Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/49

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Dr Arnold on the Spartan Constitution..
39

by him proceeds on a ground fundamentally wrong, and as there are some points in his historical statements which seem to be inaccurate either in substance or expression, I shall take the liberty of following him through the chief part of his discussion, and attempt to suggest an explanation free from the objections to which his is liable. After giving the well-known account of the Doric con- quest of Laconia, Dr Arnold adopts the statement of Ephorus, that the Achaeans were not at first reduced to complete sub- jection. "The conquered people, although dispossessed of a considerable portion of their lands, and although their throne was filled by strangers, were still in law equal to the con- querors, and not only enjoyed the private rights of citizen- ship, such as the right of intermarriage with the Dorians, but were also eligible to all offices of state except the crown." (p. 642). This account of Ephorus, which had been rejected by Müller, Dr Arnold follows also in another place, where he attempts to answer the objections made to it : and in order to ascertain how far he has been successful in reestablish- ing the credit of Ephorus, it will be necessary to examine the matter in detail.

Ephorus (ap. Strab. viii. p. S64.) says that Eurysthenes and Procles, the Heraclidae, who conquered Laconia, divided it into six parts, and fortified the country : that they gave the province which contained Amyclae as a reward to the person who betrayed the country into their hands, and per- suaded the former governor to go away with the Achaeans. Miiller objects to these statements of Ephorus chiefly for the following reasons. (Dorians, b. i. c. 5. § 11 — 14.)

1. It appears that according to the national tradition of Sparta, Eurysthenes and Procles were not the conquerors or founders of Sparta, but Aristodemus. (Herod, vi. 52.) This tradition has been followed by Xenophon, who says that " the house of Agesilaus appeared to have the very doors which had been put up by Aristodemus."" Whence Plutarch Agesil. 19. It was also adopted by Alcaeus, as Niebuhr has remarked, (vol. i. n. 1OO7.) (Symbol missingGreek characters). Consequently, Eurysthenes and Procles cannot have been reported in the national tradition of Sparta to have been the conquerors of