RUINS
OF
ANCIENT CITIES;

WITH
GENERAL AND PARTICULAR ACCOUNTS
OF
THEIR RISE, FALL, AND PRESENT CONDITION.

BY CHARLES BUCKE.

IN TWO VOLS.—VOL. II.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE.
MDCCCXL.

LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

CONTENTS.

RUINS OF ANCIENT CITIES.

NO. I.—MESSENE.

Pausanias[1] appears to have had great interest in the history of the Messenians; for his history of their wars is more minute and animated than any other part of his narrative. His account of the city gives us a grand idea of what it must once have been; and the present splendid remains produce a conviction of his veracity.

The walls of Messene[2], built of hewn stone, crowned with battlements, and flanked with towers, were stronger and higher than those of Byzantium, Rhodes, and the other cities of Greece. They included within their circuit Mount Ithome. It had a large public square or forum, ornamented with temples, statues, and a splendid fountain. Beautiful edifices were on every side.

The Messenians had several wars with the Lacedæmonians; and at one time were so unfortunate as to be reduced to the condition of the Helots. They were at length, however, reinstated by the Thebans, who took their city from the Spartans, who had possessed it a long time, after having expelled all its inhabitants. Those who were dispersed in different regions of Greece, Italy, and Sicily, on the first notice given them, returned with incredible joy: animated by the love of their country, natural to all men, and almost as much by their hatred of the Spartans, which length of time had only increased. They built themselves a city, which, from the ancient name, was called Messene.

After their return they fell out with the Achaians, and having worsted their celebrated general, Philopœmen, they had the meanness and atrocity to put him to death. His history is thus related by Rollin:—

“Dinocrates, the Messenian, had drawn off Messene from the Achaian league; and was meditating how he might best seize upon a considerable post near that city. Philopœmen, then seventy years of age, and generalissimo of the Achaians for the eighth time, lay sick. However, the instant the news of this was brought him, he set out, notwithstanding his indisposition, made a counter-march, and advanced towards Messene with a small body of forces. Dinocrates, who had marched out against him, was soon put to flight; but five hundred troopers, who guarded the open country of Messene, happening to come up and reinforce him, he faced about and routed Philopœmen. This general, who was solicitous of nothing but to save the gallant youths who had followed him in this expedition, performed the most extraordinary acts of bravery; but happening to fall from his horse, and receiving a deep wound in the head, he was taken prisoner by the enemy, who carried him to Messene.

“Upon the arrival of the news that Philopœmen was taken prisoner, and on his way to the city, the Messenians ran to the gates; not being able to persuade themselves of the truth of what they heard, till they saw him themselves; so greatly improbable did this relation appear to them. To satisfy the violent curiosity of the inhabitants, many of whom had not yet been able to get a sight of him, they were forced to show the illustrious prisoner on the theatre. When they beheld Philopœmen, dragged along in chains, most of the spectators were so moved to compassion, that the tears trickled from their eyes. There even was heard a murmur among the people, which resulted from humanity, and a very laudable gratitude; “That the Messenians ought to call to mind the great services done by Philopœmen, and his preserving the liberty of Achaia, by the defeat of Nabis the tyrant.” But the magistrates did not suffer him to be long exhibited in this manner, lest the pity of the people should be attended with ill consequences. They therefore took him away on a sudden; and, after consulting together, caused him to be conveyed to a place called the Treasury. This was a subterraneous place, whither neither light nor air entered from without, and had no door to it, but was shut with a huge stone that was rolled over the entrance of it. In this dungeon they imprisoned Philopœmen, and posted a guard round every part of it.

“As soon as it was night, and all the people were withdrawn, Dinocrates caused the stone to be rolled away, and the executioner to descend into the dungeon with a dose of poison to Philopœmen, commanding him not to stir till he had swallowed it. The moment the illustrious Megalopolitan perceived the first glimmerings of light, and saw the man advance towards him, with a lamp in one hand and a sword in the other, he raised himself with the utmost difficulty, for he was very weak, sat down, and then taking the cup, he inquired of the executioner, whether he could tell what was become of the young Megalopolitans his followers, particularly Lycortas? The executioner answering, that he heard almost all had saved themselves by flight, Philopœmen thanked him by a nod, and looking kindly on him,—“You bring me,” says he, “good news; and I find we are not entirely unfortunate;” after which, without breathing the least complaint, he swallowed the deadly dose, and laid himself again on his cloak. The poison was very speedy in its effects; for Philopœmen, being extremely weak and feeble, expired in a moment.

“When the news of his death spread among the Achaians, all their cities were inexpressibly afflicted. Immediately all their young men who were of age to bear arms, and all their magistrates, came to Megalopolis. Here a grand council being summoned, it was unanimously resolved not to delay a moment the revenge of so horrid a deed; and, accordingly, having elected on the spot Lycortas for their general, they advanced with the utmost fury into Messene, and filled every part of it with blood and slaughter. The Messenians having now no refuge left, and being unable to defend themselves by force of arms, sent a deputation to the Achaians, to desire that an end might be put to the war, and to beg pardon for their past faults. Lycortas, moved at their intreaties, did not think it advisable to treat them as their furious and insolent revolt seemed to deserve. He told them that there was no other way for them to expect a peace, but by delivering up the authors of the revolt, and of the death of Philopœmen; to submit all their affairs to the disposal of the Achaians, and to receive a garrison into their citadel. These conditions were accepted, and executed immediately. Dinocrates, to prevent the ignominy of dying by an executioner, laid violent hands on himself, in which he was imitated by all those who had advised the putting Philopœmen to death.”

A mere village[3] now occupies the site of Messene, and this is situated on its ruins, about three quarters of a mile from the great gate, which, of its kind, is the most magnificent ruin in Greece.

A circular wall, composed of large regular blocks, incloses an area of sixty-two feet diameter. In this wall are two gates, one facing Cyparissaii, and the other looking towards Laconia. The architraves have fallen; but that which belonged to the Laconian gate remains entire, with one end on the ground, and the other leaning against the wall.

There are the remains, also, of a stadium, and of a theatre, one of the smallest in Greece. Several other traces, masses of fine walls, and heaps of stones, that are scattered about the place, are overgrown or nearly concealed by large trees and luxuriant shrubs[4].

NO. II.—MYCENÆ.

This city was the capital of Agamemnon, who was the commander-in-chief of the assembled Greeks, before the walls of Troy. This event took place, B. C. 1184; and the present ruins are supposed to be the ruins of the city before that event.

Perseus translated the seat of his kingdom from Argos to Mycenæ. The kings who reigned at Mycenæ, after Perseus, were Erectryon, Sthenelus, and Eurystheus. The last, after the death of Hercules, declared open war against his descendants, apprehending they might some time or other attempt to dethrone him; which, as it happened, was done by the Heraclidæ; for, having killed Eurystheus in battle, they entered victorious into Peloponnesus; and made themselves masters of the country. But a plague obliged them to quit the country. Three years after this, being deceived by the ambiguous expression of the oracle, they made a second attempt, which likewise proved fruitless. This was about twenty years before the taking of Troy.

Atreus, the son of Pelops, uncle by the mother’s side to Eurystheus, was the latter’s successor. And in this manner the crown came to the descendants of Pelops, from whom Peloponnesus, which before was called Apia, derived its name. The bloody hatred of the two brothers, Atreus and Thyestes, is known to all the world.

Plisthenes, the son of Atreus, succeeded his father in the kingdom of Mycenæ, which he left to his son Agamemnon, who was succeeded by his son Orestes.

The kingdom of Mycenæ was filled with enormous and horrible crimes, from the time it came into the family of Pelops.

Tisamenes and Penthilus, sons of Orestes, reigned after their father, and were at last driven out by the Heraclidæ.

The length of the Acropolis of Mycenæ, is about four hundred yards,[5] and its breadth about two hundred. The whole circuit of this citadel can still be made out; and, in some places, the walls remain to the height of fifteen or twenty feet. They are constructed of huge stones, and belong to that style of building commonly called Cyclopean. This description of wall building is recognised by its massy materials, and by a certain style of rudeness; in which, however, different epochs are easily distinguished. The oldest part of the walls of Mycenæ, resembles the Cyclopean walls of Tiryns, a place to the south, about seven miles distant, which are apparently nothing more than huge masses of unwrought stone, placed one above another, with the interstices filled up by smaller materials.

The citadel of Mycenæ is of an irregular oblong form, and is now chiefly an object of curiosity for the gate, or great entrance, to the north and west angle. The approach to this gate is by a passage of fifty feet long, and thirty wide, formed by two parallel and projecting walls, which was a part of the fortification, and were obviously designed to command the entrance, and annoy any enemy who might venture to attack the place. The door is formed of three stones, two upright, and a cross-stone, forming a soffit. This last is fifteen feet long, four wide, and six feet seven inches thick in the middle, but diminishes towards each end. On this stone stands another of a triangular shape, which is twelve feet long, ten high, and two thick. Two lions are cut in relief on the face of this stone, standing on their hind legs, on opposite sides of a round pillar, on which their forepaws rest.

The kingdom of the Argives[6] was divided into two portions, by Acrisius and his brother Prœtus. Argos and Mycenæ were their capitals. These, as belonging to the same family, and distant only about six miles and a quarter from each other, had one tutelary deity, Juno; and were, jointly, proprietors of her temple, the Heræum. This renowned temple was adorned with curious sculpture, and numerous statues. The image was very large, made by Polycletus, of gold and ivory, sitting on a throne. Among the offerings was a shield, taken by Menelaus, from Euphorbus, at Ilium; an altar of silver, on which the marriage of Hebe with Hercules was represented; a golden crown and purple robe, given by Nero; and a peacock of gold, set with precious stones, dedicated by Hadrian.

Near it were the remains of a more ancient temple, which had been burned; a taper setting some garlands on fire, while the priestess was sleeping.

The cause of the destruction of Mycenæ is said to have been this:—Eighty of its heroes accompanied the Spartans to the defile of Thermopylæ, and shared with them the glory of their immortal deed. This is said so to have excited the jealousy of their sister city, Argos, that it was never afterwards forgiven. The Argives, stung by the recollection of the opportunity they had thus lost of signalising themselves, and unable to endure the superior fame of their neighbours, made war against Mycenæ, and destroyed it. This event happened about five centuries before Christ. We cannot, however, believe that the Argives, who were an exceedingly mild and benevolent people, could have done such an act of atrocity as this.

Strabo could not imagine where Mycenæ could have stood. He says, that not a single vestige remained. Pausanias, however, who lived at a much later period, found its colossal ruins, and described them as they are seen at this very day.

“It is not,” says Dr. Clarke, “merely the circumstance of seeing the architecture and the sculpture of the heroic ages, which renders a view of Mycenæ one of the highest gratifications a literary traveller can experience; the consideration of its remaining at this time, exactly as Pausanias saw it in the second century, and in such a state of preservation, that an alto-relievo, described by him, yet exists in the identical position he has assigned for it, adds greatly to the interest excited by these remarkable ruins: indeed, so singularly does the whole scene correspond with his account of the place, that, in comparing them together, it might be supposed, a single hour had not elapsed since he was himself upon the spot.”

Everything[7] conspires to render these ruins pre-eminently interesting; whether we consider their venerable age, the allusions made to them in such distant periods, when they were visited by Sophocles, Euripides and other poets and historians of Greece, as the classical antiquities of their country; or the indisputable examples they afford of the architecture, sculpture, mythology and customs of the heroic ages.

The walls consist of huge unhewn masses of stone, so fitted and adapted to each other, as to have given rise to an opinion, that the power of man was inadequate to the labour necessary in building them.

One of the first things that is noticed is a tumulus of an immense size. This has been opened, and the entrance is no longer concealed. This sepulchre has been erroneously called the “treasury of Atreus;” and the “monument of Agamemnon.” “That this sepulchre,” says Clarke, “could not have been the treasury of Atreus, is evident from Pausanias‘s description, because it was without the walls of the Acropolis; and that it cannot be the monument of Agamemnon, because it was within the citadel.”

In regard to the tomb of Agamemnon, the following account has been given by Mr. Turner: “I entered by a subterraneous passage, opened by Lord Elgin, and was surprised to find myself in an immense dome, about ninety feet high, and fifty round the bottom. It had two doors, one into the open air, and another into an interior chamber, which was thoroughly dark, and, I was told, very small. It was built of immense stones, and was in excellent preservation. The tomb being subterraneous, there are no traces above-ground, and you might walk over it for years, without suspecting that you were walking over so interesting a ruin.”

