The Countrv. 35 the sea, strike out the Cambunian Mountains, whose bulwark- like mass stretches away to the south-west, terminating at mighty Pindus, against which it leans. Behind this is the entrenched camp of Thessaly ; once in it advance to the southward is only possible by scaling Mount Othrys. Beyond this again, at the turning-point of the Lamian bay, progress is once more impeded by OEta, which in antiquity rose almost sheer from the waters, only leaving between them and its steep sides the narrow pass known under the name of Thermopylae. As soon as the defile was turned or forced, the lordship of the Boeotian plains was assured ; to descend however into the plains of Eleusis and Athens, it was necessary to cross the gorges of Cithaeron and Parnes. Even when established in Attica, the invader's position was by no means secure ; before him rose high and formidable the rugged mountains of the Isthmus, which like redoubts were set there to guard the approaches to Peloponnesus, and "pre-eminently formed the acropolis of Hellas," said the ancients.^ This fortress had, as it were, its weirs. Advancing from Corinth towards Sparta, two lines of mountains of consider- able size, with a whole array of ravines and passes, barred the way, and had to be crossed under the missiles of the enemy on the watch. A conqueror whose uninterrupted successes had landed into the very heart of this fortified place, the farthest corner of this reduct. might not unreasonably think himself secure ; yet even here his triumphant advance could be turned into a disastrous retreat in less than a few hours. Every gate he had left open in his rear might suddenly be closed against him by the folk interested in keeping them shut. '* Greece," wrote Michelet, ** is like a three-bottomed trap. First you are caught in Thessaly, then at the Thermopylae and the Isthmus, and again in Peloponnesus." It is an immense advantage for a nation to feel as safe in the country in which it dwells as in a well-built house provided with thick walls, stout doors and locks ; being secured against attacks from without, it is able to turn its attention to internal improve-
- The expression is found in Strabo, but it was not invented by him. Curtius
adduces other instances in which the expression occurs, showing the notion or imagery to have been of far more ancient date, and that the Greeks in speaking of the main divisions of their country always supposed themselves to be standing within the Isthmus, on the side of Morea.
