ost powerful men; the motives
being to serve their own cupidity and to support the needy. They
would fall upon a town unprotected by walls, and consisting of a mere
collection of villages, and would plunder it; indeed, this came to be
the main source of their livelihood, no disgrace being yet attached to
such an achievement, but even some glory. An illustration of this
is furnished by the honour with which some of the inhabitants of the
continent still regard a successful marauder, and by the question we
find the old poets everywhere representing the people as asking of
voyagers--"Are they pirates?"--as if those who are asked the question
would have no idea of disclaiming the imputation, or their interrogators
of reproaching them for it. The same rapine prevailed also by land.

And even at the present day many of Hellas still follow the old fashion,
the Ozolian Locrians for instance, the Aetolians, the Acarnanians, and
that region of the continent; and the custom of carrying arms is still
kept up among these continentals, from the old piratical habits.
The whole of Hellas used once to carry arms, their habitations being
unprotected and their communication with each other unsafe; indeed,
to wear arms was as much a part of everyday life with them as with the
barbarians. And the fact that the people in these parts of Hellas are
still living in the old way points to a time when the same mode of life
was once equally common to all. The Athenians were the first to lay
aside their weapons, and to adopt an easier and more luxurious mode of
life; indeed, it is only lately that their rich old men left off the
luxury of wearing undergarments of linen, and fastening a knot of their
hair with a tie of golden grasshoppers, a fashion which spread to
their Ionian kindred and long prevailed among the old men there. On the
contrary, a modest style of dressing, more in conformity with modern
ideas, was first adopted by the Lacedaemonians, the rich doing their
best to assimilate their way of life to that of the common people.
They also set the example of contending naked, publicly stripping and
anointing themselves with oil in their gymnastic exercises. Formerly,
even in the Olympic contests, the athletes who contended wore belts
across their middles; and it is but a few years since that the practice
ceased. To this day among some of the barbarians, especially in Asia,
when prizes for boxing and wrestling are offered, belts are worn by the