Col. William Leake, Travels in the Morea (v.1-3)

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§ 2.223 divided from the agora by a street: here the Hellanodicae dwelt ten months previous to the festival, employed in learning the laws of the Games from the Nomophylaces, and at different hours they marshalled the several kinds of athletae, and conducted them to the Gymnasium. The southern stoa was separated only by a street from the Stoa Corcyraica, so called because it bad been built from the tenth of spoils taken from the Corcyraei. Its construction was remarkable. One side, consisting of a range of Doric columns, was open to the interior of the agora: the opposite side, adorned with a parallel range, opened towards a sanctuary of Venus: the stoa was divided longitudinally into two parts, by a wall parallel to the columns, along which on either side were ranged portrait statues. Pausanias does not mention the number of them, and names only one, that of Pyrrho the Sophist, which was on the side towards the Forum. The hypaethral, or open part of the agora was so large as to contain, besides the principal temple of Elis, that of Apollo Acesius, those also of the Graces and of Silenus, together with the tomb of Oxylus, which was merely a roof supported by wooden columns: there was also a house in which sixteen women were employed to weave the peplus of Juno.
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§ 2.224 The works of statuary at Elis were not very numerous, which is not surprising when we consider the immense collection possessed by the Eleians at Olympia: but some of them were by the first masters. The statues of the Graces were acrolithic, with gilded drapery: one bore a rose in her hand, another an astragalus, the third a sprig of myrtle. Beside them stood a Love. Silenus was represented receiving a cup of wine from Intoxication. There were also statues of the Sun and Moon in the open part of the agora. The sanctuary of Venus on the outside of the Stoa Corcyraica consisted of a vetas, or temple, and a Temenus, or inclosure; in the former stood a Venus Urania, in ivory and gold by Phidias, who had represented the goddess with one foot on a tortoise; in the latter, there was a brazen figure of Venus Pandemus seated on a goat, the work of Scopas. In a ruined temple of the Roman Emperors, which adjoined the agora, there remained no statue, nor does Pausanias describe any in the temple of Hades, which stood apart from the agora, and which was only opened once a year. In the portico of the temple of Fortune, there was a colossal wooden statue of the goddess,
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§ 2.225 gilded in every part except the extremities, which were of white marble. To the left of this temple, there was a small building sacred to Sosipolis, a provincial deity who was there represented in a painting as a boy wrapped in a cloak spotted with stars, and bearing in his hand the horn of Amaltheia (Cornucopiae). In a very frequented part of the city there was a statue of heroic size representing a beardless man, with one leg crossing the other, and both hands leaning upon a spear: it was called Satrapes, but was said to have been a statue of Neptune brought from Samicum. The temple of Bacchus, which adjoined the theatre, contained a statue, by Praxiteles, of this deity, who was particularly worshipped by the people of Elis. In the citadel there was a temple of Minerva, containing another of the chryselephantine works of Phidias, who had represented a cock on the helmet of the goddess. After riding in several directions over the site of Elis in the plain, I ascend to the summit of Kaloskopi, which lies between the village of Paleopoli and the river. Here are the remains of a Frank house or castle, the foundations of which are formed of the large squared blocks of the ancient city.
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§ 2.226 The place well deserves its name of Kaloskopi, or Belvedere, and is a most useful geographical station, though neither in this respect, nor in the interest or extent of the prospect, is it to be compared with Kastro Tornese. It commands a view of the whole plain of Elis from the ridge of Pondiko-kastro southward, to about Aly Tjeleby to the north. Zakytho and the range of Olono form the mountainous part of the view. Having returned to the village, I set out from thence, at 3 PM on the road to Tripolitza, which passes through a narrow vale in the hills behind Elis. At 3.38 cross a brook from the right, which joins the Peneius a little above the ruins of Elis: 4.07 the village of Pozaiti, or Bozaiti, is on the right, pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill amidst pine-trees. At 4.22 pass a small stream, deep and sluggish, running to join the Peneius near the village of Lukavitza, which stands on a height upon our left: 4.50 cross another rivulet shaded with planes, flowing from a narrow vale on the right. The scenery of this vale, in the bosom of rugged hills covered with pines, is as beautiful as any in the neighbourhood of Olympia. In fact the same description of pine-clad hills, intermixed with tracts of cultivated land round the villages, extends all the way from Elis to Pyrgo, Agulenitza,
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§ 2.227 and Lalla. At 5.03 Kulogli is on our left half a mile. All these villages are small; they belong to Turks of Gastuni or Lalla, and each has its Pyrgo, the proprietor's dwelling and place of security. At 5.15 we pass at the foot of a height, on the summit of which are remains of massy walls, built of rough fragments of stone mixed with mortar. A small plain cultivated with maize lies between this hill and a river, much more considerable than any of those we have just passed; we cross it at 5.27. There are many planes growing on either bank, as well as in the bed of the river itself. On the edge of the bank I observe a piece of brick ruin, like those of Paleopoli. After ascending the heights on the opposite side, we ride over an uncultivated space, covered, like all the rest of the country hereabouts, with a beautiful verdure, till at 5.53 we arrive at Lagana, consisting only of a few wicker huts and one house. I intended to halt here for the night, but finding the house already occupied by a Turk on his road from Tripolitza to Gastuni, I am obliged to return half an hour to the river we crossed, on the right bank of which stands a little village called Atzidhes. Here I lodge in a small hut with some oxen, in preference to the pyrgo of
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§ 2.228 the Kihaya, a musulman of Lalla, who has purchased the village. Opposite to Atzidhes, on the left bank of the river, is the small village of Kulogli, mentioned above. Although Diodorus, Pausanias, and Pliny all give different distances between Elis and Pylus of Eleia, namely, Diodorus seventy stades, Pausanias eighty, and Pliny twelve Roman miles, yet the medium is sufficiently near to the two hours and a quarter of road-distance from the site of Elis to the ancient remains which I passed at 5.15 and 5.27, to leave little doubt that these are vestiges of Pylus. Probably the ruins first encountered mark the site of the town, and the fragments at the river are the remains of a bridge over the Ladon, which river, Pausanias tells us, was a branch of the Peneius, flowing by Pylus, and which therefore is not to be confounded with the great Arcadian Ladon, a tributary of the Alpheius. It is no objection to this conclusion, as to Pylus, that its position, as here indicated, is not immediately in a direct line from Elis to Olympia, or that it is not exactly at the junction of the Ladon and Peneius. The hill road, though shorter than that by the plain, may not have been quite direct. Pausanias, besides, only says that Pylus was towards or near the hill
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§ 2.229 road, and that the Ladon flowed by Pylus to the Peneius. Pylus received its name from the same son of Cleson of Megara, who founded Pylus in Messenia, and who, upon being expelled from thence by the Pelasgi under Neleus, settled in this place. The people of Elis not only pretended that this was the Pylus which Homer had in view, when he stated the Alpheius to flow through the land of the Pylii, but that it was the place which Hercules destroyed, and for which Nestor retaliated upon the Eleians. The absurdity of these suppositions, although both of them were credited by Pausanias, but especially that of the latter, is clearly demonstrated by Strabo. It appears that Pylus of Eleia was deserted before the time of the Roman Empire. Pausanias expressly says that it was uninhabited, and the same inference may be drawn from the word ωκειτο, in Strabo. The Eleian Ladon is formed by many rivulets from the gorges of the woody heights which extend to Lalla and Olympia; its most distant sources are at the foot of Mount Astra, which is the name of the south eastern summit of Mount Olono, above the village of Dhivri.
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§ 2.230 This Ladon I think is very probably the same river called Scarthon in our copies of Strabo, which he describes as flowing from Mount Pholoe into the Eleia, and as being crossed twenty-five times in one road. The main branch of the Peneius, which is considerably larger than the Ladon, issues from a great ravine in Mount Olono, through which passes the road from the country around Lalla and Gastuni to Aio Vlasi, by Ghermotzani. Its chief sources are at a place in that glen called the Derveni; on issuing from the ravine it turns westward, leaving Kakotari on the right bank, then passes round the foot of the extreme southern point of the summits of Olono, receives the Ladon at Agrapidho-khori, and not far below that junction another stream, which flows down a vale, separating the hill of Sandameri from the western parts of Olono; the Peneius then skirts the southern end of the Sandameriotiko, and at the site of Elis enters the plain of Gastuni. Sandameri is a village situated in the valley just mentioned, and its rocky hill, as I have before remarked, is probably the ancient Scollis. Sandameri was one of the strongest and most important of the positions held by the Albanians in the northern part of the Morea, at the time of the Turkish conquest.
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§ 2.231 Feb. 27. — Leaving Atzidhes at 8.20, and proceeding along the heights to the left of the main road by Lagana, we enter the vale of a stream shaded with planes which joins the Ladon a little above Atzidhes, follow up this valley, and at 8.50 pass to the right of the village of Simopulo. Here, on the right of the road in a corn-field, I find a single column of coarse marble standing in its original position, but wanting the capital; around it are some excavations, which have been made for the purpose of carrying away the squared foundation stones of the ancient building, and of which no more than two or three are now left. It was probably one of the temples so numerous in the Eleia. “All the country”, says Strabo, “is full of Artemisia, and Aphrodisia, and Nymphaea, situated for the most part in groves, which are maintained in a state of verdure by the abundance of water; not less frequent are the Hermeia on the roads, and the Poseidia on the promontories and points of land.” After halting five minutes we proceed up the valley, and soon begin to ascend heights
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§ 2.232 covered with birches, large oaks, wild pear trees, planes, and watered by many springs and rivulets. At 9.40 arrive at the summit of this ascent, which is steep and rocky towards the top, and thence called the Skala. Here ends the forest; at 9.45 halt for a quarter of an hour at a fountain; on proceeding, a fine view opens of the country to the left, including the ranges of Olono, Voidhia, and the mountains of Rumili opposite to Patra. I particularly remark the sharp peak of Arakhova, which forms the north-eastern end of the range of Mount Viena in Aetolia. Two or three degrees to the right of this is the snow-capt mountain, I believe Mount Anino, in Apokuro, which is apparently the highest of all those hills, except the peaks of Vardhusi and Sykia in the ancient Doris. Our route continues along the summits which are partly covered with trees, and consist partly of pasture land mixed with a little cultivation. Soon afterwards there is a continued forest extending to the foot of Mount Olono on the left, and to the right as far as the eye can reach, being a part of that long even slope reaching from the steeps of Pholoe to the Alpheius, which is bounded in the other directions by the plains of Gastuni and Pyrgo to the westward, and by the river Erymanthus to the eastward.
