Part 8

But the times set down in the Marbles before the _Persian_ Empire began, being collected by reckoning the Reigns of Kings equipollent to Generations, and three Generations to an hundred years or above; and the Reigns of Kings, one with another, being shorter in the proportion of about four to seven; the Chronology set down in the Marbles, until the Conquest of _Media_ by _Cyrus_, _An._ 4, Olymp. 60, will approach the truth much nearer, by shortening the times before that Conquest in the proportion of four to seven. So the _Cirrheans_ were conquered _An._ 2, Olymp. 47, according to the Marbles, that is 54 years before the Conquest of _Media_; and these years being shortened in the proportion of four to seven, become 31 years; which subducted from _An._ 4, Olymp. 60, place the Conquest of _Cirrha_ upon _An._ 1, Olymp. 53: and, by the like correction of the Marbles, _Alcmæon_ entertained and conducted the messengers whom _Crœsus_ sent to consult the Oracle at _Delphi_, _An._ 1, Olymp. 58; that is, four years before the Conquest of _Sardes_ by _Cyrus_: and the Tyranny of _Pisistratus_, which by the Marbles began at _Athens_, _An._ 4, Olymp. 54, by the like correction began _An._ 3, Olymp. 57; and by consequence _Solon_ died _An._ 4, Olymp. 57. This method may be used alone, where other arguments are wanting; but where they are not wanting, the best arguments are to be preferred.

_Iphitus_ [126] presided both in the Temple of _Jupiter Olympius_, and in the Olympic Games, and so did his Successors 'till the 26th Olympiad; and so long the victors were rewarded with a _Tripos_: but then the _Pisæans_ getting above the _Eleans_, began to preside, and rewarded the victors with a Crown, and instituted the _Carnea_ to _Apollo_; and continued to preside 'till _Phidon_ interrupted them, that is, 'till about the time of the 49th Olympiad: for [127] in the 48th Olympiad the _Eleans_ entered the country of the _Pisæans_, suspecting their designs, but were prevailed upon to return home quietly; afterwards the _Pisæans_ confederated with several other _Greek_ nations, and made war upon the _Eleans_, and in the end were beaten: in this war I conceive it was that _Phidon_ presided, suppose in the 49th Olympiad; for [128] in the 50th Olympiad, for putting an end to the contentions between the Kings about presiding, two men were chosen by lot out of the city _Elis_ to preside, and their number in the 65th Olympiad was increased to nine, and afterwards to ten; and these judges were called _Hellenodicæ_, judges for or in the name of _Greece_. _Pausanias_ tells us, that the _Eleans_ called in _Phidon_ and together with him celebrated the 8th Olympiad; he should have said the 49th Olympiad; but _Herodotus_ tells us, that _Phidon_ removed the _Eleans_; and both might be true: the _Eleans_ might call in _Phidon_ against the _Pisæans_, and upon overcoming be refused presiding in the Olympic games by _Phidon_, and confederate with the _Spartans_, and by their assistance overthrow the Kingdom of _Phidon_, and recover their ancient right of presiding in the games.

_Strabo_ [129] tells us that _Phidon_ was the tenth from _Temenus_; not the tenth King, for between _Cisus_ and _Phidon_ they Reigned not, but the tenth from father to son, including _Temenus_. If 27 years be reckoned to a Generation by the eldest sons, the nine intervals will amount unto 243 years, which counted back from the 48th Olympiad, in which _Phidon_ flourished, will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ about fifty years before the beginning of the Olympiads, as above. But Chronologers reckon about 515 years from the Return of the _Heraclides_ to the 48th Olympiad, and account _Phidon_ the seventh from _Temenus_; which is after the rate of 85 years to a Generation, and therefore not to be admitted.

