Henry F. Tozer

“ The cliffs rise perpendicularly from the waters of the bay, in some places to the height of 1000 feet; but towards the open sea, both in Santorin and Therasia, the ground slopes gradually away, and has been converted into broad level terraces, everywhere covered with tufaceous agglomerate, which, though extraordinarily bare and ashen to the eye, is the soil which produces the famous Santorin wine. Towards the south-east rises the limestone peak of Mount Elias, the highest point of the island (1887 feet) , and the only part that existed before the volcano was formed. ”

“ The surface of Attica, as of the rest of Greece, is very mountainous, and between the mountain chains lie several plains of no great size, open on one side to the sea. On the west its natural boundary is the Corinthian Gulf, so that it would include the district of Megaris; and, as a matter of fact, before the Dorian invasion, which resulted in the foundation of Megara, the whole of this country was politically one, being in the hands of the Ionian race. ”

“ The situation of Athens relatively to the surrounding objects is singularly harmonious; for, while it forms a central point, so as to be the eye of the plain, and while the altar-rock of the Acropolis and the hills by which it is surrounded are conspicuous from every point of view, there is no such exactness in its position as to give for mality, since it is nearer to the sea than to Parnes, and nearer to Hymettus than to ^Egaleos. ”

“ The mound, which at once attracts the eye in the centre of the level plain, is probably the burial-place of the Athenians who fell in the battle. The bay in front is sheltered by Euboea, and is still more protected from the north by a projecting tongue of land, called Cynosura. The mountains in the neigh bourhood were the seat of one of the political parties in Attica, the Diacrii or Hyperacrii, who, being poor moun taineers, and having nothing to lose, were the principal advocates of change ”

“ Again, the eastern extremity of Parnes is joined by another line of hills, which, separating from Mount Œta, skirts the Euboic Gulf, and, after entering Attica, throws up the lofty pyramid of Pentelicus, overlooking the plain of Marathon, and then sinks towards the sea at Sunium to rise once more in the outlying islands. Finally, at the extreme west of the whole district, Cithaeron is bent round at right angles in the direction of the isthmus, at the northern approach to which it abuts against the mighty mass of Mount Geraneia, which is interposed between the Corinthian and the Saronic Gulf. ”

“ Owing to the depth of the water there is no anchorage, and vessels have to be moored to the shore, except at one point in the neighbourhood of the modern town, where there is a slight rim of shallow bottom. The cliffs both of Santorin and Therasia present an extraordinary appearance, being marked in horizontal bands by black lava, white porous tufa, and other volcanic strata, some parts of which are coloured dark red. ”

“ Mountains.The mountains of Attica, which form its most characteristic feature, are to be regarded as a continuation of that chain which, starting from Mount Tymphrestus at the southern extremity of Pindus, passes through Phocis and Bœotia under the well-known names of Parnassus and Helicon; from this proceeds the range which, as Cithaaron in its western and Parues in its eastern portion, separates Attica from Bœotia, throwing off spurs southward towards the Saronic Gulf in Ægaleos and Hymettus, which bound the plain of Athens. ”

“ Of the condition of Attica in mediaeval and modern times Present little need be said, for it has followed for the most part conditior the fortunes of Athens. The population, however, has undergone a great change, independently of the large ad mixture of Slavonic blood that has affected the Greeks of the mainland generally, by the immigration of Albanian colonists, who now occupy a great part of the country. ”

“ When the traveller, in passing through the rugged districts of Thessaly, where the roads are entangled in the windings of the valleys, arrives at this city, on a sudden an immense level expanse, resembling a vast sea, is outspread before him in such a manner that the eye cannot easily reach the limit of the plains extended beneath " (xxxii. 4) . To the north-eastwards of this, where a portion of the great plain begins to run up into the mountains, the Plain of Pharsalia is formed, which is intersected by the river Enipeus ”

“ But it still remains to mention the most famous spot of ground in Attica, the little plain of Marathon, which lay in the north-east corner, encircled on three sides by Parnes and Pentelicus, while the fourth faces the sea and the opposite coast of Euboca. It was on the mountain slopes that the Greeks were stationed, while the Persians with their ships occupied the coast ”

“ When they were united they were a formidable power, but, like other half-organized communities, they seldom combined for long together, and consequently they influenced but little the fortunes of the Greeks. ”

“ The foundations of the dwellings rested, not on the tufa, but on the lava below it; and here and there between the stones branches of wild olive were found, accord ing to a mode of building that still prevails in the island, in order to resist the shocks of earthquakes. Part of the skeleton of a man was discovered, and large vases, some containing grain, others stone instruments very carefully worked. ”

