MITYLENE: the orthography of this name is very uncertain; on coins and inscriptions we find Mytilana,[77] while in Greek MSS. and even in more recent Latin inscriptions, it is invariably written Mitylene. The former is in all probability the more ancient mode of spelling, yet it is difficult to introduce it into printed books. Mitylene rose to the rank of one of the greatest and most splendid cities, and Alcaeus called it ἁ μεγάλα Μιτυλάνα. No place in Greece has produced greater geniuses, for Alcaeus and Sappho are among the most excellent lyric poets in Greek literature. The history of Alcaeus is connected with that of his time, for he fought in behalf of the liberty of his country against usurpation. There, as everywhere else, members of the order of the nobles set themselves up as tyrants, and the demos, supported by Pittacus, rose against these δυναστεῖαι. Alcaeus, belonging to the aristocracy, was opposed to Pittacus, whom he unjustly attacked for his low birth and his usurpation, for Pittacus laid down his dictatorial power as soon as he had given laws to the state. Mitylene, being an insular city, together with the other towns spontaneously submitted to the Persians. Under the Pisistratids, the Mityleneans carried on war with the Athenians for the possession of Sigeum on the Hellespont, and afterwards took part in the insurrection of the Ionians in Asia Minor. After the battle of Salamis, they asserted their independence of Persia, and placed themselves under the protection of Athens. During the Peloponnesian war, they at first yielded to circumstances, but then allowed themselves, by Spartan influence, to be led to insurrection. Paches reduced the city, and Cleon wanted to raze it to the ground; a decree was passed that all its inhabitants should be made slaves and the country laid waste; but the city narrowly escaped the most frightful devastation; and cleruchi were sent into the island to whom the inhabitants had to pay tribute. At the end of the war, the Mityleneans joined Sparta, and in the Macedonian period they were allied with Byzantium, Chios, and Cos against Athens, and throughout the time of the Macedonian ascendancy maintained their republican independence. In the reign of Mithridates they were mad enough to take part in the murder of the Romans, and shewed on that occasion greater cruelty than any other people. After a long resistance on the part of its inhabitants, the Romans took the city, destroyed it, and sold its citizens as slaves; it was, however, restored through the influence of Theophanes, the favourite of Pompey. Mitylene had a double harbour. METHYMNA was the only Lesbian town that did not take part in the revolt against Athens, for which reason it was favoured by the Athenians. Otherwise little is to be said of this place, except that Arion, the dithyrambic poet, was born there.