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Title: The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms AmendedTo which is
Prefix'd, A Short Chronicle from the First
Memory of Things in Europe, to the Conquest of Persia
byAlexander the Great
Author: Isaac Newton
Release Date: May 7, 2005 [EBook #15784]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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ANCIENT ***
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THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS
AMENDED.
To which is Prefix'd,
A SHORT CHRONICLE from the FirstMemory of Things in Europe, to
the ConquestofPersia by Alexanderthe Great.
By Sir ISAAC NEWTON.
LONDON:
Printed for J. TONSON in the Strand, and J. OSBORNand T. LONGMAN
inPater-noster Row.
MDCCXXVIII.
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TO THE QUEEN.
MADAM,
As I could never hope to write any thing my self, worthy to be
laid before YOUR MAJESTY; I think it a
very great happiness, that it should be my lot to usher into the
world, under Your Sacred Name, the last
work of as great a Genius as any Age ever produced: an Offering
of such value in its self, as to be in nodanger of suffering from
the meanness of the hand that presents it.
The impartial and universal encouragement which YOUR MAJESTY has
always given to Arts and
Sciences, entitles You to the best returns the learned world is
able to make: And the many extraordinary
Honours YOUR MAJESTY vouchsafed the Author of the following
sheets, give You a just right to his
Productions. These, above the rest, lay the most particular
claim to Your Royal Protection; For the
Chronology had never appeared in its present Form without YOUR
MAJESTY's Influence; and the ShortChronicle, which precedes it, is
entirely owing to the Commands with which You were pleased to
honourhim, out of your singular Care for the education of the Royal
Issue, and earnest desire to form their mindsbetimes, and lead them
early into the knowledge of Truth.
The Author has himself acquainted the Publick, that the
following Treatise was the fruit of his vacant
hours, and the relief he sometimes had recourse to, when tired
with his other studies. What an Idea does itraise of His abilities,
to find that a Work of such labour and learning, as would have been
a sufficient
employment and glory for the whole life of another, was to him
diversion only, and amusement! The
Subject is in its nature incapable of that demonstration upon
which his other writings are founded, but hisusual accuracy and
judiciousness are here no less observable; And at the same time
that he supports his
suggestions, with all the authorities and proofs that the whole
compass of Science can furnish, he offers
them with the greatest caution; And by a Modesty, that was
natural to Him and always accompanies such
superior talents, sets a becoming example to others, not to be
too presumptuous in matters so remote and
dark. Tho' the Subject be only Chronology, yet, as the mind of
the Author abounded with the most extensivevariety of Knowledge, he
frequently intersperses Observations of a different kind; and
occasionally instills
principles of Virtue and Humanity, which seem to have been
always uppermost in his heart, and, as they
were the Constant Rule of his actions, appear Remarkably in all
his writings.
Here YOUR MAJESTY will see Astronomy, and a just Observation on
the course of Nature, assisting otherparts of Learning to
illustrate Antiquity; and a Penetration and Sagacity peculiar to
the great Author,
dispelling that Mist, with which Fable and Error had darkened
it; and will with pleasure contemplate the
first dawnings of Your favourite Arts and Sciences, the noblest
and most beneficial of which He alone
carried farther in a few years, than all the most Learned who
went before him, had been able to do in many
Ages. Here too, MADAM, You will observe, that an Abhorrence of
Idolatry and Persecution (the very
essence and foundation of that Religion, which makes so bright a
part of YOUR MAJESTY's character)
was one of the earliest Laws of the Divine Legislator, the
Morality of the first Ages, and the primitiveReligion of both Jews
and Christians; and, as the Author adds, ought to be the standing
Religion of allNations; it being for the honour of God, and good of
Mankind. Nor will YOUR MAJESTY be displeased tofind his sentiments
so agreeable to Your own, whilst he condemns all oppression; and
every kind ofcruelty,even to brute beasts; and, with so much
warmth, inculcates Mercy, Charity, and the indispensable duty
ofdoing good, and promoting the generalwelfare of mankind: Those
great ends, for which Government was
first instituted, and to which alone it is administred in this
happy Nation, under a KING, who distinguishedhimself early in
opposition to the Tyranny which threatnedEurope, and chuses to
reign in the hearts of his
subjects; Who, by his innate Benevolence, and Paternal Affection
to his People, establishes and confirmsall their Liberties; and, by
his Valour and Magnanimity, guards and defends them.
That Sincerity and Openness of mind, which is the darling
quality of this Nation, is become more
conspicuous, by being placed upon the Throne; And we see, with
Pride, OUR SOVEREIGN the most
eminent for a Virtue, by which our country is so desirous to be
distinguished. A Prince, whose views and
heart are above all the mean arts of Disguise, is far out of the
reach of any temptation to Introduce
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Blindness and Ignorance. And, as HIS MAJESTY is, by his
incessant personal cares, dispensing Happiness
at home, and Peace abroad; You, MADAM, lead us on by Your great
Example to the most noble use of that
Quiet and Ease, which we enjoy under His Administration, whilst
all Your hours of leisure are employed in
cultivating in Your Self That Learning, which You so warmly
patronize in Others.
YOUR MAJESTY does not think the instructive Pursuit, an
entertainment below Your exalted Station; and
are Your Self a proof, that the abstruser parts of it are not
beyond the reach of Your Sex. Nor does thisStudy end in barren
speculation; It discovers itself in a steady attachment to true
Religion; in Liberality,
Beneficence, and all those amiable Virtues, which increase and
heighten the Felicities of a Throne, at the
same time that they bless All around it. Thus, MADAM, to enjoy,
together with the highest state of publick
Splendor and Dignity all the retired Pleasures and domestick
Blessings of private life; is the perfection of
human Wisdom, as well as Happiness.
The good Effects of this Love of knowledge, will not stop with
the present Age; It will diffuse its Influence
with advantage to late Posterity: And what may we not anticipate
in our minds for the Generations to comeunder a Royal Progeny, so
descended, so educated, and formed by such Patterns!
The glorious Prospect gives us abundant reason to hope, that
Liberty and Learning will be perpetuated
together; and that the bright Examples of Virtue and Wisdom, set
in this Reign by the Royal Patrons of
Both, will be transmitted with the Scepter to their Posterity,
till this and the other Works of Sir ISAACNEWTON shall be forgot,
and Time it self be no more: Which is the most sincere and ardent
wish of
MADAM,
May it please YOUR MAJESTY,
YOUR MAJESTY's most obedient and most dutiful subject and
servant,
John Conduitt.
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THE CONTENTS.
A Short Chronicle from the first Memory of Things in Europe, to
the Conquest ofPersia by AlexandertheGreat.
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended.
Chap. I.Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the Greeks.
Chap. II.Of the Empire ofEgypt.
Chap. III.Of the AssyrianEmpire.
Chap. IV.Of the two Contemporary Empires of the Babylonians
andMedes.
Chap. V.A Description of the Temple ofSolomon.
Chap. VI.Of the Empire of the Persians.
Advertisement.
Tho'The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended, was writ by the
Author many years since; yet helately revis'd it, and was actually
preparing it for the Press at the time of his death. ButThe
ShortChronicle was never intended to be made public, and therefore
was not so lately corrected by him. To thisthe Reader must impute
it, if he shall find any places where the Short Chronicle does not
accurately agree
with the Dates assigned in the larger Piece. The Sixth Chapter
was not copied out with the other Five,which makes it doubtful
whether he intended to print it: but being found among his Papers,
and evidently
appearing to be a Continuation of the same Work, and (as such)
abridg'd in the Short Chronicle; it wasthought proper to be
added.
Had the Great Authorhimself liv'd to publish this Work, there
would have been no occasion for thisAdvertisement; But as it is,
the Reader is desired to allow for such imperfections as are
inseparable from
Posthumous Pieces; and, in so great a number of proper names, to
excuse some errors of the Press that
have escaped.
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A SHORT CHRONICLE
FROM THEFirst Memory of Things inEurope,TO THEConquest ofPersia
byAlexanderthe Great.
The INTRODUCTION.
The GreekAntiquities are full of Poetical Fictions, because the
Greeks wrote nothing in Prose, before theConquest ofAsia by Cyrus
thePersian. ThenPherecydes Scyrius and Cadmus Milesius introduced
the
writing in Prose.Pherecydes Atheniensis , about the end of the
Reign ofDarius Hystaspis, wrote ofAntiquities, and digested his
work by Genealogies, and was reckoned one of the best
Genealogers.
Epimenides the Historian proceeded also by Genealogies;
andHellanicus, who was twelve years older thanHerodotus, digested
his History by the Ages or Successions of the Priestesses ofJuno
Argiva. Othersdigested theirs by the Kings of theLacedmonians, or
Archons ofAthens.Hippias theElean, about thirtyyears before the
fall of thePersian Empire, published a breviary or list of the
Olympic Victors; and aboutten years before the fall thereof,Ephorus
the disciple ofIsocrates formed a Chronological History ofGreece,
beginning with the return of theHeraclides intoPeloponnesus, and
ending with the siege of
Perinthus, in the twentieth year ofPhilip the father
ofAlexanderthe great: But he digested things byGenerations, and the
reckoning by Olympiads was not yet in use, nor doth it appear that
the Reigns ofKings were yet set down by numbers of years.
