shine
with any but reflected light. At Samos also Hera was especially
venerated as the bride, Hera Parthenia, and the object of
adoration to brides and matrons. In historical times the Hera
of Samos was almost as Hellenic as the Hera of Argos ; yet
we can clearly see that from the first it was not so. The
ungainly and barbarous form of the statue of the goddess, which
w^as preserved in the Heraeum at Samos, and ascribed to the
hands of Smilis, indicates that there were originally Oriental
elements in the local cultus : it is indeed likely that the
Samian Hera was only a Greek translation of an early local
deity of the class of Mylitta or Cybele ; but by the time of
Polycrates these barbarous traits had probably disappeared.

In the practical life of Hellas no deity had so universal and
commanding an influence as Apollo. Most or all of his attri-
butes and functions may have originally arisen from the various
aspects in which men may regard the sun, looking on it as the
source of light and of warmth, as causing or curing disease, as
scattering the clouds, or as filling living things with energy and
happiness. But in historical times many of them had become
entirely detached from the physical background : to most Greeks,
Apollo was a living pervading force, the source of hap]>y inspira-
tion, and the promoter of all that was best in Greek religion
and morals. As to the derivation of the word Apollo there is
no consensus of opinion. One very important function attaches
to Apollo in nearly all his phases, that he rules the division of
times and the succession of months, a natural function of a
solar deity.

I 2 8 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

In the cultus of historical times Apollo stands as a member
of a group, as son of Leto and twin-brother of Artemis. On
its physical side this is the equivalent of saying that sun and
moon are brother and sister. But we are ignorant what race
or tribe united sun and moon thus into a family, and by giving
them Zeus as a father united them with the Greek Olympus.
As Welcker ^ well remarks, Gaea and Nereus were never made
children of Zeus, and sun and moon belong not less to primitive
nature- worship than earth and sea; yet, until these latter
were absorbed into the Olympian system, it could not become
universal, or fulfil the religious desires of the Greek race-
But with the inclusion of Apollo, the universal triumph of
Olympus was assured. We may be certain, however, that
this step was not taken by the Dorian race, because the great
centres of w^orship of Apollo as son of Leto were not in early
times swayed by them. At Branchidae, near Miletus, was a
great temple and oracle of Apollo, surnamed Didymseus, or
the Twin. This was probably a very ancient shrine, but
adopted as their own by lonians w^hen they conquered the
coast. Delos, the Homeric seat of Apollo, was the centre of
an Ionian confederacy, and even Delphi was not always under
Dorian influence. As Leto and Artemis, as well as Apollo,
are on the Trojan side in the Iliad, it would look as if the
origin of the whole family were Asiatic, perhaps Carian or
Lycian.

But this group of deities, whencesoever derived, became
afterwards peculiarly the champions of the Dorian race. It
was this race which played the chief part in the process which
raised Apollo from a mere elemental deity into the great
interpreter of the will of Zeus and the exponent of the public
conscience of Hellas. Hence there is some ground for the well-
known theories propounded in K. 0. Miiller's Dorians, although
those theories cannot be maintained as they stand.

One of the most remarkable of the stories w^hich attached to
Apollo in later times was that of his worship among the people
who lived beyond the Thracian mountains, which the Greeks,
in the infancy of geography, supposed to be the source of the
north wind. The blameless Hyperboreans were supposed to be
devoted to the service of Apollo and Artemis. With them the
god willingly tarried for part of the year, and came thence
drawn by griffins to visit Delos and Lycia. Herodotus ^ heard
at Delos that sacred offerings were sent year by year by the

J Gotterlehre, i, 511, 529. ^ jv. 32-35.

THE PANTHKON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 29

Hyperboreans to Delos, through the medium of the Scythians
and the Greek colonies in their lands; hut he seems not to
have believed all that he heard on the subject.

The two great centres of Apolline worship were Delos and
Delphi. The first was said to be the birthplace of the deity.
The first Homeric hymn tells how Leto, when about to give
birth to Apollo and his twin-sister Artemis, wandered in pain
over the lands, seeking in vain a safe retreat. All places
dreaded the anger of jealous Hera and refused shelter to her
rival. At last the island of Delos agreed to afford Leto a
sanctuary, on condition that the god about to come to light
would promise to make it his home for ever, poor and rocky
as it was. Even in Delos, however, the birth was delayed
because Eileitlmia was kept away by her mistress, Hera : at
length the unanimous desire of the other goddesses and the
promise of a necklace overcame her scruples and she descended
to the aid of the suffering Leto. Then came Apollo forth, and
no sooner had he tasted ambrosia than he took his place at
once among the immortals, claiming as his own the cithara and
the bow, in the use of which none could vie with him. And
above all, adds the poet, is the heart of Apollo made glad year
by year when the trailing-robed lonians gather together at
Delos with their wives and children, to vie one with the other
at the sacred games in boxing and dancing and song.

This hymn gives us in simple form the story which arose
out of the Delian cultus of Apollo and which agreed with
its form, for in Greece the sacred local legends are always in the
same key as local rites and ceremonies. The second Homeric
hymn to the Pythian Apollo is less simple, but is so important
to Greek mythology that its contents must be here shortly
summarised. The poet narrates that Apollo wandered through
Hellas seeking everywhere a spot where he might establish
his temple and the oracle whereby he should enlighten man-
kind as to the will of Heaven. He rejected lulcus in Thessaly
and the Lelantian plain, and passed without loitering the wooded
hill whereon in after years Thebes was to stand. For a moment
he hesitated whether to choose a site by the stream of Telphusa ;
but the nymph craftily dissuaded him from the idea by re-
presenting that the noise of chariots in the plain and the
crowds of cattle which watered at her stream would interfere
with the solemnity of his temple. Then he went on to rocky
Pytho on the seaward slope of Parnassus ; and there, by the
fountain, he slew with his arrows a terrible serpent, to whose
nursing Hera had once intrusted the child Typhaon, whom she

130 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

had brought forth by her unaided force as Zeus had brought
forth Athena. The monster lay and rotted in the sun, whence
the place was called the place of decay (Pytho). There
Apollo built his temple, his architects being Trophonius and
Agamedes, and his workers eager crowds of votaries from the
district round. But he went back once more to Telphusa,
resolved there also to dwell as Apollo Telphusius, and he
punished the perfidy of the nymph by rolling a stone upon her
spring.

Tlien he set about providing ministers for the new temple.
There was sailing past a ship from Minoian Cnossus full of men ;
Apollo made his way to it in the form of a dolphin and bore it
up from below, while at the same time he sent a strong wind
from above which landed the affrighted mariners in the harbour
of Crissa. Here Apollo appeared to them in his own form —

dv€pL etSd/xevos al^rno re Kparepo) re
7rpu)0'i]l3rj, yaiTrjS elXvfJievos evpeas w/xovs,

and invited them to become his first priests, promising them,
though the soil was barren and poor, that they should never
want, since all the tribes round would vie one with the other
in pouring rich offerings into the Delphian temple. Thus they
followed him to the Pythian temple, singing Cretan pseans,
while he marched before them playing the lyre, and they became
his trusty servants and interpreters.

This hymn confuses Apollo Pythius and Apollo Delphinius.
Apollo Delphinius would seem, as Welcker remarks, to be the
deity who gives at sea fine weather, when dolphins play on the
surface. We have reason to think that he was worshipped in
this guise in Crete, and especially by Cretan mariners, and the
very name Crissa indicates that there was a Cretan settlement
on the sea-shore by Delphi. Crissa was conquered by the
Amphictions about B.C. 590; and it appears that the hymn
dates from an earlier period than this : it has all the air of a
priestly invention, a hymn made partly with a view to raising
contributions. Delphi must have belonged to Apollo Delphinius,
but the name Pytho, which seems older, carries other iissocia-
tions. The Pythian Apollo is not, like the Delphinian, detached,
but is the son of Leto and the brother of Artemis : in Delphic
inscriptions this is clearly testified ; and he is far more nearly
akin to the deity of the Iliad and of Delos. He is the great
oracular god who governed the public conscience of Greece,
and without Avhose advice seldom a colony set forth, nor did a

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 3 I

city adopt a new cultiis, nor even sometimes a man of rank take
an imjDortant step in life.

In later times the attribute of healing of diseases, which had
belonged successively to Pajeon and to Apollo, passed to the
son of Apollo, Asklepius. The worship of Asklepius originally
belonged to Thessaly, whence it seems to have passed to
Epidaurus in Argolis, but was also firmly seated in Cos and
at Athens. It was also adopted warmly by the people of
Pergamon, and when that city grew great the cultus of tlie
deity spread more and more widely. In late Greek times it
was exceedingly prevalent : belief in many deities died away,
but the gifts of Asklepius were of so material and obvious a
value that his cultus was maintained, and was in fact largely
adulterated with the juggling and theomancy which marked
the religion of later Greece. When the impostor Alexander
of Aboniteichos set himself up as the revealer of the will of
the gods, Asklepius was the deity whom he claimed specially
to represent. The temples of Asklepius in every city were
much resorted to by those who had diseases ; these slept in the
temple, and the god revealed to them in a dream by what means
they might become whole. Of late years it has been the custom
to represent the temples of Asklepius as hospitals and his
priests as skilled physicians ; but this seems to be at least an
exaggeration of the truth. Physicians were inclined to regard
the services of the Asklepian priests as quackery, and the very
complete excavations of the Asklepieia at Athens and Epidaurus
made recently ^ have failed to show that in it any methodical
course of therapeutic treatment was ever adopted.

Besides the deity of Delphi and Delos, the brother of
Artemis, and the prophet of Zeus, there existed in Greece many
forms of Apollo. These seem to have been originally inde-
pendent, though of course in later times their splendour was
overshadowed and their attributes absorbed by the Homeric
and Delphic divinity. At Athens, for instance, a local deity
was worshipped under the name of Apollo Patroiis, and by a re-
markable turn of legend he was said ^ to be a son of Hephaestus
and Athena — one instance among many of the extreme elas-
ticity and nebulousness of Greek myths. It was in honour of
this god that the Athenian Thargelia were celebrated; and he
was regarded as the father of Ion, and invoked on solemn
occasions as the ancestor of the Athenian race. At many

1 Cf. G\ra,rd, L^Asclepieion (TAthenes ; Kavvadias, Fouilhs (VEpidaurc ;
P. Gardner, Nev) Chapters in Greek History, cliap. xii.

2 Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, iii. 22.

132 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

Athenian doors again stood an image, a shrine, or an altar of
Apollo Aguieus, the god of streets, and his sacred laurel com-
monly grew near by.

Argos was one of the principal seats of the worship of
Apollo Lyceius, the god of light and of day. For some reason,
and probably a reason more solid than mere resemblance of
name, the wolf was in Argos regarded as the sacred animal of
Apollo, and in that capacity appears on the coins of Argos
from the earliest period. Apollo Lyceius was the great god of
Lycia, and the early coins of Lycia are full of emblems which
may refer to his solar functions, the three-legged symbol, the
lion, and winged monsters. It is, however, to be noted that the
wolf is not among them. In the Troad also, which was partly
occupied by Lycians, Apollo Lyceius was held in universal
honour, a fact which may account for the Trojan bias of Apollo
in the Iliad. In some parts of the Troad, however, as at
Grynium, he was worshipped as Smintheus, the patron or the
enemy of mice.

In other parts of Greece again Apollo was regarded as patron
of herds and agriculture, and called Nomius or Epimelius. In
this form the deity was carried by Minyans to Gyrene, where,
according to legend, Apollo watched over the flocks and be-
stowed on men the gift of the silphium, the principal pro-
duction of the district. He became, by Gyrene the nymph,
father of Aristaeus, a great patron of agriculture and the first of
mankind to keep bees for honey. Of the same character was
the Apollo Garneius, or Hyacinthius, worshipped at the old
Achaean town of Amy else in the shape of an archaic statue,
a trunk but for the head, hands, and feet. Apollo K"omius
possessed large flocks and herds in various parts of Greece, at
Apollonia in Epirus for instance, which were tended by sacred
slaves and brought great profit. They remind us of the herds
of Helios in the Odyssey. No doubt the story that Apollo
kept the flocks of Admetus at Pherae is one of the legends
which attached to the pastoral form of the deity.

Like Apollo, Artemis is presented to us in Greek religious
history in two forms, sometimes as the twin-sister of Apollo,
sharing his honours at Delos and Delphi, sometimes as an
independent goddess of uncertain origin. Of course as time
went on the sister of Apollo absorbed all other forms of
Artemis, and the legends belonging to her were applied freely
to them also. But it is noteworthy that in the Homeric Delian
hymn the birth of Apollo only is mentioned, not that of
Artemis ; and in the Iliad, Artemis is dealt with in a manner

THK PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 33

which would liave been impossible had her fame and worship
been as widely extended and as deeply seated as in later times.

As the functions of Apollo are derived from his identification
with the sun, so those of Artemis accrue to her as the Moon-
goddess, even those in which she is closely united to Apollo as
a colleague. In Asia Minor the lion and the bull occur and
recur apart and together in all early art : the former represents
the sun and dry heat, the latter the moon and that moisture
which the ancients closely connected with it. ^ Among the
Greeks the nobler forms of Apollo and his sister take the place
of these animal symbols, but yet also appear together ; to-
gether they shoot Tityus and destroy the children of Niobe ;
together on the frieze of the Phigaleiaii temple they advance in
their chariot ; and Artemis hastens to the aid of her brother's
temple when it is attacked by tlie Gauls. As Apollo sends an
early and easy death to men, so does Artemis to women.

Some of the most general and important of the functions of
Artemis are those connected with child-birth, which are attri-
buted to her, although regarded as a virgin, in virtue of her
lunar nature. Scarcely in any Greek city would a temple of
Artemis be wanting, and hither would the women flock to pray
for gentle treatment at the time of child-birth. Of the vows
there taken we have abundant record in the commonness of
such names as Artemon and Artemidorus. Partly in connection
with this function of Artemis, and partly from an idea that
dampness is the source of life and growth, young creatures of
all kinds, both wild and tame, were regarded as under the pro-
tection of the goddess. Many of her temples in Peloponnesus
and elsewhere were surrounded by parks full alike of the more
timid and the bolder of wild beasts : that of Artemis near
Cleitor and that of Syracuse are instances. These were
places of asylum for animals chased by men or by beasts
of prey, and it was said that these latter lost their savage
nature on entering the sacred precincts, and that all creatures
which lived there were at peace together. We are accustomed
to speak of Artemis as the huntress ; but in sculpture, even
when she is drawing the bow, a stag often stands by her
side. She is far more the preserver than the destroyer of wild
animals ; and thus she became an object of worship to herds-
men, having it in her power to bestow fertility on cattle or to
plague them with barrenness.

^ The fact that dew is most abundant in clear moonlit nights most
always have been familiar.

134 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

The cultus of Artemis was widely spread in Peloponnesus.
Here her most frequent cognomen was Limnaea or Limnatis,
and lier temples were mostly set on the verge of a lake or
marsh. The standing water was sacred to her, and she was
queen of all the rout who were supposed by the Greeks to
have their home in such places, naiads and dryads and oreads.
These attended her when she sped through tlie forest at night,
and bathed with her in remote nooks and caves ; and her
presence effectually protected them from intrusion and violence.
In the high-land between Laconia and Messenia was a temple
of Limnsea as goddess of the alliance of the two states. We
are told that it was at a festival held in honour of this goddess
that the quarrel between the Laconians and the Messenians
took place which led to their first war. ^ According to the story
of the former, the Messenians did violence to the Spartan girls
who came to sing and dance in honour of the goddess. Artemis
Limnaea or Potamia ^vas carried by Dorian colonists to Sicily,
and there seems to have been highly venerated. Another form
of the Peloponnesian Artemis was Calliste or Callisto. Callisto
was said to have been changed into a bear, and the bear was
one of the animals sacred to Artemis, and often kept in a tame
condition in her temple. Similarly the Brauronian Artemis of
Athens was closely connected with the bear, and the girls who
danced in her honour were called bears. In Boeotia and
Thessaly the worship of the moon-goddess took a somewhat
different form. Those were the lands of witches and enchant-
ments, and in all ages and countries the moon has been closely
connected with these travesties of religion. As the witches'
goddess, Artemis was called Hecate. But the degradation of
Hecate belongs, like her representation in threefold shape, to
a later time. There is a remarkable passage in Hesiod's
Theogony in her honour, which is ancient, although suspected
of being an interpolation where it occurs."^ Hecate is said
there to be of Titanic race, daughter of Perses and Asterie,
and /xovvoyev'/j?, by which it would seem that in Boeotia she
had no connection with Apollo. She is praised in extravagant
language, declared to possess highest honour among the im-
mortal gods, to have been from the first partaker of the powers
of deities who ruled heaven, earth, and sea, and to have been
confirmed by Zeus, when he succeeded to the Olympian throne,
in all her prerogatives. She can aid, the poet adds, the speaker
in the council and the warrior in the battlefield ; giving

^ Paus. iv. 4, 2. ' Lines 411-452.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTOraC TIMES I 3 5

honour to whom she will, she assists kings in judgment and
liunters in the chase, and with Hermes can increase the cattle
in the stall. Indeed, according to this passage, Hecate seems
to have occupied for a time in Boeotia much the same position
of dignity which Athena held in Athens ; indeed, much of the
language used would apply well to Athena. At Pherae in
Thessaly Hecate was much worshipped under the name of
Brimo, and she appears frequently on the coins of the city
under a form scarcely to be distinguished from that of Artemis,
never in tri])le shape.

By no means identical with the Hellenic Artemis, yet related
to her in attribute and perhaps of similar origin, were other
female deities in lands bordering on Greece, whom the Greeks
called by the general name of Artemis, and whose cultus was
adopted by Greek colonists when they settled in lands where
it was already established. Such was the Thracian Bendis,
whose worship was a recent importation into Athens in the
time of Socrates, and seems to have possessed something of
orgiastic and Phrygian character ; such was Dictynna, the moon-
goddess of Crete, who was in late times the chief or at least
the most characteristic deity of the island ; such was the Selene
of Mount Latmus in Caria, whose association with Endymion
sufficiently distinguishes her from the virgin sister of Apollo.
The deity worshipped on the shores of the Euxine, and called
the Tauric Artemis, was, according to legend, a fierce and martial
deity to whom were sacrificed all strangers found in the country.
She was probably chief goddess of a tribe of wreckers who
caused terror among the Greek sailors of the Euxine. The
name Tauris, from its likeness to ravpoq, seems to have caused a
confusion between the Tauric goddess and Artemis, or Selene
Tauropolos, a moon-goddess who was represented in art as riding
on a bull, and to whom oxen w^ere often sacrificed.

But of course the most celebrated of the Asiatic forms of
Artemis, so celebrated indeed that in the late times of Greece
she outshone her Hellenic namesake, was the Artemis of
Ephesus. It appears that when Androclus the son of Codrus
landed with his Ionian followers at the port of Ephesus, he
found near the hill, which he chose as a site for his city, a
temple of an Asiatic goddess of nature surrounded by a colony
of temple slaves or tcpoSouAot, and an ancient college of eunuch
priests. This deity the new colony adopted. Her nature they
could not entirely change : its roots were struck too deep in
local veneration ; but they gave her a Greek name, and
identified her with Artemis, because, like Artemis, she was a

136 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

moon-goddess, patroness of young life and growtli, and ruler
of waste places. The Greek civic life and the ancient religious
hierarchy of the temple went on side by side, sometimes the
one encroaching and sometimes the other. In the stirring
times after Alexander, the Hellenic spirit was near gaining the
entire mastery ; and at that time probably the Hellenic legends
were most freely applied to the Asiatic divinity; but a re-
action came, and in the later days of paganism, when the
Greek gods were scarcely believed in, but more venerable and
mysterious cults were in demand, the Artemis of Ephesus re-
verted more to her older form. The barbarous, many-breasted,
archaic image, in which her majesty was embodied, constantly
appears on coins of Ephesus of Koman times and is copied
on the coins of other cities far and near. Closely similar to
the Ephesian Artemis was the Artemis of Perga and several
other cities of Asia.

With Apollo and Artemis we may compare another pair of
celestial twins of fame less wide. These are Castor and
Polydeuces, called in a special sense the Dioscuri, or sons of
Zeus. Their mother Leda nearly corresponds to Leto in name
and in function, and they, like the children of Leto, are im-
personations of the heavenly bodies. They are in one aspect the
morning and the evening star, which are closely alike and yet do
not appear together ; and the tales told of them, which need not
be here repeated, are mostly connected with this physical mean-
ing. The Asvins or two riders of Yedic mythology, closely
correspond to the Dioscuri in physical meaning, and like them
are thought of as continually on horseback. This seems to
show that the Dioscuri belong to early Greek mythology ; and
in fact, though these twin deities are almost exclusively
Laconian, yet other pairs corresponding to them are to be
found among other Greek tribes — Idas and Lynceus in Messenia,
and Amphion and Zethus at Thebes.

The true home of the Dioscuri was of course at Sparta.
Thence their cultus wandered forth to Dorian colonies such
as Syracuse and Tarentum, and from southern Italy passed
at no late period into Rome, where they became tutelary deities
of the class of Equites ; and in the ^gean and in Asia j\Iinor
a cultus, which seems to have been radically distinct from
theirs, was mingled with it, that of the Cabiri of Samothrace,
to whose agency was attributed the mysterious twin fires which
in stormy weather in the Mediterranean Sea appeared about
the masts of ships and was considered by the ancients to be
a very happy omen. Thus the Dioscuri, being confused with

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 37

the Cahiri, were regarded as deities alike of liorsemanslii[) and
of seamanship ; and in the times after Alexander they be-
came popular in one capacity or the other in Syria, and even
as far as India, frequently appearing on coins of the Greek
kings of those regions.

The origin of Poseidon and the way of his introduction into
the Greek pantheon have been much discussed. Certainly by
the time of Homer he is not only a member of the Olympian
assembly but one of the most characteristic members of it,
differing in this from the other great deities of water, j^^ereus
and Triton and Oceanus. Herodotus, ^ as is well known, declares
that the Greeks imported alike the name and the cultus of
Poseidon from Libya; but to modern \vriters this seems so
extremely improbable that they are driven to supposing that
Herodotus was misled by some similarity of name. It is
supposed that the name Poseidon is connected with ttoctls,
TTOTO'i, TTora/xos, but in early times Poseidon was regarded not as
ruler of drinkable waters, but of the sea only. The opinion
generally accepted is that Poseidon was deity of some sea-roving
and fishing tribe of Hellenic or semi-Hellenic race, and from
them adopted among Greeks generally. If so, we must place
such adoption at a very early period indeed, for among ^olians,
Achffians, and lonians, the worship of Poseidon is of a widespread
character and has every appearance of being ancestral. He was
the reputed fatlier of many heroes, the founders of great houses,
and disputed the possession of Athens with Athena, and the
possession of Corinth with Helios.

The two chief functions of Poseidon seem at first sight to be
somewhat inconsistent one with the other. Poseidon is on the
one hand god of the sea, of its waves and storms, and of earth-
quakes, and on the other hand as Hippius the giver to mankind
of the horse, the patron of horse-races and the ancestor of
chivalrous races of horsemen. It is strange that sailors and
cavalry should have the same special patron. Welcker shows
in a learned passage that in many countries ships are spoken
of as horses, and that it is a natural image of poetry to compare
waves which race and gallop to white-maned horses.- This is
true, yet we are scarcely disposed to consider the aptness of
these comparisons a sufficient reason for attributing the patron-
ship of horses and ships to the same deity. There are probal)ly
historical reasons for the phenomenon. In Greece the same
races were renowned for riding and sailing. Thessaly was the

^ ii. 50. - Gr. Gotterlehre, \. 632.

13^ heijgion and mythology

great seat of the chivalrous aristocracy who established the
cultus of Poseidon Hippius, and it was from a Thessalian harbour
that the Argonauts sailed to bring home the golden fleece. The
Boeotians and the Minyse were alike renowned for cavalry and
ships. So were the Tarentines. Taras was regarded as a son
of Poseidon, and in his city of Tarentum the cultus of Poseidon
was firmly established; and at the same time the people of
that city were noted for their love of horses. Their coins
commonly bear on one side Taras riding on a dolphin, on the
other Taras or Phalanthus riding a horse. The Dioscuri too,
the mythical horsemen ^^ar excellence^ were especially gods of
mariners.

In Greece proper there were several renowned seats of
Poseidon. On the Isthmus of Corinth was a noted temple
dedicated to him, surrounded by a sacred temenos, which was
the scene of the famous Isthmian games, games in which a
considerable part was taken by horse-races, and in which boats
would seem to have competed.^ At Sunium, where Attica juts
out into the sea, there was another important Poseidium, of
which interesting remains are still to be seen. But it was
among the cities of the Achaean shore that this deity was most
highly esteemed, at ^gse and Helice, where, according to
Homer, the lonians brought him splendid presents and sacrificed
bulls in his honour. The horse-loving aristocracy of Thessaly
and Boeotia had many temples of Poseidon, and his figure or his
symbols are frequent on coins of those districts. To the special
pantheon of the Dorians he seems on the other hand to have
been a stranger; and it is noteworthy that the Dorians, stalwart
spearmen as they were, were scarcely at home either at sea or
in the saddle.

In Asia Minor the most noted seat of the god was the
Panionium at the foot of Mount Mycale, where assembled in
his honour representatives of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor.
There until late times was held a sacred festival and games, as
at all the great seats of the gods; and the temple served as a
tie to bind together the great cities of the coast, and to remind
them of their common origin as contrasted with that of less
civilised neighbours.

Poseidon as recognised ruler of waters stood at the head of a
large class of deities who dwelt in and ruled sea and river.
Some of these, such as Nereus and Triton, seem more strictly
elemental beings than Poseidon himself, and may have been in-

1 See the Journal of Hellenic Stxuiies, ii. 315.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES 1 39

troduced earlier than he into the i)antheon of the Greeks. But
these were scarcely objects of worship in historical times ; they
were spoken of in mythological poems, and sometimes represented
in works of art, but it was not to them that sailors prayed in
distress or dedicated pictures on their safe return home. In
the later art of Greece, beginning from the time of Praxiteles
and Scopas, sea-daemons, called by the generic name of Tritons,
and sea-nymphs who sported with them amid the waves, to-
gether with sea-horses, sea-bulls, and other imagined monsters
occupy a great space. They are as familiar to all lovers of
Greek art as are the Satyrs and Panisci and Nymphs, who are
their counterpart on dry land. But these are the creation of
Greek artistic fancy and not of the religious needs of the people ;
they arose more from the love of beauty than from religious
sentiment.

On the other hand the deities of rivers and the Xymphs of
springs were the objects of real worship. Achelous at Dodona
and Alpheius at Olympia stood in close connection with the
greatest of Greek temples and received continual sacrifices.
Even lesser streams had their shrines and altars, and Hesiod ^
bids his countrymen not to cross a river before washing their
hands and praying, looking earnestly the while at the stream.
Shrines of the Nymphs must have been among the commonest
features of Greek pastoral scenes, by every flowing stream and
in every cave. The Xymphs were regarded with awe as the
beings who often brought youths and maidens to an untimely
end, carrying them off like Hylas. They were looked on as
the principle of life and growth, and of individuality in spring
or tree or glen, the soul of nature diffused everywhere through
its body.

Not one of the deities of Olympus is of loftier stamp or more
purely Hellenic character than Pallas Athena. The noble
conceptions formed of her have both in ancient and modern
times somewhat concealed her physical origin, and made it less
obvious which of the elements of the physical universe is
embodied in her person. According to Welcker she represents
the aether, that substance which plays a great part in the
theories, half physical, half metaphysical, of ancient philo-
sophers, ^ther was supposed to be a substance bounding the
heavens above, the source of light; and at the same time
diffused through plants and animals as the source of their life
and energy. Sauer and Roscher prefer to consider her as the

^ Wo)-l-s and Days, 735.

I40 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

impersonation of the lightning and a deity of storm. Athena
is born from tlie brain of Zeus, is his favourite daughter, and
bears the aegis, the symbol of storm and thunder. Athena has
close relations with Hephaestus ; these receive an explanation
when we think of both as spirits of fire and lightning. She is
patroness of thought and of wisdom; and we reflect that, by
the ancients, thought in man was supposed to be due to the
presence of heavenly light and fire. Athena also, like almost
all Greek goddesses, is not free from an admixture of lunar
elements.

It has been observed ^ that a close parallel to Athena in
several of her functions is to be found in the German Valkyrie,
the daemon alike of storm and battle, who at the same time,
like Athena, is cunning in the works of the loom.

In a fine passage, tlie twenty-eighth Homeric Hymn tells how
in the solemn assembly of the gods Athena leapt suddenly from
the head of Zeus, spear in hand, and glistening in golden
armour ; how wonder held all the immortals, while earth shook
and foam leapt forth from the sea, and the son of Hyperion
stayed his swift steeds in the sky. It is difficult to read the
passage without finding in it a mythical version of the facts of
the storm ; and it is but another reading of the same facts
when Athena is described as most conspicuous among the gods
in that great battle with the Giants, which is prominent alike
in Greek mythology and Greek art.

The great seat of Athena in historical times was of course
Athens, the city which bore her name, and the personality of
which she entirely embodies. In the reliefs at the head of
treaties and other such documents, Athena always appears as
the sole representative of Atliens ; and on Athenian coins, from
the earliest to the latest days of coinage, her effigy is all but
invariable. She is involved also in all the most ancient of
Athenian legends. Erechtheus, -the original serpent-footed
inhabitant of the country, from wliom later Athenians were
derived, was regarded as her special favourite. He no doubt
Avould have been represented as her son, but that her virginity
was part of the current legend ; he was therefore regarded as
son of Hephaestus and Ge, but received at Ids birth by Athena,
and by her handed over to the fostering care of her priestesses,
the daughters of Cecrops, Herse, Aglauros, and Pandrosos.
These priestesses play an important part in Athenian legend,
and they are as embodiments of dew inseparable from the

^ Roscher, Lexicon, p. 675.

THE PANTllEOX OF HISTORIC TIMES I4I

cultiis of Athena. Cecrops their father learned from Athena
the secrets of agriculture, and received the gift of the olive,
most precious of trees to the Greeks. Thus in the early
legend the goddess appears as patroness of country life and
agriculture ; it was not until Athens became rich and populous
that she appears in Attica as a stately city goddess.

But it would be a mistake to suppose that Athena was at
Athens a single and definite personality. Kather we notice in
this case prominently a phenomenon familiar to all who study
Greek religious belief, several forms of the same deity existing
side by side, distinguished by varying surname and attribute,
and regarded in popular belief as actually distinct. On the
Athenian Acropolis the temple of Athena Polias was distinct
from the temple of Athena Xike; and in the narrow limits
of Attica there were many other recognised forms of Athena
which must be studiously kept apart. At Alalcomenae was
a very ancient shrine, and the title 'AAaAKo/xev>^is is applied
to Athena even by Homer. Then there was a temple of
Athena Sciras on the sacred way, which was a great place for
casting lots. In Athens also were shrines of Athena Ergane,
Athena Hippia, Athena Hygieia, and each of these surnames
indicates a new set of attributes appropriated to Athena, and
a fresh pursuit placed under her patronage and protection.

Probably the common people of Athens could scarcely rise
above these distinctions, or see in all local forms the same
Olympian deity variously revealed ; but the more educated, who
of course formed a larger proportion of the population at Athens
than at other cities, were capable of such abstraction, and really
thought of Athena as she appears to us in the evidence of
poems and dramas and works of sculpture, as the pure and
high-minded virgin, who shared the counsels of Zeus and im-
parted of her abundant wisdom to men : the lofty patroness
who founded the Athenian state and still upheld it in a
thousand dangers, giving its statesmen wisdom, and diffusing
through the breasts of its soldiers valour, such as in days
long gone by she had bestowed on Herakles and Tydeus and
Odysseus ; receiving from the hands of the Athenian people
all that they had best to bestow of art and poetry, and in
return blessing the givers of these gifts with tenfold increase
so that their city shone throughout Hellas as the queen of
wisdom and the mistress of beauty.

If we enter into the feelings of the Greeks, we shall find
it easy to discern the connection of the various attributes of
Athena. The poets, as is well known, did not make dis-

142 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

tinction between the moral and the intellectual qualities of
men : both alike they considered to be the fruit of the heart.
And Athena, by strengthening and inspiring men's hearts, could
give them courage for the conflict, and at the same time wisdom
in council. Her especial favourites, such as Diomedes and
Odysseus, were noted alike for prudence and courage. The
great Pheidian statue of Pallas on the Acropolis towered above
the city, and seemed a standing menace to any invading host.
!Nike was the attendant and servant of all the greatest gods,
but of Pallas she was the second self and invariable companion,
ever flying at her bidding, and yet being always near her. The
wingless iSTike of the Acropolis was only Athena herself in
varied form ; and as Athena gave wisdom and courage, so
she bestowed skill on those engaged in craft and handiwork.
Athena Ergane was, as Sophocles says, venerated by all the
working-people (ttols 6 ^^tpoiva^ Aews). She was patroness alike
of architect and sculptor, of carpenter and potter. And women's
work was in a still fuller degree hers : none could, like her,
teach to hold the distaff and spin the thread, or give such skill
in the arts of the housewife.

As /^ovAaia, Athena controlled the deliberations of the
Athenian senate ; as dyopala, she guided the popular assembly,
and dominated the market-place. As iWia, she took the place
held in Thessaly and Boeotia by Poseidon, as guardian of the
knightly houses of the people, and patroness of equestrian
shows and exercises ; as vyUia, she stood beside Asklepius in
imparting healing gifts to men. In short, whatever an
Athenian was doing from morning to night, it was almost
sure to be something wherein Athena could give him aid :
wherever he went, he could not escape her guidanct' and con-
trol. In her constant presence he lived, and she represented
to him the ever-present eye of heaven looking down on his
deeds.

Though thus venerated only at Athens, Athena was by no
means unknown in other cities, some of which, such as Ehodes,
even claimed an older cultus than that of Athens. At Sparta
there was an ancient temj^le lined with plates of bronze and
dedicated to Athena, who was the protecting goddess of the
city. At Argos, Athena was held in only somewhat less honour
than Hera ; at Tegea was the great temple of Athena Alea
where the goddess was regarded as potent over agriculture.
The number of effigies of Athena which occur on Greek coins
is enormous ; a very large proportion of cities which issue coin
use this type at some period, and in dozens of places in Italy,

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES 1 43

Sicily, Northern Greece, Peloponnesus, Asia Minor, it is the
leading device, indicating that these cities regarded her as their
principal deity, ttoXcovxos Bed. One of these cities deserves
special mention, the Greek Ilium, which was noted, from the
time of Croesus onwards at all events, for its temple of Athena
Ilias. On the coins of Ilium the temple-statue frequently
appears, an archaic figure bearing in one hand a lance, in the
other a spindle, and thus conformable to the words of the Iliad,
which speak of the Trojan goddess as equally conversant with
the arts of the heroes who wielded spear and shield, and those
of the women who held the distaff and twined the thread. In
the ancient temples of Hellas were a multitude of archaic
figures of Pallas, representing her in full panoply, and a number
of these claimed to be the actual Palladium of Troy, which was
either stolen by Diomedes or borne away by ^neas. The multi-
tude of these images, and the wide extent of land over which
they were spread from Rome to Asia Minor, is the best proof
of the great antiquity and universality of the worship of an
armed goddess. This armed goddess, when thoroughly natura-
lised in Greek belief, necessarily took the form of Athena,
though it is by no means impossible that the images were in
the first instance imported from the East, and were intended by
the workmen who produced them for the Sidonian Astarte, or
some other martial goddess of the Asiatic peoples.

Among all the deities of the Greeks, the one who least lost
his primitive and material signification was Hephaestus. Heph-
aestus was placed at Athens in close relations with Athena,
especially in the matter of the birth of Erichthonius. The
Chalkeia were at that city celebrated in honour of Hephaestus
and Athena Ergane, both of whom protected in common certain
trades, such as those of smith and armourer. But the special
home of the cultus of Hephaestus was the island of Lemnos
on the Thracian coast. That island was the seat of volcanic
phenomena, and contains an extinct volcano called Mosychlus,
at the foot of which was the town of Hephaestia and the temple
of Hephaestus. Among the Greeks generally, the cultus of fire
had almost died out, or had become attached to Hestia and the
demons of the hearth; but a more defined cultus remained
among the dwellers in the Thracian islands ; and Hephaestus
is the embodiment of fire, alike when he falls like lightning
from heaven, hurled out by his angry father Zeus to fall on the
island of Lemnos, and when he is busy in caves and under-
ground dwellings, as the hidden fire which underlies the earth
and occasionally bursts through its crust in earthquakes and

144 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

volcanoes. And like the fire in smithies he is the tamer and
moulder of bronze and gold and silver, working them into fresh
forms of art and beauty. Like flames too he is in his motions
unsteady and oscillating.

At Lemnos then Hephaestus retained through historical times
what we may conceive to have been his original character of a
deity of fire in all its forms. And we find the same character
attaching to him in a few other places, such as ^Etna in Sicily
and Lipara, places where there either was volcanic power in
activity or the Phoenician settlers had left traditions of their
Cabeiric deities who worked in metal. There was something
of this loftier conception current at Athens, or the Athenians
would never have thought Hephaestus a worthy companion for
Athena. Hephaestus figures largely in Homer as well as in
certain early legends, such as that which tells how he assisted
at the birth of Athena by opening the head of Zeus with his
axe. But in most parts of Greece he was merely the deity of
the members of a particular trade, that of workers in metal,
and outside the religious feelings and observances of the most
of the people.

Hermes Avas, as we have seen, of no great account in the
Homeric Olympus. But the longest of tlie hymns which bear
Homer's name is composed in his honour ; we should perhaps
rather say that it is concerned with him, for it does not reflect
much honour on him, and is far indeed from the modern
conception of a hymn. Hermes was born one morning of
Mai a on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia ; by mid-day he had already
made his great invention of the lyre, which be formed of the
shell of a gigantic land tortoise, such as existed among the
Arcadian hills. In the evening he proceeded to steal the oxen
of Apollo, dragging them backwards into his cave in Cyllene.
Apollo, after a while, discovered his loss, and, tracing the oxen
to the cave, entered and found Hermes, an infant asleep in his
cradle, who denied at once any complicity in the thef r, pointing
to the absurdity of supposing that a mere babe could plan a
great theft. Apollo summoned him to the presence of Zeus, and
even then he persisted in his tale with effrontery : in vain, for
Zeus obliged him to reveal the place where the oxen were
hidden. But even yet he understood how to pacify the just
wrath of Apollo by presenting him with the lyre which he had
invented. With this Apollo was so fascinated that he not
only forgave the theft but promised Hermes that he should
in future be his chosen friend and companion among the im-
mortals, and gave him the staff of wealth and prosperity, with

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I45

rule over flocks and herds, wild creatures, and horses in the
stall. Only the gift of prophecy Apollo cannot impart to him,
much as he desires it : that he is bound by a vow not to
bestow on any one.

In this legendary poem we see traces of the principal func-
tions fulfilled by Hermes in mythology. The view strongly
advocated by Roscher, and now generally accepted, is that in
origin Hermes was a god of the wind, and so of the swift
changes of the sky, especially at sunrise and sunset. From
this primary notion Roscher tries to derive all the functions
exercised by Hermes in later myth. Some of his explanations
seem reasonable : the least satisfactory of them is that which
constitutes the god of wind a herdsman's deity, and ruler of
flocks and herds.

It is certain that from early Pelasgic times Hermes was
regarded as presiding over the propagation and increase of
flocks and herds. He was a shepherd's and herdsman's god in
the primitive district of Arcadia ; and in the Pelasgic island
of Samothrace he was worshipped in a very naive fashion as
patron of propagation, the ram being his sacred animal. Even
in Homer there is a strain of coarseness in Hermes, who is
made in the lay of Demodocus to declare that he would accept
the humiliating position of Ares, if he might thereby gain the
favour of Aphrodite ; and in the Arcadian stories he is almost
as random in his amours as Pan and the Satyrs. In the
Hesiodic Theogony he is spoken of as the increaser of cattle ;
and as in early times men's wealth consisted of flocks and
herds, it need not surprise us that a deity of propagation
should become the giver of wealth and prosperity.

The history of the cultus of Hermes is very instructive. He
plays but a poor part in early legend, and never at any time
bears a high character like those of Apollo and Athena, yet
he is continually growing in favour with the people, and con-
stantly receiving fresh functions, until in later Greek times he
is one of the most frequently invoked and universally culti-
vated of all Hellenic deities. Out of Arcadia he had few
great temples, but few towns were without some sanctuary of
Hermes, and little chapels built in his honour were scattered
along all roads and over all fields. His physical meaning was
lost sight of, but as people had learned to regard him as giver
of wealth, of eloquence, and other good things, which are much
sought after in w^ealthy and progressive communities, he never
lost his hold on the affections of the people until paganism
entirely decayed. Even in latest times he divided with Tv^?;

146 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

or Fortune the homage of those who, in their hearts, believed in
no god but the Emperor and his representatives. Yet how little
respect was mingled with this universal worship may be judged
from the concluding phrase of the Homeric Hymn —

iravpa jxev ovv ovLvqcn t5 8' aKpiTOV -qirepoirevei
vvKTa 8fc' opcfivai-qv cfivXa OvrjTO)V dv6pa>7r(DV.

As Hermes is the divine herald, so he has already in the
Odyssey become on occasions the messenger who announces to
deities and to men the solemn decrees of Olympus. And this
heraldic function of his is in later times much enlarged, Iris
retiring into the background. He becomes the messenger of
the gods in all things : thus it is he who has control of dreams,
dreams which hover about us most often in the dawn, which
is the time of Hermes' influence. Those which he sends are
sometimes meant to deceive and mislead, but they must never
be wholly despised, since sometimes they convey the counsel
and will of Zeus himself. And Hermes is also intrusted with
the function of leading away those to whose life the gods and
fate have put an end, and introducing them to the realm of
shades below. For this reason a sacrifice was at Argos offered
to him 1 by the friends of one who had died, thirty days after
the burial. And thus he is represented in art and legend as
the guide of Herakles Orpheus and other mortals who ventured
to penetrate into the world below. Jle is also often depicted
as engaged in other business on behalf of the gods, bearing
young Dionysus to the care of Nysa, or carrying young Areas.

To heralds the gift of eloquence was essential, and so Hermes,
as deity of the guild of heralds, was patron of eloquence.
Ready of speech and quick of resource, he was high in favour
among the quick-witted and not over-scrupulous. The eloquence
of St. Paul caused him to be taken at Lystra for Hermes, and
Hermes Aoytos was the special deity of orators and pleaders.
By a natural association the god of eloquence was also supposed
to be skilled in all arts and attainments. "By favour of
Hermes," says Odysseus,^ who " gives grace and glory to all
men's work, no mortal may vie with me in the business of a
serving-man." In this aspect, Hermes was sometimes associated
with Athena and set over all skilled labour of handicraft.
Commerce is the natural complement of manufacture, and this
was in a still more special manner put under the patronage

1 Phatarch, Qu. Grcec. 24. ^ Od. xv. 319.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES 1 47

of Hermes. As dyopato<s he watched over most markets, and as
8L€ix7ropo<; granted a good market to merchants, and inspired
them with lucky ideas as to the selection of an object of
commerce or a time of sailing. But the connection of this
clever and inventive being with commerce would scarcely
tend to raise its character : the Greek merchants, like their
Phoenician predecessors, were too much given to double-
dealing and cheating ; and they might easily fancy that their
persons would be scarcely less acceptable to their guardian
deity in consequence of any little peculations. In outwitting
their customers they only followed in his steps. Indeed, the
Greeks did not hesitate to go further still. As every craft
and guild had a special deity, thieves must have one too, and
Hermes SoXlos was appropriated b}^ them as bestower of their
unjust gains and their teacher in the arts of trickery and
deceit.

Far more respectable was another function of Hermes, that
of overlooking palsestrce and encouraging athletic sports. His
appropriateness in this connection arises from the fact that
the Greeks in all their contests valued skill and address far
more than mere force, and reserved their loudest applause
for those competitors who by means of science vanquished
those more robust than themselves. At the entrance of the
Stadium at Olympia were two altars, one of Kaipos, Oppor-
tunity, and one of Hermes ivaywvios, implying that in order
to win, an athlete must do the right thing at the right time.
His skill enabled Hermes to hold his own in boxing against
Ares. In later sculpture he is represented as the model of a
slender but highly trained Ephebus, who might well win in run-
ning or the pentathlon, while Herakles is made on the model of
the brawny wrestler or pancratiast ; and Herakles and Hermes
stood side by side in many gymnasia as overlookers.

Small figures of Hermes, or rather heads of Hermes placed
on square columns, were of frequent occurrence alike in country
and town. In the fields they marked the boundaries of fields
and estates, giving a sacred character to the landmarks which
divided the lands of individuals and of communities, or they
indicated even at a distance the course of roads over the hills,
roads not easily made nor frequent among the rocks and
torrents of Greece. In the cities they were not less common,
and in particular were a feature of tlie streets of Athens. The
dwellers in the houses near by would, on festal occasions,
deck these rude figures with crowns and flowers, and strong
testimony to the attachment of the people to them is to be

148 HELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

found in the account given by Thucydides of their consterna-
tion on discovering the mutilation by Alcibiades. But these
Hermae, like the pillar-shaped images of Apollo dyvtevs, Avhich
stood near them, were more like the Lares and Penates of the
Romans than the embodiments of actual Olympian deities.

A sort of double or reflection of the Arcadian Hermes, the
god of flocks and herds, was Pan, the goat-footed shepherd's
god. Pan was more local in character than almost any Greek
deity : he belongs originally to Arcadia and even to the dis-
trict about the Lycsean mountain. The superstitious rustics
of that district honoured him with firstlings of their flocks, and
dreaded to disturb Pan as he lay in the caves in his mid-day
slumber, for his temper was not light when he was provoked.
Prom Arcadia the superstition spread into other pastoral dis-
tricts. But we might have heard little of Pan but for his
connection with the battle of Marathon, when he aided the
Athenians and spread panic terror through the ranks of the
barbarians. Henceforth, following the impulse of Miltiades,
the Athenians adopted Pan, consecrating to him the grotto on
the side of the Acropolis hill, and dedicating to him and the
Xymphs many of the woodland glades and caves in the Attic
hills. And the second school of Attic sculptors fully intro-
duced Pan into art, associating him mth the rout of Dionysus,
and multiplying him for the purposes of their craft into a
crowd of goat-hoofed and horned Daemons to sport with Xymphs
and to be the prey of Eros.

Ares is a deity whose cultus certainly receded into the
background in the historic age. It is true that he was regarded
as a son of Zeus and Hera and the deity of war. Yet he is
not prominent on coins or in the pages of Pausanias, and was
certainly one of the less regarded of the Olympian gods. His
fall had begun before the days of Homer, who treats him with
scanty respect. Yet we can find in Greece traces of his early
worship on many sites. At Olympia he gave way to Zeus, to
whom he bequeathed the surname "Apetos. The name Areio-
pagus at Athens was a standing testimony of a time when the
hill was dedicated to Ares."^ But the district especially con-
nected with Ares was Boeotia, called by ^schylus yaias ttcSov
ttJo-S' "ApcLov, and notably Thebes.

The noble families of Thebes were termed Sparti, and said
to be born with the mark of a spear on their bodies : in these

^ Some recent writers, however, connect the name Areiopagus, with dpal
(hill of curses), rather than Ares.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES 1 49

ways was indicated their connection with Cadmus, the an-
cestral Theban hero, who married Harmonia, the daughter of
Ares, and founded the Theban commonwealth. In the Cad-
mean circle of legends Ares appears as the local deity. Like
other Theban deities. Ares had his primitive seat in Thrace.
Herodotus speaks of Ares Dionysus and Artemis (Cotytto) as
the principal Thracian deities ; and it was especially in Thrace
and Macedon that Ares was worshipped in historical times.

After the Koman conquest of Greece, Ares being identified
with Mars, the father of Romulus and a god of much account
among the warlike nations of Italy, recovered something of his
ancient consideration.

The meaning of the Cadmean legends has been a matter of
much dispute. Formerly they were regarded as establishing be-
yond dispute the existence of a Phoenician element in Boeotia.
To this view, however, there are grave objections. Thebes is
not the kind of site which attracted the people of Tyre and
Sidon, and the Boeotians are connected alike by legend and
the probability of the matter rather with Thessaly than with
Phoenicia. We are in fact at present unable to determine the
ethnic origin of the ancient race of Thebes ; but we pass from
the field of conjecture to that of certainty when Ave recognise
the fact that certain of the Greek deities and heroes had some
of their most ancient votaries among the Cadmeians. These
are Ares and Dionysus, and in a somewhat less degree, Herakles,
Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Demeter.

The Greeks accepted the foreign origin of Aphrodite, yet
somewhat strangely she appears in early literature as the
daughter of Zeus and Dione, the primitive Dodoutean deities,
who are essentially Hellenic. This is the ancestry attributed
to the goddess by Homer ; but Hesiod has quite another
account. In the Theogony^ he makes her spring from the
blood of Cronus after his mutilation by Zeus, and tells how
she arose from the sea and made her way to Cyprus and
Cythera. One of the few poetical lines of the dull Theogony
is that which relates how around her tender feet the grass
s])rang when she reached the Cyprian strand. A beautiful
Homeric hymn relates the visit of Aphrodite in the guise of a
mortal maiden to Anchises as he lay with his flocks, and tells
how she inspired him with passion and afterwards disclosed
herself to him as the daughter of Zeus. This narration shows
that the Trojan legends were mingled with those of Syria in

^ Lines 191-200.

I 5 O RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

the history of Aphrodite as accepted by the Greeks, even in
early times. In Cyprus itself, however, the legendary lover
of the goddess was not Anchises but Adonis, whose cult was
imported with hers from Syria.^

Eryx in Sicily was an early seat of the worship of Aphro-
dite, said to have been carried thither by Phoenician settlers.
Ancient temples of the goddess were to be found in many
Greek cities, often connected with traditions of the same
race. In some cases the archaic statues of the goddess were
armed, in this reminding us of the figure of Astarte, who
was a warlike goddess as well as an amorous. In various cities
the character attaching to the worship of Aphrodite greatly
varied, changing with the character of the people and their
tendencies, more severe in Sparta, dissolute at Corinth, and
BO forth. Everywhere, however, she represented human love,
whether a higher or a lower phase of it ; to excite the sexual
inclinations of animals was not her task but that of Hermes
and Pan; and fertility of crops was the gift of Demeter.
Only the philosophers like Democritus made of Aphrodite the
principle of engendering and of growth in all parts of the
universe.

At Athens, according to Xenophon,^ tliere were separate
shrines of Aphrodite Urania and Aphrodite Pandemos, and
the sacrifices and ceremonies of the former were more chaste,
those of the latter more impure. Xenophon makes Socrates
ascribe to Pandemos sensual passion, and to Urania the love
of the spirit. It is possible that in later time the mere name
Urania, which was applied to Astarte as a moon-goddess, was
misunderstood and supposed to imply a moral elevation.

In later times the connection of Aphrodite with the sea
was not dropped. In art she frequently appears in connection
with dolphins and sea-monsters, and she rules the rough hosts
of Tritons and JSTymphs. Art also associates her more and
more closely as time goes on with Eros, not of course the
cosmic Eros, the venerable deity who was worshipped at ThespisB
and Parium, but the youth who appears in the art of Pheidias
and Praxiteles as a tall and pensive youth, and who becomes
in later art a mere winged baby, lending himself to all sorts
of scenes of genre, and forming an important element in the
scenes where swarm the daemons of country and of sea.

Of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, the chief local

1 The question of the origin of the cultus of Aphrodite is discussed
above, p. 86.

2 Symjposium, viii. 9.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 5 I

seat is of course Eleusis in Attica. The celebrated Homeric
Hymn informs us what tales of these deities there had course.
Persephone had been seized by Hades as she gathered flowers
in a meadow, and carried to the world below. Demeter was
seized with uncontrollable grief at her loss, and knowing not
whither she had been borne, wandered for nine days and nights
in vain search. Then hearing the truth from Helios, she re-
nounced the society of the gods and betook herself across the
lands to Eleusis, where she entered the service of King Celeus,
and was intrusted with the nursing of his son Demophon.
Him she set about rendering immortal, feeding him with
ambrosia by day, and plunging him in the fire at night ; but
this process was stayed through the motherly terrors of
Metaneira the queen. Indignant at the spoiling of her plans,
the goddess could only be propitiated if a temple were built
her on the spot. Gladly the people set about raising one,
and there for a year the goddess dwelt apart, a year terrible
to the dwellers on the earth, for she withheld her aid, and
the corn rose not out of the ground. The whole race would
have perished had not Zeus determined to pacify the irate
goddess by restoring her beloved daughter. Persephone came
back to earth ; but the restoration could not be permanent,
for in the realm below, Hades had persuaded her to taste a
grain of pomegranate, which prevented her from remaining
for the whole year away from him. Henceforth then she led
an alternating life, abiding eight montlis on the green earth
and four in the realms of the dead. Demeter returned to
Olympus ; but before she went she imparted to the daughters
of Celeus and to her favourite Triptolemus, details of the
services to be done in her honour, and of the mysteries
which were to remain a constant memorial of the return of
Persephone.

The physical meaning of this myth is so clear that it seems
scarcely to need explanation. Demeter, yy) fJ'Ti]Tr]p, as the
ancients themselves explained the name, is the fruitful earth ;
Persephone is the springing corn which lies hidden for months
as seed in the realms of darkness and night, and then arises
to gladden the eyes and the hearts of men. The earth in
winter mourns the death of vegetation, which is wasted by
the destroyer and carried into the unseen country, and is once
more pacified when it appears in spring. The whole cultus
of Demeter and Persephone is based on these ideas ; and
that cultus seems to belong to a difl'erent, perhaps a more
primitive layer of beliefs than most of those of Greece. The

I 5 2 KELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

ancients considered Demeter to be a Pelasgic deity ; and the
distribution of her temples shows that she belongs to the
more primitive Greek races rather than those Mdiich are more
prominent in later times. Pelasgians, according to Callimachus,i
planted in Dotian territory, near Lake Boebeis in Thessaly,
a grove in honour of Demeter. In Argos was a temple of
Demeter Pelasgis. At Thermopylae an annual festival was
celebrated in honour of Demeter, who was one of the chief
protecting deities of the ancient Amphictionic League. At
Thebes, the temple of Demeter was considered a foundation
of Cadmus himself,^ and in the Phoenissoe of Euripides^ the
Chorus calls on Ge, on Demeter, and Persephone as the original
deities of the land. In Attica, not only have we Eleusis
with its very ancient temple and primitive mysteries handed
down from early inhabitants of the country, but at Athens
itself the Thesmophoria, which were celebrated in her honour,
were some of the oldest and most splendid ceremonies of the
city, and in the opinion of some modern scholars earlier than
the Ionian conquest. In Peloponnesus the worship of Demeter
was firmly established in early times, especially in Messenia,
where mysteries were celebrated in her honour at Andania
as to which we can recover many details from inscriptions,^
and in Arcadia. In the later age of Greece we find the head
of Demeter on the coins of the Messenians when restored
to their city by Epaminondas, of Pheneus, and other places ;
and Demeter Panachsea was one of the chief deities of the
Achaean League. On the other hand we do not find that
the Dorians had any original cultus of Demeter; and she
was perhaps only borrowed by the Achaean and Ionian
races.

We may more readily understand the distribution of the
temples of Demeter if we consider the nature of the gifts which
she bestowed on men : she is the fruitful land which causes
the seed sown in it to spring into leaf and to give fruit ; and
legends ascribed to her the instruction of mankind in ploughing
and harrowing, and in gathering and winnowing the grain.
To her favourite, Triptolemus, she imparted the knowledge of
husbandry, and despatched him on her own car drawn by
winged serpents, to pass through the lands, and dispense every-
where alike the seed of corn and knowledge of its culture ;
and she was said to have bestowed her favour on lasion, when

1 In Cer. 25. 2 Paus. ix. 16, 5.

^ L. 686. * See the chapter on Mysteines.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 5 3

he had led her into a field which had been thrice ploughed in
Crete, bearing to him a child named Tlutus, an allegory of
easy interpretation. We should then expect that she would
be held in honour by the early inhabitants of the fertile
Thessalian plain, and in agricultural Eoeotia, the country of the
Works and Days, and in Attica, which prided itself on the
antiquity and goodness of its agriculture. The wide spread of
the cultus during historical times was greatly aided, probably,
by the high favour wherein the Eleusinian Mysteries were
held throughout Hellas. As paganism declined, their lustre
became brighter, and people came from far-distant lands to be
initiated. Knowing these facts, we may be less surprised that
corn-growing Sicily was regarded as an island entirely devoted
to the service of Demeter and Persephone ; and in the times
of Roman dominion no deity was more pojjularly worshipped
in Peloponnesus.

Demeter, however, was the giver of more than mere corn.
As Qecriiocfiopos she was the foundress of stable institutions, and
the regulator of political life in countries. It is scarcely at
first sight clear how this can be the province of a goddess of
agriculture, much as agriculture does to settle and make steady
the lives of men. But the Thesmophoric feasts, which existed
in many Greek states, including Athens, were essentially festivals
of matrons, who excluded men from them. Demeter is emi-
nently the matronly goddess and patroness of marriage. We
can think of several ways in which wedlock and agriculture
may be connected, and it is even possible that the ancients
had made the generalisation that nations devoted to agri-
culture are usually monogamous, those given to pasture poly-
gamous, and therefore holding women in less esteem. No
doubt the exact nature of the institutions due to the influence
of Demeter was in time forgotten, and she was regarded as the
lover of all that was stable in law, of time-honoured custom,
and ancient privilege. So, to Triptolemus legend ascribed three
commandments : that men should honour their parents, ofler
to the gods fruits, and be gentle to animals. And so at Athens,
the command to honour one's parents was closely attached to
the service of the agrarian Athena.

Persephone is almost always closely associated in cultus
either with her mother, of whom she is in many places a sort
of duplicate, or with Hades. Hades and Persephone occupied
a very prominent place in the Greek mind, as undisputed
king and queen of that unseen world into which, after long
or short time, all go down. But the Greek idea of death was

154 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

gloomy and with small admixture of hope : a hundred epitaphs
and epigiams speak of the sacred pair, but usually as the
hard-hearted abbreviators of human life, and as the great
separators of lovers and friends, beings stern and pitiless, and
the dispensers of small joy ; and though Death had in some
places altars and priests, Hades had none. Pausanias ^ remarks
that within the range of his observation, only the people of
Elis had altars and litany to Hades. ^ And indeed of what
avail could prayers be when addressed to one who never
spared? And the same absence of worship as a rule tinged
the thoughts of the Greeks with regard to Persephone, when
considered as a chthonic goddess.

According to Herodotus, the latest additions to the Greek
pantheon were Dionysus and Pan. Pan was, as we know,
practically added to it in the time of Miltiades ; Dionysus at
an earlier and uncertain time, but later than that of Homer.
However, both Pan and Dionysus had existed as deities in
particular districts long before they were accepted by the
Greeks in general. Dionysus appears to have been imported
from Thrace, where, under the name Sabazius, he was from
early times the object of an enthusiastic cultus, celebrated with
wild orgies and excesses of every kind. The Thracians were
of kindred race with Phrygians and Bithynians ; and the
religion of all these races was penetrated by the same love of
excitement, partly spiritual, but in a far greater degree physical,
and leading to self-mutilations and sexual aberrations of an
extreme kind. So we hear that the Thracian women and those
of Macedon were in the habit of forming orgiastic choruses in
honour of Dionysus, and retiring to the mountains, where they
gave full vent to their frenzy.

In Thrace were ancient oracles of Dionysus, such as that in
the country of the Bisaltse, and the tribe of Bessi had a sort of
hereditary right to furnish priests of Diimysus.^ Even Homer
knows the story of Lycurgus and Dionysus, which seems to
contain in perverted form the key of Thracian mythology. It
is related in the Iliad^ how Lycurgus "chnsed through the
goodly land of Nysa the nursing-mothers of frenzied Dionysus "
(the Dionysiac Nymphs), and how Dionysus fled from him and
hid beneath the waves and took refuge with Thetis. Lycurgus,
the man hateful to the gods, seems to be Ares under another

^ vi. 25, 3.

"^ Ancestor-worship is, however, scarcely to b? distinguished from the
worship of Hades. See Book ii. ch. I.
8 Herod, vii. ill. ^ vi. 129-146.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 5 5

name, and the rivalry between him and Dionysus to point to
some rivalry between their cults. The Homeric Hymn, on the
other hand, has no Thracian tinge : it merely relates how
Dionysus was captured by Tyrrhenian pirates as he wandered
by tlie sea and carried away ; and how the bonds which they
put upon him did not stay but slipped off, and how wine
began to flow about the ship, and vine and ivy to climb the
mast; and how the god himself became a lion in the midst,
and the sailors leapt in terror into the sea and were transformed
into dolphins. Yet both these stories well characterise Dionysus
as the Greeks thought of him, a young, blooming, and aggressive
deity, everywhere invading and always in the end triumphant ;
wandering about the lands at the head of his crowds of Satyrs
and Maenads, and introducing far and wide the culture of the
vine and the practice of the wild orgies in which he delighted.

The Hellenic home of Dionysus was at Thebes. The Thebans
found him a mother, Semele, whom they called daughter of
Cadmus, and placed him among their ancestral deities. From
Thebes the cultus passed south. It passed to Delphi, where
Dionysus shared with Apollo the honours of worship, and was
associated with him in legend. It passed to Athens, where
from the earliest historic period Dionysus enjoyed a rare
popularity.

It is the association of the God of wine mth Athens which
has most contributed to his renown. It will not be forgotten
that we owe to the Athenian Dionysia the origin alike of
comedy and tragedy, and that during the time of Athenian
greatness the festivals of Dionysus were a time, not merely of
revelry and jollity, but of the highest intellectual enjoyment,
and even of moral elevation and progress. In the same way
the nightly revels and wine-drinkings, which were under the
patronage of Dionysus, were varied on occasion by philosophic
discussion and patriotic song, as well as by wild excess and
debauchery. True to its origin, the Bacchic enthusiasm inspired
sometimes religious and sometimes sensual passion. JS'ot seldom
did the Dionysiac fervour cause men to forget their dignity and
women to take leave of their modesty, so that every kind of
excess was almost openly committed, and we even hear of
human sacrifices. To tear a child limb from limb seems to
have been no unheard of proceeding at these festivals; and the
sacred legends justiHed such crimes by furnishing a host of
precedents, in which, under the maddening influence of the god,
parents had torn to pieces their children and even devoured
raw the reeking limbs. With justice then the Dionysiac

I 5 6 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

festivals received in some cities the name Agrionia or Agriania ;
and we are inclined to justify the Romans, who, discover-
ing that Dionysiac rites were making their way in Campania,
sternly put them down at the cost of much bloodshed.

The cultus of Dionysus became in the hands of Alexander
the Great a weapon of considerable political avail. It served
as a bond between Greek and Asiatic; for the Greeks still
retained in their worship of Dionysus rites scarcely different
from those of the Phrygian Sabazius and the Lydian Bassareus.
In the Cabul valley in ^'orth India the Macedonian army found
a people who cultivated the vine and loved its juice, and who
were willing to let the Greeks believe that they had been
settled there by Dionysus. AVith these tribes the Greeks seem
to have become friendly ; and from this period there prevailed
those stories of the Indian campaigns of Dionysus, which were
so largely current in later Greece, and which are related by
Nonnus. In fact it is likely that the deity of Indian origin,
whom the people of Cabul were ready to identify with Dionysus,
was Siva.

A particular form of Dionysus which belonged specially to
Crete, and was thence diffused, especially by the agency of
mysteries, was the chthonian deity Zagreus. Zagreus was said to
be son of Zeus and Persephone, and was worshipped in taurine or
semi-taurine form. In the legends of Zagreus, in the place of
victims being torn in honour of the god, it is the god who is
torn in pieces by the nefarious hands of Titans, who take ad-
vantage of his youth to attract him into their power with play-
things. Pallas rescues his bleeding heart and carries it to Zeus ;
Demeter clothes it with a new body. Zagreus lives again, but
lives as ruler of the world of shades, and as such receives the
worship of a crowd of votaries. Of Zagreus we shaU speak
again when we reach the subject of the mysteries. In Greece
sacred tales took the place of a creed, and agreed with forms of
worship, and it may easily be seen how well such a tale as that
just mentioned would suit mystic ceremonies and enthusiastic
orgies.

Beside the deities we must for a moment place the greatest
of Greek heroes, Heracles the Theban and Argive. To him the
Greeks ascribed unlimited force and not less resolution and
energy of soul; he was the unconquered and unconquerable.
Greek legend and Greek art were never tired of his feats,
which are the theme of endless reliefs and paintings ; and the
Hellenic mind seems to have particularly affected the tales of
his victories over older deities : how he assisted Zeus in the

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES 1 57

Gigcantomachy, how he wounded Hera in the breast and Apollo
in the eye, how he planted an arrow in Hades himself and bore
away the watch-dog Cerberus, how he lay in wait for Death and
robbed him of his fair prey, Alcestis. Finally, having met and
conquered a thousand perils, the Greeks represent him as
winning a way to Olympus by his valour, and entering it as
the favourite of Athena, and the husband of Hebe ; even the
jealous anger of Hera giving way before his achievements.

In later Greek times Herakles has almost entirely dropped
the hero and assumed the god. We must bear in mind other
lines of his derivation ; for he undoubtedly stands in many
legends and traditions for the Tyrian sun-god Melkarth, and
his character is as much derived from Phoenician as from
Hellenic sources. But though Herakles was a god, and one of
the most widely worshipped, yet his origin as son of a Theban
woman was remembered enough to make him a greater favourite.
As reverence for the gods declined, this parvenu, who had so
often defeated and disgraced them, and finally forced his way
into their ranks, became more and more popular, at all events
with the common people. His aid was not unnaturally looked
for when any difficult thing had to be done. He was also re-
garded as able to turn aside evil from his votaries. Herakles,
ttA€^tKaK05 and crwTT^p, had many an altar in the Greek cities :
he was summoned by the sick to turn away the power of their
diseases, and by husbandmen to avert blight and caterpillars.
The class most devoted to him was, as was natural, athletes, he
being the earliest and greatest of their class. His statue stood
in the gymnasia, and his form, as represented in later art, was
regarded as the model of an athlete of the heavier class, a
wrestler or pancratiast. But respect for Herakles was not
confined to the many, for educated people persuaded them-
selves that his labours w^ere undertaken unselfishly for the good
of mankind, and philosophers even made him a pattern for
conscientious youth, as did Prodicus in the well-known story of
the choice of Herakles.

But the recognised deities of Olympus were by no means the
sole recipients of worship in Greece. Besides these there were
a host of daemons of various kinds, which seem to have been
endowed with reality in very various degrees, some being
clearly recognised objects of cultus, others appearing to be mere
abstractions, and inventions of poets and philosophers. Among
these daemons many were specially attached to the train of
some deity : the Erotes to Aphrodite, Satyrs to Dionysus,
Tritons to Poseidon. But not rarely beings regarded as quite

158 religiOl^ and mythology

subordinate in most parts of Greece were in some local cult
raised to a high place of honour. Eros was venerated beyond
all deities at Thespise in Boeotia; and the Graces or Charites
were greatly honoured at Orchomenus. Nike, the personifica-
tion of victory, was raised to the rank of an important deity at
Olympia, where the games were placed, not unnaturally, under
her tutelage, nor does any figure appear more constantly than
hers on Greek coins. Of the same class was Eirene, who, in
works of art, is scarcely to be discriminated from Nike. We
hear of shrines erected at Sparta to ^o/Soq and to FeAw?, two
daemons whose power was not much felt practically in that
city; and at Olympia to Kaipos, fitting opportunity, whom
to know rightly was a great aid in any competition; and
to '0/xovota, whom we may suppose to have watched over the
many agreements and treaties of which memorials were there
set up. In Arcadia they venerated as persons B/jovrvj and
A(TTpair7], the thunder and lightning of Zeus. Temples were
also raised to ElXeiOvLa, the impersonation of child-bearing,
whom the Greek woman who expected to become a mother
was sure to venerate and present with offerings ; in the Homeric
Hymn to Apollo, however, this being is considered as having
little power or will apart from those of her mistress, Hera.

Two personifications of ancient date and widespread renown
were 'AyaObs Aat/xcov and 'KyaSr] l^v^q, the male and female
representatives of good luck in life. An invocation of them
sometimes stands at the head of Greek civic decrees; and there
were ancient shrines dedicated to them and images of them in
many Greek cities. It is sometimes supposed that they were
of Roman origin, and only adopted in later Greece; but this
is a mistake. It was, however, a custom of later Greece, taking
its rise probably in Hellenistic times, to establish in cities a
cultus of the TrS^^ of that particular place, a sort of impersona-
tion of its destiny. Such creations received much worship in late
times ; and indeed, as belief in the gods declined, the belief in
Fortune steadily grew ; so that many soldiers in the armies of
the time seem to have acknowledged no other deity.

Below the hierarchy of gods and dsemons comes the race of
demi-gods or heroes. Of the origin of the cultus of the dead
in prehistoric days I have already spoken ; it remains only to
make a rapid survey of the heroic population of Greece in
historical times.

Hesiod, in the Works and Days,^ intercalates the race of

' L. 157.

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES I 5 9

heroes between the race of bronze and that of iron which is
still existing. These were, he says, the noble and warlike race
who fought around seven-gated Thebes, and under the walls of
Troy ; and after their death Zeus removed them to the islands
of the blessed, where, under the rule of Cronus, they dwell in
peace and plenty. A number of the heroes venerated in the
cities of Greece were of this class. Achilles was for some
strange reason worshipped on the shores of the Euxine, and
even as ruler of the waves of that inhospitable sea. Ajax was
greatly honoured in ^gina, the home of ^acus, and gave his
name to one of the Athenian tribes. At the time of the
Persian war his aid was formally besought by the Athenians ;
and after that war was over we find Themistocles ^ piously
ascribing the victory to the aid of gods and heroes. Menelaus
and Helen received constant honours at Sparta. The Locrian
Ajax Oileus occurs as the regular type on the Locrian coins,
and Protesilaiis sometimes makes his appearance on those of
the Phthiotic Thebes. Every student of Greek history knows
how the bones of Orestes were removed to Sparta, and those of
Theseus to Athens, to be venerated in those cities and to confer
on them lasting benefit ; and incidents of this character are
to be found in the annals of most of the little republics of
Greece.

But the name and honours of a hero were by no means con-
fined to Homeric and epic worthies. There were traditionary
heroes of a quite local character, like Marathon and Echetlus,
who fought on the side of the Greeks at Marathon. "When any
person had by his death hallowed or made memorable a spot,
he retained for ever a certain power or influence there. For
such reason Neoptolemus was treated as a hero at Delphi; thus,
too, the Spartan defeat at Leuctra was considered generally as
partly due to the nearness of that place to the tombs of the
daughters of Scedasus, whom the Spartans had in former days
wronged and murdered. But one class of heroes obtained quite
a special cultus : it comprises the founders of cities who had
led the colonists to them and performed on the spot those
sacred rites without which no Greek city came into being.
Such a leader was, if possible, buried under the market-place,
that his presence might still dwell among the citizens : in any
case, a shrine was erected in his honour, and, in times of danger
and distress, his aid was solemnly invoked by the people.
And this was done not only in case of founders whose distance

^ Herod, viii. 109

l6o RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

in past times might be supposed to lend them something of
sacred character, such as Phalanthus at Tarentum, or Andro-
chis at Ephesus, but even in case of comparatively late founders.
Thus Miltiades was revered as founder, KTtcrrrjs, by the Greek
colonists of Chersonesus, and Brasidas by those of Amphipolis.
The cities of Sicily with one consent raised to the rank of hero
and second founder Timoleon, after he had freed them from
the Carthaginian yoke.

Later the literary Ptolemies of Egypt erected a heroon
to Homer, and so with better historical claim did the citizens
of Smyrna. Orpheus became a hero in Lesbos, where his head
was preserved, and Bias in his native city Priene. We even
hear that Socrates, who was condemned to death for impiety,
received a temple after death, and there were altars of his
rival Anaxagoras; but phenomena like these belong to the
decline. In better times the raising of one dead man to heroic
rank was a serious business. It has been frequently and not
inaptly compared to canonisation in the Church of Rome. As
it is the privilege of the Pope to decide on the canonisation of
saint or martyr, so it was commonly the authority which among
the Greeks most nearly corresponded to the Pope, the Oracle
of Delphi, which pronounced judgment on the merits of those
proposed for heroic honours. But the Delphic oracle was far
more lavish in its grants of honour, and not only usually passed
those proposed, but very commonly recommended on its own
account the establishment of some heroic cultus as a remedy for
a disease which ravaged a city or a calamity impending over it.
But private individuals often took it upon themselves, in virtue
of a dream or portent, which strong wishing might easily pro-
duce, to establish a heroon in honour of a deceased friend ;
and such heroon, if well endowed with worldly goods, might
last for ages, and easily by chance, or through a pious fraud,
become celebrated.

Students of mythology are familiar with the process by which
deities once powerful were reduced to the rank of daemon or
demi-god and attached in a subordinate position to one of the
great Olympic deities. Nereus thus becomes subordinate to
Poseidon, and Adonis sinks from a great god into the human
lover of Aphrodite ; but the reverse process is at least equally
common. Among the Greeks not only men were constantly
being elevated to the rank of heroes, but also a few of the
more prominent heroes passed into the ranks of the gods.

Of the last-mentioned progress a few instances will suffice.
Herakles was practically regarded by the later Greeks as a god,

THE PANTHEON OF HISTORIC TIMES l6l

although the time at which he was supposed to have lived was
well marked in Greek heroic annals ; and several races of
I'cloponnesian kings and nobles claimed to be descended from
him in the ordinary human way. Asklepius was usually
thought of as one who had lived in the world, and his sons
Podaleirius and Machaon led to Troy the men of Tricca in
Thessaly, yet in Hellenistic times few deities enjoyed greater
reputation, and he is termed in inscriptions /^eyas, o-wt^^P, and
even Zevs, Amphiaraus was said to have accompanied the first
expedition against Thebes, but his oracles were held in very
high estimation in Hellas, yielding scarcely to those of Apollo
himself, and he himself was reckoned as a deity. Mythical
founders of cities were in many instances worshipped in those
cities, not as heroes but as gods — Autolycus, for example, at
Sinope, and Tlepolemus at Tiryns.

Even men in the later days of Greece were sometimes accorded
divine honours. This was a custom evidently of Oriental origin.
From early times the great kings of Assyria and Egypt were
reckoned as gods by the people who had to render them a slavish
obedience, and sometimes they seemed to the down-trodden
multitudes the only gods able to help and to punish. Welcker ^
remarks that Lysander w^as the earliest of the Greeks to be
thus honoured ; the Samians, or at least the oligarchical party
among them, singing a hymn in his praise, that is, invoking him
as the healing god to deliver them from the bondage of Athens,
and changing the name of their greatest festival from HercTa
to Lysandria, in his honour. Philip of Macedon allowed the
people of Amphipolis to sacrifice to him as a deity, and at the
wedding of his daughter Cleopatra, figured with the twelve
great gods as one of them. That Alexander went further still
need surprise us little, for after his conquests he assumed the
airs of an Oriental monarch, and divinity was but one of these.
After his death Alexandria became the seat of a great cultus of
him as a deity, and henceforth the assumption of divinity is
made by all his marshals who attain any position of power or
renown. The Ptolemies in Egypt have regular temples with
their colleges of priests attached to the service of the reigning
monarch, and the Seleucidse in Syria assume as their regal
name some title, doubtless selected by the priests, from among
those commonly conferred on deities, such as ctcottJp or €7rt<^a;'7;9.
Demetrius at Athens received the title of Oebs (r(on]p, and wag
lodged in the Parthenon as friend and guest of Athena ; even

^ Gr. GotUrl. iii. 300.

t62 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

to his wives, as impersonations of Aphrodite, temples were
erected in various parts of Greece. The deification of the
Eoman Emperors, which the Romans had the decency to post-
pone to their death, but which the Greeks sometimes carried
through while they lived, was but a continuation of the customs
into which these latter had fallen in the case of their own kings.
'We can scarcely be surprised to learn that in days when divinity
was conferred on those who could exercise high functions of
command, the lower grade of heroism was bestowed at death
on almost any person whose surviving friends desired it and
could pay for it.

BOOK III

CULTUS
CHAPTEE I

SACKED PEECINCTS AND TEMPLES

It is well known to every one that in Homer, though Olympus
is spoken of as the home of all the gods, yet they each have
some favourite spot where they dwell by preference, as Hera at
Argos and Poseidon at ^gae. This local tie does not prevent
them from hastening to any spot on the earth where their
presence may seem desirable, but it furnishes them with a
home to which to return. And although prayer is frequently
addressed to various of the Olympians by heroes on the
battle-field or in their wanderings, it would yet seem that all
save three or four were of more ready access if the suppliant
were physically near one of his seats. So Achilles, when he
wishes to invoke the aid of his mother, goes down to the shore
of the sea.^ Pelops in Pindar,- when he prays to Poseidon,
does the same ; and sometimes in Homer a prayer is not
heard because the deity to whom it is addressed is absent on
other affairs ; and always a deity was present in his own
shrines as nowhere else.

In the dawn of Greek history we already find everywhere
plots of land set apart for and consecrated to certain deities.
The cause in each case can scarcely at this distance of time
be recovered ; at most it can only be matter of hypothesis and
conjecture. In all likelihood the Greeks in many or most
cases merely recognised and adopted an appropriation made by
earlier inhabitants of the countries in which they came to
dwell. It certainly was thus with the enclosure dedicated to
the Ephesian Artemis, whose worship was locally established

^ n. J. 350. 2 Pindar, 01. i. 72.

263

1 64 CULTUS

lonc' before the Athenians iiuder Androchis came to settle on

Mounts Prion and Coressus. It was so at Delphi, where an
oracle of Ge was established time out of mind, long before the
arrival of the Hellenic Apollo. In fact, it is a general rule with
archaeologists, when they find an ancient religious precinct
lying outside the walls of a Greek city in any district but the
oldest seats of the Hellenes, to suppose that the foundation
is not Greek but pre-Greek, the work of barbarous and
forgotten races. And in these cases we shall only be misled
if we try, from our knowledge of the Greek mind and Greek
religion, to find reasons for the choice of particular localities.

Nevertheless we are able to attain, by a process of induction,
to some of the causes which led in Greece to the setting apart
of localities for religious purposes. These causes are divided by
Hermann^ into three classes — physical, ethical, and historical,
and we cannot do better than follow closely in his steps.

(i) Physical. Certain kinds of localities seemed to the Greeks
especially full of the presence of supernatural powers. Groves
were frequently dedicated to divinities in Greece as in most
countries from the Britain of the Druids to Babylon. In a
grove of myrtles one might expect to light on a temple of
Aphrodite, in one of olives on a temple of Athena, while
laurel-groves belonged especially to Zeus and Apollo. If in a
grove or meadow a tree of specially beautiful appearance grew,
it would be in early times worshipped itself as a fetish ; in
later times it would be consecrated to some deity, as was the
celebrated ilex sacred to Zeus which grew at Gortys, and the
oak of Dodona. The tops of hill and mountain were usually
hallowed. Pausanias records abundant instances. Commonly
they were set apart for Zeus under the titles I'lrto?, Karat/^arT^?
and the like ; but Hera was worshipped on Mount Euboea,
Aphrodite on the lofty Acrocorinthus, Hermes on Mount
Cyllene, and so forth. This connection of mountains with the
gods takes the place of the worship of the mountain itself,
which we find in non-Greek lands — such worship as that of
Mount Argseus in Cappadocia. Caves and grottoes were among
the earliest temples ; but perhaps the most usual of all seats
of early worship were rivers and springs. In a climate like
that of Greece rivers are not only useful but necessary to the
fertility of a district, and the springs which come rushing forth
from chasms in the rocky soil were an endless source of joy
and prosperity. The Greeks surrounded them with masonry,

^ Gottesdienstliche Alterthiimcr, Ed. Stark, p. 62.

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES 1 65

propitiated them with offerings, and sought to draw from them
auguries as to future events. On many a green tree and
beside many a fountain would be found images, fluttering
fillets, and simple rustic gifts, remains of a very primitive
nature worship, such as remains to this day usual in Japan,
and not unheard of even in our country, where sacred trees and
wishing wells are not entirely things of the past. Only as
religion grew more articulate and anthropomorphic in Greece
the sacred spot was usually connected with Olympic deities,
and the mere fetishism which had first made it sacred passed
into the background. Thus on the sea-shore rose shrines to
Poseidon rather than to sea-daemon and nymph, and the
typical river Acheloiis was worshipped on the banks of lesser
streams.

(2) Next to the physical circumstances which lent sanctity to
a spot Hermann places the ethical. Human associations from
earliest time mark out for purposes of religion certain parts of
abode or city. The most typical is the hearth, whether that
of a single family or that of the prytaneium, the place of
union of sept or clan. A hearth of some sort was usually to be
found in Greece at the site of most great temples. At that of
Poseidon by Mycale was the assembling-place of the lonians ;
the shrines of Demeter Panacliaea and Zeus Homagyrius were
places of union of the Achseans; while the prytaneium of
Olympia was as it were the common hearth of all Hellas. All
old Greek cities having their nucleus or starting-point in an
acropolis hill, that hill was the cradle and hearth of the race,
and some part of it was set aside for the divinities who pro-
tected the unity of the state and watched over its prosperity,
the TToXiovxoi OeoL. As the inhabitants, with the advent of
more settled times, spread down from the acropolis hill to the
plain below, a larger share of the hill was left to the deities,
until sometimes as at Athens it became altogether a consecrated
place, and all secular buildings were removed to the agora in
the plain. And not only did the deities thus acquire the aorrv,
acropolis, but pleasant sites were chosen for such of them as
came into favour in the ttoAi? below. Socrates is represented
by Xenophon^ as declaring such spots to be most fitted for
dedication to the gods as could be well seen by all, and yet
were out of the way of easy approach, so as not to be crowded.
Aristotle speaks to much the same effect.

(3) Next to the centres of human circles of intercourse the most

^ Memor. iii. 8, 10.

1 66 CULTUS

suitable sj^ots for sacred enclosures were held to be the circum-
ferences. The bounds which separated state and state were
often the seats of temples : we maj^ instance the temple of
Artemis on Tay getus on the bounds of the territories of Spar-
tans and Messenians, and the Isthmian sanctuary of Poseidon
between Corinth and IMegara. In this way the deities at once
divided states and formed a bond between them. On the
neutral ground which they occupied, enemies could meet in
peace and discuss terms of friendship and alliance, markets
could be held for exchange of goods, and documents could be
laid up binding on both states. Along the high-roads of Greece
were frequent chapels ; and in places where three ways met in
particular were very usually shrines of the triple Hecate. An
arrangement introduced for religious motives, and probably con-
tinued for those of convenience, directed that travellers who had
food to spare should lay it on the altars of Hecate for travellers
less amply provided to take and enjoy as the gift of the goddess.
The figures of Hermes, which divided lands and marked the
course of roads, made a little space round them sacred, and their
cultus was never entirely absorbed by those of Hermes and Apollo
in the cities : the local feeling always survived. Market-places
were always put under the protection of Oeol dyopatoi, Zeus,
Athena, or Hermes, who guarded the fidelity of contracts there
made, and punished sharp dealing or breach of faith ; and in
gymnasia a part was set aside for the occupation of the agonis-
tic gods Hermes and Herakles, of whom one bestowed skill and
address, the other force and courage.

AYhenever a spot was set apart as sacred to a deity, a legend
would arise as if out of the ground to justify such consecra-
tion. But in some cases the legend had historical justification.
This was most commonly the case when an event of good or
evil omen marked out the place where it happened from ordi-
nary ground. Thus a spot struck by lightning remained to all
time a sacred enclosure. On the spot in Argos where the
Epirote king Pyrrhus fell,^ the Argives erected a temple to
Demeter, and buried the hero therein. In fact, the graves of
heroes were everywhere held sacred. No doubt if we could
trace back into pre-historic times the rise of places afterwards
held sacred in Greece, we should in many cases find that the
first impulse to consecration of the spot came from one of those
encounters with supernatural powers which are so frequent an
experience of the primitive man. He finds, or thinks he finds

^ Paus. i. 13, 8

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES 1 6/

some deity, perhaps embodied in the form of animal or snake
in possession of a spot which he has rashly invaded, and a
supernatural tenant has to be thenceforward propitiated by con-
tinual rites. And as prescription rules in religious matters with
unyielding stubbornness, when a deity or daemon had in any
way made good a claim to a particular spot, he would commonly
retain it. In later times, often land was made over to some
deity in consequence of a dream, an omen, or an oracular
response,^ or by bequest of some person dying with or without
heirs. 2 Sometimes the land of a conquered foe was made over
to some deity as a sacred temenos ; and a dozen other causes
might cause the passage of land from human to divine posses-
sion ; and as land once made over thus could never be re-
claimed, the gods gradually acquired, in the course of Greek
history, a larger and larger share of the country.

In the case of the larger sacred places, more especially such
as were the seats of agonistic festivals, the Tefx^vos or sacred
enclosure was of considerable extent, and contained many
buildings adapted for various purposes. It was rigidly marked
off from the profane buildings round by a wall, or at least by
stones such as are still occasionally discovered, bearing the
inscription "0/)os At6s,"0/oos 'K6i]v)]^, and so forth.^ The sacred
precincts of many deities were asylums, that is they were safe
refuges for those who had committed crimes, for slaves who
had been ill-treated or dreaded ill-treatment, for debtors who
could not pay their debts, and all persons who stood in fear of
enemies or justice. In rude early day?, when manners were
fierce and justice rudimentary, sucli an institution must have
been productive of much good, putting an end to interminable
blood-feuds, and affording the persecuted a means of escape
from the tyrant. But in later days the privileges of asylum
were serious hindrances to the execution of law. Then most
of the precincts lost the right of asylum ; and even when a
fugitive from revenge or from justice fled to the very altars of
the gods, which in all times retained their inviolability, he was
liable to be starved into surrender, or even carried off by force,
so long as no blood was shed. Of all the temples of Greece
that of Athena Alea at Tegea possessed the most inviolable
right of asylum. Leotychides and Pleistoanax the Spartan kings
both took refuge there when afraid of punishment by their

^ Ditteiiberger, Sylloge, Nos. 360, 368.

- C. 1. G. 24^8. The so-called will of Epicteta.

^ Dittenberger, Sylloge, Nos. 377, 378.

1 68 CULTUS

compatriots, and lived in peace. Pausanias the traveller ^ says
that the Spartans did not even ask for their surrender. Hither
too fled Chrysis, the priestess of the Argive Hera, after she had
accidentally set fire to the Hereeum. Sometimes grave evils
resulted from the extension of the right of asylum. At Ephesus
for instance the limit of the privilege had been fixed by Mithri-
dates^ at a bow-shot from the temple of Artemis in every
direction. Mark Antony doubled the area of the inviolable
space, but in so doing he unfortunately included a part of the
city, which at once became a sort of Alsatia, a refuge of robbers
and murderers, without law or security for property, and
Augustus was obliged to restore the former limits.

Sometimes the sacred enclosure was absolutely forbidden to
the foot of man. A wood sacred to Dionysus existed at
Megalopolis,^ which was surrounded by a OpcyKos or barrier,
and not accessible to any one. More frequently it was only to
be entered on rare occasions and by privileged persons, like the
enclosure at Olympia which contained the tomb of Hippodamia,
which women only were allowed to enter once a year.'* Very
frequently a temenos was accessible only to one sex, and nearly
always some classes were excluded. Thus from the temple of
Leucothea at Chseroneia all of iEtolian race were excluded.
No stranger was admitted to the temple of Hera at Amorgos.^
'No Dorian was admitted to the temple of Athena Polias at
Athens ; generally indeed it was supposed that the sight of one
of a rival or hostile tribe was displeasing to the deities of a
city. In the tribal religion of the Greeks it was reckoned a
great privilege to accord to an alien to give him the right of
attending public sacrifices.

At the very entrance of all sacred precincts was a vase of
water for the purification of those who approached. These
were called irepippavrripm. Also there were commonly inscrip-
tions stating who first dedicated the spot,^ and on what condi-
tions it might be entered, or enjoining cleanliness and reverence
on all votaries.^ The enclosing wall was usually only inter-
mittent at one place, and at that spot propylsea were erected.
These in outward form somewhat resembled a temple, but
their interior arrangement was different, the central point in
them being a strong duor calculated to keep out intruders and
even a hostile force, while within and without the door were

I iii. 5, 6. - Strabo, xiv. p. 641. ^ Paus. viii. 31, 5.

* Paus. vi. 20, 7. ^ Ditteuberger, Syllogc, No. 358.

6 Cf. ibid. No. 356. ^ Ibid. Nos. 357, 359, 361.

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES 1 69

chambers for waiting in, and sometimes stoae at the sides as
in the nohle PropyLea of Pericles.

Inside the peribolus wall were a variety of buildings. The
most important and essential spot of the whole was that
occupied by the altar. Hermann with justice observes that
the altar was of more moment in a religious point of view than
either temple or image, and commonly it was far older than
either. Sacred places need contain no shrine and very com-
monly contained no figure of a deity, but must contain an altar
of some sort, or the deity remained entirely inaccessible to his
votaries. Pausanias mentions an altar of Zeus Lycaeus which
was a mere mound of earth on the summit of the Lycsean
mountain. fOriginally the altar was a simple structure. lu
Apollonius Rhodius the Argonauts are represented as heaping
up, wherever they land, stones for a temporary altar. In
Theocritus ^ we read of altars formed of oak, ivy, and asphodel.
Some of the most renowned altars in Greece, the great one at
Olympia for instance, were formed of the ashes of sacrifices
which were not removed, but allowed to accumulate. At
Didyma near Miletus was an altar formed by Herakles of the
blood of victims ; and we read of others made of their horns.
But after a time the artistic taste of the Greeks added masonry
and ornament to these primitive structures. Horns were
placed at the corners, whether to be grasped by those who took
oaths, or to support flowers and filletsj Altars were fenced off
from the crowd by dptyKOL or barriers. Sometimes they became
of colossal size, like the Olympian altar, which was 125 feet in
circumference and 22 in height, and that magnificent Perga-
mene altar, of which the remains decorated with colossal friezes
now adorn the museums of Berlin. Of another and peculiar
character was the gigantic wooden altar or rather pyre piled
up every year at Patrse in honour of Artemis Laphria.^ They
made a huge enclosure of dry wood, and drove within it all
manner of game and living creatures ; then set fire to the
whole and made a huge burnt-off'ering to the deity. Commonly
altars were consecrated to one, or at most two or three deities,
and could not be used for sacrifice to others; but there were
exceptions : the altars in the Prytaneia, for instance, were used
for sacrifice to all national deities. At Oropus^ was an altar
divided into four parts, and each of those parts was devoted
to a group of deities.

When temples began to arise throughout Greece, they com-

^ XX vi. 5. - Pans. vii. 18, 1 1. ^ Puus. i. 34, 2.

1 70 CULTUS

monly included small altars whereon incense could be burned,
and small bloodless sacrifices laid at the very feet of the deity.
But the larger altars, whereon sheep and oxen were offered,
remained outside, so placed in reference to the temple that the
votary sacrificing at the altar could see the image in its cella.
The reason for this is obvious enough : the slaughter of animals
would have polluted the temples and filled them with blood
and filth, while the thick smoke would soon have spoiled the
beauty of the divine images ; and on the other hand it was
essential to the efficacy of an altar that the smoke from it
should rise freely to heaven into the presence of the gods.
Thus in the rare cases in which a great altar was included in
the temple- walls, an open space above it was left in the roof,
through which the smoke might rise. ;

It was usual to place in the re/xevr^ of Greek divinities tombs
of those men who had founded them. The Pelopium, the sup-
posed grave of Pelops, stood by the temple of Zeus at Olympia,
the tomb of Hyacinthus by the Apollo at Amyclse. Neoptolemus,
son of Achilles, was said to be buried in the temple at Delphi ;
Clearchus the founder of Miletus in the Didymseum near that
city. An instance from later times was the already-mentioned
tomb of Pyrrhus of Epirus in a temple of Demeter at Argos.
The peribolus also included dwellings alike for the suppliants
who fled thither and for the officers of the temple. Homer ^
speaks of Maron, priest of Apollo, as living in the shady grove
of Phoebus. The Arrephoric maidens at Athens lived during
their term of office close to the temple of Athena Polias. The
sacred slaves commonly slept in cells about the temples ; and in
some sorts of temples there must have been quite a thronging
population, as for instance in the shrines of Aphrodite, in
which Oriental customs of prostitution were maintained, and
in those of Asklepius, which were crowded with sick and their
physicians. In some reixev-q even feasts were given, for example
in the ka-TLaropta of the sacred island of Delos, where feasted
the lonians with wives and children. So Strabo- says of
Tenos that the city was small, but without it was a precinct
of Poseidon, within which were large eo-riaro/Dta, which would
accommodate not only the people of the city l3ut all the neigh-
bours who might come to the feast of Poseidon. In one case,
that of Delphi, there was even a theatre close to the sacred
enclosure, that theatre wherein the musical contests of the
Pythia were held.

1 Od. ix. 200. - X. p. 487.

SACRED riiECIKCTS AND TEMPLES

tea fc:±rtr^ -"'I M

I 7 2 CULTUS

In recent years the entire area of the great altis of Zeus at
Olympia has been laid bare by the energy of German explorers,
and the student can examine it foot by foot. It contained not
only the great temples of Zeus, Hera, and the Mother of the
Gods, but the tomb of Pelops, the circular building raised by
Philip of Macedon in honour of his own family, the Exedra of
Herodes Atticus, and the colossal altar of Zeus, together Avith
a vast crowd of donaria and monuments of every kind. On
one side it was bounded by a long row of treasuries, each con-
taining the offerings of some wealthy state ; on another by a
long colonnade, in which probably many of the visitors to the
great festival slept during the hot summer nights. The stadium
and the hippodrome were outside in secular ground, together
with the palaestra where the competitors practised. The visitor
to Olympia is transported back into ancient times and w^ays of
life, almost as completely as the visitor to Pompeii.

Thus were the gods of Greece localised and limited. And
whether it were a tribal or national deity who acquired a fixed
dwelling-place, or whether it were some divinity rising, like
Cora in the myth, out of the ground, who had nothing to do
with Olympus, but was essentially provincial, it came to much
the same thing. A precinct was enclosed, an altar set up,
perhaps later a temple, a priest was set apart, and the cult
became an outward and visible fact, which had thenceforth
profound influence upon the history of the district. Such a
shrine had a story of growth and decline, just as much as a
city had, although as a rule the story found no historian to
write it down, and we have to recover scattered fragments of
it from the inscriptions found upon the site, and the dedications
brought to light after long ages.

The erection of temples for the gods was a result of constantly
growing anthropomorphism in the conception of them held by
the people. In the old days when the Greeks or their Pelasgic
predecessors worshipped the powers of nature, or perhaps some
totem of the animal world, or attached supernatural powers to
some mere fetish, a tree or a spring, a rock or a stone, they
adored in the open air. But when images, however rude, were
formed, and supposed to embody the divine nature more com-
pletely than un worked products of nature, it became necessary
to erect houses where these images might be placed in security,
and where they might dwell as the chiefs dwelt in their own
palaces. Thus the cultus-image, or idol as we should term it,
was the centre of the temple, and determined its parts and their
relations one to the other. And of course when the custom of

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES I73

erecting houses fur deities was fairly established, it was adopted
even in those cases in which the deity was represented not by
an image but by a mere symbol. In the great temple at Delphi,
for instance, there was no great ciiltus- image of Apollo.

The earliest Greek chapels were either natural caves or the
hollows of decayed trees. Greece abounds in caves, and few
of these, even down to the latest pagan times, were without
statues of deities. In historical Greece they were commonly
sacred to the Nymphs, and contained statues of them, or reliefs
representing them in company with Pan or Hermes, or the
river-god Achelous. This was especially the case in Attic
territory, and several reliefs such as these are now in the
Athenian museums. But some caves were dedicated to other
divine beings. There was in Crete a sacred cave where Rhea
was said to have given birth to Zeus, and where the child was
fed with honey by bees. There was the cave sacred to Apollo
at Apollonia, where the flocks of the deity were shut up at
night. There was the celebrated cave of Trophonius, and
that near Eleusis, into which Pluto disappeared, bearing the
captive Persephone : indeed very deep and gloomy caves were
usually connected rather with the deities of the nether world
than with the Nymphs, In a cave at Bura in Achaia was a
shrine and oracle of Herakles ; ^ other caves were sacred to
Cybele, Apollo, Aphrodite, and other deities. Trees were also,
as Bfitticher has abundantly shown in his Baumcultus, not only
themselves worshipped as fetishes, but also used as receptacles
for rude images in early times. An instance may be taken
from Pausanias, who saw near Orchomenus a chapel of Artemis
with her statue in wood, placed in the midst of a large cedar,
and so called Cedreatis.^

It may easily be imagined that the needs of Greek cultus
soon outgrew these primitive shrines. The Homeric heroes,
having stately palaces of their own, could not let the gods
remain without a dwelling. And in fact, in the Homeric
poems are numerous passages which prove that in the time when
they were written temples were not rare in Greece. We hear
of the temple of Poseidon at Mg^ ; of the Xatvos ovSbs of
Apollo at rocky Pytho, full of rich offerings. Xausithoiis is
said in the Odi/ssej/,^ when he built the city of the PluTacians,
to have erected in it temples to the gods. In an Assyrian
monument of the latter part of the eighth century, a date not
much later than that usually given to Homer, in the reliefs

^ Pans. vii. 25, 10 - Patis. viii. 13, 2. ^ vi. 10.

174 CULTUS

found by Botta in the palace of King Sargon,i there is figured,
standing between two fortresses, a building which has all the
appearance of a Doric temple, with a pillared front surmounted
by a pediment, and with shields hung against the outer walls.
It is in a city hostile to the Assyrians, who are scaling its roof.
The inscription show^s that the locality is on the borders of
Armenia. It seems likely, then, that in its essential features
the Greek temple was copied from structures of the Asiatic
inland.

But there still exist in Greece itself temples of a very
primitive character. One such w^as found by Mr. Hawkins
near the site of Carystus in Euboea, an oblong building with
rude walls and a roof formed of stone slabs arranged in tiers
so that each row projected beyond that beneath it until they
nearly met in the middle. Such a mode of construction may
indicate very great antiquity. But the column was at a very
early date introduced into Greek architecture, and soon pro-
duced great improvements in it. Indeed, the arrangement of
pillars gives at once the key to a Greek building. The most
important part of a Greek temple was that which contained
the statue or symbol of the deity, the vaos proper or cella.
This was the casket which contained the jewel, and however
it might be architecturally adorned or architecturally concealed,
it remained the one essential thing. This cella was oblong in
form, and in the larger temples was sometimes in part open to
the sky. If the two sides of the cella be continued forwards,
and between the projecting buttresses a couple of pillars be
inserted, we shall have what Yitruvius calls a templum in
antis. If the sides be continued but a short distance, and a
row of pillars placed free in front, the temple will be prostyle ;
if the sides be also continued backwards and a second row of
free pillars placed behind, the temple will be amphiprostyle,
like the temple of Nike Apteros at Athens. This arrangement
gives us three chambers, the vaos itself with a 7r/3ovaos and
oTTto-^oSo/xo?. And now architecturally the temple must be
considered as complete and incapable of further development :
all that can be done is to surround it with columns, in which
case it will become a vaos TrepicrTvXos, or TrepLirrcpos. The
temple of Zeus at Olympia, of which the plan is here given,
is in antis and peripteral.

The orientation of a Greek temple was commonly to the
west or the east, though exceptions occur, as in the case of the

' Botta, D^couvertes, pi. 141.

SACKED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES

175

temple at Phigaleia. Their form Avas fixed with consideraljle
rigidity. In the size, the number of pillars, perhaps the method
of lighting, as well as in the style of architecture there was
variety ; but the general shape and arrangement -was unvaried.
The apparent exceptions, such as the Erechtheium at Athens,
owe their abnormal form to the fact that they are not single
temples, but groups of separate shrines under a single roof,
each preserving in essentials the normal form. A construction of
so simple plan evidently did not admit much variety or mucli
improvement with time : a modern taste would become tired
of the incessant repetition of the same forms and the same lines,
just as it would weary to find the same scenes represented

Stylobate

t-H-r

FiG. 15.— Gkound-Plan of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia.

in the sculptures of the walls in endless repetition — the labours
of Herakles, the battles of the Centaurs and Lapiths, or of the
Greeks and Amazons. But Greek taste aflected slight varieties
in essentially similar compositions.

The dimensions of the largest of Greek temples, the Arte-
misium at Ephesus, were, according to Mr. Wood, 342 feet in
length by 163 in width, the measurements being taken on the
outer colonnade in both dimensions. The Parthenon was not
much more than a fourth of this size, and the majority of Greek
temples were of small size, never having been intended to admit
a great concourse of people. An exception was the hall at
Eleusis, intended for the use of the Mystae, which was made of

176 CULTUS

an unusual square shape, and measured some 220 feet by 180,
so as to hold a largo crowd of people. ^ On the front of the
temples was often an inscription recording by whom it was set
up, and on what occasion, and to what deity dedicated. ^ In
approaching the building the votary first encountered the flight
of steps leading up to the door, for temples were in all cases
raised upon steps to lift them above the common earth. These
steps ran all round the building : the number was uneven, in
order that the right foot of the suppliant might touch both the
first and the last step. In front of the great doors were lustral
vases for purification. Immediately within them was the
7rp6vao<5. Alike the 7rp6vao<s and the intercolumniation without
were commonly full of statues and dedicated objects. At the
Argive Herseum,^ for instance, there were outside the doors
statues of the priestesses of Hera, as well as of Orestes and other
heroes ; inside, archaic statues of the Graces and the couch of
Hera and the shield of Euphorbus, dedicated by Menelaus. It
has been doubted by what title statues of one deity could be
placed, as was so often the case in Greece, in the temple of another.
The analogy proposed by Maury of the images of saints in a
Catholic church is misleading ; and it does not ajDpear that these
subsidiary statues received worship, they were often merely
placed in sacred buildings as beautiful works of art fit for the
acceptance of the gods. But it seems not unnatural to place in
the chief temple of a city and under the protection of its guardian
deity statues of other beings whom the city held in honour.

The central part of the temples was occupied by the vaos or
cella. In large temples this contained three divisions or aisles,
the side aisles being, as in our churches, separated from the
middle one by rows of columns. In the central place of honour
stood usually the chief statue of the temple deity. In early
times this was commonly a rude and simple symbol, a conical
stone, a meteorite, or a rudely fashioned log, like that o-avi?,
which was said in very early days to have represented the
majesty of the Hera of Samos. To these symbols succeeded
rude images, often ending below in a mere block, such as the
Artemis of Ephesus and the Apollo of Amy else. ^ These were
in all after-time held sacred in the highest degree ; they were
clad in rich robes and treated almost like living creatures,
carried annually to the bath, and even chained by the legs to

^ Book iii. chap. ix. - Dittenberger, Sylloge, No. 356.

3 Pans. ii. 17, 3.

* The whole of this process can be well traced on coins. See my Types
of Grccli Coins, pi. xv. pp. 77-85.

SACKED PKECINCTS AND TEMPLES I 77

prevent their running away. But with time, in the course of
the fifth and fourth centuries, they yielded their conspicuous
position to the masterpieces of Pheidias and Praxiteles, retiring
into adyta, but still drawing after them the heart and belief
of the people. It was not the Parthenos of Pheidias which
received the annual peplos from the Athenian people, but the
old wooden statue of Athena Polias. It was not the Eros
of Praxiteles which was really worshipped at Thespiae, but a
conical stone, wliich had represented the god time out of mind.
In some cases in Greece the statues of a group of deities
occupied the centre of the vaos, as in that remarkable temple
of the Great Goddesses at Megalopolis,^ where, beside statues of
Denieter and Cora, stood lesser images of Artemis and Athena,
and a little Herakles a cubit high, or, as in the temple of Hera
at ]\rantineia,2 where, beside the statue of Hera, stood figures
of Hebe and of Athena. And sometimes there was no image
at all, as in the temple of Peitho at Sicyon,^ or as in the great
Delphic temple itself, in which case the absence of an image
would usually be explained by a sacred myth.

In front of the chief statue would usually lie a table whereon
offerings might be set. Sometimes these were of gold or
silver, like the gold table seized by Dionysius in the temple
of Asklepius at vSyracuse ; * often they were adorned with
elaborate reliefs : one at Megalopolis in the temple of the
Great Goddesses with figures of Horse and iSTymphs, Apollo
and Pan. Daily gifts were laid on these tables, mostly of a
simple kind : flowers and fruit, bloodless and pure offerings,
which lay for a time in the ]iresence of the god, and then were
carried away by the priests for their own tables. On the table
of the Dioscuri at Gyrene, silphium was continually laid.
The upsetting or destroying of this table was looked on as a
liitter offence to the deity ; thus we hear that Apollo upset and
destroyed the table of tlie monstrous Python, and for tliat rash
act, in spite of his divine nature, had to undergo purification.

How the light was admitted into the cella of a Greek temple
is uncertain. It must have come from above, and the term
hypsethral, applied by Vitruvius to larger temples, seems to in-
dicate that they were open in the middle to heaven ; but j\Ir.
Fergusson, in an ingenious treatise, maintained that great temples
were lighted through a clerestory, wherein a kind of lattice-work
was contrived for the more partial admission of daylight.

^ Paus. viii. 31, I. ^ Pans. viii. 9, 3.

2 Paus. ii. 7, 7. * Athen. xv. p. 693c.

I 7 8 CULTUS

Every part of the vaos was adorned with works of painting
and sculpture. In the temple of Zeus at Olympia ^ there was
a splendid curtain (TrapaTreraa-fia) of Assyrian work, richly
embroidered, the gift of Antiochus lY., which is said to have
come from the great temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem. The
barriers which in the same temple fenced off from public
intrusion the space under the statue of Zeus were adorned with
an elaborate series of paintings by Panaenus, containing mytho-
graphic subjects. The Theseium at Athens contained paintings
of all the exploits of Theseus. The very statues of the deities
themselves were used as a background for works in relief. Even
the buckler and the sandals of the Athena of Pheidias were
covered with reliefs ; so was the throne of Zeus at Olympia,
and that built by Bathycles of Magnesia round the archaic
figure of Apollo at Amy else.

Pausanias^ gives us an account of a perpetually burning
lamp in the temple of Athena Polias at Athens, which was
fed with oil but once a year, Avhile over it stood a brazen palm.
As to this, Botticher justly remarks that it can have stood
nowhere but in an aisle at the side of the statue ; if placed in
front of it, it would have shut it from view. Indeed, an altar
with perpetual fire would seem to have been an u?ual part of a
Greek temple, especially of such temples as belonged to the
special state deities. Lamps were naturally among the most
frequent donaria to temples, being of use as well as beautiful,
and their splendour in some instances may be judged from
the statement^ that Dionysius presented to the Tarentines a
candelabrum which held as many lamps as there are days in
the year, or the fact mentioned by Cicero ^ that a candelabrum
stolen by Yerres had lighted up with the splendour of its gems
the temple of Zeus in which it had stood. In the side aisles
also sometimes stood the thrones of priests and priestesses.
The priestess at Athens who repulsed Cleomenes in his cele-
brated attempt to enter the temple of Athena ^ is said to have
risen from her throne at his approach. In the temple of Nemesis,
at Rhamnus in Attica, stood two thrones, one inscribed with
the name of Nemesis, and one with that of Themis.

The Adytum was often part of a Greek temple. This was, as
the name implies, some part of the sacred building entrance to
which was prohibited. Sometimes the whole temple was thus
shut up, the priests alone entering on stated occasions ; and

1 Paus. V. 12, 4. ^ i. 26, 7. ■* Athen. xv. p. 700^.

* In Ver. ii 4, 28. ^ Herod, v. 72.

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES 1 79

in fact the central part of the cella in most great temples was
really an adytum, close approach to the statue being forbidden.
But the term was more especially applied to those secret
chambers in which the priests hid sacred or mysterious objects.
These were usually underground. At Delphi there was an
adytum in which, in the time of Pausanias, there was a golden
statue of Apollo. Commonly when a new statue was placed in
the cella, the older and more sacred image was removed to an
adytum. The underground adyta were in many instances the
grave of the mythical or traditional founder of the temple.
Such was the case at Corinth,^ where the grave of Palsemon
was a subterraneous adytum, and at Amyclse, where the grave
of Hyacinthus was below the statue of Apollo. The excava-
tions of Rayet and Thomas at the Didymseum at Miletus have
disclosed in that temple an adytum which lay at a low level,
and was probably used as an oracular shrine.

In the temple itself, as well as in various parts of the precinct
which surrounded it, were stelae covered with inscriptions, which
must have been of the greatest value to Greek historians. The
state documents of antiquity were published by being set up
for all to see in stone or bronze in certain specified temples.
In the treaties and agreements which have come down to us,
as a consequence of this custom, it is sometimes provided that
copies of the document shall be set up in the chief temples of
the contracting parties. The various decisions as to the land
over which Samos and Priene disputed were recorded in tablets
at the temple of Athena at Priene, many of which are now
in the British Museum. Even laws of the state were commonly
exposed in the temples as in a place where they would be
accessible to all, as well as in a peculiar degree under the pro-
tection of the gods. Even the honorary decrees, of which later
Greece produced so abundant a crop, were frequently set up
in temples. A quantity of such were found on the site of
the temple of Artemis at Ephesus by Mr. Wood. Of more
special character and more particular value were the stelae - at
the temple of Asklepius at Epidaurus, on which were recorded
the names of those who had been healed there, and their dis-
ease, together with the mode of cure, Kal ottws IdOii.

Not only were both the exterior and the interior of the
temples adorned with sculpture by great masters, but inside
they were complete museums of art. The ordinary place for
the bestowal of votive wealth was the ottktOoSo^os, a part of

1 Paus. ii. 2, I. 2 Pans. ii. 27, -?.

I So CULTUS

the building walled off and protected by the near presence of
the statue. This chamber is seldom mentioned by writers :
even Vitruvius is silent in regard to it, and Pausanias passes
by without a word even the oTricrOoSofjios of the Parthenon. In
his time it may have been empty, but abundant inscriptions
testify to the wealth with which it overflowed in the great
time of Athens.

Indeed at places like Olympia and Delphi the interior of the
temple was quite insufficient to hold the overflowing tribute
gathered by the god from all quarters, so that a series of stone
treasure-houses, d-^a-avpoi, had to be erected within the precinct
for their reception. The foundations of a whole row of such
buildings have been discovered at Olympia during the recent
excavations.

These votive offerings were most varied in character. The
piety of votaries heaped up in the temples all kinds of objects
in the precious metals — tripods and cups, sometimes coins or mere
ingots of metal, such as the bricks of gold and electrum which
Croesus presented in such abundance to the treasury at Delphi.
Statues of precious metal or of stone were also frequently given
to the deities. To the Olympian Zeus those who incurred a
fine at his festival were obliged to present bronze statues of the
god, which were set up in the sacred enclosure ; and victors at
the games dedicated in the same way their own likenesses in
bronze or marble. So, too, artists frequently dedicated their
best works in the temples, thus making sure of leaving them
to the admiration of posterity, just as some of our artists leave
their best works to national museums. Indeed, by the results of
this custom temples became in all parts of Greece noble museums
full of specimens belonging to each successive phase of Greek
artistic activity : statues and paintings, reliefs, vessels, and
ornaments. Tlie great work of Pausanias shows us what an
incredible quantity of these works still remained, after all the
ravages of the Roman conquerors, to the age of the Antonines,
and excavations have of late years brought to light many
scattered fragments of such wealth.

Besides works presented on account of their beauty as worthy
of divine acceptance, there were in the temples innumerable
avo-drjiiaTa of a more personal character, presented in memory
of some deliverance ascribed to divine aid, or perhaps given
in fulfilment of a vow made in time of distress. Hair was
frequently cut off by women and suspended in shrines, whether
merely in fulfilment of some custom, such as that by which
young men and maidens, on reaching puberty, gave their hair to

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES I 8 I

a river-god or other ancestral deity, or, in consequence of a
specific vow, as was the case with the Egyptian queen Berenice.
Numerous epigrams of the Anthology show us how common it
was for persons to devote to the gods clothes which had been
worn on any special or state occasion ; how often musicians
presented their lyres, fishermen their nets, the votaries of
Aphrodite their mirrors or ornaments.

Frequently the dvaO'qfxara were of the nature of airdp^ai, or
the divine share of what was won in peace or war.^ When
a victory was won, Olympia or Delphi commonly received a
certain number of spears and shields and helmets, sometimes
inscribed with a suitable inscription, like the celebrated helmet
in the British Museum, which was dedicated by Hiero of
Syracuse out of Tyrrhenian spoils. States returned thanks to
Demeter for a plentiful harvest in the form of ears of corn
of actual not figurative gold ; merchants paid a share of their
gains to Hermes, or any other deity to whom specially they
ascribed the success of their ventures. The colossal statue of
Athena Promachos on the Athenian Acropolis-hill was a votive
offering, erected from a tithe of the booty taken at Marathon.
After the victory at Salamis the Greeks dedicated at Delphi
a colossal statue of Salamis, personified in a female figure, who
held a prow in her hand, as well as three Phcenician triremes
set up, one before Poseidon at the Isthmus, one at Cape
Sunium, and one at the island of Salamis, inscribed to the
hero Ajax. The street of the Tripods at Athens was flanlced
by tripods dedicated to Dionysus by those citizens who had
won them in the competitions of the Dionysia. Indeed, it
savoured of overweening pride, according to Greek ideas, if a
winner in any competition in games and festivals kept to
himself the meed he had won : by presenting it at once to
the deities he was supposed to show proper gratitude for their
assistance, and at the same time to avoid the dread Erinnys,
who was always watching prosperity with envious eyes, and
longing to bring it to the ground.

It has occasionally happened that an explorer has been so for-
tunate as to light on the unrobbed treasury of an ancient temple.
The silver vessels found together at Bernay in France, and now
preserved in the Louvre, M'ere part of the temple-plate of a
temple of jNIercury. But naturally the instances in which pagan
temples escaped robbery in early Christian times must be few.

^ \ arious inscriptions belonging to arcliaic a.Trdpxo.'- were recently found
on the Athenian Acropolis. Cf. JaJu-huch des /tist. ii. 135.

I 8 2 CULTUS

It is our good fortune to be particularly rich in inscriptions
which throw light on the ancient customs of dedication. This
results from the custom, kept up at many of the great temples
of Greece, of year by year drawing up an inventory of all the
objects there preserved. The custody of these was every year
handed over to a new set of officers, and it was their first
business on entering on their office to see that the whole temple
wealth was handed over to them in full tale and good order.
The outgoing officers were therefore required to have a complete
list drawn up and engraved upon stone, and the incomers
compared the stone with the fact. We have a large series
of these annual lists from the Parthenon at Athens, and the
care and minuteness with which objects are described in them
is extraordinary. If a votive-wreath wants a leaf or two, the
fact is set down ; if a dedicated coin is false, that also is stated.
Nor are objects merely mentioned, but their weight is also care-
fully recorded. We also possess one or two lists from the
temple of Aslclepius at Athens. ^ These are of late date and
much fractured, but they are interesting as showing what kinds
of offerings were presented to the god of healing by those who
ascribed their cures to his favour. These consist mostly either
of: — (i) Tablets with reliefs, which represent the deity and
the votaries approaching him with offerings. Several of these
reliefs still exist, having been lately found in the ruins of the
temple. (2) Models in the precious metals, or in stone or wax,
of the part of the body which had been sick and had been
made whole, trunks, faces, eyes, and ears and the like. Some
modern writers have fancied that a collection of votive offerings
of this kind may have been of use to ancient physicians as
anatomical or pathological records ; but this notion is not true
to Greek art, which loved beauty and not deformity. The
model dedicated would be in most cases copied from the
restored and not the diseased limb ; ^ and even if the artist
inserted in the model some hint of the disease, it would be but
a hint. By the Greeks anything so repulsive as a pathological
copy of a diseased member would scarcely have been tolerated.
(3) Objects of value — cups, coins, and the like — which must
be considered as payments made to the god by his grateful
patients. The Asclepieian lists indicate in some cases with

^ Published in the Bull. Corr. Hell. vol. ii.

- In the British Museum is a set of stone models of this class, found
near the altar of Zeus Hypsistus at Athens. These represent healthy
and not suffering members.

SACKED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES I 83

considerable exactness in what part of the temple particular
olferings were set up.

But we know from other inscriptions that offerings were
not regarded as things too sacred to touch and alter. The
gods commonly followed the fashion. Old fashioned and
clumsy offerings in metal were melted down and refashioned.
We have, for example, a decree from Oropus^ in Boeotia, in
regard to the plate of the temple of Amphiaraus, in which
the senate and people make a decree that as the old gold
and silver vessels of the temple are out of date and not fit
for use, and anathemata of the precious metals have fallen
from the walls, these shall all be collected and weighed and
handed over by the Updp^ai in charge to three commissioners,
chosen out of all the citizens, in order to be melted down and
re-formed into new vessels for the temple-service. And in
order that the pious donors of these old gifts and bequests
may not be injured, it is ordered that their names with a
specification of their gifts shall be inscribed on a pillar set up
in the temple. We have two similar decrees passed by the
Athenian people, for the purpose of renewing the sacred vessels
of a hero, called the Hero Physician. Offerings consisting
not of metal but of inferior substance, images in terra-cotta,
clothes, and the like, were jirobably at intervals buried or burned.
This is rendered probable by the fact that large quantities of
fractured terra-cotta statuettes have been occasionally found
in excavations, and to the present day the churches of the
Levant dispose in a like summary way of offerings which have
accumulated to an inconvenient extent.

The inscriptions recently found at Delos, and now in course
of publication by M. Homolle,^ give us more complete details
as to the custody and arrangement of votive objects in temples
than we had before possessed. The treasures of the temple
of Apollo in Delos were, in the times of Athenian supremacy,
under the protection of the Amphictions; after Delos had
become independent they were placed in the custody of
lepoTTOLOL, who were annually appointed ; and year by year,
as at Athens, lists were drawn up by tlie outgoing sets of
officers, and checked by the incoming sets, and a ceremony
of transference took place, at which all the civic officials were
present. The fact that these lists are dated in the third month
of tlie year, Galaxion, seems to prove that they were drawn up
with deliberation and care. This indeed sufficiently appears from

' a I. G. 1570 ; Newton, ii. 160. -' BiilL Corr. Hell, 1SS2, *c.

184 CULTUS

internal evidence : not only are the lists most detailed and exact,
but most of the smaller objects are weighed in the public scales,
and any defect in an article is conscientiously recorded.

When a votive offering was brought to the temple it was
at once registered in the list, XevKiofia, and a registration mark
was assigned to it, some of the letters of the Greek alphabet.
A place was then found for it, either in the temple of Apollo
or in some other building within the sacred precinct. From
a study of the lists, we can realise fairly well the appearance
which the sacred repositories must have presented. For the
Delian lists do not, like those of Athens, record the offerings
in their chronological order of acquisition, but follow their
actual arrangement on wall or floor. They pass in review,
first the right wall and then the left wall of the tt/joSo/xo?,
first the right and then the left wall of the temple, and even
roughly describe the position of many objects — over the door,
on the wall, and so on. Objects of large size were placed on
the floor or on plinths, wreaths were ranged in rows hanging
on the wall, phialae and other vessels were ordered on shelves ;
while the smaller and the most valuable of the offerings were
placed in closets or in boxes. As a rule the new acquisitions
were placed at the end of those already possessed but at long
intervals an entire rearrangement took place, so as to bring
together things of the same class and produce a more orderly
sequence. A label or an incised inscription indicated, in case
of many of the offerings, the name of the giver and occasion of
dedication, the deity to whom they were given, and often the
date. In fact, the Hieropoei and their subordinates did the
work, and pursued the methods, of the custodians of national
museums in the present day.

Articles of great value or of historical importance do not
seem to have been restored or kept in repair : we find their
weight falling in inventory after inventory, and their broken or
fragmentary condition persisting ; but the more ordinary gifts
were kept in regular repair. Materials for such repair were
provided by the melting down or breaking up of articles in a
ruinous state or of bad work. At Delos the Hieropoei could
only make recommendations as to the breaking up of worthless
objects : a decree of the people was necessary to the carrying
out of the recommendation ; and such decree gave explicit
directions, as we have seen in the inscription from OrojDus, as
to the disposal of the proceeds. Another curious fact appears
from the Delian lists. When animals and fruit were presented
to the temple and not immediately required for the temple

SACRED PRECINCTS AND TEMPLES I 85

services, they were sold, and some offering of a more lasting
character ])iirchased with the proceeds of sale. Certain dedica-
tions were made regularly every year. The rafxiai of the town
of Delos regularly presented twenty silver phiahe a year, and
the Hieropoei two, and others were given on the occasion of
festivals. The god also every year received part of the prizes
won at the games ; but the greater part of the riches of the
god came from the liberality of wealthy strangers. We find
in the lists the names of Datis, Lysander, Nicias, and others,
while the princes of the Alexandrine period vie one with the
other in the richness of their gifts, Stratonice, wife of the
first Antiochus, being of conspicuous liberality. It may some-
what surprise us to learn that the dedication, even of objects
preserved in the temple of Apollo, was by no means always to
that deity. We might expect dedications to Artemis, who at
Delos was so closely united to Apollo and to Leto ; and even
to Eileithuia, who may have been reckoned as identical with
Artemis ; but it is very remarkable to find in the lists objects
inscribed to Asklepius, and even to Aphrodite or Hera. We
have already classified the donaria according to the motive of
the dedicator. M. Homolle divides them, in a more material
aspect, into six classes: — (i) Materials of cult. Chief among
these are the various kinds of drinking-vessels, the numbers
and varieties of which are immense. In the temple of Apollo
alone were preserved some 1600 of the flat vessels called by the
Greeks ^taAat, and by the Romans paterae, mostly of silver,
but in some cases of gold, of various patterns. It is very
tantalising to find some of these described as covered with re-
presentations of living creatures, but to be able to recover no
further details. jS'ext in number to the (judXai are the Tror^pia.
In an early inventory there are mentioned 266 of these vessels
in the temple of Artemis alone; but their number is far less in
later inventories ; either they went out of fashion and were by
degrees melted down, or else the term is a general one which
at a later time gave place to more technical names. And as a
matter of fact we find the names applied to what appear to be
the same vessels greatly varying from list to list. There are
many other kinds of vessels mentioned — among others those
tripods M-hich could in a temple of Apollo scarcely fail.
(2) Objects of adornment. First among these may be mentioned
the golden wreath and the ring worn by the statue of Apollo,
which was an archaic work by Tectaeus and Angelion.^ In

^ See Ti/pes of Greek Coins, pi. \v. 29.

I 86 CULTUS

the temple of Apollo were fifty votive wreaths hung on the
walls. Also there were great quantities of objects of female
adornment, clothes and jewels, presented for the most part, we
may suppose, to Artemis, in gratitude for past or hope for future
deliverance in time of child-birth. Among the necklaces was
one which passed as that of Eriphyle. (3) Works of art.
These are mostly reliefs and engraved stones. Statues are but
few, and paintings do not occur. The obvious reason is that
suggested by M. Homolle, that only such objects are mentioned
in the lists as might be misplaced or stolen, and stone statues
and the like would very naturally be omitted. (4) Tools and
weapons. Among these, arms and the weapons of the palaestra
take a prominent place. It is curious to note that no instru-
ment of surgery or medicine is mentioned, which shows that
the Delian Apollo had little connection with the healing art.
(5) Coins.^ These are of all countries. Many are plated.
With what intention these last were dedicated may be doubted.
No one surely would expect to win the favour of Apollo by the
present of a false coin. Rather we may suppose them brought
under the notice of the deity by those who had been deceived
and incurred loss through them, to beg the vengeance of the
deity on the unknown forger. (6) Bullion ; also bronze, ivory,
wood, and the like, for use in the reparation and restoration of
votive offerings. Fragments falling from statues were for this
purpose carefully preserved.

CHAPTER II

TEMPLE-PROPERTY

In Greece not only sacred enclosures and consecrated spots
belonged to the gods, but many possessions beside. Greek
temples, like mediaeval monasteries, possessed a large share of
the soil of the country and all that it produced. And as land
once given up to a deity could not without impiety again be
made secular, a larger and larger share of the country fell into
the hands of the deities and the religious corporations. But
there were also great differences between the Greek and the
mediaeval tenures of sacred lands. Church lands in the middle
ages belonged either to a particular monastery or an order of

^ See the Journ. Ilcll. Stud. 1884.

TEMPLE-PROPE UTY I 8 7

religious persons, who dealt with them just as secular owners
or rather corporations might deal. In Greece, on the other
hand, the principle of the division of church and state was not
recognised. In cases where the acknowledged deities of a state,
or one of them, hold landed property, that property was indeed
regarded as belonging to the god, and not to be touched for secular
purposes. But the entire administration of it and control over
it was vested in the hands of the state itself. Decrees of the
fSovXr] and Srjjxos regulated the conditions on which it should
l)e let to tenants, and the measures which should be taken to
keef) it intact. Officers were appointed by the state to make
disbursements and to audit expenditure. Only with the ritual
and customs of the cult the state did not meddle.

It was otherwise with the estates belonging to private founda-
tions and attached to the temples of deities not fully recognised
by the state. These, as we shall hereafter see, were managed
by corporations or officers elected by them, the state retaining
in all cases an overriding power.

The older and more noted of the Hellenic temples possessed
great landed estates. To the temple of Apollo at Delos belonged
not only the soil of Delos, but also that of the far larger neigh-
bouring island of Elienea. To this temple the Athenian general
Nicias^ presented lands to the value of 10,000 drachms, on
condition that sacrifices should be annually made with prayers
for his prosperity. After the war in which Cirrha was destroyed,
the Amphictions made over to the Delphic temple - in perpetuity
all the lands which had belonged to that city. The temple of
Artemis at Ephesus had, as we know from abundant testimony,
large landed estates. The temple of Apollo at Apollonia, in
Epirus, possessed rich pastures, on which fed flocks of sheep
sacred to the god, which were watched and tended by an officer
selected from among the most wealthy and honourable of the
citizens.^

It must be observed that lands and flocks and herds, when
in the possession of the gods, were often not put to most
profitable use. For reasons of religion, the lands were often
kept lying idle. Sophocles speaks of the aro/xos Aei/xon' of Zeus
on i\Iount CEta.'* The territory on the borders between Attica
and ^legara was kept idle and untilled, in honour of the great
goddesses of Eleusis. Around the heroon of Hyrnetho at
Epidaurus was a grove of olives and other trees, the fruit of

1 Plutarch, ?^lcias, 4. '- Strabo, ix. p. 419.

^ Herod, ix. 93. ■» Trachittur, 1. 200.

1 88 CULTUS

which no man was allowed to gather or carry away, nor to
prune or cut the trees themselves. And if this was the case
with lands, it was still more so in regard to flocks and herds.
These animals were either left to their own devices, or at any
rate kept only for the service and food of the deity to whom
they belonged; to sell them for food would have been an im-
piety. Thus at Cyzicus there was a herd of heifers belonging
to Persephone, which were rigidly kept for her altar. Around
various Greek temples, especially of Artemis, were groves in-
habited by all manner of wild creatures, which were never
hunted or molested; nay, it was said that even wolves and
dogs never pressed the pursuit of stag or hare when it had
once taken refuge in the sacred domain. In the temples of
Aphrodite were flocks of doves ; and fish were kept in ponds in
her honour, not to be molested for trade or profit. Sacred fish
were kept in the fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse, and commonly
in the temples of Atergatis.^ Perhaps the commonest of these
protected animals was the snake, a favourite in Greek temples,
as in Greek houses, and credited by the people with a close
connection with the dead and with the healing art.

Nevertheless it would be absurd to suppose that the Greeks
would systematically refuse to make use of wealth because it
was in the hands of a god; and the evidence of inscriptions
proves abundantly that they let temple-lands, and put temple-
moneys out at interest. An inscription from Ephesus ^ proves
amply that the enormous wealth of the temple of Artemis in
that city was let out at interest, and that oflicers were regularly
appointed to collect the interest due. This appointment takes
the form of a regular decree of the Ephesian state, and the
commissioners are empowered to remove the names of defaulting
debtors from the list of citizens of Ephesus. Another docu-
ment of this class, and full of details, is the so-called Marmor
Sandoicense,^ which gives the details of the annual audit of the
temple of Apollo at Delos, while the island belonged to the
Athenians, and the temple was in the hands of the Amphictions.
It seems that in the year to which the inscription refers, some
five talents were received as interest from states and private
persons. Rent of lands and fines brought in some four talents
more. But the sanctity of the temple does not seem to have
weighed greatly with the debtors, for they are terribly in arrears
in their payments, above twelve talents being set down as still

' Dittenberger, No. 364.

- Lebas and Waddington, iii. p. 56.

3 a I. G. 158 ; C. I. A. ii. 814 ; Hicks, 82.

TEMPLE-PROPERTY 1 89

owing to the god. The inscription ends with a list of fines
imposed by the temple officers on transgressors, together with
a list of the houses which belonged to the temple, the position
of each being described with an accuracy like that of a modern
conveyance.

Recently the French archfeological exploration of Delos
has resulted in the discovery of documents belonging to the
later period of Delian independence of Athens, which are still
more important and more detailed than even the Marmor
iSandvicense. M. Homolle has published ^ an inscription of
great length, giving the complete accounts both of receipt and
expenditure of the Hieropoei of the temple of Apollo during the
year, about B.C. 180, Avhen one Demares was archon, which
shows us with the utmost minuteness how the treasures of the
deity were kept, whence they were derived, and how expended.
On each of these three heads we will give a few particulars.

The Hieropcei {lepo-otoc) were four in number, and annually
elected. They had entire charge of the temple and the sacred
precinct. And they had in their keeping, three distinct
treasuries : — (i) The treasury of the god. This was a chamber,
very probably underground, containing a row of jars, o-ra/xvot.
These were full, or partially full, of money received from a
great variety of sources ; on each jar was an inscription stating
the amount of money to be found in it, together with the source
whence it was derived, and the time when it Avas laid by. This
treasury was handed over with great solemnity by each suc-
cessive set of Hieropoei to those who succeeded them, in the
presence of several urban authorities, the town-clerk, and the
prytanes of the senate in particular. At the same time a careful
list of the jars, with a copy of tlieir inscriptions, was drawn up,
and engraved upon a slab of marble, in order that all might
be able to see the state of the treasury of the deity, and thai
peculation might be impossible. The duties of the Hieropcei
in connection with this treasury were simple : they had to
deposit therein all the moneys they received from any source
on behalf of the god, in a jar with appropriate inscription ; and
to take out — emptying at random, apparently, any jar which
came first — the moneys required for the divine services. They
could not, hoM'ever, enter the treasury, save in the presence of
all the principal magistrates of the city, nor could they make
payments of any importance without a special decree of the
senate, or even the general assembly. ^ (^) The treasury of

^ BuU. Corr. Hell. 1882.

1 90 CULTUS

the state. This is perfectly distinct from the other, and
seems to have been handed over to the sacred magistrates
merely for the sake of custody. The Hieropoei add money
to it or remove money from it under the same rigid conditions
as those existing in regard to the sacred treasury. But there
is probably the difference that they had some control of the
religious budget and expenses, whereas in case of the civic they
were merely convenient agents of the city officials. (3) The
votive gifts placed in the temple and in neighbouring buildings.
As to these I spoke in the last chapter.

The accounts drawn up by these Delian Hieropoei give us
ample information as to the sources of revenue of the temple
and its channels of expenditure. The sources of revenue were
the following : — (i) Rents of houses and of farms, the former
termed IvotK ta, the latter evrjpoa-ta. Both kinds of property
were leased in accordance with the provisions of a document
called 17 te/oot o-vyypa^Ty, for the space of ten years. The occupier
was bound to find sureties, and to pay his rent regularly at
fixed times ; failing which, he was first to be condemned to
pay an increased rent, and if still insolvent, might have his
stock and property sold, and his name might be inscribed on
the list of debtors to the god. It is a very curious fact which
M. Homolle ^ deduces from a comparison of several hieropoeic
lists, most of them still unpublished, that in the course of
history, coming down from the fourth to the second century
B.C., the rents of houses in Delos rise steadily and rapidl}^, while
those of farms show as regular a declension. (2) Tolls and
imports, TeXrj. The god or his representatives seem to have
levied taxes on every pursuit in the island which could be
made to bear them, on purple fishing and sea fishing, on the
ferry to Rhenea and Myconos, and on pasturage. Every
vessel which came to the harbour had to pay its tax, or more
than one tax, accordingly as it merely touched at the island,
or landed its burden tliere. (3) Tokoi, interest of loans. This
source of income figures more largely in the early lists, such as
the Marmor Sandvicense, than in the later ; but it was at all
times important. The loans were made for five years ; each
year interest at the rate of ten per cent, had to be paid, and the
principal returned at the end of the period. In case of default,
all the goods of the debtor were liable to seizure. (4) Miscel-
laneous. Under this head come sales of temple-property,
animals, doves, and the like ; also the subvention paid by the

^ Op. cit. p. 65.

TEMPLE-PROPERTY 1 9 I

state towards the expenses of the Thesmophoria, the produce
of the 6i](Tavpoi, and that which came from the phiale, Ik ttJs
(fadXrjs, the last a phrase of unexplained meaning. As it
recurs every month, it looks as if a collection for the god were
made in a plate at the monthly sacrifices.

It is a curious fact that these moneys do not come direct to
the Hieropoei, but are in all cases entered by them, as received
from intermediaries. The regular phrase is aTro ttJs Xv/x^oSw/jov
Ktti ^HpaKXeiSov, ccTTO rrjs ^tAwvos Kal '2lXi]Vov, and SO on. ]\I.
Homolle supplies after rrjs the word StotKryo-ew?, nnd supposes
the intermediaries to be StotKrjTal, who received the dues and
])assed them on : possibly T/oaTre^rys may be really the word to
be supplied. Three payments out of four come in in the
month Poseideon, which was the last of the Delian year.

Besides the above channels of revenue, appear otliers of a less
regular character. These come through the hands, not of the
SiOLKijTal, but of the ra/xiat, who are civic officers annually
elected to regulate the expenses of the state. These receipts
may be divided into three classes : (i) repayments by the town to
the temple of sums previously advanced ; (2) money paid by the
state for religious purposes, such as the training of a chorus,
TO yop-qyopLKov, and the cost of exhibitions given by a society
of Dionysiac artists ; (3) the half share in certain civic taxes,
the other half of which went to the state. And in addition to
all these, the revenue was swelled by confiscation of the goods
of those who committed impious actions, and perlinps by occa-
sional contributions from abroad. M. Homolle reckons tlie
total revenue of the temple from all sources at about 27,000
drachms, representing some ^^900 of our money; but if we
make allowance for the greater value of money in antiquity, we
shall find that the temple was as w^ealthy in comparison with
its surroundings as with us would be an institution far from
any large city with a revenue of ;,^i 5,000 or ;j^2o,ooo a year.

The expenses of the temple are set forth with the same
minuteness in the invaluable document which we are analys-
ing. Of the heads by far the most important is that which
monthly recurs under the vague title, ei's ra e/jya. These \vorks
absorb in the course of the year nearly 10,000 drachms. They
comprise almost all that Avas necessary to keep up the temjile
buildings and services. There was a great deal constantly
going on in the way of repairs and new constructions, to
superintend which an arcliitect or clerk of the works was in
constant employment at the comparatively large salary of 720
drachms a year. Each piece of work was given out to con-

192 CULTUS

tractors, on stringent conditions. They had to find sureties;
and the details of construction, the nature of the materials, the
time allowed for completion, and the epochs of payment were all
rigorously fixed. In the accounts of the archonship of Charilas ^
it appears that one half of the contract price was paid to
the contractors on their producing security, j\ on completion
of half the work, and -q on its entire completion. Money
being thus advanced for the payment of wages, it is evident
how necessary was the nomination of sureties — an almost in-
variable custom in Greek contracts of every nature. The epya
also include monthly payments for current expenses, and the
larger annual outlays on the occasion of festivals. For the
latter a vote of the assembly was usual. The regular expendi-
ture was moreover placed on a board, XevKOifia, and exposed in
the market-place, JNIonthly a pig was purchased for the purifi-
cation of the temple, and a quantity of wood, coal, and resin for
the various altars, and flowers and crowns for the officiating
priests. "We also find entries for paper and other materials.
The annual expenses included the yearly dedication of a statue
to Dionysus, with all that attended it ; the erection of a tablet
recording the accounts of the Hieropoei for the year, which
sometimes cost as much as 200 drachms ; and the salaries of the
officers and servants of the temple. The list of these salaries
is most instructive ; the best paid official by far is the clerk of
the works, who receives 720 drachms a year; the secretary
receives but 80; the neocori, from 180 to 60; a K-p^vo^uAa^,
well -keeper, 90: a TraXaia-rpoc^vXa.^, 120; kinixeXriTal and
iTTtTtp^rat receive some 40 to 60 drachms a head, in the way of
travelling fees, Ic^oSta ; finally, certain flute-players, avXrjTal,
receive each some 120 to 140 drachms for food, and 16 to 20 for
dress; probably a special dress was required of them when
they attended at sacrifices. The salaries, it is interesting to
observe, are fixed, identical in the earlier and later lists.

Besides the regular expenditure on the works, we find extra-
ordinary outlays on special occasions. A certain sum was
voted els Tr]v KaTao-Kevrjv rov vaov rrjs'ApTefxiSos, no doubt some
special piece of work on that temple ; and another, for a crown
of gold for King Philip, who must be Philip V. of Macedon.
Also a loan was repaid. The total of ordinary expenses of
a year amounted, about B.C. iSo, to some 21,000 drachms; but
as we may see from the list of salaries, a drachm went among
tjie Greeks almost as far as a crown with us.

* At present unpublished : our authority is still M. Homolle.

TEMPLE-PROPERTY I 9 3

A few documents recording the letting of temple-lands have
come down to us. The noted Tabulae Heracleenses,^ are a
document of this nature, and contain the most detailed and
carefully drawn list of conditions on which certain temple-lands
at Heraclea, in Italy, are to be l(it. The tenants are to pay a rent
of 400 medimnl of wheat, and to find sureties for five years ;
if they sub-let, the sub-tenants are to find sureties in the same
way. In that part of the land which is fit for growing,' vines,
vines shall })e planted over at least ten schoeni ; in all the land
suitable for olive-growing, olives shall be ]»lanted, at least four iu
every schoenus. If a dispute arise as to the capabilities of the
soil, the land shall be examined by a commission, and a report
on oath made to the public assembly. The roads are to be
kept in repair, water-courses kept up, and certain farm build-
ings erected within a given time. In case of non-compliance
with these conditions, th(3 lessees are to pay a heavy fine.

Such conditions may have been part of the ordinary routine
of letting lands in a well-managed estate. Other inscriptions,
however, show us that there w^ere certain peculiarities in deal-
ing with sacred lands. For example, some inscriptions from
Olymus, in Carin,- record the letting of lands belonging to
Zeus Labrandeus, Apollo, and Artemis. This is done, as is
usual in all such cases, by a decree of the people. The lessees
are to cultivate the lands as if they were their own, and the
possession is to descend to their heirs and assigns. But there
is a very strange provision as to the rent : it is to be not less
than half the interest of the purchase-money of the estates.
It seems very strange that temples which could give perfect
security of possession to a tenant, and were in every respect
most eligible landlords, should choose to exact so low a rent.
The same thing appears with equal clearness in case of an
inscription from Mylasa,^ which records that one Thraseas,
having two landed estates near that city, sold both to the com-
missioners of the temple of Zeus Hypsistus for a sum of 7000
drachms. He then made his appearance before the public
assembly and offered to hold the lands as before, paying to the
temple-funds annually the sum of 300 drachms. This offer
was accepted on certain stated conditions ; if the rent was not
regularly paid, the land was to be entered on by the commis-
sioners. In this case it is easy to see what advantage Thraseas
gains by the transaction. He receives 7000 drachms, for which

1 C. /. No. 5774 ; a I. Italy, 645.

- Leba.s and Waddington, iii. Xt>. ^li--

3 (J i^ N'o. 2693^.

194 CULTUS

he pays as interest only 300, which would be scarcely half the
interest usual among the Greeks. The title to the property
would also l)e improved by being placed under the protection
of the deity. But it is not so clear what the temple gains ; it
seems to lay out a sum of money at very low interest, and to
gain no contingent advantage, unless it be the remote chance of
entering into possession of the property, in case Thraseas incurs
forfeiture. Boeckh says, " tenipla malebant prsedia emere, quae
emphyteutis possidenda traderent, quam pecuniani mutuam
dare cum periculo damni." But this seems insufficient ex-
planation for so anomalous a case ; nor does M. Waddington ^
attempt any explanation.

Temples had sometimes a lien upon lands belonging to indi-
viduals, for procuring some articles required in the temple
services. Thus in Attica in certain districts the olives were
regarded as the property of Athena; and tlie tenants were
bound to furnish a certain quantity of oil to the state at a
fixed price, to be used for sacred purposes in connection with
the festivals of Athena.

The temples were large slave- owners. Like other owners of
lands, they required slaves to cultivate the soil ; and in addition
there were many menial offices in connection with temples
which were beneath the dignity of freemen. On the table-
land of Phrygia, whence the Greeks borrowed much of their
religion and their art. it was customary to find grouped about
great temples communities of hierodules (lepol SovXol), who
enjoyed the protection of the shrine, and in return lived in a
state of practical serfdom towards it. In historical Hellas we
only find here and there traces of such a state of things, as, for
instance, in the relation in which the Craugallidae lived to the
Delphian temple; but it may have been common in earlier
days. The ordinary means by which the supply of temple-
slaves was kept up was war, a certain proportion of the captives,
as of the other spoil, being dedicated to the gods. Sometimes,
however, the sons and daughters of freemen were set aside for
the service of the gods in consequence of legend or oracle ; for
instance, every year two virgins from Locri were sent to be
slaves in the temple of Athena at Ilium, in order to make
atonement for the violation of that temple by the Locrian Ajax
Oileus ; and this custom wa.^, we are told, kept up for a
thousand years. In certain of the temples of Aphrodite, ^

^ Lebas and Waddington, iii. No. 416.
2 Strabo, vi. p. 418 ; viii. p. 581.

TEMPLE-PROPERTY I 9 5

that at Eryx, for instance, and that of Corinth, were crowds of
female slaves who produced a revenue for the goddess by the
practice of prostitution — a practice whicli at once reveals the
oriental origin of the cult of Aphrodite. There is a story told
by Pausanias,^ how Herakles, having vanquished the Dryopcs
in battle, placed them at the dis[)osal of the Delphian Apollo,
who sent them by an oracular response to colonise Asine.

The manumission of slaves was commonly accomplished by
devoting them to the service of some deity, after which they
enjoyed the protection of the priest and the sanctuary, while
their work could easily by arrangement be made merely nominal.
In such cases a sum of money commonly passed. It was
really the ransom provided by the slave himself, but nominally
it was paid by the temple which purchased him. As the
purchase was thus fictitious on the part of the temple, it is
likely that the servitude was thereafter little more th;in nominal.
We have abundant inscriptions from Delphi whicli give us
complete details as to this mode of enfranchisement. It was
accompanied by a solemn ceremony in the presence of several
witnesses, and the emancipating master had to find securities
tliat he would not attempt again to reduce the slave to bondage,
nor allow any one else to do so. Sometimes he made conditions
reserving for himself the right to the services of the slave for
a certain specified time or until his own death.

It is commonly stated that besides being capitalists and
lending money, temples received sums on deposit for safe
kee|)ing and restored them to the lenders on demand. The
temple of Artemis at Ephesus seems to have been especially
used for this i)urpose, and some writers go so far as to compare
its position in the commercial world to that now held by the
Bank of England. This, however, is gross exaggeration. As
a rule money placed in a temple became sacred and could not
be withdrawn, or at least could only be taken for purposes of
state. Most of the passages quoted in defence of the view just
mentioned refer to peculiar cases. Xenophon, for example,
deposited a sum of money in the Ephesian tem[>le and after-
wards withdrew it, but it was in order to found a new temple
of Artemis in Peloponnese. In other instances we hear of
money left by states and individuals in the hands of the people
of Ephesus and by them honourably returned. They may
have kept the treasures in the temple or its vicinity ; but
lending to the Ephesian state was another thing than lending

' iv. 34. 9-

196 CULTUS

to the estate of the goddess. It is obvious, that if it had been
lawful to place money in temples for security and withdraw it
at pleasure, such a privilege would have been very frequently
used, and the jiriests would have become regular bankers,
which they never were. It is, however, maintained by Professor
E. Curtius that the earliest coins were issued by temples which
felt the need of a ready currency, and this theory though not
proved is plausible.

In a somewhat different category must be placed the wealth
laid up in the temples of many of the great deities of Greece,
notably in that of Athena at Athens. In the opinion of the
Greeks the deities of a state were (juite as much concerned in
its preservation as were the citizens tliemselves ; they therefore
did not hesitate in times of straits to borrow money from the
sacred treasuries, to be repaid at some more convenient season.
We have an Athenian inscription ^ which records such a trans-
action. It appears that in the time of the Peloponnesian war,
during the eleven years B.C. 433-422, considerable sums of
money were advanced to the Athenian state by the treasurers of
Athena and of the other gods ; and that, after the conclusion
of the peace of Nicias in B.C. 421, this money was repaid with
interest. This was probably no isolated case ; but the same
thing, at least as far as the borrowing was concerned, would
have taken place in other cities. But on the whole the Greeks
respected these deposits ; and when temple treasures were
violated, as by the Pisatse when they obtained possession of
Olympia, and by the Phocians when they seized Delphi, all
that was best in the race was scandalised, and a speedy
vengeance of the offended gods fell, or was supposed to fall, on
the violators.

CHAPTER III

ORGANISATION OF KELIGIOUS SOCIETIES

On the origin of religious societies and sacred places in Greece,
some light is shed by the interesting and valuable inscription
from Tliera, which is called the wiU of Epicteta.^ Epicteta
having lost her husband Phoenix and two sons, erected in her
lifetime heroa in their honour in a sacred precinct dedicated
by her husband to the Muses. On the point of death she

* Corpus Inscr. Att. No. 273. ' C. I. 2448.

ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIKS 1 97

made careful provision that these heroa, together with that
to be erected in her own honour, should have worship in all
future time. She bequeaths the sum of 3000 drachms, secured
upon real property, to a Community of Kinsfolk, koivov twv
a-vyy^vMv, and arranges that her daughter Epiteleia, who in-
herits her property, including the precinct of the Muses, shall
pay annually to the said community the sum of 210 drachms.
Every year the community is to meet at the temple of the
jNIuses, when the rent of Epiteleia is to be paid over. They
are then to appoint certain of their number to see to the
performance of certain sacrifices, the particulars of which are
duly set forth, and to order a banquet. The Community of
Kinsfolk is to include all the descendants of the testatrix,
and the priest to preside at the temple of the Muses and
the heroa shall be the eldest son of her daughter Epiteleia,
with reversion to the eldest male of her family, in case of
his decease.

This testament brings into curious relief many of the chief
characteristics of Greek cult. A cult could be founded by the
mere intention and wish of any one so disposed, and the founder
could even include himself among the persons thus honoured.
He could appoint a priest by the mere provisions of a will, a
priest not only of deceased ancestors but even of deities.
Another notable fact is the social and family character of
some cults. A family gathering, with sacrifices to deceased
parents and a feast — such was a common idea of worship in
Greece. If it had happened that the descendants of Epiteleia
had greatly multiplied, the heroes mentioned in the inscription
might have been revered as founders of cities or nations. If
some chance had brouglit the local worship of the Muses into
prominence and popularity, the little Movaelov might have
grown into a great refievos, with temples and treasuries; and
the local priest, whose functions were exerted but for a few
days in the year, might have become the head of a hierarchy,
the deliverer of oracular responses, or the eponymous magistrate
of a republic. It is highly probable that many of the greatest
cults in C^reece had an origin as humble as that of the Movo-eiov
at Thera.

The process by which cults passed from families to tribes
is well illustrated by an inscription from the island of Chios,^
erected by the phratria of the Clytidae to record certain
phases of their common history. The very form of the name

^ Dittenberger, Sylloge, No. j6o.

1 98 CULTUS

of the pliratria implies that its members considered themselves
to be descended from one person. But their common cultus
was not nominally directed to him, but to Zeus Patroius,
which is the same thing in a varied form. It appears from
the inscription that for a time certain families of the phratria
retained in their private dwellings sacred objects essential to
the cultus, and made these houses the seat of worship. This
exclusiveness displeased the other members, and these decided,
after omens had been taken by sacrifice as to the propriety
of such a step, to build a temple to receive these sacred objects,
and to make a temenos round it. But it seems that even
after the erection of this temple the matter was not settled,
for the patrician houses still claimed the right of taking to
their homes the sacred objects after all the customary cere-
monies had been enacted. Omens were again taken, and in
accordance with their direction it was further ordered that the
sacred objects should thenceforth never be removed from the
temple, but remain there in perpetuity. This record shows
us with the greatest exactness the process which took place
when a cultus spread from a family to a phratria.

And by a continuation of precisely the same process, the
cultus might spread from a phratria to a city, whether its
object were an ancestor or a deity. /Eacus,^ founder of the
noblest family of ^gina, was reckoned one of the heroes who
protected that island; and indeed, so much was his defence
of it dreaded, that the Athenians, when they meditated an
attack on it, founded in their own city a cult of the hero, in
order to make his opposition to them less keen. It has
even been suggested that the Eleusinian cultus of Demeter
was originally the private possession of the family of the
Eumolpidae, and that the Athena of Athens herself was
originally the family deity of the Butada?. And, like the
family and the phratria, so the city too had a common hearth
and a common table. Both were in the prytaneium. There
daily dined certain persons selected to represent the city —
magistrates, or distinguished men. At Athens those who won
a victory at the Olympic games had the right thereafter to a
public maintenance in the prytaneium. There, too, was main-
tained a perpetual fire, the sign of the presence of Hestia, in
which were offered sacrifices to all deities and heroes acknow-
ledged by the state. Ordinary altars were dedicated to one
or at most two deities, but the public city hearth could be

^ Herod, v. 89.

ORGANiSATiON OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 1 99

appropriated by none, though the offerings to wh'ich it was
most completely adapted were those offered to the heroic
founders of the state.

Hermann 1 begins his account of Greek priests with the
statement that cultus was based upon exchange of services ;
and though the phrase may seem harsh, it conveys the truth.
Motions of self-devotion and asceticism must be laid aside in
thinking of Greek cultus. Of the three parties concerned in
worship, each made some advantage. The deity received
sacrifice and veneration ; the votary who brought these gained
in return divine assistance in the matters he had in hand.
The priest who was the mediator between the two had liis
share of the offering and no small part of the honour.

Among the Hebrews there was a rigid line of demarcation
between prophet and priest, even a frequent rivalry and
clashing between the two orders. The priest had to do with
the ceremonial observances of the Temple : he offered sacrifice,
and carried out the detailed injunctions of the Mosaic Law, but
he was not regarded as speaking in the name of Jehovah. The
prophet, on the other hand, might come of any race or family,
had nothing to do with ceremonial observances, belonged to
no caste or clan ; but when once acknowledged he was regarded
as one who had special faculties for ascertaining the Divine
will and intentions, and his voice was listened to with all
respect as being the nearest exponent of the will of Jehovah.

There was the same distinction among the Greeks, tliough
the different character of their religion made it seem less
pronounced. The /xavris or soothsayer was quite a different
class of being from the Icpevs or priest. The priest was
attached to a particular temple, and was usually in the service
of one particular deity. The soothsayer was altogether un-
attached, and his function was to read the will of heaven in
all that went on in the world, to exhort, to warn and threaten.
He saw the future as wrapped up in the present through the
wisdom and clearness of vision which the gods bestowed on
him. The soothsayers, however, will concern us hereafter.
Their importance gradually diminished in the course of Greek
history. Detached and wandering prophets, instead of being
respected, as among the Jews, Avere by the later Greeks
thoroughly despised, and regarded as charlatans or barbarians,
though in the days of Homer their honour had been not
inconsiderable. Their function partly died out and partly was

^ Gottesdienstliche Altcrth. ch. xxxiii. sqq.

200 CULTUS

put in commission. Poets were regarded as more worthy
mediums for the communication of the will of the gods. The
oracles grew constantly in fame, and established a regular
business in responses from gods and heroes ; and the mysteries
were regarded as taking men direct into the divine presence.

As the consideration of the prophets declined, that of the
priests proportionally increased, and at the same time they
managed to get into their hands many of the functions pre-
viously exercised by the laity. In early times, any head of a
family was regarded as competent, not merely to conduct the
family worship of ancestors, but to carry through almost any
sacrifice or ceremony, except those of a public and national
character. If he wished to sacrifice to Zeus or Apollo, he did
so in his own house at the family hearth. Or, if he preferred
calling in assistance, he would summon to his aid some
soothsayer like Calchas or Tiresias to conduct the ceremony,
while the minor functions would be performed by heralds.
This irregular worship, though it never quite ceased in Greece,
fell into the background as tlie temples grew and multiplied,
and the priests increased in number and importance.

It is remarkable how seldom priests are mentioned in Homer,
and how little they have to do with the action of the early
epics. They are spoken of, indeed, with respect, as venerated
like gods by the people, and under full protection of the
deities to whom they were attached, as unmistakably appears
in the first book of the Iliad. But the Greek army is ac-
companied by no train of priests, and sets up no temples. If
the generals wish to ascertain the divine will, they trust to
dreams, the explanation of which they seek not from pro-
fessional expounders, but from the wisest men to be found ;
or they ask Calchas for the interpretation of flights of birds
and motions of serpents. If they wish to make a sacrifice,
the king with his heralds carries it out, assisted by chiefs
and people. The idea that the priest has a monopoly of the
means of addressing heaven has not yet arisen.

The radical connection between priest and king survived to
a late time of Greek civilisation. The Kings of Sparta, as
might have been expected, were especially given to asserting
their right to offer sacrifice. One of them was priest of Zeus
Hypsistus, the other of Zeus Lacedsemon; but it was not to
Zeus alone that they sacrificed. Cleomenes,^ after defeating
the Ai'gives, marched to the Heraeum; and after by force

* Herod, vi. 8l.

ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 201

turning out the priest, proceeded to sacrifice to Hera in his
own person. Pausanias, after the victory at Plateea, sacrificed
in the agora of that city to Zeus Eleutherius ; ^ and in some
cities, notably Athens, after kings had become in a political
sense things of the past, the name was still continued and
applied to an elected officer, who took in cult and sacrifice the
part which had originally belonged to the real king. The
reason is evident. The Greeks would not expect the favour
of the gods to rest on any change of institutions which
involved loss to their interests. Men were free to change
political institutions, but not without divine permission to
innovate in tlie matters of cult. The /SacriXevs was not a priest
regularly attached to a particular deity or a special temple ;
but he had to represent the state at various festivals, such
as the Len?ea and Anthesteria, and to perform sacrifices of
ancient institution with which the prosperity of the state was
supposed to be bound up. His wife, the /^ao-tAtcrcra, had also
duties in connection with the Anthesteria. He was elected
by lot, and must be of blameless repute, and one who had
been initiated in the mj^steries ; his wife also had to be of true
Attic family and correct life. We hear of somewhat obscure
magistrates at other cities, who bore the title king, and repre-
sented no doubt the same principle. More fre(|uently, however,
when republican succeeded to monarchical government, the new
elective heads of the state took over the religious functions of
the kings, as well as their other duties and rights. Thus in
many states the Prytanes managed the affairs of religion.

Most of the great cults of Greece belonged in the origin to
a family or sept, from whom by degree.'j cities or states adopted
them. We cannot therefore be surprised, conservatism in all
countries prevailing in religious matters, to find the priest-
hood of many deities restricted to the members of a particular
family. The Eteobutadae at Athens were alone eligible as
priestesses of Athena Polias ; from the ranks of none but the
Eumolpidse and the Ceryces could be taken the hierophant
and torch-bearer of Demeter and Cora at Eleusis. The
priesthood of Apollo at Didyma belonged of right to the
Eranchidae. Telines carried from Cnidus to Gela in vSicily
certain rites pertaining to the Great Goddesses; and in com-
municating these to the city, his family reserved the right of
being hierophants of the cult. Herodotus tells us- that this
tenure of office gave them ascendency in the city, so that in

1 Thuc. ii. 71. 2 Herod, vii. 153.

202 CULTUS

time one of them, Gelon, made himself master of the city,
and finally of a great part of Sicily. The Asclepiadse at
Cos kept in their hands the priesthood of the temple of
Asclepius, and with it something of a monopoly in the exercise
of healing arts. It was natural that in cases where a cult
belonged to one family, the priest should succeed by some rule
of inheritance. The rule which we have already noticed in
the case of the priesthood founded by Epicteta, that the eldest
male descended from a particular person should succeed, was
a not unusual one. Thus we have a long list in an in-
scription from Halicarnassus, of the priests early or mythical,
who had presided at the temple of Poseidon, beginning with
a son of Poseidon himself. In this list, brother succeeds
brother more often than son, father ; which shows that the
principle of descent ignored primogeniture, and the office
descended to the eldest male. This is, indeed, the common
rule in primitive communities.

Most priesthoods, however, were less restricted in their tenure,
and could be filled by any one thereto appointed by election
or lot. Even when the lot was the final arbiter, only those
were allowed to appeal to it who possessed the due qualifica-
tions. The exact nature of these qualifications was seldom
set forth by the ancients, but we can gather their nature
from a variety of statements. The first qualification for any
priest or priestess was that he or she should be a full citizen,
a bond fide member of the state to which the priesthood
belonged. No alien could perform the traditional rites to
the satisfaction of the civic deities ; nor would a priest
attached to a temple of Apollo or Athena at one city be
allowed to assume office in the temple of the same deity else-
where. A priest must also, like the victims he offered, and
like all creatures presented to the gods, be free from every
corporeal blemish and defect ; no piety or wisdom would
make up for deformity or incompleteness. And he must be
of good and unlilemished reputation ; though this provision,
being of less external and definite character than the others,
might be more commonly neglected. In one city,^ at Messene,
it was ordained, that if a child of priest or priestess died
during the term of office, the parent had at once to vacate the
office. There were cults in Avhich ministers were chosen for
personal beauty : more commonly a certain rank and birth
were required in a priest.

^ Paus. iv. 12, 4.

ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 203

But, in fact, each temple had its own law in the matter.
Herodotus ^ remarks that in Egypt men only could become
priests, whereas in Greece this honour was extended to both
sexes. But we must not suppose that anywhere priests or
priestesses were appointed indiscriminately ; nor was the simple
rule adopted that a priest should tend a god and a priestess a
goddess. The whole matter was one of tradition and usage,
accordant with sacred legend or oracular response. On the
same grounds it was sometimes a fixed rule that an elderly
person should be appointed, or a child.

Though temperance and chastity were looked for in priest
and priestess, yet celibacy was seldom required. In cases of a
few cults either of foreign origin or peculiar character we do
find this requirement. Thus in the temple of Artemis Hymnia ^
in Arcadia, the priest and priestess were bound to complete
chastity, and fenced in by a set of regulations so strict that
they could not even visit the house of a private person. The
hierophant at Eleusis was obliged to abstain from all sexual
indulgence, and in many cities the priestesses of Artemis and
Athena were required to be virgins. But so contrary to nature
did this regulation seem to the Crreeks, and so hard was it to
them to observe it, that usually chastity or celibacy was under-
stood in a very modified form. Thus it was a common provi-
sion at temples that the priestess should be married but once ;
and when the regulations were more stringent, the office was
held either by an aged widow, or by a young girl, who ceased
to hold her function when she came to the age of marriage.
Instances of this arrangement occur in the temple of Poseidon ^
at Calaureia, and that of Herakles at Thespise.'* The priestess
of Artemis Hymnia was originally a young virgin, but the
beauty of a priestess ?iaving caused the violation of the sanc-
tuary by King Aristocrates, the violator was stoned ; but it was
ordained that in future the priestess should be an elderly woman. ^
Chastity during a particular feast or celebration, or even for a
short term of office, was more commonly required, especially in
the cult of Demeter and that of Dionysus. The priest of the
Misogynous Herakles in Phocis had to maintain his continence
during the year of his office. The practice of securing chastity
by mutilation seems to have been entirely foreign to Greek
ideas, though it was very usual in Asia Minor in the cultus

^ Herod, ii. 35. He is wrong as to Egypt.

2 Paus. viii. 13, I. ^ Pans. ii. 33, 3.

* Paus. ix. 27, 5. * Paus. viii. 5, 12.

204 CULTUS

of Cybele and deities of her class, such as the Ephesiaii
Artemis.

As early as Homer we find mention of an elected priestess.^
Of Theano Antenor's wife we read —

TTjv yap Tpwes eOijKav 'A9r]vair]s lepetav,

and this custom of election by the people was usual in later
times in the case of those priesthoods which were not inherited.
In Hellenistic times kings and generals freely assumed the
right of appointing priests and priestesses within the dominions
over which they happened to bear sway. With this election
was mixed as an additional or alternative means of decision
the casting of lots. The election of the priestess of Ge Eury-
sternos near ^gse was determined by lots ; - but only those could
draw lots who fulfilled the conditions required, tliat is, they
must have been married but once, and otherwise preserved
their chastity, and had to maintain their character by a judicial
test of drinking the blood of bullocks. The lot is also men-
tioned in inscriptions^ in connection with election in such a
way that it looks as if the people sometimes elected a certain
number of persons as fit to hold priesthoods, and to these were
assigned by lot the service of particular deities. In fact in
some of the inherited priesthoods the choice of a person in the
priestly family was made by lot and not by seniority.

Sometimes the method of election was less orderly. We hear
of lawsuits at Athens, in the court of the king archon, arising
from disputed succession to some sacerdotal function, and we
even hear of a sale of priesthoods. In an inscription from
Erythrae in Ionia there is a record of sales of priesthoods and
of the prices fetched by them in the market. The most valuable
of those mentioned seems to have Ijeen the priesthood of
Hermes Agoraeus, who probably, as the office fetched the
large sum of 4610 drachms, had some claim to market dues. In
a Halicarnassian inscription"* the post of priestess of Artemis
Pergaea is put up for sale, but can only be purchased by a lady
of aristocratic descent. She is to be entitled to a certain share
of the sacrifices and other emoluments, which seem to have
constituted at Halicarnassus a respectable provision for a woman
of the upper class.

The duration of priesthoods varied not less than their other
conditions, and depended also on the circumstances of their

1 II. vi. 300. 2 Paus. vii. 25, 13.

* C. I. ii. 2270, 2374^. * C. I. 2656.

OKGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 20 5

origin or local traditions. The most ordinary tenure, perhaps,
was that for life, 8ta f^tov. The Hierophant of P^leiisis was
appointed for life, so was the priest of Hippolytus at Troezen,
the priestesses of Hera and Aphrodite at Aphrodisias, and a
host of others. A fresh appointment annually was also very
usual, more especially, as Schomann well observes, in cults of
late origin and in democratic states, while life-priesthoods
l)elong on the contrary to old cults and aristocratic states.
INfore especially in Hellenistic and Roman times it became
usual to change priests with frequency in order to bestow the
honours on as many people as possible in rotation. Sometimes
again the appointment was for a term of years. The boy who
was priest of Athena Cransea at Elateia in Phocis ^ held office
for five years, and lads had to be elected at such an age as
not to emerge into manhood before the end of their term of
office. Sometimes a religious functionary was elected merely
in connection with a particular feast or ceremony ; the Hiero-
phant of the mysteries of the chthonian goddesses at Phlius ~
for instance ; a fresh Hierophant being appointed for each
celebration, which took place every fourth year.

The duties of priest and priestess were, as we have already
had occasion to observe, strictly confined to the particular
temple to which they were appointed. In late times we meet
with instances in which popular or prominent men combine
in their own persons the sacerdotal functions of several cults ;
but this kind of pluralism was all but unknown in earlier times.
The functions of religious officers varied, as we sliall presently
see, at various places. Speaking generally, we can only say
that it was their duty as servants of the deity whom they
tended to conduct sacrifices in his honour, to give facilities of
approach to worshippers and suppliants, to maintain becoming
order in the sacred precincts, and to see that all the generally
unwritten laws and regulations of the place were duly ol)servetl.
Tliey had to protect and keep in repair temple and image,
and to preserve objects dedicated. They had to supervise the
feasts and processions in honour of their deity, and generally to
protect his fame and property alike by the courageous assertion
of his rights against intruders, and by the maintenance of
orderly and dignified bearing in the city. In village temples
there might be a single priest, and he might find himself com-
pelled to undertake all these duties at once, down to slaughter-
ing the victims and cleaning the temple ; but usually in great

^ Paus. X. 34, 8. * Paus ii. 14, I.

206 CULTUS

cities and at celebrated temples there was a regular hierarchy
of officers, who divided among themselves the duties just
mentioned.

The Greeks, with their love of what was externally fitting,
thought much not only of the character of their priests and
their personal beauty, but also of their appearance and dress,
which had to be such as befitted their office. Aristides ^ says of
Pericles that he lived with such complete decency that his life
was like that of a priest. Their garments were ample and
trailing, and of white colour, though purple was sometimes
worn l)y priests of chthonic cults. The king-archon at Athens
had shoes of a special cut, f^acrtXiSes," no doubt cothurni, like
those worn by actors to increase their stature and dignity.
The stephanephorus of Herakles at Tarsus wore white shoes,
and a garment of white with purple stripe. Chryses is re-
presented in Homer ^ as bearing a sceptre adorned with gold,
like that carried by kings, and in other passages the staves of
office of priests are not seldom mentioned. They usually wore
garlands made of myrtle or laurel, flowers or fruit, according
to the attributes of their deity ; the laurel belonging to Apollo
and Zeus, myrtle to Aphrodite, olive to Athena, and so forth.
And they also, like victors in the games, wound taeniae or fillets
about their heads and arms, as well as about the sacred tripods
and the property of the gods. Priests allowed their hair to
grow long, in the good archaic Hellenic fashion, and this was
the more conspicuous as they sacrificed bare-headed. The
priestesses let their garlanded hair flow down freely. At the
great festivals it was not unusual for a priest or priestess to
appear publicly in the exact semblance of the patron deity ;
the priestess of Athena to appear in full armour, and the priest
of Herakles or Dionysus to bear the clothing and attributes of
those deities, to take their part indeed in the drama of the day,
for Greek festivals commonly partook of the nature of dramas.
They sometimes even bore the name of their deity ; thus the
priests of Dionysus bore the name Bacchus, and the priestesses
of the Leucippides * were called also Leucippides.

It would be a long task to detail all the titles borne by priests
in the various temples of Greece, and the functions indicated
by those titles which they exercised. We must, however, enter
somewhat into the details of a few hierarchies of- the more
important sort, in order to make clearer the functions of the

1 P. 159. - Pollux, vi . 85.

3 II. i. 15. '• Paus. iii. 16, I.

ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 207

priesthood in Greece. We must, to begin with, rigidly dis-
tinguish three classes of persons, all of whom held sacred office.
Tlie first class consisted of the priests and priestesses proper —
those who represented the deity, and presided at the ceremonies
in his honour. The second class comprised those persons,
usually laymen of good birth, who performed some specific duty
at a ceremony or a procession, under the control of the higher
officers. The third class would include the mere temple-
servants, usually slaves of the gods, who performed menial
functions in the temples.

Among the priests of higher rank were such as bore the
title /SacTiXevs as well as Upofivrnxojv, Oeojpos, dp)^id€())p6s, (TT€(f)avi]-
(fi6po<i, and the like, terms which describe in various inscrip-
tions or on coins the eponymous magistrates of various states,
but whose functions must certainly have been sacerdotal. The
]iriest of Poseidon at Megara, and the eponymous priest of
Byzantium, a Megarean colony, bore the title Hieromnemon.
'lepoOvT-ijs was the title of the chief priest at Agrigentuiu
and Segesta, The Updp^at and i€po(f)vXaK€<; were also persons
of importance at various cities ; but they seem rather to have
been concerned with the temple-buildings, and the material
interests of sacred places, than with their ceremonies and
ritual. The boy-priest of the Ismenian Apollo at Thebes was
called ^ 8acfivr)cfi6po<5, because adorned with a wreath of laurel.
A priest of Aphrodite in Cyprus was called dyqTU)p, because in
festal processions he went before the sacrifices. The priestess
who was at Athens charged with the decoration of the throne
of the goddess was called Koa-fKo. In some places priests
were termed kA.7^Sov;(oi, because entrusted with the temple
keys. The priestesses of Artemis at Ephesus were termed
/xeAtWat, and the chief priest Megabyzus, which terms had
reference to the oriental origin and customs of the Ephesinn
cult. The priestesses of the Leueipj)ides at Sparta were, as we
have already seen, called also Leucippides, and at Athens the
names Butes and Buzyges were a|)plied to the priests of those
heroes.