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§ 2.233 Similar heights occupy the long narrow space inclosed between the Erymanthus and the Arcadian Ladon. These woody heights, backed by the higher summits, are admirably adapted to shelter the wild animals which made Pholoe and its vicinity so favourite a resort of Diana and her nymphs, and Scillus so delightful a residence for a sportsman like Xenophon. Of the wild animals which afforded chase to Xenophon and his friends at Scillus, deer are now rare in the lower parts of the mountain, but they are found in the higher regions, as well of Pholoe as of the other great summits of the peninsula; the roebuck and the wild hog are frequently seen as low as Scillus and the banks of the Alpheius. The bear would seem, from the silence of Xenophon regarding it, not to have been common in the Peloponnesus in his days, though in more ancient times we may be assured that it existed, from its skin having furnished clothing to the Arcadians, and from the story of Areas and Callisto. It is very possible, that as the wild animals diminish with the increase of the human species, the bear may have been driven out of the peninsula in the most populous and
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§ 2.234 civilized ages of Greece, nor have regained its footing in the Peloponnesian mountains, until the Roman wars and their consequences had reduced the country to a state of desertion, which it has never recovered. In the time of Pausanias the bear was common in the woods of Arcadia; it is now seldom seen in any part of the Morea, though the occasional appearance of αρκούδια in the mountains both of Arcadia and Laconia, is generally attested by the inhabitants. We proceed along a good road through a forest, which consists solely of oaks, many of them very large, but all with very crooked stems. At 10.55 we are opposite to the southern end of the great heights of the mountain, which are a mile distant on the left; on its slope, in a lofty situation, stands the monastery of Notena, above which, on the very summit, there is a chapel in a small grove; the rest of the mountain in sight is naked, but soon after passing the monastery I observe a few firs on a summit seen through the glen of the upper Peneius, in the direction of Aio Vlasi. This is the southern extremity of the same forest which clothes all the north-eastern part of Olono towards Kalavryta; — a quarter of an hour
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§ 2.235 beyond the monastery we have Kakotari, on our left at the foot of the mountain, just at the entrance of the glen. Halfway from Kakotari to Aio Vlasi is Ghermotzani; the waters in its neighbourhood flow to the Erymanthus. The trees now become smaller and more thinly planted. At 11.23 we are at the bottom of a deep hollow, along which flows a rivulet, one of the many which hasten from these hills to add their contributions to the Ladon. All the waters, to the eastward of the gorge of the Peneius flow to the Ladone which takes a great sweep before it comes down upon Kulogli, &c. At 11.40 we halt five minutes at Katjarua place where are the remains of some ruined houses in a hollow of one of the tributary rivulets of the Ladon. The road now ascends gradually, passing over the roots of Mount Astra, where are numerous sources of water, particularly a very copious one called Kalimani; it is the reputed source of the Ladon; here formerly stood a khan. We leave the little villages of Androni and Kumani on the left in the wood, distant one mile and a half, and continue to mount very gradually, still passing over the roots of the mountain, which are covered, not thickly, with
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§ 2.236 small oaks: we halt to dine at a rivulet at 1.08, this also runs towards the Ladon. The spot commands a fine view of the whole chain of mountains which extend from Karitena to Khaiaffa, as well as of the opposite range of Dhimitzana and Stemnitza, with their snowy and woody summits. The opening of Karitena is seen between them, and through it the great peaks of Taygetum. Fanari and Andritzena would be clearly seen if the state of the atmosphere were favourable. In the direction of those places, but at the distance only of two miles from us, I perceive a large tract of vineyards with cottages dispersed among them, belonging to Dhivri. Below these, on the right hank of the Erymanthus, which river is not above a mile in direct distance from the easternmost of the branches of the Eleian Ladon, are some ancient remains at a place where once stood a village, called Dhomoko, perhaps the site of Ihrausius. At 2.30 we proceed towards Dhivri, continuing to ascend along the side of the mountain, and then turning to the north-east; below us, on the right, is the deep ravine of the Erymanthus, to which there is a long and steep descent. We have now the woody summits of Mount Khelmos before us, and nearer the lofty mountains which border the Erymanthus. At 2.48, pass some houses, serving to store the
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§ 2.237 corn of Dhivri, which is grown on the slope below: soon afterwards, taking a turn to the north and north-west, arrive at Dhivri at 3.20. Dhivri, or Divri, is situated in a theatreshaped slope at the head of a torrent, which flows to the Erymanthus; immediately above it to the northward, is the snow-capt mountain, called Astra: the word is synonymous with the ancient Lampeia; and, like Kandili, which is another name, not uncommonly applied by the moderns to a high mountain, is derived from the glittering of the snow in the sunbeams. I do not think, however, that Astra is exactly the summit which the ancients called Lampeia. On each side of the rivulet, and all round the town, rise steep woody mountains, which shut out all view. On the slopes, where the streams trickle down, and where the sun does not reach, there are now great masses of ice. The town occupies a large space, the houses to the number of 200 being dispersed in clusters over the side of the hills, but a great part of them are uninhabited. This is chiefly owing to the angaria of the Lalliotes, who come here and force the poor Greeks to carry straw, wood, &c. on their horses to Lalla without payment. The town, which belongs to the vilayeti of Gastuni, was the property of Halil Bey of Gastuni, and on his death fell, with the rest of his property, to the Sultan. Its revenue is now for sale. Two persons have hired it temporarily; it is supposed that it will be bought by a cousin of Shemseddin Bey. At Lekhena each head of a house pays 100 piastres a-year for kharatj and other personal taxes, which is much less than in many parts of the Morea. At Dhivri the direct taxation is nearly the same, but the Lalliotes come and live upon them. On the opposite side of the Erymanthus begins the vilayeti of Karitena, and between Dhivri and Tripotamo is the boundary between Kalavryta and Gastuni.
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§ 2.238 Feb. 28. — It takes half an hour to descend through the town, the houses being much dispersed, and the rocky paths very difficult. At 8.40 we leave the lowest houses — from thence follow the side of the mountain along a steep paved road above the right side of the torrent, and reach the extremity of the ravine at 9.15. Having crossed the torrent, I perceive on a height by the side of the Erymanthus, just below the vineyards of Dhivri at two or three miles distance, the situation of Dhomoko, near which there is a place called Paleo-kastro, situated in a wood. There remain many heaps of stones and fragments of buildings, among which the Dhivriotes described to me a few large tetragonal stones in the Hellenic style. Though Dhomoko is no longer a village, its former importance is shewn by the Dhivriotes having given its name to the Erymanthus, which they call the river of Dhomoko. Below Dhomoko the river takes a turn to the left, running under the long woody heights which reach to Lalla. At 9.35, Peta, a small village, is on the slope of the mountain opposite to us above the left bank of the Erymanthus; a mile lower down nearly opposite to the mouth of the ravine of Dhivri, there is another called Vidhiaki. In descending we gradually approach the river, and at 9.55 fall into the dhimosia, or public road from Gastuni to Tripotamo, which we had left yesterday a little before arriving at the corn magazines. The path is very bad, ascending and descending over rocks, so that we proceed at a very slow pace, although without the baggage, which I left yesterday morning to follow us. The hills are sparingly covered with ugly oaks, short and crooked, but some of them large. Most of these oaks, as well as the plane-trees, have their dry leaves still hanging on them. 10.05, pass a little rill, the boundary of the districts of Gastuni and Kalavryta: 10.25 cross a bridge over a torrent coming from the mountain on the left near the village of Mostenitza. These mountains are more woody than those on the
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§ 2.240 opposite side of the Erymanthus, particularly towards the summits, which are now tipped with snow. At 11.04 arrive at the junction of a rapid stream flowing from the same mountains, with another which has its rise to the north-east near Lekhuri and Sopoto. About 100 yards below the junction, the united stream is joined by a third from the south-eastward flowing from Lopesi, in the direction of Strezova: from these three rivers the place derives the name of Tripotamo. The mountain from whence the western branch descends is seen through the ravine of that river on our left, deeply covered with snow, with a few firs on its slope. Ghermotzani stands near the division of the waters, which flow on one side into the Peneius, and on the other to the western river of Tripotamo. As soon as I have crossed the latter stream I find myself upon the site of Psophis. Four roads meet at this point; 1. The Gastuni road, by which we came; 2. The continuation of it up the valley of the river of Sopoto to Kalavryta; S. That along the right bank of the third river to Lopesi, Skupi, Strezova, and Tara, being the road from Gastuni to Tripolitza; and 4. That along the western stream to Nussa, Morokhova, Poretjo, and Ghermotzani. The road from Gastuni to Tripolitza crosses the two
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§ 2.241 principal streams at Tripotamo by bridges, to avoid the steepness of the banks below their junction, and immediately afterwards, turning the point of mountain which divides the valley of the third river from that of Psophis, it arrives at the Khan of Tripotamo, where are some huts and vineyards belonging to the village of Mostenitza. All the three rivers are clear rapid streams, flowing over a gravelly bed, and are bordered by plane trees. At the present season the rivers of Nussa and Sopoto are nearly equal in size: that of Lopesi is considerably smaller; the united stream is not above half the size of the Arcadian Ladon, near Strezova. Polybius and Pausanias have left no doubt as to the names of the two larger rivers, for Polybius expressly states, that the Erymanthus flowed along the eastern side of Psophis, and that the river on its western side was an impetuous torrent from the neighbouring mountains, which is perfectly just, both as to its character and origin. From Pausanias we learn that its name was Aroanius. Among the remarkable positions with which Greece abounds, and which seem to have been intended by Nature for the strong holds of small republics, Psophis is one of the most distinguished for strength and singularity of site.
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§ 2.242 A rocky hill, advanced before the main body of the mountains, is defended on the south-eastern, or longest side, by the Erymanthus, on the south-western by the Aroanius; at the southern extremity of the site the streams are united. The banks are precipitous but not very high between them and the steep summit of the hill there is a small space of level, or gently rising ground. The summit is a sharp ridge sending forth two roots, one of which descends nearly to the angle of junction of the two streams, the other almost to the bank of the Erymanthus at the eastern extremity of the ancient city. The town-walls followed the crest of the ridge to the northward and the bank above the two rivers on the opposite side. There was probably a citadel on the summit, but I could not trace the inclosure of it. From the foregoing description, and the accompanying plan, it will clearly appear, that Pausanias is not quite correct in saying that the Erymanthus was more distant from the city than the Aroanius since they both flow under the walls, which are traceable along the crest of the bank of either stream, as well as throughout the entire circuit of the place, or nearly so, though in no part extant to any great height. They are
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§ 2.243 irregular specimens of the third order, and are formed of masses not very large. The summit of the hill is separated, by a narrow neck behind it, from a higher summit, which looks down upon it in a manner not so inconvenient in ancient warfare as it would be at the present day. On the slope of the hill there are several parallel walls built of small stones without mortar: on the summit of all stands a small church. On the north-eastern side of the town, which is the only part not protected by the two rivers, or by the precipices at the back of the hill, there was a double inclosure: the remains of the interior wall are still seen, extending from the upper ridge to the bank of the Erymanthus, and nearly parallel to the outer walls. A part of a theatre, not noticed by Pausanias, is seen on the side of the hill towards the Aroanius, situated just under the ridge of rocks on that side. It seems to have been small; there remains above ground a part of the circumference of four or five rows of seats; and there may very possibly be some more concealed under a field of maize, which now occupies the place of the scene, and extends below the theatre as far as the river. Three hundred yards above the junction of the two rivers, near the walls on the bank of the Erymanthus I find some remains of a public building
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§ 2.244 thirty-two yards in length, below which there is a source of water in the bank. In the level part of the site, a little above this ruin, some other foundations are seen, and a great quantity of fragments of wrought stones and ancient pottery dispersed about the level. The only other remains of architecture I could find, were the capital of a Doric column and a fragment of its shaft in a ruined church near the centre of the site, and some other pieces of columns of the same size near the city wall below it. The flutings are two inches and a half: there are also some fragments of plain columns nearly of the same diameter. The town was about two miles in circumference. The situation, though important as commanding the passes of the Etymonthus, and the communication from the northern part of Arcadia into the valley of the Alpheius, and the plains of Elis, is anything but agreeable, being too closely surrounded with mountains, which shut out all view, cause occasionally an extreme of heat and cold, and increase the violence of the winds. The neighbouring hills are sprinkled with oaks like those towards Dhivri. The buildings of Psophis, remaining in the time of Pausanias, were, a temple of Venus Erycina in ruins, heroa of Promachus and Echephron, sons of Psophis, and the monument of Alcmaeon,
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§ 2.245 son of Amphiaraus; the latter was a small building without ornament, standing amidst some very lofty cypresses, which were called by the Psophidii “the Virgins.” Near the Erymanthus stood a temple sacred to that stream; it contained statues of Erymanthus, Nile, and other rivers, all formed of white marble, except that of Nile which was of black stone, in allusion to the origin of the river in Ethiopia. It is not improbable that the foundations which I noticed near the walls above the fountain on the bank of the Erymanthus, are remains of this temple. The best ancient account of Psophis is by Polybius, in his narrative of its siege by Philip, King of Macedonia, in the Social War 219). He describes Psophis as “an ancient city of the Arcadians of Azanis, situated in the central parts of Peloponnesus, towards the western frontier of Arcadia, bordering upon the western Achaeans, and overhanging the country of the Eleians, with whom the Psophidii were at that time in alliance. Philip having marched hither in three days from Caphyae, stationed his army upon the hills opposite to the city, where, secure from the enemy, he commanded a view of the city and surrounding places. He was so much struck with the strength of the
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§ 2.246 place that he was doubtful what to do.” On the western side”, says the historian, there is a rapid torrent, impassable during the greater part of the winter, and which, rushing down from the mountains, makes the city strong and difficult of access by the magnitude of the channel, which in process of time it has formed. On the side towards the east flows the Erymanthus, a large and impetuous river, concerning which there are many well known stories. As the western torrent joins the Erymanthus on the southern side, the city is thus fortified on three sides. On the remaining side towards the north impends a strong hill, defended by a wall, and serving the purpose of a secure and well placed citadel. The town itself also is provided with walls, remarkable both for their large dimensions and their construction.” The place contained a garrison sent by the Eleians; Euripidas the Aetolian, who had just escaped from his defeat at Apelaurus, was also in the city. The king, considering the great danger to which Arcadia and Achaea were exposed, as long as Psophis served as a secure place of arms to the Eleians; and, on the other hand, how convenient it would be to the Arcadians and their allies, as a
