favour of Philip, wno thus obtained possession of the whole we may safely place them in the group of the The ruins of Lepreum are situated upon a hill, near the modern village of Strovitzi. These ruins show that Lepreum was a town of some size. A plan of them is given by the French Commission, which is copied in the work of Curtius. They were first described by Dodwell. It takes half an hour to ascend from the first traces of the walls to the acropolis, which is entered by an ancient gateway. "The towers are square; one of them is almost entire, and contains a small window or arrow hole. A transverse wall is carried eompletely across the acropolis, by which means it was anciently divided into two parts. The foundation of this wall, and part of the elevation, still remain. Three different periods of architecture are evident in this fortress. The walls are composed of polygons: some of the towers consist of irregular, and others of rectangular quadrilaterals. The ruins extend far below the acropolis, on the side of the hill, and are seen on a flat detached knoll." (Dodwell, Tour through Greece, vol. ii. p. 347; Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 56; Boblaye, Recherches, &c. p. 135; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 84.) The name of ALPES LEPONTIAE, or Lepontian Alps, is generally given by modern geographers to the part of this chain extending from Monte Rosa to the St. Gothard; but there is no ancient authority for this use of the term. [E. H. B.] LEPREUM (Tò Aémpeov, Scyl., Strab., Polyb.; Aérрeos, Paus., Aristoph. Av. 149; Aéπpiov, Ptol. iii. 16. § 18: Eth. Aempeárns), the chief town of Triphylia in Elis, was situated in the southern part of the district, at the distance of 100 stadia from Samicum, and 40 stadia from the sea. (Strab. viii. p. 344.) Scylax and Ptolemy, less correctly, describe it as lying upon the coast. Triphylia is said to have been originally inhabited by the Cauconians, whence Lepreum is called by Callimachus (Hymn. in Jov. 39) Καυκώνων πτολίεθρον. The Caucones were afterwards expelled by the Minyae, who took posses- LEPSIA (Lipso), a small island of the Icarian sion of Lepreum. (Herod. iv. 148.) Subsequently, sea, in the north of Leros, and opposite to the coast of and probably soon after the Messenian wars, Le- Caria. It is not mentioned by any ancient author preum and the other cities of Triphylia were sub-except Pliny (H. N. v. 34). [L. S.] dued by the Eleians, who governed them as subject LEPTE (ATTIKỳ ăкра, Ptol. iv. 5; Plin. vi. 29 places. [See Vol. I. p. 818, b.] The Triphylians. 34), the modern Ras-el-Auf, in lat. 23° N., was cities, however, always bore this yoke with impa- a headland of Upper Egypt, upon the confines of tience; and Lepreum took the lead in their frequent Aethiopia, which projected into the Red Sea at Sinus attempts to shake off the Eleian supremacy. The Immundus (Foul Bay). It formed the extremity greater importance of Lepreum is shown by the fact of a volcanic range of rocks abounding in mines of that it was the only one of the Triphylian towns gold, copper and topaz. [W. B. D.] which took part in the Persian wars. (Herod. ix. 28.) In B. C. 421 Lepreum, supported by Sparta, revolted from Elis (Thuc. v. 31); and at last, in 400, the Eleians, by their treaty with Sparta, were obliged to relinquish their authority over Lepreum LEPTIS (Liv. xxxiv. 62; Caes. B. C. ii. 38; and the other Triphylian towns. (Xen. Hell. iii. 2. Hirt. Bell. Afr. 6, 7, 9, 62; Mela, i. 7. § 2: Plin. $25.) When the Spartan power had been broken v. 4 s. 3), also called by later writers, LEPTIS by the battle of Leuctra (B. c. 371), the Spartans MINOR or PARVA (Méπtis ʼn μíкpa, Ptol. iv. 3. endeavoured to recover their supremacy over Le-§ 10; Leptiminus or Lepte Minus, Itin. Ant. p. 58; preum and the other Triphylian towns; but the latter protected themselves by becoming members of the Arcadian confederacy, which had been recently founded by Epaminondas. