Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/41

CITIES ON THE CHALKIDIC PENINSULA- 23 have been Melhone, founded by the Eretrians in Pieria ; nearly at the same time (if we may tru>t a statement of rather suspicious character, though the date itself is noway improbable) as Korkyra was settled by the Corinthians, (about 730-720 B.C.) 1 It was a little to the north of the Pierian town of Pydna, and separated by about ten miles from the Bottiaean town of Alorus, which lay north of the Haliakmon. 2 We know very little about Methone, except that it preserved its autonomy and its Hellenism until the time of Philip of Macedon, who took and destroyed it. But though, when once established, it was strong enough to main- tain itself in spite of conquests made all around by the Macedo- nians of Edessa, we may fairly presume that it could not have been originally planted on Macedonian territory. Nor in point of fact was the situation peculiarly advantageous for Grecian colonists, inasmuch as there were other maritime towns, not Grecian, in its neighborhood, Pydna, Alorus, Therma, Chalas- tra ; whereas the point of advantage for a Grecian colony was. to become the exclusive seaport for inland indigenous people. The colonies, founded by Chalkis and Eretria on all the three projections of the Chalkidic peninsula, were numerous, though for a long time inconsiderable. We do not know how far these projecting headlands were occupied before the arrival of the settlers from Eubcea, an event which we may probably place at some period earlier than 600 B.C. ; for after that period Chalkis and Eretria seem rather on the decline, and it appears too, that the Chalkidian colonists in Thrace aided their mother- city Chalkis in her war against Eretria, which cannot be much later than 600 B.C., though it may be considerably earlier. The range of mountains which crosses from the Thermaic to the Strymonic gulf, and forms the northern limit of the Chalki- dic peninsula, slopes down towards the southern extremity, so as to leave a considerable tract of fertile land between the Toronaic nnd the Thermaic gulfs, including the fertile headland called Pallene, the westernmost of those three prongs of Chalkidike which run out into the ^Egean. Of the other two prongs, or pro- jections, the easternmost is terminated by the sublime Mount Atlns, which rises out of the sea as a precipitous rock six thou 1 1'lutarch, Qusest. Grroo i 293. * Skylax, c. bf.