Archæologiæ Græcæ, or, The antiquities of Greece by John Potter ...

CHAPTER XVI. Of the Council of the Amphictyones.

BEING, in the next place, to speak of the Athenian Councils, and Courts of Justice, I cannot omit the famous Council of the Amphi∣ctyones; which, tho' it sat not at Athens, nor was peculiar to that City, yet the Athenians, and almost all the rest of the Grecians were concern'd in it.

It is commonly thought to have been first instituted, and receiv'd it's Name from Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion (a) 1.1; but Strabo is of Opi∣nion, that Acrisius, King of the Argives, was the first that founded, and gave Laws for the Conduct and Management of it (b) 1.2; and then it must have it's Name from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because the Inhabi••ants of the Countries round about met in that Council (c) 1.3; and Androtion in Pau∣sanias tells us, that the primitive Name of those Senators was Am∣phictiones, however in later Ages it hath been chang'd into Amphi∣ctyones. But the former Opinion receives confirmation from what He∣rodotus reports of the Place, where this Council was Assembled, viz. That in it was a Temple Dedicated to Amphictyon, and Ceres Amphi∣ctyonis (d) 1.4; and Strabo also reports, that this Goddess was Worshipp'd by the Amphictyones.

The Place, in which they Assembled, was call'd Thermopylae, and sometimes Pylae, because it was a strait, narrow Passage, and, as it were, a Gate, or Inlet into the Countrey. Hence these Councellors are often call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and the Council 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (e) 1.5; But the Scholiast upon Sophocles tells us, that this Name was given them from Pylades, the Friend of Orestes, who was the first that was arraign'd in this Court, having assisted in the Murder of Clytaemnestra. Sometimes they met at

Delphi, where they were entrusted with the care of Apollo's Temple, and the Pythian Games, which were celebrated in that Place (a) 1.6, the Si∣tuation of which rendred it very commodious for them to Assemble in, for it was Seated in the midst of Greece, as the Geographers tell us.

The Persons, that compos'd this Assembly, were, according to Pau∣sanias, the Representatives of the Ionians, amongst whom the Athe∣nians were included, Dolopeans, Thessalians, Aenianians, Magnesians, Meleans, Phthians, Dorians, Phocians, and the Locrians, that Inhabited near Mount Cnemis, and were call'd, upon that account, Epicnemidii. Stra∣bo reports, that, at their first Institution, they were Twelve in Number, and were delegated by so many Cities. Harpocration also, and Suidas reckon up Twelve Nations, of which this Council consisted, viz. Ionians, Dorians, Perrhaebians, Boeotians, Magnesians, Achaeans, Phthi∣ans, Melians, Dolopians, Aenianians, Delphians, Phocians. Aeschines rec∣kons only Eleven, instead of the Achaeans, Aenianians, Delphinians, and Dolopians, placing these Three only, viz. Thessalians, Oetaeans, Locrians (b) 1.7.

Afterwards, in the Time of Philip, King of Macedon, and Father of Alexander the Great, the Phocians, having ransacked and spoil'd the D••••∣phian Temple, were by a Decree of the Amphictyones Invaded by the rest of the Grecians, as a Sacrilegious and Impious Nation, and after a Ten-Years War, depriv'd of the Privilege of sitting amongst them, together with their Allies, the Lacedaemonians, who were one part of the Dorians, and, under that Name, had formerly Sate in this Assembly; and their vacant Places were supply'd by the Macedonians, who were admitted, in return of the good Services they had done in the Phocian War. But about Sixty-eight Years after, when the Gauls, under the Command of Brennus, made a terrible Invasion upon Greece, Ravaging and Destroy∣ing all before them, sparing nothing Sacred or Prophane, and with a Barbarous and Sacrilegious Fury, Robb'd and Despoil'd the D••••∣phian Temple; the Phocians behav'd themselves with so much Gallan∣try, signalizing themselves in the Battel above the rest of the Grecians, that they were thought to have made a sufficient Atonement for their former Offence, and restor'd to their Ancient Privilege and Di∣gnity (c) 1.8.

In the Reign of Augustus Caesar they suffer'd another Alteration, for that Emperour, having worsted Antony in a Sea-fight at Actium, in Memory of that Victory Founded a new City, call'd it Nicopolis, and was desirous that it's Inhabitants should be admitted into this Assem∣bly, and to make Way for them, ordered, that the Magnesians, M••∣leans, Phthians, and Aenianians, who till that Time had distinct Voi∣ces, should be number'd with the Thessalians, and send no Represen∣tatives, but such as were common to them all; and that the Right of Suffrage, that formerly belong'd to those Nations, and the Dolopians,

(a People whose State and Name were extinct long before) should be given to the Nicopolitans (a) 1.9.

Strabo, who flourish'd in the Reigns of Augustus, and Tiberius, re∣ports that this Council, as also the general Assembly of the Achaeans, was at that Time dissolv'd; but Pausanias, who liv'd many Years af∣ter, under Antoninus Pius, assures us, that in his Time it remain'd en∣tire, and that the number of the Amphictyones was then Thirty, being delegated by the following Nations, viz. the Nicopolitans, Macedonians, Thessalians, Boeotians, (who in former Times were call'd Aeolians, and Inhabited some Parts of Thessaly) Phocians, Delphians, Locrians, call'd Ozolae, with those that lie opposite to Euboea, Dorians, Athenians, and Eu••oeans.

This Assembly had every Year only two set Meetings, one in the be∣ginning of Spring, the other in Autumn (b) 1.10, except some extraordina∣ry Occasion called them together. The Design of their Meetings, was to determin publick Quarrels, and decide the Differences that happen'd between any of the Cities of Greece, when no other Means were left to compose them. Their Determinations were always receiv'd with a great deal of Respect and Veneration, and held inviolable, the Gre∣cians being always ready to joyn against those that rejected them, as common Enemies.

An Assembly of Neighbouring Cities, met to Consult about the com∣mon Good, seems usually to have been call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and, be∣••ide the Famous one already spoken of, Strabo mentions another held in the Temple of Neptune, at Troezen, at which the Delegates of the Seven following States were present, viz. Hermione, Epidaurus, Aegina, Athens, the Prasians, Nauplians, and the Orchomenians of Boeotia (c) 1.11.

Notes

• (a) 1.1

  Pausanias Phocicis, Suidas, &c.
• (b) 1.2

  Geogr. l. IX.
• (c) 1.3

  Suidas.
• (d) 1.4

  Lib. VII. cap. CC.
• (e) 1.5

  Herodot. Hes••••h. Suidas, Harpocration, Strabo, Pausanias A∣ch••icis.
• (a) 1.6

  Pausan. Phocicis, & Achai••is, aliique.
• (b) 1.7

  Orat. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• (c) 1.8

  Pau∣sanias Phocicis.
• (a) 1.9

  Idem. ibid.
• (b) 1.10

  Strabo. loc. cit.
• (c) 1.11

  Geogr. lib. VIII.