above an excellently attempered climate. Now the city in those days
was arranged on this wise. In the first place the Acropolis was not as
now. For the fact is that a single night of excessive rain washed away
the earth and laid bare the rock; at the same time there were
earthquakes, and then occurred the extraordinary inundation, which was
the third before the great destruction of Deucalion. But in primitive
times the hill of the Acropolis extended to the Eridanus and Ilissus,
and included the Pnyx on one side, and the Lycabettus as a boundary on
the opposite side to the Pnyx, and was all well covered with soil, and
level at the top, except in one or two places. Outside the Acropolis
and under the sides of the hill there dwelt artisans, and such of the
husbandmen as were tilling the ground near; the warrior class dwelt by
themselves around the temples of Athene and Hephaestus at the summit,
which moreover they had enclosed with a single fence like the garden
of a single house. On the north side they had dwellings in common and
had erected halls for dining in winter, and had all the buildings
which they needed for their common life, besides temples, but there
was no adorning of them with gold and silver, for they made no use of
these for any purpose; they took a middle course between meanness and
ostentation, and built modest houses in which they and their
children's children grew old, and they handed them down to others who
were like themselves, always the same. But in summer-time they left
their gardens and gymnasia and dining halls, and then the southern
side of the hill was made use of by them for the same purpose. Where
the Acropolis now is there was a fountain, which was choked by the
earthquake, and has left only the few small streams which still exist
in the vicinity, but in those days the fountain gave an abundant
supply of water for all and of suitable temperature in summer and in
winter. This is how they dwelt, being the guardians of their own
citizens and the leaders of the Hellenes, who were their willing
followers. And they took care to preserve the same number of men and
women through all time, being so many as were required for warlike
purposes, then as now-that is to say, about twenty thousand. Such were
the ancient Athenians, and after this manner they righteously
administered their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned
all over Europe and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the
many virtues of their souls, and of all men who lived in those days
they were the most illustrious. And next, if I have not forgotten what
I heard when I was a child, I will impart to you the character and
origin of their adversaries. For friends should not keep their stories
to themselves, but have them in common.
Yet, before proceeding further in the narrative, I ought to warn you,
that you must not be surprised if you should perhaps hear Hellenic
names given to foreigners. I will tell you the reason of this: Solon,
who was intending to use the tale for his poem, enquired into the
meaning of the names, and found that the early Egyptians in writing
them down had translated them into their own language, and he
recovered the meaning of the several names and when copying them out
again translated them into our language. My great-grandfather,
Dropides, had the original writing, which is still in my possession,
and was carefully studied by me when I was a child. Therefore if you
hear names such as are used in this country, you must not be
surprised, for I have told how they came to be introduced. The tale,
which was of great length, began as follows:-
I have before remarked in speaking of the allotments of the gods, that
they distributed the whole earth into portions differing in extent,
and made for themselves temples and instituted sacrifices. And
Poseidon, receiving for his lot the island of Atlantis, begat children
by a mortal woman, and settled them in a part of the island, which I
will describe. Looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole
island, there was a plain which is said to have been the fairest of
all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also in the
centre of the island at a distance of about fifty stadia, there was a
mountain not very high on any side.