Megara. Detailed history

At the south end of the Isthmus of Corinth before entering the Peloponnese, in the small region of the Megarid, lay the city of Megara. It had two crucial harbors that allowed it to grow commercially over time—the Pegae, in the west on the Gulf of Corinth; and Nisaea, in the east on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea (the latter became the most crucial). Meaning “big houses” in Greek, Megara existed as early as the Bronze Age, and the nearby pass at Mount Geraneia linked the city with Athens. This proximity caused it to consistently be involved in Athenian affairs.

The Dorians had conquered the region late, probably arriving from Argos in the Peloponnese, and made the local population serfs from the traditional three Doric tribes and established three separate villages (the reason that the city had a plural name). These villages fought each other for control of the region, but ultimately around 750, they came together as a single city; later, the three Doric tribes were replaced by five, perhaps due to the new geographical situation of the city or allowing for the increase in population and citizen rights from the preDorian society. Each tribe elected a general, who shared the state functions with the king, and after the oligarchs has abolished the kingship in the seventh century. The city had a council and an assembly that ruled. Each tribe also sent a military contingent to the army, making it one of the leading states in early Greece.

The city was confined by its size, only about 180 square miles, which forced it to continuously look to establish colonies to alleviate its overpopulation. Capable of supporting only about 50,000 people, the region sent colonies at first to the west—namely, Megara Hyblaea in 728 on Sicily’s eastern coast, and more important, to the Black Sea. The aristocratic government at Megara, like other cities, produced squabbles among its leadership, allowing a tyrant, Theagenes, to seize control. Theagenes gained notoriety by killing some cattle belonging to the wealthy to help the poor, perhaps as a symbol of their opposition or even as a free meal. As a Dorian, he probably viewed himself as a descendant of Heracles and thus destined to rule. Like other tyrants, Theagenes promoted his ties to the poor by building public works for their benefit. He built a water tunnel and fountain house to supply fresh water to people.

Like all of the Greek tyrants of this age, he broke many of the old social norms that had empowered the nobility. His daughter married Cylon of Athens, who attempted a failed coup in Athens. During the crises in Athens with Cylon’s failed coup, Theagenes seized the island of Salamis from Aegina to make up for their previous losses against Corinth. The oligarchs banded together and drove Theagenes out; they in turn had their aristocratic government overthrown by the poor, probably motivated by debt issues. A law was passed by the new government, ordering creditors to give the interest that they collected on loans back to the debtors. The oligarchs were then able to retake the government, probably because they lost money thanks to the new law. This period also saw the creation of the comic drama at Megara, which would be further developed by the Athenians.

Megara lost their eastern port, Nisaea, temporarily to Athens in 569, but more importantly they then lost Salamis permanently to Athens after Sparta arbitrated a dispute between the two cities in favor of Athens around 500. The city decided to expand its colonies in the Black Sea by establishing a colony at Heraclea Pontica in 560 in Bithynia. With its ideal harbor, the city was the first stop after the Bosporus Strait.

The colonists reduced the local inhabitants to serfs or helots. This colony extended power to the east along the Black Sea coast, especially in the Crimea or Tauric Chersonese, establishing new colonies. With the loss of Salamis and its continual disputes with Athens, Megara lost its position as a leading city in Greece. By 500, the city had entered the Peloponnesian League under Sparta.

During the rise of Athens and its naval empire, Megara deserted the Spartans in 459 and joined the Athenians. This allowed the Athenians to have a strong southern frontier at the edge of the Peloponnese. Athens built a double wall from Megara to the harbor of Nisaea and garrisoned it, as they had done at Athens and the Piraeus. This wall protected the entry into Attica along the coastal road. A war broke out between Athens and Corinth for control of the region.

A decade after Athenian rule, Megara revolted in 447, with the Athenian garrison massacred and a Peloponnesian army moving into Attica. Although they had lost Megara, Athens still controlled the two ports at Nisaea and Pagae. A peace treaty soon followed, and Athens returned these two ports to Megara in the Thirty Years Peace of 445. The loss of the Megarid was a blow to Athenian power. Megara would help Corinth in 433 during the Battle of Sybota against Athens and Corcyra.

In the autumn of 432, the Athenians exacted revenge for their losses and Meg- ara helping Corinth by issuing the Megarian Decree, which banned Megarians from Athens and its commercial markets throughout its empire. The stated reason for the Decree was the killing of an Athenian official and Megara seizing land, but the real issue was Megara supporting Corinth against Athens. This action effectively destroyed the economy of Megara. As an important member of the Peloponnesian League, its plight was heard favorably by the Spartans and its allies in the following year, where Sparta declared war against Athens. Megara, however, slowly diminished, and its prestige disappeared.

Megara provides an example of an ideally located city which produced an economic powerhouse. Through its location, the city carried on extensive trade throughout the Aegean.