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. §2, seq.) Hence Lepreum is called an Arcadian town by Scylax and Pliny, the latter of whoin erroneously speaks both of a Leprion in Elis (iv. 5. s. 6), and of a Lepreon in Arcadia (iv. 5. s. 10). Pausanias also states that the Lepreatae in his time claimed to be Arcadians; but he observes that they had been subjects of the Eleians from ancient times,-that as many of them as had been victors in the public games were proclaimed as Eleians from Lepreus,and that Aristophanes describes Lepreus as a city of the Eleians. (Paus. v. 5. §3.) After the time of Alexander the Eleians again reduced the Triphylian cities, which therefore were obliged to join the Aetolian league along with the Eleians. But when Philip, in his war with the Aetolians, marched into Triphylia, the inhabitants of Lepreum rose against the Eleian garrison in their town, and declared in a naval station. LEPTIS, a town of Hispania Baetica, mentioned only in the Bell. Alex. 57, where the word is perhaps only a false reading for LAEFA, near the mouth of [P.S.] the Anas. Tab. Peut.; Geogr. Rav. iii. 5 v. 5: Eth Leptitani: Lemta, Ru.), a city on the coast of Byzacium, just within the SE. headland of the Sinus Neapolitanus, 18 M. P. SE. of Hadrumetum, and 33 M. P. NE. of Thysdrus, and one of the most flourishing of the Phoenician colonies on that coast, notwithstanding the epithet PARVA, which merely used by late writers to distinguish it from the still more important city of LEPTIS MAGNA. It was a colony of Tyre (Sall. Jug. 19; Plin. l. c.), and, under the Carthaginians, it was the most important place in the wealthy district of EMPORIAE, and its wealth was such that it paid to Carthage the daily tribute of a Euboic talent. (Liv. I. c.) Under the Romans it was a libera civitas, at least in Pliny's time: whether it became a colony afterwards depends on the question, whether the coins bearing the name of LEPTIS belong to this city or to Leptis Magna. * Derived from a Phoenician word signifying been left out of the system of external works, although no part of the city was built upon it. Accordingly we find here, besides the quays along the river side, and vaults in them, which served for have been a fort. Its superstructure is of brick, and certainly not of Phoenician work; but it probably stood on foundations coeval with the city. This is the only example of the use of brick in the ruins of Leptis, with the exception of the walls which surmount the sea-defences already described. From this eastern, as well as from the western point of land, an artificial mole was built out, to give additional shelter to the port on either side; but, through not permitting a free egress to the sand which is washed up on that coast in vast quantities with every tide, these moles have been the chief cause of the destruction, first of the port, and afterwards of the city. The former event had already happened at the date of the Stadiasmus, which describes Leptis as having no harbour (àλíuevos). The harbour still existed, however, at the time of the restoration of the city by Septimius Severus, and small vessels could even ascend to some distance above the city, as is proved by a quay of Roman work on the W. bank, at a spot where the river is still deep, though its mouth is now lost in the sand-hills. [See below, under LEPTIS MAGNA.] Its ruins, though interesting, are of no great extent. (Shaw, Travels, p. 109; Barth, Wanderungen, fc. p. 161.) [P.S.] LÉPTIS MAGNA (ỷ Aéttis μeɣáλn, ▲enti-warehouses, a remarkable building, which seems to máyva, Procop. B. V. ii. 21; also AÉTTIS, simply; aft. Neάroλis; Leptimagnensis Civitas, Cod. Just. i. 27. 2: Eth. and Adj. AerTiTavós, Leptitanus: Lebda, large Ru.), the chief of the three cities which formed the African Tripolis, in the district between the Syrtes (Regio Syrtica, aft. Tripolitana), on the N. coast of Africa; the other two being Oea and Sabrata. Leptis was one of the most ancient Phoenician colonies on this coast, having been founded by the Sidonians (Sall. Jug. 19, 78); and its site was one of the most favourable that can be imagined for a city of the first class. It stood at one of those parts of the coast where the table-land of the Great Desert falls off to the sea by a succession of mountain ridges, enclosing valleys which are thus sheltered from those encroachments of sand that cover the shore where no such protection exists, while they lie open to the breezes of the Mediterranean. The country, in fact, resembles, on a small scale, the terraces of the Cyrenaic coast; and its great beauty and fertility have excited the admiration alike of ancient and modern writers. (Aminian. Marc. xxviii. 