in *Greek Antiquity*, was an association of several tribes for the purpose of insuring the observation of the law of nations towards one another, and of protecting the temple of the deity whose worship formed the outward bond of union among the several tribes. It is acknowledged on all hands, and admitted by the ancients themselves, that the name is formed from *ἀπόκαι* and *κτίζον*, or rather *κτίζον*, whence its meaning is "the dwellers around" (a common centre). According to this etymology, the name ought to be spelt *Amphictyony*; but in deference to the ancient legend, which connects the institution with the mythical hero Amphictyon, the spelling *Amphictyony* still prevails; although there were Greek amphictyonies with which that hero neither had, nor could have had, any connection whatever. There is positive evidence that several associations of this kind existed in Greece at a very early period; and they are of special interest to the philosophic historian, because they are the first symptoms of civilisation and humanity, and do great honour to the age in which they originated; but what that age was, and what the circumstances were which occasioned the formation of such confederacies, are questions concerning which we have no historical information. Tradition, indeed, connects the institution with the Attic king Amphictyon; but it was in all probability not formed till after the period of the Doric migration, when the affairs of Greece became gradually settled.

The most important of these confederations was the *Amphictyony of Delphi*, or *Thermopylae*. It has been supposed that this was a confederation of the Hellenes against the Pelasgians; but this opinion is sufficiently refuted by the fact, that among its members we find both Hellences and Pelasgians. The names of the twelve tribes forming this Amphictyonic league are not the same in all authorities. Harpocratus, with whom Libanius and Suidas on the whole agree, mentions the Ionians, Dorians, Perrhaebians, Boeotians, Magnetes, Achaeans, Phthians, Malians, Dolopians, Ætianians, Delphians, and Phocians. Ἐσχίνης has no more than eleven, and instead of the Achaeans, Ætianians, Delphians, and Dolopians, he only gives the Thessalians, Æteans, and Locrians; while lastly, Pausanias's list contains only ten names, viz., the Ionians, Dolopians, Thessalians, Ætianians, Magnetes, Malians, Phthians, Dorians, Phocians, and Locrians. The differences in these lists have been accounted for by the assumption that they refer to different times, but we have no evidence of any members of the confederacy having ever dropped off before the sacred war, after which the Phocians were excluded for a short time. Hence we have to supply two tribes for the list of Pausanias, and one for that of Ἐσχίνης; for it must be observed that the number twelve was unalterably fixed. The tribe wanting in Ἐσχίνης are the Dolopians, and those which must be added to the list of Pausanias are the Perrhaebians and Boeotians. The Æteans, mentioned by Ἐσχίνης alone, are the same as the Ætianians whom he omits, and who dwelt around Mount Æta. The Achaeans and Phthians, moreover, are the same, and should have been recorded as the Phthian Achaeans. The Delphians also did not at first form members of the league, but rose to that rank only in later times, and instead of these two names the Thessalians and Locrians have to be entered in the list of Harpocratus. Hence the Delphic Amphictyony consisted of the Ionians, Dolopians, Thessalians, Ætianians (Æteans), Magnetes, Malians, Phthian Achaeans, Dorians, Phocians (including the Delphians), Locrians, Boeotians, and Perrhaebians, who were Pelasgians. All these nations dwelt, in the earliest times, in and about Thessaly, while after- Amphictyony.

Towards we find them more scattered over different parts of Greece; and this circumstance alone shows, that the formation of the league must belong to a very early period.