_Cyrus_ took _Babylon_, according to _Ptolomy_'s Canon, nine years before his death, _An. Nabonass._ 209, _An._ 2, Olymp. 60: and he took _Sardes_ a little before, namely _An._ 1, Olymp. 59, as _Scaliger_ collects from _Sosicrates_: _Crœsus_ was then King of _Sardes_, and Reigned fourteen years, and therefore began to Reign _An._ 3, Olymp. 55. After _Solon_ had made laws for the _Athenians_, he obliged them upon oath to observe those laws 'till he returned from his travels; and then travelled ten years, going to _Egypt_ and _Cyprus_, and visiting _Thales_ of _Miletus_: and upon His Return to _Athens_, _Pisistratus_ began to affect the Tyranny of that city, which made _Solon_ travel a second time; and now he was invited by _Crœsus_ to _Sardes_; and _Crœsus_, before _Solon_ visited him, had subdued all _Asia Minor_, as far as to the River _Halys_; and therefore he received that visit towards the latter part of his Reign; and we may place it upon the ninth year thereof, _An._ 3, Olymp. 57: and the legislature of _Solon_ twelve years earlier, _An._ 3, Olymp. 54: and that of _Draco_ still ten years earlier, _An._ 1, Olymp. 52. After _Solon_ had visited _Crœsus_, he went into _Cilicia_ and some other places, and died [130] in his travels: and this was in the second year of the Tyranny of _Pisistratus_. _Comias_ was Archon when _Solon_ returned from his first travels to _Athens_; and the next year _Hegestratus_ was Archon, and _Solon_ died before the end of the year, _An._ 3, Olymp. 57, as above: and by this reckoning the objection of _Plutarch_ above mentioned is removed.

We have now shewed that the _Phœnicians_ of _Zidon_, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other captains, flying from their enemies, came into _Greece_, with letters and other arts, about the sixteenth year of King _David_'s Reign; that _Europa_ the sister of _Cadmus_, fled some days before him from _Zidon_ and came to _Crete_, and there became the mother of _Minos_, about the 18th or 20th year of _David_'s Reign; that _Sesostris_ and the great _Bacchus_, and by consequence also _Osiris_, were one and the same King of _Egypt_ with _Sesac_, and came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_ to invade the nations, and died 25 years after _Solomon_; that the _Argonautic_ expedition was about 43 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Troy_ was taken about 76 or 78 years after the death of _Solomon_; that the _Phœnicians_ of _Tyre_ were driven from the _Red Sea_ by the _Edomites_, about 87 years after the death of _Solomon_, and within two or three years began to make long voyages upon the _Mediterranean_, sailing to _Spain_, and beyond, under a commander whom for his industry, conduct, and discoveries, they honoured with the names of _Melcartus_ and _Hercules_; that the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ was about 158 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Lycurgus_ the Legislator Reigned at _Sparta_, and gave the three Discs to the Olympic treasury, _An._ 1, Olymp. 18, or 273 years after the death of _Solomon_, the _Quinquertium_ being at that time added to the Olympic Games; that the _Greeks_ began soon after to build _Triremes_, and to send Colonies into _Sicily_ and _Italy_, which gave the name of _Græcia magna_ to those countries; that the first _Messenian_ war ended about 350 years after the death of _Solomon_, _An._ 1, Olymp. 37; that _Phidon_ was contemporary to _Solon_, and presided in the Olympic Games in the 49th Olympiad, that is, 397 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Draco_ was Archon, and made his laws, _An._ 1, Olymp. 52; and _Solon_, _An._ 3, Olymp. 54; and that _Solon_ visited _Crœsus_ _Ann._ 3, Olymp. 57, or 433 years after the death of _Solomon_; and _Sardes_ was taken by _Cyrus_ 438 years, and _Babylon_ by _Cyrus_ 443 years, and _Echatane_ by _Cyrus_ 445 years after the death of _Solomon_: and these periods being settled, they become a foundation for building the Chronology of the antient times upon them; and nothing more remains for settling such a Chronology, than to make these Periods a little exacter, if it can be, and to shew how the rest of the Antiquities of _Greece_, _Egypt_, _Assyria_, _Chaldæa_, and _Media_ may suit therewith.

