Robert Bloomfield - "Wild Flowers"

Daniel G. Brinton - "Aboriginal American Authors"

Knut Hamsun - "Shallow Soil"

Louis Joseph Vance - "The Black Bag"

A  /  B  /  C  /  D  /  E  /   F  /  G  /  H  /  I  /  J  /   K  /  L  /  M  /  N  /  O   P  /  R  /  S  /  T  /  U  /  V  /  W  /  X  /  Y  /  Z

A Day In Old Athens by William Stearns Davis

W >> William Stearns Davis >> A Day In Old Athens



Preface




This little book tries to describe what an intelligent person would
see and hear in ancient Athens, if by some legerdemain he were
translated to the fourth century B.C. and conducted about the city
under competent guidance. Rare happenings have been omitted and
sometimes, to avoid long explanations, PROBABLE matters have been
stated as if they were ascertained facts; but these instances are
few, and it is hoped no reader will be led into serious error.

The year 360 B.C. has been selected for the hypothetical time of
this visit, not because of any special virtue in that date, but
because Athens was then architecturally almost perfect, her civic
and her social life seemed at their best, the democratic constitution
held its vigor, and there were few outward signs of the general
decadence which was to set in after the triumph of Macedon.

I have endeavored to state no facts and to make no allusions, that
will not be fairly obvious to a reader who has merely an elementary
knowledge of Greek annals, such information, for instance, as may be
gained through a good secondary school history of ancient times.
This naturally has led to comments and descriptions which more
advanced students may find superfluous.

The writer has been under a heavy debt to the numerous and excellent
works on Greek "Private Antiquities" and "Public Life" written in
English, French, or German, as well as to the various great Classical
Encyclopædias and Dictionaries, and to many treatises and monographs
upon the topography of Athens and upon the numerous phases of Attic
culture. It is proper to say, however, that the material from
such secondary sources has been merely supplementary to a careful
examination of the ancient Greek writers, with the objects of this
book kept especially in view. A sojourn in modern Athens, also,
has given me an impression of the influence of the Attic landscape
upon the conditions of old Athenian life, an impression that I have
tried to convey in this small volume.

I am deeply grateful to my sister, Mrs. Fannie Davis Gifford, for
helpful criticism of this book while in manuscript; to my wife,
for preparing the drawings from Greek vase-paintings which appear
as illustrations; and to my friend and colleague, Professor Charles
A. Savage, for a kind and careful reading of the proofs. Thanks
also are due to Henry Holt and Company for permission to quote
material from their edition of Von Falke's "Greece and Rome."


W. S. D.

University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
May, 1914.





Contents.




Page
Maps, Plans, and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Chapter I. The Physical Setting of Athens.

Section
1. The Importance of Athens in Greek History . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Why the Social Life of Athens is so Significant . . . . . . . . 1
3. The Small Size and Sterility of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. The Physical Beauty of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. The Mountains of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6. The Sunlight in Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. The Topography of the City of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. 360 B.C.--The Year of the Visit to Athens . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter II. The First Sights in Athens.

9. The Morning Crowds bound for Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
10. The Gate and the Street Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
11. The Streets and House Fronts of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
12. The Simplicity of Athenian Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter III. The Agora and its Denizens.

13. The Buildings around the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
14. The Life in the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
15. The Booths and Shops in the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
16. The Flower and the Fish Vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
17. The Morning Visitors to the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
18. The Leisured Class in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
19. Familiar Types around the Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
20. The Barber Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Chapter IV. The Athenian House and its Furnishings.

21. Following an Athenian Gentleman Homeward . . . . . . . . . . . 26
22. The Type and Uses of a Greek House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
23. The Plan of a Greek House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
24. Modifications in the Typical Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
25. Rents and House Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
26. The Simple yet Elegant Furnishings of an Athenian House . . . . 32

Chapter V. The Women of Athens.