The other antiquities must remain for the more attentive examination of future travellers; who, as it is hoped, will visit the ruins provided with the necessary implements for making researches, where, with the slightest precaution, they will be little liable[8] to interruption, the place being as destitute of inhabitants, and almost as little known, as it was in the time of Strabo; when it was believed that not a vestige could be found[9].

NO. III.—MILETUS.

This celebrated city was the capital of Ionia, situated, in the time of Pausanias, ten stadia from the mouth of the Meander; but that river accumulated its deposit, afterwards, so closely, that the town was removed, in process of time, more than three miles within the land. Of its origin there are two accounts: some ascribing it to a colony from Crete, under the conduct of Miletus; some to Sarpedon; and others to Neleus, the son of Codrus, king of Athens, who died there, and whose tomb was in existence for many ages.

“Alyattes, king of Sardis, made war upon the Milesians in the following manner,” says Herodotus. “As the time of harvest approached, he marched an army into their country to the sound of the pastoral pipe, harp, and flutes, played upon by women as well as men. On his arrival in their territories, he neither hunted, nor in any respect injured their edifices, which stood in the fields; but he totally destroyed the produce of their lands, and then returned. As the Milesians were securely situated near the sea, all attacks upon their city would probably have proved ineffectual. His motive for not destroying their buildings was, that they might be induced again to cultivate their lands, and that on every repetition of his excursions, he might be secure of plunder.”

In this manner the war was protracted during a period of eleven years; the Milesians receiving no succour from any of their neighbours, except the natives of Chios. In the twelfth year of the war the enemy again set fire to the corn, and a sudden wind springing up, the flames caught the temple of Minerva and burnt it to the ground. Alyattes, supposing that the Milesians must be destitute of corn from these repeated conflagrations, sent word that an ambassador would be at Miletus to make a truce, until he had rebuilt the temple. When Thrasybulus, king of Miletus, heard this, he directed all the corn that could be in any way collected, to be brought into the public market-place; and at an appointed time ordered the Milesians to commence a scene of feasting and dances. When Alyattes heard of this festivity, convinced that he had been mistaken as to the hope of starving the Milesians out, he not only immediately offered peace, but entered into a strict alliance with them, and forthwith erected two temples to Minerva instead of one.

The Ionians having been drawn into revolt through the intrigues and ambitious views of two persons, Aristagoras and Hysteius, the Persians, having routed the Ionians, laid siege to Miletus, both by sea and land. They not only undermined the walls, but applied every species of military machines against it. The oracle had declared:—

And thou, Miletus, versed in ill too long, Shalt be the prey and plunder of the strong: Your wives shall stoop to wash a long-hair’d train, And others guard our Didymæan fane.

This prophecy was fulfilled. The city was taken and utterly destroyed. The greater part of the Milesians were slain by the Persians, who at that time wore long hair; and their wives and children were carried into slavery. Those who survived, were sent to Susa; Darius treating them with great humanity.

The Milesians, continues Herodotus, on suffering these calamities from the Persians, did not meet with the return from the people of Sybaris, which they might justly have expected. When Sybaris was taken by the Crotoniati, the Milesians had shaved their heads, and discovered every testimony of sorrow; for betwixt these two cities a strict hospitality prevailed. And here we must give room for a beautiful instance of sensibility on the part of the Athenians. When they heard of the destruction of Miletus, they gave way to many indications of sorrow; and some years after the capture of Miletus, a drama, written by Phrynicus, being represented at Athens, the whole audience melted into tears. The poet, for thus reminding them of so terrible a calamity, was fined a thousand drachmæ, and the piece forbidden to be played in future.

A bloody battle was fought under the walls of the town, between the Athenians and Argives on one side, and the Peloponnesians assisted by the Persians and the revolted Milesians on the other. The fortune of the day turned to the side of the Athenians; and they would have entered the city and recovered their authority, had not a fleet of fifty-five sail, belonging to the enemy, compelled them to draw off their forces and retire.

B. C. 412[10]. In this year the inhabitants of Miletus joined the Lacedæmonian party against Athens. When the Athenians heard of this, they voted the expenditure of a thousand talents, which, in more prosperous times, they had deposited in the citadel, under the sanction of a decree of the senate and people, to reserve it for an occasion of the utmost danger. This enabled them to recruit their fleet; and having secured the fidelity of the Lesbians, they endeavoured to recover their authority in Miletus.

Lysander of Lacedæmon acted a great atrocity at Miletus. Apprehending that those who were then at the head of the people, would escape his revenge, he swore that he would do them no harm. These chiefs, giving credit to his oath, appeared therefore in public; but no sooner had they done so, than the treacherous Lysander gave leave to the nobles of the town to put them all to death, which they immediately did, although the number amounted to no less than eight hundred! He caused, also, an incredible number of persons, who were of the party opposed to him, to be massacred; and this he did not only to gratify his own malice and revenge, but to serve the enmity, malice, and avarice of his friends, whom he took delight in supporting in the gratification of their passions by the death of their enemies.

The Milesians, when free from a foreign yoke, were often reduced to a state of vassalage by domestic tyrants, who governed them with absolute sway, and made them feel all the evils of a foreign subjection. In the time of Antiochus II., for instance, we read of one Timarchus, who, reigning in Miletus, and practising all manner of cruelties, was driven out by that prince, and rewarded by the citizens with the title of Theos.

When Alexander left Ephesus, he marched to Miletus. But the city, expecting succours from the Persians, closed its gates against him. Memnon, one of the most valiant commanders of Darius, who had shut himself up in the fortress, determined to make as stout a defence as possible. The Macedonian, however, attacked him skilfully and vigorously, sending fresh troops to supply the places of those that were wearied; yet finding his troops still repulsed in all directions, the garrison being well supplied with every thing necessary for a siege, he planted all his machines against the walls, made a great number of breaches, and attempted new scalados wherever they were attached. At length the besieged, after many brave efforts, fearful of being taken by storm, capitulated. When he had succeeded, Alexander acted in a manner much more noble and generous than he had done before, or did after in many cases;—he treated the Milesians with great humanity. The foreigners, however, that had taken part with them, he sold as slaves.

Miletus is thus described in the pages of Barthelemy, whose Travels of Anacharsis, as we have before observed, have all the authority of an ancient author:—“When at Miletus, we surveyed with admiration its temples, festivals, manufactures, harbours, and the innumerable concourse of ships, mariners, and workmen, there perpetually in motion. This city is an abode of opulence, learning, and pleasure;—it is the Athens of Ionia. Within the walls the city is adorned by the productions of art; and without, embellished by the riches of nature. How often have we directed our steps to the banks of the Mæander, which, after having received a multitude of rivers, and bathed the walls of various cities, rolls its waters in innumerable windings through the plain which is honoured by bearing its name, and proudly ornaments its course with the plenty it creates! How often, seated on the turf, which borders its flowery margin, surrounded on all sides with the most delightful prospects, and unable to satiate our senses with the purity and serene splendour of the air and sky, have we not felt a delicious languor insinuate into our souls, and throw us, if I may so speak, into the intoxication of happiness! Such is the influence of the climate of Ionia: and as moral causes, far from correcting, have only tended to increase it, the Ionians have become the most effeminate, but, at the same time, are to be numbered among the most amiable people, of Asiatic Greece. In their ideas, sentiments, and manners, a certain softness prevails, which constitute the charm of society; and in their music and dancing is a liberty, which at first offends, and then seduces. They have added new charms to pleasure, and enriched their luxury by inventions. Numerous festivals occupy them at home, or attract them to the neighbouring cities, where the men appear in magnificent habits, and the women in all the elegance of female ornament, and with all the desire of pleasing.”

St. Paul, in his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, passed through Miletus; and as he went by sea, and would not take Ephesus in his way, he caused the priests and bishops of the church of Ephesus to come to Miletus[11].

Miletus fell under subjection to the Romans, and became a considerable place under the Greek emperors. Then it fell under the scourge of the Turks; one of the sultans of which (A. D. 1175) sent twenty thousand men, with orders to lay waste the Roman imperial provinces, and bring him sand, water, and an oar. All the cities on the Mæander were then ruined: since which, little of the history of Miletus has been known.

The Milesians early applied themselves to navigation; in the spirit of which they, in the process of time, planted not less than eighty colonies, in different parts of the world; and as we are ourselves so largely engaged in colonisation, perhaps an account of the colonies, sent out by the Milesians, may not be deemed uninteresting.

From this list we may imagine to what a height of power and civilisation this city must have once attained. Babylon stands in a wilderness and a desert by its side.

Miletus was adorned with superb edifices; and was greatly celebrated for its trade, sciences, and arts. It gave birth also to many eminent persons; amongst whom may be particularly mentioned, Thales[12], Anaximenes[13], Anaximander[14], Hecatæus[15], Timotheus[16], also the celebrated Aspasia, the wife of Pericles. It was also famous for its excellent wool, with which were made stuffs and garments, held in the highest reputation both for softness, elegance, and beauty.

It had a temple dedicated to Apollo Didymæus, which was burnt by Xerxes. The Milesians, however, soon after rebuilt it, and upon so large a scale, that Strabo describes it as having been equal in extent to a village; so large indeed was it, that it could never be covered. It stood in a thick grove. With what magnificence and prodigious spirit this edifice was designed, may in some measure be collected from the present remains. Strabo called it the “greatest of all temples;” adding that it continued without a roof on account of its bigness; Pausanias mentions it as unfinished, but as one of the wonders peculiar to Ionia; and Vitruvius mentions this among the four temples, which have raised their architects to the summit of renown[17].

There was a magnificent theatre also built of stone, but cased with marble, and greatly enriched with sculptures. There was also one temple of Venus in this town, and another in the neighbourhood.

Miletus is now called Palatskia (the palaces). Notwithstanding its title, and the splendour of its ancient condition, it is but a mean place now. The principal relic of its former magnificence is a ruined theatre, measuring in length four hundred and fifty-seven feet. The external face of this vast fabric is marble. The front has been removed. A few seats only remain, and those, as usual, ranged on the slope of a hill. The vaults which supported the extremities, with the arches or avenues of the two wings, are constructed with such solidity, that they will not easily be demolished. The entrance of the vault is nearly filled up with rubbish; but when Dr. Chandler crept into it, led by an Armenian, with a candle in a long paper lantern, innumerable bats began flitting about them; and the stench was intolerable.

The town was spread with rubbish and overgrown with thickets. The vestiges of “the heathen city,” are pieces of wall, broken arches, and a few scattered pedestals and inscriptions, a square marble urn, and many wells. One of the pedestals has belonged to a statue of the Emperor Hadrian, who was a friend to the Milesians, as appears from the titles of Saviour and Benefactor, bestowed upon him. Another has supported the Emperor Severus, and has a long inscription, with this preamble: “The senate and people of the city of the Milesians, the first settled in Ionia, and the mother of many and great cities both in Pontus and Egypt, and in various other parts of the world.” This lies among the bushes behind the theatre.

Several piers of an aqueduct are standing. Near the ferry is a large couchant lion, of white marble; and in a Turkish burying-ground another; and traces remain of an old fortress. Besides these, there are a considerable number of forsaken mosques; and among the ruins are several fragments of ancient churches.

Wheler says, that in his time, there were many inscriptions, most of them defaced by time and weather; some upon single stones, others upon very large tombs. On one of them were carved two women hunting, with three dogs; the foremost holding a hare in its mouth.

“Miletus,” says Dr. Chandler, from whom we have borrowed several passages in this article, “was once powerful and illustrious. The early navigators extended its commerce to remote regions; the whole Euxine Sea, the Propontis, Egypt, and other countries, were frequented by its ships, and settled by its colonies. It withstood Darius, and refused to admit Alexander. It has been styled the metropolis and head of Ionia; the bulwark of Asia; chief in war and peace; mighty by sea; the fertile mother, which had poured forth her sons to every quarter. It afterwards fell so low as to furnish a proverbial saying, ‘The Milesians were once great;’ but if we compare its ancient glory, and its subsequent humiliation, with its present state, we may justly exclaim, ‘Miletus, how much lower art thou now fallen[18]!’”

NO. IV.—NAUPLIA.

This town, now called Napoli di Romania, is situated along the foot of the rocky promontory, which projects into the sea, at the head of the gulf of Napoli. Its walls were built by the Venetians.

Ancient Nauplia, which is said to have been built by Nauplius, absurdly called the son of Neptune, became the chief naval arsenal of the Argives. Even so early as the time of Pausanias, however, it had become desolate; only a few remains of a temple, and of the walls, then existing. Its modern history is rather interesting.

