The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended · Isaac Newton
CHAP. I.
_Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the _Greeks_._ All Nations, before they began to keep exact accounts of Time, have been prone to raise their Antiquities; and this humour has been promoted, by the Contentions between Nations about their Originals. _Herodotus_ [3] tells us, that the Priests of _Egypt_ reckoned from the Reign of _Menes_ to that of _Sethon_, who put _Sennacherib_ to flight, three hundred forty and one Generations of men, and as many Priests of _Vulcan_, and as many Kings of _Egypt_: and that three hundred Generations make ten thousand years; _for_, saith he, _three Generations of men make an hundred years_: and the remaining forty and one Generations make 1340 years: and so the whole time from the Reign of _Menes_ to that of _Sethon_ was 11340 years. And by this way of reckoning, and allotting longer Reigns to the Gods of _Egypt_ than to the Kings which followed them, _Herodotus_ tells us from the Priests of _Egypt_, that from _Pan_ to _Amosis_ were 15000 years, and from _Hercules_ to _Amosis_ 17000 years. So also the _Chaldæans_ boasted of their Antiquity; for _Callisthenes_, the Disciple of _Aristotle_, sent Astronomical Observations from _Babylon_ to _Greece_, said to be of 1903 years standing before the times of _Alexander_ the great. And the _Chaldæans_ boasted further, that they had observed the Stars 473000 years; and there were others who made the Kingdoms of _Assyria_, _Media_ and _Damascus_, much older than the truth.
Some of the _Greeks_ called the times before the Reign of _Ogyges_, Unknown, because they had No History of them; those between his flood and the beginning of the Olympiads, Fabulous, because their History was much mixed with Poetical Fables: and those after the beginning of the Olympiads, Historical, because their History was free from such Fables. The fabulous Ages wanted a good Chronology, and so also did the Historical, for the first 60 or 70 Olympiads. The _Europeans_, had no Chronology before the times of the _Persian_ Empire: and whatsoever Chronology they now have of ancienter times, hath been framed since, by reasoning and conjecture. In the beginning of that Monarchy, _Acusilaus_ made _Phoroneus_ as old as _Ogyges_ and his flood, and that flood 1020 years older than the first Olympiad; which is above 680 years older than the truth: and to make out this reckoning his followers have encreased the Reigns of Kings in length and number. _Plutarch_ [4] tells us that the Philosophers anciently delivered their Opinions in Verse, as _Orpheus_, _Hesiod_, _Parmenides_, _Xenophanes_, _Empedocles_, _Thales_; but afterwards left off the use of Verses; and that _Aristarchus_, _Timocharis_, _Aristillus_, _Hipparchus_, did not make Astronomy the more contemptible by describing it in Prose; after _Eudoxus_, _Hesiod_, and _Thales_ had wrote of it in Verse. _Solon_ wrote [5] in Verse, and all the Seven Wise Men were addicted to Poetry, as _Anaximenes_ [6] affirmed.
'Till those days the _Greeks_ wrote only in Verse, and while they did so there could be no Chronology, nor any other History, than such as was mixed with poetical fancies. _Pliny_, [7] in reckoning up the Inventors of things, tells us, _that _Pherecydes Syrius_ taught to compose discourses in Prose in the Reign of _Cyrus_, and _Cadmus Milesius_ to write History._ And in [8] another place he saith _that _Cadmus Milesius_ was the first that wrote in Prose_. _Josephus_ tells us [9] that _Cadmus Milesius_ and _Acusilaus_ were but a little before the expedition of the _Persians_ against the _Greeks_: and _Suidas_ [10] calls _Acusilaus_ a most ancient Historian, and saith that _he wrote Genealogies out of tables of brass, which his father, as was reported, found in a corner of his house_.
