their own Soil, and had not found out the Way of fupplying their Wants by Traffick, the Cafe was quite contrary, and Peace was only the Mother of Poverty and Scarcenefs, producing a great many new Mouths to confume, but affording no new Supplies to fatisfy them. This was foon experienced by the Athenians; for in a few Ages they were increased to fuch a Number, that their Country being not only unfruitful, but confined within very narrow Bounds, was no longer able to furnish them with neceffary Provifions. This forced them to contrive fome Means to difburthen it, and therefore they fent out Colonies to provide new Habitations, which spread themselves in the feveral Parts of Greece.

This fending forth of Colonies was very frequent in the first Ages of the World, and several Instances there are of it in later Times, especially amongst the Gauls and Scythians, who often left their Native Countries in vaft Bodies, and, like general Inundations, overturn'd all before them. Meurfus reckons to the Number of forty Plantations peopled by Athenians; but amongst them all, there was none fo remarkable as that in Afia the Lefs, which they call'd by the Name of their native Country Ionia. For the primitive Athenians were nam'd Iones, and laones (e); and hence it came to pafs, that there was a very near Affinity between the Attick and old Ionick Dialect, as Euftathius obferves (f). And though the Athenians thought fit to lay afide their ancient Name, yet it was not altogether out of Use in Thefeus's Reign, as appears from the Pillar erected by him in the Ifthmus, to fhew the Bounds of the Athenians on the one Side, and the Peloponnefians on the other; on the East-side of which was this Infcription (g),

This is not Peloponnefus, but Ionia.

And on the South-fide this,

This is not Ionia, but Peloponnefus.

This Name is thought to have been given them from Javan, which bears a near Resemblance to Idwv; and much nearer if, as Grammarians tell us, the ancient Greeks pronounc'd the Letter a broad like the Diphthong av, as in our English Word All, and fo Sir George Wheeler reports the modern Greeks do at this Day. This Javan was the fourth Son of Japheth, and is faid to have come into Greece after the Confufion of Babel, and feated himself in Attica; and this Report receiveth no small Confirmation from the divine Writings, where the Name of Javan is in feveral Places put for Greece. Two Inftances we have in Daniel (k); And when I am gone forth, behold the Prince of Græcia fhall come. And again (i) He fhall ftir up all againft the Realm of Græcia Where though the vulgar Translations render it not Javan, yet that is the Word in the Original. And again in Isaiah, And I will fend those that escape. of them to the Nations in the Sea, in Italy, and in Greece. Where the Ti

(e) Herodot. lib. I. (g) Plutarch, Thefeo,

Strabo Geogr. lib. IX.
(b) Cap. X. v. 20
B 2

fchylus Perfis.
(i) Cap. XI. v. 2.

(f) Iliad. d.

gurine

gurine Verfion, with that of Geneva, retains the Hebrew Words, and ufeth the Names of Tubal and Javan, inftead of Italy and Greece. But the Grecians themselves, having no Knowledge of their true Ancestor, make this Name to be of much later Date, and dérive it from lon, the Son of Xuthus. This Xuthus (as Paufanias reports) having robb'd his Father Deucalion of his Treasure, convey'd himself, together with his ill-gotten Wealth into Attica, which was at that Time govern'd by Erectheus, who courteously entertain'd him, and gave him his Daughter in Marriage, by whom he had two Sons, Ion and Achæus; the former of which gave his Name to the Ionians, the latter to the Achæans. is not improbable that Ion himself might receive his Name from Javan; it being a Custom obfervable in the Hiftories of all Times, to keep up the ancient Name of a Fore-Father, especially fuch as had been eminent in the Times he lived in, by reviving it in fome of the Principal of his Pofterity.

It

From the first peopling of Attica till the Time of King Ogyges, we have no Account of any Thing that pafs'd there; only Plato (k) reports, they had a Tradition, that the Athenian Power and Glory were very great in thofe Days; that they were excellently skill'd both in Civil and Military Affairs, were govern'd by the justest and most equitable Laws, and lived in far greater Splendor than they had arrived to in his Time. But of the Tranfactions of thefe, and the following Ages till Thefeus, or the Trojan War, little or nothing of Certainty must be expected; partly, because of the Want of Records,in rude and illiterate Ages; partly, by reason of the vast Distance of Time, wherein thofe Records they had (if they had any) were loft and deftroy'd; and partly, through the Pride and Vain-glory of the ancient Greeks, who, out of an Affectation of being thought to have been defcended from fome divine Original, industriously conceal'd their Pedigrees, and obfcured their ancient Hiftories with idle Tales, and poetical Fictions. And to use the Words of Plutarch () As Hiftorians, in their Geographical Descriptions of "Countries, croud into the fartheft Part of their Maps thofe Things they have no Knowledge of, with fome fuch Remarks in the Margin as thefe; all beyond is nothing but dry and defert Sands, or Scythian "Cold, or a frozen Sea; so it may very well be faid of those Things "that are fo far removed from our Age; all beyond is nothing but "monftrous and tragical Fictions; there the Poets, and there the In"ventors of Fables dwell; nor is there to be expected any Thing that "deferves Credit, or that carries in it any Appearance of Truth."

66

66

(1):

However I must not omit what is reported concerning Ogyges, or Ogygus, whom fome will have to have been King of Thebes, fome of Egypt, fome of Arcadia, but others of Attica, which is faid to have been called after his Name, Ogygia (m). He is reported to have been a very potent Prince, and the Founder of feveral Cities, particularly of Eleufis; and Paufanias tells us farther, that he was Father to the Hero Eleufis, from whom that Town received its Name. He is faid to have

(*) Timao, (1) Thefeo. (m) Stephanus Byzantin, de Urb. & Pop.

been

been contemporary with the Patriarch Jacob; about the fixty-feventh Year of whofe Age he is fuppofed to have been born (»), others bring him as low as Mofes (o). His Reign is the utmoft Period the Athenian Stories or Traditions ever pretended to reach to; and therefore when they would exprefs the great Antiquity of any thing, they call it Nyúf.O, of which we have a great many Inftances in feveral of the ancient Writers, but I fhall only give you one out of Nicander's Theriaca,

ΩγύγιΘ δ' ἄρα μῦθΘ ἐν αἰζηοῖσι φορές.

And in Allufion to the great Power he is fuppofed to have been poffefs'd of they call any thing great or potent, Qúy, as two learned Grammarians inform us. Hefychius, Ωγυγία, παλαιό, αρχαίο, μεγάλο πάνυ. Suidas, Ωγύγιον, παλαιὸν, ἢ ὑπερμεγέθες. And therefore ὠγύfia nand are great and insupportable Evils; and dyfiC sundea in Philo, extreme Folly and Stupidity. He reign'd two and thirty Years (for fo Cedrenus computes them) in full Power and Prosperity, and blefs'd with the Affluence of all Things that Fortune can beftow upon her greatest Favourites; but the Conclufion of his Life was no lefs deplorable than the former Part of it had been prosperous, for in the midit of all his Enjoyments he was surpriz'd with a fudden and terrible Inundation, which overwhelm'd not Attica only, but all Achaia too, in one common Destruction.

There is frequent Mention made in ancient Authors of several Kings that reign'd in Attica, between the Ogygian Flood and Cecrops the Firit. As of Porphyrion, concerning whom the Athmonians, a People in Attica, have a Tradition, that he erected a Temple to Venus Ougavía in their Borough (p). Alfo of Colanus (q); and of Periphas, who is defcrib'd by Antonius Liberalis (r), to have been a very virtuous Prince, and at last metamorphos'd into an Eagle. Ifaac Tzetzes, in his Comment upon Lycophron, fpeaks of one Draco, out of whofe Teeth he tells us, it was reported that Cecrops fprung; and this Reason fome give for his being call'd Aphs. Laftly, to mention no more, Paufanias and Stephanus Διφής. fpeak of Acteus, or Actaon, from whom fome will have Attica to have been call'd A&e; and this Name frequently occurs in the Poets, particularly in Lycrophron, a studious Affecter of antiquated Names, and obfolete Words:

Ακτῆς διμόρφα γυξενες σκηπτοχίας.

But fmall Credit is to be given to these Reports, for we are affured by Philochorus, an Author of no lefs Credit than Antiquity, as he is quoted by Africanus, that Attica was fo much wafted by the Ogygian Deluge, and its Inhabitants reduced to fo fmall a Number, that they lived an hundred and ninety Years, from the Time of Ogyges to Cecrops, without any King at all; and Eufebius concurs with him in this Opinion (/).

(n) Hieronym. Chron. Eufeb. (0) Justin Mart. Orat. ad Gentes, (9) Idem. () Metamorphof, VI. (ƒ) Chronico,

fanias.

B 3

(p) Path

CHAP.

I

CHA P. II.

Of the State of Athens from Cecrops to Thefeus.

T is agreed almoft on all Hands, that Cecrops was the first that gather'd together the poor Peasants that lay difperfed here and there in Attica, and having united them into one Body, (tho' not into one City, for that was not effected till many Ages after) conftituted among them one Form of Government, and took upon himself the Title of King. Most Nations at the first were governed by Kings, who were usually Perfons of great Worth and Renown, and for their Courage, Prudence, and other Virtues, promoted to that Dignity by the general Confent and Election of the People; who yielded them Obedience out of Willingness, rather than Neceffity; out of Advice, rather than by Compulfion And Kings rather chofe to be obey'd out of Love, and Efteem of their Virtues, and Fitness to govern, than by the Force of their Arms, and out of a flavish Fear of their Power. They affected no uncontroulable Dominion, or abfolute Sway, but preferr❜d the Good of their People, for whofe Protection they knew and acknowledged themselves to have been advanced, before any covetous or ambitious Designs of their own. They expected no bended Knees, no proftrate Faces, but would condescend to converse familiarly, even with the meaner fort of their Subjects, as oft as they flood in need of their Affiftance. In fhort, they endeavoured to observe such a juft Medium in their Behaviour, and all their Actions, as might neither expose their Authority to Contempt, nor render them formidable to thofe, whom they chofe rather to win by Kindness into a voluntary Compliance, than to awe by Severity into a forced Subjection. They proposed to themselves no other Advantage, than the Good and Welfare of their People, and made use of their Authority no farther, than as it was conducive and neceffary to that End. This Dignity and Office confifted chiefly in three Things.

First, In doing Juftice, in hearing Caufes, in compofing the Divifions, and deciding the Differences that happen'd among their Subjects, in conftituting new Laws, and regulating the old (t), where they had any; but the People generally repofed fuch Truft and Confidence in the Justice and Equity of their Prince, that his fole Will and Pleasure pass'd for Law amongst them ().

Secondly, In leading them to the Wars; where they did not only affit them by their good Conduct and Management of Affairs, but expofed their own Perfons for the Safety and Honour of their Country, preffing forward into the thickeft of their Enemies, and often encountering the most valiant of them in fingle Combat. And this they thought a principal Part of their Duty, judging it but reasonable, that they, who excell❜d others in Honour, fhould furpafs them too in

(1) Tull, de Offic, lib, II, cap. XII.

(u) Juftin, Hift. lib. I.

Valour,

Valour, and they that had the firft Places at all Feafts, and publick Affemblies, fhould be the firft alfo in undertaking Dangers, and expofing themselves in the Defence of their Country; and thus the Hero in Homer argues the Cafe with one of his Fellow-Princes,

Γλαῦκε, τίη δὴ τῶν τελεμήμεθα μάλιςα

Εδρη τε, κρέασίν τε ἰδὲ πλείοις δεπάεσσιν
Εν Λυκίη, πάνες ὃ, θεὸς ὡς, εἰσορέωσι,
Και τέμω νεμόμεθα μέγα Ξανθοῖο παρ ̓ ὄχθαις,
Καλὸν φυλαλιᾶς καὶ ἀρέρης πυροφόροιο ;

Τῷ νυν χρὴ Λυκίοισι μετὰ πρώτοισιν εόντας
Εσάμου, ἠδὲ μάχης καυτερῆς ἀντιβολῆσαι, (ι).
Glaucus, fince us the Lycian Realms obey
Like Gods, and all united Homage pay,
Since we first feated have our Goblets crown'd

Enjoy large Farms, near Xanthus' Streams, whofe Ground
Is fertile, and befet with fhady Trees around?
Ought we not in the Battle's Front t'engage,
And quell our furious Foes with doubled Rage?

}

7. A.

Thirdly, The Performance of the folemn Sacrifices, and the Care of Divine Worship was Part of the King's Bufinefs. The Lacedæmonian Kings at their Coronation were confecrated Priests of Jupiter, Ovedvi, and executed that Office in their own Perfons. No Man can be ignorant of Virgil's Anius, who was both King and Priest.

Rex Anius, Rex idem hominum, Phæbique facerdos.

We feldom meet with a Sacrifice in Homer, but some of the Heroes, and those the Chief of all then present, are concern'd in the Performance of the holy Ceremonies; and fo far was it from being thought an Ac of Condefcenfion, or any way below their Dignity and Grandeur, that they thought it an Acceffion to the reft of their Honours; and the inferior Worshippers were no lefs careful to reserve this Piece of Service for them, than they were to give them the most honourable Places in the Banquets, which they refresh'd themselves with, after the Sacrifices were ended.

Let us now return to Cecrops, whom, as foon as he had establish'd himself in his new rais'd Kingdom, we shall find employ'd in laying the Model of a City, which he defign'd for the Seat of his Government, and Place of his conftant Refidence. And as the most commodious Place in his Dominions for this Purpose, he pitch'd upon a Rock, ftrongly fortify'd by Nature against any Affaults, and fituated in a large Plain near the Middle of Attica, calling both the City, and the Territory round it, after his own Name, Cecropia. Afterwards, when the Athenians increased in Power and Number, and fill'd the adjacent Plains with Buildings, this was the Acropolis or Citadel.

(w) Iliad. M'.
B 4

Then