The Venetians obtained possession in 1460. In 1495 it surrendered to Bajazet, but was again taken by the Venetians, under Morozini, in 1586, after a month’s siege, and became the head-quarters of that nation, in the Morea. In 1714, it was treacherously given up to Ali Coumourgi, and was the seat of Turkish government, and residence of the Pasha of the Morea; till Tripolizzi was selected as being more central; when it became subject to the Bey of Argos. The crescent remained uninterruptedly flying on this fortress, till the 12th of December 1822, when it surrendered to the Greeks, after a long and tedious blockade; the Turkish garrison having been reduced to such a state of starvation, as to feed on the corpses of their companions. In 1825, Ibrahim Pasha made a fruitless attempt to surprise the place; and it has been the strong-hold of the Greeks in their struggle for liberty. In April, 1826, the commission of government held their sittings here; but were obliged to retire to Ægina, on account of civil dissentions, and two of the revolted chiefs being in possession of the Palamadi. During the presidency of Capo d’Istrias, who always resided, and was assassinated in the town, it again became the seat of government; and on the 31st of January, 1833, Otho, Prince of Bavaria, arrived here, as first king of restored Greece.

The strength of Napoli is the citadel, which is called the Palamadi, over whose turreted walls a few cypresses raise their sombre heads. It stands on the easternmost and highest elevation of the promontory, and completely overhangs and commands the town. To all appearance it is impregnable, and, from its situation and aspect, has been termed the Gibraltar of Greece. It is seven hundred and twenty feet above the sea; and has only one assailable point, where a narrow isthmus connects it with the main land; and this is overlooked by a rocky precipice.

Mr. Dodwell made fruitless inquiries in respect to the caves and labyrinths near Nauplia, which are said to have been formed by the Cyclops; but a minute examination is neither a safe nor easy undertaking. “The remains that are yet unknown,” says he, “will be brought to light, when the reciprocal jealousy of the European powers permits the Greeks to break their chains,[19] and to chase from their outraged territory that host of dull oppressors, who have spread the shades of ignorance over the land that was once illuminated by science, and who unconsciously trample on the venerable dust of the Pelopidæ and the Atridæ.”

Nauplia is a miserable village; the houses have nothing peculiar about them, but are built in the common form of the lowest habitations of the villages of France and Savoy. The inhabitants are indolent. “The indolence of the Napolitans,” says M. La Martine, “is mild, serene, and gay—the carelessness of happiness; while that of the Greek is heavy, morose, and sombre; it is a vice, which punishes itself.”[20]

NO. V.—NEMEA.

A town of Argolis, greatly distinguished by the games once celebrated there. These games (called the Nemean games) were originally instituted by the Argives in honour of Archemorus, who died from the bite of a serpent; and, afterwards, renewed in honour of Hercules, who in that neighbourhood is said to have destroyed a lion by squeezing him to death.

These games consisted of foot and horse races, and chariot races; boxing, wrestling, and contests of every kind, both gymnastic and equestrian. They were celebrated on the 12th of our August, on the 1st and 3rd of every Olympiad; and continued long after those of Olympia were abolished.

In the neighbouring mountains is still shown the den of the lion, said to have been slain by Hercules; near which stand the remains of a considerable temple, dedicated to Jupiter Nemeus and Cleomenes, formerly surrounded by a grove of cypresses.

Of this temple three columns only are remaining. These columns, two of which belonging to the space between antæ, support their architrave. These columns are four feet six inches and a half in diameter, and thirty-one feet ten inches and a half in height, exclusive of the capitals. The single column is five feet three inches diameter, and belongs to the peristyle. The temple was hexastyle and peripteral, and is supposed to have had fourteen columns on the sides. The general intercolumniation is seven feet and a half, and those at the angles five feet eleven inches and a quarter. It stands upon three steps, each of which is one foot two inches in height. The capital of the exterior column has been shaken out of its place, and will probably ere long fall to the ground. “I have not seen in Greece,” continues Mr. Dodwell, “any Doric temple, the columns of which are of such slender proportions as those of Nemea. The epistylia are thin and meagre, and the capitals too small for the height of the columns. It is constructed of a soft calcareous stone, which is an aggregate of sand and small petrified shells, and the columns are coated with a fine stucco. Pausanias praises the beauty of the temple; but, even in his time, the roof had fallen, and not a single statue was left.”

No fragments of marble are found amongst the ruins, but an excavation would probably be well repaid, as the temple was evidently thrown down at one moment, and if it contained any sculptured marbles, they are still concealed by the ruins.

Near the temple are several blocks of stones, some fluted Doric frusta, and a capital of small dimensions. This is supposed to have formed part of the sepulchre of Archemorus. Mr. Dodwell, however, found no traces of the tumulus of Lycurgus, his father, king of Nemea, mentioned by Pausanias, nor any traces of the theatre and stadium.

Beyond the temple is a remarkable summit, the top of which is flat, and visible in the gulf of Corinth. On one side is a ruinous church, with some rubbish; perhaps where Osspaltes and his father are said to have been buried. Near it is a very large fig-tree. To this a goatherd repaired daily before noon with his flock, which huddled together in the shade until the extreme heat was over, and then proceeded orderly to feed in the cool upon the mountain.

“Nemea,” continues Mr. Dodwell, “is more characterised by gloom than most of the places I have seen. The splendour of religious pomp, and the long animation of gymnastic and equestrian exercises, have been succeeded by the dreary vacancy of a death-like solitude. We saw no living creatures but a ploughman and his oxen, in a spot which was once exhilarated by the gaiety of thousands, and resounded with the shouts of a crowded population[21].”

NO. VI.—NINEVEH.

Of Nineveh, the mighty city of old, How like a star she fell and pass’d away! Atherstone.

The Assyrian empire was founded by Ashur, the son of Shem, according to some writers; but according to others, by Nimrod; and to others, by Ninus.

Ninus, according to Diodorus Siculus, is to be esteemed the most ancient of the Assyrian kings. Being of a warlike disposition, and ambitious of that glory which results from courage, says he, he armed a considerable number of young men, that were brave and vigorous like himself; trained them up in laborious exercises and hardships, and by that means accustomed them to bear the fatigues of war patiently, and to face dangers with intrepidity. What Diodorus states of Ninus, however, is much more applicable to his father, Nimrod, the son of Cush, grandson of Cham, and great-grandson of Noah; he who is signalised in scripture as having been “a mighty hunter before the Lord;” a distinction which he gained from having delivered Assyria from the fury and dread of wild animals; and from having, also, by this exercise of hunting, trained up his followers to the use of arms, that he might make use of them for other purposes more serious and extensive.

The next king of Assyria was Ninus, the son of Nimrod. This prince prepared a large army, and in the course of seventeen years conquered a vast extent of country; extending to Egypt on one side, and to India and Bactriana on the other. On his return he resolved on building the largest and noblest city in the world; so extensive and magnificent, as to leave it in the power of none, that should come after him, to build such another. It is probable, however, that Nimrod laid the foundations of this city, and that Ninus completed it: for the ancient writers often gave the name of founder to persons, who were only entitled to the appellation of restorer or improver.

This city was called Nineveh. Its form and extent are thus related by Diodorus, who states that he took his account from Ctesias the Gnidian:—“It was of a long form; for on both sides it ran out about twenty-three miles. The two lesser angles, however, were only ninety furlongs a-piece; so that the circumference of the whole was about seventy-four miles. The walls were one hundred feet in height; and so broad, that three chariots might be driven together upon it abreast; and on these walls were fifteen hundred turrets, each of which was two hundred feet high.”

When the improver had finished the city, he appointed it to be inhabited by the richest Assyrians; but gave leave, at the same time, to people of other nations (as many as would) to dwell there; and, moreover, allowed to the citizens at large a considerable territory next adjoining them.

Having finished the city, Ninus marched into Bactria; his army consisting of one million seven hundred thousand men, two hundred thousand horse, and sixteen thousand chariots armed with scythes. This number is, doubtless, greatly exaggerated. With so large a force, he could do no otherwise than conquer a great number of cities. But having, at last, laid siege to Bactria, the capital of the country, it is said that he would probably have failed in his enterprise against that city, had he not been assisted by the counsel of Semiramis, wife to one of his officers, who directed him in what manner to attack the citadel. By her means he entered the city, and becoming entire master of it, he got possession of an immense treasure. He soon after married Semiramis; her husband having destroyed himself, to prevent the effects of some threats that Ninus had thrown out against him. By Semiramis, Ninus had one son, whom he named Ninyas; and dying not long after, Semiramis became queen: who, to honour his memory, erected a magnificent monument, which is said to have remained a long time after the destruction of the city.

The history of this queen is so well known,[22] that we shall not enlarge upon it; we having already done so in our account of Babylon; for she was one of the enlargers of that mighty city.

There is a very great difference of opinion, in regard to the time in which Semiramis lived. According to

Alexander’s opinion of this celebrated woman may be gathered from the following passage of his speech to his army:—“You wish to enjoy me long; and even, if it were possible, for ever; but, as to myself, I compute the length of my existence, not by years, but by glory. I might have confined my ambition within the narrow limits of Macedonia; and, contented with the kingdom my ancestors left me, have waited, in the midst of pleasures and indolence, an inglorious old age. I own that if my victories, not my years, are computed, I shall seem to have lived long; but can you imagine, that after having made Europe and Asia but one empire, after having conquered the two noblest parts of the world, in the tenth year of my reign and the thirtieth of my age, that it will become me to stop in the midst of so exalted a career, and discontinue the pursuit of glory to which I have entirely devoted myself? Know, that this glory ennobles all things, and gives a true and solid grandeur to whatever appears insignificant. In what place soever I may fight, I shall fancy myself upon the stage of the world, and in presence of all mankind. I confess that I have achieved mighty things hitherto; but the country we are now in reproaches me that a woman has done still greater. It is Semiramis I mean. How many nations did she conquer! How many cities were built by her! What magnificent and stupendous works did she finish! How shameful is it, that I should not yet have attained to so high a pitch of glory! Do but second my ardour, and I will soon surpass her. Defend me only from secret cabals and domestic treasons, by which most princes lose their lives; I take the rest upon myself, and will be answerable to you for all the events of the war.”

“This speech,” says Rollin, “gives us a perfect idea of Alexander’s character. He had no notion of true glory. He did not know either the principle, the rule, or end of it. He certainly placed it where it was not. He was strongly prejudiced in vulgar error, and cherished it. He fancied himself born merely for glory; and that none could be acquired but by unbounded, unjust, and irregular conduct. In his impetuous sallies after a mistaken glory, he followed neither reason, virtue, nor humanity; and as if his ambitious caprice ought to have been a rule and standard to all other men, he was surprised that neither his officers nor soldiers would enter into his views, and that they lent themselves very unwillingly to support his ridiculous enterprises.” These remarks are well worthy the distinguished historian who makes them.

Semiramis was succeeded by her son Ninyas; a weak and effeminate prince, who shut himself up in the city, and, seldom engaging in affairs, naturally became an object of contempt to all the inhabitants. His successors are said to have followed his example; and some of them even went beyond him in luxury and indolence. Of their history no trace remains.

At length we come to Pull, supposed to be the father of Sardanapalus; in whose reign Jonah is believed to have lived. “The word of the Lord,” says the Hebrew scripture, “came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.” Jonah, instead of acting as he was commanded, went to Joppa, and thence to Tarshish. He was overtaken by a storm, swallowed by a whale, and thrown up again. Being commanded again, he arose and went to Nineveh, “an exceedingly great city of three days’ journey;” where, having warned the inhabitants, that in forty days their city should be overthrown, the people put on sackcloth, “from the greatest of them even to the least.” The king sat in ashes, and proclaimed a fast. “Let neither man nor beast,” said the edict, “herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth; and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”

On the king’s issuing this edict, the people did as they were commanded, and the ruin was delayed. On finding this, the prophet acted in a very unworthy manner. To have failed as a prophet gave him great concern; insomuch, that he desired death. “Take, I beseech thee, O Lord, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” “Shall I not spare Nineveh,” answered the Lord, “that great city, wherein are more than six-score thousand persons, that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”

Sardanapalus was, beyond all other sovereigns recorded in history, the most effeminate and voluptuous; the most perfect specimen of sloth, luxury, cowardice, crime, and elaborate folly, that was, perhaps, ever before exhibited to the detestation of mankind. He clothed himself in women’s attire, and spun fine wool and purple amongst throngs of concubines. He painted likewise his face, and decked his whole body with other allurements. He imitated, also, a woman’s voice; and in a thousand respects disgraced his nature by the most unbounded licentiousness and depravity. He even wished to immortalise his impurities; selecting for his epitaph the following lines:—

Hæc habeo quæ edi, quæque exsaturata libido Hausit; at illa jacent multa et præclara relicta.