TheArundelian marbles were composed sixty years after thedeath
ofAlexanderthe great (An. 4. Olymp. 128.) and yet mention not the
Olympiads: But in the nextOlympiad, Timus Siculus published an
history in several books down to his own times, according to
the
Olympiads, comparing the Ephori, the Kings ofSparta, the Archons
ofAthens, and the Priestesses ofArgos, with the Olympic Victors, so
as to make the Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions
ofKings, Archons, and Priestesses, and poetical histories suit with
one another, according to the best of hisjudgment. And where he
left off,Polybius began and carried on the history.
So then a little after the death ofAlexanderthe great, they
began to set down the Generations, Reigns andSuccessions, in
numbers of years, and by putting Reigns and Successions equipollent
to Generations, andthree Generations to an hundred or an hundred
and twenty years (as appears by their Chronology) they havemade the
Antiquities ofGreece three or four hundred years older than the
truth. And this was the originalof the Technical Chronology of the
Greeks.Eratosthenes wrote about an hundred years after the death
of
Alexanderthe great: He was followed byApollodorus, and these two
have been followed ever since byChronologers.
But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was
reputed by the Greeks of those times, maybe understood by these
passages ofPlutarch. Some reckon, saith he, [1] Lycurgus
contemporary to Iphitus,and to have been his companion in ordering
the Olympic festivals: amongst whom was Aristotle the
Philosopher, arguing from the Olympic Disc, which had the name
ofLycurgus upon it. Others supputingthe times by the succession of
the Kings of the Lacedmonians, as Eratosthenes andApollodorus,
affirmthat he was not a few years older than the first Olympiad.
FirstAristotle and some others made him as oldas the first
Olympiad; thenEratosthenes,Apollodorus, and some others made him
above an hundred yearsolder: and in another placePlutarch[2]tells
us: The congress ofSolon with Croesus, some think they canconfute
by Chronology. But an history so illustrious, and verified by so
many witnesses, and (which ismore) so agreeable to the manners
ofSolon, and so worthy of the greatness of his mind and of his
wisdom,
http://d/Documente/Atlantida/Isaac%20Newton%20-%20The%20Chronology%20of%20Ancient%20Kingdoms%20Amended.htm#Nt_1http://d/Documente/Atlantida/Isaac%20Newton%20-%20The%20Chronology%20of%20Ancient%20Kingdoms%20Amended.htm#Nt_2http://d/Documente/Atlantida/Isaac%20Newton%20-%20The%20Chronology%20of%20Ancient%20Kingdoms%20Amended.htm#Nt_2http://d/Documente/Atlantida/Isaac%20Newton%20-%20The%20Chronology%20of%20Ancient%20Kingdoms%20Amended.htm#Nt_1http://d/Documente/Atlantida/Isaac%20Newton%20-%20The%20Chronology%20of%20Ancient%20Kingdoms%20Amended.htm#Nt_2
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I cannot persuade my self to reject because of some
Chronological Canons, as they call them: which
hundreds of authors correcting, have not yet been able to
constitute any thing certain, in which they could
agree among themselves, about repugnancies. It seems the
Chronologers had made the Legislature ofSolon too ancient to
consist with that Congress.
For reconciling such repugnancies, Chronologers have sometimes
doubled the persons of men. So when the
Poets had changedIo the daughter ofInachus into theEgyptian
Isis, Chronologers made her husbandOsiris orBacchus and his
mistressAriadne as old asIo, and so feigned that there were
twoAriadnes, onethe mistress ofBacchus, and the other the mistress
ofTheseus, and two Minos's their fathers, and a younger
Io the daughter ofJasus, writingJasus corruptly forInachus. And
so they have made twoPandions, andtwoErechtheus's, giving the name
ofErechthonius to the first;Homercalls the first,Erechtheus: and
bysuch corruptions they have exceedingly perplexed Ancient
History.
And as for the Chronology of theLatines, that is still more
uncertain.Plutarch represents greatuncertainties in the Originals
ofRome: and so doth Servius. The old records of theLatines were
burnt bythe Gauls, sixty and four years before the death
ofAlexanderthe great; and Quintus Fabius Pictor, theoldest
historian of theLatines, lived an hundred years later than that
King.
In Sacred History, theAssyrian Empire began withPuland
Tiglathpilaser, and lasted about 170 years. And
accordinglyHerodotus hath made Semiramis only five generations,
or about 166 years older thanNitocris,the mother of the last King
ofBabylon. But Ctesias hath made Semiramis 1500 years older
thanNitocris,and feigned a long series of Kings ofAssyria, whose
names are notAssyrian, nor have any affinity with the
Assyrian names in Scripture.
The Priests ofEgypttoldHerodotus, that Menes built Memphis and
the sumptuous temple ofVulcan, in thatCity: and thatRhampsinitus,
Mris,Asychis andPsammiticus added magnificent porticos to that
temple.And it is not likely that Memphis could be famous,
beforeHomer's days who doth not mention it, or that atemple could
be above two or three hundred years in building. The Reign
ofPsammiticus began about 655years before Christ, and I place the
founding of this temple by Menes about 257 years earlier: but
thePriests ofEgypthad so magnified their Antiquities before the
days ofHerodotus, as to tell him that fromMenes to Mris (who
reigned 200 years beforePsammiticus) there were 330 Kings, whose
Reigns took upas many Ages, that is eleven thousand years, and had
filled up the interval with feigned Kings, who had
done nothing. And before the days ofDiodorus Siculus they had
raised their Antiquities so much higher, asto place six, eight, or
ten new Reigns of Kings between those Kings, whom they had
represented to
Herodotus to succeed one another immediately.
In the Kingdom ofSicyon, Chronologers have splitApis Epaphus
orEpopeus into two Kings, whom theycallApis andEpopeus, and between
them have inserted eleven or twelve feigned names of Kings who
didnothing, and thereby they have made its Foundergialeus, three
hundred years older than his brother
Phoroneus. Some have made the Kings ofGermany as old as the
Flood: and yet before the use of letters,the names and actions of
men could scarce be remembred above eighty or an hundred years
after theirdeaths: and therefore I admit no Chronology of things
done inEurope, above eighty years before Cadmusbrought letters
intoEurope; none, of things done in Germany, before the rise of
theRoman Empire.
Now sinceEratosthenes andApollodorus computed the times by the
Reigns of the Kings ofSparta, and (as
appears by their Chronology still followed) have made the
seventeen Reigns of these Kings in both Races,between the Return of
theHeraclides intoPeloponnesus and the Battel ofThermopyl, take up
622 years,which is after the rate of 36 years to a Reign, and yet a
Race of seventeen Kings of that length is no whereto be met with in
all true History, and Kings at a moderate reckoning Reign but 18 or
20 years a-piece onewith another: I have stated the time of the
return of theHeraclides by the last way of reckoning, placing
itabout 340 years before the Battel ofThermopyl. And making the
Taking ofTroy eighty years older thanthat Return, according to
Thucydides, and theArgonautic Expedition a Generation older than
the TrojanWar, and the Wars ofSesostris in Thrace and death ofIno
the daughter ofCadmus a Generation older thanthat Expedition: I
have drawn up the following Chronological Table, so as to make
Chronology suit with
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the Course of Nature, with Astronomy, with Sacred History,
withHerodotus the Father of History, andwith it self; without the
many repugnancies complained of byPlutarch. I do not pretend to be
exact to ayear: there may be Errors of five or ten years, and
sometimes twenty, and not much above.
A SHORT CHRONICLE
FROM THEFirst Memory of things in Europe to the Conquest
ofPersia by Alexanderthe great.
The Times are set down in years before Christ.
The Canaanites who fled fromJoshua, retired in great numbers
intoEgypt, and there conquered Timaus,Thamus, orThammuzKing of the
lowerEgypt, and reigned there under their Kings Salatis,Bon,
Apachnas,Apophis,Janias,Assis, &c. untill the days ofEli and
Samuel. They fed on flesh, and sacrificedmen after the manner of
thePhnicians, and were called Shepherds by theEgyptians, who lived
only onthe fruits of the earth, and abominated flesh-eaters. The
upper parts ofEgyptwere in those days undermany Kings, Reigning at
Coptos, Thebes, This,Elephantis, and other Places, which by
conquering oneanother grew by degrees into one Kingdom, over which
Misphragmuthosis Reigned in the days ofEli.
In the year before Christ 1125 Mephres Reigned over the
upperEgyptfrom Syene toHeliopolis, and hisSuccessorMisphragmuthosis
made a lasting war upon the Shepherds soon after, and caused many
of themto fly intoPalestine,Iduma, Syria, andLibya; and
underLelex,zeus,Inachus,Pelasgus,olus the first,Cecrops, and other
Captains, into Greece. Before those days Greece and allEurope was
peopled bywandring Cimmerians, and Scythians from the backside of
theEuxine Sea, who lived a rambling wild sortof life, like the
Tartars in the northern parts ofAsia. Of their Race was Ogyges, in
whose days these
Egyptian strangers came into Greece. The rest of the Shepherds
were shut up by Misphragmuthosis, in a
part of the lowerEgyptcalledAbaris orPelusium.
