for decision, and declaring the result and other incidental matters.
In England it is illegal, by a statute of George III. (Seditious Meetings Act 1817), to hold a public meeting in the open air within 1 m. of Westminster Hall during the sitting of Parliament.
See C. P. Blackwell’s Law of Meetings (1910).
MEGALOPOLIS, an ancient city of Arcadia, Greece, situated
in a plain about 20 m. S.W. of Tegea, on both banks of the
Helisson, about 212 m. above its junction with the Alpheus. Like
Messene, it owed its origin to the Theban general Epaminondas,
and was founded in 370 B.C., the year after the battle of
Leuctra, as a bulwark for the southern Arcadians against Sparta,
and as the seat of the Arcadian Federal Diet, which consisted
of ten thousand men. The builders were protected by a Theban
force, and directed by ten native oecists (official “founders”),
who likewise attended to the peopling of the new city, which
apparently drew inhabitants from all parts of Arcadia, but
especially from the neighbouring districts of Maenalia and
Parrhasia. Forty townships are mentioned by Pausanias
(viii. 27, 3–5) as having been incorporated in it. It was
50 stadia in circumference, and was surrounded with strong
walls. Its territory was the largest in Arcadia, extending
northward 24 m. The city was built on a magnificent scale,
and adorned with many handsome buildings, both public and
private. Its temples contained many ancient statues brought
from the towns incorporated in it. After the departure of
Epaminondas, Lycomedes of Mantineia succeeded in drawing
the Arcadian federation away from its alliance with Thebes,
and it was consequently obliged to make common cause with
Athens. An attempt on the part of the federation to use the
treasures of the temple of Zeus at Olympia led to internal
dissensions, so that in the battle of Mantineia (362) one half of
the Arcadians fought on the side of the Spartans, the other
on that of the Thebans. After this battle many of the
inhabitants of Megalopolis sought to return to their former
homes, and it was only by the assistance of three thousand
Thebans under Pammenes that the authorities were able to
prevent them from doing so. In 353, when Thebes had her
hands full with the so-called Sacred War, the Spartans made
an attempt to reduce Megalopolis; but the Thebans sent
assistance and the city was rescued. Not sure of this assistance,
the Megalopolitans had appealed to Athens, an appeal
which gave occasion to the oration of Demosthenes, Περὶ Μέγαλοπολιτῶν.
The Spartans were now obliged to conclude
peace with Megalopolis and acknowledge her autonomy.
Nevertheless their feeling of hostility did not cease, and
Megalopolis consequently entered into friendly relations with
Philip of Macedon. Twenty years later, when the Spartans
and their allies rebelled against the power of Macedon,
Megalopolis remained firm in its allegiance, and was
subjected to a long siege. After the death of Alexander,
Megalopolis was governed by native tyrants. In the war
between Cassander and Polyperchon it took part with the
former and was besieged by the latter. On this occasion it
was able to send into the field an army of fifteen thousand.
In 234 B.C. Lydiades, the last tyrant of Megalopolis, voluntarily
resigned his power, and the city joined the Achaean League.
In consequence of this it was again exposed to the hatred of
Sparta. In 222 Cleomenes plundered it and killed or dispersed
its inhabitants, but in the year following it was restored and its
inhabitants reinstated by Philopoemen, a native of the city.
After this, however, it gradually sank into insignificance. The
only great men whom it produced were Philopoemen and
Polybius the historian. Lycortas, the father of the latter,
may be accounted a third. In the time of Pausanias the
city was mostly in ruins.
The site of Megalopolis was excavated by members of the British School at Athens in the years 1890–1892. The description of Pausanias is so clear that it enabled Curtius, in his Peloponnesos, to give a conjectural plan that was found to tally in most respects with the reality. The town was divided into two approximately equal parts by the river Helisson, which flows through it from east to west. The line of the walls may be traced, partly by remains, partly by the contours it must have followed, and confirms the estimate of Polybius that they had a circuit of 50 stades, or about 512 m. It is difficult to see how the river bed, now a broad and shingly waste, was dealt with in ancient times; it must have been embanked in some way, but there are no remains to show whether the fortification wall
