Part 36

[137] Chap. viii. verses 5, 6.

[138] Hist. Chron. lib. ii.

[139] An Arabian traveller in the tenth century.

[140] Ouseley.

[141] For these the curious reader may turn to the fine work of Messrs. Daukins and Wood. There are several plates of these ruins, also, in Pococke's and Bruce's travels. When at Balbec the latter made numerous drawings; all of which he presented to George the Third. "These," says he, "are the richest offering of the kind that were ever presented to a sovereign by a subject."

[142] "The entry to the great Temple of the Sun is from the east, through a noble portico of twelve circular columns; and the first apartment in which the visiter finds himself is a magnificent hexagonal hall, one hundred and eighty feet in diameter, exhibiting on all sides the remains of an architectural beauty and magnificence of the richest character, in the columns and other ornaments of a circle of chambers which run around it. Beyond this is a still larger court, of nearly a square form, being three hundred and seventy-four feet in one direction, by three hundred and sixty-eight feet in another, and at the farther extremity of that is the far-stretching pillared structure forming the proper temple. As may be observed from the view, nine of the lofty columns, which had composed this part of the edifice, are still to be seen standing together. There had been originally fifty-six in all, namely, ten at each end, and eighteen others along each of the sides. The entire length of the space which they include is two hundred and eighty-five feet, and its breadth is one hundred and fifty-seven feet. The height, including the plinth, is eighty-seven feet."--ANON.

[143] The effect of the Corinthian order depends as much on the execution of the sculptured details as in the harmony and correctness of the proportion; and the miserable specimens we have about London, with a stunted capital, and a few cramped projections, called acanthus leaves, would not be known as the same order of architecture by the side of these bold, free, airy, and majestic masses of building.--ADDISON.

[144] No cement or mortar is used in their construction, but the large square stones are neatly adjusted, and so closely fitted, as to render the joining almost invisible.

[145] Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, p. 406, 7, 4to.

[146] Buckingham.

[147] Carne.

[148] Chronicles; Diodorus; Macrobius; Maundrell; Bruce; Seller; Dawkins and Wood; Volney; Browne; Malcolm; Ouseley; Buckingham; Carne; La Martine; Addison.

[149] The substance of this decree was as follows:--"Inasmuch as in times past the continual benevolence of the people of Athens towards the Byzantines and Perinthians, united by alliance and their common origin, has never failed upon any occasion; that this benevolence, so often signalised, has lately displayed itself, when Philip of Macedon, who had taken up arms to destroy Byzantium and Perinthus, battered our walls, burned our country, cut down our forests; that in a season of so great calamity, this beneficent people succoured us with a fleet of a hundred and twenty sail, furnished with provisions, arms, and forces; that they saved us from the greatest danger; in fine, that they restored us to the quiet possession of our government, our laws, and our tombs: the Byzantines grant, by decree, the Athenians to settle in the countries belonging to Byzantium; to marry in them, to purchase lands, and to enjoy all the prerogatives of citizens; they also grant them a distinguished place at public shows, and the right of sitting both in the senate and the assembly of the people, next to the pontiffs: and further, that every Athenian, who shall think proper to settle in either of the two cities above mentioned, shall be exempted from taxes of any kind: that in the harbours, three statues of sixteen cubits shall be set up, which statues shall represent the people of Athens crowned by those of Byzantium and Perinthus: and besides, that presents shall be sent to the four solemn games of Greece, and that the crown we have decreed to the Athenians shall there be proclaimed; so that the same ceremony may acquaint all the Greeks, both with the magnanimity of the Athenians, and the gratitude of the Byzantines."

[150] Gibbon.

[151] Gibbon.

[152] Chambers.

[153] Chambers.

[154] Clarke.

[155] Barthelemy.

[156] The whole circumference of the walls measures eighteen miles; the number of mural towers is four hundred and seventy-eight.

[157] "This fact," continues Dr. Clarke, "has been so well ascertained, that it will, probably, never be disputed." "The guardians of the most holy relics," says Gibbon, "would rejoice if they were able to produce such a chain of evidence as may be alleged on this occasion." The original consecration in the temple of Delphi is proved from Herodotus and Pausanias; and its removal by Zosimus, Eusebius, Socrates, Ecclesiasticus, and Sozomen.

[158] Lord Sandwich.

[159] Hobhouse.