Among the lay assistants a]ipointed for merely temix)rary
purposes, we may name the OaXXo<f)6poL of the Panatlienaic
procession, the girls selected annually to weave a new peplos
for Athena, and the boy chosen at Olympia to cut the olive
twigs for the wreaths of the victors in the games. There were
numerous such ministers of both sexes in all Greek feasts and

^ Pans. ix. 10, 4.

208 CULTUS

processions. That their children should be selected for these
purposes was an honour coveted by parents, and one which
shed a certain lustre over the whole life of the children them-
selves. When adults were selected, it was to them like the
conferment of an order or decoration. The qu;ilitications re-
quired were gentle l)lood and that nobleness of bearing which
the Greeks supposed to go with it ; also reputation for virtue,
especially the virtue of chastity. Children would usually not be
ehgible unless both their parents w^ere living. Selection among
eligible candidates was made by favour, beauty often counting
for much. Thus at Tanagra,^ at the festival of Hermes, an
ephebus selected for beauty carried on his shoulders a lamb
round the walls, thus personating Hermes himself : even the
Thallophori of the Panathenaic procession were chosen for
dignity of bearing.

The subordinate ministers were in number countless. In
imperial times even these functions were sought after by men
of family and wealth, who were determined by any and every
means to come before their fellow-citizens in a public capacity.
Especially such were eager to be connected with the cultus of
the reigning emperor. The common names for these inferior
ministers were StdKovoi and veojKopoi or (aKopot. They had to
see to the service of the temples in its details, to keep order
among the votaries, and to repair and keep clean the sacred
edifices. Among them were such ministers as the ^vAev?, who
at Olympia brought wood for the sacrifices to Zeus ; Pausanias
calls him one Ik twi' oIk^tmv tov Atos ; also the dvrai, who
actually struck down the victims at a sacrifice ; and the olvoxooi,
who poured the wine which accompanied it. Of a somewhat
superior character to these menials were the e^vyy/yrat, who were
not indeed the repositaries of any particular doctrines, but who
were a sort of masters of the ceremonies, and guides to show
visitors over the temples, and point out to them what was note-
worthy. It should, however, be observed that at some centres
of religion the exegetae were priests and functionaries of im-
portance ; at Athens, for instance, they were chosen from the
noble class, and were concerned with sacerdotal discipline. The
heralds, or k'/J/dvkc?, were persons of dignity in early times, but
their office diminished in importance. Demosthenes ^ speaks of
a herald as serving the jSao-iXio-cra at Athens, and assisting her
in her divine functions. They were men of loud voice, and
were useful in making proclamation at sacrifices, as well as at

^ PauB. ix. 22, I. ^ Adv. Neaer, par. 78.

ORGANISATION OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 209

the games, sometimes proclaiming aloud prayers and vows.
There were also among the crowd of persons supported by a
great temple, singers and musicians, particularly flute-players,
who accompanied among the Greeks every kind of measured
movement. Hermann observes that all these vulgar })ersonages
were fed at the table of the priests, and that this is the origin
of the later use of the term parasite.

It is noteworthy that there were in Greece no such things
as colleges for the training of priests or temple-servants. The
local element prevailed in each cult to such a degree that a
central college of theology or of religious practices would have
been quite impossil)le. The very thing ordained at one seat
of worship might be expressly forbidden at another, even when
both spots belonged to the same Olympic deity. Tradition was
the only possible teacher, and so jealously was it guarded and
preserved that priests were rarely accused of having innovated in
matters of cult, or failed in the honour due to their patron deities.

The rewards and privileges which priests enjoyed in return
for their labours in the service of the gods were neither few
nor slight. Firstly, they had solid ad Mintages in the way of
shelter and food. They were commonly housed in the precinct,
and shared the table of the gods. That is to say, they received
and used the bloodless offerings, fruits and cakes and cheese,
which were daily laid on the sacred table ; and of animals
sacrificed they received a share. The inscription from Hali-
carnassus ^ which offers for sale the post of priestess of Artemis,
also describes the emoluments of the office. The priestess is
to receive, in the case alike of public and private sacrifice,
specified parts of the victim and his skin, in addition to which,
at every new moon, when a public sacrifice is to be offered, she
is to have a drachm, and to share certain proceeds of the
sacrifice with the wives of the prytanes. At certain seasons
she is to be allowed to take a sort of benefit — that is, to make
a collection of money in the most crowded streets of the town.
She is also to establish a treasury for the goddess ; but money
which reaches that will not fall to her directly ; the chest is to
be guarded by treasurers who are to open it once a year, and
take out what is necessary for the service of the goddess, or, as
we should put it, to defray incidental expenses. It is probable
that usually private persons who came to make a sacrifice
presented a fee to the officiating priests according to an under-
stood tariff At Athens several priests dined daily, in virtue of

1 C. I. 2656.

2IO CULTUS

their office, at the public table in the Prytaneium, with magis-
trates of the state and Olympic victors. And in the case of
all the larger temples, the estate of the god, even setting aside
daily and casual incomings, was quite sufficient to keep his
priests in comfort and plenty.

Of the remuneration of the priesthood in the temple of
Apollo at Delos we know sometliing from the very important
inscriptions found in the island by the French expedition, and
in course of publication by M. Homolle.^ In these are recorded
the salaries paid annually to the various temple-officers. It is,
however, remarkaljle that, if M. Homolle's account be complete,
there is no payment made either to the priests or to the
neopcei, who, as we know, were the treasurers of the temple,
and managed all its monetary affairs, nor even to the SiotKT^rat
who assisted in the collection of the revenues. In the last
chapter I mentioned some of these salaries. Payments are
recorded to a spring-keeper {Kprjvof^vka^), a palsestra-keeper, a
herald, several flute-players, and a number of neocori of various
grades. These are, evidently, only hired servants of the temple,
except the architect, whose office was not religious ; and it
would appear that the higher officers were either paid in some
other way, or else above being paid at all.

Thus it must be allowed that as a general rule the higher
priests did not accept their office for the sake of the loaves
and fishes which accompanied it. As above stated, they were
usually taken from older and wealthier families ; and esteemed
the honour of the post far more than its revenue. Homer speaks
of a priest as honoured by the people as though a god ; and in
all periods of Greek history tliis honour was consistently paid.
When Alexander took Thebes he spared the houses of the
priests amid the general destruction. Amid the frequent wars
and social revolutions of Greece the priest had but to betake
himself, with wife and children, to the temple of his deity, in
order to be almost sure of safety and respect. The political
power enjoyed by the priests was also considerable. As Sir C.
Newton 2 has well jiointed out, whenever a pestilence or mis-
fortune smote a people, the priests were at once appealed to,
to state what deity was offended, and how his wrath was to be
tippeased. This appeal might furnish an unscrupulous priest,
not only with means for promoting his own interests and
advancement, but also with an opportunity for getting rid of
a rival, or modifying obnoxious institutions : though, of course, a

''■ Bull, de Corr. Hell. 1882, p. I. - Essays, p. 159.

ORGANISATION OF RRTjrjIOUS SOCIETIES 2 I I

vigorous democracy might override any sacerdotal interference.
As a rule, we find the democracies of Greece, as well as tlie
tyrants and kings, as little disposed to interfere with or curtail
the liberties and privileges of priests as the oligarchies them-
selves. They furnished the rich with a career which did not
lead to political disturbance ; and the proper discharge of these
duties involved a considerable expenditure of private money on
public purposes.

We know from a host of honorary inscriptions what were
considered tin; characteristics of a good priest, and how he was
rewarded by the body politic for what they considered merit.
In these documents priests and priestesses are praised indeed
for piety, Ijut it is usually for i)iety which takes the form of
munificence. Thus, in an inscription ^ from Aphrodisias in
Caria, Gaea, who is priestess for life of Hera, is honoured and
l)raised for the sumptuousness which she showed when on two
occasions priestess of the Imperial House. She not only feasted
the people at magnificent banquets, but supplied gratis for the
baths various necessaries, and at the public games of Aphro-
disias produced aKpodjiara or entertainments so new and choice
that she attracted into the town the people of neighbouring
cities. That she discharged her proper functions by sacrificing
yearly for the prosperity of the Imperial House is stated
indeed, but not enlarged on. Sumptuousness in sacrifice,
feasting the people, providing spectacles, such are in most cases
the merits selected for praise in inscriptions ; which, however,
belong mostly to quite a late period of Greek history, Roman,
or at earliest Macedonian, times. And the rewards conferred
on these meritorious officials are of the same pompous and
vainglorious kind — a wreath, a statue or an inscription set up
in a public place, a not uuwcn-thy return for panis et circenses.
Sometimes the reward takes a more appropriate form. In an
inscription from Mantineia,^ one Phaena, who has behaved
lil)erally as priestess of Demeter, is formally invited to all
future festivals of Demeter. The right of front seats at
theatrical performances M'as also commonly accorded to priests.
Of this the names found on the seats of the Athenian Theatre
of Dionysus are sufficient proof; there the names of priests
were mingled with those of magistrates in the place of honour ;
this, however, was in the particular instance rather an honour
bestowed on the priests of especial deities in their official
capacity, than on individuals of merit.

1 C. 1. 2820.

212 CULTUS

CHAPTEE IV

ORGIASTIC CULTS

In the case of Asia ]\Iinor, it seems almost certain that the
dominant races, Lycians, Carians, lonians and the like, were
but small invading tribes, while the mass of the population of
the country was of different, perhaps Semitic, stock. To these
earlier inhabitants belongs the worship of Cybele and kindred
nature-goddesses, as well as of Attis, Sabazius, and other deities
of the orgiastic kind. It is extremely likely that we may find
a parallel series of phenomena, which have hitherto almost
escaped observation, in Greece and perhaps Italy, In Greece
also it is likely that the true Aryan Greeks were always a
comparatively small though dominant caste. Beneath them
was a mass of population on which they imposed their language
and their usages, but which retained in many ways the impress
of a different temperament and a less finely endowed nature,
and which often reacted upon the dominant tribes of purer
blood.

However this may be, it is certain that in both Asia Minor
and Greece proper there was a demand for a more ecstatic and
emotional religion than that of the cultivated Hellenes. Of
such religion we find, as Rohde ^ has clearly shown, scarcely any
trace in the Homeric poems. The gods of Olympus are to the
aristocracy of Homer anything but mystic; on the contrary,
most anthropomorphic and orderly. The Homeric prophet
Calchas is no inspired man, but one who has acquired skill to
read the future in the flight of birds and other divine signs.
But there no doubt existed in the Homeric age among the
common people a religion of a less cultivated and more entliusi-
astic character. Not only were there locally, as we have already
seen, a multitude of curious observances and ancestral super-
stitions ; but there were also enthusiasms not attached to the
soil, but migratory over the whole of Greece, taking root in
district after district, and city after city, and affording an outlet
for those more irregular and unrestrained religious impulses
which could scarcely find scope in the service of the regular
deities of the cities.

By far the most important of these safety-valves, if we

^ In his Psyche.

ORGIASTIC CULTS 213

may so term them, of Greek religion was the Dionysiac cult.
Although the germs of that cult existed in many places in the
form of rustic superstitions and practices, yet it was prijljaljly
after the Homeric age that the orgiastic worship of Dionysus
spread over all Greece, and furnished a more complete satis-
faction to the untamed religious enthusiasms of the common
people. Like the dance of death in mediasval Europe, the
Dionysiac fury passed from district to district of Greece, and
thence into Italy. In all countries, women rather than men
are subject to the epidemics of religious enthusiasm. So in
Greece and Italy it was the Maenads or BacchsB, women full
of the Dionysiac passion, who flocked in swarms to the waste-
places, and there gave way to those strange impulses of mixed
asceticism and self-indulgence, of sensual excess and the desire
of a })urer life, which have in all countries marked such out-
bursts. All through the great age of Greece the fever raged
intermittently ; in the Hellenistic age other ecstatic cults, those
of Mithras, of Cyljele, and of Isis, became rivals of that of
Dionysus in popular favour.

We moderns find it hard to realise that the cultus of the
God of Wine, in which naturally drinking to excess was a
regular feature, could be anything but debasing and degrading.
We are probably misled by the changed way in which alcoholic
drinking is now regarded. Among us excessive indulgence in
wine or spirits is a sottish and sensual habit, almost without
higher elements. The place which wine held in the liacchic
cult, as a nervous stimulant, is partly taken in modern coun-
tries by other stimulants ; such as tobacco and tea. The weak
and diluted wine of the ancients did not make them, as si)irits
make the Englishman, stupid and brutal, but raised the spirits,
cleared the mind, and diminished for the time the pressure of
the body. Hence Dionysus was regarded as the god who saved
men from heavy sensuality, and set the soul free from its
corporeal burden, from tlie prison of the flesh, as the Dionysiac
votaries phrased it.

The Dionysiac worship exercised great influence in early
times on Delphi, and at all times on the Mysteries of Eleusis,
which were a mystic and orgiastic element in the compara-
tive sobriety of the accepted Athenian religion. Nor must we
forget that it was to the Dionysiac enthusiasm that we owe
the origin l)oth of tragedy and of comedy.

Of the Dionysiac worship, the intellectual side was repre-
sented by Orphism. To the imagination of the poets of later
times, Orpheus was presented as a great poet of Thrace. To the

2 1 4 CULTUS

Orphists he was far more — the man who had gone down alive
to Hades in his search for his lost Eurydice, and had thence
returned to instruct and raise mankind. Works professedly
written by him, or other sages of the same kind, circulated
largely in Greece, and supplied the people not only with a
theogony, or account of the origin of the gods and the world,
but also with precepts of ethics, with an eschatology, with
something as near to a creed as the Greek mind ^vas ready to
accept. At one time the disciples of Pythagoras, who may
be regarded as an exponent of Orphism, even constituted in
Southern Italy something like a church; and on Italian vases
of a late date we find representations of Hades, the elements
of which could have been supplied only by Orphism.

Dionysus, though he never became one of the ordinary
denizens of Olympus, yet was accepted by Athenian poetry
and art, and in time to a great degree Hellenised. And as his
cultus became more sober and respectable, it failed to satisfy
the religious needs of the more enthusiastic of the lower people.
Thus we find in later Greece a continuous invasion of deities
who retained more of the orgiastic character, and whose cultus
supplied that mixture of spiritual and sensuous excitement
which has so strong an attraction for the mass of the
uneducated.

Many of the Greek deities were originally borrowed from
the pantheons of other nations — Aphrodite, for instance, from
that of Syria, Ares from that of Thrace ; but these deities had
in historical times obtained, so to speak, full rights of citizenship
among the Greeks. Their cultus was Hellenised, and being
adopted by the governments of Greek republics, had become
staid and moderate, and lost most traces of barbarous origin.
But when the Greeks in historical times imported a strange
deity from abroad and gave him a home among them, they
often imported also the extravagances of cultus which sur-
rounded him, and reproduced on Hellenic soil a fragment of
Thracian or Phrygian manners. The persons attached to him
formed what was called an epavos or ^iWos, that is, a private
association, regularly organised on principles which we shall
presently trace, to maintain his worship and propagate his
influence.

Compared with the adherents of state religions, these
associations may be called dissenting sects ; and like many
sects in modern times, they made uj) for their want of status by
their enthusiasm, and for the smallness of their numbers by
their extravagances. We hear of them at Athens in the times

ORGIASTIC CULTS 2 I 5

of tho Peloponnesian war. Eupolis in his BaTrrat ridiculed the
adherents of the Tliracian Cotytto,^ who conducted her worship
with nightly orgies and lascivious dances, and who seem from
the very title of the play to have practised some oriental rite
of immersion. In the Li/.-iisfrata of Aristophanes mention is
made of other strange deities, the Paphian Aphrodite, Sabazius,
and Adonis. And Plutarcli informs us '^ that at the time of
the starting of the Athenian expedition for Sicily a feast of
Adonis was being celebrated by the women of Athens with
wailings and all the extravagances of oriental ritual. And
Adonis was never one of the deities recognised by the state
at Athens, but an importation from Syria and the object of
the passionate devotion of a small clique. About B.C. 430, a
Phrygian metragyrtes had incurred the displeasure of the more
conservative citizens by initiating women in the mysteries of
the Mother of the Gods, and was by them thrown into the
Barathrum.

Nevertheless these outlandish superstitions grew in favour.
A passage in the Be Corona'^ gives us full details as to the
rites with which they were carried on. Demosthenes thus
addresses vEschines : "When'* you became a man you assisted
your mother in her initiations, reading the ritual and joining
in the mummery ; at night wrapping the votaries in fawn skin,
swilling, purifying, and scouring them with clay and bran,
raising them after the lustration, and bidding them say, ' Bad
I have scaped, and better I have found ; ' priding yourself that
no one ever howled so lustily — and I believe him ! for don't
suppose that he who speaks so loud is not a splendid howler !
In the daytime you led your noble orgiasts, crowned with
fennel and poplar, through the highways, squeezing the big-
cheeked serpents, and lifting them over your head, and
shouting Euoe Saboe, and capering to the words Hyes, Attes,
Attes Hyes, saluted by the beldames as Leader, Conductor,
Chest-bearer, Fan-bearer, and the like, getting as your reward
tarts and biscuits and rolls ; for which any man might well
bless himself and his fortune."

We cannot assume that ^schines did all that he is here
accused of ; but we may safely conclude that the description of
the ritual in which he shared is fairly exact. The deity thus
adored would seem to liave been the Phrygian Sabazius, the

^ Of. Juvenal, Satir. ii. 92.

- Alcib. 18. ^ Pp. 259-60.

•^ Ti'anslatiou of C. R. Kennedy (slightly altered), p. 94.^

2 I 6 CULTUS

chthonic Dionysus, who was torn to pieces by enemies and
restored to life again. In his worship we find all the accom-
paniments of Phrygian worship : the nightly orgies, the frantic
dances, the introduction of serpents among the initiated, the
purification by water, the loud and discordant bowlings, and
the repetitions in mummery of mythologic legends of no
elevating or even decent character. We can scarcely be sur-
prised to learn that at an earlier time the Athenians had put
to death the priestess Ninos for celebrating tlie mysteries of
Sabazius. Phryne also, the noted courtesan, was near losing her
life for attempting to introduce at Athens the cultus of another
deity of the same class, called by Hyperides ^ Isodaites.

But it was in Macedonian times that such religious cults
obtained the widest acceptance in Greece. We may easily
account for this fact by the increased intercourse with Asia,
the number of foreigners who came to live in Greek cities,
and further, the decay of the national religion, which left the
minds of the people open to all sorts of irregular enthusiasms.
At Athens the bulk of these worships had, as we might expect,
their headquarters in the Piraeus, among the marts of trade.
Of one sect, who called themselves the d/Dyewves, and who were
attached to the worship of the Mother of the Gods, we have
considerable lapidary remains, which enlighten us as to the
character of their organisation and cultus.

Greek religion was essentially a thing of cities, tribes, and
families. According to the ideas of the people, nothing could
be more unpleasing to the regularly constituted deities than
to be approached in an irregular way or by improper people,
strangers or slaves. Dorians were not allowed even to enter
the temple of Athena Polias at Athens; but the erani were
open to all who chose to join them, and the bulk of their
members were freedmen, strangers, slaves, and women, who
often indeed rose to the highest posts in them, becoming priests
and secretaries. Two conditions alone had to be complied with
by candidates for admission : they had to pay a subscription
or fee, and they had to undergo some kind of test, SoKt/xao-ta.
This test was conducted by the officers of the society, and its
object was to ascertain whether the proposed member was
ayvos. iV(T€/3ijs, and dya66s. But the goodness and purity
required were scarcely of a moral kind, rather merely conven-
tional and ceremonial. To the members were distributed sacred
emblems or tessarse, which they secretly carried as amulets.

^ Ap. Harpocration.

ORGIASTIC CULTS 217

Something must be said as to the organisation of the erani
and thiasi of foreign deities which existed in later Greece. We
can now recover knowledge on these matters from a variety
of inscriptions found in Attica, and carefully brought together
and analysed by M. P. Foucart, in his Ai^mriatioiis rdiijieu^iea
chez les Gn'cs, an excellent work. The affairs of these societies
were regulated by fixed laws and traditions, to which they
adhered with persistency. Such matters as the conditions of
membership, the amount of contriljution, the times of assembly,
the employment of the revenues, were strictly laid down and
engraved on tables of stone, as well as the nature of the rewards
to be bestowed on praiseworthy officials, and punishments re-
served for defaulting members. The ritual was preserved in
sacred books, which were carefully treasured by the officials and
probably accessible to them alone. But within this written
law there was a regular democratic organisation. The ko tvov,
or body of members, met regularly and passed decrees, in form
similar to those passed by cities in their assemblies, decrees
which were binding on all members. The Orgeones of the
Piraeus met every month, probably in a sacred place or re/xevos
set apart for the purpose. Women and men were alike present ;
all voted, and any could speak who pleased. Resolutions were
submitted in writing, and if there was nothing in them opposed
to the law of the society, might be carried. And as in the
case of cities, a decree passed was engraved on a tablet and set
up in some appropriate place where it could be seen by all con-
cerned. The magistrates were annually elected, and they too,
like civic magistrates, had to take an oath on assuming office,
and to give an account of their behaviour on resigning it. But
even while in authority they were anything but despots ; and if
a matter of any importance came up for decision as to which
the religious books were silent, it would be settled by a decree
of the assembly.

We are accpiainted with the titles and functions of the
officials elected by the Orgeones of the Pira3us. They had a
priest and priestess, of whom the former received the skins of
male animals offered in sacrifice, the latter those of female
animals. But the priestess was, as we might expect in the
case of a cultus imported from Phrygia, by far the more im-
portant personage : she ruled in the temple, opened it on set
days, and regulated the behaviour ami even the dress of those
women who took part in processions. The mysteries and the
feast of Atys, the Phrygian favourite of the goddess, were under
her control, and it required in lier no little tact to keep in good

2 I 8 CULTUS

humour all the votaries. The ex-priestesses formed a sort of
sacred college or council, and from among them were chosen
the ^ctKoyoo?, who was the assistant of the priestess, and was
usually appointed for a single year, though we hear of one
zacoros, MeLrodora,^ who was exceptionally appointed for life.
Besides these functionaries, we hear of lepoTrotoi, who conducted
the sacrifices and collected fees in connection with them ; eVt-
fxeXi-jTai, who sometimes undertook the carrying out of decrees
of the assembly, in particular of honorary decrees ; a treasurer.
rafxia^s, who was naturally chosen from among the wealthy ;
and a secretary, y/Da/x/xarei!?.

Many of the erani were of course not organised with anything
like so much completeness. For instance, we have a curious
inscription found near the mines of Laurium, which records
a somewhat bold pretension of a slave who worked in them :
"I, Xanthus^ the Lycian, slave of Caius Orbius, established a
temple of Men Tyrannus (a Phrygian moon-god) by the direc-
tion of the god himself. No one is to enter unpurified ; " and
he proceeds to declare on what terms the god will dispense his
favours to the eranistae, and in what manner he is to be ap-
proached. There is something almost sublime in such preten-
sions on the part of a slave of the mines. And this slave,
having no funds for the purchase of a sacred place or the
erection of a shrine, occupies a deserted toml) or heroon, and
there sets up the graven tables which contain the regulations
of the worship of which he is the self-constituted priest.

This cult of Men at Laurium is of late date, however, and
exceptional character; usually we find a more regular constitu-
tion. Commonly the general control was vested in some such
officer as an ap-x^Ldiaa-iTijs or an dp)(^epavicrTri<s or Trpoa-TOLTrjs,
with priest, UpoTroLot, a treasurer, and other officers. AYe read
of one diaa-os at Piraeus which paid its secretary ; but in the
great majority of cases the officers were unpaid. But the
organisation of difi'erent societies varied greatly, and the only
general rules seem to be these : ^ (i) there was no hierarchy
among officers ; all are annual, all independent one of another,
and responsible directly to the assembly ; (2) there is no distinc-
tion of civil and religious functions. The same man may be
treasurer and priest of a thiasus.

The rewards bestowed on officers by the assembly were such
as were customary in civic matters — an encomium, a wreath, a
portrait ; sometimes also a dedication was made in their name

' Foucait, p. 24. ■' Foucart, p. 219. ^ Fuucart, p. 33.

ORGIASTIC CULTS 219

to the deity. The extreme punishment was expulsion from the
society. Short of this was the levying of a fine on the offender ;
and such tine was legally recoverable at Athens.

We come next to the question of the legal status of the erani
of foreign deities. At Athens law aided them through en-
forcing their fines. Freedom of association was fully conceded
at Athens, and the corporation Avlien formed could hold property
like an individual, and could prosecute defaulting members.
The law of Solon is explicit in this matter, stating that what-
ever agreements are entered into by club or phratria or eranos
are to be enforced, Kvptov etvat, unless they contravene the laws
of the state. This exception is, however, important, for the
Athenians, although they accorded full rights of association to
all citizens, yet severely punished the unlicensed introiluction
of strange deities into their city. Foreign sojourners at Athens
were of course not expected to give up their own deities nor
to adopt those of the Athenians, for ancient religion was tribal,
and no Greek city wished to proselytise. But just as the city
had the right to expel strange men, so it had the right to expel
strange deities from its coasts. Thus a decree of the Senate
and the people was necessary in order to grant permission for
the erection of a temple to a deity previously unrepresented.
The Athenians usually made no difficulty in acceding to the
request of resident foreigners when they asked to be allowed to
erect a shrine to their native deity. In B.C. ;^;^^ the Citians
were allowed to erect a shrine to the Syrian Aphrodite ; and at
that time there already existed a temple of Isis, founded by the
Egyptians of Athens. But on the other hand the law was
extremely severe on those who attempted, without legal per-
mission, to introduce the worship of strange gods, more especially
if the person so offending were a citizen. The testimony of
Josephus on this point is explicit.^ "The Athenians put to
death the priestess Ninos on the accusation that she initiated
into the worship of strange gods : the Athenian laws forbade
this, and death was the penalty for introducing a strange god.'"'
In the case of Socrates also, as is w^ell known, a chief point in
the charge on which he was capitally condemned was that he
had introduced new deities. And there is another well-known
story as to Phryne, that she was accused by Euthias of intro-
ducing strange deities into Athens, and would have been
condemned to death but for the stratagem of her defender, the
orator Hyperides, who tore aside her garment and displayed to

^ Joseph. Adv. Apion, ii. 37.

2 20 CULTUS

the jurors the beauty of her breast, on which they acquitted
her. It seems certain, therefore, in spite of the opinion of
Schomann, who maintains an opposite view, that death was the
penalty for unauthorised introduction of barbarian deities into
Athens. For the introduction of Hellenic deities obviously no
license was required, nor could piety of that kind be made
into a crime.

As to the tendency of these cults and their moral bearing,
various opinions have been held. Some writers, such as M.
Wescher,! are inclined to see in them much of good, regarding
them as a revolt against the deadness of the outworn Hellenic
religion, and the beginning of a wider and higher religious life.
Others, such as M. Foucart, will allow but little to be said in
their favour. We must briefly examine the evidence. First,
then, it has been maintained that the tliiasi acted as l^enefit-
clubs. But the evidence for this is not forthcoming. The
society of Orgeons of the Piraeus seem to have buried dead
members, but this function was performed towards rich and
poor alike, and seems to have arisen from religious rather than
social motives. There is no record in the inscriptions of any
aid offered to poor or unfortunate members ; and it would seem
that an equal subscription was exacted from all. There was
thus nothing in thiasi to make them a boon to the poor. There
were civil erani which did lend money to members, advanced a
ransom to redeem those captured by pirates, and so forth ; but
there is nothing to prove that purely religious erani performed
these functions. Secondly, there does seem, at first sight,
something in the regulations of these irregular religious societies
of striving after purity and a better life. The votaries tended
by ^schines repeated, "Worse have I scaped, and better have
I found ; " and it is usually laid down in the regulations that all
who take part in the religious ceremonies must be KaOapoi and
ayvoi. But we must be careful not to put too much of modern
meaning into these phrases. They do not refer to moral but
to ceremonial and outward purity ; they do not mean that the
votary must regulate his actions and feelings by a high standard ;
but that he must have cleansed himself in specified ways from
certain acts recognised as impure, such as touching a corpse or
eating onions. That real purity of heart was acceptable to the
gods is a doctrine which always existed among the more
intelligent of the Greeks, but was never taken in by the lower
classes, and especially the slaves, who constituted the majority"

^ Revue Archeologique, 1864 and 1865.

ORGIASTIC CULTS 22 1

of memhors of these societies. Again, the religious fervour of
the sectaries has been contrasted with the dulness and weak-
ness of more staid cults ; and, no doubt, in the later days of
Greece, the old Greek religion was in a most decrepit state, and
real belief had almost dei)arted from it. But at the same time
the way in which the votaries of Phrygian and Thracian deities
displayed tlieir devotion was anything but attractive. Frantic
cries and wild dances, and scenes of not too chaste a character,
were the routine of their service ; and the priests devoted them-
selves to the foretelling of the future, the curing of diseases,
and the administration of philtres, arts far more lucrative
than respectable, and worked themselves up into the wild
frenzies which impressed the minds of the common people, but
which had in them far more of sensuous than of spiritual
excitement.

The opinion of the wiser among the ancients was altogether
against outlandish cults. I have already stated what view of
them was taken by the state. In the Lysistrata, Aristophanes
depicts what he supposes to be their results on the women.
Their cliief patronesses were Hetserae, such as Phryne, and
Aristion Menander and Theophrastus direct against them the
keenest shafts of their polished wit. The best of the later
Greek writers are on the side of Plutarch when he writes,
" Superstition inspires ludicrous feelings and deeds, words and
movements, enchantments, magic ceremonies, processions to
the sound of the drum, cleansings unclean, and purifications
impure, scourgings and tramplings in the mire in the temples
illegal and barbarous."^

Tlieir barbarism is precisely that on which M. Foucart most
dwells, and that which will strike a modern reader conversant
with the works of Herbert vSpencer and Tylor. Among all
Imrbarous tribes we find mystic ceremonies, religious mania,
the custom of producing passionate excitement, and ascribing
to men in that condition superhuman powers, and a nearer
approach to the deities. "We should expect to find such prac-
tices in connection with the religions of Thrace and Phrygia,
and they were thence imported unchanged into Greece, No
doubt barbarous religion spread in Greece, l)ecause there, as in
most countries, there was a lower stratum which was barbarous.
The mobs of Greek cities, says M. Foucart, were never raised to
the level of what was best in Greek religion, and were always
sliding back to what was worse, and they found in extravagant

^ De Superst. 12.

222 CULTUS

rites and furious excitement something to stir their dull sus-
ceptibilities, and satisfy their coarse spiritual appetites.

And yet it is impossi])le to maintain so harsh a judgment
when we reflect that in several respects the thiasi were pre-
cursors of Christianity and opened the door by which it
entered. If they belonged to a lower intellectual level than
the best religion of Greece, and were full of vulgarity and
imposture, they yet had in them certain elements of progress,
and had something in common with the future as well as the
past history of mankind. All properly Hellenic religion was
a tril3al thing, belonged to the state and the race, did not
proselytise, nor even admit foreign converts ; and so when the
barriers which divided cities were pulled down it sank and
decayed. The cultus of Sabazius or of Cybele was, at least,
not tribal : it sought converts among all ranks, and having
found them, placed them on a level before the god. Slaves
and women were admitted to membership and to office. The
idea of a common humanity, scarcely admitted by Greek
philosophers before the age of the Stoics, found a hold among
these despised sectaries, who learned to believe that men of
low birth and foreign extraction might be in divine matters
superior to the wealthy and the educated. In return for this
great lesson we may pardon them much folly and much
superstition.

CHAPTER V

TEMPLE-RITUAL

KoTHixG is better calculated to impress upon us the difference
between ancient and modern religion than a comparison of our
Christian rituals with those of ancient Greece. Exhortations
wherein the doctrines of the religion are proclaimed, and the
hearers incited to the leading of a better life, those sermons
which, especially in Protestant churches, are so prominent in
religious service, had no counterpart in ancient ritual : the
prayers and the hymns which make up the chief part of our
services were far less developed among the Greeks. We shall
presently set forth in order the little information on these
subjects which ancient writers have thought it worth while to
give us, or which has been preserved in inscriptions. On the
other hand the act of sacrifice, which was the main and essential
feature of ancient religious services, exists only in idealised

TEMPLE- RITUAL 223

form in modern days, and tends among Protestants almost
entirely to disappear. As to times of worship we find the
same contrast. Except at the great festivals, when all the city
turned out to watch the processions and ceremonies, the people
worshipped in families and septs as occasion arose, or as indi-
viduals constantly frequented the shrine of the special deities
whom they supposed to have taken their lives in charge.

It is a significant fact that the Greeks had no word appro-
priated to the meaning of " prayer : " ^vxq, which usually does
duty for it, means also vow, or merely wish, or even curse. Yet
in one sense it is more distinctive than our term prayer, since
it does not include thanks for past hut only hopes for future
favours. Prayers of some kind must, it seems certain, have
formed part of every sacrificial ceremony, and we are the more
surprised that the information we have about them is so slight.
Of course there was no elaborate ritual at any Greek temple,
and the form of prayer if fixed was very simple. It was pre-
served in the memory of the priests, or if committed to writing,
written only in the sacred books, which were sedulously hidden
away. Before any prayer there was the customary Greek
requisite of purification : Penelope, before praying to Athena,
washes her person and puts on clean garments. ^ Of course at
sacrifices this condition was already complied with. Slavish
prostrations were by the Greeks deemed degrading to man and
unacceptable to the gods : the suppliant stood merely with face
and hands upraised to heaven when he called on the dwellers
therein. In addressing the deities of the sea, he might merely
stretch his arms towards the waters, as Achilles does when he
calls on his mother Thetis. And when the beings addressed
were those of the nether world, the suppliant would stretch his
hands downwards and strike the earth with his foot to attract
the attention of those below.

Yery commonly at sacrifice ond in prayer all the deities were
invoked in common, or a list of them recited, beginning with
llestia. In Homer the three greatest deities, Zeus, Athena,
and Apoll(T are addressed together on some occasions. If one
deity alone were invoked, it was a matter of ordinary ])iety to
add to the mention of his name some description, including any
other designation which he might be supposed to prefer. "Zeus,
whoever he be, if this will please his ears, thus I address him."
exclaims the chorus in the A(iamemnon ; ^ and it was customary
to add some such phrase as " whatever name pleases thee best."

' Od. iv. 750. L. 155.

224 CULTUS

The reason of this lies somewhat deep in the ideas of nations of
undeveloped civilisation. With such, the name is a sort of clue
to personality ; nor would it be easy more thoroughly to offend
a barbarous chief than by addressing him by a name of which
he disapproved. In the mysteries various deities were called
upon by secret names, the mere utterance of which by the
votaries put them at once on a footing of intimacy Avith the
god. And the several titles which Apollo, Zeus, Artemis, and
other deities held at the various spots devoted to them were
regarded as essential to the local cult.

The more pious of the Greeks began no enterprise without
prayer. "All men," says Plato, ^ "who have any decency, in
the attempting of matters great or small, always invoke divine
aid." Ischomachus, in Xenophon's CEconomica, before he sets
about the training of his wife, offers a sacrifice and a prayer
that his instructions may be good for both husband and wife.
Hesiod ^ recommends sacrifice and libation night and morning,
and Plato considers it natural to utter a prayer at the rising
and setting of the sun and the moon. The libations which
accompanied every meal were with many the occasion of prayer,
though more often they may be supposed to have taken its
place. Nor did an assembly meet in Greece, nor an army take
the field or enter into battle, nor was a peace or treaty concluded
without sacrifice and prayers, the latter commonly recited in a
loud voice by an attendant herald. The Greeks had a prejudice
against prayer uttered in a low voice. Whether it was that
they supposed a prayer loudly uttered to go more certainly to
its destination, or whether they suspected those who prayed low
to be uttering things unfit to be heard, we cannot say : both
reasons may have carried weight. Certain it is that there was
among the Pythagoreans a rule that all prayers should be uttered
aloud. Only in the presence of the enemy, for evident reasons,
an opposite rule prevailed : Ajax in Homer begs the Achseans
to utter silently their prayers for his safety in his combat with
Hector, lest the Trojans overhear. A greater efficacy Avas lent
to a supplication when the petitioner could touch or kiss a
statue of his deity (bronze statues were sometimes quite worn
down with kissing), or held in his hand something belonging to
that deity, a fillet, a twig of a sacred tree, or a sacrificial vessel.
Sometimes the petition was not uttered at all, but written on a
tablet and affixed to the statue of a deity or laid on his knees.

^ Timneus, p. 27c. The wurds are given to Timaeus.
2 Works and Days, 1. 339.

TEMPLE-KITUAL 2 2 5

The Greek usually prayed for certain things which he
wanted and which he hoped to get through divine aid : hut
of course the more refined natures coveted nobler things.
The first prayer which conies before us in Greek literature ^
is that of the priest Chryses to Apollo, begging for vengeance
on the Greeks who have carried off his daughter. '' If ever
I built a temple gracious in thine eyes, or if ever I burnt
to thee fat flesh of thighs of bulls or goats, fulfil thou this
my desire : let the Daiiaans pay by thine arrows for my
tears ! " The prayers of the ordinary citizens were naturally
for health, riches, and advancement. "Who," says Cicero, -
" ever thanked the gods that he was a good man ? — men are
thankful for riches, honour, safety. These are the things they
beg of sovereign Jupiter, not what makes us just, temperate,
wise, but what makes us safe, sound, rich, and prosperous."
There is a higher and more manly note in the prayer of
Xenophon,^ which asks of the gods health and strength of
body, and honour in the city, goodwill in friends, in war
safety with honour, and wealth which grows by fair means.
This probably is as high as the ideas of a well-born and well-
bred Greek would ordinarily rise : if we wish for anything
nobler we must turn to the writings of the philosophers.
Socrates in Xenophon prays for the good merely, leaving it
to the gods to fix what was good.^ In Plato's dialogues he
is represented as agreeing with the poet, who begs Zeus to
grant him what is good whether he asks or not, and to keep
from him the evil even if he asks it.^ But prayers like these
have their place in works which deal with the history of
philosophy rather than in a work dealing with Greek an-
tiquities. They were not part of any ritual, but the aspira-
tions of a sublime nature. More to the point, because it
may have been recited at religious ceremonies, is the petition
quoted with admiration by Marcus Aurelius, "Rain, rain,
dear Zeus, on the fields of the Athenians and the plains."
" In truth," adds the Emperor, '• we ought not to pray at all,
or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion."

A prayer appropriated by a temple and worked into its
services would naturally fall into metre, that it might more
easily be retained in the memory and preserve its exact form.
All ancient and traditional prayers seem to have been metrical.

1 II. i. 40, Mr. Leaf's translation. ^ j)^ jy^^ Dcor. ii. 16.

' CEcon. xi. 8. ^ Xenoph. Mcmor. i. 3,

^ Alcib. Secund. p. 143a.

2 26 CULTUS

They may thus be considered as hymns, whether they were
merely recited or whether they were accompanied by the lyre
and by dances. The more elaborate hymns, such as those
which passed in antiquity under the name of Homer, and
those of Stesichorus, Pindar, and other poets, belong not to
the ordinary services of temples, but altogether to religious
festivals. The choruses of the tragedians frequently contain
hymns to the gods ; but they cannot in any sense be said to
belong to ritual. But there were hymns in more ordinary use.
Indeed, we possess an inscription ^ from Stratonicea in Caria
in which the hymns of daily service and those belonging
to festivals are expressly distinguished. It is there ordered
that thirty boys of good family shall be selected and retained
as a choir of Zeus Panamerius and Hecate, and shall be
brought daily into the senate-house under the charge of the
psedonomus, there to sing, clad in white and crowned with
flowers, an ode in honour of these two deities. A separate
chorus is to be selected for the annual hymn ordered by ancient
custom. Comparatively few of these liturgical hymns have
come down to us, and those which survive are of a frigid
kind. The hymn of Ariphron to Hygieia, which is preserved
to us both in an inscription and in the text of Athenseus,^
is a fair specimen. Hymns like the noble appeal of Cleanthes
to Zeus clearly do not come under this head.

Our knowledge of ancient hymns has been notably enlarged
by the results of recent French excavations at Delphi.^ Among
the inscriptions thus recovered is a piean written for the god
by Aristonous of Corinth, and fragments of a hymn containing
triumphant allusions to the destruction of the Gauls at Delphi
in B.C. 278, 150 years after which the hymn was probably
written. Neither of these compositions possesses much literary
merit; but to the second attaches extraordinary interest, be-
cause it is set to music which is inscribed on the marble,
and has been in part recovered. It is the first satisfactory
evidence which has reached us as to the character of Greek
music, which naturally cannot compare with that of modern
days in science or elaboration, but yet possesses a certain
charm.

In judging it we must remember that with the Greeks
music was wholly subordinate to poetry, and that as an art
it was cultivated neither for intellectual pleasure nor for

1 C. /. 2715. ^ C. T. ifii ', C. I. A. iii. 171 ; Athen. xv. 702a.

^ Bulletin de Corresp. HelUnique, 1893.

TEMPLE-RITUAL 2 27

sensuous gratification, but with an ethical purpose. Anything
which corrupted its simpHcity was condemned ; and the more
conservative of the Greeks resisted even the raising of the
number of strings in the lyre to seven. In fact the essentially
rhetorical character which belongs to all Greek literature and
poetry, and even to the plastic art of antiquity, is even more
conspicuous in ancient music.

The words of these Apolline hymns, though of inferior
literary merit, resemble the appeals to the gods which so
frequently burst forth in the choral passages of the plays of
the great Attic tragedians, and bring vividly before us the fact
that these dramatic performances were a part of the service
of the gods, and that an appeal to them in the theatre of
Athens was as much in place as if uttered at Delphi or
Olympia. The theatre and the church with us lie far apart;
but it was not so among the Greeks, nor among our own
ancestors in the middle ages.

We have next to speak of what may be termed the special
services of Greek religion, as opposed to the daily routine of
prayer and sacrifice. These special services comprise not only
the great festivals which occupied a great part of the year in
all Greek cities, but also religious ceremonies gone through with
a special object, such as curses and oaths, and the purifications
which both persons and places had frequently to undergo.

It may sound strange to speak of curses or imprecations as
religious ceremonies ; but they were such in Greece, and of
great value to the commonwealth. A curse was a sort of in-
verted prayer, implying belief in the gods and an approach to
them ; only, that which was asked of them was not good, but
evil. Fortunately the evil was asked in a mere hypothetical
way in most cases : the curse was directed not against some
particular person, but against any one who should in future
violate particular ordinances. There are many rules of morality
whicli are among nations of imperfect civilisation scarcely to be
enforced by legal penalties ; such rules the Greeks frequently
placed under the protection of the deities, solemnly beseechmg
'them to see to their enforcement, and to punish all trans-
gressors. If the offence was sacrilege against a particular deity,
that deity naturally was expected to be active in his own
cause ; in other cases either the gods in general were invoked^
or frequently Hades and Persephone, or the Erinnyes to whom
the severe punishment of mortals naturally belonged. The
priests of Zeus, called Buzygae, at Athens, in their litany invoked
curses against those who refused to show the way to strangers,

2 2 8 CULTUS

refused aid in kindling fire, polluted fresh water, slew a plough-
ing ox, or left a corpse unburied.^ In the constitution of
Solon- it was ordained that the archon every year should,
under a penalty of loo drachms, proclaim a curse against
those who violated the law against export of j:)roduce, from
which law, only oil was exempt. We still possess an inscrip-
tion from Teos^ which denounces bitter curses against those
who transgress the ordinances there set forth. If any disobey
the magistrates of Teos, or if any of the magistrates unjustly
put a citizen to death, or if any person prepares poisonous
draughts for any Teian, or prevents the import of corn, he and
all his race are devoted to destruction ; not clearly by the laws
of the state, for in no Greek republic could laws so severe
exist, but by the laws of the deities who watched over the
commonwealth. In many state documents, treaties, and the
like, where human law cannot be invoked to punish trans-
gression, such clauses are inserted.

A good specimen of the curse with political intent is that
recorded by yEschines* as pronounced by the Amphictions
against those who should attempt to violate their decree which
condemned to barrenness the lands of Cirrha. " If any trans-
gress this decree, whether city, tribe, or person, let him or them
be accursed in the name of Apollo, Artemis, Leto, and Athena
Pronoea. May their land bear no fruit, and their wives bear
not children like their parents, but monsters ; and their cattle
not breed according to their wont. And may they have the
worser part in war and law and trade, and themselves perish,
and their house and race ; and may they never bring accep-
table sacrifice to Apollo, or Artemis, or Leto, or Athena Pronoea ;
but may their offerings be rejected."

On tombstones of later period, no inscription is more common
than that which invokes a curse on those who interfere with
the dead man or his resting-place. An Attic epitaph^ begins,
"I commit this tomb to the chthonic deities to guard, to Pluto
and Persephone and the Erinnyes, and all the nether gods,"
and proceeds to implore these beings to afflict any person who
molests or injures the tomb, with fever and ague and other
painful diseases.

But curses were not all of this speculative and future kind.
In the Iliad^ Phoenix relates how, when he had injured his

^ Cf. Diphilus, in Athen. vi. 35. ^ Plutarch, Solon, chap. 24.

8 C. I. 3044 ; Hicks, 16. * In Ctesiph. no.

5 No. 2579 in the Corpus of Kumanudes. ^ ix. 454.

TEMPLE-RITUAL 2 29

fatlier Amyntur, the latter uttered a deep curse, calling on
the hateful Erinnyes, and how the nether Zeus (Hades) and
Persephone brought it to pass. Plutarch, in his life of Alci-
biades, gives an account of the curse pronounced on that
general at Athens, after he had by flight escaped from the
hands of the law, on hearing the result of the trial held in
his absence. All the priests and priestesses at evening pro-
nounced against him a solemn malediction, shaking in the
air a red cloth. The time of day and the colour of the cloth
were both symbolical of the death to which they devoted him.
Not long after, however, we find that when Alcibiades returned
in triumph to Athens, the Eumolpida? and the heralds with-
drew all the curses which they had pronounced against him,
by command of the people. At Cnidus, Sir C. Newton found
in a precinct dedicated to Pluto, iJemeter, Persephone, and
the lower deities generally, a number of leaden tablets on
which were graven imprecations. The person against whom
the curse was directed, was in these documents consigned to the
vengeance of the two great goddesses. The usual formula is,
"May he or she never find Persephone propitious," a curse
the bearing of which reaches beyond the bounds of the present
life into that beyond. The oifences which brought down
these terrible curses seem in magnitude scarcely proportioned
to the punishment. " One lady denounces the person who has
stolen her bracelet, or who has omitted to return her under-
garments. Another has had her husband's affections stolen
from her ; and one much-injured wife invokes curses on the
person who accused her of having tried to poison her husband." ^
On a leaden tablet found in an Athenian tomb,"^ Hermes and
Ge are begged to punish certain persons there named. Some-
times the imprecation is made in a less direct way, as when
plated coins were dedicated in temples, in all probability to
rouse the anger of the gods against the unknown forger. We
have a very curious form of imprecation from the temple
of Hera Lacinia.^ A woman presents to the goddess three
gold coins which " Melita has borrowed and not returned."
The coins were not bodily presented, but they became the
property of the goddess, and by the fact of dedication, Melita
became indebted to her, and liable to pay the money twelve-
fold to the temple, together with a measure of incense.

In dealing with imprecations, we are clearly very near the
border-line which divides religion from sorcery. Prayers,
^ C. T. Newton, Essays, p. 193. 2 (7^ y_ ^^^

3 a I. 5773; C. I. Italy, 6u-

2 30 CULTUS

oaths, and curses all gradually rose from the level of barbarous
to that of Hellenic religion ; and those of the people who
were at a lower stage of culture, kept up in these matters the
traditions of barbarism. The priest and the wizard are alike
descended from the ancient medicine-man, the one representing
the higher level attained by the race, the other keeping on
the old level or sinking below it. In all periods of Greek
history, the magicians and witches who dealt in charms, in-
cantations, and exorcisms, drove a thriving trade by flattering
the follies, and trading on the weaknesses of the many.

Oaths are closely connected with imprecations, are indeed
only a variety of them. He who binds himself by an oath,
invokes on himself the vengeance of some deity or deities,
unless he performs his promise. It is true that oaths were
not always made in that form ; the father may swear by his
children, the king by his sceptre, the warrior by his sword.
The disguised Odysseus^ swears by the hospitable table and
hearth of his home. But in these cases the meaning is the
same. The swearer invokes here, too, in case of perjury,
injury on the thing whereby he swears — that the children
may perish, the sceptre be disobeyed, the sword break in the
battle. No doubt in common use, oaths not directly intro-
ducing the names of deities, came to be regarded as mere
strong asseverations. And for this reason, when an oatli was
seriously taken, its meaning was carefully made clear. In the
Iliad Agamemnon swears by Zeus, Helios, Gsea, and the
Erinnyes, and sometimes includes the rivers and the nether
deities. The Homeric gods swear, as is well known, by the
river Styx. Solon ordered oaths to be taken by Hicesius,
Catharsius, and Exacesterius, which names we must take as
titles or appellations of Zeus, rather than as names of separate
deities. The Athenian Heliasts swore by Apollo Patrons,
Demeter, and Zeus. At Sparta they mostly swore by the
Dioscuri ; at Orchomenus, in Boeotia, by Alalcomenia Thel-
xinia and Aulis. So in most cities or districts there was
some deity or daemon who was supposed especially fatal to
perjurers. Very frequently oaths were made by the nether
deities, to whom the punishment of men naturally belonged,
and sometimes by Horcus (opKos) himself, who was personified
as a son of Zeus.

Such were serious oaths. Among the Greeks, as among
ourselves, were others of lighter character — expressions which

' Od. xiv. 159.

TEMPLE- RITUAL 23 1

had the form of oaths without the meaning. The common
oath by Herakles probably liad little meaning, Herakles not
being very seriously taken. Socrates swears by the dog
and by a plane-tree, Lampo by the goose. Indeed, playful
expressions like these savoured of no impiety — rather, on the
contrary, of piety, since by using them men avoided light use
of the names of deities.

Oaths were so far regarded as religious that they were
commonly taken in temples and accompanied by special service
and sacrifice. The lakes of the Palici in Sicily were much
resorted to by those who took oaths, and the vengeance of
the deities was said to be so swift against perjurers that
they left the shrine sightless. In Corinth the most binding
oaths were taken in the underground building where was the
tomb of Palsemon or IMelicertes ; and at Pheneus, in Arcadia,
there was a place called petroma, by the temple of the chthonian
Demeter, where the greatest oaths were taken. In almost all
cases the temples set apart for the taking of oaths were of the
nether deities. Justin ^ tells us how Ptolemy Ceraunus, wishing
to get into his power his sister Arsinoe, swore a great oath that
he would share his kingdom with her, and to make it more
sacred, went with her emissary Dio into a very ancient temple
of Zeus in jNIacedon and pronounced the oath, holding in his
hands the altar and the statue of the god. The attitude of the
swearer on these solemn occasions was that of prayer ; he stood
with his hands stretched to heaven. When a sacrifice took place
— and that this was not unusual is shown by the use of the
phrase opKia re/Avciv for taking a solemn oath — it was conducted
in the same manner as the sacrifices to Hades and kindred
deities. The victim was cut down, and its blood allowed to
flow on the ground ; in that blood the swearer bathed his
hands. The dead body, as impure, was cast into the sea.
Sometimes symbolical ceremonies were substituted for the
sacrifice. Thus the people of Phocaea, when they left their
city and swore never to return, sank a piece of iron to the
bottom of the sea, swearing not to return until the iron came
to the surface again.

A solemn oath was a necessary part of all treaties ; and when
we have the text of a treaty, this usually forms a part of it.
Each contracting state calls its own deities to witness ; usually
a copy of the treaty was set up in the chief temple of each
state, where its text was constantly under the eyes of the gods

^ Hist. xxiv. 2.

232 CULTUS

invoked in it. In an extant treaty ^ between the people of
Gortyna and Hierapytna, the oath is taken by Hestia, Zeus
Phratrius, Zeus Dictaeus, Hera, Athena Oleria, Athena Polias,
Athena Salmonia, Apollo Pythius, Leto, Artemis, Ares,
Aphrodite, the Curetes, i^ymphs and Corybantes, and all
gods and goddesses. In the treaty between Smyrna and
Magnesia, 2 the Magnesians make oath by Zeus, Ge, Helios,
Ares, Athena Areia, Artemis Tauropolos, Mater Sipylene, Apollo
of Paiidi, and all other deities, while the Smyrnseans swear
by the same string of deities, only substituting Aphrodite
Stratonicis for Apollo. These lists are of considerable historical
value, giving us a notion what divinities the cities who made
the treaty most valued and respected in their cults.

A variant form of the oath is the ordeal, which did not
indeed play so important a part in Greece as among our own
barbarous ancestors, but still was much in use. At Crathis, in
Achaia, was a temple of Ge. The priestesses who held office
in it were obliged to take an ordeal of chastity, by drinking
bull's blood, which was supposed to be immediately fatal to
those who had been unchaste.^ The locus classicus on the
subject of ordeals is in the Antigone of Sophocles,^ where the
watchman narrates how eagerly all his comrades were willing
to go through tests to prove that they had taken no share in the
burying of Polynices. -^/xev 8' erot/xot koI fxv8pov<s alpeiv ^epolv,
Kol TTvp SupTretv, KOL ^eous opKWfxoTelv, TO piy]T€ Spacrai, &c.

The Greeks in their symbolical language called Horcus the
son of Zeus, and the founder of civic order. And, in fact,
in their cities every person who held any office took an oath,
sometimes took it again and again. At Sparta oaths were
taken every month ^ by the kings not to transgress the laws,
and by the Ephors, on the part of the state, to support them
constantly if they kept their oath. The kings of Epirus and
their subjects took oaths one to another. The Archons of
Athens, the Strategi, the Heliasts, the Hellanodicse of Olympia,
and magistrates all over Greece, took oaths of allegiance to the
existing constitutions. As a specimen may serve the oath of
the Heliasts in Demosthenes' speech against Timocrates,^ which,
after entering into the utmost detail of their office, declares
that they will not take bribes or be partial, calls on Zeus
Poseidon and Demeter to witness, and begs that their future

C. I. 2555. 2 Q J 2137. The stone is at Oxford.

Paus. vii. 25, 13. ^ Line 264.

Xenoph. Be Hep. Lac. 15. ^ P. 746.

TEMPLE- RITUAL 233

prosperity and adversity may depend on their abiding or not
abidini,^ by the words of the oath. Even those who held no
state-office could not escape oaths. In every legal trial an
oath was required alike of prosecutor and defendant : every
witness had to swear to that which he asserted ; every
competitor in any sacred games had to take an oath that he
would strive for the prize fairly. Even the ordinary citizens
of Athens on reaching the ephebic age had to take a solemn
oath to bear arms honourably in defence of state and religion,
to go forth if appointed by lot as colonists, and to obey the
laws and be submissive to those in office.

If it be asked what the result of all this swearing was, the
answer must be that it produced continual perjury and a habit
of bad faith. Plato in the Lmvs^ praises Rhadamanthys for
having introduced iu law-suits a speedy mode of settlement by
making the parties concerned take oaths ; but he adds that
such a proceeding, though suited to an age of honour and
simplicity, was in his own day unsuitable, since some people
denied the existence of the gods, others thought that they
existed indeed but cared nought for human afiairs ; but the
baser sort, who were also the majority, thought tliat the gods
could be easily persuaded by sacrifices and flatteries to forgive
them for any perjuries they might commit. Plato would
therefore do away with oaths. And it is easy to see that the
Athenian custom of making oaths compulsory at every turn
must have thoroughly familiarised the people with the sight
and the habit of perjury. And if this was the case in the
time of Plato, and among the Athenians who were of better
faith than most of the Greeks, we may easily imagine that
among the dissolute Greeks of Asia and Italy perjury was quite
a usual habit. To Dionysius of Syracuse is attributed the
saying that boys were to be cheated with knuckle-bones, and
men with oaths. Even the Spartans were more lax in this
respect, if we may trust Attic writers, than in other parts of
morality. Only in the age after Alexander oaths almost ceased
to deceive, because everybody had ceased to believe in their
being kept ; and Graeca fides was to the Romans, at that time
of sterner morality, equivalent to faitlilessness.

Those who find the origin of sacrifice in the desire of a clan
to renew its common life with its deity or totem, find a parallel
explanation of the origin of purification. As Robertson Smith
writes,^ "Primarily purification means the application to the

^ P. 948. 2 jieligion of the Semites, i. p. 405.

2 34 CULTUS

person of some medium which removes a taboo, and enables
the person purified to mingle freely in the ordinary life of
his fellows." There are many ways in which man or woman
can come in contact with what is forbidden, and so acquire
ceremonial uncleanness, by childbirth, contact with the dead
or the like, or by the commission of some marked offence
against the community. In such case the impurity has to be
removed before the unclean person can mix with the life of the
clan, and still more before he can venture to approach the sacred
beings who are the protectors and source of the common life.

Purifications are a marked feature of the Levitical code of
the Hebrews, and sufficiently familiar to all readers of the
Bible. In Greece they belong in a special degree to the cult
of Apollo which had its centre at Delphi, and to the more
mystic cult of Dionysus, in which lustrations were a prominent
feature. In the Iliad and Odyssey this phase of religious cult
is scarcely visible. As it is deeply rooted in all lands in the
thought and feeling of barbarians, we must suppose that for
some reason the Greek aristocracy of whom the Homeric poems
treat had escaped from its influence. But in historic Greece,
on the other hand, we have abundant evidence of its power.

Purifications may be divided into two kinds, those which
were merely ceremonial and formal, and those which partook
rather of the nature of expiation and implied a sense of guilt.
The former kind is easily explicable, whether the account above
given of its origin be correct or not. It was quite in accord
with the Greek nature to consider any uncleanness as unfitting
a worshipper to enter into the presence of the gods. This
dictated the custom already mentioned of placing water at the
doors of temples, that all who passed in might sprinkle them-
selves and so be ceremonially purged. The water used for this
purpose should be either running or else salt. Salt water was
considered as especially cleansing; and for ceremonial sprink-
ling, water was fetched from the sea, or salt was mingled with
fresh water. In the same way, as the contact of a corpse made
a person unclean, a bowl of water was placed at the door of
the house where a dead man lay, in order that all who passed
out might sprinkle themselves and do away with the impurity.
Women on bringing forth children were at once formally
impure, and had to absent themselves for forty days from the
temples of the gods, after which they were purified, and brought
an offering to Hestia or to Artemis, goddess of delivery ; the
new-born child was also submitted to a ceremony of purifica-
tion by fire. At Delos means were taken to remove at once

SACRIFICE 235

to another island any person in a dangerous illness, or any
woman about to bear a child, in order that the sacred island of
Apollo should not be polluted by death or by childbirth. In
later purifications there is a mixture of hygiene with religion ;
antl corporeal cleansing accompanied that which was merely
ceremonial ; but this idea seems foreign to the barbarian.

In cases, however, in which the impurity to be removed was
not merely ceremonial, but deeper and connected with the feel-
ings of guilt and transgression, mere cleansing with water or
fire did not suffice, and some expiatory sacrifice, involving the
shedding of blood, was necessary. Of such expiatory sacrifices
we will treat in the next chapter.

CHAPTER VI

SACRIFICE

In all ancient cult, by far the most important place is occupied
by sacrifice. This is at once the most primitive and the most
usual means by wliich relations were established between wor-
shipper and worshipped. Of late years the researches of an-
thropologists, and especially of Mr. Robertson Smith, have been
largely devoted to the origin and history of sacrifice,^ and
although it must be allowed that these investigations leave
much obscure and unintelligible, yet they are successful in lay-
ing down the main outlines of the subject, and in explaining
many phenomena which had hitherto remained inexplicable.

It is impossible here to enter into the very obscure and
difficult question of the origins of sacrifice, which lie beyond
the domain of history. Mr. Robertson Smith seeks those
origins in the idea of a common life belonging to all the
members of a clan, and shared by them with their deity, or
rather with their totem, which was commonly an animal held
sacred by the clan, and regarded as closely akin to it. Such
totem was not only propitiated by offerings, but its life was
also held sacred ; and only on rare and solemn occasions was a
totem animal slain, in order that, by partaking of its blood or
life, the members of the clan might renew their sacred kinship.

^ See especially Tylor, Primitive Culture; W. R. Smith, T?ie Religion
of the Semites, and tlie article Sacrifice iu the Encyclopctdia Britannica ;
J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough.

236 CULTUS

But the meaning and purpose of totemism is as yet unexplained ;
and though it cannot be doubted that the ideas it embodies are
a vera causa in relation to many customs of primitive religion,
yet their influence may easily be exaggerated. For example,
Mr. Robertson Smith observes ^ that the custom of bringing food
to the gods seems to have originated in the offering of food to
sacred animals, " for in totemism the gifts laid before the sacred
animals are actually eaten." This, however, is not borne out
by the evidence. It is far more probable that the offering of
food to the gods arose out of the cultus of the dead, the dead
being supposed to require sustentation as well as the living.

Without, however, going deeper into these matters, we
cannot do better than adopt the valuable and luminous division
originated by Mr. Robertson Smith ^ of sacrifices into three
classes : (i) honorific or donatory; (2) piacular; (3) mystic.

No doubt a confusion between the kinds of sacrifice was
usual in many times and places. Certainly in Greek ritual, as
it has come down to us, such confusion prevails. Nevertheless
it tends greatly to clearness and to a right apprehension of the
facts, if we try, so far as possible, to regard donatory, piacular,
and mystic offerings as distinct in kind.

( 1 ) Donatory Sacrifices. — The Greeks, as far back as we can
trace them in history, regarded their deities as in most respects
like men, and like men, in particular, in their desire of food
and drink, as well as garments, vessels, and other spoil. There
is a well-known line perhaps of Hesiod : ^ —

Aw/)a ^coi's ireiOet, SiJop alSotovs ^acriXrja<s.

Coupling this with the well-known fact that all sacrifices laid
upon the altar were originally regarded as the immediate food
of the gods, we have a ready explanation of many sacrifices.
As the early Greeks built for the gods houses like those of
their chiefs, so they thought it necessary to bring them food
and drink, to lay fruits on their tables, and to please their
nostrils wdth the sweet scent of incense. They thought the
gods to have appetites like their own, and hoped by satisfy-
ing their desires to win favour and help to themselves. This
idea, when fully worked out, will account for many facts re-
garding Greek sacrifice.

^ Religion of the Semites, p. 212. The fact that the clan totems of
savages are sometimes not animals tells strongly against the views of this
book.

2 Encycl. Brit,, art. Sacrifice. ^ In Plato, Repuhl, iii. p. 390.

SACHIFICE 237

At first the sacrifice was very literally rendered. Sometimes
the victim was so slain that its blood ran on to the sacred
stone or tree, which was in many places the visible embodiment
of the divine presence, or the wine of the offering was poured
into the ground whereon these fetishes stood. Sometimes the
sacrificial offering was burned whole, as a holocaust. But
usages arose whereby the burning was partial. Certain i)ortions
only were set aside for tlie gods, and the rest served for the
maintenance of the officiating priests, who devoured it as the
representatives of their deity. In later times this priestly
share was often sold in the markets as ordinary food. The
frugal Greeks would seldom slay an ox or sheep merely for
eating, so that they partook of fresh meat mainly in connection
with the numerous sacrifices. In time the pleasure of the gods
in food and drink was taken less and less literally by the
people. In Homer, great deities like Zeus and Poseidon are
spoken of as revelling in the enjoyment of sacrifice. In the
first book of the Iliad Chryses recalls to Apollo all the rich
sacrifices which he has enjoyed at the hands of his priest, and
claims in return the aid of the god against the sons of Atreus.
Hesiod takes, if possible, a still lower view of the divine nature :
the gods according to him are as open to bribery as the chiefs
themselves. This view is not far removed from that of the
Hindus, who suppose that sacrifices and prayers to the gods
confer on the votary a distinct right to his aid when occasion
arises. In later Greece, and among the more educated classes,
we find a different feeling. "Not even a good man," says
Plato in the Lmva,^ " will receive gifts from the wicked, still
less the gods : all the pains which the wicked take to conciliate
them are thrown away." There was then more of that feeling
which Schomann- lays at the root of sacrifice, that the gods
deserve the best we have to ofi'er, the feeling which makes
men anxious to give the earliest and best of the things which
come to them to the gods, such gifts as first-fruits, and beautiful
flowers, and unblemished animals.

We must distinguish between things dedicated to the gods
and sacrifices proper. A thing dedicated remained in the
house of the god as a continual possession ; the thing sacrificed
was used up for his immediate pleasure. We may find gifts
of a character intermediate between the two. Such are the
corn and fruits which were continually in many temples laid
on the table before the deity, and which, not being consumed,

^ iii. p. 7i6e. 2 q^^ Altcrthuiner, ii. p. 212.

238 CULTUS

in time fell to the priests. Such we may consider coins thrown
into a well for the benefit of some deity, or hair cut off in his
honour, on some event of life. Hence the ancients speak of
fireless offerings, airvpa ; and of things which were actually
sacrificed, some were not consumed with fire. Wine and milk
in libations were merely poured on the ground, and horses
were driven alive into sea or river and so drowned. Still the
great intermediary between gods and men was fire. All primi-
tive people hold fire in the greatest reverence. It is the means
of all the comfort of life, the greatest and most perfect of
purifying powers, irresistible in its wrath, and of infinite
service to man in warming his hut, cooking his food, moulding
his weapons. In tlie Vedas, Agni is among the greatest of
the gods, and the representative and messenger of the rest;
receiving gifts from men and transporting them in vaporous
form to the abode of the deities. Hestia, the household fire,
was, as we have seen in a previous chapter, held in high honour
among the early Greeks, and received a share in their food and
drink. Thus it was by no chance, but in accord with a deep
principle of human nature, that things presented to the gods
were submitted to the action of fire. And it was supposed
that as they passed away and disappeared from earth, they were
received and enjoyed by the deities hovering about the altar,
and invisibly present at the sacrifice.

Plato in the Lmvs,^ and after him Porphyry, maintains that
the earliest off'erings in Greece were of the kind called bloodless.
It is, however, probable that this was an ungrounded theory of
rationalising philosophers. Of this class were fruits, and the
first-fruits of the crops, which were sometimes consumed with
fire. Bread and cakes were also sometimes ofi'ered on the altars,
moulded into the form of victims and burned in their place,
but in this instance it is evident that the bloodless sacrifice was
a mere substitute for that in which blood was shed. The term
bloodless, avat/^os, also applies to the various sorts of libation
which were offered either at the time of sacrifice, or in the course
of ordinary meals. As vegetable sacrifices were considered more
primitive and pure than animal sacrifices, ^ so libations of honey
and milk were reckoned purer than those of wine. And
though wine was the common matter of libations, and even
unmixed wine, which was poured to the deities by those who

^ vi. p. 782 c.

2 The opposite idea seems to have been current among the Jews : Genesis
iv. 3. 4-

SACRIFICE 239

themselves drank only wine mixed with water, yet there were
certain deities to whom wine was not offered. The Eleans^
offered wine to all deities save the Arcadian Despoena and the
Nymphs. And generally virgin deities, like the Hours, Muses,
and the daughters of Erechtheus, were regaled with no wine,
but with honey, oil, and milk. There were here and there in
Greece altars on which only bloodless offerings, fruits and
bread, and incense and the like could be offered : such altars
as that of the " Pious " at Delos, and that of Zeus Hypatus at
Athens. And at certain feasts animal sacrifices were not in
vogue, in the Diasia, for instance, at Athens, when animals of
breadstuffs were offered to the reconciling Zeus, Zeu? M€tAi;)(ios.

In donatory sacrifice, men naturally gave to the gods the
animals which they themselves used as food — the ox, which
was of course the noblest of victims, the sheep, goat, pig, or
fowl most commonly. Two or three of these were often com-
bined in a single sacrifice, as in the Roman suovetaurilia, or
the annual sacrifices to Herakles at Thebes and elsewhere, con-
sisting of bull, ram, and goat. In Homer we do not read of
the sacrifice of any but domestic animals, and this would seem
a natural custom, men giving to the gods the flesh which they
themselves preferred. Swine were the chief food of the Greeks
themselves in early times, and so they remained usual in more
primitive cults.

(2) Piacular Sacrijices. — These are offerings made to the
gods, especially the gods of the nether world, when in any
way the normal relations of man to the spiritual powers of the
world are disturbed.

Of the mere ceremonial purifications which preceded any
approach to the gods I have already spoken, but the purifica-
tion which involved sacrifice was reserved for this place. The
animal offered on such occasion was a pig, perhaps because of
the normal dedication of that animal to the nether deities.
The Hellanodica^ and the women chosen to weave the annual
peplos for Hera at Olympia, cleansed themselves before entering
on their office in water from tlie spring Piera,- and sacrificed
a i>ig. Before the beginning of business in the Athenian
assembly a pair of pigs was sacrificed, and the seats sprinkled
with their blood, in order to remove any hidden impurity in
any of the citizens. On one occasion as the Athenians were
assembled, news was brought to them of the terrible massacre
by the democratic party at Argos, in which twelve hundred

^ Paus. V. 15, 10. 2 Paus. v. 16, 8.

240 CULTUS

of their opponents had fallen ; and the assembly, struck with
horror, ordered the purificatory ceremonies with which the
sitting had begun to be repeated, considering that the mere
hearing of such horrors brought a kind of pollution. A cere-
mony of the same nature took place at the beginning of
dramatic displays, and of the various religious ceremonies.
In some places a dog, the favourite of Hecate, was put instead
of the pig in such sacrifices : in Bceotia, for instance, dogs were
slain and cut in pieces, and the people walked between their
scattered limbs. Purification by bathing and the sacrifice of a pig
was necessary before one partook of the Mysteries of Eleusis.

We must distinguish from such customary purifications those
intended really to appease the wrath of the gods. When a
Greek had the consciousness of having committed a crime he
sought means to propitiate the deities he had offended and to
recover divine favour. If he fell into any misfortune he Avould
scarcely fail to suppose that it came upon him as a punishment
for misdoing, and be eager to remove the cause. Even an evil
dream or an omen which he considered unfortunate would make
him feel that he was out of favour with heaven and needed to
be reconciled. So a state which was visited with any calamity
in war or an epidemic sickness would apply to priest or sooth-
sayer or oracle to discover by what means it could regain the
lost favour of heaven. And if this feeling arose in the breasts
of those who had no special consciousness of wrong-doing, far
more did it harass and oppress those, whether individuals or
communities, who were aware that they had committed some
crime and incurred the just Avrath of heaven.

It is remarked by several writers that the idea of divine
anger being kindled by the shedding of blood and needing to be
propitiated is absent from the Homeric poems. The Homeric
heroes think that they have sufficiently atoned for a crime
when they compensate the sufferers and acknowledge that they
were in the wrong. It was probably the Apolline religion
which first made usual in Greece those ideas of the necessity
of jDurification after bloodshed which were so usual in later
Greece. These ideas were indeed somewhat undeveloped. The
Greeks seem to have made but small distinction, as regards
need of expiation, between intentional and unintentional homi-
cide : they regarded both alike as incurring the displeasure of
heaven, and as requiring the intervention of Apollo. If the
man who slew without malice was less to be blamed than the
intentional slayer, yet his misfortune would not be possible
unless he had by some means forfeited divine good-will.

SACRIFICE 24 1

In phenomena such as these we see the survival of notions
with which the student of primitive man is sufficiently familiar.
Among savage clans the slaying of any one outside the clan
is no crime, though of course it is the source of a blood
feud between the slayer and the clan of his victim. But
when clansman is slain by clansman, even unintentionally, an
act of impiety is committed, and a barrier raised up between
the clan and its divinities, which has to be removed by further
shedding of blood in sacrifice, or else by the total expulsion
and outlawry of the offender.

One of the earliest mentions of purification from blood-
shed is that in the ^thiopis of Arctinus,^ where it was
narrated how Odysseus in Lesbos purified Achilles when he
had slain Thersites. In the time of Croesus the custom seems
to have been spread through Greece and Lydia, for Herodotus
tells how Adrastus arrived at the court of that king demanding
purification from blood-shedding, and how Croesus first purified
him, and then asked whom he had slain ; and this instance
brings under our notice one of the chief features of purification
from bloodshed, that it could not take place in the same neigh-
bourhood wherein was committed the deed requiring expiation.
Perhaps the original idea was that the spirit of the dead man
remained on the spot where he was slain, implacable in anger,
and that the only way to escape his wrath was to flee to other
lands. What is certain is that expatriation was in these cases
necessary, and that it lasted a year at least, whence it was
called dircvLavTLo-fxos. Indeed, what prudence dictated to a
shedder of blood was an immediate flight either beyond seas
or to one of those asylums which were sufficiently sacred to
stay all attempts at pursuit.

Greece was full of the stories of the ])urification of gods,
heroes, and men after they had committed homicide. Apollo
himself required to be purified after he had slain the Python,
and Herakles, Avhen he had shot down the drunken Centaurs.
At Troezen- they showed the place where the townsmen of
that city i)urified Orestes after he had slain his mother. Before
he was purified, says Pausanias, no one would admit him under
his roof ; but afterwards, he was easily admitted. The means
of purification was water from the fountain Hippocrene, and
a sacrifice, which being buried near by, a laurel-tree grew up
rooted in the decay of tlie victim.

^ See the Chrestoinathia of Proclus.
2 Pans. ii. 31, 8.

242 CULTUS

We possess in the Argonautica'^ of ApoUonius Rhodius a
full description of a ceremony of purification supposed to be
performed by Circe over the persons of Jason and Medeia after
they had slain Absyrtus. Circe slays a young pig, and pours
blood from the wound over the hands of the polluted pair.
She then washes them, no doubt with living water, which is
carried away by an attendant and poured on the earth. She
then burns cakes and other purifying [xetXiKTpa and pours out
wineless libations, and calls upon Zeus to restrain the Erinnyes
and to forgive the offenders. After all the ceremony she
proceeds, as did Croesus in similar case, to ask what kind of
a crime her suppliants have committed. Of course, in time,
the courts of law superseded proceedings of this kind, which
had a theocratic rather than a democratic air ; and though
the custom of banishment and even that of purification did not
go entirely out of use in the days of Thucydides and Xeno-
phon, yet these formed no bar to regular legal proceedings.

Not individuals only required purification from bloodshed,
but also states. After the slaughter of the partisans of Cylon,^
the city of Athens was regarded by its own inhabitants as
so polluted as to require extraordinary means of purification.
Epimenides, the Cretan, who had a great reputation for piety
and his knowledge of divine affairs, was sent for, and he
purged the city with a variety of ceremonies. Among other
proceedings we learn that he dispersed from the Areiopagus as
a centre a flock of black and white sheep in every direction,
and bade the people sacrifice each on the spot on which he
lay down to the deity to whom that spot was sacred. The
Argives,^ after they had accomplished the slaughter of a
thousand men, whom they had enrolled as a sort of standing
army, but wlio had begun to oppress them, felt their city
polluted, and among other means of expiation erected a statue
of Zeus Meilichius made by the younger Polycleitus, and
established a cultus in his honour. Some of the Cynsethians^
who had in civil strife imbrued their hands with the blood of
their fellow-citizens fled to j\Iantinea ; but the Mantineans not
only would not receive them, but considered their territory
polluted by their visit, and caused it to be formally purified.
Such events as these are of common occurrence in Greek
history, and show that if the Hellenes were swift to shed
blood, especially in political strife, they felt that it was a

' iv. 1. 702. ^ Plutarch, Solon, c. 12.

3 Paus. iL 20, 2. ^ Polyb. iv. 21.8.

SACRIFICE 243

crime, and were not satisfied until they had shown in sight of
gods and men that they regarded themselves as rendered
unclean by such sanguinary excesses.

A noteworthy feature of the piacular sacrifice was that the
victim was not consumed, either by priest or votary, but made
away with, burned, or buried, or cast into the sea. As the
notion of substitution prevails in regard to this kind of sacrifice,
it would be natural to suppose that the body was destroyed as
having taken on it the guilt of those who made the sacrifice,
and so become polluted. But Robertson Smith doubts whether
this was the case : he thinks that the offering was not eaten
rather because it was sacred than because it was polluted.

As Robertson Smith observes, in honorific sacrifice the deity
accepts a gift ; in piacular sacrifice he demands a life. Thus
piacular sacrifices belong primarily to times of depression and
calamity ; and those who offer them give usually that which
they hold most dear to appease the wrath of a god to whom
their lives are forfeit. As the Greeks were not at any time
of which we have knowledge cannibals, a human victim could
not appropriately be offered as food to the gods ; but human
sacrifices were not unknown in piacular sacrifice down to even
the Christian era. In the presence of great danger or calamity,
men tended to try to purchase divine favour by human sacri-
fice, as Codrus offered himself on behalf of Athens, and as
Iphigeneia was given to Artemis to buy off her displeasure.
Piacular sacrifices, thus starting, might easily become embodied
in ritual, and have a place in regular civic cultus ; and then,
of course, there would be a strong tendency to soften the
asperity of the rite by putting enemies, criminals, or animals
in the place of a child of the clan.

At the same time, as a modification of this view, it must be
pointed out that though a human victim would not be brought
as food to the gods, he might be brought as a slave, and sent
to them by fire, instead of being retained in the temple service.
The well-known sacrifice of Trojan youths at the tomb of
Patroclus, as narrated in the Iliad, suggests that human
victims were by no means an inappropriate offering to a dead
hero, and so to the gods, who in many ways inherited the
customs of the cultus of the dead.

In later Greece human sacrifices were rare, but in many places
we may find indications of their previous existence. Thus crt
Rhodes ^ there was in early times an annual custom of sacrificing

^ Porphyry, Ahst. ii. 54.

244 CULTUS

a man to Cronus, who is here clearly but a translation of the
PhuLjnician Moloch, a well-known lover of human victims. In
later times the Rhodians, not venturing entirely to abandon the
custom, still put to death a man at the festival ; but he was
a criminal who had merited death, and he was allowed an
unlimited quantity of wine beforehand to act as an anaesthetic.
iVt Leucas ^ there had been an ancient custom of annually hurling
a man from a projecting rock into the sea in honour of Apollo ;
in this instance not only was a criminal chosen, but he was
allowed some chance of escape, feathers and even living birds
being tied to him to lighten his fall, and boats waiting below to
rescue him if not killed before he reached the sea. In other
cases the human character of the sacrifices was indeed retained,
but bleeding was substituted for slaying. The most notable
instances of this occur in the cult at various places of the
Tauric Artemis. ^ The altars of this goddess at Sparta ran with
the blood of Spartan youths who were scourged in her honour.
In the cult of Zeus Laphystius in later times the victim was
selected, but was allowed to escape at the altar.

Still )3ommoner was the substitution for the human victim of
some animal or some inanimate object. The tale of Iphigeneia
at Aulis, and the substitution for her of a deer, is well known,
and dates from early times. Pausanias ^ narrates a story of a
similar kind from Potniae in Boeotia. A man having in a
drunken fit slain the priest of Dionysus ^Egobalus, it was
ordered by a response of the Delphic oracle that a youth at
the age of puberty should be yearly sacrificed ; but soon after-
wards, as the story goes, the god himself substituted a goat
for the human victim, ^lian^ recounts a curious instance
of a similar kind from Tenedos. Here a cow about to bring
forth was treated, as a human mother, with care and tender-
ness ; when the calf was born, cothurni were put on its feet,
and it was sacrificed to Dionysus ; but the priest who slew
it had to fly the spot and run as far as the sea. We even
hear of clay images being substituted for human victims in
certain sacrifices by the Greeks, just as they buried with their
dead loaves of terra-cotta, and as they burned in honour of
the deities cakes in the forms of animals, in the place of the
animals themselves.

Certain well-known events in Greek history may be here

1 Strabo, x. p. 694. ^ Eurip. Iph. in Tauris, 1. 1425. ^ ix. 8, 2.

■* ^lian, Nat. Anim. xii. 34. This instance might be taken in another
sense. The calf may have been treated as human, to make clear its
kinship with the tribe, of which it represented the totem.

SACRIFICE 245

cited as illustrating the statements above made. Before the
battle of Salamis, as Plutarch ^ tells us, on the authority of
Phanias, when Themistocles was sacrificing, according to the
custom of Greek generals, three noble Persian prisoi:ers were
brought in ; and at the sight of them the seer Euphrantides
at once cried out that they should be sacrificed to iJionysus
Omestes. Themistocles hesitated ; but the bystanders urged
him not to neglect the words of the seer, and the sacrifice
actually took place. To slay a few enemies captured in war
could not seem very harsh to any Greek : it was the idea of
the deities deligiiting in human blood which shocked Themis-
tocles. In the time of Pelopidas ^ the Theban this feeling had
grown. Before the battle of Leuctra, his army encamped near
the graves of the Leuctran virgins who were said to have been
in old time murdered by Spartans. These heroines appeared
to the general, and their father promised victory on condi-
tion of his sacrificing on the morrow a yellow-haired virgin.
Pelopidas was wholly disinclined to accept the omen, how-
ever favourable ; but the appearance next day of a yellow
foal enabled him to fulfil the injunction of the hero without
violating humanity or insulting the gods.

(3) Mystic Sacrifices. — Of all sacrifices these are nearest to
the original type, if the views of Robertson Smith be founded.
Their essence lies in the participation by the worshippers and
the worshipped in a solemn bond of blood-felloAvship. Robertson
Smith sketches in clear lines the nature of this rite among primi-
tive peoples who are in the stage of totemism.^ The slaughter
of an animal of the kind regarded as sacred by the tribe " is
permitted or required on solemn occasions ; and all the tribes-
men partake of its flesh, that they may thereby cement and
seal their mystic unity with one another and with their god."
" The solemn mystery of its death is justified by the considera-
tion that only in this way can the sacred cement be procured
which creates or keeps alive a living bond of union between
the worshippers and their god. This cement is nothing else
than the actual life of the sacred and kindred animal, which
is conceived as residing in its flesh, but especially in its blood,
and so, in the sacred meal, is actually distributed among all the
participants, each of whom incorporates a particle of it with
his own individual life."

The same mystic drawing together of the bond of unity in

* Themist. 13 ; Aristid. 9. ' Plutarch, Pelop. 20-22.

'^ Religion of the Semites, p. 295.

246 CULTUS

a tribe is a feature of the feasts or sacrifices which families
celebrated at the tombs of their ancestors, and clans at the
heroon of their eponymous hero. In each case the dead was
regarded as the host, and as taking a share, though it might
be an invisible share, in the feast. But in historic Greece the
deep-seated beliefs which made the sanctity of sacrifice were
embodied le>s in the rites of ordinary, civic, or family worship
than in the ordinances of those more secret cults which were
termed by the Greeks mysteries, and more especially in those
attached to Dionysus. At the fierce carnival of the Agrionia,
the wild women who rioted in the service of Dionysus tore to
pieces with hands and teeth a victim chosen for the purpose
and devoured its palpitating flesh. This victim was in some
cases a bull, in some cases a fawn or kid, but we read of
instances in which a human life was thus taken ; and in any
case the victim was regarded as a substitute for the god, so that
those who devoured its flesh and drank its hot blood were
united to the god in a terrible sacrament. Robertson Smith ^
cites a parallel in Arabia, where the members of a tribe,
placing a live camel in their midst, would, in honour of the
morning star, which they specially venerated, at a given signal
tear it in pieces and devour it raw.

It was natural that in Greece and Italy rites so foul were
strongly opposed by the authorities, and their persistency shows
that they rested on a primeval basis of profound belief.

In considering the reasons which dictated the choice of a
victim for various deities, we must distinguish between the
causes which researches into the early history of mankind
render plausible, and those which the Greeks themselves re-
garded as operative. On the whole, anthropological reasonings,
though by no means infallible, are more to be trusted than the
inferences of the Greeks tliemselves, since, in a mythopoeic age,
a custom at once gives rise to legends invented merely to
explain it. The rule laid down by Robertson Smith is that
for ordinary and donative sacrifices in antiquity, such animals
were used as constituted the food of the worshippers ; but that
in the case of the rarer and more solemn sacrifices of a piacular
or mystic character, the animal was chosen which was supposed
most nearly to represent the god, possibly the animal which, as
a totem, had preceded the advent of the god. Of course this
rule does not hold in all cases, for when principles were
forgotten, customs were apt to be improperly transferred from

^ Religion of the Semites, p. 264.

SACRIFICE 247

one rite to another ; and in Greek cult a custom once established
seldom long lacked a basis in legend.

The Greeks themselves, as is natural, justified the sacrifices
which they offered less on general principles than on local
grounds ; but a few rules were recognised in practice, whatever
may have been their origin.

Sometimes the animal chosen for sacrifice to a god was one
regarded as especially grateful to him. The Rhodians annually
drove into the sea as a sacrifice to Helios a four-horse chariot,
and the Argives drowned horses in honour of Poseidon. Stags
and other wild creatures were offered on the altar of their
protectress Artemis. For many deities, victims were chosen
from the sacred herds which fed on their special domain. The
dog was at Sparta sacrificed to Ares; and it was supposed that
his quarrelsome nature rendered him a favourite of that deity ;
and when the same animal was offered to Hecate, a justification
was found in the fact that dogs are in the habit of baying the
moon. The fish called rpiyX-r],^ the mullet, was sacrificed to the
triple Hecate, probably in accordance with some legend arising
out of its name.

Other instances could be cited in which the favourite animal
of a deity was also the favourite sacrifice to that deity. But
this was not in Greek opinion the only rule. The goat was
sacrificed to Dionysus, and a reason was found in his destruction
of the young shoots of the vine ; and the slaying of swine in
honour of Demeter was justified on the ground of the injury
done by swine to crops. In these cases the ancient explanation
is almost certainly wrong. The goat frequently in ancient art
accompanies Dionysus, and the swine was closely connected
with Demeter at Eleusis. A good instance of the change
of view in regard to a sacrifice may be found in the cultus of
Apollo Lyceius at Sicyon.^ Pausanias tells us that near the
temple on occasions food had been set out for wolves and
poisoned under the direction of the god. We have here an
almost certain instance of perversion, for it is more than likely
that originally food was laid out for the wolves as the sacred
beasts of the wolf-god Apollo, and that the poisoning was a later
notion.

The most general rule applying to all animals brought for
sacrifice was that they should be sound and free from blemish.
Plato, however, says^ that the Lacedaemonians neglected this
maxim and offered even crippled animals, which he considers a

1 Athen. vii. p. 3256. - Pans. U. 9, 7. 3 j^^/j ij_ p j^^^

248 CULTUS

sign of their want of reverence, but which probably rather showa
their want of refinement. Victims must also be unused by man :
everywhere oxen which had been used for the plough were
exempt. In other respects there was the greatest local variation.
An inscription from Ceos ^ ordains that at some local feast oxen
and sheep which have cast their milk-teeth shall be slain, and
swine which are not more than a year and three months old.
To the greater gods adult victims were a fitting sacrifice, such as
the ox and the swine of five years old, of which Homer speaks.
There was a law at Athens that lambs should not be sacrificed
before they were shorn, nor sheep before they had lambed.
Generally tlie sex of the victim followed that of the deity
to whom it was devoted, and its age corresponded to that
assigned to such deity : a young lieifer to Artemis and an
adult bull to Zeus were obviously fitting offerings. As to
colour, there was a fairly constant rule that white animals were
most suitable for offering to an Olympian deity, and black to a
chthonic deity or a hero.

A certain cleanliness and purity were required in those who
conducted sacrifice. Not only was the priest expected to be clean
and clad in clean, usually white, garments, but he was also, as
Porphyry - says, to keep apart from tombs and not look on
objects of mournful or obscene character. A purity of heart to
correspond to this ceremonial purity was certainly not required
in earlier times : such an idea could only arise as religion
became more subjective. The use of flowers to decorate the
altar was in Greece universal, and priests and votaries wore
garlands not only on their heads but often over arms and
breast. Taeniae, too, long scarfs tied in a bow, were, as we know
from the testimony of vases, wound round the heads and arms
of those who took any part in a religious service. There is
hardly a trace in purely Greek religion of the ideas which have
always prevailed among Semitic races and those influenced by
them, that low prostrations, self-defilement witli sackcloth and
ashes, and meagreness and filth of body are things acceptable in
the eyes of heaven. The Hellenes supposed their deities to
look more favourably on an erect carriage, careful dress, and a
self-confidence not mingled with boasting.

The larger temples of Greece were daily the scene of private
religious services. A family wished to bespeak the favour of
a deity for one of their number who was about to undertake
some serious task — to sail for a distant shore, to marry, to

^ C. I. 2360 ; Rangabe, No. 82 J. ^ De 4bst, ii. 50

SACRIFICE

'49

enter for the games, or the like. They would approach the
temple in a group, like those represented on many of the

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votive tablets of the temples of Asklepius, bringing with them
some victim as an offering. The priest and his attendants, clad

250 CULTUS

in the festal attire of which we have spoken, would, on behalf of
the deity, meet his votaries outside the door of the temple. The
sacrifice was to be a meal, shared with the god on his table,
the altar, whereby he became as it were a guest-friend, and
well disposed to the votary. But he must not be thus ap-
proached against his will, and therefore it became important
to observe any external sign whereby his pleasure might be
conveyed. Chief among such indications was the port and
behaviour of the sacrificial animal. If he seemed willingly
to approach the altar, and above all if he bowed his head
to the stroke which laid him low, it was the best of omens.
Eeluctance and restiveness were, on the other hand, a sign
that the deity was unfriendly. There was much art dis[)layed
by the temple servants in procuring behaviour such as they
wished in the victim : he was lured, not driven, to the place
of slaughter, and made to lower his head by a sudden dashing
of water in his ears.

After all present had been sprinkled with water, specially
purified^ by contact with embers from the altar, in sign of
their participation in the ceremony, and the priest had uttered
the warning, evcf)T][X€iT€ or eixfujfXLa earTO). the prayers appropriate
to the occasion were recited. Of these I have already treated :
they were in all cases but short, for the Greeks were not of
those heathen who thought they would be heard for much
speaking. Then, to the sound of the flute, proceeded the
act of sacrifice. The victim was led, bedecked with garlands,
to the altar. Barley, ovAo^vrat, was brought in baskets, and
thrown over his head and body, as part of the divine banquet,
just as in human banquets bread accompanies meat. A few
hairs were cut from the head of the victim, and thrown into
the sacrificial fire, an operation considered as a sort of offering
of first-fruits. The beast was then struck down by the i^riest
or liis servant by a single blow of club or axe, and his throat
cut with the sacred knife, so that his blood might freely flow.
With the blood the altars were sprinkled. The fall of the
victim was greeted with loud shouts or with shrill sounds
of the flute, which drowned the groans of the dying animal.
Instantly he was skinned by the temple-slaves, and his limbs
divided. Part of the body was burned on the altar, usually
the fat and a part of each limb. The thigh-bones, wrapped in
fat, were commonly assigned as the share of the deity ; and
a fable was told of Prometheus,"^ that he had outwitted Zeus

1 Athen. ix. p. 409a. Cf. Isa. vi. 6, ^ Hesiod, Theog. 541,

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 2$ I

into choosing this portion. Homer speaks of giving to the
gods the thighs wrapped in fat, [x-qpovs r" t^erajuov Kara t€
KVLo-T) iKaXyxf^av ; ^ and it has been disputed whether this
plirase can 138 applied only to bones and fat, or whether it
necessarily includes the flesh of the thighs. If the latter,
then the share taken by the gods in sacrifice grew less in the
course of Greek history. The priest received as his perquisite
the skin and a joint of meat. The rest was eaten joyously
at a sort of banquet, held in common by all the .sacrificial
party ; or portions were sent to the various friends who were
unable to be present : thus every sacrifice involved a feast.
The less wealthy Greeks seldom tasted meat except on the
occasion of a sacrifice. The entrails of the victim were care-
fully examined by the priest or some soothsayer, to draw from
iheir condition an augury as to whether the deity was likely
to grant the prayer which went with the offering. Copious
libations accompanied the sacrifice and the feast, that the
deities should not lack wine as well as meat.

This was the course of the ordinary sacrifices to deities of
the upper sphere ; but when heroes or the chthonic deities
were the powers to be ap[)eased, the head of the victim was
pressed down, so that his blood formed a pool on the ground.
Such sacrifices were brought, not in the morning but in the
evening, and their darker and more gloomy character, some-
what foreign to the natural bent of the Greek nature, testified
to the fact that even in Greece religion had its dark and sterii.
as well as its attractive and cheerful side.

CHAPTER VII

DIVINATION AND ORACLES

Probably no countries have been without some form of divina-
tion, and its existence in . many forms is one of the most
striking features of Greek religious observance. It is easy to
see what motives drove the Greeks to searching for means of
finding out the will of the deities and their intentions for the
future. At all times they had a strong belief in destiny or fate ;
and it is easy to pass from the conviction that the future is
fixed, to the belief that it can be foretold ; and in the course

1 IL i. 460.

252 CULTUS

of life many occasions might arise when a man would hesitate
between various courses of conduct, not knowing which was
likely to bring the best results to him and his. In such cases
to seek direction from the superior knowledge and wisdom of
the gods was a natural instinct; and besides this we must
remember that the Greeks believed more than moderns in the
daily and hourly intervention of supernatural powers in human
affairs and in the course of events in the material world.
When we see an appearance or witness an event out of the
common course, we at once set about searching for the unusual
cause which produced the unusual phenomenon, and never
hesitate in our belief that such a cause must exist, even if we
cannot trace it. But when the Greeks saw anything to which
they were unused, or considered the usual order of nature to be
in any way violated, they did not greatly concern themselves to
look for the cause, but considered it at once more modest and
more pious to assume that it was due to the direct interference
of some deity. If any philosopher questioned this mode of
looking at things, they would set him down as one of those
who believed that the gods did not exist, or that they were
indifferent to all human affairs.

The superstitious man of Theophrastus is always on the look-
out for signs of the disposition towards him of the higher
powers. " If a weasel ^ run across his path, he will not pursue
his walk until some one else has traversed the road, or until he
has thrown three stones across it. When he sees a serpent in
his liouse, if it be the red snake he will invoke Sabazius, if
the sacred snake, he will straightway place a shrine on the
spot. ... If a mouse gnaws through a meal-bag, he will go
to the expounder of sacred things (^J^yr^T^is) and ask what is
to be done ; and if the answer is, ' Give it to a cobbler to stitch
up,' he will disregard this counsel, and go his way, and expiate
the omen by sacrifice. . . . When he has seen a vision he
will go to the interpreters of dreams, the seers, the augurs, to
ask them to what god or goddess he ought to pray."

The man who seemed superstitious to an Athenian and a
disciple of Aristotle might in a less sceptical age be an ordinary
citizen. The sudden meeting with an animal, the overhearing
of words of evil omen, a stumble over a threshold might make
almost any Greek abandon an enterprise on which he was em-
barking. Every reader of Greek history will remember how
the Laconian armies could not march and could not fight until

' Characters, 28. I quote Prof. Jebb's translation.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 253

the omens were favourable. And so it was in all the events of
life. A few men in our days dislike spilling salt, or walking
under a ladder; and sailors notoriously dislike sailing on a
Friday ; and in most country districts some superstition of this
class is widely spread ; but we must greatly intensify these
feelings, and spread them over the greater part of the occur-
rences of every-day life, if we would hope to understand the
attitude of mind of the ordinary Greek citizen in regard to
omens and portents.

Many of the omens which occurred could be understood by
any one and needed no interpreter. Thus when in the eighth
book of the Iliad ^ Zeus sends Agamemnon, in answer to his
prayer for deliverance, an eagle bearing in his claws a fawn,
which he drops by the altar of Zeus, every AchcEan at once
understands the portent, and gains fresh heart for the contest.
Every Greek understood that thunder was the direct voice of
Zeus, that any unwillingness in a destined victim to go to the
altar showed that the gods would not accept the sacrifice, that
a sneeze on the right was a good omen, and so fort^. Yet, as
most portents are of a more or less doubtful and ambiguous
character, there arose in quite early times in Greece a class of
men who made it their business to study and to interpret omens.
It is supposed that the word /xavns - comes from the same root
as /xavia, and that the prophet was originally the man full of
divine frenzy, who spoke in an ecstasy. But the strong, quiet
sense of the Greeks was averse to any wild and uncontrolled
frenzy, and their prophets, even as early as Homer, seem to have
been quiet and business-like professional men. In the Othjssey ^
the prophet is spoken of as a workman (Srjfjitoepyos), and there
is nothing ecstatic about Calchas. He is merely the man who
can see the divine and hidden meaning in events better than
others ; whose mind is stored with knowledge of the past, on
the analogy of which he reads the future. He is familiar with
the mind of the gods, and can read their will and intentions in
every event that takes place, and every sight of daily life.

It is a mistake to suppose that the soothsayers were always
or usually priests. In early time they are seldom of priestly
rank. The priest was attached to a particular temple and a
special deity ; but the soothsayer wandered at will, attached
himself to kings or to armies, and lived by means of his reputa-
tion for wisdom and foresight, as the bard lived by his verses :
and these unattached prophets meet us throughout the course

^ L. 249. 2 cf. Plato's Phadrus, p. 244. » xvii. 3S3

254 CULTUS

of Greek history. The Spartan armies stirred not without a
soothsayer to direct them. The Spartans adopted the Eleian
Tisamenus, who was a soothsayer, and even made him a citizen
because he was supposed to be lucky in his destinies ; and he
went with them to five great victories. The figure of Teiresias,
familiar to all readers of Greek tragedy, was by no means with-
out its counterpart in historical times. In the retreat of the
Ten Thousand, soothsayers were constantly consulted, and at-
tempts made or abandoned according to their advice ; ^ and in
private life the poorer and more ill- educated part of the com-
munity applied to them in difficulties, while the wealthier went
to the oracles. There was in this matter a remarkable contrast
between the Hebrew and the Hellenic race. Among the
Hebrews the prophet was rated far above the priests, and ex-
cited an admiration and veneration which they never inspired.
Among the Hellenes, on the other hand, all religious authority
settled on the priests of well-known temples, and they alone
commanded hearty respect. The prophet was sought after and
feared by the lower classes, but was by thinking men despised
as an impostor. His position and reputation gradually sinks
from the time of Homer, and is lowest during the best age of
Greek independence. At a later period he recovers some of his
reputation by allying himself with the cults of new deities
which then made their way into Greece from the East. The
Greek priests, on the other hand, gained almost complete con-
trol of soothsaying by attaching its regular exercise to the
various oracular temples, where it was practised, not indeed by
themselves, but by subordinate ministers, under their control
and direction. There were indeed certain soothsaying families
who enjoyed a reputation second only to that of the oracles.
Such were the lamidse at Elis, and a clan among the Acarna-
nians, who furnished prophets both to Athens and Sparta. Of
their number was Amphilytus, soothsayer of Peisistratus, and
INIegistias, who met his death amid the other heroes at Ther-
mopylae. Such prophetic gentes existed also in semi-Greek
places, such as Telmessus in Caria and Hybla in Sicily. The
most reputable soothsayers belonged to such families : the
rest were very little trusted. Euripides ^ makes Achilles say
that prophets at best utter many falsehoods and little truth.
Xenophon,^ in the person of the father of Cyrus, advises his
readers to make themselves acquainted with the art of sooth-

' For instance, Anab. vii. 8, ii ^ Iph. Aul. 961

^ Cjrop. i. 6, 2.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 255

saying, that they may not be dependent on the lying prophets.
It was a part of the duty of the magistrates called Upo-n-oiol, to
look closely to the soothsayers, and see that they did not de-
ceive people v^ho came to them. Plato believed in sooth-
saying, and terms it a means of cementing friendship between
gods and men.^ But of the persons who practised the art he
had a very low opinion, representing ^ them as " flocking to the
rich man's doors, and trying to persuade him that they have
a power at command, which they procure from heaven, and
which enables them to make amends for any crime committed."
The interpreters of dreams enjoyed, even among soothsayers, an
evil reputation for cheating and imposture. Notwithstanding
all this, the disrepute of soothsayers did not cause men to give
up their belief in soothsaying. Even the Stoics defended the
mantic art, on the ground that if there be gods, and if they care
for men, they must needs let men know their will by some dis-
coverable means.

Those soothsayers who had too little self-confidence to trust
entirely to their own power of reading the future, or who
wished to fortify themselves against attacks of scepticism, pro-
cured some of the prophetic books which went under the names
of Orpheus, Bacis, and the Sibyls, and other seers of old time,
and applied the pro[thecies contained in them to the events
going on. An excellent instance is furnished by the soothsayer
who makes his appearance in the Birds of Aristophanes, at the
inauguration of Cloudcuckootown, and who is ignominiously
beaten off the stage by Peithetserus.^ This fellow enters, bear-
ing a scroll of the prophecies of Bacis, on the strength of which
he wishes to stop the sacrifices. His roguery is admirably
depicted : the greed with which he tries to get clothes for
himself out of the superstition of Peithetserus, the crooked-
ness with which he perverts the meaning of words, and the
effrontery with which, when his word is doubted, he bids his
auditor look in the book for himself. The picture is a cari-
cature, but evidently from the life. Peithetaerus, too, shows
something of the skill possessed by most great captains and
rulers in Greece, in turning prophecies the way they wished
them to go. Of this faculty put to higher uses we may give a
few instances. When Alexander the Great was at Delphi he
wished the Pythia to give a response to him on an unusual day.
She at first declined, but on his insisting, yielded with the

^ Plato, Sympos. 1 88c; (f)i\ias deCjv Kal avdpdjirwv Sr]iJ.iovpy6i
- Repuhl. 364, h. ^ L. 957.

256 CULT us

words, "Thou art irresistible," words which Alexander at once
accepted as a prophecy of his future career. Timoleon, with
his army in Sicily, met a train of asses laden with parsley.
The soldiers were alarmed, thinking this an evil omen, because
parsley was used at funerals ; but the general turned it to his
own end by remarking that to a Corinthian the parsley of
which the Nemean crowns were made was a sign of victory.
But it would be a mistake to infer from such instances that
soothsaying was merely a tool employed by statesmen for their
own purposes. Many leaders of armies were as sincere in their
belief in auguries as their men. Nicias always carried about
with him a soothsayer, \vithout whose advice he would not
undertake anything. Pausanias at Plataea refused to order a
charge, though his men were falling fast under the Persian
arrows, until at last, as he raised his eyes to the Heraeum and
besought the aid of Hera, the aspect of the victims changed
and became favourable.

We have stated that soothsaying was a matter of profession
rather than of inspiration ; and this is the secret of Greek
soothsaying. Omens were drawn from such a variety of
occurrences, and the interpretation of these occurrences re-
quired such an exact knowledge of traditional rules, that no
layman could master all the requisite details of knowledge.
The Greeks expressly distinguished in divination the technical
or T€)(viKov from the are^vov ; and it was the former which was
by far the most usual and most important. And divination by
art may again be divided accordingly as the omens which it
explains are especially sought for, or present themselves un-
sought, accordingly as the gods are asked by some recognised
channel for their advice, or, unasked, send to mortals a token
of their wishes. Oracles and inspection of the entrails of
victims belong to the former class : these we will reserve, and
speak first of omens spontaneously offered to men.

Among such omens, the most important place belongs to those
taken from birds. Indeed, in common language, any omen would
be termed a bird. In Homer, we have Hector's noble saying,

€t§ oiojvo? apttrro's dfxvve(rOai Trepl Trdrpi]^,

and Aristophanes rallies the Athenians for applying the word
o/Dvts to a sneeze, a sound, a servant, or an ass. Many reasons
may be suggested for this predominance of birds as givers of
omens. They haunt the upper air and live near the gods ;
their motions are rapid and unexpected, and they seem, unlike

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 2^7

animals, to utter their voice, not merely to communicate with
one another, but by some overflowing of life and energy. It
has also been suggested that the weather-wisdom of birds and
their appearance and departure as harbingers of the rise and
fall of the year, may have encouraged the belief that they had
a prophetic nature. Many kinds of birds were sacred to deities :
the eagle to Zeus, the owl to Pallas, tho raven to Apollo, and
so forth. And in all countries it has been the mark of the
divinely inspired man to understand what birds were saying.

As the Greeks regarded the East, the quarter of sunrise, as
the source of good fortune, and as in taking auguries they
looked to the north, they regarded the appearance of a bird
on the right as a good omen. Thus when Diomedes and
Odysseus started for the Trojan camp, Pallas Athena sent a
heron which flew on their right as a token of success. This
was the simplest rule : others were far more complicated. The
sounds uttered by birds as they flew was no less regarded than
their flight, the exact character of which had to be minutely
observed; and every bird had its own special symbolism.
The eagle was most fateful of birds, and the raven was
especially noted for its prophetic character. But not all birds
were fateful (evaio-i/iot) ; in fact, it was a chief point in an
augur's business to know when a bird brought an omen, and
when it flew merely on its own affairs. According to the
stories handed down, the omens given by birds were sometimes
by no means obscure. The ancient writers record a number
of instances in which an eagle settled on a standard, hovered
over the head of a general, or carried off part of a victim laid
on the altar of a deity. Of the method of interpretation of
more obscure indications, we may judge from an Ephesian
inscription, 1 or rather a fragment of one, which shows that
account was made of the way the bird flew and which wing
he showed uppermost.

Astrology was unknown to the Greeks, until they learned it
in the time of Berosus from the Chaldeans. But though the
complicated calculations of that pseudo-science were unknown,
the Greeks had a high opinion of the value of sudden appear-
ances in the heavens as forecasts of fate. A flash of lightning
with its accompanying thunder was naturally regarded as a
signal direct from the ruler of lightning, Zeus. Hesiod, in
relating the battle of Heracles and Cycnus,- says that Zeus
sent a clap of thunder as an omen to his son.

1 a I. 2953 ; Newton, ii. 678. 2 gj^i^i^ of Heracles, 1. 3S3.

2 58 CULTUS

The meteors which cross the nightly sky were looked on as
full of meaning, especially portending war and pestilence ; and
a fortiori any unusual appearance in the heavens, or an earth-
quake or inundation on the land, were portents requiring
immediate application to a seer or to an oracle, in order to
learn how the displeasure of heaven, which they indicated,
might be averted by prayer and sacrifice.

Any sudden or unusual noise was set down as an omen. To
sneezing in particular prophetic meaning was attached. When
a man was meditating an action or undertaking, any chance
phrase heard by him was accepted as an omen of success or
failure. Odysseus,^ sleeping under the portico of his own
house, listens to the women grinding at the mills ; and when
he hears one of them pray for the destruction of the wooers,
gladly accepts the omen as foreshadowing the success of his
plans. When the Samian envoys were requesting King Leoty-
chides to sail against the Persian fleet at Mycale, he asked the
speaker his name, and hearing that it was Hegesistratus, ex-
claimed at once, " I accept the omen," and insisted that the envoy
should sail with his fleet as guide.- Thus the Greek, when his
mind was on the alert and filled with any purpose, was listen-
ing to all sounds and voices around him to judge of the issue.
And at such times, and even in the course of ordinary life, he
would be ready to alter a plan or abandon a project if certain
things happened : if he stumbled on stepping over a threshold,
or if he met an animal of ill omen, such as a hare, which was
in bad repute, or found a snake, the companion of the dead,
in his house.

Dreams were also carefully remembered by those of a super-
stitious turn, and carried for explanation to the professional
interpreters of dreams, ovetpoKptTat, who, however, enjoyed a
very bad reputation, and were notorious for their extortions
from those who sought their aid. The opinion of the wise
rather coincided with that of Homer, that deceitful dreams may
come through the gate of ivory as often as trustworthy ones
through the gate of horn. But when a dream bore obvious
meaning, the wisest as well as the most pious of the Greeks
considered that it should not without reason be despised or
neglected. Aristotle ^ observed that in sleep the mind returns
on itself and resumes its natural powers of foresight. Socrates
is said ^ to have seen in a dream a beauteous woman, who told

1 Od. XX. 112. - Herod, ix. 90. The name means army-leader.

■^ Ap. S. Emp. adv. Math. ix. 21. •* Crito, p. 44a.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 259

him that on the third day he should reach fertile Phthia, and
to have unhesitatingly regarded the saying as an omen of his
approaching death. Of dreams which appeared to public men
and women and had their fulfilment, the history of Greece, like
that of all other countries, is full ; and the dreams which did
not correspond to the course of events have been buried under
the stream of time.

The number of ways in which a votary could deliberately,
and of set purpose, consult the deities was very great. Setting
aside the oracles, of which we shall speak presently, there were
mancies without end : alphitomancy, which consisted in throwing
meal into the fire, and examining the way in which it burned ;
alectoromancy, which consisted in forming letters of grains of
corn and letting fowls loose on them to see what their various
fates would be ; all kinds of divination by water, and the like.
In fact, any set of occurrences on which a man set his mind
to observe them would be almost as fitting for revealing the
future as any other to men who had but a rudimentary notion
of law, and saw capricious acts of deities and daemons in all
things. One of the simplest methods was to cast lots, the
disposition of the lots as they fell being regarded as the direct
work of the deities.

The only important and systematic one among these mantic
arts was that which concerned itself with sacrifices. Indeed,
sacrifices were never offered without being carefully watched
to see what they would reveal of the will of the gods.
The way in which the smoke curled upwards was carefully
regarded, as well as the form taken by the ashes lying on the
altar. Prometheus in ^schylus ^ claims the invention of this
as of other sorts of augury :—

<^Aoyw7ra crqfxaTa
e^WjU,/xaTW(ra TrpocrOev ovr lirapy^fia.

More important, however, was the internal examination of
the victim, especially of the liver, wliich varies considerably
in various individuals. In this case also Prometheus claimed
the honour of discovery : —

(TTfXdy^voiv re Aetorvyra koI y^poiav riva
€-)(Ovt' av en; Satfxoaiv tt/do? i]8oin]V,

\oXrj<i Xof3oV T€ TTOLKlXi^V €VflOp(fiLaV.

This art is not Homeric. Whence it was derived we do not

' Prom. Vine. 1. 506.

26o CULTUS

know, but it was carried in Greece, if not quite so far as among
the Romans, yet into all public and important sacrifices. When
an army marched, or crossed a river or boundaries of territory,
or was about to engage in battle, a regular sacrifice was made
for the purpose of obtaining omens ; and religious leaders such
as the Spartan kings would at once halt if the omens were
unfavourable. It would seem, however, that in many cases
they merely continued the sacrifices until the appearance of
the entrails was such as satisfied their advisers ; a result which,
it would seem, could only be a question of time.

We must distinguish, in speaking of Greek oracles, two
strongly contrasted classes of them. The first class consists
of those oracles in which there was merely a systematic taking
of omens; the second class consists of the oracles, mostly
Apolline, where a distinct answer was supposed to be given by
some divine power to questions addressed to it. To these we
may add, as a third class, oracles given in dreams.

The oracles of the first sort were probably older in origin,
certainly more simple in their working. An oracle of this
kind, which we may call an oracle by omen, though it does
not conveniently come under the term " oraculum," which implies
a voice, is quite well included under the Greek term /Aavretov,
since here also /xavret? were employed, and directions obtained,
as to future conduct. An omen-oracle would at once arise
as soon as any of the kinds of divination came to be practised
at a particular temple or sacred spot under the direction of
the priests who presided there. A code of interpretation
would be fixed by tradition, and constantly grow in complete-
ness and detail ; and a few fortunate responses might spread
the fame of the oracular shrine far and wide.

W^e hear of certain places where the inspection of entrails
was carried on so systematically, and made to furnish so
definite information, that these places ranked among Greek
oracles. Pindar^ speaks of the (Soifxos /xavretos of Olympia,
and again of the place at Olympia where soothsayers inquire
of the thunderer Zeus, taking omens from sacrifices. These
soothsayers at Olympia were the sacred race of the lamidse,
whose skill was so noted that Olympia became a sort of oracle
at which they presided, giving their responses in the heroon
of lamus, their mythical ancestor. Naturally, most inquiries
at this prophetic shrine came from competitors in the games
or their friends, who asked as to the chances of success ; but

1 01 vi. 6 ; viii. 3.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 26 1

we hear of formal requests of advice from states, especially
the Lacedaemonians. Agesipolis is said by Xenophon ^ to have
inquired of Zeus at Olympia whether he was at liberty to
invade the Argive territory at a season held by the Argives
to be sacred, and when he received a favourable answer, passed
on the question to the higher authority of Delphi.

The oracle of the Palici in Sicily, which, however, does not
seem to have been of Greek origin, was consulted in a peculiar
manner. In their temple were two pools agitated by volcanic
springs. If a person accused of some crime wished to purge
himself, he "wrote a vow declaring his innocence on a tablet,
and threw it into one of the pools ; if it swam he was con-
sidered to be justified, but if it sank he stood condemned.
Volcanic fire was watched for omens at Apollonia, in Epirus,
and elsewhere. In the agora of Pharse in Achaia was a very
peculiar oracle of Hermes. ^ The votary entered the shrine
of the god, presented to him a coin and other ojBferings, and
whispered his question into the ear of the statue. Then
pressing his hands over his ears, he left the spot. Passing out
of the agora, he unstopped his ears and took the first words
wdiich he heard as the answer to his inquiry. At Bura in
Achaia was an oracle, where Heracles was consulted by means
of lots which were cast by the votary : lots were also used in
the temples of Athena Sciras. But oracles by lots were re-
garded as very untrustworthy, and not to be compared with
the sacred responses of Apollo.

Of all omen-oracles, by far the most notable was that of Zeus
at Dodona. Homer speaks of the Selli as priests at Dodona,^
and the word xafxaLevvai, which he applies to them, has been
supposed to imply that they gave responses by the aid of
dreams; but this is very unlikely. Bather we should regard
the word, and that which accompanies it, dviTrroTroSe?, as in-
dicating a rude and uncultivated life, almost resembling that
of prophets or dervishes in the East. M. Carapanos, in his
very fruitful excavations in Epirus, has succeeded in identifying
the site of the temple of Zeus Naius and Dione, and has even
brought to light a number of tablets, inscribed with questions
put to the deity, though he did not discover any certain
specimen of an oracular response. The inquirers were obliged
to put their questions in writing; and it appears that the
leaden tablets on which they were written are intended by

1 ffcU. iv. 7, 2. - Paus. vii. 22, 3.

* Dodoua, either iu Epirus or Thessaly. See above, Bk. ii. ch. 5.

262 CULTUS

Cicero by the word sortes,^ in a passage which has been mis-
understood to assert the existence at Dodona of oracles by
lottery. The votaries usually began with the formula cTrepwra
Tov Aia Tov Naibv kol tolv Aiwvav or eTrtKotv^rai tw Ait tw
Naiw Kal ra Atwv^t ("So and so consults Zeus Naius and
Dione "), and then proceeded to state their question. In the
matter of inquiry, we find the widest variety. The Tarentines
seek information, Tre/at Travr^xtas, with regard to general pros-
perity. A people of Epirus seek to be shown how security
may be procured to them through alliance with the Molossi.
The Corcyreans ask (it reads almost like a bitter jest) to what
god or hero they shall sacrifice, in order to secure the blessings
of internal harmony. Such are the public inquiries of cities
and states. Those of individuals are more numerous and more
definite. Certain persons ask which of three courses will be
most profitable to them — to go to Elina or to Anactorium, or
to effect a certain sale. Another consults the gods, whether
he shall purchase a town-house and a farm. Agis asks as to
certain mattresses and pillows which he has lost, and wliich
he supposes to have been stolen by some stranger. One
Lysanias asks whether he is really the father of a child of
which Annyla ex])ects to be delivered. A tradesman wishes
to know whether he will be successful if he adopts a new
trade, the nature of which he supposes the god to know
intuitively, in addition to his present one. A capitalist asks
whether sheep-farming will turn out a good investment. Hera-
cleidas prays for good fortune, and asks whether he shall have
any other child beside JEgle. One Eubander inquires to
what god or hero he shall sacrifice, in order to ensure continued
prosperity to himself and his house.

All these questions, couched in rough and uncouth dialectic
forms, and full of false grammar, yet survive, and bring vividly
before us the hopes and fears, the beliefs and the manners
of a past age. The questions put to the gods are not merely
those which we should put to a trusted priest, but those which
we should put to a physician, a lawyer, or a stockbroker. The
rude races who dwelt around stormy Dodona, Epirotes, ^tolians,
and the like, evidently preserved an unshaken belief in the
deities of their ancestors down to the end of Greek autonomy.
It is, however, unfortunate that these tablets do not furnish

^ De Diviv. i. 34, 76, The oracle-inscriptions of Dodona are treated
of, by Mr. Roberts, in the first volume of the Journal of Hellenic Studies,
in an article from which I here borrow considerably.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 263

US with any information as to the method in which responses
were given by the oracle at Dodona. Two or three of the
tablets rescued by M. Carapanos may perhaps contain answers
to questions, but none of them, unfortunately, is sufficiently
well preserved to make us sure. One begins in a promising
way, roSe to [xavT-qtov eyw XPl^^ ^^^ ^^ breaks off at that
point. Some of the questions seem to require an exact and
a detailed reply, such as could not be gained by ordinary
omens, unless interpreted by skilled soothsayers. Indeed,
we may feel sure that the actual responses handed to the
applicants were drawn up by experienced officials of the
temple. This function was probably assigned to the TreAetaSes,
aged priestesses, who succeeded the Selli of Homer's time, if,
indeed, these last did not belong to a Thessalian Dodona.

The ancient writers are not very clear or consistent in their
account of the Dodonaean oracle. But we can include the
best part of their testimony, if we suppose that the oracle
was really given by the oak or oaks of Zeus, through a
murmuring sound and a waving of branches, but that this
testimony was interpreted to mankind by the TreAecaSes. This
is the account given by Suidas,^ and it is quite conformable
to the lines of Sophocles —

ws Tr]V TraAaioti/ cfirjyov avSyjcrat ttotc
AwSwvi Sicrcriov ck TreAetaSwv effirj,

nor does it conflict with the expression of ^schylus, ai
7rpo(T7]yopoL 8/)ves.2 Plato ^ speaks of the priestesses of Dodona
as speaking in a certain ecstasy like those of Delphi, but his
words need not be pressed ; or they may show that the Peleiades
underwent some preparatory stimulus, before being considered
fit to collect the responses of the prophetic tree. Servius*
has again another story, that the responses were really given
by a stream which ran from the foot of the oak. This may
be a perversion of the circumstance that the priestesses drank
from a sacred and inspiring stream before they prophesied.
It is, however, certain that there were other means of taking
omens in use at Dodona. The Corcyreans dedicated a bronze
vessel, over which was a male figure holding a whip, to which
astragali were attached. In the wind these astragali struck
the vessel ; and omens were taken from the kind of noise
thus made on particular occasions.

1 i. p. 623. ^ Prom. V. 1. 851.

'•^ Phcedrus, p. 2446. ^ Ad ^En. iii. ^oo.

264 CULTUS

The Greeks, though generally sceptical as regards the appear-
ance of inspiration, tolerated it in connection with the great
seats of Apolline oracles, where it was a recognised institution.
Eut even at Delphi, Delos, and Didj^ma, means were taken
to prevent the influence of the impassioned utterances of the
priestesses from being too direct or too great ; and the responses
which have come down to us are marked hj anything rather
than fanaticism and insanity.

Strabo ^ describes accurately the seat of the oracle at Delphi.
This was a deep cave within the adytum of the temple of
Apollo, a thousand feet above the sea, with an opening of no
great width, out of which rose a vapour which had a certain
entrancing or intoxicating power. Over this entry was placed
a tripod on which, on the set days for giving responses, the
Pythia sat, and after inhaling the gas, became inspired, giving
answers to all questions put to her. To the inhaling of gas
mentioned by Strabo, Lucian ^ adds the drinking from the sacred
spring, and the mastication of laurel-leaves. There can be no
doubt that these preparations had a strong physical effect on
the priestess, affecting her health and even her reason, for she
gave responses but seldom ; and we read of at least one instance
in which a Pythia became mad during the performance of her
duty.

In early times responses were given apparently but once a
year, in the month Bysius ; but as the demand increased, the
supply also became greater, and in the flourishing times of
Greece, responses were given frequently, though there were in
every month certain days on which the oracle could not be
consulted. At one time no less than three priestesses were
employed. In the days of Plutarch only one day in the month
was set apart for oracular responses. The priestess then was, as
he tells us, a young woman, daughter of poor but respectable
cottagers, and of unblemished reputation. The persons who
came to consult the god were ranged in order, those being
preferred who might have acquired the right of precedence.
Sacrifices were offered by the Delphic priests, and if these gave
unfavourable results, nothing was done. If on the other hand
the bodies of the victims gave favourable omens, the priestess
carefully purified herself, and took her seat on the tripod after
the preparations already mentioned. The officials.. Tr/Do^^rat,
received the questions of the votaries, conveyed either by word
of mouth, or, as we rather judge by the Dodonsean analogy, in

^ Bis A ecus. c. 2.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 265

writing, and put them to the god, who deHvered an answer by
tlie mouth of the Pythia, an answer sometimes put into words,
but sometimes consisting as it would seem in mere exclamations
and sounds without coherence. In either case the tt/do^tJtv^s
had to judge of the sense of it, and to put it into hexameter
verse, in which form it was delivered to the votary. This was
the earlier custom ; but Cicero ^ observes that after the time of
Pyrrhus the god spoke in prose ; and we possess the text of a
Pythian oracle delivered to the people of Cyzicus and written in
prose. ^

It is evident that in speaking of the Delphic oracle we must
carefully distinguish between the actual response delivered on
behalf of the god by his ecstatic priestess and the formal answer
handed by the priests to the votaries. That the transports of
the Pythia were unfeigned is shown by many details of the
tales which have come down to ns, her unwillingness to ascend
the prophetic tripod, and the injury suffered by her health in
the process. But it is not so easy to decide what latitude the
priests of Apollo allowed themselves in setting in order the
disjointed cries of the raging priestess. Some modern writers
represent them as a school of statesmen who understood better
than any one beside the essence of Greek religion and tlie Iruc
policy of states, and made use, for the good of Greece, of the
ravings of the Pythia, in order to attach a divine sanction to
their wise recommendations. But there is little evidence of
the existence at Delphi of a clique endowed with superhuman
wisdom ; nor is it in accordance with what we know of human
nature to think that any clique or school could cany on for age
after age a system of organised imposture from the best and
most disinterested motives. It is more reasonable to think
that the priests also were in most cases honest, delivering to
the votaries what they held to be the real opinion of the deity,
though of course expectations as to what the deity was likely
to say would exercise some sway over their minds, and they
too might suppose themselves the subjects of a not less real
though a more measured inspiration than that of the Pythia
herself. It is hard to believe that a system not really genuine
could gain so much influence in Greece, and act so often for
good ; so that the greatest sons of Greece, Plato and Socrates,
Aristotle, and even Diogenes the Cynic, recognised in the
Pythian responses the very voice of God, and were willing
to be guided by it in matters of life and death.

1 De Divin. ii. 56. 2 j^^n q^^^^ jj^h^ j^ ^^^

2 66 CULTUS

There were several other oracles which, if less noted than
that of Delphi, were of great reputation in their own districts.
They were based, like the Delphic oracle, on the interpretation
by priests of words uttered by a female servant of Apollo in
a state of delirium. In details only we find variety. At
Hysise in Boeotia,^ there was a sacred well of Apollo, which
gave those who drank of it power of prophecy ; at Argos,^ the
priestess of the Pythian Apollo delivered responses once a
month after tasting the blood of a lamb, which was sacrificed
for the purpose ; at Didyma near Miletus, the mere fumes
of the sacred spring were said to be sufficient to cause the
prophetic frenzy in the priestess. At the oracle of the Clarian
Apollo, near Colophon, the responses were given directly by the
priest, who belonged to a particular family. He heard only
the numbers and names of those who came to consult the
deity, then retired into a cave, drank the water of a sacred
spring, and straightway gave utterance to the divine response,
speaking, it was said, in hexameter verse, though usually
too illiterate to compose verses in his sane condition. This
answer was directed to the question in the mind of the votary ;
and we learn from Tacitus ^ that Germanicus consulted this
oracle, which truly foretold his speedy death. At Patara in
Lycia the priestess of Apollo was shut up in the temple all
night.

Oracles by dreams were more common as an institution of
certain cults in the later days of Greece. Probably the custom
was of chthonic origin, sleeping on the earth being a means
of putting oneself in communication with those who dwelt
beneath it, the spirits of the dead and their ruler Hades. But,
in fact, it was most commonly practised in connection with the
temples of Asklepius, more particularly the great temples of
Epidaurus and Pergamon. The sick were not, however,
allowed to approach the deity at once. They had first to
stay at the temples and undergo such regimen of baths and
food as the priests chose to prescribe. As the temples of
Asklepius were in salubrious situations, and usually in posses-
sion of a good supply of fresh water, and as the priests were
sometimes not unversed in the practice of medicine, we may
conjecture that the health of the patients did not suffer by
this delay. Then after appropriate sacrifices and prayers, they
were admitted to sleep in the temple, and await the further
commands of the god in a dream which seldom failed to visit

1 Paus. ix. 2, I. '^ Paus. ii. 24, I. ^ Ann. ii. 54.

DIVINATION AND ORACLES 26/

them. They told the dream to the priests, who were able to
interpret it for them. A full account of the process is given
by Aristides. Dream-oracles belonged also, however, to other
temples. In the heroon of Calchas and in that of Podaleirius
son of Asklepius at Tricca in Thessaly, votaries slept on the
skins of victims and received divine responses in their dreams
A celebrated dream-oracle was that of the temple of Amphiaraus
in Boeotia, where the future was revealed, not only for cure of
diseases, but in other matters also. The votaries ^ had to
undergo purification, and sacrifice to a number of deities, in-
cluding Achelous and Cephissus. They had to abstain from
wine for three days and fast for one ; then a ram was sacrificed
to the hero, and on his skin the inquirer slept in the heroon.
If by the advice of the seer he was freed from a disease, he
cast a coin of gold or silver into the sacred well.

The prophetic power was attributed to many deceased
worthies, and exercised at their graves in various ways, more
especially by such as had in their lifetime been gifted with
knowledge of the future. Teiresias at Orchomenus, Mopsus in
Cilicia, Amphilochus, and others were frequently consulted.
The most celebrated oracle of this class was the noted cave of
Trophonius, a visit to which is described in detail by Pau-
sanias,^ who had himself consulted the oracle. It appears that
those who came to consult Trophonius lodged certain days in a
temple of Agathos Daemon and Agathe Tyche, daily sacrificing
and regularly consulting the entrails of the victims, to judge
whether the Hero was willing to receive them. After some
stay, provided the omens were favourable, a day was set for the
initiation. On that day a fresh and more solemn sacrifice was
made, and unless every sign in it were propitious nothing was
done. But if it clearly appeared that Trophonius was willing
to receive the suppliant, he was taken to two springs, which
rose by the cave and were called the waters respectively of
Lethe and of Mnemosyne; of both he drank, that he might
forget things past and remember the things he was about
to see. He was then conducted to the abode of Trophonius,
which was not properly a cave, but a pit some seven feet
across and fourteen deep, not natural, Pausanias says, but
made carefully by art. Into this pit the votary descended
by means of a narrow ladder. In the side of it was an

^ Philostr. Vit. Apol. ii. 37. This work may fairly be quoted in relation
to a Greek shrine, where the truth was easily ascertainable.

2 68 CULTUS

opening some two spans wide and one high, into which, hold-
ing in either hand a cake kneaded with honey, he inserted
himself feet foremost ; and no sooner were his knees within the
orifice than he was borne away with incredible swiftness, as if
by a rushing river. Over what thereafter happened, Pausanias
draws the veil of a discreet silence. "All," he says, "learn not
the future in the same manner : to some it is revealed by sight
and to some by sound." Then the votary returned again to the
upper air, feet foremost, through the same hole through which he
had entered. The priests received him, and made him recount
all dazed and terrified what had happened to him. One man
only, says Pausanias, lost his life in the cave : he was a soldier
of Demetrius, who entered without due sacrifice, and from
motives of base cupidity, and whose dead body was found lying
in another place outside the cave.

The whole account is remarkable, and witnesses to the clear-
ness of Pausanias' observation and his accuracy in narration.
A modern can scarcely avoid the suspicion that this oracle
must have been an imposture contrived by a sacerdotal caste.
We should suppose either that the votary remained in the
pit all the while, dazed and stupefied by some fumes rising
from the hole, and seeming in his vertigo to be carried to
great distances ; or else he was drawn by some subtle con-
trivance of the priests into subterranean chambers, and there
made to hear and to see whatever they chose to arrange ;
and this last view derives support from the rule that he must
carry a cake in each hand, and so be unable to feel about him
as he was borne away. The murder of the guard of Demetrius
would be a necessary measure of self -protection on the part
of those in charge of the place. All that Pausanias tells as
to the origin of the oracle, which was established by one man
in historical times, seems to bear out the view that in this
case we have to do with a sacrilegious imposture. But it
is not fair to argue from the suspicious character of this late
and comparatively obscure oracle that the same nature adhered
to other oracles. Every true thing in the world has a false
thing which follows it as night follows day. It no more
follows from the fact of one oracle being an imposture that
all were such, than it follows because there are false Gospels
that all Gospels are false, or that because we have illusions
of vision all sight is illusion.

THE PUBLIC GAMES 269

CHAPTEE VIII

THE PUBLIC GAMES

To our account of Greek gymnastics, we add here a brief
account of the public games of Greece, for which gymnastic
training was to a large extent a preparation.

In Greece proper, there were four greater festivals, protected
by a sacred truce (eKcx^tpta), and frequented by Greeks from
all parts of the Mediterranean. These were the Olympia,
Pythia, Isthmia, and Nemea, victors in all of which are
commemorated in the verses of Pindar. But if we count the
lesser games celebrated at the various cities of Greece, the
number will be greatly increased. Indeed, if we include the
various Agones introduced in the wealthy cities of Asia from
the time of Alexander onward, we may reckon that there were
several hundreds of them, and that a Greek athlete in later
times might have spent his whole life in passing from one
to another. At these less honourable games the j^rize was
no longer a mere wreath, but as in the days of Homer, objects
of value, vases and cups, which are frequently represented on
later Greek monuments. The professional athlete or 2-)ot-
liuider made his appearance, and succeeded in utterly ruining
the reputation and perverting the purposes of the Greek
games.

It will be convenient here to take the Olympic contest as
the type of all others. ^ Indeed, on it most of the rest were
modelled, with one important addition. At Olympia there
was no musical contest ; while at all three of the other great
ayQ)ve<i o-re^avtrat, music was one subject of competition.
Contests between avX-qrat and between KidapicrTac were a
feature of the jSTemea and Isthmia, while at the Pythia
musical competitions were the oldest and most important
feature of the meeting. In the first Pythia, at which the
Amphictyons presided, there was a contest in KidapMa, or
singing to the accompaniment of the lyre, in avAwSia, or singing
to the flute, and in flute-playing without singing. Strabo-
speaks of a TlvOiKo<i vo/xos, wherein the performers on cithara
and flute attempted to give a musical rendering of that victory

^ A more complete account of Olympin and its festival may be fonnd in
my New Chapters in Greek History, chap. ix. ^ ix. p. 421.

270 CULTUS

of Apollo over the Python which the games were supposed to
commemorate ; and it would appear that the competitors were
confined to that subject.

The importance to Greek religion of the Olympic contest has
been already discussed. At first the contest is said to have
been in running only, and the festival can have lasted but a
few hours. But by degrees other competitions were added,
one by one, until it occupied five complete days. Pausanias
says that one day was found sufficient until the 77th Olympiad;
after which the time was extended, it being found that dark-
ness came on before the contests were at an end.

The sacred truce, iKe^iipta, lasted one month, and the con-
tests lasted from the nth to the 15th of that month, in order
to allow the spectators full time to go to and return from
Olympia in peace and safety, as they flocked from all parts
of Greece. The roads which led from Olympia into Arcadia,
and thence into the rest of Greece, as well as the sacred road
to Pyrgus, the haven of Elis, were thronged with a motley
crowd. The remarkable feature of this crowd would certainly
be the absence of women ; but it would include men of the
most diverse kinds. The merchant with his goods, the poet
with his works, the juggler with his apparatus all looked to
find an audience among the crowd at Olympia. Here would
ride a wealthy father from Syracuse or Croton. whose son was
already on the spot in training for some contest; and beside
him would walk a sick man who had vowed a pilgrimage to
the shrine of the greatest of Greek gods, or an anxious youth
hoping to learn amid the throng tidings of a brother who had
left his home for a voyage many months before, and had not
since been heard of. At intervals might be discerned groups
of delegates, Oeoipot, for many of the Greek cities despatched
a group of envoys to represent them officially on the occasion.
These would travel in chariots or on horseback with a train of
slaves, and amid their baggage would be not only whatever
might tend to make their own appearance more splendid, but
also handsome vessels or statues to be set up in the treasuries
at Olympia, and dedicated to Zeus, as well as copies, on tablets
of stone or bronze, of treaties and decrees to which they wished
to direct the eyes of all Greece.

Properly speaking there was no town at Olympia, ^ only the
Altis or sacred enclosure, which contained the temples of Zeus
and the allied deities, the altars, and the statues ; and beside

^ See plan, p. 171.

THE PUBLIC GAMES 27 I

the Altis the great Gymnasium, the Hippodrome, the Stadium,
and various offices. At all events there was no town at all
capable of accommodating the vast crowd of strangers. Tents
were therefore erected all about the plain, giving it the appear-
ance of a great fair or encampment. The days immediately
preceding the nth of the month were spent in sacrifices on the
part of the delegates (deiopoi), the competitors, and the authori-
ties of Elis. This time also, as well as that which followed
the actual celebration of the games, was the great opportunity
for merchants, poets, painters, and all who had wares to which
they wished to attract public attention. During the five great
days no one would have leisure to attend to them.

On the nth, long before daybreak, every point commanding
a good view of the stadium was occupied. The Olympian
festival was celebrated in the hottest time of the year ; the
contests went on all through the heat of the day. The dust of
Olympia was proverbial, and the honour of the god demanded
that no spectator should wear a hat. Yet all day long the
dense crowd stood about the places of trial, getting no rest
from sunrise to sunset, and no food except such as each spectator
could take with him in the morning. Nor were the spectators
silent : with loud shouts each encouraged his friends or applauded
skilful acts, or howled at any cowardice or cheating. It may
be imagined that such a scene was unfitted for the secluded
women of Greece. Nevertheless, though it is agreed on all
hands that married women were not allowed as spectators at
Olympia, yet some writers, on the authority of Pausanias,i
have maintained that virgins were present. This is in itself
most unlikely; and it is remarkable that no instance of the
presence of a virgin can be adduced from Greek literature.
The most that can be conceded is that possibly the young
women of Elis or of some of the Dorian cities may have been
assigned a place.

The competitors in any contest were obliged to establisli
their Hellenic parentage, and the fact that they had been in
training for ten months with a view to the games. If the
Hellanodicre, who were the Elean magistrates intrusted ^vith
the control of the games, allowed their claims, the competitors
were next obliged to be present at Elis for the thirty days
immediately preceding the festival, and practise under the
eyes and according to the direction of the Hellanodicae, who
thus had the means of learning the respective merits of the

1 vi. 20, 9.

2 72 CULTUS

various athletes. At the end of that time the names of those
entered for various contests were written on a white board,
A-evKw/xa, and suspended at Olympia. After this there was
no retreat. Withdrawing was considered cowardly and not
allowed ; indeed, it was visited by penalties as severe as those
directed against bribery, or the taking of an unfair advantage
over an opponent. If the number of competitors Avere too
great for a single heat, they were divided by lot into several
groups, rd^ets. Boxers and wrestlers had to be drawn in pairs ;
and thus, if the number of combatants was uneven, one of
them must necessarily draw a bye. This fortunate person was
called €(f)€8pos, and he was naturally considered by the Greeks
to have a far better chance of victory than the rest, because
at the second stage of the contest he would be opposed fresh
and unwounded to a wearied and battered adversary.

As to the order of the contests at Olympia there is much
doubt ; but it is fairly safe to consider that the order of
succession was as a general rule the same as the order in which
the competitions were introduced at Olympia, the contest of
oldest standing coming first in order, and so on.

The various contests of strength and skill in which the
youth of Greece engaged are described briefly in the chapter
(Book lY. ii.) which deals with physical training, in which
chapter will also be found copies of the representations of
athletic sports on Greek vases.

The earliest of competitions was the o-raStov, the short-
distance race ; and at every return of the festival this was
the opening contest, and he who was victorious in it gave
his name to the whole celebration, just as in certain circles
in England years are mentioned by the name of the winner
of the Derby. The fourteenth Olympiad witnessed the intro-
duction of a longer race, the SiavXos, in which the runners
turned at the post at the end of the course and finished at
the starting-point. Then followed the SoAt^os, in which tliey
traversed the length of the course many times. Next were
added wrestling, the Trevradkov, and boxing, as to which we
speak in more detail in the chapter on physical training.
Boxing was by no means in favour at Sparta : the magistrates
set their faces against that and the pancratium, not allowing
their citizens to partake in a contest which seemed to them
degrading. Few or no Baconian winners, either in boxing or
the pancratium, are recorded ; while wrestling and the penta-
thlum were quite at home at Sparta.

In the 25 th Olympiad, the character of the celebration was

THE PUBLIC GAMES 2^^^

entirely changed by the introduction of a race of quadrigse
of horses. Hitherto there liad been complete democracy at
Olympia^ and only agility and strength had distinguished man
from man. But with the introduction of chariots the rich at
once obtained means of distinction at the games through wealth
alone ; and of course the next step was to think more of a
victory with a chariot than of a personal success. We find
all the wealthiest nobles of Greece — Anakilaus, Alcibiades,
Dionysius, Gelon — eagerly competing with their teams at
Olympia ; and the city, one of whose citizens was fortunate
enough to win in the contest, not unfrequently records the
triumph on its state issues of coins. The charioteer did not use
a whip but a long pointed stake or goad, Kkvrpov, with which
he spurred on the horses, pricking them from behind. From
all accounts which reach us we may judge that the victory in
the chariot-race Avas not always to the swift; in every race
many or most of the chariots were wrecked either by rivals or
in turning the goal ; and indeed if we consider that all chariots
had to turn round the meta, it seems a wonder that any escaped.
Pausanias ^ gives us an elaborate description of the Hippodrome
at Olympia, the d<^ecrts of which was a careful contrivance,
the invention of Gleoetas. The 33rd Olympiad witnessed the
introduction of the pancratium, TrayKpdriov, and the race on
horseback, L7nr(^ kcXi^tl, the arrangements in regard to which
closely resembled those of the chariot race. As to horse-racing,
that is the same thing in all ages ; the Greeks, however, made
a sharp turn requisite when the meta was reached, which would
disconcert a modern jockey. Philip of INIacedon won with the
KeAi^?, and on his coins, in commemoration of the event, we
find an enormous horse ridden by a diminutive jockey.

In the 3 7 til Olympiad boys were first admitted to com-
petition amongst themselves in running and Avrestling ; in the
38th Olympiad the pentathlum, and in the 41st boxing was
extended to boys. In the 65th Olympiad the race for men
in armour was introduced, oirXtrojv Spofxos. This was a valuable
preparation for actual war, training men to charge on the field.
At first the competitors had to run encumbered with helmet,
greaves, and shield ; but before long the two former pieces of
armour were abandoned, and the shield alone retained.

In the 70th Olympiad the d7n]vri, or biga of mules, was ad-
mitted to a new competition ; in the 71st the race called KaX-n-i]
was instituted, wherein the riders on horseback, who formed

2 74 CULTUS

the competitors, leapt in the last lap from their horses and ran
to the goal, holding them by the rein. Both of these competi-
tions were again given up in the 84th Olympiad.

In the 93rd celebration the race for bigse of horses was
instituted ; in the 96th the contest of heralds and trumpeters ;
in the 99th the race for quadrigee of colts; in the 128th the
race for bigse of colts; in the 131st the colt race ; in the 145th
the pancratium for boys.

Of many of these contests we may find vivid and truthful
representations on the vases which were bestowed on the
victors in the Panathenaea and other contests.

At the conclusion of the contest, the name of each winner,
and that of the city which claimed him as a citizen, was recited
with loud voice by a herald ; and the Hellanodicse placed on his
head the crown of wild olive, which was the greatest object of
ambition of every Greek youth. Then all* the victors were enter-
tained at a banquet by the magistrates of Elis ; and amid heca-
tombs and sacrifices of thanksgiving the festival came to an end.

On approaching his own city the young victor was received
in a manner well fitted to turn his head. Sometimes a part of
the wall was thrown down tliat he might enter by a new and
unused door. All the town kept festival ; and as his cortege
approached, singing some strain which a lyric poet had com-
posed for the occasion, it was pelted with flowers and over-
whelmed with plaudits, and solid rewards were added to the
fame. At Athens the Olympic victor had a right to live at the
public expense in the Prytaneium ; at Sparta he had the no
less valued right of fighting near the person of the king. The
statues of victorious men, victorious horses, and successful
chariots were set up at Olympia, and in the cities to which
they belonged.

CHAPTEE IX

THE MYSTERIES

We have already spoken of mystic sacrifices, the object of
which was to establish a relation between worshipper and
worshipped through the death or blood of a sacrifice. There
is, however, another means of attaining the same end, which is
familiar to barbarous races, in the practice of certain hidden
and sacred rites, combining purification with the partaking of
a sacred meal, and with dances or dramatic representations.

THE MYSTERIES 275

Mysteries of this kind, retaining much of barbarous rite,
yet capable of being filled with higher meaning and becoming
a worthy part of religion, existed in many parts of Greece. By
far the most important of them were the Mysteries of Eleusis,i
originating, probably in pre-llellenic times, in an agricultural
festival, but gradually developed, under the influence of Athens,
into one of the most important features of Greek religion, and
the great stronghold in Hellas of the doctrine of a life beyond
the grave.

At Athens there were greater and lesser Mysteries; the
lesser conducted at the temple of the Great Goddesses at Agrse,
a suburb of Athens, in the time of spring ; the greater celebrated
at Eleusis, in the month Boedromion, near to the time for sow-
ing seed. The lesser Mysteries were regarded as a necessary
preliminary for those who wished to be initiated at Eleusis ;
but of their course we know scarcely anything. As to the
greater, we are better informed. Their details were entirely
under the control of a body of magistrates who must belong
to certain patrician houses. The highest officer was the Upo-
(f)dvTi-j<;, who is frequently mentioned by ancient writers as
having supreme control. There were certain parts of the Eleu-
sinian precinct into which he alone had the right to penetrate ;
and he was supposed to know more than any one else of the
secret wisdom of the Mysteries, some part of which he com-
municated to the initiated in a series of short and obscure
sentences uttered from time to time during the ceremonies.
He also in the sacred dramas which were, as we shall see,
among the principal features of the ceremonies, sustained the
most important part. He was taken necessarily from among
the descendants of Eumolpus, and was accorded, even in civil
life, peculiar honours, such as the right of wearing a purple
diadema. It is evident that on his character depended in a
great degree that of the whole Mysteries. True there were
certain sacred books, religiously preserved, which gave directions
which even the Hierophant was not at liberty to neglect, as to
the ritual to be followed. But it is likely that these books
dealt only with outward form : such at least is certainly the
character of the inscription found at Andania, and regulating
the procedure at the Mysteries held at that city. But the
whole tone of the celebration and the meaning of the ceremonies
rested with him to determine ; so when we learn that in late

1 An account of the sanctuary of Eleusis and the Mysteries there
celebrated will be found in New Chapters in Greek Uistory^ chap. xiv.

276 CULTUS

days the Hierophant was on more than one occasion a Neo-
Platonist, we can easily imagine that he would turn the cele-
bration to quite other purposes than those for which it was
instituted. As his colleague he had the Hierophantis chosen
from the families of the Eumolpidae or Philleidse, who must be
of chaste reputation and advanced age, and Avho in the dramas
probably represented Demeter or her daughter. Next in dignity
to this pair came the Torch-bearers, SaSovxoi, male and female,
who were in early times taken from the family of Triptolemus,
but afterwards, that race having become extinct, from that of
Lycomedes. These officials conducted the crowds of votaries,
and instructed them in many matters. Other important officers
were the herald, Ki]pv^, the €7rt/3w/xtos or sacrificer, and the
eponymous priestess of Demeter ; and there were a number of
minor officials. In addition each intending celebrant had to
join himself to the company of a mystagogus, that is, a person
of standing Avho had been himself initiated, and who both
prepared his clients for the ceremony, and in person conducted
them through it. The police was maintained by the Upoiroioi
and other sacred officers of the Republic, under the supreme
control of the Archon-Basileus ; and all persons committing
any act of sacrilege during the celebration was punished with
extreme severity, sometimes even being put to death on the
&^o\j \i Q,2i^i\UQdi flagrante delicto. The memorable instance of
Alcibiades shows how deeply the Athenian people resented any
attempt to desecrate their much-loved ^lysteries.

Initiation was originally confined as a privilege to Athenians,
or even to a narrower circle. But this exclusiveness was after-
Wards relaxed, and persons of good Hellenic parentage found
no difficulty in procuring admission. Persians were pointedly
excluded, as well as slaves, and all persons branded with
infamy or stained with crime. Women, however, were ad-
mitted as freely as men ; indeed, a well-born Athenian of either
sex would scarcely fail to undergo the rite. Socrates was
reproached for being almost the only Athenian who had not
applied. Candidates for initiation, /xvo-rat, were required to
observe certain dietetic rules. These were, however, based
less on ethical principle than on ceremonial grounds. They
had to abstain from chickens, fish of some sorts, beans, pome-
granates, and apples. The priests had carefully to avoid the
contamination arising from a corpse, or from certain animals
reputed unclean. It was required of the Hierophant that
during the festival he should live ajDart from his wife. But
the most rigorous provisions were those which exacted from

THE MYSTERIES 277

priests and mystse aliko absolute secrecy as to all the details
of the festival. The penalty of death was provided against
any one who failed to preserve the secret ; but it was seldom
inflicted, for it was seldom merited. The works of art of the
CIreeks are as reserved on the subject as their writings ; and
Demosthenes could declare that it was not possible for those
who had not been initiated at Eleusis to learn by hearsay
anything which went on there.

Tiie^ local tradition at Eleusis assigned the origin of the
mysteries there to Eumolpus, one of the traditional Thracian
seers and poets who were supposed to have so largely influenced
Greek religious thought. And this may suggest the question
whether they were not influenced from Phrygia, where dwelt
a people kindred to the Thracian, and distinguished among the
races of antiquity by their devotion to great chthonic goddesses.
This view is advocated by Mr. Ramsay in the Enajdopcedia
Britannica (Mysteries). In that case they would exhibit a
fragment of the religion of Asia Minor adopted and purified
by the Athenians. To trace fully the growth of this cultus
from stage to stage, until from an obscure local worship it
became one celebrated throughout the civilised world, would
not be possible in the absence of ancient testimony. The
cause of that growth was without doubt the close connection
of Eleusis with Athens, and the adoption by the latter city of
Eleusinian beliefs and legends. M. Lenormant ^ considers that
we can trace three successive periods in the history of the
Eleusinian Mysteries. The first is represented by the Homeric
hymn to Demeter, and during its continuance the ceremonies
were altogether of a commemorative kind. The abduction of
Cora, the wanderings and grief of her mother, the interference
of the higher powers, and finally the partial restoration of the
lost one were all brought before the eyes of the initiated ; and
at the same time it is likely that these scenes were explained
as relating to the hiding of seed in the earth and its rising in
spring, phenomena the explanation of which occupies much of
the religious thought of many primitive peoples. The name of
lacchus does not occur in the hymn, and its omission has been
variously explained. But it is only in the second period of

' A considerable part of the following pages is taken from my New
Chapters in Grteh History, with the permission of the publisher, Mr. John
Murray.

^ Contemporary Review, 18S0. The writer speaks with especial authorit}'
on this subject, having been engaged in excavations at Eleusis, and being
versed in the obscurer elements of Greek cult.

2/8 CULTUS

Kleusinian history that lacchiis takes an important place. This
period begins early indeed, but subsequently to the Homeric
hymn. In it we trace the gradual intrusion of orgiastic and
Dionysiac rites, lacchus being identified with Bacchus, and
that deity taking his place at Eleusis as husband or as son of
Persephone. The third period may begin about the time of
Alexander the Great, and is marked by the adoption at Eleusis,
under the influence of the school of religion called by the
name of Orpheus, of the strange Cretan legend of Zagreus, and
the Oriental rites which belong to that deity, the chthonic
Dionysus. These are the rites which caused so much scandal
in Greece, and which, when they spread into Campania, were
put down by the strong hand of the Eoman Republic. Not
that the Eleusinian rites ever became really licentious or in-
decent : their close connection with all that was respectable at
Athens saved them from that. But the cultus of Zagreus
found a home at Eleusis, and his legend was closely connected
with that of the Great Goddesses. Only it was explained away
in spiritual and non-natural fashion, and was even made edifying
by having put into it the promise of future life beyond the
grave. We might perhaps distinguish a fourth period, when
neo-Platonic philosophers were hierophantse, and the doctrines
of Eleusis were developed by the pagans as a parallel and
counterpoise to those of the Christian Church.

In the Mysteries of Eleusis four acts were distinguished : (i)
KadapcTis, the preliminary purification ; (2) crvorraarLs, the rites
and sacrifices which preceded and prepared the way for the
actual celebration ; (3) TeXerry or /xi'^yo-t?, the initiation properly
so called ; and (4) eTroTTTeta, the last and highest grade of initia-
tion. The last two of these stages alone were of private and
mysterious nature ; at the first two the whole populace assisted
freely. The whole festival was protected by a sacred truce,^
proclaimed, like that in connection with the Olympian festival,
by public heralds. During the earlier part of the Peloponnesian
war, the Spartans respected this truce ; but after the renewal
of hostilities and the occupation of Deceleia, they stopped for
many years the procession of mystae to Eleusis.

We learn from an inscription - of the age of Hadrian, that
on the 13th of Boedromion, the Ephebi of Athens were
marshalled, and went in procession to Eleusis in order to escort

^ Dittenberger, Syll. No. 384. Br. 3fus. Inscr. Xo. 2. The duration
of the truce was from the middle of Metageitnion, induding all Boe-
dromion, until the loth of Pyanepsion.

" Dittenberger, Syll. No. 3S7.

THE AfYSTERIES 2/9

thence on the 14th in solemn procession certain sacred ohjects.
TOL Upd, which were required for the procession from Athens
to Kleusis, wliich at that age took place on the 19th of
Boedromion.

The first day of the Eleusinia fell on the 15th of Boe-
dromion. It was called the assemhling, dyvpiio<5, because on it
the mystiX3 assembled in groups, each under the direction and
guidance of a mystagogus. At the Stoa Poecile they received
a sort of address from the officials; the King-archon first
ordering those to withdraw who were stained by crime or
ignominy, or otherwise unworthy of admission, and the hiero-
])hant next proclaiming the conditions required of those who
desired to be initiated, and enjoining purity, both inward and
outward, on all. And the sacred herald impressed on the
assembled votaries the duty of absolute secrecy as to all that
they might witness, and bade them be silent throughout, and
not even utter exclamations.

The second day of the mysteries, the i6th of Boedromion,
was that called dXaSe /xvo-rat, " Mystse to the sea," because on
it the candidates for initiation purified alike themselves and
the young pig, which was the regular victim of the goddesses,
in the salt waters of the sea, or perhaps, as M. Lenormant
maintains, in the salt water of the two lakes called Rheiti on
the Sacred Way.

These days were not at Athens holidays, except for the
mystse. But the 17th of Boedromion was kept as a holiday
generally. On it there were solemn state sacrifices in the
Eleusinium at Athens; and each of the mystae offered the
sacred pig required from him. On the i8th also there was a
continuation of sacrifices and offerings to the two goddesses.

The grand procession of the mystce from Athens to Eleusis
is spoken of by the writers as happening on the 20th of the
month. The inscription already cited assigns it to the 19th.
Possibly by the time of Hadrian the day had been changed, or
it may be, as Dittenberger suggests, that as the procession did
not reach Eleusis until after sunset on the 19th it was reckoned
as belonging to the 20th. It bore the name of lacchus, because
in it the statue of lacchus was borne from Athens to Eleusis,
escorted by the Ephebi, and followed by the crowd of the
mystae, each bearing a lighted torch. The march was ordered
by the lacchagogus ; the statue was attended by two priestesses,
and followed by bearers, who carried the cradle and the play-
things of the infant deity. The procession kept up a constant
singing of hymns, of which we may form some idea from the

28o CULTUS

imitations of them in the Frogs. At each of the shrines on the
Sacred Way it stopped to make sacrifices and libations, to sing
hymns and perform sacred dances. Naturally it moved but
slowly and, though starting at daybreak, did not reach Eleusis
till late at night. Reaching the spot the mystae found some
shelter or encampment to protect them from the weather during
their stay at Eleusis.

The site of Eleusis has now been fully excavated by the Greek
Archaeological Society. ^ The centre of the sacred enclosure
was occupied by the great Hall of Initiation. This was in no
sense a temple, but merely a vast hall, whereof the roof was
supported by a forest of pillars, while round the four sides
were stone seats eight steps high, capable of holding some 3000
people. Practically it was only a shelter, adapted to protect
from storms and rain the whole body of the mystae, together
with the hierophant and other officials, who had to instruct
them by sight and sound in the sacred lore of Eleusis.

During the daytime the mystae fasted, breaking their fast,
as the Mohammedans do in our time, at sunset; and as most
of the sacred ceremonies went on at night, we must suppose
that the day v/as mostly spent in sleep, or in prostration resulting
from the excitements of the night. Amid the nightly cele-
brations we can distinguish certain interesting ceremonies.

First the initiated had to rouse in themselves a feeling of
sympathy with Demeter in her jDassion. They imitated the
sad wanderings of the goddess who roamed, torch in hand,
along the shore of Eleusis ; and we are told that the lights
which they bore looked from a distance like a swarm of fire-
flies on the shore of the bay. They sat like their sorrowing
goddess on the "joyless rock," and tried to imagine that from
them also the sweet Persephone had been snatched away.
Amid so many mystae some must have suffered the loss of their
own children, and perhaps to them the feeling that such loss
was not unknown, even to the immortal gods, and perhaps
might be, like the absence of Persephone, only temporary, must
have sometimes come as a strong consolation.

Secondly, there was certainly a sacrament of eating and
drinking. After a nine days' fast Demeter had been persuaded
by the drolleries of lambe or Baubo to partake of food and
drink, and to change the harshness of despair for less passionate
grief. Tire votaries of Demeter also broke their fast by eating

^ A plan will be found in my New Chapters, and in the new edition of
Smith's Classical Dictionary, under "Eleusis,"

THE MYSTERIES

281

from a sacred vessel and drinking a draught called the kvkcow,
made of meal and water. They also handled certain sacred
objects, transferring them from basket to box, or from box to
Ijasket, according to a fixed ritual. Of course such ceremonies
are no surprise to the anthropologist, who knows that in all
religions some of the most solemn ceremonies are connected
with eating and drinking in common.

Fig. 17. liAI.L OF THE iMVST.E. (DORPFKLD.)

Thirdly, it may be regarded as certain that the crowning and
consummation of the whole celebration at Eleusis consisted in
certain representations of a dramatic character, mystories or
miracle plays, which were acted in the sacred meeting- hall, and
which contained the revelations to be made to the initiated.

But we must begin by dismissing as fanciful and unfounded
a great deal of modern conjecture on this subject. Some

282 CULTUS

modern writers have taxed their ingenuity to imagine such
noble revelations as should correspond to what they think the
Eleusinia ought to be. They have pictured to themselves
elaborate ceremonies and carefully planned stage-effects; and
it must be confessed that they are not without the support of
some ancient authorities, who, however, belong to the last
periods of Greek literature. For example, the orator Themistius,
who lived in the fourth century, writes of the mystse : "They-
wander about at first ; they enter on wearisome deviations ;
they walk about full of suspicion and uncertainty in the dark-
ness ; and the nearer they approach to the goal, the more
terrible everything becomes : there is nothing but trembling,
shuddering, sweating, and stupor. Then a marvellous light falls
on them, and they enter pure places and meadows, and hear
voices, and see dances, and witness majestic utterances and
sacred forms." It is perhaps not strange that some writers
should have supposed, on the strength of such passages as this,
that the mystse, on their way to the hall of assemlDly, passed
through long underground passages, and wandered far in the
darkness. And the opinion has been widely diffused, though
based on slight authority, that in these Avanderings there were
displayed before them the terrors of Tartarus, dreadful sights
and sounds, in sharp contrast to the delights of Elysium
supposed to be revealed in the hall itself. This view must be
considered as finally disposed of by the evidence of excavation,
which has proved that the underground passages which the
Dilettanti supposed themselves to have discovered never existed.
The darkling walk, which was said to be so full of terrors and
uncertainties, could only be the walk from the propylsea to the
gates of the hall. But we must remember that after their
daily fast the votaries would be worked up to a pitch of excite-
ment ; their expectation would be raised to the highest point ;
and the nights were planned by the Attic calendar so as to fall
when there was no moon. The mystse might therefore be very
ready to imagine more than they saw.

But what happened when at last the door of the hall
was opened, and the torch-bearer appeared with his torch to
lead the mystae into the sacred place? Then, at all events,
it may be thought, strange sights and sounds would be met.
The simple answer is that at Eleusis there was no provision
for the production of strange stage-effects. Never at any time
was there in the shallow stage of a Greek theatre any room
for those elaborate effects in which modern stage managers
delight. All was simplicity and convention. But at Eleusis

THE MYSTERIES 283

there was not even a stage. The people sat tier above tier
all round the building, and whatever went on had to go on
in their midst. If they were dazzled by strange sights, these
sights must have been very simply contrived. If they saw
gods descending from the sky or rising from the ground, they
must have been willing to spread round the very primitive
machinery, by which such ascents and descents would be
accomplished, an imaginative halo of their own.

In the midst of the crowd the hierophant and his colleagues
displayed certain sights and uttered certain sounds which the
people received with trembling veneration, and filled with a
meaning perhaps out of proportion to the actual phenomena.
It is the opinion of Lenormant that on successive nights there
were acted two separate miracle plays, in which the parts were
taken by the officers of the Eleusinia ; but as to the details
of these plays, we are altogether left to conjecture. They
dwelt perhaps on the wanderings and grief of Demeter, the
return of Cora from the under-world, and perhaps the extra-
ordinary history of Zagreus, who was slain by the Titans.

The last formal act of the mysteries seems to iis simple
enough, though it was certainly regarded as no unimportant
part of the whole. The mystse filled with water two vessels
Avhich bore the special name of plemochoae, and emptied them
in libation, turning to east and west, and repeating the mystic
words, ve, kv€. The first prayer was directed to the sky, and
was a petition for rain ; the second to the earth, as a prayer for
fertility. These simple words are probably part of the oldest
Eleusinian ritual, and show the original character of the whole
festival to have been a religious service of prayer, that the corn-
sowing just going on might lead to a fair harvest.

By the 24th of Boedromion the secret parts of the mysteries
were over ; the festival again became of a public nature, and
all Athens again kept holiday. Then they celebrated the
games called Eleusinia, one of the most important of Athenian
agones, the prize wherein consisted of a measure of barley,
reaped probably in the sacred Rharian plain. The games
grew in duration as time went on : at first only occupying one
day, they at last absorbed quite four. An important part of
them was the representation of tragedies in the theatre of
Eleusis. We learn that at one time the plays of ^schylus
were, by preference, selected on account of their religious
character ; in the Macedonian age the Dionysiac artists re-
sorted to Eleusis, and for two or three days furnished amuse:
ment to the mystse and their visitors.

284 CULTUS

The return to Athens, like the setting out thence, took place
in solemn procession, the priests joining the cortege. At one
part at least of its progress the pomp must have relapsed into
disorder and clamour ; for the people of Athens went out with
masks on their faces to meet the returning mysta3, and received
them at the bridge over the Cephissus with jests and banter.
The mystae replied, and a contest ensued of wit or of scurrility,
in which each tried to surpass the other. Such mixtures of
jest and religion do not shock the feelings of natives of southern
Europe.

There is no good ground for the supposition that the Eleu-
sinian priests communicated to the people some theology above
the common, some mystic doctrine preserved in the archives of
Eleusis and handed down from age to age. Tliere were rites
and representations of a symbolic character, well adapted, no
doubt, to act upon the nerves and imaginations of those present.
These scenes brought men nearer to the gods, and caused a thrill
of sympathy with the feelings of the deities to pass through
human bosoms ; but they did not instruct the intellect, still less
impart any cosmologic or theogonic system. Even the sentences
which, as we learn, the actors in the divine dramas threw out
from time to time, were full of fancy and mysticism rather than
of sober meaning. " Aristotle," says Synesius, "is of opinion
that the initiated learned nothing precisely, but that they re-
ceived impressions, that they were put into a certain frame of
mind ! " AVe can scarcely do better in such a matter than
adhere to this opinion.

A ceremony affects people by its symbolism, and each man
interprets the symbols according to the state of his heart and
his belief. To the vulgar-minded they are vulgar and trivial,
to critical and uninterested spectators they are tedious and
foolish ; but to those to whom they have a meaning they are
of real value ; and the more vague the ceremony, the greater
is the variety of meaning which can be put into it. Of dog-
matic teaching, as we have already remarked, there was none
at Eleusis : only pleasing sights to remain in the imagination,
and short enigmatical sentences to be stored in the memory,
all likely to recur to the mind at the critical moments of life,
and whenever that state of nervous exaltation recurred which
had existed when they were first received at Eleusis.

The Eleusinia, though the most sacred of the Mysteries, by
no means stood alone. Copies of them Avere introduced into
many Greek cities ; and there were also celebrations of an
independent origin and embodying other early traditions. For

THE MYSTEEIES 285

instance, there were in Arcadia mysteries connected with the
deity whom the Arcadians called Despoena, and regarded as the
daughter of Demeter and Poseidon, which seem to have been
Ijased on other legends than tliose of Eleusis. At Troezen in
Argolis and the island of .Egina there were mysteries attached
to the cult of two deities called Damia and Aiixesia, which
enjoyed considerable renown in the days of Herodotus. But
the only mysteries which in antiquity and dignity could vie
with those of Eleusis were those belonging to the Pelasgic
Cabiri in the island of Samothrace. The whole cultus of these
deities seems like a fossil fragment of a very primitive phase
of Greek religion. There were, indeed, Phoenician Cabiri, but
Lenormant^ maintains that these were entirely distinct from
the Samothracian deities, who were elemental spirits of fire,
and teachers of mankind in the arts of metallurgy. They were
in number four — two male, one female, and one of doubtful
gender ; their names were Axieros, Axiokersus, Axiokersa, and
Cadmilus. Removing the prefix axi^ which seems to be the
Greek a^tos, venerable or honourable, we may easily explain
the first three names. Eros is the principle of union, Kersus
tlie male, and Kersa the female procreative element ; from the
union of the two latter Cadmilus is born.

Of the Samothracian Mysteries we know very little ; but
we may safely conjecture that the ideas of sex and of pro-
creation dominated them even more than those of Eleusis.
This fact may seem repulsive ; but we must remember that
all the nations of the Levant in early times closely connected
the idea of generation with that of life after death, and that
of a spirit dwelling in the universe. The more reserved
manners of modern times make symbolism borrowed from the
relations of the sexes seem out of place in religious exposi-
tions ; but more primitive and demonstrative races did not
feel the incongruity as we do. The worship of the Cabiri
and their mysteries were adopted in several states of Greece,
brought over no doubt by sailors and merchants who touched
at Samothrace, or who ascribed their safety in storm to the
interference of the Samothracian deities. An inscription has
been found at Andania in Messenia,^ giving full instructions
for the celebration at that place of the mysteries of the Cabiri,
wlio must there surely have been identified with the Dioscuri.

^ In Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionary, s.r. Cabiri.
- Saiippe, Mysterieninschrifi von Andania ; Dittenberger, No. 3SS.
In Newton's Essays, p. 177, is a very full summary.

2 86 CULTUS

It deals, however, entirely with external ceremonies, such as
processions and banquets, and does not give directions for
those secret rites which were the essential part of the cult.
One notable fact is, however, the mention in the inscription
of certain sacred books, which we must suppose to have con-
tained the ritual in use on these occasions.

CHAPTER X

THE ATTIC CALENDAR

The subject of Religious Festivals in Greece is one of far too
great extent to be adequately treated of in a handbook like
the present. Every important cult had attached to it some
festival, wdiich had to be duly celebrated at some fixed time
of year; every important city had a calendar, in which the
days set apart for the festivals of the various civic deities were
set forth in order ; and it was generally believed that neglect
of the sacred usages thus established would bring dowai the
wTath of offended deities.

The character of some of the more important of the Greek
festivals is set forth in the latter half of Hermann's Gottes-
dienstliclie Altertliiimer. In the present work all that is
attempted is, in other chapters, a sketch of the Eleusinia (chap,
ix.) and the great agonistic festivals, which had an important
national significance (chap, viii.), and in the present place, a
brief account of the calendar and festivals of one city, Athens,
which is not only the most important of Greek cities, but also
that as to wdiich we are in all things most fully informed.

In place of tracing historically the origin of the various
festivals of the Athenians, an interesting but somew^hat specu-
lative inquiry, we here rapidly follow the course of the Attic
calendar, as established in historic times, using principally the
authority of A. Mommsen, whose HeoHologie (1864) is the
most satisfactory work on the subject.

The ordinary Attic year consisted of the following twelve
months — Hecatombseon (roughly our July), Metageitnion
(August), Boedromion (September), Pyanepsion (October),
Msemacterion (November), Poseideon (December), Gamelion
(January), Anthesterion (February), Elaphebolion (March),
Munychion (April), Thargelion (May), Scirophorion (June).
These months, some of which were 29 and some 30 days

THE ATTIC CALENDAR 287

long, made up a year of 354 clays; and in order that the
months should not in successive years fall in different seasons,
it was necessary frequently to interpolate an intercalary month,
a second Poseideon of 30 days.

It should be remembered, in reading accounts of Greek
festivals, that to the Greeks the festal day began at sunset, as
the Sabbath still does among the Jews. Thus when a cele-
bration belongs to the loth of a month, its ceremonies might
occupy any time between the sunset of the 9th and the sunset
of the loth. A torch-race, for example, would be held in the
evening preceding the sacrifices and processions.

It is impossible, in following the Attic Calendar, either to
give references, which would take too much space, or to go
into any details. Those who wish to examine the matter in
detail must consult larger works. I shall endeavour only to
impress upon the reader the great variety and interest of the
religious festivals of Attica during the great time of Athens.

Hecatombseon, the first and hottest month of the year, was
dedicated to Apollo as sun -god. On the 12 th of the month
the Cronia were celebrated, and on the i6th the Synoecia, a
fea>t connected in legend with the crwoiKto-/xos, by which
Theseus introduced unity into Attica. But the great event of
the month was the Panathenaea, the most distinctively Attic
of religious festivals, and one which has left us an unrivalled
record in art.

The festival was held on the 28th of the month, the sup-
posed day of the birth of Athena, on which she sprang full-
armed from the head of her father in the midst of the assembly
of the gods. With the story of its origin the names of
greatest importance in early Athenian history were intertwined.
Erichthonius is said first to have established a festival in honour
of the goddess ; Theseus made the Athenaea into Panathenaea ;
and Peisistratus ordained that on every fourth year the festival
should be one of exceptional brilliancy. But the Greater and
the Lesser Panathenaea differed rather in scale than in char-
acter : alike they bore testimony to the glory of the goddess
and the splendour of the Athenian city, of which she was as
it were the mythological embodiment. Primarily the Great
Panathenaic festival was agonistic. There were musical con-
tests in singing, with the lyre and the flute, and in rhapsodic
recitation of epic poems ; and there were gymnastic contests on
a scarcely smaller scale than those held at Olympia and Nemea.
The victors were rewarded with amphorae of oil from the sacred
trees of Athena, from six to sixty of which were assigned to

288 CULTUS

the various winners. Painted vases were also presented to the
successful competitors, bearing a representation of the contest
in which each had been successful ; in later days also the name
of the arclion to fix the date.^ With the purely gymnastic
exercises were mingled others of a more decidedly warlike
character — riding on horseback in full armour, throwing the
javelin from horseback, and leaping out of and returning to
chariots in full course.

