as the flight of birds, or the breaking of thunder, in both of which the right side indicated good fortune, the observer having his face directed to the north; and partly by consulting the entrails of victims. Sneezing was regarded as a favorable prognostic. We may mention also the prophetic interpretation of dreams, and the belief of the multitude in magic, and in bodily metamorphoses, which they supposed to afford various means of aid and protection.

The religious festivals were numerous and attended with various ceremonies. But on each of the topics mentioned in this section, we shall speak more particularly again (§ 70-77).

(2) CIVIL AFFairs.

$33. It has been already remarked (§ 5), that the first inhabitants of Greece lived in a dispersed state, without civil culture or any social compact. The family relations, the authority of the parent over the child, of the husband over the wife, exhibited the only traces of government. Phoroneus, a son of Inachus, is mentioned as the first author of association for civil purposes. Gradually the Greek tribes began to select leaders, who were called kings (Saotis), however limited might be the extent of their dominion or authority. The choice most generally fell upon such as had rendered to their tribe or country some distinguished and meritorious service; and then the dignity became hereditary, a thing rather rare, however, in the earlier ages. Sometimes the choice was determined by consulting an oracle, and in such case the authority was viewed as the more rightful, and as sanctioned by the gods.

On the subject of the civil affairs of the early Greeks, we may refer to F. W. Tittmann's Darstellung der griechisch. Staatsverfassungen. Leipz. 1822. 8.—Mitford, ch. ii. sect. 2; ch. iv. sect. 4. K. F.Hermann, Lehrbuch der griechischen Staatsalterthumer. (-Trans). into English.) Political Antiquities of Greece. Oxf. 1836. 8. A 2d altered and improved ed. of the original, in 1835.- Wachsmuth, as cited §13.

ces.

34. The kingly power, in the first ages, was far from being despotic, or unlimited; the leaders and princes being bound by certain laws and usages. The principal duties of these chiefs were to command in war, to settle disputes between the people, and to take care of the worship of the gods. Valor, love of justice, and zeal for religion were therefore reckoned among their most important excellenFor their honor and support, a portion of the lands was assigned, the cultivation of which they superintended themselves. Certain taxes or imposts were also paid to them, which were increased in time of war. The signs of their office were the scepter and diadem. The former (zgor) was usually of wood, and in length not unlike the lance the latter (d) was a sort of bandeau or head-band, rather than a proper crown. The general costume of these kings was distinguished by its richness, and was commonly of a purple color.

In ancient times, one of the tokens of office and rank always was something attached to the head, a wreath, cap, crown, or the like. A metallic crown was common. David is said to have had a crown of gold with precious stones, of the weight (meaning probably of the value) of a talent (1 Sam. xii. 30). Athenæus mentions a crown, made of 10,000 pieces of gold, placed on the throne of king Ptolemy.

In our Plate XIII. fig. C, we have a curious golden crown, which is said to have been found in some part of Ireland, in 1692, about ten feet under ground. Near it in the Plate, fig. a, is an ancient Abyssinian crown; on the other side, fig. b, is the covering seen on the head of a conquered prince or general upon Egyptian monuments. In Plate XIX. fig. 6, we have the fillet and horn worn by governors of provinces in Abyssinia. "A large broad fillet," says Bruce, "was bound upon their forehead and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a conical piece of silver about four inches long. It is called kirn or horn, and is worn especially in parades after victories." Bruce, Travels &c. as cited P. I. § 118. 1.

35. The court and retinue of the first kings was very simple and unimposing. In war, they usually had by their side a friend, who served as a kind of armor-bearer. Both in war and peace, they employed heralds (ziguzɛs) in the publication and execution of their orders. The heralds also imposed silence, when the chiefs wished to come forward and speak in an assembly. The same officers assisted in religious ceremonies, and were present in the forming of treaties. -The kings also selected councillors, of the most distinguished, experienced, and brave of the people; and in cases of doubt or difficulty, held with them consultations and formal assemblies, in which the speaker was accustomed to stand and the rest to sit. Both public and private affairs were discussed in these assemblies.