All the twelve members of this confederacy, though some were very insignificant, and were even treated by others as subjects, had equal rights at the meetings, and the vote of the smallest tribe was as weighty as that of the most powerful. The objects of the league are distinctly expressed in the oath which the Amphictyons had to take, and which is preserved in Eschines' oration 'De Falsa Legatione.' This oath bound the Amphictyons not to destroy any of the Amphictyonic towns, not to turn away its running waters either in time of war or in time of peace; and if any one should attempt to rob the temple of Delphi (the common centre of the confederacy), to employ their hands, feet, tongue, and their whole power, to bring him to punishment. The humanising influence which this and other enactments of the confederacy were intended to exercise, is perceptible in the part relating to war. The framer of the law evidently regarded war only as an unavoidable means of settling disputes between two states; but it was to be carried on only for the purpose of bringing the dispute to a decision, and not for destruction and devastation. Another enactment probably was that the inhabitants of a conquered city should not be sold as slaves. But the chief care of the Amphictyons appears to have been to watch over the temple, to punish those who were guilty of a crime against it, and to reward those who did anything to increase its splendour and glory. In later times the political influence of the league generally lay dormant, until it was exercised by some powerful state or individual for selfish purposes.

The Amphictyons had regularly two meetings every year in the spring at Delphi, and in the autumn at Anthela, near the pass of Thermopylae. At Delphi the deputies met in the temple of Apollo, and at Anthela in that of Demeter. This circumstance of the two places of meeting, and of the two divinities with which the Amphictyony was connected, renders it highly probable that, in the form in which we know it, it was a union of originally two distinct Amphictyonics, each of which had its own religious centre. The deputies of the several states who met at these places are called Pylagorae (Πυλαγόραι, or αι), and Hieromnemones (Ἱερομνημονεῖς). The difference between these two classes of deputies has been the subject of much discussion among the learned; but if we admit that our Amphictyony was a union of two, the Pylagorae were probably the deputies sent to Thermopylae, and the Hieromnemones those sent to Delphi, the former, after the union, taking precedence at the meetings at Thermopylae, and the latter at those of Delphi. The deputies sent to these annual meetings were appointed by lot in their respective states; and each state had two votes. The meetings, however, were attended not only by the deputies but by thousands of others who flocked to Delphi or Thermopylae for religious and mercantile purposes, or only for the sake of amusement. This occasioned popular meetings (ἐκδοξασίαι) distinct from those of the regular deputies. But we cannot suppose that all the Greeks indiscriminately were allowed to take part in those popular assemblies, which must have consisted of visitors from the states which were members of the Amphictyony.

The constitution of the confederacy and the number of its members remained, as far as we know, unaltered until the time of the sacred war; after the termination of which, in B.C. 346, the Phocians were excluded from the league. The same was the fate of the Lacedaemonians, who had supported the Phocians. The vacancy was filled up by the admission of the Macedonians to the league. The Phocians, however, were afterwards restored to their position, because they had distinguished themselves by their valour during the invasion of the Gauls under Brennus. At the time of the Eottian ascendency in Greece, the Eottians appear to have usurped the power of the Amphictyons. Strabo speaks of the Amphictyons as broken up in his own time; and although their name occurs even at a much later time, yet they cannot have exercised any influence on the affairs of Greece. The whole institution died away into the same obscurity in which its origin is buried.

Wise and humane as were the objects of the Amphictyons, yet wherever they actively interfered in the affairs of Greece during the historical period, we find that they were more powerful for evil than for good; and the holy wars which were carried on by them in the defence of the Delphic temple, and the honour of its god, contributed not a little to the demoralisation of the Greeks.