“This epitaph,” says Aristotle, “is only fit for a hog.”[23]

Through all the city sounds the voice of joy, And tipsy merriment. On the spacious walls, That, like huge sea-cliffs, gird the city in, Myriads of wanton feet go to and fro; Gay garments rustle in the scented breeze; Crimson and azure, purple, green, and gold; Laugh, jest, and passing whisper are heard there; Timbrel and lute, and dulcimer and song; And many feet that tread the dance are seen, And arms unflung, and swaying head-plumes crown’d: So is that city steep’d in revelry[24].

In this dishonourable state Sardanapalus lived several years. At length the governor of Media, having gained admittance into his palace, and seen with his own eyes a king guilty of such criminal excesses; enraged at the spectacle, and not able to endure that so many brave men should be subject to a prince more soft and effeminate than the women themselves, immediately resolved to put an end to his dominion. He therefore formed a conspiracy against him; and in this he was joined by Belesis, governor of Babylon, and several others. Supporting each other for the same end, the one stirred up the Medes and Persians; the other inflamed the inhabitants of

Babylon. They gained over, also, the king of Arabia. Several battles, however, were fought, in all of which the rebels were repulsed and defeated. They became, therefore, so greatly disheartened, that at length the commanders resolved every one to return to their respective countries; and they had done so, had not Belesis entertained great faith in an astrological prediction. He was continually consulting the stars; and at length solemnly assured the confederated troops, that in five days they would be aided by a support, they were at present unable to imagine or anticipate;—the gods having given to him a decided intimation of so desirable an interference. Just as he had predicted, so it happened; for before the time he mentioned had expired, news came that the Bactrians, breaking the fetters of servitude, had sprung into the field, and were hastening to their assistance.

Sardanapalus, not knowing any thing of the revolt of the Bactrians, and puffed up by former successes, was still indulging in sloth and idleness, and preparing beasts for sacrifice, plenty of wine, and other things necessary wherewith to feast and entertain his soldiers. While the army was thus indulging itself, Arbaces, receiving intelligence, by some deserters, of the security and intemperance of the enemy, fell in upon them in the night on a sudden; and being in due order and discipline, and setting upon such as were in confusion, he being before prepared, and the other altogether unprovided, they easily broke into their camp, and made a great slaughter of some, forcing the rest into the city. Upon this, Sardanapalus committed the charge of his whole army to his wife’s brother, (Salamenes,) and took upon himself the defence of the city. But the rebels twice defeated the king’s forces; once in the open field, and the second time before the walls of the city; in which last engagement Salamenes was killed, and almost all his army lost; some being cut off in the pursuit, and the rest (save a very few) being interrupted, and prevented from entering into the city, were driven headlong into the Euphrates; and so great was the number destroyed, that the river became dyed with the blood, and retained that colour for a great distance and a long course together.

Sardanapalus, now perceiving that his kingdom was like to be lost, sent away his three sons and his three daughters, with a great deal of treasure, into Paphlagonia, to Cotta, the governor there, his most entire friend; and sent posts into all the provinces of the kingdom, in order to raise soldiers, and to make all other preparations necessary to endure a siege; being greatly encouraged to do this from an acquaintance with an ancient prophecy; viz.—that Nineveh could never be taken by force, till the river should become a foe to the city.

The enemy, on the other hand, grown more courageous by their successes, eagerly urged on the siege. They made, nevertheless, but little impression on the besieged, by reason of the strength of the walls; for balistæ to cast stones, testudos to cast up mounts, and battering-rams, were not known in those ages. The city was also well supplied with every thing needful. The siege, therefore, lasted two years: during which time nothing to any purpose was done, save that the walls were sometimes assaulted, and the besieged penned up in the city. At length, in the third year, an unfortunate circumstance took place. This was no other than the overflowing of the Euphrates, and from continual rains, coming up into a part of the city, and tearing down thirty furlongs of the walls in length.

When the king found this—conceiving it to be no other than a fulfilment of the prophecy, on the improbability of which he had so strongly relied—he gave himself up to despair; caused a large pile of wood to be made in one of the courts of his palace; heaped together all his gold, silver, and wearing apparel; and inclosing his eunuchs and concubines in an apartment within the pile, caused it to be set on fire; when all perished in the flames in common with himself.

When the revolters heard of this, they entered through several breaches made in the walls, and took the city. They clothed Arbaces with a royal robe, proclaimed him king, and invested him with despotic authority: in gratitude for which Arbaces rewarded every one according to his deserts. He showed great clemency, also, to the inhabitants of Nineveh; for though he dispersed them into several villages, he restored every one to his estate. He, nevertheless, razed the city to the ground. The sum, found in the palace and elsewhere, appears to be incredible: for it is stated to have been no less than equivalent to 25,000,000,000 of pounds sterling. The fire lasted more than fifteen days. Thus, after a continuance of thirty generations, the Assyrian empire was overturned, in the year of the world, 3080; and before Christ 868. Thus far Diodorus; but Usher, and many other historians, amongst whom may be mentioned Herodotus, state, that the Assyrian empire, from Ninus, lasted only 520 years.

Several kings reigned after this, under what is called the second Assyrian empire. For on the fall of the former, three considerable kingdoms were generated, viz:—that of the Medes, which Arbaces, on the fall of Nineveh, restored to its liberty; that of the Assyrians of Babylon, which was given to Belesis, governor of that city; and that of the Assyrians of Nineveh.

The first king that reigned in Nineveh, after the death of Sardanapalus, is called in Scripture Tiglath-Pileser[25]; the second Salmanaser, in whose reign, Tobit, with Anna his wife, and his son Tobias, was carried captive into Assyria, where he became one of Salmanaser’s principal officers. That king having died after a reign of fourteen years, he was succeeded by his son Sennacherib; he, whose army was cut off in one night before the walls of Jerusalem. He had laid siege to that city some time before, but had marched against Egypt, which country having subdued, he once more sat down before the sacred city: “And it came to pass, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses[26].” After so terrible a blow, the pretended king of kings, as he presumed to call himself, “this triumpher over nations, and conqueror of gods,” returned to his own country, where “it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that he was struck by his two sons[27], who smote him with the sword: and Esarhaddon, his youngest son, reigned in his stead[28].” The destruction that fell upon his army, has been thus described by a celebrated poet of modern times.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB. I. “The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. II. “Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. III. “For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still. IV. “And there lay the steed, with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. V. “And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. VI. “And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail; And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.”

Esarhaddon was succeeded by Nebuchadnezzar the First, in whose reign Tobit died[29]. Perceiving his end approaching, that good old man called his children to him, and advised them to lose no time, after they had buried him and their mother, but to quit the city, before its ruin came on. “The ruin of Nineveh,” said he, “is at hand; the wickedness of the city will occasion its ruin.”

Nahum represents the wickedness of this city, too, in terms exceedingly vivid[30]: “Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery.” “It shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her?” “The gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars.” “The sword shall cut thee off; it shall eat thee up like the canker-worm.” “Thy nobles shall dwell in the dust; thy people be scattered upon the mountains, and no man shall gather them.”

Zephaniah, also, issued similar denunciations[31]. “The Lord will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness: and flocks shall lie down in the midst of her; both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds.” “This is the rejoicing city, that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, ‘I am, and there is none beside me.’ How shall she become a desolation; a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passes by shall hiss and wag his hand.”

The ruin, predicted, came in the reign of Saracus. Cyaxares, king of the Medes, entering into an alliance with the king of Babylon, they joined their forces together, laid siege to the city, took it, slew their king, and utterly destroyed it.

“God,” says the historian, “had foretold by his prophets, that he would bring vengeance upon that impious city, for the blood of his servants, wherewith the kings thereof had gorged themselves, like ravenous lions; that he himself would march at the head of the troops that should come to besiege it; that he would cause consternation and terror to go before him; that he would deliver the old men, the mothers, and their children, into the merciless hands of the soldiers; and that all the treasures of the city should fall into the hands of rapacious and insatiable plunderers; and that the city itself should be so totally destroyed, that not so much as a footstep of it should be left; and that the people should ask hereafter, Where did the proud city of Nineveh stand?”[32]

This prophecy has been fulfilled only in part; the absolute completion of it remains still to be fulfilled. In the time of Hadrian, the ruins of it still existed; and at a subsequent period a great battle was fought on the space left among the ruins, between Heraclius, Emperor of Constantinople, and Rhazates, general to Chosroes, king of Persia. On that memorable day, Heraclius, on his horse Phallas, surpassed the bravest of his warriors; his hip was wounded with a spear; the steed was wounded in the thigh; but he carried his master safe and victorious through the triple phalanx of the enemy. In the heat of the action, three valiant chiefs were successively slain by the sword and lance of the emperor; amongst whom was Rhazates himself. He fell like a soldier: but the sight of his head scattered grief and despair through the fainting ranks of the Persians. In this battle, which was fiercely fought from day-break to the eleventh hour, twenty-eight standards, besides those which might be torn or broken, were taken from the Persians; the greatest part of their army was cut to pieces, and the victors, concealing their own loss, passed the night on the field. They acknowledged that on this occasion it was less difficult to kill than to discomfit the soldiers of Chosroes. The conquerors recovered three hundred Roman standards, as well as a great number of captives, of Edessa and Alexandria. Soon after this battle, Chosroes felt compelled to fly: he was afterwards deposed, thrown into a dungeon, where he was insulted, famished, tortured, and at length murdered by one of his own sons.

We have given an account of its ancient size and splendour: we must now give some account of the ruins which still remain: for though some writers insist, that even the dust of this vast city has disappeared, it is certain that some of its walls still subsist, beside the city of Mosul.

Mosul was visited by Captain Kinneir, in the years 1813-14. “About a mile before we entered Mosul,” says he, “we passed two artificial tumuli, and extensive ramparts, supposed to be the ruins of the ancient Nineveh. The first tumulus is about three quarters of a mile in circumference. It has the same appearance, and is of about the same height, as those we saw at Susa. The circumference of the other is not so considerable; but its elevation is greater, and on the top stands the tomb of Jonah, the prophet, round which has been erected a village, called Nunia.”

Captain Kinneir proceeds to state, that the Jews go in pilgrimage to this tomb; which is a small and insignificant building, crowned with a cupola. The rampart is esteemed, by some, to have been thrown up by Nadir Shah, when he besieged Mosul. Captain Kinneir, however, had no doubt that this opinion is founded in error, since they in no way resembled the field-works which an army, such as that of Nadir Shah, was likely to erect. “I cannot doubt, therefore,” says he, “that they are the vestiges of some ancient city, probably Nineveh; or that Larissa, described by Xenophon.” In regard to Mosul, he describes it as a sombre-looking town, fast dwindling into insignificance.

These ruins were subsequently visited by Mr. Rich, the East India Company’s resident at Bagdat. They lie on the eastern banks of the Tigris[33]. To the north are the Gara mountains, on the chain of which snow is said to lie in clefts and sheltered situations from one year to another. The Tigris is here about four hundred feet broad, its depth, for the most part, about two fathoms; and near the bridge was fought the celebrated battle between Chosroes’ troops and those of Heraclius, to which we have just now alluded. On the eastern side of this bridge many remains of antiquity have been found, consisting, for the most part, of bricks, some of which are whole and some in fragments, and pieces of gypsum, some of which are covered with inscriptions, in cruciform character[34]. There are also narrow ancient passages, with apertures or doors, opening one into the other, dark, narrow, and vaulted, appearing as if designed as vaults for the reception of dead bodies.

Mr. Rich afterwards rode through the area of Nineveh to the first wall of the inclosure. He found it a line of earth and gravel, out of which large hewn stones are frequently dug, as out of all the walls of the area. Beyond was a ditch still very regular; beyond which was a wall, and beyond that another wall larger than any. “The area of Nineveh,” says Mr. Rich, “is, on a rough guess, about one and a half to two miles broad, and four miles long. On the river on the west side there are only remains of one wall; and I observed the same at the north and south extremities; but on the east side there are the remains of three walls. The west one appears to have run a little in front of Nebbi Yunus. Between it and the river the ground is subject to frequent inundations and changes; but it has not interfered with the area.”

Mr. Rich did not observe at the angles of the walls any traces of towers, bastions, or any works of that kind. These walls are not more than from ten to fifteen feet high. Large masses of hewn stone are frequently dug up, and bricks are ploughed up perpetually. There is also a piece of grey stone, shaped like the capital of a column, such as at this day surmounts the wooden pillars or posts of Turkish, or rather Persian, verandahs; but there was no carving on it. Pottery, too, is often found, and other Babylonian fragments; also bits of brick adhering to them. These are found near a mound, called the Mount of Koyunjuk, the height of which is about forty-three feet, and its circumference 7691 feet. Its sides are very steep, and its top nearly flat.