Parties of dancers vied one with the other in the Pyrrhic
dance, and the tribes sent up groups of adult men to contend
for the prize of ^vavSpia, or manly beauty. At night torch-
races were run, and the youths of Athens contended, like
modern university men, in boat-races, though of course the
sea-going boats were of a far more solid build than the light
racing craft of modern days.

On the principal day of the festival there took place that
solemn procession up to the Acropolis of which a reflection
still remains to us in the frieze of the Parthenon. The object
of the procession was partly to convey to the presence of the
goddess those who had been victorious in the games held in
her honour, partly to conduct to the altar of sacrifice the cows
presented by the Athenians, and the oxen and sheep sent for
sacrifice by the various colonies of Athens in foreign lands.
But the chief purpose was to carry up to the temple, perhaps
for decking the wooden statue of Athena, Avhich was her oldest
and most sacred effigy, a robe woven by the Arrhephoric maidens,
and broidered by them with scenes from the battle of the gods
and giants, wherein Athena had herself won imperishable re-
nown. The sacred peplos was attached as a sail to the mast
of a ship when carried through the streets, and then carried up
to the presence of Athena and deposited in her treasury.

The month Metageitnion contained but unimportant festivals ;
that which succeeded, Boedromion, was more important in the
calendar. The second of the month was the anniversary of the
contest between Athena and Poseidon for the Attic territory,
a contest represented in one of the pediments of the Parthenon.
It was a day of ill-fortune and depression. But the third was
the anniversary of a far more auspicious event, the victory of
Platsea.^ We are, however, left in uncertainty how far this

^ Many of these vases survive. They reach us mostly from Italy and
Cyrene. See Monunienti delV Instituto, x. pi. 47, 48. It seems clear that
these painted vessels cannot have contained oil, a purpose for which they
are entirely unfitted. Cf. Rayet et Collignon, Ceramique Grecque, p. 129.

2 Mommsen, Heortoloyie, p. 208.

THE ATTIC CALENDAR 289

day was kept as a festival at Athens. On the 5 th of the month
was held the important festival of the Genesia, the feast of the
dead. Originally it seems to have been the occasion on which
families united to deplore the members who had passed from
them during the year, and to renew by sacrifice their relation
to them and the nether-gods. But this dolorous festival was
redeemed to some degree of brightness by being connected with
the memorial of the battle of IMarathon, which was celebrated on
the 6th. It was said that before that great victory the Athenian
Polemarch Callimachus had vowed to Artemis Agi'otera a goat
for every Persian enemy who fell. But the great slaughter
which took place, far exceeding his expectation, compelled the
Athenians to commute the sacrifice promised for 500 goats,
which were annually offered to the goddess. The glorious
memories of Marathon were mingled with offerings at the
Marathonian mound ^ where tlie slain Athenians were buried,
with rejoicings and with military displays.

On the 15 th of Boedromion began the assembling and
sacrifices preliminary to the Mysteries of Eleusis. As we have
devoted to these Mysteries a special chapter, it is not necessary
here to say more in re.^ard to them.

With the next month, Pyanepsion, the great heat of summer
is past, and autumn comes on. On the 7th the Pyanepsia were
held, a festival connected in legend with the Cretan expedition
of Theseus, but mainly devoted to the honour of Apollo. It
had something of the character of a harvest festival. Beans
were cooked ; and the Eiresione, a sacred branch of olive, hung
with figs, cakes, and pots of honey and milk, was carried in
procession in honour of the sun-god.

At about the same time the Oschophoria were celebrated.
There was a procession which started from tlie temple of
Di(mysus at Limnae and passed through the town. It consisted
of boys chosen for the occasion, who l)ore grapes and chanted
songs. There was a race of youths from the temple of Dionysus
to that of Athena Sciras at Phaleron, and the branches of vine
which they bore were regarded as a gift from the god of wine
to the goddess of oil. The mothers of the competitors met
them with food ; and the day ended with a sort of picnic by
the sea.

On the evening of the 7th Epitaphia were celebrated, and
sacrifices offered to the ancestral heroes of Athens. Probablv

^ This mound has recently been excavated, when remains of abundant
sacrifices came to light.

2 go CULTUS

on this day the annual oration in honour of the Athenian
citizens who during the year had died on foreign service was
deUvered.

The 8th was a great festival of Theseus, Theseia, in connection
^vith which there were not only sacrifices, but all sorts of contests.
The inscriptions record prizes awarded for running, wrestling,
and boxing, for casting the javelin and the like. We hear
also of torch-races and competitions of trumpeters and heralds.
On the next day there was a sort of military tournament, in
which the youth of Athens displayed their skill in the use of
their weapons. The feast of Theseus owed, if not its origin,
at least its development to Cimon, when he fetched from
Scyros the bones of the national hero of Attica.

The days from the 9th to the 13th of Pyanepsion were
occupied by the important festival of the Thesmophoria, which
the play of Aristophanes has made in some aspects familiar to
scholars. Pyanepsion was the month of sowing ; and Demeter
Thesmophoros was goddess alike of the fruitfulness of the
earth and of marriage and the procreation of children. In the
festival only honourable burgher matrons could take part ; and
for such part they had to prepare themselves by nine days
of complete chastity. On the first day of the festival, called
2T7Ji/ia, they betook themselves to Halimus, a suburban deme
of Athens, and there mid jest and laughter celebrated certain
mysteries of the goddess. On the nth they returned to
Athens, and occupied a building called the Eleusinion, close to
the Acropolis. On the next day they sat on the ground, and
with fasting and lamentation besought the favour of the nether
powers, perhaps taking their theme from the carrying away of
Persephone, who at this season was supposed to return to her
grim lord, Hades. On the final day of the festival rejoicings
took the place of weeping : Demeter, it was supposed, was now
reconciled, and would give fair offspring to the women of the
Athenians, as well as a plenteous harvest in their fields.

Towards the end of the same month came the Apaturia, a
three days' festival of great importance^ but rather from the
social and political than from the religious side. It probably
centred in the old Prytaneium, the common hearth of the
people of Athens. Every citizen to whom a child had been
born presented him before Zeus Phratrius and Athena, declared
his legitimacy, and brought to the deities a thank-offering, a
victim on whose flesh the members of the phratria feasted.
Hence gatherings of clans and families, at which children
showed their acquirements in various branches of learning, and

THE ATTIC CALENDAR 29 1

found their level among their kindred. Later, on the ivrj /cat
v€a, or last of the month, was a festival of Hephaestus, in which
those took part who made their living by the arts which were
under his patronage, the working of metal and fashioning of
implements. It was termed XaAKcta.

After the numerous festivals which we have mentioned there
is a pause. The month M^emacterion was the beginning of
winter, and the only festivals held in it were sacrifices to the
winter deities Zeus [xaifxaKrip and Zeus yew/oyos.

Poseideon was sometimes a single and sometimes a double
month, especially devoted to Dionysiac festival and observance,
particularly by the rustic population, to whom it was a time of
idleness. The Haloa were a festival of harvest and vintage,
held in honour of Demeter Persephone and Dionysus at Eleusis ;
it belonged especially to women, and seems to have been in
some degree a reflection of the great Mysteries of Eleusis. The
Dionysia of winter, which belonged to an uncertain time in
Poseideon, were celebrated Kar' dypovs, that is, in the villages
of Attica. The festival, though held long after the gathering
of grapes, which took place about the equinox, was doubtless
connected with it. To us it is of great interest ; since out of
the rustic buffooneries and dances which accompanied it the
drama arose. The staining of the faces of the jesters with lees
of wine was the origin of the dramatic mask, out of the hymns
sung at the altar in honour of the young Dionysus came the
cyclic chorus with its further developments. The birth of the
wine-god inspired all the peasants with jollity and mirth, such
as has down even to our own days in all European countries
gathered about the winter solstice. In the Acliarnians of
Aristophanes we have a picture of a family celebrating the
Dionysia : the daughter bears on her head the basket of offer-
ings, a servant carries the phallic symbol of the god ; all join
in the procession, except the motlier, who watches it from
the roof.

The next month, Gamelion, was marked by another Dionysiac
festival, the Lenaea, held at the Lenseum at Athens. This feast
appears to have lasted four or five days, and was the occasion of
dramatic performances and contests, which superseded earlier
recitation of dithyrambs. Another celebration of the month
was the Gamelia, which had reference to that marriage of
heaven and earth with which many mythologies begin. The
Athenians would naturally connect it with the Upbs ydiio<i of
Zeus and Hera. A. Mommsen regards this marriage celebra-
tion as connected with the birth of the ancestral Attic deity

292 CULTUS

Hei:)h8estus, whose birthday came nine months later in the
sacred year.

In the following month, Anthesterion, fell a third important
Dionjsiac festival, the Anthesteria, celebrated from the nth
to the 13th. On the nth came the TriOoiyla, or opening of the
casks, in preparation for the coming feast. It throws a pleasing
light on the relations of the Athenians to their slaves, when
we find that this opening of casks, which was the business of
slaves, brought with it not only permission for them to drink
the new wine, but also liberty generally and a holiday from
their ordinary tasks. Dionysus brought even to them rest
and enjoyment. On this day also the oldest of the statues
of Dionysus made a journey from the Lenaeum to a temple of
the Outer Cerameicus, thence to return in solemn procession.
On the 1 2th came the x^e?. The day, as usual in the Greek
calendar, began at sunset of the i ith. At once a j^rocession was
formed with torches and lamps to bring back the sacred image
to the Lenaeum. The cortege was full of masks, and of women
who represented Nymphs and BacchcV, and rode in waggons :
the Basilinna, the wife of the King Archon, rode with the god
himself as his bride, and passed the night alone in his cella.
Meantime all the people betook themselves to feasting, hospi-
tality, and merriment, which lasted far into the night and the
next day. The i3tli, called x^'^P'^h "^vas devoted to tlie worship
of the Chthonic Dionysus, and of the dead. The offerings
consisted of a compound of corn and fruits, offered in pots.
Fourteen altars were set up to receive the sacrifices, in such
wise that those seated in the theatre could clearly see them,
when assembled to witness the cyclic choruses. It appears
that into the details of the Anthesteria there penetrated, as we
should have anticipated, much of the higher or esoteric Dionysiac
doctrine which was taught by the Orphists.

In Anthesterion also were celebrated the lesser Mysteries of
Demeter and Persephone, which took place at Agree, on the
other side of the Ilissus. On the 23rd the Diasia were held,
j^robably at the temple of Zeus Olympius by the Ilissus. The
character of this festival is indicated by the fact that the sacri-
ficial animals were offered whole, and were sometimes pigs, a
creature belonging especially to the ceremonies of expiation
and purification. This then Avas a festival of atonement, and
the Zeus to whom it belonged was MetAtxtos the propitious.
It probably was intended to secure a favourable season for the
ensuing spring. The poor who could not afford a victim,
substituted for it, we are told, a cake moulded in animal form.

THE ATTIC CALENDAR 293

The next month, Elaphebolion, brought a festival of world-
wide renown, the city Dionysia, Atovvcrta to. iv ao-ret. This
lasted for several days, beginning on the 9th of the month
with a celebration in honour of Asclepius. After the sacrifice
to the healing deity, the people thronged to the Lenaeum, and
thence convoyed to the theatre a statue of Dionysus ; scarcely, as
A. Mommsen thinks, the gold and ivory figure by Alcamene?. In
some noble embodiment, the god had to preside at the celebra-
tion in his honour. At this festival the tribute of the Athenian
allies was paid over, the deputies who brought it taking a share
in the splendid shows and sacrifices. The sons also of fathers
who had fallen in arms for Athens were invested with arms in
the theatre in presence of all the people. On the loth of the
month took place a lyric contest between bards. We still
possess a fragment of an ode written by Pindar for the occasion.
Then followed the three celebrated days of dramatic representa-
tion, on each of which was performed a trilogy of tragedies in
the morning and a comedy in tlie afternoon. In these com-
petitions the masterpieces of Attic tragedy and comedy first
saw the light ; and the prizes, oxen and tripods, were eagerly
sought by the greatest dramatists. The whole was concluded
on the 14th of the month by the Pandia, a celebration in
honour of Zeus, which seems in later days of Athens to have
been somewhat overshadowed by other festivals.

The tenth month, Munychion, brings us to early summer.
On the 6th were held the Delphinia in honour of Apollo and
Artemis as deities of navigation. The purport of the festival
was to hallow the opening of navigation ; and as was often the
case at Athens, a legend arose to connect it with Theseus, who
had on that day set out for Crete, after prayers and dedications
to Apollo. In after years, on the same day, started the sacred
Athenian embassy to Delos.

On the 1 6th came the Munychia, also sacred to Artemis, to
whom were brought on this day cakes girt round with lighted
candles (a/xc^te^wvre^). Mommsen regards as contemporary
with this celebration that held at Athens and at Brauron, in
honour of the Brauronian Artemis. The Brauronia are interest-
ing from the point of view of comparative mythology. Young
girls, termed apKToi, danced in honour of the goddess a bear-
dance, and figures of bears in various materials were dedicated
to her. Such customs probably were survivals of a time when
some Attic tribe looked on the bear as its sacred head,
afterwards preserving in the service of Artemis the customs
which had their origin before her arrival. The Munychia in

294 CULTUS

the fifth century attained a higher development from the
mingling with them of the annual thanksgiving for the glorions
victory of Salamis. At Salamis on this day was the celebration
in honour of the hero Ajax ; and the youth of Athens thronged
over to the island, and there competed with the Salaminians in
a rowing contest and torch-races. Later in the month came the
Olympieia, annually held in honour of the Zeus of Olympus,
after Pisistratus had laid the foundations of his great temple
by the Ilissus.

The next month, Thargelion, took its name from the Thar-
gelia, dedicated to Apollo and Artemis. According to the
people of Delos, Apollo had been born on the 6th, and Artemis
on the yth of the month; from the Delians, probably, the
people of Athens took the festival. On it they brought to the
ileities of summer heat, to Helios and the Horae., the tirst-fruits
of the summer crops ; and a procession and musical competi-
tion took place. But there was a darker side to the Thargelia,
showing that originally there was in them something of the
sin-offering. After a sacrifice of an ewe to Denieter Chloe,
two human victims were led in procession with figs bound
round their necks, and as we are told, sacrificed to Apollo, the
source and the averter of pestilence and famine, on behalf of
the men and women of Athens. Whether they were actually
put to death may be doubted ; in historic times human sacri-
fices were almost everywhere in Greece modified and commuted ;
and though not wholly extinct, were reserved for rare and
solemn occasions.

On the 19th took place the festival of the Thracian goddess
Bendis, one of the last importations into the official Pantheon
of Athens, into w^hicli she was not admitted until the time of
Pericles, though she had settled earlier in Piraeus. A feature
of it was a torch-race on horseback, probably borrowed, like
the goddess herself, from the rude peoples of northern Greece.
Contemporary with the Bendideia were the Plynteria and Cal-
lynteria, closely connected festivals. Their principal feature
was a solemn cleansing or bath of the ancient image of Athena
preserved in the Erechtheum. In elaborate ceremonial the
statue was stripped of its arms and garments, then swathed in
wrappings and carried forth, probably to the sea, though this is
not certain, and washed. Her temple w'as closed, being bound
round with cords ; and the day of her bath was reckoned an
inauspicious one for any business, as her oversight could not be
relied on. In the evening she was brought back by torchlight
to her sacred home.

THE ATTIC CALENDAR 295

The last month of the calendar, Scirophorion, contained the
Scirophoria, a festival belonging wholly to women, like the
Thesmophoria. Its chief feature was a procession led by the
priest of Erechtheiis, who bore a large parasol {a-Kipov) in his
hand, to a place called 'ZKtpov, near Athens. Its meaning is
somewhat obscure. Perhaps connected with it were the Arrhe-
phoria, also sacred to Athena, and marked by an interesting
ceremonial of a puzzling character. Pausanias^ tells us that
on the evening of the festival the two Arrhephoric mnidens
who had their abode on the Acropolis, "place on their heads
objects which the priestess of Athena gives them to carry, the
nature of which is known neither to the giver nor to the bearers.
The maidens go down by a secret underground passage leading
to a precinct near the temple of Aphrodite of the Gardens.
Below they leave their burdens ; and take up in exchange
something covered up."

On the 14th of Scirophorion came the remarkable festival of
the Diasia or Buphonia, held on the Acropolis. On the altar of
Zeus Polieus were spread various kinds of corn and cakes. An
ox prepared for sacrifice was driven to the altar, and as soon as
he began to feed on the corn, was struck down by the priest
with an axe. Immediately the priest fled, but was seized, and
with all the attendants haled to the Prytaneium as a murderer.
All excused themselves, and finally the guilt was fixed upon
the sacrificial axe, which was condemned and cast into the sea.
The skin of the dead ox was stuffed, and the appearance of life
was given to it by yoking it in a plougL The flesh was pre-
pared as a solemn meal, of which some officials partook. It
is impossible here to enter into the meaning of this curious
ceremonial, which can only be understood by a comparison of
the customs of various primitive peoples. We may, however,
observe that in other peoples who have recently exchanged the
nomadic for the agricultural condition the slaying of a ploughing
ox is regarded as an offence of as deep a die as the murder of a
clansman.

This slight sketch may suffice to give some notion of the
degree to which the religion of the state and its observances
entered into the life of xVthenian citizens. Something was
almost always going on, in the way of procession or sacrifice or
feast, in which every Athenian had a right to take part. That
all this religious ceremonial would tend directly to ethical im-

^ I. 27, 3. Compare Miss Harrison's Cults and Mo7iumcnts of Anciint
A-thtns, p. xxxiii-

296 CULTUS

provement may be very doubtful ; but certainly it would pro-
mote sociability and good taste, and the love of public shows.
Every citizen would have it brought home to him several times
in the month that he was a member of a society, having
definite relations to his ancestors, his fellow-citizens, and the
civic deities. In this fashion the religion of the state became
a binding force in cities, and we can understand alike the
jealousy felt by the Greeks towards new and unauthorised
cults, and the resisting power of Greek religion. Long after
men ceased really to believe in Athena and Apollo and Artemis
as existing and ever-present beings, they clung to the ceremonial
of their worship as a thing without which life would lose much
of its meaning, and patriotism its best sanction.

When we compare the bright and varied interest of life in
a Greek city, its struggling political activities and its successive
religious festivals, with the dull level of the existence of the
poor in modern cities, we feel how far advancing civilisation
may sometimes be from promoting the greatest happiness of the
greatest number.

Another observation which is forced on us by a review of
the Attic Calendar is the importance in Greece of the Dionysiac
cultus. In the practical life of religion Dionysus was of more
importance at Athens than Zeus, Apollo, or even Athena.
And there was attached to his cultus more of religious doctrine
also, if perhaps less of mythologic tale. Many writers have
failed to appreciate the importance of the Dionysiac element in
Greek religion ; but those who study the Athenian sacred year
can scarcely overlook it.

BOOK IV

THE COURSE OF LIFE
C FT AFTER I

CHILDHOOD AND ED U' CATION

The modern custom, according to which a male doctor attends
women in cliildbirth, differs from that of the Greeks. Their
usual attendant in such cases was a midwife, whose only skill
was derived from practice, or even any elderly slave of the
house.

Immediately on the birth of a child came the bathing in
XvrXa, that is, either water or water mixed with oil (at Sparta
with wine), to confirm its flickering life. In front of the house
were suspended, if the child were male, olive-boughs, if it were
female, woollen fillets. The birth of a female child was much
dreaded, alike by the ancient Greeks and their modern repre-
sentatives. On the fifth day, or the seventh according to some
writers, took place the first birth-ceremony, when the nurse
and other attendants, putting off their clothes, bore the new-
born child round the blazing hearth, and then ceremonially
cleansed themselves and the mother from supposed impurity.
This was called the d/x^nSpo/xta. Still more important was the
tenth day, the SeKari], when friends and relations were invited
to a solemn feast and sacrifice, and the infant was openly
acknowledged as legitimate by the father, and received the
name it was to bear, as well as presents from friends and
relations.! Whether the birthday was kept as an annual celebra-
tion we do not know. Censorinus informs us that a feast was
usual on the fortieth day after Ijirth, when the mother might

* Aristoph. Birds, 922 : —

ovK dpri dv(j) Trjv d€Ka.Tr}i> ravTrji eyib,
Kai ToUvojx worep iraLdiu) vvv 5rj 'diix-qv;
297

298 THE COURSE OF LIFE

be expected to be convalescent, and also the worst danger to
the infant life past. This period of forty days is still observed
in Greece.

So things were ordered when the father intended to rear
the child. But he often, and more frequently if it was a girl,
declined this duty, and caused it to be exposed in the streets,
in a x^''"PS ^ large earthen vessel, to be taken up by any one
who pleased, or even ordered it to be put to death. In case of
exposure, cK^ecrts, some trinkets or amulets, yvco/otV/xaTa, would
be fastened to it, which might sometimes be preserved, and lead
to recognition later by the parents. No doubt the origin of the
custom of exposure lay less in aversion to the trouble of educa-
tion than in fear of having to subdivide an inheritance perhaps
already too small. In fact, it was the Greek remedy for over-
population, a revolting solution of a hitherto insoluble problem.
In some states, sucli as Sparta, this extreme prudence produced
a continual decay in the free population, and the state found
it necessary to encourage the bringing up of sons ; making the
man who had four free from all taxes. At Thebes only was
exposure of children forbidden.

As the Greeks had no family or sur-name, it was usual in
naming a child to keep up in some way the hereditary sequence.
The most usual thing was to name a boy after his paternal
grandfather, so that we commonly find names recurring in
families in alternate generations.^ This custom still survives
among Greeks. Sometimes father and son for two or three
generations would have the same name ; but more often the
initial or concluding syllables would be changed ; thus Nausi-
philus is son of jSTausinicus, and Phocion of Phocus. If the
mother of a boy were of more honourable family than the father,
he might take the name of a maternal grandfather or uncle.
JSTames compounded with -hippus were supposed to have an
aristocratic sound. Again, a father would very often name a
son after a deity or hero on whose day the birth fell, or whose
worship he especially affected ; such names often commemorated
a vow ; thus we get Diophantus and Apollodotus. Or he would
form a name from some circumstance of his life, from his
intentions with regard to the child or some peculiarity of the
latter. Or he might adopt the name of a friend or even a friendly
people, whence Thessalus, Lacedsemonius, &c. Finally, it often
happened that a nickname given to a lad superseded his true

1 Instance ; the later (Antigonid) Kings of Macedon, or the Kings
of Syria.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 299

nnme , a well-known instance is the name Plato, given to the
philosopher on account of his sturdy figure. The names of girls
seem to have been bestowed more at random ; but we find
certain female names common in certain families, as Laodice in
that of the Kings of Syria, Berenice and Cleopatra in that of
the Ptolemies.

On its birth a child was handed over to a nurse, frequently
to a wet-nurse, tit^tJ, who suckled it, feeding it in addition with
honey. When a child was of sufficient age to require more
solid food, the nurse would place in its mouth pap which she
had prepared by chewing it herself. It is proved by the
inscriptions on many tombstones erected in memory of nurses
by young men who had been their charge, how tender was the
relation between nurse and child, and how long it persisted into
the life of adults.

It was the custom in all parts of Greece except Sparta to
wrap up young infants in (nrdpy ava, or swaddling bands. A
long strip of wool, three fingers wide, was wound round and
round the little body, beginning with the arms, then confining
the chest and the legs, and even the head. Ancient monuments
fully illustrate this custom, and show how the child became a
sort of package, whereof only the face was visible, and which
was handed about or carried like a parcel. Whatever modern
authorities may say as to the evils of such a system, it can-
not be denied that under it were produced bodily forms like
those of the discobolus of Myron and the Aphrodite of Melos.
Sometimes, however, well-to-do parents preferred to import a
Laconian helot woman as nurse, and to give the limbs of their
infants free play.

No small part of a nurse's duties consisted in preserving her
charge from the evil influences of supernatural powers. There
was a M'hole class of evil spirits who lived on the lives and
health of children, such as Mop/iw, 'Ak/cw and 'AA<^itcu, and the
2Tptyye? in whom the Greek peasant believes to this day. The
Nymphs frequently cut short the life of children a-^ they did
that of young Hylas. Then there was the evil eye, o(^^aA/xos
[3a.(TKavos, to guard against as a peril always at hand. Against
these evil influences children were fortified by a host of amulets,
Trpo/Baa-Kavia, hung round their necks, Sepaia, or fastened to their
persons, as well as by the siniring of songs and charms. Some-
times the place of tlie tit^v) was taken by a Tpo(fi6s, who was
merely an elderly female slave detached to take charge of a
child, to carry him when the mother took him abroad, and to
wash and dress him.

300 THE COURSE OF LIFE

Until their seventh year boys and girls remained together in
the gynseconitis, watched and tended by mother and nurse.
The girls, whose childhood lasted longer than that of the boys,
amused themselves with dolls, Kopat, of which many survive,
made of clay and painted, Avith the arms and legs so fastened
on with string as to be easily movable. The boys had go-carts,
afia^iSes, and figures of soldiers and animals of the same material.
Children of all times have rejoiced in the ball, the hoop, and the
whipping top. And parents of all ages have played with them.
It is said of Agesilaus ^ that he used to ride on a reed to please
his boys. The swing was also a favourite plaything. The
illustrious Archytas condescended to invent the child's rattle,
TrXarayt^. Strepsiades in the Clouds^ relates with pride how
his son Pheidippides when quite a little fellow had a mechanical
turn ; moulded houses and ships, made go-carts of leather, and
frogs out of pomegranate rind. It was very easy for children
to mould wax or clay, and if we might judge from the rudeness
of many figures which have come down to us, we should find
in them the work of childish hands.

There were also plenty of social games, which the girls
practised in their room, and the lads in the streets. The
general character of these was not one of vigorous competition
or athletic exercise ; but objects were very usually tossed, the
thrower trying to bring them down with one or the other side
up. The chief instrument of these games was the knuckle-
bone, aa-rpayaXos, which was used even by men and women for
dice, but with children a piece of earthenware blackened on one
side was often substituted. The game a/DTiao-/xos was an usual
one with children. It was played with pieces of money or
other small objects, of which one player took up a handful, and
the other guessed whether the number so taken was even or
odd. Children also threw nuts, as marbles are thrown with us,
to fall into a marked space. ^ There was also a game resembling
blind man's buff, with the addition that those whom the blind
man was pursuing struck him with leathern straps. This was
called xaXKT] fjivla. Often one lad was made king, and the rest
were bound under penalties to execute his orders. There were
a few more boyish games, such as that called by us French and
English, where two parties of boys pulled at the two ends of
a rope ; but no contest of skill for children like the modern
football and cricket.

If we may judge from the reliefs on tombs, Greek children

^ Plutarch, Ages. 25. ^ L. 878. ^ Pollux, ix. 122.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 30I

tvcre very fond of animals, and commonly made pets of them.
The dog is constantly in attendance ; not a gaunt, lean, savage
creature like the modern Greek dog, but a little "Spitz" with
pointed nose and long hair. The cat was not known to the
Greeks in early times, but its place was taken up by the
yaA^i, or weasel, as regards mousing. Its social position was
held by the dog or by the bird, which seems to have been
one of the most universal playthings of young girls. If we
add to these the snake and the tortoise, the list will be fairly
complete.

Greek nurses were fond of frightening and amusing their
charges with tales. Certain hobgoblins, as Mop/xoj and"E/x7rovo-a,
were specially kept for nursery use. The extraordinary rich-
ness of Greek legend and mythology must have supplied story-
tellers with an endless stock of material. Even in modern
Greece a good many classical legends still survive in a modified
shape among nurses — that of Eros and Psyche, for instance.
Both Plato and Aristotle would gladly have seen society take
in hand the subject of nurses' tales, and work them to a more
moral end ; and it is easy to understand that there was very
much in Greek mythology unfit for children to hear. Beast
tales like those of i^sop were much in vogue. ^

Einally, as to punishments. The usual resource was the
ready one of castigation, which was administered by the mother
with her slipper, or by the father or pedagogue with a cane.

In regard to education in Greece, it must be first observed
that it was a thing entirely of Greek invention. Almost all
other peo})les have been largely influenced in education by the
example of foreign nations, but in Greece we reach the very
origin of all that can in the modern sense of the word be
called bringing up ; and the greatest philosophers and artists
had in some cases an undeniable influence on its character. It
was also directed to a consciously chosen end, the production
of citizens worthy of the state, who would carry on in the
future the best life of past ages. Hence the notion now in
some places prevalent, that the object of education is only the
acquirement of knowledge, is diametrically opposed to the Greek
idea of education. They regarded it as a training for riglit
living rather than for correct thinking. And if conduct be,
as we are told, three-fourths of human life, their view has
some obvious justification.

The Greeks, as we might naturally have expected, attached

^ Aiistoph, Vesjp. 1182.

302 THE COURSE OF LIFE

the greatest possible value to education. In Sparta and the
Dorian states the training of boys was carried on by the state,
with the purpose of making them manly and worthy citizens.
From their seventh year the Spartan boys were enrolled in com-
jjanies, over which the most active of them were made captains.
All were subjected to a most rigorous discipline at the hands
of their elders. This iron discipline naturally had a great
attraction for Plato, and originated the notion which he works
out in the Republic and the Laics of an organised and com-
pulsory system of state education. But so far as intellectual
education went, the Spartan teaching was rather less developed
than different from that of the rest of Greece. At present I
propose to confine myself in the main to Athens, and to consider
what kind of education was there provided, and how it was
regarded by the wiser among the Greeks themselves.

It is not very easy to determine how far any education was
compulsory at Athens. On the one hand, the laws of Solon
seem to have enjoined upon every father the duty of educating
his sons. Plato ^ speaks of the laws as commanding instruction
in music and gymnastics. But on the other hand, the only
sanction to these laws of which we hear is the provision that
a child whom his parents had neglected to educate was not
bound to maintain them in old age. There were at Athens
magistrates, the 7rat8ovd/xoi, who were appointed to inspect
schools ; but it is very improbable that they looked beyond
mere outward order and propriety, or in any way controlled the
course of study. In matters of outward decency, no doubt the
regulations were strict, ^schines ^ speaks of laws regulating
the hours of attendance at school, and fixing a limit to the
number of pupils. He also declares that it was illegal to open
schools before sunrise, or keep them open after sunset, no doubt
in order that the boys might go to and fro by daylight. And
we are even told that it was forbidden under pain of death
for grown men to visit the schools; but a law of this kind
can hardly have been kept. So long as sanitary and other
regulations were observed, any one seems to have been at
liberty to open a school, and his intellectual qualifications
w^ere regarded as the concern only of himself and the parents
of his pupils.

We must imagine the boys of Athens, from their seventh to

^ Crito, p. 50. TrapayyeWovTes t<^ irarpl rcf ai^, ce ev fj.ovai.Ky Kai
yv/jLvaffTiKT] iraideveLV.

- In Timarch. 9. werd Trbaojv Tralboiv eiVteVat.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 303

tlieir sixteenth year, flocking in crowds in tlie early morning
to the schools. Each would be accompanied by a pedagogue,
TratSaywyos, an old and trusty slave, who was bound never to
lose sight of him, to carry his lyre and tablets, and to keep him
out of mischief. The pedagogue of course had nothing to do
with teaching, he had only to take his charge to school or to
the palaestra, and to wait to bring him back. But as we know
how careful the educated Greeks were of their boys, we can
easily understand that the character of a i)edagogue was of the
utmost importance, and even his deportment, as the moulding
of the manners of his young charge would be in great part his
work. To these manners the Greeks attached, as is well
known, the greatest importance. They loved to see extreme
modesty (ai8ws) in boys, who were expected to walk in the
streets soberly, with eyes fixed on the ground, to rise, if seated,
on the approach of an elder, and never to speak except when
spoken to.^ In minor matters also they were carefully trained,
such as in what way to wrap their himatioii about them, the
correct method being to proceed from left to right (kirl Se^cd), and
how many fingers to use to the diff"erent kinds of food. In the
vase paintings we see lads when in the presence of their elders
standing, and so much wrapped up that only their head is
visible. If allowed, as a special treat, to be present at a
banquet, boys sat while the feasters reclined, and were sent oft'
early to bed. It is evident that rules so rigorous would only
be kept up by a pedai:^ogue of principle, and we can understand
what blame Pericles incurred for giving to Alcibiades a peda-
gogue too old and feeble to be efficient. In the period succeed-
ing the Peloponnesian war the boys gradually revolted, and at
length were even sometimes encouraged by their parents to
beat their attendants.

The ideas of the Greeks as regards the purpose of educa-
tion, both in physical training and in learning, differed greatly
from ours. As to physical training I will speak in the next
chapter. As regards learning, the moral aspect of education
was kept far more in the foreground than it is by us, though of
course in our schools there are in this respect great difi*erences.
But we feel far more than did the Greeks the necessity of
intellectual training; and no one in England subordinates
knowledge to moral training to such an extent as the Greeks
did. One can imagine the astonishment which an educated
Greek would feel at the notion of electing men by examination

^ Plutarch, Virt. docerl posse, 2.

304 THE COURSE OF LIFE

to fill offices in the state. Even the custom of election by lot
would seem less absurd than that.

Perhaps nothing will put this in a clearer light than quoting
part of the speech of Protagoras as to education which Plato
puts into his mouth. Protagoras no doubt was a sophist, and
one may take a handsome discount from his words on the
ground of tlieir rhetorical character ; nevertheless they are very
instructive.

" Beginning from early childhood, they teach and admonish
their sons as long as they live. For as soon as any one under-
stands what is said, nurse, mother, pedagogue, and the father
himself, vie with each other in this, to make the boy become
as good as possible ; in every word and deed teaching and
pointing out to him that this is just, and that unjust, this is
honourable and that base, this is righteous and that unrighteous,
and this you must do and that you must not do. And if the
boy obeys willingly, it is well ; but if not, like a plank twisted
and bent, they make him straight by threats and blows. After
this they send him to school, and give the teachers much
more strict injunctions to attend to the children's morals than
to their reading and music : and the masters do attend to this,
and when the boys have learned their letters, and are likely to
understand what is written, as before words spoken, they place
before them on their benches to read, and compel them to
learn by heart, the compositions of good poets, in which there
are many admonitions, and many tales, and praises, and en-
comiums of good men of former times, in order that the boy
may imitate them through emulation, and strive to become
such himself. Again, the music-masters, in the same way, pay
attention to sobriety of behaviour, and take care that the boys
commit no evil : besides this, when they have learnt to play
on the lyre, they teach them the compositions of other good
poets, lyric poets, setting them to music, and they compel
modes and harmony to become familiar to the boys' souls, in
order that they may become more gentle, and being themselves
more rhythmical and harmonious, they may be serviceable in
word and deed ; for the whole life of man requires rhythm and
harmony. Moreover, besides this, they send them to a teacher
of gymnastics, that having their bodies in a better state, these
may be subservient to their well-regulated minds, and they,
may not be compelled to cowardice through bodily infirmity,
either in war or other actions. And these things they do who
are most able ; but the richest are the most able, and their
sons, beginning to frequent masters at the earliest time of life,

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 305

leave them the latest. And when they are set free from
masters, the state still further compels them to learn the laws,
and to live by them as a pattern, that they may not act at
random after their own inclinations, bat exactly as writing-
masters having ruled lines with an instrument for those boys
who have not yet learnt to write well, then give them the
writing-tablet, and compel them to write according to the
leading of the lines, so the state having prescribed laws which
were the inventions of good and ancient legislators, compels
men both to govern and be governed according to these, but
whoso transgresses them it punishes ; and the name given to
this chastisement, both among you, and in many other places,
is correction, since punishment corrects."

One cannot read the writers of the good period without
observing that what they expected and valued above all things
in boys was <TO)(f)povdv, modesty of demeanour and a respectful
carriage. Forwardness in boys was as much disapproved as
was forwardness in girls among ourselves a generation ago.
Boys would not be taken to mtness a comedy. If for a
treat they went out to dinner, they would, like Autolycus in
Xenophon's Symposium, not recline, but sit by their fathers,
and be sent away before amusements of a doubtful character
were introduced. Tyj^es of the boy of good family may be
seen on Attic sepulchral reliefs, or in the Eros of the Parthenon
frieze, or observed in the Tliecetetiis of Plato. Even in Lucian's
pages ^ we read of boys walking the streets with bent head,
looking at no one. But perhaps the most complete picture of
the well-bred Athenian boy is to be found in the speech - in
which AiKatos Aoyos seeks to persuade Pheidippides into the
ways of virtue : —

"I will describe the old-fashioned education, how it was
ordered when I flourished speaking what was just, and tem-
perance w\is in fashion. First of all, it was considered proper
that no one should hear a boy uttering a syllable ; next, that
those of the same quarter should walk in a body in good order
to the abode of the music-master, clad in tunic only, though
snow fell thick as flour. Then the master taught them to
repeat sittinfj, not cross-legged, a song, IlaAAaSa -epa-eiroXLv
Seivav, or TtjX^TTopov Tt ^oafia, raising high the harmony
handed down to us by our fathers. But if any of them
played the fool, or were to attempt any flourish like the diffi-
cult turns now in fashion, after the manner of Phrynis,

' Amor. 44. - Aristoph. Clouds, 1. 961.

306 THE COURSE OF LIFE

he would be beaten with many blows for banishing the
Pluses.

Boldly, my boy, choose me the better method,

And learn to avoid the Agora and to abstain from the baths,

And to be ashamed at the vile, and if they ridicule you to be angry

And to rise from your seat when your elders approach,

And never to injure your parents or do any other wrong,

For you are to form an image of modesty."

The tendencies against which Aristophanes raised a voice
of indignant protest were destined to prevail in later Greece.
And in the field of education these tendencies mainly worked
in the direction of the substitution of intellectual for moral
training. Geometry and arithmetic, which earlier systems of
education had despised as not ethical, became a part of regular
training, while in the teaching of literature the study of words
and of the tricks of rhetoric took the place of the old-fashioned
appreciation of noble sentiment. The natural result appeared
in the spread of knowledge, the growth of science, and the
wide diffusion of the art of carefully expressing thought in
words, while the political decline and social corruption of the
Greek race w^ent on steadily, and inspiration died out of poetry
and art. Whether this process was not a necessary condition
of the evolution of ancient society may be doubted ; but we
cannot wonder that to the ethically-minded of the Greeks it
seemed a process of decay and degeneration.

We must briefly treat of the status of teachers and their
relations to their pupils, as well as of the subjects in which
they gave instruction.

It must be confessed that there was in Greece little of that
confidence and love between teacher and taught which has
become in England, since Dr. Arnold's days, at least theoreti-
cally universal. Xenophon in the Anabasis ^ says of Clearchus,
" He had no tact, but was severe and harsh : so that the rela-
tion of soldiers to him was like that of boys to a master ; they
did not follow him for love and good- will." And at a later
age Lucian 2 gives no pleasanter impression : ^'Who overcame
away from a feast weeping, as we see boys coming from school 1
or who was ever seen to go to a feast so sulkily as boys going
to school 1 "

The status of the teacher naturally varied, as with us, accord-
ing to circumstances ; but the tendency of the Greeks was to

^ ii. 6, 12. - Paras. 13.

^o^'

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 307

despise those who in any way taught for money, and to put
them on a level with artisans. Naturally those who were most
despised were the elementary teachers, ot to. irpCna dtSda-KovTes
ypainw.ra. Lucian ^ speaks in jest of those who in this life
were kings or satraps as Ijeing reduced in the next to the
condition of fish-sellers or elementary teachers. There was a
proverb in Greece referring to those who had disappeared from
the circle of their acquaintance : " He is either dead or turned
teacher." Demosthenes throws it in the teeth of his opponent
^schines that both he and his father were in the service of a
teacher of boys ; and it fell - to the lot of young iEschines to
sponge down the forms (^aOpol), make the ink, and perform
other services unworthy of a freeman.

The pay of these elementary teachers (y/ja/x/zaTto-rai) was no
doubt very low, though we have no indication of its exact
amount. That it was paid monthly is clear from the satire of
Theophrastus,^ who makes it one of the traits of his miser to
keep his son away from school in the month of Anthesterion,
because of the number of holidays in it. In the third mime
of Herondas we find that the 30th of the month w^as the day
for school-fees to be paid. It is probable that large numbers
of lads congregated in the better-known schools. Thus we
hear of a school at Astypalaea where there were sixty pupils,
and of one in Chios where there were a hundred and twenty.
These were of course day-schools; boarding-schools were not
known among the Greeks. The time of school probably com-
prised the hours of light, except such part as was occupied by
the mid-day meal and the attendance at the palaestra.

Of course, the instructors in the higher branches of learning
received a far higher rate of pay and more consideration,
though even to them belonged the stigma, indelible to the
Greek mind, of working for hire. It is well known that the
sophists and rhetoricians of later Greece demanded and received
large sums of money.

The ordinary course of preliminary instruction for boys con-
sisted of three parts, y/Da/x/xara, pova-LKt], yvixvaa-TLK-q, to which
was afterwards added in the fourth century B.C. drawing :
ypa/x/xara included reading and writing, and Plato in the Lawi<'^
says that arithmetic should be learned at the same time ;
though it is certain, as will be seen below, that the Greeks
were never very proficient in it. Of the course pursued in

^ Necyom. 17. ^ De Coron. p. 313.

^ Char. 30. ■* Lc(jg. vii. p. 819.

308 THE COUESE OF LIFE

teaching to read, Dionysius of Halicarnassus ^ gives us an exact
idea. First, he says, we learn the names of the letters, then
their shape and force. After that we join them into syllables
and words. Then we learn about the component parts of
sentences, nouns, verbs, and particles. Then we begin to read,
slowly at first and by syllables. In the above-mentioned pro-
cess of forming letters into syllables, we know from a terra-cotta
tablet published by M. Dumont,^ that the children were taught
to repeat strings of similarly ending syllables, a/j, fSap, yap, 8ap,
&c., op, pop, yop, Sop, &c., probably chanting them in classes.
As soon as the boys could read, they were put upon the poems
of Homer and Hesiod, and the moral writings of Tlieognis,
Solon, and the rest, which thus became familiar to them from
earliest childhood. In writing, as we learn from Plato's
Prota'/oras,^ they began by the imitation of a copy, but soon
progressed as far as writing from dictation, for which purpose
Homer was again brought into requisition.

It has been disputed whether the Greeks were accustomed to
writing, but it is certain that before the time of Plato it was
usually taught in the schools. The pupils at an early period
used tablets, TrtvaKcs or ScXtol, covered with a coating of wax on
which lines were drawn with a stylus of metal, but later paper,
/?6/3Ao9, was used, and the writing performed with a reed and a
black fluid, piXav, The latter method was already in use * when
yEschines went to school, that is, early in the fourth century.^

When boys had learned to read and write, they were en-
couraged or compelled to learn by heart great masses of poetry,
of Homer or Simonides, or the gnomic poets. Many a Greek ^
knew by heart the whole of the Iliad and Odyssey. What
they had thus learned they had to recite before teacher and
pupils, paying special attention to grace of action and correct-
ness of expression. Indeed, this introduction to and familiarity
with the great poets was the end and object of the training
given by the ypafxp.aricrTi]^.'^ Sometimes, in addition to poetry,
the pupils learned and recited the laws of their country, with
which they thus became early familiar.

^ De admir. vi dicendi in Demosth. 52.

2 Inscr. Ceramiques, p. 405.

^ Protag. p. 326 D. ^ Demosth. de Corona, p. 313.

^ For representations of writing materials see Schreiber, pi. xci.

^ Xenoph. Sympos. iii. 5.

^ In teaching the Homeric poems, the schoolmasters of Alexandria used
a curious aid to memory in the form of marble tablets engraved with
scenes from the epic. Some of these TahuJce IliaccB are engraved in
Schreiber, pi. xcii.-iii.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 3 09

It seems doubtful whether arithmetic was taught at all at
school, in earlier times not being supposed to have ethical value.
If it was, the instruction must have been very elementary, as
we find even adults reckoning on their fingers or by the help
of counters. A reckoning board (abacus) ^ was often used, of
which the rows contained counters, the value of which counters
varied with their position, being at times greater, at times
smaller ; whence Solon ^ wittily compared to them the officers
and favourites of tyrants.

The musical education, which began later than the gram-
matical, perhaps about the thirteenth year, differed entirely
from ours, inasmuch as a technical knowledge of music and
mastery of the instrument was neither required nor desired.
The object was a moral one, namely, to acquaint the learners
with the songs of the great lyrical poets, ^ with a view to their
ethical improvement. These songs it was the business of a
gentleman to be able to sing, accompanying himself on the lyre.
The flute was also taught in Athens in earlier times, bub fell out
of use there in the fifth century, being retained only in the less
cultivated Boeotia. The young Alcibiades was, we are told, a
leader in the revolt of the boys against it, since distended
cheeks interfered with beauty. It was owing to the influence
of Pamphilus,^ head of the Sicyonian school of painting, that
drawing was introduced into Greek schools in the fourth
century as one of the recognised branches of education. Pro-
bably it was in most cases only carried far enough to help the
learner to appreciate the works of art of which every Greek city
began in those days to be full.

A charming artistic representation of the Greek school is
furnished us by a vase of the painter Duris, dating from the
middle of the fifth century, which is figured as our frontispiece.^
On one side of this vase we have an elementary class. To the
right sits a pedagogue waiting for his young charges, who are
receiving instruction from two beardless teachers : one of these
teachers is correcting with a stylus an exercise written on wax
tablets ; the other performs on the flute an accompaniment to
the song of his i)U])il.

On the other side of the vase the pedagogue is seated as
before, but both teachers and pupils are of maturer years.
One of the boys is learning the fingering of the lyre, the other

^ Such a reckoning board is figured in Baumeister's Dcnhniilcr, p. 1431.
'^ Diog. Laert. i. 59. ^ Plato, Prota'j. p. 326 a.

■* Plin. 35, 36. 6 ^]/y,i ^^n /,jgf ix, -^.

3IO THE COUESE OF LIFE

is reciting from memory a passage of epic poetry, whereof the
first line may be seen on the scroll in his teacher's hands,
M-Ovcrd fxoL a/x^t 2Ka/xav8pov kvpoov ap^o/x aet8eiv. Against
the wall of the school hang a variety of scholastic necessaries,
lyre and flute, wax tablets and papyrus rolls, a drawing square
and drinking cuj^s. The modest dress and demeanour of the
pupils is very noteworthy.

Intellectual training was supplemented by physical, and as the
object of the former was to produce a sound mind imbued with
good principles, so the object of the latter was to produce a
well-proportioned and healthy body. This physical education
was carried on by a class of men called Trai^oTpif^ai at their
palsBstrse, which seem to have been private buildings, and must
be distinguished from the public gymnasia where men and
youths exercised. To these palaestrae boys were taken by their
pedagogues at certain hours of the day, and exercised in
running, leaping, and wrestling.

The severer exercises, such as boxing and the pancratium, were
not encouraged in early times ; the pancratium for boys was
not introduced at Olympia until the second century b.c.^ All
Greeks thought highly of the value of physical training. Aris-
totle observes that it should begin as early as the seventh year,
while Plato remarks that the mental training of boys should
not be begun until their bodies have attained a certain strength
and solidity by means of gymnastic. In addition to the above-
mentioned exercises swimming was taught early and universally
at Athens. Another most important branch of physical educa-
tion was dancing, which was practised in connection with the
festivals of the gods and the representation of tragedies. The
training of a chorus was one of the most usual liturgies at Athens.
At Sparta a special part of the Agora was marked off, where at
the Gymnopaedia the Spartan youths danced before the people.
Athletic sports did not specially flourish at Sparta, the Boeotians
surpassing in these exercises the Lacedaemonians, but special
care was devoted to the training of boys in hardihood and the
capacity to resist pain. For one whole year (the thirteenth)
the boys of Sparta had to go barefoot and without an inner
garment, and to abstain from washing.

After the Grammatistes and Paedotribes had brought to an
end the introductory course of education, boys of the poorer
class had at once to set about some occupation or trade. The
children of wealthier parents would ordinarily continue their

^ Piiusan. V. 8, II.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION 3 I I

studies, either at the house of a y/ia/x/xariKos, who taught
rhetoric, poetry, and perhaps philosophy, or under teachers
of special subjects. We know that in the time of Plato well-
instructed young men usually knew something of geometry ;
and certainly attention was given to geography, the study of
which was lightened by the use of maps (TrtVaKcs), and to
astronomy. On approaching manhood, a youth would often
attach himself to some celebrated rhetorician or some eminent
sophist, and attend his lectures, paying frequently large sums
for the privilege. In the later ages, at Alexandria, there was
a sort of eyKVKA.ios TratSeta, or university course, consisting of
seven branches, grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, music,
geometry, astronomy ; but of course such organisation of study
belongs to a learned age and place, and could never have been
enjoyed but by the few.

The inscriptions of later Greece reveal to us in various places
the existence of a complete system of education, in which the
teachers were functionaries of the state, receiving public pay.
An inscription of Teos ^ records a system of unusual complete-
ness. At the head of education were set a yvixvaa-capxos and a
7raiSovo//os, who must be not less than forty years old. Three
teachers were yearly elected to instruct both boys and girls
in y/Da/x/xara, who received respectively 600, 550, and 500
drachms, large salaries in antiquity. Two TratSorpt^at received
each 500 drachms, and a musician, Kt^a/Dto-r/ys' V} xj/dXTt^s, re-
ceived 700 drachms for instructing Ephebi and boys in the
arts of the palaestra and of music. Teachers were also pro-
vided in drilling, spear-throwing, and archery ; and an annual
examination or exhibition took place.

At Athens a system of education, probably still more com-
plete, grew up in Hellenistic times. Boys who reached the age
of sixteen became for two years Trp6o"t]fSoi, and attended lectures
at the Atoyeveiov. And further, all the sons of citizens were
compelled, on attaining their eighteenth year, to enter upon a
two years' course of training under properly constituted officers.
The history and nature of this training, which began to be in
use as early as the time of Thucydides, and afterwards became
more highly developed, are set forth in j\[. Dumont's essay,
L'Ephebie Attique. It would appear that on entering on the
course of discipline the Ephebi of the year appeared at the
Temple of Aglaurus, and took an oath not to disgrace their
arms, and not to suffer their mother-city to be diminished.

^ Dittenberger, Syllogc, No. 349.

312 THE COURSE OF LIFE

At the same time occurred their Sok t/xacrta or examination, at
which no doubt the state of their health and the purity of their
descent were investigated. Strangers were, however, enrolled
in their ranks, at all events after the second century B.C.,
though it appears that they were not eligible for election to
office.

The Epheby was originally a political and military institu-
tion. The youths in training were the last line of the Athenian
reserves, and were specially retained, like our household guards,
for purposes of police in the Athenian city and district, and to
escort the Eleusinian procession, and assist in the other great
city pomps. The Museum w^as by a decree of the people com-
mitted to them to guard.

But it naturally came about that when the autonomy of
Athens ended, and the reputation of the city as the home of
science and art went on rising, the system of Epliebi became a
kind of university training. Tlie Ephebi lived in cantonments
in the neighbourhood of Athens, but to the city they had con-
stantly to come, being required to be present in arms at the
meetings of the Ecclesia, as well as to undergo at least three
reviews (a7ro8eiJeis) a year, one at the festival of the Theseia,
one at that of the Epitaphia, and one of a more testing char-
acter. Their supreme officer, who was always a man high in
station and family and character, w^as the Kocrix-qri-js, who was
elected by the people, and who gave account on the expiration
of his office. Under him were the 7ratSoT/3t^7ys, the ovrAo/xa^^os,
together with the aKovrtcrTvjs, the to^6ti]s, and other masters
in special branches. From this enumeration it may be judged
that the physical training of the Ephebi was made of much
account. Their exercises w^ere primarily of a warlike character,
archery and javelin-throwing, and boat-racing ; but to these
were added contests of a more peaceful character, torch-races
both on foot and on horseback, running and wrestling.

But the physical exercises of the Ephebi did not supersede
moral and mental training. The Cosmetes was bound to
educate them in habits of virtue and modesty. They also
attended courses of lectures at the Gymnasium called the
Diogeneion, and in inscriptions it is frequently recorded to the
praise of a Cosmetes that he gave great care to the studies of
his charges in philosophy and science. Plutarch ^ says that the
course of study of Ephebi consisted of yyoa/x/xara, geometry,
rhetoric, and music. Philosophy was included under y/ja/x/xara.

^ QucES. Conviv. ix. i.

PHYSICAL TRAINING 3 T 3

Prizes were also given for Troii^jxa and kyKUijxiov. The students
sang in processions and made speeches at the 'AAwa.

Even from this slight sketch the reader may judge that
Athens contained in her decline a university worthy of her
fame, and one which combined the advantages of military
training with those of intellectual education. We cannot
wonder that many Greeks from outside Greece, Phoenicians,
and even Romans, sent their sons to participate in so healthy
a discipline. On the manners of the students tliemselves the
inscriptions throw some light. Thus we find that both Gym-
nasiarch and Agonothetes of the Ephebi belonged usually
themselves to that class, and not only served at their own cost,
but even assisted to defray the general expenses of the college.
Among themselves the students formed ties as close as those
which unite (jerman and American students. Two Ephebi
would formally adopt one another as ^tAot or dSeXcfiOL, or a
set of students would form a group as (rvvk<l>r]fioi ; and one
would sometimes make a dedication to another under the name
of a god, whence we find such inscriptions as 'H/jaK-Aei Kcottcoviw
or Ni'yept.

CHAPTER II

PHYSICAL TKAINING

Greek social life tended more and more to centre in the
palaestra and the gymnasium. In a specially appropriated set
of these the physical training of boys was conducted, con-
currently with their mental training at the school. But when
they became Ephebi, that is, attained the age of eighteen, they
began to frequent the great public institutions. It is doubtful
Avliat is the exact diff'erence between the gymnasium and the
palaestra, but it is probable that the latter was a more primitive
and smaller building, serving specially for the training of
wrestlers and boxers. The earliest gymnasia were merely open
spaces near a river and surrounded by trees, but they came
by degrees to contain rooms constructed for various kinds of
exercises, as well as a course for running and shady walks and
seats for recreation and refreshment. Socrates carried on his
discussions in the market-place, but some of the successors of
Socrates formed their schools in one or another of the great
gymnasia, where they found shelter, plenty of space, and an
audience quite at leisure.

3 1 4 THE COURSE OF LIFE

111 Homeric times we find the use of baths ordinary. A cold
plunge in a river was not a luxury reserved for men, but prac-
tised Ijy women also, even princesses like Helen and Nausicaii.
Warm baths were to be had in the house of every chief, and
when a guest arrived, one of the first things was to furnish
him with a bath, which he sometimes took in the great hall
or [xeyapov, but more usually in the special bath-room. He
seated himself naked in a large vessel called ao-a/xiv^os, and
an attendant, sometimes the lady of the house or one of her
slaves, poured water over his head and shoulders. This water
was usually warm, and intended to refresh a hero after toil and
fatigue. After washing, the attendant would anoint the bather
with oil and put his clothes on. We must be careful to avoid
the notion that the Greeks had, in earHer and simpler days,
great bath-houses fitted with apparatus, and containing a
number of rooms, like those of the Romans, or like the modern
Turkish bath. Such luxuries were not known to them. To
bathe in warm water at all, except after great fatigue, was re-
garded by simple and old-fashioned people as effeminate. Thus
in the Clouds the AUaios Xoyos advises Pheidippides to abstain
from the Oepixa Xovrpa, and the reason he gives is otltj KaKia-Tov
IdTL Kol SeiXbv TToiei rov avSpa.^ So the Spartans, according
to Plutarch," were Aovrpwr kol aA-et/x/xarojv aTretpoi. Elaborate
systems of bathing in hot and cold watei', like those of the
Romans, belong only to Hellenistic times. The hot-air bath
did not become usual until a late period. It would appear
from the paintings on vases that even the public baths
(called on the vases 87^/xoo-ta) were very simple in their arrange-
ments. A large vase or cauldron was placed in the middle of
a room and filled with water. The bathers stood round it, and
with their hands or vessels poured the water over them-
selves, or it might be poured over them by comrades or
slaves, falling on the floor, which was no doubt ot stone, and
running away. The water thus used might be cold or warm;
but the cold bath was generally enjoyed in the form of a
plunge or a douche, the bather standing under a spout which
discharged cold water. At the Thermae or natural hot-springs
the warm water was similarly conveyed in pipes and ad-
ministered in the form of a douche. Sometimes prepared
earth, Kovia, a-jX'ijyp.aTa, was used to assist the cleansing
action of the water. After rubbing most of the moisture off
with his hands, the bather would pass into another room or

1 Clouds, 1045. ^ Lyciirg. i6.

PHYSICAL TRAINING

315

the open air and anoint himself with olive-oil or more ex-
pensive unguents, and scrape his whole body with the strigil,
o-TA€yy6s. He would then resume his clothes. The /SaXavcvs
or bathing-man would receive a small fee, iTriXovrpov.

When cities came to possess great gymnasia adapted for
various exercises, parts of these were set apart for bathing, and
large rooms assigned to the various operations. Thus we find
mention in later writers of an oLTroSvT-qpLov or room for undress-
ing, an kkaLo6k(TLov or aXei.TTT-npLov, a place for rubbing with oil, a

Fig.

-Men Bathing.

TTvpiarripiov or dry sweating-bath, warm and cold baths, &c., all
of which were no doubt used in later and more sophisticated
times in the training of athletes. But these baths were in sub-
ordination to the general purposes of the gymnasia, of which we
must give a brief and general account.

The excavations at Pompeii have brought to light both baths
and palopstrae. The former are Roman rather than Greek in
character ; but the palaestra was essentially a Greek institution

Gerhard, Auscrlcscne Vasenh. pi. 277.

3 ID THE COURSE OF LIFE

and passed into Southern Italy in pre-Roman days. One of
the Pompeian palaestrse in particular seems to have belonged to
the old Oscan existence of the city,i for in its colonnade was
found a sundial with an Oscan inscription, which recorded how
it was made from fines incurred in the exercises of the palaestra.
It consists of an open court with pillared walks and seats on
three sides ; on the fourth side was a strip of pavement, on which
lay, when the spot was excavated, two heavy stone balls, which
had clearly been used to test the strength of the athletes. At
the side of this court is a cold bath, on either side of which are
rooms with earthen floors, conjectured to be the aTroSvTqpiov,
kXaiodka-iov, and KovKTTqpiov. Other rooms near by are sup-
posed to have been the coryceum, exedrse, and so forth.

Still more valuable evidence as to the arrangements of the
palsestra has been furnished by the excavations at Olympia.
Outside the Altis were found the foundations of a building
erected in Hellenistic times to serve as a training and practising
place for athletes. ^ The arrangements are similar to those at
Pompeii, but more elaborate. Round the court runs a portico,
the entire length of which is a stadium, 600 Greek feet ; and
from the portico open out a variety of rooms to be used for
cold bathing and for various exercises. Within the court, as
at Pompeii, was a strip paved with tiles. Out of this palaestra
opened a great gymnasium, on one side of which was a covered
stadium for use in wet weather (see Plan of Altis, p. 171). It
is pointed out by AVernicke {Arch. Jahrbuch, 1894) that this
whole construction resembles the later Greek gymnasium de-
scribed by Vitruvius.

The gymnasium, he says, contains a great peristyle, the row
of columns double towards the south, to keep off the wind.
Adjoining this south corridor was a large room with seats, the
Ephebeum or hall appropriated to the Ephebi. About it were
grouped, in addition to the bath-rooms, the Coryceum, in which
was suspended the KwpvKos, a sack filled with chaff for those
who practised boxing to buffet to and fro ; the Conisterium,
in which the athletes Avere probably sprinkled, according to
custom, with fine sand {^y]paXoL(f)dv) ; the Sphaeristerium, a long
narrow hall appropriated to the games of ball ; and so forth.
There were also halls {e^eSpac) appropriated by philosophers,
rhetoricians, and others, who there gathered their pupils about
them. All these rooms tof:jether formed the central edifice,

1 For a plan of it see Oveibeck, Porapeii. p. 193, Schreiber, pi. lix.
^ Auftgrabungtn, v. pi. 3S.

PHYSICAL TRAINING 3 I 7

which was surrounded on all sides by the broad corridor or
peristyle already mentioned. From these colonnades in the
larger gymnasia (va-rot led off, covered spaces consisting of a
raised platform all round for the spectators and a depressed
central part for the athletes themselves. In these xysti and the
peristyle took place the wrestling, leaping, boxing, javelin-throw-
ing, and the like. This arrangement was very necessary, as
spectators in carefully arranged clothes thronged the gymnasia,
and it would not have done for them to be brought into contact
with the oiled and sanded bodies of the struggling athletes.
On the borders of the grounds of the gymnasium was usually
a stadium or running-ground. The superfluous parts of the
grounds not required lor any exercise were laid out in pleasant
walks, where in fine Aveather teachers of philosophy could walk
with their pupils and friends enjoy each other's society.

Of the exercises carried on in the palaestra we must give a
short account.

The oldest of all competitions was the Sponos or a-rdSiov.
The Spoixos consisted in running once the length of the stadium,
600 Greek feet, which are nearly equivalent to the English.
It was a contest in which swiftness of foot and suppleness of
limb carried the day. The Greeks regarded rubbing with oil
as an important, indeed a necessary preparation for it. Their
running was unlike ours in some respects, if we may judge
from vase-pictures. They advanced by a succession of bounds,
swinging the arms violently to urge themselves forward, and
moving on the tips of the toes.

In the double race, SiavXos, the runners turned at the post
at the end of the course, and finished at the starting-post. In
the SoXty^os the length of the course was traversed twelve,
twenty, or twenty-four times. These races tested the endur-
ance of the runners no less than their speed. In running a
long distance, as the vases testify, Greek runners kept their
arms stiff at their sides, as do modern athletes, and did not
move them violently, as in the short 8p6[io<5. In running, as in
the other contests, the competitors were absolutely naked ; and
so far were the Greeks from being ashamed of this custom, that
they even boasted of it, and ridiculed as barbarians those who
thought any sort of clotliing desirable. To prevent excessive
perspiration under the burning sun they anointed their bodies
with oil ; and lest this should make them too slippery, those at
least who were to contend in wrestling and the pancratium
were sprinkled with fine sand.

The wrestling cannot have greatly differed from that of the

3l8 THE COURSE OF LIFE

English, or that of the Turks, who seem to inherit their pre-
dilection for the sport in a direct line from the Greeks. The
oi^posed athletes stood face to face, and would advance, retire,
and feint for a long time with a view to getting a more
favourable grip, which was of course the better part of the
battle. He who threw his opponent three times, Avhich was
termed T/)tay/xos, was regarded as winner. There may, how-
ever, be a doubt as to what precisely was meant by throwing.
We hear not only of TraXi] opO-j (opOoTrdXt]), or face-to-face
wrestHng, but of aXiVSr^cri?, or continuing the contest on the
ground. Certainly the Greeks allowed some very strange pro-
ceedings, such as disjointing an opponent's fingers. Wrestlers
were noted for their bulk, even fleshiness not being considered
a drawback in this kind of contest. The pentathlum has been
perhaps more discussed and more often misunderstood than
any other competition. ^ The contests included under the term
were mentioned by Simonides in a well-known pentameter
verse, aXfxa TroSw/cetT^v Slo-kov aKovTa -nrdXi^v. Three of these
were peculiar to the pentathlum, namely, leaping, throwing
the discus, and hurling the javelin, exercises carried on, as the
illustration shows, to the sound of the flute. The other two,
wrestling and running, were apparently introduced to make
the test more general. In the pentathlum, as Pollux ^ ex-
pressly states, he who won three events was regarded as victor,
€7rt Se TrevraOXov to viKrja-ai dTTorpta^ai Xkyovcri ; or as Plutarch ^
puts it, Tats TptcTiV, cocnrep ol irkvraOXoL TrepUcm koL vlko.. Thus
the contest often stopped short in its earlier phases, and the
test of wrestling, which came last in order, was seldom resorted
to. The pentathlum was in great favour in Greece, and those
who excelled in it were regarded as the princes of athletes, and
no wonder, considering how admirably the exercises it involved
must needs have developed the entire frame. The leap which
belonged to the pentathlum Avas apparently a standing long
jump. We are perplexed by the tales of the success of young
athletes in this exercise : Phayllus of Rhegium, for instance, is
said to have covered more than fifty feet, which is impossible ;
but the number may have been corrupted. A feature of the
Greek leaping was the dXrrjpes or dumb-bells, of which the
jumper held one in each hand. He first held them out straight
in front of him, and then as he sprang brought them behind
him, thus helping to propel the body forward. The discus

^ I have written more in detail as to the pentathlum in the Journ. Hell.
Stud. vol. i. 2 iij iy_ 3 Symp. ix. 2, 2.

PHYSICAL TRAINING

319

was a flat round slab of stone, or more usually of bronze, of
considerable weight. Some of these are still preserved in our
museums. The manner of propelling them may be studied in
the extant copies of Myron's celebrated statue representing a
Discobolus. In this case, of course, the longest throw carried
the day. But in the allied exercise of spear-throwing it seems
likely that a mark had to be aimed at. The spear was propelled
by the aid of a thong attached to it, which served also to im-
part to it a rotatory motion.

A great deal has been said against the brutality of Greek

Fig. 19.--THR Discus and Spear. (Gerhard, Anserl. I'ascnh. 272.)

boxing, not without some reason. The hands of the boxers
were enclosed in a framework of leather, but in early times
this leather was only undressed ox-hide ; it was a late period
which saw the addition of a ridge of hard leather. In fact,
the Greek i/xavres used in early times for protecting the hands
of boxers perhaps tended rather to soften than to intensify a
blow ; and their very name, /x€tXt;^at, indicates that they were
no cruel weapons. That they were long used in the great
games is expressly stated by Pausanias.^ But of course, in spite

vni. 40, 3.

320

THE COURSE OF LIFE

of precautions, the boxers suffered severely in nose and mouth
and ears.

The pancratium was the least humane of Greek sports. In
it two antagonists were put together to struggle with blows or
wrestling, erect or on the ground, until one confessed himself
vanquished. Even here not everything was allowed ; for instance,
it was against the laws to strike with clenched fist or to use
the teeth. But an ordinary means of winning the day was to

Fig. 20.— Boxers. (Gerhard, Auserl. Vascnb. pi. 271.)

dislocate the limbs of an adversary, to suffocate him by throttling,
or so injure him as to render him incapable of continuing the
conflict. The pancratiasts were the most powerful class of
athletes ; and to see them rolling together on the ground,
twisting one another's arms or compressing one another's
throats, must have been a brutal spectacle.

Certain other social exercises of the Greeks, which were
not connected with the great games, demand notice, as some
of them were connected with religious observance, and others

THYStCAL TRAININ^G

321

were undoubtedly practised as a training for war. First among
those must be mentioned the armed race, which men ran carry-
ing shields and wearing helmets. Next there is the torch-race,
the object in which ^vas to carry a lighted torch as rapidly as
possible unextinguished to the goal. The torch was sometimes
borne by detached runners, as in the Panathensea at Athens,
wlien torches were carried by racing E])hebi from the altar of
Prometheus at the Academy to the city.^ Sometimes long

Fig. 21.— Armed IvUNXers ruEPARiXG to Staut. (Gerhard, Aii^crl.
Vasenh. pi. 261.)

lines of youths were arranged so that each member of the line
carried the torch but a short distance and then passed it on to
his neighbour, a game to which Herodotus (viii. 98) compares
the system of dyyapijtov, by which royal messages were carried
in Persia. In this case a squad was victorious, and the leader,
Xaii-d8apxos, was crowned.

Dancing was also usual as a part of many religious festivals.
Sometimes it was merely of a symbolical or imitative character,
as in the case of the bear-dance, danced by girls in honour of
the Artemis of Bratiron, But often the dance constituted in

alls. 1. "^O, 2.

322 THE COUESE OF LIFE

Greece, as it still does among barbarians, a valuable training
for war. Xenophon ^ dej^icts the contrast between the Thraciau
war-dance, which consisted in feats of activity and fencing to
the sound of the Ante, and the Arcadian war-dance, in which a
body of men advanced in line, while the flutes played a march,
and sang a paean.

There were also, especially in later Greece, many kinds of
competition, with the bow, throwing the spear on horseback,
discharging the catapult, and the like, which came very near
to our military sports. Boat-races were also by no means
unusual in Greece,^ though the boats were of course sea-going
craft, not the light racing boats of modern days. And of all
exercises, that which was most approved among the military
tribes was hunting, in all respects the best training for war.
Highly organised competitions in sport, like our cricket and
football, did not exist in antiquity, nor would they be likely
to flourish among peoples to whom the experience of war was
usual. They represent rather the lighter play among peaceful
nations of the faculties which among military peoples find a
sterner employment.

It is to be observed that a certain change came over the
estimate of the games during the Peloponnesian war. Com-
petition in them became more and more of a science, and the
winners were rather professionals than gentlemen. In Homer's
time only chiefs compete ; in Pindar's time the noblest houses
in Greece send their sons ; but after that the social standing of
the competitors decreased. The first Alexander of ]Macedon
contended in the foot-race ; the third declined unless he could
have kings for his competitors. At the same time Plato and
Euripides heap a great deal of abuse on athletes. They are
described as sleepy, lazy, and brutal. It is probable that
excessive training spoiled the competitors for anything but the
contests for which they trained, Xo one spoke against athletics
so long as they partook of the nature of education or relaxation ;
but when they became the main purpose of the lives of men
who were willing to sacrifice everything to them, they lost
honour and dignity.

^ Anabasis, vi, i.

2 Journ. Hell. Stud. ii. 90, 315.

DAILY LIFE OF MEN 323

CHAPTER III

DAILY LIFE OF M i: N

The Greeks, that is, the Greek men, during all the best and
])rightest periods of their history, lived very much in public.
Their private houses were, as we have seen, small and mean ; it
was on their temples, their agoras, and their theatres that they
bestowed their chief care, and in these they passed their time
in social intercourse. Only women and children remained at
home, except at the times of eating and sleeping.

With dawn the Greek would leave his sleeping-cell, and, after
washing his face and swalloM'ing a few mouthfuls of bread with
unmixed wine, dK/oaTio-/xa, would adjust his dress and step out
into the street. The early hours would be spent either in
visits or in exercise at a gymnasium. Time was not, of course,,
closely measured, as with us, since the Greeks had no watches,
but the gnomon or sundial and the water-clock were quite
sufficient for rough division of the hours. The readier means
of judging the hour by observing the height of the sun would
be quite accurate enough for ordinary folk.

Visits were usually made very early, in order that the person
visited should not have left the house. When Hippocrates 1
calls on Socrates to induce him to go and visit Protagoras, he
comes so early that Socrates insists on waiting for daylight
before starting, remarking that as Protagoras spends much of
his time indoors, they will probably not miss him. So the
two take a turn together in the avX-q and converse for a time.
Yet, when they reach the house where Protagoras is staying,
they find it full of visitors, and the porter already tired of
letting them in.

Towards the thiid hour of the day,- which was the time of
full market, 7rXrjOov(ra dyopa or dyopaq 7rXi]9(x)pi], the human
tide began to set in that direction. The men flocked along
the streets, not alone, but in pairs or groups, and as each met
a friend, the frequent x^''^^ ^^ acr7ra^o/xat or vyiaive would be
heard. ^ This word of greeting sufficed between acquaintances,
for giving the hand meant more than it does with us, and
bowing was regarded as barbarian and slavish. The market

1 Plato, Prof. p. 311. - Herod, ii. 173, &c. Cf. Suidas, s. r.

^ "LrpexpLdhriv dawd^ofxai. Clouds, 1. 1145.

324 THE COURSE OF LIFE

soon became a crowded place of meeting. Some men would
be purchasing their provisions for the day, for the Greeks of
all times have loved bargaining, and with them men did all
the shopping, though the wealthy kept special slaves, called
agorastse, to purchase for them. Porters, irpovveiKoi, were at
hand to carry home the wares of those who had no slaves.
Citizens would converse in groups, telling the news or entering
on discussions. Others would throng the temples, the law-
courts, or the leschse (porticoes), which were always built close
by the market. iS^ear the Agora also were the shops of the
barbers and unguent-sellers, which were usual and fashionable
lounges. Other shopkeepers and artisans clustered in the same
neighbourhood, and their houses and booths were full in the
morning of those who wished to buy, as well as of those
who only wished to see. In very hot weather, and in cold
or rainy weather, in fact at all times when the open Agora
was unpleasant, the crowd tended towards the covered cor-
ridors and the shops. AYe even learn from the oration of
Lysias against Pancleon that the inhabitants of particular
denies and districts of Attica were to be found usually to-
gether in well-known spots in the Athenian Agora or its
neighbourhood.

People usually went home for the mid-day meal, [xea-yix/Spivov,
and in order, not to sleep, but to rest a little in the heat of the
day. The afternoon was the great time for the baths and
gymnasia, which were among the most prominent features of
Greek life. In all towns there were plenty of baths, both
public and private. Their use was closely connected with
physical training and preparation for the great agonistic con-
tests. But most Greek gentlemen who were not incapacitated
by age or infirmity would spend at least part of the afternoon
in the exercises of the gymnasium and in bathing. As a
special chapter is devoted to the details of this physical culture,
we will pass on to other matters.

Of course there were other resorts for those of the Greeks
who did not care to partake in or to witness athletic contests.
The Kovpeiov or barber's shop furnished a common lounge for
morning or afternoon. The Greek fops were very careful of
their persons, and the barber was prepared not only to cut and
dress their hair and to trim their beards, but also to trim their
nails, cut their corns, and provide rough remedies for any small
physical defect. And those who did not stand in need of the
barber's art were often desirous of talking with his customers,
whence Theojjhrastus applies to barbers' shops the phrase

DAILY LIFE OF MEN 325

aoLva (TV jXTT OCT ta.^ Less innocent rivals of the Kovpeia were the
Kv/Sela, houses for gambling, whicli were also called o-Kt/ja^eta,
because Athena Sciras was originally the patroness of dice-
throwing, which, in fact, seems to have gone on in her temple.
This fact need not in any way surprise us ; in Greece many
worse forms of self-indulgence than gambling were under the
special patronage of a deity. A number of astragali and dice,
some of the latter unfairly loaded, have come down to us from
antiquity, and soldiers are sometimes represented on vases as
tossing dice. But dice were not the only means of gambling
possessed by the Greek fops. They were accustomed to bet
heavily on the contests of quails and cocks, which were kept
for the purpose of fighting at the Kvfida. The wealthiest class
of citizens also devoted much attention to chariot-driving and
horse-racing, both of which pursuits were carried on by no
means with sole reference to the great festivals.

We must not fail to observe, also, how large a proportion of
the time of the Greek citizen was taken up with the exercises
of religion; the continually recurring festivals occupied him
while they lasted from morning to night, and when they were
not present, the preparation for them, the training of choruses,
and the like, occupied a great deal of time. In democratic
states also, such as Athens, the political duties of each burgher
afforded him constant employment.

There were continual meetings at the Pnyx ; besides which,
if we consider the constitution of such bodies as the PovXi] and
the dicasteries, we shall see how large a proportion of the
inhabitants of a democratically-governed city must have been
constantly employed in keeping the wheels of the state re-
volving. But on these heads, as they are sufhciently treated
of elsewhere, there is no need to enlarge.

In Xenophon's CEconomicus, Ischomachus, a wealthy Athenian,
is made to declare that he spends every morning in walking to
his farm, superintending the agricultural operations there, and
practising riding and leaping on horseback. This is probably
a rare type ; but many of the gilded youth might pass the
early hours of the day in chariot-driving or riding for pleasure.
The charms of the country would always attract some men more
than the more social pleasures of the city.

In the gymnasium, either as actor or spectator, the Greek
citizen often spent those afternoons not claimed by the Pnyx,
the Dicasteries, or the Agora, or by the observances proper

^ Quoted by Plutarch, Si/mp. v. 5,

3 26 THE COURSE OF LIFE

to one of the many sacred festivals. Afterwards he would
usually have a bath. At the bath a slave would meet him
with o-piy/xara, oil-flask, a strigil, and perhaps a change of
raiment. After carefully arranging or changing his dress he
would set out to dine, usually in the company of friends ; and
with dinner and the sul sequent drinking-bout the day would
usually end, for those who did not care for study. But those
who pursued any learned avocation, such as that of the author,
the physician, and the advocate, had to avoid or curtail their
midnight revels, and instead to devote their time to more
serious pursuits. As the day was taken up by social claims
and life lived in public, the evening hours were those of most
use to a student, and his productions would necessarily smell
of the midnight oil.

Like all the peoples of Southern Europe, the Greeks were
on the whole very abstemious in eating and drinking. In
Homeric times they were less so than afterwards. Odysseus ^
declares to Alcinoiis that the summit of human happiness
consists in sitting at a table covered with l)read and meat and
wine and listening to the voice of a bard. In early times,
also, tastes were far less refined. The suitors of Penelope
devour great quantities of hog's flesh, and set before Irus and
Odysseus as a prize for boxing a great black-pudding full of
fat and blood. The heroes at Troy live mostly on oxen and
sheep. Of vegetable food at that time we hear very little,
and fish seems not to have been eaten by them at all.^ The
chiefs ate onions to flavour their wine, and the wine itself
was doubtless of a character far too sour and rough for the
more delicate tastes of their descendants.

Later there were great difl'erences in the matter of eating
between various Greek races. The Boeotians were noted for
their great appetites and their coarse feeding, which procured
them the name of swine ; the Greeks of Sicily and South
Italy were no less devoted to the pleasures of the table, but
far more fastidious in their tastes. But perhaps the most
abstemious of all Greeks were the people of Athens and Sparta,
Avhose diet must be described. The comic poet Lynceus thus
describes a dinner at Athens : ^ " One brings in a great dish
in which are five smaller ones ; the first contains garlic, the
second two sea-urchins, the third a sweet meal-cake, the fourth
ten oysters, the fifth a little sturgeon. While I eat one, my

^ Odys. ix. 5-10. - Cf. however, Od. xix. 113.

^ Athcnceus, iv. p. 132.

DAILY LIFE OF MEN 32/

neighbour makes another disappear ; while he eats one, I
despatch another. Gladly, my friend, would I partake of both,
but my wish is not attainable, as my mouth is not fivefold."
Plato, in the Repuhlic, allows for food, bread and barley-broth,
together with olives, cheese, &c. The abstemiousness recom-
mended by Plato was no doubt greater than that customary
at Athens, and Lynceus may exaggerate ; but notwithstanding
there is no doubt that the Athenians lived with extreme
frugality. The staple of their food was porridge made of
barley (aXcfuTa), and bread, for which their city was famous,
together with their native figs, olives, and honey, cheese which
they imported especially from Sicily, and a number of herbs,
mallows {jxaXd^Tj), cabbages (pa^avos), beans (Ki'a/xot), lupines,
and the like. In addition to these, every Athenian who could
afford it had his oxpov, which almost invariably consisted of
oysters or fresh or salt fish. Fresh fish was caught in large
quantities in the Phaleric roads ; salt fish (rapl^q) and oysters
came mostly from the Propontis and the Euxine; all were
excessively cheap at Athens. Sometimes, for a variety,
sausages or black puddings (dXAavres), or a haggis would be
purchased, and the wealthier classes would get the eels of
the Copaic lake, or hares and thrushes ; even the flesh of
lambs or goats. The daily oxpov cost the frugal from an obol
to half an obol ; and even the extravagant supplied their
wants for a few pence. The custom prevailed of using oil
in cooking most dishes.

Cereal food could be taken, as Benndorf has pointed out,^
in three forms: (i) as a sort of barley-broth or porridge; \2)
as a sort of thin pancake, lightly baked over a charcoal fire and
rolled up ; (3) as regular loaves made with yeast. Xo doubt
the luxurious in cities usually ate leavened bread ; but in
country place?, and in early times, as to this day in Asia Minor,
the soft pancake form v/as usual. The Spartans adhered to
the still ruder custom of merely seething their barley in water.

At Sparta they lived very sparely. Every citizen brought
to the common table where they dined together, the crvcro-tTia,
a monthly contribution consisting of barley-meal, wine, cheese,
and figs, together with ton obols (about tiftcenpence) for the
purchase of flesh, condiments, &c. The smallness of the sum
allowed for extras shows that but little flesh or fish can have
been eaten. The staple of the meal was barley-broth and
black or blood pudding, /xeAa§ ^'■(o/xos ; but IMount Taygetus was

^ Altgriech. Brod, in Eranos Vindob. 1S93.

3 28 THE COURSE OF LIFE

full of game, and the Spartans good huntsmen ; so they may
have su})plied from this source a welcome supplement to their
frugal fare. Butter was not used by the inhabitants of Greece
proper, and though it was made by the Thracians, they seem
to have employed it more especially for rubbing themselves
with.

In Homeric times the Greeks had three meals a day. First
came the apia-rov, which was eaten at dawn, next the Sd-n-vov,
which was the mid-day meal, and last the Sopirov or supper.
Such seems to have been the rule ; but Homer uses the term
SetTTvov for meals taken at various times.

Later the term apicnov was used for the mid-day meal, and
hdiTvov for the evening meal. Early in the morning a little
bread dipped in unmixed wine was taken, to which refreshment
the name aK/xxrtcr/xa was applied. The apta-rov or dejeuner was
a meal of which people partook each at his own house ; it was
not social, but seems to have been of a solid character. It
was probably eaten bet^veen nine in the morning and noon,
according to convenience. The Set-n-vov or dinner was the social
meal of the day, and was deferred until the day's employments
were over, often until after sunset. Thus the times and char-
acters of the Greek meals correspond almost exactly with those
of the French.

The Greek women dined at home, and the men would also
sometimes dine at home with their families, in which case they
would recline on a couch, and their wives sit beside them.
More often they met together for a social repast. In the
Prytaneum at Athens and elsewhere there were public tables,
at which those who had the right daily sat doAvn. At most
cities there existed clubs or epavoi, consisting of members who
gave regular contributions, and had occasional banquets at the
common expense. Sometimes a set of young men would club
together to pay the cost of a dinner at the house of a hetgera,
or of a picnic party in the country or by the seaside. If the
latter place was chosen, they called their excursion aKra^eiv.
But naturally the most usual plan was for an individual to
invite his friends and give them a dinner at his own cost,
hoping for a like return.

The number of guests at a Greek dinner-party Avas not so
strictly regulated as at a Roman, and it was by no means
unusual for persons to present themselves uninvited. Thus
Lucian^ says of Demonax that he went to dinner where he

^ Demon. 63.

DAILY LIFE OF MEN

329

pleased and was welcome. Guests were expected })efore going
to a banquet to take a bath and pay some attention to their
toilet, though there was, of course, no special evening dress.
As soon as they arrived the attendants removed their shoes
and washed their feet, and they took their places on the

Fig. 22.— Achilles Dining,^

couches (KAtvat) in accordance with the directions of their host.
In historic times the position at meals was a reclining one,
though sitting had been usual in the heroic ages. It was
customary to lie on the left side, and to support the left elbow
with a cushion {Trpoa-K^f^aXaiov) : thus the right hand remained

^ From a vase, Mon. ddU Inst. viii. 27. Achilles turns away his head
at tlie approach of Priam : under his table is the corpse of Hector,

3 30 THE COUESE OF LIFE

free to deal with the food. Two persons on each couch seems
to have been the usual number; but the number of couches
could be increased at pleasure. Before each couch was placed
a table with three or with four legs, and on these tables the
eatables were disposed when brought in. Hence the phrase
€lcrcf)€p€Lv rpaire^as. The guests helped themselves from the
dishes with their fingers, and usually ate, at all events solid
food, without any other help, though spoons (/xvo-rtAat) could
be used in case of need. Hence the necessity for washing the
hands both before and after meat. Between the courses a piece
of bread was used for cleansing the fingers (dTrojaarrecr^ai).

Of the Selirvov a most amusing description, in mock heroic
verse, is given by the parodist Matron in Athenaeus.^ It con-
sisted of two parts. In the first little or no wine was drunk,
but the eatables w^ere handed round one after another until the
appetites of the guests were satisfied. This seems to have soon
taken place ; and we find in Greece no parallel to the elaborate
courses and gastronomic surprises of a Roman coena. Then
the guests washed (aTrovixpaa-daL), the tables were removed
(dcfiatpdv Tpa77€^as), the floor swept of bones, shells, and the
other debris of the feast. Then the tables were again brought
in, SevrepaL rpd-e^ai, and laden with dessert, rpayi^fxara. In
earlier times this dessert consisted only of nuts, olives, and figs,
and cheese, together with salt to stimulate the thirst.^ In
later times a quantity of sw^eetmeats were introduced, as well
as cakes (TrXaKovvres) made with honey, and even so substantial
food as game, thrushes, and hares.

But the food brought up at dessert was intended only as an
accompaniment to the drink.^ When the libation (o-7rov8ai) to
the good genius had been poured out, and the guests were all
adorned wdth chaplets of flowers, which were handed round in
due order (eirl Sejia), and worn not on the head only, but also
round the body, the symposium began. It is a mistake to sup-
pose that the Greeks usually drank to an immoderate extent.
We read indeed of great achievements with the wine-cup
among the ofiicers of Alexander the Great. Thus we hear that
the winner of one of his prizes for drinking swallowed about
thirteen quarts of unmixed wine and died four days after from
the eff'Gcts. But the ^lacedonians owed to their colder climate,
and probably their Thracian blood, their capacity for drinking ;

^ Athen. iv. 135-137. ^ ,

2 TTpbs TTOTov &\pov dalv ol aXes. Plutarch, Symp. iv. 4, 3.

3 Xenoph. Symp. ii. I.

DAILY LIFE OF MEN

331

tlie people of Hellas were more delicately organised. The later
Greeks found the Pramnian wine, which was a favourite with
the Homeric heroes, far too rough for their taste, and ridiculed
the old custom which had prevailed of eating onions with wine
to give it a flavour. Yet the Greeks of heroic times seem not
to have been immoderate. When Odysseus gets some strong

Fig. 23. — Symposium, trom a Vask. (Wiener Vorlojebl. \i. 10.)

wine from Maron in Thrace, he mixes it with twenty times its
bulk of water. ^ Hesiod recommends that the proportion of
one part of wine to three of water should not be exceeded.
At their banquets all the Greeks, except noted sponges, mixed
their wine with water, the proportion varying with the strength
of the Avine^ and the disposition of the drinkers, but the water

^ Od. ix. 209.

3 32 THE COUKSE OF LIFE

was generally far more than half the mixture. Zaleucus, the
legislator of Locri, forbade the drinking of unmixed wine under
penalty of death, except in case of doctors' orders. ^ The
Spartans attributed the madness of Cleomenes I. to his habit,
acquired in Scythia, of drinking wine unmixed. So as Greek
wine, though rougher, was probably not stronger than our
Burgundy, it is quite easy to understand how the banqueters
can have emptied their great KvXiKes without much incon-
venience. The luxurious in summer cooled the water for
mixing with snow and ice, which were at Athens regular
articles of import, and in winter warmed it.

With regard to kinds of wine, the Greeks were not such
connoisseurs as the Romans, nor is it likely that their wine
was so good. The ancient Greeks, like the modern, had a way
of mixing resin with their wine, which made it more whole-
some, and to those accustomed to the flavour not unpleasant.
There was red wine (/xeAas), which was the strongest, white
wine (AevKos), which was considered weak and poor, and yellow
wine (Kippos), which was supposed to be wholesome and
digestible. The most noted of all wines was the Chian, but
Lesbos, Thasos, Cnidus, and Rhodes all had celebrated vintages,
and every district of Greece produced a coarser sort. How
plentiful the latter was may be judged from its price. Attic
wine sold in the time of Demosthenes for four drachms the
IxerpujTrjs of about nine gallons, or at a penny a quart. We are
told that in Spain the same quantity of wine would fetch but
a sixth part of that price. Mendean wine, which was con-
sidered choice, was sold for two drachms the large amphora,
vessel included. Chian wine was dearer ; in Socrates' time it
fetched a mina the metreta ; about two shillings a quart. Wine
exported was previously mixed with salt water to preserve it,
and stowed either in skins (acr/coi) or in earthen amphoras,
which were tall thin vessels some four feet in height.

Greek women of the more respectable sort did not drink
wine, and shunned excess even with more horror than English-
women. At Miletus they were forbidden by law to touch wine.
Of course the kratpai and flute-players (avXiirpiSes) who attended
drinking-parties indulged freely.

There were in all cities wine-shops at which the drink could
be purchased and consumed in company, but they seem to have
been frequented only by slaves and the lowest of the people.
Athenseus says that a member of the Areopagus was expelled

^ Athen. x. 33.

DAILY LIFE OF MEX 3 33

from tliat body because he was seen in a wine-shop. He states,
too, that there was a law according to which any one who saw
an archon drunk in public might with impunity kill him. But
in these, as in other matters of public decency, the bad example
of Alcibiades produced greater laxity.

We must, however, return to our drinking-party, which we
need not describe in detail, since most readers are acquainted
with the Symposia of Plato and Xenophon, and with the
excellent description of a drinking-bout in Becker's Charicles.
]^or is any subject more common on ancient vases than scenes
of eating, drinking, and revelling.

The first care of the revellers was to elect a ruler of the
drinking-bout, apyjjiv rrjs Trocreco^, who was determined either
by casting of lots or by general consent. His function was to
determine the proportion in which water was to be mixed with
the wine, to regulate the size of the cups, and see that all drank
fairly. He also had to assign the penalty to the various guests
who incurred forfeits in the games which usually accompanied
drinking. The usual penalty was to drink the contents of a
large vessel full of unmixed wine, though salt-water was some-
times substituted. The guests also challenged one another
{TrpoTVivuv) with large vessels of wine, and it was considered a
defect both in courtesy and courage to decline to drink off
a vessel of the same size as that in w^hich one was pledged.
They also drank round in turn, in the same order in which the
garlands were served (Itti Se^ta).

The wine was mixed all at once by the slaves in a great
Kparrip of earthenware or metal, and thence transferred with a
ladle (Kt'a^os) to the cups. The usual vessels for drinking from
were kvAikcs, flat cups with a handle on each side. These were
made either of earth or metal, and were more capacious than any
of our wine glasses. Specimens in painted earthenware are to l)e
seen in any museum ; one in bronze is preserved in the British
Museum. A single finger was passed through one of the
handles for drinking, and in the game cottabos. For cups there
were sometimes substituted rhytons, which were formed in the
shape of animal's heads, but in principle corresponded exactly
with the old Engb'sh drinking horn, pouring a continued narrow
stream into the mouth when the finger which stopped the lower
end was removed. Immoderate drinkers would sometimes call
for craters or wine coolers of prodigious dimensions to show
their prowess.

The Greeks were no mere soakers : they usually varied their
drinking with amusements, sometimes of a lighter, and some-

334

THE COURSE OF LIFE

times of a more serious character. In turn the feasters, if the
party were intellectual, would be called on to sing a soni:^,
(tkoXlov, or to play on the lyre ; or in certain circles each would
be set to ask a riddle, ypl(f>o<s or aiviyfia, of his neighbour, or
to make a speech on a given subject ; or, as in the Symposium
of Xenophon, to propound a paradox and to defend it against

|g1IJiafaEJEJI^L51L5lt5llMf^

Fig. 24.— Cottabos, from a Vase. {Ann. d. Inst. 1876, pi. m.j

all comers. Such rhetorical exercises seem to have delighted
the quick-witted Athenians, and must have been a far better
amusement than the after-dinner speeches of modern days.

In less intellectual society the place of these amusements
would be taken by the game of KOTTa/Sos. The details of
cottabos are obscure, and it seems to have been played in many

DAILY LIFE OF MEN 33 5

ways, but in all cases the secret of the game was to be able to
throw from a drinking-cup, in the handle of wliich one finger
was inserted, a compact jet of wine at a given mark. For this
the drinking-vessels of the Greeks were specially constructed;
but it is clear that so long as the drinkers were capa))le of a
game which required steadiness and skill of hand they could
not be intoxicated. Sometimes scenic shows, actors or jugglers
or acrobats, were brou-ht before the company to amuse them
with feats of skill. But when drinking was deep, all these
more staid or intellectual amusements were set aside, and the
party became often a scene of the wildest excesses, which were
the Avorse for the presence of the flute-girls.^ And when one
party had reached the stage of frenzy, they would roam about
the city in the form of a kw/xos or roystering band, entering
all doors which were not rigidly closed, and sometimes even
forcing their way with axes into the houses of the Hetaerse.
So the night would sometimes end in the wildest debauchery.
But the more respectable citizens only gave way to these ex-
cesses on occasion of the festivals of Dionysus and other deities
of his class.

All that was worst in the Greek banquets was encouraged
by the presence of parasites (KoAaKes) or professed jesters (yeAwro-
TTotoi), a degraded class of men w^ho became very plentiful in
the later times. They would make their way into houses
Avhere feasting was going on, like Philippus in Xenophon's
Sf/mposium, partly in order that they might keep up the merri-
ment of the party, and partly because they would not easily
accept a rebuff. Their gluttony and ^vine-bibbing tended as
much to corrupt the abstemious habits of the guests - as their
low jests and obscenity did to lower their character. The
classical writers of late times are full of abuse of these crea-
tures, who sometimes became literally the lick-spittles of their
patrons ; but strangely enough the latter, who were really most
to blame for encouraging such proceedings, seem to have
escaped censure.

^ Thus Alcibiades and his kcD/xoj break into the symposium described
by Plato, p. 212.

2 A good specimen of the parasite is Artotrogus in Phxutus' Miles

Gloriustis.

336 THE COURSE OF LIFE

CHAPTER IV

TRAVELLING

After speaking of the city life of the Greeks, we are naturally
led on to the question how far their experience of the world
extended. Were they confined to the town of their birth, or
did they visit neighbouring cities, or even travel in foreign
countries ?

The answer must depend on the period of Greek history
which we are considering. We must speak separately of three
ages, the heroic age, that of Greek independence, beginning with
the era of the Olympiads, and the Macedonian period.

In the Homeric age the wealthy families, wdio held their
seats on the Acropolis-hills of Greece, and thence ruled the
surrounding plains, were, like all aristocracies, of a social dis-
position, and glad to welcome visitors who would relieve the
monotony of life. In the heroic legends of Greece almost
all the heroes, Theseus, Bellerophon, Perseus, Odysseus, and
others, are of a wandering disposition, and are received hos-
pitably everywhere.

It has been well remarked that the stranger who arrived at
a town or mansion was, according to Homer, either a iKiTrjg, a
^€Lvos, or a 7rTU))(6<s. In either case he was, as Xausicaa says,
under the special protection of Zeus Shios,^ who would avenge
any wrong or injury done to him. The iKeTtis was one driven
from house and home who came to seek shelter with a stranger.
or one who had unintentionally committed homicide and needed
expiation. Unbidden, he would make his way into the house,
and take his seat at the altar of Zeus 'EpKeto? in the hall of
the mansion ; or he would approach the house bearing in his
hand the emblems of a god. Thus Chryses holds in his hands,
as he approaches the Greek camp,^ the fillets of far-darting
Apollo. If the stranger was not in dire distress, but merely
voyaging for purposes of his own, he was received as a ^€lvo<s
with the most splendid hospitality. He was washed by the
ladies of the house, and invited to a banquet in the hall of
the ava^, and only when he had well eaten and drunk was he
asked his name and his business. The host bestowed on the
guest the best of all he had, and when he left, loaded him with

1 Od vi. 207. 2 ji I j^^

TRAVELLING 337

rich presents. In return, the guest bore an endless gratitude to
the host, and even if they met in the battle-field would not
injure him. Odysseus declines to contend even in sport with
the son of his host Alcinoiis. The beggar (ttt^x^?) who led a
wandering life was free to eat the broken meats in the hall of
any noble, and to sleep in the aWovcra; but he was of course
not treated as an equal.

Those who did not belong either to the great families or to
the class of vagrants probably voyaj^ed but little. Commerce
was scarcely born : such import trade as existed was in Phoe-
nician hands, and slaves were the chief article of export.
Jjut the skilled workman {SrjjXLocpyos) was accustomed to go
from court to court to work for hire, and to leave behind him
worthy memorials of his skill.

A great change took place at the time of the spreading of
Greek colonies over the West and East. Greek settlers were
planted on all the shores of the Mediterranean, and naturally
their kinsmen who remained at home exchanged with them
frequent visits. And it was by no accident that precisely at
this time the great national festivals of the Greeks, Olympia,
Nemea, Pythia, and Isthmia, acquired importance, and attracted
at stated intervals to the mother-country crowds of such as
could claim Hellenic birth. The great annual festivals also
of the Greek mother-cities were attended by many from their
colonies. Thus, for men at least, sea-voyages of great length
must have been of considerable frequency. One is astonished
to find the lowness of fares (vavAa) charged by shippers for
the conveyance of passengers. From Athens to JEgina, a man
could sail in the fourth century B.C. for two obols, and even
in the time of Lucian for four. In the time of Plato ^ a man
with family and baggage could voyage from the Piraeus to Egypt
or to Pontus for two drachms, providing, of course, his own
food.

Inland travelling was never so easy or so usual as going by
water. The calm and protected seas and sounds of Greece
naturally tempt the traveller, and in old days the fear of
pirates was almost the only drawback to sea-journeys. But the
Greek inlands are rugged and difficult at all times, and except
in times of profound peace, or on the occasion of a national
festival, when enmities were suspended, it must have been im-
possible to go far by land without running the risk of hostile
encounters. Every ten miles one passed into the lands of a

^ Plato, Gorgias, 511 d.

338 THE COURSE OF LIFE

new city, and every city had its own politics and its own
dialect.

The main purpose of the roads was to facilitate approach to
the great temples and the scenes of the Greek festivals. The
sacred way from Athens to Eleusis, and from Olympia to the
sea-coast, are instances. Nevertheless, the Greeks were never
road-builders, as the Romans were. They did not build lofty
causeways through valleys. They contented themselves with
smoothing away the chief obstructions in their rocky paths,
and in many cases with making certain level artificial ruts two
or three inches deep, adapted to receive the wheels of carriages.
Considerable remains of these ruts still exist ; ^ in some roads
there seem to have been an up and a down line, in other cases
only a single line, and when the latter is the case, there are
still traceable at intervals grooves cut to enable a chariot or
waggon to leave the road and allow another to pass. Curiously
the part of the road lying between these grooves or ruts re-
mains very rough and rock3^ Professor Curtius ^ suggests that
it must have been strewn with a layer of sand or other soil.

These remains explain how it was possible in Greece to travel
in a carriage (a/xa^a), as women and children usually did. But
men, unless given to luxury, went far more expeditiously on
horseback or on foot. The horse was of course the usual means
of progression with the wealthy, but on the rocky paths over
the hills he could go only at a walking-pace. A pedestrian, if
hardy and active, could easily distance him; so when nev/s
was brought rapidly from one part of Greece to another, we in-
variably find that the conveyer was a runner on foot The
horses did not, it appears, wear shoes ; but v-n-oSij [xara, socks or
sandals, were commonly tied on the feet of beasts of burden.
The ancient, like the modern traveller in Greece, if he M'ent on
horseback, formed part of a cavalcade, which must frequently
ride single-file. First the masters rode, and then came the
slaves, usually on foot, driving other horses which carried the
baggage.^ This baggage had to include sleeping- apparatus
(crT/3(o/xaTa), as well as clothes, and frequently provisions. If the
amount of it were small,^ it might be carried by the horse of the
traveller or by his slave. Sick men and women travelled in
litters (cfiopela) in which they reclined at full length, four bearers
supporting the four corners. These were not, indeed, so usual

' Curtius, We^^ehau hei den Griechen. Berl. Acad. 1854.
' Loc. cit. 3 Aristoph. Birdx, 615.

* Lucian, Jsin. I. I'ttttoj 8^ /te Karrjye Kal ra aKevr), Kal depdwojp tjkoXov'
9ei eh.

TPv A YELLING 3 39

in the early clays of Greece, but in Macedonian times splendid
litters became a regular part of the equi2)ment of wealthy ladies
and 'Eraiyjat.

The public ways, like everything else in Greece, were under
the protection of special deities, Apollo, Hermes, and Hecate.
By the side of the road occasional chapels were erected, and in
them the wayfarer might often find food gratis. Inns (TravSoKeta
or KaTrryAeia), though in later Greece they existed everywhere,
were never in high repute. The traveller was unfortunate who
was obliged to betake himself to them rather than to the
house of a friend or acquaintance. The proprietors Avere de-
spised by the public for taking money in return for that hos-
pitality which the Greek considered it his first duty to show.
In some places public buildings like caravanserais took the place
of inns, and offered to all at least gratuitous shelter. The long
stoae at places like Olympia would accommodate a large number
of travellers, w^ho would of course bring beds and provisions
with them.

We do not know much about the custom-house arrangements
of the various cities. Taxes on taxable goods would, however,
be levied in port or at the gate of a city, not the frontier of its
territory. When we read, as we constantly do in inscriptions,
of the decree of a city conferring dreAeta on a stranger, it was
})robably intended to save him from the inconveniences of search
and the payment of duty on his entry into the town. If a
traveller had to pass through the territory of a hostile state, he
would provide himself with a pass, which was called a-vyypac^ri
or (TcfipayL's.

The relation of host and guest, as we have described it in
Homeric times, persisted throughout Greek history. Wherever
a Greek went, he was almost sure of a welcome from a relation,
a friend, or a friend of a friend.^ Letters of introduction were
frequently given to those who travelled by those who remained
behind. The simplest form of letter of introduction was the
impression of the signet of the introducing person. A man's
signet was known to all his friends, and the mere exhibition
of it entitled the bearer among so hospitable a people as the
Greeks to lodging and friendship. Any other token or a-vufSoXov
which would be understood answered the same purpose.

If a traveller had no letters of introduction to any citizen of
the town he visited, he would probably apply to the ofticial
7rp6^€vos, among whose duties that of lodging any prominent

^ Lncian, Ash). I.

340 THE COURSE OF LIFE

citizen of the city he represented was certainly included. As
a last resource, he would look out an inn.

After the age of Alexander the limits of Greek travel east-
ward were vastly extended. The mercenary soldier and the
merchant would voyage as far as Cahul and the frontiers of
China, and find Greek cities and kinsfolk all the way. Troops
of actors and caravans laden with goods crossed and recrossed
Asia. India, the Caspian, Abyssinia became familiar to Greek
travellers ; and from the custom of travelling abroad the Greeks
acquired that of travelling more at home. More commodious
inns were erected in Attica, Boeotia, and other districts, and
citizens passing from place to place soon enlarged their horizon,
and lost that local colour which had hitherto marked them.
They became citizens of the world instead of Thebans. Plataeans,
or Athenians.

CHAPTER V

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WO^IEN

It has been frequently observed that in nothing is the contrast
between the heroic and the historical ages of Greece more
striking than in the position and treatment of women, which
appear to have been better in the times of Homer than in
those of Thucydides. In the period after Alexander, women
seem again to have become more prominent and important;
so we arrive at the curious result that women were of least
account in the greatest ages of Greece, in those days when the
public life was most vigorous and Greece outwardly most
flourishing. And the reason, or at least one chief reason, is
not far to seek, namely, that in the archaic times of Greece and
the times of decay, the men cultivated and found their pleasure
in private and domestic life : in the great tige of Greece the
life of politics had driven quite into the background that of
the home. The seclusion of women, like slavery, was part of
the price paid by Greece, and especially by Athens, for a
magnificent burst of public splendour.

It is by some of the German authorities mentioned in this
connection, as a reason for the greater honour of early days,
that in Homeric times a husband paid a large sum (eSva) for his
wife ; at a later period he received a dowry (vrpot^) with her.
But it is hard to think that a purchased wife, even if valued
for what she had cost, would be held in great honour. Men

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 34 1

are only willing to pay for what becomes their property. The
purchasing of wives is, in fact, an example of the survival of
a very archaic custom, and the high position of women in
Homeric Greece was maintained rather in spite of than in
consequence of it.

Very dignified was the position, according to the Iliad and
Odyssey, of the wives of the heroes who fought at Troy. Each
was mistress in her own house, the companion of her husband,
the welcomer of his guests, and an object of veneration to the
subject people. In the regions beyond the fxeyapov or men's
hall she was supreme, ruling over an army of maid-servants,
and appointing them their tasks of spinning, weaving, and
household work, and superintending the bringing up of chil-
dren. In the absence of her lord she seems to have managed
all his affairs, and given orders to men as well as women.
Even when he was present, the sphere of her activity was by
no means bounded by the limits of the thalamus. When no
guests were present, it aj)pears that the master of the house
dined in the hall^ with his wife and children. In the far
more usual case of guests being present, the mistress of the
house graced the meal with her presence, though she does not
seem to have partaken of the food. At a feast in the palace of
Alcinoiis, a high seat 2 is reserved for Arete, his wife, who
listens, and not in silence, to the story of Odysseus. Penelope,
accompanied by two maids, makes her appearance in the hall
where her suitors are feasting,^ and stands, only partly veiled,
at the door leading from the men's hall to the women's. When
only a smaller company of the friends of Telemachus is present,^
she comes and sits opposite to her son as he dines. In the
palace of Menelaiis, Helen sits at the feast given to Tele-
machus, and not only mixes a bowl of wine for her guests,^
but also tells them a story while they drink it. Nor were these
ladies by any means confined to the house. ^ Arete is not only
honoured by her husband and children, but by the people who
look on her and address her as a deity when she appears in
the streets ; and she heals the strifes of men who quarrel.

No one can read the account of Nausicaa's reception of
Odysseus without feeling that dignity and self-possession such
as she displays could not exist in a maiden brought up in
seclusion and trained only in the labours of the loom. A

^ Oil. viii. 242. 6're Kev aoh iv fxeydpoLCiv Saivijrj irapa. arj T'd\6x(i} ^ai
(Toiai T€K€(Tcnv. - Oil. xi. 335.

^ Oil. xviii. 206. •* Oil. xvii. 96.

^ Oil iv. 233. ^ Od. vii. 70,

342 THE COURSE OF LIFE

similar nobleness and majesty is found in the portraits of the
women of the heroic age like Antigone and Alcestis, as pre-
served in legend and presented to us by the Greek tragedians.
The comedians, on the other hand, who paint contemporary
women, draw a very different picture, and seem to labour for
words to express their contempt of womankind.

There was indeed one custom among high-born women of
the heroic age which has caused great scandal among the
commentators. They were in the habit of washing in a bath,
anointing, and clothing friends and strangers who visited them.
Thus at Pylos, Polycasta,^ youngest daughter of Nestor, bathes
and dresses young Telemachus ; Helen bathes Odysseus when
he comes as a spy to Troy,^ and recognises him in the bath by
personal marks, as does old nurse Euryclea at a later period.
Odysseus, in extreme modesty, declines to be bathed by the
maidens of Nausicaa, but his scruples were clearly unusual.
Commentators have tried in a score of ways to avoid the clear
force of these statements. They have supposed that the
Homeric heroes wore bathing-dresses, or sat up to their necks
in water during the operation. These interpretations must be
rejected. Perhaps the bather retained enough clothes to satisfy
the demands of actual decency, but it is clear that the Greeks
did not regard as we do the display of the naked body : indeed,
they would have had difficulty in understanding modern deli-
cacy in such a matter.

Homer gives us little material for constructing the life of
women of the lower classes, except the slaves. Hesiod speaks
of women of the poorer sort in language not complimentary,
and more in the manner of later times, It is evident that the
position of the wives of poor workmen and labourers can vary
but little from age to age, being determined not by custom, but
by pressing necessities of various kinds.

In the historical times of Greece the women of Athens were
the most secluded, those of Sparta the freest, the other cities
of Greece proper apparently occupying an intermediate position.
We will begin with Athens. Here the unmarried girls of a
house were scarcely allowed to leave the gynseconitis on any
other occasion than that of a religious festival. If a wedding
or funeral were passing, they might be allowed to go as far as
the front door of the house, and, in the absence of strangers,
might sometimes enter tlie court of the men ; but such an event
would be unusual. For days and weeks together the girls would

1 Od. iii. 464. 2 od. iv. 252.

rOSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 343

be confined, to their court, "where their chief employment was
spinning and weaving. Education, in our sense of the word,
they had none, beyond such a smattering of letters as their
mother could impart. The best bred girl was she who had
heard and seen the least, ^ and had learned but one lesson, that
of modesty, craxfipovelv. The doors of the gynseconitis were
rigidly barred against all men except the master of the house
and a few near relatives. The only breaks in this somewhat
monotonous existence were afforded by the great religious
festivals, when some high-born girls walked in procession,
and even performed dances, the training for which must have
sometimes agreeably interrupted the monotony of their exist-
ence ; and the rest were allowed to look on. On such occasions
only was there a chance that any falling in love on the part
of young men or women should take place ; but such indiscre-
tions were rare at Athens where free women were concerned,
and marriages matters of convenience merely.

Marriages in Greece were entered into from motives of pru-
dence rather than of sentiment. Becker remarks that four
motives might incline a man for marriage. The first is respect
for the gods, and a desire to leave behind him sons to continue
his religious duties. The second is a consideration for the
welfare of the state. The third is a, desire to perpetuate his
race and lineage. The fourth is the need of a trusty and skilful
housekeeper. It will be observed that except the last of these
motives, all have reference not to the wife herself, but to the
children she is expected to bear. In fact, the desire to have a
son who may represent his father before gods and men, and in
particular keep up the sacrifices to ancestors, Avas one of the
deepest-seated feelings in all branches of the Aryan race, and
more prominent in India than in Greece.^

Notwithstanding, the young men of the later times of
Greece, accustomed to pleasure and a life of freedom, generally
looked on marriage with dislike, and only submitted to it out
of deference to their elders. In the plays of Plautus, Avhicli
reflect the age of Menander, marriage is commonly inflicted by
choleric fathers on gay sons to whose misdeeds they wish to
put an end, though instances do occur in which the son is a
consenting party. The selection of the bride was a matter in
which only in rarest cases the bridegroom had a voice. This
matter was arranged by the parents on both sides, assisted
sometimes by a go-between or matclimaker (Trpofxv/jcrTpLa), an old

^ Xeu. (Econ. vii. 4. ^ See Coulanges, La Cit6 Antique,

344 THE COURSE OF LIFE

woman of a not over-respected class. The choice was dictated
by motives different from those favoured in modern novels.
The first requisite was that the bride should be the lawful
daughter of a citizen of a respectable family. The second,
that between bride and bridegroom there should not be great
disparity in social position. A wealthy man might often gratify
his friendship by marrying the daughter of a poor friend, but
the poor man who married an heiress put himself in a very
unpleasant, and even ridiculous position. It would seem that
of the personal qualities of the lady, so long as she possessed
(r(j)cf)po(Tvvr], less account was made. The bridegroom had little
or no opportunity of making acquaintance with her until the
marriage-day.

The usual time for marriages in Greece was the winter, one
month of which, Gamelion, received its name from the circum-
stance. In winter the health was supposed to be more vigorous
and the spirits more elastic. Hesiod recommends the fourth
day after new moon as the best for bringing a wife home.
Other writers mention the full moon as the best time.

As is usually the case in countries where marriages are ajfa/res
de convenance, it Avas usual for the bridegroom to be much
older than the bride. In this matter the philosophers probably
adopted the ordinary opinion. Plato in the Laws ^ suggests that
for a woman the marriageable age is eigiiteen to twenty years,
for a man thirty to thirty-five. Aristotle ^ mentions the age of
eighteen for women and that of about thirty-seven for men.
In any case, care was usually taken in Greece that the husband
should be a good deal older than the wife ; a precaution doubly
necessary considering the amount of authority which the man
possessed, and the early bloom and rapid decay of female beauty
and vigour in the South of Europe.

At Athens the state required as a preliminary to marriage an
iyyvr](Tis or betrothal, in which act the nearest male relative
disposed of the bride. In the absence of this ceremony, or in
case of the responsibility being assumed by a wrong person, the
marriage was void and the children born of it illegitimate.^ It
was also matter of universal custom, thougli not actually re-
quired by law, that a dowry, Trpot^ or <}>€pvi], should be fixed for
the wife. "VYe have an instance in Demosthenes^ in which a
dowerless wife is acknowledged to be legally married ; but as
a Greek had very little difficulty in getting rid of a wife on

^ vi. p. 785. 2 PqIh^ vii. 16.

' Demosthenes, p. 1 134. ^ P. 1016.

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 345

condition of returning her dowry, it is clear that in cases where
there was none the wife was entirely at the husband's mercy,
and practically almost in the position of a mistress, being liable
to be turned out of the house on any quarrel.

The state being satisfied, the next duty was to conciliate the
deities of the city and commend the marriage to their favour.
It does not appear that the requisite religious ceremonies,
7r/3oya/xeta, took place on a fixed day, nor do they seem to have
been made in common by the tw^o families. They were mostly
performed by the future bride and her parents on her behalf.
They may be divided into two groups or sets. The first group
of observances consisted in prayers and sacrifices to those deities
of the national Pantheon who most nearly controlled the affairs
of marriage,^ Zeus Teleios, Hera Teleia, Aphrodite, Peitho, and
Artemis, the last as presiding over the birth of children. But
in almost all Greek cities there was a second set of ceremonies
of a more primitive and local character. We are specially told
of the part due in marriage to the deot kyyoipioi. To a local
nymph or a local river the girl about to be married sacrificed
her hair, which was an archaic form of representing self-dedi-
cation. In the Troad girls bathed in the Scamander before
marriage, with the phrase, Kafik [xov ^KajxavSpe t-qv irapOevlav.
Iphinoe at Megara, Opis at Delos, and other deities of a purely
local type, participated in these honours.

Sometimes, in place of sacrifices to rivers and springs, there
was substituted a bath (Xovrpov vvixcfuKov) in water specially
fetched from them for the purpose. At Athens both bride-
groom and bride washed on the wedding day in water fetched
from the fountain Callirrhoe by a girl appointed for the pur-
pose, and nearly connected with one of them by blood, who was
termed rj Xovrpocfiopos. The wedding-feast {doivt] ya/xtK?}) took
place at the house of the bride's father, and was preceded by
sacrifices, which were probably mainly offered to the household
deities. The notion that the feast, or a second feast, was held
in the house of the bridegroom is now recognised as erroneous.
It arose from a misunderstanding of the custom, according to
which the father of the bridegroom or the bridegroom himself
gave, on the occasion of the wedding, a feast to his friends or
(fipoLTcpes. This feast was called yapjAia. At the wedding-
breakfast, our wedding-cake was represented by a sesame-
cake yTTiiifxa), which the bridal pair had to eat together, sesame
being a symbol of fertility. Women were present at the

^ Pint. Qu. Horn. c. 2.

346

THE COURSE OF LIFE

banquet in no small immbers, occupying separate tables, and
having the bride in their midst. ^ This banquet gave the
necessary publicity to the M^edding. After it, a procession was
formed to conduct the bride to her new abode. A chariot was
brought, and in it was placed the bride, veiled, bearing in her
hands, at least in Athens, a vessel for roasting barley, in sign
that her future life was not to be idle. On one side of her sat
the bridegroom, on the other the Trapdvvixffios, his friend, who
held the reins. Behind followed her mother, bearing two
torches lit at the paternal hearth, together with a crowd of

Fig. 25. — Setting out of Bi!Ide.2 (From a Vase, Wiener
VurlcgebL, 1888, pi. 8.)

male and female companions, with flute-playing and songs
and jests. At the door of her new abode she was received
by the mother of the bridegroom, who also seems to have
borne torches, and conducted by her into the house. To this
day torches form an important part of a Greek bridal proces-
sion. In some places the axle of the chariot used for this
purpose was taken out and burnt, to signify that for the young

^ Lucian, Coniiv. 8.

2 The groom's friend in tlie chariot seen.s to await the pair : the mother
has taken her place : Hermes or a herald leads the chariot : a female
njUgiGJan aggonipanies it.

POSITION AND EMTLOYMENTS OF WOMEN

347

wife there was no return. If the bridegroom had been married
before, lie had to intrust the conduct of the bride entirely to
the Trapdvvixfjios. That the bridal pair and the members of the
festal procession wore bright clothing stands to reason, but as
to colours there does not seem to have been any fixed rule.

As the bride entered her new abode, she was saluted by a
shower of fruits and sweetmeats (Karaxvcr/xaTa), an ancient
custom, surviving even to modern days. As she entered the
bridal chamber she partook of a quince, in accordance with a
Solonic law, the object of which is said to have been to give

Fig. 26.— AimiVAL of Buide. (Fhom the same Vase.i

sweetness to her breath. Her companions, standing at the door,
sang a hymeneal song, and returned next morning early to wake
the sleeping pair.^ These two songs were called respectively
cVi^aAa/xtov and Steye/DriKa. Next day the bridegroom went to
the abode of his parents-in-law and stayed for a while, until the
bride sent a garment as a j)resent to persuade him to return.
This was termed aTravAia, but there is much doubt whether
the custom was general.^ After tliat came the araK-aAvTrrvJ/ota,

^ The picture is flanked by tlie two mothers : the bridal pair are led by
Apollo as musician to their new abode.

- Theocr. Id. xviii. 54. ^ Pollux, iii. 39.

348 THE COURSE OF LIFE

when the bride appeared in her new home, unveiled, to receive
the congratulations of near relations and intimate friends, as
well as presents bestowed by them.

Such seem to have been the marriage ceremonies at Athens and
in most parts of Greece, though it is likely that the grammarians,
who are our chief authorities for them, may have put together
usages prevailing in various parts of the Greek world. In
modern Greece one of the most important ceremonies connected
with marriage consists in a solemn conducting of the bride to the
well whence she will in future have to draw water,^ and in drink-
ing from that well on her part. This takes place a day or two
after the wedding, and considering how much was thought in
antiquity of wells and springs, it can scarcely be doubted that
the custom survives from remote antiquity. At Sparta a dif-
ferent set of usages prevailed, which were in fact survivals
of the very primitive custom of marriage by capture. After
obtaining the parents' consent, the bridegroom carried off his
wife with an appearance of violence ; but for a long time his
visits to her were secret, and he lived publicly with his un-
married comrades as before.

When a woman married, the limits of her prison were
widened. The street-door took the place of the door of the
gynaeconitis as the usual limit of her wanderings,^ though at the
same time she would doubtless retire into her apartments when
strangers appeared. But her life, if secluded, became no longer
idle. First she had to superintend the household and assign
the tasks of the maid-servants, to despatch them on errands and
to overlook their spinning in the great work-rooms at the back
of the house. Next she kept the keys, and took charge of
linen, plate, and all other valuables deposited in the house. In
this the rajxia might assist her. The third duty of a woman
was the nurture and rearing of her children, real or adopted,
which was in her hands, in the case of boys, until they left the
nursery ; in the case of girls, until they were married. It was
clearly not thought an improper though a rare thing for a
married woman to go abroad, if accompanied by slaves, whether
for the purpose of visiting friends, of being present at the
acting of a tragedy (women were excluded from comedies), or
to visit temples. But underhand or suspicious absences from

^ Wachsmutli, Das Alte Griechenland im Ne/ten, p. lOO.

2 Meuand. Fragm. wepas ')ap aOXios dvpa iXevdipq, yvvaid vevofiiar

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 349

liome gave opportunity for a divorce.^ IIow little and seldom
they went out is clear from the account which we have that
after the battle of Chaeroneia the women stood trembling in
the door-ways, asking passers-by as to the fate of their hus-
bands and fathers and sons. Even at such a crisis they did
not venture out into the street ; yet the orator Lycurgus ^ calls
their conduct unworthy of the city and themselves. It would
appear that the Homeric custom of wives being present at the
meals of their husbands survived, though the wife merely sat
by while the husband reclined ; but this did not happen when
guests were present. Only Hetaerse were present at banquets.

In case of illness, it has been the privilege of women in all
ages to interfere and break the bonds of custom. The mistress
of a Greek household was also head-nurse, and considering
the number of slaves and dependants, some of whom would
frequently be ill, this function must have largely extended
her sphere.

Of course there were relaxations which varied the monotony
of the life of girls and women. With the former games of ball
were a very frequent amusement. The swing (aldopa), which is
also represented on several Greek vases, was not unknown to
them. They had dolls in abundance and a host of pet animals,
more particularly birds and dogs. The long stories of the nurse
helped many an hour to pass, and the employments of the
toilet still more. It was also a favourite amusement with girls
to pluck the leaves of the Ti-jXecf)i\ov, or throw apple-pips at
the ceiling, and thence draw an augury for the success or dis-
appointment of the passion which they might choose to entertain
or fancy for some youth whom they can scarcely have seen
except at a distance.

The question has been raised whether the wives of citizens
had public baths of their own which they frequented. This
must certainly be answered in the negative as far as Athens is
concerned. But groups of women bathing in places resembling
the public baths of men are frequently represented on vases of
both early and late date. The custom may have obtained in
some cities, especially those of Dorian origin. The Hetrera^,
also, even at Athens, frequented public baths, as is shown by
the statement that Phryne never went there.

1 Plant. Merc. iv. 6, 2

" Uxor viro clam domo egressa est foras,
Yiro fit causa, exigitur matriinonio."

2 In Lcocr. p. 165.

350 THE COURSE OF LIFE

In such employments as these women were supposed to find
sufficient employment for their minds, and enough bodily
exercise to keep them in health. Ischomachus, the model
husband of Xenophon's Economics,'^ does light upon the notion
that some stronger exercise for the muscles may be desirable,
and recommends to his young wife that she should not lead
the sedentary life of slave-girls, but employ herself with
walking about the house after the servants, with moistening
and kneading flour for bread, and in unfolding and refolding
the household linen. These active duties will, he thinks, be
sufficient to keep the colour of health in her cheeks and enable
her to dispense with the artificial embellishments of paint and
rouge.

The treatise of Xenophon just cited gives us a pleasing and
a complete account of the recognised duties of wives at Athens.
In a dialogue between himself and Socrates, Ischomachus re-
lates with great self-satisfaction how he has trained his wife,
until she has become a model of household management. She
was married at fourteen, and brought to her new position only
knowledge of the labours of the loom, together with temperate-
ness in eating, modesty, and a teachable disposition. By a
series of object lessons in the house, Ischomachus teaches her
the need of diligence, of method, and of order. He points out
to her that the gods have obviously destined man for life out-
side the house, that he may provide what is necessary for
livelihood, and woman to dwell in the house, and to take
charge of all that he provides. He compares, with more ethical
than entomological exactness, the position of the wife in a
house to that of a queen-bee in the hive ; and represents the
latter as going round the hive, keeping the working bees to
their tasks, superintending the rearing of the young and tending
the sick ; winning so completely the confidence of the whole
community, that when she issues forth all the hive follows
her without hesitation.

As Aristophanes holds up to contempt in the Clouds the
changes coming over Greek education, and the substitution of
intellectual for ethical training, so in the EcdesiazuscB he
pours ridicule upon the movement, which appears to have
taken place at the same time, in favour of greater freedom
and more influence for women. He rejDresents the women of
Athens as meeting in solemn assembly to claim the govern-
ment of the state, and to introduce all sorts of new and flighty

C. ID.

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 3 5 I

ideas of communism and socialism. Whether there was any
reality in the movement can scarcely be made out from the
treatment of Aristophanes, which soon degenerates into jestin^fr
of a very broad kind. But in any case it may safely be said
that at Athens the advocates of women's rights were never
of much account in politics or in social life.

Fig. 27.— Women at Music.i (Gerhard, Auserl. Vdsenb. pi. 304.)

Such was the example set at Athens by the women of the
more respectable classes, which was followed but very im-
perfectly by those of lower station. These being compelled
to do much Avork which in wealthy households fell on the
slaves, such as cooking and the fetching of water, could not

^ These are doubtless flute-girls being trained ; a lyre hangs on the
wall.

352 THE COUESE OF LIFE

be so scrupulous. This Aristotle expressly states. Eeferring
to the gynaeconomi, a class of officers who at Syracuse regu-
lated the going out of women, he avers that such an institution
is aristocratic, not democratic, "for how," says he, "can you
keep in the wives of the poor?" "The poor are obliged to
send wife and children on errands, because they have no
slaves." 1 The class of 'Eraipat also had more liberty; but
at Athens liberty for women was quite incompatible with
delicacy and refinement.

Plutarch says that Solon made a series of sumptuary laws
respecting women, forbidding them, among other things, to
travel at night except in a carriage, with a torch before them,
also to tear themselves at funerals ; and he adds that in his
own day such offences were punished at Athens by the
ywaiKovo/xot, who seem therefore to have been introduced into
Athens at a later time. At Syracuse these officers had very
great authority, so that it is even said that a woman could
not go out by day without their permission, ^ which sounds in-
credible, especially if we consider that the seclusion of women
was an Ionian rather than a Dorian institution.

At Sparta an entirely different set of manners prevailed.
Elsewhere women were brought up with reference to the
individual and the household. They were considered as
essentially non-political, whence their neglect. At Sparta, on
the other hand, they were brought up for nothing but the
good of the State. There a woman had but two duties, to
bring forth strong and healthy children, and to sustain and
incite the valour of the men. From early youth her frame
was strengthened with athletic exercises, more especially
running and wrestling, which were practised at the female
gymnasia. The Latin writers ^ speak of Spartan virgins as
exercising naked in the presence of men ; but one would sup-
pose that they were misled. At the public dances, races, and
wrestling matches they probably wore the short Doric chiton,
which reached but little below the hips. Yet it must be
confessed that there are in the Greek writers passages which
seem to imply complete nudity on these occasions. Athenaeus
speaks of to yv/xvow rag TrapOevovs rots ^evot?,^ and Plutarch in
the Life of Lycurgus is very explicit. The subject is a difficult
one, and we are inclined to fall back on the fact that a chiton

^ Aristotle, Politics, iv. 15, vi. 8. - Athenseus, p. 521.

3 Prop. iii. 12. " Inter luctaiites nuda puella viros."
•* Athenseus, xiii. p. 566.

POSITION AND EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN 353

is worn in the case of the statue of the Vatican representing
a girl who has won in the Heraea. So is clad the Dorian
huntress Artemis, so the Dorian canephori ; nor does earlier
Greek sculpture often represent a woman as naked except when
hathing. The result of this athletic training was that the
Laconian women were universally acknowledged to be the most
beautiful and healthy in Greece, and were eagerly sought by
the wealthy as nurses for children. The chief object in allow-
ing the virgins to be present, as was the custom at Sparta, at
the exercises of the men, was that the latter might be encouraged
to strong exertion by the praise of such spectators. Married
women, on the other hand, were not allowed to be present.

It cannot be denied that, at all events in later times, in
Sparta the women were more respected than elsewhere. They
were termed Sea-n-o tvat, and even sometimes interfered with
great effect in politics. No other state in Greece produced
women of so heroic mould as Gorgo, wife of Leonidas, and
Agiatis, the wife of Agis and Cleomenes. The great reforms
of Agis were mainly brought about by female influence. " The
Lacedaemonians," says Plutarch,^ " always hearken to their wives,
and the women are permitted to intermeddle more with jDublic
business than the men are with the domestic." In later times a
large proportion of the Lacedaemonian soil was in female hands.

Very difl'erent was the estimation in which the secluded
women of the Athenians were held. The comedians thouglit
no abuse of the sex too bitter or too coarse, and even in the
tragedies, at which women were present, they were treated to
such phrases as " one man is better than ten thousand women." ^
Aristotle speaks of the female sex as by nature worse than the
male, 2 and Plato speaks of virtue as far harder for women to
attain. In many cases, no doubt, the virtues of a woman
might endear her to her husband or father, and he might
forget this natural inferiority. Or, again, if a poor man married
a lady of fortune, or a low-born man a lady of high family, as
in the Clouds of Aristophanes, the wife might attain a some-
what preponderant position within the house ; outside it she
could never be anything but a cypher. The Athenian married,
not for affection nor to gain a companion, but to secure a
trustworthy guardian of his house and goods, and that he
might have legitimate children to carry on the family.

^ Life of Agin. - /pJii;j. in Atd. v. 1 373.

^ Arist. Politics, p. 1254. rb d^peu irphs to drjXv (pvaa t6 fih Kpelrrov
TO 8^ x^^P^^-

3 54 THE COURSE OF LIFE

Some writers have spoken of the Hetaerae as if they with
accomplishments and education occupied the place held in
modern times by the leaders of feminine society. This is
quite misleading. Making exception of one or two remarkable
women, such as the Aspasia of Pericles, the accomplishments
of the Hetaerse very seldom went beyond flute-playing, and
witty but coarse repartee, while their houses were constant
scenes of debauchery. They themselves were always treated
with the utmost contumely Avhen they appeared abroad, being
made the butt of coarse jests, and their life ended in squalor and
utter misery. They were sometimes, but not always, slaves.

In return for their secluded life, the Greek free women were
at all events treated with some delicacy. A husband would
carefully abstain from doing anything before the wife which
would lower his dignity in her eyes ; and Demosthenes ^ makes
much of the fact that his opponent had on one occasion used
bad language within the hearing of unmarried women. To force
one's way into the gynaeconitis uninvited was a still more
grievous offence, and perhaps the worst violation of public
decency which could be committed. ^ The seclusion of women
did not put a stop to adultery ; and we are not surprised if, by
bribes or flatteries, corrupters found their way into the closely
guarded gynaeconitis. In such a case, the offending women
were most harshly judged, and an adulterer, if detected in the
act, was liable to be put to death by the injured husband.

It has already been stated that after the time of Alexander
the Great the position of women improved in Greece. For this
several reasons may be found. Domestic life occupied more of
the attention and affection of men who had lost with autonomy
their interest in politics. There were, again, at the courts of
Pergamon, Antioch, and Alexandria queens and women of high
standing, who did much to raise the estimation in which their
sex was held. And it must be added that growing corruption
of morals usually makes women, even if less trusted, yet of more
account. Of the position of women at Alexandria we have
a vivid picture in the celebrated fifteenth Idyll of Theocritus.
Ladies at that city seem to have been allowed to go to the
spectacle of the commemoration of Adonis attended only by
maid-servants ; they spoke freely to passers, and even accepted
the friendly aid of a stranger in the crowd. These, however,
are Dorian women, and it is doubtful if such liberty was evei
enjoyed at Athens.

^ In Meid. p. 540. - Lysias adv. Simon, p. 540.

TREATMENT OF DISEASE 35 5

CHAPTER VI

TREATMENT OF DISEASE

In earlier days in Greece, organized medicine was almost the
exclusive possession of the clan of the Asklepiadoe, the sup-
posed descendants of Asklepius. In the Iliad, every warrior
knows something of the rough and ready remedies for wounds
which a people given to fighting must meet in the life of every
day. Sthenelus binds the wound of Diomedes : Pelagon draws
forth the spear from the thigh of Sarpedon : and Patroclus
cures the arrow-wound of Eurypylus. The method of proceed-
ing is usually very simple ; the offending weapon is cut out,
and the wound bound up with healing and soothing herbs.
Cheiron, the trainer of heroes, taught to Achilles the science
of curing outward hurts, as part of the ordinary education of
a chief. Yet Podaleirius and Machaon, sons of Asklepius, have/
in the Iliad, greater reputation as leeches than any other of
the Greek heroes, and are sent for, if possible, when a warrior
is in need of surgical aid.^ As to diseases which need the care
of physicians rather than surgeons, they are seldom mentioned
in the Epic poems, nor do we hear of attempts at their syste-
matic cure.

In the historic ages of Greece, also, skill in healing arts
centres in the clan of the Asklepiadae and the temples of
Asklepius. The hereditary priests of Asklepius ministered to
and prescribed for the sick in the temple, and as baths, fresh
air, and easy exercise were parts of their regime, they may have
sometimes been of use without the particular interference of
Asklepius.

But the priests of the healing god were yet not quite
without rivals. As early as the Persian wars we find in
Greece a custom arising for each city to have and pay a State-
physician. Thus we find that in the sixth century B.C. Demo-
cedes of Croton, after practising on his own account for a year
at ^gina, was appointed State-physician at a salary of a talent
a year.- The Athenians next secured his services for a talent
and two-thirds, and lastly the wealthy Polycrates of Samos
attracted him from Athens by the offer of two talents. In tlie
case of these State-doctors, the patients who applied to them

^ II. iv. 200. ^ Herodot. iii. I ;i.

3 56 THE COURSE OF LIFE

had perhajjs no fees to pay ; but of course in the case of other
physicians a fee was required. The amount of it was some-
times fixed beforehand by the doctors, who refused to under-
take the case until it was agreed to ; sometimes it was left to
the gratitude of the patient. Enormous sums were paid in
the latter case by the wealthy. The State does not appear to
have maintained any test or scrutiny of those who wished to
practise.

Distinctions such as exist among us between chemists, sur-
geons, and physicians were not known to the Greeks. The
doctor had an laTpdov or surgery, full of medicines and instru-
ments, such as cupping-glasses, and even bathing apparatus.
His assistants, who were sometimes pupils, or more frequently
slaves, carried out his directions and dispensed the drugs, or
even prescribed themselves in the cases of less important and
less wealthy patients. The l^nife and the cupping-glass were
among the most frequent remedies; but the Greeks believed
in the medicinal virtues of a large number of herbs ; some of
which, such as the silphium, have ceased to be used.

Of course in serious cases the patient could not go to the
larpeLov, and he then received visits from the doctor at his
own house. Hippocrates lays great stress on the maintenance
by a doctor of a becoming exterior and a quiet and reserved
manner ; but it appears that there were some who disturbed
their patients with noise or offended them by roughness, and
others who sought to dazzle by the splendour of their appa-
ratus.

It is to Hippocrates that the ancients ascribed the formula-
tion of the oath taken in some cities by those who entered the
profession of medicine, and though this attribution cannot be
upheld, yet the oath is certainly early as well as interesting.
I translate it in full : " I swear by Apollo the Physician,
Asklepius, Hygieia and Panaceia, and all gods and goddesses,
calling them all to witness, that I will fulfil according to my
power and judgment this oath and promise. I will reverence
my teacher in this art as my own parents, give him of my living
and fulfil his necessities : I will regard his issue as my own
brothers, and will teach them this art, if they wish to learn it,
without pay or obligation : I will admit to teaching, to lecture,
and all other instruction my own sons and those of my teacher,
and pupils who are articled and have taken the oath pertaining
to physicians, and none beside. I will use a regimen suited to
the good of the sick according to my power and judgment, and
preserve them from harm and injury : I will give no man

TREATMENT OF DISEASE 357

poison at his request, nor will give such advice : likewise will
T administer no harmful drug to women. I will preserve my
life and practice pure and sound. I will not cut for stone, hut
leave that to those who practise the matter. When I enter
a house, I will go for the good of the sick, keeping myself from
all wilful harm and injury, and all lust towards man and
woman, free and slave. All that I hear and see in my practice
or out of my practice in ordinary life, if it should not be told
outside, I will keep in silence, regarding this experience as
secret. If I keep this oath sacred, may I be successful in life
and practice, and in repute with all men for all time ; but if
I violate it and commit perjury, may it be otherwise with me."

Meantime, beside the growing schools of scientific medicine,
there existed other sorts of treatment.

In all ages there have been many natures which have
revolted against the hard materialism which is the dominant
creed in the high medical schools. In all ages many have pre-
ferred to look for relief even from physical ailments to some
kind of miracle ; have looked with more favour on faith than
on mere prescriptions and drugs. And indeed, if there be any
value in human testimony, faith has often been successful
where drugs have failed. Among the Greeks, persons whose
temper was such that they expected health from mere mental
and spiritual influences would naturally apply to the temples
of Asklepius, and enrol themselves among the votaries of the
healing god. In so doing, they certainly fell in the way of
a good deal of charlatanry, but they may nevertheless in some
cases have attained their object. The effects of belief, even if
that belief be based on insecure grounds, may often be solid
enough.

The position of the temple of Asklepius at Athens was in
winter pleasant and salubrious. It was placed on the southern
side of the Acropolis rock, and by that rock was sheltered
from the cold winds of the north, while exposed to the sun
and to the breezes blowing fresh from the ^gean. It was
above the level of the city, and looked over it to ^gina, " the
eyesore of the Piraeus, " and Salamis and Acrocorinthus. The
traces of walls which still remain within the precinct of the
deity may be variously interpreted ; but it is clear from an
inscription^ discovered in situ that there were two temples

1 The inscription {C. I. A. ii. i, Addenda 489 b; Girard, p. 6) records
how one Diodes repaired the propyloea of the precinct, and restored tlie
old temple, being allowed as a return to place on each an inscription
recording his liberality.

3 58 THE COURSE OF LIFE

of the god, an older and a newer ; and besides we can trace
the ground-plan of ranges of buildings of some extent, which
must have served for the abode, or at least the temporary
accommodation, of the crowds of votaries who came to the
spot in search of health. In one chamber is a well, used no
doubt for the ablutions which the god frequently prescribed,
and which, together with gentle walks in the airy and warm
galleries, go far to explain some of the cures which took
place.

The temples were not more than small chapels, and filled
with inscriptions and with reliefs set up by those who had
been cured, and articles of value given by them as a fee to
the healing god. Some of the reliefs and some of the inscrip-
tions remain to our days. The reliefs are mostly of one class :
they represent Asklepius and Hygieia, or sometimes Asklepius
with other members of his family, standing or seated in dignity,
and approached by a train of votaries, who bring with them
sometimes an animal for sacrifice. Some of these reliefs belong
to a good time of art, and are in composition and execution
most pleasing. But though these larger anathemata alone
survive, the inscriptions tell us of many others which have
long since been stolen or destroyed. It was a common custom
to dedicate to Asklepius a model in precious metal, in stone, or
in wax of that part of the body which had been healed by his
intervention. Some people have fancied that an accumulation
of votive offerings of this kind might in time constitute a sort
of museum of pathology and be very instructive to students.
But those who entertain such a fancy can understand but little
of the sesthetic and artistic side of the Greek nature. Such
models would not represent the diseased member in its ab-
normal condition, but in that healthy condition to wliich it
was restored by the god. It was health and beauty, not disease
and deformity, which Greek artists depicted. This is no mere
theoretical assertion ; we possess in our museums a large
number of stone models of eyes, breasts, arms and feet, and
other parts of the human body, dedicated in memory of cures
in ancient times, and many of these belong to a later time,
when the purity of Greek artistic taste was overlaid by the
barbarism of Asia and the realism of Rome. Yet they repre-
sent health merely ; or, if there be an allusion to disease, it is
no brutal transcript but a mere hint.

We read also, in the inscriptions, of votive cocks made in
the cheapest of all materials, terra-cotta, and dedicated either
by those who were very poor, or by such mean worshippers

TREATMENT OF DISEASE 3 59

as the ixLKpo(fjLX.6TLixo<^ of Theophrastus, who dedicates in the
temple of Asklepius a bronze ring, and goes every day to clean
it and rub it with oil. But many of the thank-offerings pre-
sented to the temple were of quite another class, cups of silver
and gold, jewels of value, censers and tripods.

The inscriptions found at Athens enlighten us as to the
number and character of these dedications ; they go into the
utmost detail, and even describe the place where each was
deposited, by such phrases as "in the second row," "behind
the door," and the like. They also preserve to us decrees
passed by the people in regard to the temple, and record the
names of priests ; but they do not give us, what is of far
more interest in the present day, a record of the cures wrought
in the temple. For that we must turn to the inscriptions dis-
covered in the great Asklepian shrine at Epidaurus, the native
city of the god. Of these inscriptions, and the cures recorded
in them, an account will be found in my New Chapters in Greek
History (ch. xii.), from which the preceding paragraphs are
taken. 1 The record is far more interesting from the light
which it throws on ancient beliefs and manners than from any
information which it gives us as to the state of medicine in
antiquity. For the cures in no case result from any methodical
treatment of disease, but rather from the direct interposition of
the god Asklepius, who either in a dream gives directions to
the patient, or more often with his own hands removes the
root of the evil. The modus operandi is set forth in still more
detail in the well-known passage in the Plutus of Aristophanes,
in which Plutus is represented as being cured of his blindness
through sleeping in the precinct of Asklepius at Athens, and
there receiving the personal ministrations of the divine physi-
cian. And doubtless, throughout later Greek history, the
shrines, not only of Asklepius, but of many other divine and
semi-divine healers, were thronged by a crowd of credulous
votaries.

In later Greek times some of the doctors devoted their
attention to a special part of the human frame, the eye, the
ear, or the teeth, and strove to make a wide reputation for
skill in their special branch of the art. We even find traces
of distinct schools or sects of physicians, such as that of the
larpaXe iVrai, who used embrocations and baths, together with
diet and regimen, rather than herbs or the knife. But the
poor in all ages of Greece were the ready prey of the un-

^ By permission of Messrs. Murray.

360 THE COURSE OF LIFE

scientific quacks who went from market-place to market-place
boasting the value of their own special nostrum, or of wise
men and women, who professed to cure by the use of magical
arts. Indeed, the line between medicine and magic was a very-
shadowy one ; the ancients did not widely distinguish the
effects of herbs and regimen from those of spells and incan-
tations, €7ro)Sai, and the latter were openly mingled with the
former by all but the trained physicians. A prominent place
was occupied among magicians in Hellenistic times by the
priests of Isis, Cybele, and other outlandish deities.

CHAPTER VIT

BURIAL AND TOMBS

It is generally known that the Greeks, like all nations on the
same level of civilisation, attached extraordinary importance to
the due performance of the funeral rites. This was the first
and most sacred duty of a man's heirs ; and the strong desire
of the Greeks to have a son was in great part caused by the
hope that a son would duly perform the funeral rites. The
son who would utterly renounce his father threatened that he
would not bury him.^ It is well known what an extraordinary
passion of rage and shame swept over the Athenian people
when they heard that their fallen comrades had been left un-
buried at Arginusse. Becker supposes that the care for sepulture
arose originally from prudential consideration for the living;
but there is no doubt that it is a survival of some of the most
primitive and deep-seated feelings of our race, according to
which the man unburied has no home, is exposed to the in-
clemency of the weather and the attacks of wild beasts. It
was very long before mankind recognised that the dead are
insensible to these inconveniences. ^ This fancy dictated among
the Greeks the belief that the souls of the unburied were not
admitted to Hades, but wandered disconsolate in the neigh-
bourhood of their bodies. In war-time it was an acknowledged
principle that each side should bury their own dead; but if
this were not possible, a Greek would not hesitate to bury a

^ Alcestis, 665.

2 So Lucretius, iii. 878. " Facit esse sui quiddani super inscius
ipse."

BURIAL AND TOMBS 36 1

Greek foe, except in cases where there was excessive exaspera-
tion. It is considered most harsh and cruel in the Antigoru'.
that Creon should forbid the burial of the body of his enemy
Polynices.

Immediately on a man's death, his eyes and mouth were
closed by his nearest relative and a cloth placed over his head.
Then the women of the family wa.shed and salved the corpse,
dressed it in clean white attire, adorned it with ratvLat or
woollen fillets, crowned it with flowers and wreaths of vine and
the plant called optyavos,^ and laid it on a state couch, with the
face turned towards the door. In the mouth, the usual Greek
receptacle for small change, was placed the obol, the vavAo;/ or
fee of Charon, which is still frequently found in that situation
when Greek graves are searched. That a honey-cake (fxeXcTTovcra)
for Cerberus was placed in the hand of the dead is asserted by
the Scholiast of Aristophanes,- but has been doubted. Friends
and relatives were then invited to come and pay the dead a
last visit, and thronged about his couch amid the lamentations
of mourners and the wailing dirge of hired singing-women
(Opip'MSot). Each guest took farewell in his own way, and as
he departed sprinkled himself with water from a vessel placed
before the house-door, so as to purify himself from ceremonial
uncleanness. In modern Greece a vessel of consecrated water
is placed beside the corpse Avith a similar view. This solemn
7rp66€(Ti<i took place on the day after death, and might serve a
useful purpose as well as gratify the feelings of friends, because
it offered security that the dead man had not been made away
with, and that he was really dead and in no trance. Solon
spared the custom in his legislation, though he made sumptuary
laws to restrain the extravagant show of grief in the house
of death. ^

^ Aristoph. Ecdesiaz. 1030, specially mentions the dpiyavoi.

2 Aristoph. Lysist. 600, and Sclioliast.

•* A number of scenes of Trpbde<TL% are represented on Greek vases and
tablets, especially on the \ovTpb<popoi, of which we have spoken under the
head of Marriage, the vessels used for bringint,' water from the spring for
the nuptial bath, and on the white Attic lekythi, which were specially
made to be placed in graves. On a prehistoric Athenian vase {Mon. delV
Inst. ix. 39) we see the deceased lying on a couch amid wailing relatives
and mourners. Later scenes of similar import will be found in our
engraving, and in Benndorf's Gviech. und Sicil. Vascnhildcr, PI. i., xxxiii. ;
Mon. dcW Inst. viii. 5, &c. Sometimes about the couch flutter souls,
depicted as minute winged figures, who seem to have come to accompany
the spirit to the land of Hades. That the women who throng tliese
scenes are usually relatives may be seen from Benndorf, PI. i. , where the
names sister, aunt, and the like are written beside various mourners.

362

THE COURSE OF LIFE

On the day after the irpodecrLs took place the eKcfiopd oi
burial, which was accomplished early in the morning before
the sun had risen. On a couch, probably that on which it
had lain in state, the body was brought forth, carefully tended
and decked, crowned with a wreath and clad in fair robes, and
placed on a waggon or on the shoulders of selected friends to be
borne to the cemetery. According to the Solonic law, the men
walked before the bier and the women followed it,^ but only

Fig. 28. —PaoTHESis. (Pettier. Lecythes Blancs, pi. i.)

women who were above sixty years of age or near relatives
were allowed to be present. The wailing women, who had
been stationed in the room with the corpse, followed it to the
grave, 2 making loud lamentations, and flute-players accom-
panied their lamentations.

Formerly it was disputed whether the Greeks buried or
burned their dead, but it is now recognised that both
customs existed simultaneously. This it would be easy to

Demosth. p. 1071.

riato, Laws, vii. p. 800.

BURIAL AND TOMBS 363

prove from passages of the classical writers, with whom

_z ^.£ fZ

PI 111

- - '-<Vv:^

:iTr .•< ri Oj =

■— i ^ ? s jj ^

llfllll

'S '— ^ IX 2 ao t,

>> X 3 c ■•-' J?

rt I' 2 >»0^ D

- illill

KaTopvTT€L\' aiul Kateti' both frequently occur in desx-rihing the

364 THE COUESE OF LIFE

process of disposing of the dead/ but their citation is the
less necessary because excavations on the site of Greek ceme-
teries disclose to us in near proximity to one another the
bones of the buried and the ashes of the burned. It is pro-
bable that the custom varied with classes and with times. In
Homeric times we hear much of burning; but on the other
hand, the stories of how the bones of Theseus were moved to
Athens, and those of Orestes to Sparta, show that in popular
belief those heroes were buried. It would seem that burning
became less usual during the historic ages, and was reserved
for more distinguished men. Nor was it universal even in
their case. We hear, for instance, that when a Spartan king ^
died abroad, his body was embalmed in honey and brought
home for burial. The practice of burning seems to have
revived in the third and second centuries B.C., and at a later
period the repugnance felt by the Christians for burning some-
what recommended it to the Pagan part of the community.
But the difficulty and expense of burning caused it at all
periods of Greek history to be somewhat exceptional, a dis-
tinction reserved for the few.

In cases of burning, the pyre (irvpd) was probably erected at
or near the place reserved for the tomb. After the pyre had
burned itself out, the human ashes, which are easily to be dis-
tinguished from those of wood, were carefully collected and
placed in a vase of clay or bronze.^ In cases of burial, a coffin
was unusual, but sometimes a chest of wood or terra-cotta, or
even a stone sarcophagus, was used. The friends, standing by
the grave as it was filled, threw in terra-cotta images or vessels
or ornaments such as the dead had loved, and such as are now
found scattered in and over Greek tombs.

Beyond these we hear of no ceremonies ; no oration, as among
the Romans, except in the rare case of a public funeral; no
prayers and no religious usages. The body was laid in the
ground and covered up, and the company returned to the
house of the nearest relative, where the funeral feast (-TrepLSeLTrvov)
was spread. We are told that the sight of it tended in an
extraordinary degree to remove the traces of grief from the

^ Cf. Phcedo, 115 E. '- Xenophon, Hell, v, 3, 19.

^ The funeral pyre and the collection of the asheS are represented on
several Greek vases. On a vase published by Gerhard {A^it. Bildu-erhe,
pi. 31) is represented the burning of the body of Herakles, while he him-
self is borne aloft in a quadriga. A woman meantime pours wine or
water on the embers, in order to extinguish them, so that the ashes may be
collected.

BUIIIAL AND TOMBS

36;

faces of tlie mourners. The deceased man was regarded as the
host, and speeches were made in which he was highly lauded.
Sometimes, when many people fell by a common catastrophe,
one feast was held in honour of all. Thus aftf^r the battle of
Chaeroneia the irepi^etTn'ov was held at the house of Demos-
thenes, who had been selected to make the funeral oration.

At intervals sacrifices were offered at the tomb or v/pwoi/.
The first took place on the third day (r/jira), the next on the
ninth day (eVara). These sacrifices were repeated at the veKvcrta,

Fig. 30. — Child's Coffin, containing Skeleton, Terra-cott.vs,
Vases, &c. (Stackelberg, Grdhcr der HeUeiiai, \A. 8.)

tlie All-Souls' Day of the ancients, as well as on the birthday
of the deceased (yevecrta),^ and the anniversary of the day of
death was also marked by sacrifices. These consisted usually
of x°°^4 the ingredients of which are given by ^schylus- as
milk, honey, water, wine, olives, and flowers ; but sometimes
blood was mingled with the other substances. In all these
ceremonies we see a close resemblance between Greek customs
and those of the Egyptians as exhibited in the Egyptian tombs.
Funeral feasts, the veKiVta, the furnishing of tombs, were all

Heroddt. iv. 26.

Pcrs. 615.

366 THE COURSE OF LIFE

Egyptian customs, and the early Athenian vase-paintings, which
give us representations of mourning and of burials, are similar
to those on the walls of the Egyptian tombs.

The offerings to the dead are a frequent subject in ancient
art. On the white Attic lekythi the deceased are commonly
depicted as seated on the steps of their monuments, while
votaries bring wreaths, fillets, and other offerings. In the
reliefs of tombs, especially in later Greece, we have representa-
tions of lieroised men and women banqueting, while figures
on a smaller scale, no doubt survivors, do them homage. The
scene of these banquets may be supposed to be either the tomb
itself or Hades ; the offerings were of course made at the tomb,
but their effect was supposed to reach the world of shades.

In an able paper on the tombs of Athens, ^ Dr. Briickner
sums up the evidence derived from excavation. He shows
that in earlier times, the seventh century and thereabouts,
bodies were seldom burned, almost always buried. The graves
at this time were roofed with wood ; over them was left a
ditch containing a large terra- cotta vessel for the reception of
offerings, while within was stored pottery of all sorts, gold
diadems, iron weapons, spindle-whorls of terra-cotta, and the
like. After the sumptuary laws of Solon, the contents of
graves are simpler, only hkythi and unguent vessels, mirrors
for women, and playthings for children. The legislation of
Demetrius Phalereus, B.C. 317-307, again increased the sim-
plicity of burials, and for a century after his time the noble
sepulchral monuments which had arisen in Athens in such
numbers during the fourth century entirely cease.

Tombs erected over bodies buried in the soil sometimes pre-
served in appearance something of the character of a chapel
or heroon with pillars and pediment, but more often take the
form of simple monuments, upright slabs (o-TTJAat), or pillars
(Ktoves), set to mark the spot, and to record the memory of the
dead. The principal roads, as they apj^roached a Greek city,
were commonly bordered on both sides with long lines of such
monuments. At Athens a small section of the sacred way leading
to Eleusis has been preserved in part, and the tombs on each
side of it still remain where they were erected. Both the
representations and the inscriptions on these tombs throw an
interesting light on ancient life, and illustrate admirably the
Greek notions of death. ^

^ ArchdoL Jalirluch, Anzeiger, 1892, p. 19.

' For a fuller account of the character of Greek tombs see Sculptured
Tomhs of Ilcllas (Gardner).

BUKIAL AND TOMBS

3^7

They usually present to us, carved in very lii.t,^li relief, a scene
from the daily life of the deceased person. If he were a youth
given to the chase, we see him with dogs or attacking the
hoar. If he were a knight, we see him charging on horseback.
If he were shipwrecked, he sits desolately on a rock or else
on the treacherous ship. Artisans are represented with the
tools of their profession ; women at their daily task of self-

FiG. 31. 1— Offerings at Tomb. (Pettier, Lecythes Blancs, pi. 4.)

adornment, or sporting with children and favourite animals.
The family meal is a frequent subject of these reliefs ; more
often still there is a scene of departure, where one about to
start on a journey grasps the hand of wife, brother, or friend.
Very often we find a domestic scene of no special significance,

1 The dea'l man here holds a lyre ; a bird is brought as otfering. A
small ghost hovers over the tombstone.

368 THE COURSE OF LIFE

the family being merely grouped to adorn the family grave.
Sometimes in place of the upright stele we find a waterpot
(ySpta or XovTpo(}i6pos) in stone ; and in such cases modern
authorities, supported by a passage of Demosthenes, ^ see the
grave of one who died before marriage.

The inscriptions on tombs were usually very brief, containing
little more than would serve to identify the dead, his name,
his father's name, and that of the city or deme to which he
belonged. At Athens, in particular, when we find a longer
epitaph, and especially one in verse, we may be pretty sure
that the tomb bearing it was either erected at a late date or in
honour of one of the resident strangers who abounded in the
city. At Sicyon only the name of the deceased and that of
his father was placed on a tomb; the rigorous laws of Sparta
are said not to have allowed even the name to appear. One
class of inscriptions, however, which does not quite accord with
modern notions, deserves special mention. It consists of those
which express a curse against all who shall interfere with or
desecrate the tomb. This curse is sometimes expressed at great
length, and with what is to us loathsome detail. The custom,
however, does not properly belong to the best times of Greece,
but to the Macedonian age, when sacrilege had become a less
rare vice, and the ties which united fellow-citizens were losing
their force.

The customs of mourning varied in the various Greek cities.
The outward signs of it were cutting the hair close and putting
on black garments. Hence the boast of Pericles, ovSeU 81 e/xe
Twv oVtwv 'A6r]vai(j)V fxkXav Ifxanov Trepte/SaXcTO.^ At Argos,
however, white is said to have been customary. It was thought
very unseemly in a mourner to enter the house of feasting or
do anything inconsistent with grief and retirement. Both men
and women neglected the care of their persons and ceased all
personal adornment. The length of the mourning was thirty
days at Athens and Argos ; at Sparta it was limited to twelve
days, but at most places it was longer. Indeed, when the lost
person was a very near relative, we can scarcely imagine that
the signs of grief were so soon laid aside.

Certain persons were deprived of the right of formal burial.
Among these were persons struck by lightning, who were re-
garded as the prey of a deity ; also traitors to their country,
and others who had committed notorious crimes. Suicides
were buried at night in an informal manner, and their right

^ Ad I^eoch. p. 1086. 2 piutarch, Pcricl. jS.

BURIAL AND TOMBS 369

hands were cut off. Those who died at sea, were devoured
by wild beasts, or otherwise disappeared, were honoured with
cenotaphs by their friends, and some of the funeral ceremonies
carried through. By the grave of those who had been murdered
a spear was set in the ground, which the relatives had to
watch for a space of three days.^

^ Demosth. in Kuerg. p. 11 60.

2 A

BOOK V

COMMERCE
CHAPTEE I

AGEICDLTURE AND PASTURAGE

The Achaeans, as they come before us in the Homeric poems,
are rather a pastoral than an agricultural race. It is in their
herds of cattle, sheep, and swine, rather than in the produce
of their lands, that the wealth of the heroic kings consisted.
It was cattle which furnished them with a measure of value ;
and cattle, together with slaves, were the most valuable spoil
M'hich they secured in their military and piratical expeditions.
Thucydides traces the same lines as Homer. In early times,
he tells us,^ the insecurity of property was too great to allow
of the planting of trees, which would of course lie at the mercy
of an invading enemy. And altliough men tilled the ground,
the harvest would very often fall to the foe, whereas cattle
could on an alarm be driven to a place of safety.

We read of kings' sons who were herdsmen and shepherds,
such as Paris and Ganymedes and Anchises : and Eumseus
the divine swineherd seems to have been a person of conse-
quence in the island of Ithaca. In some instances, too, they
are represented as occupied in agriculture. In the stately
scenes of the Homeric shield, while the reapers cut and bind
the corw, the master stands by, leaning on his staff and rejoic-
ing in his heart. But the aged Laertes, father of Odysseus, is
found by that hero clad in skins labouring in digging his own
land. And the story goes, that when the chiefs came to fetch
Odysseus himself to the war against Troy, they found him, like
Cincinnatus, occupied in ploughing. But Odysseus and all his
belongings are at a lower stage of material splendour than the
heroes of ^acid and Pelopid race.

^ Thucyd. i 2.

370

AGRICULTURE AND PASTURAGE 3/1

It is probable that tlie downfall of the Achaean race was
followed by a time of greater simplicity, when the aristocracy
of the Greek tribes lived on their estates in the midst of slaves
and retainers, as did the wealthy inhabitants of Elis even in
the times of the Achaean League. But C^reek civic life began
to develop with irresistible attraction. The rich thronged more
and more into cities, and left the work of their farms to bailiffs
and slaves. There were in particular two states wherein the
country life fell into the background ; Athens, after the terri-
tory of the city had been wasted first by the Persians and
afterwards by the Lacedaemonians, and the inhabitants of
Attica cooped within the city walls ; and Sparta, where the
tendency of the proud burghers was to despise all pursuits
except war and the chase. But we have no reason to suppose
that this happened in the same degree in the other Greek
cities. Even at Athens, although the witty and luxurious
citizens ridiculed the yeoman, avrovpyos, as aypoLKos and a lout,
they could not deny his solid virtues. In the CEconoitiicus
Xenophon brings before us Ischomachus as one of the wealthiest
and most respected citizens of Athens, who understands in the
utmost detail the management of crops and trees, and is accus-
tomed daily to visit and inspect his farm. Another pupil of
Socrates, Euripides, goes so far in the Orestes'^ as to say,
avTovpyos, oiTrep Kal jtxovot crto^ovo-t y^jv, and to describe for an
Athenian audience a manly fellow full of sense and spirit, but
a stranger to the city and the Agora. The farmers of Aristo-
jjhanes are not at all unkindly treated by him, and Strepsiades,
one of them, marries a lady of the highest family. Thucydides -
makes Pericles speak of the Peloponnesians, who composed
the bulk of the Spartan army, as avrovpyoi Until the age
of Alexander and professional mercenaries, all the armies of
Greece were largely composed of men from the plough and the
fold ; and all history shows that avrovpyoi make the best of
soldiers. The mere hired workers, on the contrary, were
utterly despised.

In all this we find traces of archaic customs which belonged
to the entire Aryan race. The house, together with the field
surrounding it, which was marked off by terminal stones, was
the original domain of the self-contained Aryan family, within
which the head of each family was supreme. Hence the pos-
session of a domain was long considered necessary for the
citizen, and always until the present day property in land has

^ Orestes, 911, &c. ^ Thucyd. I. 141.

372 COMMERCE

been more highly valued and conferred greater distinction than
any other class of wealth.

As a whole, Greece is a country by no means favourable to
agriculture. There are a few rich plains, more especially those
of Thessaly and Messenia, but the country is mostly rocky,
barren, and uneven, especially unsuitable for large farms.
Hence the wealthy families of Greece did not, like the Roman
patricians, possess large landed estates, but invested their funds
in slaves, ships, or the mines. The system of farming was
that adapted to peasant proprietors or yeomen ; and as early as
the time of Hesiod we find a set of manners and a tone of
morality appropriate to that class. Curtius^ remarks that on
mountain slopes in Peloponnese one continually finds artificial
terraces, which bear witness to the care of the ancient culti-
vator, terraces such as in our day are constructed by the peasant
growers of vines on the Swiss or French hillsides. At present
Greece is sadly in want of water. The streams disappear in
the spring, and for the rest of the year the country presents
stony wastes alternating with occasional swamps. But in old
days great care was taken to construct canals and reservoirs,
and lead the water to each plot of land from the springs, an
operation mentioned even by Horner.''^ The draining of marshes,
also, a work requiring abundant co-operation, was carried on
all over Greece at so early a time that many of these drainage
systems passed for the work of Herakles and other legendary
heroes. The keeping in order of canals and watercourses was
provided for by many laws, and at some places there were even
magistrates ^ (Kp-qviov kTri^eXiqTai) intrusted with the oversight
of them. As Greece is a land of springs and not of rivers, this
care made all the difference to its fertility.

Hesiod^ speaks of two kinds of ploughs, one avroyvov, or
formed of a single piece of wood, the other TrrjKTov, or put
together. The former is the more primitive. The plough in
use among the Greeks at a later time consisted of a beam of
oak, to the upper surface of which was fitted a pole to which
the draught oxen were tied, and an upright pole with cross-
piece which was grasped by the plougher. Immediately under
this second pole, on the lower side of the beam, was fixed the
iron ploughshare. The great cheapness of labour in Greece
and the paucity of capital stood in the way of improvements
in this very rude instrument; and, in fact, much of the pre-

^ Pelnponnesos. i. 78. - fl. xxi. 257. ^ Arist. Pol. vi. 8.

^ Works and Days, 432. Cf. Schreiber, Bilderatlas, pi. 64.

AGRICULTUEE AND PASTURAGE 373

paration of fields for sowing was done by slaves armed with
mattocks. Hesiod ^ draws a curious picture of a slave follow-
ing the sower of seed with a spade and covering the seed witli
earth to prevent the birds from getting it. The crop when
ripe was cut with a crescent-shaped sickle, and apparently the
stalks so cut were gathered by hand - and tied into bundles.
The threshing of corn was accomplished by the feet of cattle,
which were driven over it. The straw was not cut close to the
ground, but a considerable length left standing, to be presently
ploughed into the ground for manure.

With regard to manuring generally, the ancients took con-
siderable pains. Dung was spread on the land even in
Homer's ^ time. When the land had lain fallow, and so was
covered with weeds, it was ploughed, and the weeds thrown on
it to dry in the sun and so increase its fertility. We even
hear of mixing of earths, rich with poor, heavy with light, and
so forth. Thrice a year did the plough pass over the field, in
early spring, in summer, and in autumn just before the sow-
ing. Greek farmers were alive no less than English to the
advantage of deep ploughing,^ that the raw earth may be
well exposed to the sun. Sowing began about nth I^ovember,
at the setting of the Pleiads,^ a few days before the winter
rains were expected to set in, and harvest at the rising of the
same constellation in May. The labour of the field did not
end with sowing ; hoeing had to be done on either side of the
standing lines of corn ; and on specially good soil, such as that
of Sicily, the young corn was sometimes mowed down to pre-
vent it from growing too strong in straw.

There can be no doubt that agriculture in Attica suffered
more and more as time went on, though to a less degree than
that of Italy in Imperial times, from the competition of richer
soils. Great cargoes of corn from Egypt and Sicily and the
Black Sea constantly arrived in the Piraeus, and the people of
Athens learned the fatal lesson that it was easier to buy
agricultural produce with money wrung from the allies or
extracted from the mines at Laurium than to grow it on the
rugged soil round Athens. For a long while after Solon's
legislation the yeoman held his own, but the class never
recovered from the effects of the Peloponnesian war, when for
a long time Attica outside the walls of Athens was utterly

^ [\^orl-s and Dai/s, 469. - Iliad, xviii. 553.

3 Od. xvii. 297. ■* Xenoph. (Econ. 16, 12.

•'' Hesiod, Works and Days, 3S3.

374 COMMERCE

unsafe. The farmers took refuge in the city, and either
sank into members of the city mob, or found their way to
KXr]pov)(iai beyond the seas.

Grass-lands in Greece were mostly used for pasture, and not
kept for hay, a rule arising from the nature of the Greek soil
and the absence of spring rain. The planting of vines was an
important branch of industry, and one which occupied many
hands. The vines were mostly trained on stakes, sometimes on
other trees ; and the feast which accompanied the gathering of
the grapes was of a joyous and self-indulgent character. As
the Greeks lived mostly on vegetable food, the spade-industry
of the vegetable garden must have flourished. Oil, also, for
the needs of cookery and for rubbing the body, was required in
great quantities ; that of Attica was noted for its excellence ;
but wherever the Greek went to settle, the olive-tree accom-
panied him. Flowers were grown for sale ; the vending of the
numerous kinds of wreaths used at various times occupying a
section of the market ; but private gardens were not usual
in cities, there being indeed no room for them. Only in the
suburbs could they extend ; the example of Epicurus in late
times gave a stimulus to their spread.

With regard to their live stock, the Greeks from very early
times took pains with the breed, and endeavoured to improve
it. Thus we hear that Polycrates imported into Samos sheep
from Athens and Miletus, and dogs from Lacedaemon and
Epirus. Theognis remarks on the fact that the best goats,
donkeys, and horses are chosen for stud purposes. At a later
time Philip of Macedon imported into Macedon thousands of
Scythian mares. The horse was not used for purposes of farm-
ing, and was at all times somewhat scarce in Greece. It was
used in war and for riding when the master was on a journey,
as well as for racing purposes, whether detached or harnessed
to one of the racing chariots of later Greece. From the small
numbers of the Greek cavalry we may judge of the paucity of
Greek horses. Thessaly was pre-eminently their country, as
is shown by the legends of the Thessalian Centaurs. Yet the
whole number of Thessalian cavalry is reckoned by the Phar-
salian Poly dam as ^ at six thousand, and by Isocrates ^ at about
three thousand. Boeotia was also a country celebrated for its
horses, yet in the battle of Delium ^ we find only a thousand
Boeotian cavalry, while at the battle of Corinth in B.C. 394
they amounted to but eight hundred. At the same battle

^ Xenuph. Hdlen. vi. i, 8. - Isocr. de Pace, iiS.

2 Thucyd. iv. 93.

AGRICULTUKE AND PASTURAGE 37 5

there were present only six liundred Athenian cavalry, and it is
improbable that the cavalry force of Athens in Athens' greatest
time exceeded twelve hundred. The Lacedaemonians had little
cavalry except mercenaries. Speaking generally, we may fairly
assume that in the autonomous times of Greece wealthy men
kept one horse. Only the very wealthy could compete at the
Olympian chariot-race. This statement is confirmed by the
fact that in Attica a poor horse cost three minas, a good one
twelve, while for Bucephalus Alexander is said to have given
thirteen talents.

The place of horses on farms or for purposes of drawing was
taken by mules and asses, which were frequently used for the
plough and in carts. The asses of the mountainous Arcadia
and the mares of Elis produced a notable breed of mules, such
as drew the mule-chariot in the Olympic races. Anaxilaus of
Rhegium was so proud of winning the Olympian race with
a biga of mules, that he adopted it thenceforth as the type of
his coins. Oxen, sheep, and goats found abundant pasture in
early times in Greece. Oxen in particular seem to have been
in the Homeric age very abundant.

Early in the fourth century B.C. we learn from Attic inscrip-
tions that oxen for sacrifice cost fifty to eighty drachms. The
fact is that after the legislation of Solon the plough gradually
encroached more and more on the pastures of the cattle, and
the numbers of the latter diminished. We even hear of their
importation from the shores of the Black Sea Apparently
they were used for sacrifice rather than other purposes ; for
milking goats were much preferred. The Greeks drank milk
and made it into cheese, though they do not seem to have used
butter, and goats were kept almost exclusively to supply those
articles of food. Sheep were of the greatest use to the Greeks,
as their flesh was the usual animal food, and of their wool
much of the dress of both men and women was made. Hence
great care was taken to improve the breed, and the wool of fine
sheep was often protected from injury by clothing the animal
while yet alive in a skin. Asia Minor was a great wool-pro-
ducing region, the district of Miletus especially noted. The
shepherds were very numerous in proportion to the sheep they
tended, one to fifty, or at least one to a hundred, the labour of
slaves being very cheap and very ineffective. Of great pasture
farms we find an interesting record in an inscription from
Orchomenus in Boeotia,^ where is recorded the letting of
pasture for two hundred and twenty hor=es and cattle and a

^ C. I. G. 1569A; Newton, 1569A.