[160] Sandwich.

[161] Clarke.

[162] Lord Sandwich.

[163] Clarke.

[164] Chambers.

[165] Barthélemi; Wheler; Gibbon; Sandwich; Hobhouse; Byron; Clarke; La Martine; Chambers; Parker.

[166] Elmanim; Sonnini; Browne; Brewster; Clarke; Encyclop. Londinensis; Rees; Wilkinson.

[167] Rollin.

[168] Swinburne.

[169] Rollin; Swinburne.

[170] Swinburne.

[171] Swinburne.

[172] Forsyth.

[173] Livy; Rollin; Swinburne; Forsyth.

[174] The tale about purchasing so much land as an ox's hide would cover, being a mere poetical fiction, is of course omitted.

[175] Lib. xxiii. ch. 6.

[176] Polybius has transmitted to us a treaty of peace concluded between Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon, and the Carthaginians, in which the great respect and veneration of the latter for the deity, their inherent persuasion that the gods assist and preside over human affairs, and particularly over the solemn treaties made in their name and presence, are strongly displayed. Mention is therein made of five or six different orders of deities; and this enumeration appears very extraordinary in a public instrument, such as a treaty of peace concluded between two nations. We will here present our reader with the very words of the historian, as it will give some idea of the Carthaginian theology. "This treaty was concluded in the presence of Jupiter, Juno, and Apollo; in the presence of the dæmon or genius ([Greek: daimonos]) of the Carthaginians, of Hercules and Iolaus; in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; in the presence of all the confederate gods of the Carthaginians; and of the sun, the moon, and the earth; in the presence of the rivers, meads, and waters, in the presence of all those gods who possess Carthage."--ROLLIN.

[177] 1,750,000_l._; that is. 35,000_l._ annually.

[178] Polybius acquaints us, that the ratification of the articles of agreement between the Romans and the Carthaginians, was performed in this manner: the Carthaginians swore by the gods of their country; and the Romans, after their ancient custom, swore by a stone, and then by Mars. They swore by a stone thus:--

"If I keep my faith, may the gods vouchsafe their assistance, and give me success; if, on the contrary, I violate it, then may the other party be entirely safe, and preserved in their country, in their laws, in their possessions, and, in a word, in all their rights and liberties; and may I perish and fall alone, as now this stone does:" and then he lets the stone fall out of his hands.

Livy's account of the like ceremony is something more particular; yet differs little in substance, only that he says the herald's concluding clause was, "otherwise may Jove strike the Roman people, as I do this hog;" and accordingly he killed a hog that stood ready by, with the stone which he held in his hand.--KENNETT.

[179] M. Manilius and L. Marcius Censorinus.

[180] Rollin.

[181] Harmonies of Nature.

[182] Gibbon.

[183] Clarke.

[184] "A company, formed at Paris, for exploring the ruins of Carthage, has already met with great success. A large house has been discovered on the margin of the sea, near Bourj-Jedid. Paintings in fresco, similar to those at Pompeii, adorn many of the rooms, and beautiful mosaics, representing men, women, and nymphs, fishes of various kinds, tigers, gazelles, &c. have been found. Fifteen cases with these precious relics have arrived at Toulon."--_Literary Gazette, May 19, 1838._

[185] Polybius; Livy; Cicero; Justin; Rollin; Kennett; Gibbon; Montague; Chateaubriand; Clarke; Sir George Temple.

[186] Swinburne; Brydone; Malte Brun; Encyclop. Londinensis.

[187] By Pliny, Strabo, and Tacitus.

[188] Quercus.

[189] Zonaras, apud Gyll.

[190] Julian; Barthelemy; Gibbon; Pococke; Clarke.

[191] The _sacred_ battalion was famous in history. It consisted of a body of young warriors, brought up together, at the public expense, in the citadel. Their exercises and even their amusements were regulated by the sounds of the flute, and in order to prevent their courage from degenerating into blind fury, care was taken to inspire them with the noblest and most animated sentiments. Each warrior chose from the band a friend to whom he remained inseparably united. These three hundred warriors were anciently distributed in troops at the head of the different divisions of the army.

Philip destroyed this cohort at the battle of Chæronea, and the prince seeing these young Thebans stretched on the field of battle covered with honourable wounds, and lying side by side on the ground on which they had been stationed, could not restrain his tears.--BARTHELEMY.

