a long narrow island, now called Negropont, which stretched along the east coast of Greece from the Sinus Maliaicus, to nearly the most southern point of Attica. Its length was 1200 stadia according to Strabo, 150 miles according to Pliny, but its greatest breadth is nowhere more than 150 stadia, or eighteen miles and a half. High and rocky mountains rendered the eastern coast unfit for habitation, but on the side opposite the mainland, where the ground became more level, there were several good harbours, and in ancient times cities of no considerable importance. The island produced corn in sufficient quantities to serve as the granary of Athens. It possessed warm baths, iron mines in the vicinity of Chalcis, and salt, which Pliny considered as equal in purity to that of Attica. The mountains furnished wood in large quantities; but as the fir was liable to rot, it was of little use for ship-building.

Its inhabitants were composed of several distinct races. In the south dwelt the Abantes, mentioned by Homer; and in the north were the Histiae, who had probably passed over from Thessaly, where we find a district of that name. The Leleges and Dryopes are also said to have occupied a part of the island.

The attack of the Persians must have tended considerably to weaken the strength and power of its inhabitants. Eretria, one of its most flourishing cities, paid the penalty of having assisted its compatriots the Ionians, by being razed to the ground, and its people carried off to the remote regions of Asia. Before the period of the Peloponnesian war it seems to have been wholly subject to the sway of Athens, but towards the conclusion of the contest it succeeded in recovering its independence. The Eubœans, however, do not appear to have gained much by this change; for they became a prey to domestic feuds, and were at length glad to acknowledge their ancient dependence on Athens. They continued in this state till the Macedonians had succeeded in annihilating the maritime supremacy of the Athenians, when the principal cities of Eubœa were garrisoned by the troops of Macedon. The Romans once more restored it to freedom. (Thucyd. i. 114, v. 5; Diodor. xv. xvi.; Liv. xxxiv. 51; Strab. x. 444.; Plin. iv. 12.) For a more full description, the reader may consult Mannert, Geographie des Griechenlande, Leips. 1829 (vol. viii. p. 244). See NEGROPONT.