6; Della Cella; Beechy; Barth, &c.) Each of these valleys is watered by its streamlet, generally very insignificant and even intermittent, but sometimes worthy of being styled a river, as in the case of the CINYPS, and of the smaller stream, further to the west, upon which Leptis stood. The excellence of the site was inuch enhanced by the shelter afforded by the promontory HERMAEUM (Ras-al- Ashan), W. of the city, to the roadstead in its front. The ruins of Leptis are of vast extent, of which a great portion is buried under the sand which has drifted over them from the sea. From what can be traced, however, it is clear that these remains contain the ruins of three different cities. (1.) The original city, or Old Leptis, still exhibits in its ruins the characteristics of an ancient Phoenician settlement; and, in its site, its sea-walls and quays, its harbour, and its defences on the land side, it bears a striking general resemblance to Carthage. It was built on an elevated tongue of land, jutting out from the W. bank of the little river, the inouth of which formed its port, having been artificially enlarged for that purpose. The banks of the river, as well as the seaward face of the promontory, are lined with walls of massive masonry, serving as sea-walls as well as quays, and containing some curious vaulted chambers, which are supposed to have been docks for ships which were kept (as at Carthage) for a last resource, in case the citadel should be taken by an enemy. These structures are of a harder stone than the other buildings of the city; the latter being of a light sandstone, which gave the place a glittering whiteness to the voyager approaching it from the sea. (Stadiasm. Mar. Mag. p. 453, G., p. 297, H.) On the land side the isthmus was defended by three lines of massive stone walls, the position of each being admirably adapted to the nature of the ground; and, in a depression of the ground between the outinost and middle line, there seems to have been a canal, connecting the harbour in the mouth of the river with the roadstead W. of the city. Opposite to this tongue of land, on the E. side of the river, is a much lower, less projecting, and more rounded promontory, which could not have 2. The Old City (wóλis) thus described became gradually, like the Byrsa of Carthage, the citadel of a much more extensive New City (Neánoλis), which grew up beyond its limits, on the W. bank of the river, where its magnificent buildings now lie hidden beneath the sand. This NEW CITY, as in the case of Carthage and several other Phoenician cities of like growth, gave its name to the place, which was hence called NEAPOLIS, not, however, as at Carthage [comp. CARTHAGO, Vol. I. p. 529. § i.], to the disuse of the old name, LEPTIS, which was never entirely lost, and which became the prevailing name in the later times of the ancient world, and is the name which the ruins still retain (Lebda). Under the early emperors both names are found almost indifferently; but with a slight indication of the preference given to NEAPOLIS, and it seems probable that the name Leptis, with the epithet Magna to distinguish it from LEPTIS PARVA, prevailed at last for the sake of avoiding any confusion with NEAPOLIS in Zeugitana. (Strab. xvii. p. 835, Neάπoλis, v kal Aéπtiv kaλoûow: Mela, however, i. 7. § 5, has Leptis only, with the epithet altera : Pliny, v. 4. s. 4, misled, as usual, by the abundance of his authorities, makes Leptis and Neapolis different cities, and he distinguishes this from the other Leptis as Leptis altera, quae cognominatur magna: Ptolemy, iv. 3. § 13, has Neάñoλis ʼn kaì Aéntis ueyáλn: Itin. Ant. p. 63, and Tab. Peut. Lepti Magna Colonia; Scyl. pp. 111, 112, 113, Gronov. Néa Пóλis; Stadiasm. p. 435, Aéπtis, vulg. AérrnS, the coins all have the name LEPTIS simply, with the addition, on some of them, of the epithet COLONIA VICTRIX JULIA; but it is very uncertain to which of the two cities of the name these coins belong; Eckhel, vol. iv. pp. 130, 131; Rasche, s. v.) We learn from Sallust that the commercial intercourse of Leptis with the native tribes had led to a sharing of the connubium, and hence to an admixture of the language of the city with the Libyan dialects (Jug. 78). In fact, Leptis, like the neighbouring Tripoly, which, with a vastly inferior site, has succeeded to its position, was the great emporium for the trade with the Garamantes and Phazania and the eastern part of Inner Libya. But the remains of the New City seem to belong almost entirely to the period of the Roman Empire, and especially to the reign of Septiinius Severus, who restored and beautified this his native city. (Spart. Sev. 1; Aurel. Vict. Ep. 20.) It had already before acquired considerable importance under the Romans, whose cause it espoused in the war with Jugurtha (Sall. Jug. 77-79: as to its later condition see Tac. Hist. iv. 50); and if, as Eckhel inclines to believe, the coins with the epigraph COL. VIC. IUL. LEP. belong mostly, if not entirely, to Leptis Magna, it must have been made a colony in the earliest period of the empire. It was still a flourishing and populous fortified city in the 4th century, when it was greatly injured by an assault of a Libyan tribe, called the AURUSIANI (Ammian. xxviii. 