Whilst _Bacchus_ made his expedition into _India_, _Theseus_ left _Ariadne_ in the Island _Naxus_ or _Dia_, as above, and succeeded his father _Ægeus_ at _Athens_; and upon the Return of _Bacchus_ from _India_, _Ariadne_ became his mistress, and accompanied him in his triumphs; and this was about ten years after the death of _Solomon_: and from that time reigned eight Kings in _Athens_, viz. _Theseus_, _Menestheus_, _Demophoon_, _Oxyntes_, _Aphidas_, _Thymætes_, _Melanthus_, and _Codrus_; these Kings, at 19 years a-piece one with another, might take up about 152 years, and end about 44 years before the Olympiads: then Reigned twelve Archons for life, which at 14 or 15 years a-piece, the State being unstable, might take up about 174 years, and end _An._ 2, Olymp. 33: then reigned seven decennial Archons, which are usually reckoned at seventy years; but some of them dying in their Regency, they might not take up above forty years, and so end about _An._ 2, Olymp. 43, about which time began the Second _Messenian_ war: these decennial Archons were followed by the annual Archons, amongst whom were the Legislators _Draco_ and _Solon_. Soon after the death of _Codrus_, his second Son _Neleus_, not bearing the Reign of his lame brother _Medon_ at _Athens_, retired into _Asia_, and was followed by his younger brothers _Androcles_ and _Cyaretus_, and many others: these had the name of _Ionians_, from _Ion_ the son of _Xuthus_, who commanded the army of the _Athenians_ at the death of _Erechtheus_, and gave the name of _Ionia_ to the country which they invaded: and about 20 or 25 years after the death of _Codrus_, these new Colonies, being now Lords of _Ionia_, set up over themselves a common Council called _Panionium_, and composed of Counsellors sent from twelve of their cities, _Miletus_, _Myus_, _Priene_, _Ephesus_, _Colophon_, _Lebedus_, _Teos_, _Clazomenæ_, _Phocæa_, _Samos_, _Chios_, and _Erythræa_: and this was the _Ionic_ Migration.

[131] When the _Greeks_ and _Latines_ were forming their Technical Chronology, there were great disputes about the Antiquity of _Rome_: the _Greeks_ made it much older than the Olympiads: some of them said it was built by _Æneas_; others, by _Romus_, the son or grandson of _Æneas_; others, by _Romus_, the son or grandson of _Latinus_ King of the _Aborigines_; others, by _Romus_ the son of _Ulysses_, or of _Ascanius_, or of _Italus_: and some of the _Latines_ at first fell in with the opinion of the _Greeks_, saying that it was built by _Romulus_, the son or grandson of _Æneas_. _Timæus Siculus_ represented it built by _Romulus_, the grandson of _Æneas_, above an hundred years before the Olympiads; and so did _Nævius_ the Poet, who was twenty years older than _Ennius_, and served in the first _Punic_ war, and wrote the history of that war. Hitherto nothing certain was agreed upon, but about 140 or 150 years after the death of _Alexander the Great_, they began to say that _Rome_ was built a second time by _Romulus_, in the fifteenth Age after the destruction of _Troy_: by Ages they meant Reigns of the Kings of the _Latines_ at _Alba_, and reckoned the first fourteen Reigns at about 432 years, and the following Reigns of the seven Kings of _Rome_ at 244 years, both which numbers made up the time of about 676 years from the taking of _Troy_, according to these Chronologers; but are much too long for the course of nature: and by this reckoning they placed the building of _Rome_ upon the sixth or seventh Olympiad; _Varro_ placed it on the first year of the Seventh Olympiad, and was therein generally followed by the _Romans_; but this can scarce be reconciled to the course of nature: for I do not meet with any instance in all history, since Chronology was certain, wherein seven Kings, most of whom were slain, Reigned 244 years in continual Succession. The fourteen Reigns of the Kings of the _Latines_, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto 280 years, and these years counted from the taking of _Troy_ end in the 38th Olympiad: and the Seven Reigns of the Kings of _Rome_, four or five of them being slain and one deposed, may at a moderate reckoning amount to fifteen or sixteen years a-piece one with another: let them be reckoned at seventeen years a-piece, and they will amount unto 119 years; which being counted backwards from the Regifuge, end also in the 38th Olympiad: and by these two reckonings _Rome_ was built in the 38th Olympiad, or thereabout. The 280 years and the 119 years together make up 399 years; and the same number of years arises by counting the twenty and one Reigns at nineteen years a-piece: and this being the whole time between the taking of _Troy_ and the Regifuge, let these years be counted backward from the Regifuge, _An._ 1, Olymp. 68, and they will place the taking of _Troy_ about 74 years after the death of _Solomon_.