376 COMMERCE

thousand sheep and goats. The pig was commoner in the
Homeric times of the divine Eumaeus and in the ruder parts
of Greece, such as Arcadia and ^tolia, than in the regions of
greater refinement. Fowls were kept perhaps less for the sake
of tlieir flesh and eggs, though these were of course used, than
in order to produce a breed of fighting-cocks for a sport very
popular in Greece. Penelope in Ithaca amuses herself by
keeping a flock of geese, to which she is much attached.
Quails were also kept for fighting, and pheasants for the
luxury of the tables of the rich. Last, but by no means least
important of Greek domestic creatures, we may name the bee,
the cultivation of which was bestowed by the Xymphs, accord-
ing to the legend, on Aristaeus of Cos. Honey being used
among the ancients for most of the purposes for which we use
sugar, the quantity of it required must have been enormous,
and the cultivation of the bee proportionally important.
Virgil devotes an entire book of the Georgics to the subject ;
and though his precepts, borrowed no doubt from Greek
sources, show great ignorance as to the real nature of bees,
they show some skill in the tending of them.

The wild animals were never in historical Greece in suffi-
cient quantities to employ a class of hunters ; hunting was
practised by the wealthy classes as a means of health and
exercise. There were traditions of great hunts of formidable
monsters in the heroic age, when bands of heroes assembled to
rid the country of a peril. Lions were not forgotten in Greece,
though in historical times they did not penetrate farther south
than Macedonia and Thrace, and even in Thrace were extinct
about the first century of our era. The bear and the wolf,
largely mixed in local mythology in the Peloponnese, appear to
have still infested mountains in historic times. The boar or
the stag were the usual objects of great hunting-parties, but
the hare was a common prey, and looked on as the usual spoil
of the hunter. Dogs and nets were the means employed for its
capture, the hunter following on foot. The time of Alexander
witnessed a great revival of the spirit of hunting. The heart
of Asia furnished that king and his captains with abundant
game, and they entered eagerly into the pursuit, showing their
prowess by single-handed contests with boar or lion. The
hunting-dogs employed by the Lacedaemonians on Mount Tay-
getus and by the primitive Molossians of Epirus were cele-
brated in antiquity, but, if we may trust their representations
in art, were not very powerful when comuared to the splendid
hounds of the Assyrian kings.

MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS l^J

Fishing, on the contrary, em})loyed a large number of ships
and hands, and supplied a considerable proportion of the food
of the ancients. At Athens fish was eaten in the place of
meat. The supply to the fish-markets, which abounded in
Greek cities, consisted partly of fresh fish caught on the coasts
of Greece by the inhabitants of villages such as Anthedon,
partly of cured and salt fish imported from abroad. The great
source of the latter was the Black Sea, and especially the
Bosphorus and the mouth of the Borysthenes, where tunnies
abounded in vast shoals. The eels of the Copaic Lake in
Bceotia were celebrated, and oysters a favourite dish. But
among shell-fish the most valuable was sought not for eating,
but as furnishing a purple dye, and this was found abundantly
on the coasts of Crete and the Peloponnese, whither its presence
had in early times attracted the Sidonian mariners.

A considerable revenue was extracted by the ancient as by
the modern Greeks from the aAes, which were shallow lagoons
on the borders of the sea. In the winter a way was opened from
them to the Mediterranean, and they became full of sea-water.
In the summer this way of communication was blocked, and
the lagoons dried up, leaving at the bottom a deposit of salt,
which could be cut into blocks and used.

CHAPTER II

]\IANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS

The manufactures of Greece, as contrasted with the products
of her artistic activity, never reached the excellence we might
have expected in so ingenious a people. The reason must be
sought in two circumstances : first, that each household pro-
ducing a considerable proportion of the things it consumed,
things so produced were of a rough and domestic kind ;
secondly, that handicraft was in the best ages of Greece de-
spised, and considered fit rather for slaves and foreigners than
citizens. In Homeric times we find less of such contempt.
One of the Olympic deities, Hephaestus, occupies a respectable
position, though a smith ; some of the Homeric heroes are sons
of workmen, and some of Homer's best similes are borrowed
from the mechanical arts. To him the smith and carpenter is
a wise man, a welcome guest of princes, and a favourite of
Pallas Athena. With Phwnician wares in those early days

378 COMMERCE

the Greeks imported Semitic ideas as to skilled workmen, who
in Syria were supposed to enjoy special divine favour. The
crafts mentioned by Homer are those of the carpenter (tcktojv),
the maker of spears, the maker of chariots, the worker in
horn, the worker in bronze, the goldsmith, the leather-cutter,
and the potter. The more skilled workmen wandered from
place to place : work of an ordinary character was carried on
on the estates of the kings, as is evident from the speech of
Achilles when he proposes a mass of iron as a prize,^ that
"the winner will not have to go to the town for five years to
fetch iron, but have it ready for shepherd and ploughman."
Odysseus can build a ship with his own hands, and himself
unaided wrought the couch in his bedchamber at Ithaca.

That in historic times all handworkers (SrjixiovpyoL) together
with their handicrafts sank lower in the general esteem is
undeniable. They did so for two reasons : firstly, because the
man who produces anything for sale is to some extent at the
beck and call of all purchasers. Aristotle ^ says that he only
differs from a slave in being subject to all instead of to one
man. Secondly, the sedentary and within-door (pdvavcros)
nature of the crafts unfitted the man who exercised them for
war and the chase, which were considered the most dignified
employments. And at a later time the popular prejudice
against handiwork was fully adopted by the philosophers, who,
despising the body and its needs, scorned those w^ho ministered
to merely material enjoyments and necessities. So Plato
makes the operatives the lowest class in his ideal Republic,
and gives them no voice in its government.

It was the natural result of so general a feeling that in most
parts of Greece manufactures were left to slaves and resident
aliens ; but the custom varied in various places. We hear of
Corinth, essentially a trading city, as the place where handi-
workers were least looked down on ; and no doubt the asser-
tion holds of the numerous colonies spread by Corinth over the
coasts of Acarnania and Epirus. At Thebes, on the other
hand, no man was eligible for a magistracy if he had within
ten years practised any manufacture. At Sparta, as might
have been expected, the prejudice was still stronger. A
Spartan would have deemed himself disgraced irretrievably by
the pursuit of any mechanical art. So we are told that king
Agesilaiis, wishing to keep up the spirit of his Spartans, one
day at a review^ of his wdiole force, having ordered the army to

1 II. xxiii. 834. '^ Polit. iii. 3, 3.

MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS 379

sit down, then called upon the practisers of each trade, potters,
tailors, and so forth to rise by classes one after the other. On
which we hear that nearly all the allies rose, but not a single
Spartan. The Spartans considered a life of leisure necessary to
the acquirement of a manly and spirited nature. And that the
philosophers took not a dissimilar view is shown by the Socratic
saying that idleness and liberty are sisters.

At Athens we find considerable fluctuations in the estimate
held of handworkers. The laws of Solon compelled poor
burghers to bring up their sons to a trade, on penalty of
exempting the sons, if they were not so taught, from the duty
of supporting their aged parents. They also forbade ridiculing
any mnn in public on account of his trade. And there can be
no doubt that at all times a number of poor citizens practised
handicrafts. In Xenophon we find Socrates rallying young
Charmides, who was nervous about speaking in the Ecclesia,
asking him whether he were afraid of hucksters, smiths, and
the like, for of such the assembly consisted. We hear also
that in the year B.C. 322 there were 12,000 Athenian citizens
who possessed less than 2000 drachms. Most of these must
have exercised a trade, as a family could not live at Athens
on the interest of much less than 2000 drachms. But the
best of proofs is furnished by an Athenian inscription of
about the 93rd Olympiad, which records the sums paid on
account of public buildings, and we find that of the stone-
cutters and carvers there mentioned about two-thirds were
Metoeci and one-third Athenian citizens. After the lands of
Attica had been ravaged by the Peloponnesians, a number of
citizens who had lived by agriculture were obliged to turn to
trade. Even women were obliged to take wages as weavers
and nurses, though by so doing they thought themselves
disgraced.

AVhen, however, w^e hear of prominent citizens as exercising
such and such a trade, we must not understand it always liter-
ally. It may mean only that he possessed a factory where the
trade in question was carried on by his slaves. Thus Cleon
inherited a factory for tanning, and Hyperbolus possessed a
lamp-factory. In both these cases the work was no doubt
carried on by slaves under slave-overseers, and the masters
only exercised a general supervision. The comic poets of
course overlooked this nice distinction. Demosthenes, as we
know, inherited two factories, one of swords, the other of
couches ; and it was the custom in Athens for those who had
much capital invested in slaves to set them to w^ork in manu-

380 COMMERCE

factories or let them out in the mines. Only those too poor to
buy slaves had to work themselves.

The lowest class of operatives, Avho differed but little from
slaves, were those who let themselves out for hire by the day,
liL(rO(j)TOL. To this sad position were reduced many burghers,
both at Athens and elsewhere, in the course of the Pelopon-
nesian war, losing their lands, and being unable to exercise a
trade for want of capital and training. How such were treated
by the wealthy may be judged from the account in Plato's
Eutliyphro of the hired labourer who, having killed a slave, is
flung bound into a ditch, and dies of cold and neglect. We
hear that Menedemus and Asclepiades, whose days were passed
in philosophising, spent the night in labour in the service of a
miller, labour noted for its severity and rewarded at the rate of
two drachms a day. A¥e are told that the Spartan Eteonicus,
in the course of the Peloponnesian war, caused his soldiers to
labour in Chios to provide the sinews of war, and at a later
period Iphicrates followed his example. But it must be con-
fessed that, in the time of Iphicrates, the ordinary resource of
the poor was to become mercenary soldiers, to turn from labour
to war, and not in the opposite direction.

We hear little among the Greeks of systems of caste, or of
employments being hereditary in families. One of the early
tribes of Attica was the 'EpyaSets or handiworkers, but we have
no reason to think that the members of that tribe were at all
restricted in their choice of means of living. At Sparta, ^
indeed, the occupations of cook, flute-player, and herald seem
to have been hereditary. Still more in the nature of castes
were the Asclepiadse of Cos, the Daedalidae of Crete, and the
Homeridae of Chios, which families seem to have rigorously
excluded strangers; but they practised professions rather than
mechanical arts; and we may better compare them to the
hereditary colleges of priests than suppose them castes like
those of Egypt and Hindostan. Guilds or voluntary organisa-
tions of workmen are traced in Asia Minor under Roman
dominion. Thus in Thyatira^ we find organised bodies of
dyers, tanners, potters, and so forth, wdio elect officers and pass
decrees; but we have no trace of such organisation at an
earlier period or in Hellas itself.

We may be sure from the immense numbers of the slaves
maintained at Athens, Corinth, and ^gina, that in the great
commercial cities of Greece there were large factories filled

' Herod, vi. 6o. 2 ^^ j q 3496-8, 3485, &c.

MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS 3 8 I

with slaves, the products of which were known far and wide.
Thearion and Cyrebus at Athens baked vast quantities of bread,
Attic bread being celebrated, and made their fortunes. Xausi-
cydes at Athens had mills for grinding flour so numerous or
extensive that he fed a large herd of cattle on the husks. ^
Special houses were noted for particular descriptions of goods,
and sometimes the fame spread to the people of a whole city.

Hermann - observes that we may make a convenient division
of employments into four classes, accordingly as they were con-
cerned with houses, furniture, clothes, and food respectively.
In ancient, as in modern days, the separation of employments
was carried farthest in great cities, while it scarcely existed
in the villages.

In the construction of public buildings the supreme direction
rested of course with the architect, who was frequently also a
sculptor, and who enjoyed high reputation. Under him worked
masons and carpenters (TCKroves). We possess an interesting
record, drawn up B.C. 409,^ of the sums paid to the masons at
work on the Erechtheium at Athens. They appear to have
been partly citizens and partly metoeci. The sum paid for
the working of marble was sixty drachms (about £^2) for an
ordinary figure in relief on the frieze : possibly the model was
the work of a noted sculptor, which the masons had to repro-
duce, though not slavishly, in stone.

For ordinary houses, made of wood and brick, and without
artistic decoration, an ordinary builder {olKoh6\ioi)^ would
suffice. The materials of building would come from the yards
of the brickmakers (TrXtvOovpyol), from the timber merchants,
and from the quarries. In these last the labour was done by
slaves, either criminals or captives of war. The great Xarofna
of Syracuse remain almost as they were at the time when the
captive Athenian army was driven into them, and a visit to
them impresses on the mind almost as much as a visit to the
mines of Laurium how squalid were the conditions and how
miserable the lives of slaves among the Greeks. Crowded
together in dense throngs, exposed to the inclemency of the
weather, without any provision for the necessities and decencies
of life, labouring under the lash of brutal taskmasters, and at
night lying in straw and filth, we cannot wonder that in a few
months or years they found a death which can scarcely have
been unwelcome.

^ Xenoph. Memorah. ii. 7, 6. - Privatnlt. chap. 43.

3 Of. Overbeck, Griech. Plastik; i. 475. ■• Plato, Protay. 319 B.

382

COMMERCE

The furniture of houses would be produced mostly in factories,
such as those already spoken of, in the possession of wealthy
citizens. Of the utmost importance were the trades of the
worker in metal and of the potter. Chalcis, ^gina, Corinth,
and even Etruria, had at various times the highest reputation
for utensils in bronze : the commoner utensils of iron were
produced in most places. In pottery of the finer kind, after
the time of the Persian wars, no city could compare with
Athens. The great quarters of the outer and inner Cerameicus
swarmed witli potters. The earth of Cape Colias was regarded
as without an equal for quality and colour ; but it was really

Fig. 32.— VASE-FACTOuy. (Eayet et CoUignon, C6ram. gr. p. iii.M

the greater taste and capacity for art which distinguished the
workmen of Athens and gave them the victory over all rivals
in the trade. The result was that the finer kinds of vases, used
for the decoration of houses or the furnishing of tombs, were
everywhere imported from Attica ; and excavations in Etruria,
Sicily, Cyprus, or the Crimea bring to light few fine vessels
which were not made in the Cerameicus.

As every housewife was devoted to the labours of the loom,
abundant material for ordinary clothing would be forthcoming in

^ A notable point in this vase-painting is that one of the workpeople is
a woman. Two of the workmen are being crowned by Athena and

Victory.

MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS 383

every well-regulated household. It was only garments of finer
texture or more elaborate pattern which had to be bought of the
merchant. Probably at all times carpets and raiment of the
finest kind were imported from the East, works of the " rich dye
of Tyre and the fine web of Nile." But we have a description^
of a garment of great beauty made by Greeks on Oriental lines,
and belonging to Alcimenes of Sybaris. It was fifteen cubits
long, of genuine purple dye, and inwoven with figures of Greek
deities, bordered on each side by rows of animals such as are
found on early vases. Megara produced working dresses :
Patrse was especially noted for factories of textile wares in
which the byssus of Elis was worked up; these were mostly
the work of women, who abounded in that city, and not un-
naturally introduced much dissoluteness into manners. At Cos
and Amorgos were woven the delicate and transparent robes
which the wealthy affected, and which philosophers despised
as efi'eminate. As to the nature and sources of Greek food,
something has already been said (Bk. iv. ch. 3).

Professional men, that is, those who make a living by educa-
tion and intellect, did not enjoy among the Greeks anything
like so good a reputation or so high a position as among modern
nations. For the Greeks never gave up the idea that it was
fSdvavcrov, vulgar and low, to take money in return for such
services as professional men render. Hence, many of the more
respectable of those who exercised learned pursuits took no
money for their pains.

The most important professions in Greece were those of
teaching and medicine, of which I have already spoken (Bk.
iv. ch. I and 6).

There was no legal profession in Greece. The task of de-
fending the accused in law-courts fell either upon himself or
on any friend who would undertake the task. The prosecutor
likewise had to rely on his own powers and those of friends.
Nevertheless, there were in later times, at Athens at all events,
two classes of men besides the dicasts who made money out
of legal proceedings. One consisted of those orators who wrote
speeches for others to deliver. Antiphon of Rhamnus is said
to have been the first to take money for a written speech ; but
in the next age that example was followed by most of the great
orators, Lysias, Tsaeus, Isocrates, Demosthenes himself. Nor did
they write for pay only speeches to be used in the law-courts,
but also political orations. The other class consisted of syco-

^ Aristotle (?), De Mirab. Auscult. 96.

384 COMMERCE

phants, who were very numerous and troublesome. As the law
at Athens allowed any citizen who heard of the commission of
certain offences to prosecute the committer, it became frequently
necessary for those who transgressed to bribe intending prose-
cutors to silence. Even where a man was innocent, the chances
of the law-courts were such that it was often wiser for him to
compound by payment. The accuser also in case of conviction
received a share of the fine. Hence, a large class of men arose
who lived on fines and on hush-money, and it may readily be
guessed that their character was most unscrupulous, and that
they were ready to be the tools of political and private enmity.

iior had Greece any class of literary men who lived by the
pen ; but in this case too the rudiments of such a class may
be traced. When the singer or reciter of Homeric ballads
repeated other poets' verses or extemporised his own in the
court of one of the petty kings or in the market-place of a city,
he no doubt had his reward ; and we know that at a some-
what later time the lyric poets, like Pindar and Simonides,
received money from the patrons whose families they extolled,
or whose victories in the games they sang. Later still, the
courts of the successors of Alexander were thronged by poets
who received pay in return for flatteries and dedications. The
queens of Egypt had quite a retinue of poets. There was in
all the Greek world a brisk trade in books for educational and
other purposes. Booksellers lived in the more literary cities,
and kept a staff of slaves to copy the works most in demand,
both for sale at home and for export; but it will be under-
stood that the idea of an author's selling the copyright of his
work had not arisen. Hermodorus, the pupil of Plato, is said
to have been the first to sell his own works, and he incurred a
good deal of ridicule in consequence.

In both fame and fortune sculptors and painters and other
artists stood at the head of the professional classes. They not
only took pupils on very high terms, but were able to dispose
of their works for great sums to wealthy amateurs Pliny ^
gives a list of such prices. Apelles received twenty talents of
gold for a picture of Alexander, and Aristides of Thebes a
thousand minae for a picture of a battle with Persians. A
hundred talents were paid for the Diadumenus of Polycleitus.
Besides these great artists, there were a multitude of lesser
ones engaged in cutting signets, engraving coin-dies, painting
house- walls and pottery, and the like. In fact, the Greek

^ XXXV. 36, 92, 99, 100.

MANUFACTURES AND PROFESSIONS 3S3

workiiian was always more or less of an artist. Musicians

were paid to train choruses and to perform at entertainments.

Z B

386 COMMERCE

And after the time of Alexander there wandered about the
Greek world troops of Dionysiac artists or actors, who passed
from city to city giving representations for hire of the master-
pieces of the Greek drama. Indeed, such troops existed in
Attica and some other districts at an earlier time, for ^schines
is greatly ridiculed by his contemporaries for having played
second-rate parts in connection with such a troop. They did
not stand very high in popular estimation.

CHAPTER ITI

COMMERCE AND TRADE-ROUTES

In the Homeric age commerce can scarcely be said to h[ive
existed among the Greeks. The state of society was such as
scarcely to require it. The Homeric nobles produce on their
own lands nearly all that they require for their rude mode of
living. The only necessary which they had to go to the town
and fetch seems to have been iron . ^ luxuries they imported,
or rather bought, of the foreign merchants who visited their
shores. The chief riches of the Homeric chiefs consisted in
tlieir flocks and herds and their slaves. These alone they
could offer to merchants in exchange for wares. Hence prices
are always by Homer reckoned in oxen ; and we are told
that when a cargo of Lemnian wine reached the Greek camp
before Troy, the chiefs purchased amphoras of it for cattle
and hides. 2 The real resources of Greek lands, the purple-
fisheries of Cythera, the copper-mines of Cyprus, the gold-
mines of Thasos, seem to have been in the hands of Phoenicians ;
and from the Phoenicians came most of the articles of manu-
facture and luxury used by the Greeks of that age. Craters
and other vessels of bronze, and clothes dyed with purple, the
skilful Sidonians manufactured themselves ; ivory they brought
from Egypt, and tin from Britain or from India. Slaves, in
those days the most important article of commerce, they bought
and sold everywhere. Their factories were to be found on all
shores where any gain was to be made by trading, and their
voyages reached from Britain to India.

They did not, however, possess a monopoly of trade Ruder
peoples organised expeditions, partly for piratical purposes, and

1 II. xxiii. 835. - IL. viii. 474

COMMENCE AND TRADE-ROUTES 387

partly for trade. The Ta})l)ians and Teleboans,i who are supposed
to have lived in the neighbourhood of Corey ra, traded in metal
and slaves with the opposite inhabitants of Italy and Sicily ; and
tlie Phseacians, supposing them to have been a real and not a
mythical people, seem to have possessed an extensiveand lucrative
trade. The Lemnians exported their wine in their own ships,
and tlie Cretans were celebrated as bold sailors and organisers
of piratical expeditions as far as the coasts of Africa. ^ In the
traditions of the Argonautic expedition we may see proof that
even the Achaeans did not shrink from long and venturesome
expeditions, though they had as yet small idea of trading ;
rather they endeavoured to surprise and sack the cities of
richer peoples and to bring home wealth and honour. The
gold, which we know to have been no rarity in some parts of
Greece in Homeric times, must have either been thus acquired
or brought over the sea by wealthy Phoenicians or Lydians.

It was probably the pressure of population which caused
the Greeks about the eighth century before our era to turn
their attention to the spreading of colonies over the shores of
the Mediterranean, and, as a consequence, to commerce. We
may call this a consequence, because in most cases communication-
was kept up between the mother- city and the colony ; the latter,
finding itself in the midst of a new set of surroundings and
productions, acquired new wants and new tastes, and then com-
municated these wants and tastes to its parent, together with the
materials for their satisfaction. Thus a lively trade between
old and new Greek cities arose throughout the Levant ; and
the Greek traders, by a process which we can but rarely trace
in history, gradually ousted the Phoenicians from nearly all
their factories and trading stations, inheriting their traditions
and their relations to the barbarous tribes of the interior. For
the western trade Corinth was the most important city. Tlie
incomparable position of this city, the Acropolis of which is
placed on a lofty rock commanding both the eastern and western
seas of Greece, gave it marvellous advantages. Xo trireme could
be dragged across the isthmus which divided the two seas with-
out permission of the Corinthians ; and as the Greeks dreaded
the open sea of Cape Malea, they eagerly sought such permission.
By the colonies of Corey ra and Dyrrhachium, Corinth com"^]
manded the Adriatic Sea, and pushing on, founded mighty cities /
in Italy and Sicily, including Syracuse itself. Scarcely less'
active in the same region were the people of Chalcis in EuboeajJ

^ Od. XV. 427. 2 Q^l jj.iv. 245.

388 COMMERCE

who founded ISTaxus and Catana in Sicily. On the coast of
Macedonia a whole district was settled by these same Chalcidians,
and received its name from them. Miletus took as a special
province the Euxine Sea and studded its shores with flourishing
towns. Greek settlers occupied the coasts of Cyprus, and even
the distant Libya received a colony in Cyrene. In the time of
the Persian wars, the people of Phocsea sailed as far as Massilia
and settled there. Before the Persians conquered Egypt the
Greeks had settled in large numbers at Naucratis on the Nile,
and had in their hands much of the trade of that rich country.

The history of Greek commerce may be most aptly divided into
three periods. The first comprises the time when no Greek
city was specially pre-eminent above the rest, althougli Corinth
in the west and Miletus in the east took usually the lead.
The second period begins with the fall of Miletus and with the
sudden expansion of Athenian commerce, the Athenians in-
heriting Milesian supremacy in the Euxine and forming a strict
commercial confederacy in the Levant. This period begins
with the Persian wars and ends with the taking of Athens by
Lysander. The third period includes the rise and activity of
the city of Ehodes, which was founded about B.C. 408, and
almost immediately became a centre of Greek commerce, con-
tinuing to be wealthy and flourishing until the Romans were
supreme in all part^ of the Mediterranean Sea.

Taking Athens, ^Egina, and Corinth as the centre, we find
radiating from it four principal courses of trade. The first led
in a north-easterly direction past the coasts of Macedon and
Thrace, through the Bosphorus into the Euxine Sea. This
line of trade was perhaps to the Greeks the most important of
all, and in every age the city that had most share in it attained
a preponderant commercial position. The shores of Macedon,
Thrace, Pontus, and Bithynin, were to the Greeks what the
wide plains of Russia and America are to ourselves. Thence
came their supply of food and the raw materials of manufacture.
In ancient, as in modern days, the plains of Southern Russia
produced an enormous harvest of corn, and fed innumerable
herds of oxen, which supplied the Greek tanners with hides.
At the mouth of the Borysthenes and in the Propontis were
some of the most productive fisheries known to the Greeks,
supplying them with immense quantities of salt fish, which,
with bread, was the staple of their food. The vast forests of
Macedon and the Danube valley furnished an inexhaustible
supply of timber for house and ship building, while even at
that period Greece was poor in forest : as well as tar and char-

COMMERCE AND TRADE-ROUTES

al. Flax and hemp also came largely from the Euxine. The
great bulk of these products the Greek colonists did not pro-
duce on their own lands, but procured by barter from the bar-
barous tribes of the interior. The wandering tribes of Scythians,
who dwelt on the northern shores of the sea, learned to culti-
vate corn for export and to breed cattle; and bringing these
to the Greeks, obtained in return oil and bronzes, and more
especially wine, which was very necessary to their enjoyment,
and yet could not be grown so far north. Their kings were
generally on good terms with the Hellenic colonists; and in
our own day the tombs of these chiefs have been in many cases
opened, and found to contain elegant pottery, jewellery, and
ornaments, which exhibit Greek art almost at its best. The
influence of Athens in particular is very clear in these elegant
luxuries ; a fact which reminds us that at Athens the public
police force consisted of slaves imported from Scythia, the

To^orat.

The second great line of trade was that of which at succes-
sive periods Delos and Rhodes were the emporia, and which
led from Hellas past Rhodes and Cyprus along the coast of
Phoenicia to Egypt. This route was the more important because
along it came the products of the far East, of India, and Arabia,
and Babylon. Before the foundation of Alexandria, the great
cities of Phoenicia retained the commerce of Farther Asia almost
entirely in their own hands, but at a later period it was more
widely spread, and shared by Antioch on the north and Alex-
andria on the south. Babylon furnished the Greeks with
carpets and other stuffs, India with precious stones, silk, and
ivory, Arabia with frankincense and various spices. The valley
of the Nile exported both in later Greek and Roman times
immense quantities of corn, as well as writing-paper and linen
made of the papyrus plant, ivory, and porcelain. Phoenicia
supplied the Greeks with fewer and fewer articles as their own
resources developed ; but cloth of purple, alabaster flasks of
ointment, and fragrant woods, seem to have been exported
through Tyre and Sidon until Roman times. Cyprus furnished
not only the best copper known to the ancients, but in addition
manufactured cloth of both finer and coarser texture. Cyrene,
which could be reached either through Egypt or by way of
Crete, supplied the whole world with silphium, an article very
much used in ancient medicine, and found nowhere but in the
Cyrenaic district. The people of Peloponnesus sailed to both
Cyrene and Egypt by way of Crete.

The third line of trade, which was always in the hands of

390 COMMERCE

Corinth and her colonies, started from that great commercial
metropolis, and led through the Corinthian gulf, past the coasts

fof Acarnania and Epirus to the various ports on both sides of
the Adriatic Sea. '■ Although the Adriatic was reckoned a very

• dangerous sea, both on account of its frequent storms and
because of the hardihood of the lUyrian pirates, yet it produced
great gain to the merchants who ventured on it. They ex-
changed Greek wine and manufactured goods for the produce
of agriculture and grazing offered them by the farmers of the

vEpirote and Italian coasts. On the Italian side the harbours
J of Adria and Ancona lay open, and offered access to the peoples
I of Eastern Italy.

* More celebrated and frequented was the fourth line of trade,
which led either from the Corinthian Gulf or the promontory
of Malea across to Sicily, and through the Straits of Messina to
the western coasts of Italy, to Gaul and Spain. As far to the
north as Cumae this route passed a continuous succession of
Greek colonies, and even in Gaul and Spain jNIassilia and
Emporise. stood ready to harbour the Greek merchants, and to
give them facilities for obtaining the produce of the interior.

I Corn and cheese were obtained from Sicily, wood from the
forests of Southern Italy. Gaul supplied slaves, and the mer-
chants who were so venturesome as to penetrate to Spain
reaped a rich reward in the shape of gold, with which vSpain at
that time abounded. But the jealousy of Carthaginians and
Etruscans prevented the commerce of the Greeks from ever

4 spreading in force to the west and north of Cumse. To Italy
and Sicily the Greeks of Hellas brought in return for the pro-
ducts of the soil wine, pottery, and articles of manufacture.

These four routes were the chief lines by which the riches
of the barbarians flowed into Greece. Of course, among the
great Greek cities themselves, scattered over the coasts of Asia
Minor, Sicily, and Italy, and the mainland of Hellas, there was
constant intercourse and a continual exchange of goods, for
])articular classes of which special cities and districts were

^ famous. Thus Chios exported the finest wine, as well as

Cnidus and Thasos; Corinth supplied the Greek world with
articles of bronze ; Athens with pottery and with silver from
the Laurian mines, with oil, honey, and figs; Thessaly and
Elis with horses ; Arcadia with asses ; Sparta and Epirus with
dogs; Boeotia with eels from the Copaic lake; the district
about Mons Pangseus with gold and with roses. The internal
trade of the Peloponnese was mainly in the hands of astute
natives of .Egina, who travelled as pedlars over the country,

COMMERCE AND TKADE-ROUTES 3 Q I

carrying with them wares adapted to the needs of the hardy
peasants of the hills.

Plato in the Polificus ^ distinguishes two classes of dealers.
The first consists of those who sell only the goods they them-
selves produce (aijTOTrwAac). The second consists of those who
buy in order to sell again at a profit. In the latter class
are included both sliopkeepers or hucksters (Ka7r7/Aot), whose
business is retail, and merchants ^ (e/xTro/jot) who deal whole-
sale between market and market, or city and city.

We are told that among the Locrians ^ the second and third
of these classes were wanting ; that the husbandmen sold their
products one by one to the consumer and not in the mass to
dealers. Such a state of things could exist only in a very
simple society ; and among the Greeks generally the two
classes of hucksters and mercl)ants were numerous and clearly
distinguished one from the other.

In poor and mountainous or barren districts, such as Arcadia,
the hu ckst ers usually moved from place to place carrying with
them a pack of goods for sale. But wherever the Greek popu-
lation gravitated, as it normally did, into cities, these petty
dealers did not acquire wandering habits, but remained attached
to a certain spot in the market-place. Here their booths stood
side by side with the factories of those who made articles for
sale, sandal-makers, for instance, or wreath-makers. Among the
most numerous classes of them were dealers in wine, oil, and
fish. Sometimes covered halls were erected in order to contain
a certain class of them, halls which thenceforth became the
markets for a particular class of goods, the wine-market, for
instance, or the fish-market. In large cities there would be
found in the market-place a series of detached halls of this
character, near together but disconnected. Even where every-
thing was sold in the open Agora, dealers in the same commodi-
ties would naturally gravitate to the same quarter of it, forming
what were termed kvkXol for the sale of such and such goods.
The Agoras were not always in the cities ; sometimes they were
situated on a convenient spot on the boundaries of two or more
states, to be used in common by them ; sometimes they were
in the neighbourhood of celebrated temples, which attracted
crowds of votaries.

Of course these hucksters employed all their art to attract
customers. A large or public sale would be announced before-
hand by the town-criers, but ordinary dealers probably trusted

^ Fulit. 260 c. - Rcpub, 371. 3 Jlt^iacleid. PoHt. 30.

392 COMMERCE

to the lusty use of their lungs for attracting attention. The
voices of the sellers proclaiming their wares, and of the buyers
chaffering and trying to beat down the price, must have mingled
in a noise like that of Babel. Diphilus ^ mentions a wine-
seller as going about with a skin of wine under his arm, and
offering samples (Seiy/xara) to probable buyers. Such samples
were sometimes hawked out of the market, up and down the
streets, and those who carried them would loudly cry their
wares.

]S'ot all times were equally devoted to marketing. Special
days were set apart in many cities for fairs, the first of the
month being a favourite time. On the occasion of all great
festivals, and more especially of the Olympic, Nemean, and
Pythian games, the assembly offered an irresistible opportunity
to petty dealers of all sorts, who turned the place of meeting
into a great fair, and provided the visitors with plenty to
carry away in memory of the feast. The meeting of the
Amphictionic council, the annual assemblies of the Achaeans
and ^tolians, and all other such gatherings were used in the
same way. Finally, armies on the march were accompanied
by crowds of hucksters ready to provide the soldiers with
the necessaries of a campaign in return for the booty they
might acquire, and especially to buy up the numerous enemies
Avho should be ca])tured and reduced to a condition of slavery.
In passing through a friendly country, the army would halt
in the neighbourhood of a city, and the inhabitants would
come out and form a temporary Agora without the walls, where
the soldiers could buy what they required. Hence generals
in the field were obliged to constantly issue a supply of money,
and in a large number of the coins which have come down
to us we find traces of a military origin.

With regard to the transactions of merchants we get much
information from the Attic orators, which is well summed
up by Biichsenschutz, from whose work - the following is an
extract. "The merchant embarks certain goods for a place
where he is sure of disposing of them, or at least has reason-
able expectations of doing so ; and either makes the journey
on board the ship, or commits the goods to a trustworthy
person whom he sends with them. As he thus runs the risk
of finding under certain circumstances at the destination no
market for his goods, he is in that case compelled to repaii
to another port which offers better prospects, unless on the

^ Apud Athen. 499. ^ Besitz und Erwerb, p. 459.

COMMERCE AND TKADE-ROUTES 393

journey he has ah'cady received news of the altered circum-
stances and changed his plan in accordance with them. It is
obvious that the merchants must have sought means of gain-
ing news as to favourable or unfavourable conditions in the
markets to which they intended to send their wares, as well
as to the prices of tlie goods they intended to purchase in
exchange. In the speech against Dionysodorus, Demosthenes
gives a clear outline of the way in which a company of corn
merchants keep themselves informed by correspondence of the
current prices of corn, in order thence to determine whither
to send their cargoes from Egypt. For the forwarding of such
news, as well as for the buying and selling of goods, merchants
kept agents at important places. For instance, we find it
stated that a merchant resident at Athens sends word to a
partner at Rhodes, giving him directions as to a corn-ship on
lier way from Egypt which is to call at Rhodes ; a merchant
of Heraclea has an associate at Scyros, who makes thence
business trips ; in another case the son and the partner of a
merchant resident at Athens pass the winter at the Bosphorus,
probably with a stock of goods or to make purchases ; at least
it is stated that they were commissioned to receive payments."

The Greek merchant would not be able, as a rule, to dis-
pose of his whole cargo to one purchaser, but would sell it
hj portions to the various retail dealers. Sometimes indeed a
speculator would try to buy up all of a particular commodity,
such as corn or olives, M'hich was in the market, in order to
gain the control of the supply of that commodity and raise
the price against the consumers. No behaviour Avas so un-
popular in antiquity as this, and those who attempted it
were very often victims of the general indignation. But there
was not, as among us, a class of general dealers or speculators
intervening between merchant and shopkeeper.

On receiving payment for his goods in money, the merchant
might sometimes sail home with ifc. This, however, took place
seldom, partly because the money current at one seaport was
usually not taken at another, except at a considerable reduction,
every city having its own types and monetary standard. Tliere
were certain kinds of coin which had a more general circulation,
as the silver coin of Athens and afterwards that of Alexander
the Great in the Levant, the money of Corinth in Sicily and
on the Adriatic, and the gold coins of Philip in Central Europe.
But usually the money received by merchants had to be either
expended by them in the same or a neighbouring port, or else
taken away and melted down in order to pass as bullion.

394 COMMERCE

Therefore, after disposing of his cargo, the merchant would
search a])out for a new stock of goods such as he might judge
to be in demand at his native city or elsewhere ; and thus the
process already described would be repeated. It will be evident
from this description that merchants among the Greeks could
not usually confine themselves to dealing in one or two classes
of goods, but must be ready to purchase whatever was cheap.
There were, perhaps, exceptions in case of dealers who attended
specially to classes of goods in demand everywhere, such as
corn and slaves. Transactions among Greeks took place for
money, but, in dealing with the barbarians, the Greeks retained
barter at all periods of their trade.

That which produces the greatest differences between ancient
and modern trade is the fact that in ancient times buying and
selling took place not on credit but for cash. This makes the
mechanism of ancient trade extremely simple. But it does not
follow that a merchant must have then possessed a large trading
capital. A large part of his working capital could be borrowed
on the security of his goods. Of such transactions we must
speak in the next chapter, which treats of credit and loans.

CHAPTEE IV

THE MONEY-MAL'KET AND COINS

As a large proportion of the wealth of many Greeks consisted
in gold and silver money, they sought from the earliest times
to turn it to account by lending it to those persons who could
profitably employ it, and receiving interest in return. This
lending was accompanied in various cities by various ceremonies,
the chief object of which was to secure witnesses of the trans-
action and to prevent the borrower from denying the loan.
Sometimes the contract was made in the presence of a sort of
notary appointed by the State ; more frequently it was arranged
before witnesses summoned by the parties. At Athens the
terms of the loan, the amount, rate of interest, and period were
carefully stated in a document which was sealed by both parties
and deposited in the custody of some trustworthy person. It
is said that in the city of Cnossus ^ the borrower made a pre-
tence of stealing the money lent him, in order that, if he did

' Plutarch, Qucest. Gr. 53.

THE MONEY-MARKET AND COINS 395

not repay it in time, the lender would have him in his power.
A more usual precaution would be to require a person of re-
spectability as surety for the repayment. As regards the goods
which are the material security of a loan, Blichsenschlitz,^ whose
chapters on these subjects are admirable, remarks that they may
be either handed bodily over to the lender of money, in which
case they would by us be called pledged, or retained by the
borrower, M^hose creditor acquired certain rights over them, a
condition to which we give the name of mortgage. Furniture,
slaves, or horses might be given in pledge ; lands, houses, or ships
would usually be mortgaged. The nature of pledges is simple,
and they need not occupy us further, if we only observe that
he who lent money on a living pledge, such as a horse or slave,
ran great risk of its dying, and of his security becoming thus
worthless. JNIortgages were more usual and of more importance.
IMoney-lenders in Greece were of two classes, either private
individuals who had to live on the interest of their property,
and possessed that property in the form of money, or else
TpaTTi^irai or dpyvpa[xoi/3oL, money-changers. Indeed, private
persons usually intrusted these latter with spare capital, their
professional habits and business abilities rendering them able to
make better use of it than the owners could, while the money-
changers gave good security to their creditors and allowed them
a fair rate of interest. As in Greece every considerable city
had its own coinage, money-changers must have had a very
large stock of gold and silver; and credit being absent, they
would naturally constitute j^cir excellence the class with money
to lend. Further, their profession compelled them to live in the
market-place at a spot known to all. Hence all in need of
funds resorted to them, and they become bankers almost in our
sense of the word. Some of them attained great wealth and
world-wide credit. Thus Pasion - employed a capital of fifty
talents, of which eleven belonged to his depositors. Merchants
would without witnesses, such was his reputation for probity,
deposit sums of money with him, which he at once entered in
his books. On the credit of his name money could be pro-
cured in any Greek town, and deeds of all classes were
deposited with him for safe custody. It was customary for
merchants to make payments one to another, when they could
not meet, by leaving the sum with a frapezites, with orders to
him to deliver it to the proper person, who was also obliged,
before receiving it, to prove his identity.

' Besitz und Erwerh, p. 485. "^ Demo^^th, j-rc^ I'horm. 5.

396 COMMERCE

It was the trapezitce, then, who usually lent on mortgage
(v7ro6t]Ky]). The security was sometimes a manufactory with
slaves in it. A still better class of security was the lands and
farming capital of the citizens. It was usual to set up on
mortgaged lands an inscription on stone stating the name of
the creditor and the amount due to him. In some states there
seems to have been a less primitive arrangement in the shape
of a register of mortgages kept by authority. In case of default
of payment on the part of the owner of the land, the holder
of the mortgage apparently had the right to occupy it, even
although the value of the land exceeded the amount of the
debt. It would hence appear that foreigners and metoeci,
being incapable of holding land, could not lend on this sort of
security, or, if they did so, must do without the customary
remedy.

To commerce the trapezitse were of the utmost importance,
since without such aid as they afforded merchants could only
have traded to the amount of their actual capital in coin. The
ordinary course of proceeding was as follows : — A merchant,
say at Athens, wishes to carry a cargo to the Euxine. He
finds a trapezites willing to lend 8000 drachmas on the outward
cargo on condition that he undertakes by written contract to
make that cargo of the value of 12,000 drachmas. The rate of
interest is fixed for the whole voyage at so much per cent.
Either an agent of the trapezites sails with the ship, or else he
appoints some person at a port on the Euxine to receive the
money. When the cargo is sold on arriving at its destination,
principal and interest are paid. If, on the other hand, the
cargo is lost at sea, the trapezites loses his venture. Thus the
system of borrowing on cargoes served, so far as the merchant
was concerned, the purpose of insurance, besides increasing his
available capital and so extending trade. The rate of interest
-was of course high and proportioned to the risks of the voyage,
the course of which was carefully specified beforehand ; in the
contract it was sometimes also stated that if the voyage were
prolonged into the winter season the rate of interest should be
higher. In the case we have supposed, our mere! 1 ant, after
disposing of his cargo on the Euxine, would find himself de-
prived of means for the return voyage unless he could again
find a lender. It was therefore far more usual for those who
sailed from Greek ports to borrow for the double journey, out
and home, and repay the loan to the original lender on their
return. Unfortunately, Greek commercial honour never being
very high, this course of proceeding gave opportunity for a

THE MONEY-MARKET AND COINS 397

great deal of dishonesty and fraud. Various means of self-
defence were adopted by the lenders, such as sending an agent
on board or requiring a surety who remained at home, but
their chief reliance was on the strictness of the laws, which
were very severe against those who attempted fraud, more
especially at Athens.

Sometimes capitalists, instead of lending on a cargo, would
lend money on the ship herself. This was in most respects
less risky, the value of a ship being easier to discover. Ac-
cordingly, while lenders would advance not more than two-
thirds of the stated value of a cargo, which might easily suffer
depreciation, we find that they would lend on a ship up to its
full worth. But there was of course much risk of its being
lost, a danger no doubt taken into view in fixing the rate of
interest.

We find certain cases in which states borrowed money like
individuals, mortgaging their revenues or public buildings.
But it is hard to see how the creditors, in case of default, could
have made good their claim against cities which boasted of
complete independence.

Interest (tokos) was reckoned among the Greeks in one of
two ways, either by stating the number of drachmas to be paid
per month for the use of each mina,^ or by stating the proportion
of the whole sum lent to be paid yearly or for the period of the
loan. The rate of interest was of course higher than among us,
twelve per cent, per annum being considered a very low rate,
and instances occurring in which twenty-four per cent, was
charged. At Athens interest was generally paid monthly, at
the new moon. We find ten or twelve per cent, paid for a
loan on a single voyage from Athens to the Bosphorus ; but
we must remember that a part only of this amount represents
interest on money ; the remainder was paid for risk For, as
already shown, if the ship were wrecked at sea, or captured by
pirates, or otherwise lost, the capitalist who had lent money
on her cargo was the chief sufferer, recovering no part of his
venture. The rate of interest being thus high, we can under-
stand how private persons in the great cities, possessing no
lands but only capital in the shape of money, managed to live
in comfort on the interest of it.

Every reader of Homer will remember the fact, already
stated in a previous chapter, that with him cattle are the

^ As the mina contained lOO drachms, a drachm in the mina per month
would be twelve per centum per annum.

39^ COMMEi;CE

measure of value. The armour of Glaucus is said to have been
worth a hundred oxen, and that of Diomedes nine oxen.^ Homer
does, however, in some places name xP^croto rdXavra. That
these were bars of metal of very small value will appear from
the fact that among the prizes proposed for the chariot-race
in the 23rd book of the Iliad- two talents of gold are offered as
the fourth prize only, while a brazen tripod is the third prize.
But nowhere in Homer is it said that an article is worth so
many talents of gold. And so the Greek writers on metrology
naturally, though in all probability wrongly, assert that the term
talent does not in Homer signify any fixed amount or weight in
gold, but may imply a small bar of any size. They overlook
the fact that Homer speaks in one place of a hemi-talent.^
Indeed, it is quite certain that in Homer's time, although coins
were not yet in use, bars and rings of metal of fixed weight
were current, and generally accepted, whether by weight or by
tale, in all kinds of mercantile transactions. At Hissarlik,
among the debris of a city of a date much earlier than that of
Homer, Dr. Schliemann found bars of silver which Mr. Head
has shown to be nearly of the w^eight of a third of the
Babylonian silver mina. Small d/3oAot or wedges of silver were
certainly the principal medium of exchange in Greece very long
before the seventh century, and of these, six were reckoned as
a Spa^ixQ or handful. Indeed, from very remote times the Baby-
lonians and the Egyptians had formed for themselves systems
of currency in metal bars, and had transmitted the custom to
the nations of Asia Minor and Syria, with whom the Greeks were
iu constant contact. We cannot fix the date at which the custom
spread to Greece also, but it must have been very early. And
when bars of metal of fixed weight and fineness are in circula-
tion, nothing is required to turn these into coins except the
addition of an official stamp.

It has long been disputed what people were the first to
substitute in their currency coins proper, i.e., properly stamped
lumps of metal, for the bars of metal of fixed -weight which had
preceded them. Modern opinion is inclined to the view that
this discovery belongs to the Lydians. The first coins were
made neither of gold nor silver, but of a yellow metal com-
pounded of the two, and called electrum, which was found in
large quantities in the beds of the Pactolus and other rivers of

' e/caTo/ijSoi' epvea^oiujv. II. vi. 236. - Line 269.

^ Since this was written Mr. Kidgeway has tried to show [Origin of
Currency and Weight- Standards) that the Homeric talent was the equiva-
lent of an ox, and in weight equal to the Daric (130 grains).

THE MONEV-MARKET AND COINS 399

Asia Minor. About the reign of Gyges it occurred to some
wise man of the Lydian court to have small balls of electrum
marked with the official stamj) of a city or a temple to guarantee
both its weight and its quality. Miletus and other Greek cities
of Asia adopted the plan from their neighbours, and as early as
the seventh and sixth centuries before our sera a considerable
quantity of electrum coins was circulating on the shores of the
^I'^gean and the Euxine. Nevertheless, considering the obvious
utility of coinage, it cannot be considered that it spread rapidly.

Pheidon, king of Argos, is supposed to have been the first
to issue money in Greece proper. This he struck in the island
of ^gina. The metal he used was silver, silver being the
normal currency of Greece, as gold was of Asia, and copper of
Italy. The type was the tortoise, the symbol of the Phoenician
goddess of the moon and of trade, whom the Greeks identified
with their own Aphrodite. The date of Pheidon is set down
by Weissenborn as about B.C. 668 ; but it is hard to believe
that any coins were issued in Greece at so early a period.
There is no trace of any Athenian coinage before the time of
Solon ; for all Attic money is struck on the monetary standard
introduced by him. Nor do most of the cities of Greece proper
seem to have issued money until the time of the Persian wars.

By that time Persia had a well-established currency, both in
gold and silver. Croesus had introduced in Lydia a regular
state coinage in these two metals in place of the irregularly-
issued pieces of electrum which had preceded him ; and Darius
the son of Hystaspes, in his general reform of the Persian
Empire, followed the example of Croesus, adopting alike his
metals and his standards of w^eights. The Persian gold Darics,
as they were called from their founder (a-Tarrjpes AapecKOi),'^ or
ToJoTut, as they were called from their stamp or device, played
a very important part throughout Greek history, being used
largely for subsidies or bribery by the Great King and his
satrai)S.

In Macedon and among the tribes of the Thracian Pangaeum
coining was in use as early as B.C. 500. The invention reached
the Greek cities of Italy and Sicily, wdiich were at this time
at least as forward as the cities of Greece proper in all appli-
ances of civilisation, apparently during the latter half of the
sixth century. Rome is not supposed to have issued money
before the time of the Decemvirs. In all parts the early coins

' Some writers now deny any connection between the Daric an J Durius.
See Head, Historii Numorum, p. 698,

400 commerce:

were struck in very rude fashion. An anvil was made with
one or two irregular square or oblong projections. On these
was laid a bean-shaped piece of metal. A punch of iron or
bronze was then brought, on the end of which was cut in
intaglio the device which tlie coin was to bear. Being struclc
between this punch and the projections of the anvil, the coin
bore on the obverse the device which is called its type, on the
reverse a rude incuse, square or oblong. A reverse type was
used at few cities before the fifth century. ^

The coinage of Greece forms a wonderful commentary on the
free and liberty-loving character of its inhabitants. JS'o city
which was autonomous seems to have been too small to issue
coin with its own types and inscriptions. In the island of Ceos
there were at least three cities which issued coin ; in the island
of Amorgos, at least three. The island of Sicily included over
fifty mint-cities, among which some, such as Piacus, jSTacona,
and Hipana, are all but unknown to every one but the numis-
matist. And each city struck on the standard of weight which
best suited its markets and its monetary alliances. Hence the
prodigious abundance of Greek coins, differing in type, legend,
and weight one from another, which furnishes indeed to the
modern student an immense quantity of valuable information
in every branch of archaeology, but which must have been very
confusing and detrimental to commerce at the time. The usual
denominations of gold and silver coin in use in Greece were
the tetradrachm and didrachm, equal respectively to four and
two drachms, the drachm (SpaxiJ-'i]), the hemidrachm, the diobol,
the obol, which was the sixth of the drachm, and the hemiobol.
Pieces of lower value than the hemiobol were usually struck
in copper, after copper coin was introduced, which took place
about B.C. 400. At Athens there were eight x^^'^^^ in tl^^
6/3oX6s.

It has been ably maintained by Professor Curtius that the
origin of coins was religious. He considers that the need of a
currency became most clear and strong at the religious festivals
which took place at fixed periods in connection with the great
temples of antiquity. The offerings of the people on such
occasions would take the form of small bars or ingots of gold
or silver, and these, on being accumulated in the temple, would
sometimes be stamped with the mark of the deity, the lyre for
Apollo, the tortoise for Aphrodite, the owl for Athena. Thus

' For more details of the process of coining, see Types of Greek Coins,
chap. 3.

THE MOxXEY-MARKKT AND COINS 4OI

tli<3 earliest coins are everywhere ingots thus marked with the
symbols and not the heads or figures of deities. In fact, it is
certain that in early times coins were closely connected with
the deities and their festivals. The coins of Ephesus are
closely connected with the temple of Artemis ; those of Miletus
with the temple of Apollo at Didyma. The coins of Elis bear
every mark of a close relation to the Olympic festival. The
Roman mint was the temple of Juno Moneta.

No doubt in later times coinage became a political rather
than a religious institution. Darius of Persia claimed the
minting of gold as his exclusive prerogative, and allowed no
rival issue to his Darics to appear in Asia. Hence throughout
ancient and early mediaeval history, the issue of gold coin was
the sign of a claim to complete autonomy. The Persian satraps
were, however, allowed to issue silver, more especially when
they were employed on military expeditions, and needed money
to pay their troops. Also the Greek cities of Asia Minor were
allowed, during a great part of their history, to issue electrum
and silver money of their own. Meantime everywhere in
Greece the state was stepping into the place of the temple as
the issuer of coin. Hence throughout the flourishing period of
Greek history the most usual inscription on the money is the
name of the state which issued it, or rather the people of that
state. Thus the coins of Syracuse are regularly inscribed
2YPAK02mN, the coins of Athens ABE for AGHNAII^N,
and so forth. A king, or even a despot, would introduce his
name in place of this ethnic. Thus the coins of Alexander I.
and III. of Macedon, and those of Alexander of Plierae, are
alike inscribed AAE^E^ANAPOY. Until the time of Philip of
Macedon, we comparatively seldom find any other inscription
than those of these two classes.

The types or devices of early Greek coins are almost exclu-
sively religious. I have already stated that the earliest money
bore a mere indentation on the reverse, and on the olwerse the
symbol of some deity. The god or goddess selected for this
honour was often the protecting divinity of the mint-city. The
symbol was frequently an animal. Thus, the wolf of Apollo
is impressed on the early coins of Argos, the owl of Pallas on
those of Athens, Pegasus on those of Corinth, and so forth. In
later times, that is to say early in the fifth century, this symbol
is in most coinages transferred to the reverse of the coin, while
the obverse is reserved for the effigy of the deity to whom the
symbol belongs. This is the most general rule, but the ex-
ceptions are very numerous. In fact, in every district of Greece

2 c

40 2 COMMEUCE

the coinage has a distinct character. In Sicily it is predomi-
nantly agonistic, the racing chariot and the racehorse niarkii g
most of the issues; in Cyrene it appears more commercial,
bearing a figure of the silphium-plant, the great object of
export. Yet even in these cases there is probably a close con-
nection with religious cult. The general rule is that the
dominant religion of a district or city dominates also its coin.
Thus, the coins of Macedon are full of the symbols of Ares
and Dionysus, Herakles and Dionysus reign supreme in the
coinage of Thebes, Artemis in that of Ephesus. Even where
a religious reference may not be at first sight evident, it reveals
itself on closer study. The shield at Thebes belongs not to the
Thebans but to Herakles or Athena, the helmet in jMacedon
not to the Macedonians but to Ares. The ear of corn at
Metapontum does not primarily refer to the plenteous harvests
of the place, but belongs to the worship of Demeter ; the wine-
cup at iS"axos does not simply refer to the goodness of Xaxian
wine, but shows that the island specially worshipped Dionysus.
Hence, the value of Greek coins in informing us as to the
local cults of various cities and districts. For the Artemis
of Ephesus was not the same as the Artemis of Crete, or of
Stymphalus, nor the Apollo of Delphi the same as the Apollo
of Mytilene or of Lycia.

Towards the end of the fifth century there begin to appear
on the coins of most cities small figures in the field beside and
in subordination to the types. These are called in technical
numismatic language symbols. Thus at Metapontum, for
instance, beside the type, which is an ear of corn, we find on
various coins as symbols an owl, a mouse, a locust, a dove, &c.
It is supposed that these subordinate devices were taken from
the private signet of the magistrate who was responsible for the
issue of the coin. It is well known that the ancients used the
impression of their signet rather than the writing of their name
to authenticate deeds. In the same wa3^, when they were
monetary magistrates, they sealed, as it were, the coin, to
indicate its date, and to show who was answerable for its
weight and fineness. At a somewhat later period, that is to
say during the course of the fourth century, either in addition
to or in place of the symbol, there ^yas introduced the name or
the initials of the monetary magistrate, sometimes of two or
three magistrates of various grades.

In the time of Alexander the Great the great changes which
came over Greek political and social life affected also the coin.
Henceforth, although a large number of cities preserved a

THE MONF.Y-MARKET AND COINS 4O3

partial autonomy and went on issuing coins stamped with their
ancient types, the bulk of the Greek coinage ceases to be civic
and becomes regal ; that is to say, it bears both the name and
the portrait of some one of the kings of Macedon, Syria, or
Egypt, and has his family type on the reverse of it. The
type of the mint city, if it appear at all, sinks into the sub-
ordinate position of an accessory symbol. So accurately does
the coinage reflect the political state of Greece. Dionysius of
Syracuse dared not put either his name or his portrait on coins,
nor did Jason of Pherae; Alexander of Pherse and Philip of
Macedon marked their coin with their name, but not with their
portraits. Even Alexander abstained from putting his head on
his numerous coins, leaving that honour to Pallas and Heracles,
his special guardian deities. But the Diadochi or successors
of Alexander, beginning by placing their master's effigy in the
character of Heracles on their coin, soon proceeded to substitute
their own heads as of earthly gods, and banished the deities of
Olympus to the reverse of their money. Henceforward, until
the fall of the Roman Empire, coins present to us an admirable
gallery of portraits, in which are included not only kings and
emperors, but also their wives and a number of men illustrious
in various ways. Coins thus become in a great degree the key
to ancient iconography.

After the Roman conquest the issue of gold money was pro-
hibited to all Greek cities, and the minting of silver was allowed
but to few, and under severe restrictions. But from the time
of Mark Antony to that of Aurelian, a host of Greek and
Hellenistic cities issued a constant succession of copper coin.
This had little intrinsic value, and could have been used only
for very small payments, but its variety is infinite, and the
amount of material which it furnishes to the archaeologist
enormous. The pieces being intended only for circulation
within the walls of a single city, are distinguished by types and
inscriptions of an extremely local character.

BOOK VI

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES
CHAPTEE I

THE HOMERIC STATE

The primitive Aryans were a nomad people, who were kept
together in their wanderings by the tie of blood-relation-
ship. The members of a family naturally held together.
Several families related to each other formed a clan ; several
clans, a tribe. The organisation of the family was in all proba-
bility patriarchal, and included grandfather, father, and children.
To the tie of blood-relationship we may perhaps add that of
ancestor-worship : the family was a religious organisation, as
all its members united in the same worship, which was con-
ducted by the house-father. In the same way, the clan being
descended from a common ancestor, had a common worship ;
and the head-man of the clan stood in the same relation to it
as the house-father to the family. In war, the fighting men
of each family fought side by side, and the various families of
a clan took their orders from the clan-leader or war-king, who
would be elected to his post on the ground of personal fitness.
In peace, custom was king of all, in the phrase of Herodotus ;
the head of a family laid down the custom for his family and
enforced it with patria potestas. The relations between families
were also regulated by custom, and the custom was expounded
by the house-fathers assembled in council. Marriage by pur-
chase (in place of capture) was becoming customary, as was also
the offering and accepting of wer-geld or money compensation
for the slaying of a man.

Whether Homer was a contemporary of the Mycenaean
civilisation which the discoveries of Schliemann have since
revealed to us, or whether the Homeric age was separated
from the Mycenaean period by the Doric invasion, in either

404

THE HOMERIC STATE 405

case there was an interval between the entrance of the
Aryans into Greece and the age of Homer, which was great,
probably, if measured merely by the lapse of time, and very
great when considered with reference to what occurred during
it. The change from pastoral to agricultural life, which had
commenced indeed before the Aryans entered Greece, was com-
pleted, and the social and industrial habits of the family were
consequently revolutionised. Again, the Greeks, who at the
commencement of this interval had been in the Stone Age, by
the end of it had passed through the Bronze Age and were
witnessing the beginning of the Iron Age ; that is to say, their
industrial organisation and their material development had
made an advance owing to the discovery of metals and famili-
arity with their use, which was probably greater than any that
had ever been made before, except that which followed on the
discovery and use of fire. Above all, the transition had been
made from the nomad mode of life to the habits of a settled
l)opulation, and the germs of political power, which were pre-
viously diffused probably throughout the tribe, were now tending
to become concentrated in towns.

The advance in political development that the Homeric
Greeks had made on the family and tribal system of the
earliest times is considerable. Nothing can give us more
striking evidence of the advance which even the Greeks
themselves felt that they had made than the fact that they
had left the earlier stage so far behind as to conceive that
it was only possible among savage races whose very existence
was mythical. The Cyclopes, according to Homer (Od. 9, 112),
" Have neither gatherings for council nor ancient customs, but
they dwell on the peaks of lofty mountains, in hollow caves,
and each determines custom for his own wives and children,
and they reck not of one another." From this we must not
infer either that gatherings were wholly unknown to the earliest
Greeks, or that in Homeric times the power of the house-father
over his own household had diminished.^ The value of the
})assage is that it shows the supreme importance which the
Greeks had come to put upon the gatherings of free men for
the purpose of settling all matters affecting the community in
its collective capacity. Above all, the passage shows us how
such matters were settled : they were — according to the popular
theory — not settled by the rule of might, or by the caprice of

^ Fanta, St. in der. II. und Od. 86, draws the wrong inference.
Even down to historical Greek times no member of a family had any legal
standintr as ae:ainst the house-father.

406 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

any individual or any body of persons — even of the majority —
but by " ancient customs" (^e/xto-res). JSI'ot every man was com-
petent to determine or pronounce what tlie custom might be in
any given case, or at least not every man was listened to. The
claims to a right to expound the custom were the natural
claims of age and good birth. The persons thus qualified
are accordingly spoken of as " elders " (yepovres) or " kings "
{fSaa-iXrjes), or "ministers of justice" {StKao-rroXoi) ; and they
are conceived as possessing or inheriting the knowledge of the
customs. Law, it is to be observed — the enactment or pro-
hibition, laid down and enforced by the state, of certain classes
of actions— is unknown to Homer, and only came into being
later, either when the concentration of the authority of the
state brought to the state the duty of enforcing custom, which
thus became law ; or when the abuse, by the possessors, of ex-
clusive knowledge of the custom, compelled the people to
demand that it should be published and enforced without i)ar-
tiality and without interpolations.

The disputes which arise in a society so primitive as that
of Homeric times still was are, ''perforce, like society itself
in that stage, simple. The conditions of life are too easy to
either necessitate or allow the existence of a criminal class.
The only disputes were such as naturally rise among neigh-
bours, for in a small community all the members are neighbours
and known to each other. These disputes might, and in some
cases did, proceed to blows and end in homicide or murder.
Blows did not lead to " proceedings " in the legal sense :
Thersites having been thrashed by Odysseus has no action for
assault and battery open to him. AVith murder the case was
somewhat different : there was indeed no state power to which
the relatives of the deceased could appeal for redress, much
less was there any state power which of its own motion under-
took to apprehend and punish the murderer. ]\Iurder was no
offence against the law of the state, for there was no law.
But in Homeric times a feeling was gathering that murder
was an offence against the members of the community in their
collective capacity.^ This feeling operated strongly in support-

^ We may indeed safely generalise this proposition, and say that all
wrong-doing which was brought before the Agora or assembled village
was regarded vaguely as an offence against the community — at least in so
far as the moral support of the community was the only force of a public
nature that could be invoked to give effect to custom. And this is the
reason why in the Agora scene of the shield the disputants address them-
selves quite as much to the crowd of their fellow-villagers as to the
gerontes. The latter indeed pronounced the custom, but on the attitude

THE HOMERIC STATE 407

ing the relativ^es of the murdered man, whether they demanded
l)lood or were content to accept money in compensation. In
the majority of cases there was i^robably no possibility of
doubting who was the murderer. Where the matter was not
one of public notoriety, it sufficed if a certain number of the
kinsmen of the murdered man testified in the Agora as to the
identity of the murderer. ^ If, after that, the family of the
murderer were not content to pay the wer-geld, the amount of
which we may conjecture was settled in the Agora, or "gather-
ing for council," in accordance with the themistes on the sub-
ject, the murderer generally found it expedient to flee into a
far country ; for if he remained he would assuredly be killed
in revenge, to the satisfaction and with the approval of the
community in general. There was indeed another course which
the murderer could pursue : to promise the wer-geld, and not
keep his engagement. It is a commentary on the honesty of
the Homeric Greek that Homer, wishing to select a scene in
the Agora typical of the kind of business brought most fre-
quently before the "elders" or gerontes when engaged as
StKacTTToAot, chooses precisely a case in which one man declares
that he has paid all the wer-geld and the other asserts that he
has received nothing.^ The whole village is gathered togetlier
to hear the dispute. Those members who are distinguished by
age or position are admitted to sit on the wdiite stones which
form a ring round the Agora. The rest of the men crowd

of the former depended the amount of submission which would be given
to it.

It is important to notice also, that even if there be no trace in Homer
of the belief of a later age that guilt could be cleansed away by religious
ceremonies and purifications, the first step to that belief has already been
made : guilt renders a man liable to punishment from heaven, especially in
cases where there is no possibility of punishment from man. Murder brought
vengeance from the murdered man's kin, if the nuirdeier and the mur-
dered were of different families ; from the house-father if they were of the
same family. But if the house-father were murdered by one of his own
family, then the Erinyes of the father were to bo dreaded. If the head of
the family were murdered by his younger brother (being a member of the
joint undivided family), then the elder brother had the Erinyes to avenge
him,

1 This does not appear from Homer. But Aristotle, Pol. ii. 5, men-
tions, and, not understanding it, ridicules the practice. There may be,
however, little hesitation in accepting the existence of this practice at
Cyme as a survival from a state of things at least as ancient as Homer.

- Dr. Leaf, however, ad tor. cit., points out that the words may equally
well mean that one prayed to be allowed to pay the wer-geld (to avoid
exile or reprisals), and the other refused to accept the money, and so
forego his revenge.

408 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

round and are kept back with difficulty by the heralds. The
germites having heard both sides (who address themselves quite
as much to those outside the ring as to those inside it), take
the sceptre, the possession of which indicates that the speaker
is "in possession of the House," ^ one after another, and give
each his opinion on the matter. The meaning of the rest of
the passage, which is disputed, will be discussed in the next
paragraph. Here it is enough to note, that as there is in
Homer no state power to afford redress in case of murder, so
in civil cases there is no power which a creditor, for instance,
can set in motion to compel payment. In the case just quoted
from Homer, the debtor is not " haled " into the Agora by his
creditor; they are both "eager" to appear.

The dispute about the payment of wer-geld described in
the previous paragraph is one of the scenes depicted on the
marvellous shield made by Hephaestus for Achilles {II. xviii.
497-508). The principal difficulty is raised by the last line
of the passage : "in their midst lay two talents of gold to give
to the man who should speak amongst them most righteously."
In the grammar of the Greek there is nothing to show whether
it is one of the two disputants or one of the gerontes who is
to receive the money deposited. The usage of the original
expression " to speak most righteously " is such that it is
equally applicable to a man pleading his own cause and to
one giving his verdict on a suit (c/. xxiii. 579). The passage,
therefore, as far as the language is concerned, may mean that
the two talents are intended either for one of the gerontes or
for the successful disputant. In support of the former view
it may be argued that the run of the passage seems to show
that one of the gerontes is intended, for the lines quoted
(507-508) follow immediately on the description of the way in
which the gerontes rise and speak one after the other, while
it is so long since the two disputants have been mentioned
(501), that it is hard to imagine them referred to. Further,
we know generally that offerings were made to the gerontes
or "kings;" and from Hesiod we know in particular that
offerings were made to the "kings" as a compensation for
their expenditure of time, and as an encouragement to them
to render their services — an encouragement to which the "gift-
devouring kings" (TF. and D. 38) were perfectly susceptible.
In Roman law, too, each litigant deposited a sum of money

^ II. xxiii. 568. ev 5' apa Krjpv^ X^P<^'- CKrJTrTpov 'idrjKe, aLUJirrjaai re KeXevaeP
'Apyeiovs.

THE HOMERIC STATE 409

{sacr amentum), and the unsuccessful suitor forfeited his deposit
to the prrefor, who took it as compensation for his time and
trouble. In Homeric Greece there was not one pnetor, but
several gerontes to decide the suit; and we must conjecture
that, when they differed, the shouts of the assembled village
community settled the question which of them pronounced
the most righteous judgment. This explanation, therefore, is
in harmony with Greek habits,^ and what is more, with the
habits of a time when law had not yet displaced custom.
Further, the two talents can hardly be regarded as the wer-
geld in dispute; for according to //. xxiii. 75, half a talent of
gold is worth less than an ox, and a female slave was worth
four oxen. A free man, therefore^ would be appraised at more
than two talents.

The two essentials of government, according to Homer, are,
as we have seen, gatherings of the village community and
customs. The proof of the anarchy of the Cyclopes is, in the
poet's eyeSj not that the Cyclopes have no monarch, but that
they have no gatherings and no customs. ^Monarchy is in the
conception of Homer no more necessary to hold a community
together than it was four centuries later in the opinion of the
more backward Greek tribes, or still later among those Teutonic
tribes which had not yet developed a king. In the gatherings
which were the indispensable organ of government according
to Homer, though all members of the community were or
might be present, all were not on an equal footing. The
speaking was, as a rule, left to those whose age or dignity
ensured them a respectful hearing ; and they are dignified
by the name of /^acrtArJes or " kings." This use of the appella-
tion suffices to show that by " king " is not necessarily meant
ill Homer a monarch, a single ruler, whose sole will is law to
the community he governs. Rather we have in Hesiod a
picture of the same class, but drawn without the magnificent
haze which in Homer lends things more than their true pro
portions, a picture in which the "kings" appear as the head-
men of the village in which Hesiod lives, and as keenly alive to
the value of the offerings voluntarily made on certain occasions l)y
the villagers. But amongst these " kings " we not unfrequently
find in Homer one who is called " more of a kinuj " than the

^ A similar jn-actice was known later ii» Attic law, TrapaKaTa^oK-q, and
is compared by Schomann {Ant'uj. jur. pub. Gr. 73). Bnt in Attic times
the object of the deposit was to act as a, foena temerc litiyanxi, t . prevent
vexatious litijration.

410 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

others,^ and who is distinguished by the superior respect paid
to him. To term him, however, a monarch, and to call the
Homeric polity a monarchy, is apt to be misleading, in the
same way as it would be misleading to call it a democracy
because of tlie existence of the Agora, or to call it an aristocracy
l)ecause of the Boule or council of gerontes. The germs of all
three forms of government are present in the Homeric polity,
just as all three organs of government, the assembly or Ecclesia,
the Boule, and the monarch, are present in embryo. But
none of these three organs is yet dilFerentiated so far as to
enable us to say that it predominates absolutely. Subsequent
circumstances were in the case of each community to determine
which organ should grow by use, and which by disuse remain
a rudimentary organ. War was the atmosphere most favour-
able to the growth of monarchy : distance from the place of
assembly consequent on the growth of the community would
prevent the people from exercising their function. The absence
of the former condition and the presence of the latter would
develop the council of gerontes. But in Homeric times cir-
cumstances had not yet favoured the evolution of any one
of the three organs at the expense of the rest. So far from
being exclusively monarchical is the Homeric polity, that
of all three organs the monarchical is the only one the func-
tions of which can be discharged by the other two. The
gerontes and the people are essential to the transaction of
business in a gathering : the monarch is not indispensable. Let
us examine the principal functions of government, and see by
what organs they are or might be discharged. A government
which cannot make laws is scarcely a government in the modern
sense : a community, therefore, whicli is governed by custom,
not law, can be said to liave a government or be a state only
of a rudimentary kind. Custom is not in Homer the creation
<»f the will either of people, gerontes, or monarch ; ^ the only privi-
lege involved with it is that of expounding it. If the privilege
of expounding custom is the exclusive right of the monarch,
the polity is so far monarchical. But in Homer the themistes
are just as much in the keeping of the gerontes generally as of
the monarch in particular.^ Amongst the functions of govern-

1 Bao-iXei^repos, II. ix. 69, 160, 392, x, 239 ; Od. xv. 533.

^ In //. xvi. 385 : Xa^porarop x^^' vdcjp Zeivs, ore drj p dvSpeaai Korea-
•jdfJLCvo'i ■x_^\eTr7}vri, o'i ^irj etV dyopy (tkoXlcls Kpivwcri defiLaras, (TKoXids is pro-
leptic : the gerontes (not the monarch) expound the custom crookedly, i.e.,
falsify the custom.

^ See the passage quoted in the previous note, and cf. II. i, 238.

THE HOMERIC STATE 4II

nient, one of the most important is the administration of justice.
It is sometimes said that in Homer the monarch is supreme judge.
ViUt in the Iliad and the Odyssey the monarch never appears
as supreme or as sole judge. ^ Uniformly, in both description and
allusion," disputes are represented as brought before the gerontes
in the Agora. Nowhere is the monarch represented as occupy-
ing a position different from or more exalted than that of the
other ^aa-iXrjc'i in the administration of justice ; and in the
trial scene depicted on the shield we have the gerontes dis-
tinctly administering justice without the assistance of the mon-
arch. In the history of monarchy one of the principal reasons
for the existence of the office has been that the monarch used
his power to enforce the law of the land. In Homer the
monarch never exercises his power for that purpose. In fine,
as regards expounding, administering, and enforcing the law, or
rather custom, the monarch — if monarch we can call him —
enjoys no privilege which the other fSaariXrjis do not also possess.
As regards the important power of summoning a gathering, the
case is the same : the monarch possesses the power, but the
other /3o.(TLXrje<i also possess it, e.g., Achilles, not Agamemnon,
calls the first gathering in the Iliad.^ Nothing proves the
existence of government more conclusively than the power of
raising taxes. In Homer taxes are unknown : the monarch
receives gifts (or "benevolences") of oxen, wine, Szc. ;^ but the
gerontes share them.^ The monarch has also a crown-demesne^
(attached to the office, not the property of the individual) ;
but such grants of public lands are made to other fSacnXrjes as
well." Turning to the external relations of the community, we
find that in peace the monarch represents the community, but
the gerontes also act in its name ; ^ and even in war, when the
monarch might be expected to act with the most absolute
power, he usually consults the gerontes, and frequently the
people as well, before taking any important step.

In peace and in war, in foreign and domestic relations, in
the legislative, deliberative, judicial, and executive functions of
government, the monarch in Homer has no power which the
gerontes do not also possess, no power which the gathering of

1 //. xviii. 503, xvi. 386.

- II. xxiii. 573, i. 238 ; Od. xi. 547, 186, xii. 440.

^ //. i. 54; cf. Od. ii. 27, xxiv. 420, xvi. 361. As regards puminoning
the Boi'Xiy, the case is again the same : the monarch summons it, but the
other (SacrtXTjes also summon it. Od. vi. 54. "* //. ix. 155.

^ Tl. xvii, 250. ^ refxeros : — 11. vi. 194, ix. 5/8.

^ //. XX. 184. 8 //_ ix. 5-^.

412 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANT.'QUITIKS

geroiites and peoj^le cannot exercise quite as well in the absence
as in the presence of the monarch.^ In what sense, therefore,
can the monarch be said to be " more of a king " than the other
/3aa-LXrJ€s1 what distinguishes Agamemnon from Achilles, or
Odysseus from the other /SacrLXyjes of Ithaca ? Two things :
the other /Saa-iXyjes usually allow the monarch to exercise the
functions which they are equally entitled to exercise ; and the
monarch has an immunity in his actions superior only in degree
to that of the gerontes.^ Thersites submits to indignity at the
hands of Odysseus ; Achilles to indignity from Agamemnon.
The gathering which witnesses these scenes may or may not
approve of the action of the monarch. But even if it does not
approve, it does not resist. There is, however, the feeling that
such action on the part of the monarch brings down the wrath
of the gods, as does falsification of custom by the gerontes in
the Agora. ^ This submission on the part of the people was
doubtless partly, perhaps mainly, due to the sanctity of the
/Saa-tXyjeSj whose rule was regarded as a sway divine. The sub-
mission of the fSao-iXrjes to the monarch can scarcely be ex-
plained in this way, for it is not possible to doubt that in some
cases — Ithaca for instance — the office of monarch was not divine
and hereditary, but elective.* Indeed, it may be with greater
reason doubted Avhether the office was ever hereditary. The
one instance in which Homer distinctly represents it as heredi-
tary is that of: Agamemnon ; and this is precisely the instance
in which tradition may reasonably be conjectured to have led
Homer to lend to his picture a touch not borrowed from the
facts of his own time.

The ties of blood which hold together a wandering tribe are

^ T(i this we may add : (i) that that part of the land of the community
which was not yet occupied belongs not to the monarch but to the com-
munity. It is from the community that the monarch and others receive
their re/xevT] {JR. xx. 184, ix. 578, vi. 194, xii. II3); (2) that in war the
army fights according to Tribes and Phratries (see Fanta, 35 ff.), not under
the command of the monarch ; (3) Agamemnon did not command the
attendance of the ^aaChrjes at Troy ; they came in consequence of tlieir
oath (//. ii. 286, 339) ; (4) the monarch has the power of life and death in
no greater degree than any of the ^acnXrjes.

' To this we may perhaps add the greater gifts received by the monarch.
Telemachus sums up the advantages of monarchy {Od. i. 392) : ov fxh yap
Ti KaKov ^aaCkeveixev, alxj/a r^ ol dQ dtpveibv ir^Xerai /cat Tifirj^aTepos avros.

3 //. xvi. 387.

^ Od. i. 394. The refj-evos goes with the office ; the T^fxevos does not
necessarily remain in the family of Odysseus [Od. xi. 184), neither tliere-
fore does the office. Alcinous {Od. vii. 150) and Priam {11. xx. 185^ are in
the same case.

THE HOMERIC STATE 413

at first strengthened by the tie of neighbourhood which a
settled life produces. But with the expansion of the com-
munity local distinctions arise which were unknown before.
The land in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, at first
suflicient to supjiort the inhabitants, no longer suffices when
they become more numerous. Some families must go farther
afield. Thus arises the distinction l)etween town and country,
a distinction already known to Homer. ^ But to live in the
town far from one's farm M-as a thing which could be done only
by those who were rich enough to own slaves to cultivate their
ground. Thus this local distinction tended to emphasise the
distinction between rich and poor ; and as the Agora, the centre
of government, was in the town, the mere growth of the com-
munity tended to withdraw the people from the discharge of
their function, and to give the geronies superior facilities for
the exercise of their power. But the nobles were not the only
persons attracted to the town ; artisans came, the smith, the
potter, leather-makers, carpenters engaged for building houses
or boats, and making spears, bows, or seats, stone-masons, cart-
wrights, and wheel-wrights, c^c. Though we here have the
germs of the artisan class and of a town population deriving its
subsistence from other industries than agriculture, we must not
exaggerate the importance of this class in Homeric times.
Division of labour was still in a very rudimentary condition ;
metal- working was indeed the special work of the smith, but
leather-dressing, carpentering in all its forms, and the other
simple industries of the age were performed mainly by each
family for itself. Weaving and spinning and the manufacture
of clothes were still the work of the women of each household ;
men of the rank of Odysseus not only superintended the culti-
vation of their own farms, but could pride themselves on car-
penter's work done by their own hands.

The division of labour implied in the rise of an artisan class
and the distinction between town and country are not the only
signs of the growth of the community to be found in Homer.
Before his time capital and labour were united in the joint
undivided family ; now we find them separated. The class of
common labourers, Thetes {Od. iv. 644), depending for sub-
sistence on the work of their hands and the wages they can
earn, has now arisen. Capital and labour were to some extent
employed in commerce {Od. viii. 161); but their usual occu-
pation was in agriculture, and here there was little demand for

' Od. i. 1S5, xix. 296; 11. xvi. 235.

414 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

hired labour, inasmuch as the soil was tilled and cattle bred
either by the toil of the landowners themselves, when they
were small men, or by slaves on the larger farms. The sources
of slavery were war,i and to a smaller extent kidnapping; 2
while the supply was maintained by breeding and by purchase,
for a trade in slaves undoubtedly flourished.^ The moral de-
gradation of the man reduced to slavery was fully recognised ; ^
but though the master had the power of death,^ and exercised
it,^ the simple character of Homeric life made the distance
between master and slave much less, and the slave's lot there-
fore much easier, than was the case in later times. Nausicaa
plays ball with the slaves, Eumaeus greets Telemachus as a son,
and Melanthius takes his seat at table with the suitors without
ceremony or apology.'' The slave could possess property, a
house and wife, and even slaves of his own.^ In conclusion,
slaves were not numerous, no instance of emancipation occurs,
and no mention is made of the existence of a class like the
Helots or Penes tae, consisting of a previous population reduced
to the condition of slavery.

Finally, the existence of beggars, both casual and profes-
sional, might establish the claim of Homeric society to rank as
completely civilised, if it were not counterbalanced by the
absence of a criminal class.

CHAPTER IT

THE HISTORY OF THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION

The Spartans were not the first Greeks who occupied Sparta,
nor was Sparta the first portion of Greek soil that the Spartans
settled on. The memory of these facts is preserved, though
perverted, in the myth of the return of the Heracleidae. To
endeavour to convert any of the details of this myth into facts
of history would be to indulge in the alchemy of history : the
attempt is one which modern science is abandoning as much in
history as it has abandoned the search for the philosopher's
stone in chemistry. We must content ourselves with saying

' /?. ix. 593 ; Od. ix. 40. - Od. xv. 403.

'^ II. vii. 475, xxi. 78, xxii. 45 ; Od. xiv. 115, 449, xx. 383.

^ Od. xvii. 322. 5 Od. xix. 91. ^ Od. xxii. 441.

' Fanta, 40, and Od. vi. 85, xvi. 23, xvii. 256. Cf. xviii. 329, xxiv. 385.

"* Od. xiv. 449, 62, xxi. 214, xvii. 256.

THE HISTORY OF THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 4 1 5

that linguistic pakeontok)gy has made it almost certain tliat
Greece received its Greek pojjidation from the north, and that
it is therefore probable that the myth is right in making the
Dorians who populated Sparta come from the north. It seems
also probable that their migration was but one incident in a
general movement of the tribes inhabiting Greece, which took
place about 1000 B.C. and which changed the whole political
map of the country. Whence or by what route the Spartans
came to Sparta is matter of conjecture. The traditions of an-
tiquity made them come from Doris by Xaupactus, and regarded
their departure from Doris as due to the same pressure of tribes
from the north as the Boeotians' from their primitive settle-
ments in Thessaly to their historical abodes in Boeotia. The
analogy of the mode in which other Aryan peoples settled in
the countries they are found to occupy at the dawn of history
makes its probable a ^?no7*e that the Dorians did not enter
Sparta in one compact host, but in detached bands, who settled
down in separate village communities; and this presumption
gains some confirmation from the fact that the villages which,
when united, came to be known as the town of Sparta, were
not the only villages in the district of Lacedsemon which were
settled by Dorians. There are also indications that the country
was entered not from one side only, nor exclusively by land,
but from the sea also, and from several quarters. It seems also
probable that the Dorians who settled in the valley of the
Eurotas and became the Spartans of history were a long time
conquering the whole of the valley. Amyclse, a town not very
far south of Sparta, was in the hands of the original population
long after Sparta was occupied by the Dorian invaders.

Like the Teutonic tribes that conquered England, the Dorian
tribes which conquered Sparta settled in village communities,
and, we can hardly doubt, divided the land they conquered m
lots, KXrjpoL, among themselves. For this process we have the
analogy of the procedure usual in this respect at the foundation
of a Greek colony, as well as the parallel of the Teutonic tribes
and the evidence ailbrded by the Gortyna Code. In addition
to these analogies we have direct statements in support of the
existence of these land-lots, KXypot, in Sparta by Greek writers,
statements which can with great probability be traced back to
the historian Ephorus, and therefore cannot be regarded as a
fiction promulgated for political purposes in the time of Agis
and Cleomenes, as Grote has argued.

That the distinction between simple and noble was known to
the Spartans as to other Greeks, and to the Aryans generally.

4l6 CONSTITUTrONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

is a reasonable presumption, though it is hard to find a distinct
statement to that effect in our Greek authorities. But the
distinction, if not explicitly stated, is plainly implied. We
have throughout Greek history allusions to the division of the
Spartan full citizens into the wealthy class and the poor. But
as the only form of wealth a Spartan was allowed to possess
was property in land, and as, according to a statement which
may be referred eventually to the authority of Aristotle, a
Spartan was not allowed to sell the land-lot which he occupied,
but which was still regarded as the property of the state, it
follow^s that those Spartans who possessed other landed property
besides their Meros cannot have acquired it by purchasing the
land-lots of their fellow-citizens, but that in the beginning,
when the conquered land was portioned out, they, or rather
their ancestors, must have received estates over and beyond the
Meros of the ordinary citizen. In other Aryan peoples too we
find that certain members of the community received larger
grants of land in the same w^ay, and we also find that it was
the nobles who received the larger giant. We may therefore
infer the existence of the distinction between noble and simple
to have existed in Sparta also from the beginning. That the
principle of making larger grants was known to the Spartans is
also indicated by the fact that among them, as amongst other
Greeks, the king received a special grant of land, a temenos.

From this social system were developed political institutions
such as we have already met elsewhere. Here too we find an
assembly of all free men, a body of elders elected by the free
men ; while the strugL,de which the community had to carry
on during many generations with the original inhabitants for
very existence gave to the war-king a permanent importance in
the organisation of the state.

It is scarcely possible to speak of the development of the
Spartan constitution, as the whole tendency of its organisation
was to prevent development. But though the growth alike of
monarchy and democracy was effectually checked, to maintain
the existing order of things without change or modification
was beyond the power even of Spartan discipline. The result
was that the changes which took place were all converted to
the interests of oligarchy, and such development as did take
place was but the strengthening of the oligarchical element of
the constitution. The social causes which operated elsewhere
to produce the growth of a population outside the body of
privileged citizens, and thus to make government, even by the
whole of the citizen body, the government of the few% had their

THE HISTORY OF THE SPAUTAN CONSTITUTION 417

full effect in Sparta also. The exact way in which they took
etiect in Sparta was peculiar to Sparta. The garrison-like life
which the Spartans, surrounded by a hostile native population,
were compelled to lead, had as one of its features the famous
Syssitia of Sparta. A Spartan father of a family did not take
his meals in the family circle, but with the other Spartans at a
public mess, syssitia. The food at these messes was provided
by the members of the mess, and a Spartan who was too poor
to be able to make his contribution was excluded from the
syssitia. This exclusion carried with it exclusion from political
rights, from citizenship. Now the land lot, the kleros, which
originally sufficed for the support of one family, in course of
time would come to be inadequate to the support of all the
descendants of that family, and thus there grew up a number
of men. Spartan by birth, but through poverty not citizens of
Sparta. They were called Hypomeiones. As early as the first
Messenian war, the growth of a non- privileged population sur-
rounding and threatening the nucleus of privileged citizens had
resulted in a conspiracy which might have ended in a revolu-
tion, but that it was discovered and the malcontents drafted off
as colonists.

If the force of circumstances and the laws of nature con-
verted what had originally been a meeting of all the freemen
of the community into a meeting of a minority of the free-
men of the country, legislation meanwhile was not wanting to
lessen the power even of the citizen body. By a rhetra or law,
referred to the time of the kings Theopompus and Polydorus,
the Gerontes and kings were authorised to override the de-
cisions of the assembly of free citizens, at Sparta called the
Apella, at their own good-will. Thus the sovereign poM-er of
the state was in effect withdrawn from the citizens, and handed
over to an oligarchical body of thirty nobles ; for the Gerousia
consisted of the twenty-eight Gerontes and the Uvo kings.
Whether the kings and the Gerontes, having excluded the
demos from the sovereignty, proceeded to fight for it between
themselves, is a point on which we have no direct information.
It seems probable, as regards the Gerontes, that not only did
they thus arrogate to themselves the right of overriding the
decisions of the Apella, but that they contrived to limit the
power of the citizen body in another way. The Gerontes were
elected by the citizens, and thus in theory, though governed
by the Gerontes, the citizens did at least choose their own
rulers. But the form of a constitution is one thing, the spirit
and sense in which it is worked another. The forms, and even

2 D

4l8 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

the purpose, of the constitution may be entirely defeated by
the way of working it. In what way the popular election of
the Gerontes was converted into a farce, and the power of free
choice Avithdrawn from the citizens, we do not know. But
Aristotle calls the mode of election "childish," and he also
qualifies the Gerousia as " dynastic in the extreme," i.e., a
corporation of the closest possible description. It seems, there-
fore, probable that means were found by which election to the
Gerousia was in practice confined to certain noble dynastic
families. If the Gerontes thus completely succeeded in ex-
cluding not only the body of free citizens, but even the
non-dynastic nobles from political power, they were equally
successful in their struggle, if struggle there was, with the
monarchical element of the constitution. The cause of their
success is plainly and undoubtedly to be found in the fact
that there were two kings, not one, in Sparta. The origin
of the divided kingship is unknown. The myth invented
to account for it was, that originally there was but one king,
and that the birth of twins in the royal house led to the
division of the kingship. Modern inquirers have quoted the
analogy of the two consuls at Rome, or have referred the double
kingship to the rivalry of powerful families, or have regarded
it as indicating an early fusion of two originally independent
communities, one Dorian, one Achaean. The last hypothesis is
an inference probably mistaken from a passage in Herodotus
(v. 72), where one of the kings, Cleomenes, Avho belonged to
the royal house of the Eurypontidse, says to the priestess of
Athena Polias in the Erechtheum at Athens, " I am no Dorian
but an Achaean." In the sense, however, in which Cleomenes
spoke the other king was as much an Achaean as Cleomenes
himself : both kings were made by the official Lacedaemonian
myth to be descended from the Heraclidae, who were, according
to the myth, Achaeans. We may perhaps conjecture (with
Holm) that the double kingship was due to the fusion not
indeed of a Dorian and an Achaean community, but of two
distinct Dorian bands of settlers. This conjecture might have
been made earlier, had it been recognised that the Dorians in
all prol ability did not enter the Peloponnese in one host, but
in detached bands of invaders. Whatever may have been the
origin of the divided kingship, it does not seem necessary to
assume (as Holm, G. G. i. 210, does) that it was divided with the
intention of weakening the monarchical element. The fact,
however, that neither royal house was allowed to depose or
swallow up the other (they were not allowed to, at any rate did

THE HISTORY OF THE SPAKTAN CONSTITUTION 419

not, intermarry), shows however, that the aristocracy came to
see that the division of the kingship guaranteed the continuance
of tlieir own dynastic power. The division of the kingship also
explains how it was that, essential as the military office was to
the very existence of a community surrounded, like the Spartan,
by a hostile native population, it still was not allowed by the
aristocracy to take to itself the other executive functions of the
state, but was for ever limited to the strict duty of the original
war-king or herefof/a, i.e., was in Aristotle's words "a perpetual
and irresponsible generalship." Indeed, in accordance with the
tendency in virtue of which the oligarchical element in the
Spartan constitution grew at the expense of the other elements,
the kings in the course of time came to lose some of the powers
which belonged to them originally and of right. The declaration
of war, which had been the right of the kings, was assumed by
the oligarchy. The foreign policy of the country, which would
naturally to a large extent fall into the hands of the kings as
long as they exercised this right, was eventually withdrawn from
them. And not only was the navy, when it came into exist-
ence, not intrusted to them, but they came to be controlled
even in the discharge of their military duties by the repre-
sentatives of the oligarchy.

Undoubtedly the triumph of the oligarchy over the monarchi-
cal element of the constitution was largely secured by the aid
of the Ephors. The oligarchy could never have contended so
successfully with an executive officer of the importance of the
kings of Sparta, had they not possessed executive officials as
instruments of their own. In Kome, the Consuls were practi-
cally powerless against the Senate, because the Consuls w^ere in
power but for a year, while the Senate went on for ever. In
Sparta, however, the kings were as permanent as the Gerousia
itself. The conditions therefore were different ; and it may be
doubted whether the result would not have been different also,
had it not been for the Ephors. The origin of this board of
five is involved in absolute obscurity. It has been supposed
that they were in some way connected with the five village
communities, Kw/xai, out of which the town of Sparta was formed.
In Sparta itself in late times there was a tradition that they
were the creation of the kings, who found that the growing
duties of the executive made it necessary to erect a board of
magistrates to relieve them of some of their civil duties. Again,
the fact that they were chosen, not necessarily from amongst
men of wealth or birth, but from the ranks of the people, has
caused them to be compared to the tribunes of the people at

420 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

Rome. As, however, the most ancient function that they can be
shown to have exercised was censorial in its nature, and as they
undoubtedly did in historical times exercise a supervision, in
accordance with the etymological meaning of the word 'i(fiopos,
which gave them a remarkably strict control over every member
of the Spartan state, even over the kings themselves ; and as
the tremendous growth of their power is easily understood if we
assume that it was in its origin censorial, we may, in the absence
of positive information as to the creation of this board of officials,
conclude that their functions were in the beginning rather
censorial than executive or political. The office was not in
itself one which necessarily need have come to play into the
hands of the oligarchs. As every full and free citizen was
eligible for the post, the institution might well have proved an
instrument of democracy. The enormous extent of the power
exercised eventually by the Ephors might have made this office
a tyranny. There was no reason, as far as we can see, why the
Ephors should not have been enlisted in the service of the
monarchical element. As a matter of fact and history, however,
we find that the more the powers of tlie Ephors increased, the
more oligarchical the constitution of Sparta came to be in its
practical working. It is a necessary inference, therefore, that
the institution of the Ephorate was worked in the interests of
the oligarchical element, and it remains for us to interpret the
few facts we possess accordingly. AYe may conjecture that the
democratic tendency of the institution (the eligibility of every
Spartan citizen for the office) was defeated by the method of
election. What the method was we do not know : Aristotle
stigmatises it as childish. Apparently it allowed the oligarchs
to work it for their own ends. Tyrannical as was the action of
the Ephors, in the zenith of their powt^r, the individual Ephors
were prevented from administering it in subservience to their
own ambition, partly by the fact that the board consisted of five
Ephors, and partly by the limited tenure of office : it was annual,
and the holders were accountable to their successors. How the
appointment of Ephors came to rest practically with the oligarchs
we do not know, but the result of its appropriation by them
was that, as the Ephors were not for the monarchical element,
they were against it, and their powers steadily grew at its
expense. Not only was the control of the foreign policy claimed
and obtained by the Ephors to the exclusion of the kings, but
the kings were overruled even in the exercise of their military
functions by the Ephors. Finally, the supervision which the
Ephors as censors exercised over the conduct of every member

THE HISTORY OF TflE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 42 1

of the state was extended to include the right of calling even
the kings to account.

IS^o name is more closely connected by tradition with the
constitutional history of Sparta than that of Lycurgus. We
have, however, as yet made no mention of him, partly because
it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine with any proba-
bility what precisely were the services he rendered to Sparta ;
and still more because the origin and the development of the
constitution can be satisfactorily explained without reference
to him. The statements made by ancient authors as to his
personal history become more precise the more remote the
biographer is in time from the subject of his biography. At
the same time the more precise the statements made by one
writer, the more precisely inconsistent they become with the
statements made by other writers. It is plain, therefore, that
no trust is to be placed in these stories, and that if we admit
his existence as a historical personage, we must also assert our
complete ignorance as to his personal history. Even the details
of his life, which are shadowy enough to make the charge of
inconsistency against them untenable, bear such a remarkable
resemblance to stories told of another great legislator, Solon,
that they can claim no credibility. Lycurgus, who was the
guardian of an infant king, according to some authorities
belonging to one royal house, according to others belonging
to the other, undertook, like Solon, extensive voyages, which,
like Solon's voyages, included a visit to Crete, from which
island, according to some authorities, he borrowed the Spartan
constitution, while according to others it was the work of the
Delphic oracle, from which again Solon was said to have
derived legislative inspiration. Lycurgus, too, like Solon, had
something to do with the Homeric poems and their mode of
recitation. Finally, both great legislators went into voluntary
exile towards the end of their lives. From this it is plain
tliat, if Lycurgus ever existed, he lived so long before historic
times that every actual fact concerning his life has passed into
the region of myth. When we come to his legislation, we find
an equally unsatisfactory uncertainty hanging over the subject.
By turns every institution characteristic of Sparta is set down
as his invention. According to Herodotus, he framed the
Enomotise, the Triakades, established the Syssitia and instituted
the Ephors and the Gerontes. Other writers deny tliat he
introduced the Ephorate into the constitution, but declare that
he divided the land into equal lots amongst the Spartan citizens.
In fine, and as indeed some of our authorities do not scruple to

42 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

say in so many words, before Lycurgus lawlessness reigned in
Sparta ; he established law, eunomia. At Athens too we find
that every law, good or supposed to be good, was without re-
gard to history assigned as the work of Solon ; we may there-
fore reasonably hesitate before admitting that everything is the
work of Lycurgus with which he is credited. We have already
incidentally noticed that there were even ancient writers who
regarded the Ephorate as not the work of Lycurgus. It is,
again, impossible for a modern student to believe for one
moment that he instituted the Gerontes. The existence of
this council not only goes back to heroic times, it may with
great probability be traced back to the Aryan period. Nor
will a modern student be inclined to accept the statement that
Lycurgus was the author of the common-field system. That
the land the Dorians conquered in the Peloponnese was dis
tributed by them amongst themselves as they conquered it, is
probable in itself, as being the common Aryan custom, and is
also confirmed by indications in subsequent Spartan history.
It is not, however, probable that there was a redistribution of
the land into equal lots by Lycurgus, and the tale may well
have been made for political purposes in the time of Agis and
Cleomenes. In conclusion, the Greeks were not acquainted
with the discovery that constitutions are not made but grow.
On the other hand, the anthropomorphic instinct, which in art
justified itself by the marvels of sculpture Avhich it gave birth
to, made the Greeks assign a larger share in the making of
history to personality than any modern people has done. It
is therefore not an untenable, it can hardly be described as an
extreme view, to maintain that in the case of the Lycurgean
legislation we have to do entirely with the work of the anthro-
pomorphic tendency of the Greek mind ; that Lycurgus, as his
very name indicates, was a being more mythical even than
Theseus, was an Apollo Lycius or a Zeus Lycaeus. On the
other hand, we must bear in mind that great men played a
greater part in the history of Greece than of any other country.
The supposition that Lycurgus was originally Apollo or Zeus
under some one aspect does not afford a more satisfactory ex-
planation of the respect the name of Lycurgus was held in
than does the assumption that he was a historical personage
who did much for his country. But, if we make the latter
assumption, we must also make the admission that it is abso-
lutely impossible to say what it was that he did for his country.
Be he a fable or no, he does not help us to trace the develop-
ment of the Spartan constitution.

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 423

CHAPTER ITT

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION

Sparta, like other Greek states, was based on a foundation of
slavery ; but in Sparta purchased slaves were tlie exception :
the body of slaves consisted of the descendants of the pre-
Dorian population reduced to a state of serfdom by the Dorian
invaders. The inhabitants of the valley of the Eurotas (and
subsequently the population of Messenia) were made into
serfs, and came to be known as Helots ; a name the meaning
of which lias not even yet received a satisfactory explanation.
The Helots were the property of the state ; they were attached
to the land lot, Meros, on which they were born, and could
neither be sold nor emancipated by the Spartan by whom the
land lot was occupied. They farmed the Ideros, and handed
over a certain amount of the produce to their lord. They
served as light-armed troops. They were kept in subjection
by force, and were a source of perpetual alarm and danger to
their rulers.

The inhabitants of the small towns of Lacedaemon were also
deprived of political freedom by their Dorian conquerors, but
not of personal liberty. This portion of the population of the
state received the name Perioeci. They constituted the artisan
class, and some of their manufactures in iron, steel, wool, and
leather were famous throughout Greece. They were bound
to render personal service to the state as heavy-armed soldiers,
while their towns paid a tribute. A certain amount of muni-
cipal liberty and local self-government was probably allowed
to them, though the extent of this freedom was limited by
the presence of a Spartan governor or harniost.^ As the
number of Spartiatae decreased, the calls on the Perioeci for
military service increased ; hence growing discontent.

Finally, we have the descendants of the Dorian conquerors,
who, by way of distinction from the Helots and Perioeci,
called themselves Spartiat^e, while their official appellation,
in contradistinction to the members of other states, was
Lacedaemonians.'^ Between the Spartiataj themselves there

^ The title uf the governor of Cythera wvas KvOrjpodiKTjs. Cf. Thuc. iv.
53. An inscription of not earlier than B.C. 370 fonnd in Cythera mentions
a M^faiSpos apfJLoaTrjp.

- This appears from the document in Thuc. v. 18, 23. 01 AaKedaifMdvLOi
includes both Spartiatse and Perioeci. Thuc. iv. 8, 53.

424 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

were differences of grade ; pure descent qualified for full citizen-
ship, but did not confer it. The rights of Spartan citizenship
could only be exercised by those who had gone through the
Spartan training. The evidence or certificate that a man was
complying with this condition consisted in something analogous
to " eating dinners." It was necessary to join a mess ; those
who could afford to pay their contribution to these syssitia
were "peers," homoioi, and entitled to full political rights.
Those whose poverty forbade them lost their political though
they retained their civil rights, and were termed " inferiors,"
hypomeiones.

Children of a Spartan father and a Helot mother were
called mothakes or mothones, and probably ranked with the
neodamodeis or enfranchised Helots.

It is probable that the Spartiatae, like other Dorian peoples,
were originally divided into the three tribes or phylce of the
Hylleis, Dymanes, and Pamphyli. But this division seems to
have yielded to a system of local tribes, identical with the five
comoe or villages of which Sparta was composed. ^ We find
also phratnes, twenty-seven in number, in existence, which
probably were divisions of the three Dorian tribes; and oboe
{comcB according to Curtius, Gk. Et. 517), which on the evidence
of inscriptions (C. I. G. 1 272-1274) seem to have been divisions
of the local tribes.

Though Spartan tradition accounts for the double kingship
by the story of the appearance of twins in the royal house, the
kings really belonged to different families, the Agiadae and
Eurypontidae. In each house the kingship was hereditary,
and passed to the eldest son, or to the son born after his
father's accession. ^ The kings were also priests, the one of
Zeus Lacedsemon, the other of Zeus Uranios ; and, as represen-
tatives of the state, offered state sacrifices to Apollo. Their
judicial functions ^ were extremely narrow: they decided (in
cases of dispute) which of the next-of-kin should marry an
heiress ; and it was in their .presence that declarations of adop-
tion had to be made. The public roads were also under their
charge. Much more important were their powers as hereditary
commanders-in-chief. In the field they exercised martial law
and the power of life and death. In the time of Herodotus
{^- 73) t^^y ^^^^ exercised the right of declaring war. In

^ The five comae were lliTdurj (Hdt. iii. 55), Mecroa, Ai/xvat, Kwoovpa, and
the fifth was either the ttoXis itself or Qdpva^.

2 Hdt. vii. 3. 3 Hdt. vi. 57.

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 425

course of time, they contrived to escape from the responsibility
attaching to this right, by previously consulting the Ephors
and the Apella. In other words, they resigned their control
over the foreign policy of the country into the hands of the
Ephors, by whom, in case of disaster, they would eventually
have been called to account. Even in his military duties, the
king was controlled by the two Ephors who accompanied him :
the Ephors indeed had no formal power to interfere with him
in the actual discharge of his military functions, but they
reported his action ; and on their reports kings were called to
trial at the end of the campaign, and condemned.^

The king's revenue was drawn mainly from the royal
demesne, and was paid to him in kind by the Perioeci. It also
included a double portion at the syssitia, and part of the animals
offered at various sacrifices. Amongst the honours paid to the
king, the most remarkable was the elaborate mourning at his
death (Hdt. vi. 56-58).

The Council of the Elders consisted of the two kings and
twenty-eight elders ; 2 the Ephors also took part in the delibera-
tions of the Gerousia. Admission to the Gerousia was prac-
tically limited to the nobility, and to a few powerful or dynastic
families among the nobility. Election was for life, 'but as the
minimum age was sixty, a tolerably free stream of new members
must have been kept flowing. The electing body consisted of
the assembly of free citizens, M^ho voted by acclamation. The
duties of the Gerousia were deliberative, administrative, and
judicial. All public business was discussed by them in the
first instance, and the proposal which they determined to re-
commend was submitted through the king to the people for
assent or rejection. The whole of the administration of the
state fell to the Gerousia, while as a judicial body it had the
trial of criminal cases and state trials.

The Apella or assembly was open to all citizens of over
thirty years of age. It met once a month, within the bound-
aries of the five coiwje which constituted the city of Sparta.
It was summoned by the kings, who originally presided over
the meeting, until they were ousted by the Ephors. The
business of the Apella consisted in the election of the Gerontes,
and possibly the Ephors and other ofhcials, and in voting on
the business laid before it by the Gerousia. The matters
brought before it were mainly questions of peace,^ war,*

^ Thuc. V. 63. - H.lt. vi. 57.

3 Xen. llclL II. ii. 20 ■* Time. i. 67-S7.

426 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

alliances,^ &c. These questions were not debated by the
Apella ; speeches might be made by the kings, Gerontes, and
Ephors, but if the ordinary citizen had the right to speak, he
rarely used it. The vote of the meeting was given by acclama-
tion, ^ though if necessary a division might be taken, in which
case the assembly rose (for it sat 2) and divided. The vote,
however, was a mere formality, for from the time of the kings
Polydorus and Theopompus, the Gerousia could set aside a
" crooked " decision of the people : the Apella, therefore, can
have been little more than the machinery by which the resolu-
tions of the government were communicated to the people. A
so-called "small Ecclesia" is mentioned once (Xen. Hell. III.
iii. 8), but not in a way which enables us to infer anything
whatever about it.

The Ephors, five in number, were elected from and possibly
by the people, though we know nothing of the mode of elec-
tion.* Their first duty on election was to issue a proclamation
bidding the citizens "to shave their moustaches and obey the
law,"° an injunction wdiich indicates that their office was
censorial. As censors they superintended the training and the
morals of the youth, and had the right to punish any Spartiate
for any piece of conduct they deemed improper, to sentence
Perioeci to death without trial, and to expel persons whose
presence they thought noxious to the state. They interfered
in the households even of the kings. ^ Their power extended
over all other officials, whom they could suspend from office
and imprison, and who were responsible to them for the
execution of their duties.'^ Many of the powers exercised by
the Ephors must be regarded not as inherent in their office,
but as having their source in the Gerousia. The Ephors came
to preside over the Gerousia, and were intrusted by it with
the execution of their joint resolutions. Thus as presidents of
the Gerousia in its judicial capacity the Ephors would receive
criminal and other informations, conduct the trial, and finally
be deputed by the Gerousia to see to the execution of its sen-

^ Hdt. vii. 149 ; Thuc. v. TJ ; foreign policy, Xen. II. iv. 38 ; decides
disputed succession to the throne, Hdt. vi. 65 : emancipates Helots, Thuc.
V. 34. 2 Thuc. i. 87. 3 Ibid.

*■ Ar. Pol. ii. 9 calls it, iraidapuhd-qs. That all Spartiatae were eligible
follows from his words, ii. 10, acpeacs ck TrdvTCJv. Whether the people
elected or not is not clear from vi. (iv. ) 9, tovs fikv yap yepovras aipovfTai,
TTjS 5' icpopeias fMerexovaiv.

^ Pint. Cieom. 9, Kdpeadai top fxixxraKa Kal irpoaex^'-v toIs uofxois.

6 Hdt. V. 40, 4r.

^ Ar. Pol. ii. 9, 86^€ie 8' au i] tC)v ecpjpwv o-pxv Trdcras evdvveiv rots dpxds.

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 427

tence. This, doubtless, was the procedure in the case of state
trials. 1 As, further, the Ephors summoned ^ and presided
over^ the Apella, we may perhaps also regard the P^phors'
control over the foreign policy as deputed rather than as
inherent power. If the Apella decreed war, the duty fell upon
the executive, the Ephors, to take the necessary steps : they
mobilised the army, and gave the order to march to the mili-
tary authorities. In fine, though everything was done through
the Ephors, it does not follow that everything was done by the
Ephors. The steady growth of the oligarchical element of the
constitution can only be explained on the assumption that the
Ephors were the tools of the Gerousia, and that their power was
deputed to them by the elders, and not exercised independently.
Doubtless the reason why the Ephors, who, being drawn from
the people, might have been expected to develop the demo-
cratic element, thus lent themselves to the policy of the
oligarchical party, is to be found in the fact that the Ephors
held office but for a year, while the Gerousia went on for ever.
If the board happened on occasion to include an Ephor of
democratic tendencies or royal sympathies, he might be out-
voted by his colleagues, and the minority had to submit to the
majority;* while even if the majority one year were opposed
to the oligarchy, they were debarred from free action by the
prospect of being called to account by their successors, who
would in all probability be subservient to the Gerousia. In the
matter of foreign policy, where the Ephors in appearance are
most independent of the Gerousia, it is most obvious that they
were the instruments of the Gerontes. The continuous and
well-considered foreign policy of Sparta cannot have been the
work of a yearly changing board of incompetent persons : it
bears on its face the mark of its origin in a senate possessing
hereditary traditions and aristocratic tenacity of purpose.

From the time when the Dorian invaders first entered Sparta,
they continued to be what they were on the first day of thoir
coming, an encampment on hostile territory. They can scarcely
be said to have become even a garrison, as they did not fortify
their town. They neither exterminated the original population
nor amalgamated with them, and if time strengthened their
position in many points, it also developed discontent amongst
the Perioeci; the Spartans lived only on the naked exhibition
of brutal force. The Spartiat?e were citizen troops who were

^ Hdt. vi. 82. Other state trials, Thuc. ii. 21, v. 63.
- Xen. Hell. II. ii. 20. ^ I'ljiic, i 37.

^ Xen. Hell. II. iii. 34, and iv. 29.

42 8 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

never disbanded. They lived perpetually under arms. So far
from endeavouring to exchange the manners and the discipline
of the camp for the less irksome habits of civil life, they as-
similated even the nursery to their military organisation, pro-
claimed conjugal affection under a state of siege, and placed
maternal love under martial law. The moment a child was
born it was subject to a sort of court-martial, and liable to be
condemned to death ere it had well learned how to breathe ;
it was submitted for examination to the oldest members of the
tribe, and if judged by them to be weakly or deformed, was
exposed to death at the Apothefce or place of exposure. If
allowed to live, it was intrusted to its mother's care until the
age of seven ; these years, however, were all the furlough it
was destined to obtain in the course of its existence. At the
expiration of this period of leave, the boy was recalled by the
Paidonomus, and drafted into an t'Aa or band of recruits of
the same mature years as himself. The ild which he joined
was the junior division of one of the fSovat or companies into
which all boys under the age of eighteen were distributed.
Each ild had its own commander, as also had each bua, elected
from araonst the youths of more than twenty years of age
by the boys themselves. The Spartan boy, cast away from
home in this way, got something much more like an English
public school education than did Athenian boys. The latter
went to day-schools, were taken backwards and forAvards by a
servant, and at home were mostly in the women's part of the
house. The Spartan boy, on the other hand, was cut off from
home : he lived and slept with boys of his own age, and had to
take care of himself. The Athenian school-boy apparently had
nothing by way of school sports : the Spartan boy was allowed
to elect his own captains, spent his time in running, jumping,
wrestling, throwing the spear and the quoit, and must have
enjoyed himself thoroughly. To what extent bullying went
on cannot be conjectured, but there was a check on tendencies
of that kind in a sort of fag system : specially intimate and
affectionate friendships between a senior and a junior boy were
encouraged, and the eispnelas or lover was held responsible for
the morals and good conduct of his beloved, his ciitas. There
were, of course, differences between the Spartan agoge and a
public school education : the Spartan boy had to rough it a
good deal. He had to sleep on hay, straw, or rushes without
bed-covering : his arrival at puberty Avas celebrated in a common
savage fashion by severe scourging, which it was a point of honour
to bear without flinching. Even this, however, the English boy

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 429

v/oiild probably gladly exchange with the Spartan, if, like the
Spartan, he was totally exempt from lessons, even from learning
to read; while pt3rmission to eke out scanty food by stealing
what he could, provided only he conveyed it dexterously, would
turn the scale completely. There is one other respect in which
the Spartan system differed from the public school, and it is a
point in favour of the Spartan system : the Spartan boys were
not debarred from the society of their elders. Tliey were
allowed to listen to the conversation of the men at dinner, and
thus received an education which was none the less valuable
l)ecause it was unconscious and unforced. I^arrow as were the
limits of Spartan education, it is impossible not to give it our
hearty admiration, as far as it went. The propensity to imita-
tion is the indispensable condition of education ; it is also the
basis of nearly all children's games. Especially do children
like to imitate in their games what grown-up people do. l!^ow
the Spartan system of education consisted simply in making
boys imitate men, and imitate them in precisely the things
that are manly, and therefore the object of a boy's admiration
and ambition. If we add to this that the men spent much time
in watching the boys' sports, and thus gave the boys the very
spectators whose approval the boys most wished for, we cannot
help believing that the Spartan system thoroughly accomplished
the object it aimed at.

At the age of eighteen the period of boyhood was over, and
from eighteen to twenty those " approaching youth," the melli-
ranes, were employed in the Crypteia, a sort of police service,
the main object of which was to keep the Helots in proper sub-
jection. At twenty they became liable to regular military
service, and were called "youths," e'/Ymes, until thirty, when they
became qualified to attend the assembly and to start a house-
hold. It was at the age of twenty probably that they became
members of the sysdtia, or, as they were called in later times,
phiditia. The syssitia or phiditia were simply military messes.
Some fifteen hoplifes dined together at a mess in peace as in
war. In peace as in war, the members of the mess dined in
their tent, and in peace they were under the same officers and
military discipline as in war. Each member of the mess had to
contribute a certain amount of barley or meal, and wine, cheese,
figs, and a small sum of money every month. Spartans too
poor to pay their contribution and belong to a mess lost their
political rights and ceased to be full citizens, liomoioi. The
fare at these syssitia Avas such that the Sybarite who was told
of it understood now why the Spartans did not fear death.

430 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

Herodotus ^ attributes the organisation of the Spartan army
to Lycurgus. How the army was organised in the time of
Herodotus we cannot quite gather from that writer ; and that
is the less to be wondered at because the Spartans were at
great pains to keep their organisation secret. Herodotus speaks
of enomoticB, iriakades, and syssUia : Plutarch says that about
lifteen men messed together in one tent at the syssitia. We
might therefore conclude that a triakas, which, as its name
implies, consisted of thirty men, was constituted of two syssitia^
and that an enomotia consisted of a number of triakades. We
find, however, in Herodotus - traces of a system of lochi, which
does not seem to harmonise with this conclusion. That the
organisation of the Spartan army in the fifth century was based
on the loclios appears beyond a doubt from Thucydides. He,
moreover, explicitly states that the lochos was made up of four
jyejitecostyes, and that each penfecostys was made up of four
enomotioe.^ How many lochi there were in the army is, howe\ er,
a point scarcely yet satisfactorily settled. It seems highly
probable that the lochi were in some way connected with the
five comce of which Sparta consisted ; * and Aristotle is quoted
by Hesychius as saying that there were five lochi. Thucydides,^
however, describing the battle of Mantinea, speaks of seven
lochi, and there were more lochi than seven in the full army,
because two detachments (the very old and the very young men)
to^rether, constituting one-sixth of the army, had been sent home
before the battle.^ But if two detachments constituted one-
sixth of the army, the whole army must have contained twelve
detachments or lochi ; and this number, twelve, may be brought
into harmony with that of the five comce if we assume that
each come supplied a lochos of seniors and a lochos of juniors,
making ten lochi in all : the two lochi still wanting are the
lo(^ios of very young men, who had only just reached twenty
years of age, and the lochos of old men, nearly sixty years of age.

^ i. 65, ixeTOi bh Ta is iro\e/xop ^x^^'''^'- ivoj/xoTtas Kal rpnjKdSas Kal avaaina
„ . . ^arrjo-e AvKovpyos. - ix. 53, 55. ^ v. 68.

•* Whether one of them took its official name from Pitane, as Hdt, ix. 53
avers, or did not, as Thuc. i, 20 maintains, the Xoxos JlLTai'drrjs was probably
drawn from Pitane. ^ v. 6S, \6xoi fJ-ev yap ifxaxopro eTrra.

^ V. 64, TO eKTOv ixepo^, ev (^ to irpea^vrepov re Kal to veihTepov ijv. Gilbert
{G. S. I. 75) does not think that these constituted two separate lochi, but
that they were the oldest and youngest members from all the lochi, which,
on the strength of the passage quoted in the previous note, he considers
to have been at this period seven in number ; whereas before B.C. 425,
according to Gilbert, they were five in number. But see Stehfen de Spar-
tanorum re militari, Greifswald, 1 881

THE SPARTAN CONSTITUTION 43 T

The statement made by Thucydides as to seven lochi refers not
to the whole force, but to the troops fighting in the centre :
the other three lochi were on the right (v. 71). The full
nominal strength of the Spartan army was 6000 men, of each
lochos 500 men. The organisation of the Perioeci was parallel
to, but distinct from, that of the Spartiatte. At Plataea 50C0
Spartiatse, ten lochi, fought ; and the number, and probably
therefore the organisation, of the Perioeci was the same.

When, however, the number of Spartiatae began to decline,
and Sparta could no longer send out one full citizen to every
Perioecus, a re-organisation of the army became necessary. This
re-organisation becomes known to us for the first time in B.C.
403. The whole number of Spartiatse and Perioeci liable to
military service was divided into six divisions or morte, and
there was probably a corresponding territorial division of the
country into six districts. The number of men composing a
mora depended on the class called out : ^ it was obviously
larger when men up to fifty years of age were called out than
when men up to thirty were summoned to the ranks. Each
mora consisted of two lochi, each lochos of four pentecosiyes,
each penfecostys of two enomotice. The mora was commanded
by a poleniarclius, the lochus by a lochagus, the pentecostys by
a penteconter, and the enomotia by an enomotarclies. Com-
mands passed down this line of officers, and thus the army
possessed the mobility necessary for tactical movements.

Cavalry, as a branch of the service, does not seem to have
existed in Sparta before B.C. 424,- and then only 400 were
raised. In B.C. 394 the number was increased to 600, but
they were very inferior. On the other hand, from much earlier
times,^ there seems to have been a picked body of 300
Hoplites, called knights,'* who acted as a body-guard to the
king ^ in time of war, and in time of peace were employed
by the Ephors as a sort of mounted police.

The Spartan camp was circular in form, and but very slightly,
if at all, defended by a palisade. The safety of the camp
depended on the pickets and outposts. The erection of the
camp was left to the artisans and camp-followers, Perioeci and
Helots, who acconjpanied the army for the purpose.

The largest fleet Sparta ever possessed consisted of twenty-
five ships *^ in the year B.C. 413. At Artemisium she had ten,

1 Cf. Xen. HcU. II. iv. 32. '^ Thuc. iv. 55. Of. v. 67.

^ )Idt. i. 67, vi. 56, vii. 205, viii. 124.

■* o'l rpiaKOcrioL tTnr^s KaXoufxeyoi. Thuc. v. 72.

5 Thuc. V. 72. «5 Thuc. vi. 3.

43 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

at Salainis sixteen. Her harbour was Gytheion ; ^ the marines
Avere Perioeci, the crews Helots and mercenaries. The trier-
archs {e.g. Brasidas, Thuc. iv. ii) were Spartan. In B.C. 480
the command of the fleet was in the hands of a navarch.'^ This
otfice, which at first might be held by one of the kings,^ eventu-
ally became independent, and of such importance (owing to the
fleets Sparta commanded, not those she raised) as not only to
rival the power of the kings/ but to be a source of fear to the
oligarchy. The office, therefore, was made annual,^ and might
not be held by re-election.^ The navarcli received instructions
from the Ephors,^ and was sometimes assisted or hampered by
an advising board. ^

CHAPl^r. IV

CRETE

In Crete, as in Sparta, the dominant race was the Dorian. In
Crete, as in Sparta, the subject races were Greeks whom the
Dorians found in possession at the time of their invasion of
the country ; but in Crete there appear to have been pre-
historic Phoenician settlements, and possibly also immigrants
from the coast of Asia Minor. According to tradition, the
Dorians found a great maritime power existing in Crete, as in
the Peloponnese they found the kingdom of Agamemnon. But
whereas the relation between the Dorians and the Achseans
was one of hostility, in Crete the Dorians actually regarded
their constitution, which, nevertheless, is obviously Dorian, as
instituted by Minos. The position of Crete as a half-way station
between the Peloponnese and the Orient, was undoubtedly
favourable to the growth of a great naval power, but it is vain
to expect that by casting the legends about Minos into the
crucible of history we shall get anything but " chymic gold."
The colonisation of Crete by the Dorians must be regarded as
subsequent to their conquest of the Peloponnese : tradition
makes Argos and Sparta the principal colonists. Homer re-

^ Thuc, i. 108. - Hdt. viii. 42. ^ Hdt. viii. 131.

^ Aii.st. Pal. II. vi. (ix.) 22, 7] vavapxi-<^ o-X^^ov ir^pa ^aatXeia fjLeOfaTTjKev.
^ Xen. Hell. I. V. I vi. i.
^ An exception was made in favour of Lysander. Xen. Hell. II. i. 7.

7 Thuc. ii. 85, viii. 12 ; Xen. Hell I. vi. 5.

8 av/x^ovXoi, Thuc. iii. 69 and 79, ii. 85, viii. 39.

CRETEl 433

presents the population as consisting of divers elements; and
in Homeric as in historic times the island was divided into
numerous independent states. Homer speaks of ninety or a
hundred cities (//. ii. 649; Od. xix. 174). Coins and inscrip-
tions have already demonstrated the existence of forty-three
autonomous communities. It is the existence of these states^
which, though similar, were yet not identical in constitution^
that creates the principal difficulty in the investigation of
Cretan institutions. Certain institutions may have co-existed
in Crete, but not have co-existed in any one Cretan state. In
the attempt to combine all that our authorities tell us of "the
Cretans/' we may be led into associating two institutions which
never were or could be combined in any single state. This
danger, and the possibility of this kind of error, meet us the
moment we begin to investigate the condition of the subject
populations of Crete. Sosicrates, himself a Cretan, tells us
(in Ath. vi. 263 ff.) that "the Cretans" call the class of public
slaves fivota, of private slaves ac^a/xtwrat, and of Perioeci
vTT-qKooL. We also learn from Callistratus (ib.) that "the
Cretans " call the slaves they employ in the town yjiva-^v-qrot^
"purchased with gold," and those they employ in the fields
aphamiotce. From this it has, on the one hand, been inferred
that every Cretan state possessed three classes of slaves: (i)
vTTiqKooi, corresponding to the Perioeci of Sparta, i.e., the in-
habitants of subject non-Dorian towns paying a tribute to the
tyrant cities ; (2) aphamiotce, the serfs attached to a land lot
or Meros, and, like it, in the possession of a Dorian citizen ;
(3) /xvcotrai, the serfs attached to the land which remained over
when every citizen had received an allotment, and which,
together with the inhabitants, continued in the possession
of the state. To these three classes must also be added the
purchased slaves. On the other hand, it has been inferred
(Grote, ii. 285) that there was no class of vtt^^kool distinct from
the other two classes ; that in Crete, as in Sparta, there were
but two classes of subjects, the mnoifce, corresponding to the
Perioeci (Aristotle, II. vii. 3, calls the mnoitce, Perioeci), and
the aphamiotce, corresponding to the Helots. But it is plain
that neither inference is necessary ; all three classes may have
been known to "the Cretans," and yet no single Cretan state
may have possessed more than two classes. Doubtless in every
state the individual citizen had at his service serfs correspond
ing to the Helots of Sparta ; and there seems little doubt that
these serfs were called by different names in different states,
Q.i}iajj.LuJTaL, KXapo)Tat, FotKces. Doubtless, too, every state, as

■2 b

434 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

a state, may have possessed slaves ; in some states these slaves
may have occupied a position corresponding to that of the
Perioeci of Sparta, enjoying personal and municipal, but not
political freedom, hypekooi, while in other states they may
have been the cultivators of the folk-land, mnoitce. On the
other hand, it is to be noted that in the Gortyna Code (ii. 2-16),
though provision is made against criminal assaults upon the
purchased slave, the Foikeus, the free-man, and the direTaipos,
whoever he may be, there is no mention of either the hi/pekoos
or of any class corresponding to the Periceci. Negative
evidence is not generally satisfactory, but it is hard to see
on what principle the code should not provide for the protec-
tion of the hypekooi or mnoitoe, if the state possessed such
dependants. We must, therefore, conclude either that Gortyna
at least possessed only Foikees and purchased slaves, or that
at Gortyna the liijpekoos was called apetairos.

The condition of the apjhamiotce, klarotce, or Foikees in Crete
was much better than that of the corresponding class in any
other Greek state. Aristotle (Pol. ii. 5) says that the only
things forbidden them were the use of the gymnasia and the
wearing of heavy armour ; and the favourable picture he draws
is amply borne out in the recently discovered Gortyna Code.
From it we find that the Foikees, as they were called in Gor-
tyna, might marry freely amongst themselves, and that their
marriages and family relations had the same legal basis as
those of their masters. A Foikeus might even marry a free
woman, and, in certain cases, the children of such a marriage
might be free, though in others they were Foikees. The right
of property was also accorded to the Foikeus in its fullest
extent : he could possess house and cattle Avithout fear of de-
privation at the hands of his master. The Foikeus and the
Foikea were protected by the law in their persons, like other
members of the community : if the fine for assaulting them
was less than for assaulting a free man, on the other hand it
was greater than that for assault upon a purchased slave. The
result of this enlightened policy was that the Cretans had
much less to fear from their serfs than had the Spartans from
their Helots. We may conjecture that the Dorians in Crete
would hardly have shown greater toleration towards the sub-
ject populations than did the Dorians of Sparta had they been
equally strong. But the disproportion between the numbers
of the dominant class and its subjects seems to have been
greater in Crete than it was in the Peloponnese.

The large amount of liberty yielded to the subject popula-

CRETE 43 5

tions of Crete by the Dorian conquerors would not of itself
]iave been sufficient to perpetuate the power of the latter:
indeed it might well have brought about its downfall. But
as in Sparta, so in Crete, the Dorian was essentially a predatory
state ; teeth and claws were developed at the expense of the
rest of the organism. The Cretan Hybrias put the matter
so well in a skolion that his words have not yet been lost :
his store of wealth consisted of his spear, sword, and buckler;
with them he ploughed, with them he reaped; he trod out
the sweet wine from the grape with them : they were his title
to be lord of serfs.^ The constitution of the Dorian state
in Crete was that of a camp.^ The resemblance between
the education of the Cretan and the dyojyrj of the Spartan is so
close as to be proof that the two systems had a common origin,
and that the resemblance, though helped, was not created by
similarity in the conditions under which they existed. At the
same time, there are differences which indicate that one or
other or both have departed from the original form ; but what
the conditions were which determined this evolution, and
whether the Spartan or the Cretan had departed the farther from
the original type, it is impossible to say. The most striking
difference between the two is the greater amount of liberty
given by the Cretan system to individuality. But whether
this is a departure from the original system, due to the freedom
of action which colonisation necessarily procures for the indi-
vidual colonist, or whether the greater control exercised by
tlie Spartan state over its members was itself a later growth,
not developed until after the emigration of the Dorians from
the Peloponnese to Crete^ is matter of doubt. The fact re-
mains that the liberty which the Spartan citizen was allowed
in choosing his messmates at the sijasitia, and which the Spartan
boy exercised in choosing his captains, was kept in check by
the paidonomos and the polemarcli at Sparta, but in Crete was
allowed to grow until it became the very essence of the organi-
sation of the state. Until the age of seventeen, indeed, the
Cretan boys were under the control of a state official called,
as in Sparta, pcu'donomos, who superintended their physical
education. During this period the boy seems to have waited
at his father's sijssition, and to have been fed at its cost. In
Sparta, the boys under eighteen were allowed to elect their

^ See Ath. xv. 695 flf., ^(Ttl fj.0L TrXoCros fieyas SSpv Kai ^Icpos Kal to KaXbt
XaiayfCov, irpb^\T]ixa ;y/3ajr6s" ToiVw yap dptD, Tovrifdepi^u), Tovtuj irareio rbv
dSiV ohop (Ztt' d/UTre'Xw* Tovrqi SecTTroras /xvo'tas KeK\T],ua'..

^ Plat. Lait'S, ii. 666, arpaTOTrebov yap iroXiTfiav ex^'''^-

430 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

own captains or houagors, but the hiia or company was under
the control of the jxiidonomos. In Crete, on the other hand,
it was the youths who had begun their eighteenth year who
formed themselves into companies under captains of their own
choice. These companies Avere called dyeXat ; the members of
them were called aycAarat or 8/)o/xets, because they now were
admitted to the dromi or gymnasia. Boys under this age were
called airayeXoL or aTro^pojioi?- An ayeAr; once formed, con-
tinued to hold together for ten years, until the youths attained
the age of twenty-seven. Even then the association was not
necessarily dissolved : the Cretan citizen probably had, like the
Spartan, the right to choose what mess he would join, and to
admit to his mess whom he would. There was therefore nothing
to prevent, and much to encourage, the members of an dyeX-q
at the end of the ten years joining the same mess, or as it was
called in Crete, hetaireia. Having thus seen that the principle
of voluntary association ran through the life of a Cretan citizen,
we have now to consider the importance of the agelcB and the
hetaireiai, both most remarkable institutions.

The primary object of the dykXr] undoubtedly was to prac-
tise its members in athletic exercises and military manoeuvres.
These exercises, however, were not performed, as in Sparta,
under a state official ; the father of the elected captain of the
dykXr] had the command of the troop. He directed their
sports, superintended their physical exercises and their hunt-
ing, and could inflict punishment on the disobedient. The
ageloe were fed at the state cost, and on certain days they had
sham fights with each other. But it was impossible that young
men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-seven should be
continually practising the use of weapons and the methods of
warfare, and be content with sham fights. Nor could it be
expected that the full citizen who had the command of an
ageU and was involved in the struggles of political life would
always refrain from employing the physical force under his
command. And we find, in fact, that the ageloe not only — as, for
instance, in Dreros (Cauer, Inscr. Gr. 121) — bound themselves
together with an oath of enmity against the neighbouring city
of Lyttos, but even acted as independent powers, concluding
treaties with other towns (e.g., Latos and Olus, C. I. G. 2554,

^ The difference between the two expressions would seem to be that the
dir68pofJLos, according to the Gortyna Code (vii. 35), is rj^ioiu, but not 5/)0/iei5s
{i.e., not yet admissible to the dpo/uLoi), whereas the a.7rdye\os, we may infer,
was also too young to be admitted to the bpoixoi, and might or might not
be 7]^iuv.

CRETE 437

30 ff.). As regards the civic rights of the agelatce or dromeis,
entrance into an agele seems to have brought with it, or to
have coincided with, entrance into all civil rights. The
dromeus was competent to act as a legal witness ; his assent
was required by his father to any arrangements as to his
mother's property ; if he were entitled to marry an heiress
he had now to decide whether he would marry her or not.
According to Ephorus (Strabo, 482), the dromeus was at once
married, but did not take his wife home until he could pro-
vide an establishment, i.e., probably until he quitted his agele.
As an heiress, at any rate at Gortyna, was marriageable
at the age of twelve (Code, xii. 31), and the dromeus had to
serve ten years in the agele, she would have to wait until she
was twenty-two. What became of her during this time we
are not directly informed ; as, however, her house and property
passed to her husband, and he was competent by law to possess
property, it seems probable that she would pass with the estate
to her husband. In the case of wives not heiresses, it seems
clear that they lived with their father or brother (ii. 20 If.).
As in Sparta so in Crete, the husband during this time could
only visit his wife occasionally, as the members of the agele
lived, ate, and slept in common quarters. In Sparta the age
at which a man could set up a household Avas thirty, which
was also the age at which he acquired political rights, e.g.,
the right of attending the assembly of full citizens. In
Crete the age at which the dromeus ceased to belong to an agele
and could set up a household was twenty-seven ; we may there-
fore infer that in Crete he became a citizen with full political
rights at the age of twenty-seven. In Sparta the exercise of
political rights was conditional on membership of a syssition.
In Crete a man, in order to enjoy full citizenship, had to belong
to a hetaireia, i.e., to one of the messes into which the andreion ^
was divided : in the Gortyna Code apdairos means a non-citizen.
But whereas in Sparta the syssitia were supported by the
members, and inability to contribute meant forfeiture of mem-
bership, in Crete Aristotle {Pol. II. vii. 4) says things were
managed better : the state provided the meals, and the poor
citizen Avas not in danger of losing his citizenship because of
his poverty. This general statement is on the whole borne out
by what Doriadas says (in Ath. iv. 143 a) of Lyctus in particu-

^ In every Cretan state there seem to have been two halls : the andreion,
in which all the citizens messed at their separate tables and according to
their hctaireice ; and the kol/j.tjttjploi', in whicli strangers were entertained.

438 CONSTITUTIOXAL AND LEGAL AXTIQUITTES

lar : in Lyctiis each member contributed a tithe of his income
in kind to the hetaireia, while the state also made a contribu-
tion, and the slaves paid a poll-tax of an ^ginsean stater towards
the hetaireice. What happened if a citizen had no property
and could not contribute a tithe of it is not quite certain. We
might conjecture that he lost his political rights and became
an ajjetairos ; but the very object of the state contribution was,
according to Ephesus (Strabo 480) as well as Aristotle, to pre-
vent this sort of thing. We must therefore conclude, either
that the apetairos of Gortyna was a foreigner, or that he was a
freedman.

As in Sparta the citizen was allowed to choose his syssition,
so the hetaireia in Crete was a purely voluntary association,
and it is remarkable that this organisation should have suc-
ceeded in displacing the phratry to a large extent, if not alto-
gether. Eveu "the cake of custom," which elsewhere secured
for the phratry the rights which it had exercised from primi-
tive times, was inoperative in Crete against the hetaireia. In
Athens, a man, to enjoy full civic rights, must first belong to the
phratry ; in Crete, to the hetaireia. The feast celebrating the
adoption of a son, which elsewhere was given to the phratry
and Zeus p)hratrios, in Crete was given to the hetaireia and
Zeus hetaireios. The importance of the hetaireice did not end
Avith their influence on the organisation of the state. It seems
not improbable that they contributed materially to the colonisa-
tion of Crete, and to the foundation of the hundred cities for
which it was famous ; their organisation was excellently adapted
for planting military colonies. On the other hand in an estab-
lished state it was inevitable that they should increase the
bitterness of party politics, and lend faction weapons ready
made for civil strife.

According to Aristotle {Pol. ii. 10), the original form of
government was monarchical, and when it was set aside the
military power was taken over by the ten cosmi. From this
perhaps we may infer that the power of the king in Crete, as in
►Sparta, was purely military, and that the king's powers corre-
sponded rather to those of the Teutonic heretoga than of the
cyning. Herodotus (iv. 154) mentions a king of Axos at the
time of the founding of Cyrene ; but he gives us no hint as to
the nature of the king's powers. The causes which led to the
development of the aristocratic element of the original constitu-
tion at the expense of the monarchic are unknown to us ; but
we may reasonably conjecture that amongst them was the small
size of Cretan states, in all of which apparently a single andreion

CRETE 439

was capable of accommodating the whole citizen body. AVithin
the citizen body there were distinctions, probably of birth/
certainly of wealth,^ which formed soil for the growth of a
close oligarchy. The power of the oligarchs was probably
originally based on the possession of horses, and the superiority
in physical force thus ensured to them.

Though the monarchical element disappeared early from the
primitive constitution, the assembly of full citizens, ^.-5., of
citizens over twenty-seven years of age and belonging to an
lidaireia, continued to exist. But, as in Sparta, the assembly
was a mere form : it served as a convenient means whereby
the cosmi and the Council notified their resolutions to the
people, but the people had no power to reject these resolutions.^
The loule of Cretan states resembled the gerousia of Sparta,
in that its members, when once appointed, held office for life and
were irresponsible ; and also governed not in accordance with
a written constitution, but according to their own notions.
They were not, however, like the Spartan gerontes, elected
directly by the people : the Cretan boule consisted of ex- cosmi,
as the Areopagus of Solon consisted of ex-archons. When the
Cretan houle sat collectively as a law-court we do not know.
In Gortyna, cases were tried by a single judge, who may safely
be supposed to have been a member of the boide.

The real power of the state seems to have been exercised by
the Cosmi or Cosmii, ten in number. Both Aristotle (Pol. ii. lo)
and Ephorus (Strabo 482) compare the powers of the ten Cosmi
to those of the five Ephors. Like the Ephors, too, they were
nominally elected by and from the whole citizen body, but really
by and from certain dynastic families. Their office was annual,
and the president or protocosmos gave his name to the year.
During their year of office they could neither prosecute nor be
prosecuted.

The discovery of the Gortyna Code (by Dr. Federico Halbherr,
July 1884) throws light on the judicial system of at least one
Cretan state. The portion of the Code discovered is mainly
concerned with the law of inheritance and adoption ; and the
Gortyna Code, unlike the laws of Draco and other celebrated
Greek lawgivers of his time, is not so much the existing custom

' According to Ar. Pol. ii. 10, the k6<x/j.ol were elected, not i^ airduTun',
but €K Taw yefuv, probably Eupatrid families.

- This is eviilent from Ephor. ap. Strabo, 4S0, ottws tQv Ictujv fxerdaxoKi'
ro'is euTTopots oi ireveffTepoi.

•^ Ar. Pol. ii. 10, €KK\r](Tias 8k ixerixovai Travres' KVpia 5' ovdeyos ejTiu
iW ■^ avveTn\pif}(pi<xat. to. dd^avra toIs yepovat, /cat rots Koap-ioL^.

440 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

committed to writing as a piece of fresh legislation consisting of
a series of laws intended to reform or complete certain portions
of a previous code.^ The legal proceedings which it prescribes
are, however, conducted throughout without the employment of
writing : summons, evidence, and judgment, are wholly verbal.
The method of procedure is equally primitive in other respects :
witnesses are called not only as to matters of fact, but also as
to questions of law. In the absence of witnesses, or if the
witnesses are equally balanced, the case may be decided by the
oath of one of the parties to the case, or the judge may decide
the case on his own responsibility after taking an oath.^ In
Homer, it will be remembered, judges in pronouncing a de-
cision take the sceptre in hand, and in Homeric times the taking
of an oath was indicated or accompanied by a lifting of the
sceptre.

The laws of Gortyna, however, will be treated of in greater
detail in a subsequent chapter.

CHAPTER V

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS

Ix chapter iii. we dealt with the constitutional history of the
Spartans, the most important branch of the Dorian race. In
this chapter we shall have to do with the constitutional history
of the Athenians, the most important branch of the Ionian race
and the rival of the Spartans. If these two states were the
most important in Greece, their position was due to no mere
accident, but may be traced to their size. In geographical area
they were the greatest of Greek states. Sparta indeed was in
mere area twice as large as Attica ; but between the two states
there was a difference which nevertheless made Sparta the
smaller state of the two. This difference is, that whereas the
Spartan political community was concentrated in the city Sparta,
whence it ruled over the subject and hostile population of the
rest of Laconia, the citizens of Athens were not confined to the
city, but covered the whole of Attica. The number of free

^ Rccueil dcs Inscriptions Juridiques Grecques, III. ii.

- Kpiveiv is the word used of the action of the diKaaTrjs when he decides on
his own responsibility, e.g., i. 1 1 , tow bLKaarav ofii'vvTa Kpivev, ai /jlt] airoirCivloi
fxauTvs. AiKa^eiv is used when the judge is to decide by the evidence, eg.,
i. 1 8, Kara tov /xairvpa diKciddeu.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 44 1

Athenian citizens was therefore greater than that of free Spartan
citizens, as the area populated by them was larger. This fact
(which is of as much importance for the internal and constitu-
tional history of Athens as it is for its external history and its
conflict with Sparta) certainly indicates a difTerence in the con-
ditions under which the Athenians and the Spartans entered
their historical abodes respectively, but the exact nature of
the difference can only be guessed at. On the one hand, the
Dorians, when they entered Laconia, found a Greek population
already in possession of the soil. This population they reduced
to a subject and servile state, and their rule over these Helots
and Perioeci was to the end a rule of force. Thus far we are
on tolerably safe ground : it is when we turn to Attica that our
footing becomes insecure. But even here we can begin with
one or two indubitable facts. Thus in the first place the evidence
of language and the early division of the Athenians into four
tribes bearing the same names as the four tribes into which
Ionian communities elsewhere were divided makes it reasonably
certain that at some early time some lonians settled in Attica.
In the next i>lace, there was no subject Greek population in
Attica corresponding to the Helots or Perioeci. But whether
from these two facts ^ye are to infer that the lonians when they
entered Attica found no Greek population to subdue, or finding
the soil inhabited, araalgamated peaceably with the inhabitants,
is doubtful. There is, however, another fact which may be re-
garded as established : at an early time Attica was covered by
village-communities, each ruled by its own head-man or archon,
and often fighting with its neighbours ; and eventually all these
independent village-communities were organised into one state,
Attica, having Athens for its seat of government. And pro-
bal)ly this political organisation, synoikisnios, took place after
the immigration of the lonians.

Tlie four tribes into which the Athenians were divided until
the reforms of Cloisthenes were the Geleontes, the Argadeis, the
Aigikoreis, and the Hopletes. These names have been interpreted
to mean respectively the shining ones, the farmers, the goat-
herds, and the soldiers ; and it has been inferred that the tribes
got these names from the districts of Attica which they occupied
and the occupations which they followed : thus the inhabitants
of the plain were farmers, and so came to be called Argadeis,
and the inhabitants of the hills kept goats, and were therefore
called Aigikoreis. But this view is now being given up : the
etymologies are uncertain ; where the soldiers lived, or what
occupation "shining" was, remains a mystery; above all, these

442 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

four tribes, being found amongst other lonians, existed before
the lonians entered Attica. We may therefore conchide that
tliis division into tribes dates from a time when the lonians
were still in a nomad condition, and that the bond which united
together the members of a tribe could not have been the fact
that they were settled inhabitants of the same district, but must
have been the tie of blood-relationship (real or fictitious). This
is confirmed by the constitution of the Ionian tribes : each
tribe was divided into three trittyes or phratries, each phratry
was divided into a number of gene or geutes, and each genos
consisted of gennetre who joined in worshipping a common an-
cestor. This constitution resembles that of other Aryan tribes,
and may be conjectured to go back to Aryan times. We may
be sure also that, like other Aryans, the lonians knew the distinc-
tion of noble and simple, and that the further classification into
Eupatridse, Geomori, or Agroeci, and Demiurgi goes back to very
early Attic times. As for the political organisation of the tribes,
it is not likely that the lonians differed from other Greeks and
other Aryans so much as to have no boule of aged nobles, and
no folkmoot of free men who expressed their approval or dis-
approval of the holders deliberations. We may therefore con-
clude that when the lonians settled in Attica, the houU
continued to meet, and met in Athens, which, if it had not
already become the political centre of Attica, would now be
made so. At the same time, each tribe would probably settle
down in some one district, and thus become a local division of
the Athenian people ; and each genos would tend to form a
village community having a head-man or archon of its own.
Each of the four tribes further had a king, who stood to the
tribe in the same relation as the house-father to his family ;
he represented the tribe or family in religious and ceremonial
pi'oceedings, and probably expounded the customs of the family
or tribe. These kings, to distinguish them from other kings,
Avere called tribe-kings, phylohasileis. The other kings, from
whom it became necessary to distinguish them, may have been
war-kings, for probably all four tribes on their wanderings put
themselves under the command of a war-king or polemarcli^
whose office was probably elective, not hereditary, as it required
ability.

The earliest Attic historians, logographers, genealogists, and
annalists treated the myths and folk-tales of Athens as genuine
traditions of actual events, and looked upon mythical figures
such as Erechtheus and Theseus, or local heroes such as Codrus,
as historical personages. This confused mass of incidents and

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 443

personages was reduced to some kind of order by means of the
hypothesis that Attica in the beginning was ruled by a line of
hereditary monarchs, and into the framework thus provided
the imaginary personages of mythology were fitted. The desire
for chronological order led to the assumption that each of these
imaginary monarchs was separated from the next by the length
of an average generation ; and gaps were filled up freely by the
creation of entirely fictitious personages. The discord between
this imaginary history, with its line of hereditary monarchs,
and the actual fact that Attica was governed by archons, was
explained away by the assumption that the monarchy was con-
verted into a life archontate, and then the tenure of the office
was reduced to ten years, then made elective, and finally was
made annual. The hypothesis that the king-archon originally
held office for life, then for ten years, then for one, and exer-
cised powers which in historical times belonged to other officials,
is accepted by the author of the 'Adt^vaiwv TroAtreia — whether
Aristotle or another. According to him, first the command of
the army was taken away from the king-archon, and the office
of polemarch created ; then the archon was created ; finally, at
a time when the office of archon had already become annual,
the six thesmothetse were created to commit the dea-ixot or laws
to writing and to produce them when necessary at trials. That
the three offices of king-archon, polemarch, and t/ie archon
existed long before the institution of the thesmothetse, and were
originally lifelong and confined to the wealthy and well-born,
as the Aih. Pol. says, is highly probable ; but the hypothesis,
though strengthened by the authority of Aristotle's name, that
the Paa-iXeca was originally a hereditary monarchy with exten-
sive powers, remains a hypothesis still.

In the time immediately before Draco, the executive power
of the state lay in the hands of the archons, who were chosen
from amongst the wealthy and well-born by the boide which
has already been mentioned in the last paragraph but one. The
supreme power of the state lay in the boule, to which now all
ex-archons officially belonged : it had arbitrary power to punish
offenders by fines and chastisement. To this period, the seventh
century B.C., we must probably also assign the institution of the
naucraries : their name indicates that they had to do with the
fleet ; and the growth of a maritime trade, and the consequent
conflicts with commercial rivals just at this time would necessi-
tate a navy. There were forty-eight naucraries, twelve to eacli
of the four tribes : probably a naucrary consisted of the richer
inhabitants of a given district, and each naucrary was bound to

444 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

supply two ships. It is also possible that amongst the officials
of this period were the KwAaK/oerai, who originally, as their
name implies, carved the offerings which were made under the
superintendence of the king : portions of these offerings belonged
to the king in virtue of his prerogative, and the KwAa/c/oerat,
who looked after his interests in this matter in early times,
acted as treasurers afterwards.

Political power thus lay entirely in the hands of a narrow
oligarchy, out of whom and by whom all officials were chosen.
The common people had no share, direct or indirect, in the gov-
ernment. The ancient folkmoot probably no longer met : from
the time when Athens became the place of meeting, the distance
was too great for the small farmer in the country.^ But worse
than the political was the social condition of the lowest class of
free-men, the iKTiyxopoi or TreAarat. They were called neighbours
(/TeAarat), because they dwelt near a Eupatrid and on his pro-
perty, and iKTi^jiopoL, because they were tenants who either
paid or retained (which is not clear) one-sixth of the produce
of the land they occupied : if they only retained one-sixth, it is
liard to see how they lived ; if they only paid one-sixth, it is
hard to see why they grumbled. Anyhow, they got into arrears
with their rent, became liable to the Eupatrid for the amount ;
and the only security they had to offer consisted in the liberty
of themselves, their wives and children, who thus eventually
became the slaves of the creditor. This agricultural distress
was not confined to the eKT7^/xd/3ot, but extended to larger
farmers who were able to borrow money on credit, and who
accordingly mortgaged their farms to do so. The distress was
doubtless due to the large economic changes which were in
process in the seventh century : colonisation brought maritime
commerce in its train, commerce competition with imports from
abroad ; exchange by barter was superseded by monetary ex-
change, and coins were now struck ; trade appears by the side
of agriculture; and the small farmer could not hold his own
against the large farms daily growing larger.

Apart from the information contained in the Athenaion
Poliieia all that is known of Draco is that he codified the law,
and that his code was distinguished for its severity. But the
Ath. Pol. (in a chapter which not unnaturally has been sus-
pected as an interpolation, but is accepted as genuine by the

^ Ch. iv. of the *A^. ttoX. does indeed imply that all who could arm
themselves as hoplites possessed the ciiitas, but the exact nature of the
civic rights thus enjoyed is not explained ; even according to the 'A^. ttoX.,
they amounted practically to little better than nothing.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 445

majority of scholars) informs us that Draco was a political
reformer who attacked the privileges of the oligarchy by a
series of remarkable measures. The arbitrary and unlimited
power of the houle was curtailed by him in several directions :
the power to punish offenders on its own motion and at its
own discretion was withdrawn from it, and it could only take
cognisance of the misdeeds of officers of state when it was ap-
pealed to by the person who alleged that he had been wronged.
ISText, the power of electing the archons, and so of electing
indirectly its own members, was taken from it. Third, and
most important, it was deprived of its paramount position in
the administration by the creation of a new houle, which, as it
consisted of one hundred members from each tribe, was called
the houle of the Four Hundred, while the old council was
known henceforth by way of distinction as the houle in the
Areopagus. The new houle was further effectually removed
from the control of the oligarchy by the device — remarkable
as occurring at this early date — of using the lot as the method
of appointment, and allowing no one to sit a second time until
every one who was eligible had already sat once. The same
principle of appointment by lot and rotation was applied to
certain minor (unspecified) offices, which (like the houle of the
Four Hundred) were open to all who could equip themselves
as hoplites, i.e., not only to the Pentacosiomedimni and the
Hippeis, but also to the Zeugitse. Further, the offices of archon
and treasurer (ra/xta?) were now also thrown open to the same
classes, to whom also was transferred the power of electing to
these important posts. To keep the members of the Four
Hundred and the Ecclesia up to their duties a fine of three
drachmae was imposed on the Pentacosiomedimnos, two on the
Hippeus, and one on the Zeugites who failed to attend any
meeting of the houle or ecclesia at wliich he was required to be
|)resent. Finally, the posts of Strategus and Hipparch appear
in this chapter as offices of such high importance, that whereas
their existence even at this time had not previously been sus-
pected, we now must infer that the Polemarch had already
become a mere figure-head, and his powers had been practically
transferred to the Strategi and Hipparchs.

If Draco made all these changes, then it is possible that he
also withdrew from the Areopagus the exclusive right of trying
cases of bloodshed, and left to it only the trial of voluntary
homicide (actual or intended), and transferred other trials for
homicide to a court of his own creation, viz., the Ephetae, con-
sisting of fifty-one Eupatrids, chosen probably by lot.

44^ CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIKS

The economic changes which in the seventh century wrought
the distress in Attica, in the sixth century worked indirectly
its remedy : the development of manufactures and commerce
caused the growth of a class of artisans who, clamouring for a
redistribution of property and ready for revolution if they did
not get it, were strong enough to compel the oligarchs to submit
their claims to the arbitration of Solon, a man of the middle
class, whose character commanded the confidence even of the
unjustly rich and the revolutionary poor. He was therefore
appointed arch on in B.C. 594. He repealed all Draco's laws
except those relating to homicide. He declared all debtors re-
leased from the obligation to pay their debts. ^ He removed all
mortgages from landed property. He released all Athenians
who had been sold for debt into slavery either in Attica or
abroad. He forbade any man's being sold into slavery for debt.
To protect the small farmer, he checked the growth of large
estates by fixing a legal limit to the amount of land which any
one man might acquire. To protect the artisan, he forbade the
export of agricultural produce, except oil ; and above all, he
adopted the Eul )cean standard for money, weights, and measures,-
instead of the ^Eginetan, thus emancipating Athenian commerce
from the influence of ^giua and Megara, and obtaining a footing
for it in the area of Chalcidic and Corinthian trade.

It was this his economic policy on which, and justly, Solon's
fame rested, for his constitutional reforms, with two exceptions
to be noted shortly, were neither remarkably novel, important,
or permanent. As the basis of his revision of the constitution,
he took the four classes of the Pentacosiomedimni, the Hippeis,
the Zeugitae and the Thetes. This division of the community
had apparently been in existence before his time ; but whether
it had existed merely as a rough social classification but had not
been used for political purposes, or whether it had been used
for political purposes but had been based on an estimate of the
capitalised value of the landed property of the individual owner,
is a point on which opinions differ. It is, however, clear that,
according to Solon's arrangement, every man whose estate yielded
annually 500 measures of produce, dry and liquid together,^
was counted as a Pentacosiomedimnos, a five-hundred-measure
man ; every man whose estate yielded 300 measures was a
Hippeus ; 200, a Zeugites ; all others were counted as belonging

1 'A^. TToX. cc. 6 and 10 ; and see Dr. Sandys' notes. ^ lb. c. 10.

2 Com, barley, &c. (dry produce), was measured by the medimnus ( = 12
imperial gallons) ; wine, oil, &c. (wet produce), was measured by the
/jLerpTjTris ( = 8i gallons).

THE CONSTITUTIONAL ITISTOKY OF ATHENS 447

to the class of Thetes.^ Starting from this basis, Solon declared
the Pentacosiomedimni to be alone eligible for the highest
offices of state, the Hippeis for the less, and the Zeugitae for the
least important posts, while a member of the class of Thetes
could hold no office at all.

The election of officials was a combination of the two methods
of the vote and the lot : thus for the. archontate, each tribe
elected the ten men it thought best ; and from the forty thus
elected, the nine archons were chosen by lot. The houle of
the Four Hundred, if it existed before Solon, was retained.
The Areopagus under Solon's constitution enjoyed the same
wide power of punishing offenders at its own discretion Avhich
had belonged to it before Draco's time ; it also had the power
of receiving appeals from those who alleged they had suffered
injustice, especially at the hands of officials ; and it was in-
trusted with the duty of proceeding against those who conspired
for the overthrow of the constitution. The Ecclesia was left
by Solon exactly with the same power probably as it had
enjoyed from its origin : the power of assenting to or dissenting
from a proposal to go to war. Finally, in some minor details
the Naucrary system was reorganised.

Thus far the constitutional reforms of Solon are trifling :
the Ecclesia, the Boule and the Areopagus practically were
left untouched ; and the qualifications for office do not seem to
have been materially modified to the advantage of the demo-
cratical party. Two reforms, however, there are yet to mention
which were of importance : the extension of the franchise and
the institution of the Helieea. Draco, it seems, had given the
right of electing officers of state to siich members of the tribes
as possessed sufficient substance to allow of their equipping
themselves as Hoplites {i.e., practically to the upper three pro-
l)erty classes). Solon extended the franchise to all members
of the tribes, without any property qualification. The other
institution created by Solon by its unforeseen consequences
made him the founder of the .Athenian democracy : that was
the institution of a popular law-court or StK-ao-r^jpiov called
the Helisea, which consisted probably of a certain number of
citizens over thirty years of age, selected by lot. To this court
lay an appeal from the verdicts of the archons; and thus the
final interpretation of all laws lay with the Helirea, that is to

^ It should be noted that these measures were of the iicw iEuboean)
standard, and contained 27 per cent, less than those of the old (.-Eginetan).
Consequently, before Solon it required a larger estate to entitle a man to
be called a five-hundred-measure man tLa:i it d d after his refornis.

448 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

say, eventually every law came to be worked in harmony with
the spirit of democracy.

Solon's reforms left Attica in a very unsettled state : the
Eupatrids and the despoiled creditors on the one hand, on the
other the artisans, disappointed at not getting a redistribution
of property, were dissatisfied with Solon's legislation ; and both
were opposed by the small farmers, who had the best reason
to be satisfied with the new state of things. Five years
after Solon's archontate, the party fights for the office of
the archon — which was considered at tliis time to be the key
to political power — were so bitter that no election at all could
be made. Five years later the same dead-lock again occurred.
Five years later still, Damasias having been placed in the post,
remained there for two years and two months, until he was
compelled by force to quit it. This led to a compromise between
the three parties, according to which there were to be ten
archons, of whom five were to be Eupatridse, three farmers
(Geomori), and two artisans (Demiurgi) — a remarkable reaction
against the Solonian constitution, which probably did not last
long. In the meantime, the three political parties tended to
become local as well as political divisions : the Eupatridse,
whose aim was a restoration of the oligarchy, became the party
of the Plain, for there was the richest soil, and the farms on it
belonged to the nobility. The party of the Coast consisted of
those who were satisfied with the Solonian reforms. The party
of the Mountain consisted of those whose poverty inclined
them to revolutionary measures, and who found a leader in
Pisistratus. But all three parties were crushed out of existence
by Pisistratus, who having gained, as Strategus, a character for
courage, and, as leader of the Mountain, the confidence of the
democrats, persuaded the ecclesia to give him a body-guard to
]irotect him in his endeavours to benefit the people, and thus
established himself in B.C. 561 as tyrant. In this character
he seems to have made no changes of importance in the form of
the constitution : he was content to have some member of his
family in ofifice as archon ; and for the rest, he did his best to
give the people no occasion to wish to exercise political power.
He assisted them to cultivate their farms ; he dispensed justice
to them by means of local judges,^ so that they might not have
to come to Athens ; and thus he succeeded in quietly letting
Solon's laws drop into disuse. He did indeed levy a tax, pro-
bably of 5 per cent., on income from landed property, but his-

^ Kara 8r]/j.Qvs dinadTai.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 449

personal popularity was so great, that this was felt as no hard-
ship, and doubtless the rest given to the country was felt to
be worth the money. Pisistratus died B.C. 528, and his rule was
for long afterwards regarded as a golden age. His sons, more
tyrannical, were eventually expelled^ B.C. 511, by tlie aid of the
Lacedaemonians, whose king, however, would have imposed
another tyrant on Athens in the person of Isagoras, a friend
of the Pisistratidse, had it not been for the resistance of the
Athenian people and the reluctance of the Spartan allies.
The fall of Isagoras left the political field in Athens clear for
his rival Clisthenes, who, to overthrow Isagoras, had committed
himself to a democratic programme.

The reforms of Clisthenes changed the whole political face
of Athens; they gave to the Athenian constitution the frame-
work which was destined to hold it together for centuries to
come, and they made Athens effectually and for ever a demo-
cracy. Yet Clisthenes did not deprive the Areopagus of any of
its privileges; he did not curtail the powers of the houle or
extend those of the ecclesia, or of the popular law-court : nor
did he lower the property qualification for any political post.
He extended the franchise. He first gave to the ttAtJ^os that
foothold within the constitution by means of which, in course
of time, it inevitably conquered the whole. He it was, in a
word, who created the Athenian demos.

The changes made by Clisthenes were numerous and exten-
sive, but they are all inspired and controlled by one single
motive, viewed in the light of which, they are seen to be
characterised by unity and simplicity. The difficulty we have
in appreciating them is due mainly to the fact that we do not
know what determined the franchise before his reform?, but
have to infer it from them. Thus we know that he succeeded
in extending it to all Athenians, from which the inference is
that before him they did not all possess it. Again, it is clear
that to attain his object he had to create new tribes and trittyes
(phratries), from which again the inference is that the old
tribes and phratries somehow constituted an obstacle to the
extension of the franchise. Finally, he made the possession of
political rights an incident of membership of a new local organi-
sation (the deme), and as this new local organisation stood in
the same relation to the new tribes and phratries as the old
organisation of the yei'os stood in to the old tribes and phratries.
a presumption is created that before his time an Athenian could
only be a citizen provided he belonged to a genos.

In a matter where only speculation is possible, we will assume

2 F

450 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

that to the time of Clisthenes the constitution of the tribes was
essentially the same as it had been from the period when they
first entered Attica — indeed, from primitive Aryan times : no one
could belong to a tribe who did not belong to one of its three
phratries or trittyes ; nor to a phratry unless he belonged to a
genos ; and that the ykv-q included both noble and simple born.
Draco had given the franchise to all members of the four tribes
who possessed the property qualification implied in the ability
to equip themselves as hoplites. Solon gave it to all within
the phratry without any property qualification whatever. But
outside the phratries and the tribes was a pletlios of free-men
with as yet no franchise. To enfranchise them by enacting
that they should be received within the existing phratries, was
apparently regarded by Clisthenes as a measure too hazardous
to risk. At any rate, he preferred to take the election of magis-
trates away from the four old tribes and give it to ten new
tribes, which he now created, each having three trittyes, as the
old tribes had; and each trittys consisting of demes, in the
same way as the old phratries consisted of gene. These demes
or village communities existed of course before Clisthenes, but
before him they had no political rights. By his reform, every
one who at the time of the passing of the measure was a member
of a deme, a S-ijixottjs, became ipso facto a member of the trittys
and tribe to which that deme belonged, and became a full
Athenian citizen, entitled to vote for all magistrates who were
to be elected by that tribe. Henceforth too the descendants of
the first generation of demes-men were to be full Athenian
citizens ; and to place citizens who enjoyed the civitas because
they belonged to a deme on an equality with those who be-
longed to a genos, the official style and title of every citizen was
to consist of his own name and that of his deme — patronymics
indicating the genos, such as Alcmseonides, were not to be offici-
ally recognised. Every deme kept its own register ; and it was
the business of the demes-man who wished to secure the politi-
cal rights of a citizen for his son, to present him at the age of
eighteen to a meeting of the deme, and, with the approval of the
meeting, to enter his name on the register.

Though Clisthenes took political power away from the old
tribes, phratries, and gene, he did not abolish them : they
were too closely intertwined with the very roots of Athenian
social and religious life. As social and religious organisations,
therefore, he left them intact ; and as such the phratries kept
each a register, on which members of the phratries entered —
with the approval of their i&Wovf pliratores — the names of their

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 4 5 I

children shortly after birth. Such registration, though not
required by the law, was accepted by the law-courts as the best
proof that a person was the legitimate child of Athenian parents
lawfully married, and as such was entitled to inherit from them.
Thus registration by the deme (which probably did not inquire
whether the candidate for admission was legitimate or not)
was the indispensable qualification for the exercise of political
rights ; while registration by the phratry was a convenient mode
of proving, if necessary, that a person was not illegitimate
{v6do<^), and therefore not liable to the civil disabilities attach-
ing to voOoi.

Clisthenes, being unable to break up the old phratries and
their gene, had to face the probability that they would continue
to be used for political purposes. The danger was that the
humbler citizens, who had always been accustomed to follow
the lead of the well-born members of their phratry, would
continue to do so. To avert this, it was necessary that, in the
exercise of their political rights, the one class should be asso-
ciated with citizens to whom they had not been in the habit
of deferring, and the other with citizens to whom they were
strangers, and to whose deference they had no traditional claim.
Clistlienes effected this object by placing the three triftyes into
which each of his new tribes was divided in three different
local districts. Having thus made the voters free and inde-
pendent, he could intrust to them tlie election of magistrates
and of the houle. The members of the houle consequently had
to be increased : hitherto it had consisted of 400 members,
henceforth it was to contain 500, of whom each of Clisthenes'
ten tribes elected fifty. Each tribe's representatives formed a
committee of the houle, and as such for one-tenth of the year
presided over its meetings, and prepared the agenda for them.
The relation of the houle to the ecclesia was iixed by law.
Finally, to protect the infant constitution from attack, Clisthenes
invented the institution of ostracism : once a year the citizens
were to have the opportunity of exiling for ten years any man
whose policy was so notoriously threatening to the constitu-
tion, that in a meeting of six thousand citizens the majority
voted for banishing him. This institution admirably served
the purpose for which it was invented ; and when the demo-
cracy had grown strong enough to stand in no need of it for its
original purpose, a fresh use was found for it, and it served as
a sort of referendum by means of which political obstruction,
when so obstinate as to produce a constitutional dead-lock,
could be terminated by the will of the people.

45 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

In B.C. 501, when Clisthenes' ten tribes had had some years
to settle down into working order, the military organisation of
the country was adapted to them : the citizens of each tribe,
when called out on service, served together in one company or
Ta^i5, and were under the command of a strategus elected by
and from their own tribe. The board of ten strategi thus
created was under the presidency of the polemarch, as titular
commander-in-chief.

The foundation and rapid development of the Confederacy
of Delos into the Athenian empire entailed greater and more
continuous work on the army and navy, and consequently
rendered a division of the labour of command necessary : the
strategi became ministers of departments, controlling the foreign
policy of the state, while the actual work of commanding the
regiments (rajets) raised from the respective tribes was deputed
to officers (ra^tapxot), who however were subordinate to and
took their orders from the strategi.

In the democratic enthusiasm of the Clisthenean period, the
Areopagus retired into the political background, and there re-
mained until it recovered the confidence of the country by
saving the state when the strategi despaired just before the
sea-fight at Salamis (b.c. 480). Its vague powers were so
elastic in virtue of their vagueness, that it was enabled now
once more to become the dominant factor in politics. It also
inevitably became the bulwark of the anti-democratic party,
for its members were drawn exclusively from the upper two
property classes. Its reform therefore became the leading item
in the democratic programme, and eventually (e.g. 464) it was
deprived of political power for ever by Ephialtes : its adminis-
trative powers were transferred to the boule, its judicial powers
to the popular law-courts, its other powers to the ecclesia,
except its power of repressing constitutional offences. Indict-
ments for unconstitutional acts (ypa<f>al irapavofxiov) were hence-
forth to be tried by the law-courts. Thus practically the only
right left to the Areopagus (when Pericles had completed the
work begun by Ephialtes) was that of trying cases of wilful
homicide, actual or attempted.

The election of archons, from whom, after their year of
office, the Areopagus was recruited, in this century was modified
more and more in a democratic direction : during the ascen-
dency which the Areopagus exercised for some seventeen years
after the battle of Salamis, the archons were drawn from the
Pentacosiomedimni and Hippeis; some seven years after the
reforms of Ephialtes, the archonship was thrown open (b.c. 457)

THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ATHENS 453

to the third property class; and eventually, though the law
was not altered, in practice not even members of the fourth
class were excluded. Democratic changes were also made in
the mode of election. Pisistratus had introduced direct election,
because he wished to control the elections, so as always to have
some member of his own family in office. Direct election was
continued by Clisthenes, but in B.C. 487 a combined method
of sortition and voting was adopted : each tribe elected a certain
number of candidates, from whom the nine archons were chosen
by lot. Eventually sortition displaced voting entirely, and the
requisite number of candidates from each tribe was obtained,
not by voting, but by sortition, and from them the nine and
their secretary were chosen by lot.

The fourth century also witnessed the application of the
method of election by lot to every office of state, except those
which, like the strategia, required special abilities or technical
knowledge. But though any man might be a candidate for
magistracies thus thrown open, every man had to submit to an
inquiry (8oKi/xao-ta) into his fitness to hold office.

This period in the growth of the Athenian constitution is
also characterised by the introduction of the system of paying
citizens for their services as jurymen, and as members of the
houle and of the army. In order to diminish in some degree
the extra demands thus made on the treasury, Pericles ren-
dered the qualifications for the ci vitas more stringent. Clis-
thenes had admitted vo^ot, i.e., sons of an Athenian father and
non-Athenian mother to the civ it as ; but in order to do so, he
had had to intrust the registration of citizens to a special politi-
cal organisation, the deme, because the old phratries would not
enter on their registry any but children whose parents were
Athenian both. Pericles now practically reverted to the pre-
Clisthenean system : he enacted (b.c. 450) that the denies
should only register as citizens sons born of an Athenian
mother and an Athenian father.

The revolutionary changes effected at the end of the fifth
century by the Four Hundred and the Thirty, are rather for
the historian of Greece than for a handbook of antiquities,
and will not be further mentioned here.

The constitution of the fourth century will be described in
the following chapters : this period of development dates from
the archonship of Euclides (b.c. 403), when peace was established
between the contending parties, an amnesty made, and a restora-
tion of the democracy agreed upon.

454 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

CHAPTER VI

ATHENS — {continued)

METICS, CITIZENS, DEMES, TRIBES

The non-Athenian population of Athens consisted of slaves,
whom we treat of elsewhere, and foreigners. ^ In Athens as in
other Greek states, the foreigner, unless there existed a treaty '^
between his own state and that in which he was residing, had
absolutely no rights. He had neither a vote in the assembly
nor the right to hold office. He could not enjoy the protection
of the law-courts. He could not contract a legal marriage with
an Athenian citizen.^ He could take no share in the national
worship. He could not acquire real property within the
state. ^ But the growth of commerce irresistibly attracted
many foreigners to a great commercial city such as Athens,
and it was to the interest of Athens as much as of the foreigner
that the relations between foreigners and citizens should be
regulated by law. For the case of foreigners whose stay in
Athens only extended over a few days it was not necessary for
the law to provide ; but it was necessary for the state to ex-
tend some protection to the foreigner who took up his abode in
Attica, and who was therefore called a metic.^ It was necessary
that he should be able to appeal to the law for some measure
of defence, and therefore that he should be brought into com-
munication with the magistrates, the assembly, the houle,^ and
the law-courts. Privilege of access to the law and its repre-
sentatives might be granted by special decree of the state ; " or
the foreigner, having no right of access to the Polemarch, say,
might be introduced by a citizen who did possess the access to
the magistrates. The position of the foreigner with regard to
the magistrates was analogous to, and was regulated by, the
analogy of the position of an Athenian citizen, not being a
member of the boule, to the bouJe. Such a citizen might be
admitted to the presence of the boule by a resolution of that

^ On the Metics see Wiener Studien, 1885, pp. 45-68. In Athens they
were called /xeroiKoi, elsewhere irapoLKoi, KaroLKeoures, ivoiKoi, ^ttolkoi, ireSa-
FotKoi. ' Ensuring him dacpdXeia, ddeia, dcrvXia. ^ iTriyafxla.

* iyKTr](TLS 7??s Kai oUias, Dem. xxxvi. 6. ^ See note I.

^ Tpbaodos Trpbs tov TroXefxapxov, irpoaodos irpos ttjV ^ovXrju Kai tov Stj/jlov.

" 0. I. A. ii. 41, 42, 91.