27. How Athenian Marriages are Arranged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
28. Lack of Sentiment in Marriages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
29. Athenian Marriage Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
30. The Mental Horizon of Athenian Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
31. The Honor paid Womanhood in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
32. The Sphere of Action of Athenian Women . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter VI. Athenian Costume.

33. The General Nature of Greek Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
34. The Masculine Chiton, Himation, and Chlamys . . . . . . . . . . 44
35. The Dress of the Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
36. Footwear and Head Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
37. The Beauty of the Greek Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
38. Greek Toilet Frivolities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Chapter VII. The Slaves.

39. Slavery an Integral Part of Greek Life . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
40. The Slave Trade in Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
41. The Treatment of Slaves in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
42. Cruel and Kind Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
43. The "City Slaves" of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chapter VIII. The Children.

44. The Desirability of Children in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
45. The Exposure of Infants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
46. The Celebration of a Birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
47. Life and Games of Young Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
48. Playing in the Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
49. The First Stories and Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
50. The Training of Athenian Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter IX. The Schoolboys of Athens.

51. The Athenians Generally Literate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
52. Character Building the Aim of Athenian Education . . . . . . . 63
53. The Schoolboy's Pedagogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
54. An Athenian School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
55. The School Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
56. The Study of the Poets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
57. The Greeks do not study Foreign Languages . . . . . . . . . . . 70
58. The Study of "Music" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
59. The Moral Character of Greek Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
60. The Teaching of Gymnastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
61. The Habits and Ambitions of Schoolboys . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
62. The "Ephebi" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter X. The Physicians of Athens.

63. The Beginnings of Greek Medical Science . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
64. Healing Shrines and their Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
65. An Athenian Physician's Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
66. The Physician's Oath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
67. The Skill of Greek Physicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
68. Quacks and Charlatans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Chapter XI. The Funerals.

69. An Athenian's Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
70. The Preliminaries of a Funeral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
71. Lamenting the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
72. The Funeral Procession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
73. The Funeral Pyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
74. Honors to the Memory of the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
75. The Beautiful Funeral Monuments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Chapter XII. Trade, Manufactures, and Banking.

76. The Commercial Importance of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
77. The Manufacturing Activities of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
78. The Commerce of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
79. The Adventurous Merchant Skippers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
80. Athenian Money-changers and Bankers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
81. A Large Banking Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
82. Drawbacks to the Banking Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
83. The Pottery of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
84. Athenian Pottery an Expression of the Greek Sense of Beauty . . 99

Chapter XIII. The Armed Forces of Athens.

85. Military Life at Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
86. The Organization of the Athenian Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
87. The Hoplites and the Light Troops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
88. The Cavalry and the Peltasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
89. The Panoply of the Hoplites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
90. The Weapons of a Hoplite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
91. Infantry Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
92. The Preliminaries of a Greek Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
93. Joining the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
94. The Climax and End of the Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
95. The Burial Truce and the Trophy after the Battle . . . . . . . 114
96. The Siege of Fortified Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
97. The Introduction of New Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter XIV. The Peiræus and the Shipping.

98. The "Long Walls" down to the Harbor Town . . . . . . . . . . . 117
99. Munychia and the Havens of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
100. The Glorious View from the Hill of Munychia . . . . . . . . . . 119
101. The Town of Peiræus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
102. The Merchant Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
103. The Three War Harbors and the Ship Houses . . . . . . . . . . . 124
104. The Great Naval Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
105. An Athenian Trierarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
106. The Evolution of the Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
107. The Hull of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
108. The Rowers' Benches of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
109. The Cabins, Rigging, and Ram of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . 129
110. The Officers and Crew of a Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
111. A Trireme at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
112. The Tactics of a Naval Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
113. The Naval Strength of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Chapter XV. An Athenian Court Trial.

