It has been customary with most writers on the subject of Grcece, to distribute its history into distinct periods or epochs ; but few authors happen to agree in fixing upon the same points of division. If we proceed upon the prin ciple of marking the degree of credibility in its records, there will then be only two portions to be contrasted ; the one the period of uncertain, and the other that of authen tic history.
The first, " the period of uncertain history," extends from the earliest accounts of the country, to the com mencement of the first war with Persia, in the year B. C. 490 ; a period very variously computed, but, according to the lowest estimate,* comprising a space of nearly 700 years. Of this large portion of time, there are no documents really deserving the name of history ; and the accounts which have been given of its events, were drawn up by writers who lived long posterior to the transactions of which they treat, and were compiled from scattered records and fragments, of which there are no sufficient data to ascertain the authenticity. Of this period, how ever, there may be specified four distinct subdivisions, which are marked by some peculiar historical features. The first, reaching from the earliest accounts of Greece to the commencement of the Trojan war, B. C. 900.; a pert Al of 200 or 303 years, and which, without scruple, may be termed "the fabulous age." The second, reaching from the expedition against Troy to the death of Homer, B. C. about 800; a period of at least 100 years, generally called a the heroic age," of which the only history is con tained in the poems of the Iliad and Odyssey. The third, reaching from the death of Homer to the death of Lycur gus, 13. C. about 700 ; a period of another 100 years, which may be denominated 4C the era of revolutions," and of which scarcely any species of history exists. The fourth, reaching from the time of Lycurgus to the first invasion of Greece by Persia, B. C. 490 ; a period of 210 years, which may be termed " the era of traditionary history," possessing a considerable degree of credibility.
The second, 4, the period of authentic history," extends from the first invasion of Greece by the Persians, B. C. 490, to its final subjugation by the Romans, B. C. 146; a period of 341 years, the history of which, luminous and connected beyond that of any other portion of Pagan an tiquity, has been recorded by writers of the greatest ability, who were contemporary with the events which they relate, and in which many of them bore a distinguish ed part. These writers were all Greeks, and some degree of national partiality may be suspected •to have guided their narrations ; but their number, and their connection with difk,rent states, renders them in some •measure checks iron one another. This period, also, may be sub divided into four portions, distinguished rather by political than historical characteristics. The first, reaching from the Persian invasion, B. C. 490, to the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 430 ; a period of 60 years, the era of Grecian unanimity and triumphs. The second,
reaching from the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, to the accession of Philip of Macedon, B. C. 360 ; a pe riod of 70 years, the era of civil wars and intestine com motions among the states of GreeCe. The third, reaching from the accession of Philip to the death of Alexander the Great, B. C. 323 ; a period of 37 years, distinguished by the entire ascendency of Greece over Persia, and its own partial subjection to the foreign dominion of Mace donia. The fourth reaching from the death of Alexander, to the final subjugation of the Grecian states by the Ro mans, B. C. 146 ; a period of 177 years, during the great er part of which the destinies of Greece were directed by foreign influence, and were placed successively under the protection of Macedonia, Egypt, and Rome.
The early history of Greece, like that of most other countries, is involved in obscurity and fable. Its original inhabitants, generally considered as the descendants of Javan, son of Japhet, appear to have led a migratory and savage life, sheltering themselves in caves and huts, feed ing upon acorns, clothing themselves with skins, and gradually associating in small bodies for their mutual support against the wild beasts of the woods and moun tains, by which they were every where surrounded. Many different wandering hordes, of whom the Greek writers give no satisfactory account, seem to have successively overrun the country ; sometimes mixing with the ancient inhabitants, and sometimes driving them from their pos sessions. These, in their turn, expelled and plundered others; and a state of petty piratical warfare characterised the first ages of every Grecian settlement. These plun dering excursions became so general, that all the shores, both of the continent and the islands, are said to have been deserted, and the lands cultivated only at a consider able distance from the sea. From this state of barbarism, the inhabitants of Greece began to emerge at an earlier period than those of any other country in Europe ; and this advantage they seemed to have owed entirely to their communication with the civilized nations of the East. Its islands were visited by the Phenician navigators, who introduced the knowledge of the precious metals. A peo ple, named Pelasgi, apparently from Asia, extended their dominion over all the northern parts of the country; and various contemporary colonies from Egypt, (of whose migration the cause is not known, but for which the sup position of some political revolution may easily account,) appear to have founded the principal Grecian states. The island of Crete, which seems to have been occupied, and its inhabitants enslaved by some of these adventurers, first attained a considerable degree of civilization under Minos, above 1000 years before the Christian era;* and became the general foundation of legislation and jurisprudence to the other settlements. Of these, Sicyon and Argos are considered as the most ancient, and as having been found ed nearly at the same time, about 80 years before the reign of Minos, and 1080 before the Christian era.