6); and it never recovered from the blow. 3. Justinian is said to have enclosed a portion of it with a new wall; but the city itself was already too far buried in the sand to be restored; and, as far as we can make out, the little that Justinian attempted seems to have amounted only to the en closure of a suburb, or old Libyan camp, some distance to the E. of the river, on the W. bank of which the city itself had stood. (Procop. de Aed. vi. 4; comp. Barth.) Its ruin was completed during the Arab conquest (Leo, Afr. p. 435); and, though we find it, in the middle ages, the seat of populous Arab camps, no attempt has been made to make use of the splendid site, which is now occupied by the insignificant village of Legâtah, and the hamlet of El-Hush, which consists of only four houses. (For particulars of the ruins, see Lucas, Proceedings of the Association, &c. vol. ii. p. 66, Lond. 1810; Della Cella, Viaggio, fc. p. 40; Beechey, Proceedings, &c. chap. vi. pp. 50, foll.; Russell's Barbary; Barth, Wanderungen, &c. pp. 305-315.) [P.S.] LERINA and LERON. Strabo (p. 185) says: "After the Stoechades are Planasia and Leron (Пavaσía Kal Anpwv), which are inhabited; and in Leron there is also a Leroum of Leron, and Leron is in front of Antipolis." (Antibes.) Pliny (iii. 5) has "Lero, et Lerina adversus Antipolim." Ptolemy (ii. 10. § 21) places Lerone (Anpúvn) before the mouth of the Var. Lerina once had a town named Vergoanum (Pliny). The Maritime Itin. places "Lero et Lerinas insulae" 11 M. P. from Antipolis. These two islands are the Lérins, off the coast of the French department of Var. Strabo's Planasia is supposed to be Lerina, because it is flat; Leron must then be the larger island, called Sainte Marguerite; and 1'Anville conjectures that the monastery dedicated to Sainte Marguerite took the place of the Leroum of Lero, which is mentioned by Strabo. The position of these two small islands is fixed more accurately by the Itin. than by the geographers. Lerina, from which the modern name Lérins comes, is very small; it is called St. Honorat, from a bishop of Arles in the fifth century, who was also a saint. [G.L.] On LERNA or LERNE (Aépva, Aépvn), the name of a marshy district at the south-western extremity of the Argive plain, near the sea, and celebrated as the spot where Hercules slew the many-headed Hydra, or water-snake. [See Dict. of Biogr. Vol. II. p. 394.] In this part of the plain, there is a number of copious springs, which overflow the district and turn it into a marsh; and there can be little doubt that the victory of Hercules over the Hydra, is to be understood of a successful attempt of the ancient lords of the Argive plain to bring its marshy extremity into cultivation, by draining its sources and embanking its streams. The name of Lerna is usually given to the whole district (Paus. ii. 15. § 5, ii. 24. § 3, ii. 36. § 6, ii. 38. § 1; Plut. Cleom. 15), but other writers apply it more particularly to the river and the lake. (Strab. viii. p. 368.) The district was thoroughly drained in antiquity, and covered with sacred buildings, of which Pausanias has left us an account (ii. 36, 37). A road led from Argos to Lerna, and the distance from the gate of the city to the sea-coast of Lerna was 40 stadia. Above Lerna is the Mountain PONTINUS (ПOVTIVOS), which according to Pausanias absorbs the rain water, and thus prevents it from running off. its summit, on which there are now the ruins of a mediaeval castle, Pausanias saw the remains of a temple of Athena Saitis, and the foundations of the house of Hippomedon, one of the seven Argive chiefs who marched against Thebes. (Aepvaîa d' oike váμal' 'Inπоμédшv avat, Eurip. Phoen. 126.) The grove of Lerna, which consisted for the most part of plane trees, extended from Mount Pontinus to the sea, and was bounded on one side by a river called Pontinus, and on the other by a river named Amymone. The grove of Lerna contained two temples, in one of which Demeter Prosymna and Dionysus were worshipped, and in the other Dionysus Saotes. In this grove a festival, called the Lernaea, was celebrated in honour of Demeter and Dionysus. Pausanias also mentions the fountain of Amphiaraus, and the Alcyonian pool ('AAkvovía Xiuvn), through which the Argives say that Dionysus descended into Hades in order to recover Semele. The Alcyonian pool was said to be unfathomable, and the emperor Nero in vain attempted to reach its bottom with a sounding line of several fathoms in length. The circumference of the pool is estimated by Pausanias as only one-third of a stadium: its margin was covered with grass and rushes. Pausanias was told that, though the lake appeared so