A Smaller History of Greece | Page 4

Macedonia. It
extends from the fortieth degree of latitude to the thirty-sixth, its
greatest length being not more than 250 English miles, and its greatest
breadth only 180. Its surface is considerably less than that of Portugal.
This small area was divided among a number of independent states,
many of them containing a territory of only a few square miles, and
none of them larger than an English county. But the heroism and genius
of the Greeks have given an interest to the insignificant spot of earth
bearing their name, which the vastest empires have never equalled.
The name of Greece was not used by the inhabitants of the country.
They called their land HELLAS, and themselves HELLENES. At first
the word HELLAS signified only a small district in Thessaly, from
which the Hellenes gradually spread over the whole country. The
names of GREECE and GREEKS come to us from the Romans, who
gave the name of GRAECIA to the country and of GRAECI to the
inhabitants.
The two northerly provinces of Greece are THESSALY and EPIRUS,
separated from each other by Mount Pindus. Thessaly is a fertile plain
enclosed by lofty mountains, and drained by the river Peneus, which
finds its way into the sea through the celebrated Vale of Tempe. Epirus
is covered by rugged ranges of mountains running from north to south,
through which the Achelous the largest river of Greece, flows towards
the Corinthian gulf.
In entering central Greece from Thessaly the road runs along the coast
through the narrow pass of Thermopylae, between the sea and a lofty
range of mountains. The district along the coast was inhabited by the
EASTERN LOCRIANS, while to their west were DORIS and PHOCIS,
the greater part of the latter being occupied by Mount Parnassus, the
abode of the Muses, upon the slopes of which lay the town of Delphi

with its celebrated oracle of Apollo. South of Phocis is Boeotia, which
is a large hollow basin, enclosed on every side by mountains, which
prevent the waters from flowing into the sea. Hence the atmosphere
was damp and thick, to which circumstance the witty Athenians
attributed the dullness of the inhabitants. Thebes was the chief city of
Boeotia. South of Boeotia lies ATTICA, which is in the form of a
triangle, having two of its sides washed by the sea and its base united to
the land. Its soil is light and dry and is better adapted for the growth of
fruit than of corn. It was particularly celebrated for its olives, which
were regarded as the gift of Athena (Minerva), and were always under
the care of that goddess. Athens was on the western coast, between four
and five miles from its port, Piraeus. West of Attica, towards the
isthmus, is the small district of MEGARIS.
The western half of central Greece consists of WESTERN LOCRIS,
AETOLIA and ACARNANIA. These districts were less civilised than
the other countries of Greece, and were the haunts of rude robber tribes
even as late as the Peloponnesian war.
Central Greece is connected with the southern peninsula by a narrow
isthmus, on which stood the city of Corinth. So narrow is this isthmus
that the ancients regarded the peninsula as an island, and gave to it the
name of PELOPONNESUS, or the island of Pelops, from the mythical
hero of this name. Its modern name, the MOREA, was bestowed upon
it from its resemblance to the leaf of the mulberry.
The mountains of Peloponnesus have their roots in the centre of the
country, from which they branch out towards the sea. This central
region, called ARCADIA, is the Switzerland of the peninsula. It is
surrounded by a ring of mountains, forming a kind of natural wall,
which separates it from the remaining Peloponnesian states. The other
chief divisions of Peloponnesus were Achaia, Argolis, Laconia,
Messenia, and Elis. ACHAIA is a narrow slip of country lying between
the northern barrier of Arcadia and the Corinthian gulf. ARGOLIS, on
the east, contained several independent states, of which the most
important was Argos. LACONIA and MESSENIA occupied the whole
of the south of the peninsula from sea to sea: these two countries were
separated by the lofty range of Taygetus, running from north to south,
and terminating in the promontory of Taenarum (now Cape Matapan),
the southernmost point of Greece and Europe. Sparta, the chief town of

Laconia, stood in the valley of the Eurotas, which opens out into a plain
of considerable extent towards the Laconian gulf. Messenia, in like
manner, was drained by the Pamisus, whose plain is still more
extensive and fertile than that of the Eurotas. ELIS, on the west of
Arcadia, contains the memorable plain of Olympia, through which the
Alpheus flows, and in which the city of Pisa stood.
Of the