In the year 1100 thePhilistims, strengthned by the access of the
Shepherds, conquerIsrael, and take theArk. SamueljudgesIsrael.
1085.Hmon the son ofPelasgus Reigns in Thessaly.
1080.Lycaon the son ofPelasgus buildsLycosura;Phoroneus the son
ofInachus,Phoronicum, afterwardscalledArgos;gialeus the brother
ofPhoroneus and son ofInachus,gialeum, afterwards called Sicyon:and
these were the oldest towns inPeloponnesus. 'Till then they built
only single houses scattered up anddown in the fields. About the
same time Cecrops built Cecropia inAttica, afterwards calledAthens;
and
Eleusine, the son ofOgyges, builtEleusis. And these towns gave a
beginning to the Kingdoms of theArcadians,Argives,
Sicyons,Athenians,Eleusinians, &c.Deucalion flourishes.
1070.Amosis, orTethmosis, the successor ofMisphragmuthosis,
abolishes thePhnician custom inHeliopolis of sacrificing men, and
drives the Shepherds out ofAbaris. By their access
thePhilistimsbecome so numerous, as to bring into the field against
Saul30000 chariots, 6000 horsemen, and people asthe sand on the sea
shore for multitude.Abas, the father ofAcrisius andPrtus, comes
fromEgypt.
1069. Saulis made King ofIsrael, and by the hand ofJonathan gets
a great victory over thePhilistims.Eurotas the son ofLelex,
andLacedmon who married Sparta the daughter ofEurotas, Reign
inLaconia,and build Sparta.
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1060. Samueldies.
1059.Davidmade King.
1048. TheEdomites are conquered and dispersed byDavid, and some
of them fly intoEgyptwith theiryoung KingHadad. Others fly to
thePersian Gulph with their CommanderOannes; and others from
the
Red Sea to the coast of the Mediterranean, and fortifyAzoth
againstDavid, and takeZidon; and theZidonians who fled from them
build Tyre andAradus, and makeAbibalus King ofTyre.
TheseEdomitescarry to all places their Arts and Sciences; amongst
which were their Navigation, Astronomy, and Letters;for inIduma
they had Constellations and Letters before the days ofJob, who
mentions them: and thereMoses learnt to write the Law in a book.
TheseEdomites who fled to the Mediterranean, translating
thewordErythra into that ofPhnicia, give the name ofPhnicians to
themselves, and that ofPhnicia toall the sea-coasts ofPalestine
fromAzoth toZidon. And hence came the tradition of thePersians, and
ofthePhnicians themselves, mentioned byHerodotus, that thePhnicians
came originally from theRedSea, and presently undertook long
voyages on the Mediterranean.
1047.Acrisius marriesEurydice, the daughter ofLacedmon and
Sparta. ThePhnician mariners whofled from theRed Sea, being used to
long voyages for the sake of traffic, begin the like voyages on
theMediterranean fromZidon; and sailing as far as Greece, carry
awayIo the daughter ofInachus, who with
otherGrecian women came to their ships to buy their merchandize.
The Greek Seas begin to be infestedwith Pyrates.
1046. The Syrians ofZobah andDamascus are conquered
byDavid.Nyctimus, the son ofLycaon, reigns inArcadia.Deucalion
still alive.
1045. Many of thePhnicians and Syrians fleeing fromZidon and
fromDavid, come under the conduct ofCadmus, Cilix,Phnix,
Membliarius,Nycteus, Thasus,Atymnus, and other Captains, intoAsia
minor,Crete, Greece, andLibya; and introduce Letters, Music,
Poetry, the Octaeteris, Metals and theirFabrication, and other
Arts, Sciences and Customs of thePhnicians. At this time Cranaus
the successorofCecrops Reigned inAttica, and in his Reign and the
beginning of the Reign ofNyctimus, the Greeksplace the flood
ofDeucalion. This flood was succeeded by four Ages or Generations
of men, in the first ofwhich Chiron the son ofSaturn andPhilyra was
born, and the last of which according toHesiodended
with the Trojan War; and so places the Destruction ofTroy four
Generations or about 140 years later thanthat flood, and the coming
ofCadmus, reckoning with the ancients three Generations to an
hundred years.With thesePhnicians came a sort of men skilled in the
Religious Mysteries, Arts, and Sciences of
Phnicia, and settled in several places under the names
ofCuretes, Corybantes, Telchines, andIdiDactyli.
1043. Hellen, the son ofDeucalion, and father ofolus,Xuthus,
andDorus, flourishes.
1035.Erectheus Reigns inAttica.thlius, the grandson ofDeucalion
and father ofEndymion, buildsElis.TheIdi Dactyli find out Iron in
mountIda in Crete, and work it into armour and iron tools, and
therebygive a beginning to the trades of smiths and armourers
inEurope; and by singing and dancing in theirarmour, and keeping
time by striking upon one another's armour with their swords, they
bring in Music andPoetry; and at the same time they nurse up the
Cretan Jupiterin a cave of the same mountain, dancing
about him in their armour.
1034.Ammon Reigns inEgypt. He conqueredLibya, and reduced that
people from a wandering savage lifeto a civil one, and taught them
to lay up the fruits of the earth; and from himLibya and the desert
above itwere anciently calledAmmonia. He was the first that built
long and tall ships with sails, and had a fleet ofsuch ships on
theRed Sea, and another on the Mediterranean atIrasa inLibya. 'Till
then they used smalland round vessels of burden, invented on theRed
Sea, and kept within sight of the shore. For enabling themto cross
the seas without seeing the shore, theEgyptians began in his days
to observe the Stars: and fromthis beginning Astronomy and Sailing
had their rise. Hitherto the Lunisolar year had been in use: but
this
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year being of an uncertain length, and so, unfit for Astronomy,
in his days and in the days of his sons andgrandsons, by observing
the Heliacal Risings and Setting of the Stars, they found the
length of the Solaryear, and made it consist of five days more than
the twelve calendar months of the old Lunisolar year.Creusa the
daughter ofErechtheus marriesXuthus the son ofHellen.Erechtheus
having first celebrated the
Panathena joins horses to a chariot.gina, the daughter ofAsopus,
and mother ofacus, born.
1030. Ceres a woman ofSicily, in seeking her daughter who was
stolen, comes intoAttica, and thereteaches the Greeks to sow corn;
for which Benefaction she was Deified after death. She first taught
the Artto Triptolemus the young son ofCeleus King ofEleusis.
1028. Oenotrus the youngest son ofLycaon, theJanus of
theLatines, led the first Colony ofGreeks intoItaly, and there
taught them to build houses.Perseus born.
1020.Arcas, the son ofCallisto and grandson ofLycaon, andEumelus
the first King ofAchaia, receivebread-corn from Triptolemus.
1019. Solomon Reigns, and marries the daughter ofAmmon, and by
means of this affinity is supplied withhorses fromEgypt; and his
merchants also bring horses from thence for all the Kings of
theHittites andSyrians: for horses came originally fromLibya; and
thenceNeptune was calledEquestris. Tantalus King of
Phrygia steals Ganimede the son ofTros King ofTroas.
1017. Solomon by the assistance of the Tyrians andAradians, who
had mariners among them acquaintedwith theRed Sea, sets out a fleet
upon that sea. Those assistants build new cities in thePersian
Gulph,called Tyre andAradus.
1015. The Temple ofSolomon is founded. Minos Reigns in Crete
expelling his fatherAsterius, who fleesintoItaly, and becomes the
Saturn of theLatines.Ammon takes Gezerfrom the Canaanites, and
gives it tohis daughter, Solomon's wife.
1014.Ammon places Cepheus atJoppa.
1010. Sesac in the Reign of his fatherAmmon invadesArabia Flix,
and sets up pillars at the mouth of theRed Sea.Apis,Epaphus
orEpopeus, the son ofPhroroneus, andNycteus King ofBotia,
slain.Lycusinherits the Kingdom of his brotherNycteus.tolus the son
ofEndymion flies into the Country of theCuretes inAchaia, and calls
ittolia; and ofPronoe the daughter ofPhorbas begetsPleuron and
Calydon,who built cities intolia called by their own names.Antiopa
the daughter ofNycteus is sent home to
Lycus byLamedon the successor ofApis, and in the way brings
forthAmphion andZethus.
1008. Sesac, in the Reign of his fatherAmmon, invadesAfric and
Spain, and sets up pillars in all hisconquests, and particularly at
the mouth of the Mediterranean, and returns home by the coast
ofGauland
Italy.
1007. Ceres being deadEumolpus institutes her Mysteries
inEleusine. The Mysteries ofRhea are institutedinPhrygia, in the
city Cybele. About this time Temples begin to be built in
Greece.Hyagnis thePhrygian
invents the pipe. After the example of the common-council of the
five Lords of thePhilistims, the Greeksset up theAmphictyonic
Council, first at Thermopyl, by the influence ofAmphictyon the son
of
Deucalion; and a few years after atDelphi by the influence
ofAcrisius. Among the cites, whose deputiesmet at Thermopyl, I do
not findAthens, and therefore doubt whetherAmphictyon was King of
that city. Ifhe was the son ofDeucalion and brother ofHellen, he
and Cranaus might Reign together in several parts of
Attica. But I meet with a laterAmphictyon who entertained the
greatBacchus. This Council worshippedCeres, and therefore was
instituted after her death.
