they are incapable of admiring the genius of their predecessors. [59] [Footnote 56: The modern account of Athens, and the Athenians, is extracted from Spon, (Voyage en Grece, tom. ii. p. 79--199,) and Wheeler, (Travels into Greece, p. 337--414,) Stuart, (Antiquities of Athens, passim,) and Chandler, (Travels into Greece, p. 23--172.) The first of these travellers visited Greece in the year 1676; the last, 1765; and ninety years had not produced much difference in the tranquil scene.] [Footnote 57: The ancients, or at least the Athenians, believed that all the bees in the world had been propagated from Mount Hymettus. They taught, that health might be preserved, and life prolonged, by the external use of oil, and the internal use of honey, (Geoponica, l. xv. c 7, p. 1089--1094, edit. Niclas.)] [Footnote 58: Ducange, Glossar. GrÊc. PrÊfat. p. 8, who quotes for his author Theodosius Zygomalas, a modern grammarian. Yet Spon (tom. ii. p. 194) and Wheeler, (p. 355,) no incompetent judges, entertain a more favorable opinion of the Attic dialect.] [Footnote 59: Yet we must not accuse them of corrupting the name of Athens, which they still call Athini. From the eiV thn 'Aqhnhn, we have formed our own barbarism of _Setines_. * Note: Gibbon did not foresee a Bavarian prince on the throne of Greece, with Athens as his capital.--M.] Chapter LXIII: Civil Wars And The Ruin Of The Greek Empire.--Part I. Civil Wars, And Ruin Of The Greek Empire.--Reigns Of Andronicus, The Elder And Younger, And John PalÊologus.-- Regency, Revolt, Reign, And Abdication Of John Cantacuzene.-- Establishment Of A Genoese Colony At Pera Or Galata.--Their Wars With The Empire And City Of Constantinople.