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§ 2.247 post from whence to undertake expeditions into the Eleia, resolved upon attempting to take it Having ordered his men, therefore, to breakfast at daylight, he crossed the bridge over the Erymanthus without opposition, and prepared for an escalade in three different parts of the town. Euripidas and the garrison, little imagining that Philip would long remain in his position before the town in a winter season of uncommon severity, and still less that he would assault so strong a place, began to suspect some treachery within; finding, however, no evidence of it, they made a gallant defence for some time upon the walk, where many of the Macedonians were thrown down from the ladders, while the Eleian mercenaries sallied from a gate in the upper part of the town. But the garrison having been unprepared, there was a deficiency of javelins and other necessaries: after a short time, the assailants prevailed on all sides, and the Cretans in the king's service having repulsed the sortie of the Eleian mercenaries, and put them to flight, followed them through the upper gate into the town. Euripidas and the whole garrison, as well as the Psophidii, with their wives and children, then retreated into the citadel: the Macedonians took possession of the town, and
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§ 2.248 plundered the private houses; and those in the citadel, finding there was a scarcity of provisions, were soon content to accept of the favourable terms which Philip offered. Euripidas was permitted to retire in safety into Aetolia, the city was given up to Aratus and the Achaeans, and the king, after having been detained a few days by the snow, marched to Lasion and Olympia.” The bridge over the Erymanthus was very probably in the same position occupied by the present bridge, as in general the communications through the country would be the same in all ages. After crossing the bridge, the greater part of the Macedonians seem to have moved to the right, and to have thus occupied all the narrow space between the walls and the river, after which they fixed the ladders in three places. The Cretans we may suppose to have been on the right of Philip's position on the mountain, and the Eleians to have issued from the northeastern extremity of the town, at the double fortification which I have mentioned, where undoubtedly there was a gate; the Cretans, having repulsed the Eleians, entered by the same gate at which the latter issued, and joined the Macedonians in the city. Although Polybius speaks ambiguously of the citadel in the former part of his narrative, favouring the opinion, that there
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§ 2.249 was not any regular acropolis, the latter part seems to indicate that there must have been some interior inclosure on the summit of the hill, though I was unable to trace the plan of it. Pausanias arrives at Psophis from Caphyae, and proceeds from thence to Thelpusa. The former of these two routes I crossed last year, on the 27th of May, near Strezova, in my way from the Thelpusia to the Cleitoria. The road from Psophis to Caphyae may be traced from Tripotamo by the valley of Lopesi to the sources of the south-eastern of the three rivers of Tripotamo, from whence it descends a tributary of the Arcadian Ladon, which I crossed at half an hour to the northward of Strezova in the plain called Palea Katuna and Kuvelo. About midway between Tripotamo and Palea Katuna there are said to be remains of an ancient fortress near the sources of the two streams just mentioned, which flow exactly in opposite directions. These ruins may be those of Paus, for the route from Caphyae to Psophis is described by Pausanias as “having led from Caphyae to the source of the river Tragus at Rheunus, fifty stades beyond which it crossed the Ladon, and then entered a forest of oaks called Soron; from whence, having passed through
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§ 2.250 Argeathae, Lycuntes, and Scotane, it arrived at Paus, a ruined town situated at the end of the forest, not far from Seirae, which was the boundary of the Cleitorii and Psophidii, and distant thirty stades from Psophis.” Now this latter distance will carry us exactly to the division of waters between the two rivers of Lopesi and Palea Katuna, a very natural position for a territorial separation, and to which the ancient name Seirae, or the Chains, was allusive. It is to be inferred from the preceding passage, that in the time of Pausanias the valley of Palea Katuna and adjacent hills were covered with the forest Soron, and that it extended nearly, if not quite, to the right bank of the Ladon. The forest Soron”, adds Pausanias, “contains, like the other woods of Arcadia, bears, wild hogs, and tortoises, which last are so large that lyres may be made from them as large as those made from the Indian tortoise.” Some small remains of the forest I remarked on the 27th May last, at Palea Katuna, near the banks of the stream above mentioned, which flows through that valley to the Ladon, and which has not been named by Pausanias. The road from Psophis to Thelpusa is thus described by Pausanias: “In the way from
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§ 2.251 Psophis to Thelpusa there is a place called Tropaea to the left of the Ladon. Adjoining to Tropaea is the grove Artemisium, in which are ancient letters engraved upon a column, marking the boundaries of the Psophidii towards the Thelpusia. Within the latter territory is the river called Arsen, having crossed which, and proceeded twenty-five stades, you will arrive at the ruins of the town Caus, and a temple of Aesculapius Causius, situated on the road-side. About forty stades from this temple is the city, which is said to have received its name from the nymph Thelpusa, daughter of Ladon.” As it is manifest from this description that the latter part of the road from Psophis to Thelpusa led along the left side of the Ladon, it follows that in the former part it traversed the ridges which separate the Erymanthus from the Ladon, and that it then crossed the Ladon, although Pausanias has not mentioned the latter circumstance. Seventy stades seem to be as little as the words of Pausanias will allow for the road distance between Tropaea and Thelpusa, but it could not well have been much more, since in that case the former part of the road would not have crossed from Psophis to the Ladon by the shortest line, as it may be presumed to have done.
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§ 2.252 Leaving the eastern end of the ruins of Psophis at 1.23, I follow up the valley of the Erymanthus; it is chiefly grown with maize: fifteen or twenty minutes beyond Psophis, we have the small village of Khosova in a lofty situation on the left; at 2, cross a stream coming from a valley on the left, in which stands the Akhuria of Livarzi on a height above the right bank of a stream which unites with the Erymanthus immediately below the place where we cross it. Livarzi itself is situated in a ravine in the higher part of the mountain: all the valley hereabout is grown with vines and maize, principally the former. Advancing, we have at 2.15 the Lekhuritika Kalyvia, or Akhuria, at the foot of the hill on the left; the village of Lekhuri is in the upper mountain and not in sight; the Kalyvia is surrounded with large vineyards. At 2.44 cross a small stream coming from the village of Vamighiani [Kameniani], which is situated at the head of a valley on the left, nearly in a line with the part of the mountains in which are the sources of the Aroanius. We now turn to the right in the direction of Anastasova, another village situated like the last mentioned, and from whence also flows a
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§ 2.253 small branch of the Erymanthus, which we cross, at 2.47, at some mills, just above its junction with the main stream. The mountains on our left, from above Psophis, as far as the summit beyond the sources of the river of Anastasova, I conceive to be the true Mount Erymanthus since the river has all its different feeders in that ridge, with the exception of the stream of Sopoto. According to Pausanias, the Erymanthus originated in Mount Lampeia, which he describes as a part of Mount Erymanthus. From this circumstance, combined with the name Lampeia, which implies a snowy peak, I should judge that it was properly the highest summit of the range of mountains just alluded to, which I have been following in a parallel direction, though it was undoubtedly often confounded with the whole ridge. Such, upon a comparison of several passages in Strabo, already referred to, appears to have been the idea which the geographer had of Lampeia, that is to say, that it was a mountain of Arcadia bordering northward upon Pholoe and eastward upon Scollis, Strabo by the latter name intending all the northwestern part of the mountainous region now
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§ 2.254 known collectively by the name Olono. In other words, he applied the name Lampeia to all the north-eastern side of these mountains. Upon the whole, therefore, it would appear, from all I have said regarding their several ancient denominations, that the southern part, or that which gave rise to the Peneius and its branch, the Ladon, was Pholoe; that the northeastern, in which the Erymanthus originated, was Erymanthus or Lampeia; and that the north-western, in which were the sources of the Peirus and Selinus, was Olenus. I conceive, however, that there must also have been some specific name for Astra which has not reached us, as there probably was likewise for some others of the more remarkable peaks. We now leave the direction of Anastasova, and turning again to the right, follow the right bank of the branch of the Erymanthus, rising at Sopoto, until, turning to the left, we soon afterwards ascend to some mills, and leave the small village of Agridhi on the slope of the tight hand mountain at 3.10. There are other huts belonging to the same village on the slope of the opposite mountain. Continue along the valley, which is grown with arabositi and vines, and arrive at its extremity at 3.30. Here stands Sopoto on the lower slopes of a lofty hill, of which the summit is tipt with snow. A torrent
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§ 2.255 runs through the town, and is joined in the plain, a quarter of an hour below, by a copious source from the foot of the mountain to our left. The place consists of about 160 houses, scattered over the slopes like Dhivri, not occupying so large a space as that town, but having the advantage of standing among gardens, in which cherries abound and very large walnut trees: the dhekatia is purchased by Asimaki of Kalavryta, whose worse than Turkish oppression obliges the people to leave the place, so that many houses are empty. We left a large monastery of the Panaghia, pleasantly situated on the side of the right-hand mountain, half a mile before we arrived at the lower extremity of the town. March 1 — The high ridge above Sopoto is called Tartari. On its northern peak, which is the highest, there is a castle, but I believe not Hellenic. I set out this morning from my konak at the southern end of Sopoto, and having passed through its whole extent, quit the extremity at 9.15, and then ascend the steep ridges at the back of the town, to the left of the great height of Tartari. At 10, arrive at the summit of the ridge in the midst of a violent garbino attended with hail and rain; descend through woods of small oaks and underwood, and arrive, at 10.35, at Mostitza, a small village at the head of a valley watered by a torrent
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§ 2.256 which joins another from a village called Klitora similarly situated to the southward; the junction is at an opening which is common to both valleys. Mostitza, like Sopoto, is dispersed amidst gardens and fruit trees. Leaving this place, at 11, we descend the valley and arrive at Kasteli at 11.25: below this place there is a copious spring which flows to the rivulet of Mostitza. At Kasteli are only two families living amidst many ruined houses. The remains of another village of the same name occupy a high situation on the hills on the northern side of the valley! Forming an equilateral triangle with the two, and overlooking the valley which I crossed last year, May 27, in coming from Strezova to Karnesi, there is a lofty peaked hill, on which stand a castle, built of small stones, and some ruined houses. Leaving Kasteli at 12.20, I ride up to this peak, and after remaining there five minutes proceed to Karnesi, where I arrive at 2, the road leading over the hills in a north-eastern direction, parallel with the course of the river, which is formed of the branches from Klitora and Mostitza. Karnesi stands on the right side of the ravine of a third river, which rising in the plain of Sudhena joins the former in the plain below Karnesi, where the most
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§ 2.257 conspicuous object, as I remarked on my former visit to Karnesi, is a village upon a small round height, called the Mazeitika Kalyvia, or Huts of Mazi, — Mazi itself is a large village on the side of Mount Khelmos. March 2. — I send my baggage by the Tripolitza road to the khan of Tara, and visit the ruins of Cleitor, called Paleopoli, which bear s. by compass from Karnesi. Set out from that village at 8.40, and descend the hill, leaving on the right a peaked summit bearing a few holleyoaks, which forms the last fall of the Karnesi mountain. Towards the foot of the hill, at 9, I see some squared stones on the left of the road, and, at 9-7, the lower pieces of some plain columns standing in their places. At 9.11, arrive at a low ridge which rises from the left bank of the river of Klitora, about a quarter of a mile above its junction with the torrent from Karnesi. Along the summit of the hill are some remains of the walls of Cleitor.
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§ 2.258 [sketch of Cleitor ] The river was anciently known by the same name as the town, and is properly called by Statius the Rapid Clitor. Vestiges of the fortifications of Cleitor are seen likewise in the plain towards Karnesi; where the direction of the walls seems to have been nearly parallel to that of the hill; it may be judged from what remains, that the entire inclosure was less than a mile in circumference, and of a quadrilateral form, but much longer from east to west than from north to south. Beyond the traceable in closure, however, there appear to have been many buildings, for the whole cultivated plain included between the river of Klitora and the river of Karnesi, and between the ancient site and the peak which I mentioned
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§ 2.259 as being on my right, descending from Karnesi, is covered with stones and pottery, mixed with quadrangular blocks and remains of columns. At a ruined church, under a large oak, towards the river of Karnesi, I find some pieces of Doric columns, of which the flutings are two inches and a half; others of the same size are seen also in several parts of the ruins, particularly in the remains of a church at their southern extremity towards the aforesaid hill, on the way to Karnesi. I find also a ruined church between the eastern extremity of the hill of Cleitor and the junction of the two streams, on the left bank of the river of Klitora, which appeared to have been an ancient temple. There are some remains of a small theatre, about the same size as that of Psophis, towards the western end of the hill, fronting westward: many fragments of the seats are scattered on the slope; they have that small ledge in front usually observable on the seats of ancient theatres. The slope has now almost lost its theatric shape. The town walls are chiefly apparent along the crest of the height; here a few courses remain in several parts both of the walls and of the towers, which are all circular; their gorge is about twenty-six feet, the thickness of the curtains thirteen feet and a half. Towards the western end the wall descends from the ridge,
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§ 2.260 which is there highest, and at the second tower forms a right angle inclosing the theatre, a little beyond which the inclosure is but just trace able through the remainder of its circuit All that Pausanias says of Cleitor is as follows: “The city takes its name from a son of Azan. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains, not high. The most remarkable temples are those of Ceres, Aesculapius, and Lucina. The Cleitorii have also a temple of the Dioscuri, whom they call the Great Gods: it is four stades distant from the city, and contains brazen statues of the deities. On the summit of a mountain, about thirty stades distant from the city, there is a temple of Minerva Coria containing a statue of the goddess.” If the latter distance be correct, the temple of Coria must have been either on Mount Tzipati, as the summit is called which rises from the left bank of the torrent of Karnesi, north-eastward of that village, or on the peak above Mamaluka and the monastery of St. Athanasius, a little to the left of which I descended last year, coming from Strezova to Karnesi, for neither Mount Karmiri, as the summit is called which rises from the right bank of the river Cleitor opposite to the city, nor the mountain of Karnesi,
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§ 2.261 are more than a third of the distance mentioned by Pausanias, at least in a direct line. As Pausanias has given no other indication of the situation of the temple of the Dioscuri, than its distance from the city, there is no clue to a search for its remains. Karnesi sounds like a corruption of Carnasium, as if a temple of Apollo Carneius, a favourite deity in the Peloponnesus, had once given name to a village standing upon this site. I have already shewn that the ancient name Cleitor, although still preserved, is no longer attached to the ruins of the city, which are called Paleopoli, but is now applied in the usual Romaic form, taken from the accusative case, to a village situated three miles from the place to which the name formerly belonged. It would seem, that the river having preserved its name after the city had ceased to exist, at length gave that name to a village built at its sources. At 10.35, leaving the ruins, I cross the river of Karnesi, and a little beyond it observe, in the road, some ancient sepulchres of the simplest kind, that is to say, four slabs of stone set edgewise in the earth. Pausanias has not noticed the river of Karnesi; it may possibly have been called Luseus or Lusiates, as it rises in the district of Lusi, and flows from thence into the Cleitoria.