36. The courts of justice were in public places; and the whole assembly usually presented the form of a circle. The judges sat upon seats or benches of stone; the men selected for the office were such as were much respected on account of age and experience. They bore in their hand a scepter or staff. The cause was stated orally by the contending parties themselves, and by them the witnesses were brought forward. The kings or chiefs presided in these judicial assemblies, sitting on an elevated seat or throne. For a period, equity and precedent or usage formed the basis of all decisions; but afterwards, the courts had for their guide particular laws and statutes, which were first introduced by Phoroneus, and more extensively by Cecrops.

37. As the laws in the more ancient times were few and simple, so were the punishments. But few crimes were made capital. Murder was commonly punished by banishment, either voluntarily sought by the murderer, or expressly decreed by public sentence; its duration, however, was but a year, and even this could sometimes be commuted for a fine. The privileges of asylum belonged only to the author of accidental, unintentional homicide. Adultery was punished severely, commonly with death. Robber and theft were very frequent in the early times of Greece, and iginally were not considered as criminal, while the right of the stronger was admitted, especially if shrewdness and cunning were united with the theft. Nothing therefore was aimed at but to recover what had been taken, or to inflict vengeance by a corresponding injury. Afterwards, however, particular punishments were imposed for these offences.

$38. In as much as the inhabitants of Crete were connected with the Greeks by their having a common language, it is important to mention the Cretan laws, which were introduced by Minos. They are said to have been the most ancient written code, and were afterwards taken by Lycurgus as models. Military valor and union among the people seems to have been their great aim; every ordinance of Minos was directed to promote strength of body, and to

cultivate social attachment between the members of the state. In order to impart greater dignity and authority to his laws, he brought them forward as having been revealed to him by Jupiter. But the moral culture was not greatly advanced by institutions having their primary and chief reference to a state of war.

$39. In the progress of time, the form of government among the Greeks underwent many changes, and at length became wholly democratic. The most celebrated of the states were Athens and Sparta. Of these in particular a few important circumstances respecting their government in the more early ages are here to be mentioned.

Athens was originally governed by kings. The power of these kings was more unrestrained in war than in peace. After the death of Codrus (1068 B. C.), it became a free state. The chief authority was given to officers styled Archons, who ruled for life. Thirteen Archons of this description succeeded each other, all descended from the family of Codrus. After the time of these (752 B. C.), the of fice of Archon ceased to be for life, and was limited to ten years, and was held by a single person at a time. After a succession of seven Archons of this kind, the office was made annual (684 B. C.), and nine Archons were appointed to rule jointly, not all, however, of the same rank. The civil government experienced changes under Draco, and others still greater under the distinguished legislator Solon, and in after times.

$40. Sparta was also originally governed by kings. Eurysthenes and Procles, the two sons of Aristodemus (one of the Heraclidæ that invaded Peloponnesus) reigned jointly, but not harmoniously. Under their descendants the kingly office lost much of its authority. Lycurgus, the famous Spartan lawgiver, changed greatly the form of government; it did not become democratical, neither was it, properly speaking, aristocratical. Two kings remained at the head, and a senate was established consisting of 28 men, who were above sixty years of age. There was also the body of 5 Ephori, appointed annually. The people themselves likewise had some share in the administration of the state. Notwithstanding many internal divisions and disturbances, this state enjoyed a long period of comparative rest and liberty. This it owed very much to the wise regulations of Lycurgus, the salutary influence of which was aided by the limited territory and moderate population of Lacedæmon.

