Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 2 of 2)

When Tyre fell into the hands of the Romans, it did not cease to be a flourishing city. It was made the metropolis of a province by the emperor Hadrian, who repaired its fortifications, and gave it all the advantages of a Roman colony.

About A. D. 639, it fell from the dominion of Rome into the hands of the Saracens, who remained a considerable time in possession of it.

On this capture most of the inhabitants emigrated to Acre. It still remains, we are told by Mr. Addison, in nearly the same state in which they abandoned it, with the addition of about a hundred new stone buildings, occupying a small space to the north of the peninsula contiguous to the port. Many parts of the double wall, which encompassed the island, are still visible, and attest the strength of its ancient foundations. The isthmus is so completely covered with sand, washed up by the sea, on either side, that none but those, acquainted with the history of Tyre, would suppose it to be the work of man. The peninsula is about a mile long, and half a mile broad; and its surface is covered with the foundations of buildings, now nearly all in ruins. On the western side, where the ground is somewhat more elevated than the rest, is a citadel, which Mr. Addison naturally supposes, occupies the site of the ancient one. On the eastern side, he goes on to observe, are the remains of a Gothic church, built by the crusaders, of materials belonging to the temple of Jupiter Olympus, which was destroyed by Constantine the Great, or that of Hercules, the tutelary deity of the ancient Tyrians. Of this only part of the choir remains. The interior is divided into three aisles, separated by rows of columns of red granite; of a kind nowhere else known in Syria. At the extremities of the two branches of the cross were two towers, the ascent to which was by a spiral staircase, which still remains entire. Djezzar, who stripped all this country to ornament his mosque at Acre, wished to carry them away; but his engineers were not able even to move them. This is supposed to have been the cathedral, of which Eusebius speaks, calling it the most magnificent temple in Phœnicia, and in which the famous William of Tyre was the first archbishop.

In the second century, it became a bishop’s see; and St. Jerome says, that in his time it was not only the most famous and beautiful city of Phœnicia, but a mart for all the nations of the world. It was dependent upon the patriarch of Antioch; but the see had no less than fourteen suffragans.

In 1112, Tyre was besieged by the crusaders; also again in 1124. It was successfully attacked by Saladin, in 1192; but in 1291, Kabil, sultan of the Mamelukes, obtained it by capitulation, and rased its forts.

Tyre is now called Sur or Sour. For this name several explanations have been given. We shall select the most probable, and these are by Volney, and Dr. Shaw. “In the name Sour,” says Volney, “we recognise that of Tyre, which we receive from the Latin; but if we recollect, that the y was formerly pronounced ou; and observe, that the Latins have substituted the t for θ of the Greeks, and that the θ had the sound of th, in the word think, we shall be less surprised at the alteration. This has not happened among the Orientals, who have always called this place ‘Tsour,’ and ‘Sour.’”

Dr. Shaw gives a different interpretation: – “All the nations of the Levant call Tyre by its ancient name Sur, from whence the Latins seem to have borrowed their Sarra. Sur, I find, layeth claim to a double interpretation, each of them very natural; though its rocky situation will prevail, I am persuaded, with every person who seeth this peninsula, beyond the Sar, or purple fish, for which it might afterwards be in such esteem. The purple fish (the method, at least, of extracting the tincture,) hath been wanting for many ages; however, amongst a variety of other shells, the Purpura of Rondeletius is very common upon the sea shore.”

“The Arabians,” says Mr. Drummond, “have always called Tyre Al Sur, the palm-tree. (Gol. in voce.) Hence, perhaps, the Greeks gave the name of Phœnix to this tree, as being the natural production of Phœnice; and as being the common emblem both of the Phœnicians and of their colonists. It may have happened, then, that ancient Tyre, which was situated in a plain, may have been called Al Sur, as the place where the palm-tree flourished.”

