Dodona Oracle and the Boiotians

It was the Boiotians  and Pelasgians who consulted the Oracle at Dodona before a battle with the Thracians and their Pelasgian allies. The Thracians had abused a peace treaty saying they could still attack the Boiotians at night which was rather unfair since the Boiotians had lapsed off their defences since the treaty. Thus the proverb 'A Thracian pretext'. The Oracle had three priestesses and one of them was faithful to the opposing side of Pelasgians since Dodona had seemed to be biased towards the Pelasgians - it being located in the area of where they originated. She gave a supposedly biased oracle translation, after rustling and waving leaves and interpreting the voices of the Gods and all that. She suggested the Boioioioiotians commit sacrilege. The Boiotian messenger decided to take the matter in his own hands and he burned the priestess for giving a supposedly false oracle or maybe it was because she was Pelasgian and they were only doing what she had advised them to do. They were in subsequent bother anyway and a trial was set up. The Boeotians noticed to their chagrin that there was an all woman dury and wanted more men to balance things out and make things equal. This was granted and the verdict was a draw, thus the Boiotioans escaped a conviction. Close one. The men then took charge of the Dodonian Oracle. A clothed tripod is now paraded as a reminder of the unfortunate episode. Sorry about the typos. You try writing Boiotians constantly under such duress.

Oracle of Abai - a lesser known oracle

The Oracle of Abai was in Locria. Some say the Persian commander Mardonius consulted it before the battle of Salamis. Since he was a Persian maybe this was just a rumour. He defeated the United Greeks at Thermopylai although the Spartans under Leonidas certainly gave him something to think about.
   The Doric tetrapolis was composed of four cities exactly like the Quad Cities in America. The tetrapolis consisted of Erineos Boium Cytinium and Pindus. The tetrapolis was located in the valley of the Pindus river. There is also an Attic tetrapolis.
    A neapolis is basically a new town. Neapolis is based where Naples is located now and is the place where the fashion editor of Tatler, the eccentric aristocrat Isabella Blow, wanted to do a risqué topless fashion shoot to be called "Nipples in Naples" but the head said no so she went back to Elizabeth Street and told a male model she had a terrible day and said "stick it up my hourglass darling" I digress. It's nice to relate modern day tales with classic geography ha ha.
   Metapontium was in Italia I believe.
   The Lokrians went on to found Locri in southern Italy and were mostly people from the city of Opus. There were some Lacedaimonians involved too as they always seem to get their oar in matters. The main cities of Western Lokria were Naupaktos and Amphissa, so I was mistaken about Opus being the main city. It was a split region being on both coasts. They say there might have been an invasion that split the original Dorian and Locrian state. Opus was in fact the main city of the more northern Opuntian Locrian part. Ozolian Lokrians were considered to be the less civilised of the Lokrians. The main towns of Epiknemidian Lokris on the Malian coast were Larymna and Thronium. Skarpheia and Nicaia were up there on the Malian coast.
   At Naupaktos the Herakleidai built their fleet to invade the Peloponnesos and has always been associated with shipbuilding ever since. Seems they can't shake off the legacy of Hercules. Naupaktos was still operational as a naval station in roman times.
  So Locris was split down the middle by Doris. Locris never caught on as a woman's name like Doris. Locris Day. Nah. The Ainianians bordered the west.
   Thermopylai. The Asopus river emerges nearby into the Malian gulf and it's tributary the Phoenix joins nearby. The coast has changed a lot since 480 bc and the coastal pass of Thermopylai used to be practically on the coast or a little bit set back. The Persians came in through the Anopean Mts into Trachinia. The Persian camp was on the banks of the Melas river not far from the city of Trachin. Just north of Heraclea. The Sperchius and Dyras rivers empty into the Malian gulf north of Trachin. Antikyra lies on the Sperchius.
   At the battle of Thermopylai the Persians under Mardonius won but not without exceptional courage and bravery from the vastly outnumbered Greeks and Spartans under Leonidas. The Greeks under Themistocles saw the Persians home at the naval battle of Salamis and another land-based battle at Platea during the second Persian war. Xerxes's  men left for Persia very displeased, diseased and wounded and didn't return for a long time in the third Persian war.

Peloponnesian War by Thucydides notes

When the people reluctantly moved from the countryside to Athens they used areas of the city previously uninhabited to avoid overcrowding. Temples and sanctuaries were temporary homes. The oracle at Delphi had once declared the area behind the acropolis called the Pelargikon cursed, but the newcomers camped in the area regardless of such dire warnings. Livestock was pushed out to Euboia. Inside the city walls of Athens was considered to be appropriate. Pericles was in charge. Various sea battles in gulf of Krisa. Phormio Athenian admiral.

