By the same stroke they dispossessed the inhabitants and took
their place. They were a martial, robust, and healthy race, accustomed
to cold, to meagre food, to a scant existence. Men and women wore a
short tunic which did not reach to the knee. They spoke a rude and
primitive dialect. The Dorians were a race of soldiers, always obliged
to keep themselves under arms; they were the least cultivated in
Greece, since, situated far from the sea, they preserved the customs
of the barbarous age; they were the most Greek because, being
isolated, they could neither mingle with strangers nor imitate their
manners.
=The Ionians.=--The peoples of Attica, the isles, and the coast of
Asia were called Ionians; no one knows the origin of the name. Unlike
the Dorians, they were a race of sailors or traders, the most cultured
of Greece, gaining instruction from contact with the most civilized
peoples of the Orient; the least Greek, because they associated with
Asiatics and had in part adopted their dress. They were peaceful and
industrious, living luxuriously, speaking a smooth dialect, and
wearing long flowing garments like the Orientals.
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