_a._ Megaris. Until the epoch of the Dorian migration, this state generally formed part of the domain of the Attic kings; or at least was governed by princes of that house. Immediately previous to that event, the Megarians, after the assassination of their last sovereign, Hyperion, placed the government in the hands of magistrates elected for stated periods. At the time of the Dorian irruption, under the reign of Codrus, Megara was occupied by Dorians, more especially those of Corinth, who consequently reckoned the city among their colonies, and during the sway of the Bacchiadae endeavoured to keep it in a state of dependency; a circumstance which gave rise to several wars. Nevertheless Megara supported her rank as a separate state, both in those and many subsequent wars among the Greeks, in which she took a share both by sea and land. About the year 600, Theagenes, step-father of the Athenian Cylon, had possessed himself of the supreme power: after the expulsion of that tyrant, the republican constitution was once more restored, but soon after merged into the lowest species of democracy. Megara, however, even at the period of the Persian war, in which it took a glorious share, appears to have recovered the character of a well-ordered state, although we have no information respecting its internal organization. _b._ Boeotia. History mentions several very early races in Boeotia, such as the Aones, Hyantes, etc.; with these were mingled Phoenician emigrants, who had come into the country under the guidance of Cadmus. The stock of Cadmus became the ruling family, and remained so for a long time: the history of his descendants, who were kings of Thebes, and comprised under their dominion the greatest part of Boeotia, constitutes a main branch of Grecian mythology: among them were Oedipus, Laius, Eteocles, and Polynices. After the capture of Thebes by the Epigoni, 1215, the Boeotians were expelled by Thracian hordes, and settled at Arne in Thessaly; at the time of the Dorian migration they returned to the land of their forefathers, and mingled with the Aeolians of those quarters. Not long after, upon the death of Xuthus, royalty was abolished, 1126. Boeotia was now divided into as many small states as it contained cities; of these, next to Thebes, the most eminent were the towns of Plataeae, Thespiae, Tanagra, and Chaeronea, each of which had its own separate district and peculiar form of government; but all those constitutions appear to have been commuted into oligarchies about the time of the Persian war. Such had been the case even with Thebes, although she had received as a legislator, Philolaus from Corinth; but the code given by this individual cannot have been attended with the desired effect, as the government was continually fluctuating between a licentious democracy and an overbearing oligarchy. The Boeotian cities were,