Græcia

, a celebrated country of Europe, bounded on the west by the Ionian sea, south by the Mediterranean sea, east by the Ægean, and north by Thrace and Dalmatia. It is generally divided into four large provinces: Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia or Hellas, and Peloponnesus. This country has been reckoned superior to every other part of the earth, on account of the salubrity of the air, the temperature of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and above all, the fame, learning, and arts of its inhabitants. The Greeks have severally been called Achæans, Argians, Danai, Dolopes, Hellenians, Ionians, Myrmidons, and Pelasgians. The most celebrated of their cities were Athens, Sparta, Argos, Corinth, Thebes, Sicyon, Mycenæ, Delphi, Trœzene, Salamis, Megara, Pylos, . The inhabitants, whose history is darkened in its primitive ages with fabulous accounts and traditions, supported that they were the original inhabitants of the country, and born from the earth where they dwelt; and they heard with contempt the probable conjectures which traced their origin among the first inhabitants of Asia, and the colonies of Egypt. In the first periods of their history, the Greeks were governed by monarchs; and there were as many kings as there were cities. The monarchical power gradually decreased; the love of liberty established the republican government; and no part of Greece, except Macedonia, remained in the hands of an absolute sovereign. The expedition of the Argonauts first rendered the Greeks respectable among their neighbours; and in the succeeding age, the wars of Thebes and Troy gave opportunity to their heroes and dem i-gods to display their valour in the field of battle. The simplicity of the ancient Greeks rendered them virtuous; and the establishment of the Olympic games, in particular, where the noble reward of the conqueror was a laurel crown, contributed to their aggrandizement, and made them ambitious of fame, and not the slaves of riches. The austerity of their laws, and the education of their youth, particularly at Lacedæmon, rendered them brave and active, insensible to bodily pain, fearle and intrepid in the time of danger. The celebrated battles of Marathon, Thermopylæ, Salamis, Platæa, and Mycale sufficiently show what superiority the courage of a little army can obtain over millions of undisciplined barbarians. After many signal victories over the Persians, they became elated with their succe ; and when they found no one able to dispute their power abroad, they turned their arms one against the other, and leagued with foreign states to destroy the most flourishing of their cities. The Me enian and Peloponnesian wars are examples of the dreadful calamities which arise from civil discord and long prosperity, and the succe with which the gold and the sword of Philip and of his son corrupted and enslaved Greece, fatally proved that when a nation becomes indolent and di ipated at home, it ceases to be respectable in the eyes of the neighbouring states. The annals of Greece, however, abound with singular proofs of heroism and resolution. The bold retreat of the 10,000, who had a isted Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes, reminded their countrymen of their superiority over all other nations; and taught Alexander that the conquest of the east might be effected with a handful of Grecian soldiers. While the Greeks rendered themselves so illustrious by their military exploits, the arts and sciences were a isted by conquest, and received fresh lustre from the application and industry of their profe ors. The labours of the learned were received with admiration, and the merit of a composition was determined by the applause or disapprobation of a multitude. Their generals were orators; and eloquence seemed to be so nearly connected with the military profe ion, that he was despised by his soldiers who could not addre them upon any emergency with a spirited and well-delivered oration. The learning as well as the virtues of So crates procured him a name; and the writings of Aristotle have, perhaps, gained him a more lasting fame than all the conquests and trophies of his royal pupil. Such were the occupations and accomplishments of the Greeks. Their language became almost universal, and their country was the receptacle of the youths of the neighbouring states, where they imbibed the principles of liberty and moral virtue. The Greeks planted several colonies, and totally peopled the western coasts of Asia Minor. In the eastern parts of Italy there were also many settlements made; and the country received from its Greek inhabitants the name of Magna Græcia . For some time Greece submitted to the yoke of Alexander and his succe ors; and at last, after a spirited though ineffectual struggle in the Achæan league, it fell under the power of Rome, and became one of its ♦ dependent provinces, governed by a proconsul. ♦ ‘dependant’ replaced with ‘dependent’