During the battle for Pylos there was a food shortage. The Lacedaimonians used divers who swam under water in the harbour with a cord attached pulling a waterproof skin wrapped with honey nuts and linseed. They evaded lookouts for a whole but started to be spotted. The island was a wooded mess and the Athenian general Demosthenes had designs on torching the Spartan held island as he had always considered it a disgraceful place. After a truce and several people going back on their word such ad the Athenians denying the Lacedaimonians the release of their ships - Kleon took over command of the Athenian offensive from Nikias.
Brasidas took Amphipolis and Akte. Bloody battle at Delion and athenians defeated.

Archias of the Herakleidai in Corinth founded Syracuse. Nikias not convinced about sailing to Sicily. Many problems back in Greece but Alcibiades wants to go and make money and conquer. Xenophanes.

Sicilian expedition sails under a reluctant Nikias and a more favourable yet possibly detested Alcibiades. Costs. Silver gold etc. Trireme preparation in both looks and speed. Customization. Laches. Syracusans mostly disbelieve the rumours and remain complacent despite the words of Athenagoras and others. Ionian sea. Taras would be friendly to the Syracusans. Egestians being the only Athenian allies. Most of the sikeliots would unite against Athens. Sikels prefer their freedom. Eurymedon.
Alkamenes general. Arhyokos. Chios was a central issue. Sparta allied with Persian Tissaphernes who paid well. Treaty. Syracusans under Gylippus sailed into the Aegeian arena. Athens lower classes revolted against uppers. Same on other Athenian held islands. Beached ships. Big sea battle off Miletos. Miletians. More hoplites supplied from Athens. Naval superiority. Lacedaimonians had zeal and aggression. Chalkideus was killed. Klearchos involved.

Sicilian expedition ended in catastrophe. Nikias fled to a far river but Syracusans pursued and there was a bloody battle where the wearisome Athenians hungry tired and thirsty were fighting and trying to drink the muddy bloodied death strewn waters. Slaughter. Horrendous. One of the bloodiest moments in Hellenic history. Nikias was executed despite his virtuous leadership. A brave man who gave everything was defeated and he knew the expedition was risky right from the start. Demosthenes executed.

Lesbos involved. Hermokrates mentioned again. Thucydides doesn't cover the last seven years of the war. Pedacritos. Korykos a harbour. Argives fought with Spartans at Miletos. Stop the walls being built around the city! Lade island. Alcibiades still at large on good terms with Tissaphernes. One drachma pay per hoplite and sailor. Persian intervention was obviously a bone of contention; the Athenians and Spartans had fought together against the Persians so this was going back on a pledge. Knidos involved. Athens never regained its standing after the war ever again. It changed the history of Greece forever. But they still won the Euros! Spartans decided not to raze Athens despite people calling for them to do so.
When the people reluctantly moved from the countryside to Athens they used areas of the city previously uninhabited to avoid overcrowding. Temples and sanctuaries were temporary homes. The oracle at Delphi had once declared the area behind the acropolis called the Pelargikon cursed, but the newcomers camped in the area regardless of such dire warnings. Livestock was pushed out to Euboia. Inside the city walls of Athens was considered to be appropriate. Pericles was in charge. Various sea battles in gulf of Krisa. Phormio Athenian admiral. Spartans constantly attacking Attica. Boiotians were Spartan allies. Antiphon.

During the battle for Pylos ( Spakteria island) there was a food shortage. The Lacedaimonians used divers who swam under water in the harbour with a cord attached pulling a waterproof skin wrapped with honey nuts and linseed. They evaded lookouts for a whole but started to be spotted. The island was a wooded mess and the Athenian general Demosthenes had designs on torching the Spartan held island as he had always considered it a disgraceful place. After a truce and several people going back on their word such ad the Athenians denying the Lacedaimonians the release of their ships - Kleon took over command of the Athenian offensive from Nikias.
Brasidas took Amphipolis and Akte. Kleon was killed.  Bloody battle at Delion,  the only land battle! and athenians defeated. Brasidas killed.

Archias of the Herakleidai in Corinth founded Syracuse. Nikias not convinced about sailing to Sicily. Many problems back in Greece but Alcibiades wants to go and make money and conquer. Xenophanes.

Athenian fleet at Naupaktos

Sicilian expedition sails under a reluctant Nikias and a more enthusiastic yet possibly detested Alcibiades as he may have been involved in the so called Athenian mysteries. And Lamarchus.  Costs. Silver gold etc. Trireme and pentekonter preparation in both looks and speed. Customization. Laches. Syracusans mostly disbelieve the rumours and remain complacent despite the words of Athenagoras and others. Ionian sea. Taras would be friendly to the Syracusans. Egestians being the only Athenian allies. Most of the sikeliots would unite against Athens. Sikels prefer their freedom. Digression of Thucydides on Hippas and Hipparchus. The stabbing of a tyrant.

