A History of European Nations: From the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century by Angelo Solomon Rappoport..Excerpt from A History of European Nations: From the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century ..Greece occupies the most southern portion of the Balkan peninsula, situated between the Adriatic and the Black Sea.

Greece proper, or Hellas, i.e. the land of the Hellenes or Greeks, covers an area of about 60,000 square miles not counting the islands. Nature herself divided the country into three parts: Northern, Middle and Southern Greece. The mountain chain of the Pindus divides Northern Greece into two parts: the Western, or Epirus, and the Eastern, or Thessaly. The Ceraunian mountains separate Thessaly from Macedonia and terminate in the north-east with the famous mountain of Olympus, "the seat of the cloud-gatherer Zeus or Jupiter," near the AEgean Sea; a little farther eastwards are situated Ossa and Pelion. South of Thessaly rises the Oeta mountain and close at its foot is the pass of Thermopylae, famous for its hot springs and the battle which was fought in its vicinity. Middle Greece, or Hellas proper, contained the countries of Attica with its capital Athens; B otia, in which was situated the mountain Helicon; Phocis, with the mountain of Parnassus, at the foot of which was the town of Delphi with the famous oracle of Apollo; Doris between the Oeta and the Parnassus, Locris AEtolia and Acarnania. The Corinthian Isthmus separated Middle Greece from Southern Greece, or the Peloponnesus. In the midst of this peninsula was situated the country of Arcadia. East of Arcadia was Argolis with the towns of Argos and Mycenae. South of Arcadia were Laconia and Messina, and north of Arcadia, along the Corinthian Gulf, was Achaia with the twelve towns, constituting the Achaean League. On the south of the Corinthian Isthmus was situated the famous town of Corinth and on the north that of Megara. The part of the Mediterranean situated between Greece and Asia Minor was known as the AEgean Sea. It was full of small islands, inhabited by a Greek population. The most famous were Eub a, Paros, Delos, Naxos, and the sporadic islands such as Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Rhodes on the coasts of Asia Minor. In the south was the island of Crete, and more eastwards that of Cyprus.
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