Who hid them there may be doubted: For the _Greeks_ [11] had no publick table or inscription older than the Laws of _Draco_. _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, in the Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_, or soon after, wrote of the Antiquities and ancient Genealogies of the _Athenians_, in ten books; and was one of the first _European_ writers of this kind, and one of the best; whence he had the name of _Genealogus_; and by _Dionysius [12] Halicarnassensis_ is said to be second to none of the Genealogers. _Epimenides_, not the Philosopher, but an Historian, wrote also of the ancient Genealogies: and _Hellanicus_, who was twelve years older than _Herodotus_, digested his History by the Ages or Successions of the Priestesses of _Juno Argiva_. Others digested theirs by those of the Archons of _Athens_, or Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_. _Hippias_ the _Elean_ published a Breviary of the Olympiads, supported by no certain arguments, as _Plutarch_ [13] tells us: he lived in the 105th Olympiad, and was derided by _Plato_ for his Ignorance. This Breviary seems to have contained nothing more than a short account of the Victors in every Olympiad. Then [14] _Ephorus_, the disciple of _Isocrates_, formed a Chronological History of _Greece_, beginning with the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and ending with the Siege of _Perinthus_, in the twentieth year of _Philip_ the father of _Alexander_ the great, that is, eleven years before the fall of the _Persian_ Empire: but [15] he digested things by Generations, and the reckoning by the Olympiads, or by any other _Æra_, was not yet in use among the _Greeks_. The _Arundelian_ Marbles were composed sixty years after the death of _Alexander_ the great (_An._ 4. _Olymp._ 128.) and yet mention not the Olympiads, nor any other standing _Æra_, but reckon backwards from the time then present.
But Chronology was now reduced to a reckoning by Years; and in the next Olympiad _Timæus Siculus_ improved it: for he wrote a History in Several books, down to his own times, according to the Olympiads; comparing the _Ephori_, the Kings of _Sparta_, the Archons of _Athens_, and the Priestesses of _Argos_ with the Olympic Victors, so as to make the Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of Kings and Priestesses, and the Poetical Histories suit with one another, according to the best of his judgment: and where he left off, _Polybius_ began, and carried on the History. _Eratosthenes_ wrote above an hundred years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: He was followed by _Apollodorus_; and these two have been followed ever since by Chronologers. But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was reputed by the _Greeks_ of those times, may be understood by these passages of _Plutarch_. _Some reckon _Lycurgus__, saith he, [16] _contemporary to _Iphitus_, and to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic festivals, amongst whom was _Aristotle_ the Philosopher; arguing from the Olympic Disc, which had the name of _Lycurgus_ upon it. Others supputing the times by the Kings of _Lacedæmon_, as _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_, affirm that he was not a few years older than the first Olympiad._ He began to flourish in the 17th or 18th Olympiad, and at length _Aristotle_ made him as old as the first Olympiad; and so did _Epaminondas_, as he is cited by _Ælian_ and _Plutarch_: and then _Eratosthenes_, _Apollodorus_, and their followers, made him above an hundred years older.
And in another place _Plutarch_ [17] tells us: _The Congress of _Solon_ with _Crœsus_, some think they can confute by Chronology. But a History so illustrious, and verified by so many witnesses, and which is more, so agreeable to the manners of _Solon_, and worthy of the greatness of his mind, and of his wisdom, I cannot persuade my self to reject because of some Chronological Canons, as they call them, which hundreds of authors correcting, have not yet been able to constitute any thing certain, in which they could agree amongst themselves, about repugnancies._ As for the Chronology of the _Latines_, that is still more uncertain. _Plutarch_ [18] represents great uncertainties in the Originals of _Rome_, and so doth _Servius_ [19]. The old Records of the _Latines_ were burnt [20] by the _Gauls_, an hundred and twenty years after the Regifuge, and sixty-four years before the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Quintus Fabius Pictor_, [21] the oldest Historian of the _Latines_, lived an hundred years later than that King, and took almost all things from _Diocles Peparethius_, a _Greek_. The Chronologers of _Gallia_, _Spain_, _Germany_, _Scythia_, _Swedeland_, _Britain_ and _Ireland_ are of a date still later; for _Scythia_ beyond the _Danube_ had no letters, 'till _Ulphilas_ their Bishop formed them; which was about six hundred years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Germany_ had none 'till it received them, from the western Empire of the _Latines_, above seven hundred years after the death of that King. The _Hunns_, had none in the days of _Procopius_, who flourished 850 years after the death of that King: and _Sweden_ and _Norway_ received them still later. And things said to be done above one or two hundred years before the use of letters, are of little credit.