The very first time that the Amphictyons interfered in the affairs of Greece, we find them acting in direct opposition to the spirit of their institution. We allude to the Crisscean or first sacred war, which broke out in B.C. 594 and lasted till B.C. 585. The inhabitants of Crissa (or Cirrha) on the Corinthian Gulf, were charged with extortion and violence towards the strangers who landed at their port, or passed through their territory on their way to Delphi. For this the Amphictyons declared war against Crissa, and it was vigorously carried on, in the name of the league, by the Thessalians and Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon. They even pretended to have the sanction of Apollo to dedicate the Crissceans and their territory to the god, to enslave them, and make their land a waste for ever. The war is said to have been terminated by a stratagem of Solon, who poisoned the waters of the river Pleistos, from which the town was supplied. When the town was taken, the vow of the Amphictyons was literally carried into effect: Crissa was razed to the ground, its harbour choked up, and its fertile plain changed into a wilderness. Such was the terrible vengeance taken by a body of confederates, whose original object was to prevent those very things which they now perpetrated to uphold the honour of the deity presiding over them. The second sacred war, which likewise lasted for ten years, from B.C. 355 to 346, was carried on with unparalleled exasperation for a period of ten years, and nearly all the Greeks took part in it. The Thebans had set their hearts upon conquering Phocis, but screened their designs behind a charge preferred against the Locrians, alleging that they had robbed the temple of Delphi, because they had taken into cultivation a tract of land belonging to the Delphic temple. The Amphictyont council, before which the charge was brought, condemned the Phocians to pay a heavy fine, and to destroy the crops of the sacred fields. No sooner was this verdict pronounced than the Thebans, Thessalians, Locrians, and Eetians took up arms to execute it. The Phocians were joined by Athens and Sparta, and took possession of the temple of Delphi and its treasures, which they were obliged to employ in defraying the expenses of the war. The war was carried on with unexampled cruelty; for even the surrender of the dead for burial was refused, and all Phocian captives were put to death. This war also afforded Philip of Macedonia an opportunity to interfere in the affairs of Greece, being invited by the Thessalians to co-operate with them against the Phocians. Philip and his Macedonians acted as the champions of the god, and defeated the Phocians in a bloody battle near Magnesia. Three thousand captive Phocians were put to death. The latter, however, remained undaunted until at length they were compelled by treachery to surrender. The Amphictyons now excluded them for ever from the league, their arms and horses were to be delivered up, their towns to be destroyed, and the people were henceforth to live in small villages, and to pay annually to the god sixty talents. Amphidryon (about L15,000) until the temple should be completely indemnified. Macedonian and Theban troops carried the judgment into execution: twenty-two towns disappeared from the face of the earth, and the otherwise fertile country remained for many years a wilderness. A third sacred war was decreed against the town of Amphiassia, because its inhabitants had taken into cultivation the plain of Crissa; but in reality the war was brought about by the venal creatures who endeavoured to promote the ambitious schemes of Philip of Macedonia, who was bent upon making himself master of Greece. This war broke out in B.C. 338, and its unfortunate consequences led to the catastrophe which deprived Greece of her independence in the battle of Cheronia. Such is a brief outline of the history of the Delphic Amphictyony, which not only itself violated its first principles, but is not known to have ever raised its voice to condemn the wanton destruction of other Amphictyonic towns, such as Platæa and Thebes.

Other confederations of a similar kind were:

1. The Amphictyony of Calauræa, connected with the temple of Poseidon, in the island of Calauræa. This Amphictyony consisted of the towns of Hermione, Epidaurus, Ægina, Athens, Prasia, Nauplia, and the Minyan Orchomenos. Sparta and Argos became members of it at a late period, after having contrived to get Nauplia and Prasia excluded. This circumstance shows that this confederation was in all probability formed before the Doric migration.

2. Amphictyony of Onchestus, in the territory of Haliartus in Boeotia, was likewise connected with the temple of Poseidon. As at all other Amphictyonies, the meetings of the members were celebrated with various religious rites, solemnities, and public games. We do not know the nations that constituted this league.

3. Amphictyony of Amarynthos, in Eubœa, connected with the temple of Artemis. We know that the two towns of Eretria and Chalcis were members of it, and that there existed an ancient treaty, by which these two cities pledged themselves not to use against each other any missiles thrown from afar. The meetings were celebrated with splendid festivals.

4. Amphictyony of Delos, connected with the temple of Apollo, was a league formed among the inhabitants of the Cyclades and the Ionians in the neighbourhood. Its institution was ascribed to Theseus. The solemnities connected with its meetings gradually fell into disuse, until they were revived and increased in B.C. 426, when the island of Delos was purified by the Athenians. The Athenians, after this time, regularly sent an annual embassy to Delos, and they also retained for themselves the superintendence of the temple and the administration of its treasures.