PART
5 –
Ch.XXXIII.12
The
Pelasgians or proto – Latins (Arimii)
(The
Pelasgians from the northern parts of the Danube and the Black Sea)
XXXIII.
12. Migrations of the Arimii in Hellada.
Various localities
of Thessaly, of Hellada proper, and of the Peloponnesus, bear Arimic names even from very remote
times.
In the Iliad, Homer mentions a city with the name ‘Ormenion,
situated in Thessaly near the high peaks of the mountain Titan
(II. 2. 734).
With Hecateus, we find in Thessaly a locality with
the Greek form of Eyrumenai (fragm. 111). Pliny
speaks about two cities of Thessaly with Arimic names,
one Orchomenus, the other Hormenium (lib. IV. 15. 1. 16. 1). And Strabo mentions in Thessaly ‘Ormenion
or ‘Orminion
(lib. IX. 5. 18; XI. 4. 8), near the Pegasetic gulf, an ‘Armenion on the road
between Pherae and Larisa, and a third city with the name ‘Erumnai near the sea
(lib. Ix. 5. 22), probably the same as Eyrumenai, from the geography of
Hecateus.
Another ‘Orchomenos
was in Trojan times in Beotia, situated on the shore of the lake Copais (Homer, Iliad, II. v. 511), founded, as
it was said, by a king with the name Orchomenos (Apollonius Rhodius, II. 654. 1093; Apollodorus, Bibl. III. 8. 1 - in antique genealogies Orchomenos
appears as a nephew, or grandson of Pelasg). This Orchomenos of Beotia had
become in Pelasgian times one of the richest and most famous cities of Hellada.
When Agamemnon
sends Ulysses and Ajax to Achilles’ camp,
to convince him to take an active part in the war against the Trojans, he
answers that he would not forget his anger, even if Agamemnon gave him all the
riches of Orchmenos of Beotia, and Thebes of Egypt (Homer, Iliad, IX.v. 381). Apart of the rich in gold Orchomenos of
Beotia, Homer also mentions another locality with the name ‘Arma, probably ‘Armene
(Armeni) in Pelasgian popular form (Iliad, II. v. 499).
A commander of the
citizens of Platea of Beotia, in the battles with Mardonius (479bc), is called ‘Arimnestos
(Pausanias, lib. IX. 4. 2; Herodotus, lib. Ix. 72).
A third ancient
city with the name Orchomenos is in Arcadia, built and
fortified on the top of a mountain (Pausanias,
lib. ViII. 3. 8; Apollodorus, Bibl.
lib. III. 8. 1; Fragm. Hist. gr.
II.475, fr.26). This Orchomenos has with Homer
the characteristic epithet polymelos, meaning rich in flocks of
sheep (Iliad, II. 605).
Another locality of
Arcadia appears under the
name Rhamnus (Steph. Byz).
The Pelasgians of
Arcadia venerated a Zeus charmon (Pausanias,
lib. VIII. 12. 1), probably the same divinity as Jupiter Ruminus of the Romans, and Jupiter armunos of the ancient religion of the Umbrii.
Finally, a forth
city called Orchomenos, mentioned by
Strabo (lib. IX. 2. 42), was in
Eubea.
In Argos, apart from the
two famous cyclopean cities, Mycenae and Tirynth, also
existed an ancient city situated near the sea, called ‘Ermione, founded, as Pausanias tells us (lib. II. 34. 5; Strabo, lib.II. 6.3), in the mythical
times of one so-called ‘Ermion. The entire southern part of
this
province was called
‘Ermione,
and the gulf of the neighboring sea, cholpos o ‘Ermionichos.
The Epeii, who dwelt in the north-western
parts of the Peloponnesus, in the province Elis, were also called ‘Orminai
(Steph. Byz. see ‘Yrmine).
Homer mentions here the city called ‘Yrmine
(Iliad, II. v. 616). In the times of Strabo
this locality did not exist anymore, but the neighboring mountains still had
the name ‘Ormina and ‘Yrmina (lib. VIII. 3. 10).We also
note here that in the eastern parts of the province Elis began the famous
mountain ridge called Erymanthus,
which separated Arcadia from Achaia.
A brother of old
Nestor of Pylos (in Messenia) has the name Chromios (Homer, Iliad, Iv. 295; Odyssey, XI. V.
286).
On the territory of
Attica existed the little city
called Rhamnus, with the renowned
temple of Nemesis, who, as traditions told, had been a daughter of old Oceanos
potamos or Istru (Pliny, lib. IV.
11. 2; Pausanias, lib. I. 33. 2-3.
In Crete, inhabited in
ancient times by Pelasgians, also had existed a city and port with the name Rhamnus (Pliny, IV. 20. 3; Ptolemy,
III. 15). Another locality of Attica appears under the
name ‘Arma
(Steph. Byz.) and ‘Ermos
(Suidas).
The forms ‘Ormenion,
‘Orminion, ‘Orminai, ‘Orchomenos, Eyrumenai, ‘Ermione and ‘Yrmine,
presented by the historical topography of Hellada, are in fact only simple
variations of pronunciation and orthography. In regard to their etymological
derivation, they are reduced to the older ethnic names, more correct, of Armeni, Armini, Aromeni, Arumeni and Armiones.
After the conquest
of the Balkan peninsula, the Turks used only the term of Rum as a particular geographical name
for the territory of Hellada (Cantemir, Ist. Imp. ottom. Ed. 1876, p.
101).
We have here in
fact only an ancient ethnographic tradition.
The Romans
themselves considered the provinces of Hellada as being a land of Latin nations.
For a long time the
legates of Greece had to speak in the Roman Senate only in the Latin language; and in 198bc, the
commission of organization which was sent to Rome, appeared at the great
festivity of the Isthmic games, and proclaimed only in Latin that the Roman
Senate and the general T. Quinctius accorded complete freedom to all the
peoples which had been subjected previously to king Phillip of Macedonia (Livy, lib. XXXIII. c. 32).
The Greek language
had been therefore ignored, and at the same time the political individuality of
a Greek state had been also ignored.