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§ 2.262 On the side of Mount Tzipati, on our left, I perceive the small village of Stukani. At 10.55 arrive at the Mazeitika Kalyvia standing on an insulated height in the plain of Katzana, or Katzanes, as this angle of the valley is called, and which probably once contained a village of that name. It is traversed by a stream called the river of Katzana, descending from the village of Pladiteri but of which the highest sources are in Mount Khelmos, which overtops all the surrounding summits. The cultivable level on the banks of the Katzanes penetrates for an hour's distance between the mountains, almost as far as Pladiteri. Half an hour higher than the latter is Mazi, another large village situated in a gorge just under the highest part of Khelmos, and now surrounded and deeply covered with enow. Mazi owns the greater part of the plain of Katzanes, which is chiefly grown with kalambokki, the marshy nature of the bottom, and the facility of irrigation being well adapted to the cultivation of that grain. There are also some vineyards; the rest of the plain belongs to Emir Aga, a Turk of Kalavryta, and consists of corn-land and pasture. After a halt of five minutes I quit the Kalyvia of Mazi, and
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§ 2.263 at 11.09 cross the river Katzanes, which is nearly of the same size as the Cleitor, by a curious bridge, not uncommon over the rapid torrents of Arcadia: a great branch of a plane tree, which happens to stretch itself obliquely more than half across the river, forms the centre, and all the support, of the bridge. From this branch to either bank are laid large logs, and over them branches and boughs, and on the top of all earth and sometimes stones. I saw a bridge of this kind at Psophis, others over the Neda in Messenia. The river of Katzanes joins the Cleitor a little below the Kalyvia of Mazi, at a distance from the ruins of Cleitor, exactly answering to the seven stades which Pausanias places between that city and the junction of the river Cleitor with the Aroanius. It appears, therefore, that the river of Katzanes is the ancient Aroanius; but though I think this point is determined, I was not equally successful in verifying the existence of the musical trout, which, according to my excellent but rather credulous Grecian guide, were particularly found in this part of the Aroanius. “Among other fish found in the Aroanius,” says Pausanias, “are trout, which are said to utter a note not unlike that of the thrush. I have seen”,
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§ 2.264 he adds, “this kind of fish after it has been caught, but never heard sounds issue from any, even though I remained (for that purpose) on the banks of the Aroanius until the setting of the sun, when the fish is said to be most vocal.” Soon after passing the Katzana, or Aroanius, we cross another little stream, and reach the foot of the mountain of Arakhova, so called from a village which no longer exists. Its highest peak is called Turtovana, which I take also to have been the name of a village. Here we fall into the road from Tripolitza to Kalavryta, which, after passing from hence up the vale and gorge of the Katzana, then crosses over a deep neck or hollow between Khelmos and Tzipati, follows the side of Khelmos to Sudhena, then crosses the mountain at the back of that village, and thus descends upon Kalavryta. A great fall of rain yesterday evening has made
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§ 2.265 the valley of the Aroanius a marsh; on the mountains it was snow as low down as Karnesi. We continue to follow the valley skirting the foot of the hills on the left. At 11.40 a small stream, which we crossed soon after passing the Katzana, joins that river — a monastery is on the side of the opposite mountain. The valley now becomes narrower, and corresponds exactly with the words of Pausanias, who describes the road which led from the sources of the Ladon to Cleitor as passing along the narrow valley of the Aroanius. Hence we derive an additional evidence that the river of Katzana is the Aroanius, as well as a strong presumption that Mount Khelmos, in which this river has its sources, formed, together with the adjacent summits, the mountains called “the Aroanian,” though it certainly seems singular that Khelmos, which is very nearly equal in height to Zyria and Olono, should not have had some individual and more precise denomination. Arabositi grows in the valley, and the banks of the river are shaded with planes. At 11.46 a road on the left ascends to Krenofyta a village on the side of the mountain. At 1, after having lost half an hour in searching for a road
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§ 2.266 through the mud of the valley, and the rocks on the left hand side of it, we cross a bridge over the Lykureiko, or river of Lykuria, which descends through a ravine on the left, into a valley forming a bay on the northern side of the vale of the Aroanius. The Lykureiko issues in a single body of water at no great distance above the place where we cross it: not far from the summit of the ridge above the sources stands the kefalokhori called Lykuria. A road across the ridge to Fonia leaves Lykuria on the left. The name of Lykuria, and the issue of the river from an inferior part of the same mountain on which Lykuria stands, prove the river to be the ancient Ladon, the sources of which, according to the information received by Pausanias, were the emissory of the river of Pheneus. Here again, therefore, we have another instance of the exactitude of this diligent traveller, and a confirmation of the several geographical points already alluded to, which, I think, are thus ascertained beyond a doubt. Pausanias expresses himself as follows: “Proceeding about fifty stades from Lycuria, you will arrive at the sources of the Ladon. I have heard that the water of the lake in the Pheneatice, after passing through caverns in the
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§ 2.267 mountain here reappears and forms the fountain of the Ladon, but I cannot speak of this positively. The Ladon excels all the rivers of Greece in the beauty of its waters, but it is chiefly celebrated on account of Daphne, and what the poets have sung concerning her. The city of the Cleitorii is sixty stades distant from the sources of the Ladon. The road thither leads along a narrow valley by the river Aroanius, and near the city of the Cleitorii crosses the river Cleitor, which joins the Aroanius seven stades from the city.” The only part of this description which appears to me not to be quite correct, is the distance from Lykuria to the sources of the Ladon, and from the latter to Cleitor, the former of which I think must be less than the fifty stades of Pausanias, and the latter greater. But the other points of conformity are too strong to allow us to attach much importance to a numeral disagreement which may arise either from the miscalculation of an unmeasured distance, or from a textual error Beyond the bridge of the Lykureiko, or Ladon, the valley of the united stream takes the direction of that river for a mile, and then passes through a ravine between a projecting point of the left hand mountain, and the foot of that on the right.
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§ 2.268 We cross the neck of this point at 1.17, and descend into a wide valley, in which the river of Vitina joins the Lykureiko; five minutes farther we halt to dine on the bank of the former. In the middle of the valley the united stream is crossed by a bridge, near the village of Tzemota. Our baggage horses, after having crossed over the mountains in front of Strezova, passed over this bridge, and from thence proceeded to Tara. The Ladon, not far below the bridge, turns to the right, and after receiving the river of Katuna, flows to the Bridge of the Lady”, and enters the narrow pass, which I traversed last year on the 26th May, coming from Vyzitza to Strezova. The direction of our route to Tara therefore now quits the course of the Ladon, and follows the vale of the river of Vitina. On the height which we crossed before entering the plain of Tzernota, the ground was covered with small stones and vestiges of buildings, but nothing of decidedly Hellenic antiquity. At the foot of the opposite height are similar remains, just above a mill called Kabato-Mylo; on that side of the river also are the Fileika Kalyvia, belonging to Rlia a village on this side of Strezova. At 1.55, we set out from our halting place, one-third of a mile above the Kabato mill, and immediately enter a
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§ 2.269 narrow pass, where the united river from Tara and Vitina, is closely shut in by the mountains on either side: it is called the Derveni. At 2, arrive at the bridge of the Derveni, which my baggage crossed, but which we leave on the right. The single guard who is stationed at the Derveni accompanies us a quarter of an hour to the extremity of the pass, where the valley widens, and from whence it continues to widen to the Khan of Tara, where we arrive at 3. The valley here is upwards of a mile wide; on the foot of the opposite mountain is a pyrgo and tjiftlik of Arnaut-Oglu, a little beyond which the valley branches towards Vitina, and the sources of that branch of the Ladon near the ancient Methydrium. One mile and a half above the Khan, to the north by east, at the foot of a long bare mountain, stands the village of Tara, or Apano Tara, so called to distinguish it from Lower Tara, which is situated near the river. To the right of the mountain of Tara appears Mount Saeta, a high peak covered with firs; it is seen from Tripolitza: to the right of it passes the road from the Khan of Tara to Foma, over a col between two snowy summits. The Khan stands by the right bank of the river of Tara, at a bridge. The road, after crossing the bridge, branches to Vitina on the right, and to Tripolitza by Levidhi on the left. The
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§ 2.270 Tareiko, or river of Tara, produces trout and other fish, and is a respectable stream, even in summer, though its sources are not more than two or three miles distant, at the foot of a mountain called Kastania, where it issues at once in a plentiful stream from the mountain, being apparently, like the sources of the Ladon, the emissory of a Katavothra, probably that of the lake of Orchomenus, which cannot be very distant. In this case, it is evident that the Tareiko is the ancient Tragus, which, according to Pausanias, flowed through a mountain of the Caphyatis, and emerged at a place called Nasi, near which was a village named Rheunus. Tara perhaps is a corruption of Tragus. After receiving the river of Vitina a little below the bridge of Tara, the Tareiko flows to the Derveni, and between that pass and the bridge of Tzernota is united with the Lykureiko, or Ladon. The Tareiko being, as Pausanias describes the Tragus, a perennial stream, is very useful in irrigating the kalambokki, which grain, in consequence of this convenience, is the principal produce of the plain of Tara. As to the ancient name of the river of Vitina, Pausanias leaves us in doubt. It has been seen that he mentions
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§ 2.271 two rivers as uniting at Methydrium, named the Mylaon and Molottus (or Maloetas), but which of these names prevailed below the junction, or whether there was any other appellation for the united river, he has not informed us. Having now seen the greater part of the course of the Ladon, I shall here compare with the actual topography the description by Pausanias of that portion of its valley to which I have not already adverted, namely, the part above Thelpusa. Pausanias remarks, that “the water of the Ladon had its origin in the Cleitoria, at the place called Pegae, or the Sources; that it flowed by Leucasium and Mesoboa, and through the Nasi to Oryx, and the place called Alus; and that from thence it descended to Thaliades, and to the temple of Ceres Eleusinia. This temple”, he adds, “is within the bound aries of the Thelpusii: it contains statues, not less than seven feet high, of Ceres, Proserpine, and Bacchus, all made of stone. Below the temple of Ceres Eleusinia the Ladon passes the city Thelpusa, which stands on its left bank on (or at) a lofty hill.” The first difficulty in this passage is in the name Nasi, which cannot be the same place as the Nasi where the Tragus issued from the
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§ 2.272 mountain of Caphyae since there was a distance, as Pausanias remarks, and as my route confirms, of fifty stades between the sources of the Tragus and the Ladon. But in fact the word Nasi was not uncommonly applied by the Greeks to meadows intersected by rivers or channels of water, and the name belonged probably not only to the vicinity of the sources of the Tragus, but also to the valley of Tzernota, as far as the Stena or Straits, through which the Ladon passes from thence to the valley of Podhogora, and “the Lady's Bridge.” It is not improbable that Leucasium and Mesoboa were the two places of which I remarked some vestiges at the upper Stena, or those which are above the plain of Tzernota near Kabato Mylo. As to the three remaining places situated above the limits of the Thelpusia; those boundaries having been about seventy stades above Thelpusa, it will follow, on referring to the distances in my route of the 26th of May last, that the vale of Syriamu on the right of the Ladon is the lowest position on the descent of the river, at which we can place Thaliades. In this case, the valley northward of Syriamaki, in which a stream joins the Ladon, may have been the district of Alus, and Oryx may have occupied the vale of Podhogora. And this arrangement of the places is the more
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§ 2.273 probable, as beyond the Stena of the Ladon, which are to the northward of Podhogora, the river was crossed by the road from Caphyae to Psophis or the modern route from Tara to Tripotamo, upon which was the wood Soron, and the places in it named by Pausanias. It happens unfortunately for the geography of this part of Arcadia, that Pausanias has not noticed either the river of Palea Katuna, or that which joins the Ladon near Syriamaki. Nor has he afforded us any assistance in combining his description of the course of the Ladon with his route from Psophis to Thelpusa, not having repeated a single name in the one that he mentions in the other, though the road from Psophis, after crossing the Ladon, could not have been distant from the left bank of the river all the way from that crossing to Thelpusa; whence it follows that the two lines for seven or eight miles must have coincided, or very nearly so. This anxiety to avoid repetition makes it often difficult to follow Pausanias; but though the “brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio” seems often to apply to him, it must be remembered, that his brevity had not the same effect when the names were in use, and the places in existence. March 3. — A Turk of Arta, who is appointed kadi at Mistra, lodged in the khan last night. He gives me the news of Epirus, of which
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§ 2.274 the most remarkable event is, the secession or flight of the metropolitan bishop of Arta, Ignatius, who having been sent by Aly Pasha to Corfu, had not returned from thence, as he was ordered to do, in consequence of which Aly has closed the mitropoli at Arta. At 7.55, leave the khan, and crossing the bridge pursue the direct road to Tripolitza till 8.23, when, turning out of it to the right, I cross the river of Vitina just before arriving at a height, on which are the ruins of a large building of Frank construction, with cisterns and vaulted subterraneous apartments: it is called Anghelo-kastro. A little higher up the river, on the opposite side, there is a high peaked hill, the lower roots of which meet those of the mountain of Agridhi, the river passing between them through a rocky gorge. The snow-capt summit above Maghuliana appears through the opening; Vitina is about half way thither, three hours distant from the khan of Tara. On a summit on this side of the village of Maghuliana there is said to be a castle similar to Anghelo-kastro, and called Arghyro-kastro. Return into the direct road at 9.06, a quarter of an hour's distance beyond the spot where I left it. We now ascend the roots of the mountain called Kastania, and at 9.40 begin to pass between it and the mountain of Alonistena, which is on our right. The latter is much higher
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§ 2.275 than Kastania, and, like the other peaked summits of the Maenalian range, is covered with firs, and deeply at present with snow. The snow lies also in our pass. The road is good and level. At 10.05, at a fountain in the road, the small village of Bazeniko is half a mile on the right, standing at the foot of the Maenalian range, and now covered with snow. From hence I look down to the left, through an opening in the hills, upon the plain and lake of Khotusa; the village of that name is seen three miles distant on the northern side of the lake. At Khotusa are some remains which mark the site of Caphyae: on the side of the lake just below Bazeniko, are katavothra, of which the source of the Tareiko is clearly the emissory. At 10.30, arrive at the end of the pass, and enter the plain of Levidhi: the direct road to Tripolitza crosses the plain diagonally, and then passes over low heights at the foot of Mount Armenia into the plain of Mantineia. We turn from this route to the right, and ride along the side of the great mountain of Alonistena, ascending a little.