still and quiet, yet, if any one attempted to swim over it, he was dragged down to the bottom. Here Prosymnus is said to have pointed out to Dionysus the entrance in the lower world. A nocturnal ceremony was connected with this legend; expiatory rites were performed by the side of the pool, and, in consequence of the impurities which were then thrown into the pool, the proverb arose of a Lerna of ills. (Aépvη какŵν; see Preller, Demeter, p. 212.) The river Pontinus issues from three sources at the foot of the hill, and joins the sea north of some mills, after a course of only a few hundred yards. The Amymone is formed by seven or eight copious sources, which issue from under the rocks, and which are evidently the subterraneous outlet of one of the katavothra of the Arcadian vallies. The river soon after enters a small lake, a few hundred yards in circumference, and surrounded with a great variety of aquatic plants; and it then forms a marsh extending to the sea-shore. The lake is now walled in, and the water is diverted into a small stream which turns some mills standing close to the seashore. This lake is evidently the Alcyonian pool of Pausanias; for although he does not say that it is formed by the river Amymone, there can be no doubt of the fact. The lake answers exactly to the description of Pausanias, with the exception of being larger; and the tale of its being unfathomable is still related by the millers in the neighbourhood. Pausanias is the only writer who calls this lake the Alcyonian pool; other writers gave it the name of Lernaean; and the river Amymone, by which it is formed, is likewise named Lerna. The fountain of Amphiaraus can no longer be identified, probably in consequence of the enlargement of the lake. The station of the hydra was under a palm-tree at the source of the Amymone; and the numerous heads of the water-snake inay perhaps have been suggested by the numerous sources of this river. Amymone is frequently mentioned by the poets. It is said to have derived its name from one of the daughters of Danaus, who was beloved by Poseidon; and the river gushed forth when the nymph drew out of the rock the trident of the god. (Hygin. Fab. 169.) Hence Euripides (Phoen. 188) speaks of Ποσειδώνια 'Αμυμώνια ὕδατα. (Comp. Propert. ii. 26, 47; Ov. Met. ii. 240.) (Dodwell, Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 225; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 472, seq; Boblaye, Récherches, c. p. 47; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. ii. p. 194; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 150; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 368, seq.) LEROS (Aépos: Eth. Aépios: Leros), a small island of the Aegean, and belonging to the scattered islands called Sporades. It is situated opposite the Sinus Iassius, on the north of Calymnna, and on the south of Lepsia, at a distance of 320 stadia from Cos and 350 from Myndus. (Stadiasm. Mar. Magni, §§ 246, 250, 252.) According to a statement of Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Leros was, like Icaros, colonised by Milesians. (Strab. xiv., p. 635.) This was probably done in consequence of a suggestion of Hecataeus; for on the breaking out of the revolt of the Ionians against Persia, he advised his countrymen to erect a fortress in the island, and make it the centre of their operations, if they should be driven from Miletus. (Herod. v. 125; comp. Thucyd. viii. 27.) Before its occupation by the Milesians, it was probably inhabited by Dorians. The inhabitants of Leros were notorious in antiquity for their ill nature, whence Phocylides sang of them : Λέριοι κακοί, οὐχ ὁ μὲν, ὃς δ ̓ οὔ, Πάντες, πλὴν Προκλέους· καὶ Προκλέης Λέριος. (Strab. x. p. 487, &c.) The town of Leros was situated on the west of the modern town, on the south side of the bay, and on the slope of a hill; in this locality, at least, distinct traces of a town have been discovered by Ross. (Reisen auf d. Griech. Inseln, ii. p. 119.) The plan of Hecataeus to fortify Leros does not seem to have been carried into effect. Leros never was an independent community, but was governed by Miletus, as we must infer from inscriptions, which also show that Milesians continued to inhabit the island as late as the time of the Romans. Leros contained a sanctuary of Artemis Parthenos, in which, according to mythology, the sisters of LESBOS (Λέσβος : Eth. and Adj. Λέσβιος, Aéσbikós, Aeσbiakós, Lesbius, Lesbicus, Lesbiacus: fem. Aeobis, Aeobias, Lesbis, Lesbias: in the middle ages it was named Mitylene, from its principal city: Geog. Rav. v. 21: Suidas. s. v. ; Hierocl. p. 686; Eustath. ad Il. ix. 129, Od. iii. 