I O N I O N 205 intricate indeed is the coast-line that iheperiplus or voyage along its shores was estimated at 340 geographical miles, or nearly four times the direct distance. A great part of this area was, moreover, occupied by mountains, none of them attaining to any great elevation, but filling up a con siderable space. Of these the most lofty and striking were Mounts Mimas and Corycus, in the peninsula which stands out to the west, facing the island of Chios ; Mount Sipylos, to the north of Smyrna ; Mount Corax, extending to the south-west from the Gulf of Smyrna, and descending to the sea between Lebedus and Teos ; and the strongly marked range of Mount Mycale, which is in fact a kind of continua tion of the chain known as Mount Messogis in the interior, and forms the bold headland of Trogilium or Mycale, op posite to the island of Samos. None of these mountains attain a height of more than from 3000 to 4000 feet ; but they for the most part form abrupt and detached ranges, intersecting the country in different directions. Confined as it thus was, the narrow district in question had the advantage of comprising three broad valleys, formed by the outflow of three rivers, among the most considerable in Asia Minor: the Hermus in the north, flowing into the Gulf of Smyrna, though at a considerable distance from the city of that name ; the Cayster, which flowed under the walls of Ephesus ; and the Mseander, which in ancient times discharged its waters into the deep gulf that bathed the walls of Miletus, which has been gradually filled up by its continued action. These valleys were all of them extremely fertile, and besides them many smaller tracts were to be found between the mountains and the sea, of great fertility, and enjoying the advantage of a peculiarly fine climate, for which this part of Asia Minor has been famous in all ages. The consequence is that Ionia enjoyed the reputation in ancient times of being the most fertile of all the rich provinces of Asia Minor ; and even in modern times, though very imperfectly cultivated, it produces abun dance of fruit of all kinds, and the raisins and figs of Smyrna supply almost all the markets of Europe. The colonies founded in such a favoured land speedily rose to opulence and prosperity. Miletus especially was at an early period one of the most important commercial cities of Greece, and in its turn became the parent of numerous other colonies, which extended all around the shores of the Euxine and the Propontis, from Abydus and Cyzicus to Trapezus and Panticapseum. Phocsea also was one of the first Greek cities whose mariners explored the distant shores of the western Mediterranean, where they founded on the coast of Gaul the important colony of Massilia. Ephesus also, though it did not send out any colonies of importance, from an early period became a flourishing and opulent city, and gradually attained to a position in this part of Asia corresponding in some measure to that of Smyrna at the present day. The first event in the history of these Ionian cities of which we have any trustworthy account is the invasion, or rather inroad, of the Cimmerians, a nomad people from beyond the Euxine, who ravaged a great part of Asia Minor, including the neighbouring Lydia, and even sacked Magnesia on the Mseander, but were foiled in their attack upon Ephesus. This event may be referred to the middle of the 7th century B.C. A more formidable danger soon threatened the Ionian Greeks from the rising power of the Lydian monarchy. Gyges, the first king of the Mermnad dynasty (about 700 B. c. ), already invaded the territories of Smyrna and Miletus, and is even said to have taken Colophon, as his son Ardys did Priene. But neither conquest was durable, and it was not till the reign of Croesus (560-545 B. c. ) that the cities of Ionia successively fell tinder the dominion of the Lydian monarch. The defeat of Croesus by Cyrus was followed by the conquest of all the Ionian cities by the Persian general Harpagus, and they henceforth became subject to the Per sian monarchy, in common with all the other Greek cities of Asia. In this position they enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy, but were for the most part subject to the rule of local despots. It was at the instigation of one of these, Histioeus of Miletus, that in about 500 B.C. the principal cities broke out into insurrection against Persia, in which they were at first assisted by the Athenians, with whose aid they even penetrated into the interior, and burnt the important city of Sardis, an event which ultimately led to the Persian invasion of Greece. But this first success was of little avail ; the ilect of the loniaus was defeated in a great battle off the little island of Lade, and the capture and destruction of Miletus, after a long protracted siege, was followed by the reconquest of all the Asiatic Greeks, insular as well as continental (494 B.C.). The victories of the Greeks during the great Persian war had the eil ect of enfranchising their kinsmen on the other side of the