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§ 2.276 At 11.13 arrive at Levidhi, a large village which is situated on the slope of the mountain, overlooking the southern end of the plain, and is crowned with a round height, upon which stands a large church. At the opposite corner of the plain is Kalpaki, a small village at the foot of a detached height, on which are Hellenic foundations, undoubtedly the ruins of Orchomenus. Beyond Kalpaki the waters of the plain find their way into the lake, through a narrow opening between the hill of Orchomenus and a rocky mountain which there closes the plain. A little to the right of the village there is an artificial canal or trench, probably of very ancient date, for the purpose of conveying all the superfluous waters of the plain to the ravine. A small torrent, which descends on the right of the village of Levidhi, as well as another coming from within the pass of Bazeniko, flow to the canal; but, notwithstanding this drainage, the plain is now little better than a marsh in the middle, where it is chiefly occupied by vineyards, from which a wine is made, resembling small beer in colour, strength, and even taste, as far as the aromatic bitter of the hop flower can be imitated by the resin of the pine tree. There are two valleys branching from the plain of Levidhi, and extending quite to the foot of
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§ 2.277 Mount Armenia: in the northernmost of these stands the village of Butia. Kandili is situated in a small vale branching eastward from the lower plain, which contains the lake of Orchomenus and the Caphyatice. On the northern side of the vale of Kandili rises Mount Kandili, a lofty summit, between which and Mount Saeta leads the road to Fonia ( Pheneus ). Saeta is the most lofty of the range of mountains, which are in face of Levidhi, to the northward and eastward; they are all a part of the chain which extends from Mount Khelmos, or the Aroania, and connects that great summit with Artemisium, Parthenium, and Parnon. Mount Saeta is covered with firs. The mountain between the plain of Levidhi and Alonistena, or, to speak by the ancient nomenclature, that part of the Maenalian range which separates the Orchomenia from the valleys of Helisson and Methydrium, is clothed also with large forests of the same trees; the road across this ridge from Levidhi to Alonistena is now impracticable on account of the snow. The Levidhiotes call the mountain of Alonistena Aios Elias, from a ruined church, dedicated to that saint, which stands upon or near the summit. I am detained all day at Levidhi by a heavy fall of snow, which, before the evening, has covered the ground to half a foot in depth, although
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§ 2.278 the village is not much elevated above the plain, nor in a more lofty situation than Tripolitza. It contains about 100 families who complain bitterly of their misery, and the extortions to which they are exposed by their position on one of the chief roads of the Morea, in consequence of which they are obliged to maintain Tartars, soldiers, great Turks with their suites, in short, all persons who travel with the post Their vicinity to the capital is another misfortune. The annual kharti, or acquittance of all direct taxes, to each head of a family is 100 piastres. In the afternoon I visit an old church twenty minutes below the village on the left bank of the torrent of Levidhi, and find in it two or three pieces of very handsome Doric columns, of which the flutings are three inches and one-sixth in the chord; also some wrought stones, and among them one with two of its sides cut obliquely. In a small ruined chapel close by, there is another fragment of a Doric column, two feet in diameter, with twenty flutings, as usual in that order.
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§ 2.279 March 4. — At 8.30 I quit Levidhi, and, instead of descending into the plain, pass between the great Maenalian ridge and an insulated round hill which lies on the south-eastern side of the village; the pass is narrow, but soon becomes wider, and then communicates again with the plain by a passage on the southern side of the insulated hill: we leave this opening to the left, and continue to follow the same direction as before, along a narrow elevated valley included between the Maenalian summits and a subordinate parallel range which separates the valley from the northern end of the plain of Mantineia. At 9.45, in an opening on the left leading into the plain of Mantineia, stands a small village and another called Simiadhes, a little farther down. Kakuri is opposite to it at the foot of Mount Armenia, just above a low height which projects into the extremity of the Maritime plain. Having passed this opening, we continue to follow the valley until we come to another similar branch of the Mantinic plain, through which we descend into the plain nearly opposite to the ruins of Mantineia at Paleopoli. Kapsa, where we arrive at 10.25, is a village of forty houses standing on the left hand side of the descent. All the adjacent part of the plain is covered with vineyards, interspersed with huts and small platforms constructed of stone, with a coating of stucco. The wine, as at Dhesfina in Phocis, is made on the spot by persons who tread the grapes with their
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§ 2.280 feet in the upper part of these platforms; the liquor runs through a hole into a cistern below, from whence it is carried in skins to Tripolitza. It is a small light-coloured wine, to which resin is added, and often lime. The labourers in the vineyards have fifty paras a day, with wine and bread. Yesterday afternoon and during the night the snow fell in such quantities as to cover all the plains and adjacent mountains, and the country exhibited this morning as fine a snow scene as Norway could supply. As the day advanced and the sun appeared, the snow melted rapidly, but the sky was soon overcast again, and the snow began to fall. At 11.18 we cross a bridge over a small stream flowing from left to right, and terminating in a katavothra at the foot of the hill which borders the vale of Kapsa on the south. This stream I take to be the Ophis, which Agesipolis turned against the walls of Mantineia. It is joined towards Paleopoli by the two united rivulets which now encircle the ancient walls, and which formed a wet ditch to the city. The ruins were on a line with us to the left at the bridge. It appears, from the description by Pausanias of the road from Mantineia to Methydrium, that the vale of Kapsa is the plain of Alcimedon.
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§ 2.281 His words are these: “The road from Mantineia to Methydrium, once an Arcadian city, but now a town of the Megalopolitae, leads, at the end of thirty stades, to a plain named Alcimedon. Above this plain rises the mountain Ostracine, which contains a cavern, once the dwelling of the hero Alcimedon, and a fountain called Cissa. Forty stades beyond the fountain is the place named Petrosaca, on the borders of the Megalopolitae and Mantinenses.” It is evident from the map, that the vale of Kapsa being exactly in a line between Mantineia and Methydrium, the ancient road must have ascended that valley, and then crossed the Maenalian ridge; the distance of Kapsa from Paleopoli accords exactly with the thirty stades of Pausanias. The hill which rises at the back of Kapsa seems therefore to be the Ostracine; it is separated from the Maenalian ridge by the pass which leads to Levidhi, and is therefore an insulated height, which renders it so much the more likely to have had a specific name. Petrosaca we may suppose to have been on the crest of the Maenalium, that being the natural boundary of the two districts. At 11.40 we reach the end of the vineyards of the plain of Paleopoli, and soon after cross the Scope, which, as I have before remarked, is
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§ 2.282 the projecting point of the Maenalian range, separating the plain of Tripolitza from that of Paleopoli; then, turning a little to the right, along the foot of the mountain, arrive at a hamlet of four houses, called Bedeni. There is another larger village of the same name nearer to Tripolitza. Having halted half an hour at Bedeni, I set out for Tripolitza, and arrive there in an hour and ten minutes, without baggage. The preceding journey from Patra to Tripolitza has been performed with Agoyatic horses of the former place, but must be reckoned, making the necessary deduction in the mountainous roads, at the rate of the walk of my own horse, which I measured repeatedly in the plain of Athens; the last day has been rather slower, on account of the snow and bad roads. One hundred and twenty heads of thieves taken by the Pasha have been sent to Constantinople. The thieves were dispersed, and taken in detail. The Pasha hopes, by this achievement, to keep himself in place for another year. A boluk-bashi, with a large body of Albanians whom he sent against the robbers, deserted, and retired to Bardhunia, where he was well received by Amus Aga. The Pasha has now sent against him 100 men, who are to be joined by 400 at Mistra.
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§ 2.283 Only 500 soldiers remain in Tripolitza. I do not think there are more than 3000 in the whole peninsula, at the disposal of the Pasha, that is to say, exclusive of the people of Lalla, Bardhunia, and Mani. Not long ago the Pasha summoned all the Turkish voivodas and Greek hodja-bashis in the Morea, for the purpose of consulting them on the best mode of proceeding against the robbers. The voivoda of Gastuni, an Albanian, and brother of the voivoda of Mesolonghi, whom I met at Patra, neglected the summons for some time; but at length, after repeated orders, he came, and when the Pasha taxed him with his neglect, answered without shewing any signs of humility. Upon this the Pasha seized a small hatchet, (an instrument often worn by the Turks more for ornament than use) threw the voivoda on the carpet, and beat him unmercifully with the hatchet, then turned him out of the room without kauk or slippers, kept him many days in prison, and finished by obliging him to pay a sum of money. He has driven away Sotiraki and the interpreter, two men who for several years have committed with impunity all kinds of oppression on their countrymen. From Sotiraki, who has retired to Livadhia, the Pasha extorted ten purses before he allowed him to go, and as much more from Asimaki of Kalavryta, by pretending that he had received a firmahn for their heads.
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§ 2.284 Papadhopulo has thus gained a triumph over his enemies; the Tripolitziotes ascribe his influence with the Pasha to his eloquence. He has absolute power in Aios Petros and Tzakonia, where the Turkish voivoda is such an acknowledged cypher that he commonly resides at Tripolitza. March 10. The mode in which Sotiraki procured a beautiful antique intaglio which I have purchased here, I learn today from a Corfiote practitioner of physic, who was the original purchaser of it from a peasant of Langadha. The peasant was carrying it about the streets for sale, suspended by a string, when the Iatros accidentally met him, and bought it for two piastres. He shewed it to the brother of Sotiraki, who is an archdeacon, and who perceiving the stone to be valuable, informed his brother of it. The latter, as ignorant as the peasant who found it, but whose avarice was excited by the prospect of selling the gem again for a high price, communicated his wishes to the kady, a poor Turk, who may at any time be displaced by the influence of the hodja-bashis and other chief Greeks. They soon agreed that a certain baker should swear it was his property, and stolen from him by his servant, who, if necessary, was to confess the fact before the kady. The affair did not proceed, however, to such a length.
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§ 2.285 The kady having sent for the Corfiote Iatros, attempted at first to alarm him by representing that he had bought stolen goods, and at length obtained it from him as a present, the physician being, as he confessed to me, ignorant of its real value. Suspecting Sotiraki to be at the bottom of the affair, he had at first offered him the stone as a present, in order to ingratiate himself with such a leading character; but Sotiraki preferred obtaining it through the kady to being under any obligation to the Corfiote. Such are the low intrigues that occupy the time and talents of this naturally gifted people. Conversing with the same Corfiote on the subject of the wine of this plain, he mentioned that he had boiled a quantity of the unfermented juice of the grape, made from the vines of the plain of Mantineia, and that it was reduced to a twentieth of the bulk before it was formed into the syrup called petmes.