Some years ago, a very large bas-relief was dug up among the ruins, representing men and animals, covering a grey stone about ten or eleven feet in height. All the town of Mosul left their houses to go and see this remarkable specimen of antiquity; but not one had the taste to endeavour to preserve it. It was in a few days, therefore, cut up or broken to pieces.

One day, as Mr. Rich was riding along on the outside of the walls, his attention was directed to an object of great antiquity. “Some people had been digging for stones,” says he, “and had dug a hole in the ground, from which they had turned up many large hewn stones with bitumen adhering to them. I examined the excavation, which was about ten feet deep, and found it consisted of huge stones, laid in layers of bitumen and lime-mortar. I brought away some specimens of them sticking together. I also saw some layers of red clay, which were very thick, and had become as indurated as burnt brick; but there was not the least appearance of reeds or straw having been used. This mass appeared to have been a foundation or superstructure. We found among the rubbish some pieces of coarse unglazed pottery. It would not have been possible to tell, from the appearance of the surface of the ground, that there had been building beneath—a watercourse full of pebbles had even passed over it. It is, therefore, very difficult to say to what extent vestiges of building may exist outside the inclosures, the area of which may have been the royal quarter; but certainly was never sufficient for the city of Nineveh.”

“Except the ruins of some large and lofty turrets,” says Mr. Morier, “like that of Babel or Belus, the cities of Babylon and Nineveh are so completely crumbled into dust, as to be wholly undistinguishable, but by a few inequalities of the surface on which they once stood. The humble tent of the Arab now occupies the spot formerly adorned with the palaces of kings; and his flocks procure but a scanty pittance of food, amidst fallen fragments of ancient magnificence. The banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, once so prolific, are now, for the most part, covered with impenetrable brushwood; and the interior of the province, which was traversed and fertilised with innumerable canals, is destitute of either inhabitants or vegetation.”

Among the ruins is a wall, and on the borders of that the peasants of the neighbourhood assemble every year, and sacrifice a sheep, with music and other festivities; a superstition far anterior to the religion they now possess. “One thing is sufficiently obvious,” says Mr. Rich, “to the most careless observer, and that is, the equality of age of all the vestiges discovered here. Whether they belonged to Nineveh or some other city, is another question; but that they are all of the same age and character does not admit of a doubt.”

Mr. Rich took measurements of the mounds, that still exist among these ruins, and did not neglect to cut her name on the wall of what is called Thisbe’s Well. “Some traveller in after times,” says he, with an agreeable enthusiasm, “when her remembrance has long been swept away by the torrent of time, may wonder, on reading the name of Mary Rich[35], who the adventurous female was, who had visited the ruins of Nineveh. He will not be aware, that had her name been inscribed at every spot she had visited in the course of her weary pilgrimage, it would be found in places, compared with which, Mousul is the centre of civilisation.”

From the circumstance that from all the mounds large stones, sometimes with bitumen adhering to them, are frequently dug out, Mr. Rich was inclined to believe, that but few bricks were used in the building of this once vast city. There is, however, not much certainty as to this, or in regard to what kind of architecture it was, for the most, or, indeed, any part constructed; for though its walls may be traced in a multitude of directions, nothing now remains beside a few mounds, some bricks, and large stones, hewn into a shape which evidently prove, that they once formed the houses or the temples of a city[36].

NO. VII.—NUMANTIA.

This city stood near the river Douro; out of the ruins of which has arisen the town of Soria. According to Strabo, it was the capital of Celtiberia.

Strong by nature and art, and by the number of its inhabitants, it was built upon a hill, difficult of access, and on three sides surrounded by mountains. Its extent was, also, so great, that it had within its circuit pasture for cattle. It was unprotected by walls or towers; yet it bravely maintained itself, for a considerable time, against the power of the Romans. The cruelty and injustice of the Romans during this war is justly stigmatised, as being altogether unworthy a great and powerful people. The inhabitants at first gained some advantages over the Roman forces, till Scipio Africanus was commanded to finish the war, and to destroy Numantia altogether. With an army of sixty thousand men he began the siege. He was opposed by the inhabitants with great skill and courage, though their force did not exceed four thousand men. Finding themselves, however, greatly pressed, the Numantians gave themselves up,—first to despair, and then to fury. Their provisions, too, at length began to fail; and they were constrained to feed upon the flesh of horses; then on that of their slain companions; and, lastly, they drew lots to kill and devour each other. After a multitude of misfortunes, they signified a desire to capitulate; but Scipio having demanded, that they should surrender unconditionally on the next day, the Numantians refused; and when they obtained a longer time, instead of surrendering, they retired and set fire to their houses, and destroyed themselves; so that not even one remained to grace the triumph of the conqueror. This, however, has been denied by some writers, who insist, that a number of Numantines delivered themselves into the hands of Scipio, and that fifty of them were drawn in triumph at Rome, and that the rest were sold as slaves. This occurred in the year of Rome 629.

Not a vestige remains, but a few traces at a place called Puente Gavay, a spot difficult of access[37].

NO. VIII.—OLYMPIA.

This city, known likewise by the name of Pisa, was situated on the right bank of the Alpheus, at the foot of an eminence called the Mount of Saturn. It is peculiarly worthy of attention; since it was near its walls that the most celebrated games, from the institution of which all occurrences were dated in Greece[38], were held.

For nearly the whole of what follows, in regard to the games, we are indebted to Rollin; ours being an abstract.

There were four kinds of games solemnised in Greece. The Olympic, so called from Olympia, near which they were celebrated after the expiration of every four years, in honour of Jupiter Olympicus. The Pythic, sacred to Apollo Pythius, also celebrated every four years. The Nemean, which took their name from Nemea, a city and forest of Peleponnesus, instituted by Hercules, solemnised every two years. And lastly, the Isthmian; celebrated upon the isthmus of Corinth, from four years to four years, in honour of Neptune. That persons might be present at these public sports with greater quiet and security, there was a general suspension of arms and cessation of hostilities, throughout all Greece, during the time of their celebration.

The Greeks thought nothing comparable to a victory in these games. They looked upon it as the perfection of glory, and did not believe it permitted to mortals to desire any thing beyond it. Cicero assures us, that with them it was no less honourable than the consular dignity, in its original splendour with the ancient Romans.

We shall confine ourselves to the Olympic games, which continued five days.

The combats, which had the greatest share in the solemnity of the public games, were boxing, wrestling, the pancratium, the discus or quoit, and racing. To these may be added the exercises of leaping, throwing the dart, and that of the trochus or wheel; but as these were neither important, nor of any great reputation, we shall content ourselves with having only mentioned them.

Of the Athletæ, or combatants.—The term athletæ was given to those who exercised themselves with design to dispute the prizes in the public games. The art, by which they formed themselves for these encounters, was called gymnastic, from the athletæ’s practising naked.

Those who were designed for this profession frequented, from their most tender age, the gymnasia or palæstræ, which were a kind of academies maintained for that purpose at the public expense. In these places, such young people were under the direction of different masters, who employed the most effectual methods to inure their bodies for the fatigues of the public games, and to form them for the combats. The regimen they were under was very severe. At first they had no other nourishment but dried figs, nuts, soft cheese, and a gross heavy sort of bread. They were absolutely forbid the use of wine, and enjoined continence.

Who, in the Olympic race, the prize would gain, Has borne from early youth fatigue and pain, Excess of heat and cold has often tried, Love’s softness banish’d, and the glass denied.

The athletæ, before their exercises, were rubbed with oils and ointments, to make their bodies more supple and vigorous. At first they made use of a belt, with an apron or scarf fastened to it, for their more decent appearance in the combats; but one of the combatants happening to lose the victory by this covering’s falling off, that accident was the occasion of sacrificing modesty to convenience, and retrenching the apron for the future. The athletæ were only naked in some exercises, as wrestling, boxing, the pancratium, and the foot-race.

It was necessary that their morals should be unexceptionable, and their condition free. No stranger was admitted to combat in the Olympic games; and when Alexander, the son of Amyntas, king of Macedon, presented himself to dispute the prize, his competitors, without any regard to the royal dignity, opposed his reception as a Macedonian, and consequently a barbarian and a stranger; nor could the judge be prevailed upon to admit him till he had proved, in due form, that his family was originally descended from the Argives.

They were made to take an oath, that they would religiously observe the several laws prescribed in each kind of combat, and do nothing contrary to the established orders and regulations of the games. Fraud, artifice, and excessive violence, were absolutely prohibited; and the maxim so generally received elsewhere, that it is indifferent whether an enemy is conquered by deceit or valour, was banished from these combats.

It is time to bring our champions to blows, and to run over the different kinds of combats in which they exercised themselves.

Wrestling is one of the most ancient exercises of which we have any knowledge, having been practised in the time of the patriarchs, as the wrestling of the angel with Jacob proves[39].

Wrestling among the Greeks, as well as other nations, was practised at first with simplicity, little art, and in a natural manner; the weight of the body, and the strength of the muscles, having more share of it, than address or skill.

The wrestlers, before they began their combats, were rubbed all over in a rough manner, and afterwards anointed with oils, which added to the strength and flexibility of their limbs. But as this unction, in making the skin too slippery, rendered it difficult for them to take hold of each other, they remedied that inconvenience, sometimes by rolling themselves in the dust of the palæstræ, sometimes by throwing a fine sand upon each other, kept for that purpose in the porticoes of the gymnasia.

Thus prepared, the wrestlers began their combat. They were matched two against two, and sometimes several couples contended at the same time.

Of Boxing, or the Cestus.—The combatants covered their fists with a kind of offensive arms called cestus, and their heads with a sort of leather cap, to defend their temples and ears, which were most exposed to blows, and to deaden their violence. The cestus was a kind of gauntlet or glove, made of straps of leather, and plated with brass, lead, or iron, inside. Their use was to strengthen the hands of the combatants, and to add violence to their blows.

Boxing was one of the rudest and most dangerous of the gymnastic combats; because, besides the danger of being crippled, the combatants ran the hazard of losing their lives. They sometimes fell down dead, or dying, upon the sand; though that seldom happened, except the vanquished person persisted too long in not acknowledging his defeat: yet it was common for them to quit the fight with a countenance so disfigured, that it was not easy to know them afterwards.

Of the Pancratium.—The Pancratium was so called from two Greek words[40] which signify that the whole force of the body was necessary for succeeding in it. It united boxing and wrestling in the same fight, borrowing from one its manner of struggling and throwing, and from the other, the art of dealing blows, and of avoiding them with success.

Of the Discus, or quoit.—The discus was a kind of quoit of a round form, made sometimes of wood, but more frequently of stone, lead, or other metal, as iron or brass. Those who used this exercise were called Discoboli; that is, flingers of the discus.

The athletæ, in hurling the discus, put themselves into the best posture they could, to add force to their cast. He that flung the discus farthest was the victor.

The most famous painters and sculptors of antiquity, in their endeavours to represent naturally the attitudes of the discoboli, have left posterity many masterpieces in their several arts. Quintilian exceedingly extols a statue of this kind, which had been finished with infinite care and application by the celebrated Myron[41].

Of the Pentathlum.—The Greeks gave this name to an exercise composed of five others:—wrestling, running, leaping, throwing the dart, and the discus. It is believed that this sort of combat was decided in one day, and sometimes the same morning; and that the prize, which was single, could not be given but to the victor in all those exercises.

Of Races.—Of all the exercises which the athletæ cultivated with so much pains and industry, for their appearance in the public games, running was in the highest estimation, and held the foremost rank.

The place where the athletæ exercised themselves in running, was generally called the Stadium by the Greeks; as was that wherein they disputed in earnest for the prize. Under that denomination was included not only the space in which the athletæ ran, but also that which contained the spectators of the gymnastic games.

The middle of the Stadium was remarkable only by the circumstance of having the prizes allotted to the victors set up there. St. Chrysostom draws a fine comparison from this custom. “As the judges,” says he, “in the races and other games, expose in the midst of the Stadium, to the view of the champions, the crowns which they are to receive; in like manner the Lord, by the mouth of his prophets, has placed the prizes in the midst of the course, which he designs for those who have the courage to contend for them.”

There were three kinds of races, the chariot, the horse, and the foot-race.