ATHENS 45 5

body, or might be introduced by some member. The citizen
who thus introduced the foreigner to the magistrates or the
courts was called the Tr/aoo-Tarr^s of the metic. On the one
hand, it was not optional whether a foreigner should or should
not have a Trpoa-rdTijs, but incumbent on him if he settled in
Attica.^ On the other hand, the service of the Trpoa-TOLTrjs to
the metic consisted solely in procuring him access to the magis-
trates or courts : when introduced, the metic pleaded his own
cause. In return for the privilege thus accorded to him, the
metic incurred sundry obligations, some onerous, towards the
state. He had to pay the metic-tax, or /xerotKtov, which
amounted to twelve drachmae for the metic and his family, or, if
the head of the family were a widow woman, to six drachmae,
until one of her sons came of age. He had of course to pay in
the transaction of his business the market-tolls, harbour-dues,
&c., which the ordinary citizen had to pay. He had also to
undertake some of the state burdens or liturgies which fell on
wealthy citizens, if his means permitted him. Amongst these
were the churegia, the gymnasiarchia, and the hestiasis, but not
the trierarchia (Dem. xx. i8). If exempted from the burden
of furnishing a trireme, he was nevertheless bound, in return
for the protection afforded to him by the state, to do military
service in defence of the state. He, like the citizen, was subject
to the war-tax,- and if he did not pay a higher percentage than
did the citizen, he seems to have paid on a larger proportion of
his property. The " benevolences," ^ if we may so call them,
which citizens paid to the state, were paid by the metic also,
but were a matter of necessity with him, and not of choice, as
with the citizen. Finally, there were certain liturgies which
fell exclusively on the metics.*

From some or all of the burdens pecuHar to the metic the
foreigner might be relieved by a decree of the people in return
for services rendered by him to the state. This exemption or
areAeia might extend to the metic-tax, [X€tolklov,^ only, or to
the liturgies ; ^ or total exemption, iVoTcAeia, might be granted.
A metic thus totally exempted, tVoTeAijs, was placed as regards
his obligations to the state on a level with the citizen. He
continued, however, to be a metic, he still required a Trpoo-rarv^s,
he was still incapable of voting, of contracting a legal marriage,

' A ypacpi] airpQCTaclov might be brought against the metic who had no
irpodTdTrji. ^ eiacpopd, Dem. xxii. 54, 61.

^ iTTcdoaeis in the case of citizens, elcrcpopaL in the case of metics (C. I. A.
ii. 270). " * The aKa(pr]<popia, v5pi.a<popia and aKiahiicpopla.

5 Dem. XX. 130, and C. I. A. ii. 27. ^ Dem. xx. iS.

456 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

of holding office, civil or religious, and of acquiring property,
unless the power to exercise these rights, or any of them, was
conferred on him by special decree. Citizenship might be
conferred by a decree of the people, or inherited as a right.
Foreigners who wished to be made citizens by a decree of the
people, 1 could not claim to take out anything corresponding to
"letters of naturalisation :" citizenship was conferred on them
as a gift in return for services rendered ^ or goodwill shown
towards the state.^ The decree conferring citizenship might
be upset by an indictment for illegality,* if the recipient could
be proved unworthy of the privilege. In the fourth century,
a preliminary decree of the people had to be submitted to a
subsequent meeting of the people, to be voted upon,^ and even
this vote might be upset in the same way as the decree. In
the third century, the indictment was done away with, and
candidates for the citizenship were submitted to a doMmasia
or investigation conducted by a law-court of 501 dikasts under
the presidency of one of the Thesmethet^. The "made"
citizen was allowed by the decree conferring the gift to choose
what tribe, phratry and deme he would belong to.^ He was not
allowed to become an archon or to hold a priesthood. These
were privileges confined to the sons of citizens, and therefore
within the reach of his children, though not. of himself.'''

Citizens by birth were the children of an Athenian husband
and an Athenian wife, or the children of an Athenian con-
cubine.^ A legal marriage was one in which the father or
guardian of the bride formally gave her to the bridegroom,^
and in which the husband introduced his wife to his phratry

^ And were hence called ironjToi or dijfioTrolrjTOi, as distinguished from
yeuei. TroXiTai. Cf. Dem. xlv. y8.

- 6tl a.vr]p dyados eaTL irepl rbv Srj/xov rbv 'Adrjvaiwv, C. I. A. i. 59, ii. 51,
&c. Cf. (Dem.) lix. 89.

•^ eijvoLa irpos rbv 8rjfx.oi>. * yp^<Pv irapavofKau.

^ Toi>s 8^ irpvTdveis toi)s ttjv eiaiovaav irpvravdav irpvTavevoPTas dovpai, wepl
auTov TT]v \f/rj<pov T(2 8'f}ii(^ eh rrjv Trpurrjv eKKk-qalav, C. I. A. ii. 243.

^ The decree usually was that he should clvai. or ypaxpaadai (pv\T]$ Kal
d-qjxov Kal (pparpias ibv B.V ^oijXrjTaL. Apparently some phratries he was ex-
cluded from, as sometimes to this formula is appended Kara rbv v6ixov or
S}v oi vo/xoi \eyovcnv.

"^ (Dem.) lix. 92 and 106, and Poll. viii. 85.

8 TraXXa/CTj rjv av eir eXevdepois iraLalv ^xVi Dem. xxiii. 53. It was not
necessary that the concubine should be iyyv-qT-q, (Dem.) lix. 118, 122;
nor in all phratries that the adopted child should be an Athenian citizen,
Attische Process, ed. Lipsius, p. 543 ; nor that the father should always
swear that the child was i^ iyyvrjrrjs, Andoc. Myst 1 27.

^ The giving or betrothing was eyyvrjais ; the person in whose " hand "
the bride was, was her Kvpios. In the case of an heiress, eirlKK-qpos (i.e.

ATHENS 457

and gave to his phratry a banquet of religious import. ^ Before,
however, the children of such a marriage could enjoy their
citizen rights, it was necessary for them to be accepted as
members of a phratry and a deme.

Amongst the Athenians, as amongst the Teutons, we find that
there existed besides and between tlie tribe and the genos or
mcegth, an intermediate association, the phratry, corresponding
to the pagus. The raeml)ers of the phratry as of the genos
were, or were supposed to be, descended from a common ancestor.
How count was kept in early time, especially before the inven-
tion of writing, we do not know. In historical times no attempt
was made to do more than keep a register of the existing
members of the phratry, and to insist that new members should
be the sons of members whose names were on the list. The
name of the festival which the phratry held, Apaturia, indicates
that the members of the phratry, the phratores, were supposed
to be the descendants of a common ancestor. ^ On the third
day of this festival, called the Kovpeions, the father had to
present his child for admission to the phratry.^ Admission
was by ballot, but action at law could be taken in case of
rejection on insufficient grounds. A child not admitted to a
phratry was illegitimate, and was excluded from inheriting
more than the bastard's portion.^ There wms therefore reason,
and also temptation, for the presumptive heirs of a man's
property to attempt to exclude an illegitimate, or even a
legitimate child from the phratry. On the other hand, there
might be, and apparently were, in some cases, temptations for a
man to introduce a child and swear that it was his, when it was
not his. If no adverse vote were recorded against the child, its
name was enrolled on the phratry li<t ^ and the child became
so far qualified to inherit. When a childless husband wished
to adopt a son, he had to introduce him and to obtain the
assent of the phratry in the same way. It would seem,
however, that an adoptive son might be introduced at other
times than at the Apaturia.

a bride having neither father nor brother), having more than one male
relation to whom she miglit be married, the archon betrothed the
eTTi'Si/cos eTrlKKrjpo; after iiridiKacria.

■ This banquet was yafxr]\ia, tois (f)pdTcp<n ya^rjXlau da-qveyKe Kara tovs
eKeivuv voaovs, Isa3us viii. i8 ; cf. Dein Ivii, 43, 69.

^ 'ATraroi'pta - oTTttTopta (c/. Horn. A, 257, KaaiyvrjTov Kal SiraTpov).

^ The Greek is eiadyeiv eis tovs (ppdrepas, Dem. xxxix. 4, xliii. 13, Ivii.,
54 or iyypd<p€iv eis tovs (ppdrepas, Dem. xxxix. 4.

■* This was called podeia, and might not exceed lOOO drachmae.

^ KOivcP ypap-ixaTelov or (ppaTepiKov ypafxp.aTe'iov.

45 3 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

The denies^ constituted by Clisthenes were more than i co-
in number, and in course of time came to number about 190.
Vv'hen first constituted, each deme consisted of all the in-
habitants of the area comprised in the new deme, afterwards
it consisted of the descendants of the original demesmen. A
man by change of residence did not cease to belong to his
father's deme : he might acquire property in another deme, but
he did not thereby become a member of that deme : his domicile
was still in the deme to which he belonged by birth. On the
completion of his seventeenth year, the young Athenian who
wished to enjoy citizen rights had to present himself, or be
presented, to the assembly of the demesmen, who thereupon voted
whether he should be accepted as a member of the deme or not,
and if the vote were in his favour his name was entered on the
deme's list ^ as a demesman by the demarch ; but if it became
necessary for the citizen subsequently to establish at law that
he was a member of the deme, the list was not regarded as
evidence : it was necessary to have the testimony of demesmen
who voted on the occasion. Once accepted as a member of his
deme, the Athenian had the right to attach the name of his
deme to his own personal name : his legal style and title con-
sisted of his own name, his father's, and that of his deme. As
being a member of a deme, he became a member of the ecclesia,
though it was not usual, or even possible for him to exercise
this right at once, as he had to serve until the age of twenty
amongst the Ephei3i. Admission to the deme also brought with
it the right to accept bequests, and in the case of orphans the
control of their property. It also brought corresponding duties :
the new citizen became liable to military service, and, if his
wealth were sufficient, to liturgies. The new-made demesman
became subject to the law directly, and no longer through his
father or his KvpLos, and he also could represent his own case
in the law-courts. It was necessary for adoptive sons also to

^ On the demes see La Vie Municipale en Attique by B. Haussoullier
(Thorin, Paris). In the way of inscriptions, C. I. A. i. 2, 79, ii. 163, 571-
t;89 ; C. I. G. i. 93, 103, should be studied. Demosthenes c. Euhul. gives
an interesting picture of the internal working of a deme.

^ Busolt : G7'iechische Geschichte, ii. p. 405.

^ The name of this list is Xtj^LapxiKov ypafj-ixaTeiov. The word X^^is
properly means " drawing by lot ; " the order in which cases came on was
decided by lot, hence Xayx'^^^^^ blK-qv, " to obtain an action." But \i)^i$ was
applied especially to actions touching heritages, hence X^^ts tov KXrjpov, an
action to recover a heritage. By extension Xtj^ls comes to stand for the
heritage itself ; and the Xfj^iapxtKov ypa/Mfiare'iov is a list of those who
came into possession of their Xrj^is or heritage. — Vie Municipale, p. 13.

ATHENS 459

obtain admission into the deme of their adoptive father, even if
they were already members of another deme. In this case, too,
the assembly of demesmen balloted whether the adoptive son
should be accepted or rejected. The practice of adoption
opened the gate to fraudulent admission to the deme : it was
quite possible for a person not legally qualified for adoption
to bribe a demesman to go through the ceremony of adopting
him, and to corrupt the members of a small deme to wink at
his admission into their body. To such an extent did this
process of corruption prevail, that at times it became necessary
to revise the deme's list and to strike off the names of those
who had obtained fraudulent admission. In a revision,^ the
name of each soi-disant member was voted on separately : if
accepted, the name was allowed to stand : if rejected, the owner
was relegated to the ranks of the Metics, but had an appeal to
the Thesmothetse and Heliasts. But if he failed to make out his
case on appeal, he was sold into slavery.

The most important officers of the deme were the demarch
and the treasurers,^ who were elected annually, subject to a
dokimasia at the beginning, and to an examination of their
accounts ^ at the expiration of their year of office. Their duties
consisted primarily in the management of the finances of the
deme. The deme might possess property in land and derive
some income from its rent; but the amount of real property
owned by a deme does not seem to have been great. A larger
income seems to have been earned by money-lending : capital
was relatively scarce in Attica, and the rate of interest was
high — 12 per cent, was considered a moderate rate — a deme
therefore might add considerably to its revenue by lending
money. The chief source of income, however, was the tax
levied on citizens who, not being members of the deme, yet
possessed property within the deme.* More interesting than
the revenue account of the deme is the expenditure. There
were practically only two heads of expenditure in ordinary
times : the engraving of decrees, the cost of complimentary
crowns, &c., and expenditure on sacrifices, public worship, and
religious festivals. Nothing could show more clearly the fun-
damental difference between a deme and an English municipal
borough. Although the denies of Clisthenes were designed as

^ dia\pr](piai.s, the person rejected was 6 airoypT^cpiadeU or KaTaxpTjcpiadels.
- rafxlai.

^ By a evdvi'os, a Xoyiarris, and ten avi'rjyopoi, with appeal to the dyopd.
■* Such inhabitants were called iyKeKTrj/xevoi. — Deni. 1. 8 — and the tax
iyKTriTiKOf.

460 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

political and administrative divisions, they speedily assimilated
themselves to the religious associations which played so large
a part in the private life of a Greek citizen. The revenues of
the deme, inconsiderable by the side of those of an English town
or county council, were devoted mainly to the cult of the
various local and national gods. Nothing apparently was spent
on the roads, on improvements, sanitary or otherwise, nothing
on education, and there were no poor rates.

Although the amount of power intrusted to the demarch
differed in different demes, on the whole it was practically
inconsiderable : as regards finance, it was the assembly, the
agora itself, usually, which determined the terms on which the
deme's land or capital should be lent. The demarch, in execut-
ing the resolutions of the agora, was bound down by the most
precise instructions, had to refer again to the agora if cases not
foreseen presented themselves ; and even if a certain amount
of discretion were allowed in carrying out the decrees of the
assembly, the demarch was still limited by the treasurers and
other officials associated with him. So, too, although the
demarch was the representative of the deme in any lawsuits to
which the deme was a party, he was assisted or controlled by
legal coadjutors,^ and sometimes superseded by representatives
appointed by the agora. He did indeed summon and preside
over the agora, but the amount of control he exercised over its
proceedings depended on his personal character and influence ;
his office did not bring power with it. In liis relations with
the state, the demarch was circumscribed as much as in dealing
with the agora. As his presence was necessary if a creditor
wished to seize the goods of a debtor, the demarch became a
name of terror to impecunious debtors — witness Strepsiades
in the Clouds.'^ He had also to see that when a death occurred
in his deme the body was duly buried and the deme purified
from pollution. As the list of Athenians qualified to attend
the ecclesia ^ was but a copy of the lists of the various demes,
the demarch, in whose charge the deme's list was, thereby came
in contact with the state officials ; but the demarch could neither
insert nor remove a name from the deme's list. What amount
of discretion he exercised when ordered by the state to furnish
a list of persons in his deme liable to serve on board ship we
do not know. But in the mobilisation of the army it was the
taxiarchs who, according to Trygaeus in the Peace,'^ pressed the

^ (jvvdLKoi.. - Clouds 27, Mkv€i lie drjfxapx^s tis €K riav CTpwixiruv.

^ iriua^ eKKKrjCTiaaTLKbs — Deni. xliv. 35.

■* I186 ravra 5' r//xas tovs dypoLKOvs bpQirrc roiis 8' e| dcrrews 'Httoi'.

ATHENS 46 1

poor country-folk and favoured the townsmen. In short the
deniarch sacrificed a large amount of his time to the interests
of his deme, hut did not exercise in virtue of his office any
corresponding control over the affairs of the deme. If, then,
there were found condidates for the post, it was partly because
the position was one of dignity : the demarch represented tlie
deme on various solemn and important occasions, and offered
sacrifice in the name of the deme. But above all the office was
a stepping-stone to political power : it placed the holder en
evidence, and increased his chances of obtaining political office
by making him known. At the same time it was in itself a
piece of political experience and training. The demarch learnt
how to preside over an assembly; he became familiar with the
management of the finances of a public body ; he was brought
into contact with state officials in the discharge of their official
duties ; and as a magistrate having the power to inflict a small
line,i he acquired experience which would be useful to him in
any other magistracy.

The control of the deme's affairs lay with the assembly of the
demesmen, and not with any of the officials of the deme. The
agora itself managed its own finances, regulated its own deme's
list, called its officials to account, awarded crowns, compli-
mentary decrees, exemption from taxation. But though the
agora exercised the right of drawing up its own deme's list in
the first instance, its decisions in this matter could be and were
overruled by the state, by the Heliasts. Finally it is to be
noticed that though the agora of the deme nominally consisted
of all the demesmen, it really was attended by a minority of the
members of the deme, just as the ecclesia, though nominally
consisting of all the citizens, fell into the hands of a minority.
In the case of some demes the quorum was as small as thirty,
and it may be imagined that in so small a body it was easy for
a clique to obtain the exclusive control of the affairs of the
deme. If the demarch exercised any power, it was because he
was nominated by the dominant clique, or because he managed
to form a cli(]ue of his own.

As constituted by Clisthenes, the (fyvXai,'^ or tribes were ten
in number, and each ^vAvJ comprised ten demes ; but as the
demes became more numerous the phyle came to include more
than ten demes each, and in B.C. 306, the number of tribes

^ eTTL^oXriv eiri^dWeiv.

^ For the Pliylii? the followiiig inscriptions should be studied : C. I. A.
". 172, 553-559, 562, 564, 565, 567-

462 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

was increased to twelve. Though designed for political pur-
poses, the tribes were framed as religious associations : each
tribe was named after a local hero. These heroes had their
temples and lands attached to them, which constituted the
property and supplied the revenues of the tribes. The phyle,
like the deme, had its assembly or agora and its officials ^ : and,
as in the deme, so in the phyle, the agora managed the affairs of
the tribe, and allowed its officials little or no discretion in the
execution of its instructions. More important, however, than
the administration of the revenues of the tribe were its political
duties. Each phyle furnished fifty members to the houle, who
were chosen by lot from the members of the tribe, in such a
way that the denies in the tribe had a representation on the
houle proportional to their population. The phyle also afforded
the territorial divisions on which the military system was based :
each tribe furnished a regiment of hoplites and a division of
cavalry. Each phyle elected its own taxiarch or regimental
commander, when the strategi ceased to be elected by the
several tribes. For the purposes of the navy, the territorial
division, however, was not the phyle, but the divisions of the
tribe, the trittyes. The TptTTvs seems to have taken its name
from the most important deme situated within its boundaries, and
it was the business of the various demarchs to see that the trittys
provided its due and proper proportion of oarsmen to the fleet.
The bonds for keeping a phyle together and for making it
feel its corporate existence would have been feeble, especially
as the demes constituting a phyle were situated in three different
districts (trittyes), had not the tribes been wisely associated
with the amusements of the people. At the various religious
festivals, lyric and otherwise, the tribes competed for the
prize with each other. The expense of providing a chorus was
indeed borne by some individual citizen, but the chorus com-
peted in the name of the tribe, and the victory redounded to
the glory of the tribe. Such a liturgy as that of providing a
tragic chorus was a considerable burden, and if discharged with
signal honour to the tribe was rewarded : the tribe might vote
a complimentary decree to the member who had thus brought
it honour, and it might decree that he should henceforth be
exempt from liturgies. It was in the agora of the tribe that it
was settled who should undertake the various liturgies, the
choregia, gymnasiarchia, and hestiasis, but how the question was
settled exactly we do not know. Possibly if more candidates

^ ol iirifM€\T]Tai and a rafiias.

ATHENS 463

than one were forthcoming, the agora decided between them by-
vote ; wliile if none presented tliemselves, the phyle can scarcely
be supposed to have had the power to compel a man to under-
take the burden ; indeed we find that tribes from want of
wealthy members had to allow the liturgies to fall. Finally,
in addition to the regular officials elected by the tribe, there
were various extraordinary officials ^ whom it had to appoint
when any public work was assigned by the state to the phyle
for execution. The management of the affairs of the phyle
must have fallen more exclusively into the hands of a small
and active minority of the members, even than did those of
the deme ; for whereas the agora of the deme did meet in the
deme, the agora of the phyle, which was rather a political than
a local organisation, met in Athens.

CHAPTER VII
ATHENS — (continued)

THE MAGISTRATES IN GENERAL

The magistrates of Athens may be divided into ordinary and
extraordinary. The ordinary magistrates were those, whether
appointed by vote or lot, whose appointment lasted for a year,
and whose functions were determined by the constitution.
Extraordinary magistracies were those created by a decree of
the people to perform some special function. Such were the
superintendents of public works, and officials appointed by the
phyle, in pursuance of a decree of the people, for the execution
of some particular state business.

All magistrates, whether ordinary annual magistrates, or
specially appointed, were intrusted with the power to inflict a
fine not exceeding a specified maximum on persons who refused
them the obedience required for the discharge of their official
duties. 2 If the case was one too serious to be met by the
infliction of this penalty, the magistrate, in the exercise of his
jurisdiction,^ could put the offender on trial. It was also his

^ Such as the t€ixovolol, racppoTroioi, and TpiTjpoiroioi.

- The power to inflict this line, iirLfioXrju eTri^dWeLu, belonged to the
demarch as well as state officials, but the ordinary ofticials of the deme
and the phyle had no i]y€/j.ovLa 8iKa<XTr]piov.

^ 'Rye/uLovia diKaaTrjpiov : on this see below, the chapter on The Judicial
System.

464 CONSTITUTIOiNAL AXD LEGAL ANTrQUITIES

duty to conduct the trial of all who violated the laws which
he was appointed to administer. The duties thus entailed on
him will be fully described in the chapter on Legal Pro-
cedure. Here we need only note that the magistrate had no
such power as that of an English judge : he did not sum up,
he could not determine what evidence was and what was
not admissible, he did not decide points of law. He did not
actually usher the witnesses in, but he exercised little more
control in this matter than the herald whom he ordered to call
them in. He counted the votes of the dikasts and announced
the result, and discharged other duties of merely formal signi-
ficance.

Military and financial officials, the strategi, hipparchs, phy-
larchs, and taxiarchs, superintendents of public works, Hel-
lenotaniise and financial officials were elected by show of hands
on the Pnyx not earlier than the end of February. The strategi
and Hellenotamise were elected in such a way that as a rule
each phyle had a member on the board. The taxiarchs and
phylarchs were elected by the several phylse. At the same
time the archons and other magistrates were selected by lot, as
also were the members of the houle. Pluralism was net allowed :
no one might simultaneously hold two offices. Even re-election
was forbidden, except in the case of the houle, to which a man
might be elected twice, and military offices, to which he might
be elected several times. If he was not debarred by these
restrictions, it was competent for any citizen who wished to
obtain one of the appointments, which were made by lot, to
send in his name to the Thesmothetae, and the selection was
confined to those names. Substitutes were also selected in case
the persons first chosen should by death or otherwise vacate
their office prematurely. The mode of election was that in the
fifth century the demes, in the fourth century the tribes, each
nominated a certain number of candidates from whom the re-
quisite officials were chosen by lot. The demes, however, proved
corruptible, and their power of nomination was transferred to
the tribes ; and eventually sortition was substituted for nomina-
tion, so that there was a double process of drawing lots : each
tribe used sortition to select the candidates it had a right to
send in, and sortition was again applied to the candidates thus
sent in. Although the election of magistrates might take place
early in the year, the magistrates did not enter on office until
the month Hecatombspon (July) — if then. Between election
and admission to office the magistrate- elect had to submit to an
official investigation into his qualifications for the office he

ATHENS 465

had been provisionally appointed to. This investigation was
called the dokimasia.^

All magistrates, whether elected by lot or by vote, by the
whole people or by the separate phylae, were submitted to a
dokimasia before entering oliice. The Thesmothetae, and there-
fore probably the three superior archons, were, like the members-
elect of the boule, brought before the houle of the current year,
and there questioned by the TrpocSpos, the president of the boule,
for the time. The questions put were not designed to ascertain
whether the candidate was specially qualified for the functions
of his particular office, but whether he was a citizen,^ had
performed his military and religious duties properly, and in all
probability whether he had attained the age of thirty years,
which was required of magistrates and members of the boule.
It was also probably competent for any member of the boule to
bring to its notice anything in the previous life of the candidate
which might be held to disqualify him, as for instance that he
had in his youth given utterance to oligarchical or tyrannical
sentiments, and then the boule investigated the charge. If
charges were not made, or were refuted, the candidate was
approved,^ otherwise rejected : in either case the decision of
the boule might be upset by the sabsequent dokimasia held by
a law court, over which the Thesmothetae presided. No other
magistrates besides the archons had to undergo a double doki-
masia before the boule and before a court. Whether elected by
vote or by lot they were examined before a law court, but not
first examined by the boule.

Even when the magistrate-elect had successfully passed
through the ordeal of the dokimasia and entered on office he
did not escape from the most minute and jealous supervision.
At the first regular meeting of the ecclesia in each of the ten
prytanies into which the official year was divided, it was the
business of the archons to ask the people whether the various
magistrates had discharged their duties in a fit and proper
manner, and take a show of hands ^ on the question. The

^ On the dokimasia, see Meier und Schomann, ed. Lipsius, 236 S.

'^ In early times it was necessary for an archon-elect to be not only the
son but the grandson of Athenian citizens : subsequently it sufficed if he
were the son even of a " made " citizen. Before the archontate was thrown
open to all four classes, the candidate was asked whether he possessed the
requisite property qualification, subsequently e/ ra. reXr] reXe?, i.e., paid
his taxes.

^ To pass the candidate was doKifxd^€Lv, to reject him, dTroSoKifidieiP.

"* kiTLxeLpoTovla. The members of the houU might be suspended by an
eK<pvWo<popia, so called from the leaves used by the boule as voting papers.

2 O

466 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

strategi might be recalled from abroad. If the vote of the
people went against the magistrate he was liable to be suspended,
and tried before a court of Heliasts ; and when his period of
office had expired the magistrate had to give an account of his
proceedings ^ to the proper officials : until he had done so, he
could not leave the country or make any disposition of his
property which might prejudice the claim of the state to indem-
nify itself for any loss it had sustained at his hands. In the
fourth century B.C., the officials whose business it was to receive
the accounts of the magistrates were ten Xoyicrrai, ten o-vvi^yopoi,
and ten evOvvot (with their assessors), appointed by lot from the
tribes. 2 Every magistrate, within a certain period from the
end of his term of office, had to hand into the logistoe either an
account of all money received and paid by him, or a statement
that he had received no money. ^ He was also bound to afford
to the logistse and synegori any information which they might
require from him for the elucidation of his accounts. Further,
the logistse invited by herald any citizen who had any com-
plaint to make against the magistrate to do so. It is not to be
marvelled at if a system of this kind led to much intrigue and
corruption. Threats of false charges were made for the purpose
of extorting money ; frivolous charges might be brought for
annoyance ; a guilty magistrate intrigued to evade giving an
account of his magistracy by deferring and delaying, or escaped
by the collusion of the logistae. IS'o system excludes the un-
worthy from office entirely, but tossing up for your magistrates
probably excludes them less successfully than other systems,
even if a dokimasia is employed. It must also have required
a tolerably thick skin and an ardent thirst for small distinction
to carry a man througli all the disagreeables entailed by a
dokimasia, a cheirotonia monthly, and a €v$vva, all to hold an
office such as that of archon.

If a citizen, in reply to the invitation of the logistoe, brought

^ The official formula is \oyov diddvruv . . . Trpos roiis XoyiaroLS Kal
eidvvas dLdSvToov. Aoyos refers to pecuniary accounts, e^dvvat to the dis-
charo^e of his official dutie.«. On the Euthyna, see Meier und Schomann, ed.
Lipsius, pp. 112-117, 257-269; Scholl, De synegoris atticis ; Jena, 1876;
Inscriptions, C. I. A. i. 32, 34, 226, 228, 273 ; ii. 444, 446, 469, 470,
578. The speeches of Demosthenes and ^Eschines de falsa legatione were
delivered in the course of a trial of a ypacpj] irepl rdv evdvvdv.

^ In the century before, that is in the fifth, we find thirty logistae, some-
times called simply 01 rpidKovra, but their relation to the ten of the fourth
century is mysterious. In the fifth century there were euthyni, as well as
the thirty logistae.

3 Until he had done so and had been discharged he was vireidvvos. If
he failed to do so he was liable to a ypacpr} dXoyiou.

ATHENS 467

a charge against the retiring magistrate, he had to bring a
formal suit in the law courts against him.^ As examples of
such charges we have accusations of embezzlement of public
money, bribery, ^ or false ambassadorial reports.^ In any case,
whether the examination by the logistse and synegori was
favourable or not, whether a private accuser was forthcoming
or not, the ex-magistrate could only get his final discharge from
a law court of 501 members, appointed for the purpose. It was
part of the jurisdiction or hegemonia of the logistse to preside
over this court, while the synegori probably here took legal
action on any irregularities which had been discovered in the
ex-magistrate's accounts. The evOwot, in all probability, had
duties, such as the recovery of fines inflicted by magistrates ;
and the recovery of penalties from ex-magistrates was only one
branch of their work, which extended over the whole area of
administration and was not limited to the euthyna.

It is to be noted that the hegemonia of the logistse did not
extend to the strategi and military officials : they had to render
their accounts to a court under the hegemonia of the Thesmo-
thetse. Finally, even when the ex-magistrate had passed the exa-
mination of the logistce and had subsequently been discharged
by the law court, his troubles were not at an end : for a certain
number of days the ev^wos appointed by the tribe to which
the ex-magistrate belonged, sat along with his two assessors to
receive any complaint which any citizen might have to make,
and to bring it to the notice of the proper authorities, if he
thought fit.

It was permitted some magistrates, the three superior archons,
the €v6vvoL, Hellenotamiae, and possibly others, to appoint asses-
sors to assist them in their work. These assessors or paredri
were subject to a dokimasia and an evOvva. In the way of
paid officials there were secretaries,* assistant-secretaries,^
heralds, and others, who all seem to have had a bad reputation.
As many or most of the magistrates had no technical qualifica-
tions for the posts they held and the legal jurisdiction they
had to exercise, it is not to be wondered at if the secretaries, in
virtue of their superior familiarity with state business, exercised
considerable influence. The fact is evidently recognised by the
enactment eventually made to forbid a man acting as assistant-
secretary twice to the same magistracy. Magistrates were pro-

^ Such a suit was called in general a ypacpr] wepl tQv evdvpQv, but the
individual accuser had to specify the offence, e.;/., K\oirij tC'v Srjfioaiutp
XP'')lJ^o-T('}v. - 5u>/)wv. ^ IT a pair p( a [idas.

468 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

tected by the law from insult and assault in the discharge of
their duties, but the law could not, and did not, prevent con-
tempt from openly expressing itself when it is felt by a suffi-
ciently large proportion of the community. ^

CHAPTER VIII

ATHENS (contimied)

THE MAGISTRATES

Originally nothing more than the commanders of the tribal
regiments, and subordinate to the archon polemarch, the
strategi ^ came to be the most important officials in the state.
In addition to their command of the army, they came to con-
duct the foreign policy of Athens, while as guardians of the
state in time of peace ^ as well as of war, they were responsible
not only for keeping open supplies of food from abroad,** but
for protecting the state from treasonable attacks on the part
of her own children. When we add to these powers the juris-
diction which they exercised in the law courts in all the many
proceedings which arose out of their official action in mobilis-
ing the troops and levying the war-tax, in punishing desertion
and maintaining the defences of the country, we shall form
no mean opinion of the power wielded by the strategi. The
danger is that we may form too high an opinion : we have to
inquire — and the inquiry is " both interesting and instructive "
— what were the actual powers of the strategi as opposed to
their formal powers. In no other respect is a democratic form
of government more severely tested than in its relation to the
foreign and war departments. In no other department is it
more necessary that the servant of the state should be allowed
a free hand within the proper limits, and nowhere else is it
more difficult to determine what are the proper limits.

The strategi were subject to a hoKifxaa-ia and to a evdvva.
With the form of the latter we have not here to deal, as we

^ Xenophon {Mem. iii. 5, 16) speaks of people ot koI a-yaXKovTai ewl t<^
KaTa(ppope2v twv dpxouTuv.

- On the strategi, see Les Strateges AtMniens. par Am. Hauvette-Ber-
nault, Paris : Thorin, 1885. Inscriptions: C. I. A. i. 40, 55, 64; ii. 12,
40, 44. 55. 62, 64, 69, 71, 90, 109, 112, 115, 119, 121, 273, 302, 331, 334,
443, 804, 808, 809, 811, 1194, 1195; iv. 27, 51, 6t, 71, 49, 179.

3 Thuc. ii. 24, ^' Duui. 1. 17, 20, 58.

ATHENS 469

have already described it in the last chapter. We have now
to investigate the spirit in which it was worked, and the
practical effect it produced. In the first place, this method
of calling the strategi to account at the end of their year of
office was no mere form. The list of generals thus brought to
trial is long enough to show this without any other proof. The
list begins with Miltiades, the victorious general of Marathon,
and is continued through the names of Themistocles, Cimon,
Pericles, Phormio, the brilliant commander in some of the
early operations of the Peloponnesian war, Paches, Thucydides
the historian, Alcibiades, Timotheos, in B.C. 373 to the end
of Athens' existence as an independent state. Besides these
names there are those of many other less known generals, and
doubtless the list that we can make by no means comprehends
all the strategi who were accused at the ev^uvat. The names
we have given are, however, enough to show that in some cases
the Athenian people were bad masters, and in some cases had
bad servants. But the effect of the system cannot be measured
merely by the trials that took place justly or unjustly under it :
whether the punishment of bad generals did the state good in
any proportion to the evil wrought by the unjust accusation of
faithful servants is a question which may perhaps be debated.
What is beyond the possibility of doubt is the injurious effect
which the fear of accusation had on generals in the conduct
of their campaigns. That this must have been the effect of
such a system scarcely needs actual proof ; we may, however,
point to the express testimony given by Thucydides to the
share this system had in producing the disasters in the Sicilian
campaign, which practically decided the Peloponnesian war
against the Athenians. Nicias dared not raise the siege of
Syracuse for fear of the accusations which would be made against
him at the evOvva if he did so. The very sailors who were the
loudest to complain of the sufferings which the continuance of
the siege entailed upon them, would have been the very first
to accuse him on their return to Athens for having raised it ;
while the people who judged the generals would, in complete
ignorance of the actual facts of the campaign, be determined
in their judgment simply by the assertions of the most per-
suasive orators.^ The Athenian democracy would no more
sanction a retreat which they had not decreed themselves ^
than the French democracy, and Nicias apparently had not
that appreciation of the value which mere words have with

^ Thuc. vii. 48. - Thuc. vii. 48.

47 O CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

the people that enabled Lazare Hoche to save his head by
executing not a retreat but a retrograde movement.^ To
modern ideas a system which allows the troops at the end of
a campaign to bring accusations against the general who has
commanded them and to sit in judgment on him, seems
monstrous. It must, however, be remembered that war was
not so technical and scientific in classical as in modern times.
It was not so monstrous then to take the opinion of the mass
of citizens, who had all of them some experience in warfare, on
the simple details of the straightforward campaigns of those
days, as it would be now, and here, to submit the conduct of
a scheme elaborated by a specialist in the art of war to the
criticism even of educated laymen. Again, if it seems pre-
posterous and ludicrous to us that an Athenian from the rank
and file should ask his commander about his plan of battle
with as much confidence that he would get a reply as if he
had asked his opinion on the weather, we must remember
that this utter absence of subordination was due not only to
the democratic equality of the citizen-soldier "with the citizen-
general, but still more to the smallness of the citizen body : a
citizen could have a personal acquaintance with a much larger
proportion of his fellow-citizens than is possible or conceivable
in a modern state. When, however, all allowances have been
made for the circumstances under which the system of the
€v6vva was worked, it must be admitted that it was not such
as to develop subordination amongst the soldiery or self-reliance
in the general. Nor is it possible to maintain that the system
of trial was a good one : the trial of the generals after the
battle of Arginusse suffices to show that a tribunal was required
which was less directly exposed to gusts of passion than was an
assembly which, under the influence of ungovernable temper,
refused to be ruled even by the laws and constitution of its
own making. Red-tape has its recommendations.

When citizen armies had been displaced by mercenary troops,
it might be thought some of the defects attaching to the system
of the €vdvva would disappear. As a matter of fact, the in-
herent faults were developed still more strongly. Citizens who
had themselves served under arms had some, however little,
experience in the matters which at the cvdvvaL of the strategi
they might be called to sit in judgment upon. Citizens who

1 Callistratos on the other hand was as discerning as the Frenchman :
finding that the tribute was intolerable to the allies under the name of
06pos, he called it (rvvra^is, with the happiest results. See Theopompus
ap. Harpocr. s.v. crvuTa^is.

ATHENS 471

employed mercenary troops had not even that elementary quali-
fication for the tribunal they filled. During the earlier period
there were some, it might be many, citizens who had taken part
in the campaign under criticism, and who were to some extent
eye-witnesses of the facts which the court had to pronounce
upon. In the time of the mercenaries, there was not even this
guarantee that the facts of the case would or might come to the
knowledge of the court. It became necessary for a general to
be supported by a powerful orator in the ecclesia if he wished
to be not absolutely defenceless against the attacks to wliich
an unsuccessful general was inevitably exposed, and from which
a successful officer was not free. The number of accusations
seems to increase in this period ; and we find that the strategi
had, under the working of this system, become so utterly de-
moralised as to endeavour to purchase immunity at the hands
of the people by bringing accusations against their fellow-
generals. Punishment is even less satisfactory than payment
by results. We have seen that the strategi were pretty certain
to be called to account for any false step which they might take,
whilst exercising the powers intrusted to them. We have now
to see what amount of latitude and discretion the ecclesia
allowed to them in the discharge of their duties.

The first duty of a general is to raise troops : at Athens it
was only by a decree of the people that the citizens could be
called to arms, as it was only by a decree of the people that
war could be declared. It might happen under very extraor-
dinary circumstances that, by a special decree of the people,
the generals were allowed to raise the amount of troops they
themselves thought necessary for their military operations, but
ordinarily it was the ecclesia which determined the number
or the age of the citizens who should be called out. If all
citizens of a certain age were called to arms the strategi had no
choice as to the quality of their troops ; if on the other hand
the ecclesia simply determined the number of men to be sum-
moned, the strategi were allowed to choose those whom they
thought most fit for service, and this gave them an opportunity
for favouritism and for oppression. Even greater powers of
annoyance, if the generals chose to use them for the purpose of
annoyance, were placed in the hands of the strategi, when they
exercised the right of nominating the four hundred citizens
liable to the burden of the trierarchy.^ The importance of the
strategi is clearly shown by the fact that they had the right to

^ Thiic. ii. 24.

472 CONSTITUTIONAL ANTD LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

convoke (through the prytaneis) special meetings of the ecclesia,
and that their business took precedence of other agenda. In
the dealings of Athens with other states also the strategi filled
a position of importance : we find them negotiating and con-
cluding the capitulation of cities, armistices, conventions, &c.
But here again we find that the people were jealous of in-
trusting power to their servants : the ratification of matters
of foreign policy was reserved by the ecclesia for itself. The
general made his report to the assembly, but the ecclesia nego-
tiates the alliance in question. Compacts and conventions made
by the strategi alone might be and not unfrequently were simply
disregarded by the ecclesia. In the matter of finance the strategi
were confined strictly to their own department and did not
exercise any control over the general financial policy of the state.
Even in their own department they were sharply looked after :
the amount of money to be expended on a campaign was voted
by the ecclesia, and if during a camjDaign the general needed
further supplies they had to be separately voted by the assembly.
The levying of the war-tax, when voted, was conducted by the
strategi, and the working of the system by which vessels were
provided for the navy was also in their hands. Further, the
contributions from the allies, which after the time of Alci-
biades became the one source from which a general could
hope to get pay for his troops, were raised by the strategi.
Here there was scope for dishonesty on the part of the generals,
and all the rigours of the evOvva were necessary. But here,
where the evOvva might have been invaluable, it seems to have
broken down, not from any indisposition on the part of the
Athenians to do justice on their generals or to protect their
allies, but from the fact that the opportunities for extortion
were various enough to include many means for evading the
law. The jurisdiction of the strategi extended to a large
number of cases — to such offences as refusal to serve when duly
summoned,^ desertion from the ranks ^ or from the fleet,^
absence without due and sufficient reason from ship-board at
the time of an engagement,* moving from one rank to another
without orders in time of battle,^ desertion to the enemy,^
throwing away one's shield,"^ and all acts of cowardice generally.
In all these cases, however, the strategi had nothing like martial
law at their disposal ; they had to bring the offenders before a
civil court. At the trial of these offenders, as also in the trial

^ dcTTpareia. ^ XiTroaTpdrtov . ^ XiirovavTLOV. * dfav/xAxi-OV.

^ XiTTOTa^iov. ^ airofioXia ' pi\pa(rin%.

ATHENS 473

of all cases arising out of the apportionment by the strategi of
the burden of the war-tax and the trierarchy, the strategi did
indeed exercise jurisdiction ; but it was of the same exceedingly
limited nature as that of the archons and all other magistrates
in Athens.

At the beginning of their history the strategi seem to have
been equal among themselves and to have been each equally
competent to perform any of the duties that fell to the collegium,
while the presidency of the board was enjoyed by them in
rotation. After what we have already learned as to the way
in which the ecclesia limited the discretion of the strategi in
the discharge of their duties, we shall not be surprised to find
that, instead of always leaving the strategi to divide their work
among themselves in the way in which they thought most advan-
tageous, the people not unfrequently determined, for instance,
when a campaign was to be undertaken, how many and which
strategi should be despatched.^ On such occasions the ecclesia
might also determine that one strategus should occupy a position
of superiority over those of his colleagues who were sent out
with him.2 In time of great danger, the assembly would make
one strategus superior to all his colleagues ;^ and whereas, as
a rule, the amount of power conceded to the strategi was very
narrow, the people might extend the latitude within which
the strategus was allowed to use his own discretion.* Finally,
between B.C. 334 and 325, the functions of the ten members of
the board were specialised, and a candidate was chosen, not to
be a strategus at large, but to discharge the particular functions
attaching to the special post which he was chosen to fill.^

As the strategi ceased to be mere commanders of the tribal
regiments, the military command of the hoplites of the ten tribes
was transferred to the taxiarchs. The command of the whole
cavalry of the state was in the hands of two hi])parchi ; under
the hipparchi were the ten phylarchs. All these officials were
elected by vote — the taxiarchs and phylarchs, one from each
tribe ; the hipparchs from the whole body of citizens.

The most ancient officials of finance were, as the meaning of
their name indicates, the KuyXo.KperaL ; their business originally,

1 Thuc. vi. 8 ; vii. 16.

2 This is conveyed in such formulae as ir^/nTrros avrS^, rplros aiirSs.
Cf. Thuc. i. 61 ; ii. 79 ; iii. 3, 19 ; iv. 42.

2 He is called d^Karos avrSs. — Thuc. i. 1 16 ; ii. 13.

^ Such power (and not superiority to the other strategi) is intended in the
word avTOKpdrup. In the Sicilian expedition — Thuc. vi. 8, 26 — all those
generals were ai/TOKpdropes. Cf. also Thuc. ii. 65, and Xen. Hell. i. iv. 20.

^ See below, Book VITT., chapter ii.

474 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

in prehistoric times, was to cut or divide the limbs of the
animals offered in sacrifice. ^ This duty must be referred tu a
time when, as in Homer, the people paid no money-taxes of any
sort, but made gifts in kind to their rulers. Such gifts were
received by the KioXaKperai, who also divided the meat thus
offered amongst the magistrates when they assembled in the
prytaneum. When in course of time gifts ceased to be made
in kind, the KbiXaKpkrai continued to provide for the meals
given by the state at the prytaneum, but did so from the fines
inflicted by the magistrates. They also came to receive the
vavKpapLKdj which were levied for the purposes of the fleet,
early times. The office continued to exist to the fifth century
at least, and to provide for the payment of the dikasts. The
board of ten diroSeKraL, selected by lot, one from each tribe,
was instituted by Clisthenes, but as instituted seems to have
been an inferior board, intrusted only with the receipt of debts
owing to the state. In the fifth century the principal financial
officials were the Hellenotamiae, the Treasurers of the Goddess
(Athene),^ and a board constituted in B.C. 435, and known as
the "Treasurers of the other Gods."^ The Hellenotamiae
were primarily officials of the Athenian Confederation, but
their funds were frequently employed for purely Athenian
purposes. The Treasurers of the Goddess were ten in number,
appointed by lot from the class of the Pentacosiomedimni. The
"Treasurers of the other Gods" were also ten in number, and
appointed by lot. Their treasures, like those of the Goddess'
Treasurers, were stored in the building called opisthodomos.

In B.C. 403 the Apodektse seem to have had their sphere
enlarged : in the presence of the boide they received not only
debts to the state, but the tribute, the war-taxes, tolls^ &c., and
from them seem to have made payment to the various spending
departments. At the same time the two boards of the Treasurers
were united. This arrangement, however, was given up subse-
quently, and then again resumed. The importance of the
Apodektae was considerably diminished in tlie fourth century
by the appointment of a minister of the Theoric Fund ;^ and in
about B.C. 320, when the two boards of Treasurers were again
united, the Apodektse seem to have ceased to exist.

^ KtSKaKperai from KwXa and Keipio.

2 TafiiaL TTJs deov, or in full rafiiai tQu iepCbv xpVf^'^T^'^ ''''n^ 'Adtjvalai,
— Inscriptions : C. I. A. i. 32, 117, 140, 188, 273, 299, 324 ; ii. 2, 17, 61. 612,
642, 643, 652, 653, 667,^730, 733.

^ rauiai tQv AWuv deOsv. — C. I. A. i. 32, 194-225.

* 6 tTTi TO dewpLKbv.

ATHENS 475

The importance of the minister of the Theoric Fund in the
fourth century was due to the fact that at this time the surplus
of the public revenue, which in better days had been devoted
to military purposes, was diverted to the Theoric Fund and to
the amusements of the people. About b.c. 339, however, the
minister of the Theoric Fund ceased to exercise the influence
over the general finance of the country which he had wielded
during the time of Eubulus (b.c. 354-339). The surplus of
the revenue was once more, on the motion of Demosthenes,
devoted to the defence of the country ; and the control of the
financial policy of the country was in the following year placed
in the hands of a financial minister, ^ who was intrusted with
a general supervision of the public income and expenditure.
At first, probably, this was an extraordinary post, and not a
regular appointment. Eventually (after the time of the Ath.
Pol., probably B.C. 306) this ofiicial came to form one of the
regular administrative officers of state : he was elected by vote,
held office for four years, and was not eligible for re-election.
As the surplus of the public revenue was devoted to military
purposes, the financial minister had necessarily to work in con-
junction with the Military Treasurer,^ and eventually came
to be subordinate in importance to him. Even during the
period of his greatest power, he was not allowed an entirely
free hand : he was checked by a sort of controller,^ who as-
sisted at the receipt of money, and rendered an independent
account of all moneys received to the ecclesia every prytany.

Finally, we have to mention the TrpaKTopes, whose duty it was
to recover the fines inflicted by the magistrates, and the TrojAT^rat,
who sold up people who did not pay their taxes, state-debtors,
Metics who did not pay their metoikion ; they also farmed out
the state mines and state property generally, as well as the
tolls, and saw to the execution of inscriptions and other pubhc
work.

The extensive powers which the board of the nine archons'*
exercised before the time of the democracy, when the govern-
ment of the state was in the hands of the archons, were gradu-
ally withdrawn from the board, as the democracy grew, and
the people in the ecclesia and the law courts undertook to
govern itself, and itself to administer justice. This decline in the
power of the archons is connected with the change in the mode

^ 6 iirl Trj dLOiK-qcret.. - ra/xias twv o-TpaTiuniKwv.

^ avTiypacpei)^ ttj's ^ov\t]S or dvTLypa(f)€vs ttjs StoiK-qaeu}^.
•* On the archons, see Meier und Schumann, ed. Lipsius, p. 55 ff., and
Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des AntiquiUs, s.v.

476 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

of their appointment from election by vote to selection by lot ;
though, whether the decline of the archontate was the cause
or the result of their election by lot, we have not sufficient
information to say. It is, however, well to note that, whereas
in the fourth century B.C., and during the last sixty years of
the fifth century, no politician of importance is known to have
acted as archon, we find that as late as the beginning of the
fifth century, statesmen such as Themistocles and Aristides
did not disdain to serve as archons. We are safe, therefore,
in ascribing considerable powers to the archons as late as the
commencement of the fifth century. After that time, and
more particularly in the time of the orators, their most impor-
tant functions were religious and judicial : how slight their real
power as presidents of the law courts was is apparent from
what we have already said as to the jurisdiction of magistrates
generally. As a board the archons acted together but rarely ;
the only case in which the nine archons jointly and as a
collegium exercised jurisdiction was that in which they brought
before a court those magistrates who had been suspended from
office by the people at the kizLx^LpoToviai. They further pre-
sided jointly at the election of the strategi, taxiarchs, hipparchs,
and phylarchs, at the selection by lot of the 6000 dikasts and
of the ten athlothetae, and lastly they assisted in superintend-
ing the voting in the do-T/)aKio-/xos. The power of sentencing to
death those exiles who returned without authority belonged,
not to the nine archons, but to the Thesmothetae.

The president of the board was the first archon, the archon
par excellence, who was known as the eponymos, because his
name stood at the head of the various lists of names issued
during his year of office, such as the list of young men enrolled
for the first time as citizens, and as liable to military service.
It fell to his duty to act as guardian to heiresses and orphans,
to protect the fatherless and widows, in a word, to regulate
family relations when it was necessary ; for the functions of the
archon, whose tribunal was in the Agora, near the Eponymi,
were principally judicial ; and as riye[xiov SLKao-ri-jpiov he exer-
cised jurisdiction in all cases, private and public, which arose
from family matters, and which were brought against a citizen.
The obligations entailed by marriage or by divorce (aTroAeti/'^co?,
d7ro7r€ixxpeo)s) afforded matter for complaints, such as of cruelty
(/caK(oo-€ws), or with regard to maintenance ((tltov), and, except
during the existence of the Eisagogeis, to dowries ; the relation
of son to father might give rise to a complaint (yovecov KaKwcrecos) ;
and any member of the family, by his insanity or criminal

ATHENS 477

idleness, might make himself the object of a complaint (Trapavoias
or dpyias). In all these cases the offender is a member of the
family, and the cases consequently come before the archon.
When, however, the offence, though against the family, is con-
ceived as committed by a stranger to the family, as in the case
IxoLx^tas, the matter does not come under the cognisance of the
archon, except when the family has lost its natural head, and
then orphans, widows, wards are entitled to lay complaints
before the archon in case of injury or fraud (/caKwo-ews kTriKX-qpinv,
opcjiaviov, )(r]pevov(TO)v yvvaiKwv" iTriTpoTrrjs, fxicrOiocrews olkov).
From this it naturally follows that the archon's competence
extended to all trials arising out of matters connected with
the inheritance of property (eViSiKacriai, or Ary^ets Kk-qpojv and
eTTLKX-qpoiv). This completes the account of the archon's prin-
cipal judicial functions ; there remain, however, instances in
which the archon appears as exercising jurisdiction in trials,
such as for perjury or violence, which have no connection with
the rights of the family. It seems probable that if out of a
trial about some family matter there arose prosecutions for
perjury, subornation, violence, refusal to give evidence, or to
produce documents or property, or to divide the property
(\l/ev8ofjLapTvpL0)V, KaK0T€;>(Vtt3v, c^ovXrjS, Xnrop.aprvpLOVj els
ep(f>av(i)V KarddTacTLV, els SaTqTWV atpecnv), these prosecutions
were brought before the archon, as being incidental to and a
part of the main trial. The analogy — that of the paragraphe
which was tried before the magistrate under whose jurisdiction
the case itself fell — which makes it probable that the sub-
ordinate trials were brought before the magistrate who tried
the main case, is scarcely enough of itself to warrant us in con-
cluding with Perrot (p. 255) that the subordinate trials were
allowed to block the main case, and thus allowed to be used
for purposes of obstruction, but the circumstances of the case
make the inference probable. As the archon was permitted
to take cognisance of offences not strictly falling under his
jurisdiction, if they were incidental to a trial in which he pre-
sided, so, although he was not competent to try (fxio-ets gener-
ally, yet those which related to fraudulent guardians or injured
wards came within his sphere. Further, the archon, in accord-
ance with the ordinary rule, exercised judicial functions in all
suits connected with his ritual duties, such as StaStKacrLaL
Xoprjyojv, complaints against the choregus or against foreigners
who took part in the Chorus ; but although he had the power
to inflict fines on those who created disturbances in the festivals
which he superintended, the right of punishing offences against

478 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

the sacred and religious character of the festivals appertained
not to him but to the Thesmothetse. Finally, if the archon
were competent to assure to citizens some of their personal
rights, his jurisdiction extended not to all those rights but at
the most to the status libertatis, which for citizens was the
subject of a Slkyj e^aipecreco?.

The archon's other duties were religious, and consisted in
the superintendence of the great Dionysia and Thargelia, and
in the organisation of the choruses for the Dionysia, Thargelia,
and eventually, though not originally, for the Leneea, as well
as of the choruses sent to Delos and elsewhere. He was assisted
in his direction of the Dionysia by ten elected eTrt/xeXryrat ttj?
TTOfXTrrjs Tw Alovvo-m, and in his other duties by two TrdpcSpou
chosen by himself. The archon appears also to have had the
management of the calendar.

The king-archon, who in antiquity was usually styled 6 ^acrtAevs
simply and whose tribunal was situated in the /Saa-iXcLos crTod, near
the temple of Zeus Eleutherios, was the second of the archons.
Representing the same feeling as the rex sacrorum — the feeling
that a ritual once established must be perpetuated — the basileus
inherited the religious functions of the kings, and his juris-
diction, accordingly, applies solely to offences against religion.
Thus, charges of impiety (ao-e/^etas) and a like nature came
before him, as also did disputes (6ta8tKao-mt) between various
families or members of the same family as to the right to a
priesthood, between priests, or between priests and laymen, as
to prerogatives or emoluments (yepa). Many offences, further,
which we regard as committed against society were from the
Athenian point of view offences against religion, and therefore
fell within the cognisance of the basileus. Such, for instance,
were prosecutions for murder {(f>6vov Kal dxl/vxoiv SiKat), poison-
ing (^apfxaKOiv), attempted homicide (l^ovXcva-ews), intentional
wounding (r/jav/xaTos Ik Trpovoias), incendiarism {irvpKaids) and
a/x^Xworews. According to a Solonian law, revived during
Ly Sander's siege of Athens, tyrannis was an offence to be tried
before the basileus. The other duties of this archon were
religious, and consisted in the supervision of the mysteries at
Eleusis, the Lensea, Anthesteria, Arrephoria, and athletic con-
tests (aycoves yvfxviKOi). At the Anthesteria, his wife, the
^ao-tXiWa, or PaxriXivva, represented the spouse of Dionysus.
His duties at the mysteries, in which he was assisted by four
kirifieXriTal twv jxva-TrjpLoyv, elected by the people, two from
the families of the Eumolpidae and Kerukes, and two from
Athenian citizens at large, would make it necessary for him to

ATHENS 479

be one of the initiated. The election of the Gymnasiarchs for
all festivals was in his care ; he had the sacred places of the
city under his protection, and all trials arising out of the
already mentioned matters of ritual which were under his
superintendence, naturally came within his hegemony. The
hasileus, like the archon, was supported in his judicial duties
by two TTOLpeSpoL, selected by himself.

The third archon, whose tribunal was in the Lyceum, bore
the name of polemarch. Originally, as his name imports, the
commander-in-chief, he in that character represented the state
in those relations to foreigners which in antiquity were, if not
the sole, at any rate the most usual relations between one state
and another ; and although in course of time he was stripped of
his military functions, he retained the judicial functions which
as time went on were necessitated by peaceful intercourse with
strangers, and by the presence and residence of foreigners in
the city. The character of his judicial hegemony is indicated
by Aristotle in a passage quoted from the Ath. Pol. by Uarpo-
cration (s.v. iroX^jJiap-^^os) ocra rois TroAtrais 6 apyoiv Tavra rots
/xerotKois 6 TToXefJiapxos {sc. etVayet). As it was the duty of the
archon to protect a citizen who was injured in his family rights
or in his rights of succession, so the polemarch was appealed
to by any foreigner — isoteles or proxenos as well as Metic —
who wished to establish at law his claim to such rights against
either a citizen or another foreigner. This, however, does not
exhaust the jurisdiction of the polemarch. A foreigner might
be a party to many other law proceedings than those in which
his family or successoral rights were involved ; and although no
public action was withdrawn from the proper court and tried
before the polemarch because a foreigner was one of the parties
to the action, yet in all private cases, except those relating to
mines or commercial matters {SUai fieraXXiKai, ifnropLKal) and
BiKat aTTo (TviJi/36X(s)v, the polemarch had jurisdiction when a
foreigner was the defendant. So, too, a Metic accused of not
complying with the decision of any magistrate was proceeded
against, not before that magistrate, but before the polemarch
(Kareyyvav, Steyyvav). Further, if a Metic failed in any of his
legal duties he was accused a-n-pocnacriov, or if having been a
slave he was after his enfranchisement charged with neglecting
his duties to his late master, he was accused a7rocrTao-tov, or if
he wished to establish his freedom he instituted a Sikt; /SXd/St]^
or an a(f>aip€(TLs ei's IX^vOepiav before the polemarch. Lastly, it
was before the polemarch that Proxeni established their right
to various privileges, private {eyKrricns) and public (areAeia

480 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

TTpoeSpLo), accorded by the state to them. His other functions
were exercised in matters of ritual : he superintended the
sacrifices in honour of Artemis Agrotera, EnyaHos, Harmodius
and Aristogeiton, and the celebration of the kimoi^ia in honour
of those who fell on the field of battle. According to the
Scholiast on Dem. in Tim. 20, the polemarch had to look after
the education of the children of those who had fallen in war ;
and from Lys. c. Alcib. ii., § 4, D. 169, he may for some
time have retained jurisdiction in the case of certain military
ofi'ences. Like the first two archons he was assisted by two
TrapeSpot.

The evil consequences which might have ensued from throw-
ing open the archonship to all citizens, and that by lot and
not by election, were met by reducing the discretionary powers
of the officer to a minimum, and leaving him little but for-
malities and technicalities. This residuum, however, implied a
legal knowledge which might or might not be forthcoming in
any particular archon ; and to meet the case of its not being
forthcoming, the first three archons were provided with as-
sessors or TrdpeSpoi to assist them. Each of these three archons
was compelled to elect two TrdpeSpot, but was allowed to choose
for the post those persons whom he wished, and generally
selected a relation or friend on whom he wished to confer a
favour. The TrdpeSpoi were subject to the SoKLpLaa-ta and evBvvay
and might be dismissed for misconduct before the expiry of
their year of office. The functions of the assessors are not
expressly stated, and probably were never defined, but depended
on the amount of authority which the archon chose to allow
them. In the case of an archon who was unequal to his duties
the assessors would practically do the work ; in other cases such
work would fall to them as the multiplicity of the archon's
duties prevented him from himself performing. The Thes-
mothetae had no assessors. They might choose cru/x^ovAot to
advise or assist them ; but these a-vixpovXoi did not constitute
an apx"*? ^s did the irdp^Spoi, and had in fact no existence in
the eye of the law. Amongst the six Thesmothetse there
might be some who were incompetent, but the majority were
probably equal to their work, and consequently the need for
TrdpeSpoL would not make itself felt.

The six remaining archons were called Thesmothetae, and
formed a board (o-weS/atov) whose tribunal was the Thesmosion.
Their functions were purely collegiate at all times. The archons
in the time of Solon were intrusted with almost complete juris-
diction, but in the course of political changes, fresh boards and

ATHENS 48 1

officers came into existence, and in their turn were intrusted
with jurisdiction. This growth of new institutions possessing
powers of jurisdiction could only proceed at the expense of the
judicial powers of the archons, and especially of the Thes-
mothetse; and as the encroachments on the archons' powers,
like the growth of the encroaching institutions, proceeded on
no systematic scheme, the judicial domain left to the Thes-
mothetse presents but little system or regularity. The principle
that the hegemony of the Thesmothetse included all proceed-
ings in which the prosecutor alleged the interests of the state
to have been injured (Bancke, De ThesmotliHis Atheniensium,
Breslau, 1844) is indeed an internal principle of classification,
but is inadequate, for the jurisdiction of the Thesmothetae,
althougli it did comprehend the majority of such cases, did
not embrace them all, while on the other hand it did include
some, though not many, private cases. We must be content
then with the external classification that those cases fell to
the Thesmothetse, which were not appropriated to some other
magistracy. This mode of classification, at first sight unsatis-
factory, is at least true, and has the merit of indicating tlie
historical process by which the powers of the board of Thes-
mothetse came to be what they were. Almost every form of
public law proceeding will be found to be represented in the
actions which came before the Thesmothetae. The dokimasia
of the orators, of the recipients of citizenship, and of the magis-
trates, at least as far as they came before a law court, were
introduced by the Thesmothetae, while the euthynae of the
strategi, apagoge, endeixis, and phasis, were all forms of trials
which came before the Thesmothetae. In probolai, when the
demos had decided against the accused, they introduced the
matter to the court ; and they presided in court when the hoide
or ecclesia sent an eisangelia to court for decision. The follow-
ing public processes are expressly mentioned as coming before
the Thesmothetae: — ypa(^a\ aypa^lov, dSLKCos elpydrjvat u)s [JiOL-)(6v^
jSovXevcreojs (in the sense not of murder, or intent to murder,
but of illegally removing one's name from the list of debtors
to the state), SeKacr/xov, Sto/owv, eraip^cretos, kXotttJs (both kAottt)
SrjfJLOcTLCjv ■)(pr]fidT(x>v and Other ypacfial and SiKat kAottt]?), pocy^eias,
(TVKO(fiavTLas, vfSpeios, xpevSeyypacfyyjs, and xj/evSoKXrjTetas. To
these M. Caillemer, in the Didionnaire des Antiquites (s.v.
Archontes, p. 387), adds, dypd^ov fxerdXXov, dSiKtov (Poll. viii.
88), i^ayoyyyjsj and it poaycoy etas ; but with the exception of
dSiKtov which is not mentioned in the passage he refers to, he
gives no authority in support of them. The following private

2 II

482 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

actions are all that can be ascribed to the hegemony of the
Thesmothetce : StKat l/x7roptKat, /xeraAAtKat, diro cri;/x/?oA(ov,
KaKi^yopLas, and xj/evSoixaprvpiOiv (whether the perjury had been
committed before the Areopagus or in cases tried before the
Thesmothetse). Other private cases, corresponding to the
Eoman ohligationes ex contractu^ came, not before the Thes-
mothetse, but before the Fourteen. With reference to the StKat
ttTTo crv/x/3dAa)v, it is to be noticed that an inscription of the
beginning of the fourth century (Hicks, Inscriptions, 73) shows
they were at that time brought before the polemarch. Frank el's
attempt {Die Attische Geschworenengericlde, p. 41) to show
that the Thesmothetse then had jurisdiction in such cases when
an Athenian was one of the parties to the suit, is, as Lipsius
indicates, a non sequitur from an incorrect translation of the
inscription in question. Tliere remain to be mentioned certain
functions of greater interest and more importance exercised by
the Thesmothetse. First may be noticed that from which they
took their name, the revision of the laws. At the first regular
ecclesia of the year the question was considered whether new
laws were desirable or whether the old would sufiice ; and it
was the express duty of the Thesmothetse on this occasion to
propose the abrogation of such laws as on previous examination
they had found to be inconsistent with other laws. If the meet-
ing voted that new laws were desirable, the Thesmothetse gave
such publicity as they could to the alterations which they pro-
posed, and in the second regular meeting held after the one
already mentioned under the presidency of the Thesmothetse,
the question was considered whether the adoption of these
changes was desirable. If the changes were voted desirable,
a court of Nomothetse was appointed to effect the changes. A
second case of importance in which the Thesmothetse appear is
that of a-vfi/SoXa (Frankel, p. 42). All proposed treaties with
another state, after they had been discussed in the ecclesia,
must, in order to be concluded, be brought before a court of
heliasts, which, under the hegemony of the Thesmothetse, had
the power of accepting or rejecting the proposed treaty. Further,
the Thesmothetas managed the daily selection of dikasts by
lot, assigned the various magistrates their courts, and appointed
days for the hearing of the various cases. Fourthly, the Thes-
mothetse presided in the trials, Jevtas^ Siopo^evias, and of those
who were accused of attempting to overthrow the constitution
(KaraAvo-ews tov S'qpiov). According to M. Caillemer (Joe. cit.)
trials for treason (TrpoSocrtas), fraudulent attempts to deceive the
people {oLTraTrja-eois tov Srjfxov), and falsification of the currency

ATHENS 483

(voixL(TfjLaTo<5 8La<f)6opas) came under the hegemony of the Thes-
mothetae, but he does not give his authorities. The power of
pronouncing sentence of death against those exiles who returned
without permission belongs not to the nine archons but to
the Thesniothetae.

The Eleven ^ were charged with the unpleasant duty of see-
ing that sentences of death were duly and legally carried out,
and that torture, when ordered, was applied by the public exe-
cutioner. The prisons were under their charge, consequently
they had to detain in custody criminals caught flag r ante delicto,
and to try cases arising out of such detention.

The streets of Athens were under the charge of the dcrTwofjiOL
to a certain extent. It was the duty of the d<Trvv6[ioL, ten in
number, to see that the streets were kept clean, to see that
persons walked about decently clad, and to exercise a super-
vision over the flute and lyre players. The markets were under
the control of ten dyopavofjLOL, who maintained order therein,
exacted the market tolls and dues, and prohibited fraud.
Weights and measures were kept to the just standard by the
[xerpovofjiOL. As far as bread was concerned, however, false
measure was checked by the o-tTocf^vXaKes (originally ten in
number, but afterwards thirty-five), who also kept an account
of all corn imported into Athens, in order that the state might
possess the information necessary to control the price of corn in
time of need. The corn dealers were prevented from exacting
starvation prices for bread, by the appointment of o-trwi'at on
occasion, who at the cost of the state sold corn at a low price
to the poor. With a view to staving off a dearth in the supplies
of grain, there was a board of ten harbour officials,^ whose
duty it was to see that at least two-thirds of every cargo of corn
landed in Attica went to Athens. There was also another board
of harbour officials, ^ in whose care the war- ships were placed.
The designs for war-ships were made under the supervision of
one board, the building was supervised by another. The roads
were maintained by five oSottolol ; temples kept in repair by a
special board of ten. The water-supply of the city — by means
of springs and underground conduits — was in the care of a special
official elected by vote for a term of four years. Under the
head of magistrates appointed to execute definite commissions
we need do no more than mention the superintendents of the

^ Officially 01 (vdeKa, popularly iTrifj.e\7}Tai tQiv KaKovpywu, erroneously
eTTi/JLeXrjTal i/XTroplov, ^ iTri/j.eX'rjTal tQi> veupiuf.

484 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

various public works undertaken from time to time,^ special
legal commissioners, such as the (i]Ti]rai, who investigated the
celebrated mutilation of the hermae; financial commissioners
such as the TropLO-rat and l^eracrTai.

CHAPTEK IX

ATHENS (continued)

THE BOULE AND THE AREOPAGUS

The Council of the Five Hundred, created by Clisthenes, may be
regarded as a committee of the ecclesia, elected annually and by
lot from amongst those citizens in full possession of their civic
rights, who, not having previously served more than once, were
nominated by their denies for the post. All members of the
boule - were members of the ecclesia, and there was no qualifica-
tion of property or birth to exclude any member of the ecclesia
from becoming a member of the boule; the only restriction
was that candidates must be thirty years of age at least. Fifty
members were chosen from each tribe, and consequently, when
the number of the tribes was increased to twelve, the number
of the houle was raised to 600, and at the same time fifty
other names Avere selected by lot from each tribe, in order
that substitutes might be forthcoming, if the first man was
rejected at the dokimasia or vacated office prematurely. Every
member was subjected to a dokimasia before entering office by
the retiring boule, but probably not to a euthyna on quitting
office. Bouleutse were exempt from military service during
their year of ofiice, received pay to the amount of a drachma
a day (or, according to the Athenian Constitution, five obols),
had a place of honour in the theatre, wore a chaplet as a mark
of office, and might collectively receive a crown from the people
in testimony that they had discharged their senatorial duties
satisfactorily.

If there was much business which the ecclesia by its size was

^ eTnardraL tCov drj/ioaioju 'ipyiav.

2 On the houle, see Daremberget Saglio, Dictionnaire, s.v.; Busolt, Griech.
Altert. 164-169; J. W. Headlam, The Lot; Inscriptions: C. I. A. i. 32,
52, 57, 59, 64, 301 ; ii. 17, 40, 44, 49, 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 61, 64, 66, 109,
114, 121, 124, 190-93, 222, 226-230, 299, 329, 375, 417, 459, 809, 811 ; iv.
22, 27, 94.

ATHENS 485

disqualified from doing, and which it therefore delegated to its
grand committee, the houle itself was also much too large a
l3ody to prepare its own business. It was therefore necessary
for the boule to appoint a committee of its members to sit
from day to day, to perform current business, and to pre-
pare the business of the full meeting of the houle. These
committee-men were called prytaneis, and the fifty members
of each tribe served as prytaneis for a tenth part of the
year (which period was called a prytaneia), in an order fixed
by lot at the beginning of the year. The convocation of the
houle and of the ecclesia lay with the prytaneis, who also
prepared the agenda paper.^ The chairman of the prytaneis
or eTTio-raTTyg was chosen by lot every day from amongst the
prytaneis, in the fifth century B.C., and was not eligible for re-
election. The epistates was president of the ecclesia as well as
of the houle.

In the fourth century it apparently became necessary for the
prytaneis to delegate some of their duties. Their epistates
therefore^ as often as there was a meeting of the houle or
ecclesia, would appoint by lot, from among the bouleutae
who did not belong to the tribe serving as prytaneis, nine
proedri ; and one of these nine was appointed by lot to be the
epistates of the proedri. To these proedri and their epistates
were delegated all those duties which it had been the business
of the prytaneis to perform at a meeting of the ecclesia or
houle, that is to say, the proedri acted as chairmen. It was
their duty to announce what was the question laid before the
meeting for discussion, to see that order was maintained, to ascer-
tain the results of a division, to dissolve the meeting, and
generally to regulate its proceedings. The prytaneis, on the
other hand, under their epistates, did all the work which lay
outside of and was preliminary to the actual meeting : they
sat "in permanence" in the Tholos, and convened the meet-
ings ; they drew up the agenda for the ecclesia and houle ; and
to them heralds, envoys, and the bearers of despatches pre-
sented themselves.

The most important official of the houle was the clerk,- a
member of the council, who in the fifth century B.C. was elected
from among those bouleutse not serving at the time as prytaneis,
and was changed every prytaneia. He had charge of the state
archives, which were kept in the Metroon ; his signature was

^ TTpoypafx/jLa.

^ ypafifxarevs ttjs ^ovXrjs, or in full, 6 /card irpvTavzlav 7. r. ^.

486 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

necessary to make a decree of the people formally complete :
lie read out the documents which had to be produced before
the ecclesia. Towards the end of the first half of the fourth
century, the office of clerk to the hcmle became annual, and
another clerk, the clerk of the law,^ chosen from the prytaneis,
relieved the clerk to the houle of some of his duties. There
was also a third clerk, whose sole duty was to read docu-
ments to the houle. He may perhaps be the "clerk of the
city" mentioned in Thucydides (vii. lo), and the "clerk to
the houle and demos " ^ mentioned in inscriptions. The
clerks had an assistant, and the officials of the hoide included
treasurers to the houle (C. I. A. ii. 6i), who were themselves
bouleutae.

The houle assembled daily, except on feast days and unlucky
days, at the summons of the prytaneis. The meetings were
held usually in the Bouleuterion, though on occasion elsewhere,
and were ordinarily open, the public being separated from the
bouleutse by a barrier only. When secret deliberation was
necessary, "strangers" were made to withdraw. Apparently it
was competent for any member to "spy strangers." Distinct
from the liberty, allowed as a rule to all and sundry, of listening
to debates in the houle, was the power to communicate w^ith
the council. This privilege might be decreed by the people,
otherwise a non-member of Senate had to be introduced to " the
bar of the house " by a bouleutes. The proceedings of the
houle commenced with prayers. The members did not sit in
political or party groups, but from B.C. 410 onwards, according
to tribes, the prytaneis, and subsequently the paredri, having a
special place near the tribune from which members addressed
the house. The method of conducting debates was probably
the same as in the ecclesia.

The area of the houWs business was wider than that of the
ecclesia, for whereas all the business of the latter body had to
pass through the hands of the bouleutce, and be made the
subject of a resolution on the part of the houle, before it could
come to the ecclesia, some of the decrees of the ecclesia were
committed for execution to the houle, and occasionally, though
rarely, the ecclesia handed a matter of importance over to the
houle to be settled finally by it, and without further reference
to the ecclesia. 3 Ambassadors from foreign states approached

1 Ar. Ath. Pol. 54.

^ ypa/uLfxaTevs t^s (SovXtjs kuI tov drj/xov, or simply ypa/xfiareiis roO d-rjfMOV.
^ The bouM is in such cases and for such matters then called avroKpdrcop
and Kijpios.

ATHENS 487

the ecclesia through the houU ; officials made their reports or
applications to the boule, and might be summoned to appear
before the houle. The limits within which the council was
free to act independently, and without the subsequent sanction
of the ecclesia, w^ere strictly defined by law, and included only
detail work, not the laying down of a policy. It is in this
sense that the finances of the country were intrusted to the
boule. Its supervision over this department only extended to
such formalities as sitting whilst payments were made into the
treasury, or whilst the treasures of the goddess and the other
gods were formally handed over by one board of treasurers to
their successors, or to such comparatively trivial business as
causing debts to the state to be got in. Its control was con-
fined to such subordinate though still important work, as
determining the rates at which the taxes should be farmed
out, or public work undertaken by contractors. It is some-
times said that the boule managed the high financial policy of
the state, taking council on the ways and means by which the
annual expenditure of the country was to be provided for, and
fixing the amount of the tribute to be paid by the allies ; but
the former statement (based on a vague expression in the
Pseudo-Xenophontean Athenian Constitution) is difficult to
reconcile with the facts as known to us ; and the latter is only
a half-truth, for though the amount was fixed by the boule, it
had to be ratified by the demos.

The boule also was responsible for the execution of much of
the work done in a modern state by the War Office, and the
Admiralty, and a Board of Works. It was charged w^ith the
duty of causing the necessary number of new war-ships to be
laid down and constructed every year, and with the mainten-
ance of the naval arsenals in an effective cimdition. It was
also responsible for the mobilisation of the fleet in time of war.
The cavalry were at all times under its especial care, as were
also the public buildings and temples.

Finally, we have to mention the judicial power of the boule.
For the enforcement of obedience to its order, it had the power
of inflicting fines not exceeding five hundred drachmae in amount.
If the ofi'ence was, in the opinion of the boule, one which would
not be adequately punished by this penalty, the case was remitted,
usually to the Thesmothetse, who brought it before a law court.
The legal powers of the boiile, however, could be set in action
not only by a member of the council itself, but by any citizen
qualified to bring public accusations, who laid an information
before the boule. The technical name for this information was

488 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

elcrayyeXta,'^ and from the time of Euclides, probably the charges
which might be made the subject of an information were classed
by law under the three heads of revolutionary designs, treason,
and corrupt public speaking. Before the time of Euclides,
however, the law was probably less definite, and included
generally and vaguely all misdeeds not specially provided against
in the laws of the land.^ Even after the closer definition of
the law as it existed in the fourth century, there was scarcely
an offence of any kind which the ingenuity of accusers was not
capable of twisting into a treasonable action within the meaning
of the law. As regards the mode of procedure adopted by the
boule, the accuser had to lay his information in writing before
the prytaneis or proedri. If the houle thought the charge one
that called for investigation, it proceeded to fix a day for exa-
mining the matter further. If on further examination, and
after hearing both parties, the houle acquitted the accused, the
matter dropped there ; otherwise the boule on a subsequent
day deliberated whether the offence would be adequately
punished by the infliction of the fine not exceeding five
hundred diachmae which it was in the power of the houJe
to exact. If the offence were too serious to be met by that
penalty, the case, sometimes with a note of the penalty which
the boide thought ought to be exacted, was handed over to
the Thesmothetse to be brought before a heliastic court, where
it was dealt with according to the ordinary procedure of the
law courts.

A conflict or deadlock between the two chambers, the boule
and the ecclesia, could hardly occur ; the boule w^as but a com-
mittee of the ecclesia in effect, and only transacted such business
as was delegated to it, and only with the powers usually intrusted
to a committee. In all the business of the ecclesia the houle
had indeed the initiative, but the ecclesia had the sole power
of decision. A matter once settled by the ecclesia was not
remitted to the houle for confirmation. It is to be remembered,
however, that though the boule as a body ceased to have any
voice in the fate of the proposal which they sent down to the
ecclesia, yet the bouleutse were all members of the ecclesia, and
as such had the right of supporting the resolution of the council
with all the influence and oratorical power they possessed. On

^ On the elcrayyeXia, see Hager, Quccstionum Ilyperidearum, Leipzig,
1870, and Journal of Pliilology, iv. (1872) p. 74 fif. The pseudo-Dem.
speech against Euergus and Mnesibulus deals with an daa-yyeKla.

2 KaTOL KaivGiv Kai aypcKpoiv aZiKT^ixaTicv. The houle was also competent in
the matter of the apagoge, endeixis, phasis, and fxy]vv<xi.s.

ATHENS 489

tlie other hand, the hoiiU as a body could only pass resolutions,
which resolutions it was for the ecclesia and tlie ecclesia alone
to ratify or reject. The ecclesia as a body did not submit to
any very material limitation of its powers in parting with the
right of initiative. True it is that nothing could come before
the ecclesia but through the houle ; and it might be imagined
that the houle could strangle at birth any proposal which it
thought unfit to be brought before the people, that it was in a
position absolutely to block a piece of proposed legislation by
simply refusing to make any proposition with regard to it to
the people ; but in point of fact the houle exercised no more
influence on legislation than the archons exercised on the cases
which they prepared for the dicasteria. Just as the archon
was bound to bring before the law courts any case which was
drawn up in accordance with the forms of law, so the houle
had no power of discretion, but was bound to enter on the
agenda of the ecclesia any proposal which any one sent in to it
for that purpose, provided the resolution was correct in form.
Doubtless even in these limited powers there was latent a possi-
bility of obstructing the action of the ecclesia, and if the
houle had wished it could have used them. But the houle did
not wish to use them. On the contrary the houle was regarded
as the bulwark of the democracy; it enjoyed the flattering but
inconvenient privilege of being the first object of all attacks
made by the oligarchical and revolutionary party on the demo-
cracy, and the honour of being the first institution to be restored
by the people when the democracy once more gained the upper
hand. We must, however, be on our guard against attributing
to the mere forms of the constitution what really belongs to the
spirit in which it was worked. If the two chambers worked
liarmoniously, it was because the houle was in effect but a com-
mittee of the ecclesia. If no jealousy of the houle was felt by
the people, it was because the houle was built neither on
property, privilege, nor birth. If the democracy was proud of
its houle, it was because every member of the democracy was
eligible, and many were eager for the honour of entering it.
Nor must we forget to credit the principle of selecting the
bouleutfe by lot with the advantages it procured for the consti-
tution. If it was somewhat dangerous to throw open what at
the time was the most powerful body in the constitution to
citizens taken at random, at any rate, the annual employment
of the lot prevented any one party from enjoying or at least
from counting on the exclusive control of the houle for more
than a year.

490 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

Like the Roman Senate, the Council of the Areopagus ^
consisted of ex- officials. Consisting of well-born and wealthy-
citizens who had served as archons, this council possessed a
practical power in early days which was not strictly defined in
theory, and was, owing partly to this want of definition and
partly to the individual influence of its members, very exten-
sive. According to the Athenian Constitution, in the time
before Solon the Areopagus actually appointed the archons and
the other magistrates. It is not surprising, therefore, that the
council in early times should have had also the power of
hearing and deciding on complaints against the magistrates,
or that it should have undertaken to decide, on appeal, whether
the laws had been violated. In those days and with the powers
just described, the Areopagus was in a very intelligible sense
the guardian of the laws and the constitution.

According to the Athenian Constitution, the first encroach-
ment on the powers of the Areopagus was made by Draco, who
transferred the election of archons from it to those citizens
who were qualified to serve the state as hoplites; but in all
probability the first and more serious blows dealt against this
institution proceeded from the hand of Solon. He took from it
the right of electing the archons ; and though he left nominally
untouched the council's vague power of "superintending the
laws," by instituting an appeal to the law courts, he must have
withdrawn a very considerable number of matters from the
superintendency of the Areopagus. Still it retained power to
inflict fines and imprisonment ; and, above all, charges of con-
spiracy against the state were reserved by Solon for its judg-
ment. From the time of Solon the reputation and the influ-
ence of the Areopagus declined. So far from being able to call
the archons and other magistrates to account, the Areopagus
itself Avas made by Solon accountable to the law courts, or
dicasteria, that is to the dicasts, who were ordinary citizens ;
and the members of the Areopagus (which still consisted of
ex-archons) were elected no longer by co-optation but by the
people. Still, as long as the archons were officially the greatest
magistrates of the state, and were individually men of wealth
and good birth, this council of ex-archons was capable of
dominating the constitution. From the time of Solon to the
battle of Salamis, however, the Areopagus did not discover its

^ On the Areopagus, see Daremberg et Saglio, s.v. ; Philippi, Areopag.
und Epheten. Its title is ij e^ 'Apeiov -rrdyov ^ovK-q or i] iv 'Apeicp irdyi}} ^ovK-q ;
that of the Five Hundred, 17 §ov\t] oi TrevTaKoa-ioi, or simply 77 ^ovk-q.

ATHENS 49 1

latent power. But just before the battle of Salamis, when the
generals despaired of the state and gave the word for a saiive
qui pent, the members of the Areopagus provided, out of their
personal means, the funds necessary to hold the fleet together.
Owing to their action the battle of Salamis was fought and
Greece was saved. The moral influence thus gained by the
Areopagus was such that for some time the council dominated
the constitution and practically governed Athens.

As a factor in practical politics the Areo])agus is usually
said to have been cancelled by Ephialtes and Pericles. What
is undoubted is that after the time of the latter the Areopagus
had no political power. It is also certain that in the time of
Ephialtes and Pericles the Areopagus was deprived, in form, at
any rate, of certain functions ; but what those functions were
is uncertain. The political influence of the Areopagus after
the battle of Salamis was due to the character and position of
its individual members. But the character and social status of
the Areopagites must have declined, when the archons, from
whom the council was recruited, were no longer drawn exclu-
sively from the wealthiest class of the community. Again, when
the archontate was thrown open to all citizens, all the duties
of the office requiring statesmanship were withdrawn from the
archons. Thus, by the time of Ephialtes and Pericles, the
Areopagus no longer consisted of statesmen of commanding
personal qualities and social status, and therefore probably no
longer enjoyed the moral influence which it worthily exercised
at and after Salamis. Probably also, having lost that power,
it clung all the more desperately to those powers which, if they
were to be taken away from it, could be annulled only by some
constitutional change, and not merely by the withdrawal of
public confidence. The chief of those powers we may imagine
to have been " the guardianship of the laws." It has been
supposed that this guardianship was transferred to certain
"guardians of the laws." But these voixoc{)vXaK€<s probably did
not come into existence until Macedonian times, i What
Ephialtes did was to make every citizen a guardian of the con-
stitution by giving any one the right to prosecute before the
law-courts any person guilty of unconstitutional procedure.-

In the end, the only power remaining to the Areopagus was
precisely that which, in the Eumenides, ^schylus besought

^ See Busolt : Griechischcn Stuats- UTui Rechtsaltertiimcr", 189.

- See supra, p. 452, and infra, p. 501. For the date of the overthrow
of the Areopagus, which is given in 'A^. ttoX. 25 as 46^, but is more pro-
bably 46I, see Busolt, op. cit. 167.

492 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

the people of Athens to leave to the Areopagus, the power of
trying cases of wilful homicide, poisoning, and arson (as involv-
ing the wilful taking of human life) ; and this is the power
which, on one view, w^as the oldest function of the Areopagus,
and the pre-historic germ out of which all its later powers
grew.

CHAPTER X

ATHENS (continued)

THE ECCLESIA

The ecclesia,^ or popular assembly of Athens, was composed in
theory of all the legitimate Athenian citizens who had attained
the age required by law% and had not been disfranchised. The age
required by law was eighteen years, but in practice the young
citizen was detained on military duty amongst the ephebi for
two years, and therefore could not exercise his right to attend
the assembly until he was twenty years of age, A citizen
might be disfranchised, in the sense of being prohibited from
attending the ecclesia, as a penalty for not having paid his
debts to the state, for striking or insulting an archon, for deser-
tion from the army, for immorality, and other offences. In
practice, the assembly was composed of the town population,
inasmuch as the inhabitants of the country demes could not
afford frequent journeys to Athens, and as it was only on extra-
ordinary occasions that notice of meetings was sent round the
country. The size of an ordinary meeting was less than 6000
citizens, as that was the number prescribed by law as necessary
only for certain extraordinary business.

To exclude unqualified persons from the meetings was the
duty of six oflScials called lexiarchi, and a board of thirty
members of the houle. The former board had in its hands the
register of citizens qualified to attend the ecclesia, framed
from the deme registers. When the lexiarchi had satisfied
themselves as to the identity of the citizen who presented him-
self for admission to the ecclesia, it was the duty of the thirty
bouleutse to give him a ticket, which enabled him subsequently
to obtain the pay which the state gave to a certain limited

^ On the ecclesia, see Schomann, De Comitiis Atheniensium (1819);
Thumser's ed. of Hermann, pp. 504 ff., and the "A^. ttoX.

ATHENS 493

number of citizens for attendance at a meeting of the ecclesia.
It was also the business of the lexiarchi, not only to exclude
tlie unqualified, but to whip in a sufficient number of qualified
citizens to the meeting. Having closed all the streets leading
to and from the market, except that which conducted to the
place of assembly, with the aid of the archers in the paid
service of the state, they drew a rope across the market-place,
and swept into the assembly all the loungers thus netted in
the market, and then they fenced in the meeting with wicker
fences.

In the fifth and fourth centuries the ordinary place of
assembly was the Pnyx (the situation of which is still a matter
of dispute), while for purposes of ostracism, and perhaps for all
similar business (i.e., privilegia), the agora was used. In later
times the Pnyx continued to be used for elections, but the
custom grew of meeting for other business in the theatre.
Meetings were held in the Peiraeus when naval matters were
under discussion. ^

The meetings of the ecclesia may be divided into ordinary
and extraordinary. The latter were of course irregular, and
were summoned only in emergency. Of ordinary meetings,
four were held in each prytaneia in the fourth century. In
earlier times it is probable that only one meeting was held in
each prytaneia. The increase in number is doubtless due in
part to the growing amount of work that had to be done ; but
it is also undoubtedly due in part to the growing desire of
the ecclesia to manage by itself all the business of the state :
every duty and every piece of power which "democratic
jealousy " withdrew from the officers of state had to be taken
up by the ecclesia. Of the four ordinary meetings held in each
prytaneia, one, the " sovereign " assembly, was specially devoted
to necessary business, such as the consideration of the food
supply and the safety of the country, to a statement of confis-
cations and vacant inheritances, to routine business, such as
taking votes on the official conduct of the magistrates, and to the
introduction of impeachments (etWyyeAiat) before the people.^
At another meeting in the prytaneia, the first place on the list
of business was reserved for petitions, e.g., the introduction of
proposals to rehabilitate disfranchised citizens, and to remit

^ Den], Be Falsa Ley. p. 359.

^ In the sixth prytany of the year, some extra business was taken at
this, the sovereign [t) Kvpia), ecclesia, viz., a vote whether there was any
need to apply the ostracism ; complaints against professional accusers ; and
against those who had failed to redeem engagements made to the people.

494 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

debts to the state. At the other two meetings, questions (not
more than three) touching foreign policy, the same number of
questions of ritual, and not more than three secular subjects
might be discussed. Of course, at any of the four meetings,
when the fixed programme had been disposed of, other business
might be introduced.

Although four ordinary meetings were held in every prytaneia,
neither the first nor any other meeting was held on the same
day in every prytaneia. No meetings w^ere held on feast days
or unlucky days ; and as these were scattered irregularly over
the Athenian calendar, it was impossible that there should be
any fixity in the day of the prytaneia, or the day of the month
on which, say, the first meeting or any other meeting of the
prytaneia should be held. It was therefore necessary that the
prytaneis should give written notice of a meeting five days
beforehand, and at the same time publish an agenda paper.
Extraordinary meetings ^ might probably be held at short notice,
the citizens being notified in such cases by a herald.

Payment for attendance at the ecclesia seems to have been
introduced shortly before the production of Aristophanes' play,
the Ecdeziazusoe,- probably about B.C. 390. Originally the
amount as fixed by Agyrrhios w^as one obol ; Heraclides raised
it to two, and subsequently it w'as raised by Agyrrhios again to
three ; and by the time of Aristotle it was as much as nine
obols for a "sovereign" assembly, and a drachma at other
times. Probably the total amount which might be expended
by the state in payment for a single meeting was fixed by law,
and members who came late received no pay.^ As it is inevitable
that the expression " payment of members " should call to mind
the ideas associated with the payment of members of modern
legislative assemblies, it is desirable to point out some of the
differences between the ancient and the modern use. The
modern paid member is paid by the year, and enough to keep
him for a year. The Athenian ecclesiast was paid by the
meeting, and probably the meetings did not average more than
one a week, so that even if he got a day's wages he only got
it once a week. But he did not get even a day's wages. A
slave's labour was estimated to cost three obols a day, an average
free labourer made nine, and a fairly good labourer made fifteen
obols * — the ecclesiast at the most six or nine. Next, the salary

^ a^yK\TjToc eKKKTjalai, also called KaraKk-qTOL, because it was necessary to
send a special summons to bring in the country voters.
2 See line 304. 3 jbi{j_ ^3^^

^ See Daremberg and SagHo's Dictionnaire, s.v. Ekklesia.

ATHENS 495

of the modern paid member ceases when he loses his seat, and
he is likely to lose his seat when his party loses power; it is
therefore his pecuniary interest to keep his party in if possible,
to keep his own seat anyhow, and to delay an appeal to his
constituents as long as possible. The Athenian ecclesiast's pay
was not conditional on his voting with his party — if there were
such a thing ; his pay constituted no temptation to him to vote
one way rather than another. He had no constituents. He
had no paymasters. There is no direction in which he could
conceivably have been warped by the receipt of pay, even if
that pay had been sufficient. But it was an inadequate com-
pensation for the loss of a day's work; and that it failed to
attract many is shown by the fact that to get a good attendance
at a "sovereign" assembly a higher sum had to be oflered.
Again, the ecclesiast represented no one but himself ; and his pay
did not depend on his professing to hold certain views because
his constituents held them. In fine, his payment should be com-
pared rather to the expenses allowed to witnesses in a modern
court of law, than to the payment of professional politicians.

Proceedings began early in the morning, notice having been
given shortly before the commencement by the elevation of a
signal^ near the place of meeting. When the members had
assembled, sacrifice was offered, and the herald read a curse
upon orators who should speak under the influence of bribery
or corruption. The prytaneis announced that the sacrifices
were propitious, and that there were no omens in the w^ay of
thunder, lightning, hail, rain, eclipses, or earthquakes to prevent
the meeting from being held, Then, under the presidency of
the prytaneis, or of the proedri (who were selected by lot at
this stage of the proceedings by the chairman of the prytaneis),
the business was proceeded to. As nothing could be brought
before the ecclesia which had not first been submitted to the
houle, the first thing was to read the probouleuma of the houle.
From the numerous inscriptions which contain decrees of the
houle and demos, and which were inscribed by order of the
state and at the public expense, it is possible to form a fairly
good idea of the form in which these extracts from the minutes
of the houle ran. Such an extract began: "Resolved by the
houle." 2 Then followed the name of the tribe which furnished
the prytaneis ^ at the time, the name of the clerk to the houle,"^

^ At. Thesm. 277 : to ttjs ^KKXrjcrias CFrj/xeiov ev rui deajxotpopeii^ (paiperai.
^ ido^e Ty /3ouX]j. "^ (Hai'StoJ'is) i-rrpvTdi'eve.

* (6 delva) iypa/xfidreve.

496 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

and that of the chairman.^ Then comes, '• Moved by so and
so," with the name of the mover. ^ The terms of the motion
-which follows naturally varied with the matter of the motion.
If the proposal was to confer a vote of thanks on some bene-
factor of the city, it might run somewhat in the following form :
" Whereas so and so has rendered such and such services to the
city, it hath been decreed by the Senate ^ that the proedri for
the time being bring him before the demos at the next ecclesia *
and communicate to the demos the resolution of the boule ; that
the houle resolves that he receive a vote of thanks," ^ and so om
When this probouleuma had been read, it was the business of
the epistates, presiding over the ecclesia, to ascertain whether
the meeting would accept the resolution of the houle as it stood
without discussion,^ in which case the resolution was entered
on the minutes of the ecclesia, with the note prefixed, " Resolved
by the houle and demos," the date of the ecclesia either being
added or substituted for that of the resolution of the houle. If
on the other band it was resolved to debate the motion, the
herald w^as directed to proclaim that the motion was open for
discussion, which he did by inquiring in the consecrated form,
"Who wishes to speak?" According to the law of Solon,
the right of speaking first was reserved for citizens over fifty
years of age, but in later times this restriction on the order
of debate was dropped. The citizen who accepted the herald's
invitation indicated his intention of speaking by putting
on a chaplet of myrtle. A speaker, however, might be sus-

^ (6 hdvo.) iTecrraTeL. ^ (6 deifa) elire.

2 E.g. C. I. A. ii. 562: dedoxdcLL ttj ^ovXy' iweidi] 6 ra^iapxos ttjs
KeKpoiridos (pvXijs BovXapxos 'ApLaTO^ovXou avy)p dyadbs yeyevTjTai.

^ E.g. C. I. A. ii. pp. 400 flf. : exprjcpiadaL ry ^ovXy Trpoaayayeiv avToi)s els
Tov hrip.ov Tovs irpoedpovs ot Siv XdxwcriJ' irpoebpeveLv els ttju 7rpd)TT}v iKKXrjcriav.

^ E.g. C. I. A. ii. 55 : ypw/xrjv de ^vpt-^aXXeadat rrjs ^ovX-qs eis tov drjfxov,
OTi duKel T^ /3ouXy eiraiveaaL p.ev avTov.

^ This \s tiie explanation or rather the conjecture of Harpocration, s.v.,
TrpoxeipoTovia. Modern writers, however, are divided as to the meaning of
the word. On two points in connection with it they are indeed unanimous :
(i) it implies that a vote was taken without discussion ; (2) the vote was
taken at the beginning of the meeting. But what was voted on is disputed.
According to the view in the text, the object of the Trpoxet-porovla was to
get through formal or non-contentious matter at once. According to the
other view, irpoxeipoTove7v means to vote precedence. At each of the four
ordinary meetings there were certain matters (enumerated above) which
were ordinarily the first to be submitted to the house ; and, as in the
inscriptions, the word irpoxeipoTOvelv is only used in connection with these
matters, it is conjectured that the vote was taken (when taken) on the
question whether some other urgent matter should be debated before
them.

ATHENS 497

peiided from addressing the meeting, if any member alleged
that he had committed an offence, the penalty of which
was disfranchisement, and that he (the objector) proposed to
submit him in due course of law to a dokimasia before a
heliastic court. There were also other restrictions on license
in debate, according to the " inserted law " (as corrected by
Schomann), in the speech of iEscliines against Timarchus
(§ 35) : for instance the speaker was forbidden to speak twice
on the same motion, or to wander from the question, or to
discuss two different proposals simultaneously. It was also
forbidden to interrupt the speaker, to insult or abuse him.
No one might endeavour to address the assembly whilst the
proedri were putting a proposal to the meeting. The epistates
Avas to be free to discharge his duties as he thought fit,
without being either exhorted by cries or physically hustled.
In the absence of any interruptions of this kind it was open
to any member to support or oppose the motion, to move its
rejection altogether, or to propose amendments or riders.
It was but natural that the bouleutes who had proposed the
original motion in the huule should also move its acceptance
in the ecclesia. There was, however, nothing to prevent him
in the course of the debate from moving an amendment to
his own motion, if he thought it advisable ; for instance, to
sacrifice part of his motion in order to secure the ratification
of the remainder. It was also competent for any member
of the ecclesia to move that the houle be instructed to lay a
probouleuma on a given subject before the next or some other
specified meeting of the ecclesia. It is, however, not probable
that such a motion could be made at the good pleasure of
any speaker who chose to propose it, and without reference
to the motion before the meeting. The epistates presiding
over the meeting had the power to reject any motion or
amendment which he thought out of order, though he was
liable to a legal prosecution for the exercise of his discretion
on this point. AVhat sort of amendments were considered
admissible we do not quite know, but in aU probability
they had to be real amendments, having to do with the
subject of the original motion. There Avas probably little
temptation to smuggle through some proposal which had
nothing whatever to do with the matter of the motion, as has
occurred in some acts of the British Parliament ; and from
the instances preserved to us by inscriptions, it seems probable
that it was only in connection with the business laid before
the ecclesia by the houle, that the former could instruct the

2 I

498 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

latter to lay a further probouleiima l)efore it at some subsequent
date. It is obvious that this power of instructing the houle
as to what business it should bring before the demos was in
effect an encroachment on the constitutional prerogative of the
hoiile, in virtue of which it alone had the right of initiative
in legislation. Under the limits, however, which the demos
seems to have observed, the encroachment was not one of
any great import, and it is to be noted that it is in all
probability not until after the time of Euclides that even this
encroachment became known. After the time of Euclides we
find inscribed decrees of the houle in which the council
nominally exercises its right of initiative, but while preserv-
ing it in the letter, abandons it in fact. We find, for instance, a
bouleutes proposing in the houle : " Whereas certain ambassadors
have made certain representations, it hath been voted by the
houle that the proedri appointed by lot to preside at the next
ecclesia do introduce them to the demos, and communicate to
the demos the resolution of the houle : that the houle resolves
that the demos, having given audience to the ambassadors,
and having heard all who wish to speak, take such measures
as seem to it best." Sometimes the houle did not leave the
demos quite so much width of choice : it instructed the proedri to
lay before the demos two alternative courses to choose between.
It is a plausible conjecture that when the hotile thus remitted
a subject to the demos without any proposal of its own, the
majority of the houle could not have been in favour of making
any proposal the subject whatever, but that yet it was con-
strained to lay the matter before the people, and, if constrained,
then constrained by an instruction from the ecclesia to bring
forward a probouleuma. On inscriptions we sometimes find
a probouleuma of this kind followed by the decree of the
people on the matter. Such a decree is headed by the date,
and the note " resolved by the people," while in the motion
itself it not unfrequently happens that it states, " whereas so
and so, it hath been resolved by the demos," &c. Sometimes
the probouleuma was not entered on the inscription ; it then
includes merely the resolution of the people. It also happened
in the same way, as we have already seen, that the probouleuma
of the council, when it contained a definite proposal which was
accepted in its entirety by the ecclesia, was sometimes in-
corporated in the decree of the demos without any alteration
in the terms of the houle's resolution, even Mdien those terms
mention only the vote of the houle. A resolution or amend-
ment might either be given in by the mover in writing, or

ATHENS 499

be put into writing for him by the clerk. Hence, as there
seems to have been no very rigid tradition as to the exact
terms in which a proposal was to be made, we find in in-
scriptions considerable variety. Sometimes the terms of the
motion expressly indicate whether the proposal was made in
the houU or in the ecclesia, sometimes not ; sometimes whether
the amendment is an amendment to a proposal made by the
loule, or by some independent speaker, sometimes not. Add to
this that as the office of clerk was not a permanent one, there
was much latitude for individual taste in the form in which a
resolution of the hoiile and demos was drawn up from the
minutes of the two bodies, and we have a completely satis-
factory explanation of the variety which meets us in the
inscribed decrees of the hnuJe and demos. On the whole,
however, it may be safely said that with the advance of time
there was a growing tendency to a more elaborate style in
the decrees. Before the time of Euclides a decree contains
the name of the archon, thus fixing the year, the name of
the clerk to the houle, a statement that the decree is a
resolution of the houle and demos, the name of the tribe
from which the prytaneis for the time being were drawn, of
the chairman of the ecclesia, and of the mover of the motion.
After the time of Euclides, inscribed decrees bear in addi-
tion the number of the prytany, the day of the prytany,
and of the month in wdiich the ecclesia was held, and even
a specification of the place in which the ecclesia met. "We
also find in this period the distinction between decrees of the
people based on definite proposals of the houle, and decrees
l)ased on probouleumata which referred the matter to the
ecclesia without any expression of opinion on the part of the
houle.

When all who wished to speak had spoken in the ecclesia,
the motion or amendment was put to the assembly by the
epistates, who had the right also to refuse to put a motion
which he considered illegal. The vote of the assembly was
taken by a show of hands, first for, and then against the motion.
A count was only taken when the voting was close enough to
require it. A ballot was taken only when the vote was one
affecting an individual, as in the case of ostracism. In such
cases there were two urns, one for the ayes and one for the noes
to deposit their votes in. The epistates announced the result
of the ballot, and then dismissed the assembly by the voice of
the herald.

The ecclesia was not a legislative assembly. No resolution

500 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

of the lonle and demos was valid which was in conflict with
any existing law; and the share which the ecclesia took in
legislation was but slight. Once a year, at the beginning of
the year,i and once only might the ecclesia debate the question
whether the laws of the land required any additions or amend-
ment. ^ When this question was put to the assembly ^ it was
competent for any member to argue that a certain law required
alteration or abrogation; if he succeeded in convincing the
ecclesia he was given leave to lay his proposal before the houle.
The would-be legislator had also to publish his bill, together
with any existing law which was affected by it, near the
statues of the Eponymous heroes,* and to have both read by
the clerk at the next two meetings of the ecclesia, so that every
citizen might have the chance of becoming acquainted with
them.^ If he had succeeded in the meantime in convincing
the houle also, a resolution in favour of his proposal was laid
by it before the ecclesia at the following meeting of the
ecclesia.^ The bill, it is supposed, was then debated again,^
and might be rejected. But though the ecclesia thus exercised
the right of veto on legislative proposals, it did not possess the
power of making such proposals into law. If the bill met
with the approval of the ecclesia, all the assembly could do
was to refer it to the heliasts. From the body of the heliasts a
certain number, which varied according to circumstances, and
was chosen afresh every year by this (the fourth) ecclesia, was

1 On the nth Hecatombaion, the first ecclesia in the year and one of
the few meetings which was held on a fixed date.

- eTTLX^ipoTOPia v6,uwv.

3 According to the inserted law in Dem. xxiv. 20-23, the existing laws
were submitted to the vote in four groups : ol ^ovXevTLKoi {i.e., laws relating
to the houle) ; oi kolvoI (which is not very intelligible) ; oX KeivTai roh evvia
apxovcTL, and those relating to the other apxp-l-

•* Dem. xxiv. 25. ^ Dera. Lept. 485, § 94.

^ This would be the fourth and last ordinary meeting in the prytany :
TTiv Tpir-qv CLTredei^av eKKXrjalav (Dem. xxiv. 25) means the third not count-
ing the first.

^ This is an inference from the statement twice made by Demosthenes in
the passages quoted in the last two notes, that the object of publishing the
proposed legislation, at the Eponymi and in the intervening ecclesiae, was
IP 6 ^ov\6/j.€Pos (rK€\l/r]TaLj kclv dav/j.(popov vpuv KariSri tl, cppdcrr] Kal Kara,
cxoKt]v dvTelirrj. Schomann, however {De Com. Att. 255), thinks the object
was to enable all citizens having objections to make them, not at the fourth
ecclesia of the prytany, but before the court of the Nomothetae. If this be
the right view, then the proposer of a new law had to convince the houU
before the first ecclesia. Whether the houU had a real power of veto,
or was bound to bring before the ecclesia every law proposed to it, is
doubtful.

ATHENS 501

chosen to act as Nomothetse. Before them the mover of the
proposed law had to argue his case, while synegori (five in
number), appointed by the ecclesia, defended the old laws
affected by the proposal. Thus the old law was put upon
its trial, the case was argued out before the court, on whose
decision it rested whether the old law should be abrogated and
the new law enacted or not. Thus it was a law court which
possessed the ultimate power of enacting laws at Athens. It
was before the Nomothetae too that the Thesmothetse annually ^
had to bring laws which seemed to them to conflict with one
another, or to prescribe different modes of treatment for the
same thing.

Elaborate as the process of legislation was in the fourth
century B.C. (for in the fifth a law probably could be made by a
resolution of the houle and demos without further formality),
still further safeguards were created to protect the country
against unconstitutional legislation : the mover of an uncon-
stitutional proposal, whether a law or a resolution, a psephism
of the loule or of the demos, whether it was unconstitutional in
form or in content, whether the proposal was accepted or re-
jected, exposed himself to an indictment for illegality. The
contents of a psephism were unconstitutional if they conflicted
with an existing law ; those of a proposed law, if the mover had
not previously obtained the abrogation of any old law or laws
with which his bill was at variance. It is quite in accordance
with all that we know of the Athenian law courts, and of the
extent to which, in the absence of a trained judge to control
them, the jurors allowed themselves to be influenced by wholly
extraneous considerations, if we find that in indictments for
illegality the speakers insist at great length on the injurious
nature of the law or psephism which they charge with illegality.
But it seems doubtful whether the law recognised inexpediency
as a ground for an indictment for illegality. At the same time
the law, even when adhered to strictly, afforded considerable
latitude : a proposal to confer citizenship on a foreigner might
be attacked as unconstitutional and illegal, inasmuch as the law
demanded that the recipient of citizenship should be worthy of
the gift— a demand which it was in every case possible to main-
tain had not been complied with. A psephism might be
attacked as illegal in form if it were not based on a pro-
bouleuma of the council, or if, without permission previously
obtained from an assembly of six thousand citizens, it proposed

^ This is the annual 8i6pducris vdfiuv.

502 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

to relieve a disfranchised man or a public debtor from his dis-
abilities or liabilities. A law was liable to the charge of ille-
gality if the forms prescribed by the constitution and described
in the previous paragraph were not complied with, or if being
a law in the interests or to the damage of a single person it
had not been approved by an assembly consisting of at least
six thousand citizens.

The indictment for illegality, owing to the manner in which
it could be brought to bear against a psephism, became a power-
ful political weapon and a potent means of obstruction. The
passing of a psephism might be obstructed by any one who
chose to rise and affirm upon oath (liypomosia) that it was his
intention to indict the proposer of the psephism for illegality.
Whether there was any provision by which obstruction of this
kind could be checked in case of urgency does not appear. If
the resolution had already been voted upon and accepted by
the people, it was still open for any citizen to state his inten-
tion of bringing an indictment, and the psephism could not
come into operation until the case had been duly tried. The
trial was conducted according to the ordinary forms of Attic
law, and the penalty, if the accuser made good his case, was
assessed by the court when it had heard what penalty the
accuser on the one hand proposed should be inflicted, and what
on the other hand the condemned person proposed as being
adequate.

The ecclesia, like other popular assemblies, showed a tendency
to extend the sphere of its powers. This tendency was partly
due to an increase in the amount of work which properly fell
to the share of the ecclesia, and was consequent upon the
growth of the country and the development of more complex
conditions in social and political life. It was, however, still
more the consequence of a species of political gravitation, in virtue
of which the more or most powerful element in a constitution
attracts to itself yet greater powers. In Athens, it was at the
expense of the magistrates that the popular assembly increased
in power ; and this may be ascribed partly to the suspicion
which democracy usually exhibits towards its servants, when
it does not fall into the opposite excess of adulation, and
partly to the impossibility of reasonably intrusting much re-
sponsibility to officials chosen by lot. On the other hand, it
is to be noted that there was a tendency on the part of the
ecclesia to relieve itself of some of its labours, and to devolve
its judicial powers on to the law courts, and the execution of its
resolutions on to the houle.

ATHENS 503

It will be well to mention first amongst the powers of the
ecclesia, that of electing all magistrates who were chosen by
vote, and not by lot, as this is an important difference between
it and the popular assemblies of modern Europe. In the next
place, for the same reason, it is important to state once more
that though in the fifth century B.C. the ecclesia together with the
houle made laws, in the fourth century B.C. the ecclesia ceased to
be a proper legislative assembly : legislation was far from being
so important a function of the sovereign body in Athens as it
has been of Parliament in England since the time of George II.
Questions of foreign policy, of peace or war, the contracting of
treaties and alliances, were debated and finally decided in the
ecclesia. With the actual conduct of war the ecclesia inter-
fered so far as to decide how many generals, and which, should
be intrusted with a given campaign. A statement of the
public revenue was submitted to it every prytany ; it voted
money away, and it decreed the imposition of extraordinary
taxes. The judicial powers of the ecclesia call for a separate
paragraph.

We have already seen that it was competent for any citizen
to lay an information (eisangelia) before the houle to the effect
that revolutionary or treasonable designs were meditated by a
certain person or persons, or that an orator had been guilty of
corrupt speaking. It was also open to the accuser, if he pre-
ferred, to lay the information, through the prytaneis, before the
ecclesia. If, after hearing the accuser and the accused, and
probably any other citizen who chose to speak, the assembly
resolved to take action upon the information, it might either
remit the charge to a law court, with instructions as to the
penalty to be inflicted if the accuser made out his case, or it
might have the matter brought by a probouleuma before it for
trial, in which case the trial must take place in an ecclesia
numbering at least six thousand citizens.

Whereas, in the case of informations laid against traitors,
the ecclesia might try the charges itself if it thought fit, in
the case of charges against sycophants or against those persons
alleged to have desecrated the sanctity of certain festivals, the
demos exercised no such power ; but if it thought the allegation
(irpofSoX-q) made out, it remitted the case for trial to the ordinary
law courts. The allegation had to be made in writing, and
handed in to the prytaneis, who were constramed to bring all
such cases arising out of a festival before the next ecclesia held
after the festival The asseml)ly heard both the accuser and
the accused, and then pronounced its opinion. If it decided

504 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

against the prosecutor, he might let the matter drop, or he
might carry the case before a court of law. If the assembly
decided in favour of the prosecutor, then when the case
came before a law court, the hand of the prosecutor was
doubtless greatly strengthened.

CHAPTEE XI

ATHENS {continued)

FINANCE

Athens can scarcely be said to have had a financial system.
For this there are two very obvious reasons : there was no per-
manent executive, and there was no one minister or board with
power to control all items of public expenditure and to super-
vise the income of the country. To this we must add that,
with the exception of Pericles and Lycurgus, Athens did not
produce a financial genius.

The absence of a permanent executive has its advantages :
the evils of bureaucracy are avoided; there are no vested
interests which have to be consulted at the cost of the country ;
the reformer is not clogged and defeated by the dead weight of
the permanent and practically irresponsible officials of his de-
partment. But against these advantages must be set grave
disadvantages : there is no continuity in methods, objects, or
policy ; there is no accumulation of experience to relieve a
competent minister from wasting his time on matters of detail
when he should be maturing principles of policy, or to save a
weak official from the grosser blunders of inexperience. It
need hardly be remarked that of all departments the treasury
is that which can least dispense with orderly, business methods,
and a continuous policy.

A still more serious defect in the conduct of Athenian finance
was the want of centralisation. There was no one official
whose business it was to consider the financial condition of
the country as a whole, and there was no attempt to make a
periodic estimate of the financial position of the state. Various
sums or sources of revenue were assigned, not annually but
until further notice, to various departments ; no attempt was
made to prescribe or enforce economy on those departments :
if there happened to be a surplus in any department, it was paid

ATHENS 505

into the treasury, wlieiice it could be drawn by a simple decree
of the boide and demos, unless it chanced that there was a
law in. force directing that all surpluses should be devoted to
the national defence or to national amusements as the case
might be. Nothing in the nature of a budget, of an attempt
to annually estimate the probable income of the country for
the forthcoming year and to adjust the national expenditure
accordingly was made at Athens. In an ordinary way the
expenses which the state had to meet consisted in the pay of
the dikasts, ecclesiasts, bouleutse, and magistrates ; in the cost of
maintaining })ublic works and ways; in the payment of the
Scyths, who acted as i)olice ; in the cost of public defence and
public amusements. On the other hand, the ordinary income
of the country consisted in the sum obtained by annually
farming the tolls, taxes, mines, lands, and buildings; in the
tribute of the allies (while it lasted), in the fees and fines
exacted in the law courts, and in the indirect form of liturgies.
To a very considerable extent the income of the country was
subject to charges the amount of which was fixed once and for
all by law : thus, the amount of pay which the bouleutse and
the ecclesiasts were to receive was fixed by law ; the fees and
fines obtained in the law courts were set aside for the pay of
the dikasts ; the charge for the repair of public buildings and
streets was also permanently fixed ; while the expense of public
festivals and amusements was to a certain extent met by the
citizens who acted as choregi, gymnasiarchs, and hestiatores.
Thus the largest amount of the public income was placed by
law out of the reach of inconsiderate and hasty decrees of the
houU and demos. The weakness of the arrangement lay in
the rigidity of the system. The amount raised by farming the
tolls, taxes, mines, &c., of the country probably varied every
year, but the charges on the public income were fixed by law
and could not be adjusted to circumstances. The sums left
for the financial reformer to operate with or for the demagogues
to waste in largesse to the people had to be sought in the
surpluses which remained when these fixed charges on the
public income had been met. At one time the party of prudence
would succeed in voting the appropriation of the surpluses to
purposes of national defence ; at another the party of extrava-
gance would persuade the demos to devote them to providing
its poorer members, not merely with the money necessary to
obtain a seat in the theatre, but ^vith money wherewith to
enjoy themselves at other festivals as w^ell.

In this contest for the surpluses from the various depart-

506 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

ments, the absence of any annual estimate or budget un-
doubtedly played into the hands of the party of extravagance.
It was the custom of the demos to have the accounts of the
various departments laid before it every prytany, and thus a
perpetual temptation to vote away money was placed in the
way of the ecclesia. The only way to remove the temptation
was to convert the needs of the war department into a per-
manent charge. It was indeed quite possible in theory to
appropriate every surplus, by a decree of the houle and demos,
to military purposes ; but every surplus would have to be the
subject of a separate decree, and practically the party of
prudence was liable to be defeated on every division taken.
On the other hand a permanent charge on the national income
could only be made on the instruction of the demos by the
Nomothetae, and such a permanent charge was inviolable in the
same way and to the same extent as a law sanctioned by the
Nomothetse ; that is to say, any attempt to divert money so
appropriated to other purposes by a decree subjected the
proposer of the decree to an indictment for illegality, and the
decree itself could be prevented from taking effect by the same
means. A law altering the use of the surplus could only be
proposed at the ecclesia, which was once a year devoted to
legislation, and then only subject to the concurrence of the
houle, the recommendation of the ecclesia, and the ratification
of the Nomothetffi.

The power of the purse therefore did not rest exclusively
with the houle and demos conjointly or singly. Fixed annual
charges on the public income could only be imposed by a
process, subject to the same safeguards as legislation itself. On
the other hand, the houle and demos could by a simple decree
vote any sum away in any manner for any object they chose,
if there was the money in the treasury. In the next place, it
is to be noted that when a certain sum had been by law de-
voted annually to a certain purpose, say the public defence, it
was by simple psephismata that the houle and demos appor-
tioned out the sum, say, between the army and navy, unless
the person or official to w^hom the money was due was to be
paid directly.

If the amount obtained by farming the tolls, taxes, mines, &c.,
of the state, though nominally settled by the houle, was really
determined by politico-economical causes beyond the control of
the houle, on the other hand the houle and demos exercised
considerable power over the raising of extraordinary revenue.
The invitation to private citizens to offer " benevolences " to

ATHENS 507

the state was issued by a decree ; the war-tax was imposed by a
simple decree; the liturgy of the choregia was voted in the
same way. The tribute paid by the allies was uot liable to be
increased by a mere decree : by a process analogous to that of
legislation, the ecclesia had first to vote that re-assessment was
needed, then at a subsequent assembly commissioners were ap-
pointed to assist the hoide in making the alterations necessary,
and even then any state miglit appeal to a court of dikasts,
before whom arguments fur and against the alteration were
heard, and by whom the matter was finally decided.

In a time of extraordinary prosperity, such as that imme-
diately before the Peloponnesian war, when the tribute from
the allies more than sufficed for all the demands of national
defence, it was possible to incur extraordinary expenditure on
public works; and the Fame thing was possible when Lycurgus,
a really great financier, obtained control to some extent, and for
some little time, over the finance of the state. Under similar
circumstances it was possible to form a reserve fund for the
emergencies of war, or to pay off the debts incurred by the
state. In time of war, the expenditure on the army and navy
might be indefinitely increased, and it lay with the boiile and
demos to raise the necessary additional income. This might
be effected by the imposition of the war- tax, and the liturgy of
the trierarchy, and by inviting benevolences. The reserve
fund might be drawn upon, if it existed, and finally, if all
other resources had been exhausted, the state might borrow.
But although a national debt was not unknown to Athens, it
differed considerably from the national debts of modern states.
A modern state borrows from any one who chooses to lend, and
undertakes to pay the stipulated interest on the money so
borrowed, though not necessarily to repay the sum borrowed at
any given date. This system obviously implies the existence
of a large amount of capital in the hands of private lenders, and
of confidence in the power and disposition of the state to adhere
to its bond. In Athens, however, there was not enough capital
available in the hands of lenders to meet the demands of the
state ; and government was not stable enough to inspire a
belief in its credit. Under these circumstances, it was natural
that the state, when it wished to raise a loan, should have re-
course to the only capitalists who could lend money in sufficient
quantities, and at the same time were willing to lend at a rate
of interest l)elow that of the money market. The capitalists
in question were the gods. The national debt of Athens was
mainly in the hands of the patron goddess of the state, though

508 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

some was held by other gods. The goddess Athene and the
other gods derived their income from land belonging to the
temples and offerings, amongst the most important of which
latter was the sixtieth part of the tribute paid by the Helleno-
tamiae to the treasurers of the goddess, and tithes of property
confiscated by the state. These revenues were much greater
than the expenditure on the cult and ritual of the goddess and
the other gods, and the annual surpluses, when accumulated,
might be borrowed by the state. The power to draw on the
treasures of the gods and on the reserve funds (if any) laid up
by the state rested indeed with the houle and demos, who by
a decree could direct the treasurers to pay out any given sums ;
but a check was imposed upon recourse to either, by the fact
that pains and penalties were threatened against any person who
proposed to touch these treasures. The first step, therefore, to
be taken by any citizen who wished to move that a draft be
made on these moneys, was to obtain an indemnity against the
legal consequences of his motion. Such an indemnity could
only be granted in an assembly at which at least six thousand
citizens were present, and could not be granted at the same
ecclesia as that at which it was asked. AVhen the indemnity
had been granted, it was not until the follomng ecclesia that
the motion to appropriate the treasure could be made. Thus,
although the pains and penalties did not prevent the moneys
from being used, they did ensure some degree of deliberation
before they were used, and prevented a snatch vote from deter-
mining a matter of the highest importance. It now remains
for us to examine the various items of expenditure and income
more particularly.

We will begin with the expenditure on administration under
this head. The most important items were the pay of the
dikasts, ecclesiastae, and bouleutae, the archons, the various clerks
and lower officials, and the Scyths or police. The origin and
history of the system of paymg citizens for attendance at the
ecclesia have already been given in the chapter on the ecclesia ;
the amount eventually reached the sum of six obols for an
ordinary and nine for a "sovereign" ecclesia. The pay of a
bouleutes was five obols, which at first appears less than that
of an ecclesiast ; but the latter was only paid by the meeting,
whereas the bouleutes probably was paid every day in the year.
The same consideration also applies to the pay of the archons
(four obols each per diem). The pay of the dikasts amounted
in all to a greater sum than that of the bouleutB3 or the ecole-
siastse: from b.c. 425 it was three obols a day, and must have

ATHENS 509

come to at least seventy-five talents a year. The probable total
of the pay for the ecclesia cannot Ije attained : for the bouleutae
it may have been about thirty talents.

A second item of expenditure was the money expenses on
feasts. Under this head there are tliree items at least to distin-
guish : first, there were the animals which were slaughtered in
honour of the gods, and consumed by the poorer worshippers ;
next, there were the dramatic, lyric, athletic contests, &c., which
also were religious in intention as well as gratifying to the human
spectators; third, there was the money (OewpiKov) which, from
about B.C. 410, was distributed at all the great festivals as well
as at the Dionysia and Panathensea, in addition to free tickets
for the theatre amongst the poorer citizens, in order that they
might properly enjoy the holiday. The theoricon was two obols
a day when first introduced by Cleophon, and eventually, under
the management of Eubulus, the whole of the state's surplus
was annually devoted to it.

We have next to consider the expenditure on the army and
navy. The cost of these two departments may be classed under
the two heads of permanent and extraordinary. The per-
manent expenditure went in paying the cavalry, which cost
about forty talents a year, in building and repairing ships and
fortifications, in maintaining the ephebi (who each received
four obols a day) and paying their instructors, in pay to the
officers of the kleruchiai and the 400 guardians of the docks.
Further, under the permanent expenditure caused by war, we
have to include the education and maintenance of orphans
whose fathers had been killed in war, and the support of those
citizens who had been disabled in war. This last provision
finally was extended to citizens otherwise rendered incapable
of earning a living, and thus developed into a regular form of
poor relief — originally at the rate of one obol a day, and finally
two obols.

The extraordinary expenditure on these departments occurred
in time of war, when the citizen-troops had to be called out
and the fleet to be equipped. The knights then received an
extra drachma per diem, and the infantry received from four
to six obols for pay and keep. The M\ar-ships, which in time
of peace were kept high and dry in sheds, had to be put in
seaworthy condition, fitted up, and launched.

Turning now to income, we have first the tolls and taxes.
The tribute paid by the allies was the most important source
of income during the existence of the First Delian Confederacy,
and eventually it brought in as much as 800 or 900 talents

5 I O CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

annually. A similar source of revenue, which also was only
temporary, was an ad valorem toll of ten per cent, on the
freight of every ship that passed through the Bosphorus.

In the fourth century B.C. the state, not having these sources of
income to draw upon, was thrown upon its internal revenues.
Amongst these the first and most important was the pentekoste,
a tax of one-fiftieth or two per cent., levied on every article of
commerce that was landed or loaded in the harbours of Attica.
The total received by the state from this source in the course
of a year is given on one occasion as thirty-six talents. In
addition to this there were harbour-dues (lAAi/xeviov) of a nature
not precisely known ; an octroi (hairvXiov) on all things brought
into Athens for sale in the market ; and a hekatoste or one per
cent, tax, and a tax on sales (k-rruiviov), about which nothing is
known for certain. To these we must add the fieTOLKiov, or
poll-tax of twelve drachmae per head, to which the Metics were
subject, and which may be calculated to have amounted, e.g.,
in B.C. 309, to twenty talents. The iictolklov did not give the
Metic the right of trading in the market : if he wished for
that, he had to pay a further tax (Jevt/cbr reXos).

As for state domains and royalties, the state probably had
but few houses and farms to let, as its custom was to sell
confiscated property. On the other hand, it either owned all
mines, or if not all, then it required a royalty of five per cent,
on the working of those which belonged to private owners.

If the law courts were responsible for part of the state ex-
penditure, they also provided part of its revenue. The fines
and confiscations which were inflicted on the condemned, the
sums which had to be paid by the accuser who failed to prove
or proceed with his accusation, the court fees which had to
be deposited at the commencement of a suit, and the small
fines which every magistrate had the power of inflicting — all
flowed into the public treasury.

The next item of income we have to consider is that con-
sisting in the permanent Xeirovpyiai. All the wealthiest citizens,
i.e., those whose income was more than two talents, were
liable to be called on, in a certain order, to perform the
XciTovpyia, or duty of choregus, or gymnasiarch, or hestiator.
The duty of a choregus was to provide a chorus for the
dramatic and lyric contests held at the Panathensea, Dionysia,
Thargelia, Prometheia, and Hephaestia. The cost consisted
in paying and maintaining the chorus during its preparation
for the competition, providing its costumes, and paying a
chorodidascalus to train it. The gymnasiarch's liturgy con-

ATHENS 5 I I

sisted in paying and maintaining the competitors in the torch
races held at the Panathen»a, the Hephsestia, the Prometheia,
and the festivals, in honour of Pan and Eendis. The hestiator
had to entertain the members of his tribe at the Dionysia
and Panathensea ; and if he was married his wife entertained
the women at the Thesmophoria.

The trierarchy was a liturgy which was not permanent, but
was imposed only in time of war. The duties of a trierarch
are explained in more detail in the Book on War ; here
they may be briefly stated to have consisted in putting a
war-ship, supplied by the state, into condition for active
service, and maintaining it in a state of efficiency for the
space of a year. Originally each trierarch had to fit out one
trireme. About B.C. 405 two citizens were allowed to divide
the burden between them, thus forming a syntrierarchy. In
B.C. 357 a different system was introduced, modelled on the
plan of the da-^opd, which will be described in the next para-
graph : the 1200 richest citizens were formed into twenty
navy boards or crv/x/xo/otat, each board consisting of sixty
members, and presumably representing an equal amount of
property. Each board had to fit out a certain number of
triremes in case of war ; and each board accordingly divided
its members into as many groups (o-wreAetat) as it had to
provide ships — the larger the number of ships, the smaller
the number of members in each group. Now as each synteleia
had to equip one ship, and contained the same number of
persons, the result was that the poor man paid as much as
the rich. Demosthenes, therefore, carried a reform, probably
in B.C. 340, by which the amount paid by each member of a
symmory was proportional to his taxable property.

An extraordinary source of revenue was drawn upon — mainly
in time of war — when the state invited voluntary contributions
(in money or kind), which were called €7ri8oo-€is. The war-tax
proper, however, was the etcr<^o/oa. This was not an income-tax
but a tax upon property ; the proceeds were devoted solely to
carrying on the war which necessitated the tax. It was imposed
by a decree of the houU and demos, and probably special leave
(aSeta) was required before the proposer could with impunity
even suggest imposing it. In the fifth century it is probable
that the JSolonian property classes were the basis on which the
tax was assessed, and that members of the richer classes paid
more than those of the poorer. It is also probable that mov-
able property as well as landed estate was taken into account in
deciding which property class a man belonged to. Each tax-

5 I 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

payer assessed himself, but his assessment was revised by a
board of surveyors, l7rty/3a<^et§. In spite of this revision, how-
ever, it would seem that in practice nobody paid on the whole
of his property. At any rate, in 378 B.C., when the mode of
levying the eisphora was readjusted, the law openly recognised
that a citizen was to pay taxes only on a certain fraction of his
whole property, which fraction was called his rt/xTy/^a or taxable
capital ; and the wealthier a man was, the larger was the fraction
on which he had to pay. The wealthiest class of all (consisting
of the 300 richest citizens) paid on one-fifth of their estate.
Demosthenes belonged to this class, and during the ten years of
his minority, his estate paid what would be equivalent to a
modern income-tax of 4d. in the pound for each of the ten years.^
The mode in which the eisphora was levied, by the law of B.C.
368, was this : the strategi divided all who were liable to the
tax into a certain number of groups or symmories, the total
amount of taxable capital belonging to the members of any one
symmory being probably equal to that belonging to any other.
Each symmory had to pay a certain (probably equal) amount of
eisphora ; and every member of each symmory had to pay a
fraction of the amount due from his symmory proportionate to
his taxable capital. Originally a state tax-gatherer collected the
amount thus determined from the tax-payers. Subsequently
a fresh arrangement was made by which each deme appointed
one of its members to advance to the state the total amount due
from his deme ; this payment in advance, and the obligation to
pay it, was called Trpoetcrcfiopd. The man on whom this liturgy
was imposed had then to get back the sum he had advanced
from his fellow demesmen. At a later time it was the
bouleutae who selected the citizens who should perform this
duty. Finally, it was imposed on the three hundred wealthiest
citizens in the whole country.

The writer of the Atlienian Constitution, which goes under the
name of Xenophon, regards it as characteristic of the Athenian
democracy that its government was in the hands of the Thetes,
the class who had no taxable capital, who could not afford to
arm themselves as hoplites, and to whom the pay for attendance
at the ecclesia and the law courts was a consideration. We
may accordingly regard the lower classes of Athenian society
as consisting of the Thetes, while the Zeugitse and Hippeis

^ That is to say, he paid on an average if of a mina every year ; and
his income at the ordinary Attic rate of 12 per cent, would be 108 minas.
See c. Aphoh. i. 825, § 37.

ATHENS 5 T 3

composed the middle class, and the Pentacosiomedimiii the
upper class. If now we inquire to what extent each of these
classes bore the burden of taxation, it appears that the lower
classes were exempt from the war-tax (for it was raised on
capital, and they had none) and from all liturgies ; it was only
reached by indirect taxation, and even so, only so far as it
consumed imported goods ; but the goods imported into Attica
were, with the exception of corn, mainly luxuries, and the
imported corn, even when it had paid duty, was so cheap as to
bring down the price of home-grown grain. The middle class,
on the other hand, paid indirect taxation and tlie war-tax in
proportion to their capital, and were liable to the liturgy of the
trierarchy ; while the upper classes paid all these taxes, and in
addition had to perform the regular or encyclical liturgies of
the choregia, gymnasiarchia, and hestiasis. Thus the Athenians
took as the basis of their system of taxation the principle that
he who has more ought to pay more. It remains to inquire
whether in the application of this system fairness was observed.
First, the test whether a man had more was his property, not
his income ; and this was in all probability substantially a just
test in Athens, for the number of persons in receipt of a salary,
and who therefore enjoyed an income without possessing
capital, was presumably insignificant. Next, when unfairness
in the distribution of the burden did occur, as happened when
the rich had the power of distributing the burden of the
trierarchy, and used their power to relieve themselves at the
expense of others, remedial legislation could be obtained, as
it was obtained by the reforms of Demosthenes. Further, in
the case of liturgies, the law itself provided a remedy which
was known as avriSoa-cs : any citizen, Avho was called upon to
perform a liturgy and thought some other citizen better able to
afford it had been unjustly ])assed over, might summon that
citizen either to undertake the liturgy or exchange proi)erties
with him. If the ofier was declined, the matter came before a
law court, to decide which of the two was the better able to
undertake the burden.

The Athenian state did not itself collect its own taxes. The
one exception — the eisphora — ceased to be an exception on the
introduction of the proeispbora. In the case of the litur^^'ias,
the state simply ordered one of its citizens to provide a chorus,
or a trireme, or whatever it might be, at his own expense. In
the case of the war- tax, the state again simply directed a citizen
to pay into the treasury the sum due from a synimory, and left
him to get it back from the members of the symmory. AH

2 K

5 1 4 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

other taxes and tolls were farmed : the state sold the right of
collecting a tax to the highest bidder. Thus the Athenian
mode of collecting the revenue \vas absolutely simple : no army
of tax-gatherers was needed, there was no wondering how much
a tax would produce, and the state's accounts were so simplified
that " leakage " was too easily detected to be attempted. But
there w^ere drawbacks. Liturgies must have fallen much more
heavily on citizens who performed them with an eye to the
public good than on those -whose single object was to save
themselves expense. The fleet suffered especially from trier-
archs who scamped their work ; and the mobilisation of the
navy was seriously hindered by the system of antidosis. The
rich man on whom was imposed the duty of collecting the war-
tax, indemnified himself liberally for his trouble. And, as for
the s}'Stem of farming the taxes, the labour of collecting a tax
must, under any system whatever, be paid for by the state ; but
in addition to this the " farmer," in the farming system, has
to make his profit — at the cost of the state.

CHAPTEE XII

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS ,

To the modern reader, familiar with a state of things in which
power is exercised by the majority in a representative assembly,
and by certain officials elected by that majority, and in which
consequently political parties exist for the sake of obtaining a
majority and getting into office, the term " government " is apt
to imply "party -government." It may therefore be well, now
that we have examined the organs of government in Athens,
to inquire whether Athens was at any time familiar with
government by party.

Xow there certainly were political parties in Athens. At
the beginning of things, in what is called in the newly dis-
covered Athenian Constitution "the first constitution," there
were at Athens as at Rome the two parties of those who had
all the political power, and those wdio had no political rights.
Then when the people had risen in revolt, and by the arbitra-
tion of Solon had been admitted into the constitution, there
continued to be party divisions. Indeed, by this time there
had come to be not two but three political parties, e.g., the
Eupatridae, the Agroeci, and the Demiurgi, or the jDarties of the

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 51$

Shore, the Mountain, and the Plain, contending for political
power. Then their struggles for office were brought to an
end by the action of Pisistratus in making himself tyrant;
and after the expulsion of the Pisistratidae, we find once more
that the number of contending political parties is two, the
upper classes, led by Isagoras, and the people, led by Clisthenes.
Each leader apparently called extra-constitutional forces into
play, when he could not obtain power in a constitutional
manner : Clisthenes invoked those Athenians who were still
outside the constitution, and promised fuller powers to those
whose political rights were restricted ; while Isagoras invited
the armed assistance of the Spartans. Victory remained with
Clisthenes, who employed his triumph, not as Pisistratus, to
make himself tyrant, but to give Athens a democratic constitu-
tion. Under this constitution the division into two political
parties continued ; and the oligarchs or upper classes were led
by Miltiades and the democrats by Xanthippus. Their rivalry
was presumably conducted on constitutional lines for objects
which the constitution allowed to be aimed at. But when the
council of the Areopagus, by its patriotic conduct of affairs in the
Persian wars and its triumph in the battle of Salamis, became the
dominant power in the constitution, then the political contest
centred round the powers of the Areopagus ; and as the aim of
the democratic party was to effect a reform of the constitution
for which no constitutional method was provided, the struggle
again became revolutionary rather than an ordinary party
struggle for power and place, and was waged on unconstitu-
tional lines — assassination on the one side, and force on the
other. The Areopagus was stripped of its power by Ephialtes
and Pericles; the Peloponnesian war began, and during its
continuance party-divisions were on the absorbing question of
peace or war, Nicias first, and after him Theramenes leading
the upper classes or oligarchs, the peace party ; whilst the
democrats, who were fighting in the interests of democracy
throughout Greece, were the war party, and were led, after
Pericles, by Cleon, then by Cleophon, and then by undistin-
guished demagogues.

From even this hasty sketch of political parties in Athens
before the fourth century, it will be clear that at certain
periods political strucrgles at Athens were very different from
the party contests of modern times. The latter are directed
towards obtaining a ])arty majority by legitimate methods for
constitutional ends. In Athens, however, before Solon, con-
stitutional agitation was impossible : the politically disinherited

5l6 C0XSTITt3TI0NAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

members of the community could only obtain admission to
constitutional rights by the use or the threat of force — their
difficulty was not to obtain a majority (there was already a
majority), but to induce the minority to part with some of the
political power which was vested entirely in the minority.
After the time of Clisthenes, the same unconstitutional methods
for unconstitutional ends continued to be used, but now it was
no longer the people but the oligarchs who organised themselves
into a revolutionary party. By the constitution of Clisthenes,
and the overthrow of the Areopagus, the oligarchs were as
effectually excluded from all possibility of governing the state
as the irXriOos had been excluded from political power under
the "first" or pre-Solonian constitution; and from the time of
Isagoras the oligarchical party was apt to conduct treacherous,
traitorous negotiations with the enemies of the state, in the
vain hope of thereby revolutionising the constitution, and so
regaining the political ascendency which they had lost. Thus,
although in a modern country a political party may adopt a
policy which aims at changes in the constitution, and can only
carry that policy into effect by force or the threat of force, still
that is something very different from what we mean in the
ordinary way by party government, the legitimate competi-
tion of political parties on constitutional lines for place and
power.

JSTevertheless, government by party was not unknown at
Athens, as is clear from the Athenian Constitution. The writer
of that work describes, in c. 13, the state of things after Solon's
legislation : there were three political parties, the Eupatridae,
Agroeci, and Demiurgi ; they competed with each other to fill
up the archonships with members of their own party, and the
office of the archon was the stronghold which each party
specially endeavoured to obtain for itself ; finally, to prevent
the deadlocks which were continually recurring, the number
of archons was raised to ten, and it was arranged that five
archon s should always be Eupatridae, three Agroeci, and two
Demiurgi. Erom these facts the writer draws the inference
that the archon was the magistrate who then possessed the
greatest power ; and his inference commends itself as correct,
for one of the conditions of government by party is that the
people should not themselves govern, but should delegate the
power of government to some person or body elected by theru.
When this condition is fulfilled, political parties have a con-
stitutional object to aim at, and may legitimately organise
themselves for the purpose : in a word, government by party is

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 5 I /

possible, for the constitution gives the power of government to
the party which can secure a majority.

It seems then that the idea of party government was in-
telligible at Athens to a writer of the fourth century B.C., and
that it was in all probability the actual form of government
immediately after the reforms of Solon. We may now take
a step farther, and may be sure, that as long as the power of
governing the country was placed by the constitution in the
hands of any official or board of officials, party organisations
and party struggles would be directed towards obtaining that
office. Now by the fourth century, the archons, as we have seen
in a previous chapter, had lost all real powers as a judiciary,
and retained only formal authority and routine work, which
involved not much more responsibility than attaches to an
usher in a law court. As for their political powers, there is
nothing whatever to lead us to suppose that they had any in
the time of the Peloponnesian war ; and it is not improbable
that they had lost them all, or nearly all, long before ; for from
487 B.C. onwards, the archons were chosen no longer directly
by the people (but by a combination of sortition and election),
and it is not likely that the supreme power of the state would
be placed by the democracy in the hands of officials over whose
election it had no direct control from B.C. 487, and no control
whatever in later times, when the appointment was by sortition
alone.

Since then the archons, at some time or other, lost the
political power which, shortly after Solon's reforms, had been
so great that Damasias, having been elected archon, continued
to stick to the post till he was forcibly expelled, the question
arises. To whom was this political power transferred ? Who
governed Athens when the archons ceased to govern ? In
answer to these questions, it has been sought to show that in the
second half of the fifth century B.C. and throughout the fourth
century B.C., the strategi were the government of Athens. The
strategi came to be elected officials about the same time as direct
election ceased to be used in the case of the archons ; the poli-
tical powers of the stratei^i certainly increased as those of the
archons decreased ; there Avas one member of the board of
strategi Avho is conjectured to have been superior to the rest,
and who may at this time have been, as the archon was in the
time of Damasias, " the magistrate who possessed the greatest
power ; " and finally we find that the men who actually directed
the policy of Athens, such as Pericles and Nicias, were strategi.
In fine, the board of strategi were the ministry, and the

5 I 8 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

a-TpaTt^yos avTOKpariop was the prime minister. They were
elected for a year. During their year of office they governed
the country, and the party which put them into office was in
power for the year.

The discovery of the 'AOi-jvatoiv iroXiTda has, however, ren-
dered this view untenable. The powers of the strategi in the
fourth century B.C., as there described, are not of the vague
kind which the theory requires : they are precisely defined, the
ecclesia determines precisely which strategus shall undertake
what duties ; and above all, the board, instead of having a
free hand for a year, was liable to be pulled up once a month.
"The appointment of these officers is submitted for confirma-
tion each prytany, when the question is put whether they are
considered to be doing their duty. If any officer is rejected
on this vote, he is tried in the law court, and if he is found
guilty, the people decide what punishment or fine shall be in-
flicted on him ; but if he is acquitted, he holds office for
the rest of his term." (Kenyon, c. 6t.) A board of officials,
who are instructed by the ecclesia exactly what they are to
do, and are promptly prosecuted if they are suspected of not
doing it, can hardly be called a government or compared to a
modern " ministry."

We still are in need of an answer to the question, To whom
were transferred the powers of government such as the archon
of the time of Damasias enjoyed ? But inasmuch as they cer-
tainly were not transferred to the board of strategi, we may be
confident they were not transferred to any other officers of state,
for the ecclesia allowed even less discretionary powers to the
other officials, who were chosen by lot, than to the strategi, who
were elected by the ecclesia itself. IS'ow we have already seen
that the judicial powers which were originally exercised by the
archons were by degrees and eventually wholly absorbed by the
dikasts, over whom the archons nominally presided ; in the
same way the members of the ecclesia came by degrees to in-
struct the strategi in what they were to do, and so absorbed
almost entirely such discretionary powers as the strategi may
originally have had. What is true of the strategi is a fortiori
true of the other and less important officials : in all matters
requiring the exercise of discretionary power they took their
orders from the ecclesia — mere routine work was all that was
left otherwise to them. Hence it was that their election could
safely be left to the arbitrament of the lot. In fine, all the
decisions which in a modern parliamentary state would be
taken by the ministry or government were at Athens settled by

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 519

a vote of the ecclesia.^ Thus the ecclesia delegated a minimum
of power even to the strategi, the most important of its official
boards, and that minimum of power only for a minimum of
time. In Rome the consuls had no power as against the Senate,
because the consuls held office for a year only, whilst the Senate
went on for ever. How much less then could the strategi gain
or exercise power when they held office, not for a year but from
month to month, and only on condition of good behaviour, i.e.,
of behaving as the ecclesia wished?

The ecclesia then was as absolute as the House of Commons
in England would be, if it were the only estate of the realm,
and its resolutions had the force of law. The ecclesia was the
sole source of power, and it delegated none which could be used
against it or which could give to an official independent power.
In a word there was at Athens, in the fourth century, no office
the possession of which gave to the party holding it the power
of governing the country, as the archonship gave to Damasias
and his party in early times. But this does not of itself prove
that government by party was unknown. There were certainly
political parties, and if any one or any combination of them
held together for any length of time, and habitually voted
together, that party would for that time govern Athens. In
the Peloponnesian war, one party, the war-party, did as a
matter of fact hold together and control the policy of Athens
for many years. " War-party," however, is not perhaps th
best term, for the party in question was the democratic party,
and the policy of the party happened to be war. Now the
democratic party existed long before the Peloponnesian war ;
indeed, the author of the Athenian Constitution designates even
Solon by the semi-official title {Trpoa-rdTrjs rov Si^ixov) which was
given to its recognised leader. We must recognise therefore
that under appropriate conditions a party might hold together
and act together in the ecclesia for generations ; and as long
as it did so, it governed Athens, and its leader bore some re-
semblance to a prime minister. And here it may perhaps be
well to consider some of the resemblances and some of the
differences between the TrpocrrdTi-js rod Si^fiov and a prime
minister.

To begin with some small points : Trpoa-Tartjs rod S/j/xov, or
"leader of the people," was a designation given only to the

^ See on this point Mr. J. W. Headlam's convincing arguments in his
valuable work, Election hy Lot at Athens, to which I am indebted for this
and some other points in this chapter.

5 20 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

chief of the democratic party. The chief of the aristocratic party
liad no corresponding designation. Next, the popular leader
was Trpoa-rdr-qs rov ^-qfxov, whether a majority of the ecclesia
voted with him or against him. Again, there was no post or
office of Trpoa-TOLT-qs created by law ; there was no legal process
of appointment. In the same way, in England there is no
office of prime minister known to constitutional law, and con-
sequently no legal appointment to the post, any more than
there is to the post of "leader of the opposition." A man
remained Trpoo-rdTrjs, as a man remains prime minister, just so
long as he retains the confidence of his party.

So much for minor points. We have now to consider the
more important point of the relations existing between each
kind of leader and his party, what control the leader could
exercise over his party, and what control the party could
exercise over its leader. In the latter respect the Trpoa-raT-qs
and the premier were in much the same position : both were
under a patent obligation to produce a policy which met the
wishes of their followers, or else their followers would no
longer follow. In both the ancient and the modern instance,
the party ha^ only one weapon as against its leader, viz., to
vote against him. But when we come to examine the armoury
of the two leaders, we find that the weapons which the
Trpoa-TaTiis could use to check or punish a revolt are not to be
compared with those at the disposal of a prime minister. In
other words, the instruments of party discipline which modern
civilisation has discovered were practically unknown in Athens.
This difierence between the position of the Trpocrrdrrjs and that
of the premier has its root in the fundamental difference
between the ecclesia and a modern parliament. A parliament
is a representative body ; the ecclesia was not. A place in
Parliament is an object of ambition ; hence the first hold which
a premier has over a follower who shows signs of recalcitrance :
the party organisation can be used to prevent the re-election of
the offending member, j^ext, election is expensive, and the
premier having (by custom) the power of dissolving whenever
he thinks fit, has the power of inflicting what is practically a
money fine on his followers if they are insubordinate, besides
exposing them to possible exclusion from the next Parliament.
But above all, the member of Parliament is induced to vote
with his party and follow his leader, because he knows that,
little as he may get from his own side, he will get nothing from
the other : to defeat the government is to cause it to resign,
to bring about a dissolution, and perhaps to be excluded from

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 5 2 I

power for the next six years. Now the Athenian ecclesiast
was not influenced by any of these considerations. Not being
an elected representative, he could not ])e turned out of his
seat by a dissolution or be kept from re-election by any party
organisation. Above all, if he voted against his leader and
caused his leader's psepliisma on any question to be lost, he
did not thereby bring about a dissolution or do anything which
tended to exclude his party from power. On one item of the
day's programme the Trpoa-TOLT-qs rov 8-rjixov might carry his
motion, on the next be defeated, on the third be successful;
but he did not pass therefore thrice from power to opposition
and back again, nor was the government turned out or brought
in again.

Thus the Trpoorrdr'i-js had not the resources for keeping his
party together which a modern minister has at his command ;
and other causes which tend to strengthen the bonds of a
modern party were unknown at Athens. The ecclesia was
not, like a parliament, a legislative assembly ; consequently, the
ecclesiast who was interested in one legislative proposal had no
inducement to support a piece of legislation in which he had no
interest, because his party would go to pieces if he did not
support it, and so his own bill stand no chance of becoming
law. Again, there were no executive posts to which an
ambitious man might aspire, if he distinguished himself by
party services ; and finally, there was no " Spoils system,"
as in the United States, by which it became the pecuniary
interest of the rank and file to stick to their party through
thick and thin.

Thus, though there was nothing at Athens to prevent a
party from governing, if only it would vote steadily together,
tliere were none of the inducements of modern times to make
the party hold together. And yet, in the fifth century B.C., at
any rate, one party did hold together and govern for years —
and those years were not the least glorious in the history of
Athens. Throughout that century there were two, and only
two political parties, the democrats and the aristocrats; and
yet where there were so few inducements to a party to preserve
its unity, we might have reasonably expected that there would
be as many different groups as there were different questions
to be settled by the ecclesia — there is no reason apparent
why people should take the same view of one question (say
Free Trade) because they happen to agree on another totally
different question (say the Keferendum). The explanation of
the fact that in England we have— not as many different

5 22 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

groups as we have different political measures, but — two great
political parties, is, according to Professor Sidgwick {Elements of
Politics, p. 568), this: "The decisive impulse towards a per-
manently dual organisation of parties appears to be given by-
intrusting to the constituencies, along with the election of
members of a central legislative assembly, the practical choice
of the chief or leading members of the central executive."
But there was no such impulse at work in ancient Athens, and
there is no such permanently dual organisation of parties in
modern France or Germany. We must therefore, in order to
explain the permanently dual organisation of Athenian parties
in the fifth century, fall back upon the consideration (in the
same writer's words, p. 566), "that the most obvious division
of interests is that between the poor and the rich ; and that
this must tend to coincide broadly with the division between
the advocates of government by the people and the advocates of
government by a highly educated minority." The division be-
tween rich and poor being a lasting (if not an everlasting) one,
may account then for the permanently dual organisation of poli-
tical parties in England, and in the Athens of the fifth century.
Nor is this explanation discredited by the fact that the same
division did not in the fourth century, and does not in France
or Germany produce the same dual organisation. With the
latter two countries we have nothing to do, but the disappear-
ance of the dual organisation from the Athens of the fourth
century is accounted for by the fact that a party which is
permanently in a hopeless minority becomes dispirited and
ceases to act in opposition to the majority. Such a minority,
when it has realised that its prospects are desperate, turns to
unconstitutional practices and treasonable negotiations as surely
as a majority which is denied its political rights resorts to
force. And when these last desperate remedies have been
sought in vain, the dispirited minority ceases to struggle. Now
a minority may entertain hope of convertincj itself into a
majority as long as it can resist the public opinion, the domi-
nant sentiment, to which it is opposed. But it needs assistance
if it is successfully to resist the dominant sentiment, and from
Athens all the causes which in a modern country make for
resistance were absent. Under a representative system public
opinion has to act through its representatives, and hence its sway
is not continuous or complete. In Athens its sway was direct
and as uniform in its pressure as the atmosphere. In the large
nation states of modern times, " variety of social conditions, of
modes of life, of religious belief prove centres of resistance to

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 523

the dominant sentiment." In Athens the conditions of exist-
ence were so homogeneous that no centres of resistance could
be formed. Finally, the smaller a community is the more
tyrannical is public opinion ; and Athens was small.

It is plain that the democratic reforms of Clisthenes, far-
reaching as they were, could only have been carried because
the democratic sentiment was at the time overwhelming in
Athens. But it was the very conviction that it was irresis-
tible which threw the aristocratic party into despair and drove
its leader, Isagoras, into treasonable communications with
Sparta. When these failed, and the democratic reforms of
Clisthenes had been accomplished, the aristocratic party would,
we may well imagine, have disappeared and party government
would have come to an end, as it did by the beginning of the
fourth century, if the aristocrats had not discovered in the
Council of the Areopagus an unexpected stronghold of con-
servative opinion. This reinforcement gave the conservative
party hope, and encouraged it to perform its functions as a
constitutional party, in a constitutional manner, because it
enabled it to cope with the opposite party with some prospect
of moderate and reasonable success. But the Areopagus was
the last chance of the conservative party — and, we may add,
of the democratic party too, for when the former was banished
from practical politics, the latter could have no raison d^etre,
and as a party carrying on the work of government by party
was bound to disappear too. Hence the period of the Pelo-
ponnesian war may be regarded in one way as being a period
of party government, in another way as not. The moderate
and patriotic conservatives, such as Nicias, continued faithful
to the traditions of party action on constitutional lines, and
offered a formal opposition to the dominant democratic party,
which just provided an inducement to the democrats to hold
together and not split up into perpetually changing political
groups. But that this opposition was dispirited and hopeless,
and that the active spirits in the aristocratic party had with-
drawn their energies from the constitutional methods of party
government, is shown by the intrigues which culminated in
the establishment, by assassination and terrorism, of the Four
Hundred and of the Thirty Tyrants. When these, the last
d<^-spairing attempts of a party hopelessly incapable of coping
bv fair means with the dominant democratic sentiment, had
failed, the conservatives as a political party, taking its share
in the responsibility of governing the country, disappeared ;
and. in the fourth century rc, there was no longer a per-

524 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

manently dual organisation of political parties. Government
by party no longer existed. Government by groups took its
place. This was on the whole a consummation to be deplored.

The two-party system may be judged either by its results or
by a priori considerations. Beginning with the latter, we may
observe, first, that in a free country, if it is to be free, every
variety of opinion must be allowed free expression : conse-
quently the tendency of the majority to override and disregard
the opinion of the minority is one to be resisted and corrected
by the statesman, especially if the minority is one which from
the nature of the case cannot hope to convert itself even
occasionally into a majority, and yet is a permanent element
in the composition of society. K'ext, it is essential to the
well-being of a state not only that diversity of opinion should
have free expression, but that diversity of opinion should be
encouraged to exist. Public opinion may become a terrible
instrument of oppression, therefore it is desirable that as many
sources as possible should contribute to the formation of public
opinion, in order that it may see a thing from all points of
view before commending or condemning it.

These a priori considerations may seem at first to favour the
system of government by groups rather than by two parties ;
but when they are applied to the question whether it is desir-
able that one of these two parties — when two great parties
exist — should be reduced by constitutional changes to a position
in which it is vain for it to hope to have its opinion listened to,
then these a priori considerations tell in favour of maintain-
ing the two-party system. And further, inasmuch as what is
necessary to the existence of a political group is not merely
expression, but effective expression of its opinion — i.e., expres-
sion resulting in the realisation of the group's political object —
it may well be the case that the group gets more by allowing
itself to be more or less absorbed in one of two great parties, than
it Avould get if its only competitors were other similar groups.

The test of experience is, however, more decisive in favour of
the two-party system. The Englishman, at any rate, who com-
pares the permanence and stability of his own system of govern-
ment by two great parties with the perpetually shifting state of
things in France, where government is by political groups, will
have little hesitation in deciding in favour of the dual organisa-
tion of political parties. A comparison of Athens under the
system of party government in the fifth century B.C., and the
same country governed in the fourth century by groups, tends
in the same direction. The former is the century of the Persian

THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS 525

wars, the latter of the downfall of Hellas. The political
groups addressed by Demosthenes, and addressed in vain, did
not deserve so well of their country as the great political parties
to whom Aristides and the Areopagus appealed to oppose the
Persians. In a word, the decisive consideration in favour of
the two-party system is that without a permanent party no
permanent policy is possible ; and in a democracy you cannot
have a permanent democratic party unless you have a permanent
conservative party, threatening to take command if the demo-
crats do not hold together.

But though the working of the Athenian constitution was
such as in the end to make government by party impossible,
yet as long as party government existed it was conducted with
a total absence of all the drawbacks with which it is attended
in modern times. The evils of party government are due to
the fact that the interests of party tend to be put above the
interest of the country. The member of a political party in
modern times may be aiming at one of the offices of state which
are assigned to the leading men of the party in power, and may
thus have a paramount interest in bringing or keeping his party
in ; and if, as in the United States, the Spoils system prevails,
the rank and file of the party workers may all have a direct
pecuniary interest in the fortunes of the party. These corrupt-
ing influences were entirely excluded at Athens, because the
state officials were not drawn from any one party, but selected
by lot from the whole body of Athenian citizens. In the next
place, even when the modern politician's motives are free from
even the suspicion of pecuniary influence, he may yet in his
devotion to his party vote for measures of which he does not
approve rather than let in the other side. In Athens, as no
party could be in office, and if it lost one motion was not
thereby debarred from carrying the next, no citizen could be
restrained from voting for what he thought best by the fear of
tliereby turning his party out of power. Again, all the energy
w^hich in modern times is expended on party organisation, on
keeping the party united, gaining recruits, exciting party
enthusiasm, organising a party propaganda, and choosing accept-
able party candidates, was set free for the work of the state
in Athens, because the elections, for the sake of which party
organisation exists in modern times, were unknown. Finally,
though the followers of the 7rpocrTa.Trjs tov Stjfiov could not
turn him out of office, if they thought he had betrayed the
country, they could ]H'osecute him in the law courts. The fate
of Cleophon and Callicrates is instructive as recorded in the

5 26 CONSTITUTIONAL ANT3 LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

'AO'qvaLOiv TToAtreta (c. 28) : " It was Cleophon who first granted
the two-obol donation for the theatrical performances ; and for
some time he continued to give it; but then Callicrates of
Paeania ousted him by promising to add a third obol to the sum.
Both of these persons were subsequently condemned to death ;
for the people, even if they are deceived for a time, in the end
generally come to detest those who have beguiled them into
any unworthy action" (Kenyon's trans.).

To sum up, then : throughout its history, the Athenian com-
munity was divided into the two classes of rich and poor. At
the beginning, the poor were excluded by law (or rather custom),
at the end the rich were excluded, by the spirit of the consti-
tution, from the exercise of political power. Between these
two periods, the division of society into the two classes of rich
and poor found its expression in politics in the permanently
dual organisation of political parties. Whilst government by
party existed, it was conducted in a better and purer way than
has ever been the case in the world since. When the majority
were excluded from the benefit of the constitution, they used
force as their remedy ; when the minority was excluded, it
first resorted to treason, and then by its withdrawal from the
political arena it caused the substitution of government by
political groups for government by political parties, with the
result that a permanent and provident policy {e.g., against
Philip of Macedon) became impossible.

CHAPTER XIII

ATTIC LAW
LA.WS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LIFE

The purpose of this and the following chapters is to give a brief
account of the principal laws of Athens for the protection of
life and limb, the protection of property, the law of contracts,
the laws regulating inheritance, marriage, and family relations,
and laws for the protection of the state from internal foes. The
laws of the constitution have already been dealt with implicitly
in the previous chapters ; and " sacral " law does not fall within
the scope of the present book.

In the beginning, at Athens as elsewhere, there were no
laws, but only customs ; and the custom in any particular matter

ATTIC LAW 527

was what " everybody " did under the same circumstances,
e.|7., take vengeance, or accept wer-geld for the murder of a
near kinsman. The state did not compel people to do what
was customary, partly because there was no state, but mainly
because the idea of doing anything unusual simply does not
occur to the slaves of custom : their imagination is undeveloped.
Eventually, however, breaches of the custom do occur ; and,
when the community's sense of what is fitting is very much
shocked by them, the custom is enforced by the community.
If the community habitually enforces its customs, we get cus-
tomary law. What the custom is which regulates any given
point, e.^., the succession to a disputed inheritance, may not be
known to every one : the younger men of the tribe, for instance,
have to learn it from the elders. Hence the rise of a privileged
class, possessing an exclusive knowledge of customary law.
Hence, too, a danger that the privileged class may manipulate
customary law in its own interests. At this stage of the
development of law, the alphabet became known in Greece :
custom was reduced to writing, codified (at Athens by Draco),
and became law in the full and proper sense of the term.

The laws, originally inscribed on wooden tablets, amoves or Kvp-
/Seis, and preserved in the Acropolis, were subsequently engraved
on stelae which were set up in public places, where any man who
had to resort to legislation might read them and copy such laws
as he required for his own purposes. If he intended to quote
any law in the trial, he had to deposit a copy of it at the
dvoLKpLo-Ls, along with his other documentary evidence, in a box,
which remained in the custody of the presiding magistrate,
until the day when the trial came on. The litigant then, in
making his speech, when he wished to cite the law in support
of his argument, could call on the clerk of the court to read
the extracts which he had put in at the anacrisis. In our
copies of the orators, the points at which the speaker broke off,
in order to allow the extracts to be read, are still marked
N0M02. Now, although at the conclusion of a trial the
speech of a logographos, such as Demosthenes, would naturally
be preserved by the person for whom it was written, along with
all the documents of the case, for future use, if the matter
should lead to further litigation ; still the speech and the docu-
ments would be detached from each other, and when copies of
the speeches of Demosthenes came to have a market value in
virtue of their literary qualities solely, the divorce between the
oration and the documents would probably in most cases be-
come final. And yet sometimes we find the laws and other

5 28 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

documents inserted at length in a speech. What then are we
to think of these soi-disant laws ? In the majority of cases
they are concoctions, constructed out of the hints given by the
speech itself as to the contents of the laws referred to. Some
of these interpolations show, by gross blunders, that the inter-
polator was very ignorant of the forms of Attic law. Others
are constructed so carefully out of the indications given in
the speech itself, that though their authority must always be
inferior to that of the material out of which they have been
constructed, they are convenient, because comj^act, for use.
Others again have been so carefully constructed — if they are
concoctions — that, even with a stone-record {e.g., G. I. A. i. 6i)
of the actual law as a test, scholars can dispute whether they
are genuine or concocted. Finally, some are demonstrated,
either by internal evidence or by inscriptions, to be genuine.
But if we were limited to genuine laws, no considerable corpus
of Attic law could be constructed. Our knowledge of Athenian
laws therefore depends, in the first line, on the orators, on the
quotations direct and indirect which they make, and on the
inferences, which are to be drawn from their conduct of the
case they are arguing. That it is possible to present an account
of Attic law as it was in the time of the orators is due mainly
to the labours of Plattner, Meier, Schomann, and Lipsius in
Germany, of M. Caillemer in France, and of Messrs. Kennedy,
Wayte, and Sandys in England.

We begin with the laws for the protection of life. The
original authorities from which we have to draw our know-
ledge of these laws are as follows : —

Etcrt Se (fiovov SiKat kol Tpavixaros, av /xev 6k Trpovota^ airo-
KT€Lvr) •>) rpiiXTTi, €V 'A/Dctw TTciyw, Kttt (fiapfxaKOJV, iav afroKTeiVQ
8ovs, Kol TrvpKatas' ravra yap i) /SovXyj fxova StKa^et. — Ar. Ath.
Pol. c. 57.

Ot (fiOVLKol rovs /x€v €K TTpovolas diroKTivvvvTas Oavdrip kol
d^K^vyla KOL Sv^/xevcret rtov virap^ovTbiv ^')]pLOv<JL. — Dem. 3Iid. p.
528, ^§43.

OvSe y, dv 6 Tra^wv avros dcfir] tov (f)6vov, wplv reXevrrjcrai,
Tov Spdcravra ovSevl twv Aoittwv crvyyevcjjv e^ecrrtv i-Tre^uvai.
— Dem. Pantcen. p. 983, § 58.

Tov fSovXevcravTa Iv tw avTco €ve)(€(TOaL koI tov tjj ^^''P^
€pyacrd[ji€vov. — Andoc. de Myst. p. 46, § 94.

'^Av /x4v Tts avSpos (Tw/xa rpoocrrj . . . avros /xev Kara rovs
vofiovs rovs e^ ' Kpdov Trdyov (fyev^erat rrjv rov d^iKi^Okvros
TToXtv, Ka\ kdv KaTiYj ei'Sety^Oels Oavdroi ^-qpKjiOqcreTa.i. — [Lys.]
Andoc. p. 212, § 5.

ATTIC LAW 529

Twv 8' ULKOvcTLOiv Kol f3ov\€Vcr€(j)s Kav OLKeTrjv diroKTeivr} tis -q
fxeTOiKOV 7) ^€vov, OL IttX YiaXXuMo) (StKa^ovo-t). — Ibid.

Tov dAoi'Ta kir (XKovcriO) <f>6vco eV tktlv elpn^ixevots ^povoLS
direXOelv raKrrjV 68ov kol (^evyetv, ecus av alSecrrjTai tlvo. tCjv
iv ykvet rod TreirovOoTos. — Dem. Aristocrat, p. 643, § 72.

Kat ea/x p) 'k Trpovoias Kretvy tl<^ rtva, ifjevyetv. StKa^eLv 8c
rovs fSaoriXeas atrtcov <p6vov i^ /SovXcva-ews rovs del /SacnXevovTas
Tovg Se e(/)6Ta§ Siayvcovat.

Al8ecrao-0ai 8\ lav /x€v Trarryp 7) 7) dSeA<j')09 r) 'L'v/s, diravTas,
7) Tov KwAi'ovra Kparelv . . . edv Se TovTcor /xT^Sets ^, KTeivrj
Se ttKOjv, yvwo-t Se ot 7rep'T7yKOvra Kat efs ot e^erac aKovra Kreivat,
kcrka-Qoiv 8\ 01 (fipdrepes edv ede\o)(TL ScKa, tovtovs Se ot 7revT7y-
Kovra Kat ef? dpL(TTLv8r]v alpetcrdiov. Kat ot Trporepov KretVavre?
€1/ TwSe TCi Oecrpco iv€)(€cr6(X)V.

HpO€Lir€LV no KTeivavTi kv d.yopa ivTos dvexpLOTi^Tos Kat
dvei/'toi}. o-vvStojK£tv 81 Kat dvexpiovs kol dvexj/tiov TraiSas Kat
yapfipoivs KOL TrevOepovs Kat ({)pdr€pa<5. . . .

'Edv Se Tt9 Tov dv8po(fi6vov KTCtvrj 7} atrtos 7) <^6vo\\ dire-
'vopevov dyopds ectopias Kat dOXiov Kat le^wv Wp(pLKTLOVLK{ov
locrirep rbv 'A^T^ratov Kretvavra, ly rots avrois eve^ecrOat, Sta-
ytvwo-Ketv Se rovs e</)eTas. rovs 8e dv8pO(fi6vovs e^elvat aTroKTeti'eiv
Kat dirdyeiv iv r>; rjp€8a7r'p, Xvpatvecrdai 8e p:q^ p.i]8^ diroivdv.

—a /. A i. 61/ ^

'Edv Tts Ttva Twv dv8po(fi6viov rQv €^eXi]Xv96T(DV cuv to,
^pr^p^aTa cTriTi/xa Tre/oa opov lAavvT^ •i^ ^^P9 ^ ^72?? ''"'^ ^'"^^^ 6<f>etX€LV
oo-a Tre/) dv ev ry r^pSaTzrj 8pd(TY). — Dem. Aridocrat. p. 634,
§ 44 lex. ^ ^

'Edv 8\ <fi€vy(j)V cfivyrjv S)V atSeo^ts ecrrtv alriav cyrj diroKTelvai
7) T/Dwo-at Tti/a TOVTCo 8' Iv 4^/DedTOv StKa^ovcrtv. — Ar. ^^A. Po/. 57.

Kara riov li'SeiKJ-'vi'TOJV roi)? Kartovras dv8poc}i6vovs ottol /xt)
e^ea-rl 8iKas (f)6vov p) efvat. — Dem. Aristocrat, p. 636, § 51.

'Edv S' aTTOKTetvat pkv tls opioXoyrj, (f)ij Se Kara rovs vopovs,
oTov poL)(ov XafSiov r| Itti Sd/xaprt 7) cTrt pijrpt rj ctt' d8eA</)-// -i^
€7rt Ovyarpl 1) evrt iraXXaKYj tJv dv iir^ iXevdepois Tratcrtv e;^7^.
— Dem. Aristocrat, p. 637, § 55.

'^H €v TToXepi^ dyvoi](Tas rj dv ddXo) dyiov t^o pevos, tovtco CTrt
^eX(f>LVLO} SiKa^ovo-tv. — Ar. ^^/l Po/. c. 57.

'Edv Tts dpVv6pi€V0S dp^OVTO. ^€t/DCOl' dStKWl' KT€LVr), dOipOV

etvai. — Orators passim.

Kat edv cf)ipovra t] dyovra ^ta dStKCos evOvs dp^vvopevos Kreivy,
vqTTOivel redvdvai. — Dem. Aristocrat. § 60, and C. I. A. i. 61.

'Edv Tts 8rjpoKpaTLav KaraXvrj tijv 'AO'qvqcTLV rj dp-)(ip' rtva
dp-xj} KaraXeXvpexn^s tTjs 8i]poKpaTLas, TroXeptos eo-Tw 'A6^7^vatu>v
Kut vT^TTotvt redvdrin. — Andoc. de Myster. p. 47, § 96.

2 L

5 30 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES ■

"Orav Se p) elSrj tov TrotqcravTa, rco Spacravrt Xay)(avet. StKa^ei
8' 6 f^acriXevs koX ol (f)oXol3a.cnX€is Kal ras rwv ai/'v^j^ojv Kat twv
aAAwv fo'^wv. — Ar. Ath. Pol. 57.

To convict a man, according to the English law, of murder,
it is not necessary to prove that he intended to kill ; it suffices
to prove that he intended grievous bodily harm, or was aware
that his act would entail grievous bodily harm on some one
(not necessarily the deceased). According to Athenian law,
however, to convict a man of the most criminal offence, viz.,
voluntary homicide {<ji6vos eKova-cos), it was absolutely necessary
to prove the intention to kill. If the intent to kill were not
established, the offence would only be involuntary homicide
(<^ovos (XKovcrtos). Thus though all cases of the Athenian
" voluntary homicide " would be English murder, many offences
which would be murder in England were involuntary homi-
cides in Attica.

Athenian law recognised three kinds of voluntary homicide,
viz., when death was caused by wounding, by poison, by arson.
Voluntary homicide, in whichever way of these three caused,
was the worst offence known to the law ; the court which tried
this offence was the Council of the Areopagus, and the sentence
was death, and confiscation of the convict's property — if, that
is to say, the accused determined to stand by the result of the
trial, for it was permitted him, if he chose, before the end of
the trial, to withdraw into exile, in which case his property was
still confiscated and he himself became an exile for life.

The Athenian law applied the same distinction to cases of
wounding as to cases of homicide : it distinguished . them
according to the intention of the doer. If the accused
wounded without intent to kill, the offence was one of assault
or violence (aiKta or i'/3pts) ; but if with intent to kill, the
offence (r/jav/xa €k Trpovolas) was more serious than involuntary
homicide, and almost as serious as murder : the court was
again the Council of the Areopagus, and the sentence was
banishment (whether perpetual or temporary is uncertain), and
confiscation of the convict's property.

Involuntary homicide, i.e.. unlawful killing without intent to
kill, is an offence of which the gravity may vary considerably,
according to the circumstances of the case : a man may per-
form an act fraught with danger to the life and limbs of others
without indeed any design to kill, but mth culpable and
criminal indifference to the consequences of his action, or death
may ensue from an act which no one could foresee would have
such a result, e.g., the act of the merchant who cast away a

ATTIC LAW 531

date- stone, thereby causing the death of the genie's invisible
son. The latter class of acts is jjlainly much less criminal than
the behaviour of a man whose intention is to kill, but who
only succeeds in doing grievous bodily harm. It is therefore
intelligible that for involuntary homicide Attic law prescribed
a less severe sentence than for wounding with intent to kill :
the latter was punished by the Areopagus with exile and
confiscation, the former by the Palladion with exile only. It
is, however, surprising that no heavier penalty was inflicted on
the more culpable forms of involuntary homicide.