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1006. Minos prepares a fleet, clears the Greekseas of Pyrates,
and sends Colonies to the Islands of theGreeks, some of which were
not inhabited before. Cecrops II. Reigns inAttica. Caucon teaches
theMysteries ofCeres in Messene.
1005.Andromeda carried away fromJoppa byPerseus.Pandion the
brother ofCecrops II. Reigns inAttica. Car, the son ofPhoroneus,
builds a Temple to Ceres.
1002. Sesac Reigns inEgyptand adorns Thebes, dedicating it to
his fatherAmmon by the name ofNo-Ammon orAmmon-No, that is the
people or city ofAmmon: whence the Greeks called itDiospolis, the
cityofJupiter. Sesac also erected Temples and Oracles to his father
in Thebes,Ammonia, andEthiopia, andthereby caused his father to be
worshipped as a God in those countries, and I think also inArabia
Flix:and this was the original of the worship ofJupiter Ammon , and
the first mention of Oracles that I meet within Prophane History.
War betweenPandion andLabdacus the grandson ofCadmus.
994.geus Reigns inAttica.
993.Pelops the son ofTantalus comes intoPeloponnesus,
marriesHippodamia the granddaughter ofAcrisius, takestolia
fromtolus the son ofEndymion, and by his riches grows potent.
990.Amphion andZethus slayLycus, putLaius the son ofLabdacus to
flight, and Reign in Thebes, andwall the city about.
989.Ddalus and his nephew Talus invent the saw, the
turning-lath, the wimble, the chip-ax, and otherinstruments of
Carpenters and Joyners, and thereby give a beginning to those Arts
inEurope.Ddalus alsoinvented the making of Statues with their feet
asunder, as if they walked.
988. Minos makes war upon theAthenians, for killing his
sonAndrogeus.acus flourishes.
987.Ddalus kills his nephew Talus, and flies to Minos. A
Priestess ofJupiter Ammon, being brought byPhnician merchants into
Greece, sets up the Oracle ofJupiteratDodona. This gives a
beginning toOracles in Greece: and by their dictates, the Worship
of the Dead is every where introduced.
983. Sisyphus, the son ofolus and grandson ofHellen, Reigns in
Corinth, and some say that he built thatcity.
980.Laius recovers the Kingdom ofThebes.Athamas, the brother
ofSisyphus and father ofPhrixus andHelle, marriesIno the daughter
ofCadmus.
979.Rehoboam Reigns. Thoas is sent from Crete toLemnos, Reigns
there in the cityHephstia, and worksin copper and iron.
978.Alcmena born ofElectryo the son ofPerseus andAndromeda, and
ofLysidice the daughter ofPelops.
974. Sesac spoils the Temple, and invades Syria andPersia,
setting up pillars in many places.Jeroboam,becoming subject to
Sesac, sets up the worship of theEgyptian Gods inIsrael.
971. Sesac invadesIndia, and returns with triumph the next year
but one: whence Trieterica Bacchi. Hesets up pillars on two
mountains at the mouth of the riverGanges.
968. Theseus Reigns, having overcome the Minotaur, and soon
after unites the twelve cities ofAttica underone government. Sesac,
having carried on his victories to Mount Caucasus, leaves his
nephewPrometheusthere, andetes in Colchis.
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967. Sesac, passing over theHellespontconquers Thrace,
killsLycurgus King thereof, and gives hisKingdom and one of his
singing-women to Oeagrus the father ofOrpheus. Sesac had in his
army
Ethiopians commanded byPan, andLibyan women commanded by Myrina
orMinerva. It was the customof theEthiopians to dance when they
were entring into a battel, and from their skipping they were
paintedwith goats feet in the form of Satyrs.
966. Thoas, being made King ofCyprus by Sesac, goes thither with
his wife Calycopis, and leaves hisdaughterHypsipyle inLemnos.
965. Sesac is baffled by the Greeks and Scythians, loses many of
his women with their Queen Minerva,composes the war, is received
byAmphiction at a feast, buriesAriadne, goes back throughAsia and
SyriaintoEgypt, with innumerable captives, among whom was Tithonus,
the son ofLaomedon King ofTroy; andleaves hisLibyan Amazons,
underMarthesia andLampeto, the successors ofMinerva, at the
riverThermodon. He left also in Colchos Geographical Tables of all
his conquests: And thence Geography hadits rise. His singing-women
were celebrated in Thrace by the name of the Muses. And the
daughters of
Pierus a Thracian, imitating them, were celebrated by the same
name.
964. Minos, making war upon Cocalus King ofSicily, is slain by
him. He was eminent for his Dominion,his Laws and his Justice: upon
his sepulchre visited byPythagoras, was this inscription, the
Sepulchre ofJupiter.Danaus with his daughters flying from his
brotherEgyptus (that is from Sesac) comesinto Greece. Sesac using
the advice of his Secretary Thoth, distributesEgyptinto xxxviNomes,
and ineveryNome erects a Temple, and appoints the several Gods,
Festivals and Religions of the severalNomes.The Temples were the
sepulchres of his great men, where they were to be buried and
worshipped afterdeath, each in his own Temple, with ceremonies and
festivals appointed by him; while He and his Queen,by the names
ofOsiris andIsis, were to be worshipped in allEgypt. These were the
Temples seen anddescribed byLucian eleven hundred years after, to
be of one and the same age: and this was the original ofthe
severalNomes ofEgypt, and of the several Gods and several Religions
of thoseNomes. Sesac dividedalso the land ofEgyptby measure amongst
his soldiers, and thence Geometry had its rise.Hercules and
Eurystheus born.
963.Amphictyon brings the twelve Gods ofEgyptinto Greece, and
these are theDii magni majorumgentium, to whom the Earth and
Planets and Elements are dedicated.
962.Phryxus andHelle fly from their stepmotherIno the daughter
ofCadmus.Helle is drowned in theHellespont, so named from her,
butPhryxus arrived at Colchos.
960. The war between theLapith and the people ofThessaly called
Centaurs.
958. Oedipus kills his fatherLaius. Sthenelus the son ofPerseus
Reigns in Mycene.
956. Sesac is slain by his brotherJapetus, who after death was
deified inAfric by the name ofNeptune, andcalled Typhon by
theEgyptians. Orus Reigns and routs theLibyans, who under the
conduct ofJapetus, andhis SonAntus orAtlas, invadedEgypt. Sesac
from his making the riverNile useful, by cutting channelsfrom it to
all the cities ofEgypt, was called by its names, SihororSiris,Nilus
andEgyptus. The Greeks
hearing theEgyptians lament, O Siris andBou Siris, called him
Osiris andBusiris. TheArabians from hisgreat acts called
himBacchus, that is, the Great. ThePhrygians called him Ma-fors
orMavors, the valiant,and by contraction Mars. Because he set up
pillars in all his conquests, and his army in his father's
Reignfought against theAfricans with clubs, he is painted with
pillars and a club: and this is thatHercules who,according to
Cicero, was born upon theNile, and according toEudoxus, was slain
by Typhon; andaccording toDiodorus, was anEgyptian, and went over a
great part of the world, and set up the pillars in
Afric. He seems to be also theBelus who, according toDiodorus,
led a Colony ofEgyptians toBabylon,and there instituted Priests
called Chaldeans, who were free from taxes, and observed the stars,
as inEgypt.HithertoJudah andIsraellaboured under great vexations,
but henceforwardAsa King ofJudah had peaceten years.
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947. TheEthiopians invadeEgypt, and drown Orus in theNile.
ThereuponBubaste the sister ofOrus killsherself, by falling from
the top of an house, and their motherIsis orAstra goes mad: and
thus ended theReign of the Gods ofEgypt.
946.Zerah theEthiopian is overthrown byAsa. The people of the
lowerEgyptmake Osarsiphus theirKing, and call in two hundred
thousandJews andPhnicians against theEthiopians. Menes
orAmenophis
the young son ofZerah and Cissia Reigns.
944. TheEthiopians, underAmenophis, retire from the
lowerEgyptand fortify Memphis againstOsarsiphus. And by these wars
and theArgonautic expedition, the great Empire ofEgyptbreaks in
pieces.
Eurystheus the son ofSthenelus Reigns in Mycen.
943.Evanderand his motherCarmenta carry Letters intoItaly.
942. Orpheus Deifies the son ofSemele by the name ofBacchus, and
appoints his Ceremonies.
940. The great men ofGreece, hearing of the civil wars and
distractions ofEgypt, resolve to send anembassy to the nations,
upon theEuxine and Mediterranean Seas, subject to that Empire, and
for that endorder the building of the shipArgo.
939. The shipArgo is built after the pattern of the long ship in
whichDanaus came into Greece: and thiswas the first long ship built
by the Greeks. Chiron, who was born in the Golden Age, forms
theConstellations for the use of theArgonauts; and places the
Solstitial and Equinoctial Points in the fifteenthdegrees or
middles of the Constellations ofCancer, Chel, Capricorn, andAries.