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§ 2.286 CHAPTER XVIII: ARCADIA. The more I see of the Peloponnesus, and the more I read its description by Pausanias, so much the more do I regret the shortness of the time that I have it in my power to bestow upon its geography; for as to the difficulties arising from weather, mountains, torrents, robbers, or, what is worst of all, the want of roads and conveyance, I am persuaded, they may all be surmounted by the man who has time enough at his command, with a sufficiency of perseverance. But these are the more necessary, as the Peloponnesus being a country yet unexplored by the geographer or scholar, every feature, position, and object in it which is described, or more frequently merely alluded to by the ancient authors, is yet to be searched for at an expense of time and labour which will not hereafter be required.
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§ 2.287 Of perseverance, it must with gratitude be admitted, that we have an excellent example in our guide Pausanias, even without omitting the consideration, that, instead of exploring unknown and deserted sites, he was travelling in an ordinary manner, over the roads of a civilized country, from one celebrated place to another, in each of which he found an exegete to assist him in all his researches. So complete, however, were these researches, and so ardent his curiosity, that it requires the most detailed inspection of the country to be assured that one has not overlooked some still existing proof of his accuracy; and this is the more necessary as it often happens, that by the effect of his declining Greek style, and of the abrupt manner in which he mentions things allusively, instead of clearly describing them, not unfrequently also in consequence of the corruptions of his text, his meaning is involved in an obscurity which nothing but an exact knowledge of the locality or the discovery of extant remains of antiquity can clear away. I have every day occasion to remark instances in which it is impossible correctly to understand him, or to translate his words, without actually following him through
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§ 2.288 the country, and examining the spots described, and it is not always that a single visit to a place is sufficient. In Arcadia, I particularly lament that I have been unable to trace the steps of the curious traveller in all the routes which radiated from its capital of Megalopolis. I shall however here put together his description of them, including, as I have done upon other occasions, a concise enumeration of the monuments and objects of art, which he met with, and adding to it a geographical sketch for the purpose of elucidating his remarks: this, though very far from completing such an inquiry into the comparative geography as I should have wished, may serve at least to give some assistance to future travellers. The principal object of Pausanias, in the part of his Arcadics relating to Megalopolis and its vicinity, seems to have been that of describing, in a manner admitting of some method and regularity, the position, mythology, and antiquities of all the old Arcadian cities, the remaining inhabitants of which served to people Megalopolis at the time of its foundation, and which, for the most part, were thenceforward quite deserted, or, at least, preserved little more than their sacred edifices and the remains of some of the other public buildings more or less dilapidated. The method he has adopted is that
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§ 2.289 of describing separately each of the routes which led from the Great City, with occasional digressions to places in the vicinity of some of the roads. The routes which he describes conducted to Messene, to Carnasium, to Sparta, to Methydrium, to Maenalus, to Phigaleia, to Tegea; — to these may be added, in order to complete the radiation of roads, that by which the Greek traveller arrived at Megalopolis, being the same also by which I approached the site of the Arcadian capital — namely, the road from Heraea. I shall begin with the last, which, of course, is described by Pausanias, in an inverse direction to that of the others. 1. “In the road”, he says, “leading from Heraea to Megalopolis occurs Melaeneae, now deserted and overflowed with water. Forty stades above Melaeneae is Buphagium, at the sources of the river Buphagus, near which are the boundaries of the Megalopolitae and Heraeenses. The Buphagus descends into the Alpheius.” On proceeding from the sources of the Buphagus, occurs the village Maratha, and then Gortys, now a town but formerly a city.
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§ 2.290 Here is a temple of Aesculapius of Pentelic stone, containing statues, by Scopas, of a beardless Aesculapius and of Hygieia: the natives say that Alexander, son of Philip, dedicated the thorax and spear of Aesculapius; there still remain the thorax and the point of the spear. A river passes through Gortys which, towards its fountains, is called Lusius, because Jupiter was washed there when he was born; but those who dwell at a distance from the fountains name it Gortynius from the town; it is the coldest of all rivers, especially in summer. Its fountains are at Theisoa, on the confines of the Methydrienses; the place where it joins the Alpheius is called Rhaeteae. Teuthis, formerly a city, borders upon Theisoa. It contains temples of Venus and Diana, and a statue of Minerva with a purple bandage bound round the thigh. In the road which leads from Gortys to Megalopolis, there occurs a sepulchre of those who were slain in battle against Cleomenes; the Megalopolitae call it Paraebasium, because Cleomenes violated his covenant with them. Paraebasium is on the borders of a plain about sixty stades in length; the ruins of the city Berenthe are on the right of the road, and the river Berentheates, which, five stades below the city, falls into the Alpheius.
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§ 2.291 On the opposite side of the Alpheius is the district called Trapezuntia, in which are the ruins of the city Trapezus; descending again from thence towards the Alpheius, there is a place on the left called Bathos, at no great distance from the river: here the ceremony of the Great Goddesses is celebrated every third year Here also is a fountain called Olympias, which flows only in the alternate years; near it fire issues from the earth. Ten stades from Bathos is Basilis, a city founded by Cypselus, but of which there are now only ruins, and among them a temple of Ceres Eleusinia. Having proceeded from thence, and again crossed the Alpheiue, you will arrive at Thocnia, now quite deserted, but once a city standing on a height which rises from the bank of the river Aminius. This stream joins the Helisson, and the latter, not far below the junction, unites with the Alpheius. The Helisson rises in a village of the same name, passes from thence through the district of the Dipaeenses and the Lycoatis, and after flowing through Megalopolis, joins the Alpheius thirty stades below the city.”
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§ 2.292 The direct road from Heraea to Megalopolis was the great Roman road through the Peloponnesus. The Peutinger Table agrees with Pausanias in shewing that it passed through Melaeneae, and this is all we learn from the table concerning it; in fact it is almost all we learn from Pausanias as to the direct route, for the rest of the preceding extract relates to the places situated on either side of the road, some of which were at a considerable distance from it. It may be thought perhaps that the modern name, Karitena, is a corruption of Gortyna, and consequently that it indicates the site of that ancient town; but if the river of Atzikolo is the Gortynius, which can hardly be doubted, from the remark of Pausanias as to the sources of the Gortynius being near Methydrium, it is difficult to believe that Gortys could have been situated two miles below the mouth of a river which received its name from that town. It must follow then that Atzikolo is the site of Gortys. The plain of sixty stades can be no other than the great plain of Megalopolis, though the distance from the heights eastward of Karitena, where stood the sepulchral monument called Paroebasium, to the foot of the hill of Londari, is I apprehend more, even in a direct line, than the distance mentioned by Pausanias. Karitena will thus answer to Berenice; the ancient position above Mavria, mentioned in my
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§ 2.293 journal of the 9th May last year to that of Trapezus and Kyparissia, which also preserves some vestiges of antiquity, to the site of Basilis; the latter is somewhat confirmed by the name Vathyrema applied to an adjacent torrent, which we may suppose to be derived from the ancient Bathos. After leaving those places, Pausanias seems, by his remark upon the Aminius and Helisson, to have crossed the Alpheius at or very near the modern ford; for those streams occur just in the manner he speaks of them, between the ford and Megalopolis. It is evident indeed, from the course of the river through the plain, that this must always have been the most convenient place of passage from Megalopolis to the places in the north-western portion of the plain. Thocnia appears to have been nearly in the position of Vromosela. 2. Road from Megalopolis to Messene. — “In going from Megalopolis towards Messenia, after proceeding about seven stades, there is a temple of the goddesses called Maniae, by which name the place also is known. It appears to me to be an appellation of the Eumenides, and it is said that Orestes here became insane on account of the murder of his mother.
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§ 2.294 Not far from the temple there is a small heap of earth, and upon it a finger made of stone, whence the hill is called the Monument of the Finger; it is reported that Orestes here bit off a finger from one of his hands in a fit of madness. Adjacent to this place is another named Ace, where stands a temple of the Eumenides, in which they sacrifice also to the Graces. The place is called Ace because Orestes was here cured of his disorder; near it is another sanctuary named Cureium (?) because Orestes here cut off his hair. From the Maniae there is a distance of about fifteen stades to the Alpheius, near the place where it is joined by the Gatheatas, this river having previously received the Carnion. The sources of the Carnion are in the district called Aegytis below the temple of Apollo Cereatas, and those of the Gatheatas at Gatheae of Cromitis, which district is forty stades above the Alpheius, and contains the almost obliterated vestiges of the city Cromi. From Cromi there is a distance of twenty stades to Nymphas, which is a place abounding in water and trees. From thence there are thirty stades to the Hermaeum which marks the boundary of the Megalopolitae and Messenii, and where is a statue of Hermes upon a pillar.”
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§ 2.295 3. From Megalopolis to Carnasium: “Such is the road towards Messene, but there is another which leads from Megalopolis towards Carnasium of the Messenii. In this road you meet the Alpheius in the place where the Mallus and Syrus, after having united their waters, fall into the Alpheius. Proceeding from thence with the Mallus on your right hand, after thirty stades you will cross it and ascend an acclivity to the village called Phaedria. Fifteen stades from Phaedria towards Despoena is the place called Hermaeum, which is another boundary of the Megalopolitae and Messenii here are small statues of Despoena and Ceres, and others of Hermes and of Hercules: and here I think it was, that a wooden statue of Hercules made by Daedalus, and placed on the confines of Messenia and Arcadia, formerly stood.” As Messene and Carnasium, if the latter be the same place which Pausanias has described near Andania, lay nearly in the same direction from Megalopolis, it is difficult to understand how it happened that there were separate roads
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§ 2.296 across the mountain now called Makryplai. The difficulty is not diminished by Pausanias having described the more southern of the two as that which led to Messene, for this seems to place Camasium, which was a little to the southward of Andania, still more directly in the way to Messene. The question, however, is of little importance; for as Pausanias describes the roads only as far as the frontier of the two provinces, it is sufficient to consider them only as two roads into Messenia. That his road to Carnasium was the more northerly, is clear from this, that he describes the Hermaeum near Phaedria upon that route as being towards the temple of Despoena, thus clearly shewing, that the road to Phaedria and Camasium was the next southerly to that which led to Phigaleia. The southern route from Megalopolis into Messenia seems to have been exactly that which now leads into that ancient province by the Pasha-Vrysi, or Fountain of the Pasha, and the Kokhla Derveni: the northern, that which leads by Aias-bey and Deder-bey to Krano. The difficulty alluded to above may, perhaps, be thus explained: that as Carneius was a common epithet of Apollo in the peninsula, especially this part of it, and Carneium, or Carnasium, consequently a name common to
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§ 2.297 many places, there may have been two Carnasia between Megalopolis and Messene; in this case the name Krano may be a corruption of the ancient word. Krano may stand upon the site of the northern Carnasium, and the Toad intended by Pausanias may have been precisely the modern route from Sinanu to Krano. Some remains of Cromi, as I have elsewhere remarked, are still to be seen at' Samara, not far from Londari, to the westward, upon a branch of the Alpheius, which seems clearly therefore to be the Gatheatas. The river is said to have its rise in Mount Xero-vuni, at a place called Ianeus, which, if this account be correct, is the ancient Gatheae A distance of twenty stades from the remains of Cromi at Samara, leads us to the “Fountain of the Pasha”, which answers therefore to the site of Nymphas, as well from the description of that place by Pausanias, as by its lying exactly in the modern southern route into Messenia, upon which road, thirty stades beyond Nymphas, stood the Hermsum, or statue of Mercury which marked the frontier. And hence it appears that Pausanias mentions only on the direct road the Alpheius, Nymphas, and the Hermaeum, and that what he says of Cromi and
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§ 2.298 Gatheae, and the rivers Carnion and Gatheatas, are digressions. 4. From Megalopolis to Lacedaemon: “On the road from Megalopolis to Lacedaemon, there is a distance of thirty stades to the Alpheius: you then travel along the river Theius, which is a branch of the Alpheius; leaving the Theius on the left hand, you will arrive, at the end of forty stades from the Alpheius, at Phalaesiae, which is twenty stades distant from the Hermaeum towards Belemina, The Arcadians say that Belemina, which anciently belonged to them, was separated from Arcadia by the Lacedaemonians; but their assertions appear to me improbable, among other reasons, because the Thebans would not have permitted the Arcadians to have been deprived of it, if their right could have been proved.” By this passage, the ancient name of the south-easternmost extreme branch of the Alpheius now called Kutufarina, is shewn to have been Theius. It appears that the road, after crossing the Alpheius, followed the left bank of the Theius for forty stades. Phalaesiae, therefore, was near the modern Gardhiki, a distance of twenty stades beyond which will carry us nearly to the division of the waters flowing