“ In shape Santorin forms a crescent, and encloses a bay on the north, east, and south, while on the western side lies the smaller island of Therasia. The encircling wall thus formed, which is elliptical in shape and 18 miles round in its inner rim is broken in two places,—towards the north-west by a strait a mile in breadth, where the water is not less than 1100 feet deep, and towards the south-west by an aperture about 3 miles wide, where the water is shallow, and an island called Aspronisi or White Island, lying in the middle, serves as a stepping-stone between the two promontories. ”

“ The eastern portion of this plain was called the Thriasian plain, and the city of Eleusis was situated in the recesses of the bay. The coast-line of this part, between the sanctuary of Poseidon at the isthmus, which was originally Ionian, and Athens, is the principal scene of the achieve ments of Theseus, a hero who holds the same relation to the lonians of Greece proper as Hercules does to the Greeks at large, viz., that of being the great author of improvements in the country. ”

“ The Greeks, however, form the vast majority of the population, so much so that, even while the country belonged to the Ottomans, Greek was employed as the official language. In accordance with the pro visions of the Berlin treaty, Thessaly was ceded to the Greeks by the Porte in 1881, and since that period it has formed a portion of the Hellenic kingdom. ”

“ Soil.The soil of Attica is light and thin, and requires very careful agriculture to develop its produce. This feature belongs not only to the rocky mountain sides, but to some extent also to the maritime plains, and had considerable influence on the development of the inhabitants, both by enforcing industrious habits, and in leading them at an early period to take to the sea. ”

“ So complete is the watershed that no streams pass through these ranges, and there is hardly any communication in this direction between the interior of Asia Minor and the coast. For the same reason, together with its northern aspect, the climate is humid and temperate, and favourable to the growth of vegetation, unlike that of the inland regions, which are exposed to great extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter. ”

“ At the present day Sautorin is in a prosperous condition, for, in addition to the wine trade, which is highly remunerative, there is a large export of pozzolana, which has been much used for the works at Port Said in connexion with the Suez Canal, since, when mixed with lime, it forms a very hard cement which resists the action of the sea. ”

“ That we are not justified in judging of the ancient condition of the soil by the aridity which prevails at the present day, is shown by the fact that out of the 174 demos into which Attica was divided, at least one-tenth were named from trees or plants. ”

“ The history of Thessaly is closely connected with its geography. The fertility of the land offered a temptation to invaders, and was thus the primary cause of the early migrations. It was this motive which first induced the Thessalians to leave their home in Epirus and descend into this district, and from this movement arose the expulsion of the Bceotians from Arne, and their settle ment in the country subsequently called Boeotia ”

“ But the richest of all the sources of wealth in Attica was the silver mines of Laureium, the yield of which was so considerable as to render silver the principal medium of exchange in Greece, so that "a silver piece" (apyvptov) was the Greek equivalent term for money. Hence ^Eschylus speaks of the Athenians as possessing a " fountain of silver" (Pers., 235) , and Aristophanes makes his chorus of birds promise the audience that, if they show him favour, owls from Laureium, i.e., silver pieces with the emblem of Athens, shall never fail them (Av., 1 106) . ”

“ It is hardly accurate to speak of the basin which forms the harbour as a crater, for most geologists, including Lyell, support the view that the whole of this space was once covered by a single volcanic cone, the incline of which is represented by the outward slope of Santorin and Therasia, while the position of the crater was that now occupied by the Kauraene Islands ”

“ It is approached by a zigzag path at the side of the cliff, from which a flight of stone steps and a wooden staircase give access to the monastery. The valley below is filled with the richest vegetation, the undergrowth being largely composed of azaleas and rhododendrons. An antiquity of 1500 years is claimed for the foundation of the monastery, but it is certain that the first person who raised it to importance was the emperor Alexius Comnenus III. of Trebizond ”

“ The plains, also, were suited to the breeding of horses, and consequently the force in which the Thessalian nation was strong was cavalry, a kind of troops which has usually been associated with oligarchy. The wealth and the semi-Hellenic character of the people for in race, as in geograph ical position, the Thessalians held an intermediate place between the non-Hellenic Macedonians and the Greeks of pure blood caused them to be wanting in patriotism, so that at the time of the Persian wars we find the Aleuad^ making common cause with the enemies of Greece. ”

“ These Thessalian passes were of the utmost importance to southern Greece, as commanding the approaches to that part of the country. Though Thessaly is the most level district of Greece, it does not present a uniform unbroken surface, but is com posed of a number of sections which open out into one another, divided by ranges of hills. ”

“ It is about four miles and a half long, and towards the middle of the pass, where the rocks are highest, the pre cipices in the direction of Olympus fall so steeply as to bar the passage on that side; but those which descend from Ossa are the loftiest, for they rise in many places not less than 1500 feet from the valley. ”