PHOCIS. 1. A little province of Greece which extended rom Boeotia on the east to Etolia on the west, which was bounded on the south by the waters of the Corinthian Gulf, and extended to Thessaly on the north. From this country it was separated by the range of mountains called Eta. Its principal river was the Cephisus which ran into Boeotia, and emptied into Lake Copais. The range of mountains called Parnassus, the fabled abode of the Muses, extended in broken ridges from east to west in this province: and the city of Delphi on the river Plistus, was a place interesting throughout Greece, as the city of Apollo and of his oracle. 2. In this city were collected more gold and silver than could be found in all Greece besides. The Pythian games in honour of Apollo, were celebrated every fourth year in Delphi; they were called Pythian because they commemorated the destruction of the serpent Python by Apollo. At Delphi was the most splendid collection of statues and paintings which then existed in the world; all offerings to Apollo from the nations which spoke the language and worshipped the gods of Greece. 3. These nations extended from Marseilles, in France, where was a Greek colony, to the eastern limits of the Euxine sea. Maps of the Roman empire are common; look upon this map; see Massilia in Gaul, Magna Grecia in the south of Italy, and some of the cities in Sicily; proceed to the country of Greece proper, include the islands of the Egean sea, carry your eye eastward along the north coast of Asia minor-for more than twelve hundred miles of territory which lay on the south border of the Euxine; return again and traverse the verge of the whole peninsula of lesser Asia; and all along this immense tract may be found, at wide intervals, towns and colonies which were originally settled by Greece. Many of these explored the counsels of Apollo, and sent to his consecrated city, deputies who celebrated his festivals, and offerings which annually augmented his treasures. It is impossible to imagine how splendid these festivals, or how rich these treasures were. 4 About 354, B. C. the Thebans accused the Phocians of sacrilege, for cultivating certain lands, which, their accusers said, appertained to the oracle of Delphi. The Amphyctionic council decreed a very heavy fine against the Phocians on account of this transgression. Philomelus, a Phocian, exhorted his countrymen to disregard the decree. They trusted to his suggestion, and he procured troops, who seized on the temple. Philomelus then appropriated some of its treasures to the payment of the troops, and caused some of its brass to be manufactured into armour. The Athenians, Lacedæmonians, and some other states declared in favour of the Phocians. The Thessalians declared against them; and Philip of Macedon was leagued with the Thessalians. A combined army, under Philip's command, attacked and defeated the Phocians; 6000 of them were slain, and 3000 were thrown into the sea as a punishment for sacrilege. By this cruel act the suc cess of Philip in his subsequent conquest of Greece The Greeks believed was greatly facilitated. that the gods must assist him for his religious zeal, as he had declared himself their avenger; he, thought they, whom the gods favour, must be irresistible; and it becomes a duty as well as necessity, to submit to him. 5 The Phocians however retained the temple at Delphi ten years, and, during that time, defended themselves against the Thebans and Thessalians. This was called the Sacred war. At the end of that time, Philip, at the head of his army, passed the Strait of Thermopyla, and without the loss of a soldier, induced the Phocians through fear to surrender to him. Philip immediately repaired to Delphi, called together the Amphyctions, and requested a decree against the offenders. They were devoted to execration, and condemned to be punished wherever they should fly. It was recommended that all their infant children should be precipitated from the top of a rock, but this was not executed. 6. In the destruction of this people, twenty walled towns were reduced to ashes. The aged, the infirm, and their children, were seen wandering about in want, or lying down to die in their fields-sons,husbands, and fathers, had been driven away from the protection of these their dependants, and were either sold to slavery, or fugitives in foreign countries. After the council which decreed these enormities had finished their deliberations, Philip offered sacrifices, and returned thanks to the gods. What a commentary is this consummation upon a cruel and exterminating war-upon religious zeal, uninformed by humanity. Execration. A curse. An expression of universal ill-will, or of desire, that the execrable or detested person may be deserted by Providence, and be abandoned to all evil. Execration among heathens, was the same religious abhorrence, which has been expressed, under the Christian dispensation by Excommunication from the Church. THESSALY, Lay north of Greece proper, and was sur rounded by mountains, except on its eastern and south-eastern sides, which formed gulfs for the Egean sea, and a coast open to its navigation. Macedonia was on the north of this country, Epirus on the west, and south lay Doris, Phocis, and Locris. 2. Thessaly was celebrated for its fables and its heroes. From Thessaly, Jason embarked on the Argonautic expedition; there Hercules died, and Achilles was born. Thessalian horses shared the glories of the Olympic games, and Thessalian witches, with their sorceries and incantations, are often mentioned in poetry. The Thessalians were, for the most part, wild and half civilized; some of their cities, however, contained rich men, who lived sumptuously, and whose dwellings were adorned by the arts of the more refined states. 3. A range of mountains may be seen on the maps, running irregularly in the direction of the coast through Pieria and Magnesia, which in the north is Mount Olympus, next Mount Ossa, and furthest south, Mount Pelion. The country of Thessaly was watered by the Peneus, and near where it enters the Thermaic gulf, this river ran through the vale of Tempe. Mount Olympus was fabled to have been the residence of the gods, and Tempe was often honoured by their presence. The beauty of this valley is so often mentioned, that to know its site is interesting. 4. Among the Greek fables, one was, that soon after the creation of the world, the Titans or Giants made war with Jupiter, and piled Pelion on Ossa, that they might scale the high Olympus, and invade the throne of God. This is not unlike the conduct of those who built the tower of Babel : perhaps the Greeks altered this circumstance into the fable of the Titans. 5. The Argonauts were the first Greeks who sailed to the coasts of the Euxine. Jason was their commander, and their ship, the Argo. The fable says, they went to obtain the golden fleece of a certain ram which was in the possession of a king of Colchis. This golden fleece was the gold or profit to be procured by traffic with a foreign nation. 6. Bull-fights were practised by the Thessalians. A bull-fight in Thessaly is described as follows: "The scene lay in the neighbourhood of Lerissa: several bulls were let loose and attacked by the same number of horsemen, who pursued and goaded them with a kind of darts. Each horseman alternately irritated and avoided the bull, till the strength of the animal was ex |