114. The Frequency of Litigation in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
115. Prosecutions in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
116. The Preliminaries to a Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
117. The Athenian Jury Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
118. The Juryman's Oath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
119. Opening The Trial. The Plaintiff's Speech . . . . . . . . . . 140
120. The Defendant's Speech. Demonstrations by the Jury . . . . . . 141
121. The First Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
122. The Second and Final Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
123. The Merits and Defects of the Athenian Courts . . . . . . . . . 144
124. The Usual Punishments in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
125. The Heavy Penalty of Exile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
126. The Death Penalty of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Chapter XVI. The Ecclesia of Athens.

127. The Rule of Democracy in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
128. Aristocracy and Wealth. Their Status and Burdens . . . . . . . 147
129. Athenian Society truly Democratic up to a Certain Point . . . . 148
130. The Voting Population of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
131. Meeting Times of the Ecclesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
132. The Pnyx (Assembly Place) at Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
133. The Preliminaries of the Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
134. Debating a Proposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
135. Voting at the Pnyx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
136. The Ecclesia as an Educational Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Chapter XVII. The Afternoon at the Gymnasia

137. The Gymnasia. Places of General Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
138. The Road to the Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
139. The Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
140. The Social Atmosphere and Human Types at the Academy . . . . . 160
141. Philosophers and Cultivated Men at the Gymnasia . . . . . . . . 161
142. The Beautiful Youths at the Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
143. The Greek Worship of Manly Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
144. The Detestation of Old Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
145. The Greeks unite Moral and Physical Beauty . . . . . . . . . . 165
146. The Usual Gymnastic Sports and their Objects . . . . . . . . . 166
147. Professional Athletes: the Pancration . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
148. Leaping Contests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
149. Quoit Hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
150. Casting the Javelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
151. Wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
152. Foot Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
153. The Pentathlon: the Honors paid to Great Athletes . . . . . . 172

Chapter XVIII. Athenian Cookery and the Symposium

154. Greek Meal Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
155. Society desired at Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
156. The Staple Articles of Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
157. Greek Vintages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
158. Vegetable Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
159. Meat and Fish Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
160. Inviting Guests to a Dinner Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
161. Preparing for the Dinner: the Sicilian Cook . . . . . . . . . 182
162. The Coming of the Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
163. The Dinner Proper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
164. Beginning the Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
165. The Symposiarch and his Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
166. Conversation at the Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
167. Games and Entertainments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
168. Going Home from the Feast: Midnight Revelers . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter XIX. Country Life around Athens.

169. The Importance of his Farm to an Athenian . . . . . . . . . . . 191
170. The Country by the Ilissus: the Greeks and Natural Beauty . . 191
171. Plato's Description of the Walk by the Ilissus . . . . . . . . 193
172. The Athenian Love of Country Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
173. Some Features of the Attic Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
174. An Attic Farmstead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
175. Plowing, Reaping, and Threshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
176. Grinding at the Mill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
177. The Olive Orchards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
178. The Vineyards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
179. Cattle, Sheep, and Goats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
180. The Gardens and the Shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Chapter XX. The Temples and Gods of Athens.

181. Certain Factors in Athenian Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
182. What constitutes "Piety" in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
183. The Average Athenians Idea of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
184. Most Greeks without Belief in Immortality . . . . . . . . . . . 207
185. The Multitude of Images of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
186. Greek Superstition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
187. Consulting Omens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
188. The Great Oracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
189. Greek Sacrifices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
190. The Route to the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
191. The Acropolis of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
192. The Use of Color Upon Athenian Architecture and Sculptures . . 216
193. The Chief Buildings on the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
194. The Parthenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
195. A Sacrifice on the Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
196. The Interior of the Parthenon and the Great Image of Athena . . 222
197. Greek Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Chapter XXI. The Great Festival of Athens.

198. The Frequent Festivals in Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
199. The Eleusinia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
200. The Holy Procession to Eleusis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
201. The Mysteries of Eleusis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
202. The Greater Dionysia and the Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
203. The Theater of Dionysus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
204. The Production of a Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
205. The Great Panathenaic Procession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
206. The View from the Temple of Wingless Victory . . . . . . . . . 237

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239




Maps, Plans, and Illustrations.