Perhaps another explanation may be still more probable. Sanchoniathon, as reported by Philo Byllius, tells us that Tyre was first inhabited by Hyp-sour-anios, and that it then consisted of sheds, built up with canes, rushes, and papyri. From the middle of this, perhaps, comes the present name, Hyp-sour-anois.

The palaces of Tyre were for a long period supplanted by miserable hovels. Poor fishermen inhabited their vaulted cellars; where, in ancient times, the treasures of the world were stored. “This city,” says Maundrell, “standing in the sea upon a peninsula, promises, at a distance, something very magnificent. But when you come to it, you find no similitude of that glory, for which it was so renowned in ancient times. On the north side it has an old Turkish ungarrisoned castle; besides which, you see nothing here but a mere Babel, of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c.: there not being so much as one entire house left. The present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves in the vaults, and chiefly subsisting upon fishing; who seem to be preserved, in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible argument, how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre.”

Sour, till lately, was a village in the pachalic of Saide or of Acre; situate on a peninsula, which projects from the shore, in the form of a mallet with an oval head. The isthmus which joins it to the continent is of pure sand. That part of the island which lies between the village and the sea, that is, the western side, was laid out in gardens, beset with weeds. The south side is sandy, and covered with rubbish. The whole village did not contain more than fifty families, having huts for houses, crumbling to pieces.

Dr. Shaw says, that in his time, notwithstanding Tyre was the chief maritime power of Syria, he could not perceive the least token of either Cothon or harbour, that could, at any time, have been of any extraordinary capacity. Coasting ships, indeed, says he, still find a tolerably good shelter from the northerly winds, under the southern shore; but they are obliged immediately to retire, when the winds change to the west or south; so there must, therefore, have been a better station than this for security and reception. In the N. N. E. part likewise of the city, are seen traces of a safe and commodious basin; but, at the same time, so small as not to exceed forty yards in diameter. Neither could it have enjoyed a larger area. Yet this port, small as it is at present, is notwithstanding so choked up with sand and rubbish, that even the boats of the poor fishermen, who visit this once renowned emporium, can be admitted only with great difficulty. The sea, however, which usually destroys solid structures, has not only spared, but enlarged and converted into a solid isthmus, the mound by which Alexander joined the isle of Tyre to the continent.

A recent traveller, however, says, “that in the angle on which was seated the royal palace, there are still to be seen a number of fallen granite pillars, and other vestiges of architectural grandeur; but of the temples of the Tyrian and the Thracian Hercules, of Saturn, of Apollo, and of their other deities, I am not aware that sufficient remains are to be traced to confirm the positions assigned to them. The causeway of Alexander is still perfect, and is become like a natural isthmus, by its being covered over with sand. The hill, on which is placed the temple of the Astrochitonian Hercules, is now occupied by a Mohammedan faqueer’s tomb, around which are no ruins that indicate a work of grandeur destroyed. The ruins of Palæ-tyrus, near to Ras-el-ain, were not observed by me, although we crossed the brook there; and the Syrian sepulchres, which are said to be to the northward of the town, I did not hear of. On approaching the modern Sour, whether from the hills, from the north or from the south, its appearance has nothing of magnificence. On entering the town, it is discovered to have been walled; the portion towards the isthmus still remaining, and being entered by an humble gate; while that on the north side is broken down, showing only detached fragments of circular towers, greatly dilapidated.” “They do not reach beyond the precincts of the present town; thus shutting out all the range to the northward of the harbour, which appears to have been composed of the ruins of former buildings.” “The tower to the south-east is not more than fifty feet square, and about the same height. It is turreted to the top, and has small windows and loop-holes on each of its sides. A flight of steps leads up to it from without, and its whole appearance is like that of the Saracenic buildings in the neighbourhood of Cairo.”