Thus far we have been dealing with cases in which the
accused was charged with being the cause of the death or
wounds, in the sense that he himself inflicted the wounds,
struck the fatal blow, or administered the poison with his own
hand. Eut there is another sense in which a man may be the
cause of death or wounding with intent to kill : qui facit per
aJium facit x^er se. The man who hires or induces another
to commit murder is himself the " intellectual author" of the
crime, and is morally guilty. Hence Athenian law assigned to
instigation ((3ovXevcri<i) the same penalties as to the actual
commission of the crime : instigation to an act causing and
intended to cause death was punished by the Palladion with
death and confiscation, in the same way that voluntary
homicide Avas punished by the Areopagus ; instigation to an
act intended to cause death, but only resulting in grievous
bodily harm, was visited by the Palladion with exile and
confiscation, just as wounding with intent to kill entailed
exile and confiscation at the hands of the Areopagus ; finally,
instigation to an act which caused, but was not intended to
cause death, was punished, like involuntary homicide, by the
Palladion with exile.

The Palladion also tried cases in which the offence was
causing the death of non-citizens, viz., foreigners, resident
aliens (Metics), freedmen (Metic?;), and slaves. AVhat the
penalty was is not known.

The same law which prescribed the penalties for unlawful
homicide and for wounding with intent to kill also prescribed
certain points of procedure. All such cases were to be in-
structed by and conducted under the presidency of the king-
archon. Voluntary homicide and wounding with intent were
to be tried by the Council of Areopagus ; involuntary homicide
and instigation thereto, as well as instigation to voluntary homi-
cide and wounding with intent, were to be tried by the fifty-
one Ephetie, sitting at the Palladion. The duty of prosecuting

532 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

the homicide, vokmtary or involuntary, was laid by the law
on such relatives of the deceased as were related to him in a
nearer degree than that of cousin, to wit, on father, brother,
or sons. They were legally bound to give the murderer the
formal warning in the market-place, which was the indispens-
able preliminary to prosecution ; but in the rest of the prosecu-
tion they were to be joined by the deceased's cousins, cousins'
sons, father-in-law, son-in-law, and 2^^^t'<^iores or clansmen. As
the duty of prosecution was laid by law on the kinsmen of the
deceased, so by law the right of forgiving the homicide and
being appeased by him Avas accorded to them. But this right
entitled them to forgive only the involuntary homicide, and
him after trial only. Further, the father, brothers, and sons
must be unanimous in the matter ; and if the deceased left no
near relatives, the Fifty-and-one were to choose, according to
rank, ten of his phratores, with whom the right of forgiveness
then rested. As to the nature of this forgiveness, it did not
mean abstaining to prosecute — the only condition under which
the next-of-kin could legally refrain from prosecution was if
the deceased, before dying, forbade them to prosecute, and this
forbiddal might apply to the voluntary as well as to the in-
voluntary homicide. But the involuntary homicide, having
been sentenced to banishment by the Ephetae, might, by " ap-
peasing" the next-of-kin, reduce his term of exile — even so
much as to make it a merely nominal punishment.

The exile who, during his term of banishment (whether
temporary, as in the case of the involuntary homicide, or
permanent, as in the case of the voluntary homicide who fled
his country without waiting for the verdict of the Areopagus),
remained abroad, and observed the terms of his sentence, i.e.,
abstained from appearing at the public games of Greece', and the
Amphictionic gatherings, and the markets held on the borders
of Attica, was granted a certain amount of protection. The
convict who violated the terms of his banishment forfeited
that protection. The man convicted of Avounding with intent,
or of homicide, voluntary or involuntary, who returned to
Attica, might be arrested, or even killed, with impunity, though
he might not be ill-treated or amerced ; and those who gave
information of his return, and thereby procured his execution,
were protected by the law from that prosecution for instigation,
/3ovX€V(ris, to Avhich, according to Attic law, those who falsely
procured a sentence of death were liable. On the other hand,
the life of the exile who observed the terms of his sentence
was protected by the law in exactly the same way as that of

ATTIC LAW 5 33

any ordinary Athenian citizen; and the law further forbade
any one to pursue or hale or molest the involuntary homicide
as long as he remained abroad. Finally, the law accorded to
the man who, being an exile for involuntary homicide, was
charged with having committed another murder or with having
wounded with intent to kill, an opportunity to clear himself of
the fresh charge without waiting for his term of banisliment
to expire. Standing in a boat, he pleaded his defence before
the Ephetse, who sat in the court of Phreatys on shore.

Thus far we have been dealing with cases of unlawful homi-
cide, voluntary or involuntary. Eut the Athenian law ex-
pressly recognised cases in wliich homicide was lawful, and the
accused might admit the fact that he had, intentionally or
unintentionally, killed the deceased, but plead that he had done
so lawfully. Thus it was lawful, as we have seen, to kill or
procure the execution of an exile who returned before his
sentence expired. Again, it was lawful to kill an adulterer or
a traitor plotting treason to the constitution of his country.
If a man, in the act of defending himself against an illegal
assault, happened to kill his assailant ; or if in the games he
killed a man by accident ; or if in battle he killed a fellow-
citizen, intentionally indeed, but thinking him an enemy, the
killing was lawful. The court which tried cases of this kind
was that of the Ephetse at the Delphinion. If the court
decided that the homicide was lawful, no punishment of course
was inflicted ; if that it was unlawful, then the sentence would
be determined by the nature of the unlawful homicide — death
and confiscation if voluntary, exile if involuntary.

To return to unlawful homicide, if the next-of-kin could
not discover the perpetrator of the murder, he had to prose-
cute the implement; and the case was tried by tlie Ephetae
in the court of the Prytaneion, under the presidency of the
king-archon and the trilDe-kings. This court, according to the
Athenaion Politeia, also tried animals. Various uncivilised
peoples also have blood feuds with animals.^

Finally, the hand of a suicide was cut off and buried sepa-
rately. In England also the body of a suicide was mutilated
by law until 1832, by having a stake driven through it. The
English practice had its origin in the belief that a suicide,
unless mutilated, becomes a vampire. The Athenian custom
has probably the same origin (Class, lieu. ix. p. 249).

^ Jevons : Introduction to History of Rdiyion, p. 100.

534 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

CHAPTEE XIV

ATTIC LAW {continued)

LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PERSON

"We have now to consider the laws for the protection of the
person, and first the laAvs against abusive language, which are
to be inferred from the following passages : —

KeAeuet (6 voixos) rovs Aeyovra? tl to)V aTropp-qroiv TrevraKocrias
Spa-^fiaq oc^etAetv. — Isocrat. c. Lochit. § 3.

KeXevova-LV (ot vofxoi) €voxov eTvat ry KaKrjyopta. Trjv ipyaa-tav
rrjv iv tq dyopa. ^ twv TroXiTOJV rj twv TroAtrtStov ovctSt^ovrd
TLvi. — Dem. Euhul. p. 1308, § 30.

Mt) XkycLv KdKios Tov reOveajTa. — Dem. Leptin. p. 488, § 104.

''Av jxkv Tolvvv l8ia)TY]<s ovra tlvol vf^pia-Q tl<s rj KaKcos €i7rr),
ypacfiriv v/3/3eco9 Kal SiKrjv KaKr}yopta<s ISlav (^eu^erai, lav Se
OecTfioOeTrjv, art/xos ecrrai KaOdira^. — Dem. Mid. p. 524, § 32.

ZrjfiLol (6 vopLoOenis) tov Aeyovra, lav /xt) aTTO^atv/; ws lo-rtv
dXr)6rj rd lipa^/xeva. — Lys. c. Theom. ii. p. 367, § 30.

Zwvra p) KaKw§ Alyetv Trpbs lepots Kal 8LKa(TTrjpL0i<i Kal dp^^etOLS
KOL Oeoipta's ovcri'js aywvcuv, 1) rpels Syoa^^a? tw ISuorrj, 8vo S'
aAAa? (XTTortveiv et? to 8r]ii6(TLOV. — Plut, Sol. 21.

The tendency of quarrels is from words to blows ; and
Attic law made abusive language (KaKrjyopia) penal. There
were certain offensive expressions, technically called "forbidden "
(dTTopprjTa), the use of Mdiich, under any circumstances, was
subject to a penalty of 500 drachmae, which probably went
to the party injured. For instance, it was penal to reproach
any citizen of either sex ^vith the fact — even if true — that he
or she sold things in the market : poverty was to be no reproach
in Athens. In the next place, to speak evil of the dead, under
any circumstances whatever, was to render yourself liable to a
fine of 1000 drachmae, of which half went to the state, half to
the accuser. Thirdly, to abuse a magistrate entailed disfran-
chisement absolutely. In all three cases, however (save Avhen
poverty was the reproach), it was a good defence to prove that
the epithet, forbidden but used, was true in fact. Finally, if
a man used language, abusive (XotSopia) indeed, but not " for-
bidden," in public places, especially temples, law courts, public
games, &c., he could not be prosecuted for abusive language
(KaK-qyoptas), but he forfeited five drachmae — three to the indi-
vidual, two to the state.

ATTIC LAW 5 35

Our knowledge of the laws of assault is based on the following
quotations : —

'H 6' aiKia TOVT ecTTLV, OS av o-p^J] 'X€.ipQ>v dSiKdiV Trporepos.
— Dem. Euerg. et Mnesib. p. 1 151, § 40.

To Tijxrjixa kv tols vopiOLS ovk €(ttiv uipicrpevov dX)C 6 filv
KaT-qyopos rt/xr^/xa l7rty/oa<^eTat OTTOcrov SoKel d^iov eTvai to
a.8cKy]fJLa' ot 8e SiKacrral Kpivovwiv. — Harp. S.V. aiKtas.

'Eai/ Tis dvOpomov eXevOepov rj Trac^a al(r)(yvr] (iia, SlttX^v
Tr)v fSXdfSi^v dc^ei/Veiv, kdv 5e yvvaiKa, i(f) aTcrirep aTv OKreiveiv
€^€(TTLv, kv roh avTOis kvkyecrOai. — Lys. Eratosth. p. 34, % 2,2.

'Eav Ti§ vlSpicrr) et's rii'a rj iralSa rj yvvaiKa i) dvSpa twv
kXeoOepuyv rj tQ)v SovAwv i^ ircipdvopov tl TroLyjcrr} els tovtojv TLva
ypacfikcrOo) tt/dos tovs 6€(rp,o0kTas 6 /SovXopevos 'AOrjvaLOJv o?s
e^ecrrtv, ol 8e Oeo-podkrai elcrayovTaiv et? ti]V ijXiaLav rpiOLKOvra
i)pepQ)V d(j> i^s av 7) rj ypacf^r), kav fx-q tl drjixocTLOV KwXvrj, el 8e
pij, oTav rj irpQtTOV oTov re. orov 8' av Karayvco rj rjXiaia^ Ti/xarw
irepl avTOv 7rapa)(prjp,a (?), orov av SoKy d^ios eivat iraOelv 7')
aTTOTio-at. oo"a 8' av ypdcjuavTai ypacfids IStas Kara tov vopov,
kdv TLS p^r) kTre^eXdrj -q kire^MV p.r] peTaXd/Sy to irep-TTTOv pepos
Twv xf/'q(fi(i}v aTTOTiO-aro) -x^tXias 8pa)(jJids Tip Si^poa-tip. kav 8e
dpyvpiov Tip-ijOrj ttJs vfSpecDS, 8e8ea-do), kav kXevOepov vfSpLcry,
pexpi' dv kKTLorrj. — Dem. Mid. p. 529, § 47.

From these passages it appears that the Athenian law offered
two remedies for assault : if the person injured desired compen-
sation, and considered that his assailant would be sufficiently
punished by being mulcted in damages, he could bring a private
action (atKtas StK7;). But if the offence seemed so outrageous
as to require to be checked in the interests of the community,
then a public action (ypa<f>r) v/Speojs) might be instituted by the
party injured, or by any other Athenian citizen in enjoyment of
his full civic rights. The law seems not to have specified the
amount, nature, or circumstances of the injury necessary to
sustain the criminal action. There are indications that the orators
thought the animus iiijuriandi essential to success in the criminal
action, and not essential in the civic suit. What is certain is
that the action for v/3pLs was a most serious step, and one which
the ordinary citizen would not himself take, or (by his action
as a dicast) encourage others to take, save under the gravest
circumstances : hence no more practical difficulty was felt in
distinguishing atKta from vfSpts, than in distinguishing day
from night, hard thouL;h it might be to say exactly where the
one ended and the other began. In the majority of cases
therefore the person assaulted had practically only one remedy,
viz., the civil action for atKi'a, simply because it was only under

53^ CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

exceptional circumstances a jury would convict in an action for
ij^pis ; and if the prosecutor in the criminal suit did not obtain
a verdict, and did not get the votes of one- fifth of the jury, he
was himself fined a thousand drachmae. To obtain a verdict in
an action for aiKta, on the other hand, was an easier matter :
the essential thing to prove was that the defendant struck the
first blow, and that it really was an unlawful blow, and not
merely a piece of horse-play. As for damages, the complainant
claimed what he chose, and the jury awarded what they
thought fit.

Thus far we have been dealing with cases of common assault.
But the law also recognised aggravated assault. Here again
the law •afi'orded two remedies : the guardian of the woman
or child might institute a civil action for outrage (/Staiwi/
or f^tos Slk-)^), and recover to twice the amount at which he
himself assessed the actual damages ; or he (or any citizen)
might have recourse to the criminal action for v^pts, in which
case he could get no damages, but the convict might be fined
any sum the dicasts thought fit, or even be sentenced to death.
The determination to put down v/Spts promptly and resolutely
is indicated by the provision of the law which allows any citizen,
in possession of his civic rights, to take action, and which
directs the Thesmothetae, with whom the complaint is to be
lodged, to bring the case on as soon as possible, within thirty
days, if the course of public business allowed. Further, the
convict, if fined, is to be imprisoned until he pays.

The principles of the law with regard to damages are given
in the following passages : —

IIpwTOV /xer ol Trepl rqs /SXd/Srjs ovtol vop.oi iravres, av pev Ikwv
Tts ISX-dxpri, SiirXovv, dv 8' aKwv, aTrAow to fSXafSos KeXe-vovcnv
€KTLV€Lv. — Dcm. Mid. p. 527, § 43.

Kwa SaKOVTa TrcpaSovvai kAoio) Tpiirrj-^^ei SeSepevov. — Plut.
Sol. 24.

Further, the law enabled a man to recover compensation for
injury of any kind suff'ered by him in consequence of any un-
lawful act or negligence on the part of any one else — so far,
that is, as the act of commission or omission was not rendered
penal by some other law than the law 'of damage. Thus, the
man who promised to bear witness in a case and failed to do so
could be mulcted of damages under the law regulating the duties
and liabilities of witnesses. But Philocleou, who in the W^asps
upsets the old woman's stall, would be proceeded against under
the general law of damage. The penalty inflicted varied ac-
cording to circumstances : the general law of damages directed

ATTIC LAAV 537

that in cases of unintentional damage the defendant should
make equivalent compensation ; hut, when the mischief was
intentional, he should pay twice as much. Wlien, however, the
damage was the consequence of some act or negligence pro-
hibited by a specific law, the penalty would be that prescribed
by the law in question.

If an animal or a slave did damage, it had to be handed over
to the prosecutor. The owner, however, might rescue it, by
paying compensation.

CHAPTEE XV

ATTIC LAW {continued)

THE LAW OF PROPERTY

Property (ova-ia), according to Attic law, was either a^avrjs or
cfiavepd. The exact nature of this distinction is matter of
dispute ; the prevailing view is that the latter is immovable
(real) property, and the former movable property (personalty).
Another view is that phanera, visible property, was that on
which, as it was visible to the tax-gatherer, taxes could be laid.
A third view is that cfio.vcpd was property of which the owner
could not deny that he was the owner.

Immovable property — house and land — could only be owned
on Attic soil by Athenian citizens or foreigners, to whom the
right (eyKTT^o-is) was accorded by special decree of the boide
and demos. An Athenian citizen who wished to hold real
property in any other deme than that in which he was born,
had to obtain permission from that deme or else pay a
tax (eyKrrjTiKov) to the deme. Subject to these restrictions,
property could be acquired by inheritance, the award of a
magistrate or law court, by purchase, by gift and way of
pledge.

In the case of disputed ownership, possession was probably
nine points of the law at Athens as elsewhere, that is to say,
the property in dispute remained, until the decision of the
court was given, in the hands of the de facto possessor — who
further had, to start with, the advantage that the burden of
proof lay with the man who asserted that he was not the
lawful as well as the de facto possessor.

In order to the peaceable enjoyment of his property, the
owner could eject (l^ayetv) any person who attempted to in-

5 38 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITLES

terfere with him in the exercise of his lawful rights, and could
further prosecute him for trespass (i^ovXijs).

As regards theft/ from the time of Solon a distinction was
drawn in Attic law between petty larceny (thefts less in amount
than fifty drachmae, and committed by day) and the more
serious forms of theft (e.g., any theft whatever by night or in
the gymnasia, theft in the harbours to more than the value of
ten drachmae, ami theft elsewhere to the value of more than
fifty drachmae). The owner of the stolen goods had his choice
(in the more serious class of thefts) whether he would institute
a civil or a criminal action. If he adopted the former course,
the defendant might be condemned to pay double the value
of the stolen goods, whether they were returned or not; and
further, might be put in the stocks five days and five nights.
If the prosecutor instituted a criminal action, he ran the risk
of being fined a thousand drachmae if he did not obtain one-
fifth of the votes, but if he did obtain a conviction, the convict
might be sentenced to death ; and even if a less severe sentence
were passed, it entailed disfranchisement on the prisoner.

Contracts ^ were usually reduced to writing (and then were
called crvyypa(f)aL), but this was only for the convenience with
which a written document can be produced in evidence. The
law did not require that a contract should be in writing to be
valid : a verbal agreement (6/ioAoyta) was legally binding, if
the plaintiff could prove, to the satisfaction of the court, that
it had been made.

It was essential to the legality of a contract that it should
not violate any law, and that it should be made by the parties
to it voluntarily— a bargain made under constraint could not
be enforced at law.

As regards debt,^ the leading passages are as follows : —

^ "0 TL av Tis aTToKecrr}, eav [xkv aijTO Xd^Sy, tyjv dnrXacrlav KaradLKa^eiv, iau
8r] fJLT], Tiqv dLirXacTLav {deKaTrXaaiav MSS.) wpbs toIs eVatn'ots. SedecrdaL 5' iv
Trj TTodoKaKKT] Tov TToda irevd'' ij/xepas Kal PVKras tVaj, eau irpocrTLixrjcrrj ij
ijXLala. TrpoaTL/xdadat d^ tov ^ovXoaevov, Srav repi tov TLfxr],aaTOS rj. — Dein.
Timocr. p. 733j^§ 105^

'Edu TLS aX(^ kXotttjs Kal jxt) TLu.rjOrj davaTOV, irpoaTL/xdv avTc3 5eafM6v. —
Ibid. § 103. ^

2 Kvpias elvai ras irpbs dXXvXovs o/xoXoyias &s hv havTiov [lapTvpwv
TTOL-qawPTau — Dem. Phcenipp. p. 1042, § 12.

'Ocra av ris e/ccbi' erepy o/xoXoyqar) Kvpia eXvai. — Dem. Dionysod. p, 1 283,
§2.

^ XP^^^f ^ debt ; tokol, interest ; xpewj e-rrlTOKov, a debt carrying in-
terest ; aTOKov XP^^^i ^ debt not carrying interest ; xPW'''V^i ^ creditor
(sometimes also a debtor) ; Kixpavac, to lend (with or without interest) ;
Kixpaadai, to borrow (with or v/ithout interest) ; Adpeiov, a loan with

ATTIC LAW 539

'Etti TOts (joijiacn jxi^Seva 8av€i^€LV. — Pint. Sol. 15.

T5 dpyvpiov cnd(TLjj.ov eivat ecf) ottoctw av f^ovXrjTat 6 Savei^oiv.
— Lys. Theomn., i. § 18.

OvK ea (6 vofios) SiapfrqSrjv ocra tls aTreri/xr^crev eivai StKas
oiJT avTOLS ovT€ T0L<5 KXrjpov6[ioi<s. — Dem. Spud. 1030, § 7.

From the time of Solon, then, it was illegal for a man to
borrow on the security of his own person; otherwise there
was perfect freedom of contract, the rate of interest to be paid
on a loan being left entirely to the discretion of the parties to
the loan. The usual rate of interest on mortgage was from 1 2
to 18 per cent. ; on bottomry it was naturally higher, partly
because the lender lost both capital and interest if the ship
went down, and partly because of the risk inevitably attendant
on sea-ventures. In bottomry the interest was paid at the
same time as the capital was returned In other loans, interest
was usually paid annually, unless the debtor was regarded with
suspicion, and then the interest might be demanded monthly.

In the way of giving security, the borrower might either
induce a friend to become personally responsible, or he might
give some piece of movable property as a pledge {kvk^vpov), such
as arms, implements, golden crowns, slaves, &c., or ho might
give him a lien on some piece of immovable property, e.g.^
house, land, mines, or on movable property, such as a ship or its
freight (in which case the security was kno^vn as viroOriKif).
When a piece of land was thus mortgaged, it was the custom
to place, on the land mortgaged, stone tablets (o/oot), stating
the name of the lender, the amount lent, and the date {i.e., the
name of the Archon Eponymus). To raise more money by a
second mortgage was either forbidden or was difficult : the first
creditor had certainly to be satisfied in full first. To lend a
second loan (cTrtSavet'fea'), therefore, was not advisable, unless
the property exceeded in value the amount of the first mort-
gage. To remove the opoi fraudulently must have been for-
bidden by law.

If the debtor did not repay the loan on the day appointed,
then the creditor who was in possession of movable property

interest ; bavelaat, to lend on interest ; SavetcrxTjs, he who so lends ;
daveiaaadaL or ddveiaiiia iroi-qaacdai, to receive a loan on condition of paying
interest ; avyypacpr) and avu^dXaiov, a written contract or loan in writing ;
avyypacpr] ^yyeios and au,a^6\aL0i> ^yyeiov, a mortgage ; avyypa^yj vavTiKri
and (TV(x^o\aLOv vavTLKbv, a loan on bottomry ; evex^pov, a pledge, security ;
vwodelvaL and detvai and evex^'po-i^i-v, to give security ; vwodecrdai. and
d^adai and ifex^'pd^eadai, to receive security ; viroKeiadai, to be given a3
security ; i^iaraadaL tCov 6vto:v, to become bankrupt (said of any one) ;
avaaKevd^eiv rrjv rpdire^av (of a banker), to become bankrupt.

540 CONSTITUTIOXAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

pledged to him as security might sell it, reimburse himself, and
return to the debtor what (if anything) was left over, while the
creditor who held a mortgage became, ipso fado^ the legal
possessor of the property hypothecated, and could prosecute for
trespass (i^ovX-q^s) any one who disturbed him in the exercise of
his rights. Or, if the creditor did not care to take either of
these steps, he could prosecute for breach of contract {<rv[x(3oXaL0)v
or (rvvdi]K<j)v Tra/Da/^acrecos), Or for debt (;^peovs), or for the re-
covery of moneys (dpyvptov Slky]), or, if the debtor were a
banker, for recovery of funds advanced (d(}iop[xrj^), or finally for
damages (/^Aa^T^?).

When a debtor's whole estate did not suffice to pay all his
creditors, it was necessary for him "to step out from his
property," i.e., become bankrupt. Probably his property was
sold by auction, but there was no special legal process of
bankruptcy.

We now proceed to the subject of bail,^ on which the
following are our chief authorities : —

Ov8e S'/^crco ' K6t]va'nav oi'Seva o§ av eyyvrjras rpeis KaOLcrrrj
TO avTO rekos Te\ovvTa<s irXrjv lav Tt? Itti 7rpo8o(rLa ttJs TroAews
rj €7ri KaraXvcreL rov Sqfxov crvvLOiV dAw rj reAo? rt 7rpid[jLevos 7)
eyyv'>](Tdix€vos r) eKAeywv p) Ko.ra/3dXXrj (oath of the bouleutae).
— Dem. Timocr, p. 745, § 144.

Tov5 lyyin^ras Tol<i o.vrots kve^edOai Iv otcnrep oi;? eyyvijcravro.
— Andoc. de Myst. § 44.

Tots lyyvas €7reT€Lovs eTvac. — Dem. Apatu)\ p. 901, § 27.

The person who became surety for another, and guaranteed
to fulfil a private contract of any kind in case the principal
failed to do so, could be prosecuted and compelled to make
good his undertaking, provided the case was brought on within
a twelvemonth.

With regard to bailing a man out of prison, an Athenian
citizen, vvhen lawfully arrested, could claim to be set at liberty
if he produced three bails of the same property class as himself,
unless the charge on wdiich he was arrested was one of treason,
or of attempting to subvert the constitution, and unless he was
a farmer of taxes, a surety, or a collector who had made default.
If the person bailed out of prison did not stand to his trial, his
sureties were probably liable to the same punishment as would
have been inflicted on the bailee.

^ ^'FiyyvaaOal nua or di/aSe'xecr^at iyyijrjv or dvabexeadai, to become bail
for a man ; e^eyyvacrdai or dceyyvdadaL, to bail a man out ; i^eyyvrjOrivat,
to be bailed out ; Kureyyvdv, to require bail ; KaTtyyvdadai, to provide it.

ATTIC LAW 541

We next come to tlie law with regard to Associations and
Companies, wliich ran as follows : —

'Kav Se S/y/xos 7) (^pdrop€.<; 7) ufmv opyiMV 1) vavrat (?) rj crvcrcnTOL
7) ojioTacpoL rj OiaarMTai 1) €7rt Actav oI^ojxwol r) eis kjXTTopiav 6
TL av TOVT0)v SiaOon'TaL Trpos dXXyXovs Kvptov etvaij idv fxrj
d~o.yopev(rr) ^'qjiocna ypapjiaTa. — Digest, xlvii. 22, 4.

From the time of Solon certain associations were recognised
by law, and the same validity was accorded to their bye-laws
as the law of the land possessed (so far, that is, as they did
not contravene it). A partnership) or association of any kind
could be compulsorily wound up on the application (eis Sa-nyrwi/
aipe<jLv) of any individual partner.

The vendor, unless he made express stipulation to the con-
trary, was bound by the law to make good the title to the
article sold ; and if, after the sale, any third person set up a
claim to the article, the purchaser could compel the vendor (by
a hiKTi /Sef^aLcjcrecos) to defend the title ; and if the third person
made good his claim to the property, the vendor must reim-
burse the purchaser.

We have now to consider contracts for the payment of rent
and for the execution of work. The tenant or farmer who
did not pay his rent when due could be compelled to do so,
the former by a 8iKr] ivoiKiov, the latter by a ^iKt] Kapirov. The
occupier who let down the ])roperty rented by him could be
attacked by a 8iK7; dyeoipyiov and probably afxekLov. In con-
tracts for the performance of work (physical or intellectual),
either party to the contract could be prosecuted (by a BUrj
/xto-^wcrews) for not fulfilling his obligations.

Finally we have to consider the conditions of sale, for wliich
we depend on this quotation : —

TLpoypd(fi€LV TOis <i)V'i](T€LS Kal Trpdcrets irapd ry dp^Qj Trph
rjfxepoiv ixrj eAarrov rj e^/yKorra Kal rov 7r/)ta/x€vov CKarocr'njv
TiOcvaL rrjs TLfxrjs ottws Siapufacr/Sy^TrjcraL re e^ij Kal StaixapTvp^jcraL
Tw ISovXopa'O) Kal 6 SiKaicos €toi'7;/xei'os (f>av€pos fj t(l reAet.
— Theophrastus ap. Stob. Anth. xliv. 22.

Earnest-money (dppa/Stov) was usually given to mark a bar-
gain as made, but was not necessary to the legal validity of a
sale. The transference of the property sold usually took })lace
after the price had been paid, but the law required no formal
traditio to mark the transference. The transference could,
however, take place when only part of the price had been paid,
in which case, naturally, the seller of immovable property re-
tained a lien on the house or ground, and demanded interest
on the amount of the sum still due to him. If Theophrastus

542 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

is right in saying that the law required sixty days' public notice
of a sale to be given, in order that any one who claimed the
property might have an opportunity of taking legal steps to
prevent the sale, then it is probable that such notice was re-
quired only in the case of immovable property and slaves.
Sales often were stopped by legal process, e.g., the sale of
mortgaged land might be stopped by those who held mort-
gages on it.

Protection was afforded by the law to the purchaser in
certain cases : if the seller of a slave did not give notice, at
the time of sale, of any secret disease {e.g., epilepsy) or vice
to which the slave was subject, the purchaser could, on dis-
covering it and giving notice within a certain time, obtain legal
remedy (Sikt^ ai/aywyyjs).

CHAPTER XYI

ATTIC LAW {continued)

THE LAW OF INHERITANCE

For our knowledge of the laws of inheritance we depend
mainly on these passages : —

Twv Trax/Dwcuv, twj/ TraTTTrwwv, rcov eVt irepairkpoi KXrjpovojxeiTe
Ik ykvovs TrapetAr^ chores Tqv ay^KTTeiav dve-lScKov. — Isaeus,

Tov vofxov KeXevovTOS Trdvras rovs yvi](Tiovs lorofioipovs etVat
Twv Trarpomv. — Isseus, PMloct. § 25.

"OcTTts av prj Sia^e/xevos dTroOavrj, iav pev TralSas KaraAetVy
OijXetas, (Tvv TavrrjCTiV, eav Se /X7J, TOVcrSe Kvpiovs efvai rwv
)(f)iyxdT(ov. eotv [Se] dSeX(f)ol Zcrtv 6p,OTTdTope<5' koI lav TratSe?
€^ dSeA^wv yvvycrioi, rr^v rov 7ro.Tpos pLOipav Aay^dvetV edv Se
pi] dScXcfiol Sxriv r| dSeAc^wv TralSes . , . e^ avTwv Kara. Tavrd
Xay^dveiv Kparetv 8e tovs dpp€vas Kal rovs €k twv dppkvoiv, edv
€K Twv avTwv (5(rt Koi edv yevet dTrojre/oW edv Se /x^ okrt irpos Trarpos
p-^xpi dvexJ/Liov TratSojv, rovs Trpos p.i]Tpos tov dvSpos Kara ravrd
Kvptovs CLvai- edv 8e pLrjSerepwOev y kvrbs tovtojv, toi/ Trpos iraTpos
eyyvrdroi Kvpiov etvat. voOio h\ p.7]8e v69r] p.r] etvai dyyicrretav
pqd^ Upiov fMrjO' ocrtwv aTr' EvKAetSoi; dp)(ovTos. — Dem. Macart.
p. 1067. Cf. Isaeus, Hag. p. 271, §§ 1-3.

"Ecrrt 5e vopos os edj/ dSeA<^os 6/xo7rdTa)/3 d/rats reXevTija-rj koI
pi] 6ta^e/i,€Vos Ti]V re dSeXcfii^v 6/xoicos Kav 1^ ereyoas dSeXcfaSovs y

ATTIC LAW 543

yeyovojs, idoixoipovs tojv ^iqixdroiv KO.0i(TTrj(TL . . . 7rarpo)U)V /xev
ovv Ko.l dSeXcfiov -^^ptyxdroiv to lctov o.vrols 6 vojxos /xeracr^eti' StSwcrtV
dvexpLOv Se. ko.I et tls e^to ra'VTTjs tv}? o^vyyevetas ecrriv, ovk icrov,
dXXd TrporepoLS rots appecn riov Oi^Xeioiv ttjv dy^^tcrreiav TriTroajKe.
— Isseus, Apoll. § 19.

If a man had sons who had attained their majority, he had
no power to make a will. His property necessarily descended
to his sons and their issue, who, on the one hand, entered in
possession of it, without having first to prove their title to it;
and who, on the other hand, could not refuse the inheritance,
along with the encumbrances attached to it. If there were
more sons than one (whether sons of the body, or of adoption),
they divided the property equally. If any son died before his
father and left children, those children were entitled to their
father's share of their grandfather's property.

If a man had daughters as well as sons, the daughters
Avere morally, but not legally, entitled to a dowry — from their
father, if they married during his lifetime ; from their brothers
otherwise.

If the deceased left no sons but daughters, they were — in a
sense — heiresses to the estate : they were, as the Greek puts it,
"on the estate." The nearest kinsman, however, was the real
heir (unless the deceased had provided otherwise by will) ; but
as he could not take the estate (kAtJ/jos) without also marrying
the daughter who was "on the estate" (IttlkXi-jpo's), she did
in a way inherit. Daughters and the children of deceased
daughters divided the estate jfer stirpes, and not per capita,
i.e., daughters took equal shares of their deceased father's
property ; and if one daughter died before her father, her
children claimed her share.

If the deceased left no direct lineal descendants, the estate
passed (i) to the collaterals, and tirst to the deceased's brothers
(by the same father), or their issue — the property being divided
per stirpes. Next (2) the sisters (by the same father) of the de-
ceased, and their issue, between whom the division was^^er stirpes
again, claimed the estate. Then came (3) the deceased's uncle
(on the father's side) and his children ( = the deceased's cousins,
dvexpioi) and their issue ; and (4) the deceased's aunt (on the
father's side) and her children (dvexpLoi) and their issue.

There are then in the Athenian law of succession two prin-
ciples, a principle of exclu^^ion and a principle of division.
By the former, males exclude females, provided they are
children of the same parencs (e.g., the son of the deceased
excludes the daughter, but the uncle of the deceased does not

544 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

exclude the sister of the deceased, because they are not chil-
dren of the same parents) ; and the issue of such females are
excluded by the issue, even in a remoter degree, of such males
{e.g., the daughter of the deceased is barred by a son of the
deceased's son). By the principle of division, males do not
exclude males iDorn of the same parents, but divide the property ;
and the issue of such males are entitled to their fathers' share.
By the same principle, females do not exclude females born of
the same parents, but divide with them ; and the issue of such
females are also entitled to their mothers' share.

We now come to a clause in the law of succession which
is ambiguous, and of which the meaning is much disputed :
"Males and the issue of males to exclude, if sprung of the
same seed, even if remoter in degree." According to the inter-
pretation of Isaeus (but he is a lawyer), the operation of this
clause did not extend to the children or brothers or sisters of
the deceased, but only to the uncles, aunts, and other kinsfolk ;
and the effect of the clause, according to Isseus, was to modify
the action of the principle of division ; thus, if the deceased
left a grandson by one son and a grand-daughter by another,
then (as the clause does not affect children of the deceased),
the issue of the one son would divide the estate with the issue
of the other son — the grand-daughter divides with the grand-
son, the female is not excluded by the male. But in the case
of cousins, for instance (where the clause does operate), the
female would be excluded by the male ; thus, if the deceased
had an uncle, and that uncle had a grandson by one son, and
a grand- daughter by another, then the issue of the uncle's one
son would not divide the estate with the issue of the other —
the grand-daughter of the deceased's uncle would be excluded
by the grandson. So too, according to Is^us, a female cousin
of the deceased would be excluded by the son of another
female cousin, though a sister of the deceased would not be
excluded by a sister's son.

The distinction drawn by the clause, as interpreted by Isaeus,
is apparently both gratuitous and unjust. Further, his inter-
pretation requires us to disregard the words, "if sprung of the
same seed, even if remoter in degree," and to believe that they
do not limit the prescription, " males and their issue to exclude."
But no modern scholar has suggested a better interpretation.

In default of brothers and sisters by the father's side, and
in default further of paternal uncles and aunts, the inheritance
of the deceased passed to (i) half-brothers {i.e., children of the
same mother but of different fathers), if there were any ; then

ATTIC LAW 545

(2) to half-sisters by the same mother; then (3) to the brothers
of the deceased's mother ; (4) to sisters of the deceased's
motlier — or to the descendants of any of these. Here the
dyxi'O-TCLs, or next-of-kin in the narrower sense, end ; the Umit
is the first cousin once removed. ^ In other words, my dyxta-Tels
are all descendants of my grandfather. In default of dy)(^L(TTds,
then the law called in descendants of the deceased's paternal
great-grandfather.

Illegitimate children (and their issue) possessed none of these
rights of inheritance. 2 Freedmen could bequeath only to their
direct descendants, not to their collaterals : in default of colla-
terals their property passed to the master who freed them.
Other Metics were subject to the same laws of succession as
free-born citizens.

We have next to consider the power of devising. For this
we may make the following references : —

'0 /xev 2oAwv Wi]K€ vofMov l^eivat Sovvai rd eavrov (J dv tl<s
jSovXi^raij idv iirj 7rat5es oxrc yvrjcnoL — Dem. Lept. p. 488.

KeAeuet (o vofxos:) t->]V ScaOi^Ki^v, ijv dv TralSiov ovtcdv yvrja-tuiv
6 irar-qp StaOrJTai^ lav dTToddvojcnv ol iratSes Trplv r]f3i](raL, Kvpiav
ehai. — Dem. Steph. ii. p. 1136.

Ta kavTov ScaOecrdai elvai ottw? dv lOeXrj dv jj.'q TralSss wcri
yvy](rLOL dppeves dv prj p^avLOiV ij y/]p(jis rj ^a/a/xctKwv 17 vocrov
eVcKei/ i] yyvaiKL izeiSop.^vos virh tovto)v tov Trapavoojv rj vrr
dvayK^fS 17 VTTO Secrpov Kara XyjcfiOe is. — Dem. Steph. ii. p. 1133.
Cf. Dem. Leoch. p. iioo, §67; Isseus, Philod. § 9; Menecl.
§ I ; Astypli. §§ 16, 37 ; Dem. Steph. ii. p. 1133, § 16 ; Olymp.
p. 1 183, § 56. (According to Ar. Ath. Pol. c. 35, the Thirty
struck out the words kdv p) pavtijjv i] yripuis rj yvvaiKi iretOopevos
from the law, because of the opportunities which they afforded
"sycophants" of levying blackmail.)

JB'rom these passages, then, it appears that the law, as quoted
by the orators, declares that a man having sons cannot make
a will. But to the principle thus broadly laid down there were
exceptions, some stated apparently by the law itself, and some
sanctioned by usage. Thus the law itself allowed the father
of sons to make a will during their minority, which should

^ As the Greek word av€\pLabov% may mean either my uncle's grandson
(= first cousin once removed), or my great-uncle's grandson (= second
cousin), it should be noted that it was probably at the former that the
d7XiO"''eia terminated.

2 Unless they were legitimated, which might be effected by a pro-
ceeding practically identical with adoption. — Andoc. de Myster. § 124 ;
Dem. c. Bccot. i. p. 1003, § 29.

2 M

546 CONSTITUTIOXAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

only take effect provided that they died before attaining their
majority. Again, as a matter of fact, we find that fathers of
sons did bequeath by will dowries to their daughters, legacies
to illegitimate children, to non-relatives, and to temples, and
that the sum-total of such bequests might exceed the half
of the deceased's estate. It cannot be shown that the power
of bequest was expressly sanctioned by law, but that it was
exercised commonly as matter of course is beyond doubt. As
to the power of disinheritance, if it could be legally effected
by disowning the son (a7roKyJ/3i'£ts), it probably was unknown
in practice ; it could not be effected by testament.

The power of devising was again limited, not only by the
existence of sons, but, in another way, by the existence of
daughters. If the testator had no sons but only daughters, he
could not by will deprive his daughters of their shares in his
estate. He might, indeed, devise his estate to whom he would,
but only if the devisee took the daughter as well as the estate
and married her.

Further, the testator, at the time of making his will, must
be in full possession of his faculties — not insane, doting, under
the influence of drugs, disease, or a woman, not in durance
or under constraint. And the law regarding vTrevOvvoi also
deprived a man who had held public office of the power of
alienating his property, so long as he was not formally dis-
charged from the liabilities entailed by tenure of office. The
law of guardian and ward again inferentially prevented a minor
from making a will, for it refused to recognise any power in
a minor to dispose of things of greater value than a medimnus.

The childless man, then, of full age and in full possession
of his faculties, might choose his own heir ; and the traditional
mode of conveying the estate to the intended heir was for the
testator not to bequeath the estate to him, but in his will to
adopt him as his son.

As to the form of a will, the law seems to have made
no provision : it was for the testator to see that there were
means forthcoming, if necessary, to show that his will really
was his act. To commit the will to writing was an obvious
and a usual measure of precaution — though a verbal expres-
sion, if it could be proved, would suffice. But the testator
need not write or even sign or seal the will himself; as a
matter of fact, however, the custom was for him to seal it.
Witnesses were naturally called in, but they did not sign ; and,
as they did not know the contents of the will, they could not
swear to the identity of the document or to anything but the

ATTIC LAW 547

fact that a will had been made. This, however, was remedied
to some extent by depositing the document with a friend or
some official, who might testify that this was the will which
the witnesses saw made. Codicils (separate or attached) were
recognised as valid. A will once made was valid until destroyed
or formally revoked in the presence of witnesses.

It follows that we should now consider the obligations of
heirs, and we begin by making the following quotations : —

Tovs 8' a.TroyiyvofJLGVov'S iv tois Svy/xots ovs o.v [xijSels dvaiprjTo.i^
eTTayyeA-Aero) 6 Sijfjiap-^os rots Trpocr'/jKovcnv dvatpeLU Kal 6o.itt€.lv
Koi KaOaipeiv rov ^rjpov Ttj rjfiepay dv d7roy€vijTo.L eKacrros avrojv.
kivayykXXiLV Se Tvepl plv twv ^ovXo)V no SecrTrorrj, irepl 6e tC)v cAev-
Oepoiv TOis rd -^p/jjxo.T e^ovcrtv* idv 8e p^rj rj -)^pij para rw diroOa-
vovTij roLS TTpocT'/jK overt rod dirodavovTos iTrayyiWeiv. mv Se rov
S-qiJidp-^ov €7rayy€tAavT0§ pi) dvaipiovTat ol 77po(Ty]KovTe<i, 6 pev
8rjpap-)^o<i dTToptcrdoicrdTO dveXctv Kal KaraOdxpai Kal Ko.Odpat rov
Srjpov avOypepov ottws dv SvvMVTai oXtyicrTOv' idv 8e pi] diropicr-
doicry, 6if)€iXeT(D )(iAtas 8pa-)(jjids ro) Sypocrtu). otl 8' dv dvaXtocnj
BLirXdiriov Trpa.^dcrdo) irapd twv d^ecAovTOJv* kdv Se py "^pd^yj,
avTos o^etAcTw rot's Syporats. — Dem. c. Macart. p. 1069.

Toi^ diroOavovra TrporiOecrOai evSov ottojs dv fiovXyraL. €K(f)€p€LV
8e Tov dTToda.vovTa ttj va-repata. ry fj dv TrpoOdvTai^ rrplv ryAtov
e^e^etv. fSaSi^etv Sk rovs dv8pa<i Trpocrdev orav eK^epcovrat, ras 6e
ywaiKas OTTicrdev. yvva.LKa Se p.y i^elvat clcruvaL ei's rd rov
dTTodavovTos pi]^' dKoXovdeiv aTrodavovri orav et? rd crypiara
dyyrai kvros e^ijKOvr eroiv yeyovvlav irXyv ocrat ivros dveif'taSiov
elcTL. p.r]8' els rd rov ajrodavovros eicriei'ai i-n-etSdv e^eve-^Oy 6
V'CKDS yvvatKa pySeptav irXyv ocrat ivros dveipLaSuJv elcnv. — iJem.
c. Macart. p. 107 1.

For laws regarding offences entailing dnp^ia on the lieir of
the offender, see Dem. c. Macart. p. 1069, § 58 ; c. Mid. p. 551,
§113; Andoc. de Myst. § 74.

The leading idea of the Athenian law of inlieritance is to
provide that the worship of the deceased shall be continued.
That the law expressly enjoined on the heir the duty of making
the annual offerings in which this worship consisted is clear
from many references in the orators, though no direct quotation
from the law occurs. The same remark ap})lies to the duty
of burying the deceased, but that here we happen to have the
law, which provides for the burial of persons found dead. This
law directs the demarch, the head of the deme or district, to
summon the relatives of the deceased to remove and bury the
corpse, and purify the deme the same day as that on which the
deceased died. If the deceased is a slave, his owner is to be

548 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

summoned ; if a free man, those who are in possession of his
estate ; if there is no estate, his relatives. If the summons is
disregarded, the demarch is to hire some one on the same day,
as cheaply as possible, to remove and bury the corpse, and
purify the deme. The demarch is entitled to recover from the
relatives twice the costs he has incurred. If he does not
recover from them, he is himself responsible for what he has
spent. If he takes no steps to purify the deme, he is fined
looo drachmae.

Not only were the next-of-kin legally bound to bury the
deceased, but the manner in which they were to conduct his
funeral was also ordained by law ; and we fortunately possess
fragments of this law. The deceased's body must be laid out
— how, the law leaves to the choice of the persons concerned,
but the laying out (Tr/ao^eo-ts) must be inside the house. The
funeral proper is to take place the next day, before the sun
begins to shine. The male relatives must walk before the
bier, the women after it. No woman under sixty is to be
allowed to enter where the corpse is laid out, nor to follow the
bier, unless she is one of the deceased's ay^ia-rds, i.e., a relative
not more distant than first cousin once removed. Nor may
any woman enter the room when the corpse has been removed,
unless she is one of the ay^to-rets.

The reason of this very archaic law is to be found, I con-
jecture, in the primitive belief that the soul of the deceased
might pass into the body of a woman and be born again of her.
The object of the law would then be to ensure that the deceased
should be born again within the limits of his own kin (Glas.^.
Rev. ix. p. 248).

Finally, the next-of-kin, in addition to incurring the duties
of burying the deceased and continuing his family worship,
inherited all claims for debts or damages that were valid
against the deceased, and was liable to pay them out of his
own property, if the deceased's estate did not suffice. If the
deceased had been disfranchised (an/xos) for debt or crime,
and the law under which he had been disfranchised made the
disfranchisement heritable, then a lineal descendant could not
avoid the disfranchisement, because he could not decline the
inheritance, but collaterals might.

As one of the recognised means of devising property, adop-
tion 1 claims to be treated of in this chapter. The conditions

^ UlairoLe^ffOai, voie^adai, deadai vi6v, to adopt a son ; and TroirjTbs
iraTTjp, an adoptive father ; TroirjdTJi'ai, el(nroLT)driva,L, to be adopted ; and
iroi-qTds, eldiroLTjTos, Oerbs vi6s, son by adoption ; yvqaios vl6s, son by birth ;
iKTroLrjdrjvaL^ €KTroir]Tov yiyveadai, to leave one's natural father to be adopted

ATTIC LAW 549

under which it was possible are contained in the following
quotations : —

"Orav Tis Mv ctTrats Kal Kvpios twv eavrou, Troi'/jcrrjTaL vlov, ravra
Kvpia eivai. — Dem. Leochar. 1095.

Et Ti? avTo? ^cijj/ KOL €v (fipoviov eiroLrjCTaTO Kal kirt ra upa
dyaywi/ €is TOt'5 avyyevcis aTreSet^e koX €t<s to, koiw y papfiarua
€V€ypa\p€v. — Isaeus, Apol. § i. Cf. Menecl. § 14.

Et Ti§ reAefT^ycreii' fieXXoiV SuOcto, et Tt Trddoi, t^jv ova lav
€T€/)w. — Ibid.

*0 yap v6fio<i StappySrjV Xkyei e^etvai Stadecrdai ottoj? av eOekij
TLS TOL avTOv €av p-q TratSa? yvi^artovi KaTaXiirr) appevas. av Se
9y]Xua<i KaraXLTry, avv ravrat?. — Isseus, Pf/rrh. § 68. Cf. ^?'ZS^.
§ 13, p. 262.

"Eo-rt 8' auTot? (z.e., the gennetae and phra tores) vo/xo? o avrbs
edv T€ TLva (fivcret yeyovoTa etcrayr/ rt? cav re ttoit^tov kTrLTiSkvai
TTLCTTLV KaTO. T(Zv Icpiov rj pi't]v 1^ d(TTr\<i etcrayeiv Kal yeyovora opOtos
Kal Tov virdp-^ovTa Kal rov TTOiy^Tov Trotyoravros Se tov etcrayovro?
ravra pi-qSev rjrrov Staxpi^cfiLlecrdai Kal rovs dXXov<s Kav So^rj,
TOT eh TO KOLvhv ypapp^aretov eyypd<f)€LV, rrporepov Se /xt^ ' — Isaeus,
Apol. § 1 6.

'^Ytt€v6vvov ovk la (6 vop^oOkri]^) . . . oi'S' cKTron-jTOV yevecrdai
ovSe ^laOka-Bai to, cavTou — ^Esch. ?Vi Ctes. § 2i.

'^l]i (?.e , the adopted son) 6/xoia>? 6 vojuos rifv KXypovoptav
aTToStSwcri /cat Tots e^ avTou yevo/xevoi?. — Tsaeus, PliiJod. § 63.

'0 yap vopLO'i OVK ka kiravievai, kav p) vtov KaraXLirrj yvycriov.
— Ibid. § 44. Cf. Harp. oVt ot Trot-qroi.

'Kk ruJv Kara yevos kyyvrdro) elcnroieLV vlov no rereXevriiKori,
OTTO)? civ 6 otKos p) k^€pi]p(o9y. — Dem. adv Leochar. 1093.

M7;Tpo? ovSei<i kcrrtv kKTrotrjros, dXX o/xotws virdp^u ryv avrijv
elvai pyrkpa Kav kv r<2 irarptoM pkvij tis oiko) Kav kKiroiyOy. —
Isseus, AjJol. § 25.

Tots TTOLydeia-LV ovk k^ov ^LaOka-Oat, dXXa ^wvTas lyKaTaAt-
TTOVTa? Dtov yv>yo-tov kiravLkvat tj reXextrrjaavras aTroSiSovat ri]v
KXypovojiiav TOts e^ ^PX^]"^ otKetoi? overt rov TroLycrapevov. — Dem.
Leochar. 1 100.

'Eav Tj-ocycrapkvco TraiSes eTrtyevtoi'Tat to pepos eKarepov cy^eLV
rrjs ova-Las Kal KXypovopeiv 6/xoiws dpi(f)orkpovs. — IScEUS, Philod.

'O dp^div €7rt/xe Aetata) T(ov oiklov rOiv k^€pi]povpkviov. — Dem.
Macart. § 75.

by another ; SiaTtdeaOai to, avrou, lit., to will away one's property, conies
to be used sometimes as equivalent to €L<x7roi€l:crdj.L, since by adopting a son
you. ipso facto, willed away your property ; e^eprjfxovaOai (oIkov), to become
extinct (of a line, family) by the failure of direct descendants.

5 50 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

Nd/xw yap (in case the deceased has not adopted a son) tw
apvovTL TOiv OLKCov oTTW? CIV fxrj e^epi^fion'rai TrpocrraTrei (to koivov)
TTjv emfx^XeLav. — Isseiis, Ajn^l. p. 179, § 30.

The Athenian dreaded the mere possibility of the discon-
tinuance of that family worship which was necessary for the
spiritual welfare of his deceased ancestors, and of himself after
death, and which could only be continued provided he had
male descendants. This horror lest his family worship should
be extinguished was so strong, that, on the one hand, as we
have just seen, no son under any circumstances was dis-
charged from the solemn duty of rendering the usual rites to
his deceased ancestors; and on the other, the Athenian who
had no sons had recourse to adoption to prevent his line from
being extinguished.

The conditions under which adoption was permitted by law,
were naturally determined for the most part with reference to
the object aimed at. Thus, as the family- worship could only
be transmitted from males to males, no woman could adopt.
Nor was it necessary or legal for a man who had already sons
to adopt another (though he might by will provisionally adopt
a son — the adoption only to take effect if his natural sons died
before attaining their majority). Again, as the adopted son
became the legal heir to his adoptive father's property, to adopt
a son (whether during one's life, or by Avill) was in effect to
will away property from the next-of-kin, who otherwise would
inherit. Hence, adoption was limited by the same restrictions
as were imposed on testation : the testator must be of age
(eighteen), and of sound mind. Further, the law protected
the rights, not only of the next-of-kin and of sons, but also
of daughters : on the one hand, the law demanded that the
estate should go to the daughter ; on the other hand, the
daughter was incapable of performing the worship which was
attached to the estate and a condition of tenure. The legal
solution of this difficulty was, that the father should betroth
the heiress to his adopted son ; or, if his daughter were already
married, he might adopt her son — anyhow, the law was explicit,
as Isaeus says, to the effect that the estate could not be willed
away from the daughters, but must go "with them."

It may, perhaps, be inquired why, if the daughter were
already married, her husband could not be adopted. The
reason was, that a man could not have two fathers : if he was
" adopted into " one family, he was thereby, as the Greek has
it, "adopted out of" the other, and he had thereby forfeited
all connection with it ; and, as he became heir to his adoptive

ATTIC LAW 5 5 I

father, and liaLle to all the duties, drawbacks, and enciim-
hrauces attached to the estate, so he renounced all claim to
inherit from the family which he left, and was released from
the duty of continuing its worship.

It might happen that sons were born to the adoptive father
after he had adopted a son out of another family ; and in that
case the son by birth and the son by adoption shared the estate
equally. Or it might happen that the adopted son wished to
return to the family of his natural father ; and this was per-
mitted, provided that he had fulfilled the object with which he
had been adopted, viz., provided that he left a son to continue
the line and the worship of his adoptive family. But the son
thus left must be a son of his body : an adopted son might not
himself adopt a son.

If the adopted son remained in his adoptive family, but
failed to fulfil the purpose of his adoption, i.e., had no children
himself, he was not allowed to will away the property of his
adoptive family. The law stepped in to protect the next-of-
kin, and required that the property should revert to them after
the death of the adopted son, as it would have done if he had
never been adopted — in fact, the adoption having failed of its
purpose, was treated as non-existent.

It may at first seem surprising to find Isseus laying it down
as law that no adoption could break the tie between son and
mother, i.e., the son, if adopted into another family, still could
inherit his mother's portion, and still was liable to support her
if in poverty. The explanation, we may conjecture, is that the
object of adoption was in no wise hindered by the continuance
of the tie, and would be no wi.>e furthered by the breaking
of it.

Besides the restrictions on the liberty of adoption imposed
in the interests of those immediately concerned in the act and
its consequences, there were certain limitations imposed in the
public interest. Thus, no one who had held office and had not
yet been formally discharged, could either adopt or be adopted.
Nor did the state recognise adoption unless both parties were
genuine Athenians. On the other hand, although the orators
sometimes speak as though the law required various ceremonies
— that the adopted son should be introduced to the phratry of
his adoptive father, that the adoptive father should thereupon
make the customary off'ering and take an oath that the adopted
son Avas the legitimate child of a genuine Athenian mother
(the oath to be confirmed, if required, by a ballot of the otlier
phratores), that the son's name should be entered in the registry

5 52 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

of the phratry, and subsequently in the registry of the adoptive
father's townsmen — it seems on the whole probable that these
proceedings, though very valuable as evidence, if evidence should
be required, of adoption, were not required by the law of the
land, and that the exact order and course of these proceedings
was regulated by the custom or law of the particular phratry
and deme. Finally, if a man died, leaving no sons, whether of
his body or of his adoption, then it was the duty of the archon
to see that his line did not become extinct, and to make the
next-of-kin the adopted son of the deceased.

This chapter may fittingly be concluded with a few remarks
on the relations of guardian and w^ard, and on the pupilage of
women.

Our knowledge of the laws applying to the guardian of
orphans (eVtTpoTros) is almost entirely inferential, and is based
on the following passages : —

Kara rovs voixovs . . . fiLcrOoJcraL tov oTkov ... 17 yyjv
TrpLOLfxevos eK rtov tt/ooctiovtcov tovs TratSa? rpeffietv. — Lys. Diogit.
§ 23. Cf. Dem. in Aplioh. i. 831.

To, Twv iiTLTpoTrevovTwv y^p-qiiara aTTOTtpi^fia rots iirirpoTrevopk-
voi<i KaOea-rdvai. — Dem. Oiietor, p. 866.

'0 Se €15 Xrj^Lap-)(^LKov ypapifiaTeLOV lyypac^ets 'f]Sr] ra irarpiaa
TrapaXapPavci. — Pol. viii. 104. Cf. ^scli. c. Timarcli. § 18.

OvK aTToSovTt Xoyov liTiTpoTno kyKaXovcTiv 01 opcfiavot. — Dem.
adiK Nausimach. p. 989.

Mtcr^ot 8e (6 ap^iiiv) kol tovs olkovs twv 6pcf)av(ov kol twv
c7rt[KA.7;p(ov, €0)9 av T6S rerrap^a Kai 8€[k€ rt? yevrjrai Kal ra
diroTLp'^para Xapf^dv^ef kol tovs kir it poTvovs , lotv p\r] avroJScoo-t
TOts TraLorlv TOV aiTov, ovTOS clcnrpdTTeL. — Ar. Ath. Pol. C 56.

There were two kinds of guardians, those appointed by the
will of the deceased father, and those appointed by the archon,
when none had been nominated by the deceased. The latter
were chosen from among the next-of-kin (if there were any
relations). Testamentary guardians had to administer the
orphans' property according to the directions of the will, if
directions were given. If there were no directions, then they
might apply to the archon to farm the estate to the highest
bidder — the archon obtaining security from the lessee, and
seeing that it was adequate; or they might administer it at
their own risk, investing it in land or mortgages. Guardians
were probably subject to the perpetual supervision of the
archon, whose duty it was to compel them, if necessary, to
provide for the support of their w^rds. The ward, at the age
of eighteen, came into his property, and the guardian had to

ATTIC LAW 553

render an account of his trust, and could he prosecuted if he
had let down the estate of his ward.

On the pupilage of women, the following passages may be
cited : —

'O yap v6{xo<i SiapfWjSrjv Kii)X.v€L yvvacKl p) i^dvat crvfifidXXiiv
Trepa [xeSipvov KpiOoiv. — Isseus, Arist. § lO.

Oi'K ctt (o vofios) TMV rrjs kiriKXijpov Kvpiov eivac dXX' y] tov<s
TraiSas tTrt Siere? i) 13'i^jcravTas Kpareiv tmv -^^jnyidrMV. — Ibid. § i 2.

O fiev voaos KeXeveu tovs TralSas rj fSy^jcravTas Kvpiovs t^5 p'^'jTpo'S
dvai. — Dem. Stejyh. ii. p. 1135.

From the above it appears that no woman could legally be
a party to any contract involving an amount of greater value
than one bushel of barley. In all legal proceedings, therefore,
she had to be represented by a legally qualified representative
or guardian, KvpLo<s. As long as she remained in her parents'
home, her Kvptoq was her father, or after his death, her next
male relative, according to the Athenian law of succession.
"When she married, her husband became her KvpLo<s until he
died ; and then, if she remained in his house, her sons (or
their eTriVpoTros) took his place. If she returned to her original
family (either owing to the death of her husband or to divorce),
she came again into the guardianship of her next kinsman.

CIIAPTEB XVII

ATTIC LAW {continued)

MARRIAGE LAWS

This chapter is devoted to the laws of marriage, and of the
relations resulting from marriage. With regard to marriage, it
will suffice to quote two passages : —

Et Tts Ovyarkpa rivos €)(€i Xa/Sijjv dSUios pL-qScvos Sovtos ovk
elcriv ol TraiSes KXrjpovopoi. — Dem. Pliorm. 954.

"Hv dv eyyvqcrr} eirl SiKatOLS SdpLapra etvai 7) Tvari-jp 7} aSeAc^o?
opoTrdrcop r) TraTTTro? 6 irphs Trar/oo?, ck rav-n^S eu'at 7rai8as
yvija-iovs — Dem. Sfeph. ii. 11 34. Cf. Leoch. 1095.

Monogamy alone was recognised by law. No person could
be married to two peoi)lc at the same time. As for "forbidden
degrees," they were very few. A man might not marry a
direct ancestor or direct descendant, nor might he marry his
uterine sister ; but he might marry, for instance, his niece, 01

5 54 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

aunt, or a half-sister wlio had the same father (but not the
same mother) as himself. The condition without which no
marriage was valid, i.e., the condition which made a union a
legal marriage, was betrothal. Introduction of the bride to
the phratores of the husband at the Gamelia was required by
custom, but in law was only valuable as providing evidence of
the marriage. A maid could only be legally betrothed to a
man by some person having legal authority over her (Kv/)tos),
viz., by her father, or, in event of his death or absence, by her
brother (or, if she had several brothers, by her brothers con-
jointly), or by her paternal grandfather. But if none of these
legally authorised persons were alive, and the (deceased) father
had not betrothed her by will, it was essential to her legal mar-
riage that the archon should " adjudge " her to the nearest male
relative who claimed to marry her. If, owing to her poverty,
there was nothing to induce her relatives to claim her, then
the nearest relative was compelled by law either to dower her
(in which case probably he became legally qualified to betroth
her), or to marry her himself (in which case a formal betrothal
was presumably unnecessary, and the introduction of the bride,
at the Gamelia, to the husband's phratores, sufficed to constitute
a marriage).

To divorce his wife, all that the husband had to do was to
bid her (probably in the presence of a witness) go back to the
house of her Kvpto?, and take her dowry with her, as appears
from the following passage : —

Kara tov I'o/xoi^ o§ KeXei'et lav aTTO—ifJiTrrj ti]v y waiKa, d7ro8i86vat
TYjv TrpoLKa, eav 8e /mt), Itt €VV€ 6f3oXois roKOc^opelv, koX ctltov el<s
fitSetov eivai ^LKao-acrOo.i vrrep rvyg yvvaiKos tw Kvpuo. — Dem.
Necer. 1362.

To divorce her husband (against his wish), the wife had to go
in person to the archon at his office, and present him with a
written statement of the grounds on which she divorced him.

There is some reason to think that the law limited the
freedom of divorce to a certain extent, and that not every
reason was accepted as sufficient legal ground for divorcing
either a husband or a wife. And the law certainly interfered
with divorce so far as to prescribe it in certain cases, e.rj., it
was compulsory on a husband to divorce a wife caught in
adultery, and (it is said) on the wife to divorce a husband who
lost his freedom. But adultery on the part of the husband did
not entitle the wife to divorce him.

Finally, the next-of-kin having a legal claim to an heiress
(and her property), could, if she was already married, divorce

ATTIC LAW 55 5

}ier from her husband, in order to marry lier himself. A fatlier
could divorce his married daiiffhter from lier husband, and the
liusband could give his wife in marriage to some one else.

The m.an (married or unmarried) who committed adultery-
might be lawfully killed on the spot by the woman's husband,
son, brother, or father; or he might be held to ransom; or
he might be prosecuted for adultery (but with what conse-
quences we do not know). The woman, on the other hand,
might not be maimed or killed ; she was ipso facto divorced
and subjected to ari/xta {i.e., she was excluded from the public
temples and might not wear ornaments), but no action for
adultery lay against her, as appears from the following
passage : —

Tt)!' yvvacKav !(/)' 7/ av aXw fioiyos, jJ^^] K0(TjJ.€.L(T6ai fxi^Se. els to,
SrjfxoTeXrj lepa etVtei'ai tVa fxi] ra? avafxapri^TOvs tmv yvvaiKiov
dvafxiyvviuvr] ^ia^^Oiiprf lav 8' eto-ir; y] KOcrn'^Tai, Toi' €VTV)(6vra
KaTfippiiyvvv at ra Ifxana kclI tov koctjxov d(f)aip€icrdaL Kal TiVreii^,
€ipy6p.€vov Oavdrov Kal rod dvairi-jpov Trorqcrai. — ^scll. Timarch.

§ 183.

The husband might not condone the offence under penalty

of aTLfxta : —

'K77€i8di' 8e eXrj tov jjioiy^ov /xt) i^ea-rij} tw eAovrt (rvvoLKetv Ty
yvvacKr kdv 8e crvvoLKrj, dnpos ecrrw. — Dem. i?i NecBr. p. 1 347.

Tlie laws on the subject of married women's property are
contained in the following passages : —

'Eai' ri<i TL driptjTOv Sep eVe/ca tov ydpov, iav d-n-oXiTrrj 7y yvvrj
TOV dvSpa 7) eai' 6 dvi]p €K7r€pxfr) ti]V yvvaiKa, ovk €^€(TTL Tpd^aa-Oai
TO) SovTi o prj iy irpoLKL TtjU/ycra? eSioKCV. — Isoc. Pyrrh. § 35.

Et ywatKt yapLOviikvYf irpoiKa eTriSiootev ol 7rpoory]KOVT€s alrelv
Trapa tov dvSpos ioanrep €ve)(X'p6v Tt ti]'^ rrpoiKOS d^tov, oTov o'tKiav
7) ^((opLov. — Haipoc. diroT L[xy]Ta L (^ihe husband is said aTrort/xav,
to give security, the Kvpios is said aTroTtpJo-ao-^at, to accept
it, the property pledged is said d7roTLfi-)]0ijvaL, and is called
dirOTLpi^fxa).

'0 Ti]v irpoLKa Xafiiov Kal fxij yijfxas Tt]V irpOLKa offyeiXii iir
evvea o/ioAot?. — Dem. in Aphoh. i. 818.

"Hv {i.e., irpoLKa) e7r€V€yKafX€vi]s ttJs pi^Tpos ol ro/xot KeXevovcriv
e/xe (i.e., Toi' I'tor) Kopi^ecrOat. — Dem. B<eot. Dot. 1026.

'0 fih' I'o/xos KeAei'et tois iralSas y/S/jcravTas Kvptov^ ti]S pi]Tpo'i
cu'ai, TOV Se (tltov fxerpetv tij pi]Tpi. — Dem. Steph. ii. 1135.
Cf. Israes. Aristarcli. p. 261, § 12.

T/yg irpoiKos €15 avTov (i.e., tov Kvpiov) yLyvojxkvi]<i et tl CTradev
7} yvvi] —plv yevicrOat TralSas avTij. — Isoc. PyrrJi. t^^.

Some measure of protection against capricious divorce was

5 5^ CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

afforded to the wife by the fact that her dowry never became
the property of the husband, and consequently, if she was
divorced, returned with her to her guardian. The dowry was
constituted by a (verbal) agreement before witnesses. Of the
things which the bride brought to the husband those con-
stituted the dowry which were specified by this agreement
as being part of the dower. "What was not so specified could
not subsequently be recovered from the husband.^

If the dowry did not take the form of real property, but
was paid in ready money, the bride's relations demanded
security from the bridegroom, usually a piece of real property,
which was called and treated as a mortgage.- The husband,
having thus or otherwise made himself responsible for the
repayment of the dowry, enjoyed the user of it and the
revenues from or interest upon it (hence he paid the taxes
on it), but it could not be seized by his creditors to pay his
debts. If, having got the dowry, he did not marry the girl,
he could be compelled to refund it. If he divorced his wife,
he had to return the dowry, or pay i8 per cent, per annum
on it until he did so.^ On the death of the husband, the wife,
if she had sons, might or might not remain in her deceased
husband's house. If she remained, then her dowry became
the absolute property of her sons (or their guardians), subject
of course to a charge for her support. If she, wishing to
marry (and therefore needing her dowry), elected to leave her
sons and her late husband's house, her dowry reverted with her
to her guardians. If she had no sons, she necessarily returned
to her guardian, taking her dower. The dower also was re-
turned to the wife's guardian if she died without children.

The laws regulating the relations of father and child to one
another are as follows : —

jM'/jre Ovyarepas ttwAciv, fi-qr aSeX^as ttXtjv av firj Xol/Stj irap-
Oh'ov dvSpl (Tvyyeyev-qiJ.evrjv. — Plut. Sol. 23.

KeAei'et yap (6 vofios) Tpecf)€iv tov<s yoveag. yovcts 5' clcrl p-rJTrjp
Kal 7raTt]p Kal Trainros koI ti] 6'q Kat tovtcov P''>]Tr]p Kal irarrip. —
Isoc. Cir. § 32.

"OcTTts ovv Tov T€ yovo) TTaTepa rov avrov ervTrre Kal ovSiv

^ To specify as belongiiii,' to the dowry is eV irpoiKi rinav or ivrifiau
irpoLKL. Cf. Dem. 1 156, e^eipepov aKev-q, aTrayopevovarjs t^5 yvvaiKbs /jltj
airreadaL avrols Kal Xeyovarjs on avrrjs etr] ei> t-q TrpoLKt T€Ti/j.r}fx^va.

- air OTLjULT] Ilia.

3 The payment of this interest is called a^ros. The husband had not
to pay alimony as well as interest; airov ScKacraadai (Dem. Nccer. § 52,
p. 1362) is to bring an action to compel the husband to pay the 18 per cent.

ATTIC LAW 5 57

7rapel^€. twv i-mTi^Siiiov tov T€ ttou/tov irarkpa a^etAero a vyi;
VTzap^ovra eKCLVio dyaSd . . . Kara roi' t^S KaKwcreojs vofxov
d^ios ioTTL davdrij) ^i^fXLOjO'TjvaL. — Lys. Agor. 91, Cf. Dem.
Tzwo^?-. §105, p. 733.^

Yta Tp€<f)€LV TOP' Trarepa, /xt) SiSa^dixevov t^)(^i'ijv CTrai^ayKes /x^
etVac /xr^Se roi? e^ eratpas ytyvofji^vois eirdvayKes elvat tovs irarepas
Tp€cfi€LV. — Plut. Sol. 22.

M7) ciravdyKes eivai to) TratSt r)f3'i](Tavri rpec^etv tov irarkpa
[xy^Si OLKi^(TLV Trapk^(ELV OS av eKfXLcrOoiOrj eTaipetv. diroOavovTa Se
avTOi/ OaTTTeTO) /cat raXAa TTOtetrw ra vo/xt^o^ev^a. — ^sch. C.
Timarch. § 13.

Tous yoveas eo'at Kvptovs ov jjlovov decrOai rovvofjia 1^ ^PX^^
aXAo, Ktti TraAtv k^aXilxj/ai kdv fSovXisivrai kul diroKi^pv^aL. — Dem.
adv. Boeot. i. 1006.

As far as we know, there was no law to prevent a father
from exposing his child at birth, and such infanticide was not
uncommon. But tlie law did not allow a father to sell his
children, later in life, into slavery (save under exceptional
circumstances) ; and a fortiori^ --we may infer, it did not give
him the power of life and death over them. Again, it is not
quite certain that a father could, under any circumstances,
deprive a son of such inheritance as the law ordinarily secured
to him. In other words, it is uncertain whether the power of
disowning a son, d'!TOKi]pv^Ls, was known to Athenian law. If
known, it was certainly scarcely ever used.

(The w^ords of Aristotle, N.E. YIII. xiv. 4, which I have
not seen quoted in this connection, seem to indicate that,
though the power might perhaps exist theoretically, it was
inconceivable to imagine it actually exercised.)

It would seem, therefore, that the power of the father to
disinherit a son was either altogether refused by law, or, if
allowed, could only be exercised under such circumstances as
the law considered to justify the proceeding. And in any case,
as the apokenjxis not only disinherited the son, but also re-
leased him from all obligations to his father (cf. Aristotle, loc.
cit), it may be considered as practically non-existent, and we
may say that in eflect the law forbade a father to kill, sell, or
disinherit a son.

Further, that the earnings of a son (from what age is un-
certain) were in the eyes of the law the property of the son,
and did not belong to the father, is erident from the fact that
the law compelled sons to provide their parents with food,
house, &c., if necessary; for, if all that the son earned was
the legal property of his father, no such law would have been

5 58 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

required ; and imnatiiral parents might lose their legal right,
even to be supi:)orted by their children. But nothing what-
ever could release a son from the duty of burying his father
and performing the usual funeral rites.

Finally, we may here notice that the law allowed the
property of a lunatic to be taken out of his charge, and be
managed by his son or next male relative. The official to
whose satisfaction the charge had to be proved, was in all
probability the archon. No legal measures were required to
enable a lunatic to be confined.

CHAPTER XVIII

ATTIC LAW (concluded)

OFFENCES AGAINST THE STATE

In this chapter certain offences against the state will be con-
sidered, such as treason, bribery, and corruption, &c.

From the time of Solon a citizen was lawfully entitled, and
was expected to slay any one attempting to subvert the demo-
cratic constitution of Athens, From before the time of Mil-
tiades, at least, any one who by false promises or inducements
persuaded the state to take any disastrous step was liable to
capital punishment (though this was not inflicted on Miltiades) ;
and generally, any one who " did wrong to the Athenian demos "
might be impeached for that vague offence, before the archonship
of Eucleides (b.c. 403-2). Then, or not before then, an attempt
was made to give an exhaustive definition and enumeration of
treasonable practices and designs in a law of impeachment,
which appears as follows : —

(l) 'Kdv Tts Tov SrjjJLOv Tov ' Adr]vaL(ov KaraXvy tj (rvvirj ttol IttI
KaraXv(T€i tov 8y][xov ■^ kTatpLKov crvvaydyr]^ (2) rj kdv tls ttoXlv
TLva TrpoSto ■)) vavs 1) ^re^Tyv r) vavTiKi]v (TTparidv, rj kdv ns €i9 rovs
TToXefxiovs dv€v TOV 7r€ix(fi6rjvai irapa tov Srjjxov dcfjiKVi^Tat ■)') fX€TOiKij
Trap' avTOLS rj (TTpaTevrjTaL fxcT avTwv i) 8(opa Xa[xf3dvrj Trap awtuv,
(3) rj pqTijyp iov [xrj Xkyrj ra dptCTTa tm Si][Jico tw ' ABi^vacMV ^(p-ij jxaTa
Xaiif3dv(i)v Kai Swpeds Trapa tmv ravavrta TrpaTTOVT(i)v toj S^y/xw tw
A0r]vaLO)v, the vofios elcrayyeXTLKos as restored by Lipsius, in
Meier u. Scliimi. p. 316, from Hyp. ^/rc Euxen. col. 22, and jtjro
Lye. fr. 2 ; Theophr. in the Lex. Cant, and Pollux.

This law made it treason (i) to subvert or conspire, or com-
bine to subvert the democratic constitution; (2) to betray into

ATTIC LAW 559

llie hands of an enemy either city, sliips, troops, or fleet, to
have communication with an enemy without authority from
the state, or to become a permanent resident in a hostile
country, or serve in a hostile army, or receive gifts from an
enemy ; and (3) for an orator to give bad advice to the state
as a return for money or gifts from any who might be working
against the interests of Atliens.

If the law made death the only possible penalty for these
offences, then it must have done so some time after the middle
of the fourth century B.C. Before that date, although an
attempt to subvert the constitution Avas a capital crime, the
death penalty was certainly not always inflicted on those who
were guilty of " doing Avrong to the Athenian demos." As for
the accuser, until B.C. 338, impeachment brought no danger to the
person who made the impeachment ; but after that date, if he
failed to get one-fifth of the votes, he was fined 1000 drachmas.

Athenian law made no attempt to define the nature of v/?/3t9,
for example, or to distinguish it from aiKta, but left it to the
common-sense of the dicasts to determine whether an assault
was so grave as to amount to an offence against the community ;
and, as far as we can tell, the results justified the confidence
thus reposed in the average Athenian citizen. On the other
hand, Athenian law did (eventually) endeavour to define treason,
as we have seen, and the result was not satisfactory. Before
treason was defined, impeachment (etVayyeAta) was so rare and
so grave, and, when made, was made on such good gi'ounds,
that the criminal acknowledged his guilt, and fled into exile.
But treason was defined : not only were offences against the
commercial laws brought under this law, but the definition was
so wrested and distorted that adultery became matter of im-
peachment, and to pay a flute-girl more than her fixed price
was high treason against the demos. The tendency, indeed, to
construe as treasonable the most innocent indulgences and dis-
play of wealth had existed before the archonship of Eucleides,
for it is satirised by Aristophanes in the Wasps, 488 ff. ; but,
thanks to the law of impeachment, what had been the jest of
the fifth century comedian and his audience became in a fourth
century law court a matter-of-fact proceeding, in which nobody
but Hyperides detected any humour.

The laws against bribery and corruption ran as follows : —

'Eav TLS 'Adip'aiiov XajJifSdinj Trapd tlvos ■)') avTOS 8l8(.o krkpio ri
8ia(f)0€Lpr) TLvds eirayyeXXofxevos, Itti fSXd/Sr] rov Sijfjiov Kal l8i(^
TtT'65 Twr TToAiTwv, rpoTTto 7) pij-)(ai'rj yTii'LOvv, aTLp-os €(ttoj Kal
TTtttSes Kal rd €K€lvov. — Dem. 3IicL p. 551, § 113 lex.

560 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

'Kdv Tt? (TVVLCTTrjrai ■)'] crvvSeKd^y ttjv rjXLatav 7) twv SiKacrTripLUiV
TL Tiov 'AOi'jvt^crtv rj rrjv fSovXrjV eTrt SoipoSoKia y^prifxaTa StSou? ri
8e^6/xevos . . . rj crvvijyopos wv XafxfSdin^ yjuqixara kirl rais StKats
rats IScaLS yj STy/xocrcai?, TOi'Twv e?vat rots y/oa^as Tryabs toi^s dea-fio-
Oeras. — Dem. Stej'h. ii. p. 1137, § 26.

Qavdrov ttjs ^'i]fiias eTTiKet/xevT^s rjvrts aAa" SeKa^wv. — Isoc. De
Pace. § 50.

Uepl Tojv 8o)po8oKovvTO)v 8vo fxovov TiixrjfxaTa ireTrotijKaa-LV (ot
vo/xot) '^ Odvarov . . . i] ScKairXovv rov e^ ^PXl'^ Xt]pp.aros to
Tt/x>//xa Twv Swpwi/. — Diiiarch. c. Demosth. p. 44, § 60.

IIpoK€L[ji€VY]^ eKare/jo) (briber and bribed) f>?/xias ck tou vo/xov
Oavdrov. — ^sch. Timm'ch. p. no, § 87.

Magistrates, bouleutae, dicasts, and ecclesiasts, who accepted
a bribe to do anything to the public injury of the state, or to
the private injury of an individual, were liable to a prosecu-
tion for receiving bribes (Sw/jwv or SwpwStKtas ypaffn'^) ; and the
person who gave or promised such bribe was liable to prose-
cution for bribing {SeKaa-fxos). The punishment of both parties
was, at the discretion of the court, either death with confisca-
tion of the convict's goods, and the disfranchisement of his heirs,
or a fine of ten times the amount of the bribe promised or given,
together with disfranchisement of the convict and his heirs.

How the law against impiety ran, we do not know, and
numerous as are the cases mentioned of prosecution for im-
piety (aseheia), all we can infer from them is that the law con-
tained no strict definition of impiety, and that consequently
any offence against ritual, and any piece of heterodoxy which
the king-archon thought ought to go before a jury, and which
the dicasts chose to consider impious, might be visited by a
penalty ranging from a fine to death. It is disputed whether
the introduction of a foreign worship either required special
permission, or, ppj- se, entailed penalties on those who intro-
duced it. {See Meier and Schomann, p. 370.)

CHAPTER XIX

THE LAWS OF GORTYNA

Law, in the sense of a command issued by a central authority
having power to enforce obedience to its commands, cannot
exist in a primitive society, consisting of a number of families,
which dwell in more or less close neighbourhood together, and
p,re of the same blood and speech, but do not elect or submit to

THE LAWS OF GORTYNA 56 1

any central aiitliority. The relations of tlie meni])ers of such
a primitive society to one another are regulated, if at all, by
custom.

Before writing is known in a country, it is impossible that
there should be a written law. If there is any law, it must
be transmitted by memory, and declared by word of mouth.
When writing does become familiar, the laws or customs are
drawn up in a code, and engraved in some permanent fashion.
Such codes are the Twelve Tables of Kome, and the Solonian
legislation at Athens.

When then the Gortyna Code was first discovered in Crete,
it was natural to suppose that it also was an example of the codi-
fication of laws or customs, which had not previously been com-
mitted to writing. And this view was supported by the archaic
forms of some of the letters, the /?oi'o-t/do</)7;8oV direction of the
lines, and the archaic vocabulary of the inscription. These con-
siderations led to the code's being ascribed to the early part of
the sixth century B.C., and this date is still assigned to the
inscription by Comparetti (Le leggi di Gortyna, 1893). But
Kirchhoff ((rnec/?. Alphabet, p. 78), on comparing the inscription
with the coins of Crete, cannot believe the inscription to be
earlier than the coins ; and the coins, with one exception, are
not earlier than the middle of the fifth century B.C. That
writing had developed so little in Crete by this time is ex-
plained by Kirchhoff as due to the isolation of the island.
Perhaps it may also be due to the fact that the island had a
native syllabary system, of which Mr. Evans has discovered
traces, and which had an origin independent of the Phenician
alphabet, from which the Greek is derived.

MM. Dareste, HaussouUier, and Reinach, in the third fasci-
cule of their Recueil cles Inscriptions Juridiques Grecques (on
which this chapter is based), have made the later date the
more probable. The laws contained in the inscriptions do not
form a complete corpus, even of the undeveloped legal system
of a primitive society. jMuch is omitted which occurs in primi-
tive civil codes, much is only casually touched upon. In fine,
the " code " is a collection of corrections and additions made to
legislation which had already been reduced to writing, and to
which the new code alludes more than once.

In some cases, e.g., the laws relating to inheritance and the
disposal of heiresses, the subject dealt with is not treated frag-
mentarily : the whole law on the subject seems to be given.
But it is precisely in these cases that the more modern and
humanitarian spirit of the new code is unmistakable : riglits

2 N

562 CONSTITUTIOXAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

are assigned to women which they did not enjoy at Athens
under the Solonian legislation, or even under later laws. We
must believe then that the completeness with which these sub-
jects are treated is due to the fact that the authors of the new
legislation incorporated into their new code such provisions of
the old law or custom as were not abrogated by the new.
Finally, although the vocabulary of the code is archaic, so, too,
is that of later Cretan inscriptions, e.g.^ of the fourth and third
centuries B.C., in which many of the terms employed in the
code occur with meanings unchanged. The language, in fine,
was as slow to change as the written characters.

The law of inheritance, at Gortyna, bestowed the estate of
the deceased first upon the deceased's children, grandchildren,
or great-grandchildren, if there were any; if there were not,
then the deceased's brothers, or their children or grandchildren,
could claim the "property. Failing them, his sisters, or their
children or grandchildren, came in; and if these also failed,
the estate passed to those entitled (z.e., the next-of-kin), who-
ever they might be (ofs k eTrt^aAAT^t ottw k ^t). Finally, if no
kinsman appeared, the estate was to go to " the persons consti-
tuting the family lot" (ra? FoiKias otVtves k tWrt 6 KXapos\
i.e., it is supposed, the serfs (fotKce?) attached to the estate or

Thus the law of Gortyna presents us with both resemblances
to and differences from the law of Athens. The resemblances,
e.g., the preference of the deceased's sons and their issue to the
deceased's brothers and their issue, and the total exclusion of
the deceased's sisters and their issue by the deceased's brothers
and their issue, are only to be accounted for by the supposition
that these principles of preference and exclusion were customary
amongst the common ancestors, from whom Cretans and Athe-
nians alike were descended. The differences between the
Athenian law and the Gortyna Code are due to the fact that
one or other has departed from the original custom. Thus at
Athens, from the time of Solon, a man, if childless, might dis-
pose of his property as he liked ; but in Gortyna a man had
no such power of disposing of his property by will. If he were
childless, his estate necessarily went to his brothers (if any), or
his sisters, &c. In this respect the Gortyna Code is then more
archaic even than the laws of Solon.

Again, the limitation of rights of inheritance to the great-
grandson in the line of direct descendants, and to the grandson
of the deceased's brother, is found amongst other Aryan peoples,
and certainly existed originally at Athens, if not also in later

THE LAWS OF GORTYXA 563

Athenian law. The Hniitation prohably dates from primeval
times, when, for mutual protection and assistance, the members
of a man's family dwelt together, even to the third generation ;
and consec^uently, on the house father's decease, his heir would
usually be found within the limits of the joint, undivided family
founded by him, and composed of his sons, grandsons, and
great-grandsons ; while, if he had no direct descendants, his
property would go to the joint, undivided family, to which he
had himself belonged, viz., that founded by his father, and con-
sisting of his father, brothers, their sons, and grandsons.

Another archaic feature of the Gortyna Code is probably to
be seen in the transmission of the estate, in the absence of kin,
to the serfs on the estate. The presumption is that they must
have been considered to be relatives of the deceased in a way,
though of the remotest kind. And the suggestion is that kin-
ship in early times was constituted not wholly or primarily by
community of blood, but by community of worship. Now the
serfs would join in the worship of the deceased ancestors of
their lord's family ; and consequently would, when all others
failed, be competent to carry on that worship. But those who
performed the worship were entitled to the estate ; therefore,
a man's serfs were his heirs in the last resort.

In other respects, however, it is the Gortyna Code, and not
Athenian law, which has departed from the original custom.
Thus at Athens daughters could claim nothing, if there was a
son to inherit, and this exclusion of females was the primitive
custom. But in Gortyna, though the sons had the sole right to
the town house, its furniture, and the cattle, the daughters
shared in the rest of the patrimony — a daughter getting half as
much as a son. In this piece of justice to women, Gortyna was
in advance of the rest of Greece ; and the same recognition of
the rights of women marks other provisions of the code. Thus,
whereas at Athens the dowry of a married woman became the
property of her sons as soon as they became of nge, in Gor-
tyna the mother's rights over her property were the same as a
father's over his, i.e., as long as she lived, her children could not
divide between themselves her property against her wish ; and
Avhen she died, it was transmitted in the same way as a man's
estate was.

The laws regulating the marriage of an heiress {iraTpiouoKos
= k7rtKXr]pos) show the same deviation from ancient custom in
favour of the woman. According to the primitive idea, a
woman could not conduct the worship of a deceased ancestor,
and, therefore, could not inherit tlie estate either. AVhcn,

564 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

therefore, the only child left by the deceased was a girl,
custom i^rescribed that the next male of kin should conduct
the worship, take the estate, and marry the girl ; and this pre-
scription is still the principle of the Gortyna Code, though with
modifications ; but at Athens the principle was maintained with
such strictness that a man was compelled to give up his wife,
if she became an heiress {e.g., by the death of her brother), and
the next-of-kin claimed her; or a man, if, after marriage, he
became entitled to an heiress, might, in order to marry her,
put aside his first wife. In Gortyna, on the other hand, com-
pulsion was not applied either to the heiress or to the next-of-
kin. The latter, if he chose to resign the estate, need not
marry the girl. The heiress (being single), if she chose to
be content with the town house and half the remainder of the
estate, might marry whom she would, within the limits of her
tribe. If there was no next-of-kin, the heiress might marry
any one of her tribe, if any would have her ; if not, the law
says she may marry whom she can.

If a married woman became an heiress after marriage, she
was not compelled to divorce her husband, though she Avas
at liberty so to do. If she did divorce him, then she might
or might not be at liberty to choose whom she would marry.
If she was childless, she must marry the next-of-kin, or in-
demnify him ; if she had children, she might marry any
member of her tribe that she chose. The same principle was
applied to the widow who became an heiress. If she was
childless, she must either marry the next-of-kin (if he claimed
her), or indemnify him ; if she had children, she might marry
within the tribe. As the next-of-kin lost his claim to the
estate and heiress if she had children, and as the object of
providing the heiress with a husband was to provide male
descendants competent to carry on the worship of the heiress'
deceased father, we must infer that one of the heiress's sons was
adopted, or by some analogous fiction brought into the family
of the deceased. Thus the next-of-kin had no duty to perform,
and no title to the estate. If, on the other hand, the heiress
was childless, the next-of-kin's rights came into force, and,
doubtless, his sons (even though not by the heiress) were
considered competent to carry on the family worship of the
deceased.

It is, however, plain that the necessity of providing the
deceased with a male descendant had come to be felt less
strongly than at Athens. In addition to the less stringent
regulations of the law about the marriage of a TrarpwiiuKos, we

THE LAWS OF GORTYNA 565

may point to tlie fact tliat at Athens it was the duty of the
next-of-kin, if he did not marry the girl, to provide her with a
dowry if she were poor. Jjut at Gortyna there was no such
provision. At Athens, again, it was one of the duties of the
arclion to see that no family became " wasted," i.e., to see that
its worship continued. Above all, at Athens, the acceptance
of an inheritance was not optional, whereas in Gortyna it was.
In the latter place the state permitted the next-of-kin to
shirk his spiritual duties to the deceased, if he cared to waive
his claim to the estate

When a man died leaving money debts, his heirs had the
option of paying the debts in full, and keeping the estate, or
of abandoning the estate to the creditors (in which case the
creditors could not come on the heirs for any deficiency).

On the other hand, the provision of the Gortyna Code, by
which the estate of the deceased passed in the last resort
to the serfs, made it much more likely that the family
worship would never be discontinued than was the case at
Athens. And though the code endeavours to lighten the
burden on the next-of-kin and on the heiress, as far as is
possible without injustice to the deceased, it also fully recog-
nises the right of the childless man to provide for the continu-
ance of his family worship, and gives him facilities for that end.
In other words, the code allows adoption (ai'^ai-o-ts), and allows
it specially and solely for purposes of religion. But in the
laws regulating adoption, we again find an endeavour to make
the religious duty as light as may be. Thus, by the code, it is
no longer necessary that the adopted son should be a near
relative, or a relative at all ; and the adopted son might even-
tually decline to accept the inheritance (which was his only on
the express condition that with it he took over all the obliga-
tions of the deceased towards both gods and men), in which
case the estate with its liabilities, spiritual and pecuniary,
passed to the next-of kin. On the other hand, the code makes
another innovation on the ancient custom, which is less favour-
able to the adopted son : if sons of the flesh are born to the
adoptive father after the adoption, then the son of adoption is
not to receive (as at Athens) a son's share, but only a daughter's.
In this case also the adopted son has the option of declining
the inheritance. Again, in the spirit of absolute fairness which
pervades the code, the liberty allowed to the adopted son is
counterbalanced by the liberty allowed to the adoptive father,
of disowning {airoF^iTrdv) the son of adoptic^n. The fact of
disowning, as of adopting, a son is to be made known to the

566 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

citizens at large by proclamation from the stone in the Agora,
on which a citizen stood to address the people. The son of
adoption was received into the kraipia of his adoptive father ;
and a victim and a measure of wine were offered on the occasion
to the eraipia, as at Athens to the phratry. When a son of
adoption was disowned, the adoptive father deposited a sum of
ten staters, which was remitted to the disowned son by the
mnemon of the cosmos to whom the jurisdiction over foreigners
belonged (6 Kcrevtos koct/xos).

The spirit of fairness which is characteristic of the code is
conspicuous in its treatment of the joint, undivided family.
As civilisation increases, the inducements for the members of a
family to dwell together become weaker ; and especially when
a house-father has grown old and feeble, will the elder married
sons desire to take their share of the joint, undivided estate,
and set up house on their own account. Kow the code recog-
nises the joint, undivided family, and the absolute authority of
the house-father : " The father is the master of his children
and of the property," and as long as he lives, though he may
divide the estate if he will, he cannot be compelled to divide
it. Thus, in Gortyna, where girls were nubile at twelve, the
man who refused to divide might well see his children, grand-
children, and great-grandchildren partaking their meals to-
gether, sharing in the common family-worship, and living on
the joint-estate. On the other hand, though the law will do
nothing to break up such a family, it does not favour the con-
tinuance of the undivided family after the death of the house-
father ; indeed it gives any one heir the right to claim that
the property shall be divided, even if all the rest object ; and
the law further places the estate, until it can be divided, in the
hands of those heirs who wish to have it divided. We may
perhaps infer that, before the code, the practice had been
otherwise.

Another innovation on ancient custom made by the code in
its desire for justice, is the limitation of the patria potestas, by
which, though sons may not compel their father to divide the
family estate, neither may the father absorb into the family
estate anything which has been acquired by a son (e.g., by
inheritance or by his own earning) ; and, as a son may not
mortgage or dispose of anything belonging to the family estate,
so the father cannot sell or give away anything that the sons
have earned or inherited. In Gortyna, as at Athens, and
probably by primitive custom, the dowry which the bride
brought with her did not go to form part of the family estate ;

THE LAWS OF GOR'ITNA 567

if the husliand predeceased the wife, and she chose to re-
marry, she took her dowry out of the estate of her first husband
into tliat of her second husband. If she did not choose to re-
marry, her property remained in her own liands until she died,
and then it was divided amongst her children. On the other
hand, if the Avife predeceased the liusband, lie administered
and enjoyed her property until he died or remarried, and then
the property w^ent to the wife's children.

The protection accorded by the code to married women's
property may, like the share given to a daughter in her de-
ceased father's estate, proceed from a sense of justice to women.
But it is also possible that the primary object aimed at was to
do justice between the two undivided families interested in
the married woman's property — i.e., the wife's family and the
husband's ; for eventually the wife's property either reverted
to her own family or passed to the husband's. It is therefore
in the interests of the wife's family that the code forbids the
liusband to sell or mortgage the property of his wife, for in case
of divorce the wife returns to her own family, taking with her
her own property, half the fruits thereof (in kind), half the
produce of her own labour, and (if the husband is the author
of the divorce) five staters as well.

On the other hand, the interests of the husband's family are
protected by the code in several respects. Thus although the
liusband is allowed to make a donation to his wife, which shall
be hers absolutely after his death, still a limit to this donation
is fixed in the interests of the husband's next-of-kin : the gift
may not exceed 100 staters. The same limit is fixed, with
the same intention, to the amount which a son may give to his
mother. Again, if a widow re-marries, the amount of property
she may take away from her first husband's estate is limited
by the code, in the case of there being children, to her own
property, and any donation which the husband may have made
to her, as above, in the presence of three witnesses, being
adults and free men. On the other hand, if there are no
children, the widow is allowed to take not only her own
property and any donation duly made by her husband, but
also half the things that she herself has woven, and part of the
fruits existing in kind in the house. Further, in protection of
the husband's family, the woman (divorced or widowed) who is
tempted— as she was in Gortvna — to take from her late hus-
band's property what did not belong to her, is to restore what
she has illegally appropriated and pay a fine of five staters.
She can, however, apparently when accused, clear herself by

568 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

an oath. Persons aiding and abetting the wife in appropriating
her late husband's property, have to make twofold restoration,
and pay a fine of lo staters. Again, if the wife dies before the
husband, having had no children, her next-of kin are entitled
to her property, half of its fruits in kind, and half of what she
has woven. The widower, on the other hand, who is left with
children, has the enjoyment and administration of his late
wife's property, until he marries, or until the children come
of age.

Of the remaining provisions of the code, only those need
here be mentioned which relate to cases wherein the liberty of
a man was in dispute. These cases might be of three kinds :
two masters might both claim the same slave ; a man in pos-
session of freedom might be claimed as a slave ; the release of
a man actually in slavery might be claimed on the ground that
he was legally a free man. These three cases correspond to the
three actions in Roman law, respectively, vindkatio servi, vin-
dicatio in servitidem, proclamatio in lihertatem. There are
two principles of law which in Gortyna applied to all three
cases : the first is that no man can plead in person when his
liberty is the point in dispute ; the second is that the state of
things existing de facto when the suit begins must be respected
by all concerned until judgment is delivered, that is to say, no
attempt must be made during the process of law to release the
man Avho is in actual slavery, or to enslave the man who is
actually at liberty. The latter of these two princij^les was
unknown to Attic law.

In the case of the vindicatio servi, the dvSpaTroSiov Slki] of
Attic law, the judge is to decide in favour of the side who pro-
duce the most witnesses. If witnesses are not forthcoming, or
are equal in number, the judge is to give judgment in favour
of that side which he on his oath believes to be in the right.
In the other two cases, corresponding to the vindicatio in ser-
vitutem and proclamatio in lihertatem of Roman law, and the
ayetv ei? SovAetav and the a<^aipccns els kXevOepiav of Attic law,
the judge must decide in favour of liberty, if the witnesses
are equal.

When judgment has been given, five days' grace is allowed,
and if after that time the party against whom judgment has
been given has not complied with the terms of the judgment,
he incurs a fine (increasing with every day's delay), which the
other party is at liberty to exact by seizing on the goods of the
debtor. If execution of the judgment is impossible because
the slave has taken asylum in a temple, the condemned party

THE LAWS OF GOKTYXA 569

is quit, if he shows the other side the place in wliich tlie
skive has taken refuge. If the slave dies during the trial, the
loser, if he was in possession, must pay his adversary the value
of the slave. Finally, if the person who claims his liherty is
shown to be an insolvent debtor (rei'iKa/^ei'os), or one who has
failed to pay money borrowed by him ctti o-oj/xart, i.e., on the
security of his person (KaraKeifxevos), the suit goes against
him ; in Gortyna, under the code, as at Athens before Solon,
slavery for debt was sanctioned by the law.

In this connexion we may note, that the man who pledged
his person as security for money borrowed — the 7iexus of
Koman law, the Savetcra/xevos ctti croj/xart of Attic law, the
K-araKet'/xei'os of the Gortyna Code — and failed to repay the
sum, though in Gortyna he was loco servi, was not servus.
Thus, if while he was in his creditor's hands, he caused
damage to the property of a third person, he could be prose-
cuted, and could plead his own cause in court in person. On
the other hand, he could not plead in person as a plaintiff:
in that case he must be represented in court by his creditor
(KaTadifjLevos), and any damages which might be awarded to
him by the court were to be divided between the KaraKetjuevos
and the KaraOefxevos.

It now remains for us to describe the mode of legal pro-
cedure in Gortyna.

There were three classes of officials in Gortyna who had the
right of dispensing justice : the cosmi, arbitrators, and the
judges (SiK-ao-Tai).

The only case, so far as the Gortyna Code informs us, in
which the cosmi as a college dispenses judgment, is when an
heiress (Trar/jwicoKos) has contracted an illegal marriage ; and
ill the possession of this jurisdiction the cosmi resemble the
kings at Sparta.^

One member of the college ol cosmi, viz., the Ko-evios koct/xos,
had a jurisdiction similar to that of the Polemarch at Athens :
he tried cases in which foreigners and freedmen were parties.

Our knowledge of the private arbitrators in Gortyna is very
defective. Sometimes an arbitrator was chosen by one party
and then accepted by the other, sometimes by mutual agree-
ment of the two parties.

One judge (StKatrras) and one only sufficed to try a case ;
and each judge had a special and defined jurisdiction ; unfor-
tunately, however, we have only a fragment left of ihe law

^ Herod, vi. 57.

570 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

which states what class of cases belonged to which judge's
jurisdiction.

Finally, every magistrate had a fxvdjxo)v, whose duty it was
to be present at all cases tried by the judge, and to commit his
judgments to memory, so that he might when necessary bear
witness afterwards to the judgment ; for all the proceedings at
Gortyna were verbal, and the memory of the fjivdjxiov was the
only official record of the court's proceedings.

The right of pleading before a judge was the special privilege
of the citizen ; the serf was represented by his lord, the slave
by his owner, the nexus or debtor who had pledged his personal
liberty and forfeited it (KaraKet/xevos), by his creditor. Freedmen
and Metics came under the jurisdiction of the Kcrhios Kocrfxos.

The parties to the process, a/xTri/xwAot or fjniyXLoiievot, pleaded
their own cause in person before the judge. The proceedings,
as has been said, were entirely verbal ; no documentary evi-
dence was taken ; the only proofs admitted consisted of the
evidence of witnesses and the oath of the parties to the suit.
The more usual form of evidence was the testimony of witnesses:
the number and sometimes the description of witnesses to be
called in each kind of suit is specified by the laws. Thus a
donation from husband to wife, or from son to mother, must
be proved by the three free and adult witnesses required by the
law. In commercial suits the number of witnesses depends on
the amount in dispute, but is not to exceed three. A judicial
decree is proved by the evidence of the judge and his /^va/xwv.
Asa rule, witnesses are required to make affirmation (aTroTrwvrjv)
and not to take an oath. The oath of the parties to a suit
((XTTw/xoTov) was only taken as evidence in certain cases ex-
pressly mentioned by the law — cases as a rule in which
witnesses could not possibly be forthcoming. Only one of
the parties is allowed to take his oath ; or, if both swear to the
truth of their allegations, then the law directs which is to be
considered opKnorepos, i.e., which is to be believed by the judge.
As a rule it is the defendant to whom the law accords the
advantage of being opKiwrepos : he can clear himself entirely
by his oath. Thus the divorced woman accused of appro-
priating any of her late husband's property can establish her
innocence by taking her oath that she has not appropriated
anything. In certain cases, however, it is the plaintiff who is
allowed to establish his claim by his oath, e.g., in the case of
the creditor Avhose debtor has died. Finally, quite distinct
from the affirmation or the sworn evidence of the witnesses
already described is the support which the law allowed to be

THE LAWS OF GORTYNA 57 1

given to the parties in certain cases by co-jurors (o/jwo/xorat).
These differ from the ordinary witness in this respect : the
ordinary witness testifies to some fact of which he has personal
knowledge, but the co-jurors were good men and true, who
swore to the justice of their friend's cause because they knew
him and believed in him.

When both parties to the suit had ])leaded their cause and
produced their witnesses, or taken their oaths, it remained
for the judge to give his judgment, and there were two ways
in which he might give it. They are designated by the ex-
pressions SiKaSSev and ofxvvvra Kptvev respectively. If the case
was one in which the oath of one of the parties was accepted
by the law as final and conclusive proof, the judge had «c
liyj)otJiesi no discretion : he was bound by the law to give his
verdict in favour of that party, and in that case he was said
" to judge," StKaSSev. So, too, if the case is one to be decided
by the evidence of witnesses, e.g.^ if A asserts that C is a
slave, and E asserts that C is free, and both A and B produce
witnesses in support of their respective pretensions, then the
law declares that the judge is to be guided by B's witnesses —
he has no discretion, he must declare C free, and he is said
StKaSSei/ ; or again, if A and B both claim C, and only one of
the claimants produces evidence in support of his claim, the
judge is directed by the law to award C in accordance with the
evidence of the Avitness (Kara rhv fxacTvpa), and he is said
SiKaSSev. But in other cases the judge is directed by the law
to exercise his discretion, and to give his judgment on oath,
ojivvvra Kplvev. Thus, in the case last cited, if A and B both
produce witnesses, or if neither side brings evidence, the judge
must decide on oath between the parties ; or again, if the case
is one in which witnesses are not forthcoming, or one in which
the law does not give a preference to one party over the other,
the judge must take on himself the responsibility of deciding,
and must ofxvvvra Kptvev. When judgment had been deli-
vered, there was no appeal against it ; and the execution of the
decree was left to the winning side, which for that purpose was
allowed to seize the goods, or the person, of the other party.

In conclusion, it is necessary to call attention to several
points in the method of judicial procedure in Gortyna which
are very primitive. First, there is the purgatory oath : in
certain cases specified by the law, the defendant may clear
himself absolutely, or the plaintifi may establish his case com-
})letely, by taking an oath that his statement is true, and by
calling down punishment on his head from the gods, if his

572 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

statement be false. This method of judicial proof is not only
found in Athens {TrpoKX-rja-Ls els opKov), but is a test frequently
employed in early Germanic codes of law. Now if the use of
a purgatory oath only occurred in the latter codes, it might
conceivably be of Christian origin, for they were reduced to
writing in Christian times. But the Gortyna Code takes the
purgatory oath back to a pre-Christian age, and indicates that
it may go back even to the time of the common ancestors of
both Greeks and Germans.

A second institution of primitive antiquity in the Gortyna
Code is that of the co-jurors, whose oath is taken as evidence,
though they have no personal acquaintance with the facts.
This institution is probably referred to by Aristotle (Pol. ii. 8,
p. 1269a), when he says that at Cyme, by ancient law a man
may be convicted of murder, if the prosecutor produces a cer-
tain number of his (the prosecutor's) relations to swear that the
defendant is guilty. These co-jurors (6/xw/Aorai) are mentioned
in an inscription from Lyttos,^ and in an archaic inscription of
Mantinea ; - they correspond exactly to the " eideshelfer " of
early Germanic codes ; and they call down imprecations on
themselves in case their oath is false. This institution also
may go back to the period of the common ancestors of Greeks
and Germans ; for the co-jurors at Cyme wore evidently those
members of the murdered man's joint, undivided family, who
by primitive custom were bound to avenge his death ; and the
institution thus probably originated at the time when the joint,
undivided family was jointly responsible for the acts of each
and all of its members.

Finally, in Gortyna the whole of a suit was tried before
one and the same judge, whereas under the fully-developed
system of Athenian procedure, a trial had two parts ; first,
the dvaKpLCTLs, in which the parties appeared before the archon,
stated their case, and put in all the evidence, both of docu-
ments and of witnesses, which they wished to bring forward ;
and second, the trial before the dicasterion, when the dicasts
lieard the parties and their evidence, and gave their verdict.
Now, as we have seen, the Gortyna Code in some of its pro-
visions, e.g., in the justice shown to women, has departed more
widely from primitive custom than the Solonian law did ; but
in this matter of judicial procedure it is the Gortyna Code
which is the more faithful to the primitive custom. To appre-

^ Comparetti, Le ler/gi, Nos. 12, 13.

2 Fougeres, BulL Corr. Hell. xvi. p. 577.

THE LAWS OF GORTYXA 573

ciate the importance of the Gortyna Code in this respect for the
history of Greek law, it is necessary to bear in mind the object
with which law is first reduced to writing. Where the law is
unwritten, and a privileged class of nobles or patricians have
the sole right of declaring what the law is, there is a tendency
on the part of the privileged class to abuse its privilege, and to
tamper with the law. It becomes, therefore, the interest of the
2^lebs or 7r\-7]dos to have the law definitely published in writing,
so that all may know what the law is, and none may misrepre-
sent it. But even when there is no doubt as to what the law
is, the magistrate whose duty it is to administer it has opportu-
nities, and may be tempted to dispense not justice, but injustice,
especially in the interests of the privileged class to which the
magistrate still belongs. It becomes, therefore, the object of
the people to limit by law the power and the discretion of the
magistrate as far as possible. It is to this stage in the develop-
ment of legal procedure that the Gortyna Code has attained.
The law, with the view of narrowing down opportunities for
the maladministration of justice, withdraws the decision of as
many cases as possible from the discretion of the StKao-ras.
Thus, the law lays down certain provisions, e.g., that a donation
from husband to wife must be made in the presence of three
witnesses, and if these provisions have been complied with,
then the judge has no discretion : he must give his award in
confirmation of the donation. Or, if only one side produces
witnesses, or if the case can be settled by an oath of compurga-
tion, the magistrate's decision must be as the law directs. Or,
even if both sides produce witnesses, it is still possible for the
law to keep the judge straight in certain cases. Thus, on
grounds of public interest, it is better that a slave should
escape than that a free man should lose his liberty unjustly ;
and the law directs that the witnesses in favour of liberty are
to be believed — the judge, belonging to the class of the wealthy,
who might claim the persons of their debtors for non-payment
of debt, is allowed no discretion, for he might exercise it un-
justly in the interests of his class, and to the detriment of the
poor. Finally, in those cases where the law could not pre-
determine the result of the trial, and it was absolutely neces-
sary that the judge should be trusted, the only protection the
irXyjOos could obtain for itself was to put the magistrate on his
oath to judge fairly ; and this was done in Gortyna, and also,
it would seem,i at one time at Kphesus.

^ Inscriptions Jur. O'rccqucs, iii. 435, n. 3.

574 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

This is the stage of development in which, as we have said,
we find the Gortyna Code ; and this is the stage in which the
legal procedure at Athens was in the time before Solon, that
is to say, the whole of a suit was tried before one and the
same magistrate, viz., an archon.^ It was Solon who com-
pleted the work of democratic reform in legal procedure, and
who gave the demos complete protection against the danger
of maladministration of justice on the part of the magistrate,
especially in political trials, e.g., the trials of magistrates on
going out of office. He allowed an appeal from the archon's
decision to a popularly constituted court of jurors or dicasts ; ^
and, in course of time, just as the ecclesia absorbed the political
power of the magistrates, so the dicasteria inevitably absorbed
the judicial powers of the archons, whose share in the proceed-
ings dwindled into the purely formal avaKpia-is of the fourth
century, while the proceedings before the dicasterion came to be
the real trial (see the next chapter). In Gortyna there was
no appeal from the decision of the judge, and consequently the
distinction between the amK/jio-is and the real trial was not
developed.^

CHAPTEE XX

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ATflENS

No case could come before the law courts {i)\iaLa, 8LKa(rT'/]pLa),
unless it was brought on by some magistrate or other. Every
magistrate, i.e., every official to whom executive power was
intrusted by the state for any period exceeding thirty days,
had certain cases, which (for the most part) he, and he alone,
could bring before a court ; and this power was called hegemony.*
He did not try the cases, nor did he, during their trial, exercise
any influence over the conduct of the case comparable to that
wielded by an English judge. Originally, indeed, the archons
themselves, for instance, actually tried and decided the cases,

' 'A^. TToX. iii. Ki'pLOi 5' '^crav /cat ras dUas avroreXe^s Kpiveiu koI oi)X iocrirep
vvv TrpoavaKp'iveLv (ot S.pxouT€s\

• TpLTOv 8^ (y fxaXiaTa (paaLV IffxvKevaL rb ttXtjOos) t] els t6 diKaarripLov
icpeais. Ibid. ix.

^ Mr. J. W. Headlam, in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xiii. Part
I, seeks, unsuccessfully as it seems to nif^, to show that the distinction is
already known in the Gortyna Code.

* 'Hyefxovla 5iKa<XT)]p'i.ov is the full expression.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ATHENS 575

of which, in later times, tliey had the hegemony only.^ Then
Solon created the dicasteria, and allowed an appeal from the
decision of the archons to a court of citizens. We may fairly
suppose that at first appeals were unusual, that then they
became common, and finally universal. Thus in the end it
came about, with the full development of the democracy, that
the real trial of every suit was that which took place in the
dicasterion ; and consequently the archon's trial (now called the
dvoLKpta-Ls) became a mere, though indispensable, preliminary to
the actual trial ; for, though the archon heard what both sides
had to say, he invariably, and as a matter of course, remitted the
case to a law court for decision. ^ In this way the archon, from
being the sole and final judge, came to be what the Athenians
of the democracy called a 7}ye/xwv/ SiKacrTripLov. In this latter
capacity he did four things: (i) he received the complaint of
any citizen who wished to go to law with another; (2) at a
later day he received from both sides all the evidence which
they wished to use at the trial ; (3) he presided in the court
which tried the case, but did not, as president, exercise any
influence on the issue of the trial ; (4) he gave orders for the
execution of the sentence.

At one time the archons were the only executive officials of
the Athenian state, and then they were really judges. With
the growth of the state, however, came an increase in the
amount of executive business, which demanded an increase
in the number of executive officials. These new executive
officials were given the same judicial powers as the archons
had ; but by this time an archon was merely a yyepiov SiK-a-
Q-Ti]piov, no longer a judge. The new executive officials, there-
fore, acquired only the hegemony.

It should now be clear that the first thing an Athenian had
to do, if he wanted to go to law, was to find out which par-
ticular magistrate had the power to introduce his case^ to a
law court. Large, however, as was the number of magistrates,
and numerous as were the kinds of suit, this was not so difficult
as may at first sight appear. From immemorial times the
archon eponymous had always had jurisdiction in all matters
of inheritance and family disputes ; the king-archon had had
jurisdiction over cases of murder and impiety ; the polemarch

^ Save in trials for murder. In them, though the king-archon tried the
case, he tried it in the presence of the Areopagites and Ephetae, who gave
the verdict. - See the end of tlie previous chapter.

^ Wiadyetv tt)v diKrjv. The process is eiaayojyri, the magistrate (iu this
capacity) e£cra7W7ei)s.

576 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

in suits in which one of the parties was a resident alien. The
business of the Thesmothetae was indeed extensive and varied ;
but, generally speaking, we may say that it was to them a
citizen had to go, if he wished to accuse any one of such an
offence against the state as treason, or unconstitutional legis-
lation, or perjury, &c. And though there were many other
magistrates, each having hegemony in certain suits, the prin-
ciple on which jurisdiction was distributed between them was
so simple that no citizen who wished to invoke the aid of the
law could have any difficulty in knowing what magistrate he
must appeal to in the first instance. This principle simply was
that as an executive official had certain duties to perform (for
instance, the strategi had command of the army), so he had
the hegemony of cases, which, in the discharge of his duty, he
might require to refer to a law court for decision. Or, to put
it another way, he had to administer the laws which constituted
his office, and prescribed what he had to do. IS'aturally, there-
fore, it was his business to bring to the notice of the law courts
any offences against those laws.

The simplicity and perspicuity which characterise all the
manifestations of Athenian genius are not least remarkable in
the judicial system of democratic Athens. And the method by
which the labour of administering justice was divided between
the magistrates and the dicasteria — the former preparing the
case, and the latter giving judgment on it — is not the invention
of any one man of special genius, but is due to the steady, silent
working of the Athenian people's own common-sense. But it
is now time to consider certain other means, whereby, on the
one hand, every citizen — even the humblest and most helpless —
was enabled effectually to invoke the protection of the law when
necessary ; while, on the other hand, the law itself not merely
invited, but assisted citizens to an amicable arrangement of their
differences, without coming into court.

The magistrates to whom an Athenian had to apply in all
cases where property (unless it was an inheritance) was in dis-
pute, or damages were claimed, were in the ordinary course of
things, and unless the matter was urgent (a contingency which
we will consider shortly), the Forty Dicasts.^

This board consisted, as its title implies, of forty dicasts,
four drawn by lot from each tribe. Thus every tribe had its

1 This board was oi TCTTapaKovTa, from the archon'<hip of Eucleides.
Previously, and from B.C. 453, it was the Thirty. Its ultimate origin is
ill the "local justices," BiKaaTai Kara drjjuLovs of Pisistratus.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ATHENS 57/

four representatives, and those four formed a committee of the
board. If a citizen had a complaint against any man, he went
to the committee consisting of the representatives of the tribe
to which that man belonged. If the property in dispute was
not worth more than ten drachmae (a drachma roughly = a
franc), the committee could settle the case, and their verdict
was final. 1 But if the property exceeded ten drachmae in
value, the committee sent the parties to a Diaetetes or arbitrator.
Now any citizen, in the last year in which he could be caUed
on to serve in the army, i.e., in his sixtieth year, was liable to
be called on to serve as a public arbitrator. The committee
therefore referred to the list of citizens who were in their
sixtieth year (the list was engraved on a bronze stele which
stood in front of the senate-house), and chose one name by lot.
The citizen of sixty years, thus chosen, was compelled, under
penalty of disfranchisement (unless of course he was abroad on
military service, or already discharging some public ofhce at
home), to endeavour to reconcile the parties thus sent to him.
If he failed to do so, then he gave his verdict, confirming it
with an oath given at the swearing- stone in the market-place.
His verdict was final and conclusive, provided both parties
chose to accept it; if either was dissatisfied, the arbitrator
sealed up the plaintiff's documents in one ex'^^^j ^^® defen-
dant's in another, attached his o^vn verdict in writing, and
handed them all over to the committee who originally sent the
disputants to him. It was then the business of the Forty,
in the exercise of their hegemony, to bring the case before a
law court.

How admirable this system was need hardly be explained :
the age of the arbitrator was a guarantee that he had had ex-
perience of life and of the world ; his selection by lot avoided
the difficulties which in modern times beset the choice of an
arbitrator ; and the problem of enforcing his award was solved
in a simple and effectual way, by the provision that it was only
valid if freely accepted by both parties. But it should be
further noted that the mass of Athenian citizens may well have
gone through life without being involved in any dispute which
could not be settled under this system, for the hegemony of the
Forty was very wide : it afforded protection to the person as

^ If the defendant was a Metic, the complainant went first to the pole-
march (because originally all cases to which a Metic was a party belonged
to the polemarch's hegemony) ; but the polemarch referred him to the
Forty, and the committees of the Forty then drew lots to settle which
committee should take the case.

2 O

SyS CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

well as to the property of the Athenian. The citizen who had
been assaulted and desired compensation, the tradesman who
wished to recover his money, the workman who wanted to
recover his wages, the master who desired to enforce a con-
tract, the landlord who could not get his rent; the partner
who desired to dissolve partnership, members of clubs who
disputed as to their liabilities, or anything else in their bye-
laws ; whosoever wished to eject a trespasser, whosoever claimed
damages for the act or negligence of another, had to go to the
Forty and be by them referred to an arbitrator. The one
drawback to the system was, that if the matter had in the
end to go to a court, it was rather a long time in getting there.
But for this drawback there was a remedy, which will be de-
scribed in the next paragraph.

In the majority of cases no harm is done by giving litigants
time to cool down and to make up their minds after all not to
carry their case into court ; but in some cases action must be
prompt if justice is to be done. Attic law, therefore, provided
in certain specific cases a more expeditious route to the law
courts than that vid the Forty and the Disetetae. These cases
were called "monthly suits," because they were to be brought
on mthin a month ; and the magistrates whose duty it was to
bring them on within that time were five in number, selected
by lot, one for every two tribes, and were called Eisagogeis.
The kinds of wrong which called for prompt action, and there-
fore might be brought to the Eisagogeis instead of the Forty
for remedy, were, for example, assault, or if a wife was kept out
of her dowry, or a lender was kept out of the interest on his
loan (unless he was so exorbitant as to demand more than the
usual percentage, %dz., 12 per cent), or if a man had borrowed
capital to set up business in the market-place and would not
repay it. Other monthly suits which came within the juris-
diction of the Eisagogeis were actions for damage done by
slaves or cattle, partnership and club disputes, banking cases.
Finally, the privilege of bringing suits on within a month was
also exercised in certain cases by the Thesmothetse, who could
thus introduce " commercial cases " ; ^ by the nautodikse (bot-
tomry cases), and the apodektae, who might require to take
action at once against the farmers of the public taxes.

All cases of homicide, actual or attempted, belonged to the
hegemony of the king-archon ; and the court before which he
brought all cases of actual or attempted murder was the Areo-

1 AiKal iniropLKai. Monthly suits = 8iKai. i/x/xrjvoi.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ATHENS 579

pagus (for the constitution of which see the chapter on the
Areopagus). As the murder laws have already been given in a
previous chapter, all that need be done here is to describe the
mode of trial. The accusation was laid by the next-of-kin
before the king, who then formally interdicted the accuser
from appearing in the market-place or the temples until the
trial, during which time, however, nobody might lay hands on
him. Three preliminary investigations^ were held in three
successive months by the king, and in the fourth month the
case was tried by the Areopagitae. The trial began by a solemn
oath on the part of the deceased's nearest kinsman that he was
the next-of-kin, and that the accused was the murderer. The
accused then swore that he was not guilty. The prosecution
spoke first, then the defence ; this Avitli the evidence probably
occupied the first day, after which the accused might, if he
chose, retire into exile. On the second day the prosecution and
tlie defence each spoke again, and the verdict was given.

The courts before which involuntary homicide, instigation
to murder, &c., were brought, originally consisted of fifty-one
Ephetae, who were citizens over fifty years of age, selected
(probably) by lot. How long they continued to constitute
the court is uncertain, but in the time of Isocrates, a case of
involuntary homicide was tried, not by the Ephetae but by a
dicasterion sitting in the Palladion.

We have next to describe the constitution of the dicasteria,
and tlien we can trace the whole course of a trial from the time
when the aggrieved person summonses the aggressor to appear
before the magistrate having hegemony in such cases to the
final execution of the sentence.

Every citizen over thirty years of age, and not disqualified
by disfranchisement (artjuia), was eligible to serve as a dicast
( = heliast). In the beginning, probably the legal business of
the country only required a small number of dicasts ; and then
the required number would be selected annually by lot. But
with the increase of litigation a larger number of courts and of
dicasts was required ; the whole body of dicasts then came to
consist of ten sections (dicasteria), each containing 500 dicasts
(or as near as might be) from one tribe ; and to these must be
added for each section 100 reserve dicasts to take the place of
those who might be prevented by sickness or other causes from
serving. Thus the normal total was, according to the Polifeia,
6000 dicasts. After the time of the Sicilian expedition, how-

^ irpoBiKacriai.

58o CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

ever, when the number of citizens was so much smaller, there
would be no need of selection by lot ; every quahfied citizen
w^ho cared to put his name down would find a place in the
dicasteria. In the fourth century, with an increased popula-
tion, selection by lot was again resorted to. The requisite
number of dicasts was drawn by lot, each archon drawing
from his own tribe, and the clerk to the Thesmothetae from the
tenth. We may note that a dicast remained for life attached
to the section to which the lot first assigned him, consequently
it was only the new dicasts who had to be distributed by lot
amongst the dicasteria. Each dicast, when assigned to his
section, received a box-wood tablet (Trtva/ctov), on which were
inscribed his name, his father's name, his deme, and one of the
letters of the alphabet up to kappa^ indicating to which section
he belonged. Every year each dicast had to take an oath to
the effect that he would vote in accordance with the laws of
the houle and demos; or, where there was no law on the
subject, in accordance with justice, and not from motives of
friendship or enmity; that he would hear both sides impar-
tially, and decide with reference to the matter before the
court ; and finally, he invoked the favour or the wrath of the
gods according as he gave his verdict truly or not.^

The number of dicasts engaged to try a case varied according
to circumstances. In civil cases, where the sum in dispute
was less than looo drachmae, the number of dicasts was usually
20 1, if more than that sum, 401. Beyoud this, all we know is
that as many as 501, looi, 1501, and even 6000 dicasts Avere
sometimes engaged in trying a single case. In the fourth
century, which section or sections or parts of a section should
sit in which court, was decided afresh by lot every day ; in the
time of Aristophanes, the sections were distributed to their
respective courts only once a year. What cases should be
brought before each court was decided by the Thesmothetae,
who settled it by drawing lots. It was the business of the
magistrate who conducted the anakrisis of a case, to communi-
cate witli the Thesmothetae, in order that they might provide a
court and dicasts for the hearing of the case.

When the dicasts had been appointed to their courts, they
received staves of different colours and with different letters of
the alphabet (from lambda on), corresponding to the colour and

^ The oath in Dem. Tiniocr. p. 746, § 149, is certainly the untrust-
worthy concoction of some grammarian. How the oath really ran may be
disputed ; what is given above is what Lipsius (p. 154) considers to be
probably the substance of its contents.

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS $8 1

letter of the court in which they were to sit respectively.
These staves served to procure them admission to the court,
which was thus kept free of intruders. On entering the court,
the dicast received a check {a-vfxjioXov), which at the end of the
proceedings he presented to the kolakretae, from whom he then
got his pay. The introduction of the system of paying the
dicasts is ascribed to Pericles, both in the Politics of Aris-
totle and in the PoUteia. It was prol^ably one obol per diem
originally, and was eventually raised (by Cleon) to three.

On festal days, and on unlucky days {rjfxepai aTrocfypdSes),
and (in the fourth century) on days when there was an ecclesia,
the law courts did not sit. Probably this left about a hundred
days in the year for meetings of the dicasts.

CHAPTER XXI

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS

The Athenian who wished to bring a suit of any kind ^ against
his fellow-citizen, had to commence proceedings by formally
calling his opponent to appear on a stated day before the
magistrate within whose jurisdiction the particular suit fell.

1 The various kinds of suits may be tabulated as follows : —

( Special.
8. d7]fjLoaiai = ypa(paL

A(/cai

Ordinary.

(7rp6s Tiva
(non-criminal).
Kara tivos
(criminal).

At'/v-at iSiai are those in which the interest involved is that of an indivi-
dual ; diKUL briiioalat, those in which the interest is not that of an indi-
vidual. The former, private suits, can onlj^ be brought by the individual
directly injured (save in cases of murder), and the fine or property in
dispute (if any) goes to him, if he wins. In public suits, the prosecutor
need not himself have sustained injury in pocket or person, and must go
on with the case when he has once begun, and get at least one-fifth of the
jury's votes, or be fined lOOO drachmae.

The special {ypacpai) are the doKc/uLacrla and eCdvvai of officials, the
d7ra70J7?7, ^i>8ei^i^ and e(p7ffri(ns, (pdcns, airoypatpr}, elaayYe'Kia, and trpo^oXri.
The ordinary {ypa<pai) are all other public suits, in which the community's
interests are directly or indireetly attacked.

As the class S/zcat Kara tivos (in which, though the individual is primarily

582 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

On that day, in the presence of his adversary, he laid his com-
plaint in writing before the magistrate, whose duty it then
was to determine whether there was or was not anything in the
form or nature of this ex 'parte statement itself to bar further
proceedings. If the complaint was formally admissible and
accepted by the magistrate, both parties to the suit paid the
court fees, and the accuser, if necessary, deposited caution-
money as a guarantee of the good faith of his proceeding. A
day was then appointed by the magistrate for a preliminary
examination, anakrisis, of the case. In the meantime, the
written accusation was posted for public inspection. The
purpose of the anakrisis was to enable the magistrate to decide
whether the matter was one which could be brought before a
court, and if so to prepare it for submission to the court. At
this investigation, each party swore to the goodness of his
cause, and produced aU the evidence which he wished to go
before the court. The adversary might now allege reasons,
if any, why the case could not legally be proceeded with. If
such reasons were not alleged, or were over-ruled, the written
evidence of the witnesses and all documents on both sides
were placed in a vessel of metal or earthenware, echinus, and
were taken possession of l^y the magistrate until the day of the
trial. On this day (usually the thirtieth from the first appear-
ance of both parties before the magistrate), in the court assigned
by the Thesmothetae, and before the jury or dicasts selected by
lot, the magistrate who had conducted proceedings thus far pro-
duced the documents in his charge, and the clerk to the court
read the charge made by the accuser, as also the counter-charge,
if any had been made against him by his adversary, at the pre-
liminary investigation. The accuser was then called upon by the
presiding magistrate to speak, and was allowed to invite friends
to speak on his behalf after him. His opponent then replied,

injured, the interests of the community require the suppression of the
crime) overlaps, in many cases, the class of ordinary ypacpai (in which,
though the interests of the state are attacked, the individual suffers), it
follows that a person injured had often his choice between proceeding by
diKT] or ypacprj.

As to the special ypacpai, the diroypacpri was the form of procedure by
which a private person was charged with being in unlawful possession of
property belonging to the state ; the peculiarity of the (pdais was that
it was the form prescribed in cases when the successful prosecutor claimed
half the penalty ; the irpo^oXri was the mode by which a diffident prose-
cutor sheltered himself behind the ecclesia, as he made his accusation to
the assembly, and the assembly decided whether the matter was one to be
gone on with or not. The other special forms of ypa^r] have been or will
be dealt with elsewhere.

LEGAL PEOCEDURE IN ATHENS 5 S3

and in some cases both sides were allowed to speak a second
time. The evidence which had been deposited with the magis-
trate was read by the clerk when required by the speaker, who
introduced such portions of it at such points in his speech
as seemed to him most advisable. Witnesses acknowledged
their evidence in court, but were neither examined nor cross-
examined. And since the time that the speeches might take
was defined by the law, and measured by the water-clock, it is
intelligible that no trial was allowed to occupy more than a
single day. The jury gave their verdict by secret vote, and
without consultation. If the trial went against the accuser,
and if, further, less than one-fifth of the jury voted for him,
he was in some (private) suits, ipso facto, condemned to pay to
his adversary one-sixth of the sum which the latter would have
had to pay had he lost the verdict. In public suits the accuser,
under these circumstances, was condemned to a fine of a thou-
sand drachmae. The decision of the court was final, and could
not be upset, unless a successful action for perjury against the
witnesses on one side enabled the other to institute proceedings
for setting aside the verdict in the first trial. If the case went
by default, and the losing side could subsequently prove that
the default was due to circumstances beyond its control, a new
trial might be obtained. But though Attic law admitted that
false representations might mislead the dicasts, it did not admit
that dicasts otherwise could make a mistake. Mercy, however,
might in exceptional circumstances temper justice, and the
sovereign people could pardon an offence against the state.

We must now examine the course of legal procedure at
Athens in rather closer detail, and we begin by inquiring what
persons in Athens were, and what were not, allowed by law to
be parties to a suit. To begin with, women and minors could
not institute legal proceedings, except through their guardians
or Kvptoi. Men must not only possess the mental qualification
of sanity, and the physical qualilication of full age, but certain
legal quaHfications as well. In the first place, the party to a
suit must be free : slaves could not institute any legal proceed-
ings. Being free and a foreigner, he was allowed by law, on
the introduction of his patron (if a Metic), or his preixenus (if
a temporary resident), or in his own right (if he belonged to
the privileged class of tVoreXecs), to institute not only a private,
but also a public suit, provided that the latter was brought with
a view to the redress of personal grievances of his own. Being
free and a citizen, he must be in the enjoyment of his civic
rights ; for a citizen might, by way of punishment, be disquali-

584 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

fied (art/xos), either from the exercise of all, or from the exercise
of some of the rights of a citizen. In the former case he was
excluded from the markets, the temples of the gods, and from
all assemblies of the citizens for whatever purpose ; he was,
therefore, incapable of addressing a law court for any purpose
whatever. The less stringent form of disqualification frequently
took the shape of a prohibition forbidding the art/xos the right
of instituting certain kinds of suits.

Corporations, as well as individuals, could appear before the
law, in the person either of their president, or some member
appointed ad hoc. Amongst such corporations may be noted
the state itself, the demes, the phratries, as well as private
religious corporations.

In many cases the state was content to leave it to the self-
interest, or to the patriotism of the individual citizen, to insti-
tute legal proceedings, even on behalf of the state. In others,
however, the duty of prosecution was intrusted by the law to
its o^vn officials, even on behalf of private persons. Thus the
king-archon had to take steps, when necessary, to enforce the
rights of fatherless children and widows. Sometimes also, in
extraordinary emergencies, persons or bodies might be speci-
ally commissioned as ^i^Tn^ral, to hunt out and prosecute wrong-
doers. Finally, whether private suits could be brought against
magistrates during their year of office is open to discussion.

The formal commencement of legal proceedings consisted in
the citation of the adversary, in the presence of (usually two)
witnesses, to appear before the magistrate in whose hegemony
the case fell. The citation had to be made five days at least
before that on which the parties were to appear before the
magistrate ; ^ and in the case of certain classes of suits, there
were certain months in which proceedings could not be insti-
tuted. Mercantile suits ^ could only be laid in the winter
months; probate and murder cases could not be undertaken at
the end of the official year, when they would have to be begun
under one magistrate, and concluded by another. On the other
hand, to set against the law's delays in these respects, there are
sundry cases in which the appearance of the accused before the
magistrate was immediate on citation. In private suits, indeed,
only foreigners, not citizens, were subject to such summary
proceedings. In the case of public suits, for instance in certain
cases of murder, the accused might straightway be summoned

1 (Dem.') c. Macart. 1076; Ar. Nuh. 1131, 1221.
^ dUai ifj.Tropt.Kai.

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS 585

to appear before the magistrate,^ or the magistrate might be
brought to the offender,^ or citation might be dispensed with
entirely, and information given to the proper magistrate ; ^
while in the case of an ela-ayyeXla also, citation was unnecessary.
As regards the actual process of citation, it is to be noted that
an Athenian's house was his castle, and that it was not allow-
able to enter it forcibly for the purpose of citing him. If he
was abroad, he might still be cited, and the citation held good
if testified to by witnesses.

The witnesses to the citation are kXtjttjpcs ; their action is
KXi-jTeveiv ; a prosecution for false witness in this connection
is ypa^-q xl/ev8oKXr]T€ia<s. The citation itself is Trp6(TKXr](jLs or
kXtjctls, the verb Tvpoa-KaXdaOai or KaXelcrOai. 'EyKaXdv is
the verb used of inviting one's adversary, before citing him,
to repair his wrong to you.

The day named by the accuser in his citation might either
be a day legally appointed for the receipt of accusations of the
kind in question,* or might not, in which case probably the
accuser previously ascertained on what day the magistrate's
official duties would allow of his receiving the charge. On
that day it was the business of the magistrate to satisfy him-
self that the accusation was laid in legal form. It was necessary
that the accuser should be qualified to lay the accusation, and
that he should have duly cited his adversary to appear. The
accusation might be rejected for technical reasons, or for being
brought at a time forbidden by law, or for being brought to a
magistrate whose jurisdiction or hegemony did not include it.
If the accusation satisfied the magistrate in all these points, the
complainant had then to pay certain fees, the TrapaKaTa/SoXi]
and Trapda-Taa-is ; and both parties had to pay TrpvTavcta to the
court, the winning side being refunded by the party cast. The
latter were court fees. The amount varied according to the
nature of the suit, being thirty drachmae where the com-
plainant's claim was for more than a thousand drachmae, three
if over a hundred, and less than a thousand ; while, where the
claim was for less than a hundred drachmae, or the suit was a
public one, in which the accuser was not seeking his own inte-
rest, no TTpvTaveia were paid to the court. In other public
suits, being brought for the public good, there was only a
nominal fee of one drachma, called Trapao-Tao-ts. The word

* As, for instance, the iur] Kalv^a (Ar. Vcsp. I189-1200), for the recovery
of debts.

586 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

TrapaKara/SoXij, which properly signifies only the depositing of
money, was applied to the money deposited by the complainant
as a guarantee of good faith, and forfeited by him if he lost his
case. Such a deposit, however, was required only in two kinds
of suit: in claims against the state for confiscated goods, and
in claims to an inheritance already assigned by a court. In
the former case the TrapaKaraf^oXn] amounted to one-fifth, in
the latter to one-tenth of the value of the property claimed.
If the fees were not paid the accusation was not accepted, and
when accepted it was copied, and the copy exposed for public
inspection in the neighbourhood of the magistrate's office.

The written accusation was called Xtj^ls or eyKXyjixa. The board
(whitened with chalk or gypsum) on which it was copied was
o-avis or XevKoyfia. The form in which accusations were drawn
in private suits may be seen from this charge in a Slkt] /SXd/Srjs :
Aetvap-^os ^(iXTTpdrov Kopiv^tog Upo^h'O), w crvveLfxi, jSXd/Si^s, raX-
avTOiv 8vo. "E/5Aa!/'e fxe Upo^evos VTroSe^afxevos etg rrjv otKiav rrjv
€avTov rrjv kv dypu), ore Tre^evyws 'AOijvrjOev Ko.ryecv Ik XaA.>(t8o?,
. . . )(pv(rLOv [i€V (TTar'ijpas oySoi^KOvra koI StaKOCTLOVS kol
7r€VT€, ov<s eKopiLcra €k XaA.>^tSo9, clSotos TLpo^evov, kol clcrrjXOov
e^wv €is TTjV OLKtav avTov, dpyvpcj [xaTa Se ovk eXarrov eiKocri
fiviov d^ia, iTTi/SovXeva-as tovtols. In Dem. Kara Sre^avov, A. p.
1 1 15, we have the accusation in a SUr) xpevhofio-prvpiQiv, which
begins thus : 'A7roAAoScoy3os Ilacrtwvos ^A^apvei^s Srec/xxvo) Mcve-
kAcov? 'A)(apveL if'evSoixaprvptojv' rip^rjiia rdXavTOV, and is fol-
lowed by a statement of the facts of the case. We may
compare the mock trial in Ar. Was2:)s, 894 : —

CLKOver' ijSr] ttjs ypa(pT]S. iypd^j/aro
K^up 'Kv8adrjvaL€'us Ad^rjT Alluvia,
rov Tvpbv d5tK€?u 6tl /jlovos KaTrjadiev
rbv 2lk€\lk6u. Ti/j.r}/xa /cXw^s cri^/ctvos.

If the case were one for a public arbitrator, or StatratTTy?, the
magistrate, having accepted the accusation, at once, and without
hearing arguments from the defendant, remitted it to a ScaiTrj-
Tij<s, chosen by lot from amongst those arbitrators appointed to
act for the tribe to which the defendant belonged. In other
cases the magistrate appointed a day for the investigation
(anaJcrisis) of the case. On that day the accused had the oppor-
tunity, which was by law allowed to him then, and not when
the accusation was first laid, of taking exception to the further
procedure of the case. He might argue that the complainant
was not legally qualified to institute proceedings, that the
alleged grievance ^vas not one for which there was a legal

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS 587

remedy, that the matter had already been settled by a previous
judgment from a law court or by a compromise, or that the
complainant had allowed the time for legal proceedings to go by
(debts, for instance, could not be recovered, nor inheritances,
under certain circumstances, disputed, nor guardians prosecuted
after a lapse of five years), or that the remedy sought was not
that appointed by law, or that this magistrate had not the re-
quisite hegemony, or jurisdiction. The form taken by the
exception might be a simple allegation, in writing, that the
complainant was not legally qualified, or that the magistrate
had no hegemony, &c., and this form of exception was called
irapaypaffy-q. The complainant might admit the allegation, and
amend his accusation accordingly, or he might deny it; and
then the allegation was submitted to a law court for decision,
the original case being suspended meanwhile. If the exception
were sustained by the defendant, the original case was thereby
finally quashed ; if not, it might then be resumed. In either
case, if the losing side failed to get one-fifth of the jury's votes,
he had to pay to the other side one-sixth of the amount claimed
by the prosecutor in the original action. The form taken by
the exception might, however, not be a irapaypai^ri, but a
SLaixapTvpta, that is to say, might be not a bare allegation, but
one supported by witnesses. For instance, the accused might
allege that the archon polemarcli, before whom the complainant
had brought him, as being a foreigner, had no jurisdiction over
him, as he was a citizen, in this case; and he might further
offer to prove his allegation by witnesses. But if the defendant
thus chose to appeal to evidence, it was obviously only just that
the complainant also should be allowed to call witnesses. Ac-
cording to Attic law, the complainant was in this case first called
upon to produce his witnesses ; and it was only if he declined
to do so that the defendant was allowed to call the witnesses on
his side. What the defendant could do, however, if his adver-
sary called witnesses, was to indict them for perjury ; and if he
got a conviction he thereby established the validity of the ex-
ception he had taken in the shape of a Siaixaprvpta, and conse-
quently his opponent was debarred from proceeding with the
original action. On the other hand, if the defendant did not
prosecute his adversary's witnesses, or failed to obtain a convic-
tion against them for perjury, his exception thereby broke doMTi,
and the original action might be proceeded with. The defendant
who elected to employ the SiafxapTvpta, had probably to face the
contingency of paying, in a private suit, one-tenth of the amount
claimed from him in the original action, if he failed to establish

588 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

his exception. On the other hand, the accuser who prosecuted
his opponent's witnesses for perjury, and who failed to obtain
one-fifth of the jury's votes, had to pay a fine, which in private
suits went to the other side.

The prehminary investigation is dvaKptcns, the magistrate is
said avo.Kpiveiv rots avrihiKois tyjv Slkyjv or ypacfiijv, the parties
are said dvaKpivecrO at rr)v 8LKr]v, the suit is said dvaKpidrjvai.
The suitor who might but does not employ the SLaixaprvpta
is said avToiiayelv. When the defendant takes no exception
to the proceedings, the plaintiff" is said evOvScKia ciVtevat, or

€l(Tep)(€(T6aL.

The defendant who took no exception to the form of the
accusation, the tribunal, &c., but declared his intention of
allowing proceedings to take their ordinary course, did not
therefore forfeit the right to charge his adversary with the
very offence of which he was himself accused, and such a cross-
accusation was called an dvriypacfi-q. This is a provision made
by the law of most countries, and is obviously in accordance
with justice; in assaults each party may well think he has a
case against the other, and in no case would it be tolerable that
cross-accusations should be inadmissible, else a criminal could
protect himself from legal proceedings by the simple process of
instituting an unreal suit against the injured person. On the
other hand, in the same way that the laying of an accusation
did not relieve the accuser from being charged by his adver-
sary with the very same offence, the laying of an dvTLypa(f>7] or
cross-accusation did not interfere with the prosecution of the
original suit ; the two trials went on perfectly independently of
each other. They might be tried simultaneously, and even if
tried successively they might be decided in such a way that
the same person won one and lost the other, the matter in dis-
pute being the same in both trials.

The word dvTLypacjiTi] is also used of any counter-charges
designed to parry an accuser's attack, and in this wider sense
includes the irapaypa^ri and Sia/xaprvpta. The word is by a
natural extension made equivalent to ypacfy-q, and is used not only
of the charge made by the one party, but also of that made by
the other, for the charge made by the accuser in the orighial suit
is no less a cross-charge or counter-accusation than that raised
by the defendant. To lay a cross-accusation is dvnypdcfieo-Oai.

If no exceptions were raised or successfully sustained by the
defendant, the ordinary course of the anakrisis was for each suitor
to swear to the truth of his cause, and then to produce all the
evidence he wished to bring forward at the trial, for nothing was

LEGAL PROCEDUKE IN ATHENS 589

then admissible which had not been deposited with the magistrate
at the anakrisis. The evidence thus produced might consist of
copies of laws, documents of all kinds, the testimony of wit-
nesses, the evidence of slaves, and oaths. The laws of the land
were partly posted up in public places for general reference,
partly kept in the Metroon, where also they could be consulted ;
and the suitor who wished to quote in the trial any law or a
portion thereof had to make a copy of it and deposit it at the
anakrisis. The documents put in as evidence might be con-
tracts, bonds, testaments, bankers' books (which were accepted
as evidence of debt), psephisms of the people or the houle,
decrees of foreign states, letters from foreign states, and other
state documents. If the documents required by a litigant were
accessible, a copy properly testified to could be obtained, and
would suffice. If the document were in the possession of the
other side, or of some person who made difficulties about show-
ing it, the litigant could formally summon the possessor to
discover it, and in case of refusal could institute a suit against
him, or without resorting to such a troublesome proceeding
might content himself, when the trial day came, with making a
point in his speech against his adversary out of his refusal to
discover the document. The testimony of witnesses is impor-
tant enough to demand a paragraph to itself.

The oath taken by the party to a suit is ai/rco/xocrta. Atco-
juocrta, which properly stands for the oaths taken by both sides,
is frequently used of the oath taken by one or other of the two
suitors. By a stiU further extension the former word is some-
times used to mean the written accusation sworn to by the
accuser, and even to mean the cross-accusation sworn to by the
defendant. An action for the discovery of documents is S/kt;
eU ificfiavojv KaTacTTaa-iv. The summons to produce documents
is 7rp6KXi](Tis.

Evidence could only be given by free men of full age in
possession of civic rights ; minors and women could not give
evidence at all, and slaves (except under torture), only for the
prosecution in a trial for murder. Foreigners, whether Metics
or la-oTeXels, could give evidence, except in a diamartyria
taking exception to the further prosecution of a trial of a
defaulting freedman. Further, a person otherwise qualified
to give evidence could not be a witness in his own suit (except
in ^ diamartyria 2iY\^mg out of a disputed inheritance), and wit-
nesses were only allowed to testify to what they had themselves
witnessed, not to hearsay, unless the person from whom they
heard the statement was dead. Witnesses abroad or sick mi^ht

590 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

give their evidence in writing, and if it was taken in the pre
sence of a responsible person, who testified that it was faithfully
taken, it could be put in at the anakrisis. Every person legally
qualified to serve as a witness, except the adversary, was
bound to give evidence when called upon, or to appear on the
day of the trial and take oath that he knew nothing of the
matter in dispute. If he failed to appear, or refused to take
this oath, he was liable to an action for damages. If a witness
engaged to appear and failed to do so, he could be prosecuted
as a defaulting witness. If a witness, after a formal summons
to give evidence or take the consequences, still refused, he could
be fined a thousand drachmae. This fine went to the state,
and this form of summons was therefore generally in use in
public suits.

The testimony of every witness had, in accordance with an
express provision of the law, to be reduced to writing, and thus
given to the magistrate at the anakrisis. It was not in all cases
necessary that the witness should take an oath as to the truth
of his testimony, and in no case was the oath administered by
the magistrate or the court. At the anakrisis the one side
took the other side's witnesses to the altar and swore them.
At the trial the witness ascended the witnesses' tribune, when
his evidence was read, and tacitly acknowledged it as his, or
possibly, in some cases, swore to it. The only, even distant,
approach to the examination or cross-examination of witnesses
was when a witness was challenged in the presence of the
judges, in the way already described, either to testify to or to
swear ignorance of the matters which the other side suggested
that he was cognisant of. In this case a statement of the
matters to which it was suggested the witness could testify was
put in at the anakrisis, and was read aloud at the trial in the
presence of the witness. Finally, it is to be noted that, whereas
in a trial before a court of dicasts, no evidence could be pro-
duced in court which had not been put in at the anakrisis, in
a trial before an arbitrator witnesses were called at the trial,
as the case was referred by the magistrate to the arbitrator
without anakrisis.

The expressions for calling on a bystander to become a
witness to a proceeding are, Sta/xaprrpecr^at, €7n[xapTvp€a-0aLj
fmpTvp€(T$o.i. Foreigners could not give evidence in a Siafxap-
Tvpta fxrj ela-ayoyyiiiov efvat rrjv Slkt^v, when the action was
against a defaulting freedman (diKr) dTroa-raa-iov). The Kvpios of
a woman or minor could be his own witness in a StaixaprvpLa jir)
irrtSiKov efvat tov KXrjpov. To give hearsay evidence is aKorjv

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS 59 1

[xaprvpetv. Evidence of persons sick or abroad taken on com-
mission is eKfiaprvpia, the verb iKixaprvpelv ; to acknowledge such
evidence as being one's evidence is dvo.SexecrOai -rqv kKfxaprvpiav ;
to testify that it was properly taken is fxapTvpetv rrjv €K[xap-
rvptav. An action for false witness is Slkt] ^evSo/xapru/atwv ;
for damages, SiKr] /SXdlSrjs ; against a defaulting witness, Blkyj
XiTTopLapTvpLov. Thc formal summons to give evidence, which
entailed a fine of looo drachmae if not complied with, is
KA^revo-ts. The oath that one knows nothing of the matter is

We now come to the evidence of slaves under torture. This
kind of evidence was highly valued at Athens, and was considered
more trustworthy than that of free-born citizens, as indeed it
may have been ; but it was not therefore particularly good, for
obstinacy might make a callous slave persist in falsehood, and
weakness make a feeble slave give the evidence which he saw
his torturers desired him to give. Slaves could not be tortured
except by their owner's permission, and under the conditions
he chose to prescribe. It was therefore customary to challenge
the other side to allow his slaves to be tortured, or to offer one's
own slaves. Such a challenge was made in the presence of
witnesses, most commonly in the market, and frequently in
writing. If the challenge was accepted, this document was
useful in holding the signatories to their engagement, and
might serve as ground for an action if either party broke
the contract. The nature of the torture and the amount, to-
gether with the names of the persons who were to conduct it,
were usually stated in a formal document. As a rule the torture
was administered before the anakrisis, in order that the state-
ment of the slave, duly attested, might be put in at the anakrisis ;
but, in extraordinary cases, it seems to have been possible to
torture a slave on the day of trial in presence of the dicasts ;
while, if the evidence of the slave was not to decide some par-
ticular point, but to settle the whole matter in dispute, the
torture might be challenged and accepted at any point in the
proceedings.

Finally, if a suitor had no other evidence to produce, if
witnesses of the transaction were from one cause or another
wanting, if no documentary record were in existence, he might
offer to take a solemn oath that the matter was as he contended,
or challenge his adversary to swear the contrary ; or it was
equally permissible to challenge the other side to allow some
third person to swear to the matter. Such an oath would then
be recorded, put in as evidence at the anakrisis, and produced

592 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

at the trial. It is remarkable that whereas women could not
appear as witnesses to a suit, they could and did take oaths
which were accepted in a court of law ; and further, though no
m_an might be a witness in his own case, he yet might swear to
a fact. The explanation of this seeming anomaly is that,
whereas it was only with the consent of the other side that a
point in dispute, or as was sometimes the case the whole matter,
could be referred for decision to the solemn oath and declara-
tion of a woman, or a party to the suit, witnesses, of course,
were produced by either side without consulting the other ; and
whereas the one side might discredit the other side's witnesses,
the suitor who agreed to refer the matter to some person's sworn
declaration could not, if the declaration turned out to be against
him, refuse to abide by it. When all the evidence that each
side wished to produce at the trial had been put in — and it is
self-evident that this process might occupy a considerable time
— the documents recording it were placed in the €)(lvo<s, sealed,
and taken in keeping by the magistrate who had presided at
the anakrisis, which was now complete.

A challenge to employ the torture of slaves is ttpokXi^o-ls ei's
pdaavov. The owner who offers his slave to the torture is
said TrapaSiSovai ; he who accepts, 7ra/)aA.a/x/?avetv ; he who calls
for the other's slaves, l^atreti/. The persons appointed to regu-
late the torture are ^acrai/tcrTai, the statements made under
torture /?ao-avot.

For most suits it was provided by law that they should come
before a court of dicasts for trial thirty days after the laying of
the accusation. This space of time was evidently considered
enough to allow for the completion of the anakrisis in all ordi-
nary cases. At the same time it is readily conceivable that
this period might prove insufficient : the presiding magistrate
might be too occupied with other official duties to conduct an
anakrisis during that time ; or the time might not be sufficient
to allow of all the necessary evidence being got together ; or
even if the anakrisis could be completed, the magistrate might
find it impossible to preside at the trial on the proper day, or
the parties might unite in applying to have the trial deferred,
say in the hope of meanwhile settling the matter out of court,
or either suitor might be able to show good cause why he could
not be present on that day. Thus the law might be delayed
at Athens, and was frequently delayed, sometimes for years.
But in justice to the law, it is to be noted that in at least
certain suits, which were hence called "monthly suits," the
day of trial either could not, or could only under very extra-

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS 593

ordinary circumstances, be put off beyond the regular period of
thirty days. With reference to the mode in which an adjourn-
ment of the trial was applied for, on the day appointed for the
trial the suitor who alleged that he was unable to be present
commissioned some one to represent to the court for him that
he was prevented by absence abroad, sickness, death of a near
relative, &c., from putting in an appearance. This statement
had to be made on oath. The other side might admit the
allegation, or might take oath that the allegation was untrue,
in which case the dicasts heard what both parties had to say
in support of their statements, and decided the matter. If the
absentee sustained his representation, the case was adjourned ;
if not, the case went against him in default. It is not im-
probable that application for adjournment might be made in
another way, by applying in writing, before the day of the
trial, to the presiding magistrate. In this form, too, the
declaration had to be made on oath, and might be met by a
sworn counter-declaration from the other side.

Monthly suits, SiKat e/x/xr^vot, included StKat ipaviKac, [xcraX-
XiKai, TTpoLKos. The oath of the absentee is ■uTrw/xoo-ia, the
counter-oath avdviriaixoa-ia. The written application sent in
before the day of trial, -r) Kvpia, is 7rapaypa<f>-q. — Cf. Dem. c.
Meid. 541, 21 ; c. Euerg. 1151, 2, and 1153, 5.

It was open to either side to offer to settle the matter in dis-
pute by amicable arrangement at any time before the verdict was
given — before or after the anakrisis, when the trial had com-
menced, when both parties had been heard, and even after the
dicasts had recorded their votes, provided that they had not been
yet counted. It was, however, only private suits which could
lawfully be compromised. In a public suit a fine of a thousand
drachmae was the penalty to be inflicted on an accuser who failed
to proceed with his accusation. And this w\as reasonable on two
accounts : first, the interests of the community were at stake in
a public suit, and to compromise was to betray them ; next,
the fine was a wholesome deterrent to sycophants, i.e., to those
who sought to levy blackmail by the threat of public prosecu-
tion. As a matter of fact, however, public suits were frequently
dropped. The levying of the fine probably rested with the
presiding magistrate, who may have bowed to custom, and
have forborne from exacting it.

The Thesmothetae gave public notice of the day on which
cases would be tried, of the suits which would be tried in the
various courts, and the order in which they would be brought
on. Proceedings began very early in the morning, and the

2 p

594 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

trivial cases were taken first. ^ The dicasts were apportioned
by lot to the courts in which they were to sit ; this made it
difficult or impossible to "get. at" them beforehand. In the
court they found the magistrate sitting who had instructed the
anakrisis, and to whose hegemony the case belonged. A signal,
possibly a flag, was kept hoisted until the proceedings began ;
then it was hauled down, and the dicast who came after that
got no triobol. Order was maintained in court and amongst
the spectators by the " Scyths." Heralds and clerks were at
hand. The presiding magistrate first called upon the litigants
to present themselves. An off'ering or a lustration was made,
and a prayer recited by the herald. The accusation and the
rejoinder were read by the scribe, and the parties were called
upon to plead. The law required that every man should plead
his own cause ; hence the man who felt unequal to this task
either got some one to write a speech for him, which he learned
by heart, or else he contented himself with a few words of in-
troduction, and then (as he was entitled to do) called on his
friends to speak in his support. As it was expressly forbidden
by the law that any one should be hired to speak on behalf of
a litigant, these " friends " naturally began by explaining that
their motive in speaking was hatred of the other side, or any-
thing else that would give a colour to their proceeding. In
some cases — we know not which — when both sides had spoken
once, each side was allowed a second speech. The length of
time which might be occupied by each side in speaking was
determined by law (save in trivial suits) ; and if there were
several speakers on one side, they had to divide the time
allotted to their side between them. There was an official
whose sole business it was to work the water-clock (clepsydra),
and he it is who is addressed in the orator's injunctions to
" stop the water," or " let it run." ^

How witnesses gave their evidence has been previously
explained. A speaker might not be interrupted by his oppo-
nent, but he (the speaker) might put questions to them. The
dicasts, however, could interrupt a speaker, reprove him if
necessary, or ask him to explain. They also had no scruple in
making lively demonstration of their feelings, hence the orator's
entreaties to them not to make a disturbance. They might
even, having heard one side, refuse to hear the other, and con-

^ Hence they were called ii>}6tval StVat.

2 The official is 6 i^vdup, the injunctions are ewiXa^e to iibup^ and
e'f^pa TO vd(>}p.

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN ATHENS 59 5

demii a man unheard. Their oath bound them to hear both
sides, but verdicts given in the unfair manner just described do
not seem to have been challenged. Under these circumstances
it is not surprising to learn that speakers a2:)pealed as much to
the feelings and prejudices of the dicasts as to their intellect,
and that such appeals, however Avidely they departed from the
matter in hand, were not checked. The accused habitually
endeavoured to work upon the feelings of the dicasts by pro-
ducing in court their little children, their aged parents, and
helpless dependents, or by getting men of distinction — even
the presiding magistrate himself — to appeal for mercy on their
behalf.

The speeches ended, the presiding magistrate called upon the
dicasts to vote, and this they did without previous consultation
amongst themselves ; indeed, juries so large as those at Athens
could not possibly retire to deliberate on their verdict. The
method of voting differed at different periods. In the fifth
century each dicast had one psephos, a mussel-shell ; and there
were two vessels, into one of which he cast his vote if he
wished to acquit, and into the other if he wished to condemn.
But how his vote could be secret in this case has not yet been
ascertained. In the fourth century each dicast received two
\prj(f)OL. Each of these psephi was made of metal, and consisted
of a circular disc through the centre of which ran a stem, which
projected at right angles from each surface of the disc. The
only difference between the two was that the stem of one
was hollow, of the other solid; and this difference was con-
cealed if the dicast put a thumb and finger on the two ends
of the stem. The solid psephos was the vote for acquittal,
tlie hollow for condemnation. The dicast cast whichever he
thought fit into the vessel provided for receiving the votes ;
and the other psephos, which now had become useless, he threw
into another vessel provided for the receipt of waste psephi, so
to speak. And as no one could tell whether he dropped the
hollow or the solid psephos into the KaSiaKos, secrecy of voting
was secured.

If the majority of dicasts voted for condemnation, and the
case was one in which the penalty had to be assessed, then the
prosecution made a speech proposing a penalty ; the defence
proposed an alternative penalty, and the dicasts probably had
no choice but to vote for one or the other. The time these
speeches might occupy was determined by law. How the
dicasts recorded their vote in the fourth century is unknown ;
in the time of Aristophanes they had wax tablets, on which a

596 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

long line was drawn by the dicast if he voted for the heavier
penalty, a short one if for the lighter. Finally, the trial had
to be concluded the same day as that on which it began, unless
the sitting of the court was interrupted by external occurrences
or of Siocrr^/xem.

In some private cases — in which is unknown — and in the
paragraphe and antigraplie and in the phasis, if the accuser
failed to obtain one-fifth of the votes, he was condemned to
pay a fine amounting to one-sixth of what the defendant would
have had to pay had he been condemned. As there are six
obols in a drachm, this fine was known as l7ra)/5eAia, i.e., one
obol in the drachm.

In public suits, the prosecutor who failed to obtain one-fifth
of the votes was condemned to pay the same fine as if he failed
to proceed with his prosecution, viz., one thousand drachms.
Only two classes of cases were exempt from this provision, viz.,
that in which the prosecutor laid an information (etVayyeXta)
before the archon that an orphan, an heiress, or an aged person
was being subjected to ill-treatment (KaKwcrts), and cases of high
treason; and eventually the immunity was abolished in this
class of case also.

In public cases, if the accused was sentenced to death or
imprisonment, he Avas at once taken into custody by the Scyths,
until the presiding magistrate had time to communicate his
sentence to the Eleven, whose business it then was to carry
out the sentence. If the sentence was slavery, the prisoner
was sold by the Poletae; if banishment, the sentence need only
be published — the exile who returned without leave was to be
put to death ; those who sheltered him were to share his sen-
tence. If the accused were disfranchised, publication alone
was necessary. If his goods were confiscated, the demarch of
his deme or the Eleven sold him up. Fines fell either to the
state or the temple treasuries : the praktores got in the former,
the treasurers of the respective temples the latter. Until the
fine was paid, the condemned man could exercise none of his
civic rights. If he did not pay at the appointed time, the
fine was doubled. If he did not pay then, his goods were
confiscated. If they did not sufiice to pay the fine, he and his
heir, as state debtors, were disfranchised until they paid.

In private cases, a period ^ within which the defendant was
to obey his sentence, was appointed. If he exceeded the
delay thus allowed him, the plaintiff could seize on some of his

* irpodeff/da.

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 597

goods,^ and indemnify himself by publicly selling them ; or, in
the case of considerable sums, he could enter on possession ^
of a piece of real property. Or if the sentence awarded the
plaintiff a piece of real property, he could enter on possession ;
or if he did not choose to do so, he could claim the rent of the
house or land ; ^ or he could obtain power to indemnify him-
self ■* out of the rest of the defendant's property ; or finally, he
could make him a debtor to the public treasury for the amount,^
and thus disfranchise him.

As to new trials and appeals, the rule in Attic law was that
the verdict of the dicasts once given was final. ^ A new hearing
of civil suits was only possible under two circumstances : "^ a
man who had been condemned by default might (within two
months) show that it was through no fault of his that he had
not appeared at the original trial ; ^ or the loser in a suit mif,dit
claim a new trial on the ground that his opponent had won by
perjury.

The decision of courts other than dicasteria was not con-
sidered to be final ; hence there was an appeal (ec^eo-ts) to the
dicasts from the decision of public arbitrators (SLaiTTjTat,),
from a fine (Itti^oA,!}) inflicted by a magistrate in the exercise
of summary jurisdiction, and from the verdict of townsmen
who excluded a man from the deme.

CHAPTEE XXII

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER

In the earliest periods of all Aryan peoples a stranger was an
enemy, who might be killed by any member of the tribe with
impunity, if not with credit, and whose kin could obtain no
wergeld for his bloud. But even in pre-historic times a certain
amount of commerce obtained between different tribes, and the
desire to procure foreign products would induce some powerful
member of the tribe to afford protection to the Avandering mer-
chant from whom the desired articles were alone to be obtained.

^ ''Evexvpa "Ka^elv or (p^peiv, evexvpa^^i-v. " 'E/x^aT€V€Lv.

^ By a Si'/cr? cvolkLov or Kapirov respectively.

^ By a d'iKi] ovaias. ^ By a St'/ci; e^ovXrjs.

^ The suit thus for ever settled was diKT] avroreXi^s,

'' A suit re-heard was BiKt] duddiKos.

8 This proceeding is tt^v ip-rj/xov {dtKiju) avTiXaxelv.

598 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

The relation thus established between the guest and the guest's
friend tended, as society became permanent, to become heredi-
tary ; and even when the basis of the guest-friendship was no
longer trade, the original foundation of the relation perpetuated
itself symbolically in the exchange of presents, customary even
in Homer's time between the two guest-friends.^

But even when the Greek word ^evos had come to acquire
the meaning of "guest-friend" in addition to its original mean-
ing of " enemy," just as the Teutonic word " guest " originally
had the same meaning as the Latin Tiostis, identical philologi-
cally with it ; ^ even when the stranger under the protection of
Zeus Xenios was safe from attacks on his life and property,^ he
was far from enjoying the same legal rights as the ordinary
citizen. He could purchase no land or house in the state ; he
could w^ed none of its daughters ; he could appear before none
of its tribunals, in none of its political assemblies, at none of its
religious festivals. This was a state of things which naturally
became intolerable as trade between various states tended to
increase ; and various remedies were sought : in some cases
states entered into treaties with each other, whereby the citizens
of each were guaranteed certain rights and privileges ^ within
the borders of the other.^ Occasionally every right was accorded
by the one state to any or all of the citizens of the other state. ^
But treaties of this kind were comparatively rare. The more
frequent were those termed o-v/x^oAa, which probably differed
very much from one another in many of their provisions, but
resembled each other in providing that the accused should in
the first instance be tried before a tribunal of his own state, '^
that an appeal was allowed to the accuser only, and was to be
made to some third state specified in the treaty.^ If no o-iJ/x/?oAa
existed, the accuser was at liberty to seize upon the person or
the goods of the accused, in order thereby to compel him to
appear before a tribunal in the country of the prosecutor ; or
the prosecutor might first obtain authority from the law courts
of his own country to seize the defendant or his property. The
fact that such haling was impossible if crv/x/^oAa existed must
have been a powerful inducement to contract a treaty.

Concurrently w^ith this development of pacific relations be-
tween states, guest-friendship was transformed from a private

^ Oil. i. 174, ff. 2 ggg Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities, p. 350.

^ Od. xiv. 56.

* Such as ^yKTTjcris yijs Kal oldas, hiriyaixla, &c. Cf. 0. I. O. 2556.
^ E.g., between Smyrna and Magnesia in B.C. 244 {C. I. G. 3137).
^ 'IffOTToXtTeia. '' Dem. vii. 13. - Called a TroAtj ^kkXttjos.

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 599

to a public and official institution. The ^evos became a
irpo^evos. It is usual to compare the proxenos of ancient
Greece with the consul of modern times, and the analogy holds
good, inasmuch as both institutions were developed to meet the
needs of citizens trading with foreign states, and both per-
formed the same functions, affording advice and assistance to
private citizens of the country of which they were the repre-
sentatives, and providing infoi-mation to the governments that
appointed them. But the dilFerences between an ancient
proxenos and a modern consul, arising as they do from pro-
found difierences between ancient and modern states, are as
important as the resemblances. In a modern country the pro-
tection afibrded by the law to foreigners residing within the
limits of the state is as complete as that given to native citizens,
and the opportunities for obtaining political and commercial
information enjoyed by the foreigner are not inferior to those
possessed by a native. Consequently the consul of modern
times is usually a native of the country which appoints him,
and as the representative of tlxat country enjoys privileges in
the state to which he is accredited not possessed by natives of
that state. In ancient states the citizens were regarded as
forming one family and as forming a religious communion,
from which all strangers were to be jealously excluded. As it
was impossible for a foreign state to intrude one of its own
subjects as its representative into this close circle, it chose one
of those already within the ring. The proxenos was always a
native of the country in which he resided, not of the country
which appointed him. Further, the appointment gave the
proxenos no official status in his own country, though it con-
ferred honours and privileges on him in the state appointing
him. As a rule a state selected some distinguished citizen,
who, by the eagerness with which he sought to make a large
number of private guest-friends, had shown that he was well
disposed to act in the interests of the state to which his private
guest-friends belonged. When he had been officially appointed
proxenos, he became ex officio the guest- friend of all citizens of
the state appointing him, their patron, unless they chose to
select another for themselves, and the diplomatic agent of the
state. It remains to be noted that the state appointing the
proxenos had no power to compel him to perform the duties he
undertook, or to punish him for a breach of faith. Never-
theless, the proxenos seems to have usually been perfectly
faithful, and the office tended to become hereditary as had the
private institution. Amongst the relations of Greek states to

600 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

one another we have next to notice rudimentary traces of a
jus gentium.

There were certain unwritten laws which, as a matter of
tradition and custom, regulated the relations of one state to
another to some extent. These customs, for the most part,
display themselves when the relations in question are hostile —
a fact which indicates that hostility was the usual attitude
between neighbouring tribes or communities when these cus-
toms took shape. There is, however, one branch of this un-
written law which applied to times of peace — the process
known as avSpoArj^ta, by which the relatives of a man mur-
dered abroad might obtain the vengeance which custom and
religion required them to exact. The belief that the blood of
a murdered man brought some kind of supernatural danger
to the country in which the murder was committed, unless
the deceased were avenged, was common to all the Greeks,
and probably was strong enough in the majority of cases
to induce a state to give up any of its citizens, who had,
within its boundaries, killed a foreigner. But custom further
allowed the relatives of the deceased to bring pressure to
bear upon the state in question by seizing any three of its
citizens, and holding them as hostages until the murderer
was punished, or made the compensation which custom
allowed.

The unwritten laws of war gave inviolable sanctity to the
person of a herald carrying his staff of office. The foe who
acknowledged his defeat by asking leave to carry his dead from
off the field of battle might not be denied. Prisoners of war
were at the mercy of their captor : they might be slain. They
were commonly held to ransom, or sold into slavery, if not
ransomed.

More important, however, in the history of Greek states
than these traces of a jus gentium are the relations which existed
between a colony and its mother city. Two kinds of colony
were known to the Greeks, the aTroiKta and the KXrjpovx^a.
The former was politically independent, the latter politically
dependent on the mother city. The former was the more
numerous kind, and may be regarded as the type of Greek
colony. The latter was of the nature of a political experiment,
which, after trial for a couple of centuries (b.c. 570-370), was
abandoned.

The tie between an dTroiKta and the mother state was j^urely
one of sentiment, and in practice the tie was not particularly
strong. The theory was that the colony was politically the

GEEEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 6o I

equal of the mother city,^ but that the latter exercised over
her colonies a hegemony such as equals might properly submit
to.2 The general feeling in Greece was also in harmony with
this : it was that colonies when in danger might appeal to the
mother state for assistance, and that she ought to afford the aid
required ; ^ that the colonies ought to aid the old country,^ and
might only turn their arms against her under great provocation.^
Thus the colonies enjoyed autonomy in their internal govern-
ment, and freedom to shape their own foreign policy; while
the title of the mother state to hegemony never in Greek
history resulted in the creation of an empire such as was the
outcome of the hegemony exercised by Athens over her allies.
The only exceptions to the rule that an aTrot/cia was politically
independent are but apparent. Corinth, indeed, sent magis-
trates to her colony Potidaea, but they exercised no real con-
trol over the policy of the colony, for they could not prevent it
concluding a truce with an enemy of Corinth. Sinope exacted
tribute from her colonies, but this tribute was really rent for
the land occupied by the colonists, which belonged to Sinope.
Finally, the inhabitants of -^gina had to plead in the law
courts of Epidaurus, but the close proximity of the colony to
the mother city makes this instance an exception to general
rules.

At first sight the political independence of the aTroLKia seems
to resemble that enjoyed by certain British colonies, and to be
due to the same cause. But on closer examination this proves
not to be the case. It is indeed true that, in the ancient as in
the modern world, colonies travel in the direction of democracy
much more rapidly than the mother country ; that the condi-
tions of colonial life necessarily obliterate the social distinctions
of the old country; and that colonies survive and thrive in
virtue of a self-assertiveness and independence of character in
the individual colonist, which must in the end display itself in
the attitude assumed by the colonists collectively toAvards the
mother country ; while the distance between the two states
tends to make it impossible for the mother country to exercise
continuous and effective control over her colonies. But all
these facts together do not constitute an explanation of the
independence of the aTroi/cta, for they simply explain how a
colony originally dependent eventually becomes independent,
whereas the d-TroLKta was from its foundation independent. Nor

1 Thuc. i. 34. 2 ibi^i i .8. Cf. iii. 61.

' Ibid. V. 106. ^ Ibid. i. 27 ; vii. 57. ^ Ibid. v. 84.