1. Athenian Acropolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece
Page
2. Sketch Map of Attica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Sketch Map of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Peasant going to Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5. At the Street Fountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6. A Wayside Herm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7. A Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8. Conjectural Plan for the house of a Wealthy Athenian . . . . . . 29
9. Spinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
10. The Maternal Slipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
11. Athenian Funeral Monument . . . . . . . . . . . . . FACING PAGE 88
12. At the Smithy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
13. Hoplite in Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
14. The Town of Peiræus and the Harbors of Athens . . . . . . . . . 118
15. Fishermen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
16. An Athenian Trireme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
17. The Race in Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
18. Itinerant Piper with his Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
19. Women pounding Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
20. Gathering the Olive Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
21. Rural Sacrifice to a Wooden Statue of Dionysus . . . . . . . . . 202
22. Sketch Map of the Acropolis of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
23. Sacrificing a Pig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
24. Athena Parthenos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
25. Comic Actors dressed as Ostriches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
26. Actor in Costume as a Fury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234





A Day in Old Athens




Chapter I. The Physical Setting of Athens.




1. The Importance of Athens in Greek History.--To three ancient
nations the men of the twentieth century owe an incalculable debt.
To the Jews we owe most of our notions of religion; to the Romans
we owe traditions and examples in law, administration, and the
general management of human affairs which still keep their influence
and value; and finally, to the Greeks we owe nearly all our ideas
as to the fundamentals of art, literature, and philosophy, in
fact, of almost the whole of our intellectual life. These Greeks,
however, our histories promptly teach us, did not form a single
unified nation. They lived in many "city-states" of more or less
importance, and some of the largest of these contributed very little
directly to our civilization. Sparta, for example, has left us
some noble lessons in simple living and devoted patriotism, but
hardly a single great poet, and certainly never a philosopher or
sculptor. When we examine closely, we see that the civilized life
of Greece, during the centuries when she was accomplishing the most,
was peculiarly centered at Athens. Without Athens, Greek history
would lose three quarters of its significance, and modern life and
thought would become infinitely the poorer.


2. Why the Social Life of Athens is so Significant.--Because,
then, the contributions of Athens to our own life are so important,
because they touch (as a Greek would say) upon almost every side
of "the true, the beautiful, and the good," it is obvious that
the outward conditions under which this Athenian genius developed
deserve our respectful attention. For assuredly such personages
as Sophocles, Plato, and Phidias were not isolated creatures, who
developed their genius apart from, or in spite of, the life about
them, but rather were the ripe products of a society, which in its
excellences and weaknesses presents some of the most interesting
pictures and examples in the world. To understand the Athenian
civilization and genius it is not enough to know the outward history
of the times, the wars, the laws, and the lawmakers. We must see
Athens as the average man saw it and lived in it from day to day,
and THEN perhaps we can partially understand how it was that during
the brief but wonderful era of Athenian freedom and prosperity[*],
Athens was able to produce so many men of commanding genius as to
win for her a place in the history of civilization which she can
never lose.

[*]That era may be assumed to begin with the battle of Marathon
(490 B.C.), and it certainly ended in 322 B.C., when Athens passed
decisively under the power of Macedonia; although since the battle
of Chæroneia (338 B.C.) she had done little more than keep her
liberty on sufferance.