1. Of the Foot-race.—The runners, of whatever number they were, ranged themselves in a line, after having drawn lots for their places. Whilst they waited the signal to start, they practised, by way of prelude, various motions to awaken their activity, and to keep their limbs pliable and in a right temper. They kept themselves breathing by small leaps, and making little excursions, which were a kind of trial of their speed and agility. Upon the signal’s being given, they flew towards the goal, with a rapidity scarcely to be followed by the eye, which was solely to decide the victory; for the Agnostic laws prohibited, upon the penalty of infamy, the attaining it by any foul method.

2. Of the Horse-races.—The race of a single horse with a rider was less celebrated by the ancients; yet it had its favourers amongst the most considerable persons, even kings themselves, and was attended with uncommon glory to the victor.

3. Of the Chariot-races.—This kind of race was the most renowned of all the exercises used in the games of the ancients, and that from whence most honour redounded to the victors. It is plain they were derived from the constant custom of princes, heroes and great men, of fighting in battle upon chariots. Homer has an infinity of examples of this kind. All those, who presented themselves in the Olympic games to dispute the prize in the chariot races, were persons considerable either for their riches, their birth, their employments, or great actions. Kings themselves aspired passionately to this glory, from the belief that the title of victor in these games was scarcely inferior to that of conqueror, and that the Olympic palm added new dignity to the splendours of a throne.

The chariots were generally drawn by two or four horses. Sometimes mules supplied the place of horses. These chariots, upon a signal given, started together. Their places were regulated by lot, which was not an indifferent circumstance as to the victory; for being to turn round a boundary, the chariot on the left was nearer than those on the right, which in consequence had a greater compass to take. They ran twelve times round the Stadium. He that came in first the twelfth round was victor. The chief art consisted in taking the best ground at the turning of the boundary; for if the charioteer drove too near it, he was in danger of dashing the chariot to pieces; and if he kept too wide of it, his nearest antagonist might get foremost.

To avoid such danger, Nestor gave the following directions to his son Antilochus, who was going to dispute the prize in the chariot races. “My son,” says he, “drive your horses as near as possible to the turning; for which reason, always inclining your body over your chariot, get the left of your competitors; and encouraging the horse on the right, give him the rein, whilst the near-horse, hard held, turns the boundary so close to it, that the nave of the wheel seems to graze upon it; but have a care of running against the stone, lest you wound your horses, and dash the chariot in pieces.”

It was not required, that those who disputed the victory should enter the lists, and drive their chariots in person. Their being spectators of the games, or sending their horses thither, was sufficient.

No one ever carried the ambition of making a great figure in the public games of Greece so far as Alcibiades, in which he distinguished himself in the most splendid manner, by the great number of horses and chariots, which he kept only for the races. It is not easy to comprehend, how the wealth of a private person should suffice to so enormous an expense: but Antisthenes, the scholar of Socrates, who relates what he saw, informs us, that many cities of the allies, in a kind of emulation with each other, supplied Alcibiades with all things necessary for the support of such magnificence. Equipages, horses, tents, sacrifices, the most exquisite provisions, the most delicate wines; in a word, all that was necessary to the support of his table or train.

We must not omit, in speaking of the Olympic games, to notice that ladies were admitted to dispute the prize in them as well as the men, which many of them obtained. Cynisca, sister of Agesilaus, king of Sparta, first opened this new path of glory to her sex, and was proclaimed victrix in the race of chariots with four horses. This victory, which till then had no example, did not fail of being celebrated with all possible splendour.—A magnificent monument was erected in Sparta in honour of Cynisca; and the Lacedæmonians, though otherwise very little sensible to the charms of poetry, appointed a poet to transmit this new triumph to posterity, and to immortalize its memory by an inscription in verse.

Of the honours and rewards granted to the victors.—These honours and rewards were of several kinds. The spectators’ acclamations in honour of the victors were only a prelude to the rewards designed them. These rewards were different wreaths of wild olive, pine, parsley, or laurel, according to the different places where the games were celebrated. Those crowns were always attended with branches of palm, that the victors carried in their right hands. As he might be victor more than once in the same games, and sometimes on the same day, he might also receive several crowns and palms.

When the victor had received the crown and palm, a herald, preceded by a trumpeter, conducted him through the Stadium, and proclaimed aloud his name and country.

When he returned to his own country, the people came out in a body to meet him, and conducted him into the city, adorned with all the marks of his victory, and riding upon a chariot drawn by four horses. He made his entry not through the gates, but through a breach purposely made in the walls. Lighted torches were carried before him, and a numerous train followed, to do honour to the procession.

One of the most honourable privileges granted to the athletic victors, was the right of taking place at the public games. At Sparta it was a custom for the king to take them with him in military expeditions, to fight near his person, and to be his guard; which, with reason, was judged very honourable. Another privilege, in which the useful united with the honourable, was that of being maintained for the rest of their lives at the expense of their country. They were also exempted from all civil offices and employments.

The praises of the victorious athlete were, amongst the Greeks, one of the principal subjects of their lyric poetry. We find, that all the odes of the four books of Pindar turn upon it, each of which takes its title from the games, in which the combatants signalised themselves, whose victories those poems celebrate.

Sculpture united with poetry to perpetuate the fame of the champions. Statues were erected to the victors, in the very place where they had been crowned, and sometimes in that of their birth also, which was commonly done at the expense of their country. Amongst the statues which adorned Olympia, were those of several children of ten or twelve years old, who had obtained the prize at that age in the Olympic games. They did not only raise such monuments to the champions, but to the very horses to whose swiftness they were indebted for the Agonistic crown: and Pausanias mentions one, which was erected in honour of a mare, called Aura, whose history is worth repeating. Phidolas, her rider, having fallen off in the beginning of the race, the mare continued to run in the same manner as if he had been upon her back. She outstripped all the rest, and upon the sound of the trumpets, which was usual toward the end of the race to animate the competitors, she redoubled her vigour and courage, turned round the goal, and, as if she had been sensible of the victory, presented herself before the judges of the games.

Nor did the entertainments finish here. There was another kind of competition; and that, too, which does not at all depend upon the strength, activity, and address of the body, and may be called, with reason, the combat of the mind; wherein the orators, historians, and poets, made trial of their capacities, and submitted their productions to the judgment of the public.

It was a great honour, and, at the same time, a most sensible pleasure for writers, who are generally fond of fame and applause, to have known how to reconcile the voices in their favour of so numerous and select an assembly as that of the Olympic games, in which were present all the finest geniuses of Greece, and all the best judges of the excellence of a work. This theatre was equally open to history, eloquence, and poetry.

Herodotus read his history in the Olympic games to all Greece, assembled at them, and was heard with such applause, that the names of the nine Muses were given to the nine books which compose his work, and the people cried out wherever he passed, “That is he, who has written our history, and celebrated our glorious successes against the Barbarians.”

Anciently, Olympia was surrounded by walls; it had two temples,—one dedicated to Jupiter, and another to Juno; a senate-house, a theatre, and many other beautiful edifices, and also an innumerable multitude of statues.

The temple of Jupiter was built with the spoils, taken from certain states which had revolted; it was of the Doric order; sixty-eight feet high, two hundred and thirty long, and ninety-five broad. This edifice was built by an able architect, named Libon; and it was adorned by two sculptors of equal skill, who enriched the pediments of the principal front with elaborate and elegant ornaments. The statue of the god, the work of Phidias, was of gold and ivory, fifty cubits high. On the one pediment, [Oe]nomaus and Peleus were disputing the prize of the race in the presence of Jupiter; on the other was the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithæ. On the summit of each pediment was a Victory, of gilt brass; and at each angle a large vase of the same metal.

This statue was the finest the world ever saw. “Indeed,” says Mr. Dodwell; and he is borne out by the authorities of all those ancient writers who have written of it, “it appears to have united all the beauty of form, and all the splendour of effect, that are produced by the highest excellence of the statuary and the painter.”

The altar in this temple[42] was composed of ashes from the thighs of the victims, which were carried up and consumed on the top with wood of the white poplar-tree. The ashes, also, of the Prytanæum, in which a perpetual fire was kept on a hearth, were removed annually, on a fixed day, and spread on it, being first mingled with water from the Alpheus. The people of Elis sacrificed daily, and private persons as often as they chose.

Olympia[43] preserved, much longer than Delphi, and with less diminution, the sacred property, of which it was a similar repository. Some images were removed by Tiberius Nero. His successor, Caius Caligula, who honoured Jupiter with the familiar appellation of brother, commanded that his image should be transported to Rome; but the architects declared it was impossible, without destroying the work.

The god, in the time of Pausanias, retained his original splendour. The native offerings of crowns and chariots, and of charioteers, and horses, and oxen, in brass, the precious images of gold, ivory, or amber, and the curiosities consecrated in the temples, the treasuries, and other edifices, could not be viewed without astonishment. The number of statues within the grove, was itself an amazing spectacle. Many were the works of Myron, Lysippus, and the prime artists of Greece. Here kings and emperors were assembled; and Jupiter towered in brass from twelve to thirty feet high! Let the reader peruse the detail given by Pausanias, and imagine, if he can, the entertainment which Olympia must then have afforded to the antiquary, the connoisseur, and historian.

Of all splendour, the temple of Juno alone can be ascertained with any degree of certainty. The soil, which has been considerably elevated, covers the greater part of the ruin. The walls of the cella rise only two feet from the ground. “We employed,” says Mr. Dodwell, “some Turks to excavate; and we discovered some frusta of the Doric order, of which the flutings were thirteen inches wide, and the diameter of the whole column seven feet three inches. We found, also, part of a small column of Parian marble, which the intervals of the flutings show to have been of the Ionic or the Corinthian order. The work of ruin, however, is constantly going on; and lately the people of Lalla (a town in the neighbourhood) have even rooted up some of the foundations of this once celebrated sanctuary, in order to use the materials in the construction of their houses[44]”.

NO. IX.—PUTEOLI.

A maritime city of Campania, between Baiæ and Naples. It was founded by a colony from Cumæ. It was, in the first instance, called Dicæarchia, (“Just Power[45],”) and afterwards Puteoli, from the great number of wells that were in the neighbourhood.

It was delightfully situated on a point projecting into the sea, nearly in the centre of the bay of Puzzuoli. It was the sea-port of the inhabitants of Cannæ; and a rendezvous for merchants from Greece, Sicily, and all parts of Italy. The attractions of the town, also, on account of its hot baths and mineral waters, allured the more opulent citizens of Rome to its vicinity.

In the square of the town stands a beautiful marble pedestal, covered with bas-reliefs, representing the fourteen towns of Asia Minor, destroyed by an earthquake, and rebuilt by Tiberius. It supported a statue of that emperor, erected by the same cities as a monument of gratitude. The cathedral stands on the ruins of a temple, and is built chiefly of ancient materials.

A temple of Serapis offers many subjects of observation. Half of its buildings, however, are still buried under the earth thrown upon it by volcanic commotions, or accumulated by the windings of the hill. The inclosure is square, environed by buildings for priests, and baths for votaries; in the centre remains a circular platform, with four flights of steps up to it; vases for fire, a central altar, rings for victims, and other appendages of sacrifice, entire and not displaced; but the columns that held its roof have been removed to the new palace of Caserta. The temple itself was not discovered till A. D. 1750, on the removal of some rubbish and bushes, which had, till then, partly concealed it from observation.

Behind this place of worship, stand three pillars without capitals, part of the pronaos of a large temple. These are of Cipoline marble, and at the middle of their height, are full of holes eaten in them by the file-fish[46].

In the neighbourhood of Puteoli are many relics of ancient grandeur, of which none deserves more attention than the Campanian Way, paved with lava, and lined on each side with venerable tombs, the repositories of the dead, which are richly adorned with stucco in the inside. This road was made in the most solid, expensive manner, by order of Domitian, and is frequently the subject of encomium in the poems of Statius.

One of the most striking monuments of the city is the remains of the mole that formed the ancient part. Several of its piers still stand unbroken; they are sunk in the water, and once supported arches (to the number of twenty-five,) part of which remain above the water.

At the end of this mole began the bridge of Caligula, which extended across part of the bay to Baiæ, no less than half a mile in length in a straight line. This structure has long since been swept away.

On the hill behind the town are the remains of an amphitheatre, called, after that at Rome, the Coliseum. It was of considerable magnitude. The gates, and a large portion of the vault and under apartments, remain. One of these apartments, or rather dungeons, in which St. Januarius, the patron saint of Naples, was confined, is now turned into a damp and gloomy chapel; the arena is a garden; vines, fig-trees, and pomegranates, have gradually crept up the circumference, and now cover the slope, and run over the ruin[47].

It is easy to guess what the animation and splendour of Puteoli must have been, at the time when the riches of the East were poured into its bosom; and when its climate, wit, and beauty, allured the most opulent Romans to its vicinity.