Sour has greatly risen of late years. It now contains eight hundred dwellings, substantially built of stone; most of which have courts, walls, and various conveniences, attached to them; besides smaller habitations for the poor. There are, also, one mosque, three Christian churches, three bazaars, and a bath. This intelligence is furnished by Mr. Buckingham, who was there in the earlier part of 1816. He adds also, that the population amounts, at the lowest computation, from five to six thousand; three-fourths of which are Arab catholics, and the remainder Turks and Arab moslems.

In Tyre was interred the well-known Frederic the First, surnamed Barbarossa (A. D. 1190)305.

NO. XLI. – VEII

The memory of Veii306 was almost obliterated in the time of Florus. The flock had fed in the streets, and the ploughshare had furrowed the sepulchres of the Veientes307.

The history of Veii is too imperfect, to throw any light, prior to the existence of Rome. We are only informed, that Morrius, king of Veii, was descended, by Halæsius, from Neptune; and that there was a king Veius, a king Menalus, and lastly, in the time of Camillus, an elected king named Tolemarius.

Veii was a powerful city of Etruria; large enough to contend with Rome in the time of Servius Tullus; and Dionysius of Halicarnassus says, that it was equal in extent to Athens; and Sir W. Gell quotes a passage from a fragment of the same writer, published by Mai at Milan, 1816, in which he speaks thus of Veii and its territory: – “The city of Veii was not inferior to Rome itself in buildings, and possessed a large and fruitful territory, partly mountainous, and partly in the plain. The air was pure and healthy, the country being free from the vicinity of marshes, and without any river, which might render the morning air too rigid. Nevertheless, there was an abundance of water; not artificially conducted, but rising from natural springs, and good to drink.” (Lib. xii. frag. 21).

In the course of three hundred and fifty years it carried on no less than sixteen wars with Rome, but was at last taken and destroyed by Camillus, after a siege of ten years. This was the most important of the conquests of the infant republic. Its situation was so eligible, that the Romans, after the burning of their city by the Gauls, were long inclined to emigrate there, and totally abandon their homes; and this would have been carried into execution, but for the authority and eloquence of Camillus308.

“It is lamentable,” says Sir W. Gell, “that in a country so little cultivated, interesting traces of antiquity, tending to confirm the truth of history, should be suffered to disappear almost without record, for the sake of a miserable and narrow stripe of corn, and a few volcanic stones for mending the roads. The site of the citadel of Veii affords ample testimony to the accuracy of the description of Dionysius, who says it stood upon a high and precipitous rock. Not far from the road (from Rome) several large square blocks, concealed by soil and bushes, may easily be detected by persons accustomed to antiquarian researches. A heap of ruins are seen, supposed to have been a temple dedicated to Juno; and among these lay, in 1830, a piece of marble, relating to the family of Tarquitia, a race of celebrated Tuscan augurs, from whose books the soothsayers took their lessons, even so low down as the last war of the emperor Julian with the Persians.”

There exists, also, a large tumulus, supposed to be the tomb of Propertius, king of Etruria, founder of the city.

In a rock under the ancient wall are several niches, which have the appearance of places for urns, or votive offerings; not of Roman construction, but Etrurian. There are, also, evident traces of one or two bridges; and on the summit of a hill, at the distance of three miles, is another tumulus.

In another part the rugged extent of the rocks, with the bushes, and the difficulty of carrying away the blocks, have preserved portions of the ancient wall of the Etruscan Veii. These are ten or eleven feet in length, and some more than five feet in height. One of the most singular facts attending this wall, is a bed of three courses of bricks, each three feet in length, intervening between the lower course of the wall, and the rock upon which it is built. It requires only a very moderate knowledge of the subject to convince us, that the construction of this wall has no resemblance to anything remaining at Rome, nor yet at Nepi, Falerii, or Tarquinii, where the ramparts were in smaller blocks, and nearly regular. The style of the fortifications at Veii bespeak a much higher antiquity.

Added to what we have already stated, there are vestiges of ancient fortifications and aqueducts, and traces of roads; also fragments of an ancient citadel. There are, also, tombs in a glen near, and upon the rock, called Isola, exhibiting every kind of sepulchral excavation; caves, columbaria, and tombs without number. This was, no doubt, the metropolis of Veii.

