ARGEIA

ARGEIA, or ARGOLIS, a district of Peloponnesus, situated between Arcadia to the west, the Egean sea to the east, Laconia and the Sinus Argolicus to the south, and to the north the territory of Corinth and the Sinus Saronicus (Livy, Ptolemy); so called from ARGOS, the capital: Now Romania di Morea.

By the Greeks the people were called Argieii, from Argi or Argos; by the Romans, Argivi, Argives. They were a colony who migrated, it is said, from Egypt, under the command of Inachus. Polemon and Ptolemy Mendelius, ancient Greek writers, inform us, that Inachus was contemporary with Amosis, who demolished Avaris, and expelled the shepherds out of Egypt. If, with some learned chronologists, we suppose Inachus to have begun to reform the Argives B. C. 1856, and to have died B. C. 1808, he must have been coeval with Amosis, who reigned in Upper Egypt 15 years before the expulsion of the shepherds, and 10 years after that event, which happened B. C. 1806. Inachus was styled the Son of the Ocean, because his origin was not known, or because he had come by sea into Greece. Before his arrival the inhabitants were rude and barbarous. These he united and civilized, and instructed in various arts. His son Phoroneus instituted the laws of government; and, on that account, has been called the first king in Argos, the first of men, and the father of mortals. The family of Inachus, after having kept possession of the throne

Argemone throne 347 years, were expelled by Danaus, who arrived B. C. 1509 with a colony from Canaan. Acrifius, the last king of Argos, died B. C. 1313; and was succeeded by Perseus, his grandson, who transferred the seat of government to Mycenae, 544 years from the first year of Inachus, in the reign of Cecrops II. king of Athens, and about the time when Pelops the son of Tantalus king of Phrygia, having been compelled by Ilus to leave his native country, came into Greece with great wealth, and acquired supreme power in the region afterwards called by his name. In the 37th year of Eurytheus, grandson of Perseus, the Argonautic expedition happened, i. e. B. C. 1224. This unjust and tyrannical prince had assigned to Hercules his tasks; and, after the death of that hero, he banished all his children. These were the Heraclides who fled to Athens for protection, and who returned to Peloponnesus 40 years after the destruction of Troy. In the reign of Agamemnon, the Trojan war commenced, and it was carried on with vigour during the space of ten years. In the year B. C. 1184, Troy was taken, and the war was concluded. Scarcely had the Grecians settled in their own country after their return from this dangerous expedition, when the posterity of Hercules invaded Peloponnesus, took possession of it, and divided it among themselves. Here the kingdom of Mycenae ended, and that of Sparta was established on its ruins. See SPARTA.