Meton in the year of
Nabonassar316, observed the Summer Solstice in the eighth degree
ofCancer, and therefore the Solsticehad then gone back seven
degrees. It goes back one degree in about seventytwo years, and
seven degrees inabout 504 years. Count these years back from the
year ofNabonassar316, and they will place the
Argonautic expedition about 936 years before Christ. Gingris the
son ofThoas slain, and Deified by thename ofAdonis.
938. Theseus, being fifty years old, stealsHelena then seven
years old.Pirithous the son ofIxion,
endeavouring to stealPersephone the daughter ofOrcus King of the
Molossians, is slain by the Dog ofOrcus; and his companion Theseus
is taken and imprisoned.Helena is set at liberty by her
brothers.
937. TheArgonautic expedition.Prometheus leaves Mount Caucasus,
being set at liberty byHercules.Laomedon King ofTroy is slain
byHercules.Priam succeeds him. Talus a brazen man, of the Brazen
Age,the son ofMinos, is slain by theArgonauts.sculapius andHercules
wereArgonauts, andHippocrateswas the eighteenth fromsculapius by
the father's side, and the nineteenth fromHercules by the
mother'sside; and because these generations, being noted in
history, were most probably by the chief of the family,and for the
most part by the eldest sons; we may reckon 28 or at the most 30
years to a generation: and thusthe seventeen intervals by the
father's side and eighteen by the mother's, will at a middle
reckoning amountunto about 507 years; which being counted backwards
from the beginning of thePeloponnesian war, atwhich timeHippocrates
began to flourish, will reach up to the time where we have placed
theArgonauticexpedition.
936. Theseus is set at liberty byHercules.
934. The hunting of the Calydonian boar slain by Meleager.
930.Amenophis, with an army out ofEthiopia and Thebais, invades
the lowerEgypt, conquers Osarsiphus,and drives out theJews and
Canaanites: and this is reckoned the second expulsion of the
Shepherds.Calycopis dies, and is Deified by Thoas with Temples
atPaphos andAmathus in Cyprus, and atByblus inSyria, and with
Priests and sacred Rites, and becomes the Venus of the ancients,
and theDea Cypria and
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into common use before the Reign ofAmenophis: for in his Temple
or Sepulchre atAbydus, they placed aCircle of 365 cubits in
compass, covered on the upper side with a plate of gold, and
divided into 365 equalparts, to represent all the days of the year;
every part having the day of the year, and the Heliacal Risingsand
Settings of the Stars on that day, noted upon it. And this Circle
remained there 'till Cambyses spoiledthe temples ofEgypt: and from
this monument I collect that it wasAmenophis who established this
year,fixing the beginning thereof to one of the four Cardinal
Points of the heavens. For had not the beginningthereof been now
fixed, the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars could not
have been noted upon thedays thereof. The Priests ofEgypttherefore
in the Reign ofAmenophis continued to observe the HeliacalRisings
and Settings of the Stars upon every day. And when by the Sun's
Meridional Altitudes they hadfound the Solstices and Equinoxes
according to the Sun's mean motion, his Equation being not yet
known,they fixed the beginning of this year to the Vernal Equinox,
and in memory thereof erected this monument.Now this year being
carried into Chalda, the Chaldans began their year ofNabonassaron
the sameThoth with theEgyptians, and made it of the same length.
And the Thoth of the first year ofNabonassarfell upon the 26th day
ofFebruary: which was 33 days and five hours before the Vernal
Equinox,according to the Sun's mean motion. And the Thoth of this
year moves backwards 33 days and five hours in137 years, and
therefore fell upon the Vernal Equinox 137 years before thera
ofNabonassarbegan; thatis, 884 years before Christ. And if it began
upon the day next after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin threeor
four years earlier; and there we may place the death of this King.
The Greeks feigned that he was theSon ofTithonus, and therefore he
was born after the return ofSesac intoEgypt, with Tithonus and
othercaptives, and so might be about 70 or 75 years old at his
death.
883.Dido builds Carthage, and thePhnicians begin presently after
to sail as far as to the Straights Mouth,and beyond.neas was still
alive, according to Virgil.
870.Hesiodflourishes. He hath told us himself that he lived in
the age next after the wars ofThebes andTroy, and that this age
should end when the men then living grew hoary and dropt into the
grave; andtherefore it was but of an ordinary length: andHerodotus
has told us thatHesiodandHomerwere but 400years older than himself.
Whence it follows that the destruction ofTroy was not older than we
haverepresented it.
860. Mris Reigns inEgypt. He adorned Memphis, and translated the
seat of his Empire thither fromThebes. There he built the famous
Labyrinth, and the northern portico of the Temple ofVulcan, and dug
the
great Lake called the Lake ofMris, and upon the bottom of it
built two great Pyramids of brick: and thesethings being not
mentioned byHomerorHesiod, were unknown to them, and done after
their days. Mriswrote also a book of Geometry.
852.Hazaelthe successor ofHadadatDamascus dies and is Deified,
as wasHadadbefore: and theseGods, together withArathes the wife
ofHadad, were worshipt in their Sepulchres or Temples, 'till the
daysofJosephus theJew; and the Syrians boasted their antiquity, not
knowing, saithJosephus, that they werenovel.
844. Theolic Migration.Botia, formerly called Cadmeis, is seized
by theBotians.
838. Cheops Reigns inEgypt. He built the greatest Pyramid for
his sepulchre, and forbad the worship of theformer Kings; intending
to have been worshipped himself.
825. TheHeraclides, after three Generations, or an hundred
years, reckoned from their former expedition,return
intoPeloponnesus. Henceforward, to the end of the first Messenian
war, reigned ten Kings ofSpartaby one Race, and nine by another;
ten ofMessene, and nine ofArcadia: which, by reckoning (according
tothe ordinary course of nature) about twenty years to a Reign, one
Reign with another, will take up about190 years. And the seven
Reigns more in one of the two Races of the Kings ofSparta, and
eight in theother, to the battle at Thermopyl; may take up 150
years more: and so place the return of theHeraclides,about 820
years before Christ.
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824. Cephren Reigns inEgypt, and builds another great
Pyramid.
808. Mycerinus Reigns there, and begins the third great Pyramid.
He shut up the body of his daughter in ahollow ox, and caused her
to be worshipped daily with odours.
804. The war, between theAthenians and Spartans, in which
Codrus, King of theAthenians, is slain.
801.Nitocris, the sister ofMycerinus, succeeds him, and finishes
the third great Pyramid.
794. TheIonic Migration, under the conduct of the sons
ofCodrus.
790.Pulfounds theAssyrian Empire.
788.Asychis Reigns inEgypt, and builds the eastern Portico of
the Temple ofVulcan very splendidly; and alarge Pyramid of brick,
made of mud dug out of the Lake ofMris.Egyptbreaks into several
Kingdoms.Gnephactus andBocchoris Reign successively in the
upperEgypt; Stephanathis;Necepsos andNechus, atSais;Anysis
orAmosis, atAnysis orHanes; and Tacellotis, atBubaste.
776.Iphitus restores the Olympiads. And from thisra the
Olympiads are now reckoned. GnephactusReigns at Memphis.
772.Necepsos andPetosiris invent Astrology inEgypt.
760. Semiramis begins to flourish; Sanchoniatho writes.
751. Sabacon theEthiopian, invadesEgypt, now divided into
various Kingdoms, burnsBocchoris, slaysNechus, and makesAnysis
fly.
747.Pul, King ofAssyria, dies, and is succeeded atNineveh by
Tiglathpilasser, and atBabylon byNabonassar. TheEgyptians, who fled
from Sabacon, carry their Astrology and Astronomy toBabylon,
andfound thera ofNabonassarinEgyptian years.
740. Tiglathpilasser, King ofAssyria, takesDamascus, and
captivates the Syrians.
729. Tiglathpilasseris succeeded by Salmanasser.
721. Salmanasser, King ofAssyria, carries the Ten Tribes into
captivity.
719. Sennacherib Reigns overAssyria.Archias the son ofEvagetus,
of the stock ofHercules, leads aColony from Corinth into Sicily,
and builds Syracuse.
717. Tirhakah Reigns inEthiopia.
714. Sennacherib is put to flight by theEthiopians andEgyptians,
with great slaughter.
711. The Medes revolt from theAssyrians. Sennacherib
slain.Asserhadon succeeds him. This is thatAsserhadon-Pul,
orSardanapalus, the son ofAnacyndaraxis, orSennacherib, who built
Tarsus andAnchiale in one day.
710.Lycurgus, brings the poems ofHomerout ofAsia into
Greece.
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708.Lycurgus, becomes tutor to Charillus orCharilaus, the young
King ofSparta.Aristotle makesLycurgus as old asIphitus, because his
name was upon the Olympic Disc. But the Disc was one of the
fivegames called the Quinquertium, and the Quinquertium was first
instituted upon the eighteenth Olympiad.Socrates and Thucydides
made the institutions ofLycurgus about 300 years older than the end
of the
Peloponnesian war, that is, 705 years before Christ.
701. Sabacon, after a Reign of 50 years, relinquishesEgyptto his
son Sevechus orSethon, who becomesPriest ofVulcan, and neglects
military affairs.