170: hence it is called by the modern Greeks Mitylen or Metelino, and by the Turks Medilli or Medellu Adassi.) Like several other islands of the Aegean, Lesbos is said by Strabo, Pliny and others to have had various other names, Issa, Himerte, Lasia, Pelasgia, Aegira, Aethiope, and Macaria. (Strab. i. p. 160, v. p. 128; Plin. v. 31 (39); Diod. iii. 55, ν. 81.) Lesbos is situated off the coast of Mysia, exactly opposite the opening of the gulf of Adramyttium. Its northern part is separated from the mainland near Assos [Assos] by a channel about 7 miles broad; and the distance between the south-eastern extremity and the islands of Arginusae [ARGINUSAE] is about the same. Strabo reckons the breadth of the former strait at 60 stadia, and Pliny at 7 miles: for the latter strait see Strab. xiii. pp. 616, 617, and Xen. Hell. i. 6. §§ 15-28. The island lies between the parallels of 38° 58′ and 39° 24'. Pliny states the circumference as 168 miles, Strabo as 1100 stadia. According to Choiseul-Gouffier, the latter estimate is rather too great. Scylax (p. 56) assigns to Lesbos the seventh rank in size among the islands of the Mediterranean sea In shape Lesbos may be roughly described as a triangle, the sides of which face respectively the NW., the NE., and the SW. The northern point is the promontory of Argennum, the western is that of Sigrium (still called Cape Sigri), the south-eastern is that of Malea (now called Zeitoun Bouroun or Cape St. Mary). But though this description of the island as triangular is generally correct, it must be noticed that it is penetrated far into the interior by two gulfs, or sea-lochs as they may properly be One of these is called, on the south western side. Port Hiero or Port Olivier, "one of the best harbours of the Archipelago," opening from the sea about 4 miles to the westward of Cape Malea, and extending about 8 miles inland among the mountains. It may be reasonably conjectured that its ancient name was Portus Hieraeus; since Pliny mentions a Lesbian city called Hiera, which was extinct before his time. The other arm of the sea, to which we have alluded, is about half-way between the former and Cape Sigrium. It is the "beautiful and extensive basin, named Port Caloni," and anciently called Euripus Pyrrhaeus. From the extreme nar[rowness of the entrance, it is less adapted for the purposes of a harbour. Its ichthyology is repeatedly mentioned by Aristotle as remarkable. (Hist. Animal. v. 10. § 2, v. 13. § 10, viii. 20. 15, ix. 25. § 8.) The surface of the island is mountainous. The principal mountains were Ordymnus in the W., Olympus in the S., and Lepethymnus in the N. Their elevations, as marked in the English Admiralty Charts, are respectively, 1780, 3080, and 2750 feet. The excellent climate and fine air of Lesbos are celebrated by Diodorus Siculus (v. 82), and it is still reputed to be the most healthy island in the Archipelago. (Purdy's Sailing Directory, p. 154.) Tacitus (Ann. vi. 3) calls it "insula nobilis et amoena.' Agates were found there (Plin. xxxvii. 54), and its quarries produced variegated marble (xxxvi. 5). The wholesome Lesbian wines ("innocentis pocula Lesbii," Hor. Carm. i. 17, 21) were famous in the ancient world; but of this a more particular account is given under METHYMNA. The trade of the island was active and considerable; but here again we must refer to what is said concerning its chief city MYTILENE. At the present day the figs of Lesbos are celebrated; but its chief exports are oil and gall-nuts. The population was estimated, in 1816, at 25,000 Greeks and 5000 Turks. Tradition says that the first inhabitants of Lesbos were Pelasgians: and Xanthus was their legendary leader. Next came Ionians and others, under Macareus, who is said by Diodorus (v. 80) to have introduced written laws two generations before the Trojan war. Last were the Aeolian settlers, under the leadership of Lesbus, who appears in Strabo under the name Graus, and who is said to have married Methymna, the daughter of Macareus. Mytilene was the elder daughter. This is certain, that the early history of Lesbos is identical with that of the Aeolians. Strabo regards it as their central seat (xédov μntpóñoxis, xiii. pp. 616, 622). In mercantile enterprise, in resistance to the Persians, and in intellectual eminence, the insular | Aeolians seem to have been favourably contrasted with their brethren on the continent. That which Horace calls "Aeolium carmen and "Aeoliae fides" (Carm. ii. 13. 24, iii. 30. 