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§ 2.299 northward to the Alpheius and southward to the Eurotas. This was a very natural division of the two territories, of which the Hermaeum, mentioned by Pausanias, was evidently intended to mark the common boundary. 5. From Megalopolis to Methydrium: “But there are other roads leading from Megalopolis to certain places within Arcadia; and first, to Methydrium there is a distance of 170 stades. At thirteen stades from Megalopolis occurs a village called Scias, and ruins of a temple of Minerva Sciatis, which is said to have been built by Aristodemus, tyrant of Arcadia: at ten stades beyond Scias, are some few remains of the city Charisiae, from whence there are again ten stades to Tricoloni, formerly a city; here still exists a temple of Neptune, which contains a square statue, and stands upon a hill in a grove of trees; it was founded by the sons of Lycaon. Zoetia, which is fifteen stades beyond Tricoloni, is not in the direct road, but to the left of Tricoloni; it is said to have been founded by Zoetius, the son of Tricolonus: Paroreus, the younger of the sons of Tricolonus, built Paporia, which is distant from Zoetia ten stades. Both these places are now deserted; but at Zoetia there remains a temple of Ceres, and another of Diana. There exist also some
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§ 2.300 ruins of the cities Thyraeum and Hypsus, the former situated fifteen stades beyond Paroria, the latter in a mountain also called Hypsus, which rises above the plain. All the country between Thyraeum and Hypsus is mountainous, and full of wild beasts. Turning to the right from Tricoloni, there is, first of all, an ascent to the fountain Cruni, from whence, after descending thirty stades, occurs the tomb of Callisto, a high artificial hill of earth with many trees upon it, both wild and fruitful; upon the summit is a temple of Diana, surnamed Calliste. Twenty-five stades from thence, and 100 in all from Tricoloni towards the Helisson, stands the village Anemosa, in the direct road to Methydrium; [then occurs] the mountain Phalanthum, in which are the ruins of the city Phalanthus. Under Phalanthum is the plain of Palus, (or Polus) and near it Schoenus, so called from the Boeotian of that name. If this Schoeneus ever migrated into Arcadia, it may be that the race-grounds of Atalanta, which are near Schoenus, received their name from his daughter. There remains nothing else worthy of notice, except Methydrium, to which the distance from Tricoloni is 140 stades wanting three. The place was called Methydrium because Orchomenus built it on a lofty
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§ 2.301 hill between the rivers Malaetas, (or Molottus) and Mylaon.” The preceding route is unusually rich in distances, and there is great reason to trust to their accuracy; the direct line of fifteen geographic miles, compared with the 170 stades of road distance, giving a correct rate to the stade, and the sum of the distances being in perfect agreement with the details as far as they go. Those details however, as often happens with Pausanias, are not complete; the distances from Tricoloni to Cruni, and from Anemosa to Methydrium are wanting, and must be deduced from the others; thus, as there were 100 stades from Tricoloni to Anemosa, and fifty-five from Cruni to Anemosa, it will follow that there were forty-five from Tricoloni to Cruni. In like manner, as there were 137 stades from Tricoloni to Methydrium, and 100 from the former to Anemosa, there will remain thirty-seven over Mount Phalanthum to Methydrium by Schoenus. Pausanias omits likewise to mention the distance between Thyraeum and Hypsus; but, as he remarks, that all the country between the two places was a forest full of wild animals, it would seem to have been considerable. His diversion to the left from Tricoloni, appears to have been for the purpose of including the ancient sites along the borders of the plain towards the present Karitena, in the same
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§ 2.302 manner as he digresses for a similar purpose on some of the other routes. In placing the ancient names along this road, I have allowed some increase to the horizontal distance in the plain, and a proportional diminution in the mountains. The latter was principally required from Tricoloni to Cruni, and from Anemosa to Schoenus. Although Methydrium is the most distant point to which Pausanias has described a route from Megalopolis, there were some other places still more distant, which, according to him, contributed their population on the foundation of Megalopolis, although they were not considered a part of the Megalopolitis in his time, because other districts intervened. The Tripolis, so called as consisting of the three townships of Calliae, Dipoeose, and Nonacris, was in this predicament, and, as well as Methydrium and its neighbours, Theisoa and Teuthis, paid its contributions at Orchomenos. The situation of the Tripolis is known only from that of Nonacris, for of the other two places we have no information 6. Road from Megalopolis to Maenalus: “Through the pass, called the Gates at Helos, the Megalopolitae have a road to Maenalus along the river Helisson. On the left of
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§ 2.303 the road stands the temple of the Good God. Not far from thence there is a heap of earth, which is the tomb of Aristodemus, tyrant of Arcadia, surnamed the Good. Here also is a temple of Minerva Machanitis. On the right of the road is the sacred portion of the wind Boreas, to whom the Megalopolitae sacrifice every year for having assisted them against the Lacedaemonians. Next occurs the monument of Oicles, father of Amphiaraus, and beyond it the temple and sacred grove of Ceres in Helos, into which women only are permitted to enter; it is distant five stades from the city. Thirty stades further is the place called Paliscius; from whence, after leaving on the left hand the Elaphus, which is not a perpetually flowing stream, and advancing about twenty stades, you will arrive at the ruins of the city of the Peraethenses, among which a temple of Pan still remains. But if you cross the torrent [ Elaphus ] you will arrive at the end of fifteen stades at a plain, and beyond it at a mountain, both of which are called Maenalium. At
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§ 2.304 the foot of the mountain are vestiges of the city Lycoa, and a temple and brazen statue of Diana Lycoatis. In the part of the mountain towards the south is Sumatia, which is no longer inhabited. In the same mountain are the Triodi, (Three Ways) from whence the bones of Areas, son of Callisto, were conveyed by the Mantinenses, by order of the Oracle of Delphi. The ruins of Maenalus still remain, and vestiges of a temple of Minerva, together with a stadium for the contest of athletae, and a place for the running of horses. The mountain Maenalium is considered so especially sacred to Pan, that the inhabitants affirm they have heard him playing on the pipe.” The direction of this road is nearly certain: it followed the Helisson to the foot of Mount Maenalium, and as Pausanias does not mention any crossing of the river, it proceeded probably
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§ 2.305 all the way along the left bank of the river, until it reached the plain at the foot of that mountain. The distances, however, in the text of Pausanias can hardly be correct. It seems evident that the opening through which the Helisson enters the plain of Megalopolis, and where above the left bank stands the village of Shalesi is the place anciently called the Gates at Helos, and consequently that Shalesi is the site of the temple of Ceres at Helos. Now this point is three miles from the centre of the site of Megalopolis, the number of stades therefore ought perhaps to be twenty-five instead of five. Again, according to the text of Pausanias, Paliscius was only thirty stades beyond Helos, at the confluence of the Elaphus with the left bank of the Helisson, the town of Peraetheae was at twenty stades to the right of the direct road on the left bank of the Elaphus; and the plain Maenalium, at the foot of the mountain of the same name, commenced at fifteen stades beyond the mouth of the Elaphus. According to these numbers, therefore, the plain Maenalium was only forty-five stades beyond Helos, whereas it appears from the map that the nearest part of the Maenalian ridge is seventy or eighty stades distant from thence, so that the plain, if the numbers in Pausanias are correct, was thirty
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§ 2.306 stades across, which I certainly saw nothing in my two visits to that quarter last year to justify. I must leave the elucidation of this question to future travellers, observing only, that I still think it possible that some vestiges of the walls, or stadium, or hippodrome of Maenalus may exist, though I searched in vain both for this place and for Lycoa. I have already hazarded the opinion, that Sumatia stood at or near Sylimna, on the western face of that part of the Maenalivm which slopes on the other side into the valley of Pallantium, and that the Triodi was the remarkable pass behind Tripolitza, which forms a communication from the vale of the Helisson into the great Mantinico-Tegeatic plain. In speaking of the course of the Helisson in another part of the Arcadics, Pausanias says that it “begins from a town of the same name, and passes first through the territory of the Dipaeenses, then the Lycoatis, and lastly through the city of Megalopolis,” whence it would seem that neither Maenalus, nor Sumatia, nor Peraetheae, were very near its banks. 7. Road from Megalopolis to Phigaleia: “Between the walls of Megalopolis and the temple of Despoena there is a distance of forty stades; the river Alpheius is crossed half-way thither.
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§ 2.307 Two stades from the Alpheius are the ruins of Macareae, from whence to other ruins which are those of Daseae, there are seven stades, and as many more to the hill Acacesius, under which stood the city Acacesium. Upon the hill there still remains a statue in stone of Hermes Acacesius. From Acacesium to the temple of Despoena there is a distance of four stades.” The temple of Despoena, (the Mistress) who was supposed by the Arcadians to be the daughter of Ceres by Neptune was one of the most celebrated places of worship in the Peloponnesus. Before the entrance of the sacred inclosure of the goddess, there was a temple of Diana Hegemone, containing a brazen statue about six feet high, representing Diana with torches in her hands. After entering the inclosure, a stoa on the right contained four sculptures upon white marble in low relief inserted in the wall. On one of these were represented the Fates, with Jupiter as their leader; on the second, Hercules carrying off the tripod of Apollo; between them was a picture relating to the ceremony of Despoena; on the third marble, were nymphs and Pans; the fourth
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§ 2.308 contained the figure of Polybius, son of Lycortas, with an epigram attesting that Greece would not have erred if she had followed his advice, and that when she suffered for her errors, he, above all others, was useful to her. Before the temple were altars of Ceres, of Despoena, and of the Mother of the Gods. The temple contained a colossal representation, by Damophon of Messene, of Ceres, and Despoena seated on a throne. Each figure was as large as that of the Mother of the Gods at Athens, made by the same artist, and the whole composition was wrought out of a single block of marble. Ceres was holding a torch in her right hand, her left resting upon Despoena. On the knees of the latter deity there was a box, upon which her right hand rested; in her left she held a sceptre. Diana was standing by Ceres, clothed in the skin of a deer; a quiver hanging over her shoulders, a torch in one hand, and two serpents in the other; a hunting dog by her side. Anytus, one of the Titanes, in the habit of an armed man, was standing by Despoena. These two were separate statues; below them were represented the Curetes, and on the pedestal of... the Corybantes. On the right hand of
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§ 2.309 the exit of the temple there was a mirror, which reflected the statues. “Beyond the temple of Despoena, ascending a little to the right, was the Megarum, in which the Arcadians performed the ceremony in honour of Despoena, and sacrificed numerous victims. Above the Megarum was the sacred grove of Despoena, surrounded with a stone wall. It contained trees of various kinds, among which there was an olive and holly-oak growing from the same root. Above the grove was an altar of Neptune Hippius, and another sacred to all the Gods, inscribed with an epigram. From thence there were steps ascending to a temple of Pan; it had a portico, and a small statue of Pan, before which was burnt a perpetual fire. Here also was an altar of Mars; and a temple of Venus, which contained two statues of Venus, the more ancient of wood, the other of white marble, and wooden statues of Apollo and Minerva; — there was likewise a sanctuary of Minerva. A little above the temple of Pan were the walls of Lycosura, which still contained a few inhabitants.” “Of all the cities,” continues Pausanias, “on the continent or on the islands, Lycosura is the most ancient. It was the first which the sun beheld, and from it mankind learnt to build cities.
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§ 2.310 On the left hand”, he adds, “of the temple of Despoena is the mountain Lycaeum, called also Olympus, and by some of the Arcadians'the Sacred Summit': it is said, that Jupiter was nursed on this mountain; it contains a place called Cretea, on the left hand of the grove of Apollo Parrhasius, and they relate that the story of the Cretans respecting the education of Jupiter in Crete, applies to this place, and not to the island. They add that the name of the nymphs by whom Jupiter was nursed, were Theisoa, Neda, and Hagno. Theisoa gave name to a city which formerly existed in Parrhasia, and which even now is a town of the Megalopolitis; from Neda the river was denominated. Hagno is the name of a fountain in Mount Lycaeum, which, like the Istrus, produces the same quantity of water in winter and summer.” Mount Lycaeum contained also a temple of Pan, standing in the midst of a grove of trees, together with a hippodrome and a stadium, where the games called Lycaea were formerly celebrated, and where some pedestals remained, from which the statues had been removed. There was a temenus of Jupiter Lycaeus, into which men were not permitted to enter. It was said, that he who violated the law was sure to die within the year, and that
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§ 2.311 neither man nor beast had any shadow within the inclosure. “The same”, adds Pausanias, “happens at Syene when the sun enters Cancer, but here at all times. On the highest summit of the mountain there is a heap of earth, which is the altar of Jupiter Lycaeus; from thence the greater part of the Peloponnesus is visible. Before the altar eastward are two columns, which support gilded eagles of very ancient workmanship. In the eastern part of the mountain there is a temple of Apollo, surnamed Parrhasius and Pythius. To the north of Lycaeum is the Theisoaea, where the inhabitants chiefly venerate the nymph Theisoa. Through the Theisoaea flows the river Mylaon into the Alpheius, and into the Mylaon the Nus, and Achelous, and Celadus, and Naphilus.” “To the right of Lycosura are the mountains called Nomia, and in them the temple of Pan Nomius. There is a place called Melpeia, because they say that Pan here first discovered the melody of the pipe. It may easily be conjectured that the mountains were called Nomia, from the pastures of Pan, though the Arcadians themselves say that a nymph gave name to them. To the westward of Lycosura flows the river Plataniston, which river it is necessary to pass in going to Phigalia. Beyond it there is an ascent
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§ 2.312 to that city of thirty stades, or not many more than thirty.” In adverting to the beginning of this route, it seems curious that towns, apparently of some importance, as having taken their names from the royal lineage of ancient Arcadia, should have been situated only half a mile or a mile distant from one another, and not less singular that, as the sum of the several distances from the Alpheius to Macareae, Daseae, Acacesium and Despoena, agree exactly with the total from the Alpheius to Despoena, they must have stood exactly in a straight line. It must be admitted, however, that this agreement of numbers is any thing but inculpatory of the text. We ought to find, therefore, some remains of these places, and especially of Despoena, if not of Lycosura, which, if Pausanias is correct, stood in the direction of Phigaleia from Megalopolis, nearly due west from the former, and distant from thence about five miles.