698. Manasseh Reigns.
697. The Corinthians begin first of any men to build ships with
three orders of oars, called Triremes.Hitherto the Greeks had used
long vessels of fifty oars.
687. Tirhakah Reigns inEgypt.
681.Asserhadon invadesBabylon.
673. TheJews conquered byAsserhadon, and Manasseh carried
captive toBabylon.
671.Asserbadon invadesEgypt. The government ofEgyptcommitted to
twelve princes.
668. The western nations ofSyria,Phnicia andEgypt, revolt from
theAssyrians.Asserhadon dies, and issucceeded by Saosduchinus.
Manasseh returns from Captivity.
658.Phraortes Reigns in Media. ThePrytanes Reign in Corinth,
expelling their Kings.
657. The Corinthians overcome the Corcyreans at sea: and this
was the oldest sea fight.
655.Psammiticus becomes King of allEgypt, by conquering the
other eleven Kings with whom he hadalready reigned fifteen years:
he reigned about 39 years more. Henceforward theIonians had access
into
Egypt; and thence came theIonian Philosophy, Astronomy and
Geometry.
652. The first Messenian war begins: it lasted twenty years.
647. Charops, the first decennial Archon of theAthenians. Some
of these Archons might dye before theend of the ten years, and the
remainder of the ten years be supplied by a new Archon. And hence
the sevendecennial Archons might not take up above forty or fifty
years. Saosduchinus King ofAssyria dies, and issucceeded by
Chyniladon.
640.Josiah Reigns inJuda.
636.Phraortes> King of the Medes, is slain in a war against
theAssyrians.Astyages succeeds him.
635. The Scythians invade the Medes andAssyrians.
633.Battus builds Cyrene, whereIrasa, the city ofAntus, had
stood.
627.Rome is built.
625.Nabopolassarrevolts from the King ofAssyria, and Reigns
overBabylon.Phalantus leads theParthenians intoItaly, and builds
Tarentum.
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617.Psammiticus dies.Nechaoh reigns inEgypt.
611. Cyaxeres Reigns over the Medes.
610. The Princes of the Scythians slain in a feast by
Cyaxeres.
609.Josiah slain. Cyaxeres andNebuchadnezzaroverthrowNineveh,
and, by sharing theAssyrian Empire,grow great.
607. Creon the first annual Archon of theAthenians. The second
Messenian war begins. Cyaxeres makesthe Scythians retire beyond
Colchos andIberia, and seizes theAssyrian Provinces
ofArmenia,Pontus andCappadocia.
606.Nebuchadnezzarinvades Syria andJuda.
604.Nabopolassardies, and is succeeded by his SonNebuchadnezzar,
who had already Reigned two yearswith his father.
600.Darius the Mede, the son ofCyaxeres, is born.
599. Cyrus is born ofMandane, the Sister ofCyaxeres, and
daughter ofAstyages.
596. Susiana andElam conquered byNebuchadnezzar. Caranus
andPerdiccas fly fromPhidon, and foundthe Kingdom ofMacedon.Phidon
introduces Weights and Measures, and the Coining of Silver
Money.
590. Cyaxeres makes war uponAlyattes King ofLydia.
588. The Temple ofSolomon is burnt byNebuchadnezzar. The
Messenians being conquered, fly into Sicily,and build Messana.
585. In the sixth year of theLydian war, a total Eclipse of the
Sun, predicted by Thales, May the 28th, putsan end to a Battel
between the Medes andLydians: Whereupon they make Peace, and ratify
it by a marriagebetweenDarius Medus the son ofCyaxeres, andAriene
the daughter ofAlyattes.
584.Phidon presides in the 49th Olympiad.
580.Phidon is overthrown. Two men chosen by lot, out of the
cityElis, to preside in the Olympic Games.
572.Draco is Archon of theAthenians, and makes laws for
them.
568. TheAmphictions make war upon the Cirrheans, by the advice
ofSolon, and take Cirrha. Clisthenes,Alcmon andEurolicus commanded
the forces of theAmphictions, and were contemporary toPhidon.
ForLeocides the son ofPhidon, and Megacles the son ofAlcmon, at one
and the same time, courtedAgarista
the daughter ofClisthenes.
569.NebuchadnezzarinvadesEgypt.Darius the Mede Reigns.
562. Solon, being Archon of theAthenians, makes laws for
them.
557.Perianderdies, and Corinth becomes free from Tyrants.
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555.Nabonadius Reigns atBabylon. His MotherNitocris adorns and
fortifies that City.
550.Pisistratus becomes Tyrant atAthens. The Conference between
Crsus and Solon.
549. Solon dies,Hegestratus being Archon ofAthens.
544. Sardes is taken by Cyrus.Darius the Mede recoins theLydian
money intoDarics.
538.Babylon is taken by Cyrus.
536. Cyrus overcomesDarius the Mede, and translates the Empire
to thePersians. TheJews return fromCaptivity, and found the second
Temple.
529. Cyrus dies. Cambyses Reigns,
521.Darius the son ofHystaspes Reigns. The Magi are slain. The
various Religions of the several NationsofPersia, which consisted
in the worship of their ancient Kings, are abolished; and by the
influence of
Hystaspes andZoroaster, the worship of One God, at Altars,
without Temples is set up in allPersia.
520. The second Temple is built atJerusalem by the command
ofDarius.
515. The second Temple is finished and dedicated.
513.Harmodius andAristogiton, slayHipparchus the son
ofPisistratus, Tyrant of theAthenians.
508. The Kings of theRomans expelled, and Consuls erected.
491. The Battle ofMarathon.
485.Xerxes Reigns.
480. The Passage ofXerxes over theHellespontinto Greece, and
Battles ofThermopyl and Salamis.
464.Artaxerxes Longimanus Reigns.
457.Ezra returns intoJuda.Johanan the father ofJaddua was now
grown up, having a chamber in theTemple.
444.Nehemiah returns intoJuda.Herodotus writes.
431. ThePeloponnesian war begins.
428.Nehemiah drives away Manasseh the brother ofJaddua, because
he had marriedNicaso the daughterofSanballat.
424.Darius Nothus Reigns.
422. Sanballatbuilds a Temple in Mount Gerizim and makes his
son-in-law Manasseh the first High-Priestthereof.
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412. Hitherto the Priests and Levites were numbered, and written
in the Chronicles of theJews, before thedeath ofNehemiah: at which
time eitherJohanan orJaddua was High-Priest, And here Ends the
SacredHistory of theJews.
405.Artaxerxes Mnemon Reigns. The end of thePeloponnesian
war.
359.Artaxerxes Ochus Reigns.
338.Arogus Reigns.
336.Darius Codomannus Reigns.
332. ThePersian Empire conquered byAlexanderthe great.
331.Darius Codomannus, the last King ofPersia, slain.
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THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS AMENDED.
CHAP. I.
Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the Greeks.
All Nations, before they began to keep exact accounts of Time,
have been prone to raise their Antiquities;
and this humour has been promoted, by the Contentions between
Nations about their Originals.Herodotus[3] tells us, that the
Priests ofEgyptreckoned from the Reign ofMenes to that ofSethon,
who putSennacherib to flight, three hundred forty and one
Generations of men, and as many Priests ofVulcan, andas many Kings
ofEgypt: and that three hundred Generations make ten thousand
years;for, saith he, threeGenerations of men make an hundred years:
and the remaining forty and one Generations make 1340years: and so
the whole time from the Reign ofMenes to that ofSethon was 11340
years. And by this wayof reckoning, and allotting longer Reigns to
the Gods ofEgyptthan to the Kings which followed them,
Herodotus tells us from the Priests ofEgypt, that fromPan
toAmosis were 15000 years, and fromHerculestoAmosis 17000 years. So
also the Chaldans boasted of their Antiquity; forCallisthenes, the
Disciple of
Aristotle, sent Astronomical Observations fromBabylon to Greece,
said to be of 1903 years standing beforethe times ofAlexanderthe
great. And the Chaldans boasted further, that they had observed the
Stars473000 years; and there were others who made the Kingdoms
ofAssyria, Media andDamascus, mucholder than the truth.
Some of the Greeks called the times before the Reign ofOgyges,
Unknown, because they had No Historyof them; those between his
flood and the beginning of the Olympiads, Fabulous, because their
History wasmuch mixed with Poetical Fables: and those after the
beginning of the Olympiads, Historical, because theirHistory was
free from such Fables. The fabulous Ages wanted a good Chronology,
and so also did theHistorical, for the first 60 or 70
Olympiads.
TheEuropeans, had no Chronology before the times of thePersian
Empire: and whatsoever Chronologythey now have of ancienter times,
hath been framed since, by reasoning and conjecture. In the
beginning ofthat Monarchy,Acusilaus madePhoroneus as old as Ogyges
and his flood, and that flood 1020 years olderthan the first
Olympiad; which is above 680 years older than the truth: and to
make out this reckoning hisfollowers have encreased the Reigns of
Kings in length and number.Plutarch[4]tells us that thePhilosophers
anciently delivered their Opinions in Verse, as
Orpheus,Hesiod,Parmenides,Xenophanes,
Empedocles, Thales; but afterwards left off the use of Verses;
and thatAristarchus, Timocharis,Aristillus,Hipparchus, did not make
Astronomy the more contemptible by describing it in Prose;
afterEudoxus,Hesiod, and Thales had wrote of it in Verse. Solon
wrote [5]in Verse, and all the Seven Wise Men wereaddicted to
Poetry, asAnaximenes[6]affirmed. 'Till those days the Greeks wrote
only in Verse, and whilethey did so there could be no Chronology,
nor any other History, than such as was mixed with
poeticalfancies.Pliny,[7]in reckoning up the Inventors of things,
tells us, thatPherecydes Syrius taught to composediscourses in
Prose in the Reign ofCyrus, andCadmus Milesius to write History.