$ 41. One of the most effectual means of advancing the Greeks was their commerce and the navigation connected with it. In the earliest times, commerce consisted chiefly in barter and reciprocal exchanges of native products, the use of gold not being introduced. Afterwards pieces of metal of different values were employed. (Cf. P. I. 94). Navigation became more common after the Trojan war, and Ægina first turned it to the advantage of commerce. Corinth and Rhodes became most distinguished in this respect. The commerce of Athens finally became something considerable; that of Lacedæmon on the other hand always remained comparatively unimportant. On the whole, it is worthy of remark, that the extension of commerce and maritime intercourse had an important influence upon the civil and moral culture of the Grecian states. Cf. P. I. § 40.

"Commerce, in the Homeric age, appears to have been principally in the hands of the Phenicians. The carrying-trade of the Mediterranean was early theirs, and Sidon was the great seat of manufacture. The Greeks were not without traffic carried on by sea among themselves; but the profession of merchant had evidently not in Homer's time that honorable estimation which yet, according to Plutarch, it acquired at an early period in Greece. While it was thought not unbecoming a prince to be a carpenter to supply his own wants or luxuries, to be a merchant for gain was held but as a mean employment; a pirate was a more respected character.

Navigation had been much practiced, long before Homer, in small open vessels, nearly such as are still common in the Mediterranean; and the poet gives no hint of any late advancement of the art. The seas, indeed, which nearly surround Greece, are singularly adverse to improvements upon that vast scale which oceans require, and which modern times have produced. Broken by innumerable headlands and islands, with coasts mostly mountainous, and in some parts of extraordinary height, the Grecian seas are beyond others subject to sudden and violent storms. These united circumstances, which have made the Greeks of all ages excellent boatmen, have contributed much to prevent them from becoming seamen. The skill and experience of the pilot, in the modern sense of the term, are constantly wanted; the science of the navigator is of little avail; even the compass is comparatively useless in the Egean. The Mediterranean vessels now, not excepting the French, which are mostly navigated by Mediterranean sailors, never keep the sea there but with a fair wind. The English alone, accustomed in all their surrounding waters to a bolder navigation, commonly venture in the Archipelago to work to windward. Sails were used in fair winds in Homer's time; but the art of sailing was extremely imperfect. The mariner's dependence was his oars, which no vessel was without. For in seas so land-locked, yet so tempestuous, the greatest danger was to the stoutest ship. Light vessels, which with their oars could creep along the coast, watch the weather, make way in calms, and, on any threatening appearance, find shelter in shoal water or upon an open beach, were what Grecian navigation peculiarly required. The Phenicians, for their commerce, used deeper ships, accommodated to their more open seas and longer voyages." Mitford.

(3) MILITARY AFFAIRS.

42. Military prowess was esteemed by the early Greeks as of the greatest merit, and was therefore an object of universal ambition. The first inhabitants were distinguished for their warlike inclinations and habits of life, although their wars were conducted without much method or discipline. They were constantly in arms, not only to defend themselves and their property, but to attack and plunder others. Thus they perpetrated violence, murder, and devastation in the extreme. It needed but a trifling occasion to excite a general, long, and bloody war; the seige of Troy furnishes a striking example. In such cases, several chiefs and people, sometimes of very distant provinces, united as in a common cause.

On Grecian military affairs, see I. T. H. Nast's Einleitung in die griechischen Kriegsalterthümer. Stuttg. 1780. 8. a valuable work on the general subject. Also G. G. S. Köpke, über das Kriegsweisen der Griechen im heroischen Zeitalter &c. Berl. 1807. 8. cf. Class, Journ, 1x. 11.-C. Guiscard, Memoires militaires sur les Grecs et sur les Romains. La Hage, 1758. 4. It contains a translation of Onosander (cf. P. II. § 221), and plans of some ancient battles, &c. Cf. § 275. — Garnier, as cited §135. — Mitford's Hist. ch. ii. sect. 3, 4.