13) was due to the genius of Lesbos: and Niebuhr's expression regarding this island is, that it was "the pearl of the Aeolian race." (Lectures on Ancient Ethnology and Geography, vol. i. p. 218.) Lesbos was not, like several other islands of the Archipelago, such as Cos, Chios and Samos, the territory of one city. We read of six Aeolian cities in Lesbos, each of which had originally separate possessions and an independent government, and which were situated in the following geographical order. METHYMNA (now Molivo) was on the north, almost immediately opposite Assos, from which it was separated by one of the previously mentioned straits. Somewhere in its neighbourhood was ARISBA, which, however, was incorporated in the Methymnaean territory before the time of Herodotus (i. 151). Near the western extremity of the island were ANTISSA and ERESSUS. The former was a little to the north of Cape Sigrium, and was situated on a small island, which in Pliny's time (ii. 91) was connected with Lesbos itself. The latter was on the south of the promontory, and is still known under the name of Erissi, a modern village, near which ruins have been found. At the head of Port Caloni was PYRRHA, which in Strabo's time had been swallowed up by the sea, with the exception of a suburb. (Strab. xiii. p. 618; see Plin. v. 31.) The name of Pera is still attached to this district according to Pococke. On the eastern shore, facing the mainland, was MYTILENE, Besides these places, we must mention the following:- HIERA, doubtless at the head of Port Olivier, said by Pliny to have been destroyed before his day; AGAMEDE, a village in the neighbourhood of Pyrrha; NAPE, in the plain of Methymna; AEGIRUS, between Methymna and Mytilene; and POLIUM, a site mentioned by Stephanus B. Most of these places are noticed more particularly under their respective names. All of them decayed, and became unimportant, in comparison with Methymna and Mytilene, which were situated on good harbours opposite the mainland, and convenient for the coasting-trade. The annals of Lesbos are so entirely made up of events affecting those two cities, especially the latter, that we must refer to them for what does not bear upon the general history of the island. From the manner in which Lesbos is mentioned both in the Iliad and Odyssey (П. xxiv. 544, Od. iv. 342), it is evident that its cities were populous and flourishing at a very early period. They had also very large possessions on the opposite coast. Lesbos was not included in the conquests of Croesus. (Herod. i. 27.) The severe defeat of the Lesbiang by the Samians under Polycrates (iii. 39) seems only to have been a temporary disaster. It is said by Herodotus (i. 151) that at first they had nothing to fear, when Cyrus conquered the territories of Croesus on the mainland: but afterwards, with other islanders, they seem to have submitted voluntarily to Harpagus (i. 169). The situation of this island on the very confines of the great struggle between the Persians and the Greeks was so critical, that its fortunes were seriously affected in every phase of the long conflict, from this period down to the peace of Antalcidas and the campaigns of Alexander. The Lesbians joined the revolt of Aristagoras (Herod. vi. 5, 8), and one of the most memorable incidents in this part of its history is the consequent hunting down of its inhabitants, as well as those of Chios and Tenedos, by the Persians (Herod. vi. 31; Aesch. Pers. 881). After the battles of Salamis and Mycale they boldly identified themselves with the Greek cause. At first they attached themselves to the Lacedaemonian interest: but before long they came under the overpowering influence of the naval supremacy of Athens. In the early part of the Peloponnesian War, the position of Lesbos was more favourable than that of the other islands: for, like Corcyra and Chios, it was not required to furnish a money-tribute, but only a naval contingent (Thuc. ii. 9). But in the course of the war, Mytilene was induced to intrigue with the Lacedaemonians, and to take the lead in a great revolt from Athens. The events which fill so large a portion of the third book of Thucydides the speech of Cleon, the change of mind on the part of the Athenians, and the narrow escape of the Lesbians from entire massacre by the sending of a second ship to overtake the first — are perhaps the most memorable circumstances connected with the history of this island. The lands of Lesbos were divided among Athenian citizens (Kλŋpoûxoi), many of whom, however, according to Boeckh, returned to Athens, the rest remaining as a garrison. Methymna had taken no part in the revolt, and was exempted from the punishment After the Sicilian expedition, the Lesbians again wavered in their allegiance to Athens; but the result was unim |