When _Sesostris_ returned from _Thrace_ into _Egypt_, he left _Æetes_ with part of his army in _Colchis_, to guard that pass; and _Phryxus_ and his sister _Helle_ fled from _Ino_, the daughter of _Cadmus_, to _Æetes_ soon after, in a ship whose ensign was a golden ram: _Ino_ was therefore alive in the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_, the year in which _Sesostris_ returned into _Egypt_; and by consequence her father _Cadmus_ flourished in the Reign of _David_, and not before. _Cadmus_ was the father of _Polydorus_, the father of _Labdacus_, the father of _Laius_, the father of _Oedipus_, the father of _Eteocles_ and _Polynices_ who slew one another in their youth, in the war of the seven Captains at _Thebes_, about ten or twelve years after the _Argonautic_ Expedition: and _Thersander_, the son of _Polynices_, warred at _Troy_. These Generations being by the eldest sons who married young, if they be reckoned at about twenty and four years to a Generation, will place the birth of _Polydorus_ upon the 18th year of _David_'s Reign, or thereabout: and thus _Cadmus_ might be a young man, not yet married, when he came first into _Greece_. At his first coming he sail'd to _Rhodes_, and thence to _Samothrace_, an Island near _Thrace_ on the north side of _Lemnos_, and there married _Harmonia_, the sister of _Jasius_ and _Dardanus_, which gave occasion to the _Samothracian_ mysteries: and _Polydorus_ might be their son, born a year or two after their coming; and his sister _Europa_ might be then a young woman, in the flower of her age. These Generations cannot well be shorter; and therefore _Cadmus_, and his son _Polydorus_, were not younger than we have reckoned them: nor can they be much longer, without making _Polydorus_ too old to be born in _Europe_, and to be the son of _Harmonia_ the sister of _Jasius_. _Labdacus_ was therefore born in the end of _David_'s Reign, _Laius_ in the 24th year of _Solomon_'s, and _Oedipus_ in the seventh of _Rehoboam_'s, or thereabout: unless you had rather say, that _Polydorus_ was born at _Zidon_, before his father came into _Europe_; but his name _Polydorus_ is in the language of _Greece_.

_Polydorus_ married _Nycteis_, the daughter of _Nycteus_ a native of _Greece_, and dying young, left his Kingdom and young son _Labdacus_ under the administration of _Nycteus_. Then _Epopeus_ King of _Ægialus_, afterwards called _Sicyon_, stole _Antiope_ the daughter of _Nycteus_, [132] and _Nycteus_ thereupon made war upon him, and in a battle wherein _Nycteus_ overcame, both were wounded and died soon after. _Nycteus_ left the tuition of _Labdacus_, and administration of the Kingdom, to his brother _Lycus_; and _Epopeus_ or, as _Hyginus_ [133] calls him, _Epaphus_ the _Sicyonian_, left his Kingdom to _Lamedon_, who presently ended the war, by sending home _Antiope_: and she, in returning home, brought forth _Amphion_ and _Zethus_. _Labdacus_ being grown up received the Kingdom from _Lycus_, and soon after dying left it again to his administration, for his young son _Laius_. When _Amphion_ and _Zethus_ were about twenty years old, at the instigation of their mother _Antiope_, they killed _Lycus_, and made _Laius_ flee to _Pelops_, and seized the city _Thebes_, and compassed it with a wall; and _Amphion_ married _Niobe_ the sister of _Pelops_, and by her had several children, amongst whom was _Chloris_, the mother of _Periclymenus_ the _Argonaut_. _Pelops_ was the father of _Plisthenes_, _Atreus_, and _Thyestes_; and _Agamemnon_ and _Menelaus_, the adopted sons of _Atreus_, warred at _Troy_. _Ægisthus_, the son of _Thyestes_, slew _Agamemnon_ the year after the taking of _Troy_; and _Atreus_ died just before _Paris_ stole _Helena_, which, according to [134] _Homer_, was twenty years before the taking of _Troy_. _Deucalion_ the son of _Minos_, [135] was an _Argonaut_; and _Talus_ another son of _Minos_, was slain by the _Argonauts_; and _Idomeneus_ and _Meriones_ the grandsons of _Minos_ were at the _Trojan_ war. All these things confirm the ages of _Cadmus_ and _Europa_, and their posterity, above assigned, and place the death of _Epopeus_ or _Epaphus_ King of _Sicyon_, and birth of _Amphion_ and _Zethus_, upon the tenth year of _Solomon_; and the taking of _Thebes_ by _Amphion_ and _Zethus_, and the flight of _Laius_ to _Pelops_, upon the thirtieth year of that King, or thereabout. _Amphion_ might marry the sister of _Pelops_, the same year, and _Pelops_ come into _Greece_ three or four years before that flight, or about the 26th year of _Solomon_.