43. The Grecian armies consisted partly of foot-soldiers and in later times of horsemen, partly of such as were borne in chariots. The foot-soldiers were distinguished as light armed (b) and heavy armed (óra). The Thessalians were early and especially celebrated for their cavalry (innus). Still more ancient was the use of

war-chariots, which were employed by the heroes of Homer. Two horses, sometimes three, were attached to these chariots; each contained two warriors, one of whom guided the horses (riozos), while the other pointed out the direction (agaßars), discharged arrows, hurled missiles from a sling, or fought with short arms, and when the action was close sprang from the chariot (diggos). Notwithstanding the inconvenience of these vehicles in battle, they were in use for a long time, before cavalry came to be generally substituted in their place.

44. The weapons of the Greek warriors were of two kinds, defensive and ofensive. Among the former (αλεξητήρια, προβλήματα,) Was the helmet (κυνέη, κράτος, περικεφαλαια, κόρυς) made of hide or leather and adorned with a crest of hair or tufts of feathers (os, λógos), and attached to the neck by a strap (oyevs); the breast-plate (9úpa‡), commonly made of brass, sometimes of leather or linen; the girdle (tv), mostly of brass and encircling the lower part of the body; the greaves (uides), of brass or some more precious metal; and the shield (onis), usually round, made of bullock's hide, and used for the protection of the whole body (cf. § 139).

1u. The shield was often adorned with figures, but not as much so as Hesiod represents the shield of Hercules to have been, and Homer that of Achilles.

2. Homer's description of the shield of Achilles (Il. xviii. 478) is considered as one of the finest passages in the Iliad. A delineation and model of the shield was formed by the celebrated artist, Flaxman, and several casts were made in silver gilt, bronze, and plaster. He brought the whole work within a circle of three feet in diameter. It contains upwards of a hundred human figures exhibited in relief.

Cf. Felton's Iliad, Notes. See Quatr. de Quincy, Sur la description du bouchlier d'Achille &c. in the Mem. l'Inst. de France, Classe d'Hist. et Lit. Anc. vol. IV. p. 102, with a colored plate. De Caylus, Baucliers d'Achille, d'Hercule, et d'Ence &c. in the Mem. Acad. Instr. XXVII. 21. Class. Journ. vI. 6; v111. 409.

$45. The offensive weapons were, the spear (dev), commonly made of the ash-tree (82in), and of different lengths and forms according as it was designed for combat more or less close; the sword (igos), the belt of which hung from the shoulders; the bow (Toor), usually of wood, with a string (regor) of twisted horse-hair or of. hide; the arrows (pean,boru), of light-wood, pointed with iron, and winged (1685 lus) with feathers; the javelin (àzóvttor), of various lengths and forms; and the sling (operdóry), of an oval shape, with two leathern strings attached to its ends, by means of which arrows, stones, and leaden balls (our) were hurled against the foe.

The spear used for close combat was called digu ògɛzròv; that for a distance, naktor; the point, termed zu, was always of metal. Δουροδόκη was the name given to the box or case, in which the spears were deposited when not in use. The term yyos also designates the spear; the epithet brazen (xákxov) is usually applied to it. Cf. Hom. II. iii. 380.-The arrows were kept in a quiver (qagirgu), which with the bow, was usually carried on the back of the shoulders (in' notoir). The quiver had a lid or cover (a). Cf. Hom. Il. iv. 116-120.

Various articles of ancient armor are seen in our Plates XIV and XVII. The bow and quiver are given in fig. 1, & L, of Plate XIV. In this Plate also, fig. x, y, we have forms of the Grecian javelia in o, o, spear-heads: in H, a form of the clubs (cf. (139) which in various forms were used in early periods; in fig. A, A, are given forms of the club or battle-mallet used by the Egyptians, which sometimes had leaden heads with handles four or five feet long: in fig. 1, 1, we have the Grecian battle-are: in the several figures s, C, D, forms of the Grecian and Roman sword; in E, a Dacian sword; in those marked B, Persian swords. — In Plate