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§ 2.313 Though Pausanias, in that abrupt manner which is so often unintelligible without a knowledge of the country, says no more of the road from Lycosura to Phigaleia, than that to the westward of Lycosura the Plataniston was crossed at a distance of thirty stades from Phigaleia, it is evident that the whole breadth of the Lycaean ridge, or a distance of eighty or ninety stades, was to be crossed between Lycosura and the Plataniston. Having already given reasons for believing that Mount Tetrazi was the ancient Cerausium, it will follow from that datum alone, that Mount Dhioforti was the proper Lycaeum, otherwise called Olympus, or the Sacred Summit. This is, in some degree, confirmed by Pausanias having placed it to the left of Despoena; for that temple probably fronted to the plain, especially as that direction was also easterly, which was the most common aspect of Greek temples. Indeed his description of the temple relatively to the places which precede and follow, leads to the same presumption. But there are still stronger proofs of Dhioforti having been the Olympus, or the true Lycaeum. — First, the extreme difficulty of applying to Tetrazi, which we must otherwise suppose to have been
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§ 2.314 Olympus, the topography adjacent to that mountain on the east and north, as described by Pausanias; for to the east of Tetrazi lie the places which are mentioned by Pausanias in his routes from Megalopolis to Carnasium and Phigaleia, and to the north there is a continuation of the high ridge of Lycaeum itself, and the district of Phigaleia. The abrupt slope, moreover, which falls on every side from the peaked summit of Tetrazi, leaves no situation sufficiently spacious for the celebration of such an important festival as the Lycaea. Dhioforti, on the other hand, has a round broad summit, and is altogether a much more habitable mountain: in fact, Sir William Gell informs us, that at the foot of the summit of Dhioforti, in a small elevated hollow on the eastern side, he found some artificial ground and the remains of buildings, which seem clearly to indicate the position of the hippodrome and other appendages of the Lycaean Games; he observed also fragments of columns in several situations in the mountain. To these arguments it may be added, that the first part of the modern name of the mountain Διοφορτη, strongly indicates a derivation from the word Διος, and consequently some local recollection of its having been peculiarly sacred to Jupiter. I do not pretend to adjust the
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§ 2.315 etymology of the last two syllables of Dhioforti; but it is not impossible that they refer to the festival celebrated there. If Dhioforti, then, was Lycaeum, the high ridge which connects it with Cerausium, and which, like the latter, was considered a part of Lycaeum, must have been the Nomia; its highest summit, and which is little inferior to the other two, is now called Karyatiko, from the neighbouring village of Karyes. Pausanias, in describing the Nomia as being to the right of Lycosura, seems to have meant that they were to the right of the road in proceeding towards Phigaleia. Assuming that Dhioforti was the Sacred Summit, it becomes probable that the very remarkable source at the foot of the mountain below Tragomano, which forms a large stream flowing immediately to the Alpheius, was the fountain Hagno, the importance of which is, in some measure, shewn by the superstitious practices connected with it, which are related by Pausanias. These sources are, I believe, the emissory of a river which rises in Dhioforti and descends into the mountain not far below the village Tragomano. I conceive that the castle of St. Helen, as the ruins of the Greek city above Lavdha are called, was the ancient Theisoa, a place which is clearly distinguished by
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§ 2.316 Pausanias from the Theisoa near Methydrium, by his having given to the former the adjunct “near Mount Lycaeum,” and to the latter that of “near Orchomenus ”, not so much from its proximity to that town, as from its having been included in a fiscal arrangement together with Orchomenus, Methydrium, and Teuthis; and Orchomenus having been the place where the contributions were collected. The river Mylaon appears to be that which I observed last year, on the 8th of May, flowing through the valley between the hill of St. Helen and Mount Dhioforti, but of its four tributaries I have no information; indeed, I am rather inclined to suspect here some corruption in the text, and that Pausanias intended to name some of the tributaries of the Alpheius beyond the Theisoaea towards Aliphera. 8. Road from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea: “Of our discourse upon Arcadia ”, says Pausanias, “there remains only to speak of the road leading from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea, by the place called Choma [the Dyke]. In this direction the suburb of Megalopolis is named Ladoceia, from Ladocus, son of Echemus. Next to it occurs the place where
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§ 2.317 stood the city Haemoniae, founded by Haemon, son of Lycaon: it is still known by the name of Haemoniae. Beyond it, to the right of the road, are ruins of the city Oresthasium, and among them some columns of the temple of Diana surnamed Hiereia. In the direct road beyond Haemoniae, is the village Aphrodisium, and another called Athenaeum, on the left of which there is a temple of Minerva, and in it a statue of stone. Twenty stades beyond Athenaeum are the ruins of Asea; the hill upon which formerly stood the acropolis still retains some vestiges of the wall. The source of the Alpheius is five stades beyond Asea, at a little distance from the road; that of the Eurotas is by the road-side. At the fountain of the Alpheius there is a temple of the Mother of the Gods, without a roof, and two lions of stone. The water of the Eurotas mingles with that of the Alpheius, and they flow together for twenty stades in the same stream, until descending into a chasm, the Eurotas comes forth again in the land of the Lacedaemonians, and the Alpheius at Pegae of the Megalopolitis. From Asea there is an ascent to the mountain called Boreium, upon the summit of which are vestiges of a temple which is said to have been dedicated by Ulysses, on his return from Troy, to Minerva Soteira and Neptune.
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§ 2.318 The place called Choma is the boundary of the Megalopolitae towards the Tegeatae and Pallantienses, and from the Choma you turn to the left into the Pallantie plain. To the right is the Manthuric plain, which is within the boundaries of the Tegeatae, and extends about fifty stades as far as Tegea. To the right of the road there is a mountain, not high, called Cresium, upon which stands a temple of Mars Aphneius; and near the road is the fountain Leuconius, said to have been named from Leucone, daughter of Apheidas, whose monument occurs not far from the walls of Tegea.” Of the latter part of this route of Pausanias, or that between Asea and Tegea, I have already had occasion to speak; of the former there is little to be said, no distance being given but that between Athenaeum and Asea. The road must have crossed the ridge which extends from Shialesi to Mount Tzimbaru, and descended probably into the plain of Asea at Athenaeum. Haemoniae, one of the old towns of Arcadia, seems to have stood on the edge of the Megalopolitan plain near the ascent of the ridge. Oresthasium, otherwise Oresteium', I conceive to have occupied the summit of
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§ 2.319 Mount Tzimbaru, on which conspicuous point there are still some remains of a Hellenic fortress. The situation very much resembles that of many of the ancient Arcadian poleis and indeed that of the fortresses of every part of Greece in the early stages of its society; Tzimbaru lay to the right of the road from Megalopolis to Asea, in the part where it crossed the ridge between Haemoniae and Athenaeum, and this is precisely the point where Pausanias mentions Oresthasium. As to Oresthasium having been ascribed, both by Xenophon and Pausanias, to the Maenalii, which may seem to place it nearer to the proper Mount Maenalium and Tripolitza, it is to be observed that Alea, Asea, Alycaea, and Eutaea, were also in Maenalia, and that all these were in or near the basin to the northeastward of Mount Tzimbaru. Alycaea, the same place I presume which Plutarch calls Alcaea, and which he states to have belonged to the Achaean league, was probably on the site of the modern Alika; Eutaea appears to have been on the eastern side of the valley towards Barbitza. Pausanias, in enumerating the towns which contributed to people Megalopolis, has arranged them under their tribes, which gives us the position of these Άρκαδικα εθνη, or ancient families of Arcadians. “The following”, he says,
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§ 2.320 “were the cities, the inhabitants of which, by the effect of the persuasion of the Arcadian community, or by their own patriotism and hatred of the Lacedaemonians, were induced to leave their native places and settle in Megalopolis. Out of Maenalus came Alea, Pallantium, Eutaea, Sumatia, Asea, the Peraethenses, Helisson, Oresthasium, Dipaea, Alycaea. Of the Eutresii were Tricoloni, Zoetia, Charisiae, Ptolederma, Cnausum, and Paroria. From the Aegytae were Scirtonium, Malaea, Cromi, Belemina, Leuctrum. From the Parrhasii were Lycosura, Thocnia, Trapezus, the Prosenses, Acacesium, Acontium, Macariae, Daseae. From the Cynuraei of Arcadia were Gortys, Theisoa of Lycaeum, Lycaea, and Aliphera.” Of these places there are three, Ptolederma, Cnausum, and the Proseis, of which I find no other notice in ancient history. The names Parrhasia and Eutresii are applied by other authors, not to tribes, but to cities. Parrhasia, for instance, by Homer, in the Catalogue, and both of them by Xenophon in his account of
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§ 2.321 the movements of the Spartans under Archidamus, when they gained a victory over the Arcadians and Argives, BC 367 The action took place in the plain between Parrhasia, Midea, and the Eutresii, that is to say, about three miles to the N.N.W.of Megalopolis. It is probable that the Parrhasia of Homer was Lycosura, and thai after the decline of Lycosura, Basilis was the place which later writers meant by the city Parrhasia, for the etymology of Basilis is not ascribed by Pausanias, like that of most of the other places, to an Arcadian hero, but seems to have been so named by its founder, Cypselus, as being the royal residence and capital of Arcadia. The Parrhasii appear from Pausanias to have possessed the eastern slopes of Mount Lycaeum, and all the plain of the Alpheius on its left bank from Karitena to near Londari, together with a part of the right bank at Thocnia. Thucydides, however, seems to give them a greater extent towards the south, for he tells us, that in the eleventh year of the Peloponnesian war, the Parrhasii having called in the assistance of the Lacedaemonians, the latter, under their king Pleistoanax, made an
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§ 2.322 incursion into Parrhasia, and captured the fort of Cypsela in that district, which had been erected by the Mantinenses to annoy the Lacedaemonian district Sciritis. The Aegytae occupied a territory on the borders of Laconia and Arcadia, extending from Belemina to Cromi, both included, and comprising consequently the termination of the range of Taygetum above the modern Londari, together with the two including valleys of the Theius and Gatheatas. The Aegytae, it appears from Pausanias, were properly Arcadians, but their city Aegys was conquered by one of the early kings of Sparta, and they probably continued under the yoke during the whole period of Lacedaemonian power. Malaea and Leuctrum, two of the towns of Aegytis, are mentioned by Xenophon, who represents Malaea as the chief place of a district, in which Leuctrum was a fortress, well situated for defending one of the passes from Arcadia into the Laconice. Thucydides describes Leuctra as on the frontier of the Laconice, towards Mount Lycaeum. From these authorities it should seem, that both Malaea and Leuctrum should be sought for southward of Londari, towards
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§ 2.323 the sources of the Gatheatas, and the passage which leads from the head of its valley, across the Taygetic range, into the vale of the Eurotas. Carystus was a place in the same district, which, like Belemina, was generally ascribed to Laconia. It was celebrated for its wine. As' to Londari, the commanding situation of which seems to indicate an ancient site, it is so very near the ruins which I suppose to have been those of Cromi, that one is almost obliged to consider it only as the site of a castle dependent upon that city. It may possibly stand on the site of that Clarium which we find mentioned as a castle of the Megalopolitis by Polybius, who states that it was occupied by the Aetolians, at the beginning of the Social War, as a retreat, and a place of deposit for their plunder, and who adds, that it was soon assaulted and taken by the Achaeans. Of the Cynuraei of Arcadia, distinguished, by the termination, from the Cynurenses of Argolis, all the places are determined, except the town of the Lycaei; but the occurrence of its name, with those of Gortys, Theisoa of Lycaeum, and Aliphera, concurs with the name itself, in showing, that it was on or near Mount Lycaeum,

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