And in [8] another placehe saith thatCadmus Milesius was the first
that wrote in Prose.Josephus tells us[9]that Cadmus
MilesiusandAcusilaus were but a little before the expedition of
thePersians against the Greeks: and Suidas[10] calls
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Acusilaus a most ancient Historian, and saith that he wrote
Genealogies out of tables of brass, which hisfather, as was
reported, found in a corner of his house. Who hid them there may be
doubted: For theGreeks[11]had no publick table or inscription older
than the Laws ofDraco.Pherecydes Atheniensis, in theReign ofDarius
Hystaspis , or soon after, wrote of the Antiquities and ancient
Genealogies of the
Athenians, in ten books; and was one of the firstEuropean
writers of this kind, and one of the best; whencehe had the name
ofGenealogus; and byDionysius[12] Halicarnassensis is said to be
second to none of theGenealogers.
Epimenides, not the Philosopher, but an Historian, wrote also of
the ancient Genealogies: and
Hellanicus, who was twelve years older thanHerodotus, digested
his History by the Ages or Successions ofthe Priestesses ofJuno
Argiva. Others digested theirs by those of the Archons ofAthens, or
Kings of the
Lacedmonians.Hippias theElean published a Breviary of the
Olympiads, supported by no certainarguments, asPlutarch[13] tells
us: he lived in the 105th Olympiad, and was derided byPlato for
hisIgnorance. This Breviary seems to have contained nothing more
than a short account of the Victors in everyOlympiad. Then
[14]Ephorus, the disciple ofIsocrates, formed a Chronological
History ofGreece,beginning with the Return of theHeraclides
intoPeloponnesus, and ending with the Siege ofPerinthus, inthe
twentieth year ofPhilip the father ofAlexanderthe great, that is,
eleven years before the fall of the
Persian Empire: but[15]he digested things by Generations, and
the reckoning by the Olympiads, or by anyotherra, was not yet in
use among the Greeks. TheArundelian Marbles were composed sixty
years afterthe death ofAlexanderthe great (An. 4. Olymp. 128.) and
yet mention not the Olympiads, nor any otherstandingra, but reckon
backwards from the time then present. But Chronology was now
reduced to areckoning by Years; and in the next Olympiad Timus
Siculus improved it: for he wrote a History in
Several books, down to his own times, according to the
Olympiads; comparing theEphori, the Kings ofSparta, the Archons
ofAthens, and the Priestesses ofArgos with the Olympic Victors, so
as to make theOlympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of
Kings and Priestesses, and the Poetical Histories suitwith one
another, according to the best of his judgment: and where he left
off,Polybius began, and carriedon the History.Eratosthenes wrote
above an hundred years after the death ofAlexanderthe great: He
wasfollowed byApollodorus; and these two have been followed ever
since by Chronologers.
But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was
reputed by the Greeks of those times, maybe understood by these
passages ofPlutarch. Some reckon Lycurgus, saith
he,[16]contemporary to Iphitus,and to have been his companion in
ordering the Olympic festivals, amongst whom was Aristotle the
Philosopher; arguing from the Olympic Disc, which had the name
ofLycurgus upon it. Others supputingthe times by the Kings
ofLacedmon, as Eratosthenes andApollodorus, affirm that he was not
a few yearsolder than the first Olympiad. He began to flourish in
the 17th or 18th Olympiad, and at lengthAristotle
made him as old as the first Olympiad; and so didEpaminondas, as
he is cited bylian andPlutarch: andthenEratosthenes,Apollodorus,
and their followers, made him above an hundred years older.
And in another placePlutarch[17]tells us: The Congress ofSolon
with Crsus, some think they can confuteby Chronology. But a History
so illustrious, and verified by so many witnesses, and which is
more, so
agreeable to the manners ofSolon, and worthy of the greatness of
his mind, and of his wisdom, I cannotpersuade my self to reject
because of some Chronological Canons, as they call them, which
hundreds of
authors correcting, have not yet been able to constitute any
thing certain, in which they could agreeamongst themselves, about
repugnancies.
As for the Chronology of theLatines, that is still more
uncertain.Plutarch[18]represents great uncertaintiesin the
Originals ofRome, and so doth Servius[19]. The old Records of
theLatines were burnt[20] by theGauls, an hundred and twenty years
after the Regifuge, and sixty-four years before the death
ofAlexanderthe great: and Quintus Fabius Pictor,[21] the oldest
Historian of theLatines, lived an hundred years laterthan that
King, and took almost all things fromDiocles Peparethius , a Greek.
The Chronologers ofGallia,Spain, Germany, Scythia,
Swedeland,Britain andIrelandare of a date still later; forScythia
beyond the
Danube had no letters, 'till Ulphilas their Bishop formed them;
which was about six hundred years after thedeath ofAlexanderthe
great: and Germany had none 'till it received them, from the
western Empire of the
Latines, above seven hundred years after the death of that King.
TheHunns, had none in the days ofProcopius, who flourished 850
years after the death of that King: and Sweden andNorway received
themstill later. And things said to be done above one or two
hundred years before the use of letters, are of littlecredit.
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Diodorus, [22]in the beginning of his History tells us, that he
did not define by any certain space the timespreceding the Trojan
War, because he had no certain foundation to rely upon: but from
the Trojan war,according to the reckoning ofApollodorus, whom he
followed, there were eighty years to the Return of the
Heraclides intoPeloponnesus; and that from that Period to the
first Olympiad, there were three hundredand twenty eight years,
computing the times from the Kings of theLacedmonians.Apollodorus
followed
Eratosthenes, and both of them followed Thucydides, in reckoning
eighty years from the Trojan war to theReturn of the
Heraclides: but in reckoning 328 years from that Return to the
first Olympiad,
Diodorustells
us, that the times were computed from the Kings of
theLacedmonians; andPlutarch[23] tells us,
thatApollodorus,Eratosthenes and others followed that computation:
and since this reckoning is still receivedby Chronologers, and was
gathered by computing the times from the Kings of theLacedmonians,
that isfrom their number, let us re-examin that Computation.
TheEgyptians reckoned the Reigns of Kings equipollent to
Generations of men, and three Generations toan hundred years, as
above; and so did the Greeks andLatines: and accordingly they have
made their KingsReign one with another thirty and three years
a-piece, and above. For they make the seven Kings ofRomewho
preceded the Consuls to have Reigned 244 years, which is 35 years
a-piece: and the first twelve KingsofSicyon,gialeus,Europs, &c.
to have Reigned 529 years, which is 44 years a-piece: and the first
eightKings ofArgos,Inachus,Phoroneus, &c. to have Reigned 371
years, which is above 46 years a-piece: andbetween the Return of
theHeraclides intoPeloponnesus, and the end of the first Messenian
war, the tenKings ofSparta in one
Race;Eurysthenes,Agis,Echestratus,Labotas,Doryagus,Agesilaus,Archelaus,Teleclus,Alcamenes,
andPolydorus: the nine in the other Race;Procles,
Sous,Eurypon,Prytanis,
Eunomus,Polydectes, Charilaus,Nicander, Theopompus: the ten
Kings ofMessene; Cresphontes,Epytus,Glaucus,Isthmius,Dotadas,
Sibotas,Phintas,Antiochus,Euphaes,Aristodemus: and the nine
ofArcadia;Cypselus, Olas,Buchalion,Phialus,
Simus,Pompus,gineta,Polymnestor,chmis, according toChronologers,
took up 379 years: which is 38 years a-piece to the ten Kings, and
42 years a-piece to thenine. And the five Kings of the Race
ofEurysthenes, between the end of the first Messenian war, and
thebeginning of the Reign ofDarius
Hystaspis;Eurycrates,Anaxander,Eurycrates
II,Leon,Anaxandrides,Reigned 202 years, which is above 40 years
a-piece.