602 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

have any British colonies (save those which by an act of war

and of success! al rebellion have broken off the connection with
the mother country) ever attained the same degree of independ-
ence as the Greek diroiKca, for the croAvn retains the appointment
of the governor, and a veto upon the legislation of all British colo-
nies. We have, therefore, still a difference between the airoiKia
and a modern colony ; and we have yet to find the reason of
that difference. Now the causes which lead to colonisation
are four : over-population, political dissension, religious dissen-
sion, and commerce. But all four causes were operative in the
ancient world as in the modern, and being the same in both
cannot account for a difference in the two. l^or at first sight
does the difference seem to be accounted for by the fact that in
the modern world conquest has preceded colonisation ; for though
the oLTTOLKLa was not planted on soil conquered by the mother
state, neither have all modern colonies been so planted : modern
colonists "settle" in countries which are " uninhabited," 2.e.,
inhabited only by such inferior races as can be crowded out
without regular warfare. But although we may not lay it
down as a law that only those colonies are dependent which
have been planted in countries conquered by the mother state,
still we may venture to say that whenever the mother state
conquers the country, the colonies planted on it are politically
dependent on her. This we may illustrate even from the
aTTOLKta, for the colonies of Sinope paid tribute to her, because
the country then occupied had been conquered by her. But
the best illustration may be drawn from the other kind of Greek
colony, the KX-qpov^ia^ which was always planted on conquered
soil, and was always dependent on the mother country.

The KXi-jpovx^La was a form of colonisation practised princi-
pally, though probably not exclusively, by Athens. The site
of the colony was acquired by conquest or by cession ; if by
conquest, then the colony served as a garrison to hold the
conquered domain ; if by cession, then the colony served to
overawe the allies by whom it had been ceded to Athens. But
though thus primarily subservient to the needs of the foreign
policy of Athens, the KX-qpovx'^a also acted and was designed to
act as an outlet for the surplus population. In order, therefore,
to attract the proletariat and to induce it to emigrate, the state
guaranteed to the emigrants various rights and privileges. To
begin with, no citizen who joined a colony thus organised and
despatched by the state forfeited his rights as an Athenian
citizen ; he still remained a member of his old phyle and deme,
though he could not of course actually exercise the rights which

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 603

in theory he possessed. In the next place, a substantial in-
ducement to migrate was afforded by the offer to each emigrant
of a snm of money down, and in the colony a landdot the annual
value of which was equivalent to the census required of the
Zeugitse (200 drachmae); thus the Thetes who joined the colony
gained a double advantage, for they benefited in pocket and
they also rose in the social scale. Finally, equality and impar-
tiality in the distribution of these benefits was guaranteed by
the fact that tlie land was divided by the state into parcels of
equal value, and these parcels were distributed by lot amongst
those citizens who inscribed themselves on the list of intending
colonists ; and further, participation in this distribution was
confined to members of the lowest two property classes, the
Zeugitae and Thetes. That tliese inducements were really
attractive to the poorer Athenians seems demonstrated by the
fact that in a single half century (b.c. 460—410) ten thousand
went out as kleruchs. As the state accorded certain rights to
its colonists, so it prescribed certain conditions and exacted
certain duties. The colonist, even after emigration, continued
to be an Athenian citizen ; it was, therefore, but fair that he
should continue to be liable to the same taxes and the same
military service as his fellow-citizens in Athens. But no extra
taxation was laid on him ; and Athens found her account, in
spite of the initial cost of founding the colony, in the increased
number of hoplites which were placed at her disposal in conse-
quence of the fact that those colonists who had been Thetes
became Zeugita?, and so became liable to serve as heavy-armed
soldiers. Again, the state protected itself, but also and espe-
cially its poorer members, by providing that no colonist might
let his land-lot to some one else and continue himself to live
and draw the rent in Athens ; if he did so any one might
prosecute him, and if he was convicted both he and his tenant
were fined twice the amount of the rent. Finally, it is matter
of dispute whether Athens retained any portion of the territory
of a colony as a state domain.

Thus the kA>;/oovxi« was from its very inception a state-
organised institution ; and as it was in the first mstance a
creation of the mother city, so it remained politically dependent
on her to the end. In its internal affairs it had a certain
amount of autonomy, and it regulated them by means of a con-
stitution which was an imitation in miniature of that of Athens.
But in its external relations it was absolutely dependent on the
mother city; indeed, it was dependent on Athens for more
than its foreign policy, for none but trivial cases could be

604 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

decided by the tribunals of the KXiqpovyia — all serious matters
had to go to Athens to be tried. Further, in the fourth
century, commissioners were sent out to the KXr^povyiai to
represent Athens and look after her interests ; while in the
time of Aristotle the Athenian ecclesia elected a hipparch
annually to take command of the cavalry in Lemnos.

The KX-qpov^ia system goes back to about B.C. 570, the time
when the first Athenian colony of this kind was founded, in
Salamis. The charter of this colony still survives in a frag-
mentary inscription. The system was probably not acceptable
to the allies of Athens, for though it is not made the subject of
complaint either in the anti-Athenian speeches in Thucydides
or in the treatise on the Constitution of Athens which passes
under the name of Xenophon, still, when Athens got together
her second Delian Confederacy in B.C. 377, she found herself
compelled to guarantee that she would not plant KXrjpovytai
amongst her allies, as appears from the stone-record of the
convention on which the confederacy was based.

We may now proceed to consider some of the less pacific
relations that might exist between Greek states. Treaties of
alliance might be either defensive or offensive, and might be
concluded either in view of some definite contingency, or might
be perfectly general. The more common form of alliance was
that in which the parties contracted to afford each other mutual
defence. Sometimes the terms of the alliance provided for
assistance against internal as well as external foes. The parties
to the alliance might agree to assist each other either with the
whole of their available strength, or only with a specified number
of troops. The cost of maintaining the troops in the field was
usually borne for a certain time by the state providing them,
and after that time by the state to whose help they were sent.
Neither party was allowed to make a separate peace with the
common foe, and failure to comply with the conditions of the
treaty ijpso facto dissolved the alliance. The treaty might also
provide a means for settling any disputes that arose between
the members of the alliance. Treaties of peace also provided
for an appeal to arbitration ; or, even if they did not, it was
always possible for a state to offer to submit to arbitration to
avoid war, and refusal to accept an offer of arbitration created
prejudice against the state that refused. The court of arbitra-
tion proposed might be some private person, or the Delphic
oracle, or some one state, or several states. In ancient Greece,
however, as in modern Europe, there was no means of enforcing
the award of the arbitrator.

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 605

Amongst these alliances the most important for the history
of Greece were those of the Peloponnesians under Sparta, and
the Delian Confederacy under Athens. Whether the Pelopon-
nesian Confederacy was based on a definite treaty of alKance,
or merely upon custom, is a point on which we are in complete
ignorance. What we do know is that every town in the Pelo-
ponnese was autonomous, and that all towns were bound to
aid in warding off attacks upon the Peloponnese. They were
also bound to assist any member of the league that might be
attacked. When quarrels arose between members of the
alliance they were to be settled by negotiation, or, if that failed,
by arbitration. There was nothing, however, to prevent re-
course to war if the dispute failed to be settled otherwise.
During a campaign, however, conducted by the league against
a common foe, no member of the confederacy was allowed to
fight with another. Nor did the guarantee of autonomy pre-
vent Sparta from establishing oligarchical governments in
Peloponnesian towns, to rule in her own interest. The leader
of the confederacy was Sparta, and all the allies were bound to
obey her summons to the field. Sparta also decided what pro-
portion of each ally's total force should take the field. Origi-
nally these forces consisted of infantry, usually hoplites ; but
in B.C. 382 the council of the confederation decreed that it
should be permissible for a state to commute personal service
for money payment. This permission was welcomed, as pro-
viding a means of escape from service on transmarine expeditions
particularly. As regards naval expeditions, maritime members
supplied ships, the others money in proportion. Other military
expenses were met by contributions proportioned to the means
of the various members. There were no regular taxes levied.
The council of the confederation was convoked by Sparta, and
the place where the delegates met was usually Sparta. Meetings
might be held at any time of the year, but were most frequent
in the spring. If the Spartans had not already decided amongst
themselves what course they would take in the matter to be
debated, the delegates were invited to take part in the proceed-
ings of the Spartan assembly, the Apella, and there, jointly
with the Spartans, to decide what was to be done. If, on the
other hand, the Spartans had already arrived at a decision, the
council of the confederacy discussed the question, under the
presidency of the ephors, by themselves. The ephors opened
the debate, closed it, and took the vote. Each state had one
vote, without regard to the differences in size or power between
itself and other states. The vote of the majority was binding

6o6 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

on the whole of the confederates. It was in the power of the
council to decide peace or war ; but in case of attack upon the
Peloponnese, the Spartans had the right of calling out the forces
of the confederacy without first consulting the council. The coni-
niand-in-chief of the allied forces lay with the Spartan kings.

The Greek states which combined to repel the Persian inva-
sion acknowledged the hegemony of Sparta. When, however,
after the defeat and flight of Xerxes, the Spartans had no
better proposal to make for the protection of the Ionian Greeks
than that they should abandon their homes and settle in Hellas ;
and when the Spartan Pausanias entered into treacherous
negotiations with the Persian king, the Asiatic Greeks, who
owed special gratitude to Athens, invited her, in B.C. 477, to
take that hegemony of the Greek naval forces M'hich she had
long and justly coveted, and which at this particular moment
she had resolved to take. Thus a defensive and ofi'ensive
alliance against the Persians was formed between Athens
on the one side, and the Asiatic and island Greeks on the
other. This alliance was the First Delian Confederacy, so
called because Delos was the island chosen as the place of
meeting for the confederacy, and as the repository of the
common treasury. That there was a treasury at all was due
to the fact partly that some of the Greeks who required pro-
tection from the Persian had no ships to supply to the com-
bined fleet of the confederacy, and partly that it was not
desirable for the fleet, if it was to work well together, to be
more heterogeneous than necessary. Hence, from the begin-
ning, there were some members of the confederacy who con-
tributed gold instead of ships and men. The control of the
fleet and treasury was primarily the business of Athens, who
had shown herself specially qualified to conduct energetic war
against Persia in defence of the Asiatic Greeks; but in the
exercise of this control she was to co-operate with the repre-
sentatives of the confederate states, who formed the council of
the confederacy. It also fell to the lot of Athens, as leader of
the confederacy, to determine which states should furnish ships
and which a money contribution ((f)6pos), a delicate piece of
work, which was intrusted successfully to Aristides, whose
reputation was a guarantee to the confederates that justice
would be done by him to all. As a further pledge that the
rights of the minor members would be respepted, each state had
one and only one representative on the council, and each repre-
sentative had only one vote. The first business of the council
was to organise the confederacy ; and accordingly it was divided

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 607

into three districts, for greater convenience in the collection of
the (f)6pos, and probably for purposes of administration as well ;
thus we have mentioned in inscriptions the Island <ji6po<;, the
Ionic and the Hellespontine (jiopos. Owing to the growth of
the confederacy, two more districts were subsequently added,
the Thracian and the Carian. In course of time, one state
after another found it more convenient to contribute (fiopos than
ships, and doubtless the council encouraged them to do so, for
with the diminution of the danger from Persia, th(3 need for a
large fleet also diminished, and the advisability of having
resources in money increased. But with the diminution of
danger came a corresponding reluctance on the part of many
states to pay their cfiopos. The duty of compelling payment
fell on Athens as the executive arm of the council ; the state
which resisted was crushed by force of Athenian arms, and
when crushed was compelled to make a fresh treaty with
Athens, which was less advantageous to it than that which it
had made with her when first it became confederated with her.
Thus, by B.C. 454, all the states had come to contribute money
instead of ships, except Samos, Chios, and Lesbos; and most
of them had been compelled to make fresh treaties, so dis-
advantageous to them that they were now known (not officially,
but in common speech) as " subjects " ^ of Athens. The tran-
sition from the Delian Confederacy to the Athenian " empire " ^
is marked as complete, not so much by the transference of the
treasury from Delos to Athens, which was but a natural pre-
caution to ensure the safety of the treasure, as by the fact
that Athena, the goddess of Athens, was made the goddess of
the empire, and as such received one-sixtieth of the cfiSpos.

The process by which the amount of tribute to be paid by
the " subjects " was determined, was as follows : every subject
city had the right to propose what amount of tribute it should
pay. This proposal was in the first instance submitted to the
assessors (raKrai, of whom two were appointed to each of the
tributary districts), who transmitted it to the boide, noting at
the same time whether they approved it, and if they did not
approve it, stating what amount in their opinion tlie city in
question ought to pay. By the boule, the proposal, with the
counter-proposal (if any) of the taktai, was brought as a irpo/Sov-
Xev/xa before the ecclesia, which finally decided the amount.
The ecclesia was not limited to a choice between the proposal
and counter-proposal, however ; any citizen could propose as an

^ 'TlTTJKOOl. * ^px^-

6o8 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

amendment to the proboulemna any amount he thought fit.
Finally, an appeal to a law court of five hundred heliasts, by
means of a ypa^rj Trapavofioiv, was possible, if any illegality had
been committed by the final psephisma of the assembly.^

This process of assessment took place at every Panathenaea,
i.e., every four years. In case of need, Athens reserved the
right, or rather exercised the power of levying an additional
tax {€TTi(fiopd), but on the other hand, she also sometimes re-
mitted the regular tribute of a state for a longer or shorter
period. If the tribute was not paid when due, officials
(iKAoyeis) were sent to exact it, and were provided with ships
and a strategus to back them up. As regards the total amount
of (fiopos annually paid, the earliest amount mentioned (Thiic.
i. 96) is 460 talents ; but this is probably not what was paid
under the assessment of Aristides : it is too large a sum. In
B.C. 454, the tribute was upwards of 520 talents, after which
time it fell to about 434 talents (b.c. 446-439); then in 425
the assessments were increased, and the annual revenue was
nominally 1200 talents, actually not more than 800 or 900.
Finall}^, in b.c. 413, an ad valorem tax was imposed of five per
cent, on all goods imported or exported by sea by certain cities.
The income from the tribute was used by Athens to defray,
first her military and naval expenditure, then the cost of her
pubHc buildings, festivals, and other charges ; finally, if any-
thing was left, it was deposited with the treasurers of the
goddess for the future use of the state.

But the relations between Athens and her subject allies were
not merely financial : Athens sought to consolidate her empire,
not merely to exact tribute from its component states. On the
one hand, she accorded to them certain of the rights of Athenian
citizens : she gave them the right of holding land in Attica,
and of intermarrying with Athenians. On the other hand, she
sought to make Athens the centre of the empire, and the dis-
penser of justice to all members of it; gradually, not only
ofi'ences against the confederacy, or against Athens as the head
of the confederacy, but all serious charges against any subject
of the Athenian empire had to be brought by a special board
of magistrates (cTrt/^e Ararat) before an Athenian court for trial,
after a preliminary investigation (dvaK/Dto-ts) in the state in
which the ofience was committed. Business disputes between

^ Hence in the inscriptions four classes of states are mentioned : 7r6Xets
(l) al a^Tal (pbpov Ta^d/xevai ; (2) as ira^au oi ra/crai ; (3) ds ol IdLurrai. ^ra^av
(or hiypa\pav (pbpov (pipeLv) ; and (4) &j i) §ov\r} koI ol TrevraKbatoi. ol
jjXiaarai ira^av.

GREEK STATES IN THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER 609

an Athenian and a subject were probably at first tried by the
courts of the country to which the defendant belonged ; but at
the beginning of the fourth century, disputes arising out of
contracts concluded at Athens were tried by the polemarch ;
disputes arising out of bargains made in the subject state were
tried in the subject state. The result of this change would be
that, whereas before it half the trials of this kind of case would
on the average be tried in courts of the subject states, after
the change the courts of the subject states would lose half their
jurisdiction, for the citizens of such states, when defendants in
this kind of case would be withdrawn from their jurisdiction
and tried in Athens.

Finally, Athens not only sent KX-qpov^iai into the territory
of her subjects, and garrisons into their towns, but she sometimes
interfered (e.g., in Erythrse) to regulate their political constitution,
down to the smallest details. The extent to which the orga-
nisation of the Athenian empire interfered with the internal
affairs of her subject states may be measured by the fact that
according to Aristotle there were seven hundred Athenians who
held official positions outside Attica.

The First Delian Confederacy was broken up (b.c. 412), in
the course of the Peloponnesian war, by the Spartans, who
professed to liberate " subjects " of Athens. Within a genera-
tion the subjects' experience of Spartan liberation was sufficient
to make them approach Athens with a view to the renewal of
the Confederacy. Chios first concluded an alliance with Athen?,
then came Mytilene, Methymna, Rhodes, and Byzantium, who
were soon joined by Thebes. In B.C. 377, Athens published
a manifesto (Hicks, InscriptioJis^ 81), declaring the principles
on which the new Confederacy was to be worked ; and while
the renewal of the Confederacy is evidence that the Athenian
"empire" had not been altogether and unendurably oppressive,
the manifesto shows what the grievances of her allies had exactly
been, Athens abandons all land which had been acquired in
her allies' territory, either by Athenian citizens or by the
Athenian state, and forbids all such acquisition in future, ^.e.,
she renounces the policy of KXijpovxLat ; further, in the new
Confederacy, there are to be no Athenian garrisons and no
(f)6pos ; and, finally, every confederate state is to be autono-
mous. The Second Confederacy, on this basis, grew in twenty
years to number seventy-five, and only came to an end with
the extinction of Greek liberty at the battle of Chaeronea.

For the Second Confederacy the enemy is no longer Persia,
but Sparta. No Greeks who are subjects of the Great KiTig may

2 Q

6lO COXSTITUTIOXAL AND LEGAL ANTIQUITIES

renounce their allegiance to him to become members of the
Confederacy, but all other Greeks may join it to defend them-
selves against Sparta. Consequently, the Second Confederacy
is not mainly a maritime one.

The constitution of the Confederacy was as follows : the
allies (but not Athens) each appointed one representative with
power to vote. These representatives formed the Council. The
Council was a purely deliberative body, and deliberated on
questions of peace, war, and alliances. The result of its de-
liberations on any occasion was communicated to the Athenian
houle. The houle incorporated the Council's resolution in a
probouleuma, along with an expression of approval or an alter-
native proposal of its own, as it thought fit. This probouleuma
was brought before the ecclesia, which decided what was to be
done, and whatever w^as to be done was done by the strategi of
Athens, taking their orders from the ecclesia. Originally, each
member contributed troops, not tribute. Eventually the smaller
states preferred the latter, which was now called o-iVra^t?, not
(jyopos. Some states had to be compelled by force of arms to
pay, and then their original treaty with Athens was modified,
not to their advantage. Their autonomy suffered, and they had
to admit KXripcv^iat.

BOOK VII

SLAVERY
CHAPTER I

THE SOURCES OF THE SLAVE SUPPLY

ISTo one in this generation would think of writing a work in
three large volumes on slavery in ancient times, ^ in order to
demonstrate the evil nature of the institution. The abolition
of slavery is for us now, fortunately, a matter of history, not a
proposal in need of arguments for its enforcement. That the
effects of the institution are injurious both to slave and slave-
owner is universally admitted. ^Nevertheless, the question of
slavery has its interest. Many of the differences between
ancient society and modern are directly and obviously due to
the presence of slavery in the one and its absence in the other ;
and the subject illustrates admirably the Method of Difference
as applied to historical inquiry. It also illustrates the Method
of Concomitant Variations, for even within the limits of Greece
slavery had so many different forms that its effects, though
always injurious, varied greatly in intensity. And, as this is
a fact easily overlooked, and conclusions may be drawn from
one form of slavery which are far from applicable to the whole
of Greece, it will be well to begin with an explicit statement
of the fact. We have to distinguish roughly between two
classes, first, purchased slaves, the property of the owner, as
a rule not Greeks ; next, a class that we may call serfs, ascripH
glehce, always Greeks, and sometimes of the same tribe as the
ruling class.

At no period known to history was slavery unknown in
Greece. In Homeric times captives were made slaves, kid-

^ See H. Wallon: Histoirc de I'csclavage dans VantiquiU (still the stan-
dard authority on the subject), and Biichsenschlitz, Bcsitz iind Briccrb, pp.
104 207.

6 I 2 SLAVERY

napping was carried on, and a trade in slaves existed. There
is, indeed, no reason for refusing to admit ^ that in pre-historic
times, when the state did not yet exist, and the family was
the sole form of society in which it was possible for the indi-
vidual to maintain an existence, slavery may have been as well
known to the Greeks, or their pro-ethnic ancestors, as it was to
the patriarchs at a similar stage in the evolution of society.
And there are traces in the ceremonial with which the newly
acquired slave was welcomed to the hearth,^ and in the fact
that the property of a freed man, if he died childless, reverted
to his former owner,^ of the influence exercised on the institu-
tion of slavery in times when the family was the sole civil and
religious community.

It is, at the least, probable that the earliest source of slavery
was war. The victor may kill the vanquished or spare his life.
As Xenophon says {Cyr. vii. 5, 73 ; Mem. ii. 2, 2), it is an
eternal law among all men that in a conquered town the life and
property of the conquered are at the conqueror's mercy. The
practice which obtained in Greece, from Homeric times, was
to kill those w^ho had carried arms, and to make slaves of the
rest, as was done in the case of the capture of Plataeas by the
Lacedsemonians, in B.C. 427; of Torone and Skione, by the
Athenians, in B.C. 422 and 421 ; of Olynthus, by Philip, B.C. 353;
and of Thebes, by Alexander, B.C. 335. It was usual, but not
invariable, to spare the life of those who begged for quarter,
and the prisoner might become the property of his captor, or,
as was more usual in later times, a prisoner of war, to be re-
leased in exchange,* or on payment of a ransom. We have,
however, only to call to mind the number of Athenian prisoners
wdio suffered a painful death as slaves in the Syracusan quarries^
to form a picture much nearer to the actual facts than that
suggested by Callicratidas' (unfulfilled) declaration, that during
his command no Greek should be sold into slavery.

Piracy was another natural source of the slave supply. Pro-
bably the captives seized on board ship were the least numerous
of the slaves made by pirates. Descents on the coast, especially
by night, yielded more profitable returns ; and Aristotle, who
considers slavery as the necessary and equitable foundation of
society, regards this branch of hunting, " which it is necessary
to practise on wild animals and such men as are by nature born,

^ Buchsenscbiitz, 107.

2 ^sch. Ag. 995, and Bekk. An. Gr. 269, 9. ^ Is. 4, 9.

-Thuc. V. 3. 5 Thnc. vii. 86.

THE SOURCES OF THE SLAVE SUPPLY 6 1 3

but by inclination object to be subject to rule," ^ ?>., to be
slaves, as a legitimate form of acquiring wealth. To steal
another man's slave was of course an offence against the law,
and to kidnap a free man was an offence punished at Athens
with death. But the law of a state did not extend beyond
the narrow bounds of the state itself. The citizen who ven-
tured beyond was not protected by the law from being sold
into slavery, as was Plato by the tyrant Dionysios. Finally,
the loss of liberty might be legal and even due to the action of
the law. Thus, before Solon, the insolvent debtor at Athens
might be sold into slavery by his creditor. In later times a
prisoner of war, having been ransomed, became the slave of
tlie person who ransomed him, if he was unable to refund him
the money. In various states the right of the father to sell
his children was recognised, with various restrictions : every-
where the father's right was recognised to expose his children,
and the lot of such foundlings was slavery. Girls were the
children most usually exposed, and from them probably the
class of hetcerce was most largely recruited.

The iiumber of Greeks reduced to slavery in the ways already
mentioned cannot have been large. Towns were not sacked
every day ; when they were sacked the prisoners were com-
monly ransomed ; and the number of slaves supplied by pirates
cannot have been great, and must have been uncertain. The
regular and permanent slave supply was from abroad. Aristotle
justified slavery on the ground that some men were intended
by nature to be subject to rule ; and such men were, according
to the Greek notion, barbarians. Foreign slaves came largely
from Asia Minor, from Lydia, Phrygia, Paphlagonia, and Syria.
The emporia on the Black Sea furnished large numbers. The
north and west of Europe were laid under contribution —
Thrace, Macedonia, Illyria, and Italy. We even find Egyptians,
Ethiopians, Arabs, Jews, and Phenicians mentioned. The
slave-dealers of Homeric times were the Phenicians. The first
Greeks who engaged in the trade are said to have been the
Chians. The principal slave marts were to be found at E[)hesus,
at Pegasa^, for the Thessalians did a large business, at Byzan-
tium, which was the centre for the Black Sea trade, and at
Delos ; while in Athens and Corinth slave-dealers probably
carried on a regular trade. Wholesale merchants either re-
sorted to coast towns to which barbarians were in the habit of
bringing their wares, or themselves ventured into the interior

1 Ar. Pol. i. 3.

6 1 4 SLAVERY

and bartered for slaves such goods, e.g.^ salt in Thrace, as were
in demand in the country ; or finally, bought from middle men.
Traders, too, accompanied armies in the field to purchase cap-
tives who could not obtain ransom. The slaves were retailed
wherever likely purchasers were to be found in sufficient num-
bers, e.^., at the Amphictyonic Pylaea, or in the market-place
along with other goods ^ at Athens, where sales seem to have
taken place especially at the beginning of the month.

The number of slaves born in the house of the owner was
probably small : female slaves were in a decided minority.
Marriage between slaves was unknown ; unions were not fa-
voured — though they might improve good slaves, they were
considered to have a bad effect on bad slaves, i.e.^ on the
majority — and the expense (and risk) of rearing a child was
greater than that of purchasing an able-bodied slave. The
common attribute of all slaves acquired in the manners men-
tioned, and the most important attribute, is that they could be
bought and sold. But we find another class — of serfs — such
as the Helots in Sparta, which, though they resembled the
former class in not possessing freedom, differed from them in
that they were not the property of any individual owner; and
though they differed from each other, according to the state to
which they belonged, in the restrictions imposed upon their
liberty, resembled each other in being Greeks and in being
attached to the soil from generation to generation. Tradition
uniformly represents these serfs as the remnants of an earlier
population reduced to subjection by an invading race, and the
difference in the restrictions imposed upon their liberty as due to
the different terms which the subjects succeeded in obtaining
from their conquerors. Thus these serfs were the property of
the state, and the state determined what services they had to
render to the members of the state. Thus in Sparta the Helots
cultivated the soil, and were taxed in a certain quantity of the
produce ; the remainder, if any, was their own property, and a
fairly high standard of wealth amongst them seems to have been
common, for on occasion 6000 of them were able to produce
five Attic minas a-piece to purchase their liberty with. The
Helots were further bound to render personal services to the
Spartans. Every Helot was equally at the disposal of any
Spartan, but each Helot was naturally most often called on for
service by the Spartan on whose lot of land the Helot worked
for though the Helot cultivated the soil, the Spartan owned it.

^ Hes., KVKKo'i ' KoX ev dyopa tottos ipda aKevTj /cat crw/xara irnrpdaKeTai..

THE SOURCES OF THE SLAVE SUPPLY 6 1 5

Finally, the Helots had to serve in the field as light-armed
troops, and to act as esquires to the Spartan to whom (in the
proportion of seven Helots to one Spartan) they were attached.
It will help to make the condition of the Helots clearer to the
reader, if we here briefly contrast it with that of the Perioeci.
The Peria}ci can indeed hardly be reckoned as slaves, though
their subject state was due to the same causes as was that of
the Helots. The Perioeci were, like the Helots, an earlier
])opulation, conquered by their invaders. But whereas the
Helots lost their personal freedom, and were therefore slaves,
the Perioeci lost only their political liberty, and cannot,
therefore, be regarded as living in a state of slavery. The
I'ericeci, like the Helots, paid a tax ; but whereas the Helots
paid their corn, and wine, and oil to the Spartan on whose lot
they lived and laboured, the Perioeci paid their tribute to the
state. The Perioeci, like the Helots, had no political liberty ;
but the Perioeci dwelt from the beginning in towns, and even
under the Spartans were allowed some degree of municipal self-
government— under the control probably of a Spartan official ; ^
while the Helots, apparently from the beginning, dwelt in the
country, and were allowed no form of self-government whatever.
The Perioeci derived their name (" inhabitants of the neigh-
bourhood ") from the fact that they were the inhabitants of the
neighbouring towns, and that none of them dwelt in the city of
Sparta. The first Helots, on the other hand, were the inhabi-
tants of the valley of the Eurotas ; and though the etymology
of the name Helot is uncertain, if, as most scholars are inclined
to believe, it means " captive," then the names of these two
subject classes seem to indicate that the immediate neighbours
of the Spartan community, and the first people conquered, were
treated as captives, while the more remote conquests of the
SjDartan state were less thoroughly assimilated into the Spartan
organisation and m.ore generously treated.

In Crete, too, we have to distinguish between the !Mnoit?e
(/xvwrai), who, like the Perioeci, were tributaries of the con-
quering Dorians, and the KXap^oTai or d(/)a/xia)Tat, who, like the
Helots, were attached to the lots (KXapoi) into which the land
M'as divided by the conquerors among themselves. Not all
the Cretan states seem to have possessed Mnoitae, for in the
Gortyna Code no mention is made of Mnoitse, or of a class in

1 Thus at Cythera there was a Kv9r]po8iKr]s {Thnc. iv. 53), and the twenty
Hainiosts may have been appointed to the government of the towns of the
Perioeci

6 I 6 SLAVERY

subjection to the state, which might correspond to the Periceci :
the two classes mentioned in the code are the fofcees and
8mXol. The latter are slaves bought in the market (this is
shown by Col. vii. lo, ii : at k Iks dyopas TTpiaixevo<; SwAov,
K. T. A.), and unmistakably are to be included among the
Xpv(T<i>vr)TOL mentioned by Callistratos.^ The FoiKees of Gor-
tyna were serfs attached to the glebe ; hence they are doubtless
the same class as elsewhere in Crete was called KXapoirat or
d(jiafxLO}Tai. In Gortyna the Folk€vs could not be separated from
the KXapos, or estate on which he was settled, and of which his
ancestors had been the possessors before the Dorians conquered
Crete; the estate was handed down from father to son, and
the FoLK€€<; or serfs were inherited with it. The master (7rdcrra<s)
lived in the town, the serf in the country,'^ on his master's
estate, which he cultivated, paying to his master a proportion
of the produce. The remainder belonged to the serf, who thus
could hold property, sheep for instance, and cattle.^ His wife,
too {FoLKrja), could hold property of her own, and she was pro-
tected in the enjoyment of her property by exactly the same
laws as those which protected her mistress.* The marriage and
divorce of serfs seem to have possessed the same legal validity as
those of freemen ; and the laws of inheritance were the same for
serf and freeman, except that the law does not recognise that
the serf can have KaSecrrai. The serf could even plead his own
cause in the law courts, if it was against his master that he
wished to plead ; otherwise, the serf could only appear in court
through his master. Finally, if the serf ran away, he could be
sold, and thus drop into the ranks of the yjivcrMv-qroi ; and, on
the other hand, if his master's family died out, he became free,
and entered into full possession of his late master's estate.

In Thessaly the Penestae, like the Helots, belonged to the
state, and not to any individual member of the governing
class. They cultivated the soil, paid a tax (probably to the
lord of the soil), possessed property of their own, and served in
war. Of the Gymesi in Argos, and the Korynephori of Sicyon,
and the Mariandyni in Heraclea we know little or nothing, but
their position as serfs may be conjectured to have resembled
that of the Helots and Penestse.

It is clear then that though the source of serfdom was the
same as one of the main sources of slavery — war and conquest —

^ In Athcn. 263 E. 2 ^^i ^^^^^^ (q^^i j^ ^^^

'^ Kal TO. irpo^ara Kal KapTaiiroda, d Ka fir) Foik^qs ^l.
^ See above, the chapter on The Laws of Gortyna.

THE EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES 617

the differences between serfdom and slavery were considerable ;
and it is the more important to bear these differences in mind,
because serfdom and slavery were mutually exclusive. In a
state which possessed serfs, purchased slaves were practically
not to be found ; for instances such as that of the poet Alcman,
who was said to have come as a slave to Sparta, are of doubtful
authority, and are utterly insignificant in number; while in
states such as Athens or Corinth, which most largely employed
purchased slaves, serfs were unknown. Slaves were not usually,
serfs were invariably Greeks. The number of the slaves in
a state fluctuated according to the demand and supply : the
supply, from the nature of the sources, can hardly have been
steady, the demand varied with the wealth of the country.
Thus the decline, which slavery necessarily brought about in
a state, to a certain extent corrected its own cause, for it
checked the further purchase of slaves. The number of seifs,
on the other hand, was subject only to the fluctuations common
to any permanent population. Thus serfdom, though morally
perhaps not so criminal as slavery, was more clinging and
stifling to the state than slavery. Sparta, possessing Helots,
perished for want of men; Athens, purchasing slaves, never
perished entirely. Where serfs were, the free citizen did no
labour whatever, and free labour could not exist. Where
slave labour Avas bought and sold, free labour maintained an
existence, precarious indeed, but ready to extend when circum-
stances relieved the labour-market of slave competition. The
recuperative forces of society were impeded by slavery ; they
were destroyed by serfdom.

CHAPTER II

THE EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES

Slaves, like serfs, might be, and were, employed as agricul-
tural labourers ; but whereas slaves worked under the super-
intendence of their owner, who usually, to some extent,
participated in their labours, where serfs were an institution,
the free citizen stood utterly aloof from agriculture. Hence,
low as was the dignity of labour amongst slave-holders, it
was still lower in states which possessed serfs ; and whereas
when the Peloponnesian?:, for instance, left their country on a
campaign, their agriculture suffered, because the agricultural

6 I 8 SLA.VERY

labourers, the Helots, took the field along with their lords,
agriculture suffered less in time of war in states like Athens,
where farming could to some extent be left to the slaves, even
when their owners were away fighting.

Like serfs, purchased slaves were employed for personal
attendance on their masters ; but slaves were naturally much
more extensively employed for this purpose than were serfs.
As in Rome, so in Athens, it was usual for a citizen when
walking to be accompanied by slaves; but at Athens the use
of slaves for this — or indeed for any other — personal service
never reached the point of vulgar luxury and unredeemed dis-
play which was usual in Rome. Two attendants were the
usual number. It was part of Meidias' arrogance that he was
accompanied by three or four; it was only Hetserse who
employed more. In good houses a slave acted as hall-porter.
'J'he fetching of water from the spring, and the washing of
linen, in which, in the simplicity of Homeric country life, it
was possible even for kings' daughters to take part, was with
the growth of towns more and more entirely relegated to slaves.
Waiting at table was in Homeric and in historic times performed
by slaves. The preparation of food for the table, and of clothing
for the family, was done by slave labour, under the superin-
tendence of the mistress of the household. Children were in-
trusted to slave pedagogues, and to nurses, who were sometimes,
but not invariably, slaves. The mistress of the house was
assisted in her toilet by a slave lady's-maid. As for the total
number of slaves employed in a house, seven slaves were con-
sidered very moderate for a family consisting of six persons.

But slave labour was also employed wholesale for manufac-
turing purposes. The manufacturer might himself work and
employ the assistance of slaves ; or being a capitalist, he might
purchase large numbers of slaves and practically take no part
himself in the production of the article manufactured. Further,
we find that some slaves ^ were left at liberty to work when
and where and how they pleased, on condition that they paid
regularly a fixed sum to their masters. It is unnecessary to
observe that this slave labour was more costly and less produc-
tive than free labour. It could not even compete with the
labour of the Perioeci, who were largely artisans ; and it did
not succeed in killing free labour that competed in the same
market as itself. The number of slaves employed in a work-
shop varied according to the capital and trade of the OAvner:

^ ol x^pts olKovvres.

THE EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES 619

the father of Demosthenes, in two workshops, employed fift}^ ;
Lysias and his brother Polemarchos, 120; while in the silver
mines Nicias alone had a thousand at work. The state might
itself be an owner of slaves : the police of Athens, Scythian
archers, were purchased slaves, as were the public executioner,
gaolers, torturers, &c.

The purchased slave was the absolute property of his owner,
to dispose of hj sale, gift, testament ; to employ as he chose,
or to kill if he would. The only apparent limitation of the
owner's power of life and death over his slave which was
imposed at Athens, was made, not in the interests of the slave
or of humanity, but in the interests of the state as a religious
community. The shedding of blood, even if it were a slave's
blood, brought pollution upon the community, and the owner
who killed one of his slaves was compelled by law in Athens
to cleanse himself of the pollution. The process of cleansing
was the same as that employed in cases of involuntary homicide.
In such cases, if the kin of the dead man were present to insist
on the penalty, the homicide was banished until he had recon-
ciled the representatives of the slain man ; but as the slave
had no kin, he who killed a slave was quit of his offence if he
offered a clea!ising sacrifice to the gods. .Against maiming and
assault on the part of a stranger, the slave was only protected
by the state in the same way that any piece of his master's
property was protected by the state from wilful injury. Against
violence from his owner, it was not the state but religion that
offered the slave protection : he might claim asylum at the
altars of the gods. This protection, however, was not absolute :
the slave had eventually to quit his asylum, even if he were
not starved or tricked into leaving it, and tlien he was once
more in the power of his owner, and the only remedy he had
from further violence was the chance that his woeful appear-
ance might so work upon the feelings of the priests of the
temple, or on the worshippers, that they would interest them-
selves to induce the owner to sell the slave to some other
master, who might treat him better. But it is to be observed
that there was no legal machinery in existence to compel
the owner to sell the slave, or to allow the slave, supposing
he possessed the requisite sum, to purchase his liberty. So,
too, although the law of Athens protected the slave equally
with the free man against assault (v/^pis), the slave, being in-
capable of instituting any action at law, could not bring an
action for assault {ypa(f)ij I'/^pewg) against his master, nor is it
clear who or whether any one else could bring such an action

620 SLAVERY

on behalf of the slave. The slave was, in fact, entirely de-
pendent on his master's character for the treatment he received
— blows, bonds, scourging, branding, torture were all forms of
punishment which owners, as a matter of fact, did employ,
although the extent to which they employed them naturally
depended on the temperament of the individual owner. It is
therefore not surprising that among purchased slaves those had
the best time of it who were the property, not of any individual
owner, but of the state. Such slaves, like private slaves, might
acquire wealth of their own ; but whereas private slaves might,
and undoubtedly were, deprived of their savings at the good-
will of their o^vner, public slaves, though probably they had no
more legal power to acquire property, were left by the state in
undisturbed possession of their peculium. Like some private
slaves, they lived by themselves, for the simple reason that
their owner had no household for them to dwell in. There is
no conclusive evidence to show that public slaves could bring
actions at law, any more than private slaves. The sole advan-
tage that public slaves had over private slaves was the natural
one of being less interfered with, an advantage which those
who work for the state have at all times and in all places over
the servants of private masters. Further, public slaves, unless
bought from a private owner, were not sold by the state into
the hands of any individual owner.

The treatment of serfs in some respects may be conjectured
to have been better than that of slaves. They were less closely
in contact with their master, they were not the private property
of the master they served, and therefore they were neither so
frequently exposed to the ill-humour and fits of passion of their
master, nor so absolutely in his power. Thus their daily life
may, though we do not know, have been much less interfered
with, and one of less hardship than that of the purchased
slave ; and when they were engaged in working the soil, they
worked after their own fashion, and not under the orders and
superintendence either of an owner or of a slave-driver. On
the other hand, the purchased slave was exempt from certain
inconveniences to which the serf, in Sparta at least, was ex-
posed ; in Athens the state did not authorise, still less did it
enjoin, the murder of slaves, either individually or wholesale ;
in Sparta the state enjoined both modes of murdering its
property, the Helots. What the precise object of the krypteia
may have been it is impossible to say, but the fact remains that
it was part of the young Spartan's training at a certain age, and
under orders from the ephors, to practise assassination on the

THE EMPLOYMENT AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES; 62 1

Helot population of the land, whether on such Helots as he, in
the exercise of his discretion, thought it advisable to do away
with, or such as were indicated to him, either individually or
generically by the ephors, does not appear. As an instance of
wholesale murder, we have the well-known ])a?sage in Thucy-
dides (iv. 80), from which we learn that the Helots on one
occasion during the Peloponnesian war, were invited to select
the two thousand of themselves whom they judged to have been
bravest and to have rendered Sparta the greatest service in the
war, in order that they might receive their liberty as a rew^ard
for their patriotism. The two thousand were chosen, made
their appearance on the day appointed for their emancipation,
and were never heard of more. How they were put out of the
way no man knew. It is not surprising to find then, that
insurrections were more frequent in serf-holding than in slave-
holding states. Whereas the history of Sparta is a series of
attempts on the part of the Helots to regain their liberty,
especially at times when external danger threatened Sparta, it
is not until B.C. 103, that we find a slave outbreak taking place
in Attica. In Chios, however, w^here slavery was first prac-
tised in Greece, and w^here purchased slaves were more nume-
rous than in any other Greek state, there was an insurrection
as early as B.C. 402, when the Athenians were attacking the
place. Undoubtedly, insurrections were less common among
slaves than among serfs. The slave population of a city was
perpetually fluctuating, and was composed of the most hetero-
geneous elements, united by ties neither of common blood,
common language, nor of common interest, and with no tradi-
tions. The serfs, on the other hand, were a permanent popula-
tion who had been longer in the country than their masters,
who spoke a common language, inherited traditions of national
independence, and, most embittering fact of all, were as much
Greeks as their lords. Thus the reason why serf insurrections
were more frequent than slave revolts, was precisely because
the position of the serfs was more intolerable than that of the
slaves. Consequently, whereas in time of Avar serfs took the
opportunity to revolt, slaves took the opportunity to run away.
In the Deceleian war 20,000 slaves escaped from Atliens.

62 2 SLAVERY

CHAPTEE III

EMANCIPATION AND PKICE OF SLAVES

For the emancipation of a purchased slave, all that was neces-
sary was the declaration by word of mouth of the owner that
he set the slave free. The matter was not one that the state
had any voice in ; and here we have another instance of the
slow growth in Greece of the authority of the state, and of the
length of time it took for the custom of the kin to be absorbed
into the law of the state. The only interest taken by the law
in the emancipation of slaves, was that in some places the state
levied a tax on the emancipation of a slave, and then took care
that a register of emancipated slaves was kept. Such a register
incidentally served as proof that a slave had really been eman-
cipated, and so protected him from being unjustly claimed by
his former owner as a slave. Where such a tax and such a
register were unknown, as for instance in Athens, the first and
most obvious means the slave had to guarantee his liberty for
the future, was for the declaration of his liberty to be made in
the presence of witnesses, and so emancipations were usually
made in some public place — the market, the theatre, the law
courts. It was again not an unfrequent practice for the owner
to liberate some of his slaves at his death ; in this case the
emancipation was made in the owner's testament, which thus
served as a valid testimony to the slave's liberty. A slave
might be given his liberty as a free gift, or he might purchase
it out of his own savings, if his master did not, as he was
entitled to, take them away from him. The slave who pos-
sessed the price of his liberty could not demand that his
master should accept the price and let him go ; it was entirely
in the power of the owner to accept or refuse the price offered.
But if the owner were prepared to accept the price, a difficulty
arose : the slave was not a person in the eye of the law, and
could not be a party to any legal act ; thus, even if the owner
sold the slave to the slave, the act had no legal force. To
evade this difficulty, an ingenious device was practised which
has only of late years come to our knowledge ; inscriptions
have been found, mostly at Delphi (they are published in
Curtius, Anecdota DelpMca, and Wescher and Foucart's In-
scriptions recueillies a Delphes), from which we learn that the
slave who was in a position to purchase his liberty deposited

EMANCIPATION AND PRICE OF SLAVES 623

the money with the god of Delphi, for the purpose of pur-
chasing his liberty ; and the priest, acting on his behalf, bought
the slave from his owner, to be the god's slave, but to be free
to go and to be wherever he chose. The act of sale, of which
we now have many specimens, specified all this, and, besides,
the price, and in some instances further provisions and guar-
antees. Thus, the document sometimes stipulates that the
heirs of the owner shall renounce all claims on the slave, and
the prospective heirs then put their names to the document.
But most interesting are the not unfrequent stipulations made
on behalf of the o^vner that the liberation of the slave shall
not take place until the expiration of a certain period — say,
until the death of the owner — or that for a certain period the
freedman shall be bound to perform certain duties — such as
nursing, tending, and duly burying the late owner — or to pay
certain sums at fixed periods to the owner, or to such persons
or institutions or clubs as he may appoint. We have doubtless
to represent these duties or payments as part of the price of the
slave's liberty, for the price named in the document may be
purely fictitious, and the real consideration in return for which
the slave received his liberty was the duties or payments men-
tioned. Emancipated slaves at Athens did not by the fact of
their emancipation become full citizens, or indeed citizens at
all; they were treated as Metics, ^.e., as resident foreigners,
who paid an annual tax to the state for the privilege of being
allowed to live in safety, and under the protection of the laws
of the state. In addition to this tax, the freedman paid an
annual tax of three obols, perhaps as compensation to the state
for the loss of the slave tax, which his liberation caused to the
state. The freedman, like the Metic, could not set the law in
action on his own behalf, or in his own protection, except
through the agency of an Athenian citizen, his recognised
Trpo(jTari]<i or patronus, who in the case of the freedman was
his late owner. It has already been mentioned that we some-
times find slaves dwelling apart from their masters, and hence
called x<^P^5 oIkovvt€<;, and working for their masters ; we have
now to add that these slaves sometimes appear in the orators
to have acted in law cases quite as though they were free ;
it may therefore be conjectured that such slaves — the xiopU
oLKovvres — were really slaves who had been emancipated on
condition of acting as their late owner's business agents during
bis lifetime. It is less satisfactory to make, as Meier and
Schomann {Attische Process, ed. Lipsius, p. 751) make, a purely
arbitrary distinction between two classes of slaves, to attribute.

624 SLAYEKY

to one class all the privileges of freedmen, and yet to deny that
they were freedmen. Doubtless it was inconvenient for an
Athenian merchant who conducted his business by means of
slaves, that his agent, being a slave, could not in the litigation
which arises out of business transactions represent his interests
in a court of law. But the form of emancipation with which
the inscriptions have made us familiar, was a simple means of
evading the inconvenience ; for it gave the agent the requisite
legal status, and yet by the terms of the emancipation retained
to the owner the services of the slave. Indeed, we may here
have the origin of this form of emancipation, which, as we now
see, was quite as much to the interest of the owner as of the
slave. Finally, as regards the emancipation of purchased slaves,
the state might liberate the slaves of a private owner for ser-
vices rendered to the state, always provided that the state paid
to the owner the price of the slave. At Athens the most
noticeable instance of this kind was the liberation of the slaves
who fought at Arginusae, and in this case citizenship was also
conferred on the freedmen.

Serfs, not being the property of any private owner, could only
be liberated by the state which owned them. At Sparta, Helots
were emancipated for valour in war — probably the only form
which service could take to such a state as Sparta — and the
Helots thus emancipated were called Neodamodeis. Another
class of freedmen were Helots who were brought up with the
children of their masters ; these were probably the children of
Spartan fathers and Helot mothers, and were called Mothakes
or Mothones. Helots freed in either way did not by the fact
of their liberation become Spartan citizens ; and though such
men as Lysander, Callicratidas, and Gylippus, who were drawn
from this class, did acquire citizenship, we are quite ignorant of
the mode by which a freedman at Sparta could become a full
citizen. Still less do we know about other classes of freedmen
at Sparta, whose names alone, such as the Epeunakti, Aphetae,
and Adespoti, have come down to us.

We do not get much information from ancient authorities
as to the number of slaves in the various Greek cities, and
we have no means of checking the figures that are given us.
Corinth is said to have possessed at one time 460,000 slaves,
and the small island of ^gina 470,000. The numbers seem
large, but are not improbable, when we recollect that the majority
would be engaged in manufactures. In Attica, in B.C. 309, a
census showed the number of slaves to be 400,000, and this is
gome what confirmed by the fact that, shortly after this time, the

THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY 625

orator Hyperides estimates the immber of slaves in the country
and the mines alone at 150,000.

The number of Helots in Sparta can only be unsatisfactorily
estimated from the fact that at the battle of Plataese, 8000
Spartans were accompanied by 56,000 Helots. If this was the
full number of adult male Helots, the whole population, accord-
ing to the ordinary laws of population, would be 266,000, but
this is probably too low.

Of the number of slaves in other states we have no figures.

The price of slaves naturally varied much : when the capture
of a city flooded a slave market with slaves, the price naturally
fell, as slave merchants could not afford to keep a stock in hand
for any considerable time, but preferred to dispose of them as
soon as possible. The age, disposition, qualities, and abilities
of the individual slave also made the greatest difference in the
price. It is therefore quite comprehensible that, as Xenophon
says {Mem. ii. 5, 2), the price might vary from half a mina to
two, five, and even ten minse.

CHAPTER IV

THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY

It will be convenient to treat of the effects of slavery under
the heads of moral, economical, and political effects. To begin
with the moral effects : on the degradation which slavery pro-
duces in the slave it is unnecessary to dwell, it is alike obvious
and undoubted. In the owner of slaves the two vices which
are especially engendered by possessing absolute power over the
lives and persons of other human beings are cruelty and lust.
That cruelty and lust were the two vices which stained Greek
civilisation to the greatest extent is a fact which forces itself
on tlie notice of the most casual reader of Greek history. As
evidence of the cruelty of the Greeks, it is but necessary to
refer to the internal history of Corcyra, to the treatment of
Platsese by the Spartans, or to the nature of the reprisals prac-
tised by political parlies of all kinds on their political f«ies.
The extent to which lust was indulged in the most brilliant
periods of Greek civilisation is apparent in Greek literature,
and still more in the attempts of modern writers to make it
intelligible to modern notions that such vice could co-exist with
such perfection in art. But as these two vices are engendered

2 R

626 SLAVERY

by the possession of absolute power, so the extent to which
they are fostered is determined in part by the extent of the
owner's power over his slaves. So far as the law, or religion, or
public opinion put restraints on the exercise of this power, the
evil conse<|uences of slavery may be attenuated. Examples of
this may be found in Greek history. The power of the Spartan
over the Helot was less absolute than that of the Athenian over
his purchased slave, and the consequence was good for the
Spartan. Though we have but few pictures of the daily life of
the Spartan, there can be little doubt that he was less under
the domination of lust than was the Athenian ; and a con-
clusive indication of this fact is to be found in the superior
position of women at Sparta. The Spartans were frequently
ridiculed by other Greeks as wife-ridden, and Aristotle ascribes
the downfall of Sparta in part to the excessive power which
fell into the hands of its women. In both these strictures
we probably have a proof rather that the position of women
in Sparta was less degraded than elsewhere in Greece, than
that it was higher than would be considered good in modern
times ; and if women were treated with more respect in Sparta
than elsewhere in Greece, it was undoubtedly because the
Spartans did not get their ideal of womanhood from the
hetaerae, the flute-players and dancers, whose society the
Athenian preferred to that of his wife, and whose ranks were
recruited mainly from the slave population. On the other
hand, the Spartan was not distinguished above other Greeks by
his greater humanity ; on the contrary, he was more barbarous
and cruel than they ; and the explanation is undoubtedly to be
found at least partly in the fact that cruelty to the Helots, so
far from being discouraged by the law or public opinion, was
positively enjoined, and assassination organised by the state.
If we travel beyond the limits of Greek history for evidence as
to the extent to which the evil effects of slavery may be modi-
fied by proper legislation, we have only to consult the records of
Hebrew legislation and history. So far as it was possible to
avert the evils of slavery by legislation it was done by the law
of Moses : the slave's life was made as sacred as that of a free
man. The penalty for killing a slave was death (Exod. xx.
20-23). n a slave were maimed by his master, he i^jso fado
became free (Exod. xxi. 27). The provisions made to protect
the slave from the lust of the owner, and to protect the owner
from himself, were equally wise. H the charms of a female
captive touched her master, the law demanded that he should
make her his wife (Lev. xxii. 24). If he subsequently wished

THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY 627

to put her away, she did not relapse into slavery, but was set
free (Deut. xxi. 10-15). If we compare these provisions with
the laws of the most humane of the Greeks, the Athenians, we
shall at once see how absolutely defenceless the owner of slaves
in Greece was left against himself, or rather against his own
worser nature. For the murder of a slave the Athenian was
quit, if he purified himself by the necessary sacrifices ; and, if
the slave did not belong to himself, by payment of the value of
the slave. It is true that the law in its letter defended the
slave equally with the free man against violence, whether the
violence of cruelty or of lust ; but in effect, as the slave had no
standing in the eye of the law, he had no means of putting the
law in operation in his own behalf. Public opinion did nothing
to remedy the defects of the law in this respect. The law
itself set a daily example of cruelty to slaves, by refusing to
accept the evidence of a slave, willing as he might be to offer
his evidence and much as it might be to his interest to speak
the truth, until he had been first duly tortured by the officers
of the court. What amount of protection the law afforded a
slave against the violence of lust may be inferred from the fact
that the owners of female slaves lived on the proceeds of their
slaves' prostitution ; and the amount of protection afforded by
religion may be inferred from the fact that in many cities there
were temples which possessed numerous slaves — UpoSovXoi — for
no other object than prostitution.

On the economical effects of slavery it is not necessary to
dwell long, for they were necessarily in the main the same as
flow from slave labour, wherever employed. Slave labour
uniformly costs more and is less productive than free labour ;
and this is true of Greece as of any other country. Perhaps
the best indication we have of this is the fact that slave labour,
abundant as it was, could not drive out free labour ; the number
of free citizens who lived at Athens on their daily labour was
far from inconsiderable, and the number of foreigners who took
up their permanent residence in the city because of the trade
that was to be done there Avas probably still greater. An indi-
cation of the fact tliat even slave owners themselves found that
slave labour w^as less productive than free labour, is to be found
in the system of conditional emancipation which is revealed to
our knowledge by the inscriptions found principally at Delphi.
The serf population of Sparta and other states, though politi-
cally deprived of liberty, must be considered as economically
free, for slavery in the eyes of political economy, at any rate as
far as the department of production is concerned, consists in a

62 8 SLA.VERY

man's having no legal claim to the fruits of his own labour.
Now, the Helots, after paying their tax of barley, wine, and
oil, had legal title to everything they could produce. The
economical position of the Perioeci was also one of perfect
freedom, and consequently we find that their manufactures,
weapons, mantles, shoes, drinking- cups, &c., were far superior
to anything that slave labour could produce in the same line.

To the depopulation of Greece, and the share which slavery
had in bringing it about, we have already referred. In any
society the working classes increase more rapidly than the
upper classes ; and it is from the lower classes, through com-
merce, that the upper classes are perpetually recruited. Old
wealth despises new Avealth, as new wealth tries to conceal its
connection with the poverty from which it has emerged ; but
in course of time new wealth becomes old, to succeed to the
prejudices and the fate of the position it has eventually ob-
tained. Anything which prevents the sap rising from the soil
to the topmost branches tends to bring about the decay of that
tree to the top of which it is the ambition of new wealth to climb.
When the tree is entirely prevented from drawing support from
the soil, the working classes, on which it is based, the tree is
doomed. At Athens the citizen-body always contained some
members who were artizans and day-labourers ; at Sparta, the
citizen-body contained none such. Athens, therefore, contained
some recuperative force, but Sparta none.

The distinction just drawn between Athens and Sparta is of
importance to remember when we are estimating the political
efiects of slavery. One of the political effects is said to have
been that the democracies of ancient Greece were built upon
the exclusion of the working classes from the constitution, and
were in fact not democracies at all. Of Sparta, which was not
a democracy, but an extremely close oligarchy, this is undoubtedly
true. Of Athens, which was a democracy, it is undoubtedly
not true. The existence within the citizen-body of a consider-
able number of people who worked with their hands for a living
cannot be doubted. A single fact is enough to bring the actual
state of things to the reader's mind : the number of Athenians
who could not afford to lose a day's work in order to perform
their duties as dicasts was so great that Pericles instituted the
system of paying them for their services. Next, if we consider
the nature of the body outside the constitution, we shall find
that it was very different at Athens from what it was at Sparta.
At the latter place the body excluded were the native Greek
population, once free, independent, and having a national life.

THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY 629

At Athens, the slave body was of the most heterogeneous
description, was for ever changing, and had no claims by birth
or descent to have a share in ruling the country in which they
were resident. It would therefore be a mistake to imagine, on
the one hand, that Greece was entirely ignorant of the sort of
problem presented to a modern statesman by the exclusion of
the working classes from the constitution, or that, on the other,
the working classes had no political power. In Sparta the
problem of the excluded classes was present, and was solved
simply by the shedding of blood, until it solved itself by ex-
tinguishing the Spartiatoe. At Athens the man who was born
of citizen parents, and duly enrolled in his phratry and deme,
did not lose his citizenship by working for his living.

Finally, the presence in a state of a slave or serf population,
many times as numerous as the citizen body, must have helped
to preserve the ancient conception of the state with a clearness
to which the members of a modern state are strangers. For
the Greek the state did not consist of all the people w^ho hap-
pened to inhabit the same boundaries : the majority of the in-
habitants were not members of the state. 'Nov did it consist of
all the Greeks who inhabited the country : all the inhabitants
of Sparta were Greeks, but the majority of them were not
members of the state. Nor yet did it consist of all the Greeks
who happened to belong to the same division of the Greek race
as the dominant class : in Sparta there were cities of the
Perioeci, who were as much Dorians as the Spartiatse them-
selves. To the Greek the state consisted of a collection of
families who were conventionally regarded as being descended
from the same ancestor, and no man could be a member of
the state who was not first by birth or adoption a member of
one of those families. Thus the Greeks faithfully preserved
the tradition of prehistoric Indo-European times, when society
did really consist but of families, and when the family and not
the individual was the unit of society.

BOOK VIII

WAR^
CHAPTER I

AKMOUR AND DKILL

Foot-soldiers were either heavy armed (oTrAtrat) or light armed
(xj/iXot). For a picture of the hoplite and a description of his
armour, the reader is referred to p. 62 supra. Here he need only
be reminded that a hoplite's armour consisted of helmet, corselet,
greaves, shield, sword, and lance. Helmet, corselet, and greaves
were usually made of bronze. The greaves protected the front
of the leg, from the ankle to the knee, but left the foot ex-
posed. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a front piece and a
back piece, which were laced together by thongs passed through
eyelet-holes made down the sides. A leather girdle, strengthened
with metal plates, served to hold the two pieces of the corselet
together yet more securely. From the bottom of the corselet
hung a row of short broad strips of leather, everlapping each
other, which allowed freedom of motion, but at the same time
afforded protection to the lower part of the body, and the upper
part of the leg. Of helmets there were three kinds. The
simplest was that worn by the Spartans, the ttlXos, which
protected only the head, and in shape was not unlike the stiff
felt hat, round in the crown, worn at the present day, except
that a projecting rim was not always found on the bronze ttlXos.
A much more elaborate form of helmet was that known as the
Corinthian, which, in addition, had a neck-piece to protect the
neck, side-pieces to guard the ears and cheeks, and another
piece to cover the nose ; while additional protection to the
crown of the head was afforded by the crest. Intermediate
between the two forms just described was the so-called Athe-

^ Droyseii : Die Griechischen Krieg Salter ihilnicr.
630

ARMOUR AND DRILL 6^1

niaii helmet, which resemljled the Corinthian, except that it
dis])ensed with the nose-piece, had much smaller cheek-pieces,
which were movable moreover, being attached to the helmet
by hinges, and was strengthened over the forehead from ear to
ear by a (rT€<fjdvy]. The shield was made of bronze, and might
be oval in shape, and as tall almost as a man, or smaller and
round or slightly elliptical (ihe Argolic shield). On the inner
sides were straps, by which the weight of the shield in fighting
might be thrown on one or both shoulders, and a handle by
which to wield it. On the outside, there was commonly a
device, by which the owner might be recognised, or the country
to which he belonged indicated, e.g., the Lacedaemonians car-
ried a lamhda (A), the Sicyonians a signia (2). Swords were
of two kinds, either straight and doubled-edged (£i</)os), or
curved and single-edged, and were made of bronze or iron.
Scabbards might be of metal, wood, or leather, and depended
high on the left side by means of a straj), which passed over
the right shoulder. The spear consisted of a shaft made of
ash, a point made of iron or bronze, and a pointed metal butt,
which gave balance to the weapon, and also enabled it to be
stuck in the ground when necessary.

The armour worn by the hoplite of historic times is un-
doubtedly descended in its main features from that described in
the Homeric poems. Indeed, beyond the fact that Homeric
armour must have been much clumsier than historic armour,
the only point of difference hitherto generally recognised is
that the Homeric hero wore, in addition to all the panoply of
the historic hoplite, also a /xtV/oa, i.e., a leather girdle streng-
thened with metal plates, large in the middle, and gradually
diminishing towards the sides. But moved by the fact that
the cuirass was certainly unknown to the Mycenaean civilisa-
tion, Reichel, in a treatise,^ which has convinced Dr. Leaf,- has
recently argued that the armour of the Homeric hero did not
include a cuirass. His argument briefly is that the small,
Argolic shield did not come into use until about B.C. 700.
Before that time the only shield was the huge shield, reaching
from neck to knee, which is described by Homer, and is pictureil
on iMycenaean gems. AVith such a shield as the latter, a Ocopi]^
could be of no use whatever, but only an encumbrance. It was
only when the small buckler came in that there was any need
for a cuirass. Where a Ocopi)^ is mentioned in Homer, it is

^ Ucbe7' Homcrische Waffen. Wien, 1S94.
- Classical Review, IX. i. 55, Feb. 1S95.

632 WAR

either used in the sense of armour generally, just as the verb
6u)p'i]o-a-€Lv means to arm, not specially to put on a cuirass ; or
else the passage is an interpolation — many such passages are
already condemned by critics on other grounds, many lines in
which the Ocopi-j^ is mentioned can be removed without detri-
ment, indeed with advantage to the context. The breastplate
is never mentioned in the Odyssey or the Doloneia ; and a hero's
armour is repeatedly described as consisting of helmet, shield,
and spears, the cuirass not being mentioned. Reichel's view
has so much to commend it that attention has been called to it
here ; but it may be noted that if the shield made the cuirass
superfluous, it would also make the /xtr/oa unnecessary ; and
that, if the Homeric hero wore no cuirass, there seems to be
no reason why he should always be described as putting his
greaves on first.

The citizen-soldiers of Greece wore no uniform, and there
was ample scope, within the limits of the equipment, which
has been already described, for the varieties of individual taste.
The Spartan troops alone presented some appearance of uni-
formity, with their red tunics, egg-shaped helmets, and tall
shields. The light-armed soldier dispensed with armour, and
fought with light spears or slings ; peltasts carried a light
shield, sword, and javelin.

Except in Thessaly and Boeotia, cavalry was an arm of the
service long or always neglected in Greece. At the battle of
PlatcTse there were over 38,000 hoplites, but not a single horse-
soldier. By the time of Pericles, the Athenians had formed a
body of 1000 yeomanry. Sparta did not bring herself to form
a troop of cavalry until B.C. 424, and then it was only a body
of 400, which proved of little use. It was not until the time
of Philip and Alexander that cavalry played an important part
in Greek warfare. Philip took some pains to breed good horses,
and imported some 20,000 Scythian mares, small but sturdy
animals, to improve the Macedonian breed. As to the equip-
ment of Greek cavalry, the rider wore the heavy armour of the
hoplite, save that he discarded the huge shield. The horses
were not shod ; spurs were worn ; stirrups were unknown, and
consequently either the horse had to be taught to sink do^vQ,
or the rider had to be helped on, or he used his lance as a
pole and jumped on. Liglit-armed cavalry were first used in
Macedonian times. The war-chariots of the Mycenaean period
and the Homeric age were unknown in historic times.

The citizen-soldiers of Greece, with the exception of the
Spartans, had no regular drill. In Athens, for instance, all the

AKMOUK AND DRILL 633

training which the citizen got was his service between the ages
of eighteen and twenty in the ephebi. After that he got no
practice, either in time of peace, however long, nor in time of
war. In some states an attempt was made to remedy the
defects of this system by maintaining a small standing army
of citizens;^ but Phili[) of Macedonia alone provided for the
regular training of his militia.

In Sparta, on the other hand, where the citizen's first duty
was to be a warrior, and where alone, as Xenophon said, the
citizens studied the art of war as craftsmen, there was a system
of regular drill, of which the following is a brief description.

The individual warrior was trained to make the quarter turns
to right and left, and the face-about (half-turn) ^ in the same
way. Several warriors, standing side by side, form a rank ;
standing one behind another, a file ; several files side by side
form a squad. If, out of a single file of twenty-four men
standing behind one another, it was desired to make two files
of twelve men each, then numbers i to 1 2 (counting from the
leader of the file) remained in their places, while number 13
(followed by the rest of the file) marched up till he came to the
left-hand side of number i. So, too, if it was necessary to make
four files of six men each, numbers i to 6 retained their posi-
tion, Avhile number 7 (who was followed by the next five men,
and was called a pempadarch) marched up to the left hand of
number i ; simultaneously, number 13 (followed by five men)
marched up to the left hand of number 6 ; and so on with
the other two sections. The result of this movement, called
Trapayojyt], was, of course, to extend the breadth of the front
from one man to two or four, as the case might be. The
TTttpaywy?; could be executed either with or without halting
the men.

The squad was also taught to wheel a quarter circle (arao-r-
poffii']), a half (7r€/)io-7rao-/xos), three-quarters [eK-epLa-Traa-fios), and
a full circle (cTrtKaracrTaa-ts). The squad turned on the leader
of the file to the extreme right or to the extreme left of the
front, as the case might be.

The unit of the Spartan military system was the Xoxps, the
members of which were mess-mates.^ Four lochi formed a
ra^is. The lochi might stand one behind another, or side by

- XtXtot Xo7d5es in Argos (Thuc. v. 67).

2 A quarter turn to the right is (\-\tcris) iiri 86pv ; to the left, eTr' dffirida ;
a half-turn (fuce-about), /xeTa^oXrj. A rank, ^1*76;' ; a file, OTt'xos or \6xoi ;
file leader, TrpuTiffTaTris. i^'ront, /xeTUTrov ; breadth of front, /xy]Kos ; depth,
pdOos. Single file, e^' evbs. Wheel, iiricrTpocpr] -^ ^vaKTjyoi.

634 WAR

side. To make the latter formation out of the former, all tliat
was necessary was for the second lochos to march up to the
left of the first, the third to the left of the second, and the
fourth to the left of the third. ^ If, in so doing, each lochos
marched in single file, the front of the taxis would consist of
four men. But each lochos might march with two abreast or
four men abreast, and then the front of the taxis would be
eight or sixteen men wide, as the case might be.

Line-formation 2 was that in which the front was much
greater than the depth. Many companies might be drawn up
side by side, and not more than eight men deep, which seems
to have been the usual depth of the phalanx in the fifth and
fourth centuries B.C.

Mai chiug order,^ on the other hand, had a greater depth and
much narrower front. Probably Greek soldiers usually marched
two abreast.*^ To pass from marching order (column) to line,^
or from line to column, there were various methods which need
not here be particularly described ; for instance, if the enemy
appeared ahead of a marching column, the leading sections
halted, and the others marched up, the second to the left of the
first, the third to the left of the second, and so on; or, if the'
enemy appeared on the left, then the leading lochos of each
taxis halted, and the other three lochi marched up to the left
of the leading lochos ; all the taxeis then made a quarter turn
to the left, and thus the whole force faced the enemy — the
taxis, which on the march had brought up the rear, now form-
ing the left wing of the phalanx. So much for infantry and
their manoeuvres ; now for cavalry drill.

The little we know of this subject is limited almost entirely
to what Xenophon says of the Athenian cavalry. The basis of
cavalry, as of infantry tactics, was the file. Several files formed
in Athens a (f)vh], elsewhere an tXi]. The usual formation of
the phyle was rectangular, either with the same number of
horses in front as in depth, or twice as many. When several
phylse stood in line, an interval was left betAveen one phyle and
the next, equal to the length of the front of each phyle. This
was necessary, in order to allow room for wheeling. A con-
tinuous front, ^ i.e., one in which no interval was left between
one phyle and the next, was only used in attacking, and was
formed either by one phyle clovsing up to the next, or by the

^ 'Es dcnrida irapdyeLV, raj ra^eis /card \6xovs Troi-eladai.

^ 'Etti (paXayyos. ^ 'Etti Kepcos, Kara Kepas. 4 'Etti 5uo.

^ 'E/c KepaTOs els (pdXayya KaracrTTjao.i. ^ 'Etti cpdXayyos, iiri pLeTwirov.

ARMY ORGANISATION 635

liiiider halves of each lochos riding up into tlie interval between
their own phylG and the next to the left.

The evolutions to which, in the time of Polybius, the indi-
vidual trooper was trained, were the turns to left^ and right,
the face-about, and wheeling. Marching order varied according
to the nature of the ground. On broad plains the various
divisions rode side by side, on wide roads phyle followed phyle,
and, if circumstances required, the front might be still further
diminished. On a march it was common for the men to walk
part of the distance to save the horses. Pack-horses and change-
horses followed the column. The little reconnoitring that was
done was performed by the TrpoSpofxoL.

Commands ^ were transmitted by word of mouth from tlie
commanding officer to inferior officers, and by them to the rank
and file, both cavalry and infantry. The use of the trumpet
Avas not extensive. It served as the signal for attack, alarm,
and recall.^ For greater distances pre-arranged signals of vari-
ous kinds might be employed.^ " Colours," standards, were
unknown.

CHAPTER II

ARMY ORGANISATION

From the time of Draco (according to the 'AOip'aiiov TroAireia)
Athenians who enjoyed the privilege of the franchise were
required to serve their country as heavy-armed soldiers. From
the time of Solon members of the first three property classes
were called on to serve as hoplites, while the Thetes were re-
quired for other service. An Athenian's liability to military
service began with his eighteenth year, and ended with his
fifty-ninth. On the completion of his seventeenth year he
attained his legal majority, and was entered on the registry of
his father's deme^ as a full citizen. At the beginning (pro-
bably) of the civil year, all Athenians of the first three property
classes who had attained their majority in the previous year, were
enrolled as epliebi. Their names were engraved together on a
bronze jiillar in front of the bouleuterion, in the time of Aristotle
(in former times on wooden tablets). They were marched round

^ 'E0' rjviav. " llapayy^X/xaTa.

3 Ahirin, to xoXe/j-iKov (Thuc. vi. 69) ; recall, to dpaKXi^TLKOu (Ibid. v. 10).

** £.g., Thuc. i. 63, ^ Arj^i.apxiKbi' ypa/uL/xaTeloi'.

6-^)6 WAR

the temples, down to the Peirseeus, and there half of them were
sent to garrison Munychia, half Akte (the southern peninsula of
the Peirageus). Their morals and comfort were looked after by a
Cosmetes and ten Sophronistse, elected annually. The manner
in which the latter were elected is interesting. The fathers of
the ephebi met together, according to their tribes, and, after
taking an oath, nominated from each tribe three men, over
forty years of age, whom they considered to be best qualified
to have the care of young men. From these nominees the
ecclesia chose, by vote, one for each tribe. The Cosmetes also
was chosen by vote of the ecclesia, but the ecclesia's choice in
his case was not restricted to the nominees of the tribes. The
Cosmetes was charged with the general supervision of all the
youths, the Sophronistae with the ephebi of their respective
tribes only. Each ephebos received an allowance from the
state of four obols a day, w^iich was paid over to the Soph-
ronistes of his tribe. The Sophronistes, out of this, provided
the joint-mess, for the ephebi of each tribe messed together.
For the military education of the young citizens the state pro-
vided two trainers to instruct them in gymnastics, and four
professors to teach them the use of the bow, the javelin, the
hoplite's weapons, and the catapult respectively. How many
ephebi each year produced we do not know. There is some
evidence, however, to indicate that for the year 334-333 the
number was probably about a thousand, for which six instruc-
tors do not seem many. The ephebi also received instruction
in company-drill, 1 such as was described in the last chapter.

This course of instruction continued for one year. At the
end of that year an ecclesia was held in the theatre ; the young
men went through their drill in the presence of the collected citi-
zens, received each a spear and shield from the state, and were
then transferred for another year to other garrisons. During
this year they were no longer under the care of the trainers
and masters-of-arms, but patrolled the frontiers and country
generally, in company with the TrepiVoAot. The peripoli were
light-armed mercenaries who formed the permanent garrisons of
the Athenian fortresses in time of peace, and who also performed
police duties. The ephebi, therefore — who doubtless called
themselves " men " — also spoke of themselves as peripoli, until
at last the term became ambiguous.

At some time or other, perhaps when they received their
lance and shield, but probably when first they were enrolled

^ Td irepl Ta.% ra^eLS [Ath. Pol. 42).

ARMY ORGANISATION 637

and marched round the temples the ephebi took an oath of
fidelity to their country. Their dress during these two years
consisted of chiton, chlamys, and hat. They complained that
their various masters dogged them, and thrashed them, and
knocked them about; but, on the other hand, stone-records
show that they formed all sorts of jovial clubs Avith fancy
names, and that the intimacies and associations thus formed
were not always allowed to drop in later life (sup'a, p. 313).

It has already been stated that the names of the ephebi for
the year were engraved together on a bronze stele. On that
stele they remained as long as their owners were liable to mili-
tary service, i.e., forty-two years; and as a fresh pillar was put
up each year for the ephebi of that year, and not removed until
the end of forty-two years, there were altogether forty-two
pillars ; and these forty-two pillars gave together the names of
all citizens who could be called out for military service. When
war was declared, a decree of the senate and people was passed,
either calling out all citizens of a certain age (i.e., all the names
on certain stelae), or else merely mentioning the number of
men required, and leaving it to the strategi to select their
men, in which case the strategi might take some but not all
the citizens whose names were on one stele, and who were con-
sequently of the same age. ^Naturally, men from fifty to sixty
years of age were only called out in cases of extremity, when
a levy en masse ^ was necessary. Senators, and probably other
officials, were excused from military service during their years
of office.

The Athenian infantry was made up of ten companies, each of
which consisted of the men from one and the same tribe, and
was consequently itself sometimes called a phyle, though that
is properly the name for a body of cavalry, whilst a company
of foot is called a rajts. The taxis was subdivided into a
number of Xoyoi, each commanded by a Xo^ay6<i ; but the
strength of a lochos and the relation which it bore to the con-
tingents from each deme — for they too were recognised divisions
within the taxis — are points not certainly known. The taxis
itself was originally under the direct command of a strategos, as
long as the strategi were subordinate to the polemarch ; but
when the strategi came to be the supreme military authorities,
the command of each taxis was, after B.C. 390, handed over to
a taxiarch, whom the demos elected by vote from the tribe
whose taxis he was to command. The lochagi were appointed
by the taxiarch.

1 Havdiqixd.

6^S WATl

The lioplite provided his own armour, but received pay from
tlie state, usually (in the Peloponnesian war) at the rate of two
obols a day.i The man who carried the hoplite's shield and
provisions also received pay from the state. In both cases the
pay was intended only to cover the cost of food ; there was no
commissariat department in the Athenian army. When the
citizens were called out, the strategi or taxiarchs appointed a
rendezvous, to which the contingents from each deme marched,
bringing with them in their knapsacks ^ provisions (salt, meal,
garlic, and onions) for three days as a rule, or longer if the
taxiarchs ordered. Afterwards the commander of the force had
to take care always to encamp in the neighbourhood of some
place at which his men could buy provisions for themselves
out of the pay provided by the state. If the camp was far from
the market, there was a danger of its being attacked by the
enemy whilst the men had gone off to buy food for the day.

The Thetes were only called on to serve as hoplites in extre-
mity. On the other hand, in the fifth century, a body of 1500
archers was formed from this class, but this was probably an
exceptional measure.^ Athens depended for her light-armed
troops on mercenaries or on her allies. Three thousand Metics,
however, were called on in the Peloponnesian war to serve as
hoplites.^

A force of cavalry was not raised in Athens until after the
Persian wars; at first it numbered 300 men, then 1200, and in
the Peloponnesian war 1000, which continued to be its nominal
force to the time of Xenophon. Naturally, the cavalry were
drawn from among the richest men of the state ; but there is
no evidence to show that service in the corps was compulsory
on members of the first property class. Apparently, ten officials,
called KaraXoyeis, were chosen by vote of the ecclesia, and they
drew up a list of citizens qualified to serve as knights ; but if
any man put upon this list chose to say he could not afford to
serve, or was not well enough, he was excused as a matter of
course. It was only when he had tacitly agreed to serve in
the cavalry that he could be prosecuted and disfranchised for
failing to do so. But though no compulsion was used in the first
instance, everything was done to make this branch of the ser-
vice as attractive as possible, by affording the knights opportu-
nities of showing off themselves and their trappings in public

1 Thuc. V. 47, four Attic obols ; iii. 17, a drachma.

2 TijXlos (Ar. Ach. 1097).

^ Cf. Thuc. ii. 13, 23 ; iv. 29 ; v. 84 ; vi. 43, with what he says of B.C.
424 in iv. 94. ■* Thuc. ii. 13, 31 ; iii. i6 ; iv. 90.

ARMY ORGAXISATIOX 639

processions. Further, the state paid for the knight's outfit, and
contributed a drachma a day for the keep of the horse ; hut,
although the senate frequently inspected the kniglits, to see if
their horses were in good condition, there is nothing to show
that the cavalry were frequently drilled. Finally, the knights
from each tribe formed a separate troop, called a (fivXrj, and were
commanded by a phylarch elected from that tribe ; while all
the troops were under the command of two hipparchs chosen
from the whole body of citizens.

Originally the polemarch was the commander-in-chief of all
the Athenian forces ; then the ten strategi, who at first were
elected one from each tribe, and afterwards all ten from the
whole body of citizens. In the time of Aristotle the ecclesia
appointed one strategus to take command of the hoplites called
upon to serve outside of Attica ; another to command the hop-
lites within the borders, if there should be war ; two to take
charge of the garrisons in Munychia and Akte, and to defend
the Pirseeus ; a fifth to superintend the fleet ; while the remain-
ing five were left free to meet contingencies. In the field the
strategi had power to imprison any man who was insubordinate,
or to drum him out of the army, or to fine him — but it was
not the custom to fine him. Discipline was probably not very
strict; the strategos was subject to an epicheirotonia every
prytany, when the question was put to the ecclesia whether he
had discharged his duties properly. Men charged with failing
to present themselves when called out, or with having deserted
subsequently, or with having shown cowardice, were tried at
the end of a campaign by a court composed of men who had
served along with them.

As the organisation of the Spartan army has been described
in Book YL chap, iii., it is only necessary here to note that,
whereas in other states it was the duty and privilege of full
citizens alone to serve their country as heavy-armed soldiers,
in Sparta the Perioeci as well as the Spartiatae were armed as
hoplites ; and whereas in other states citizens were only soldiers
in time of war, and were only liable to military service during
certain years of their life, in Sparta the sole oliject of the
citizen's education was to make a soldier of him ; peace did not
relieve him from his military duties, nor any age exempt him,
when once he had become a warrior, from liability to service.

As regards the mobilisation of the Spartan army, it restetl
with the ephors to call out the levies.^ In each /xopi the

^ <i>povpav (palveiv.

640 WAK

Spartans of a certain year or years were called out, until the
requisite number of troops were forthcoming. The duty of
summoning the Perioeci to appear at the appointed rendezvous,
was intrusted to some of the so-called " knights " "who formed
the bodyguard of the kings. The xenagi communicated to the
allies how large a number of the troops which the terms of
their alliance bound them to supply would be required.

As to mercenaries, from the beginning of the sixth century B.C.
at least, Greeks took service under foreign potentates as mer-
cenaries : thus the brother of Alcseus served with distinction
under Nebuchadnezzar ; and in the Persian war some Arcadians
offered their service to Xerxes. Eut before the Peloponnesian
war, it was not usual for Greek states to hire mercenaries.
During that war large numbers of light-armed troops from
northern and western Greece, Cretan archers, and Rhodian
slingers found employment as mercenaries. There w^as, how-
ever, no great demand in Greece at this time for hired hoplites,
as the citizen soldiers of each state furnished a sufficient supply.
What little demand there was was met by the Arcadians, who
from of old had been in the habit, like the modern inhabitants
of another mountainous country, Switzerland, of looking to this
as a regular profession.

Meantime the numbers of Greeks employed by foreign states
had increased enormously, and Greek mercenaries were to be
found by thousands in the service of Persia, Egypt, and Car-
thage. The famous Ten Thousand of Xenophon were mercen-
aries hired by Cyrus ; and at Issus, 30,000 Greeks fought under
Darius against Alexander Thus the employment of mer-
cenaries was developed into a systematic business : Cyrus, for
instance, was brought into communication with ten men who
knew where to go to find mercenaries — Corinth and Taenarum
were good marts for this kind of ware — and made his terms
with them. They probably got together the number of men
they had engaged to collect, partly by direct dealing, partly by
paying other agents a commission. More than half of Cyrus' ten
thousand mercenaries were Arcadians or Achseans by birth.

This state of things abroad could not fail to react on Greece
itself. Thus, for instance, the remnants of the Ten Thousand
were engaged by the Spartan Agesilaus, in 394 B.C. ; Persian gold
was used by Conon to hire mercenaries to fight for Athens ; and
in 383 the Spartan allies wctc allowed to contribute, instead
of men, money, which doubtless went to hire paid troops. By
the time of the Sacred war (356-346), the system was so firmly
established in Greece, that the Phocians could hire 20,000 mer-

THE ARMY IX THE FIELD 64 1

cenaries ; and finally, the fight fought for Greek liberty against
Philip was carried on all through mainly by means of mercenaries.
There was another way in which Greece was affected by this
system: Dionysius I. (40 1-36 7) took large numbers of these troops
into his permanent service, kept them in a high state of efficiency,
and practically formed a standing army out of them. The ex-
ample thus set by him was followed in Greece by Jason of Pherse
(379-370), who, by the offer of enormously high pay, got together
a body of fine troops, whom he drilled into a powerful army de-
voted to his person.

CHAPTER III

THE ARMY IN THE FIELD

A CAMTAiGX in ancient Greece was a very different thing from
a campaign in modern times : the armies were so much smaller
— 14,000 was an exceptionally large force — and the distances
which the army had to traverse were so insignificant: a couple of
marches would frequently suffice to bring the men within sight
of the enemy. This latter fact explains why the order given to
the troops, when called out, to bring with them three days'
provisions, was usually a sufficient solution of the commissariat
problem, and not such an inadequate measure as at first sight
appears. And further, not only were the distances short, but
the strategy was of the simplest, and the duration of the cam-
paign usually of the shortest : the two armies started out,
marched till they met, had a fight, and went home. Marching
was attended with but little difficulty : the country to be crossed
was well cultivated ; there were roads and bridges to use ; it
was not customary to attack an army on the march, and there-
fore measures to guard against such an attack were almost
unknown ; it was unusual even to send reconnoitring parties
ahead. The regular troops were followed by a huge baggage
train, for every hoplite had at least one man to carry his w^eapons
and knapsack. There were waggons and beasts of burden to
carry provisions ; there were sutlers and camp-followers of all
descriptions ; there were the wounded, and there might be
prisoners and spoil. The Spartans alone seem to have endea-
voured to maintain some sort of order ^ in this following.

The ordinary marching order was two by two in a long, thin
column. If by any chance the enemy did threaten an attack, a

^ By means of the dpxofTes tov aKevocpopiKov.

3 S

642 WAR

hollow square ^ was formed ; the baggage, &c., was placed in the
centre ; the hoplites formed the four sides. The leading side was
drawn up eight deep ; - the rear files of the square counter-
marched so as to bring the file-leaders, picked warriors, to the
outside. The cavalry operated outside the square, on whichever
side was threatened, and were assisted, if necessary, by the most
active hoplites, who ran forward to help them to drive off the
enemy. ^ If the attack became serious, it was impossible for the
square to continue to march : it had to halt ; and if it became
necessary to cross a bridge or go through a defile, the conversion
of the square into a column, and the reconversion of the column
into a square, were attended with such difficulty and confusion as
afforded the enemy a most favourable opportunity for attack.

If the army could not reach a village or town, in which to
spend the night, it pitched its tents, or made its huts, in some
position having natural defences, such as a hill or stream. The
Spartans alone had anything like a systematic mode of con-
structing a camp. It was usually circular in form ; each [xopa
had its own post, and all the [xopat were placed together ; each
fxopa had its own place where it piled arras (except the lances,
without which no Spartan might be seen in camp), and where
every member of the [xopa, unless his duties took him elsewhere,
must remain. Here, too, the members of the jxapa were exer-
cised first thing in the morning, after which the polemarch
gave the order for the mid-day meal, and for changing the
sentries who guarded the weapons, and the outposts, who were
stationed where they could get the most commanding views of
the surrounding country. In the afternoon, before the prin-
cipal meal of the day, there were more exercises, then a sacri-
fice, and finally the men were dismissed to the place of arms,
there to spend the night, sheltered by no tent or hut.

The battles of the Peloponnesian war ^ were conflicts between
masses of heavy-armed soldiers drawn up eight deep, and flung
on one another : there were no tactics. One army took up its
position on or commanding a plain, and waited for the other,
which encamped within a mile or half a mile of the first. The
two forces then drew up in battle array about 200 or 250 yards
apart; the paean was sung; the armies advanced until they
were within about 180 yards of each other, the trumpets were

^ HXaiaiov. - 'Ett: (pdXayyos.

2 Hoplites used in this way were called ^Kdpo,uoL. For the hollow square,
Eee Time. iv. 125 ; vi. 67 ; vii. 78.

^ The following are the battles in Thucydides : i. 62 ; ii. 79 ; iii. 98,
loS ; iv, 32, 42, 92 ; v. 67 ; vi. 6y ; vii. 6.

THE ARIVIY IN THE FIELD 643

sounded, the war-cry raised, and the charge began. As a rule,
the Greeks charged at the doable, and consequently fell into
more or less disorder before they reached the foe. The Spartans,
on the other hand, with more confidence and self-restraint, ad-
vanced slowly, and in good order. There was in all the battles
of the Peloponnesian war a uniformity, which at first is sur-
prising, and then is interesting, as exemplifying the operation
of a general law. The right wing of each army overthrew the
enemy's left ; the victorious wings returned from the pursuit,
and engaged with each other; and tlie one that was in the
least disorder won. This decided the battle. This uniformity
in the course of events is due, not merely to the reason that
similar causes produce similar effects, but to the fact that in all
these battles there was one cause uniformly, and indeed neces-
sarily, present. That cause lay ultimately in the fact that the
hoplite carried a shield. The shield protected his left side, but
not his right. Consequently the right wing was the most ex-
posed position in the line of battle, the most dangerous, and the
most honourable, and that which was assigned to the best troops.
Further, the hoplite, who, when the signal to charge was given,
at first advanced with his face and the front of his body towards
the foe, gradually, in his desire to protect himself with his
shield, made a quarter turn to the right. Thus he advanced no
longer with his face and front, but his left side to the foe ; and
instead of moving on a line at right angles to his original base,
he advanced at an angle of forty-five degrees or so. This will
be plain from the following figure : —

The continuous lines AA, represent the front of each army
at the moment when the order to charge is given ; the dotted

644 WAR

lines AB, represent the course which each \vould have taken
(but, as a matter of fact, never did take), if the hoplites had
continually advanced face forwards. The dotted lines AC, give
the course which the armies actually did follow ; and the con-
tinuous lines CC, give the positions actually occupied by the
two bodies Avhen within striking distance. It will be seen
that the inevitable outcome of the desire of the hoplite to pro-
tect himself with his shield was that, Avhen the two armies
came to blows, the right wing of each extended far beyond the
left wing of the other, outflanked it, and being further com-
posed of better troops, naturally defeated it.^

To pursue and annihilate a defeated enemy was an idea that
had not occurred to the Greeks, any more than it had occurred
to them to strike at the line of communication between the
enemy and his base, and by cutting him off from his supplies
to compel him to surrender. The conditions of Greek warfare
were too simple for such strategy ; the maintenance of a line of
communication was of little importance to an army which did
not obtain its supplies from its base ; and as for pursuing an
enemy and annihilating him, heavy-armed soldiers could not do
it. Cavalry, indeed, might have been employed for the pur-
pose, but the object of Greek fighting was not to annihilate the
enemy, or put him hors-de-comhat, but to compel him to acknow-
ledge his defeat, which he did by asking to be allowed to bury
his dead. After that the victors erected a trophy composed of
the weapons of the fallen foes, and then went home.

In spite of the fact that at Sphacteria and under Iphicrates
light- armed troops had been shown to be able, in combination
with hoplites, to defeat even Spartans, the tradition that battles
could only be fought and won by heavy-armed troops was so

1 The first man to make the quarter turn to the right was the man to
the extreme right of the right wing, because his right side had no protec-
tion. If all the other men followed his example, the result was as de-
scribed above ; but if only a certain number did so, the result was (as,
e.g., in the battle of Mantinea, B.C. 418) that there was a gap in the battle
front by the time it reached the enemy. Thus : —

B B C C

THE ARMY IX THE FIELD 645

strong that generals continued to neglect the capabilities, Loth
of light-armed troops and of cavalry.

Epaminondas, at the battles of Leuctra (379) and Mantinea
(362), rose above the idea that the whole duty of a general
was, when he came in sight of the enemy on a fair field, to
tell his men to charge. He reasoned out some really scientific
tactics. Hitherto, although in battles there had been a general
engagement indeed all along the line, each wing had in point
of fact fought an independent battle with the troops opposed to
it : there had been no organic connection between the opera-
tions of one part of the line and another. Epaminondas, how-
ever, thought out a plan of battle in which each wing had its
peculiar function to perform, and by the performance of which
victory was to be secured. The enemy would pursue the tradi-
tional plan of placing its best troops on its own right wing ;
Epaminondas, therefore, departed from the traditional arrange-
ment, and placed his best men on his left wing. If he could
defeat the enemy's right wing and best troops, the battle would
be practically decided, if only the enemy's left did not prove
victorious and come to the aid of its right. To prevent this,
Epaminondas abstained from using his own right wing for
offensive purposes : it did not consist of his best men, and
could not be counted on with certainty to defeat the trooj s
opposed to it, nor Avas it necessary for Epaminondas' purpose
that it should defeat them. All it was required to do was to
hold the enemy's left in check, by standing ready and threaten-
ing to strike at any moment. Holding the enemy's left down
in this manner, Epaminondas was free to pound away at the
enemy's right wing, which he did in a new and improved
manner, by attacking, not in line but with a column.'^ As the
enemy were drawn up in the traditional phalanx of eight men
deep, while Epaminondas' attacking column was fifty men deep,
when he directed his column into the centre of the enemy's
right wing he burst it at once. The battle of Leuctra was
fought on the same tactics, save that, as the enemy's right wing
was protected on the flank by a phalanx of cavalry, Epami-
nondas used a column [emholos) of light-armed troops and
cavalry to burst the cavalry phalanx, as M-ell as an embolos of
hoplitos to break the Spartans' right ; while to hold the enemy's
left more safely in check, he used his cavalry to threaten it
with a flank attack if it tried to advance.

The next great improvement in tactics came from ^facodonia ;
but it does not fall to be considered here.

1 "E/iiSoXos.

646 WAR

CHAPTEK IV

STEGE WARFAKE AND FORTIFICATIONS

Before the fourth century B.C., siege warfare was in a very
rudimentary stage of development amongst the Greeks, it
was not usually one of the objects of a campaign to gain posses-
sion of the enemy's city. If such an extremity had to be
resorted to, the customary procedure was first to try what
treachery would do, or, if that should prove fruitless, to
attempt to surprise the place. If the attempt failed, then
the assailants had to consider whether it was worth while to
blockade the place : this was a plan the success of which was
dubious, and the cost certain to be great. For instance, in 439,
Samos resisted for nine months, and the siege cost 1 200 talents ;
Potidaea held out three years (432-429), and 2000 talents were
expended in reducing it.^ The method of investing a town
was circumvallation : a wall was built all round the town, just
out of reach of the inhabitants' arrows. The structure of the
wall depended on circumstances. If the assailants calculated
on little resistance, a simple stockade might suffice, or a wooden
wall ; if these were insufficient, a brick wall would become
necessary ; and at the siege of Platsese two parallel brick walls
were built, sixteen feet apart, which were armed with battle-
ments, while the space between the walls was roofed over, and
at every tenth battlement were erected rectangular towers,
having two doors, through which the sentries could pass as
they made their rounds along the top of the roof. If the
blockade was not sufficiently strict, or if the work of famine
was too slow, then it might become necessary to force an
entrance into the town. That the use of some kind of engine
for this purpose was known in Greece as early as the time of
the Persian war, is apparent from the statement of Herodotus
that the Athenians were called upon by the Spartans to effect
an irruption into the Persian camp at Plataeae.. It is, however,
equally clear that the use of siege engines was not M'idely spread
in Greece before the Peloponnesian war, for the Spartans, pro-
fessional warriors though they were, had to ask the Athenians
to capture Ithome for them in the third Messenian war (463-

^ Thuc. i. 117; ii. 70. For other lengthy blockades, see Thuc. i. loi
(Thapos), and iii. i, 27 (Mytilene).

SIEGE WARFARE AND FORTIFICATIONS 647

461). Even during the Peloponnesian war, probably tlie only
siege engine used was the battering-ram, a heavy beam pointed
and shod with iron, and either driven on rollers against the
wall, or else suspended somehow and swung against it, whilst
the men working it were protected from the enemy's darts by
wattled screens.^ To meet this attack, the besieged had heaps
of heavy stones on the walls, with which they endeavoured to
break the ram.^ Other contrivances there were which the
besiegers might employ, but which cannot be called engines,
e.g., undermining the walls, setting fire to them, or constructing
a mound from the wall of circumvallation to the city wall, and
so obtaining a road into the town.

Thus it will be seen that the siege apparatus of the fifth
century was not very extensive.^ With the fourth century,
however, a new state of things came in : the old engines were
improved, new ones were invented, and a systematic theory of
attack was developed. These were lessons learned in Sicily
by Dionysius I., from his foes, the Carthaginians, in B.C. 409,
applied by him at the siege of Motye in 397, and used in
Greece by Philip in his attack upon Perinthus, in 340. The
battering-ram was strengthened and greatly increased in size ;
the wattled screens, which protected the men who worked the
ram, now gave place to a solidly constructed roof,* or testudo,
capable of sheltering a hundred men. The tedious process of
raising a mound to the level of the city wall, to afford an ingress
for the assailants, was superseded by the construction of mov-
able towers as high as the wall, and having drawbridges.
Finally, the invention of siege artillery belongs to this period :
the catapult of the Athen. PoUteia, c. 42, was unknown in the
Peloponnesian war,^ and is first mentioned, in the time of
Philip, in an inscription of B.C. 355.^

The course of an assault with these new appliances was now
as follows : — The six-storeyed towers,''' crowded with archers,
slingers, and catapults, and overtopping the city wall, were first
brought into operation. The fire from them was designed to
render the portion of the wall selected for attack untenable,
while at the same time, under cover of it. the men who worked
tlie ram were enabled t<i bring it within striking distance.
While the latter were engaged in effecting a breach, the draw-
bridges were let down from the towers (which by this time

1 V^ppa. ' Xen. Hdl, IT. iv. 27.

' In spite of the fact that Athens had a ixTjxavoiroiis (Xen. Ildl. II.

iv. 27). ■* XeXd'j'T;.

^ Thuc. vii. 43. I. ^ C. I. A. ii. 61. ' Ylvp^oL.

648 WAR

had been brought close up to the wall), and the occupants of
the tower poured into the town, or threatened to do so, and
thus diverted the enemy from the ram.

With regard to artillery, the endeavour to project heavier
missiles and to greater distances than was possible with the
ordinary weapons, led, in the first instance, simply to enlarging
and strengthening the long-bow into something of the nature
of a cross-bow.i This probably was the catapult, in the art of
discharging which the young Athenian was instructed. It was
far inferior to the engines devised somewhat later; for they
got their force from torsion — hence their Latin name, tormenta
— whereas its was derived from the elasticity of a bent body.
In point of fact, it was but a strong hand-bow fastened on to
a wooden frame, in which there was a groove or pipe to con-
tain and direct the arrow. The wooden frame had a base which
could be pressed upon the breast, in order that the requisite
amount of force might be brouglit to bear on the string, and
there was an arrangement for holding the string, when pulled
back, until the moment came for letting it go. When this
machine was superseded by the more powerful tormenta is not
quite clear. At any rate, the inscriptions of the fourth century
distinguish between catapults which discharge stones and those
which discharge arrows. ^ But the employment of tormerda was
not common until a period later than any that we have to deal
with here.^

For the protection of the borders of a state, the earliest and
simplest device was to choose a place where the road went
through a narrow defile, and to block it by building a wall straight
across it. This, as it was the simplest, so it was the least
effective device, for the position might be turned, if the enemy
discovered a path over the mountains. A superior method was
to erect watch-towers on mountain heights commanding a wide
view of the country and roads, and to arrange these tow^ers so
that signals might be made from one to another — a systematic
mode of defence which actual remains show to have been em-
ployed in various parts of Greece.

The fortification of towns cannot here be described with the

^ TaarpacfjiTTjs, the aKSpiTLOS of C. I. A. ii. 807.

' KaraTrdXrat Xt^o/36Xot and d^v^eXds.

'^ The Attic iuscriptions relative to catapults are : C. I. A. ii. 250, 316,
471, 720, 723, 807, 808. Droysen thinks the catapults of No. 807 (B.C.
330) cannot be 7acrr/3a0e'Tat. Bauer, on the other hand, places the tran-
sition from the yaarpacp^Trjs to the tormentum about B.C. 306, on the strength
of No. 733. In any case, however, stones as well as arrows could be pro-
jected by the yaarpa^eTTji.

SIEGE WARFARE AXD FOKTIFICATIOXS 649

illustrations from actual rera.'iins, and the plans which such a
description would require. Suffice it to say that the fortifica-
tion of Greek towns proceeded on three principles. The first
was to select a natural eminence if possible, and in the line of
fortification to follow as closely as possible the lines prescribed
by nature. The second was to control the entrance to the city
gates by flanking the approaches for a considerable distance.
Both these principles are already acted upon in the fortifications
of the Mycenaean period. The third was to flank the walls by
projecting towers, so as to keep up a cross-fire on any enemy
who succeeded in getting up to the walls.

For the defence of the city thus fortified various measures
were taken. To each phyle, or other division of the citizens,
the duty of manning a certain section of the walls on alarm of
danger was assigned. The market-place, or the theatre, or other
open spaces and large buildings were the rendezvous for the
citizen- soldiers dwelling in the neighbouring quarters of the
town, when the approach of the foe was notified by the spies
posted by day on the nearest hills,^ or by beacons at night.-
All the city gates were closed save one, and that was kept
under strict guard, and not allowed to be opened after night-
fall. Within the city, walls were built across the streets,
trenches dug. and the houses next the city wall were fortified.
Sentries and patrols were appointed to keep watch on the walls
and go the round of them. A watchword and countersign ^
were arranged, and frequently changed. The commander-in-
chief either went the rounds, or, at night, displayed from time
to time a lantern at a given spot, to which signal all the sentries
hnd to reply by elevating their lanterns.

If lines of circumvallation were commenced by the enemy,
sorties were made or a cross- wall was run out from the city, at
right angles to the line of circumvallation continued. If an
assault in form was made upon the town, mines or trenches
were dug outside the walls for the siege-engines to tumble into.
Where the assailants succeeded in bringing up wheeled siege-
towers, the defenders elevated the city wall l)y superimposing on
it wooden towers. The ram might be smashed by stones dropped
on it, or its head might be caught in a noose, and broken oil" by
an upward jerk from the top of the wall. Should these pre-

^ "HjuepoaKjiroi. or (TKOTol (Herod, vii. 183, 192, 219 ; Thuc. viii. loo, 103 ;
Xeii. IIcU. i. 2 ; vii. 25).

- In the Peloponnesian wars, torches waved about indicated the ap-
proacli of enemies, -nvpcrol TroXe/XLOi \ held still, the approach of friends,
Trvp7ol (piXLOi. ^ 'Zvi'drj/jLa and Trapaavi'drj/xa.

650 WA.U

cautions fail, and the ram threaten to effect a breach, the de-
fenders might build a semicircular wall behind the threatened
spot, and, in front of the semicircular wall, a ditch. If heaps
of earth were observed behind the assailants' lines, and were
seen daily to grow larger, the inference was that mines were
being made. These might be met by counter-mines, or, parallel
to the town wall, trenches might be dug, into some part of which
the mine could not fail to debouch ; the trench was then either
filled with brushwood, which was fired when the enemy broke
into the trench, or, if there was a stream at hand, it might be
turned into the trench, and thus flood the enemy's mine. The
whereabouts of a mine could be ascertained by placing on the
ground a shield or a metal basin, hollow side downwards. If
the enemy were working in their mine, the shield or basin, when
it came to be placed over the mine, would ring with the noise
of their excavations. ^ Finally, the most effective measure of
defence was to make an energetic sortie by night, overpo^ver
the few outposts of the enemy, and set fire to the wooden siege-
train, the towers, the rams, and the covered ways, thus in a
single night undoing the labour of months.

CHAPTEE V

THE TRIREME

The external appearance of the ancient trireme is fairly well
known to us from the pictures on ancient monuments and coins
(Fig. 34). The internal structure is still matter of conjecture.
The conjectures on the subject have been many, but they may
be divided into two classes, according to their starting-point.
We may take as our starting-point the mediaeval galley, which
undoubtedly was evolved from the ancient trireme ; or we may
start from the Greek texts and inscriptions which bear on the
matter. The former method is now pretty generally abandoned,
for its results, w^hich, if correct, ought to harmonise with the
ancient evidence, are, as a matter of fact, irreconcilable with it ;
and this is due, not to any error in the working of the method,
but to the fact that the method itself is faulty. It is faulty,
because in one important point the conditions of navigation

^ Kerod. iv. 200. Cf. De Marbot's iVIemoirs, p. 57 (E. T.), " His aide-de-
camp, laying his ear on a drum placed upon the ground, was able, by this
common military artifice, to hear the sound of distant musketry."

THE TRIREME 65 I

were not the same for the ancient trireme and the mediaeval
galley. The ancient navigator considered it essential, when he
put into land, to draw his vessel up on shore. The trireme
must therefore have been of very light construction. The
mediaeval galley, however, was not run on shore in this way,
and consequently came to have a greater draught and a roomier
hold than was possible for the trireme. Thus the roomier hold
of the galley made it possible to employ two or more men to an
oar ; whereas we have explicit evidence that in the trireme there
was never more than one man to an oar. We must, then, fall
back on the other conjectures, which start from literary and
inscriptional evidence. Of these, that of B. Graser {De Vefernm
lie Navali, Berlin, 1864 ; and Philologus^ Suppl., Bd. III. ii.) is
at once the most simple and systematic.^

If the mediaeval galley was evolved out of the ancient
trireme, the trireme, in its turn, had been evolved out of the
Homeric ship. It will therefore be well to start from Homer.
The Homeric ship, like the trireme, used both oars and sails.
The mast could be raised and lowered by means of stays, back
and fore, which also served to support it when erect. The
sail, which was white in colour and square in shape, was
attached to a yard, and was managed by sheets. The steering-
gear consisted of a couple of paddles, one attached to each side
of the vessel. There was one deck at the stern, on which the
helmsman stood, and another at the bows. The rest of the
boat was open. The seats or thwarts (ivyd), like those of a
modern rowing-boat, ran across the boat from one side to anothei",
and served, not only as seats for the rowers, but also to give
support to the sides of the vessel. The boat must have been
TO or 12 feet broad amidships, for each seat held two oarsmen,
one pulling on stroke side, and the other on bow side ; and
between the two rowers there was room for a gangway running
from the stern deck to that at the prow. The seats were
parallel to and equidistant from each other, and thus the oars-
men, as they sat one behind another, in single fde, formed two
long rows, one on each side of the boat, and separated from one
another by the gangway, which ran the length of the boat.
Here, then, we have the type of that kind of vessel which was
designated in Greek by words composed of a numeral stem and
the termination -opo^, in which the termination indicates that

^ I have also drawn on Cartault, La Tritre Athenienne, and the articles
Sccu'cscii and Navis in Baumeister and Smith's Dictionaries <if Antiquities
respectively.

652 WAR

there was only one bank of oars on each side of the vessel, and
the numeral gives the number of oars, e.g., rpiaKovTopos, TrevTrj-
KovTopos. A triaconter would, of course, contain only fifteen
benches, or fvya, as each accommodated both a bow-side and a
stroke-side oar ; the penteconter would have twenty-five benches.
Taking the distance {interscalmium) from one thole-pin (crKaX-
pos) to the next to have been, as Yitruvius says (i. 2), 2
cubits, i.e., 3 feet, we find that the space required for the oars-
men (eyKWTTov) in a triaconter, with its 15 thwarts, would be
45 feet, while the total length, with the fore and aft decks,
would be about 55 feet (the length of a modern racing-eight is
56 feet). The total length of a penteconter would be, on the
same scale, 90 feet. Even longer boat= — with fifty benches and
a hundred oars — were constructed, but their extra length and
weight must have neutralised the extra motive power. Then
it occurred to some unknown genius, that by deepening the
hold a little, and by seating an oarsman between the feet of
each man in the existing row of oarsmen ^ (whom we will
henceforth call fvytrai, because they sat on the fi^ya), a second
bank of oars (who, as sitting in the hold, ddXapos, were
called OaXapilraL or daXdpiaKes) could easily be accommodated,
and the motive power doubled, with no increase in the length,
and very little in the weight of the boat. A vessel having two
such banks of oars was called a bireme, SL-qprjs (the termination
-rjprjs implying that the boat had more than one bank of oars ;
and the numeral stems, 8l-, rpi-, cKKatSeK-, or Tea-a-cpa.KovT-, in-
dicating the number of such banks). The essential point to
notice in the bireme is how little its dimensions would differ
from those of a penteconter. We will take each of the three
dimensions — height, length, and breadth — and begin with the
height. The thalamite, as we have said, sat between the feet
of the zygite behind him (Figs. 35 and 36) ; but he can scarcely
have sat on the zygite's stretcher, as then he would have got a
blow on the back of his head every time the zygite swang forward.

^ Everything depends on this. As space has only three dimensions, yon
must put the thalamite either (l) in front, or (2) to one side, or (3) under-
neath the zygite. (l)is Graser's arrangement, according to wliich the
thalamite was between the feet of the zygite. If (2) is adopted, so that
when the thalamite and zygite sat upright, the vertical straight lines
drawn through their bodies were parallel, the boat becomes too wide and
too heavy to be drawn up on shore every day. If (3) is adopted, so that
the thalamite was underneath the zygite, and their upright bodies were in
tlie same vertical straight line, then the boat becomes so high as to be top-
heavy, and you are led to assume that the thalamites and zygites were in
separate galleries, which is shown by Ar. Frogs II06 to be false.

liG. 35.— A Penteres according to Graser.

Figs. 36A, 36B.— fciiDE View of Rowers according to Graseu.

654 ^^'AR

As a matter of fact, it is certain (from Ar. Ran. 1074) that his
chin was rather higher than the zygite's seat. We may there-
fore calculate that the thalamite's seat was two feet lower than
the zygite's ; and if the thalamite's seat was three feet above
the water-line, the zygite's was five feet above the water-line ;
so the height of the bireme would be only two feet greater
than that of the penteconter. Now for the length of a bireme,
having the same number of zygites as the penteconter had.
The length of the two vessels would be the same. The key to
this is to be found in the fact that both, though not ocean-
going ships, were seafaring vessels, heavier than river boats, and
that in heavy boats most of the work is done behind the row-
lock ; thus the oarsman practically does not swing forward with
his body, he only straightens his arms, but he swings far back.
Now the space between the thole of one zygite and that of the
next was three feet ; but the thalamite could not have sat ex-
actly in the middle, for then once more, in spite of his seat
being two feet lower than the zygite's, he would have got a
blow on his head every time the boat rolled. His seat must
therefore have been two feet nearer to the stern than that of
the zygite behind him. This would bring his face within a foot
of the zygite in front of him (Fig. 3 6a), but as he did not want
to swing forward, that would not matter ; he could swing well
back between the open knees of the zygite behind (Fig. 3 6b).
Finally, as to the breadth of the bireme : as the thalamite sat
between the feet of the zygite, it might be thought that there
would be no need to increase the breadth of the boat. But that
is not so ; the zygite, being two feet higher above the water-line
than the thalamite, needed a longer oar. Now, if an oar is to
be properly balanced, the in-board portion must be one-third of
the whole length of the oar ; therefore the in-board portion of
the zygite's oar was longer than the in-board portion of the
thalamite's oar (Fig. 35). Therefore the thole of the zygite
must have been further away from the zygite than the thala-
mite's was from the thalamite. But thalamite and zygite sat
in the same vertical plane (Fig. 35), the former being between
the latter's knees. Therefore the sides of the boat must have
expanded as they rose, and the higher they were carried, the
broader the boat must have become at the top.

It should now be clear that the rowers' benches could not, in
a bireme, run from one side of the boat to the other, as they had
done in the penteconter, for then the gangway would have been
impassable. One end of each zygite's bench was, as before, let
into the side of the boat, the other was carried by an upright

THE TRIREME 655

piece of timber rising from the hold (Fig. 35). As the zygite's
benches were (like their tholes) three feet apart, so were these
uprights. Running obliquely from the foot of one upright to
the head of the next was another piece of timber, which did
for the thalamite's seat what the upright did for the zygite's.
These seats were removable, and were only inserted at times
when the ship was being fitted out for sea.

As to the disposition of the rowers in a trireme, little need
now be said. After the invention of the bireme, it must have
soon occurred to some one that, by superposing another row of
benches (Opavoi) above the zygites, a still greater improvement
might be effected. This was done, a bank of Opavlrai was
added, each thranite having a zygite between his knees. The
sides of the vessel were carried two feet higher, expanding, of
course, still wider as they rose, and the trireme was made a
little higher, a little broader across the top, but no longer,
because the inter scahnium remained three feet as before.

The number, like the arrangement, of the rowers is con-
jectural. The conjecture is as follows : a boat's greatest breadth
is amidships, and the breadth continually decreases as you go
either fore or aft, until in either direction there comes a point
wliere the boat is too narrow to accommodate an oarsman.
But, since the breadth of a boat also decreases the lower you go
in the hold, until it reaches its vanishing point at the keel, the
point at which an oarsman could no longer be accommodated
would be reached by the file of thalamites sooner than by the
file of zygites, and by the zygites sooner than by the thranites.
That is to say, in the bows the last thalamite would be between
the knees of the last zygite, and the last zygite between the
knees of the last thranite. At the other end of the boat, the
first thranite would have no zygite between his knees, and the
first zygite would have no thalamite between his knees ; hence,
as the lexicographers say, the man nearest to the stern would
be a thranite, the next nearest a zygite, and the thalamite
would be the furthest away. Thus the file of thranites would
have two more men than the file of zygites, and the zyi^ites two
more than the thalamites ; and, as there was a file of thranites
at each side of the boat, there would be in all four more
thranites than zygites, and in the same way four more zygites
than thalamites. iS^ow, preserved on stone records, we have
inventories of the naval arsenals at Athens, from which it
appears that the maximum number of thranite oars allowed
to any one ship is 62, of zygites, 58, of thalamites, 54. The
inference is that these are the numbers of the rowers, giving a,

656 WAR

total of 174. Hence, with an interscalmium of 3 feet for each
man in the file of 31 thranites, the 'iyKonTrov was 94 feet. To
get the total length of the trireme, we must allow for the space
between the first thranite and the stern, viz., 14 feet, and for
the space between the last thranite and the bows, viz., 11 feet.
These spaces were called Trape^etpea-iai ; in the one at the bows
was an elevated forecastle, in the stern a quarter-deck.

To get the oar into the water was efi/SaXXeiv [Frogs 206) ; to
get it out, i^aipetv ras KcoTras (Poll. i. ii6); to feather or clear
the water, rots KWTras dva(f)€peLv (Thuc. ii. 84) ; to straighten
the arms and shoot out the hands, TrpofiaWeiv tw x^''P^ '^^^
€KT€LV€iv (Fvogs 20I, which also shows that the ancient oarsman
did not swing forward with his body) ; " easy " is w Trave, Trare ;
"row !" (as opposed to paddling) is epetSe; "put it on !" appv
or pvTraTrat; "silence in the boat," o-twTra.

We have now to add that over the heads of the thranites was
a deck (Fig. 34), supported partly by the uprights already men-
tioned into which the rowers' benches were let, and partly by
corresponding uprights (prolongations of the ship's ribs) rising
from the gunwale. A vessel decked in this way was an ecrre-
ya(TfX€vov ttXolov, and the deck not only covered the thranites'
heads, but also formed the roof of the passage which ran from
stem to stern, between the stroke side and the bow side files
of oarsmen (Fig. 35).

The files of thalamites and zygites who were in the hold,
and worked their oars through port-holes, were of course pro-
tected by the ship's sides from the enemy's missiles. But the
thranites, who worked their oars over the gunwale, were ex-
posed to the enemy's fire from the waist upwards (Fig. 34).
To afi'ord them protection, the TrdpoSos was invented : this was
a gangway running along the vessel's side, to which it was
bracketed, and projecting from it about three feet (Fig. 35).
This gangway, of course, was no protection itself ; it only
afi'orded a passage, about on a level with the thranites' seats,
outside the vessel. But rising from its outer edge were stout
upright bulwarks, which did give the required protection. A
trireme having a parodus was cataphract (Fig. 35) ; having
none, aphract (Fig. 34).

The trireme had two masts with square sails, rarely used.

NAVAL WARFARE 657

CHAPTER VI

NAVAL WARFARE

According to Tlmcydides (i. 113), the Corinthians were the
first to construct men-of-war on different lines from mer-
chantmen, and to build triremes, i.e., warships, with three
banks of oars, one above another. In the sixth century, the
fleets of the Asiatic Greeks, of Polycrates of Samos, of the
^ginetans, and the Athenians, were still mainly composed of
boats worked by fifty oarsmen in a single tier ; but the war-
ship of the fifth century, and the time of the Persian wars,
was the trireme. Ships with four and five banks of oars
appeared first in the Syracusan fleet of Dionysios I. (399).
The use of these huge ships, however, did not spread to Athens
until B.C. 330.

The only navy whose growth can be traced with any accuracy
is that of Athens. In the war with ^gina she had fifty ships.
Themistocles' naval policy brought up the number at first to a
hundred, which M'as gradually increased, until, by the time of
the Persian war, it was two hundred. At the beginning of
the Peloponnesian war, Athens had three hundred triremes.
This was the zenith of her naval power, for though, in the
middle of the fourth century, she again had the largest fleet
in the Greek world (in B.C. 325 she had 360 triremes, fifty
four-bankers, and seven five-bankers), it was in such a state
of inefficiency that it could protect neither the commerce, the
colonies, nor even the coasts of Attica.

For some conception of the harbours, dockyards, and arsenals
of ancient Greece, we depend mainly on what we can learn
about the harbours of Athens, viz., the great basin of the
Peiraeeus, the smaller one of Zea, and the still smaller Muny-
chia — all three close together, and enclosed in the same circuit
of fortifications, and connected with Athens by the "Long
AValls," which were drawn in two parallel lines straight from
Athens to the harbour. The natural entrances to the harbours
of the Peirseeus and ^Nlunychia were reduced in width by the
construction of huge breakwaters, which narrowed the passage
to fifty-five yards and forty yards respectively. The natural
entrance to Zea is a narrow channel, and both sides of this
were protected by the general circuit of the harbour fortifica-
tions the wall of which ran from the Peiraseus breakwater, all

2 T

658 ^vAll

round the coast of Akte, down one side of the channel leading
into Zea, ^yas resumed on the opposite side, and followed it and
the line of the coast, until it reached Munychia, shortly after
which it turned inland till it joined the Long Walls. The en-
trance to Zea was also reduced in width by the fact that, at the
inner end of the channel, the harbour wall was continued into
the sea by projecting towers.

The harbours, having their entrances thus protected by
breakwaters, and the land behind them defended by the
harbour wall, left their shores free for the erection of ship-
sheds,^ or rather boat-houses, for the trireme approached much
more nearly in size a modern river boat than an ocean-going, or
even seafaring ship. In each boat-house was the hull of one
trireme, placed on a slip, so that it could be launched at once
at any moment. The wooden fittings, benches, masts, oars, &c.,
were also kept in the boat-house, though not in the boat ; the
hanging tackle, sails, ropes, (fee, were stored in the (rK€vo67]K-q,
or arsenal. Boat-houses were an essential part of a dockyard,
because the triremes were only sent to sea for active service ;
and if they were left lying in the water at other times, they
soon became leaky and unseaworthy. The life of a trireme
kept perpetually in the water was not much longer than two
years (Thuc. vii. 12), whereas, if properly stored in a ship-
shed, and protected from sun and rain, it was capable, it is
said, of service for eighty years.

As the ships were hauled up, and kept idle in the ship-
sheds until the moment they were Avanted for active service,
it was essential to have some systematic arrangement for
fitting them out, and despatching them when required. At
Athens this was effected by the trierarchic system : the richer
citizens were liable to be called upon to act as trierarchs.
When it was necessary to fit out ships, one of the strategi
made a selection from among them, calling upon as many of
them as might be necessary to act as trierarchs. It was then
the duty of these trierarchs to go to the superintendents of
the harbour,^ from whom they received (by lot) a hull
and its tackle, both wooden and hanging. The hull was
launched from its shed, taken round to the Munychia break-
water, and there it was fitted up in the presence of the bou/e
and a board of ten aTroo-ToAets (elected ad hoc), whose business,
as their name implies, was to superintend the fitting out and

^ yewaoLKOL. Harbours are vewpta ; docks for building, pau-rr-qyia.
- ^7n/xe\r]Tai tQv veoopiwv.

NAVAL WARFARE 659

despatch of the fleet. At the same time a crew ^ had to he got
together, and as the com[)lement for each trireme averaged
ahoiit 200 men (about 170 oarsmen, 10 armed marines,^ and
petty -othcers ^ besides) ; and since for the despatch of a fleet of
250 triremes, such as was sent to sea in B.C. 428, for instance,
about 50,000 men woukl be required, it was impossible to man
the navy with Athenian citizens exchisively. Consequently,
though the marines were drawn from the class of Thetes, and
some of the oarsmen might be citizens, the bulk of the crew
consisted of IMetics, slaves, and hired oarsmen.* It was the
duty of the strategus to collect the sailors required, and the
state paid them (through the trierarchs) at the rate of three
obols a day usually.^ But towards the end of the Pelopon-
nesian war, and throughout the fourth century, the pay was
reduced to two obols, and the strategi frequently failed to pro-
vide sufficient oarsmen. When at last the ship was manned
and fitted out to the satisfaction of the aTroo-ToAet?, it was
despatched to join the fleet under the command of the trier-
arch, who, of course, took his orders from the strategus.

We may now attempt to estimate the extent of the burden
thus thrown on the trierarch. Although the state probably
provided, besides the hull, the wooden fittings and the hanging
tackle, we may surmise that a good many other things were
required to equip the boat at all points, and the cost thereof
fell on the trierarch. Again, though the state probably paid the
petty-officers, yet custom seems to have required the trierarch
to give extra pay, both to them and to the OpaviTai, who rowed
on the top bench. Then, the trierarch was bound by law to
restore his trireme at the end of the expedition, in as good
condition as he received it, save so far as it was damaged by the
acts of the gods or the state's enemies. Thus, the legal and
inevitable expenses of a trierarch must have been great, and to
them we must add the losses caused in the fourth century by
the unpunctuality with which the state (through the trierarch)
paid the crew, and by the fact that the state frequently did not
provide sufficient men to man the boat.

This method of providing for the despatch of a fleet cannot
be said to have been a good one. The burden on the individual
trierarch was great, so great that, after the Sicilian expedition, it
liad to be divided between two syntrierarchs, and after B.C. 358,

' HXripcj/xa. " 'ETri^Sarat. ^ Tirripecria.

* Thnc. i. 121, 143 ; iii. 16.

•^ Thuc. vi. 31. At Potiihea ami in tlie Sicilian expedition it was
raised to a drachma.

660 WAR

between a still larger number of (5, 6, 7, or even 16) crvvreXeU.
Worse, the burden was unfairly distributed (until the reforms
of Demosthenes, B.C. 340), for the poorer members of the class
liable to it ha-l to pay as much as the richer. But not only
was it unfair, it was a dilatory and inefficient method of fitting
out a fleet. In the fifth century, indeed, the trierarch was
appointed, and his ship assigned to him beforehand. But, in
the fourth century, the appointment was not made till the last
moment, and then might be delayed by the trierarch's attempts
to prove in a law court that he was not legally liable to the
service, or that he claimed to be exempted.

In addition to the warships, there were transports for the
conveyance of stores, troops, and horses,^ and the progress of
such a squadron was not rapid. The boats were mostly rowed ;
the sails were only occasionally set. At night the ships were
beached ; in the day the crews landed even to take their meals,
and the approach of a storm was a sign to make for the shore.
The average speed of a single ship may have been about five
English miles an hour.

In the earliest form of sea-fight, the ships grappled together,
and the armed men on board fought. The sailors were only
concerned to bring the ships alongside each other, and the
engagement was in effect simply a land fight on sea : it was not
a naval engagement. Dionysius, the Phocsean, is the first com-
mander recorded (Hdt. vi. 12) to have used the ship itself as a
weapon of attack, by which the enemy's vessels might be put hors-
de combat. But it was the Athenians who brought the tactics of
this form of attack to perfection, for the manoeuvres required to
perform it were such as could only be executed by well-trained
crews. These manoeuvres were two : the StcKTrAoi;? and the
TrepLirXovs. The former consisted in rowing full speed up to
the enemy's vessel, then smartly pulling in the oars, and with the
beak breaking off all the oars on that side of the enemy's vessel
which the attacking ship's beak grazed. The other manoeuvre
consisted in ^o^ving round and round the enemy until a favour-
able opportunity was offered for ramming her in the side or
stern. Eamming the bows in the space where there were no
oars 2 was a mode of attack which was first effectually employed
by the Syracusans,^ and which Athenian ships were too lightly
built to execute.

^ nXoia aiTayioyd, Tpiripecs aTfaTLCorides, and 'nnrTj'yol. The ]ast carried
thirty horses each (Thuc. vi. 43).

2 The irape^eipeaia. ^ Thuc. vii. 34, 36.

NAVAL WAHFAKE 66 I

Either of these manoeuvres was performed by a single shij),
independent of its companions. Combined operations, per-
formed by the co-operation of all the ships in the fleet, were
almost unknown. A fleet, superior in numerical strength, but
inferior in seamanship, might, if within reach of land, endeavour
to drive the enemy's fleet on shore, or, if this was out of the
question, might draw up in a circle, with sterns inside and
bows projecting outwards, like the spokes of a wheel. If the
latter formation was adopted, the method of attack was for the
enemy's boats to row round and round, one after another, and by
the threat of attacking, to throw the circle into such confusion
that an opportunity for the periplus or diekplus was aflbrded.
Another form of defensive tactics in which the vessels afforded
one another support, was to draw up the fleet in two lines, so
arranged that the ships in one line were posted so as to cover
tlie intervals between the ships in the other line, and thus the
diekplus was made impossible. But these tactics were only
good as long as there was no fighting. As soon as the ships
engaged, the fight was ship against ship, and combined operations
were out of the question.

Finally, there was no more thought of annihilating a shattered
enemy on sea than on land. The object of a naval, as of a land
engagement, was to make the enemy acknowledge their defeat,
by asking leave to pick up their dead, and to commemorate
that defeat by the erection of a trophy.

BOOK IX

THE THEATRE
CHAPTER 1

THE OiaGIN OF THE DRAMA

Dramatic performances in ancient Athens were but a part of
the festivals, celebrated at certain seasons of the year, in honour
of Dionysus ; and the origin of the drama is to be looked for in
some feature of the worship of the god. There were in that
worship several strains of different character, and probably of
different origin ; but when the drama was at the height of its
development, the predominant phase of Dionysus was his
character as the god of wine, and consequently, it is in this
feature of his worship that the origin of the drama has usually
been sought. Thus, the choruses out of which the drama un-
doubtedly was developed, are identified with the dithyramb,
or choral hymn in honour of Dionysus, to which Arion, about
600 B.C., gave literary form and a place in literature. These
choruses were sung at the festival of the Lensea, to celebrate the
gathering of the grapes, with rejoicings similar to those of a
harvest-home. The worshippers of the god expressed their
sympathy with both the joys and the sufferings of the god,
hence comedy on the one hand and tragedy on the other.
Comedy derived its name from the Kcofios, or band of vintage
revellers ; tragedy was called the "goat-song " (rpayojSta), because
a goat was, as the Parian Marble testifies, the prize awarded to
the victorious singers.

There are, however, some difficulties in the way of this
theory. It fails to account for the fact that, in the satyric
drama, the chorus were dressed as goats, and were called goats
(Tpdyoi). Yet the theory which is to account for the name
TpayioSta ought also to explain why the satyric chorus dressed
as goats — the more so, because Aristotle expressly says in the

662

THE ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA 663

Poetic^, that tragedy was developed out of the satyric drama.
Again, the idea that tragedy derived its mournful cast from
the fact that it was the song in which the worshij^pers sym-
l)athotically described the sufferings of their god, has against
it the authority of Aristotle, according to whom tragedy was
not solemn originally, but satyric, and was developed €k /xik/jwv
[xvOiov Kol Ae^ews yeAotas. In the same way, although comedy
was undoubtedly the song of the KO)[xo<i, that song was not con-
cerned with the triumphs of the god, but, according to Aristotle,
began dwo twv i^ap-^6vT0)v to, (^aXXiKa — a different thing.
Further, one might inquire why the original choruses, whether
sung at the Lenaea or at the country Dionysia, should have
been in the nature of a harvest (or vintage) home, seeing that
the grapes were gathered some months before either festival.
And there is a difficulty also about deriving the tragic chorus
from the literary dithyramb of Arion, partly because rpayiKol
XopoL (Herod, v. 67) were in the field quite as early, at any rate
in Sicyon, as Arion, and partly because Aristotle says that
tragedy originated dTro rdv k^apyovriav tov StdvpaplSov, and the
difi'erence between Arion's literary dithyramb and the primitive
dithyramb, e.g., as sung by Archilochus, was that the primitive
form had an k^dp^iav (a solo singer), and the literary form had
not, but consisted solely of strophes and antistrophes sung by a
chorus.

These, then, are the things about which we must speak, for
at present we have only raised difficulties in connection with
them. To begin with, the finished artistic dithyramb of Arion
was performed in courts and cities ; the primitive dithyramb,
in which the leader sang a solo and the chorus sang a refrain,
was left to the unrefined and unprogressive rustics. Next, it
is universally agreed that the drama did not originate in Athene,
but in the country : it was originally performed at the country
Dionysia. Thespis took his plays round the villages of Attica
before he found an audience in Athens; and the strongest
argument in antiquity in favour of the false derivation of
comedy from Ktopy was the admitted fact of the country origin
of dramatic performances. Now, life is always more primitive
and more old-fashioned in the country than in towns ; it is in
the country that the student of folk-lore looks to find traces of
ancient customs and lingering superstitions. If, then, there
were in the cult of Dionysus elements of greater antiquity than
his worship as the wine-god, it is amongst the ruder and more
backward rustic population that we should naturally expect to
find them. But there certainly were elements in the worsliip

664 THE TIIEATEE

of Dionysus older than his cult as the god of wine, for in the
time of Homer there was a Dionysus, but he was not a wine-
god. Further, we have already seen that the time at which
the country Dionysia and the Lensea were celebrated, viz.,
about the winter solstice, w^as not a particularly appropriate
time for the celebration of the vintage and the gathering of the
grapes ; and as festivals and rejoicings at tliis period of the year
were held by many other European peoples Mdio did not grow
the vine, the probability is that amongst the Greeks also the
rejoicings at the winter solstice were not originally connected
with the vintage or with Dionysus as the god of wine. Hence
the tragic choruses, which were a portion of these festivities,
need not originally have had to do with the wine-god, or with
his sufferings at the hands of Lycurgus, or his triumphs over
Pentheus.

The next thing we have to notice is that at the winter sol-
stice festivals of other European peoples the most important
ceremony is the appearance of mummers dressed up as bears,
boars, wolves, bulls, goats, &c. In Eastern Europe the Chris-
tian Church suffered these masquerades to continue, and they
still are the great festivals of the moujik. In Western Europe
the Church endeavoured, not altogether successfully, to suppress
them ; the Indiculus Super stitionum (tit. xxiv. ) forbids them,
and St. Firmin denounced those w^ho performed them " on
Christmas and other days;" but the Julboch, the Yule-buck
or bull-calf of Scandinavia, and many other similar survivals
amongst Teutons, Celts, and Slavs, testify to the universal pre-
valence of these ceremonies in former times. It is, then, evident
that the worshippers of Dionysus who celebrated the winter sol-
stice by masquerading as goats were doing the same thing, and act-
ing under the influence of the same belief, as the other European
peoples just mentioned. The basis of this custom of masque-
rading at Yule-tide has been shown by Mannhardt to be the
belief in the existence of a spirit of vegetation, who makes the
crops to grow. This spirit slumbers during the winter, but
with the turning of the year comes the time to wake him, and
that was the object of the festivals at the winter solstice. But
this spirit is supposed to manifest himself in the shape of many
various animals, especially in the shape of a goat. Is^ow it is a
])rinciple of savage logic — a principle which still receives the
honour of being refuted as a fallacy in works on logic — that
the cause resembles its effect, that like produces like ; hence, if
you want an animal to fall into your trap, it is an excellent
plan to dress up as the animal in question and fall into the trap.

THE OrJGIN OF THE DKAMA 665

This is the fundamental principle of the bulfalo-dance of the
Red Indians, the kangaroo-dances of the Australian aborigines,
and the bear-dances of various peoples, inclmling the early
Greeks. In the same way primitive man, requiring the pre-
sence of the spirit of vegetation and fertility, dresses up in the
form of that animal in which the spirit usually manifests him-
self. Here, then, we have the explanation of the fact that
the country worshippers of Dionysus masqueraded as goats ;
hence they were called not only satyrs, but Tpdyot; hence their
choruses were called rpayiKol xopot, their song the goat-song,
rpaywSta ; and hence the actual goat, in which the spirit of
vegetation was supposed to be incorporated, was given as a
prize, just as at Home (see Plutarch, Roman Questions^ 97) the
head of the horse, in which the same spirit was supposed to
reside, was given as a prize to bring good luck and a good har-
vest to the victor.

The drama, then, had its origin, not in any literary form of
lyric poetry, such as the dithyramb of Arion, but in the folk-
songs sung by the country people, who, at the turning of the
year, worshipped Dionysus rather as the spirit of vegetation
than as the god of wine. The earliest acting, amongst the
Greeks as amongst other European peoples, was that of the
masqueraders who appeared at the festival of the winter solstice.
But amongst the Greeks alone was this masquerading developed
into drama by slow degrees ; amongst them alone did these
mummers' masks attain to be " les deux masques " of tragedy
and comedy. If we are to frame conjectures as to the cause by
which this primitive European masquerading was in Greece
turned on to this new line of development, we must probably
ascril^e it to the anthropomorphic tendency of the Greek mind.
To the otlier Europeans the spirit of vegetation appeared only
in animal form ; to the Greeks, Dionysus presented himself in
the bodily shape of man. In that shape he had adventures
such as are alluded to in Homer, and recounted in one of the
Homeric hymns. In that shape, too, one of his worshippers,
with the aid of a mask, could represent him at his festival, the
Dionysia ; and thus the new god of wine, who was henceforth
to be identified with the familiar spirit of vegetation, could be
presented to the eyes of the faithful, even as Pisistratus success-
fully showed the Thracian garland-seller Phye to the Athenians
as their patron goddess Athene. But M'hen once the l^dpy^aav
had i)erformed the part of Dionysus, acting became possible in
the place of mere masquerading; and as early as 600 B.C. we
tind that in Sicyon the hero Adrastus had usurped the place of

666 THE THEATKE

tlie god Dionysus. But though acting had now been decisively
differentiated from mumming, this " lyric tragedy," as it is
sometimes called, had not become literary : tragedy was at this
time, as Aristotle says, avroo-x^^LacrrcKi^, i.e., it was still in the
folk-song stage, and the lines probably had about as much
literary merit (the Xe^cs was yeAota) as those declaimed by the
mummers who once, in England, used to perform at Yule-tide
" St. George and the Dragon."

Meanwhile, at Megara comedy had been developed out of
other ceremonies, forming part of the worship of the spirit
of vegetation and fertility, which are indicated in Aristotle's
account of the origin of comedy. It was introduced into Attica
by Susarion in B.C. 578, at a time when there was as yet no
actor ; and the k^dp^iDv let off coarse and scurrilous impromptus,
while the chorus sang traditional folk-songs, of which Aristo-
phanes [Ach. 261), in his parody of the procession at the country
Dionysia, may give us some idea. The scurrility of comedy did
not commend itself to Pisistratus — tyrants have no sense of
humour and dread ridicule — and comedy received no recogni-
tion or support from the state until the palmy days of democracy
under Pericles.

But Sus^rion's visit to Icaria not only sowed the seeds of
comedy in Attica, it may be surmised to have exercised an
influence on tragedy, for it was by a native of Icaria that the
next step in the development of tragedy was taken : Thespis
(about B.C. 536) introduced an actor into tragedy, and thus
made dialogue a possibility. Probably the l^apyoiv still con-
tinued to be the central figure and the most important person,
for the Greek word for actor — v7roKpiT'i]<i, "answerer" — seems
to imply that the actor's business at first was confined to
answering occasionally when addressed, and to playing up
generally to the k^apyoiv, the leading man. But even this
folk-drama, this rustic performance by two men on a cart —
"dicitur at plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis" — was so suc-
cessful at the country Dionysia, that after a time the per-
formers ventured to appear in the market-place of Athens on
the occasion of the Lensea — the festival which took place a
month after the country Dionysia, and was to the town what
the country festival was to the villages. The new form of
entertainment met with the approval of the Pisistratidse, and
was taken under their patronage. To encourage it, a prize was
offered for competition between three choruses and their leading
men, and the drama thus became state established at Athens.

In all probability, however, the entertainment did not be-

THE ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA 66"]

come a drama in the full sense of the W(jrd until yEschylus —
whose earliest plays M'ere performed with a single actor in the
dancing-ring or opxjo-Tpa of the Athenian market-place —
ventured to introduce a second actor. But still the leader of
the chorus, though no longer indispensable for either dialogue
or dramatic action, continued to be an important character in
the plays of ^schylus. The introduction of a third actor,
however, by Sophocles, some few years before the death of
^schylus, drove the chorus farther into the background, and
the Attic drama became fully developed. Even then, however,
there were many points of difference between an ancient and a
modern theatrical performance ; and as it is important not to
be misled m our judgment of the former by ideas associated
with the latter, it will be advisable briefly to enumerate some
of the leading points of difference, before entering into the
further details contained in the following chapters.

As we have already seen, the Greek drama was in its origin,
and till its end continued to be, a religious function, a part of
the worship and festival of Dionysus, whereas the modern
drama — even if it did spring from the mediaeval mystery plays,
and not from the May-games, in which the king and queen of
the May and others were the leading characters impersonated —
soon and effectually divested itself of all traces of its religious
origin.

The next point of difference is that, whereas modern theatres
are open practically all the year round, at Athens performances,
being part of the Dionysia, only took place at the feasts of
Dionysus, i.e., twice, or at the most three times a year. Thus,
not only did the drama as a religious function enjoy greater
importance at Athens than in a modern country, but even as an
entertainment its rarity caused it to be estimated more highly
than it is in countries where dramatic performances are a
matter of course and of daily occurrence.

The third point of difference will now be intelligible. It is
that whereas a modern performance is a matter of a coui)le of
hours, at Athens the performances began at daybreak and con-
tinued all day. Several authors competed with each other for
the prize, and each tragic poet produced several plays : hence
the length of the performances. But to sit out such long
performances would have been impossible, if they had been
matters of daily occurrence.

The three points of dilference which have been mentioned
will suffice to show that theatre-going was a very different
affair at Athens from what it is in London. We have next

66S THE THEATRE

to consider three other differences, which are more important,
because they must have exercised considerable influence on
the development of the drama. They are that in Athens the
drama was (i) state established; (2) open — eventually — free;
and (3) attended by the whole body of citizens. The cost of
providing plays was undertaken by the state, and the state
had a monopoly — private enterprise did not compete with the
state in the production of plays. It can scarcely be doubted
that this system accounts to some extent for the superiority of
the Greek drama to modern play writing. A modern theatre is
a business speculation ; it is an enterprise undertaken in order
to make moneyj; consequently the plays supplied are those
which will draw the largest audiences, and the standard of
merit is found in the taste of the majority : but the majority
have no taste ; the good judges of anything must always be in
a minority. Hence in London not only does the number of
music-halls steadily increase from year to year, not only are
theatres converted into music-halls, but plays themselves are
rapidly becoming converted into " variety " entertainments, and
the " legitimate drama " can only be made to pay so far as it is
occasionally made an excuse for a " spectacular " entertainment.
At Athens things were different. The state paid for the pro-
duction of the drama, and supplied free tickets to citizens who
could not afford to pay for themselves. The taint of business
and money -making was not upon the dramatic art, nor had the
dramatist to consider what would gratify the greatest number.
There was no need to play to the gallery, or to write down to
the level of the lowest understanding. Again, the size of the
audience — the Dionysiac theatre at Athens may have held
30,000 people — must have had a healthy influence on the
drama. The praise of a clique is fatal to the development of
an artist who mistakes his clique for the world, and its praise
for the approval of unbiassed judges. Now a modern theatre
is small enough to be filled by the enthusiasm and the plaudits
of a section of the population insignificant in proportion to
the whole. But the likes and dislikes of a clique would be
incapable of attracting even attention in a vast audience of
30,000 persons, much less could they be mistaken for the
judgment of the whole body.

The excellence of the Greek drama is sometimes accounted
for on the ground that the Athenians were more highly en-
dowed with the critical faculty, and were more appreciative
judges of art than any modern people. This may be so, but
there are evidently other facts which also deserve to be taken

THE ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA 66g

into account. Thus at Athens, where the plays to be performed
were selected by the archon, they were chosen not by, but for
the people ; whereas, in modern times, they are chosen by the
public, inasmuch as a play that does not pay is speedily taken
off, and only those plays that "draw" are allowed to run.
Thus, there is nothing in modern times to prevent the drama
falling just as low as the popular taste demands ; but at Athens
a line was drawn by the archon, who could prevent inferior
plays from being put before the public. Again, when the
great period of the Attic drama was over, a test of merit and
a standard of taste was still maintained by the custom which
ordained that the dramatic contests should begin by the per-
formance of a tragedy by one of the three great tragedians.
But there remains a still more important fact to consider in
this connection. It is that admission to the Dionysiac theatre
was a political right ; the theatre was open to the whole citi-
zen population, but not to slaves. Slaves were excluded from
the constitution and from the theatre. Now the unskilled
labour of Athens was slave labour. Hence at Athens unskilled
labour had no vote in politics, and no voice in art. In a
modern free state unskilled labour has a vote, even a decisive
vote, in politics ; and, wherever an art is exploited for com-
mercial purposes, the unskilled labourer must come to have a
voice, even a decisive voice, in that art, for it is by hitting the
taste of " the million," i.e., of the least critical class in the com-
munity, that fortunes are to be made. The law of the survival
of the fittest works inexorably. In a democracy, as elsewhere,
that form of art survives which is fittest — only "the fittest" is
not the highest. It is that form of art which the democracy
is fit for. In fact, we find something at work analogous to
Gresham's law : as bad coin, when bad and good circulate
together, inevitably drives out the good, so good art, in these
circumstances, tends to be driven out by bad. This may be
because art, when it becomes a money-making business, enters
the domain of political economy, and becomes subject to the
law of supply and demand ; but it is also in part due to the
fact that whilst it is only by studying good art that the taste
can be raised, good art gives no pleasure to the uncultivated
taste, and is therefore naturally neglected in favour of inferior
art by those who are only seeking amusement, and have none
but themselves to please. At Athens, however, even if the
supply of dramatic art had been regulated to meet the demands
oi the least critical portion of the public, its downward progress
would have been arrested at an earlier stage than it can be in

6/0 THE THEATKE

modern free states. As a matter of fact, however, as we have
seen, the public did not choose what plays it would see. The
drama was not a commercial speculation , dramatic performances
were so infrequent that the citizen with no taste had to be con-
tent to see a good play rather than none at all. At any rate, it
was a religious duty to go ; and, finally, the performance on
the same day of several plays by several authors, in competi-
tion for the dramatic prize, afforded both material and motive
for comparing and criticising the various poets.

Having noticed some of the differences between the condi-
tions determining the production of ancient and modern plays,
we have now in conclusion to notice some differences in the
performances themselves. The orchestra of a modern theatre
occupies a narrow space between the pit-stalls and the stage.
The orchestra of a Greek theatre was circular in shape, and
comprised the space allotted to the pit-stalls and pit of a
modern theatre. The audience sat not in hanging galleries,
but in ascending tiers of seats scooped out of a hillside. There
was no roof to the theatre : all was open to the daylight, and
nothing similar to the effects obtained by means of gas and
the electric light was known to the Greeks. The scenery —
when there came to be some — was probably of the simplest
kind, representing the exterior of a temple or house, with just
enough detail to indicate what was intended, but not enough
to distract the eye from the actors. The stage — if stage there
was — formed a tangent to the circle of the orchestra, and was
very long and very narrow, so that the total effect produced by
the figures of the three tragic actors, and of any supernumeraries
there might be on this long strip of stage, was that of a long
frieze, with its figures in bas-relief. The actors in tragedy
wore masks, and were, by padding and other devices, magni-
fied into heroic proportions, greater than human. The bright
colours, scarlet and purple, of their costume made them stand
out from the background. Their high-soled boots and padding
made vivacity of action impossible, and their masks did not
allow of that portraiture of the subtler emotions by the play of
the features which is the triumph of the modern actor's art.
The vast proportions of the theatre, which made it neces-
sary thus to magnify the apparent proportions of the actor,
would also entail a strain upon the voice, which probably led
to a sort of intonation of the spoken parts, and accounts for the
fact that it was in the lyric or operatic parts that the good
actor showed his superiority. As on Shakespeare's stage,
women actors were unluiown. Finally, to return to the place

THE BUILDINGS 67 I

from wliicli we started, the orchestra was occupied hy tlie
chorus, wlio not only sang, but, even in tragedy, danced,
making a turn round the altar to the riglit during the strophe,
and back again during the antistrophe, and standing .still
during the epode.

CHAPTER II

THE BUILDINGS

As the drama was evolved from the chorus of tlie worshippers
of Dionysus, so the theatre was evolved from the place in which
that chorus danced and sang — the 6pxi]crTpo..'^ In the earliest
times all the worshippers joined in the dance round the altar
of Dionysus ; but when the dances and hymns ceased to be
mere improvisations, and became formal performances, prepared
and rehearsed beforehand, the choir or chorus alone did the
singing and dancing, whilst the other worshippers congregated
around them and looked on. The bystanders naturally stood
round the chorus in a circle, and, in course of time, the circle
reserved for the chorus was permanently marked out and made
into an orchestra. Hence, the orchestra of a Greek theatre con-
tinued down to the latest classical times to be a perfect circle,
with which the stage, when it came into existence, formed a
tangent, but on which the stage was not allowed to encri^ach
(Fig. 37). The oldest orchestra in Athens was in the market-
place, west of the Areopagus. It consisted of a foundation of
polygonal stones, which, on the analogy of later remains, we
may conjecture was covered with plaster, and was surrounded
by a low wall. On this orchestra the "cyclic" or circular
chorus performed in honour of Dionysus the dithyramb, out
of which the drama was subsequently evolved. The first step
in the evolution of the drama was taken when the author of
the dithyramb (who was also the leader and instructor of the
chorus) improvised some recitation in the pauses between the

1 The evolution of the Dionysiac theatre at Athens from the orche>;tra,
though doubted by no one, is partly conjectural. But we know for historic
fact that the law of growth, by which an auditoriiun first was added to
the orchestra, and then permanent stage buildings, manifested itself else-
where than at Athens. We have the evidence of an inc>cription to prove
that at Calymna there was a dearpof, but that there were no permanent stage
luiildiiigs until a private citizen erected at his own cost rav (XKavav Kal to
TrpoaKavLov. See Mr. Merriam in the Classical Review, vol. v. No. 7, p. T^\;^.

6/2 THE THEATRE

dances. The next step was taken when the leader of thd
chcrus, instead of reciting a narrative, acted it in character.
and maintained a dialogue with the chorus. He might appear
first as a hero announcing his intention of undertaking some
enterprise, then, after a change of costume, as the person against
whom the enterprise was made, and so on. But, to change his
costume, he required a tent, a o-kt^vtj, and this tent was, as the
name indicates, the beginning of the various buildings which
subsequently took its place. The place occupied by the tent is
indicated by the buildings which displaced it. It was outside,
but touching the circle of the orchestra.

The introduction of acting brought in its train changes in
the chorus and additions to the orchestra. "When the actor
stepped forth from his tent, the chorus no longer continued to
surround the altar, but " formed fours," and ranged itself in a
rectangular group (rer/oaywvos x°P^^) with their faces towards
the actor and his tent, ready to be addressed by him. They
would thus have effectually blocked the view of the spectators
behind them but for two precautions : high wooden platforms
Avere erected for the spectators, who paid two obols for admis-
sion ; and the actor availed himself of the table on which the
offerings and victims had been cut up as a stage on which to
get the necessary elevation. ^ The latter primitive device was
eventually, probably speedily, cast aside in favour of a special
wooden stage (which, as being in front of the tent, was called
the Trpoo-Ki^vLov) ; and we may conjecture that at the same time
the primitive tent was displaced by a wooden shed behind and
forming the back of the stage. Scenery was as yet unknown.
This rude, temporary wooden structure in the open market-
place, without decoration, without a pretension to any scenic
effects even of the simplest kind, more remote from all attempt
at illusion than the stage of Shakespeare, was the stage on
which some at least of ^schylns' tragedies were produced.
But about B.C. 500, during a dramatic contest in which Pratinas,
^schyhis, and Choerilus were the competitors, the high wooden
platforms on which the spectators were crowded collapsed. To
avoid the repetition of such an accident, a place was sought in
which the natural rise of the ground would provide an elevated
auditorium, and a slope of this kind was found in the Dionysiac
enclosure. Here an orchestra was laid down. The spectators
sat on the slope which commanded a view of the orchestra, and

^ Poll. iv. 123, Aecs 5' ?jv rpaire^a apxai-a c(p' rjv irph Q^oTibos eh ris
a/3as duTOLS xop^vrais direKpivaTO.

THE BUILDIXG9 673

sat either on tlie grass or at the most on wooden benches. The
stage was probably still a temporary wooden platform with a
shed at the back. On this simple stage — which differed from
that erected previously in the market-place in little more than
that Sophocles introduced some scenery — in this open-air
fashion were performed the tragedies of ^schylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides, the comedies of Eupolis, Cratinus, and Aristo-
phanes. Finally, nearly half a century after the last of these
great dramatists was dead, when the Old Comedy had given
place to the New, when tragedy had travelled far from its
original form in a direction which we may partly infer from
the plays of Euripides and Menander, when the chorus, which
was originally the whole, had ceased to be an integral part of
the drama, then Lycurgus earned the gratitude of his fellow-
citizens ^ by providing them with a permanent theatre, stone
seats, and a hall to take refuge in if the weather was bad ; but
even then probably no permanent stage was erected, a wooden
structure still sufficed. Beyond this point it is not necessary
to trace the history of the Dionysiac theatre ; and the theatre
as restored by Lycurgus will only be described so far as is
necessary to an understanding of the arrangements before his
time. Third-century revivals of the " legitimate drama " —
doubtless with new and startling effects — are of secondary inte-
rest ; what one would like to know is how the plays of the
great dramatists Avere put on the stage when first produced.
It is reasonable to suppose that at Athens Lycurgus did but
build in stone what previously existed in wood ; and this sup-
position may be accepted as a working hypothesis at least, if
the practice of the Athenian stage (as inferred from the sur-
viving dramas) and the notices in the grammarians and lexico-
graphers accord with it.

The auditorium ^ was divided by fourteen flights of steps into
thirteen blocks, and the seats rose in concentric semicircles ;
and a large number of marble seats have been discovered, which
are shown by the inscriptions they still bear to have been
reserved seats appropriated to various priests, officials, and dig-
nitaries ; and it is interesting to observe that in the front row
of the central block was the seat of the priest of Dionysus, the

' C. I. A. ii. 240. Mr. Haigh {Attic Theatre, 107 and 125) does not
believe that the stone theatre as a whole belonged to the latter half of the
fourth century. But on what is, primarily at least, an architect's ques-
tion, I have preferred to follow Dr. Dorpfeld.

^ Qearpov is sometimes used of the auditorium, sometimes of the audience,
and sometimes of the whole building, like our expression " the house."

2 U

^74 THE THEATRE

patron god of the festival, while elsewhere a seat was reserved
for the priestess of Athene.

The orchestra in the Dionysiac theatre, as in that at Epidaiinis,
was a perfect circle, encroached on neither by the auditorium
nor by the stage (Fig. 37). It was on a level tvith the lowest
step of the auditorium, and was separated from the front row of
seats (Fig. 38) by an open channel of water, bridged over at the

Fig. 37.— The Theatre at Epidaurus. {From. Hermann-Mijller.;

foot of each of the fourteen flights of steps. No remains of a
stage, or of the foundations for a stage, in the time of Lycurgus
have been discovered. What has been discovered is a large room
with two projections right and left, each measuring about 20
feet deep and 28 feet broad, and leaving between them a space
of about 80 feet. In later times a piece has been cut off from
each of these projections, and a permanent wall,^ decorated with

^ DorpfelJ, from whom the above facts and figures are taken, calls this
wall the proscenium, and regards the proscenium as a permanent Fcene.

THE BUILDINGS

675

pillars, and about 10 feot high, has been built between them.
in the time of Lycurgus, however, before the projections were
re(hice(l, the wooden stage, scenery, &c., must liave been erected
in the space between them, which measures about 80 feet broad
by 20 feet deep. But, as the wooden stag<! has left no traces,
we must turn to PolycHtus' theatre at Epidaurus for further in-
struction as to the arrangement of the stage, &c. (Fig. 37). We
there find a permanent stage built, which is about ro feet deep ^
and about 95 feet broad. It does not touch the circumference
of the orchestra anywhere, but at its nearest point is separated
by about i foot. It is 12 feet higli, and is approached on each
side by an inclined plane. At the bottom of each slope is a
doorway, and in the same line with this doorway, and separated

.:^:

Fig. 38.— Fuont Row of Skats in the Dionysiac Theatrk. (ScHR-aRER, 11. 6.

from it by only a pillar, is another doorway. Through the
latter, during the performance, the chorus maiched into the
orchestra ; while, before the performance, the spectators entered
the theatre by it. The former doorway was that by which the
actors entered, and the passage from it, the slope up to the
stage, was called rj ai/o> irdpoSo's. The passage from the other
door to the orchestra was also called parodos.- As regards direct

By proscenium is usually meant, in a Greek theatre, the stage itself (which
is also called crKrjvrj, dKpl^as, ^rjfjLa, or Xoyehv). "LKr^v-q, originally the tent,
comes to mean the '"scene" in front of the tent, and then the stage
( = " the boards "), and then the whole of that part of the theatre in which
the actors appear.

^ By Dorpfeld's measurements, 2.41 mtr. (Herni. 6^. A. iii. 109).

- Tliat the level entrance to the orchestra was called TrdpoSos all are
agreed. That the slop ng passage up to the stage would also as being
pai'allel to the level entrance to the orchestra) be called a TrdpoSoj, and by

6^6 THE THEATRE

communication between the stage and the orchestra, there are
no traces of any permanent steps. Communication, then (if
any), must have been by means of temporary wooden steps,
probably leading down from the middle of the stage, where it
is nearest the orchestra.

Thus far the traditional view, which finds in the proscenium
of the Epidaurian theatre the stage on which the actors trod.
But Dr. Dorpfeld rejects the traditional view,^ on the grounds
that the proscenium is too high and too narrow ever to have
been used as a stage, and because, as a matter of fact, there are
no steps from the proscenium to the orchestra. The proscenium
is too narrow, because an actor would be in perpetual danger
of falling off a stage only 8 or 9 feet wide ; too high, because
the coryphseus could not carry on a conversation with a man
twelve feet above him ; and the decorations on the front of the
proscenium show that there never were steps. But if the pro-
scenium was not the stage, then there was no stage. Therefore
the actors must have performed in the orchestra, just in front
of the proscenium, on which the scenery (if required) was hung.
Hence, they are said by Aristotle to be aTro o-kt^i^tJs {Poetics, 12),
just as a ship might be aTrb (off) Arjfivov.

Now, the proscenium cannot have been the back wall or
scene through which the actors made some of their entrances
and exits, because both Pollux (iv. 124, 126) and Vitruvius
(v. 6) testify that the back wall of the stage had three doors,
whereas the proscenium has only one. Further, there is an ob-
jection to the theory that the actors performed in the orchestra,
to which no satisfactory reply is as yet forthcoming. The
chorus. Avhen, during the dialogue, it was drawn up in a solid
body in front of the actors, Avould completely block the view of
the occupants of the low^est row of seats (Fig. 38), and the lowest
seats were those occupied by the most distinguished persons,
and assigned, as a great honour (proedria), to their occupants.
Nor is this objection met by Dr. Dorpf eld's rejoinders (that the
cothurnus would lift the actor above the choreutse, and that
the chorus divided into semi-choruses, which stood aside and
revealed the actors), for the cothurnus would only give the

way of distinction (as rising higher) would be called i] &vcj irdpodos, is
probable in itself, and is confirmed by the fact that tr.igic actors de-
scended from the stage dia tu)u -rrapSSoji' (Plut. Demetr. 34).

^ Hence, in the text is given a brief summary of the dispute as to the
place of the actors. No attempt has been made to assign the various
arguments to their respective antliors, Prof. Jebb, Mr. Haigh, Mr. E. A.
Gardner, Mr. H. Richards, and others.

THE BUILDINGS ^J J

spectators a view of the tragic actor's head (with occasional
glimpses of his body), and the comic actor, having no cothurnus,
and having a chorus of twenty-four, would be quite invisible ;
while, as to the semi-choruses, the chorus was divided, but
rarely, and then not during dialogue. We have evidence (Anon.
de Com., Dindf. Prolegom. de Com. p. 29; Vit. Aristoph. iljid.,
p. 36 ; Schol. Ar. Equit. 505) to show that the chorus stood in
rectangular formation in front of the actors ; and wherever the
supposed semi-choruses stood, in an orchestra surrounded by
spectators they must equally have blocked somebody's view.
Again, if the actors, being in the orchestra, acted in front of
the proscenium, then, as the latter is practically a tangent to
the circle of the orchestra, the actors would at one moment be
within and at another without the circle. This is improl)able,
partly because it is not likely that the Greeks, with their notion
of limit, would have allowed the actors to encroach on the
circle sacred to the cyclic dances, and partly because the orches-
tra seems to have been surrounded by a low sill, over which
it would have been awkward for an actor to be perpetually
stepping (in cothurni).

feut the theory that the actors performed in the orchestra is
only an inference, a mere inference. It is not an inference
from a great body of evidence or a large number of facts ; it is
an inference from one premiss, and one premiss only. That
premiss is that the proscenium at Epidaurus (and elsewhere)
" cannot " have been a stage. What, then, is the evidence for
that premiss ? There is no evidence for it ; there is simply the
opinion — entitled to all respect — expressed by Dr. Dorpfeld,
that the proscenium is too high, and too narrow to have ever
been a stage. There is no evidence for this solitary premiss,
but there is evidence against it — definite and explicit evidence.
Vitruvius (v. 7) gives a description which is unanimously ad-
mitted to be the description of such a proscenium as actually
exists at Epidaurus and elsewhere, and he says exjdicitly that
the actors performed on (not in front of) that proscenium.
He is speaking of the performances of Greek plays in Greek
theatres, performances which he had doubtless witnessed many
times. We have, therefore, the testimony of an eye-witness,
that about a.d. 20, the actors performed on, and not in front of,
the proscenium. In fine, at that time, at any rate, the pro-
scenium was a stage. It is expressly called by Vitruvius a Aoy-
tlov. Its function was to raise the actors. But now, there are
a number of ancient proscenia still existing, which range in
date from the time of Vitruvius to the fourth century b.c. At

678 THE THEATEE

Eretria, for instance, not only lias the ])roscenium been dis-
covered, but the doors of the dressing-room opening on to it,
as they should, if it is the stage. And, to place the matter
beyond possibility of doubt, an inscription has recently been
found in the theatre of Delos, which identifies the proscenium
of that theatre with the Xoydov. It follows, therefore, that,
throughout the first four centuries B.C., the actors performed
on an elevated stage, on the proscenium, which is identified,
beyond doubt, with the Xoydov, the actors' speaking-place. So
much for the evidence of the proscenia themselves. But
further, there are a number of vases, belonging to the first three
centuries B.C., and coming from lower Italy, bearing represen-
tations of theatrical performances, in which a raised stage is
depicted, and the actors are represented as being on the stage
(Figs. 39 and 40). To say that these vases do not represent the
Greek type of theatre is to beg the question : they come from
Magna Grsecia, they represent the performances given to a people
Greek in their habits, and the stages depicted bear in some
cases, on their front walls, the same kind of decorations as occur
on the front walls of proscenia which are admittedly Greek.

To these two parallel lines of evidence, drawn from the
monuments themselves and from the vases, a third remains to
be added, strong enough in itself to prove the existence of a
raised stage. This is the literary evidence. It consists of a
series of passages (Hesych., Suid. and Phot. s.v. oKpi/^as, Scholl.
ad. Ar. Uq. 149^ 505 ; Bait. 181, 297 ; Pax 234, 727 ; Lys. 321 ;
Dindf. ProU. de Comm. pp. 21, 29, 36 ; Dlibner Proll. de Com.,
p. 20; Plut. Dem. 34; Thes. 16; Phrynichus, p. 163, Lobeck ;
Poll. iv. 123 ; Horace, A. P. 279), in which the writers say, or
clearly imply, that the acting-place was distinct from the
orchestra, and raised above the level of the orchestra. Most of
these writers lived when Greek plays were performed in Greek
theatres, and those who did not, derived their tradition from
those who did. This line of evidence, which stretches back to
the third century B.C., may be, wuth great probability, continued
into the fourth, for Aristotle, in the Poetics, repeatedly (13.6,
16.T, 24.4, 24.8) uses the phrase, e-jrl t'Tjs ctko^vtJs, in which
a-Ktivq can scarcely mean the orchestra, or any part of it, and
cTTt naturally means "on," and implies elevation. In this case
the phrase d.iro oKijvrjs, which occurs twice in the Poetics, will
resemble our expressions, "speaking from a platform." or "from
the stage."

There remains the question of the steps by which communi-
cation, when necessary, was effected between the stage and tlie

Fig. 39.— Raised Stage.
(Scene on a Vase from Nola—Schreiber, III. 3.)

-=0 M i^-

Fig. 40.— Steps from Raised Stage to Orchestra.
{Scene on a Vase from Bari, British Muse^nn, 1433— ^oTirci'ter, V. 13.

68o THE THEATRE

orchestra. Some of the existing proscenia are admitted to have
had no permanent steps, because steps would have concealed
the permanent decorations on the front of the proscenia.
Others, again, have been recently discovered, e.g., at Tralles
and Magnesia (though these are late and peculiar in construc-
tion), which have a double flight of steps, leading up from the
orchestra to the proscenium ; and Dr. Dorpfeld admits, that
one of these was a stage ten feet high, on which the actors per-
formed. The evidence of the vases is of the same nature : some
of the stages are represented as having steps (Fig. 40), others
as having none (Fig. 39). The literary evidence also tends in
the same direction. Two writers (Poll. iv. 127; Athenaeus, de
Much. p. 29) compare the stage steps to scaling-ladders, which
seems to indicate that the stage steps Avere temporary, and
easily removed. The inference from all three classes of evi-
dence then is, that, where there were no permanent steps,
wooden steps were employed in those plays which required
them. The objection that the temporary steps would conceal
(temporarily) the decorations of the proscenium has little
weight. The argument that the wooden steps would stretch
a long way into the orchestra depends for its value on how
much room the chorus wanted for its performances in the
orchestra, and we are ignorant on that point. But the exist-
ence of permanent steps at Tralles and Magnesia (to say
nothing of Megalopolis) shows that it was not impossible for
temporary steps to be used elsewhere. Finally, it has been sug-
gested that the stage steps referred to by Pollux and Athenseus
were not steps from the stage to the orchestra, but such as the
Piedagogue, in Phcen. 190, sets for Antigone to mount from the
street to the palace roof. But, even if these steps resembled
scaling-ladders, so also may the steps from the stage to the
orchestra. It is, however, more likely that Athenaeus, seek-
ing to make clear to his readers the nature of the military
ladder, would refer to something comparatively familiar, such
as the steps from stage to orchestra, than to something so
extremely rare, as a ladder carried by a tragic actor.

There is evidence, then, to show that, during the first four
centuries B.C., there was a raised stage having communication,
permanent or temporary, with the orchestra. On the other
hand, the solitary premiss on which the opposite view is
based — Dr. Dorpfeld's opinion that a stage twelve feet high is
an impossibility — has been somewhat weakened by Dr. Dorp-
feld's admission that one such stage exists as a fact. But if
the stage of the Greek theatre was a raised stage during the

THE BUILDINGS 68 I

first four centuries, the presumption is that it was a raised
stage in the fifth century B.C. also. And this presumption is
materially strengthened by the fact that the writers referred to
in the last paragraph but one believed that the stage of the
fifth century was an elevated stage.

To these writers we may now add the testimony of Plato
(S//mp. 194A), Avho speaks of a tragic poet as ava/?aivoi/T09
iirl oKpL/Savra /xera twv vttokpltQv. That the oKpifSas was
something raised is universally admitted. That it was the
dvfxeXr] (altar) is a modern conjecture, supported by no testi-
mony, ancient or otherwise. But the Lexicon of Tiniccus
identifies it with the Xoyelov, and the inscription in the
theatre of Delos identifies the Xoyelov with the proscenium.
Further, the verb dva[Satv€Lv, used by Plato, is the word used
by Aristophanes of an actor making his appearance on the
stage, as the opposite, Kara/^atVetv, is used in the sense of
"exit" (A'q. 148; Vespce, 1342 and 1514;^ Ach. 732; Ecc/.
1 152); and these verbs, literally meaning to ascend and
descend respectively, could not have acquired the meanings
of "come on" and "exit," unless the actor had, originally, at
any rate, had to ascend an elevation, in order to become and
remain visible to the spectators, and to descend, in order to
disappear. If, as has been objected, the actor only remained
on the elevation w^hilst speaking, the verbs would only have
acquired the meaning of "speaking" and " ceasing to speak,"
not "enter" and "exit."

As for the evidence of the theatres themselves, it is generally
agreed that there is no stone proscenium dating from the fifth
century, and that the proscenia (if any) of that age must have
been made of wood. I^ow, as wood perishes so easily, the
absence of wooden proscenia from the remains would be no
argument against their having once existed. But, as a matter
of fact, at Sicyon, traces of an earlier wooden proscenium have
been discovered beneath the foundations of the later pro-
scenium, and at Megalopolis also similar traces have been
found.

We may, then, reasonably suppose that there was an elevated
wooden stage in the theatres of the fifth century B.C. It does
not, however, follow from this that the wooden stage was of
exactly the same height as the stone proscenia. Such evidence
as we have points the other way. Pollux says that, before

^ Vesp. 1 5 14 : — KaTajSareov may mean descendcndum est in certamcn, but
is more natuiMlly taken in its literal sense.

682 THE THEATEE

Thespis, it was on a dresser (eAeos) that the actor mounted ;
Horace, in his line " dicitur et plaiistris vexisse poemata
Thespis," seems to allude to a tradition that Thespis acted on
a waggon ; and his statement that ^schylus " modicis instravit
pulpita tignis," implies that the stage of JEschylus was lower
than that of subsequent tragedians. Now, whatever the sources
of these traditions — that of Pollux has been supposed to be a
comedy burlesquing the origins of tragedy, a hypothesis which
fails, however, to account for the other two traditions — they
do harmonise with the history of tragedy as known to us. In
the beginning, the chorus was everything ; tragedy was an
affair between the chorus and its leader. Then an actor was
introduced, then a second, then a third ; and the chorus' con-
cern in the action of the play was proportionately diminished
at each step, until, in the plays of Euripides, the chorus is an
encumbrance, destructive of dramatic illusion, which he cannot
suppress, but does try to ignore. Parallel with this process in
the internal development of the drama, we have a similar develop-
ment of the stage, which, as being the acting-place, increases in
importance with the increasing importance of the actors. When
there was no actor, there was no stage, but a dresser or waggon.
The single actor performed on a stage of " modicis tignis,"
which allowed of easy and ready communication between
actor and chorus ; and the plays of Euripides, which require
the chorus to be ignored as far as possible, were performed on
a stage so high that the spectator, to see the actors, must over-
look the choreutae.

As yet, nothing has been said of the evidence to be drawn
from individual plays themselves, or particular passages in those
plays; the reason is that the evidence is not, and from the
nature of the case cannot be, conclusive. Let it be granted
that the action of a play requires, at certain points, contact
between the actors and the choreutae : it does not therefore follow
that there was no stage, and that the actors were always in the
orchestra. That hypothesis would indeed account for the facts
of the case ; but the facts are equally well explained by the
assumption that the stage was low, and communication easy.
However, for the sake of completeness, let us inquire whether
there is anything in the practice of the Athenian stage, as indi-
cated in the extant plays of the period, which is inconsistent,
even with a stage ten feet deep and twelve feet above the
orchestra. In the first place, we have the cases in which the
chorus undoubtedly did come on by the stage and descend into
the orchestra; or ascend from the orchestra, and make their

THE BUILDINGS 6S^

exit Ijy cither the central door in the scene, or by one of the
side exits. 1 The entrance or exit of the chorus by the central
door, and the steps opposite it, ^vllich led to the orchestra, causes
no difficulty ; and on a stage fifty feet long, a chorus of fourteen
or fifteen people could have had no difficulty in filing out by a
side exit. Indeed, it is obvious that, if they stood in a row,
even half the length of the stage would suffice to accommodate
them all, and yet leave room for the actors. If, therefore, it
is necessary to believe, that in the SuppUaiit Wovien of Euri-
l)ides the chorus did actually embrace the knees of ^thra
(1. 8), there would certainly be room on the stage for the whole
of the cliurus ; as also, in the Orestes, round the bed of the hero,
especially if half the chorus were on one side of ^tlira or
Orestes, and half on the other. In fine, we may conclude that,
as regards tragedy, a stage the size of that at Epidaurus was
amply large enough to accommodate the chorus on the com-
paratively rare occasions when it was necessary for the chorus
to appear upon the stage. These occasions we have carefully to
distinguish from the passages in which the leader of the chorus
takes a part in the dialogue of the play. Where the leader of
the chorus stood, then, is matter for conjecture : hardly in the
orchestra, for not only would he be too far below and too far
away from the actors, but he would have to turn his back on
most, if not all, of the audience. Whether he stood on the
steps which led from the orchestra to the stage, or on the stage
itself, there is nothing to show. But the latter position in a
theatre as large and as open as were Greek theatres, was obvi-
ously recommended by the necessity under which actors lay of
turning their faces to the audience, and not sideways, in order
that their voices might travel to the whole of the spectators as
they sat on the hillside.

We next have to consider how far a stage only ten feet deep
could accommodate a comic chorus of twenty-four persons, and
afi'ord space for the lively part which the comic chorus takes in
the action of the play. There is a well-known passage in the
Knights of Aristophanes,^ which reads as though the chorus
chased and buffeted Cleon on the stage ; another in the Achar-
niaiLS,^ where one-half of the chorus seems to struggle on the
stage with the other half ; and either passage is enough to
indicate that a ten-foot stage would be inadequate for the action

^ ^.(/., /Esch. Eum. 185; Cho. 10; Pcrs. 106S ; cf. 1076 ; Eur. UcL^zj-
3S5, 315-527 ; other instances are quoted in Herm. G. A. iii. 126, but
admit of explanation.

2 247 TTOue irale top navovpyov, k.t.X. ^ 563 S.