Cicero had a marine villa here, called Puteolanum. Pliny relates that it was on the shore, and adorned with a portico, which seems to have been remarkable for its beauty. He adds that Cicero erected here a monument, and that, shortly after his death, a fountain of warm water, very wholesome for the eyes, burst forth, and gave occasion to an epigram, which the philosopher quotes with applause[48]. The portico is fallen, the groves are withered, the fountain dried up, and not a vestige of the retreat left behind to mark its situation. The verses remain, and perpetuate the glory of the orator, the fame of the fountain, the beauty of the villa, and what is more honourable than all united, the gratitude of Cicero’s freed-man, Tullius.

St. Paul landed here in his way from Rhegium to Rome; and found Christians even in that early age. In the museum of Portici is a picture presenting a view of ancient Puteoli, supposed to have been painted before St. Paul landed there. “The picture,” says Mr. Williams, “is of course very different from the present state of the city; but still a likeness may be traced, if we keep in view the site of the various temples, and other objects, the foundations of which are still visible.”

On the sea shore, near Puzzuoli, are also found seals, coins, cornelians, and agates; bearing impressions of corn, grapes, and vine-branches, ants, eagles, and other animals. These are thrown up by the waves, after violent storms; and commemorate the magnificence of a city, now forming part of the Mediterranean bed[49].

NO. X.—PALMYRA. (TADMOR.)

“As patience is the greatest of friends to the unfortunate, so is time the greatest of friends to the lovers of landscape. It resolves the noblest works of art into the most affecting ornaments of created things. The fall of empires, with which the death of great characters is so immediately associated, possesses a prescriptive title, as it were, to all our sympathy; forming at once a magnificent, yet melancholy spectacle; and awakening in the mind all the grandeur of solitude. Who would not be delighted to make a pilgrimage to the East to see the columns of Persepolis, and the still more magnificent ruins of Palmyra? Where awe springs, as it were, personified from the fragments, and proclaims instructive lessons from the vicissitudes of fortune. Palmyra, once a paradise in the centre of inhospitable deserts, the pride of Solomon, the capital of Zenobia, and the wonder and admiration of all the East, now lies ‘majestic though in ruins!’ Its glory withered, time has cast over it a sacred grandeur, softened into grace. History, by its silence, mourns its melancholy destiny; while immense masses and stupendous columns denote the spot, where once the splendid city of the desert reared her proud and matchless towers. Ruins are the only legacy the destroyer left to posterity.”—Harmonies of Nature.

This city was the capital of Palmyrene, a country on the eastern boundaries of Syria. Its origin is uncertain; but a portion of its history is exceedingly interesting; and its vast assemblage of ruins are beheld with astonishment and rapture by the curious, the learned, and the elegant.

PALMYRA

It was situated in the midst of a large plain, surrounded on three sides by a long chain of mountains. It stands in a desert, in the pachalic of Damascus, about forty-eight leagues from Aleppo, and about the same distance from Damascus, eighty-five miles west from the Euphrates, and about one hundred and seventeen from the shores of the Mediterranean.

History is, for the most part, silent in regard to the early history of this city. It is said to have been built by Solomon, after he had conquered the king of Hamathzoba, within whose dominion the country lay, in which the city was afterwards erected. He called it Tadmor[50], which some have construed as the place of Palms[51]; and sometimes “Tadmor in the Wilderness.”

We are assured by Josephus, that this was the city which the Greeks and Romans afterwards called Palmyra. His words are:—“Now, Solomon went in the desert above Syria, and possessed himself of it; and built there a very great city, which was distant two days’ journey from the upper Syria, and one day’s journey from the Euphrates, and six long days’ journey from Babylon the great. Now the reason why this city lay so remote from those parts of Syria, that are inhabited, is this: that below there is no water to be had; and that it is in that place only that there are springs and pits of water. When, therefore, he had built that city, and encompassed it with very strong walls, he gave it the name of Tadmor; and that is the name it is still called by at this day among the Syrians[52]: but the Greeks name it Palmyra.”

That the city was built by Solomon is most probable; but that the present ruins have any relation to buildings of his erection is very improbable: indeed we must assume it as certain that they are not; they being entirely those of the Greek orders. With the exception of four Ionic half-columns in the Temple of the Sun, and two in one of the mausoleums, the whole architecture of Palmyra is Corinthian. Neither history nor even tradition, moreover, speaks of any other architect than Solomon.

Some have been disposed to give it an earlier existence[53]. The Arabic translator of Chronicles makes Palmyra older than Solomon; John of Antioch, surnamed Melala, says, that he built it on the spot where David slew Goliah, in memory of that action; and Abul-Farai mentions in what year, with the particulars. These and other accounts of the early state of Palmyra, which might be collected from the Arabic authors, bear such evident marks of fable and wild conjecture, that we shall pass them over.

Notwithstanding this, we assume the city to have been founded by the celebrated king to whom the honour is given: who built the temples is totally unknown.

The motives which tempted Solomon to build a city in a plain, now altogether a desert, we copy from Mr. Addison’s Travels to Damascus:—“The astonishment that takes hold of the mind at the strange position of this magnificent city, at one time the capital of the East, on the edge of the great desert, and surrounded for several days’ journey on all sides by naked solitary wilds, is removed by marking well the peculiarity of its geographical position. The great caravans coming to Europe, laden with the rich merchandise of India, would naturally come along the Persian gulf, through the south of Persia, to the Euphrates, the direct line; their object then would be to strike across the great Syrian desert as early as possible, to reach the large markets and ports of Syria. With more than 600 miles of desert without water, between the mouth of the Euphrates and Syria, they would naturally be obliged to keep along the banks of that river, until the extent of desert country became diminished. They would then find the copious springs of Tadmor the nearest and most convenient to make for; and in their direct route from the north of India along the Euphrates. These springs would then immediately become most important, and would naturally attract the attention of a wise prince like Solomon, who would ‘fence them with strong walls.’ Here the caravans would rest and take in water; here would congregate the merchants from adjacent countries and Europe; and from hence the great caravan would be divided into numerous branches, to the north, south, and west[54]. A large mart for the exchange of commodities would be established, and an important city would quickly arise. The choice of this spot by Solomon, we may naturally consider founded on a policy of enriching himself by drawing the commerce of India through his dominions, from which commerce, probably, he derived the wealth for which he is so celebrated. In the chapter, succeeding that in which Solomon is mentioned to have built Tadmor in the wilderness, we read that ‘the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year, was six hundred three score and six talents of gold[55]; besides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice-merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.’”

The city which Solomon built was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; but who rebuilt it is entirely unknown. It is not mentioned by Xenophon, in his history of the expedition of Cyrus the younger, though he gives a very accurate account of the desert, and must have left this place not a great way to the right in his march towards Babylon. Nor is it once alluded to by Diodorus, nor Plutarch, nor Arrian, nor Quintus Curtius, nor, indeed, by any of the biographers or historians of Alexander; although he marched through this desert to Thapsacus.

Nor is it taken any notice of as being in existence even in the time of Seleucus Nicator, he who built so many cities in Syria; nor is it once mentioned in the history of his successor. It is not even mentioned so lately as the time in which Pompey the Great conquered the country in which it is situated. No notice is taken in Roman history of its being in any way existing, till the time of Mark Antony; who, after the battle at Philippi, marched against it, as we are told by Appian, with a view of plundering it; but the inhabitants escaped with their effects over the Euphrates. This very circumstance proves it to have been at that time no very large place; added to which, it seems to be certain, that none of these temples, &c., could have been in existence; for the Romans had, for some time, been alive to the benefits of works of art; especially paintings, sculpture, and architecture. His sole object, in going thither, was to plunder the Palmyrene merchants, who were supposed to have acquired considerable wealth, by selling the commodities of India and Arabia.

Added to all this, Strabo, the best and most accurate geographer of ancient times, does not once speak of its name. The first description of this now celebrated place is by Pliny; and it runs thus:—“Palmyra is remarkable for situation, a rich soil, and pleasant streams. It is surrounded on all sides by a vast sandy desert, which totally separates it from the rest of the world, and has preserved its independence between the two great empires of Rome and Parthia, whose first care, when at war, is to engage it in their interest. It is distant from Seleucia three hundred and thirty-seven miles; from the Mediterranean two hundred and three; and from Damascus one hundred and seventy-six.”

These distances are not quite accurate, being too great. Palmyra is also mentioned by Ptolemy, who makes it the capital of sixteen cities in Syria Palmyrena. Trajan and Hadrian made expeditions into the East, and must have passed through this city, or near it. Nothing, however, is said of it. Had the temples been there at that time, Hadrian, who was so great a patron of the elegant arts, would, there can be no doubt, have valued them. Some, indeed, insist that he repaired the city; and that it was thence called Hadrianopolis.

The Palmyrenes submitted to that emperor about the year 130. Hadrian, then, making a tour through Syria into Egypt, delighted with the situation and native strength of the place, is said to have determined on furnishing it with various splendid edifices and ornaments; and it is probable, that he then conferred upon it the privileges of “Colonia Juris Italici,” which, as we learn from Ulpian, it actually enjoyed, and the inhabitants were thence induced by gratitude to call themselves “Hadrianopolitæ.” It is supposed that many of its marble pillars, particularly those of the long porticoes, were the gift of this emperor. It must, nevertheless, be borne in mind, that all this is little better than conjecture. Mr. Halifax, however, says, “that as the most ancient inscription, he met with at Palmyra, was dated the three hundred and fourteenth year from the death of Alexander, that is, ten years before Christ, and another, dated between twenty and thirty years before Hadrian, consequently before the Romans got footing there, he concluded, that the sumptuous structures he saw there were not raised by the Romans.”

From an inscription on the shaft of a column in the long portico, where all the inscriptions seem to have been under statues, it appears that, in the reign of Alexander Severus, they joined that emperor in his expedition against the Persians.

From this time to the reign of Gallienus, no mention is made of this city: but then it became so conspicuous, that its history will be a subject of interest to all succeeding times.

The following is an abstract of the history of this period, presented to us in the pages of Gibbon, Mr. Wood, and other writers. A place possessed of such singular advantages, and situated at a convenient distance from the gulf of Persia, and the Mediterranean, was soon frequented by the caravans, which conveyed to the nations of Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities of India. Palmyra insensibly increased into an opulent and independent city; and, connecting the Roman and Parthian empire by the mutual benefits of commerce, was suffered to observe an humble neutrality; till at length, after the victories of Trajan, the little republic sank into the bosom of Rome, and flourished more than one hundred and fifty years in the subordinate yet honourable rank of a colony; and it is during this period of peace, Mr. Gibbon is disposed to believe, that the wealthy Palmyrians constructed those temples, palaces and porticoes of Grecian architecture, the ruins of which in modern times have excited so much admiration and wonder.

The Roman affairs in the East had been for some time in a very deplorable condition, when Odenatus, a Palmyrene, but of what family or rank originally in the state is not agreed[56], made so judicious a use of his situation between the two rival powers of Rome and Persia, as to succeed in getting the balance of power into his hands. It appears, that he declared in favour of different interests, as alterations of affairs rendered necessary. At length he joined the shattered remains of the Roman army in Syria, routed Sapor, the Persian king, and advanced as far as Ctesiphon, the capital of his empire. He returned from this expedition in great glory; and hence Gallienus, emperor of Rome, was induced to declare him Augustus and co-partner of his empire.

This elevation,—which he enjoyed jointly with his celebrated consort, Zenobia,—appeared to reflect a new splendour on their country, and Palmyra for a while stood upon an equality with Rome. The competition, however, was fatal; and ages of prosperity were sacrificed to a moment of glory.

The last public action of Odenatus was his relieving Asia from the Goths, who had over-run several of its provinces, committing great ravages; but retired upon his approach: in pursuing them, however, Odenatus was assassinated by an officer of his own guard, named Mæonius, who was also his kinsman; and who, having taken the son off also, became for a short time sovereign. He, too, shared the fate of those he had betrayed, and Zenobia became sovereign queen in his stead.

All that is known of Zenobia’s extraction is, that she claimed a descent from the Ptolemies of Egypt[57]; and that she boasted of having Cleopatra for an ancestress. She was a woman of very great beauty[58]; and of very extraordinary enterprise. We cannot enter into her history so fully as we could wish. She conquered Syria and Mesopotamia; she subdued Egypt; and added the greater part of Asia Minor to her dominions. Thus a small territory in the desert, under the government of a woman, made the great kingdoms of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ part of the dominions of a single city, whose name we look in vain for in their history; and Zenobia, lately confined to the barren plain of Palmyra, ruled from the south of Egypt to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea.