There are, also, the remains of other tumuli, which appear to have been the common receptacle of those slain in battle, rather than of remarkable individuals. These all mark the date of Veii in the elder times; but a statue of Tiberius found here, of course denotes the age of the empire.

“The remains of this once populous Etruscan city,” says Sir William Gell, “have, in the course of the last ten years, suffered so lamentably from spoliations, perpetrated or permitted by the owners of the soil, that it is necessary to take particular notice of such relics as still attest the existence of a place of so much importance in the early history of Italy.”

This he has done, in his work entitled “The Topography of Rome, and its Vicinity;” and from that work we glean most that is stated in this abstract309.

THE END

1

Dodwell.

2

Barthelemy.

3

Dodwell.

4

Barthelemy; Rollin; Dodwell; Clarke.

5

Knight.

6

Chandler.

7

Clarke.

8

Clarke.

9

Strabo; Pausanias; Rollin; Wheler; Barthelemy; Chandler; Turner; Clarke.

10

Gillies.

11

Acts xx. ver. 13. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.

14. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.

15. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus.

16. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

17. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

18. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons.

12

He was the first that accurately calculated eclipses of the sun; he discovered the solstices; he divided the heavens into five zones, and recommended the division of the year into three hundred and sixty-five days.

13

The inventor of sun-dials and the gnomon. This philosopher had nevertheless many curious opinions; amongst which may be mentioned, that air was the parent of every created being; and that the sun, moon, and stars, had been made from the earth.

14

He taught that men were born of earth and water, mixed together by the heat of the sun.

15

An historian.

16

A musician.

17

Ionian Antiquities.

18

Herodotus; Strabo; Pausanias; Quintus Curtius; Prideaux; Chandler; Stuart; Barthelemy; Gillies.

19

This was written in 1806, and published in 1819.

20

Pausanias; Dodwell; La Martine.

21

Barthelemy; Dodwell; Rees; Brewster.

22

See Herod. i. c. 184; Diodor. Sic. ii.; Pompon. Mela, i. c. 3; Justin. i. c. 1; Val. Max. ix. c. 3.

23

The character of Sardanapalus has been treated more gently by a modern poet. “The Sardanapalus of Lord Byron is pretty nearly such a person as the Sardanapalus of history may be supposed to have been, – young, thoughtless, spoiled by flattery and unbounded self-indulgence; but, with a temper naturally amiable, and abilities of a superior order, he affects to undervalue the sanguinary renown of his ancestors, as an excuse for inattention to the most necessary duties of his rank; and flatters himself, while he is indulging his own sloth, that he is making his people happy. Yet, even in his fondness for pleasure, there lurks a love of contradiction. Of the whole picture, selfishness is the prevailing feature; – selfishness admirably drawn, indeed; apologised for by every palliating circumstance of education and habit, and clothed in the brightest colours of which it is susceptible, from youth, talents, and placidity. But it is selfishness still; and we should have been tempted to quarrel with the art which made vice and frivolity thus amiable, if Lord Byron had not, at the same time, pointed out with much skill the bitterness and weariness of spirit which inevitably wait on such a character; and if he had not given a fine contrast to the picture, in the accompanying portraits of Salamenes and Myrrha.” – Heber.

24

Atherstone’s “Fall of Nineveh.”

25

Ælian calls him Thilgamus.

26

2 Kings.

27

Adrammelech and Sharezer.

28

2 Kings, xix. ver. 37.

29

Tobit, xiv. ver. 5, 13

30

Nahum, chap. iii.

31

Zephaniah, chap. ii.