[192] Dodwell.

[193] Ibid.

[194] Rollin; Barthelemy; Leland; Hobhouse; Dodwell; Leland.

[195] Obubea changed its name to Porcuna; and this, it is supposed, from the circumstance of a sow having had thirty pigs at one litter; in memory of which her figure was cut in stone with the following inscription underneath:--

C. CORNELIVS. C. F. C. N. GAL. CAESO. AED. FLAMEN. II. VIR. MVNICIPII. PONTIF. C. CORN. CAESO. F. SACERDOS. GENT. MVNICIPII. SCROFAM. CUM. PORCIS. XXX. IMPENSA. IPSORVM. D. D.

[196] Jose.

[197] Thucydides; Rollin; Wheler; Dodwell; Williams.

[198] Rollin.

[199] Rollin.

[200]

Demens! qui nimbos et non imitabile fulmen, Ære et cornipedum cursu simulâret squorum.--VIRG.

[201] Kennet.

[202] History of the Turks.

[203] Dodwell.

[204] Herodotus; Pliny the Nat.; Du Loir; Rollin; Kennet; Knowles; Wheler; Chandler; Barthelemy; Stuart; Dodwell; Quin; Turner.

[205] The story of the maid of Corinth may be found in Pliny, lib. xxxv.; and in Athenagoras, with this additional circumstance, that the lover, while his outlines were taken, is described to have been asleep.

[206] Gibbon.

[207] The royal canal (Nahar-Malcha) might be successively restored, altered, divided, &c. (Cellarius Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 453): and these changes may serve to explain the seeming contradictions of antiquity. In the time of Julian, it must have fallen into the Euphrates, _below_ Ctesiphon.

[208] These works were erected by Orodes, one of the Arsacidæan kings.

[209] "I suspect," says Mr. Gibbon, "that the extravagant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the text, but of the version. The best translators from the Greek, for instance, I find to be very poor arithmeticians."

[210] Selman the Pure.

[211] Rollin; Gibbon; Porter; Buckingham.

[212] Williams.

[213] Dodwell.

[214] Rollin; Barthélemi; Chandler; Clarke; Dodwell; Williams.

[215] In Judith, Dejoces is called Arphaxad:--"1. In the twelfth of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineveh, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana.

2. And built in Ecbatana walls round about of stones hewn, three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the walls seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits.

3. And set the towers thereof upon the gates of it, an hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the foundation thereof three score cubits.

4. And he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and for the setting in array of his footmen."

[216] It is said, in Esther, that Ahasuerus reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven princes; from India to Ethiopia.

[217] According to Herodotus, the reign of

Dejoces was 53 years Phraortes 22 ---- Cyaxares 12 ---- The Scythians 28 ---- Astyages 35 ---- ---- Total 150

[218] Some authors have made a strange mistake: they have confused this city with that of the same name in Syria, at the foot of Mount Carmel; and still more often with that which was called the "City of the Magi."

[219] Lib. x. 24.

[220] Clio, 98.

[221] Ecbatana was taken by Nadir Shah. Nadir marched against the Turks as soon as his troops were refreshed from the fatigues they had endured in the pursuit of the Afghauns. He encountered the force of two Turkish pachas on the plains of Hameden, overthrew them, and made himself master, not only of that city, but of all the country in the vicinity.--Meerza Mehdy's Hist. Sir William Jones's works, vol. v. 112; Malcolm's Hist. of Persia, vol. ii. 51. 4to.

[222] "This custom," says Mr. Morier, "which I had never seen in any other part of Asia, forcibly struck me as a most happy illustration of our Saviour's parable of the labourer in the vineyard; particularly when passing by the same place, late in the day, we still found _others standing idle_, and remembered his words, '_Why stand ye here all the day idle?_' as most applicable to their situation; for in putting the question to them, they answered '_Because no one has hired us._'"

[223] Lib. x. c. 24.

[224] "The habitations of the people here (at Hameden) were equally mean as those of the villages through which we had passed before. The occupiers of these last resembled, very strongly, the African Arabs, or Moors, and also the mixed race of Egypt, in their physiognomy, complexion, and dress. The reception, given by these villagers to my Tartar companions, was like that of the most abject slaves to a powerful master; and the manner in which the yellow-crowned courtiers of the Sublime Porte treated their entertainers in return, was quite as much in the spirit of the despotic sultan whom they served."--_Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia_, vol. ii. p. 18.

