On the civil and criminal law in Doric states.

1. The civil laws, as well as the economy of the Dorians, seem to bear a character of very great antiquity, as far as our scanty means of information permit us to judge. They exhibit strong marks of the early time at which they originated, and it is impossible not to recognise in them a certain loftiness and severity of character. For this reason they were ill suited to the circumstances of the more unrestrained and active manners of later times, and only owed their continuance to the isolated situation in which Sparta succeeded in keeping herself. Thus the law of private property was less definite and settled here than in any other part of Greece in early times, as property was, according to the Spartan notions, to be looked upon as a matter of indifference; in the decrees and institutions attributed to Lycurgus, no mention was made of this point, and the ephors were permitted to judge according to their own notions of equity. The ancient legislators had an evident repugnance to any strict regulations on this subject; thus Zaleucus, who however first made particular enactments concerning the right of property, expressly interdicted certificates of debt: on the contrary, the laws of that early period had a much more personal tendency, and rather regulated the actions of every individual by means of the national customs.

On the establishment of the worship of Apollo by Cretans in Lycia and the Troad, in Thrace, Trœzen, Megara, and Thoricus in Attica. On the extension of the Pythian worship to Bœotia and Attica.

1. But whilst the worship of Apollo was experiencing so much opposition in the north of Greece, the sea, with the neighbouring coasts and islands, afforded ample opportunities for its propagation from the shores of Crete. This serves to account for the singular fact, that the most ancient temples of Apollo throughout the south of Greece, are found in maritime districts, and generally on promontories and headlands.

The colonies of Apollo branched out in various directions from the northern coast of Crete, carrying every where with them the expiatory and oracular ceremonies of his worship. The remarkable regularity with which these settlements were established cannot however be regarded as the work of missions systematically carried on, or as part of the policy of Minos. They are to be accounted for by the natural desire of the tribes of Crete, whilst migrating along the coast of the Ægean sea, to erect, wherever they touched, temples to that god, whose worship was blended with their spiritual existence.

We shall first advert to those settlements which (taking the coast of Crete as our centre) were founded in the direction of Lycia, Miletus, Claros, and the Troad; the first and last of which were the most ancient, the others being perhaps a century later.

Mental and bodily training in Sparta and other Doric states.

1. The education of the youth (νεολαία) in the ancient Doric states of Sparta and Crete, was conducted, as might be supposed, on a very artificial system: indeed, the great number of classes into which the boys and youths were distributed, would itself lead us to this conclusion. For since this separation could not have been made without some aim, each class, we may conjecture, was treated in some way different from the rest, the whole forming a complete scale of mental or bodily acquirements.

Whether a new-born infant should be preserved or not, was decided in Lacedæmon by the state, i. e. a council composed of the elders of the family.

This custom was not by any means more barbarous than that of the ancient world in general, which, in earlier times at least, gave the father full power over the lives of his children. Here we may perceive the great influence of the community over the education of its members, which should not, however, lead us to suppose that all connexion between parents and children was dissolved, or the dearest ties of nature torn asunder. Even Spartan mothers preserved a power over their sons when arrived at manhood, of which we find no traces in the rest of Greece.

On the universal diffusion of the worship of Apollo through the Peloponnese, and afterwards all Greece, by the Doric migration. On its subsequent extension in foreign parts by the authority of the Delphian oracle.

1. We now come to the third epoch of the propagation of the worship of Apollo. The first embraced the earliest migrations of the Doric nation, when the great temples at Delphi, Cnosus, and Delos were founded from Tempe. The second period is that of the maritime supremacy of Minos, when the coasts of Asia and Greece were covered with groves and expiatory altars of this god. The third comprehends the chief migration of the Dorians, and others occasioned by it. Through these means Apollo became the principal deity in the Peloponnese, where, in early times, we find few traces of his existence. That the Carnean Apollo of the Lacedæmonians, and the Apollo Nomius of the Arcadians, form no exceptions to our assertion, will be proved in a subsequent inquiry into the nature and origin of these worships.

After the Doric conquest of the Peloponnese, the chief temples were every where consecrated to Apollo. We have already spoken of the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus, in which the Argive confederacy held their meetings; nor was the temple of Apollo Lyceus in the market-place less celebrated.

On the military system of the Spartans and other Doric states.

