TO GRECIAN HISTORY. CHAP. I. Of the Geography of Greece in general. 1. Peninsula, s. land almost surrounded by water. 3. Promontory, s. a headland jutting into the sea. 8. Emit'ted, v. sent forth. Bitu'men, s. an oily substance, resembling pitch. 12. Strait, s. a narrow passage. 13. Isthmus, s. a narrow neck of land joining two countries together. 17. Oracle, s. a place where the heathen gods were supposed to predict future events. 23. Site, s. situation. 24. Fortress, s. a castle. 28. Philoctetes, s. a celebrated Grecian hero, to whom Hercules presented his arrows, dipped in the poison of the Lernean Hydra. 34. Impregnable, a. not to be forced. Nes'tor, s. a venerable Grecian monarch, who went to the siege of 37. Hy'dra, s. a fabulous monster, with many heads, which grew again as fast as they were cut off, till Hercules seared the wounds with fire, and thus prevented their renewal. Agamemnon, s. the chief of the Grecian kings who went to the siege of Troy. 39. Volcano, s. a burning mountain. 40. Precipitated, part. cast headlong. 41. Abortive, a. of no avail. 42. Har pies, s. fabulous monsters, having the bodies of vultures, with the faces and breasts of women. 1. GREECE, called by the natives Hellas, is a large peninsula between the south of Italy and Asia Minor. It was originally bounded on the north by Epi'rus and Macedo'nia: but those two kingdoms were, in after-ages, considered as constituent parts of it, and Illyr'icum, Moe'sia, and Thrace, then became the northern boundaries of Greece. B 2. On the east, west, and south, it is washed by the Mediterranean-or rather, on the east by the Æge'an Sea, on the south by the Lib'yan Sea, and on the west by the Adriatic and Io'nian Seas, all of which are so many divisions of the Mediterranean. 3. Its length, from the Promontory of Tena'rium (now Cape Matap'an) in the south, to Mount Hemus, the most northerly point of Macedo'nia, is about four hundred miles; and its breadth, where widest, about one hundred and fifty. 4. Greece may be divided into four great provinces ; Macedonia, Epi'rus, Græcia Pro'pria, and Peloponne'sus. 5. Macedonia (now Rome'lia) was bounded on the north by Moe'sia, on the east by Thra'cia, on the south by Thessalia and Epi'rus, and on the west by Illyricum and the Adriatic Sea. 6. Its capital was Pella, famous as the birth-place of Alexander the Great. At a short distance from Pella, towards the north-west, was Edes'sa, the residence of the Macedonian kings before the time of Philip. South of Edes'sa stood Bera'a, at the foot of Mount Ber'mius. Near the mouth of the river Ax'ius and Chido'rus stood Therma, afterwards Thessaloni'ca, and now Salonichi. This city gave name to the Therma'ic Gulf. To the northeast of this gulf were the towns of Antigo ́nia and Pòtidæ ́a, afterwards Cassan'dria, founded by a colony from Corinth. Olyn'thus, a large city, was seated at the top of the Torrona'rian Gulf, and not far distant from Torro'ne Chalcid'ice, which gave its name to this arm of the sea. In the Province of Chalcid'ica is Mount Athos, through which Xerxes cut a passage for his fleet when he invaded Greece. 7. Farther to the north, and on the banks of the Stry'mon, was Amphip'olis, built by a colony of Athenians : thirty miles to the north-east from Amphip'olis was * On the banks of this river Orpheus is said to have mourned his lost Euryd'ice. Neap'olis, and above it Philip'pi, near which Brutus and Cassius were defeated by An'tony and Octavia'nus. 8. In the western part of Macedo'nia was the city Apollo'nia, so celebrated for the cultivation of learning, that Octavia'nus, afterwards called Augus'tus, was sent thither by his uncle Julius Cæ'sar for his education. Near Apollo'nia was a rock, called Nymphæ'um, which emitted flames, and springs of hot bitumen. 9. North of Apollo'nia was Dyrrac'hium, or Epidam'nus, now Duraz'zo, the common landing-place from Brundu'sium or Brinde'si, in Italy: it was founded by a colony from Corinth. 10. The rivers of Macedo'nia are, besides the Stry'mon above mentioned, the Enip'eus, the Haliac'mon, the Lu'dias, the Ax'ius, and the Chido'rus, or Echedo'rus. 11. Epi'rus (now called Larta) is bounded on the north by Macedonia, on the east by Thessaly and Eto ́lia, and on the south and west by the Ionian Sea. It was anciently divided into Acarna'nia, Thespro'tia, Molossis, and Chao'nia. 12. At the mouth of the Gulf of Ambra'cia stood Ac'tium, famous for the naval battle gained by Augus'tus over Antony and Cleopa'tra: on the opposite side of this Strait the conqueror built a city, which he called Nico'polis, and instituted games to be celebrated there every five years, in commemoration of that victory, which were called the Actian games. 13. The ancient capital of Arcana'nia was Stratus, about twenty-five miles from the mouth of the River Achelo'us. In later times, Leucas, built on the isthmus which joins Leuca'dia to the main land, was the most considerable city: this isthmus was dug through by the inhabitants, and thus Leuca'dia became an island. 14. On a white rock, which projected into the sea, was a temple of Apollo, whence, annually, at a solemn sacrifice, some criminal was thrown, with feathers and birds |