_Diodorus_, [22] in the beginning of his History tells us, that he did not define by any certain space the times preceding the _Trojan_ War, because he had no certain foundation to rely upon: but from the _Trojan_ war, according to the reckoning of _Apollodorus_, whom he followed, there were eighty years to the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_; and that from that Period to the first Olympiad, there were three hundred and twenty eight years, computing the times from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_. _Apollodorus_ followed _Eratosthenes_, and both of them followed _Thucydides_, in reckoning eighty years from the _Trojan_ war to the Return of the _Heraclides_: but in reckoning 328 years from that Return to the first Olympiad, _Diodorus_ tells us, that the times were computed from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_; and _Plutarch_ [23] tells us, that _Apollodorus_, _Eratosthenes_ and others followed that computation: and since this reckoning is still received by Chronologers, and was gathered by computing the times from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, that is from their number, let us re-examin that Computation.
The _Egyptians_ reckoned the Reigns of Kings equipollent to Generations of men, and three Generations to an hundred years, as above; and so did the _Greeks_ and _Latines_: and accordingly they have made their Kings Reign one with another thirty and three years a-piece, and above. For they make the seven Kings of _Rome_ who preceded the Consuls to have Reigned 244 years, which is 35 years a-piece: and the first twelve Kings of _Sicyon_, _Ægialeus_, _Europs_, &c. to have Reigned 529 years, which is 44 years a-piece: and the first eight Kings of _Argos_, _Inachus_, _Phoroneus_, &c. to have Reigned 371 years, which is above 46 years a-piece: and between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and the end of the first _Messenian_ war, the ten Kings of _Sparta_ in one Race; _Eurysthenes_, _Agis_, _Echestratus_, _Labotas_, _Doryagus_, _Agesilaus_, _Archelaus_, _Teleclus_, _Alcamenes_, and _Polydorus_: the nine in the other Race; _Procles_, _Sous_, _Eurypon_, _Prytanis_, _Eunomus_, _Polydectes_, _Charilaus_, _Nicander_, _Theopompus_: the ten Kings of _Messene_; _Cresphontes_, _Epytus_, _Glaucus_, _Isthmius_, _Dotadas_, _Sibotas_, _Phintas_, _Antiochus_, _Euphaes_, _Aristodemus_: and the nine of _Arcadia_; _Cypselus_, _Olæas_, _Buchalion_, _Phialus_, _Simus_, _Pompus_, _Ægineta_, _Polymnestor_, _Æchmis_, according to Chronologers, took up 379 years: which is 38 years a-piece to the ten Kings, and 42 years a-piece to the nine. And the five Kings of the Race of _Eurysthenes_, between the end of the first _Messenian_ war, and the beginning of the Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_; _Eurycrates_, _Anaxander_, _Eurycrates II_, _Leon_, _Anaxandrides_, Reigned 202 years, which is above 40 years a-piece.
Thus the _Greek_ Chronologers, who follow _Timæus_ and _Eratosthenes_, have made the Kings of their several Cities, who lived before the times of the _Persian_ Empire, to Reign about 35 or 40 years a-piece, one with another; which is a length so much beyond the course of nature, as is not to be credited. For by the ordinary course of nature Kings Reign, one with another, about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and if in some instances they Reign, one with another, five or six years longer, in others they Reign as much shorter: eighteen or twenty years is a medium. So the eighteen Kings of _Judah_ who succeeded _Solomon_, Reigned 390 years, which is one with another 22 years a-piece. The fifteen Kings of _Israel_ after _Solomon_, Reigned 259 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The eighteen Kings of _Babylon_, _Nabonassar_ &c. Reigned 209 years, which is 11⅔ years a-piece. The ten Kings of _Persia_; _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, &c. Reigned 208 years, which is almost 21 years a piece. The sixteen Successors of _Alexander_ the great, and of his brother and son in _Syria_; _Seleucus_, _Antiochus Soter_, &c. Reigned 244 years, after the breaking of that Monarchy into various Kingdoms, which is 15¼ years a-piece.