Thus the GreekChronologers, who follow Timus andEratosthenes,
have made the Kings of their severalCities, who lived before the
times of thePersian Empire, to Reign about 35 or 40 years a-piece,
one withanother; which is a length so much beyond the course of
nature, as is not to be credited. For by the ordinarycourse of
nature Kings Reign, one with another, about eighteen or twenty
years a-piece: and if in someinstances they Reign, one with
another, five or six years longer, in others they Reign as much
shorter:eighteen or twenty years is a medium. So the eighteen Kings
ofJudah who succeeded Solomon, Reigned390 years, which is one with
another 22 years a-piece. The fifteen Kings ofIsraelafterSolomon,
Reigned259 years, which is 17 years a-piece. The eighteen Kings
ofBabylon,Nabonassar&c. Reigned 209years, which is 11 years
a-piece. The ten Kings ofPersia; Cyrus, Cambyses, &c. Reigned
208 years,which is almost 21 years a piece. The sixteen Successors
ofAlexanderthe great, and of his brother and sonin Syria;
Seleucus,Antiochus Soter, &c. Reigned 244 years, after the
breaking of that Monarchy intovarious Kingdoms, which is 15 years
a-piece. The eleven Kings ofEgypt;Ptolomus Lagi, &c. Reigned277
years, counted from the same Period, which is 25 years a-piece. The
eight in Macedonia; Cassander,&c. Reigned 138 years, which is
17 years a-piece. The thirty Kings ofEngland; William the
Conqueror,William Rufus, &c. Reigned 648 years, which is 21
years a-piece. The first twenty four Kings ofFrance;
Pharamundus, &c. Reigned 458 years, which is 19 years
a-piece: the next twenty four Kings ofFrance;Ludovicus Balbus,
&c. 451 years, which is 18 years a-piece: the next
fifteen,Philip Valesius, &c. 315
years, which is 21 years a-piece: and all the sixty three Kings
ofFrance, 1224 years, which is 19 years a-piece. Generations from
father to son, may be reckoned one with another at about 33 or 34
years a-piece, orabout three Generations to an hundred years: but
if the reckoning proceed by the eldest sons, they areshorter, so
that three of them may be reckoned at about 75 or 80 years: and the
Reigns of Kings are stillshorter, because Kings are succeeded not
only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brothers,
andsometimes they are slain or deposed; and succeeded by others of
an equal or greater age, especially inelective or turbulent
Kingdoms. In the later Ages, since Chronology hath been exact,
there is scarce aninstance to be found of ten Kings Reigning any
where in continual Succession above 260 years: butTimus and his
followers, and I think also some of his Predecessors, after the
example of theEgyptians,
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have taken the Reigns of Kings for Generations, and reckoned
three Generations to an hundred, andsometimes to an hundred and
twenty years; and founded the Technical Chronology of the Greeks
upon thisway of reckoning. Let the reckoning be reduced to the
course of nature, by putting the Reigns of Kings onewith another,
at about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and the ten Kings
ofSparta by one Race, the nineby another Race, the ten Kings
ofMessene, and the nine ofArcadia, above mentioned, between the
Returnof theHeraclides intoPeloponnesus, and the end of the first
Messenian war, will scarce take up above 180or 190 years: whereas
according to Chronologers they took up 379 years.
For confirming this reckoning, I may add another
argument.Euryleon the son ofgeus,[24] commandedthe main body of the
Messenians in the fifth year of the first Messenian war, and was in
the fifthGeneration from Oiolicus the son Theras, the
brother-in-law ofAristodemus, and tutor to his sons
Eurysthenes andProcles, asPausanias[25]relates: and by
consequence, from the return of theHeraclides,which was in the days
ofTheras, to the battle which was in the fifth year of this war,
there were sixGenerations, which, as I conceive, being for the most
part by the eldest sons, will scarce exceed thirty yearsto a
Generation; and so may amount unto 170 or 180 years. That war
lasted 19 or 20 years: add the last 15years, and there will be
about 190 years to the end of that war: whereas the followers
ofTimus make itabout 379 years, which is above sixty years to a
Generation.
By these arguments, Chronologers have lengthned the time,
between the return of theHeraclides into
Peloponnesus and the first Messenian war, adding to it about 190
years: and they have also lengthned thetime, between that war and
the rise of thePersian Empire. For in the Race of the Spartan
Kings, descendedfromEurysthenes; afterPolydorus, reigned[26]these
Kings,Eurycrates,Anaxander,Eurycratides,Leon,
Anaxandrides, Clomenes,Leonidas, &c. And in the other Race
descended fromProcles; afterTheopompus,reigned[27]
these,Anaxandrides,Archidemus,Anaxileus,Leutychides,Hippocratides,Ariston,Demaratus,
Leutychides II. &c. according toHerodotus. These Kings
reigned 'till the sixth year ofXerxes, in whichLeonidas was slain
by thePersians at Thermopyl; andLeutychides II. soon after, flying
from Sparta toTegea, died there. The seven Reigns of the Kings
ofSparta, which followPolydorus, being added to theten Reigns above
mentioned, which began with that ofEurysthenes; make up seventeen
Reigns of Kings,between the return of theHeraclides
intoPeloponnesus and the sixth year ofXerxes: and the eight
Reignsfollowing Theopompus, being added to the nine Reigns above
mentioned, which began with that of
Procles, make up also seventeen Reigns: and these seventeen
Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one withanother, amount unto three
hundred and forty years. Count these 340 years upwards from the
sixth year of
Xerxes, and one or two years more for the war of theHeraclides,
and Reign ofAristodemus, the father ofEurysthenes andProcles; and
they will place the Return of theHeraclides intoPeloponnesus, 159
yearsafter the death ofSolomon, and 46 years before the first
Olympiad, in which Corbus was victor. But thefollowers ofTimus have
placed this Return two hundred and eighty years earlier. Now this
being thecomputation upon which the Greeks, as you have heard
fromDiodorus andPlutarch, have founded theChronology of their
Kingdoms, which were ancienter than thePersian Empire; that
Chronology is to berectified, by shortening the times which
preceded the death ofCyrus, in the proportion of almost two toone;
for the times which follow the death ofCyrus are not much
amiss.
The Artificial Chronologers, have madeLycurgus, the legislator,
as old asIphitus, the restorer of theOlympiads; andIphitus, an
hundred and twelve years, older than the first Olympiad: and, to
help out theHypothesis, they have feigned twenty eight Olympiads
older than the first Olympiad, wherein Corbuswas victor. But these
things were feigned, after the days ofThucydides andPlato:
forSocrates died threeyears after the end of thePeloponnesian war,
andPlato[28]introduceth him saying, that the institutions
ofLycurgus were but of three hundred years standing, or not much
more. And[29]Thucydides, in the readingfollowed by Stephanus,
saith, that the Lacedmonians, had from ancient times used good
laws, and been
free from tyranny; and that from the time that they had used one
and the same administration of their
commonwealth, to the end of the Peloponnesian war, there were
three hundred years and a few more.Count three hundred years back
from the end of thePeloponnesian war, and they will place the
LegislatureofLycurgus upon the 19th Olympiad. And, according to
Socrates, it might be upon the 22d or 23d.
Athenus[30] tells us out of ancient authors (Hellanicus, Sosimus
andHieronymus) thatLycurgus theLegislator, was contemporary to
Terpanderthe Musician; and that Terpanderwas the first man who got
thevictory in the Carnea, in a solemnity of music instituted in
those festivals in the 26th Olympiad. He
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overcame four times in thosePythic games, and therefore lived at
least 'till the 29th Olympiad: andbeginning to flourish in the days
ofLycurgus, it is not likely thatLycurgus began to flourish, much
beforethe 18th Olympiad. The name ofLycurgus being on the Olympic
Disc,Aristotle concluded thence, that
Lycurgus was the companion ofIphitus, in restoring the Olympic
games: and this argument might be theground of the opinion of
Chronologers, thatLycurgus andIphitus were contemporary. ButIphitus
did notrestore all the Olympic games. He[31] restored indeed the
Racing in the first Olympiad, Corbus beingvictor. In the 14th
Olympiad, the double
stadiumwas added,
Hypnusbeing victor. And in the 18th
Olympiad the Quinquertium and Wrestling were added,Lampus
andEurybatus, two Spartans, beingvictors: And the Disc was one of
the games of the Quinquertium. [32]Pausanias tells us that there
were threeDiscs kept in the Olympic treasury atAltis: these
therefore having the name ofLycurgus upon them, shewthat they were
given by him, at the institution of the Quinquertium, in the 18th
Olympiad. NowPolydectesKing ofSparta, being slain before the birth
of his son Charillus orCharilaus, left the Kingdom to
Lycurgus his brother; andLycurgus, upon the birth ofCharillus,
became tutor to the child; and after abouteight months travelled
into Crete andAsia, till the child grew up, and brought back with
him the poems of
Homer; and soon after published his laws, suppose upon the 22d
or 23d Olympiad; for he was then growingold: and Terpanderwas a
Lyric Poet, and began to flourish about this time; for[33]he
imitated Orpheus and
Homer, and sungHomer's verses and his own, and wrote the laws
ofLycurgus in verse, and was victor inthePythic games in the 26th
Olympiad, as above. He was the first who distinguished the modes of
Lyricmusic by several names.Ardalus and Clonas soon after did the
like for wind music: and fromhenceforward, by the encouragement of
thePythic games, now instituted, several eminent Musicians and
Poets flourished in Greece: asArchilochus,Eumelus Corinthius
,Polymnestus, Thaletas,Xenodemus,Xenocritus, Sacadas, Tyrtus,
Tlesilla,Rhianus,Alcman,Arion, Stesichorus,
Mimnermnus,Alcus,Sappho, Theognis,Anacreon,Ibycus,
Simonides,schylus,Pindar, by whom the Music and Poetry of theGreeks
were brought to perfection.
Lycurgus, published his laws in the Reign ofAge