At length Aurelian, the Roman emperor, entered the field against her; and the loss of two great battles, the former near Antioch, the latter at Emesa, reduced her to the necessity of taking shelter within the walls of her own capital. Aurelian besieged her there; but the enterprise was exceedingly difficult. “The Roman people,” said Aurelian, “speak with contempt of the war, which I am waging against a woman. They are ignorant both of the character and power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of every species of missile weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with two or three balistæ[59], and artificial fires are thrown from her military engines. The fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate courage. Yet I still trust to the protecting deities of Rome, who have hitherto been favourable to all my undertakings.”

In another letter he writes to the senate in the following terms:—“I hear, Conscript Fathers, that it hath been urged against me, that I have not accomplished a manly task, in not triumphing over Zenobia. But my very blamers themselves would not know how to praise me enough, if they knew that woman; her firmness of purpose; the dignity she preserves towards her army; her munificence when circumstances require it; her severity, when to be severe is to be just. I may say, that the victory of Odenatus over the Persians, and his putting Sapor to flight, and his reaching Ctesiphon, were due to her. I can assert that such was the dread entertained of this woman among the nations of the East and of Egypt, that she kept in check the Arabians, the Saracens, and the Armenians; nor would I have preserved her life, if I had not thought she would much benefit the Roman state.” This was written after her defeat.

Tired of making unsuccessful attempts, Aurelian determined to try the effects of negotiation, and accordingly wrote to Zenobia. The style he adopted, however, rather commanded terms than proposed them:—

“Aurelian, emperor of the Roman world, to Zenobia, and the others united together in hostile alliance.

“You ought to do that of your own accord, which is commanded by my letters. I charge you to surrender, on your lives being spared; and you, Zenobia, may pass your life in some spot where I shall place you, in pursuance of the distinguished sentence of the senate; your gems, silver, gold, silk, horses, and camels, being given up to the Roman treasury. The laws and institutions of the Palmyrenes shall be respected.”

To this letter Zenobia returned the following answer:—

“Zenobia, Queen of the East, to the Roman Emperor, Aurelian.

“Never was such an unreasonable demand proposed, or such rigorous terms offered, by any but yourself! Remember, Aurelian, that in war, whatever is done should be done by valour. You imperiously command me to surrender: but can you forget, that Cleopatra chose rather to die with the title of queen, than to live in any inferior dignity? We expect succours from Persia; the Saracens are arming in our cause; even the Syrian banditti have already defeated your army. Judge what you are to expect from the junction of these forces. You shall be compelled to abate that pride with which, as if you were absolute lord of the universe, you command me to become your captive.”

When Aurelian read this letter, says Vopiscus, he blushed; not so much with shame, as with indignation.

Her answer inflamed the emperor to the highest pitch. He pressed the siege, therefore, with redoubled vigour; and the city was reduced to such extremities, that her council advised her to send for succour to the Persians. Thus counselled, she determined on going to the king of Persia in person. She set out, therefore, on the fleetest of her dromedaries, and had already reached the banks of the Euphrates (about sixty miles from Palmyra), when she was overtaken by Aurelian’s light horse, and brought back, captive, to the feet of Aurelian. We are told, that the sight of the queen gave the Roman emperor infinite pleasure; but that his ambition suffered some humiliation, when he considered that posterity would always look upon this only as the conquest of a woman[60]. The city surrendered soon after, and was treated with great lenity.

Aurelian now went to Emesa; on arriving at which place, he questioned the queen as to her motives, and the persons who had advised her to make so obstinate a defence. He sternly asked her, how she had presumed to rise in arms against the emperors of Rome? “Because,” answered Zenobia, “I disdained to consider as Roman emperors an Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign; and this I do, because you know how to conquer.”

When, however, the soldiers demanded her immediate execution, her fortitude forsook her. She confessed by whose counsel she had been guided. She purchased a dishonourable life at the expense of her friends. They were immediately led to execution; herself was reserved to grace the conqueror’s triumph.

Among those of her friends, whose names she had betrayed, was the illustrious Longinus, author of that noble Treatise on the Sublime, which is so well known and appreciated by every scholar. He it was, she confessed, who had drawn up the letter. “Her councillors,” she said, “were to be blamed, and not herself. What could a weak, short-sighted, woman do? especially when beset by artful and ambitious men, who made her subservient to all their schemes? She never had aimed at empire, had they not placed it before her eyes in all its allurements. The letter which affronted Aurelian was not her own—Longinus wrote it; the insolence was his.”

When Aurelian heard this, he directed all his fury against the unfortunate Longinus. That illustrious person was immediately led to execution. Far from lamenting his fate, however, he condoled with his friends, pitied Zenobia, and expressed his joy; looking upon death as a blessing, since it would rescue his body from slavery, and give his soul to that freedom he the most desired. “This world,” said he, with his expiring breath, “is nothing but a prison; happy, therefore, is he who gets soonest out of it, and gains his liberty.”

A modern poet has very finely alluded to this in his poem on Palmyra.

On the hushed plain, where sullen horror broods, And darkest frown the Syrian solitudes; Where morn’s soft steps no balmy fragrance leave, And parched and dewless is the couch of eve; Thy form, pale city of the waste, appears Like some faint vision of departed years; In massy clusters still a giant train, Thy sculptured fabrics whiten on the plain. Still stretch thy columned vistas far away, The shadowed dimness of their long array. But where the stirring crowd, the voice of strife, The glow of action and the thrill of life? Hear the loud crash of yon huge fragments fall, The pealing answer of each desert hall; The night-bird shrieking from her secret cell, The hollow winds, the tale of ruin tell. See, fondly lingering, Mithra’s parting rays Gild the proud towers, once vocal with his praise: But the cold altars clasping weeds entwine, And Moslems worship at the godless shrine. Yet here slow pausing memory loves to pour Her magic influence o’er this pensive hour: And yet, as yon recesses deep prolong The echoed sweetness of the Arab song, Recalls that scene, when wisdom’s sceptred child, First broke the stillness of the lonely wild. From air, from ocean, from earth’s utmost clime, The summoned genii heard the muttered rhyme; The tasking spell their airy hands obeyed, And Tadmor glittered in the palmy shade. So to her feet the tide of ages brings The wealth of nations and the pomp of kings, And for her warrior queen, from Parthia’s plain To the dark Ethiop, spreads her ample reign: Vain boast, ev’n she who winds the field along, Waked fiercer frenzy in the patriot throng; And sternly beauteous in the meteor’s light, Shot through the tempest of Emesa’s fight. While trembling captives round the victor wait, Hang on his eye, and catch the word of fate, Zenobia’s self must quail beneath his nod, A kneeling suppliant to the mimic god. But one there stood amid that abject throng, In truth triumphant, and in virtue strong; Beamed on his brow the soul which, undismayed. Smiled at the rod, and scorned the uplifted blade. O’er thee, Palmyra, darkness seems to lower The boding terrors of that fearful hour; Far from thy glade indignant freedom fled, And hope too withered as Longinus bled[61].

Palmyra, having become subject to a foreign yoke, bore the burthen with impatience. The inhabitants cut off the Roman garrison. On which Aurelian instantly returned, took the town, destroyed it, and put to death most of its population, without distinction of age or sex. The slaughter was so extensive, that none were left to plough the adjacent lands.

Aurelian soon repented of his severity. He wrote to Bassus:—“You must now sheathe the sword; the Palmyrenes have been sufficiently slaughtered. We have not spared women; we have slain children; we have strangled old men; we have destroyed the husbandmen. To whom, then, shall we leave the land? To whom shall we leave the city? We must spare those who remain; for we think, that the few there are now existing, will take warning from the punishment of the many who have been destroyed.”

The emperor then goes on to desire his lieutenant to rebuild the Temple of the Sun as magnificently as it had been in times past; to expend 300 pounds weight of gold, which he had found in the coffers of Zenobia, beside 1800 pounds weight of silver, which was raised from the sale of the people’s goods; together with the crown jewels, all which he ordered to be sold, to make money to beautify the temple; while he himself promises to write to the Senate, to send a priest from Rome to dedicate it. But, in the language of Gibbon, it is easier to destroy than it is to restore.

Zenobia was now to be led to the conqueror’s triumph. This triumph was celebrated with extraordinary magnificence. It was opened by twenty elephants, four royal tigers, and above two hundred of the most curious animals from every climate of the known world. Ambassadors from Æthiopia, Arabia, Persia, Bactriana, India, and China, attended the triumph; and a long train of captives,—Goths, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alemanni, Franks, Gauls, Syrians, and Egyptians. Amongst these, Zenobia. She was confined in fetters of gold; a slave supported the gold chain which encircled her neck, and she almost fainted under the weight of her jewels. She did not ride, but walk! preceded by the chariot in which she had once indulged the vain hope of entering Rome as empress[62].

The Palmyrenes[63], says Zosimus, had several declarations from the gods, which portended the overthrow of their empire; and, among others, having consulted the temple of Apollo, at Seleucia in Cilicia, to know if they should ever obtain the empire of the East, they got the following unceremonious answer:

Avoid my temple, cursed, treacherous nation! You even put the gods themselves in passion.

The religion of the Palmyrenes, it is evident, was pagan; their government, for the most part, republican; but their laws are entirely lost; nor can anything be known in respect to their polity, but what may be gathered from the inscriptions. Their chief deity was the Sun.

In regard to their knowledge of art, they have left the finest specimens in the ruins that now remain; and, doubtless, Longinus’ work on the Sublime was written within its walls. “From these hints we may see,” says Mr. Wood, “that this people copied after great models in their manners, their vices, and their virtues. Their funeral customs were from Egypt, their luxury was Persian, and their letters and arts were from the Greeks. Their situation in the midst of these three great nations makes it reasonable to suppose, that they adopted most of their customs and manners. But to say more on that head from such scanty materials, would be to indulge too much in mere conjecture, which seems rather the privilege of the reader than of the writer.”

Some years after this, we find Diocletian erecting several buildings here; but what they were is not stated. Justinian, also, repaired Palmyra, which, according to Procopius, had been almost entirely deserted. These repairs, however, are supposed to have reference rather to strength than to ornament; and this is the last mention of Palmyra in Roman history.

The various fortunes of Palmyra, to and from the time of Mahomet’s appearance, are scarcely known, except that it was considered as a place of great strength; and that in the twelfth century, A. D. 1171, there were, according to Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the spot in that year, two thousand Jews in it.

Palmyra, according to the Arabs, once occupied an area nearly ten miles in circumference, and is supposed to have been reduced to its present confined and ruined state by the quantities of sand[64] driven on it by whirlwinds.

The walls of the city were flanked by square towers. They were three miles in circumference, and it is imagined that they included the great temple. What remains there are of the wall, do not look, according to Mr. Wood, unlike the work of Justinian; and may be part of the repairs mentioned by Procopius; and the highest antiquity anything else can claim is the time of the Mamelukes.

We shall now give place to accounts in respect to the first impressions, made by these ruins on the minds of different travellers.

Mr. Halifax says[66], “the city itself appears to have been of a large extent by the space now taken up by the ruins;” but that there are no footsteps of any walls remaining, nor is it possible to judge of the ancient figure of the place. The present inhabitants, as they are poor, miserable, dirty people, so they have shut themselves up, to the number of about thirty or forty families, in little huts made of dirt, within the walls of a spacious court, which inclosed a most magnificent heathen temple: thereinto also Mr. Halifax’s party entered, the whole village being gathered together at the door; whether to stand upon their defence in case the strangers proved enemies (for some of them had guns in their hands), or out of mere curiosity to gaze, he knew not. However the guide, who was an Arab whom Assyne their king had sent to conduct them through the village, being a man known among them, they had an easy admittance; and, with a great many welcomes in their language, were led to the sheik’s house, with whom they took up their abode. “And to mention here what the place at first view represented, certainly the world itself could not afford the like mixture of remains of greatest state and magnificence, together with the extremity of poverty and wretchedness.” The nearest parallel Mr. Halifax could think of, was that of the temple of Baal, destroyed by Jehu, and converted into a draught-house.

“We had scarce passed the sepulchres,” says Mr. Wood, “when the hills opening discovered to us all at once the greatest quantity of ruins we had ever seen, all of white marble; and beyond them, towards the Euphrates, a flat waste as far as the eye could reach, without any object that showed either life or motion.”

When Mr. Wood’s party arrived, they were conducted to one of the huts, of which there were about thirty, in the court of the great temple. The inhabitants of both sexes were well-shaped, and the women, though very swarthy, had good features. They were veiled; but did not so scrupulously conceal their faces as the Eastern women generally do. They paint the ends of their fingers red, their lips blue, and their eyebrows and eyelashes black[67].