The eleven Kings of _Egypt_; _Ptolomæus Lagi_, &c. Reigned 277 years, counted from the same Period, which is 25 years a-piece. The eight in _Macedonia_; _Cassander_, &c. Reigned 138 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The thirty Kings of _England_; _William_ the Conqueror, _William Rufus_, &c. Reigned 648 years, which is 21½ years a-piece. The first twenty four Kings of _France_; _Pharamundus_, &c. Reigned 458 years, which is 19 years a-piece: the next twenty four Kings of _France_; _Ludovicus Balbus_, &c. 451 years, which is 18¾ years a-piece: the next fifteen, _Philip Valesius_, &c. 315 years, which is 21 years a-piece: and all the sixty three Kings of _France_, 1224 years, which is 19½ years a-piece. Generations from father to son, may be reckoned one with another at about 33 or 34 years a-piece, or about three Generations to an hundred years: but if the reckoning proceed by the eldest sons, they are shorter, so that three of them may be reckoned at about 75 or 80 years: and the Reigns of Kings are still shorter, because Kings are succeeded not only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brothers, and sometimes they are slain or deposed; and succeeded by others of an equal or greater age, especially in elective or turbulent Kingdoms.
In the later Ages, since Chronology hath been exact, there is scarce an instance to be found of ten Kings Reigning any where in continual Succession above 260 years: but _Timæus_ and his followers, and I think also some of his Predecessors, after the example of the _Egyptians_, have taken the Reigns of Kings for Generations, and reckoned three Generations to an hundred, and sometimes to an hundred and twenty years; and founded the Technical Chronology of the _Greeks_ upon this way of reckoning. Let the reckoning be reduced to the course of nature, by putting the Reigns of Kings one with another, at about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and the ten Kings of _Sparta_ by one Race, the nine by another Race, the ten Kings of _Messene_, and the nine of _Arcadia_, above mentioned, between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and the end of the first _Messenian_ war, will scarce take up above 180 or 190 years: whereas according to Chronologers they took up 379 years.
For confirming this reckoning, I may add another argument. _Euryleon_ the son of _Ægeus_, [24] commanded the main body of the _Messenians_ in the fifth year of the first _Messenian_ war, and was in the fifth Generation from _Oiolicus_ the son _Theras_, the brother-in-law of _Aristodemus_, and tutor to his sons _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_, as _Pausanias_ [25] relates: and by consequence, from the return of the _Heraclides_, which was in the days of _Theras_, to the battle which was in the fifth year of this war, there were six Generations, which, as I conceive, being for the most part by the eldest sons, will scarce exceed thirty years to a Generation; and so may amount unto 170 or 180 years. That war lasted 19 or 20 years: add the last 15 years, and there will be about 190 years to the end of that war: whereas the followers of _Timæus_ make it about 379 years, which is above sixty years to a Generation.