3. The Small Size and Sterility of Attica.--Attica was a very small
country according to modern notions, and Athens the only large city
therein. The land barely covered some 700 square miles, with 40
square miles more, if one includes the dependent island of Salamis.
It was thus far smaller than the smallest of our American "states"
(Rhode Island = 1250 square miles), and was not so large as many
American counties. It was really a triangle of rocky, hill-scarred
land thrust out into the Ægean Sea, as if it were a sort of
continuation of the more level district of Bœotia. Yet small as it
was, the hills inclosing it to the west, the seas pressing it form
the northeast and south, gave it a unity and isolation all its own.
Attica was not an island; but it could be invaded only by sea, or
by forcing the resistance which could be offered at the steep mountain
passes towards Bœotia or Megara. Attica was thus distinctly separated
from the rest of Greece. Legends told how, when the half-savage
Dorians had forced themselves southward over the mainland, they
had never penetrated into Attica; and the Athenians later prided
themselves upon being no colonists from afar, but upon being
"earth-sprung,"--natives of the soil which they and their twenty-times
grandfathers had held before them.

This triangle of Attica had its peculiar shortcomings and virtues.
It was for the most part stony and unfertile. Only a shallow layer
of good soil covered a part of its hard foundation rock, which
often in turn lay bare on the surface. The Athenian farmer had a
sturdy struggle to win a scanty crop, and about the only products
he could ever raise in abundance for export were olives (which seemed
to thrive on scanty soil and scanty rainfall) and honey, the work
of the mountain bees.

Letter: Gender roles in the Cinderella story

Doctors assure us that wherever you find an elderly, pompous old writer long past his prime you will find a bottle of scotch nearby. If only that were the case. Hilly hid mine after I fell up the stairs when I came home from the Garrick yesterday, and I've had to make do with a bottle of Blue Nun I found in the maid's parlour. Not that I am an alcoholic. Dipsomaniacs are a breed of the lower orders you meet on street corners: people like myself are bon viveurs who happen to like a drink. Or 12.

My primary observation is that drinking makes the daily grind of dealing with people so much easier. You drink a pint of whisky and become the life and soul of the party. You then start insulting people, before sweating heavily and wetting yourself involuntarily. You will usually find that everyone quickly avoids you, thereby relieving you of the need to make conversation. This is why I prefer to do much of my drinking at home. It saves so much time.

There are a great many drinks on the market - spirits, wines and beers - and I've probably drunk them all. Usually in some kind of combination with one another. Mixing cocktails is one of my favourite hobbies. Here's one I invented last week for my great sycophant, Christopher Hitchens.

The Hitch

One bottle of Babycham

One bottle of absinthe

Five shots of Angostura very bitters

Two tablespoons of bile

Two or three glasses of this tincture can give you a lifetime of self-satisfaction.

At some time you will probably be forced to invite people to your home and they may expect a drink. My advice is to offer them the cheapest tipple you can find; my local off-licence does a ghastly Mosel at 70p a bottle. I've never cared for even the best wines, and this should guarantee those poncing off you neither ask for top-ups nor stay long, thereby leaving you more money and time for the pub.

It is well known that only the very dullest of petit-bourgeois minds fail to over-imbibe on a daily basis, so I regard hangovers as a price worth paying for my brilliance. That said, I have found ways of coping with this metaphysical malaise. The first is to fuck someone; preferably somebody else's wife, but if your own is the only one around then she will do. The second is to read a book by that little shit Mart; it will either remind you you're not that bad a writer or give you some sleep.

The one downside to drinking is that it can make you fat. This is remedied by cutting out food entirely and drinking all spirits without mixers. My weight has gone down to 19st with this diet. There isn't much more to say, but as I'm being paid by the column I'd better repeat myself. And now that I'm dead, there's no harm in Bloomsbury repackaging the same material several times in the same collection.

I don't really like wine. Gin is for pansies, though a snifter with water doesn't go amiss. Liqueurs are best left to patent-shoed Wops. Or Americans. Champagne is an overrated girl's drink, though it can be drunk with any food; as such, it's a perfect breakfast drink because a scotch before 10am is very non-U.