So was Alcibiades the Athenian general  working undercover for the Spartans? Thucydides says he defected to Sparta  and on his return from Sicily after his exile ( he was supposedly being tried at Athens for Eleusian mysteries ) was welcomed into Lacedaimon despite his being a bit of a pain at the battle of Mantinea that the Spartans won.
   Athens and Syracuse failed to gain the alliance of Kamarina who remained neutral despite the threats from both sides that their city would be razed after the war. Euphemos the Athenian said the Syracusan plea was slanderous. The Syracusans said that Athens would turn sicily into a slave state and was using Segesta as a pretext. Naxos became a port for Syracuse. No battles took place during winters. The distance of Sicily across the Ionian sea was always going to be an obstacle ( rather like the later day American War of Independence and the Atlantic being a hurdle for Britain ).
Lots of wall building strategies on the plain of Syracuse ( too rocky for trenches) ; Epipolae. Stakes in the harbour causing problems for Athenian ships, divers sorted them out. Plemmyrium taken by Athens and retaken by Sparta. Strategic point.

Thucydides bias towards Athens as he was an Athenian general. He saw the Spartans as barbarians. Mind you Xenophon was pro Sparta and he was of the same opinion about them. Thucydides seen as a bit of a modernist.

The Boiotians at Syracuse routed the Athenians. Several battles in the harbour. Kind of a draw. Ramming was used. Small boats full of javelin-throwers took out Athenian rowers. Syracusans withdrew for dinner and unexpectedly returned thus confusing the resting athenians. Their ships needed drying and repairing but nowhere to do it. Demosthenes made for Epipolae and the cross - wall.

Mazaka by Mykalus Kane

My name is Mykalus Kane and I'm a nosy Cappadocian. I'm from Kilikia not to be confused with Rough Kilikia but it's all part of Cappadocia. See that island in the the river? That's called Elaioussa, it's where old Archelaos spent most of his time fishing for catfish until he married the governess Pythodoris who wore the old fucker out. I'm from the city of Mazaka and I live in one of the few fortresses that don't belong to the bloody king. Mazaka is the metropolis of the people and some call it Eusebeia Argaios because it's situated at the foot of Mt Argaios, which is the highest bloody mountain in Kilikia and the summit is always covered in bloody snow. If you climb to the top on a clear day you can see both the Issic and the bloody Pontic Sea. Some call the Issic sea the Mediterranean and the Pontic the Black Sea. It's all bloody Greek if you ask me.
   I run a little stall selling wood and there's a bloody big forest around Mt Argaios so I make a decent bloody living. Mazaka is nice but there's not a lot of bloody water. They say it was a bloody stupid place to have built a city here in the first place, but the king liked it because there was a lot of bloody timber and stone. The trouble is it's surrounded by desert, so essentials have to be brought in from quite a long way away. Mazaka don't have any walls around it, because they say it's never been a target for invaders what with it being in the middle of fucking nowhere. Like I say, the fields are barren and uncultivated and pretty bloody useless but the sand is good for mortar and that's bloody useful! The ground is rocky so you don't get many tent dwellers about which is a shame as I think camping is a nice cheap alternative to having to fork out for a fucking hotel up in Sinope. Pay through the nose you do in Sinope! It does have a nice branch of Woolworths though, where my new bird got some pick n' mix. She's from Tyana in the district of Tyanitis. She cooks and cleans and don't shut up!
   The plains outside the city are dry and volcanic and there are larva pits everywhere, which are bloody dangerous. If you don't keep your mincers peeled you can fall down one and you ain't gonna catch a cold! There's a lot of marshes too and the gases drift over the larva pits and ignite a proper little firework display, but not always in bloody November!! The gas from the marsh sometimes permeates into the city and it don't arf pen and ink in the summer. Only last week old Maninnikos was walking a big herd of cattle and one of his cows fell into some larva and the smell of roast beef attracted a pack of dogs and a lion. He beat them off with a scythe as he's handy is old Maninnikos. That fucking lion scratched him a bit though, he had to visit A&E in Herakleion.
   Last year King Ariarathes, I call him Hairyarse, decided it would be a good idea to dam the Melas river thus turning the plains into a lake. He even went as far as building little islands in the lake because he was off his bloody rocker! The dam broke causing a great deal of devastation. Several villages in Cappadocia ended up being washed down the Euphrates river towards Babylon and the villages belonged to a mob called the Galatians, who were said to be the ancestors of the French! Not a lot of people know that. Anyway, because of that, old King Hairyarse had to pay 300,000 bob in damages to the Galatians by order of the Roman senate. So what does he do, he goes and dams another river and the same thing bloody happens, this time he destroys Mallos, a lovely old town, and the Romans fine him a second time. Seems the fucker never gives up. Mad as a box of frogs. Up on the Pontic coast is the upmarket city of Sinope and they're all a bunch of merchant bankers. Bootos says the city is built of slabs made from crystal and onyx but I say Bootos is talking cobblers cos when I was there I only saw bloody marble!! They use carved stone for the handles of their daggers and they bloody well need 'em cos there's a lot of cunts in Sinope. Well nice talking to ya, now fuck off, my tea's getting cold!