684 THE THEATRE

required. But a closer examination of the passages referred to
will show that it is not necessary to assume that the chorus
ascended the stage. In the Acharnians, the struggle between
the two halves of the chorus took place in the orchestra, and
was a struggle on one side to mount the stage, and on the other
to prevent the ascent. In the Knights, there is a clear indica-
tion ^ that it was by the pair of conspirators, Demosthenes and
the sausage-seller, that Cleon was buffeted, while the chorus in
the orchestra below only contributed threatening gestures and
cries. 2

Finally, there are passages in which the actors seem to have
been in the orchestra, and not on the stage. Such are the
passage in the Frogs (297), already referred to; or that in the
Peace (905), where Trygseus apparently delivers Theoria into
the hands of the Prytanis as he sat in his reserved seat. On
the one hand, it is quite possible to maintain ^ that the action
here was only make-believe, and was not actually carried out. On
the other hand, it would undoubtedly add much to the humour
of the scene, if, for instance, in the Frogs, Dionysus did
really rush up to his own priest ; and it was not impossible or
difficult for a comic actor, in sock not buskin, to descend into
the orchestra.

It seems, then, that the evidence of the plays is not incompa-
tible with the assumption, even of a " Vitruvian stage ; " but this
fact is not conclusive, because the plays are also reconcilable
with the assumption that the acting-place was on a level with
the orchestra. The evident pains, however, which are taken
to prevent the chorus in the Knights, Acharnians, and Was2)s
from actually coming to blows with the actors, seem to indi-
cate that in Aristophanes' time, at any rate, communication

^ 257 ws VTT dvdpQu TUTTTOfxaL ^vvco/xotQu.

^ The other passages, which seem (but fail) to show the chorus in motion
on the stage, are : Ar. Av. 353-400, where the chorus only threaten the
stage, and do not actually get on to it ; Vesp. 403-458, where again the
wasps try to swarm the stage, but only try ; Pax, 426-550, a difficult
passage, resolved by 224, which shows that the cave was lower than the
stage, i.e., in the orchestra, and that therefore the chorus do not mount the
stage; Lys. 266-326, 476-483, 539-547, 1242, which are all equally re-
concilable with the supposition that the chorus remained in the orchestra.
As for Ar. Ach, 325, Eq. 490, these passages only show that the chorus, or
the leader, was near — not on — the stage. As regards tragedy, in Eur.
ffd. 1627, and Soph. 0. C. 856, the leader alone need be on the stage ; in
^sch. Sept. 95, and Supp. 222, the chorus need only approach, not mount,
the stage ; in ^Esch. P. V., it seems to me that at 129 the chorus enter the
orchestra, and at 279 approach the stage.

3 As has been done : Arnoldt, Chorparteien 56 ; Wecklein, Phil. Rund-
schau, 1884, No. 37.

SCENERY 685

was not altogether easy ; and this harmonises with the tlieory
that the wooden stage, which in the beginning was low, gradu-
ally increased in height, until at the end of the fifth century it
may have been as high as the Vitruvian stage.

Nor is the evidence of the plays more conclusive as regards
stage machinery and appliances, for stage effects which could
not be produced on a mere temporary wooden proscenium, may
be explained as well on the hypothesis that they, like Shake-
speare's scenery, were left to the imagination of the spectators,
as on the theory that there was no stage at all.

Finally, Dr. Dorpfeld's idea that a proscenium, twelve feet
high and nine feet wide, was too high and too narrow to be a
stage, even if it were correct — and all the evidence, as we have
seen, is against it — would not apply to the fifth century B.C.,
for tlie wooden proscenia may, for anything we know, have
been as low and as wide as you please. And, this being so,
there is no reason to infer, either that the actors performed in
the orchestra, or that a platform {OviikXr]) was erected (as some
writers have supposed) to bring the chorus almost on to a level
with the stafje.

CHAPTER III

SCENERY

"VViTH what amount of scenic illusion the three great trage-
dians put their plays upon the stage is a most interesting
question. To begin with, most of the plays of ^schylus can
have had no scenery whatever. Some were played in the
open market-place ; and even when the orchestra was trans-
ferred, about B.C. 500, to the lienseum, scenery was not forth-
with introduced. The introduction of scene-painting was,
according to Aristotle, due to Sophocles ; and, therefore, if it
took place during the life of ^schylus at all, can only have
occurred in the last ten years of his life. Sophocles' earliest
drama dates B.C. 469, i^schylus' last play, B.C. 458. The
ancient building, to which the chorus in the Persce (produced,
B.C. 472) allude,^ must thus have existed solely in the eye of
the beholder, and the same was probably the case with the
temple in the Seven againat Thehes (produced, B.C. 467). The

^ 140 t65' iue^dfievoi cFriyos ipxaiov, and the xpvaeo<TTb\ixovs 86/j.ovs of
159, were put on the stage at no other cost than that of the poet's
imagination.

686 THE THEATRE

date of the Prometlieus Bound is unknown, hut it is plainly
impossihle to maintain ^ that within ten years of the introduc-
tion of scene painting a play ended with a tremendous scenic
spectacle, in which the rock of Prometheus split, to the
accompaniment of (stage) thunder and lightning, and Prome-
theus himself disappeared before the eyes of the spectators. In-
deed, we may go further, and say that, not even the dullest of
antiquaries could be excused for imagining that, at the beginning
of the play, Prometheus was realistically hammered with stage
nails on to a stage rock. The fact that Hephaestus carefully
explains, in set words, that he is now about to nail Prometheus
to this inhuman rock, is itself plain proof that he was going to
leave the proceeding to the imagination of the audience — else,
why explain so carefully? We know that Shakespeare was
spared the limelight, and that is precisely the reason why we
are fortunate enough to possess the lines —

" How sweet the moonliglit sleeps upon this bank. ...
Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold." "^

Shakespeare could not have written up the lime-light in that
way. So, too, when ^schylus^ described the thunder and
lightning which were to overwhelm Prometheus, and the chasm
which was to engulf Prometheus, and the rock on which he was
bound, he was writing as a poet, not as the composer of the
"puff preliminary." But why confine ourselves, in drawing
inferences, to a single passage in the play ? If the passage just
alluded to may be legitimately used to illustrate the stage of
^schylus, why not also that ^ in which he describes an earth-

^ As is done in Hermann G. A. iii. 113, n. 3, on the strength of P. V.
1018 (quoted below). - Merchant of Venice, v. i.

3 P. V. 1018:—

UpCjTa fxev yap OKplSa
^dpayya ^poi^rrj Kai Kepavvia (p\oyl
Uarrjp airapd^ei Trjvbe, Kai Kpv\pei 5e/xas
To abu, Trerpaia 5' dyKaXr] ae jSaardaeL.

I', V. 10 o

Kai jxriv epyo) koi)k en fivdcp
'K6C0P aeadXevrai
Bpoxt'a 5' TjxCo Trapa/xvKCLTaL
BpovTTJs, eXiKes 5' eKKafxirovai
1.T€po7rrjs ^dirvpoi. (TTpbjjL^oL 5e kovlv
EiX(cr(70i'(Tt, aKLprd 5' dve/xwv
IIiei'yLtara irdvTwv, els dWrj\a
"Zrdcnv dvTlirvovv dirodeiKi^vfjiei'a
HvvTeTapaKTai 5' aidrjp irbvTto.

SCENERY 62>7

quake? If it he replied that the reason for not taking tliis
passage as a hteral description of stage effects actually produced
in the time of ^schylus, is that they were then impossible,
and if the bounds of possibility are to be regarded as the sole
limits which the Three recognised in staging their plays, it will
follow that the opening scene of the Ajax of Sophocles was staged
with — real sheep ! They were plenty in Athens. There would
be the victims offered on the 6v[M€Xrj ; and, if further proof
is necessary, we may refer to a passage, which antiquaries have
not yet utilised, in which a real sheep was brought on the
Athenian stage by Aristophanes (Peace, 1020);

But if we prefer to hold that the Lenaeum and the Lyceum
(London) were conducted on different principles, we shall be-
lieve that the dramatists who required their audience to
imagine that it was the dead of night, when it was really broad
day,i were also capable of describing storms,^ destructions of
cities,^ &c., which they left to the imagination of the audience,
and not to the apyj,riKT(Dv of the theatre, to realise. We shall
believe that the poet, who left the lightning to be supplied by
the spectators, left also the thunder, and that the machine for
producing stage-thunder^ was the invention of a later age. We
shall take it as a general rule that a set description of a possible
(or impossible) stage effect was intended by the dramatist as a
deliberate substitute for a set piece. We must, consequently,
decline to admit that, in the Suppliant Women ^ of Euripides,
Evadne actually threw herself from a rock, or even had any
stage-rock to throw herself from. In the theatres with per-
manent stone stages, which Pollux and Vitruvius knew in later
times, the back of the stage was doubtless built in two or three
storeys, and, doubtless, also, in post-classical revivals of the
Agamemnon, the appearance of the watchman on the distegia ^
was an unrivalled attraction.''' I3ut in the time of ^schylus, we

1 E.g., Eur. El. 54 ; Ar. Nuh. 2. "-^ Soph. 0. C. 1502.

'^ Eur. Troad. 1 320. ■* Ibid. 1015, 1045, 1069.

^ Poll. iv. 130, ^povrecov. If we may trust the writer de Comad. (ed.
Diibner), xx. 28, x^^poT^^o-KTio -rrvpi, stage-lightnint:, was also invented.
Whether it was produced by means of torches, as Muhl suggests, or other-
wise, as Lohde, is of little interest. Stage-lightning in an open-air theatre
will hardly be considered as a worthy or likely part of the scenic effects at
the command of ^Eschylus or Sophocles.

^' Poll. iv. 129, 17 de dLareyia irork fxh eu olVw ^aaiXeiq} Slopes Swudrtoi',
olov d0' oO eu ^oLvicr<rais tj \\vTL-y6fT] /SXcTret rbf arpaTov — Pollux refers to
Phan. 89 — TTOT^ be Kai Kepa/j.os a(p' ov ^dWovcri ry Kepd/xcp — to Eur. Or. 1 567.

^ The same considerations apply to Vitiuv. v. 6, 8 ; Poll. iv. 129, iv 5^
Kcofjufdig. dirb t^5 Siareyias iropvotioffKol ri KaToirrevovatu, k. t. X., and Ar.
Lys. 864, 874, 883 ; Eccl. Syj, 884, 024, 930, 961 ; Vcsjx 370, 387, 396.

6SS THE THEATRTl!

may be sure that the stage itself was regarded, hj the courtesy
of the spectators, as a palace-roof, that Zeus and his court of
attendant deities appeared, in the Psycliostasia of /Eschylus, on
the ordinary stage, and that the OeoXoydov in the flies, which
Pollux mentions,^ was post-classical.

The TrepiaKTOL, which belong to post-classical times, cannot
be ascribed, on any evidence, to the age of the three great
tragedians, and they evidently presuppose something stronger
than a wooden stage, for they were huge prisms, revolving on
a pivot, having on each side a different scene. One was placed
at each side of the stage, where the side scenes of a modern
stage are, and they were turned round, to indicate a change of
scene. On the other hand, trap-doors {dvaTrtca-fxara) were
quite practicable in the wooden stage of ^schylus, and may
have been used in the Persce, though in that play the ghost
of Darius might be supposed to have ascended by the yaprn'toi
KXifxaKcs, if we knew exactly what they were.

As for the chariots in the Prometheus,^ the Agamemnon,^
and various plays of Euripides,* which some antiquaries have
maintained were brought on the stage, we cannot but reflect
that their chariot wheels would drive somewhat heavily up the
stairs which led to the stage, and the real horses we must class
with the real sheep of the Ajax.^

Finally, there was no curtain in the Greek theatre; and,
therefore, at the end of the play, the actors must have walked
off, and if supposed at the beginning to be " discovered," must
have walked on before the eyes of the beholders.

That scene painting was introduced by Sophocles, we have
the authority of Aristotle to show. That a scene was really
used on the ancient stage is perhaps more satisfactorily guaran-
teed by the great care the ancient playwrights took never to

^ Poll. iv. 130, airh hk tou deoXoyeiov 6'i'ros vir^p ttiV aKrjvrjv ip v\pei iwKpai-
vovrai deol, (hs 6 Zevs /cat ol irepl avrhv iv xl/vxocTTaaia.

- 284. 3 7^2

^ Tro. 56S and 774 ; El. 99S, 1135 ; Iph. Aul. 610.

^ A. Mliller (Herm. G. A. iii. 134, n. i) agrees with Wecklein [Phil. Anz.
xiii. 441), that "there is nothing against the appearance of horses and
chariots on the Xo7e?oi'," uid regards ^sch. Eum. 405, iruAoLt aK/xaiois
t6v8' iiri^ev^aa-' Sxov, as " decisive." But the same method of argument will
require us to believe, that in the P. V., Oceanus appeared on a pantomime
gritfin, and the words —

Tov TTTepvycjKrj rovh'' oltjivhv
yvL')fjL-Q (TTO/uLicjp 6.Tep evdvv<j}V,

will be an apology for the property-man's having omitted to provide it
with reins.

SCENERY 689

change it. When scenery is quite unknown, there is no reason
why the playwright should not change the scene with the
greatest frequency, as is done by Shakespeare. But the case
is different when scenery is in its infancy. The difficulty of
changing the scene may be so great as practically to make a
change of scene impossible. It has frequently been stated
that TrepMKTOi were used on the classical Greek stage to effect
a change of scenery, as regards the side wings, and that a
curtain could be raised in front of the stage, or at least of the
scene, to conceal the process of change from the audience.
There is, however, as has already been said, no evidence to
show, or reason to make it likely, that there was anything
in the nature of side wings, or of a curtain, in the time of the
great tragedians. It is, therefore, of interest to observe that
the only instances in Greek drama in which a change of scene
is intended by the playwright, are the Eummides of v^schylus,
and the Ajax, an early play of Sophocles. After the time of
this last play, no change of scene was attempted, and about this
time scene painting was introduced. It may, then, not be un-
reasonable to infer a causal connection between the two. Be
this as it may, there is no doubt that the introduction of scene
painting was followed by the introduction of other stage
effects. In enumerating these, we shall confine ourselves to
such stage devices as can be shown, by contemporary evidence,
to have been used on the classical stage.

The first machine that we have to mention is the eKKVKkijfxa.
AVe probably have to represent this to ourselves as a sort of
trolly, that is, as a few boards nailed together, and mounted
on wheels. It was big enough, perhaps, for two or three
people to stand on, or for a chair to be placed upon it. The
evidence for the use of this machine in classical times is to be
found in two passages of Aristophanes — Thesin. 95 f., and Ach.
408 f. — while the name and the description rest on the authority
of Pollux iv. 128, and various scholiasts. The way in which
it might be used is illustrated by the passages in Aristophanes.
In the first passage referred to, Euripides and jNfnesiloclius are
represented as paying a visit to Agathon. They arrive at the
house at the moment when Agathon is about to come out.
"Hush!" says Euripides. "What is it?" says Mnesilochus.
"Agathon is coming out." — "Agathon?" — "Yes! there he is
being wheeled out." And then Agathon is wheeled on to the
stage, accompanied by the chorus. In the scene which follows,
Mnesilochus is dressed up as a woman by Agathon, who has
apparently brought the necessary properties with him on the

2 X

690 THE THEATRE

kKKVKXi]ixa. The passage in the Acharnians is of precisely the
same nature : Dicaeopolis calls on Euripides, in order to borrow
a dramatic costume from him. On a modern stage, after
Dicseopolis had announced his intention of calling on Euripides,
the curtain would fall, there would be a change of scene, and
the next scene would represent the interior of Euripides' house ;
Dicseopolis would then come on from without, and the request
for a costume, together with the apparelling of Dicaeopolis,
would be represented as taking place in the interior of Euri-
pides' house. But the order of things is different in the
Acharnians. There, after Dicseopolis has announced his in-
tention of calling on Euripides, the scene remains unchanged :
Dicseopolis knocks at the door of a house, assumed to be that
of Euripides, and requests Euripides to come out to him. At
first, Euripides declines ; but afterwards he says he will allow
himself to be wheeled out. And then follows a scene which
would naturally take place in the house, but actually occurs
outside the house. The only conclusion which it is possible to
draw from this is, that the eccyclema was employed to obviate
the necessity of a change of scene. What took place on the
eccyclema was conventionally regarded as happening in an
interior. The scene was not changed, but the appearance of
the kKKVKXriixa was an indication to the audience that they
were to imagine that a change of scene had taken place ; and
when the machine was pulled off, the spectators knew that the
scene was again supposed to change. How far the appearance
of the iKKVKX7]fxa helped the imagination of the spectators is
matter for conjecture. In the Thesmophoriazusoe, a bed is men-
tioned, and the appearance of a bed would be quite enough to
notify the audience that the interior of a house was supposed
to be before them. It seems, further, in accordance with the
primitive nature of this contrivance, that, beyond the presence
on the eKKVKXrjiia of a few articles of furniture, such as would
serve to characterise an interior, no attempt would be made to
present a real room to the eyes of the spectator. Exactly the
same reticence with regard to the furniture is observed on vase-
paintings which represent interiors.

The use of the eKKVKXrjiia cannot be supposed to have been
confined to comedy. We may be sure that in the two pas-
sages just discussed, Aristophanes was parodying something in
tragedy, and as in both cases Euripides appears, we may feel
that there is a reasonable presumption that it is the use made
of the eccyclema by Euripides that Aristophanes is parodying.
As a matter of fact, it is in the Hippolytus, the play which is

SCENERY 691

represented by Aristophanes as having provoked the women of
Athens to the measures which he describes them as meditat-
ing in the Thesmoplioriazusce, that we find a case in whicli tlie
€KKVKXr]ixa may well have been employed. The scene of ihe
IIi]>X)ohjtus is laid in the neighbourhood of a temple of Artemis
and the palace of Theseus; and there, in the open air, the
action of the play takes place for the first 800 lines. The
action of the play, then, is shifted to the interior of the palace,
but it is clear from the dialogue that no change is, or could be,
made in the scenery. Theseus bids the servants open the doors,
in order that he may see the dead body of his wife, and with
this intimation that the interior of the palace is supposed to be
before them, the spectators had to be content. At the same
time, however, the corpse, extended od, a couch, is wheeled on
to the stage on the kKKVKXy^fxa. "Whether the €KKVK\y][ia was
pushed on to the stage through the door of the palace, or from
the side of the stage, it is certain that it could not be very
large ; it could not be deeper than the stage itself, and the
Greek stage was probably narrow from front to back. In the
Hercules Furens of Euripides, we have another instance of the
use of the iKKVKXyjixa in the same way : for the first thousand
lines the action of the play takes place in the open air, then
shifts to the interior of the palace, as was intimated to the
audience by an exclamation from the chorus, who call atten-
tion to the opening of the doors of the palace. The iKKVKXyjixa is
wheeled on. and upon it are Hercules, and the corpses of his wife
and children. In the Ajax of Sophocles, we may have another
instance. The scene is at first the exterior of Ajax' tent. In
line 344, the chorus call on Tecmessa to open the tent, in order
that they may see Ajax ; and the words with which she in-
timates, " I comply, and, lo ! behold him," were the signal for
the appearance of the kKKVKXiqixa with Ajax upon it. A scene
follows, which is evidently conceived as taking place in the
interior of the tent, and is terminated by the words in which
Ajax bids Tecmessa close the tent (1. 595). To these instances
of the use of the eccyclema, we may add the Elcdra of
Sophocles (1458 f.), which resembles them. The instances of
its use in the plays of ^schylus are by no means so conclusive.
It is, as we have already said, far from certain that any of
^schylus' plays had scenery of any description, and it is cer-
tain, so far as certainty can be attained in these matters, that it
was only quite the latest of his plays that could have been
mounted with scenery. The date of the introduction of the
iKKVKXt]ixa on the stage is uncertain. It mav be accidental and

692 THE THEATRE

uniiieaning tliat it is Euripides' use of this machine that Aristo-
phanes parodies ; on the other hand, it is not impossible that
it was Euripides who introduced the eKKij/cAi^/xa. The idea of
the eKKVKXi-jiia is so primitive and simple, or seems so to us —
it was, we must repeat, but a few boards nailed together, and set
upon wheels — that it may have been hit upon before the in-
vention of scenery ; while, on the other hand, there was so much
make-believe in a play of ^schylus, that the machine would
have been almost superfluous. But, as we can reach no deci-
sive consideration from a priori reasoning, we must consult
the plays themselves. The famous scene in the Agamemnon,
where Cly temestra describes how she has murdered her husband,
has long been quoted as the stock example of the use of the
iKKVKXi-jixa. Ko change of scene is supposed by commentators,
or implied by the poet, as taking place ; but it is supposed by
writers on antiquities that the bodies of Agamemnon and Cas-
sandra were wheeled on to the stage, and that Cly temestra
vented her triumph and her insults over the bodies. In support
of this view, expressions are pointed to, in which Cly temestra
speaks as though the bodies were before her. But such ex-
pressions prove nothing. Cly temestra, for the information of
the chorus, is acting the whole scene of the murder over again,
and behaves as though the bodies were before her, but it is
only "as though." And what seems to be conclusive on the
point, is that, not only is there no intimation given to the audi-
ence that the bodies are being brought on to the stage, but the
chorus all through speak and behave as though Clytemestra
were merely telling them about it, and they never let fall any
remark which can lead to the idea that they themselves saw
the bodies, or were supposed by Clytemestra to see them.
]^or, again, in the Choejihori, is there anything to compel us
to assume that the kKKVKXi^fxa was used. When Clytemestra
and ^gisthus have been killed by Orestes behind the scenes,
after the declamation of an ode by the chorus, Orestes comes
out of the palace, or perhaps rather appears at the door of
the palace, and calls the chorus to behold the corpses. But
all the needs of the situation would be fully met if the
corpses were left to the imagination of the spectators. It is
necessary, for the action of the play, that the chorus should be
supposed to see the corpses ; and it is not in the least neces-
sary for the understanding of the play that the audience should
see them.

Finally, in this connection, w^e come to the Eumenides.
The play opens with a speech of the Pythia, who comes out

SCENERY 693

of the temple, and describes the sight slie has seen in tlie
temple — Orestes, surrounded by the sleeping Erinyes. She
goes off, and there follows a dialogue Ijetween Apollo and
Orestes, in which Apollo alludes to the presence of the Erinyes.
From this it has been inferred that, after the exit of the Pythia,
an €KKVKXr]fxa was wheeled on to the stage, and on it Apollo,
Orestes, and the sleeping Erinyes. But, in the first place, it
seems extravagant to imagine an eKKVKXi^fxa so huge as would
be necessary for a group of this extent ; and, in the next place,
there is nothing in the words of the play to necessitate the
assumption that the chorus was wheeled on to the stage in this
way. After the exit of the Pythia, Apollo and Orestes un-
doubtedly walked, and were not wheeled, on to the stage. The
flight of Orestes has already begun ; and Apollo's reference to
the Erinyes, as though they were still around Orestes, would
be quite clear enough to the audience, if accompanied by a
gesture to the door of the temple, from which he and Orestes
have just come. Further, we have to remember that the
iKKVKXtyxa, where it is undoubtedly used, as in the Ajax, and
the plays of Euripides referred to, was used because the action
of the play necessitated a change of scene, and the resources of
the Athenian stage did not admit of a change of scenery. This
reflection, which is another presumption in favour of supposing
that the use of the €KKVKXyyxa was introduced later than scenery,
and was later than the time of ^schylus, taken in conjunction
with the probability that scenery was not used by ^schylus,
makes the use of the eKKVKXiqiia in the Eiimenides most unlikely.
As we have already said, scenery was first used by Sophocles,
and, therefore, can only have been used by ^schylus in his
later plays, and may very well have never been used by him.
Again, as long as no scenery exists, it is easy for the play-
wright to get his audience to imagine a change of scene ; but
when a piece of scenery is actually before the eyes of the
spectators, the playwright is debarred from asking the audience
to imagine that a totally diff'erent scene is before them. The
€i<KVKXi]ixa was invented as a way out of this impasse. And it
is the only way out that we have any reason to believe was
used by the Three. Now, in the Eumpnides there is, later in the
play, an undoubted change of scene, and a change which quite
as undoubtedly could not have been indicated by the use of the
€KKVKX-)]im. This fact renders it probable that not even in this,
the latest of his plays, did ^Eschylus employ scenery ■. and if
no scenery, then no cKKiV-Aiy/ia.

The only other machine which can be ascribed to the

694 THE THEATRE

classical Greek stage is that on which the deus ex macldna
made his ajDpearaiice or disappearance. He was lifted from
or let down on to the stage by ropes, which, in the clear day-
light, must have been very visible to the spectators, and the
device is to be regarded as extremely rude and primitive, when
compared with the skill with which, in a modern pantomime, a
similar illusion is made to deceive the senses of the spectators.
The use of this device in classical times is guaranteed by a
passage of Plato, and by the parodies of it, which appear in
comedy. As instances of parody, the reader will at once call
to mind the KpeixdOpa, in which, in the Clouds, Socrates is made
to levitate, and the Beetle, on which, in the Peace, Trygaeus is
made to soar to Olympus. In a fragment of the Dcedaleis of
Aristophanes, we have also an address to the man in charge of
the machinery, by which one of the characters is to be raised
aloft, as we also have in the Peace, 174. Alexis also, another
comedian, ridicules the use of the macJmia on which the
deus was made to appear. How the KpefxdOpa was raised and
lowered we do not exactly know. When, as in later times,
there was a permanent stone stage, with a balcony running
along over the top of the scene, the machine could, of course,
easily be worked from the balcony; but in classical times,
when there was only a wooden stage, and when we have no
evidence to show that there could have been any such balcony,
we shall probably not be far wrong in assuming that the
god was raised and lowered by means of a tall crane behind
the scene.

Thus we see that the amount of scenic illusion which the
three great tragedians had at their disposal was exceedingly
small. In the time of ^schylus, it is probable that there was
no scenery at all. After his time there was a scene (but no
side wings), which could not be changed during the course of
a play, and which, owing to its general character — it repre-
sented the exterior of a temple and of a house, which might be
any temple and any house — would serve equally well for the
majority of plays put upon the classical stage. At the same
time, there were plays which required a different scene, such,
for instance, as the Ajax of Sophocles, in which the scene
represented was the exterior of a tent. When the action of
the play required that the scene should be shifted from the
exterior to the interior of the palace, the audience were
simply expected to imagine that the scene had been changed ;
and, as the reason why a change of scene had to be imagined
at all, was that the author required on the stage certain

THE ACTORS AND THEIR COSTUMES 695

characters, who, from the ciruuDistances of the case, coukl
not be made to walk on to the stage, such characters were
dra,fTged on to the stage on the €KKVKX^yxa. Lastly, a crane
and pulley were enough to let down a god from the sky, or
to lift him over the scene.

CHAPTER IV

THE ACTORS AND THEIR COSTUMES

It is not merely consistent with the view (expressed in the last
chapter) of the extreme simplicity of the stage and scenery of
the Greek theatre in classical times, but a confirmation of it,
that the costumes of the actors and of the chorus were elaborate
and expensive. The same contrast between the bareness of
the stage and the richness of the actors' dress characterised
the mounting of Shakespeare's plays in Shakespeare's time.
Before, however, describing the dress of the actors, we must
first say something of the masks which were worn by all charac-
ters, both of tragedy and comedy, at all periods of the Greek
drama. The cause in which this custom had its origin, is
plainly the fact that, on the Greek stage, one actor had to
play many parts in the same play, and women's parts as well
as men's. The conditions which permitted it to continue,
even at a time when it might have been expected to be cast
aside, were the vast size of the theatre, the large number of
the audience, and the great distance between the spectators
and the stage.

The masks were made of linen, sometimes of cork, and must
have been constructed on the principle of a helmet and visor,
for they covered, not only the face, but also the head, both back
and front, and were held in position by straps under the chin.
A large number of masks were kept in stock by the property-
man for the performance of tragedy. They were divided into
four kinds, according to the class of character to be presented
on the stage, viz., old men, young men, attendants, and women.
Each of these four classes comprised a number of difterent
specimens of its type. There were six different varieties of old
men, eight of young men, three of attendants, and eleven of
women. The masks used in the Old Comedy had to be made to
suit the particular piay which was to be put on the stage, as
caricatures might be required, and fantastic masks would cer-

696 THE THEATRE

tainly be wanted. The use in tragedy of the same stock masks
for different plays, by different authors, would have been im-
possible, had not there been a constant reproduction of the same
type of character in those plays. From this point of view, it
is interesting to note that, in the New Comedy, there must have
been a distinct movement towards individualisation of character.
'J'here were five types of character, instead of four. Further, the
change from heroic to domestic scenes is reflected in the sub-
stitution of slaves for attendants, in the appearance of two
classes of women's masks instead of one, in the increase of
young men's masks from eight to eleven, and in the appearance
of fourteen varieties of young women. The various kinds of
masks were distinguished by the different treatment of the
brows, eyebrows, and hair. Each conventional variety of
character had its stock mask, and was recognised by the
spectators, without a programme, the moment it appeared on
the stage, just as readily as the deities were recognised by
their attributes — Heracles by his club, Apollo by his bow,
Athena by her segis.

In the case of tragic masks, the hair was not attached directly
to the top of the mask, but to a high triangular headpiece — the
oyKos — which was fastened to the top of the mask. From the
oyKos, which was itself concealed by the hair, the hair fell down
on both sides of the brow (Fig. 41). The object of the oyKos was
to add to the height, and therefore to the majesty of the actor.
It was accordingly taller in the case of the more important per-
sonages, and uniformly less for female characters. Finally, in
addition to the ordinary set of masks, there were special masks,
for the blind OEdipus, for instance ; and in comedy, for the fan-
tastic creations, such as the frogs, the wasps, the fishes, &c., of
the Old Com.edy.

The costume of the Greek stage, with the exception of that
of the fantastic creations just mentioned, and of the Silenus
and satyrs of the Satyric drama, was that of ordinary life. For
comedy this is plain, both from the nature of tlie scenes
enacted, and from passages in comedy itself, and is universally
admitted. In tragedy, however, the fact is obscured by the
statements of the grammarians, who have elaborated an extra-
ordinary wardrobe for tragic actors, out of expressions in
tragedy, which are, in all probability, but poetical devices,
to evade the use of commonplace names of clothing, but have
been erroneously imagined by the grammarians to indicate the
use of special pieces of costume peculiar to the tragic stage. It
i.«, however, clear that, in the time of ^schylus, the linen chiton

Fig. 41.— Tkagic Actor. (Schueibeh, iv. 9.)
{An ivortj sUductfr.)

6g8 THE THEATRE

predominated.^ From passages in Sopliocles,^ it is clear that the
garments worn by Jocasta and Deianira were not sewn or made
garments, i.e., were not the Ionic chiton, but the Doric chiton,
of wool, which required to be kept in their place by means of
brooches. In Euripides, the linen, Ionic chiton again appears.
Thus we see that tragedy reflects the changes of costume which
were taking place in ordinary life : the fashion of the linen,
Ionic chiton gives way before the Doric garment, which, how-
ever, does not entirely drive its rival out of the field. It is, of
course, but natural that tragedy, though reflecting the costume
of ordinary life, should select that costume which was most
appropriate to its own purposes ; and accordingly, we find that
the costume of tragedy was the costume worn, not every day,
but on high-days and festivals. The long chiton, reaching to
the feet (Fig. 41), and, therefore, unsuitable for active exercise
and daily occupations, was that in which gorgeous tragedy most
appropriately came sweeping by. For precisely the same reason,
the old-fashioned, majestic chiton, girt in the old-fashioned way,
close beneath the armpits, was retained by priests and others
with solemn functions to perform ; and it is only by a violent
emendation, and an improbable conjecture, that the least
ground can be obtained for maintaining that tragedy borrowed
its costume from the Hierophants and Daduchi of the Eleu-
sinian mysteries. The only other differences between the
costume of tragedy and that of ordinary life were those due
to the endeavour to increase the apparent height and size of
the actor. Thus, the actor w^as padded out with bolsters and
cushions under his chiton ; consequently an ample robe was
necessary, and the width of the robe made it possible to give
the actor something much more like sleeves than was the case
with the ordinary Greek. These sleeves, again, were necessary
to cover the wrists of the padded gloves, which the actor had
to wear, in order to make his hands appear of proportionate
size to the rest of his padded body. At the same time, the
colours of the tragic dresses were naturally more gorgeous than
those of ordinary life. Purple and gold, and brilliant white,
were appropriate to the more magnificent personages, and were
enhanced by the grey, green, blue, and black of mourners and
suppliants, or the ragged heroes of Euripides. The gods, again,
were re])resented with their attributes : Athene with the segis,
Hermes with his herald's staff, Heracles with his club. Kinss

^ Cf. Persce, 125 ; Supp. iii ; S. c. Th. 1023.
2 O. T. 1268; TracU. 924.

THE ACTORS AND TIIKIR COSTUMES 699

had their sceptres, and other characters their staves, whicli
were all the more necessary, because the actor was elevated on
shoes, with soles so high that they must have required as much
skill to walk in as would stilts, which, indeed, they sometimes
seem to have resembled. In the Satyric drama, the costume of
the Silenus and satyrs requires notice. Sometimes the Sileni
are represented as wearing a short chiton, reaching to the knee,
made of goat-skin, and hose of the same material. Frequently,
however, they are represented as covered with some shaggy
material, which fits tight to the person, and covers the whole
of the body, except the head, hands, and feet. The chorus of
satyrs wore a light costume, consisting of a narrow girdle of
goat-skin, and possibly tights, designed to produce the effect
of nudity.

The costume of comedy, both of the Old and the Xew, was,
as we have already said, that of ordinary life. The social posi-
tion of each character was, therefore, at once indicated to the
spectators by the costume he wore : the slave by the ejw/zi?,
the countryman by his leather garments, the parasite by his
raiment of grey or black. The shoes, with tall, cork soles, which
were employed in tragedy (Fig. 41), were foreign to comedy.
Majesty was not sought for in comedy, and the liveliness of
the action of comedy made such stilt-like shoes out of the ques-
tion. At the same time, scenes such as that in the Birds (934 f.),
where the slave is made to strip, rendered it necessary for the
comic actor to be clothed in a o-w/xartoi/, or suit of tights. And,
further, scenes, such as that in which Dionysus and his slave,
Xanthias, are scourged by ^acus, show that these tights must
have been put on over the bolsters and pads — Trpoyaa-Tpiha and
TT/ooo-re/jvtSia— which, as we have already seen, were worn by
tragic actors, to lend dignity to their persons, and were worn
by comic actors for precisely the opposite purpose, as is shown
by the pictures on vases (Figs. 39 and 40). It is true that these
grotesque pictures are found on vases from Lower Italy, and
are mainly representations of the phlyakes, as these drolls and
buffoons were called in Italy. But tlie use of the a-w/xctTtov and
the TTpoa-repvihiov is sufficiently guaranteed by the passages in
Aristophanes already quoted. Finally, the use of the croipidTLov
in the New Comedy is proved by the numerous representations
on ancient monuments, in which arms and legs are depicted as
clad in the same material. The grotesque padding of the Old
Comedy is, of course, dropped in a form of comedy which aimed
at the faithful representation of life.

The meaning of the Greek word for actor, iVoK/Dirvi^, has

700 THE THEATRE

been interpreted very variously, but the most plausible inter-
pretation is still that given by Welcker, according to which
the inroKpiT'/js was the person who made answer to the chorus,
or rather to the leader of the chorus. Dialogue is the essence
of dramatic representation, as opposed to the narrative, which
historically preceded the drama. The introduction of an actor
was popularly ascribed in antiquity to Thespis. In any case,
at this period in the development of the drama, the leader of
the chorus seems to have been the protagonist, or more impor-
tant actor, and the viroKptrris to have been the deuteragonist.
^schylus not only introduced a second actor, but, according to
K. F. Hermann's conjecture, made one of the two actors the
protagonist; thus, whilst reducing the extent of the chorus's
part, also making the dialogue between the actors the most
important element in the play. Finally, Sophocles intro-
duced a third actor, the tritagonist; and three remained the
number of actors employed in a tragedy. The number em-
ployed in comedy is not so satisfactorily established. An
anonymous Greek writer on comedy says Cratinus first re-
stricted the number to three ; Aristotle contents himself with
saying that the early history of comedy eluded historical re-
search. Modern investigation shows that, with similar excep-
tions to those in tragedy, any of the surviving comedies of
Aristoj^hanes could, as a matter of possibility, be performed by
three actors.

A first and most obvious exception, both in tragedy and
in comedy, to the rule that only three actors were employed,
occurs in the use of supernumeraries, to perform the part of
attendants on distinguished persons, &c. A second and natural
exception is afforded by such characters as Bia in the Prome-
theus Bound, and Pylades, in various pieces, who appear upon
the stage, and are addressed or referred to by other characters,
but have themselves no lines to say. It was, further, an easy
extension of the function of such a supernumerary, to make him
act on occasions, such as the end of the Alcestis, or the middle
of the (Eclipus at Golonus, where, in the one case Alcestis, in
the other Ismene, has nothing to say, and the actor of that
part was required, at the time, for other purposes. Again, in
the Alcestis and the Andromache, children are required amongst
the dramatis ])ersonc€, as also in the Acharnians. Further,
a fourth actor would undoubtedly be required in the Achar-
?iians, the Wasjjs, the Birds, and other comedies, and probably
in the CEdipus at Cuhmns — unless, indeed, we imagine that the
part of Theseus was divided amongst all three actors. Finally,

THE ACTOKS AND TIIKIR COSTUMES 7OI

in some plays, such as the Eumenides and the Lysislrata, a
second chorus was obviously required.

In the earliest period of the drama, the author himself acted,
and undoubtedly acted as protagonist. There seems to be no
reason to doubt the statement of Athenaeus (I. 20 F), that
^Eschylus acted in his plays, or that Soj^hocles, owing to tlie
weakness of his voice, only appeared upon the stage twice. At
this period, probably, authors, when they did not themselves
act, chose their actors. In later times, actors were assigned to
them by lot, as is stated in a gloss, preserved in various lexico-
graphers, which runs as follows : " The poets used to take three
actors, assigned by lot, who acted their plays, and of whom the
victor henceforth was taken untested." The meaning of this is,
that actors who wished to take part in the tragic contest as
protagonists, offered themselves to the proper authority. By the
application of some test, these protagonists were reduced to the
number of three, and one was assigned to each of the three
competing poets. A prize was given to the protagonist who
acted best ; and the prize-winner henceforward was exempted
from the necessity of submitting to the preliminary examina-
tion. This explanation of the gloss is confirmed by inscriptions
relating to the fifth century B.C. (C. /. ^. ii. 972), from which it
appears that one and the same actor played as protagonist in
all the three pieces which a poet put on to the stage. From
inscriptions relating to the fourth century (C. I. A. ii. 973),
it seems that a still further change was made, and each prota-
gonist played in one piece of each of the three competing poets,
and each poet had one of the three ])rotagonists in one of his
plays, another in another, and the third in the third.

The protagonist seems, at any rate in the time of Demos-
thenes,^ to have carried the deuteragonist and tritagonist with
him : whoever paid the protagonist (and it is uncertain whether,
in early times, it was the state, or the author, or the choregus),
the protagonist had the choice and hiring of the deuteragonist
and tritagonist ; and, as the object of the protagonist was to win
the prize for acting, he probably claimed to divide the parts in
the way wliicii he thought most likely to secure his end.

Of a Greek play, the only portion spoken was the iambic
trimeters of the dialogue ; the lyric parts Avere sung, and
iambic and trochaic tetrameters were delivered *' melo-drama-
tically," that is to say, they were spoken to a musical accom-

^ De Cor. § 262, fJLio-ddoaas aavrdv . . . e/ceiVotj VTOKpirals . . . irpiTa-

702 THE THEATRE

paniment. This nietliod of declamation, which was called
TrapaKaraXoyq, had tlie advantage over simple declamation, that
the instrument assisted the actor in preserving the rhythm.
The instrument used by preference, as blending best with the
voice, was the flute. The training of the actor's voice was a
matter of much importance, from the very various parts he
might have to perform in the same play; and clearness of
enunciation and precision of accent were imperatively de-
manded by the refined ear and ready mockery of an Athenian
audience. The memory, too, needed cultivation, for on the
ancient stage there was no prompter.

Play of feature was precluded by the mask of the actor : for
this reason, and owing to native talent for the employment of
gesture, on the ancient stage gesticulation was most important.
Though the cumbrous dress and high-soled shoes of the tragic
actor set limits to the amount of action possible for him, there
seems to have been a tendency, in the actor's art, as well as in
the sculptor's, to pass from the self-restraint, the rjOos, and
the majesty of the ideal school of ^schylus, beyond even
the artistic expression of the TrdOf], as set forth by the most
pathetic of the tragedians, to the extreme of realism, which is
illusion — when the actor might pay the penalty by taking
a false step, measuring his tragic length upon the stage,
and being ignominiously set upon his legs again by the
chorodidascalus.

The dithyrambic chorus, out of which the drama is usually
said to have been developed, consisted of fifty persons. The
chorus of comedy consisted of twenty -four, that of tragedy, in
early times, of twelve. But by what process the original
dithyrambic chorus was reduced, we do not know. It is a
commonly received conjecture, that the dithyrambic chorus
of fifty was divided between the four pieces — three tragedies
and a satyric drama — which constituted a tetralogy. But, to
say nothing of the fact that we do not know how many persons
the chorus in a satyric drama consisted of, fifty people cannot
conveniently be divided into four equal companies ; and it is
not certain that the earliest tragedians did put on to the stage
four pieces at a time. The number of the tragic chorus was
elevated to fifteen, by Sophocles, according to late writers, ^
whose authority is not to be trusted implicitly. The internal
evidence of the tragedies themselves seems to show that, in
the Per see and the >S. c. 21i., ^schylus employed a chorus

^ Suid. s. i: 2o(5!)o^'Xr5s ; and Vit. So/ih. p. 177.

THE ACTOKS AND THEIR COSTUMES 703

of twelve, while for the Agamemnon and Eumenides, it is a
disputed point Avhether twelve or fifteen were employed : a
scholiast (Ar. Eq. 589) says twelve, but the question at once
presents itself — what did the scholiast know about iti The
reasons for increasing the number from twelve to fifteen, who-
ever made the change, are tolerably simple : ^ the leader of the
chorus had, in addition to his duties as a choreutes, also his
duties as leader and spokesman, which made it advisable for
him to be able to detach himself from the chorus ; at the same
time, as on occasion the chorus had to divide into two halves,
it was necessary that, exclusive of the leader, the chorus should
consist of an equal number of choreutse, i.e., either be reduced
by one choreutes, or increased by three. The latter course was
preferred ; two lieutenants were given to the leader to command
the halves of the chorus, and the number increased to fifteen.

Whereas the dithyrambic chorus danced in a ring around
the altar of Dionysus, the dramatic chorus marched in square
formation, and hence was called reT/oaycoi'os. The tragic chorus
was arranged in three files (a-TOLxoi), each of five choreutae,
who consequently formed five ranks (Cvyd), as they marched
tln-ee abreast. The comic chorus was composed of four files
of six men each, or of six ranks as they marched four abreast.
The tragic chorus usually marched into the orchestra three
abreast (Kara o-rotxovs) ; as a rule, they came in from the stage
left (the spectator's right), for that was conventionally regarded
as the home side of the scene, and the chorus usually were
natives of the place supposed to be represented by the scene.
Thus, as the chorus paraded three abreast round the orchestra,
one file of five was more closely exposed to the view and exami-
nation of the spectators than were the other two files, which
were rather hidden by it. The choreutae, in this file, were those
who would make the best show ; and, inasmuch as they were on
the left of the body, they were called the apLc-T^pocrrdrai, while
the file next to them were the Xavpoo-rdrat, and the file on the
right, Se^Loa-rdraL. The choreuke who led each file, and those
at the end of each file, were called Kpaa-TreSlrai. The leader of
the chorus was called Kopv^fialos or xopoa-Tdri-js, his lieutenants,
Trapao-rarat. They did not march in the front rank, but in the
file of a/DicrrepooTTttTat, the Kopv(fiaio<s being in the middle of the
file, one irapaa-Tdr-qs before and the other behind him. Thus,
Avhen the chorus had finished their parade round the orchestra,
and taken up their place in front of the stage, with their backs

^ O. Hense, Bcr Chor dcs Soplioklcs.

704 THK THEATRE

to the audience, the apicrrepocrraTai were nearest to the stage,
the coryphaeus was in the middle of them, and could, Avhen
he had to carry on a dialogue with the actors on the stage^
advance from his place, and leave the chorus under the com-
mand of his two Trapaa-rdraL. More rarely the chorus entered
Kara ^vyd, i.e., five abreast, and still more rarely, as in the
CEcUpus at Colonus, one by one, Ka^' eVa or cr7ropd8i]v.

The coryphaeus, as spokesman of the chorus, spoke the iambic
trimeters assigned in MSS. and editions to the chorus, and
perhaps, also, the anapaests. The lyrical odes were usually sung
by the chorus as a whole, sometimes (as Soph. Aj. 814) by the
halves of the chorus, the rjfxtxopio- ; and in many cases the ode
was divided amongst the individual choreutae, e.g., ^scli. Ag.
1 344-1 3 7 1. From the r^ixi^opio., we have to distinguish the
SixopLa or avriyppia, which is the term used when the chorus
consisted of two groups, as in the Lysistrata, one of men and
the other of women, or of two groups otherwise distinguished
from each other.

The duties of the chorus were by no means confined to sing-
ing or declaiming; dancing was at least an equally important
part of their performance. This dancing was mimetic in char-
acter, and served as a sort of commentary on the ode which
was being sung. The name for this kind of dance is vir6px^^p.a^
and that dancing did actually accompany tragic performances,
is shown by such passages as Soph. 0. R. 865, el yap at roiatSe
Trpd^ets Tt/xtai, rt 8ei fie X'^pevetv, or yEsch. Eum. 307, aye 87)
Kol xppov ai/'co/^ei/. The three different kinds of drama had
their distinctive forms of dance — the stately l/x/xcAeta of traged}',
the obscene KopSo.^ of comedy, and the o-lklvvls of satyric drama,
a parody on the dance of tragedy.

CHAPTER V

THE PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A PLAY

Plays were not produced every day at Athens. They were
part of the worship of Dionysus, and were produced only at the
festivals of the god, originally at the country Dionysia, then at
the Lenaea, and finally at the Great (or urban) Dionysia. The
oldest, and for some time the only one of these festivals, was
the country Dionysia ; and so, in the earliest period of the drama,
this was the only occasion on which plays were performed.

THE PRODUCTIOX AND PERFOKMANCE OF A PLAY 705

If we may argue from the analogy of Corinth and Sicyon, the
introduction into the city of this country festival would be the
work of the Tyrants (the Pisistratidai), who, at Athens, as at
Corinth and Sicyon, found their chief supporters in the country,
and accordingly honoured the country feast. And, as a matter
of fact, the first time a play was produced in the city was in
B.C. 536, during the second tyranny. ^ At this feast, called
the Lena^a, held in January (thereby anticipating the country
feast, which was held in February), plays were produced in the
market-place, until, in B.C. 500, in consequence, it is said, of
an accident to the elevated seats, the locale was transferred to
an enclosure devoted to the service of Dionysus, and called the
Lenaeum. If this was the precise year of the actual occasion
of the change, it seems reasonable to connect the change with
other important events that preceded it. The Pisistratidie had
been expelled, the Cleisthenean constitution, with its ten tribes,
framed, and lyric competitions between the tribes were instituted,-
doubtless with a political object, viz., to associate the forms of
the new constitution with popular amusements, to inspire the
new tribes with a corporate feeling, and to make the members
of the victorious tribe specially conscious and proud of their
connection with one another. But, though the lyric choruses
were used for this political purpose, the dramatic contests were
not between tribe and tribe. " In the dramatic competitions,
the rivalry was confined to the individual poets and choregi "
(Haigh, Attic Theatre, p. 15).

Finally, the Great Dionysia were instituted, probably, about
B.C. 460. It is universally admitted that the Great Dionysia
was the youngest of all the feasts of Dionysus, and it seems
probable that this, the most magnificent of them all, was part
of the policy of magnificence which Pericles ^ pursued. At this
time, and with the object of adding to the magnificence of the
new festival, it may be conjectured that comedy, which hitherto
had been performed by volunteer choreutse, was now, for the
first time, taken into the state-established worship, and pro-

^ 'A0' o5 6eV7rts 6 toltjttjs [ecpduT]'], irp^ros 8s idlda^e [5p]d[/xa iv (S](Tt[«,
Kal e]T€d7] 6 [rjpdyos, K. r. X.

^ 'A0' ou xopoi TTpQrop rjyajviaai'TO dvdpQp. This refers to the lyrical con-
tests, which, however, seem always to have gone with the other musical
contest, viz., that of the dramatic choruses.

2 Mommsen, Heortologie, p. 61 ; Kibbeck, Anfdnge und Entwkl-eliing,
p. 28, conjectures that Cimon introduced the Great Dionysia. Voigt
(in Roscher's Lexikon, s.i\ Dionysos) does not hesitate to make the in-
stitution of the feast a consequence of the great development of the
drama.

2 Y

706 THE THEATEE

vided with a chorus in the same way as tragedy. ^ The first
recorded competition between comic choruses took place in
B.C. 458,2 at which date both comedies and tragedies were per-
formed at the Great Dionysia.^ From this time plays were
probably produced at the Great Dionysia alone, until, in B.C.
425, we find the Acharnians produced at the Lensea; and, in
B.C. 4 1 8, we find tragedies ^ performed at the Lenaea. This seems
to date a fresh epoch in the history of the drama. The first
recorded contest of actors belongs to the year B.C. 418, and it
seems reasonable to imagine that the offering of a prize for
acting brought, as a consequence, the official distribution of
actors among poets. With this epoch begins the custom of
producing both tragedies and comedies at the Lenaea, and also
at the Great Dionysia — a custom which prevailed down to
Roman times.

Dramatic performances were not only religious ceremonies ;
they were also competitions, and as such were regulated by the
state, which offered the prize competed for. A further hold
over the production of the plays was afforded to the state by the
fact that it provided for the cost of their production. In the
time of the tyranny of Pisistratus, it was part of the tyrant's
policy to encourage art, and furnish the citizens with amuse-
ments. After the expulsion of the Pisistratidae, the main
charge, which was that of hiring, instructing, and dressing the
chorus, was made a liturgy, or tax, to which citizens who
possessed more than three talents were nominated by the
archon; and whose names, when they won the tripod offered
by the state, were inscribed upon the tripod, and handed down
to posterity. The poverty at Athens, caused by the Pelopon-
nesian war, made this tax so burdensome that it was allowed to
be divided between two choregi, each thus bearing only half
the cost. From the end of the fourth century, the demos itself
nominally undertook the x^Piy^^i as the duty of providing the
chorus was called, and itself figured on the inscriptions as
choregus ; but the cost was borne, not by the people, but by
some wealthy person, who was called the Agonothetes. The
expenses which the choregus had to bear were: (i) the hire

^ Ar. Poet. 5, Kal yap xopov KW/xudQu oxpi Trore 6 dpx^'^' ^SuKev, dXX'
ideKovral ijaav. - C. I. A. ii. 971 a.

3 As appears, both from the way in which they are irientioned in the
inscription referred to, and from the fact that Aristotle, loc. cit., says, 6 (ipx^^v.
The king-archon managed the Lensea, 6 apx^v the Great Dionysia.

^ C. I. A. ii. 972, which also contains the earliest record we have of a
prize for the actors.

THE PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A PLAY 707

and instruction of the chorus ; (2) the hire of the flute-player
who led the chorus ; (3) the payment of the mute characters ;
(4) the dresses of the chorus and the mute characters. Who
paid the actors we do not know, but from the fact that they
were assigned by the state to the poet, and not to the choregus,
it is inferred that the state paid them. But this can only
apply to the period after B.C. 245, in which alone actors were
assigned to the poet, and not to the earlier periods, when the
poet was himself the protagonist, or (like Sophocles) himself
chose his own actors. Finally, as regards the cost of produc-
tion, it is conjectured that the scenery and properties were pro-
vided by the architecton or lessee of the theatre, who paid a
certain sum to the state for the lease of the theatre, and under-
took to keep the building in good repair, and in return was to
receive the money paid by the spectators for admission. But
this arrangement can plainly only have held good for times
when there was a theatre (^.e., after B.C. 500), and when admis-
sion money was paid, and not for the early period of the stage,
when there was no theatre, when the performance was in the
market, and there was no charge for admission. And it is to
be noticed, that although the theatre was farmed out to the
lessee, who recouped himself for his expenditure on scenery,
&c., out of the admission money, after the time of Cleophon,
the lyre-maker, the admission money itself came from the state
coffers, from the theoric fund, which was devoted to paying the
admission of those citizens who could not or would not pay out
of their own pockets.

As the cost of producing a drama thus came, not out of the
pockets of the author, but from the state revenues and the litur-
gies, it was plainly impossible that any and every person who
thought himself capable of composing a play should be allowed
to claim that his effusion should be put upon the stage. Any
author might, indeed, apply to the archon to have his piece
mounted, but only three tragedians and three comedians (or,
from the beginning of the fourth century, five comedians) were
actually allowed to compete. On what principle the archon, who
could not have usually liad a greater professional acquaintance
with the drama than the Lord Chamberlain has with the ballet,
chose and rejected applicants, we unfortunately do not know.
There is nothing to show that he had to read, or even had the
opportunity of reading, the plays of all who chose " to ask for a
chorus," as the expression was at Athens. Probably, it was
but few authors who ventured to aspire so higli as to ask for a
chorus at Athens. There were dramatic contests at many other

70 8 THE THEATEE

and smaller places in Attica — Kollytos, the Peirseus, Eleiisis,
Aixone, Phlya, Myrrinus — at which an "untried author was
more likely to get a chorus than at Athens.

Another point of the greatest difficulty is to understand who
settled, and on what principle, whether each tragedian should
be allowed to compete with one play, or two, or three (a tri-
logy), or four (a tetralogy). If we may trust the grammarians,
the practice in the time of ^schylus was to put on three
tragedies and a satyric drama by each of the three competing
tragedians ; and, according to the grammarians, this practice
continued to the time of Euripides. If we prefer to confine
ourselves to the testimony of inscriptions, however, we have no
evidence for the performance of tetralogies. We have undoubted
evidence for the performance of trilogies, in B.C. 342 (in the
very next year we have dilogies), and a very fragmentary in-
scription of B.C. 419 (0. I. A. ii. 972). Tradition and inscrip-
tions agree that each comedian was allowed to produce but
one comedy. As for satyric drama, stone records as yet only
testify that, after the time of the Three, dramatic contests com-
menced with the performance of one satyric drama, after which
an old play, by one of the great tragedians, was performed, and
then the new plays. From the fact that in one year (b.c. 342)
trilogies are put on, and in the next dilogies, and that in
all the periods into which the history of the drama can be
divided, the performance of single plays can be traced {e.g., the
single plays of Thespis, Choerilus, Phrynichus, and Pratinas ; of
Sophocles;^ of Agathon,^ in B.C. 416; of Dionysius, in B.C. 367 ^),
it seems clear that there was no binding or permanent law or
custom fixing the number of plays to be put on by each author.
The number was a matter to be settled each year ; and as
choregi were nominated shortly after one performance, to pro-
vide for the next year's festival, it is, I suggest, at least possible
that the number of plays was settled then by the persons whom
it most nearly affected, i.e., the choregi, who stated at the time
whether they could each afford to mount one, two, or three
tragedies. Thus the number of tragedies which each author
put upon the stage depended on entirely non-literary considera-
tions ; and this agrees with the fact that, if any principles of
composition had been involved in the performance of a trilogy,

^ Aristid. ii. 334; Dind., 2o0o/cX^s ^iXoKXeovs rjTTolTO iv'Adrjvalois top
OISIttovu.

2 Plato, Sij7np. 173 A, ore rrj Trpd^rr] Tpayudig. iviKrjaev 'Ayddcov.

^ Diod. Sic. XV. 74, Aiopvaiov to'lvvv ^ehixo-X^'''^^ 'AdrivrjaL A-qvaloiS rpa-

THE PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A PLAY 709

Aristotle, in the Poetics^ would have dealt with the influence of
trilogies on the plot of a tragedy. There was, indeed, nothing,
so far as we know, to prevent a poet, if he knew in time that
he might put on three plays, from making them connected in
plot ; but the fact that Sophocles, though he wrote three plays
on the subject of Q^dipus and his children, did not produce
them as a trilogy, and that, when the plays of yEschylus (as of
Sophocles and Euripides) were revived, they were revived —
as they were composed — singly, and not as trilogies, shows
sufficiently that the plays of a trilogy were rarely connected
with each other in plot.

When the archon had given choruses to those tragedians and
comedians he thought fit, and when actors had been assigned
to them, and when chorus and actors had been taught their
parts, a few days before the actual contests, poets, choregi,
chorus, and actors gathered together in the Odeum, for the
celebration, in the presence of the public, of some festal action,
the nature of which is wholly uncertain, called the Proagon.
On the day of the performance, the image of Dionysus was
brought out of his temple in the Lenseum, into the orchestra,
and there acquired that capacity for dramatic criticism which
Aristophanes recognises in the Frogs. The spectators, who had
assembled at break of day, and had brought with them the
refreshments which Aristotle observed they munched with
most assiduity when the acting was poor, were, to begin with,
purified by an offering of "very small pigs" (Harpocration).
Then the selection of the judges, who were to decide on the
merits of the play, was proceeded with. The members of the
houle, in conjunction with the choregi, had, on some previous
occasion, chosen out of each tribe the names of twice as many
judges as there were events to be decided, and placed them,
under their seals, in urns, each tribe having an urn to itself.
On the day of the performance, these urns, which had been
in the keeping of the treasurer, were produced. The archon
drew at random one name from each, and the ten persons thus
chosen, representing the ten tribes, were called upon to judge
the first event. At the conclusion of the performance, each
wrote his award on a separate tablet ; then five of them were
again chosen by lot, and their awards were then employed to
decide the contest. ^ When the ten judges had been selected,
the order in which the competing poets should put their plays
before them was decided by lot, and the first poet, having been

^ Hermauu-Miiller, pp. 369 372.

710 THE THEATRE

summoned by the herald, aj^peared, with his chorus and his
choragus, in the orchestra, and offered a libation to Dionysus.
The play then began, and the audience (which certainly in-
cluded women), even when it had not paid for the two-obol
tickets by which admission w^as procured at the doors, pro-
ceeded to express its satisfaction or dissatisfaction with what
was set before it. They were not sparing in their applause
[KpoTos), and where a modern audience cries encore, the Greek
cried a.vOts.^ Still less were they sparing of their disapproba-
tion, which found expression in stamping, and a sort of clucking,
a peculiar noise (kXuxtixos) made with the mouth, Harpocration
says. 2 Doubtless, the backers of each choregus constituted an
efficient claque ; but with three claques operating in opposition
to each other, there must have been at times a confusing com-
petition between Kporos and kAwct/xos ; but whether the services
of the paf^SovxoL, whose office it was to keep order, were called
into requisition does not appear. As the performance went
on for the whole day, the spectators (who, in the earlier
period of the history of the drama, did have time to break-
fast before going to the theatre, but as the contests increased
in length, had to come at break of day), in spite of the
cushions which some brought with them, got fidgety,^ and
others hungry. It was, therefore, not impolitic for an author,
who came late in the day, to take care that nuts and figs
should be distributed from the stage among the audience
during his play.^ At the conclusion of the performance,
the chorus again entered the orchestra, and offered a second
libation to Dionysus.^ Immediately after the last day of
the festival, an ecclesia was held in the theatre,^ votes of
thanks were proposed,^ and any complaints that arose out of

^ Xen. Com. g, 4, d/xa fxh eKporovv, dfxa de i^owv ' avOis.

^ KXwa/xbv tXeyov top yiypofxeuov h roTs crro^uatri -ipbcpov u irpos ras e/cjSoXds

^ Theophr. Char. 1 1, Kal orav atwirrjar] to Oearpov, dvaKv-^as epvyeTv, 'iva
ToOs Kadrjfxhovs iroL-qarj /xeraaTpacprjvai. Ar. Av. 790, et re TraTpoKXeidrji tis
vfMiou TvyxdveL x^^W'-'^v, ovk kv e^loiaev is dolfiaTiop, dXX' apiwTaTO, kcltto-
TrapSuiP KavaTP€V(xas addis ad KaTitTTaTO.

* Ar. Plut. 797, ov yap irpeirQibes icTTiP Tif 5t5acr/fdX(^ iaxf^^i-O- Kal
TpwydXia to'ls Beoj/xipoLS irpojSaXdPT itrl tovtols cXt dpayKd^€i.p yeXdp, and
Vesp. 58, and Schol. ad. loc.

^ Philochor. ap. Ath. xiii. 583 e.

6 Dem. Mid. §§ 9, 10 ; ^sch. de Fals. Leg. § 61 ; C. I. A. ii. 114,
307, 420.

^ J^.g., C. I. A. ii. 114 b; v. 5, i7nypd\f/aL Kal Tb xprjcpLcrixa, Kad' 6
iaT€(papuj6r) rj ^ovXt] inrb tov OTifj-ou ip Trj iu Alopvctov cKKXyjalq. bb^aaa KaXQs
iirifxefieXijadai ttjs evKoa-jxias irepl tt]p iopTTjV tov Aiopvaov, B.C. 343.

THE PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A PLAY 7 1 I

the proceedings were heard. The names of the poets and
choregi, the pieces and protagonists, and the results of the con-
test, seem to have been put upon official record by the archon ;
but when this practice began, we do not know. In the third
century B.C., interest in the history of the drama was keen
enough to have these records (as far, apparently, as they could
be recovered) engraved on a stone,^ and deposited in the
Dionysiac enclosure. But these researches seem to have left
room for further investigation. Aristotle found it necessary
to investigate the subject for himself, and wrote a work on
these Didascalise, as they were called. In his research, he was
aided by the inscriptions which the victorious choregi caused
to be engraved on some permanent monument. These in-
scriptions, in the fifth century, contain, first, the name of the
choregus, then of the poet, and, finally (by way of date), that
of the archon. Next, we have the inscriptions engraved on
monuments erected by the state. These are of three kinds :
(i) those recording the names of the victorious choregi and
poets, in all the contests at a particular festival ; (2) others,
probably later, entering into the full particulars of some one
contest at a certain festival, and giving, e.g., in the case of
the tragic contest, not only the date (archon's name), and the
names of the poets, but also the titles of the plays performed,
and the names of the actors who played in them ; (3) lists of
poets and actors, with the number of prizes they had won during
their lives.

The Didascalise, which are to be found in the hypotheses
prefixed to Greek plays, cannot have been drawn from any
superior sources to these inscriptions ; and these inscriptions
were not themselves engraved before the middle of the third
century, except the choregic inscriptions, which did not contain
the names of the plays. It is by no means certain that the
authors of these inscriptions had before them all the official
records from the time of ^schylus ; it is not known that in
the time of ^Eschylus the official record contained anything
more tlian, say, the names of the victorious choregus and poet.
We do know that various learned men, such as Heraclides
Ponticus, Callimachus, Eratosthenes, Aristophanes of Byzan-
tinum, and Karystius of Pergamum, found the subject obscure
enough to require much investigation. Consequently, Avhen we
find a grammarian professing to tell us the names of the four

^ E.g., O. I. A. ii. 972 (right col.), 973, relating to B.C. 418, 340 respec-
tively.

712 THE THEATEE

plays which ^schylus put upon the stage, in B.C. 472,^ we may
perhaps beheve that, in that year, ^schylus won the tragic
prize ; but we may entertain a suspicion that the names of the
plays then performed are an inference of the grammarian's, or of
his authority, whether that authority was Aristotle's Didascalice,
or a stone record of the third century B.C.

^ irl Mhuivos Tpayojdui' AtVxi^^oj ipiKa ^ivei, U^paaLS, TXavKu) UpofirjOet

APPENDIX A

SELECT LIST OF WORKS ON GREEK ANTIQUITIES

General Works.

K. F. Hermann. "Lehrbuch der griecMschen Antiquitdten." New
edition, by H. BlUmner and W. Dittenberger. In progress.

IwAN V. MiJLLER. " Hcindbuch der Massischen Altertumsvdssenschaft."
In progress.

W. Smith, Wayte, and Marindin. " Dictionary of Greek mid Roman
Antiquities.^' 3rd edition. 1890.

Th. Schreiber. ^^ Atlas of Classical Antiquities." Edit. W. C. F.
Anderson. 1895.

A. Baumeister. " DenJcmdler des Massichen Altertums." 1 88 5 -88.

H. Blumner. "Lehen und Sittcn der Griechen.'' 1887.

Daremberg et Saglio. " Dictionnaire des Antiquites gr. et rom."
In progress.

Pauly. ^' Real - Encyclopddie." New edition, by ^Vissowa. In

progress.

G. F. ScHOMANN. "T7ie Antiquities of Greece.'^ Trans, by Hardy
and Mann. 1880.

W.A.Becker. '' ChariJcles." Edit. Goll. 1877.

Gdhl und KoNER. " Leben der Griechen und Romer." Edit.
Engelniann. 1893.

J. P. Mahaffy. ^^ Social Life in Greece." 31 d edition. 1877.

Inscriptions.

A. BoECKH. ^^ Corjms Inscriptionum Gi-a;carum" (cited as G. I. or
C. I. G.)

" Corpus Inscnptionum Atticarum'' (cited as C. I. A.).

■ " Corpus Inscriptionum Grcecarum Italice, dc"

Newton and Otliers. "Ancient Greek Inscriptiom in the British
Museum^' (cited as Newton).

713

714 \70RKS ON GREEK ANTIQUITIES

E. L. Hicks. "Manual of Greek Historical LiscripUons.'- 1882.
(Cited as Hicks.)

W. DiTTENBERGER. ^' SijUoge hiscriijUonum Groecarum.^' 1883.
(Cited as DiUeriberrjer.)

H. CoLLiTZ. " Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt hischriften." In

progress.
Dareste, Haussoullier et Eeinach. ^' Eecueil des Inscriptions

juridiques grecquesj' 1894.
J. and T. Baunack. " Die Inschrift von Gortyn.^' 1885.

The Surroundings of Greek Life.

E. CuRTius. '^ PeloponnesosJ' 185 1.

Neumann imd Partsch. " Physikalische Geographie von Griechen-

landj' 1885.
H. F. Tozer. '^Lectures on the Geography of Greece.^^ 1873.
H. Nissen. " Pompeianische Studienzur Stadtekunde des AUertums."

1877.
J. OvERBECK. ^^Pom]jeii."
K. Lange. " Haus imd Halle." 1885.

[Several Greek houses recently discovered in Delos are published

in the Bulletin de Gorrespondance hellenique for 1895.]

F. Studniczka. "Beitrdge mr Geschichte der altgriechischen TrachtJ'

1886.
Maria M. Evans. "Greek Dress." 1893.

Homeric Antiquities.

E. BuCHHOLZ. " Die Homerischen Realien." 1871-84.

W. Helbig. " Das Homerische Epos aus den Denkmdlern erldutertj^

2nd edition. 1887.
R. C. Jebb. "Homer." 1879.

Eeligion.

E. B. Tylor. "Primitive Culture." 3rd edition. 1891.
A. Lang. " Ifyth, Ritual, and Religion." 1887.
J. G. Frazer. " Totemism." 1887.

" The Golden Bough." 1890.

W. Robertson Smith. " The Religion of the Semites." 2nd edition.

1894.
F DE CouLANGES. "La Cite Antique."

WORKS ON GREEK ANTIQUITIES 7 I 5

F. B. Jeyoxs. " A71 Introduction to the History of lieligion." 1896.
E. RoHDE. ''Psyche." 1895.

W. Mannhardt. '' Antike Wald und Feld Kulte." 1877.

'' Mythologische Forschungen." 1884.

A. Maury. ''Religions de la Grdce antique." 1857-59.

P. FoucART. "Associations religieuses chez les Grtecs." 1873.

A. MoMMSEN. " Heortologie." 1864.

Mythology.

J. G. "Welcker. " Gh-iechische Gotterlehre." 1863.

L. Preller. "Griechische Mijthologie." 4tli edition. Edit. C.
Robert. 1 894.

M. DE G. Verrall and J. E. Harrison. " Mythology arid Monu-
ments of Ancient Athens." 1890.

L. R. Farnell. " Cults of the Gi-eeh States.'' 1896.

W. H. Roscher. " Lexikon der griech. und rom. Mythologie." In
progress.

0. Gruppe. " Griech. Culten and Mythen." 1888.

P. Decharme. "Mythologie de la Grke antique." 2nd edition.
1886.

The Course of Life.

P. GiRARD, " L^ Education ath^nienne." 1889.

A. DuMONT. "L'Eph^bie attique." 1877.

J. P. MaHxVFFY. "Ancient Greel Education." 1881.

J. L. UssiNG. " Erziehimg und Jugendunterricht bei den Griechcn
und Ed mem." 2nd edition. 1885.

C. Daremberg. " La Medicine dans Homhe." 1865.

'■'La Medicine entre Homere et JJippocrate." 1869.

P. GiRARD. " UAscUpieion d'Atlienes." 1882.

C. Schuchhardt. " Schliemann's Excavations." Trans. E. Sellers.
1891.

P. Gardner. "Sculptured Tombs of Hellas." 1896.

Agriculture and Commerce.

G. GuiRAUD. " La Propriety fonciere en Grece." 1893.

G. BuCHSENscHiJTZ. " Bcsitz und Erwerb im griech. Alferthum."

1869.
" Hauptstdtten des Gewerbfleisses im class. Alterthum." 1869.

7l6 WOEKS ON GREEK ANTIQUITIES

H. Blumxer. "jDas Kunstgewerhe im AUertum." 1885.

H. Blumxer. " Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerhe und Kiinste

hei Griechen und Boviern" 1886, &c,
B. V. Head. " Eistoria Numorum." 1887.

Constitutional and Legal Antiquities.

A. BoCKH. ^^ Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener." Edit. Frankel.
Berlin. 1886.

C. C. BuNSEN. "i)e Jure Hereditario Atheniendum.'' Gottingen.

1813.
G. Busolt, " GhiechiscJie Geschichte." Gotha. Vol. I. 1893 ; Vol.

II. 1895. In progress.

"Die griecJiischen Staats- und Rechtsaltertumer." (In I. v.

Miiller's Handbuch.) Miinclien. 1892.

E. Caillemer. " Le Droit de Succession legitime d Aihenes." Paris.

1879.
Clerc. " Meteques ath^niens." Paris. 1893.

A. Fanta. "Der Staat in der Hi (s und Odyssee." Innsbruck. 1882.
W. W. Fowler. " ^e City State of the Greeks and Romans." London.

1893-
G. Gilbert. '''■ Beitrdge zur innern Geschichte Athens.'^ Leipzig

1877.
" Handbuch der griechischeji Staatsalterthilmer." Leipzig. 1893.

" Studien mir altsjjartanisclien Geschichte " Gottingen. 1872.

G. Grote. " History of Greece." London. 1872.

B. Haussoullier. ^^ La Vie municipale en Attique." Paris. 1884.
A. HoLii. " Griechische Geschichte." Berlin, n.d.
A.Martin. ^' Les Cavaliers atMniens." Paris. 1886.

Meier und Schomann. "Der attische Process." Edit. Lipsius.

Berlin. 1883-87.
P. Monceaux. " Les Prox^nies grecques." Paris. 1886.
W. Oncken. ^^ Athen und Hellas." Leipzig. 1885.

''^ Die Staatslehre des Aristoteles." Leipzig. 1876

A. Philippi. "■ Der Areojpag und die Epheten." Berlin. 1874.

" Geschichte des aftischen BUrgerrechtes." Berlin. 1870.

E. Platxer. "Der Process imd die Klagen hei den Attihern."

Darmstadt. 1824.
G. F. Schomann. "De Comitiis Atheniensium." Gryphiswaldise.

1819.
Th. Thalheim. ^^ Eeclitsaltertiimer." (In Hermann's Lehrhuch.)

Freiburg i. B. 1895.

WORKS ON GREEK ANTIQUITIES 717

Slavery.

P. FoucART. " Sur l'Affra)ichisseme7it des Esclaves." Paris. 1867.

J. K. IxGRAiL ^^ History of Slavery." London. 1895.

H. Wallon. " Histoire de VEsclavage dans I' Antiquity." Paris. 1879.

War.

A. H. Besnault. ^^ Les Strat^ges ath^niens." Paris. 1885.

A. Cartault. " La 7'riere athenienne." Paris. 1881.

Droysen. ^' Die griechischen Kriegsalterthilmer." (In Hermann's
Lehrbuch.) Freiburg i. B. 1889.

The Theatre.

A. E. Haigh. " The Attic Theatre." Oxford. 1889.

A. Muller. ^^ Die griechischen Bilhnenalterlhilmer." (Hermann's
Lehrbuch.) Freiburg i. B. 1886.

G. Oehmichen. " Griechischer Theaterbau." Berlin. 1886.

— '■ — "Das Bilhnenwesen der Griechen und Romer." (In vol. i
Mliller's Handbuch.) Miinchen. 1890.

W. DoRPFELD und E. Eeisch. "Das griechiscke Theater." 1S96.

APPENDIX B

ADDENDA

Page 40.

In the Bulletin de Correspondance hellenique for 1895 ^^i^l ^e found the
ground-plans of several private houses discovered at Delos recently by
French excavators. These plans vary considerably : on the whole, they
confirm the views of our ch. iv,, but they prove that houses among the
Greeks were largely adapted to the special circumstances of the sites and
the needs of the owners.

At page 33 it is stated that the plan of a supposed Greek house at
Delos, figured in Guhl and Koner, is untrustworthy. It should be
added that in the recent edition of the same work by Engelmann it is
omitted.

Page 274. The Mysteries of Eleusis.

Mr. Jevons, in his recent Introduction to the History of Religion^
ch. xxiv., has shown that nearly all the facts known to us in regard
to the conduct of these mysteries receive a reasonable explanation when
considered as remains of a primitive festival in honour of the corn-mother
and the corn-maiden. Though the bare facts of cultus thus survived from
a lower to a higher civilisation, they were in later times regarded in quite
another light. And the Homeric Hymn to Demeter is almost entirely
setiological, an attempt to explain by means of myths the facts of cultus,
the original meaning of which had been lost. For example, the wandering
of the mystse with torches was really descended from the custom of puri-
fying the cornfields by carrying lighted torches through them ; but was
explained as a copying of the search of Demeter for her lost daughter.
Again, the drinking of the KVKedjv was originally an act of sacramental
union with the corn-spirit ; but was justified by the fashion in which
Demeter broke her fast. For other details the reader is referred to the
work above mentioned.

Page 544, liiie 5 fj'om bottom.

If, however, we read /cat iav (or idv re) €k twv uvtQiv k.t.X. and translate,
as Herr Thalheim suggests (Hermann, Grieeh. Antiquity II. i. p. 64, n. 6),
" whether descended from the same parents (as the deceased) or of remoter
degree," we get an interpretation which, whether right or not, is at any
rate intelligible : males and their issue are to exclude females in all cases,
whether descended from the same parents as the deceased or not.

718

ADDENDA 7 I 9

Pafje 545, line 22, and page 551, line 22,

The law in Dem, Steph. ii. p. 1 133, begins as follows : — oaoi /jlt] iir€Trolr}VTo
wore /ultit' airenreiv fMTjT i-rridiKdaaadaL 'dre 26Xa>i' elayei ttjv a.pxy]v, to. eavrov
diadia-daL elvai k.t.X. (as on p. 545). The meaning of these words is much
disputed. The following explanation is suggested : from Solon's archon-
ship a man may devise his property as he likes, unless he is an adopted
son who has for ever renounced his natural family, or has been adopted,
not by will, but inter vivos. A man who was adopted by will on condition
of renouncing his natural family for ever was deprived of testatory power,
for the reasons explained supra, p. 551. A man who was adopted inter
vivos was presumed by the law to have been adopted on condition of
renouncing his natural family, and was deprived of testatory power for
the same reasons. But a man who left his adoptive and returned to his
natural family was allowed, from the time of Solon, on his return, to
bequeath his own property as he chose. 'A7rei7re?j' means to renounce his
adoption and return to his natural family. 'EindLKdaaadai means "to
claim (an inheritance) at law," which every heir (except direct descendants
and sons adopted inter vivos) had to do, in order to gain possession of his
inheritance.

Page 553, line 6 from hottonu

The law continues thus : — eav be /xTjdels y tovtojv, edv fikv iinKKrjpds tls ^,
TOP KvpLov '4x^i-v, hdv 5k fXTj ^, OTU) CLP iiTCTpetprj, TOVTOv Kvpiov eXvai, explained
by Hermann {Jur. Dorn. Compar. p. lo, cf. Griech. Antiquit.^ II. i. p. 9,
note i) thus : — If she is not an heiress, e.g. if a deceased brother has left
sons, the guardian (eTri'rpoTros) appointed by her last Kvpios becomes her
KvpLos. An heiress had for Kvpios — (i) her father's brother, (2) his sons,
(3) her father's sister's sons, (4) her father's paternal uncle, (5) his descen-
dants (Hermann, Griech. Antiquit.^ XL i. p. 66, n. 2).

Page 6S8, xapwi/iot K\i/j.aKes.

In certain theatres {e.g., Sicyou, Eretria, Magnesia) underground passages
leading from the skene or from behind the skene to the centre of the
orchestra have been discovered. There is no evidence to show or reason
to believe that these passages were the x'^P^^'-oi- K\ifji.aKes. The absence of
an underground passage from the Dionysiac theatre in Athens proves that
its presence was not necessary for dramatic performances. Dr. Dorpfeld
promises on p. 1 16 of Das griechische Theater to prove later on in the
book the importance of these passages and their identity with the x°-P^vlol
K\ifxaK€s, and never says another word about them. His partner, Dr.
Reisch, p. 248, postulates a wooden platform (not a raised stage, of course)
with a flap door, dvaTUaixa, in its floor, and a ladder, xap^vtoi K\l/MaK€s,
leading up to the flap door, for Darius' ghost.

Page 712.

About the time of Alexander, authors, actors, trainers, choreutae,
musicians, rhapsodes, costumiers, and decorators (i/xaTiOfjLL(rdai, aKevoiroioi)
united themselves into a guild, under the name of oi irepl rbv ALowaov
rexvirai. There was such a guild at Athens, another at Thebes, at Teos,
Cyprus, Alexandria, Ptolemais in the Thebaid, Syracuse, Rhegium,

720 ADDENDA

Neapolis, and a guild of the Isthmus and Nemea. A guild of this kind
undertook, for a consideration, to supply any state with a company and
all the personnel necessary for the production of tragedies and comedies at
a festival of Dionysus. In their journeys these travelling companies were
protected by the sanctity which attached to them as persons engaged in
the service of the god. The constitution of the guilds was thoroughly
democratic : every member had an equal vote in the assembly of members
which managed the affairs of the guild. Officials were elected annually
by the assembly, and were responsible to it ; and it was the assembly that
decided the terms on which a company should be supplied to any state
requiring one. By these companies the masterpieces of the Greek drama
were performed in every part of the world Hellenised by Alexander and
his successors (Foucast, De collegiis scenicorum artificum apud GrcecoSy
Paris, 1873).

GENERAL INDEX

Abusive language, laws as to, 534
Acliilles : shield. 408 ; worship, 159
Acropolis of Athens, 10, 15-17, 165;
Erechtheium, 175 ; Parthenon,

4, 15, 175

Acropolis hills, lo-ii, 165

Adonis : connection with Aphro-
dite, 86, 150, 160; physical as-
pect, 86 ; worship, 215

Adoption, 457-459 ; laws as to,
548-552, 565-566

^olians, 7

^tolians, piratical habits, 8

Agora, 11-15, 166, 323-324,391-
392, 483 ; dealers' booths, 391-
392 ; divisions, 13

Agriculture, 370-374, 444 ; arti-
ficial watering, 372 ; decline, 371,
373-374 ; draining, 372 ; farmers,
371-374, 444; hired labourers,
371, 413; Homeric, 370, 413-
414 ; manuring, 373 ; ploughs,
372-373 ; vine-growing, 374

Ajax, worship, 159

Alcinous' palace, 23, 28

Alexander the Great : builder of
cities, 10 ; deification, 161

Alexandria, 19

Aliens (see Metics)

Alpheius, 96

Altars, 169-170, 198 ; Hestia, 41-
42} 75-76 ; Zeus Herceius, 23,
29, 41

Aniphiaraus, 92-93, 96 ; oracles, 161

Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, 113

Ancestor-worship, 68-69, T^-TZ^
76, 404 ; family hearth, 75-76 ;
family tomb, 75 ; family worship,
547, 550, 565 ; Homer, absent in,
104 ; offerings to the dead, 73-
75> 366, 547

Andron, 37, 42

Andronitis, 36-39, 42

I Animals, 300-301, 349; cats, 301 ;

I dogs, 301, 349, 376 ; gods con-
nected with, 70-71, 89-90, 188,
247, 257; horses, 374-375j 632;
stock on farms, 374-376 ; wea-
sels, 301 ; in the law-courts, 533
Anthesteria, 292
Antioch (on Orontes), 20
Apaturia, 290-291, 457
Aphrodite, 85, 150; Adonis' con-
nection with, 86, 150, 160; Asia-
tic origin, 85-8S, 118, 149-150,
214 ; Eros' connection with, 150 ;
Homeric, 100, 114-115, 118
myths, 87, 149-150; sea, co
nection with, 149-150; temples,
prostitution practised in, 170.

I 194-195 ; worship, 100, 123, 150,

I 214

I Apollo, 71, 128 ; Asiatic origin,

I 118, 128; birth, 129; Delphic
temple (see under Delphi) ; fes-
tivals, 289, 293-294 ; forms,
diversity of, 94, 130-132; func-
tions, 112, 127-128, 130-131 ;
Homeric, 112, 118; Homeric
hymns to, 105, 129-130, 132 ;
myths, 91, 96 ; name, derivation
of, 77-7S, 127; physical idea, 90;
sun-god, 90, 112, 127, 133 ; wor-
ship, 118, 128-132.
Arcades, 19 ; in agoras, 13-15, 324.
Arcadians, religion of, 8

j Ares ; Cadmean legends connected

' with, 149; character, 96, 1 14;

j Homeric, 1 14, 1 18, 148 ; Thraciau

' origin, 118, 214; worship, 92,

I 148-149, 214

I Ares, hill of, 15

! Arethusa, resemblance to Artemis,

I 96-97

The Indexes have been compiled by Miss Edith ]M. Piatt.
721 2 Z

722

GENERAL INDEX

Argos, Hera worshipped at, 1 25-1 26

Aristocracies, 8-9

Armour, 60-62, 630-632 ; cuirass,
61-62, 631 ; helmets, 60-61,
630-631 ; Homeric, 61-62, 631-
632 ; hoplites', 60-6 1, 630, 638 ;
shields, 631-632

Army, 371, 641 ; camp followers,
392, 431, 641 ; cavalry, 374-375.
431, 632, 634-635, 638-639;
commissariat, 638, 641 ; drill,
632-636, 642 ; equipment (see
Aj'mour) ; hoplites, 60-62, 630-
632, 638-639 ; marching order,
634-635, 641-642 ; mercenaries,
470-471, 636, 640-641 ; primi-
tive, 404 ; tactics, 633-635, 642-

645

Army: Athenian, 470-471, 509;
discipline, 470-472, 639 ; mobili-
sation, 471-472, 637; organisa-
tion, 452, 462, 635-639

Army: Spartan, 615, 633-634;
mobilisation, 639-640 ; organisa-
tion, 430-431

Arrhephoria, 295

Arrhephoric maidens, 92, 170, 28S,

295

Art, influence on religion, 92-93,
102-104

Artemis : Apollo connected with,
118, 128, 132-133; Asiatic in-
fluence on, 103, 118, 128; bear
connected with, 71, 134, 293 ;
festivals, 293-294 ; forms, Asiatic,
118, 135-136; forms, diversity of,
96-98, 132-136; functions, 96-
97, 103, 112, 133; Homeric, lOO,
112, 118, 132; moon-goddess,
133-134; statues, 103-104, 133,
176-178 ; worship, 100, 133-134 5
at Ephesus, 96, 135-136, 163-164

Aryan race : organisation, 404, 442 ;
religion influenced by, 68, 73, 76-
82, 125

Asklepius, 161 ; festival, 293 ; heal-
ing god, 92, IOC, 131, 170, 266-
267 ; oracles, 266-267 j priests
as physicians, 266, 355, 357-359 ;
temple at Athens, 15, 182, 357-
358; temples, inscriptions in, 179,
182, 358-359 ; vutive ofi^erings,
182, 358-359 ; worship, loo-ioi,
131, 161

Assault, law as to, 535-536

Associations and companies, law as
to, 541

Astrology, 257

Asylums, 167-168

Athena, 71, 85, 89; Athens, connec-
tion with. III, 117, 140-142;
eflSgies on coins, 140, 142-143;
festivals, 287-2S8, 294-295 ;
forms, diversity of, 141- 142 ;
functions, ill, 140-142, 166;
Hephaestus, connection with, 118,
131, 140, 143-144; Homeric,
III, 114, I17-I18, 143; myths,
96 ; origin, 140 ; physical aspect,
78, III, 139-140; statues, 15,
71, 142-143, 177, 181 ; warlike
qualities, 85, 1 14; worship, 1 18,
142-143

Athens : Acropolis (see under Acro-
polis) ; agora, 14-15, 483; army
(see under Army)

Athens : Constitution : Areopagus,
15,17, 445, 447, 449, 452, 490-492,

530-531
Atiiens : Constitution : boule, 442-

443. 445. 447, 449. 45 1. 462,

464, 484-489 ; officers, 485-486 ;
power, 486-488 ; prytaneis, 485 ;
relation to ecclesia, 451, 484,

487-489, 4957499
Athens : Constitution : citizenship,

qualifications for, 449-451, 453,

456-457 ; classes, 445-447 ; Clis-

thenes' reforms, 449-451
Athens: Constitution: demes,449-

451. 453. 45S-462, 464; de-

marchs, 459-461
Athens : Constitution : dicasteria,

447-449, 574-575. 579-581. 592-

597 ; Draco's reforms, 444-445,

450, 490.
Athens : Constitution : ecclesia,

442, 445, 447, 449, 492-504;

meetings, 12, 492-494; powers,

465, 471-473. 493-494. 499-504,
518-519; speakers, 496-497

Athens: Constitution : finance, 472-
475.487. 503-514; expenditure,
505, 508-509 ; financial magis-
trates, 473-475 ; income, 505,
509-514; liturgies, 455, 462-463,
510-512, 658-660, 706-707;
national debt, 196, 507-508;
theoric fund, 474-475, 509 ; want
of centralisation, 504-506

GENERAL INDEX

723

Athens : Constitution ; foreign
policy, 468, 472, 482 ; francliise,
extension, 447, 449, 492 ; kings,
442-444

Athens : Constitution : judicial sys-
tem, 518, 574-5S1; arbitration,
577-578, 586 ; Ephetse, 53i-533>
579; Forty Dicasts, board of, 576-
577 ; judicial power of boule, 487-
488 ; judicial power of ecclesia,
503-504; monthly suits, 578, 592-
593 ; murder, trials for, 445, 530-

533, 578-579

Athens : Constitution : legal pro-
cedure, 581-597; anakrisis, 572,
574-576, 582, 586-592 ; appeals,
583, 597 ; citations, 584-585 ;
dicasteria, trials before, 592-597 ;
fees, 583-586; oaths, 589, 591-
592 ; parties to suits, 583-584 ;
witnesses, 589-592, 594

Athens : Constitution : legislation,
process, 495-502 ; indictments for
illegality, 501-502; nomothetse,
500-501, 506 ; revision, 482, 491,
500-501

Athens : Constitution : magistrates,
463-4S4 ; apodektcx-, 473-475 ;
archons, 443, 445, 448, 452-453,
465, 475-483. 490-491, 516-517,
575 ; basileus, 201, 443, 478-479 ;
eponymous, 443, 476-478 ; polo-
march, 443, 445, 452, 479-480 ;

thesmothetae, 443, 480-483
Athens : Constitution : magistrates,
dokimasia, 453, 465, 467, 484 ;
election, 447, 45o-453> 464 ; by
lot, 445, 447, 453, 462, 464, 474,
489; Eleven, 483; Hellenotamia.^,
464, 474 ; hipparchs, 445, 464, 473,
639 ; judicial powers, 463-464,
476-483, 574-576 ; liability to be
called to account, 465-468, 469-
471 ; minor, 467-468, 483-484;
phjlarchs, 464, 473 ; qualifica-
tions, 445-447, 449> 452-453,
464-465 ; strategi, 445, 452-453,
462-464, 467-473, 517-519. 637,
639 ; taxiarchs, 452, 462, 464,
473, 637 ^
Athens : Constitution : metics, 454-
456, 479, 510; naucraries, 443-
444, 447 ; ostracism, 451
Athens : Constitution : party gov-
ernment, 515-526 ; parties, 448-

449, 514-516, 519, 521-526;
party leaders, 519-521, 525-
526

Athens : Constitution : payment for
political duties, 453, 484, 494-
495, 505, 508-509, 581 ; Pericles'
reforms, 452-453, 491 ; phratries,
442, 449-451, 453, 457 ; Solon's
reforms, 446-448, 450, 490

Athens : Constitution : taxes, 455,
459, 510-514; collection, 512-
514; contributions from allies,
472, 507, 509-510, 607-608;
division of taxation, 455, 512-
513; war taxes, 455, 472, 511-

Athens : Constitution : tribes, 441-
442,449-451,461-463; tyranny,
448-449 ; village communities,
441

Athens : crowding, 18, 32 ; decline,
62S-629 ; empire, 606-610 ; fes-
tivals, 286-296 ; harbour, 657-
658; houses, 17-19, 32-33, 36;
inhabitants, 440-441 ; navy (see
under Navy) ; plan, 19 ; police-
men, 14, 389; rise, 10; senate-
house, 14 ; streets, 14, 483

Atreus, Treasury of, 73

Attica, products of, 9

Aula, Homeric, 22-23, 42

Bail, law as to, 540

Banquets, 328-335 ; symposia, 330,

333-335
Barbers' shops, 324
Baths, 314-315, 324, 326, 349; iri

gymnasia, 315-316; Homeric, 25-

26, 29, 314-315, 342
Beard, method of wearing, 66
Beds, 46-47, 57
Beggars, 337, 414
Bendis, 294 ; Artemis, connection

with, 135
Birds, divination by (see under

Divination)
Booksellers, 384

Boxing (see under Physical train-
ing)
Brauronia, 293
Bribery, laws as to, 559-560
Building, fashion in, 33-34
Burial, 547-548; denied, 36S-369;

mode, 362-364, 366 ; mourning

724

GENERAL INDEX

customs, 368 ; ofiferings to the
dead, 73-74, 366, 547 ; places
(see Graves and TombR) ; rites,
360-362, 364-365, 548 ; sacrifices
to the dead, 365-366
Byssus, 60

Cabiri, mysteries of, 285-286

Cadmean legends, 149

Cairo, houses, 34

Calchas, 200, 212, 253

Calendar, Attic, 286-296 ; arrange-
ment, 286-287

Callynteria, 294

Canals, 372

Capital and labour, 413-414

Carians, dress, 49

Carystus, temple, 174

Castor (see Dioscuri)

Cavalry (see under Army)

Caves, sacred, 173 ;; Trophonius'
cave (see Trophonius)

Cecrops' daughters, 140-141 ; ex-
planation of myth, 91-92

Chairs (see Seats)

Chalkia, 291

Character, 6-9, 625-627 ; influence
of climate, 6-"], 9 ; influence of
physical features, 1-2, 6-8

Charis, 114

Childhood, 297-301

Children : amusements, 300-301,
349 ; birth, 297-298 ; dress, 54,
58-59, 63, 65 ; education (see
Education) ; exposure, 298, 557,
613 ; names, 298-299 ; nursing,
299> 353 ; relation of fathers,
556-558

Chiton, 57-58, 60 ; Doric, 51-55,
58-59, 698 ; Homeric, 57 ; Ionian,
49. 51 ; method of wearing, 51-

55> 58

Chlamys, 51, 56-58, 6t,

Cities : aggregation of people in,
10, 413; fortification, 648-649;
growth, lo-ii, 371, 413; Ho-
meric, 11-12; migration from
country to, 8, 10, 371, 413 ; plan,
19-20; sites, 3, 10-12, 165;
streets, 17-20 ; suburbs, 20 ;
walls, II, 649 ; water supply, 21

Class distinctions, 8-9, 413, 415-
416, 442, 522, 526

Clepsydra of Andronicus of Cyrrhus
(Athens), 14-15

ClepsydrEB (see Water-clocTcs)

Climate, 2-5, 7, 9 ; comparison of
ancient and modern, 5 ; influence
on character, 6-^, 9-10

Clubs, 328

Coast-line, I

Coins (see Money)

Colonies, 5-6, 8, 387-388 ; classes,
600-604 j influence on commerce,
387-388; kleruchs, 602-604, 609-
610; origin, 387, 602; relation
to mother-city, ii, 387,600-604,
609 ; sites, 1 1

Comfort and decency, ancient and
modern ideas as to, 50, 342

Commerce, 12, 337, 386-394, 597 ;
exports and imports, 388-390 ;
Hermes patron of, 146-147 ; in
Homeric times, 386-387, 413 ;
importation of corn, 373, 389 ;
influence of colonies on, 387-3S8;
merchant's transactions, 392-394,
396-397 ; periods, 388 ; Phoeni-
cian traders, 386-387, 389; piracy
connected with, 387 ; trade routes,
388-391^

Configuration (see Physical features)

Contracts, law as to, 538, 541

Cora (see Persephone)

Corinth, importance, 378, 387

Coronis, mother of Asklepius, 10 1

Cottabos, game of, 334-335

Cotytto, worship, 215

Courtyard of Homeric house, 22-

Craneion, suburb of Corinth, 20

Crete : Constitution : agelge, 436-
437; assembly, 439; boule, 439;
citizenship, 437-438 ; common
meals, 435-438 ; cosmi, 438-439,
569; education, 435-436; kings,
438-439 ; military spirit, 435 ;
oligarchical tendency, 438-439 ;
resemblance to Spartan, 435-436

Crete : inhabitants, 432-433 ; law
(see Gortyna Code)', slaves, classes,
433-434, 615-616

Croesus, consults Delphic oracle, 99

Cronus, 116

Cuirass (see under Armour)

Cults, confined to one sex, 92,
153; local, 94-95; orgiastic (see
Orgiastic cults) ; origin, 196-198,
201 ; rise in character, 94 ;
variety, 94-99, 121-122

GENERAL INDEX

725

Cybele : Phrygian origin, 88 ; wor-
ship, 215-218, 222
Cyclopes, anarchy among, 405, 409

Dancing (see under Physical train-
ing)

Darics, 399, 40 1

Dead, worship of (see Ancestor-
Ivor ship)

Debt, laws as to, 538-540, 569

Delos, 170; Apollo, sacred to, 128-
129, 234- 235 ; Confederacy, First,
452, 606-609; Second do,, 609-
610; house at, 33, 40-41 ; temple
of Apollo, 184-185, 187-188

Delphi, 85-86 ; oracle, 106-107,
264-265 ; influence of oracle on
growth of National Pantheon,
106-107

Delphi : temple, 187 ; legend of
foundation, 129-130; Omphalus,
70 ; Pythian priestess, 98, 264

Delphi : theatre, 170

Delphinia, 293

Demeter: festivals, 290, 292; func-
tions, 152-153; Homeric, 113,
1 50-1 5 1 ; myth, 151 ; physical
meaning of myth, 113, 151 ; wor-
ship (see also Eleusinian myste-
ries), 149, 152-153

Depopulation, 617, 628-629

Despoena, 78, 96

Diasia, 125, 239, 292, 295

Dictynna, connection with Artemis,

135

Diet, 326-328; fish, 327, 377, 388;
meals, 328 ; salt, 377 ; wine, 326,

330-332

Diogenes the Cynic, 20

Dione, 115, 123

Dionysus, 663-664 ; Eleusinian
mysteries, connection with, 278 ;
festivals, 289, 291-293, 296, 704-
705 ; myths, 154-155; Thracian
origin, 154 ; worship (see also
under Orcjiastic cults), 155, 296 ;
Zagreus, connection with, 156,
278

Dioscuri : forms, diversity of, 97,
136-137 ; functions, 97, 136-138;
Laconian deities, 97, 136 ; physi-
cal aspect, 136

Diplois, 52-54, 59

Disease: physicians (see Physicians) ;
treatment, 355-360

Divination, 98 ; birds, 256-257 ;
dreams, 255, 258-259 ; omens,
interpretation of, 253-260; ora-
cles (see Oracles) ; origin, 251-
253 ; sacrifices, 259-260 ; sooth-
sayers (see Soothsayers)

Divorce (see under Marriage)

Dodona, oracle of Zeus at, 98, 122-
123, 261-263

Doors, historic houses, 36, 43 ; Ho-
meric houses, 23-24

Dorians, 7, 415, 432-435

Drama : actors, 666-667, 670, 699-
702 ; costumes, 670, 695-699 ;
masks, 670, 695-696

Drama : choregi, 706-707 ; chorus,
667, 671, 702-704; coryphaeus,
667, 703-704

Drama: comedy, 662-663, 666, 705-
706 ; connection with Dionysiac
worship, 293, 662-667, 671, 704-
706

Drama: contests, 666-667, 705-708 ;
decisions, 709-712; differences
between Attic and modern, 667-
671 ; dithyrambs, 662-663, 666-
667 ; eccyclema, 689-693, 695 ;
machinery, 693-694 ; orchestra,
670-672 ; 674-675 ; origin, 662-
667; 671-672; place, 672-
685

Drama : plays, 708-709 ; perform-
ance, 709-711 ; production, 704-
709 ; selection by archon, 669,
707-709

Drama : proscenium, 676-685 ;
satyric, 662-663, 699 ; scenery,
670, 672, 685-6S9, 691,694-695 ;
stage, 670, 672-685 ; state insti-
tution, 668-670, 705-707

Drama: theatre, at Delphi, 1 70;
development, 671-673; Dionysiac
I (Athens), 12, 15, 668, 673-675;
I at Epidaurus, 674-676

Drama : tragedy, 662-663

Dress, 49-67 ; Athenian, 50, 58 ;
children's, 54, 58-59, 63, 65 ;
chiton (see Chiton) ; chlamys (see
Chlamys) ; colours, 60 ; compari-
son with modern, 50 ; diplois (see
Diplois) ; Doric style, 49-5 1 ;
hair-dressing, 64-66 ; hats, 63-
64 ; Himation (see Ilimation) ;
Homeric, 57, 60 ; Ionic style,
49-51 ; manufacture, 382-383 ;

726

GENERAL INDEX

materials, 51, 60 ; military, 60-

62 ; Oriental, 63 ; primitive, 50 ;
sculpture, authority as to, 49-5 1)

63 ; shoes, 64 ; slaves', 58-60 ;
Spartan, 58-59 ; under-garments,
49j 59 > women's (see under
Women)

Earthenware (see Vases)

Earthquakes, 4

Ecclesia (see under Athens)

Education, 301-313, 435-436; ad-
vanced, 310-313; girls', 343;
musical, 304, 309; object, 301,
303-306, 309, 343; pedagogues,
303; physical (see Physical train-
inn) ; regulations as to, 302 ;
schools, 102, 302-304, 307, 309-
310; Spartan, 302, 310, 428-429;
subjects of instruction, 304, 307-
309, 311-312; teachers, 306-307,

311

Eileithuia, 158; subject to Hera,
127, 129, 158

Eleusis, temple of, 175-176

Eleusinian mysteries, 94, 1 51-153,
213, 275-284, 289 ; ceremonies,
240, 275, 278-284 ; development,
105-106,277-278; dramas, sacred,
275-276, 281-284; games, 283;
influence on growth of National
Pantheon, 105-106; membership,
276, 279 ; officials, 275-277 ;
origin, 198, 275, 277 ; secrecy,
275-279

Eos, identified with Aryan deities,

Ephebi, 311-312, 635-637 ; train-
ing, 3 1 1-3 1 3> 636

Ephesus: Artemis, temple of, 175,
187-188, 195-196; worship,
96, 135-136, 163-164 ; asylum,
168

Epicteta, will of, 196-197

Epidaurus, sacred to Asklepius,
100 ; theatre at, 674-676

Epirotes, 8

Epitaphia, 289-290

Erechtheium, 175

Erechtheus, 140

Erich thonius, Attic hero, 71, 287

Erinnyes, 116

Eris, 116

Eros, 158; connection with Aphro-
dite, 150

Euhemerus, 'j6
Excavations, lo-li, 28-31

Fairs, 392

Family : importance of, 404-405 ;

law as to relations, 556-558 ;

patria potestas, 566; patriarchal

system, 404, 563, 566; worship,

404, 547, 550, 565
Farmers (see under Agriculture)
Fate, Homeric, 109, 116-117
Festivals, 286-296, 325
Fishing, 377
Food (see Diet)
Forests, 3, 5, 388
Fortune personified, 158
Furniture (see under House)

Gambling, 325

Gamelia, 291-292

Games, 20, 269-274, 287-288

Games: contests, 272-274, 317-
322; horse-races, 273-274; musi-
cal, 269-270, 287

Games : decline, 269, 322 ; Eleu-
sinian, 283 ; fairs, connection
with, 392 ; influence on growth
of National Pantheon, 105 ; Isth-
mian, 138, 269 ; Nemean, 269 ;
Olympian, 270-274; Panathenaic,
287-288 ; prizes, 269, 283, 287-
288 ; Pythian, 269 ; religious
character, 105, 271 ; sacred truce
during, 269-270 ; temples, held
at, 20 ; victors, honours paid to,
274

Genesia, 289

Gigantomachy, 123

Girdles, 53-54, 58

Gods (see a.lso Pantheon): Asiatic,
83-85 ; complex nature, 122 ;
connection with animals, 70-71,
89-90, 188, 247, 257 ; daemons,
157-158; goddesses, 83-85;
heroes (see Heroes) ; Homeric,
108-109, 117-I19; identification,
78-82, 96-97; lesser, 115-116,
13S-139 ; localisation, 97-9S, .
I17-I19, 163-166, 172; moun-
tains, worshipped on, 123-124,
164-165 ; offerings (see under
Temples) ; physical ideas con-
nected with, 76-78, 122, 164-165;
property (see under Temples) ;
rationalisation, 76, 102-103 ;

GENERAL INDEX

727

rivalry, 99-100, 117-119; river,
115' 119, 139; sea, 138-139

Gortyna Code, 439-440, 561-574;
laws as to adoption, 565-566 ;
inheritance, 562-568 ; liberty of
the person, 56S-569 ; marriage,
563 - 565 ; judicial procedure,
569-574; co-jurors, 571-572 ;
purgatory oaths, 570-572 ; wit-
nesses, 570-571

Graves (see also Tombs), ii, 20,
23, 28, 73; in agoras, 15; in
Homeric houses, 23

Guardians, 552-553

Gymnasia, 17, 19, 313; exercises,
317-322; plan, 315-317

Habits, 21 ; abstemious, 330-333
Hades, 153-154; Homeric, 1 13,

Hair, method of wearing, 64-66

Hall of Homeric houses (see
Megaron)

Haloa, 291

Harbours, 19, 657-658

Harpies, 116

Hats, 63-64

Hearth: city, 198-199,290; Homeric
house, 24-25, 75-76 ; temple, 165

Hebe, 115, 127

Hecate, 71, 10 1 ; Artemis' connec-
tion with, 134-135 ; functions,
134; worship, 134-135, 166

Helios, 115

Helmets (see under Armour)

Helots (see under Sparta)

Hephaistus: connectionwith Athena,
118, 131, 140, 143-144; festival,
291; functions, 113, 143-144;
Homeric, 113-114, 117-I18, 144;
worship, 1 43- 1 -14

Hera: character, no, 129; func-
tions, 100, 126-127 > Homeric,
loo-ioi, no, I17-118; myths,
loi ; origin, 125-127 ; physical
idea, 78, 126 ; statues, 126-127,
176; worship, 84, 100, 117-118,
124-127

Hcrakles : character, 156-157;
myths, 81, 88, 91 ; Plioeniciau
origin, 88, 1 57 ; transition from
hero to god, 157, 1 60-16 1 ; wor-
ship widespread, 88, 157

Heralds, 208-209

Hermes, 71; character, 115, 144-

145; functions, 80-81, 104, I15,
145-147,166; Homeric, 115, 117-
118, 144-145 ; identified with
Sarama, 80-81 ; physical idea,
78, So, 145 ; statues, 19, 41, 104,
147-148, 166 ; worship wide-
spread, 145-146

Heroes: descent, 90; worship, 158-
161, 166

Hersephoria, 92

Hesiod : influence on growth of
National Pantheon, 101-102, I2I ;
Theogony, loi, 1 19-120, 134-
135; Works and Days, n9

Hestia, 238 ; altars, 41-42, 75-76;
Homeric, 116

Hetaerse, 66, 221, 332, 335, 349,
613; position, 352, 354

Hieropcei, 184- 1 85, 189

Himation, 51, 57-59; method of
wearing, 55-56, 58-59, 303;
Spartan, 58

Hippias the Sophist, 38-39

Hippocrates the Sophist, 37-39

Homer, 104- 1 05 ; aristocratic nature
of society, 121 ; hymns, 105, 144-
145, 149, 155 ; influence on growth
of National Pantheon, 101-102,
104-105, 121 ; state in (see under
State)

Horcus, 232

Horses, 374-375» 632

Hospitality, 339-340 ; Homeric,

336-337

Houses, 17-19; Athenian, 17-19,
32-33. 36; decoration, 43-46;
doors, 22-24, 36, 43 ; farm, 33-
34 ; floors, 26, 28, 43 ; furniture,
45-48, 382

Houses: Homeric, 21-31, 75-76;
compared with palace of Tiryns,
29-31 ; compared with private
houses, 31-32, 42-43

Houses: lighting, 25, 33, 43-44;
lodging, 45 ; materials, 18-19, 35,
381 ; private, 3 1-48J roof, 19,28,
45 ; warming, 35, 44 ; windows,
18, 35, 43; women's apartments
(see under Women)

Hunting, 327-328, 376

Hygieia, 92-93 ; daughter of Askle-
pius, 92, loi

Hymns (see under Ritual)

Hypf^thral opening in houses, 25,
2)^} 43

^2^

GENERAL INDEX

Iacchus, 277-279

Inheritance, laws as to, 542-553,

557j 562-568 ; obligations of

heirs, 547-548, 5^5 J wills, 543,

545-547> 563
Inns, 339-340
lo, 90

lonians, 7, 440-442
Iphigenia, 244
Iris, messenger of the gods, no, 115,

146
Islam, 94-95
Islands of ^geau, 1-2, 4
Isthmian games (see under Games)

Kings, 31-32, 404, 438-439 ; Athe-
nian (see under J. ^Ae7is) ; connec-
tion with priests, 20O-20I, 424,
442, 478 ; Homeric, 406, 408-
412 ; legendarj^ il ; Spartan (see
under Sparta) ; war, 404, 438,
442

Language, 81

Law, 406, 560-561

Law, Attic, 526-560; as to con-
tracts, 538 ; family relations,
556-558 ; inheritance, 542-553.
557, 562-563; marriage, 553-
556 ; offences against the state,
558-560; property, 537-542;
protection of life, 528-533 ; pro-
tection of the person, 534-537

Law, Cretan (see Gortyna Code)

Law : customs, 406, 409 - 4 10,
526-527; written, 527, 561,

573
Lebadeia, oracle of (see Trophonius)
Leda, 136
Lensea, 291
Leto, 129; Homeric, ^%, 112-113,

118; Phrygian origin, ^t"], 118,

128
Life, daily, 323-335 ; publicity of,

21, 23, 33, 323, 340
Linen, 51, 60
Lycurgus, 15, 421-422

Mantineia, 10

Manufactures, 377-383 ; dealers,
19, 391-392 ; division of labour,
381-383, 413; gods, 143-144,
146, 291; guilds, 380; hand-
workers, 337, 37773^1. 413;
hereditary occupations, 380 ;

slave labour, 378-381, 617-619,
627 ; trade routes (see under
Commerce)

Marathon, festival in honour of
victory, 289

Markets (see Agora)

Marriage, 343-348, 404, 437; ar-
rangement, 343-344 ; ceremonies,
344-348 ; divorce, 344-345, 554-
556 ; dowry, 543, 556, 563, 566-
567 ; heiresses, 437, 543, 550,
563-565 ; laws as to, 553-555 ;
married women's property, 555-
556, 563, 566-568 ; object, 343,

353

Meals, 328

Megaron of Homeric house, 23-26,
42, 75-76

Metics, 454-456 ; employment, 378-
379 ; legal status, 454-455, 479 ;
tax on, 455, 510

Money : barter, 394 ; cattle measure
of value, 370, 386, 397-398

Money : coins, 392, 397-403 ; de-
tails, 97, 100, 125, 135, 137, 140,
142, 400-403 ; gold, 399, 401,
403 ; Homeric, 397-398 ; lending
(see Usury) ; origin, 398-401

Morals, 170, 194-195, 233, 383,
625-627

Mountains, 3, 10 ; gods worshipped
on, 123-124, 164-166; inhabi-
tants, 3, 7-8

Munychia, 293-294

Murder : homicide, involuntary,
53C^533, 619, 627; voluntary,
530-533; laws as to, 528-533;
purification, 240-243, 619; slaves,
619, 627 ; trials for, 445, 452,
478, 491-492, 530-533, 578-579;
wergeld, 240-241, 404, 406-
409

Music, 226-227 ; contests at games,
269-270 ; musical education (see
under Education) ; musicians,
209

Mycenae, 11-12, 117; civilisation,
404-405 ; palace, 21-22 ; trea-
suries, 23, 28, T^

Mysteries, 200, 224, 274-286 ;
Cabiri, 285-2S6 ; Eleusinian (see
Eleusinian Mysteries)

Myths, setiological elements, 89, 91-
93 ; animal, 89-90 ; classification,
88-94; cultus, 91-94; ethical, 93-

GENERAL INDEX

729

94; Hesiod's Theogony, loi, 119-
120, 134-135; historical, 91;
meteorological, 77, 79-82, 90 ;
phyeical, 77, 90-91 ; relation to
Aryan mythology, 77-82; variety,
95-96

Naturalism in religion, 68-69, 76-
82, 122 ; Aryan comparative
mythology, 77-78; meteorological
myths, 77-82, 90; physical myths,
9C^9i

Naucratis, 33

Navy, 462, 487 ; Athenian, 511-
512, 657-660 ; biremes, 652-655 ;
equipment, 511-512, 658-660;
harbours of Athens, 657-658 ;
Homeric ships, 651-652; Spartan,
419, 431-432; tactics, 660-661 ;
transports, 660 ; triremes, 650-
651.655-657

Nemean Games (see under Gwmes

Nereus, 116, 160

Nicaea, 20

Nike (see Victory)

Nobles, 406, 410-413, 415-416

Nurses, 299; Laconian, 299, 353

Nymphs, 139, 299; Homeric, 1 15

Oaths (see under Ritual)

Oceanus, 116

Olympia : altis of Zeus, 171-172,
270-271 ; games, 270-274; gym-
nasium, 316-317; oracle, 260-
261; prytaneium, 165; worship
of Hera, 124, 127; worship of
Zeus, 124-125

Olympus, Homeric, 108-109, 115,

163

Oracles, 98, 200, 260-268 ; Apolline,
260, 264-266 ; Delphi (see under
Delphi) ; divination (see Divina-
tion) ; Dodona (see Dodona) ;
dream, 266-267 ; influence on
growth of National Pantheon.
106-107; interpretation of omens,
253-263; mode of answer, 261,
263-266; omen, 260-263; sooth-
sayers (see Soothsayers) ; Tro-
phonius (see Trophonius)

Orchomenus, Treasury of, 23, 28,

73
Ordeal, 232
Orgiastic cults, 212-222; Diony-

slac, 154-156, 212-214, 234, 246,

296; extension, 214-216; legal
status, 219-220; membership,
215-216, 222 ; moral bearing,
220-222; organisation, 217-219 ;
Orgeones of Piraeus, 216-218 ;
priests, 217-219; ritual, 215-
216

Orestes, 241

Orphans, guardianship of, 552-553

Orpheus : connection with Diony-
siac worship, 213-21

Oschophoria, 289

Palaces (see Houses)

Palsostrae (see Gymnasia)

Pan, 14S, 154; localisation, 148

Panathenaic festival, 207, 287-288 ;
stadium, 17

Pancratium (see under Physical
training)

Pantheon (see also Gods) : divine
honours paid to men, 161-162 ;
Hesiodic, II9-120 ; historic,
121-162; Homeric, 108-119; na-
tional, formation, 94- 1 08 ; causes,
IOI-I06 ; twelve greater gods,
107

Parasites, 335

Paris, judgment, 99

Parthenon (see under Acropolis)

Pasturage, 370, 374-376 ; decline,
375 ; in Homeric times, 370 ;
live stock, 374-376

Pedagogues (see under Education)

Peiraeus, 11, 32; agora, 14; houses,
32-33; Orgeones, 216-218

Pelasgi, 82-83

Peleiades, priestesses of Dodona,
263

Peloponnesian confederacy, 605-
606

Pentathlum (see under Physical
training)

Peplus, 57

Pergamon, Asklepius worshipped
at, 100, 131

Perioeci (see under Sparta)

Persephone, 277 ; Demeter, con-
nection with, 113, 153; Hades,
connection with, 113, 153-154;
festivals, 291-292; Homeric, 113,
115; myth, 151-152 ; physical
aspect, 90, 277

Personal characteristics (see Phy-
sique)

730

GENERAL INDEX

Pharos, lighthouse of, 19-20

Pheidias, statues of, 71, 124, 142

Phlegra, plains of, 123

Phrjne, 219-221

Physical features, 1-5, 10 ; influ-
ence on character, 1-2, 6-S ;
threefold division, 2-4

Physical training, 93, 310, 313-322,
324 ; boxing, 272, 319-320 ; boys,
310, 313 ; dancing, 310, 321-322;
ephebi, 312, 636; pancratium,
272-273, 310, 320; pentathlum,
272, 318-319 ; racing, 272, 317,
320-321 ; wrestling, 272, 317-
318

Physicians, 355-357» 359-36o ;
Homeric, 355 ; priests of Askle-
pius (see under Asklepius) ; state.

355-356

Physique, 6

Piracy, 8 ; connection with com-
merce, 387 ; source of slave sup-
ply, 612-613

Platsea, 35 ; festival in honour of
victory, 2S8-289

Plynteria, 294

Pnyx, 12, 15, 493

Polycleitus, statues of, 1 26-127

Polydeuces (see Dioscuri)

Pompeii, 31, 33-34 ; palaestra, 315-
316

Poseidon, 89, I17 ; character, in ;
functions, 1 37-138 ; Homeric,
iio-iii, 117, 137; origin, 117,
137; physical aspect, iio-iii ;
worship, 117-118, 137-138, 165

Prayers (see under Ritual)

Precincts, sacred : altar.-^, 169 ;
asylums, 167-168 ; buildings,
167-172; origin, 163-167, 172;
sanctity, 167-169; tombs, 170,
172

Priests : classes of, 206-209 ; dis-
tinct from soothsayers, 199-200,
253-254 ; dress and appearance,
206, 698 ; duration of office, 204-
205 ; election, 202-204 ; emolu-
ments, 192, 199, 209-211, 237,
251 ; functions, 205-209 ; heredi-
tary offices, 201-202, 266 ; Ho-
meric, 200, 210; lay assistants,
207-209 ; qualifications, 200-204,
208 ; relation between kings and,
2CO-20I, 424, 442, 478; sale of
office, 204, 209

Prodicus the Sophist, 38-39

Products, 3, 9

Professions, 383-3S6 ; actors, 386 ;
artists, 381, 384-385 ; legal, 383-
384 ; literary, 384 ; medicine
(see Physicians) ; teaching (see
under Education)

Prometheus, relation to Vedic
myths, 79-80

Property, 371-372, 537 ; laws as to,
537-542; married women's, 555-
556, 56^, 566-568 ; suits as to,
576-578, 5S6

Prophets (see Soothsayers)

Proxenos, 479-480, 598-600

Prytaneium, 165, 198-199, 290

Pyanepsia, 289

Pythagoreans, 214, 224

Pythia (see under Delphi)

Pythian games, 269

Quarries, 381

Races, 83 ; threefold division, 7-8
Religion, 72, 82 ; ancestor-worship
(see Ancestor -worship) ; anthro-
pomorphism, 165, 172 ; Arcadian,
8 ; Aryan influence on, 68, 73,
76-82, 125 ; Asiatic influence on,
69, 83-88, 124-125 ; belief in a
future life, 73-75, 104, 106, 153-
154 ; comparison of Aryan and
Semitic, 94-95 ; conservatism,
201; development, 94-95; ele-
ments, borrowed, 69, 82 - 88 ;
elements, mixed, 68-69, 94-95 ;
elements, national, 69-76 ; festi-
vals, 286-296, 325 ; Homeric,
212, 234; impiety, law as to,
560 ; influence of art on, 92-93,
L02-104 ; monotheism, rise of,
107, 119, 121, 124; national, de-
cline, 107-108 ; national, rise,
94-108 ; naturalism (see Natural-
ism) ; popular, 212, 214, 221-222,
230 ; relation of mythology to
the Vedas, 78-82 ; relation to
Roman religion, 81-82 ; totemism
(see Totemism)
Rhea, 116

Rhodes, centre of commerce, 388
Ritual, 222-235; curses, 227-230;
hymns, 225-227; oaths, 230-233,

GENERAL INDEX

731

571; ordeal, 232; prayer, 223-
235 ; purifications, 223, 233-235

Rivers, 3; gods, 115, 119, 139;
worship, 164-165

Roads, 338-339, 366, 619

Sabazius, worship of, 215-216, 222

Sacrifices, 231, 235-251 ; choice
of victims, 237-238, 245-248 ;
chthonic deities, to, 248, 251 ;
dead, to the, 365-366; divination,
259-260 ; donatory, 236-239 ;
fire, place of, 237-23S, 250-251 ;
Honaeric, 200, 239 ; human, 73-
74, 125, 243-245, 294 ; libations,
224, 238-239 ; mystic, 245-246 ;
origin, 235-236 ; piacular, 239-
245 ; purifications (see under
Ritual) ; ritual, 248-251

Salamis, festival in honour of vic-
tory, 294

Samos, Hera worshipped at, 84,
118, 127

Scamander, 115

Schools (see under Education)

Scirophoria, 295

Sculpture, 6 ; dress (see under
Dress)

Seals, 43

Seats, 46

Selene, connection with Artemis,

135
Selli, priests of Zeus at Dodona,

122, 261, 263
Semele, 155
Shoes, 64
Shops, 34-35, 324 ; barbers', 324 ;

booksellers', 384 ; wine, 332-333
Shrines, 15, 19, 41-42
Sidonians, 113
Sieges, 646, 649-650 ; fortification

of cities, 648-650 ; engines, 646-

648
Silk, 60
Slaves, 611-629 ; classes, 414, 423-

424, 433-434. 611, 614-616, 624 i

dress, 58-60
Slaves, effects of slavery, 61 1, 625-

629; economical, 617, 627-628;

moral, 625-627 ; political, 628-

629
Slaves, emancipation, 195, 414, 622-

624 ; employment, 378-381, 617-

619, 627 ; evidence under torture,

589, 591-592, 627 ; Helots (see
under Sparta) ; Homeric, 414,
611-612; law as to liberty of the
person, 568-569; numbers, 617,
624-625 ; Perioeci (see under
Sparta) ; power of masters over,

414, 619-620, 626-627; prices,
625 ; rights, 414, 434, 563, 616 ;
serfs, 614-617, 620-621, 624, 627-
628 ; sources of supply, 414, 61 1-
614 ; temples as slave-owners,
194-195 ; trade in, 386-387, 414,
612-614; treatment, 381, 414,
434, 619-620, 627

Societies, religious : organisation,
196-21 1 ; origin, 196-199; priests
(see Priests)

Socrates: charge against, 219-220;
visit to Protagoras, 37-38, 323

Solon, 421-422

Soothsayers, 98, 199-200, 212, 253-
256, 260 ; books, 255 ; distinct
from priests, 199-200, 253-254;
hereditary, 254, 260

Sparta, 4 ; agora, 15 ; army (see
under Army)

Sparta: constitution: assembly, 416-
417, 425-426 ; citizenship, quali-
fications for, 417, 424, 429, 437 ;
class distinctions, 415-417, 423-
424 ; common meals, 327, 417,
424-425, 429, 437 ; conservatism,
8, 416 ; education (see under
Education) ; Ephors, 419-421,
425-427; foreign policy, 419-420,
424-425, 427 ; Gernntes, 416-418,
425-427; kings, 200-201, 416-
419, 424-425; Lycurgus and,
421-422 ; oligarchical tendency,
416-421,427; tribes, 424; village
communities, 415, 419, 424

Sparta: decline, 617, 628-629;
Helots, 423, 614-615, 620-621,
624-625, 628 ; inhabitants, 414-

415, 423, 440-441 ; land, allot-
ment of, 415-417, 421-423 ; mili-
tary state, 427-429, 633, 639;
navy (see under i\^af^) ; Pelopon-
nesian confederacy under, 605-
606; Perioeci, 423, 431, 614-615,
628

Sphinx, 92

Stadia, 17

States, 629

States, Homeric, 404-414 ; assem-

732

GENERAL INDEX

blies, 405, 409 ; customs, 406,
409-410; gerontes, 406, 410-413;
justice, administration of, 405-
409, 411 ; kings, 406, 408-412

States, international relations, 597-
610; colony and mother city, 1 1,
387, 600-604, 609 ; position of
guests, 597-598 ; proxenos, 479-
480, 598-600

Statues, Artemis, 103-104, 133,
176-178; Athena, 15, 71, 142-
143, 177, 181 ; in agoras, 13-14,
19; Hera, 126-127, 176; Hermse,
19, 41 ; Hermes, 104, 147 ; in
houses, 41-42 ; in streets, 19, 41 ;
in temples, 176-179

Stesichorus, poems of, 102-103

Stose (see Arcades)

Streets, 1 7-20 ; narrow, 17; unim-
posing aspect, 18, 35

Suicides, burial of, 368-369, 533

Sundials, 14, 47, 323

Sunshades, 67

Syracuse, agora of, 1 2-1 3

Symposia (see under Banquets)

Tablelands, 3

Tables, 47

Taxes, 190 ; custom duties, 339

Tegea, temple of Athena, 167-168

Teiresias, 200, 254

Temples, 172-186 ; adornment,
178-180, 186 ; Adytum, 1 78-179 ;
altars, 169-170; bankers, 195-
196 ; expenses, 191-192 ; hearth,
165 ; inscriptions, 179, 182-184,
188-189, 193, 202, 358-359;
neutral ground, 166 ; offerings to
the gods, 177, 179-186, 236-238,
35S-359; origin, 172-173, 197;
plan, 174-180; primitive, 173-

174

Temples: property, 167, 186-196;
administration, 186-187, 189-190,
193-194, 209 ; audit of temple at
Delo.s, 188-192; revenue, 190-
191, 508

Temples : ritual (see Ritual) ; seats
of games, 20, 167 ; servants, 170,
191-192 ; sites, ii, 13-14, 20,
166 ; slave-owners, 194-195 ;
statues in, 176-179

Thargelia, 294

Theatres (see under Drama)

Theft, law as to, 538

Themis, 115

Theogony, Hesiod's (see ffesiod)

Theseus, festivals in honour of, 289-
290

Thesmophoria, 152-153, 290

Thetes, 413, 512

Thetis, 113, 115

Tiryns : palace, 11, 21-22, 29-30,
41 ; walls, 12, 91

Titaiis, 116

Tombs, 73-74, 366-368 ; contents,
73-74, 366 ; representations and
inscriptions, 228, 366-368

Totemism, 68-72, 86, 90, 164-165,
173. 233, 235-236, 245 ; connec-
tion between gods and animals,
70-71, 89-90, 188, 247, 257;
influence, slight, 69-72 ; nature
of a totem, 70

Tower of the Winds, 14-15

Toys, 300

Trade, capital and labour dis-
tinguished, 413-414; contempt
for, 64-65, 113, 377-379, 619;
dealers, 391-392 ; laws as to
conditions of sale, 541-542

Travelling, 336-340 ; Homeric,
336-337; inns, 339-340; mode,
338-339; roads, 338-339, 366;
sea-voyages, 337

Trapezites, 395-397

Treason, laws as to, 558-559

Treasury of Homeric house, 23, 26-
27

Treaties, 1 79, 598, 604 ; oaths as
parts of, 231-232

Triptolemus, gifts bestowed by
Demeter, 1 51-152

Triremes (see under Navy)

Trophonius, 96; cave," 98, 173, 267-
268

Truces, sacred, 269-270, 278

Typhoeus, 70

Uranus, 79

Usury, 459 ; interest, rate of, 190,
396-397, 459, 539 ; laws as to,
539-540 ; money - lenders, 394-
397 ; mortgages, 395-397, 539 ;
temples as money-lenders, 188-
190

Vases, 47-48 ; manufacture, 382 ;

materials, 48 ; painting, 73
Victory, 124-125, 142, 158

GENERAL INDEX

733

Village communities, 415, 419, 424,

441
Visits, 37-38, 323
Vitruvius' description of houses,

34-37, 43 ; of stacre, 675
Volcanoes, 4

Walls : city, 11, 649 ; siege, 646-
647

War, 600; camps, 431, 642 ; sieges
(see Sier/es) ; treatment of prison-
ers, 612

Water-clocks, 47, 323, 594 --

Water-supply, 21, 41, 372

Wergeld (see under Murder)

Wills, 543, 545-547 ,

Wines (see under Diet)

Wine-shops, 332-333

Women: apartments, 24, 27-31,
37, 39, 42, 47

Women : dress, 49-50, 59-60, 64,
66-67, 352-353; chiton, 51-54,
59-60, 352 ; diplois, 52-54, 59 ;
himation, 55-56,59-60; Hf)meric,
57 ; peplus, 57 ; veil, 54, 56-57

Women : employments, 343, 348-
351 ; legal status, 553, 561-564,
572 ; marriage (see Marriage)

Women : position, 25, 30, 37, 328,

340-342, 626 ; improved, 340, 354 ;

poorer classes, 342, 351-352
Women : public estimation, 350-

351. 353-354, 626; regulations

as to, 352 ; seclusion, 37, 50, 328,

340, 342-343, 348-349, 354;

Spartan, 352-353
Wounding, laws as to, 530-533
Wrestling (see under Physical

training)
Writing, 80, 561

Xanthus, 115, 118-119

Zagreus, connection with Diony-
sus, 156, 278

Zeus : altars (see under Altars) ;
Aryan deities, connection with,
78-79, 125; character, no, II9;
Fate, relation to, 109, I16-117;
festivals, 291-295 ; forms, diver-
sity of, 97-98, 123-125 ; functions,
78-79, 109, 123-124, 166; Ho-
meric, 109-1 10; impartiality, 1 17,
119; metamorphoses, 89-90;
physical ideas connected with,
78-79, 109, 123-126 ; supremacy,
78, 109-110, 124; worship, 98,
122-125, 164

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

'A.-^adr] Tvxn, 158

ayadbs, 216

'AyaObs Aai/mcov, 158

ayy aprftov, 32 1

ayeXdrri^, 436

ayeXf), 436

dyrjTcop, 207

ayvos, 216, 220

a7opd, 323

dyopaios, 14, I42, I47, 166

dyopau6jj.os, 13, 4S3

d7pot/cos, 58, 371

dypos, 291

'A7i;tet;s, 1 9, 4 1, 1 48

dyupfJLos, 279

d7xto-re?s, 545, 548

aycoyrj, 435

0,70)!', 269, 478

doeia, 511

d5eX06s, 313

ddLKLOV {ypa(prj), 48 1

d77p, 126

^ Kd-qvalwv TroXiTela, 443, 518,

635

ULyeLos, 64

aldJjs. 303

al^Tjos, 130

al'^oucra, 23, 27, 337

akca, 530, 535-536, 559

alvLyp.a, 334

Alo-a, 116-117

alwpa, 349

'A/f/cd', 299

dKOTjv p.apTvpeiv, 590-591

dK0VTL<TTr}S, 312

dKOt-cTios (06vos), 530

dKp6.TL(Tixa, 323

aKpoajma, 211

d/crd^eij', 328

a/^'7-^, 113

&K(iOU, 318

d\d(3affTpoP, 48

626,

6t\a5e, 279
'A\a\Ko/j.€UTiU, 141
aXei/x/ia, 314

dXeLTTTTJpLOV, 315

dXe^lKUKOs, 157
dXivoTjaii, 318
aXfoj, 116
dXXas, 327
dX/xa, 318
a\s,^377
dXr^pes, 318
dXcpira, 327
'AX0trc6, 299
a/*a^a, 338
afxa^is, 300
dpc^XioaLs, 478
duei^ovres, 28
d/XTrexo;/?;, 56

dlXTTLfXwXoS, 570

dpLcpLdpopLLa, 297

dfJi(pL6dXa/xos, 39

dfxcpLfidaxcXos %trwi', 58

dfji.(pi(pu}u, 293

dfKpopevs, 47-48

dfa^ad/xos, 36

dfajSabeLU, 68 1

di'aS^X^o'^'^'j 540 w. ; (ttjv eKfiap-

Tvpiav), 591
dvddrip.a, 180-181
duaLfxos, 23S
dpaKaXvTTTTipia, 347
dvaKpbeLV, 588
d^'d/cpio-ij, 527, 572, 574-575. 5S8,

608
di'a/x.Trexoz'os, 59
f""^, 31, 336
dj/a^iiptSes, 63
dvairieafj.a, 688
dj'a(r/cei;dfetj' (rV rpaTre^ai'), 538

duaarpocpTj, 633

dvacp^peiv (rds A'a)7ras), 656

734

INDEX OF GEEEK WORDS

735

a.v^poK7]'^la, 6oo

^^Ip'^^I 37
dvopuuTrLS, 42
dpe^ios, 543
di'dpaKla, 44
dvLiTTOTrovs, 122, 261
di'TLypd(p€adaL, 588
duTiypacprj, 588
diTi'Socris, 513
d^TtXaxert-, 597 n. 8
dvTLXOpia, 704
di'Tio/JLoala, 589
dvcpauais, 565
fi^toy, 285
fi^W, 527
d7rd7eXos, 436
d7ra7W7?7, 58 1 ??. I
dwapxai, 181
dTrauXta, 347
direviavTLcrixbs, 241
dTTTjUT], 273
dTToypacpT), 58 1 n. I
CLTTodeL^cs, 312
dTTodeKTai, 474
diro5pj/.LOs, 436
d7ro5ur?7ptoj', 3 1 5-3 1 6
dTroFeiTe7i>, 565
diroiKia, 600 c^ sej.
dTTOKTjpi'^is, 546, 557
dTrdXeLxJ/LS, 476
dirojudTTeadat, 330
dirovixpaadaL, 330
dTTOTT^/xireiv, 554
dirbiveixxpLS, 476
diroTTTvyfxa, 52
dTTOTTWi'?), 570
dirbpprjTOS, 534
dTTOcrracn'oi' (Su't;), 590
dTTOoToXeus, 658-659

dTTOTLIxdv, 555

diroTLfjLT]0rjvaL, 555
&TroTi,aTjiLLa, 555
diroTL/XTjcraaOaL, 555
dvocppddes {rjfj.epai), 58 1
dirpoaTaaiou [ypacpr]), 479
dirupos, 238
diruixoTos, 570
"A/ryeioj, 125
dp7^as (5i/C7?), 477
dpyvpa/jLOL^os, 395
Apetos, 148
"ApeLOs Tdyos, 1 5
dpLCTTepoaTdTai, 703-704
dpiarou, 328
dpKTOS, 293

d/5pu, 656
dpTia(rfx6$, 300
dpTdwuXis, 13
d/)i'/3aXXoj, 48
dpxepaPiffTTjs, 218
dpx''?, 480, 607
dpXi'diufpos, 207
dpxcdiaaiTTjs, 21S
dpxiT^KTWv, 4, 687

<5tpxw^> 333

dadpuvdos, 26, 28, 314

dae^eLa, 478, 560

fi<r/cos, 48, 332

daTrd^eadai, 323

dcrry9d7aXoj, 300

'AaTpair-q, 1 58

ficrru, 165, 293

d(JTVv6[xo<s, 483

dreXeta, 339, 479

firex'^os, 256

drt^t'a, 547, 555, 579

dTi(j.05, 548, 584

&TO/.1.0S, 187

au^tj, 710

ai>'Xetos ^t'pa, 36

auX77, 22, 26, 28-29, 42, 323

av\7]T7]S, 192, 269

avX-rjTph, 332

av\o)dLa, 269

ai;r67i'0J', 372

avTOpLaxcIv, 588

avTOTr(.'j\r]s, 39 1

ai'rocrxeSiacTTi/v"/;, 666

ai)roi'p76s, 371

avTOKpdrojp, 518

dcpatpelv Tpairei'as, 330

d(paip€<ns {els kXevdepiav), 479, 568

d(pafMLU)Tai, 433, 615-616

d(pai'rjs {ovaia), 537

(S0e(ns, 273

d<popnrjs (5i/C7;), 540

dxt'rwj', 58

PaOpos, 307

^advXei/jLos, 12

^aXavevs, 315

(Bdfavcros. 378, 3S3

^dirrai, 215

(SaaavLaTTjs, 592

jSd'javos, 592

/SacriXeta, 443

(iaaiXeios, 14, 478

^aaiXevs, 1 10, 201, 207, 406, 409

c< sc?., 478
/SacrtX^Ses, 206

736

INDEX OF GREEK WOEDS

^aaiXivva, 478

^aaiXia-aa, 201, 208, 478

^daKavos, 299

^e^aicoffis, 541

^ia, 536

jSi^Xos, 308

/3\d/37?, 479, 540, 586, 591

^Xavrai, 64

^6a/xa, 305

^op.^vKLva, 60

^ovai, 428

^ovXaios, 142

^ovXevais, 478, 481, 531-532

^ovXevTTjpLOP, 13

iSoi/XT?, 187, 325

^ovar pocp7}h6v , 561

ppovTTj, 158

/3co/x6s, 260

YaX?}, 301

ya/x-qXia, 345

yafjLrjXLOS, 4 1

7d/ioy, 291

7eXoios, 663, 665

TAwj, 158

yeXcoTOiroLds, 335

yeveaia, 365

7eVos, 449

7^pas, 478

y^ppov, 13

yepo^v, 1 16, 406

yewpybs, 29 1

r^M^T7?p, 113, 151

yvihfxuv, 14, 47

yvdopiafia, 298

ypdfx/j.a, 307, 31 1-3 1 2

ypa/JL/xarevs, 21 8

ypapLjuaTLKds, 3 1 1

ypafifxaTLaTrjs, 307-308

7pa077, 480-481, 535. 581 »^•, 5^8,
608; dypacpLov, 4^0-481 ; ddiKiov,
481 ; dSt'/fws eipxdw'^'- ^^ f^^i-x^v,
481 ; ^ovXevaews, 481 ; deKaa/xov,
481, 560 ; 8wpo8oKias, 560; diopQv,
481, 560; e|a7W7^s, 481 ; eratp-
ijo-ews, 481 ; KXoTrr]s, 481 ; fioLxdas,
481 ; TrapavbpLWv, 452, 608 ; Trpoa-
7W7etas, 481 ; avKocpavrias, 481 ;
iijSpecos, 481, 530, 535, 619 ; i/'eu-
BeyypacpTJs, 48 1 ; \f/ev8oKX7]Teias,
481, 585

7/5100?, 334

7!;aXo;^, 62

yvixvoLGTiK-q, 307

yvfJLvaaiapxos, 3 12
yvfjLVLKds, 478
yvfivbs, 58
yvjJLvovv, 352
yvPOLLKela dyopd, 1 3
yvvaiKodoivas, 92
yvpaiKOPofxos, 352
7i;j'at/fcDi' (;:^7;pei;ou(rwv), 477
7i;i'at/cwj'rrtj, 37

ScjSoOxos, 276

hapel^eLv, 569

Sdi'etoj', 538 /I. 3

5??, 17

SaxT^TTjs, 477, 541

dacppyjcpopos, 207

5er7/ia, 392

SeiTTJ'OJ', 328

5e/cdfetJ', 560

SeKaapLbs, 481, 560

5^KaTos, 297

SeXros, 308

Se^iocrrdrat, 703

depaiop, 299

deawoLPa, 353

87]fXLOvpy6s, 253, 337, 378

5??/ios, 187, 482

dTj/jLoalwv xpT^p.drwj' (/cXottt)), 481

bidbriixa, 66

dLadiKacrlaL ixopvy^^)} 477~47^

diaiT7]Tr]S, 586, 597

Std/coj'os, 20S

dia/jLapTvpeadat, 590

dia/xapTvpia, 5S7-588, 590

StaTTiyXtoz/, 510

diaTidecrOai, 54S n. I

diavXos, 272, 317

8i.a<paprjs, 60

diyapLos, 102

5i5dcr/cei;', 307

5ie77i;aj', 479

5ie77i;acr^at, 540 n.

duyepriKos, 347

Bl^kttXovs, 660

di^/XTTopos, 147

di-qpris, 652

bidvpafx^os, 663

5t/cd55ei', 571

St/cacTTroXos, 406-407

diKacTTrjpioP, 447, 476, 574-575

di.Ka(TTrj$, 569

5i/c?/, 476 ei 565'., 535 ^^ se?., 581 n.,
593 > dyecopyiov, 541 ; aidas, 5 30,
535 ; dfi^Xwaeois, 478 ; d/xeXlov,
541 ; 0^70^/^55 542 ; dvdSt/cos,

CORKIGENDA

Page 5, line 28, for " Greece " read " Attica."
„ 14, „ 29, „ "Pericles. In additi^jn Piraeus " read "Pericles

in the Piraeus, which. "^
,, 14, note 2, add " Schol. Aristoph. Acharnians, 548."

18, ,, I, /or "Plut. Dem. ii." read "Plut. Bern. 11."
,, 37, line 18, „ '^ TuvaiKOv^Tis" read ^'yvvaiKoopiTis.^'
„ 38, ,. 7 from end, /or "Ceramis" recfc^ "Cerameicus."
,, 65, ,, 5, trs. "^" from after Syracuse to after Thucvdides.
,. 131, ,, 16, /or •' Aboniteichos " read "Abonuteichos."
„ 221, ,, 21, ,, "Aristion " rearf " Aristophanes."
,, 244, ,, 38, ,, " deites " rgac? "deities."
>' 455) )) 35) ffi^f "total exemption" i)isert "from the liturgies to

which metics were liable."
,, 464, ,, 31, /or "election" ?-eac^ "appointment."
„ 473, ,, 25, ,, "between B.C. 334 and 325" read "as early as

B.C. 352."
,, 474, ,. 36, ,, " a minister " rgafZ " ministers."
„ ,, ,, 44, ,, "6" read "ot."
!) 477) )> 3O) (ifter "Perrot" inse7-t " Essai sur le Droit Public

d^Atht7ies."
„ 479, ., 8, /or " Lyceum" rearf "'ETTtXi^/ceio;'."
,, 480, ,, 41, ,, " Thesmosion " rgaii " Gea/io^ereroj/."
„ 482, ,, 7, ,, " Fourteen " rmcZ " Forty, "
„ 486, ,, 28, ,, " paredri" reaci? "proedri."
,, 492, last line, after " 'A^. ttoX " insert "43, § 4."
,, 498, line 27, after "proposal" insert "on."
)' 555' " 28, /or " Isoc." reaoi! "Isaeus."
,. ,, ,, 41, ,, " Israes. " r^arf "Isaeus."
,, ,, ,, 43, ,, " Isoc." rmrf " Isaeus."
)) 556, )) 36, ,, "Isoc." rmrf " Isaeus."
„ 580, ,, II, ,, " dicasteria " ?-cacZ " dicastic sections. "
)) 595) )» 43' <*/f^'' " unknown ''insert "(but see 'A^. ttoX, col. ^J).''
„ 612, „ 23,/or"353"rm(r'348."
)) 613, ,, 37, ,, " Pegasse " rmrf " Pagasas. "
)) 658, ,, 36, ,, "harbour " rearf " dock-yard."

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

7?>7

597 n. 7 ; avBpairbbujv, 568 ; aira-
T?7<rewjToO br}ixov,^?>2 ; dTroKeiipecos,

476 ; dTTOTre'/i-^ews, 476 ; dtroaTa-
ciov, 590 ; dirb avfi^6\o}v, 479,
482 ; dpyias, 477 ; dpyvplov, 540 ;
avTOT€\r,s, 597 n. 6 ; dcpop/xrjs,
540 ; d\}/vx<jiv, 478 ; /3e/3aiwcrews,
541 ; ^caiojw, 536 ; /Si'as, 536 ;
/3\c£/377y, 479, 540, 586, 591 ;
/SouXeiVews, 478, 48 1, 531-532 ;
yoveoju /ca/ccicrewy, 476 ; dcopo^euias,
4S2 ; €ts dar-qruiv a'ipecnv, 477, 541 ;
eh e/xcpavuiu KardcTTao-iu, 477, 589 ;
^/u,fxrii'os, 593 ; i/xiropLK:'/], 479, 482 ;
ifOLKCov, 541 ; e^aipecrews, 478 ;
i^ovXris, 477, 538, 540 ; einTpoirrjS,
477; epavLKT], 593; ew^iJ/T?, 594
n. I ; KaK7}yoplas, 482 ; /ca/corex-
I'tw;', 477 ; KaKwaeus, 476-477 ;
Kapirov, 541 ; KaToKvcreois roO
di],uov, 482 ; XiirofxapTvpiov, 477,
591 ; ^eraXXi/CT?, 479, 482, 593 ;
IJ.i(Tdd}<xe(i}s, 477, 541 ; fxoLX^las,

477 ; vofxlafxaTOS di.a(p6opds, 4S3 ;
oucrt'as, 597 ?i. 4 ; ^evtas, 482 ;
-rrapavoias, 477 ; irpodoaias, 482 ;
TrpoiKos, 593 ; irvpKaXds, 478 ;
(Ttroi;, 476 ; av,u[3o\aiu}v irapa-
jSacreus, 540 ; (n>vdr}KG)v irapa^d-
creojs, 540 ; rpav/xaros e/c irpouoias,
47S, 530 ; (papfj-aKwu, 478 ; (pbvov,
478> 530; Xpeoi's, 540; V^ei'So-
/xaprvpcwp, 477, 4S2, 5 86, 591

AtoYez^eioi', 311
8ioiK7](ns, 191

dLOlKTjTTJS, 191

diOTpe<pr]s, IIO
OLTrXotdtou, 52

5i(TK0^, 318

8L(pd^pa, 60

oicppos, 46

Sixopta, 704

diojixoaia, 589

SoKLfiaa-ia, 216, 312, 453, 46S, 480,

581 n. I
56Xtos, 147
56Xixos, 272, 317
cofjios, 26, 113
bopirov, 328
601/Xeta, 568
SovpodoKT], 24
opa-XfJ-V, 39S, 400
SpofMevs, 436
5/)6/ioy, 273, 317
5pus, 263

OL'crxet^tepoj, 122
5u), 28
8Q/xa, 22
5oj/j.dTLOv, 37
dwpo^evla, 482
dd;TU}p eduu, II5

'4yy€Los, 538 n. 3

iyyvTj, 540 Ji.

6771/77^15, 344

iyyvrjT'/jS, 540

iyKaXe'iu, 585

^yK\7}fxa, 586

^yKTv<ns, 479, 537

eyKTTjTiKov, 537

eyKuj/xiov, 313

^yKCJTTOu, 652

e7xw/)tos, 345

eS^a, 340

^opa, 22

elSos, no

er(5a'Xoi', 102

'EtXet'^i'ia, 158

er/za, 60

ei(Ta77eXta, 488, 493, 559, 58 1 n. I,

. 585, 596
eiVepxeo'^a' {evdvdiKiqi), 588
etVteVai, 36, 588
elairoL€?adaL, 548 n. I
eicrcpepetv rpaTrei'as, 330
eia-<popd, 5 1 1
e/cexeipi'a, 269-270
endecns, 298
eKKVKk'qp.a, 689 c^ sej.
eKXoyevs, 608
iKfiaprvpe^u, 590-59I
iK,uapTvpia, 59 1
eKoucTiOS (06?'os), 530
iKirepLairaafxbs, 633
kKiroi-qdrivai, eKiroirjTOV ylyveadai,

548 n. I
'eKTro}[xa, 48
€KTeiv€iv, 656
iKTri/xopLOS, 444

€K<pOpd, 362

iXaiodeaiov, 3 1 5-3 1 6

eXe6s, 6S2

eXevdepiap (d^atpecris ets ^•), 479, 568

eX/cextrwi', 50, 57

iXXi/xeviov, 510

e/xlSdXXeLu, 65

e/ji^ds, 64

epL^areveLV, 597 H. 2

e/A,ueXeta. 704

^f^fLTjt^os, 593 ^ A

738

INDEX OF GREEK WOEDS

ifiTTopiKos, 479, 482

^/xiropos, 391

"E/j-TTOvcra, 301

epay wvios, 147

evai(n/ui.os, 257

^varos, 365

^pSet^LS, 581 n. I

ivdtdovaL, 36

ivdveadaL, 49

'ivbvixa, 49, 54

evbpoixis, 64

ipTjpoaia, 190

i-.exvpov, 539, 597 ». I

ivoiKia, 190

e^dyeti/, 537

6^070)777, 481

i^aipeLv (ras KiOTas), 656

i^aipecns, 478

i^aiTelv, 592

e^apx^v, 663, 665-666

i^eyyvdadai, 540 ?i.

el^dpa, 316

i^eprffxovadaL (oTkov), 548 n. I

i^eTaaTTjs, 484

i^rjyrjTTjs, 208, 252

e^icTTaadai. {tCov 8vto:v), 538 n. 3

eloL/X^;? 5i/c7?, 477, 538, 540

e^WAc/s, 58

i^oopLoala, 591

i^doTTLos, 37

eTratfos, 1 1 3

eTrl^\7]fj.a, 47, 49

iiri^oXr], 597

eTrLJSdofxios, 276

€TrLypa<pevs, 512

iiTidavei^eLV, 539

tTTi 5e|id, 330, 333

eTTt 5e|td ava^dWeadai, 58

CTTiSi/cacrta, 477

iTrldcKos, 590

^TTi'Soo-is, 511

iiri.6aXdiJ.i.op, 347

eTrt/cardo-racrts, 633

eiriKX-npos, 477, 543, 563

eiriXovrpov, 315

iwifjiapTvpecrdaL, 590

iinfj.eXriTrjS, 192, 2l8, 372, 478, 608

iTriardTTjs, 485

iiTLTdtpLos, 480

i7riTifj.r]Trjs, 1 92

eirlTOKQv [xpeus), 538 n. 3

eTTiTpoTTTj, 477

iwiTpoTros. 552-553

iiTKpavrjs, 161

€Trt<popd, 608

iTTLX^LpoTovia, 465 n. 4

iiroTTTeia, 27S

eirw^eXia, 596

eTnhvLov, 510

epaviKos, 593

^pavos, 214, 328

'Ep7d56ts, 3S0

1^/3701', 191-192

epeldeip, 656

eprjfJ-os, 597 n. 8

^plSovTTOs, 23

"Epis, no

'E/3/ce?oj, 23, 336

€pfj.oy\vcpevs, 19

(OTeyaaixevov ttXoIov, 656

iaria, 76

iaTLaropiov, 170

etrxdpa, 24-25, 37, 76

ecrxaros, 27

erat'pa, 332, 339, 352

iraLpla, 566

£T€po/j.daxo-Xos xtTWJ', 58

evavSpia, 2SS

evOvdiKia, 588

€{j0vva, 466 c^ seg., 480, 581 n,

eiL/^ufos, 466-467

evKTiaepos, 1 1

€wat6A(.e;'0S, 12

eu^ecrros, 26

eiypyd7i'toj, 12

eupj^y, 26

ei)/)uxopos, 12

evcre^Tjs, 216

eixpyjixeip, 250

ei^X^?, 223

i(f>e5pos, 272

^(peais, 597

^07?^os, 65

e(pT)yT}(TL$, 581 72. I

€<p65iop, 192

i(f>opos, 420

i(j>v5wp, 594 71. 2

eX'i'os, 577

ewdipai dUai, 594 ru I

^d/co/jos, 208, 218
Zetyj, 161
Zecpvpos, 5
tVTVTTjS, 484, 584
j''v7iT77j, 652

^1^761/, 651-652, 703-704
^1176?, 64
fw/ios, 327
fwi/T;, 53, 58

^djPlOP, 53

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

i]ye/j.Ci}v SLKacrTTjpiov, 476, 575

ijeXios, 112

fjdos, 702

i]\iaia, 574

T] fie pa, 581

VfiLxopia, 704

-qfefioeis, 12

"Hpa, 126

6a\dfxa^, 652

6a\apiiTr]s, 652

6d\a/xo5, 22, 24, 26-27, 39. 652

6a\\o(p6pos, 207

^ed, 143

Be/xtaTes, 406

deoXoyelov, 688

^eds, 41, 165-166

^epA^oy, 314

^eo-^6s, 443
dea/J-ocpopos, 1 53
^eros (i/toj), 548 n. I
OeupLKov, 509
dewpbs, 207, 270-271
6i](xavpos, 180, 191
diaaos, 214, 218
^otV?; yafXLKri, 345
^6\os, 22

OpavLT-qs, 655, 659
6pduos, 655
OpTjpOidos, 361
OptyKos, 29, 168-169
Opovos, 46
dvfxeXT], 681, 685, 6S7

OvfXLaTTjpLOV, 44

6^t)pa, 22, 36
^uptj, 43
dvpdou, 36
6vpu}p€ioi>, 36
dvpiopbs, 36

^UT77S, 208

^w/5771, 631-632

larpaXetTTTTys, 359

iepdpxv^, 183, 207

iepeLa, 204

tcpei'S, 199

tepoSoOXos, 135, 194, 627

iepo6vT7]s, 207

iepofxurj/j.i>}v, 207

iepoTTOLds, 183, 189, 218, 276

tepos 7(iM0S, 291

iepo(pdvr-q$, 275

iepo(f>v\a^, 207

t'^'e'T^y, 336
I'Xa, 428

i\7?, 634
t^tidj, 319
IfxdTLOv, 57-58
/tt^os, 37

tTTTTiOy, 142

I'ttttos KtXrjs, 273
laoriXeia, 455
iVoreXTjs, 455, 583, 589
t'X^Os, 13

/caSecTT^s, 616

KabidKos, 595

Kadapos, 220

Kddapcns, 278

Kaieiv, 363

Kaipos, 147, 158

KaKrjyopia, 482, 534

KaKorexvio-, 477

/cd/vW(rts, 476-477, 596

KaXados, 48

KaXdadai, 585

/cdXTTT/, 273

KdXvfXfia, 54

KaXvTTTpa, 54, 57

KairriXos, 39 1

Kapr)K0/x6iovTes, 64

Kaaav/xa, 64

KaTajSaiueLV, 26, 68 1

Kard^odpa, 3

KaTai^dT7]$, 164

KaraKei/jLevos, 569-570

KaraXo7e(ys, 638

/cardXi'crts, 482

KaraaKevT}, 1 92

KaraTidevaL {Karadefxevos), 569

A.-arax^o/'iOS, II3

Kardxt'cr/xa, 347

Kureyyvdv, 479, 540 7i.

Kareyyvdadai, 540 h.

KaTOpVTT€LV, 363

Kavaia, 63
KeicrOai, 26
K€Kpv(paXos, 66
/CA77S, 273
KivTpov, 273
Kepa/xeia, 48
Kepas, 48
K-qwoLos, 39

KTJpV^, 208, 276

KLiSuiTOiroLos, 19
Ki^urds, 47

KldapLCTTTIS, 269, 311

KiOapujSia, 269
KLXpdvaL, 538 ?l. 3

740

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

tii-ppo^, 332

KLOiV, 366

Kkapos, 615-61G

KXapojTrjs, 433, 615-616

K\€\f'v8pa, 47

k\7j8ovxos, 207

aijpos, 415, 477, 543, 562, 590

K\T]povxioi, 374, 600, 602 et seq.

KXijais, 585

KXrjTevetv, 585

KXTjTevais, 591

/cXtjt^/), 585

KXifxa^, 27, 688

/cXiVt?, 46. 329

K\icria, 26

K\t.ap.6s, 46

kKottt], 481

kXu}<t/j.6s, 710

KV€(pa\\ov. 47

Ko'-'opvos, ("4

KOlVCiV, 217

KOLVov Tihv avyyevQv, 1 07

KOLTWV, ^y

KoXa^, 335
/coXttoj, 53
KOfxav, 65
Kovla, 314
Koviajxa, 18
KovLaT-qpiov, 316
KOTTTeiv dvpav, Tj6
Kbpha^, 704
K6p77, 300
Kopv(palos, 703
Koafios, 566, 569-570
Koafxib, 207
KOTTa^os, 334
Kovpelov, 324
KOvpeGjTLS, 457
KpacnrediTrjs. 703
/cpar^p, 48, 333
Kpefxddpa, 694
Kpridefivov. 57
'^P^^'^, 372

Kpr]vo<pv\a^, 192, 210
Kpi^avQs, 2)1
Kpbros, 710
Kpoj^vXos, 65
KcevLos, 566, 569-570
/fua^os, 333
Kva/xos, 327
/ct^ai'os, 29
Kv^eiov, 325
KVK€d)V, 28 1
kvkXo^, 391
/cuXi^, 48, 332-333

Kvi'e??, 64

Kvp^ecs, 527

Kvpia, 593

f^P'os, 553-554, 5S3> 590

KO)XaKp€Tr]s, 444, 473-474

/CW/;t77, 419, 663

kQ/xos, 335, 662-663
K(l)7nj, 656

KwpVKOS, 316

XdiVoy, 24, 173

XajULTrddapxos, 32 1

XafjiTrds, 1 7

Xdpva^, 47

Xaro/xia, 38 1

Xavp-q. 27

XavpoffTCTaL, 703

X^,/37?s, 48

Xei/xu}u, 187

XeiTOvpyla, 510

Xe'^is, 663, 666

Xei'/cos, 332

XevKco/xa, 184, 192, 272, 586

Xeciy, 142

X?j/fL»tos, 48, 73

X^^ts, 477, 586

XldoffTpUTOV, 43

XcTrecrdpup, 102

XLTTOjULapTVploV dlKT], ^JJ, 59 1

Xiarpov, 26
Xo/36?, 259

Xoyeroi', 677-678, 68l
XojLOS, 146
XoytcrT'^s, 466
XoiSopia, 534
XoLTpoJ/, 314, 345
XovTpo(p6pos, 345, 36S
Xoxayos, 637
X6xos, 633, 637

XiOTTT}, 57

IxaiixaKT-qs, 29 1

/iaXdx77, 327

Mai^i'a,253

fxavreiov, 260, 263

fjiavreTos, 260

jxdvTis, 199, 253, 260

fxapTvpelv, 591

fxapTvpeadau 590

]Mdx?7, lOI

fxeyapa, 27

[xeyapov, 22 ei scj., 42, 76, 3 1 4, 341

fieyas, 161

IxelXLKTpa, 242

fi€LXLxv, 319

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

741

MeiX^X'os, 239, 292
/jL^Xav, 308
fx^Xas, 332
uAas ^oo^uos, 327
/uL^XiPos, 24
fx^XLacra, 207
fxeXiToucrcra, 361
fieaavXos, ^J, 41
fxea-nfx^ptvov, 324
/j.ecr65/j.T], 24

/j-eraXXiKos, 479, 482, 593
/JLeTaXXov, 48 1
fjL^TavXos, 37
IxeroiKtov, 455, 510
fj.€Tpr]Tris, 332

jUT^pOS, 251
/tTJTT^p, 113
fllKpOCpLXoTlfMOS, 359

/xiadcvais, 477, 541
iJ-LdOwTos, 380
fxirpa, 66, 631-632
fiirpT], 61
pLvapLWv, 570
^^ota, 433
/xi'uTT??, 433, 615
Mo?/)a, 116-II7
MOtxeta, 477, 48 1

fJLOLXOS, 48 1

/xovoxiTOJv, 59

Mop/JLU), 299, 301

/x6/;a, 639, 642
fxovvoyevrjs, 1 34
]Moi;(re?oj', 1 97
jxovcnKTj, 307
/xurjcns, 278
fivdos, 663
/.ivta, 300
(xvar-qpLOv. 47 8
fjLVTTrjs, 276, 279
fivarlXris, 330
/ii'Xos, 25-26
fj.oj\i6p.€uos, 570

Ndtbs, 262
j'o/w, 122

;-a6j, 174, 177-178
vavKpapLKOS, 474
rauXoi', 337, 361
I'ai^ru-i?, 538 71. 3
veKvaia, 365
vevLKajXivos, 569
vecjKdpos, 208
j'iK'ai', 569
^'o^oj, 451, 453
v6iJ.L(y/j.a, 48^

POfj.o(pvXa^, 491
N6tos, 5
vv/i(pLK6s, 345

^eii/oj, 336
|e»'ia, 482
^eviKOV (re'Xos), 510
^ej/tos, 336
^ej/os, 598-599
lej/wi/, 37
^T)paXoi(pe?p, 316
li^Xei^s, 208
^vcTTis, 54

ll^JTOS, 317

o^oXds, 398, 400
S7Afos, 696

oSoTTOtOS, 483
oiKBLV, 623

Oi/fei;s, 433, 562, 616

olKTja, 616

oiKid, 562

oiKodo^os, 381

oi'fos. 37, 477

oivoxoT], 48

OiVox6oj, 20S

otcoi'oj, 256

OKpi^as, 681

OfxvvvTa Kp'ivev, 57 1

btj.oXoyia, 53S

'Ofiopota, 158

'0,u(paX6s, 70

dfxwfiOTTjs, 572

oveLpoKpiTTjs, 25S

oinffdodo/xos, 174, 179-180

OTrXiTTjs, 273, 630

OTrXofiaxos, 312

opyeuiv, 216

opdoTrdXr), 318

dpiyavos, 36 1

opKiibrepos, 570

6'/)/cos, 230, 572

opKCOfiOTeiP, 232

^pi'is, 256

6'poy, 167, 539

dpaodvpT], 27, 30

dprpavds, 477

6pxv<^Tpa, 667, 671

(5(rr/)aKtcr;a6s, 451. 476

oi}56s, 24, 27

ouXoxi^Tat, 250

Oi/<rfa, 537

6(pdaXfxos ^dcTKavos, 299

5'Aov, 327

742

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

Trddos, 702
TratSayuyds, 303
TraiSeia, 31 1
TraiSofSfMos, 302, 31 1
iraLdoTpi^rjS, 31O-312
'7ra\aicrTpo(pv\a^, 1 92
irdXr], 318
iravdoKelov, 339
iravTvxi-O; 262
Trapd^aais {avp6r)KQv), 540
Trapaypa(f>if], 587-588, 593
Trapaywyrj, 633
irapadL^bvai, 592
TrapaKara^oXr], 585-586
7rapaXa/x/3dj'etJ',|592
Trapdvoia, 477
7rapdvv/j.(pos, 346-347
TrapaTreTacrfxa, 37, 178
TrapdcTTaais, 585
TrapacrTaTTjs, 703
irdpedpos, 478-480
irape^eipealaL, 656
7rdpo5os, 656
Tracrrds, 39, 616
ira.Tijp, 26, 112
TrarpmuKos, 5^3, 5^9
Traveiv, 656
TreXdrrfS, 444
TreXetdSes, 123, 263
TTf/UjUa, 345
irevradXov, 272, 318
TreuTTjKOVTopos, 652
TreTrXoj, 57
TrepiaKTOS, 688-689
irepL^dXXeadaL, 49
7r€pi^X7]fjia, 49, 54
irepldeLTTVov, 364-365
irepiirXovs, 660
irepiwoXos, 6^6
TrepLTTTepos, 1 74
trepippavT-qpiov, 1 68
TrepLaTraafids, 633
vepiaTpio/xa, 47
TrepicTTvXos, 1 74
irepbvq, 50
TrepcrcTToXts, 305
irepaiKal, 64
ireracros, 63
ir7}KT6v, 372
7n7X£j'6s, 35
TTidoiyia, 292
ttlOos, 47
ttIXoj, 63, 630

TTLVaKLOV, 580

TTtVal, 308, 311

iTLVVT-ri, no
TrXa/foCs, 330
irXaTayy), 300
TrXrjdeiv, 323
ttXt^^os, 449, 516, 573
TrXcvdovpyds, 38 1
TrXoiOJ', 656
vodTjpr]^, 53
irodiOKeLT], 318
iroieicrdaL, 548 il. I
TTotT^eis, 12
TTOLrjdrjvai, 548 ?^ I
TTol-qfia, 613
iroLTjTos, 548 n. I
troLKiXfia, 43
TToXe/napxos, 479
TToXtoGxoj, 143, 165

TToXtS, 165
TToXoS, 14
TroXvK/J.T]T05, 27

irofnrT], 478

ir6;'os, 10 1

TTopLaT-qs, 484

'^oo-is, 137, 333

TTorafids, 1 37

TTOT-qptov, 185

7r6TOS, 137

TrpaKTOjp, 475

Trpoay coy eia, 48 1

Trpo^dXXeLV (rcb X^'P^)) 656

vpo^aaKavLov, 299

Trpo^oXrj, 503, 5S1 n. I

irpo^ovXevfia, 607

Trpoydfieia, 345

irpoyacTTpldioi', 699

irpbbojJLOs, 23, 184

TTpoSoaia, 482

Trpodpofxos, 635

vpoedpia, 480

irpoeiacpopd, 512

irpodeaLS, 361-362, 548

Trpoit, 340, 344, 554-555, 593

vpoKXricns, 572, 589, 592

irpofMvriaTpLa, 343

irpovaos, 174

irpd^evos, 339, 599

irpoTriveLV, 333

irpbcj-q^o^, 3 1 1

TtpoaKaXetadaL, 585

TrpoaKe(pdXaLou, 47, 329

irpocTKrivLOv, 672

Trpoards, 39

TpoardTTjs, 2l8, 455, 623

TrpocTTdTTjs rod drijuov, $1^ et seq.

irpocTTepvloLOV, 699

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

743

Trpo<TT(^ov, 39
■TTpoiiveiKO^, 324
irpo(pr]TT]s, 264-265
irpvTapeia, 585
TTTepv^, 56, 62
TTToXiedpov, II

TTTWX^S, 336-337

nu^t/c6s vbfios, 269

TTvKuiV, 36
TTUpd, 364

■KvpLarripLov, 315
TrcoXrjTrjs, 475

pa^dovxos, 710
pd(pavos, 327
poirrpa, 36
pvTnrairal, 655
pxnbv, 48

COLKKOS, 66

crai'Sd.Xtoi', 64

(rai'tj, 586

o-^/ia, 259

arjpiKos, 60

(tIklvvls, 704

aiaijpa, 47

(7tTos, 556 n. 3

aiTO(pv\aK€S, 4S3

(XLT(J}vr]s, 483

aicjirdu, 656

aKevodrjKT], 658

o-/C77i'?7, 13, 672, 676, 678

cr/ctctSetoi', 67

(XKLfxirovs, 47

CKLpov, 295

(jKoKiov, 334

cp.riyfxa, 3 1 4, 326

(Tirdpyavov, 299

airapTlov, 64

cr7r\d7XJ'oi', 259

ctttoi'St?, 329

aiTopddrjv, 704

crrdSto;', 272, 317

aradfxos, 23, 25

(XTaixvos, 189

craTTip, 399

(XTeydi^eiu, 656

0-^705, 45

aT€(pdvr], 66, 631

crT€(papr](p6pos, 207

<TT7}\7], 366

(TTXeyyis, 315
crrod, 1 3, 478

CTTOd dX^lTOTTwXlS, I4

0-TOtXOJ, 703

(TTpaTTiyds, 5^8

liTpiyyes, 299

arpocpLOv, 59

(TTpw/jLa, 46, 338

avyypa(pri, 190, 339, 538

(TVKOcpavTLa, 48 1

av/j.p6\aLos, 538 n. 3, 540

avix^o\ov, 339, 479, 482, 581, 598

aij/jL^ov\os, 480

avfxfxopia, 5 1 1

(TvvedpLou, 480

(Tup^cprj^os, 313

avpriyopos, 466

(TVPdrjKT], 540

avPOLKta, 45

(rvpoLKLafxos, 287

avPTa^i?, 610

avPTeXeia, 5 II

avpiy^, 65

crL/crracris, 278

(X(pev56v7), 66

acppayis, 43, 339

o-X'<^^oJ. 53
aujudriop, 699
aojrrjp, 1 57, 161
aucppopeip, 305, 343
acatppoavvT], 344

raipia, 65-66, 36 1

Tati/toTrajXts, 13

rdKTris, 607

TdXaPTOP, 398

Ta/xia, 348

raixlas, 185, 191, 2l8

ra^ta/5Xos, 452

rd^ij, 272, 452, 633, 637

T^ap'X^, 327

raf'pos, 135

T^/COS, III
T€KTU}P, 381

TeXerr), 278

tAoj, 190

Tefievos, 17, 20, 167, 170, 197, 217

T€Tpdyoi}PO$, 672, 703

T^TTl^, 65
TfXf"f<5s, 256
TTjX^TOpOS, 305

Tr]X^<pLXop, 349
TL/j.T]p.a, 512

TtT^T?, 299
7-0^X05, 35

Totxwpi'Xf'>, 35

TOKOS, 190, 397, 53S «. 3

t6;'os, 46

744

INDEX OF GREEK WORDS

To^oTTis, 14, 312, 389, 399

rpdyrjfMa, 329

rpayLKbs, 663, 665

rpdyos, 662, 665

rpayqiSia, 662, 665

rpdireta, 47, 191, 330, 538 n. 3

rpaire^LTTjS, 395

Tpavfxa,^ 478, 530

rpLay/x6s, 318

rpiaKOVTOpos, 652

Tpi^wv, 58

Tpiya/xos^ 102

rpiyXr], 247

roLTrovs, 47

rpiVos, 365

rpLTTVS, 462

rpo(p6s, 299

Tv\eLov, 47

vdXtJ'os, 48

iJ^pts, 481, 530, 535-536. 559,

619
vyieia, 142
i^Spm, 48, 368
iiercos, 164
iJTraidpov, 36
virepdvpLOv, 24
VTrepi^ov, 45
iiirevdwos, 546
VTrrjKOos, 433
VTr65r]p.a, 64, 338
vTrodjfjKT], 396, 539

VTTOKpLTTjS, 666, 699-7OO

virdpxVfJ-Ci, 704
VTTOcprjTrjs, 122
v\p6po(pos, 26

(popepos, 537
(pdpos, 56

(pdais, 477, 581 n. I
0e/)j/?7, 344

(pvyos, 263

<pid\r], 48, 185, 191

0t\os, III-II2, 313

•i'o/Soj, 158
^oi'o?, 478, 530
(popelou, 338
(popos, 606-609
(ppdrwp, 345
0i;X7?, 461, 634, 639

Xatpeti/, 323
;;^aX/ceia, 29 1
XaX/f^ /iu?a, 300
XaX/co^arTjs, 28
XaX/c6s, 26, 400
Xa-piaL€vvT]s, 122, 261
Xcpi^fi-os, 688
XeiptSi-al, 142
X^pei^fii', 477
X'^'^^, 57, 59
X(-TU)yLOV, 59
Xtrwi'tV/cos, 58
Xtrcbv TTob-qp-qs, 53
xXaii'tt, 26, 57
xXa^i^s, 56
Xo^, 292

xopvy^o., 706

XoprjyopLKOP, 191

xopvy^s, 477

Xopoj, 663, 665, 672
XopoaTdrrjs, 703
Xpeios, 538 ei seg-.
xpyiy^s, 26, 398
Xpycru^fi^Tos, 433, 616
Xi^T-pa, 13, 297-298
Xvrpos, 292
Xwpts oUelv, 623

\pd\T7]s, 311
\f/ev5€yypa(pijs 8iKr}, 481
ipevdoKXrjTeia, 481, 585
\pevdo[J.apTVpLa, /^'J'J, 482, 586, 59 1
^7?0os, 595
i/'tX6s, 630
xpVKT-qp, 48
xj/vxoTropLTrSs, II5

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