[Sidenode p: Hygin. Fab. 14.]

In the days of _Erechtheus_ King of _Athens_, and _Celeus_ King of _Eleusis_, _Ceres_ came into _Attica_; and educated _Triptolemus_ the son of _Celeus_, and taught him to sow corn. She [136] lay with _Jasion_, or _Jasius_, the brother of _Harmonia_ the wife of _Cadmus_; and presently after her death _Erechtheus_ was slain, in a war between the _Athenians_ and _Eleusinians_; and, for the benefaction of bringing tillage into _Greece_, the _Eleusinia Sacra_ were instituted to her [137] with _Egyptian_ ceremonies, by _Celeus_ and _Eumolpus_; and a Sepulchre or Temple was erected to her in _Eleusine_, and in this Temple the families of _Celeus_ and _Eumolpus_ became her Priests: and this Temple, and that which _Eurydice_ erected to her daughter _Danae_, by the name of _Juno Argiva_, are the first instances that I meet with in _Greece_ of Deifying the dead, with Temples, and Sacred Rites, and Sacrifices, and Initiations, and a succession of Priests to perform them. Now by this history it is manifest that _Erechtheus_, _Celeus_, _Eumolpus_, _Ceres_, _Jasius_, _Cadmus_, _Harmonia_, _Asterius_, and _Dardanus_ the brother of _Jasius_, and one of the founders of the Kingdom of _Troy_, were all contemporary to one another, and flourished in their youth, when _Cadmus_ came first into _Europe_. _Erechtheus_ could not be much older, because his daughter _Procris_ convers'd with _Minos_ King of _Crete_; and his grandson _Thespis_ had fifty daughters, who lay with _Hercules_; and his daughter _Orithyia_ was the mother of _Calais_ and _Zetes_, two of the _Argonauts_ in their youth; and his son _Orneus_ [138] was the father of _Peteos_ the father of _Menestheus_, who warred at _Troy_: nor much younger, because his second son _Pandion_, who with the _Metionides_ deposed his elder brother _Cecrops_, was the father of _Ægeus_, the father of _Theseus_; and _Metion_, another of his sons, was the father of _Eupalamus_, the father of _Dædalus_, who was older than _Theseus_; and his daughter _Creusa_ married _Xuthus_, the son of _Hellen_, and by him had two sons, _Achæus_ and _Ion_; and _Ion_ commanded the army of the _Athenians_ against the _Eleusinians_, in the battle in which his grandfather _Erechtheus_ was slain: and this was just before the institution of the _Eleusinia Sacra_, and before the Reign of _Pandion_ the father of _Ægeus_. _Erechtheus_ being an _Egyptian_ procured corn from _Egypt_, and for that benefaction was made King of _Athens_; and near the beginning of his Reign _Ceres_ came into _Attica_ from _Sicily_, in quest of her daughter _Proserpina_. We cannot err much if we make _Hellen_ contemporary to the Reign of _Saul_, and to that of _David_ at _Hebron_; and place the beginning of the Reign of _Erechtheus_ in the 25th year, the coming of _Ceres_ into _Attica_ in the 30th year, and the dispersion of corn by _Triptolemus_ about the 40th year of _David_'s Reign; and the death of _Ceres_ and _Erechtheus_, and institution of the _Eleusinia Sacra_, between the tenth and fifteenth year of _Solomon_.

_Teucer_, _Dardanus_, _Erichthonius_, _Tros_, _Ilus_, _Laomedon_, and _Priamus_ Reigned successively at _Troy_; and their Reigns, at about twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto an hundred and forty years: which counted back from the taking of _Troy_, place the beginning of the Reign of _Teucer_ about the fifteenth year of the Reign of King _David_; and that of _Dardanus_, in the days of _Ceres_, who lay with _Jasius_ the brother of _Dardanus_: whereas Chronologers reckon that the six last of these Kings Reigned 296 years, which is after the rate of 49⅓ years a-piece one with another; and that they began their Reign in the days of _Moses_. _Dardanus_ married the daughter of _Teucer_, the Son of _Scamander_, and succeeded him: whence _Teucer_ was of about the same age with _David_.