- Egean ; and the battle of Mycale (479 B.C.), in which the defeat of
the 1 ersians was in great measure owing to the revolt of the lonians, secured their emancipation from the Persian yoke. They hence forth became, like most of the inhabitants of the islands, the de pendent allies of Athens, though still retaining their autonomy, which they preserved until the peace of Antalcidas in 388 B.C. once more placed them, as well as the other Greek cities in Asia, under the nominal dominion of Persia. They appear, however, to have retained a considerable amount of freedom until the invasion of Asia Minor by Alexander the Great brought about a fresh change. After the battle of the Granicus most of the Ionian cities submitted at once to the conqueror ; Miletus alone held out, and was not reduced till after along siege, 334 B.C. From this time they passed successively under the dominion of the Macedonian rulers of "Asia, but continued to enjoy a state of great prosperity, both under these Greek dynasties and after they had been united as a part of the province of Asia with the all-absorbing empire of Borne. t There was indeed one striking exception to this prosperity. Mi letus, so long one of the chief cities of Ionia, gradually sank into complete decay, a circumstance owing not so much to political as to physical causes, the mass of alluvial matter brought down by the river Mceander having gradually filled up the Latmian Gulf, on which it was situated, so that the island of Lade was ultimately joined to the mainland, and Miletus itself altogether ceased to be a seaport. The same cause has at a later period produced the same effect, though in a less degree, with the city of Ephesus ; while the continually advancing deposits of the Hermus threaten, at no dis tant period, unless prevented by the skill of modern engineers, to close up the still more extensive Gulf of Smyrna. It has been mentioned that the Ionian cities were accustomed to celebrate in common a festival called the Pan-Ionia ; the sanctuary at which this was celebrated, and which was also called the Pan- Ionium, was situated on the northern slope of Mount Mycale, in the territory of Priene. But, besides this common religious centre, Ionia contained also two of the most celebrated shrines in all Asia, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and that of Apollo at Branchidaj near Miletus. It is probable that both sites were connected with local centres of more ancient religious worship, and were adopted by the Ionian Greeks when they first settled in Asia. (E. H. B.) IONIAN" ISLANDS, the ordinary collective name of Corfu (KepKtipa), Cephalonia (Ke^aAX^via), Zante (ZO.KW-
- o?), Santa Maura (Aewck), Ithaca, Cerigo (Kvdtjpa), and
Paxo, with their minor dependencies. As the islands are seven in number they are often called the Heptanesus ( ETrrav^cros) in Greek, and Heptanesian or Septinsular is the corresponding adjective. The history of the use of Ionian as the distinctive epithet of the islands is sufficiently obscure; but it is probable that, like the application of the name Ionian Sea to this part of the Mediterranean, it is due to the settling of Ionian colonists on the coasts and islands. The islands have no real geographical unity be yond that involved in the fact that, with the exception of Cerigo, situated off the south coast, they are all within a little distance of the west coast of Greece or Albania. Corfu is separated from the mainland by not more than 2 miles, while the passage from it to Santa Maura, the nearest of the larger islands, is no less than 4G. Since 1863 the whole Heptanesian territory has been incorporated with the kingdom of Greece, and the several islands have been assigned to different administrative divisions. Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zante each gives its name to one of the thirteen nomarchies of the kingdom ; Cerigo is part of the nomarchy of Argolis and Corinth. The area of the seven islands is computed at 1041 square miles. The popula tion shows a steady increase: in 183G it was 204,242 (110,496 males, 93,746 females); inl854, 228,981(123,254 males, 105,727 females); in 1870, 229,516; and in 1879, 244,433. The following table shows the details of the last census :