Lovers Leap at Leukas

The rock that projects from Leukas into the open sea is called The Leap. Wings and birds are attached to the leaping person and sometimes many rescuers would be gathered in the waters directly below. Leuke - white. The Rock was called The Leap and was white in colour. Menandros documented the location and there were many scenarios and tales about it. When the falling person had been saved the boatmen would make sure the leaper would be able to escape across the border to another state. The Leap is believed to end the longings of love.
   Menandros thus says that the poet and songstress Sappho was one of the first people to leap off The Leap. Kephalos was said to be the very first. Those more knowledgeable in antiquarianism acknowledge this as being the truth and that it was indeed Kephalos. Anyway the ancestral custom among the people was to sometimes throw a miscreant off the leap every now and then as a sacrifice to rid them of evil.

Spartans and Helots

Nemea is a city halfway between Argos and Corinth, famous for the Nemean lion slayed by Herakles.
  WATH. War against the Helots. Helots once revolted against the Spartan King Agis who took away their privileges and forced to pay contributions to the government which was obviously bloody unfair so they revolted but lost and became state Slaves and were given jobs with homes. Originally from Helos in Laconia which was a foundation of Heleios son of Perseus. Eurotas river runs through Sparta to the gulf of Laconia. Later the Helots sided with the romans because of a tyrannical and disordered government.
   Twice mentioned now in strabo are caves where supposedly Hercules went down to Hades to catch the Cerberus a three headed dog creature. There is a Cape off Laconia where this also may have happened.
   They say in Elis at the Pisatis region there is a city called Pisa or Bisa which means spring or water spout.
  Aitolos the Eleian named his land Aitolia after he was ousted from Elis by Salmonius, whose daughter was Tyro who fell in love with a river. His descendant Oxylos wanted his ancestral land Elis back but the Epeians were there and what a cheek. Pyraichmes the Aitolian fought Degmenos the Epeian in single combat - customary Hellenic style the first with a slingshot and the latter with a bow. Pyraichmes won with his slingshot a more modern weapon and  Degmenos hit the deck and died. The Aitolians possessed Olympia now! They made it sacred to Zeus and therefore it was a curse for anyone to attack it so they never bothered fortifying it with walls and demanded any strangers drop their weapons on entry for they would receive them back once they had passed through peacefully. Iphitos established the games. The population increased. It was a peaceful city now. Indeed it became one of the most prosperous and populous states under Pheidon the Argive from Argos who started a mint. Eventually Pheidon invaded other parts of the Peloponnesos and this hacked off the Lacedaimonians so they got together with Elis and took Pheidon to the cleaners. The Lacedaimonians said we can't have this Pheidon depriving the Peloponnesos of its hegemony! The Spartans took to the seas one day and founded Taras in southern Italy. Now Taranto. So is the art publisher Phaidon named after this guy?
   Tyrtaios wrote the Eunomia an elegy about the war. Limnai is a suburb of Sparta where the Messenians were said to have raped some maidens who had come to sacrifice. What they sacrificed I don't know but the outrage infused a war. Aristocrates was a commander. Tyrtaios was supposedly an Athenian from Aphidna. Tyrtaios wrote "Kronion the spouse of beautifully crowned Hera Zeus himself gave this city to the Herakleidai with whom I abandoned windy Erineos and came to the broad island of Pelops" 
   Someone said Laconia is lacking in men but they must have been talking nonsense as the Spartan army lived there! One time the Spartans invaded most of the Peloponnesos but it wasn't a long standing effort. During Roman times a bloke called Eurykles ran the island of Kythera just off Laconia. Sparta lies in the shadow of Mt Taygetos where it has supposedly erupted being in an earthquake zone and where recently the Romans have excavated a mine at considerable cost but with a view to making good profits.
   Thornax, now that's a name! Need to find out more about it. Funny how the Greeks often called the wind the Lips which is understandable since you use your lips to blow so they naturally must have thought Zephyrus had a massive pair of lips and thus created the wind as indeed would have Boreas. They did some weird things including divining and examining the bowels and intestines of fallen enemy soldiers to establish omens and such like. An eagle perched high in a tree was regarded as a bad omen. They seriously believed their dreams meant something and even family members killed each other because of portentous dreams.

Herculaneum short

In Herculaneum it was the lower middle class and artisans who were classified as plebians and they often played backgammon whilst eating English walnuts with Vesuvius rumbling ominously in the background. They lived in cramped conditions in what could be described as a prototype for the tenement buildings of today. That's it for now on Herculaneum.