[225] Herodotus; Diodorus Siculus; Plutarch; Arrian; Quintus Curtius; Rollin; Rennell; Morier; Sir R. Ker Porter; Buckingham.

[226] Rollin.

[227] Dodwell.

[228] Rollin; Barthelemy; Wheler; Chandler; Sandwich; Clarke; Hobhouse; Dodwell.

[229] Gillies.

[230] Chandler.

[231] Pausanias; Plutarch; Barthelemy; Chandler; Dodwell; Rees; Gillies.

[232] Breadth scarcely anywhere exceeding forty miles.

[233] The others were, Miletus, Myus, Lebedos, Colophon, Priene, Teos, Erythræ, Phocæa, Clazomenæ, Chios, and Samos.

[234] Polyen. Strat. vi.

[235] Diana was the patroness of all women in labour, as well as of the children born.

[236] The Ephesians have a very wise law relative to the construction of public edifices. The architect whose plan is chosen enters into a bond, by which he engages all his property. If he exactly fulfils the condition of his agreement, honours are decreed him; if the expense exceeds the sum stipulated only by one quarter, the surplus is paid from the public treasury; but if it amounts to more, the property of the architect is taken to pay the remainder.--BARTHELEMY, vol. v. 394, 5; from Vitruvius Præf., lib. x. 203.

[237] We often see this temple represented upon medals with the figure of Diana. It is never charged with more than eight pillars; and sometimes only with six, four, and now and then only with two.

[238] The columns being sixty feet high, the diameter, according to rule, must be six feet eight inches; that is, one-ninth part. Thus, every column would contain one hundred and ten tons of marble, besides base and capital!--WREN'S PARENTALIA, p. 361.

[239] Mithridates caused 150,000 Romans in Asia to be massacred in one day.

[240] Hist. August, p. 178; Jornandes, c. 20.

[241] Strabo, 1. xiv. 640; Vitruvius, 1. i. c. 1; Præf. 1. vii.; Tacitus Annal. iii. 61; Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 14.

[242] The length of St. Peter's is 840 Roman palms; each palm is very little short of nine English inches.

[243] They offered no sacrifices to the Grecian gods.

[244] Acts xx. 31.

[245] Acts xix. 11; 1 Cor. xv. 9.

[246] Acts xx. 19.

[247] Ch. ii.

[248] Revett's MS. notes.

[249] On this passage Mr. Revett has left the following observation in a MS. note: "Upon what authority? Vitruvius, though he relates the story, does not give us the name of the mountain on which it happened. If mount Prion consists of white marble, it is very extraordinary it was not discovered sooner; part of the mountain being included in the city."

[250] Diodorus Siculus; Vitruvius; Plin. Nat. Hist.; Plutarch; Polyænus; Wren's Parentalia; Barthelemy; Gibbon; Wheler; Chandler; Revett; Clarke; Hobhouse; Brewster; Rees.

[251] Seetzen; Burckhardt; Irby; Robinson.

[252] From a work published in 1778.

[253] Anon.

[254] Hippolyto de Jose; Swinburne; Wright; Murphy; Washington Irving.

[255] Lempriere.

[256] Morritt.

[257] Turner.

[258] Turner; Clarke.

[259] Barthelemy; Lempriere; Rees; Mitford; Clarke; Walpole; Morritt; Turner.

[260] Rollin.

[261] Bossuet; Rollin; Encyclop. Metropolitana; Denon.

[262] Eustace.

[263] Dionysius of Halicarnassus makes it sixty years before the fall of Troy; or 1342 B.C.

[264] Chambers.

[265] Chambers.

[266] He was then only eighteen.

[267] The death of this celebrated naturalist was probably occasioned by carbonic acid gas. This noxious vapour must have been generated to a great extent during the eruption. It is heavier than common air, and, of course, occupies in greater proportion the substrata of that circumambient fluid. The supposition is greatly strengthened by the fact, that the old philosopher had lain down to rest; but the flames approaching him, he was compelled to rise, assisted by two servants, which he had no sooner done than he fell down dead.

[268] It is a remarkable circumstance that some naturalists walking amid the flowers, on the summit of Vesuvius, the very day before this eruption, were discussing whether this mountain was a volcano.

[269] Gandy, 53.

