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A History of Greece, From the Earliest Times to the Destruction of Corinth, B.c. 146
A History of Greece From the Earliest Times to the Destruction of Corinth Bc 146 Author:Leonhard Schmitz General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1851 Original Publisher: Harper Subjects: Greece History / General History / Ancient / General History / Ancient / Greece History / Europe / Greece Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing... more » text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER I. GREECE AND IT8 EARLIE8T INHABITANT8. Greege, whose name is so inseparably connected with the history of European civilization, forms the southeastern extremity of Europe. It is situated between the thirty- sixth and fortieth degree of northern latitude, and its whole extent is considerably less than the small kingdom of Portugal. In form, Greece is distinguished among the countries of Europe by the same features which distinguish Europe itself from the other continents ; that is, by the great range of its coast compared with the extent of its surface, exceeding in the former respect the whole of Spain and Portugal. Greece is a peninsula, which projects from the main trunk of Europe, grows more and more finely articulated as it advances toward the south, and terminates in the peninsula of Peloponnesus, which resembles an outspread mulberry-leaf, whence its modern name Morea. The position of Greece between the two neighboring continents, and opposite one of the most fertile regions of Africa, presented to human activity more advantages than any other country on earth; for the surrounding sea afforded the most convenient communication with the civilized nations of the ancient world, and the numerous islands scattered over it offered agreeable and commodious resting-places to the sailor who navigated it. In addition to this, Greece abounded in excellent harbors and spacious bays; it was watered by numerous rivers, and, being in the enjoyment of a se...« less