Identifier: historyofallnati02wrig Title: A history of all nations from the earliest times; being a universal historical library Year: 1905 (1900s) Authors: Wright, John Henry, 1852-1908 Subjects: World history Publisher: [Philadelphia, New York : Lea Brothers & company Contributing Library: University of California Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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Text Appearing Before Image: ethe name of Thynias. Even the Mysians, according to Strabo, mayhave been descendants of the Moesians in Thrace; while the Be-bryces, who came hither before the Bithynians, were also fromThrace. Finally the Pamphylians were an old Greek colony be-tween Lycia and Cilicia. From the above we see that the Lydians were masters of AsiaMinor to the west of the Halys, with the exception of the Greciancities and Lycia. The Lycians, a brave and cultured people, hadtaken possession of the coast, and of the vales of the smaller streamsthat flowed into the sea; while the table-land of Milyas was occu-pied by the Solymi, who had, apparently, been driven from thecoasts. Accordingly the Lycians had come to their country by sea,as the legend signifies that makes them to have emigrated fromCrete under the leadership of Sarpedon, a brother of Minos. Thegovernment of Lycia lay in the hands of twenty-three cities, whichheld sway over as many little cantons marked off by natural bound- TOMB AT XANTHUS. 115

Text Appearing After Image: 1 K, jj — Mdible luiiib at Xauthus in Lycia. 116 ASIA AFTER THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. aries, their representatives meeting in one of the cities. Those ofthe greater cantons, as Xanthus, Patara, Pinara, Olympus, Myra, andTlos, had three votes each; those of the middle-sized, two; those ofthe others, but one. They deliberated on the apportionment of taxes,chose the Lyciarch and other officials, established courts of law, anddecided on peace and war. This state constitution was left un-changed by the Persians; and even the Romans declared this con-federation free, reserving to themselves only the confirmation orrejection of its political enactments. With the Lycians the rightof succession came through the female side; and the children werenamed after their mother—a custom dating back to times when ir-regularities in regard to the marriage relation made the paternitydoubtful. The same arrangement prevailed among the Egyptians,Etruscans, and among many other primitive tribes. On the eastcoa

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