[270] Mons. Du Theil.

[271] Rees.

[272] Brewster.

[273] Ibid.

[274] Brewster.

[275] Brewster.

[276] Brewster, 741.

[277] Ibid, 740.

[278] Rees.

[279] Dupaty.

[280] Brewster.

[281] The letters in the smaller type were inserted by Ciampitti; as those he considered appropriate for filling up passages which could not be deciphered.

[282] Pliny the younger; Encycl. Rees, Metrop.; Brewster; Dupaty; Eustace.

[283] Plin. v. c. 26. Ptolem. v. c. 15.

[284] Ptolemy; Pliny; Pococke; Chandler.

[285] This was an epithet given to Crete, from the 100 cities which it once contained: also to Thebes in Egypt, on account of its 100 gates. The territory of Laconia had the same epithet for the same reason that Thebes had; and it was the custom of these 100 cities to sacrifice a hecatomb every year.

[286] Sir John Malcolm.

[287] The boundaries of Iran, which Europeans call Persia, have undergone many changes. The limits of the kingdom in its most prosperous periods may, however, be easily described. The Persian Gulf, or Indian Ocean, to the south; the Indies and the Oxus to the east and north-east; the Caspian Sea and Mount Caucasus to the north; and the river Euphrates to the west. The most striking features of this extensive country, are numerous chains of mountains, and large tracts of desert; amid which are interspersed beautiful valleys and rich pasture lands.--SIR JOHN MALCOLM.

[288] I conquered the city of Isfahan, and I trusted in the people of Isfahan, and I delivered the cattle in their hands. And they rebelled; and the darogah whom I had placed over them they slew, with 3000 of the soldiers. And I also commanded that a general slaughter should be made of the people of Isfahan.--TIMOUR'S Institutes, p. 119. MALCOLM'S Hist. Persia, vol. i. 461.

[289] Porter.

[290] Lett. ii. 1. 3.

[291] vii. 273, 486. viii. 2, 144.

[292] Sir John Kinneir says of this causeway: "It is in length about 300 miles. The pavement is now nearly in the same condition as it was in the time of Hanway; being perfect in many places, although it has hardly ever been repaired."

[293] At one time a horse's carcase sold for one thousand crowns.

[294] Malcolm, Hist. Persia from Murza Mahdy.

[295] The horrors of this siege, equal to any recorded in ancient history, have been described by the Polish Jesuit Krurinski, who personally witnessed them (see his History of the Revolution of Persia, published by Père du Cerceau); and they are noticed in the "Histoire de Perse depuis le commencement de ce siècle" of M. la Marnya Clairac, on authorities that cannot be disputed.--OUSELEY'S Trav.

[296] Geog. Mem. of Persia.

[297] Morier.

[298] Malte-Brun.

[299] Job, chap. xv. ver. 28.

[300] Ferdousi; Ebn Hakekl; Della Valle; Chardin; Kinneir; Porter; Malcolm; Malte-Brun; Ouseley.

[301] Hippolito de Jose.

[302] From the time that Solomon, by means of his temple, had made Jerusalem the common place of worship to all Israel, it was distinguished from the rest of the cities by the epithet Holy, and in the Old Testament was called Air Hakkodesh, _i. e._, the city of holiness, or the holy city. It bore this title upon the coins, and the shekel was inscribed Jerusalem Kedusha, _i. e._, Jerusalem the Holy. At length Jerusalem, for brevity's sake, was omitted, and only Kedusha reserved. The Syriac being the prevailing language in Herodotus's time, Kedusha, by a change in that dialect of sh into th, was made Kedutha; and Herodotus, giving it a Greek termination, it was writ [Greek: Kadytis], or Cadytis.--PRIDEAUX'S Connexion of the Old and New Testament, vol. i. part i. p. 80, 81, 8vo. edit.

[303] And Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings; he left none remaining; but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.--Joshua, ch. x. ver. 40.

[304] --The emotions which filled the minds of those who witnessed the laying of the foundation of the temple were strangely mingled. All gave thanks to the Lord; and the multitude shouted with a great shout when the foundations were laid; but, "many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice."--EZRA, iii. 12.

[305] Besides this, he built another temple.

[306] Some have thought that this description, which is from Josephus, applies rather to the temple of Herod.

[307] It is remarkable that the sum mentioned is equal to the British national debt.