though Spanheim supposes him to mean the light of the world generally.—Not. in loc. Footnote 199: Plat. Tim. t. vii. pp. 12. 15. sqq. Bekk. Aristot. Pol. vii. 6. Cf. Coray, Disc. Prelim. ad Hippoc. De Aër. et Loc. p. cxxix. sqq. A learned and ingenious but fanciful writer[200] considers Peloponnesos to have been the heart of Greece. Following up this idea, we must unquestionably pronounce Athens to have been the head, the seat of thought, the place where its arts and its wisdom ripened. But ere we touch upon the capital, which cannot be slided over with a cursory remark, it will be necessary to enter into some little detail respecting the demi or country towns of Attica,[201] of which in the flourishing times of the republic there existed upwards of one hundred and seventy-four. Of these small municipal communities, of which too little is known, several were places of considerable importance, possessing their temples, their Agoræ, their theatres, filled with walks and surrounded by impregnable fortifications. The Athenians regarded Athens, indeed, as the Hebrews did Jerusalem, in the light of their great and holy city, the sanctuary of their religion and of their freedom. But this did not prevent their preferring the calm simplicity of a country life to the noisier pleasures of the town. Many distinguished families, accordingly, had houses in these demi, or villas in their vicinity. Here, also, several of the greatest men of Athens were born: Thucydides was a native of Halimos,[202] Sophocles of Colonos, Epicurus of Gargettos, Plato of Ægina, Xenophon of Erchia, Tyrtæos, Harmodios, and Aristogeiton of Aphidnæ, Antiphon of Rhamnos, and Æschylus of Eleusis. Footnote 200: Müll. Dor. i. 76. Footnote 201: See Col. Leake, Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. i. 114–283. Footnote 202: Poppo, Prolegg. in Thucyd. i. 22.