32

Soon after the great fire of London, the rector of St. Michael, Queenhithe, preached a sermon before the Lord Mayor and corporation of London, in which he instituted a parallel between the cities of London and Nineveh, to show that unless the inhabitants of the former repented of their many public and private vices, and reformed their lives and manners, as did the Ninevites on the preaching of Jonah, they might justly be expected to become the objects of the signal vengeance of Heaven: putting them in mind of the many dreadful calamities that have, from time to time, befallen the English nation in general, and the great City of London in particular; and of the too great reason there was to apprehend some yet more signal vengeance from the hands of Omnipotence, since former judgments had not proved examples sufficient to warn and amend a very wicked people.

33

Diodorus says, that Nineveh stood on the Euphrates: but this is contrary to all evidence.

34

One of these is in the British Museum.

35

Daughter of Sir James Mackintosh, and wife of Mr. Rich.

36

Herodotus; Diodorus Siculus; Ælian; Prideaux; Rollin; Stackhouse; Gibbon; Rees; Brewster; Kinneir; Morier; Rich.

37

Strabo; Plutarch; Brydone; Swinburne; Jose.

38

The computation of time by Olympiads, which began about four hundred years after the destruction of Troy, was used until the reign of Theodosius the Great; when a new mode of reckoning, by indictions, or from the victory of Augustus at Actium, was introduced; the Olympic games, in the general assembly, were abolished; and the image, made by Phidias, was removed to Constantinople. – Chandler.

39

Gen. xxxii. 24.

40

Πᾶν κράτος.

41

There is a fine specimen in the Townley gallery, at the British Museum.

42

Chandler.

43

Chandler.

44

Clarke; Pausanias; Plutarch; Rollin; Chandler; Barthelemy; Dodwell.

45

“This name indicates,” says Mr. Swinburne, “that they pursued, or wished to be thought to pursue, a line of conduct in commercial transactions, which it would be happy for mankind, all maritime powers would adopt.”

46

Pholas dactylus.

47

Eustace.

48

Plin. xxx. c. 3.

49

Pliny; Swinburne; Eustace; Wilkinson.

50

The persons who visited Palmyra in 1678, found in the neighbourhood “a garden, full of palm-trees;” but when Mr. Wood was there, not a single one remained. “The name of Palmyra,” says Mr. Addison, “is supposed by some to have been derived from the word Palma, indicative of the number of palm-trees that grew here; but that name was given by the Greeks, and, although Palma signifies palm-tree in the Latin, yet in the Greek tongue it has a very different signification. Neither does Tadmor signify palm-tree in the Syrian language, nor in the Arabic; nor does Thadamoura, as the place is called by Josephus, signify palm-tree in the Hebrew. Neither do palms thrive in Syria, as the climate is too severe for them in the winter.”

51

1 Kings, ix. 18. 2 Chron. viii. 4.

52

It is a well known and very true observation, that is made by Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. xiv.), that the Greek and Roman names of places never took among the natives of Syria; which is the reason why most places retain their first and original names at this day. – Whiston.

53

Wood.

54

Ch. ix. ver. 18.

55

Ch. x. v. 14

56

He was of mean parentage, according to Orosius. Zonaras calls him “a man of Palmyra;” and Agathias speaks of him as a person entirely unknown, till he made his name illustrious by his actions. Sextus Rufus, however, calls him by an epithet implying that he was a senator.

57

Though history nowhere gives the first name of Zenobia, we learn from coins, that it was Septimia.

58

She is thus described: – Her complexion was a dark brown; she had black sparkling eyes, of uncommon fire; her countenance was divinely sprightly; and her person graceful and genteel beyond imagination; her teeth were white as pearls, and her voice clear and strong. If we add to this an uncommon strength, and consider her excessive military fatigues; for she used no carriage, generally rode, and often marched on foot three or four miles with her army; and if we, at the same time, suppose her haranguing her troops, which she used to do in her helmet, and often with her arms bare, it will give us an idea of that severe character of masculine beauty, which puts one more in mind of Minerva than of Venus.

59

There are several meanings to this word: – Balista implying a cross-bow, a sling, or an engine to shoot darts or stones.