1. The military system of the Dorians, which we are now about to consider, was evidently brought to the greatest perfection in Sparta. In this state the military profession, as was hardly the case in any other part of Greece, was followed as an art, as the study of a life; so that when Agesilaus (as is related) separated the shoemakers, carpenters, potters, &c. from the assembled allied army, the Spartans alone remained, as being the warriors by profession (as τεχνῖται τᾶν πολεμικῶν). But the principles of their military tactics were evidently common to the whole race; and, according to a conjecture advanced in a former part of this work, it was chiefly the method of attack, in closed lines, with extended lances, by which the Dorians conquered the Achæans of the Peloponnese, and which was adopted from them by many other states of Greece.

Every Spartan was, if he had sufficient strength, bound to defend his country in expeditions without the boundaries during the years that were designated by the name ἡλικία. This period lasted to the fortieth year from manhood (ἀφʾ ἥβης), that is to say, to the sixtieth year from birth: until that time a man was called ἔμφρουρος (from φρουρὰ), and could not go out of the country without permission from the authorities.

The divisions of the citizens and public assemblies in the Doric states.

1. Having now considered the subject classes in the several Doric states, we next come to the free citizens properly so called, who, according to an old Grecian principle, which was actually put in practice in Sparta, were entirely exempted from all care for providing themselves with the necessaries of life. The exact distinction between these ranks, and the advantageous position of the latter class, rather raised its estimation, and the value of the rights of citizenship; hence also Sparta, above all, shewed itself tenacious of admitting foreigners to a share in it Before then we consider the body politic, as made up of free citizens, in its active dealings, it will be proper first to direct our attention to its component members, to its division into smaller societies, such as tribes, phratriæ, families or clans, &c.

In every Doric state there were three tribes, Hylleis, Dymanes (or Dymanatæ), and Pamphyli. This threefold division belonged so peculiarly to the nation, that even Homer called it “the thrice-divided” (τριχάïκες), which ancient epithet is correctly explained in a verse of Hesiod, as implying the division of the territory among the people.

Successive conquests of the Dorians in the Peloponnese.

1. Before the time of the Dorians, Mycenæ, situated in the higher part of the plain at the extremity of the mountain chain, had doubtless been the most important and distinguished place in Argolis; and Argos, although the seat of the earliest civilization, was dependent upon and inferior to it. At Mycenæ were the Cyclopian hall of Eurystheus, and the sumptuous palace of Agamemnon; and though, as Thucydides correctly says, the fortified town was of inconsiderable extent, yet it abounded with stupendous and richly carved monuments, whose semibarbarous but artificial splendour formed a striking contrast with the unornamented and simple style introduced after the Doric period. The Doric conquerors, on the other hand, did not commence their operations upon fortresses secured alike by nature and art, but advanced into the interior from the coast. For near the sea between Lerna and Nauplia, on the mouth of the Phrixus, there was a fortified place named Temenium, from which Temenus the son of Aristomachus, together with the Dorians, carried on a war with Tisamenus and the Achæans, and probably harassed them by repeated incvirsions, until they were obliged to hazard an open battle. From thence the Dorians, after severe struggles, made themselves masters of the town of Argos.

Chronological Tables.

1. An attempt to ascertain the precise date of fabulous events would at the present time be considered unreasonable, nor would it be better to arrange them according to generations. It must however be allowed that the mutual dependence of events recorded by mythology can be proved, and by this means, to a certain degree, their succession may be satisfactorily traced. We shall give a specimen from the work before us.

The Dorians in Hestiæotis. Worship of Apollo at Tempe book I. ch. 1. book. II. ch. 1.

The Dorians at war with the Lapithæ. Taking of Œchalia book I. ch. 1. §. 7. book II. ch. 2. §. 1.

The Dorians in Crete. Worship of Apollo at Cnosus, book I. ch. 1. §. 9. book II. ch. 1. §. 5.

Teucrian Pelagones (Encheleans) in the north of Thessaly, book I. ch. 1. §. 10.

Dorians at the foot of Œta and Parnassus. Worship of Apollo at Lycorea and Pytho, book I. ch. 2. book II. ch. 1. §. 8.

The Dorians in alliance with the Trachinians and Ætolians, book I. ch. 2. §. 5.

Taking of Ephyra in Thesprotia. Origin of the Geryonia, book II. ch. 2. §. 3.

War with the Dryopians and transportation of this nation to Pytho, book I. ch. 2. §. 4. book II. ch. 3. §. 3.