By these arguments, Chronologers have lengthned the time, between the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the first _Messenian_ war, adding to it about 190 years: and they have also lengthned the time, between that war and the rise of the _Persian_ Empire. For in the Race of the _Spartan_ Kings, descended from _Eurysthenes_; after _Polydorus_, reigned [26] these Kings, _Eurycrates_, _Anaxander_, _Eurycratides_, _Leon_, _Anaxandrides_, _Clomenes_, _Leonidas_, &c. And in the other Race descended from _Procles_; after _Theopompus_, reigned [27] these, _Anaxandrides_, _Archidemus_, _Anaxileus_, _Leutychides_, _Hippocratides_, _Ariston_, _Demaratus_, _Leutychides_ II. &c. according to _Herodotus_. These Kings reigned 'till the sixth year of _Xerxes_, in which _Leonidas_ was slain by the _Persians_ at _Thermopylæ_; and _Leutychides_ II. soon after, flying from _Sparta_ to _Tegea_, died there. The seven Reigns of the Kings of _Sparta_, which follow _Polydorus_, being added to the ten Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of _Eurysthenes_; make up seventeen Reigns of Kings, between the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the sixth year of _Xerxes_: and the eight Reigns following _Theopompus_, being added to the nine Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of _Procles_, make up also seventeen Reigns: and these seventeen Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto three hundred and forty years. Count these 340 years upwards from the sixth year of _Xerxes_, and one or two years more for the war of the _Heraclides_, and Reign of _Aristodemus_, the father of _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_; and they will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, 159 years after the death of _Solomon_, and 46 years before the first Olympiad, in which _Coræbus_ was victor. But the followers of _Timæus_ have placed this Return two hundred and eighty years earlier. Now this being the computation upon which the _Greeks_, as you have heard from _Diodorus_ and _Plutarch_, have founded the Chronology of their Kingdoms, which were ancienter than the _Persian_ Empire; that Chronology is to be rectified, by shortening the times which preceded the death of _Cyrus_, in the proportion of almost two to one; for the times which follow the death of _Cyrus_ are not much amiss.
The Artificial Chronologers, have made _Lycurgus_, the legislator, as old as _Iphitus_, the restorer of the Olympiads; and _Iphitus_, an hundred and twelve years, older than the first Olympiad: and, to help out the Hypothesis, they have feigned twenty eight Olympiads older than the first Olympiad, wherein _Coræbus_ was victor. But these things were feigned, after the days of _Thucydides_ and _Plato_: for _Socrates_ died three years after the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and _Plato_ [28] introduceth him saying, that _the institutions of _Lycurgus_ were but of three hundred years standing, or not much more_. And [29] _Thucydides_, in the reading followed by _Stephanus_, saith, that _the _Lacedæmonians_, had from ancient times used good laws, and been free from tyranny; and that from the time that they had used one and the same administration of their commonwealth, to the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, there were three hundred years and a few more_. Count three hundred years back from the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and they will place the Legislature of _Lycurgus_ upon the 19th Olympiad.
And, according to _Socrates_, it might be upon the 22d or 23d. _Athenæus_ [30] tells us out of ancient authors (_Hellanicus_, _Sosimus_ and _Hieronymus_) that _Lycurgus_ the Legislator, was contemporary to _Terpander_ the Musician; and that _Terpander_ was the first man who got the victory in the _Carnea_, in a solemnity of music instituted in those festivals in the 26th Olympiad. He overcame four times in those _Pythic_ games, and therefore lived at least 'till the 29th Olympiad: and beginning to flourish in the days of _Lycurgus_, it is not likely that _Lycurgus_ began to flourish, much before the 18th Olympiad. The name of _Lycurgus_ being on the Olympic Disc, _Aristotle_ concluded thence, that _Lycurgus_ was the companion of _Iphitus_, in restoring the Olympic games: and this argument might be the ground of the opinion of Chronologers, that _Lycurgus_ and _Iphitus_ were contemporary. But _Iphitus_ did not restore all the Olympic games. He [31] restored indeed the Racing in the first Olympiad, _Coræbus_ being victor. In the 14th Olympiad, the double _stadium_ was added, _Hypænus_ being victor. And in the 18th Olympiad the _Quinquertium_ and Wrestling were added, _Lampus_ and _Eurybatus_, two _Spartans_, being victors: And the Disc was one of the games of the _Quinquertium_.
_Lycurgus_, published his laws in the Reign of _Agesilaus_, the son and successor of _Doryagus_, in the Race of the Kings of _Sparta_ descended from _Eurysthenes_. From the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, to the end of the Reign of _Agesilaus_, there were six Reigns: and from the same Return to the end of the Reign of _Polydectes_, in the Race of the _Spartan_ Kings descended from _Procles_, there were also six Reigns: and these Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto 120 years; besides the short Reign of _Aristodemus_, the father of _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_, which might amount to a year or two: for _Aristodemus_ came to the crown, as [34] _Herodotus_ and the _Lacedæmonians_ themselves affirmed. The times of the deaths of _Agesilaus_ and _Polydectes_ are not certainly known: but it may be presumed that _Lycurgus_ did not meddle with the Olympic games before he came to the Kingdom; and therefore _Polydectes_ died in the beginning of the 18th Olympiad, or but a very little before. If it may be supposed that the 20th Olympiad was in, or very near to the middle time between the deaths of the two Kings _Polydectes_ and _Agesilaus_, and from thence be counted upwards the aforesaid 120 years, and one year more for the Reign of _Aristodemus_; the reckoning will place the Return of the _Heraclides_, about 45 years before the beginning of the Olympiads.