I loathe pubs with loud music, but my utmost detestation is reserved for sanctimonious ex-topers. There's nothing worse than a man who doesn't drink. I once tried not drinking for several hours and my wives and mistresses said how dull it was that I was conscious and they were spared removing my soiled trousers from my bloated legs.

Whisky is my favourite tipple, though I recommend never giving it to a Welshman as it's wasted on someone with an IQ of less than 80. Have I mentioned that I'm partial to a Macallan? Gosh is that the time? Hilly's coming to change my IV drip before I fall unconscious again. The publisher can bloody well pad out the rest of the book with a pointless quiz without me.

Q: Who will buy this?

A: No one.

The digested read digested: The old pub bore.

• Hear the digested read podcast at guardian.co.uk/audio

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jury clears judge of libelling mother
Sales of 'misery memoirs' fall after they boomed beyond all expectations since Dave Pelzer wrote A Child Called It

Constance Briscoe wins Ugly libel case

A judge who was sued for libel by her mother over allegations of childhood cruelty and neglect in her bestselling "misery memoir" won her case yesterday.

Constance Briscoe burst into tears at the high court in London as a jury unanimously cleared her and publishers Hodder & Stoughton over the claims in Ugly, which her mother Carmen Briscoe-Mitchell, 74, had alleged were a "piece of fiction".

During the 10-day trial, Briscoe, 51, who was one of the first black women judges in the UK, told the court her mother repeatedly beat her with a stick for bed-wetting and called her a "dirty little whore", a "potato-head" and "miss piss-a-bed".

She described trying to kill herself by drinking diluted bleach after failing to get taken into care, and told the jury she used a university grant to have plastic surgery to remove the "ugliness" her mother had taunted her over.

Briscoe, of Clapham, south London, also said that when she was nine, her mother had deliberately cut her on the inside of her arm with a knife in a row over the preparation of a chicken.

Ugly, published in 2006, has sold more than 400,000 copies in the UK. Briscoe and Hodder & Stoughton had denied libel and said the book was substantially true. Andrew Caldecott QC, for Briscoe, said the events occurred between 1964 and 1975.

Briscoe-Mitchell, from Southwark, south-east London, left court without making any immediate comment about her legal defeat. During the trial she had denied all the allegations of verbal and physical abuse and claimed she and her daughter had enjoyed a loving relationship within a happy family.

Her counsel, William Panton, told the jury Briscoe was "spinning a yarn", claiming his client had struggled to bring up her 11 children and had provided for them equally to the best of her ability.

Outside court, Briscoe told reporters she was "very happy" with the jury's verdict, which came after more than a day of deliberation.

"It is sad that my mother still feels the need to pursue me," she said. "Now I just want to get on with my career. I would like to thank all my readers who have sent me messages of support, including the very many children who provided helpful advice.

"I can quite understand why my family went into collective denial but whilst child abuse may be committed behind closed doors it should never be swept under the carpet."

Hodder & Stoughton said it was pleased with the verdict. "We are very proud to be Constance Briscoe's publisher," a statement said. "Her books Ugly and Beyond Ugly have touched hundreds of thousands of readers, many of them children. Sadly, as we know from the news over the past few weeks, child abuse is all too common and nothing and no one should ever stand in the way of the truth."

Asked during the trial why she wrote the book, Briscoe said: "I didn't believe for a split second that I owed my mother a bond of silence. I don't. I had a story to tell and that story really is that I, someone who from dirt poverty, from absolutely nowhere, with absolutely no assistance whatsoever, who faced adversity at every turn, could come through."

The court heard she had cleaned offices for two hours every day before school until her studies took her to Newcastle University, the criminal bar and, eventually, to become one of the country's few black women judges.

"I wanted to say to whoever read the book ... you can be whatever you want to be," Briscoe said. "You just have to believe in yourself ... you do not have to be posh or privileged to be at the Bar.

"You just need to believe in yourself and I truly, truly believe that my book has done an enormous amount of good."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds