gurine Verfion, with that of Geneva, retains the Hebrew Words, and ufeth the Names of Tubal and Javan, instead of Italy and Greece. But the Grecians themselves having no Knowledge of their true Anceftor, make this Name to be of much later Date, and derive it from Ion, the Son of Xuthus. This Xuthus (as Paufanias reports) having robb'd his Father Deucalion of his Treafure, convey'd himself, together with his illgotten 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. It is not improbable that Ion himself might receive his Name from Javan; it being a Cuftom obfervable in the Hiftories of all Times, to keep up the ancient Name of a Forefather, efpecially fuch as had been eminent in the Times he liv'd in, by reviving it in fome of the principal of his Pofterity. k 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 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 juftest and most equitable Laws, and liv'd in far greater Splendor than they had arriv'd to in his Time. But of the Tranfactions of these, 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 reafon of the vaft diftance of Time, wherein those Records they had (if they had any) were loft and destroy'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, industrioufly conceal'd their Pedigrees, and obfcur'd their ancient Hiftories with idle Tales, and poetical Fictions. And to use the Words of Plutarch; " As Hiftorians in "their Geographical Defcriptions of Countries, croud into the farthest 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 thofe Things that are fo far remov'd from our Age; "all beyond is nothing but monftrous and tragical Fictions; there the "Poets, and there the Inventors of Fables dwell; nor is there to be ex"pected any thing that deferves Credit, or that carries in it any Appearance of Truth. However, I muft 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, Ogygiam. 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 receiv'd its Name. He is faid to have been Contemporary with the Patriarch Jacob; about the fixty feventh Year of whofe Age he is fuppos'd to have been born", others bring him as low as Mofes. His Reign is the utmost Period the Athenian Stories or Traditions ever pretended to reach to, and therefore when they would express the great Antiquity of any thing, they call it yf, 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, Ωγύρια δ ̓ ἄρα μῦθος ἐν αἰζηοῖσι φορείς. And in allufion to the great Power he is fuppos'd to have been poffefs'c of, they call any thing great or potent, yes, as two learned Grammarians inform us. Hefychius, Ωγυγία, παλαιᾶς, ἀρχαῖς, μεγάλες πάνυ, διε das, Ωγύριον, παλαιὸν ἢ ὑπερμέγεθες. And therefore ὠγύρια κακὰ are great and infupportable Evils; and wyfies vidua in Philo, extreme Folly and Stupidity. He reign'd two and thirty Years (for fo Cedrenus computes them) in full Power and Profperity, 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 profperous, for in the midst of all his Enjoyments he was furpriz'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 Firft. As of Porphyrion, concerning whom the Athmonians, a People in Attica, have a Tradition, that he erected a Temple to Venus Ougavia in their Borough P. Alfo of Colanus ; and of Periphas, who is defcrib'd by Antoninus Liberalis, 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 Reafon fome give for his being called Apúns. Laftly, to mention no more, Paujanias and Stephanus speak of Altaus, or Alteon, from whom fome will have Attica to have been called Acte; and this Name frequently occurs in the Poets," particularly in Lycophron, a ftudious Affecter of antiquated Names, and obfolete Words, Ακτῆς διμόρφες γηγενούς σκηπτοχίας. But small Credit is to be given to thefe 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 Ogygean Deluge, and its Inhabitants reduc'd to fo fmall a Number, that they liv'd 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 1. • Juftin. Mart. Orat. ad Gentes. Hieronym. Chron. Eufeb. B 3 P Paufanias. С НА Р. I' CHA P. II. Of the State of Athens from Cecrops to Thefeus. T is agreed almoft on all Hands, that Cecrops was the firft that gathered together the poor Peasants, that lay difpers'd here and there in Attica, and having united them into one Body, (though 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. Moft Nations at the firft were govern'd 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 Willingnefs, 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 uncontrolable Dominion, or abfolute Sway, but preferr'd the good of their People, for whose Protection they knew and acknowledg'd themselves to have been advanc'd, before any covetous or ambitious Defigns of their own. They expected no bended Knees, no proftrate Faces, but would condefcend 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 obferve fuch a juft Medium in their Behaviour, and all their Actions, as might neither expofe their Authority to Contempt, nor render them formidable to those whom they chose rather to win by Kindness into a voluntary Compliance, than to awe by Severity into a forc'd Subjection. They propos'd to themselves no other Advantage, than the Good and Welfare of their People, and made ufe of their Authority no farther than as it was conducive and neceffary to that End. Their Dignity and Office confifted chiefly in three Things: Fir, 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, where they had any; but the People generally repos'd fuch Truft and Confidence in the Juftice and Equity of their Prince, that his fole Will and Pleasure past for Law amongst them". Secondly, In leading them to the Wars; where they did not only affift them by their good Conduct and Management of Affairs, but expos'd their own Perfons for the Safety and Honour of their Country, preffing forward into the thickest 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 Tall. de Offic. lib. II. cap.XII. 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 themfelves 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 τεμήμεσθα μάλισα Glaucus, fince us the Lycian Realms obey Enjoy large Farms, near Xanthus Streams, whofe Ground J. 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 Priefts of Jupiter Oupaves, and executed that Office in their own Perfons. No Man can be ignorant of Virgil's Anius, who was both King and Prieft. Rex Anius, Rex idem hominum, Phæbique facerdos. We feldom meet with a Sacrifice in Homer, but fome of the Heroes, and thofe the Chief of all then prefent, are concern'd in the Performance of the holy Ceremonies; and fo far was it from being thought an Act of Condefcenfion, or any way below their Dignity and Grandeur, that they thought it an Acceffion to the rest of their Honours; and the inferior Worshippers were no lefs careful to referve 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 himfelf in his new rais'd Kingdom, we fhall 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 fortified 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 increas'd in Power and Number, and fill'd the adjacent Plains with Buildings, this was the Acropolis or Citadel. Iliad. . B 4 Then Then for the better Adminiftration of Juftice, and the Promotion of mutual Intercourse among his Subjects, he divided them into four Tribes, the Names of which were 1. Κεκροπίς, 2. Αὐτόχθων. 3. Ακλαία. 4. Παραλία. And finding his Country pretty well ftock'd with Inhabitants, partly by the coming in of Foreigners, partly by the Concourfe of People from every Corner and Lurking-hole in Attica, where they had before lain, as it were, buried in Privacy, he inftituted a Poll, caufing every one of the Men to caft a Stone into a place appointed by him for that purpose, and upon Computation, he found them to be in Number twenty Thoufand, as the Scholiaft upon Pindar reports out of Philochorus*. But the Soil being in its own Nature unfruitful, and the People unskill'd in tilling and improving it to the best Advantage, fuch Multitudes could not have fail'd of being reduc'd in a short time to the greatest Extremities, had not Cecrops taught them the Art of Navigation, and thereby fupply'd them with Corn from Sicily and Africk. Befides this, he was the Author of many excellent Laws and Conftitutions, especially touching Marriage, which according to his Appointment was only to be celebrated betwixt one Man, and one Woman, whereas before promifcuous Mixtures had been allow'd of amongst them, as the Poet intimates, Κάδμο ἐϋγλώσσοιο δισάσκες) όργανα φωνῆς, With curious Art Cadmus did Letters frame, J. A. Nor did he only prefcribe Rules for the Conduct of their Lives, with refpect to one another, but was the firft that introduc'd a Form of Religion, erected Altars in Honour of the Gods, and inftructed his People in what manner they were to worship them. In the Reign of Pandion, the Fifth King of Athens, Triptolemus is faid to have taught the Athenians how to fow and manure the Ground, and to have enacted several useful and neceffary Laws, three of which we find quoted by Porphyry out of Xenocrates2; 1. Honour your Parents. 2. Make Oblations of your Fruits to the Gods. Olympionic. Od. IX. Dionyfac. lib. XLI. y Johannes Tzetzes in Heftodi Epy. d. De abftinent. ab Animal. lib. IV. z Nonnus Cecrops |