_Iphitus_, who restored the Olympic games, [35] was descended from _Oxylus_, the son of _Hæmon_, the son of _Thoas_, the son of _Andræmon_: _Hercules_ and _Andræmon_ married two sisters: _Thoas_ warred at _Troy_: _Oxylus_ returned into _Peloponnesus_ with the _Heraclides_. In this return he commanded the body of the _Ætolians_, and recovered _Elea_; [36] from whence his ancestor _Ætolus_, the son of _Endymion_, the son of _Aethlius_, had been driven by _Salmoneus_ the grandson of _Hellen_. By the friendship of the _Heraclides_, _Oxylus_ had the care of the Olympic Temple committed to him: and the _Heraclides_, for his service done them, granted further upon oath that the country of the _Eleans_ should be free from invasions, and be defended by them from all armed force: And when the _Eleans_ were thus consecrated, _Oxylus_ restored the Olympic games: and after they had been again intermitted, _Iphitus_ their King [37] restored them, and made them quadrennial. _Iphitus_ is by some reckoned the son of _Hæmon_, by others the son of _Praxonidas_, the son of _Hæmon_: but _Hæmon_ being the father of _Oxylus_, I would reckon _Iphitus_ the son of _Praxonidas_, the son of _Oxylus_, the son of _Hæmon_. And by this reckoning the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ will be two Generations by the eldest sons, or about 52 years, before the Olympiads.
_Pausanias_ [38] represents that _Melas_ the son of _Antissus_, of the posterity of _Gonussa_ the daughter of _Sicyon_, was not above six Generations older than _Cypselus_ King of _Corinth_; and that he was contemporary to _Aletes_, who returned with the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_. The Reign of _Cypselus_ began _An._ 2, Olymp. 31, according to Chronologers; and six Generations, at about 30 years to a Generation, amount unto 180 years. Count those years backwards from _An._ 2, Olymp. 31, and they will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ 58 years before the first Olympiad. But it might not be so early, if the Reign of _Cypselus_ began three or four Olympiads later; for he reigned before the _Persian_ Empire began.
_Hercules_ the _Argonaut_ was the father of _Hyllus_; the father of _Cleodius_; the father of _Aristomachus_; the father of _Temenus_, _Cresphontes_, and _Aristodemus_, who led the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and _Eurystheus_, who was of the same age with _Hercules_, was slain in the first attempt of the _Heraclides_ to return: _Hyllus_ was slain in the second attempt, _Cleodius_ in the third attempt, _Aristomachus_ in the fourth attempt, and _Aristodemus_ died as soon as they were returned, and left the Kingdom of _Sparta_ to his sons _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_. Whence their Return was four Generations later than the _Argonautic_ expedition: And these Generations were short ones, being by the chief of the family, and suit with the reckoning of _Thucydides_ and the Ancients, that the taking of _Troy_ was about 75 or eighty years before the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_; and the _Argonautic_ expedition one Generation earlier than the taking of _Troy_. Count therefore eighty years backward from the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ to the _Trojan_ war, and the taking of _Troy_ will be about 76 years after the death of _Solomon_: And the _Argonautic_ expedition, which was one Generation earlier, will be about 43 years after it. From the taking of _Troy_ to the Return of the _Heraclides_, could scarce be more than eighty years, because _Orestes_ the son of _Agamemnon_ was a youth at the taking of _Troy_, and his sons _Penthilus_ and _Tisamenus_ lived till the Return of the _Heraclides_.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.