Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 2 of 2)

60

“Her manly understanding,” says Gibbon, “was strengthened and adorned by study. She was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed, in equal perfection, the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. She had drawn up, for her own use, an epitome of oriental history, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato, under the tuition of the sublime Longinus.”

61

Anon.

62

“The emperor afterwards presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capital; where, in happy tranquillity, she fed the greatness of her soul with the noble images of Homer, and the exalted precepts of Plato; supported the adversity of her fortunes with fortitude and resignation; and learned that the anxieties, attendant on ambition, are happily exchanged for the enjoyments of ease, and the comforts of philosophy. The Syrian queen sank into a Roman matron; her daughters married into noble families; and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth century.” – Gibbon.

63

Addison.

64

Yet Bruce says: – “Palmyra is nowhere covered with sand or rubbish as in other ruins. The desert that surrounds it is rather gravel than sand, and is, therefore, not easily moved. Her mountains are perfectly bare, and produce nothing.”

65

This Emir lived upon rapine; being followed by a considerable number of men, who not only hated labour, but disliked equally to live under any settled government.

66

Philosophical Transactions.

67

This was the custom also in the days of Ezekiel. See ch. xxiii. 40.

68

In Mr. Wood’s well-known, though exceedingly scarce work, the ruins are represented in fifty-seven copper-plates, sixteen inches by twelve inches, printed on imperial paper; they are finely executed, the drawing is correct and masterly, and the engraving highly finished. The Palmyrene and Greek inscriptions on the funeral monuments, and other buildings, are copied; and besides picturesque views of the ruins, from several points of sight, the plans are generally laid down, and the several parts of the columns, doors, windows, pediments, ceilings and bas-reliefs, are delineated, with a scale by which they may be measured and compared.

69

“In this plain,” says Mr. Halifax, “you see a large valley of salt, affording great quantities thereof, and lying about an hour’s distance from the city: and this, more probably, is the valley of salt, mentioned in 2 Sam. 8-13, where David smote the Syrians, and slew one hundred and eighty thousand men; than another, which lies but four hours from Aleppo, and has sometimes passed for it.”

70

[70] “Istakar,” says Abulfeda, quoted by Sir William Ouseley, “is one of the most ancient cities in Persia, and was formerly the royal residence: it contains vestiges of buildings so stupendous, that, like Tadmor, and Balbec, they are said to be the work of supernatural beings.”

71

A city in Persia.

72

Buckingham.

73

Diodorus; Strabo; Josephus; Appian; Zosimus; Procopius; Benjamin of Tudela; Halifax; Halley; Wood; Prideaux; Rollin; Gibbon; Bruce; Volney; Brewster; Burckhardt; Addison.

74

Chandler.

75

Hobhouse.

76

Pausanias; Chandler; Rees; Hobhouse; Dodwell; Williams.

77

Plutarch; Rees; Pouqueville.

78

This library consisted of two hundred thousand volumes.

79

Tacitus; Plutarch; Choiseul-Gouffier; Rees; Turner.

80

Sir John Malcolm has preserved an account of Jemsheed, from Moullab Ackber’s MSS., which may serve to diversify our page. “Jemsheed was the first who discovered wine. He was immoderately fond of grapes, and desired to preserve some; which were placed in a large vessel, and lodged in a vault for future use. When the vessel was opened, the grapes had fermented. Their juice, in this state, was so acid, that the king believed it must be poisonous. He had some vessels filled with it, and poison written upon each: these were placed in his bed-room. It happened that one of his favourite ladies was affected with nervous head-aches. The pain distracted her so much, that she desired death; and observing a vessel with the word poison written upon it, she took it and swallowed its contents. The wine, for such it had become, overpowered the lady, who fell into a sound sleep, and awoke much refreshed. Delighted with the remedy, she repeated the dose so often, that the monarch’s poison was all drunk. He soon discovered this, and forced the lady to confess what she had done. A quantity of wine was made; and Jemsheed, and all his court, drank of the new beverage, which, from the circumstance that led to its discovery, is to this day known in Persia by the name of zeher-e-khoosh, or the delightful poison.”

81

It is called Nouroze. Some of the sculptures of the dilapidated palace are supposed to represent the processions at this festival.

82

Rollin.

83

Kæmpfer, Hyde, Niebuhr, and St. Croix, regard the ruins as those of a palace: – Della Valle, Chardin, D’Hancarville, and others, as those of a temple. This is a question, however, which many writers regard as being impossible of solution, till an alphabet shall have been discovered of the arrow-headed inscriptions.

84

At the distance of about five miles is a conspicuous hill, on the top of which, and visible to the eye from Persepolis, are the remains of a fortress. This hill is now called Istakhar, and is quite distinct from Persepolis. Of this hill Le Brun has given a drawing; and the original must strike every traveller the moment he enters the palace of Merdusht; as it has all the appearance of having been much fashioned by the hand of man. – Morier.

85

Civil Architecture.

86

Fraser.

87

In allusion to the horns of Jupiter Ammon.

88

Diodorus; Plutarch; Arrian; Quintus Curtius; Pietro de la Valle; Chardin; Le Brun; Francklin, Encylop. Metropol.; Rees; Brewster; Kinneir; Morier; Porter; Malcolm; Buckingham; Ouseley; Fraser.

89

Chambers.

90

Periplus of the Red Sea.

91

Harmonies of Nature.

92

He is supposed to have been poisoned at Akaba, where he died.

93

See Month. Mag. No. 367.

94

Wady signifies a valley; Wady Mousa is the valley of Moses.

95

We may here give place to a few pertinent observations, in regard to the infancy and old age of nations, written by M. Claret Fleurien: – “If we are not disposed to challenge all the testimonies of antiquity, we cannot refuse to believe that the Old World has had its infancy and its adolescence: and, observing it in its progressive career, we may consider it as in its maturity, and foresee, in an unlimited time, its decrepitude and its end. The New World, like the Old, must have had its periods. America, at the epoch of its discovery, appears as if little remote from creation, from infancy, if we consider it in regard to the men by whom it was inhabited: the greater part of its people were still at the point where our ancestors and those of all the nations, at this day civilised, were four thousand years ago. Read what travellers and historians have related to us of the inhabitants of the New World; you will there find the man of the Old one in his infancy: among the small scattered nations, you will fancy that you see the first Egyptians; wild and savage men, living at random, ignorant of the conveniences of life, even of the use of fire, and not knowing how to form arms for defending themselves against the attack of beastsa310: in the Pesserais of Tierra del Fuego, the savage Greeks, living on the leaves of trees, and, as it were, browsing on grass, before Pelasgus had taught the Arcadians to construct huts, to clothe themselves with the skin of animals, and to eat acorns311: in the greater part of the savages of Canada, the ancient Scythians, cutting off the hair of their vanquished enemies, and drinking their blood out of their skull312: in several of the nations of the north and south, the inhabitant of the East Indies, ignorant of culture, subsisting only on fruits, covered with skins of beasts, and killing the old men and the infirm, who could no longer follow in their excursions the rest of the family313: in Mexico, you will recognize the Cimbri and the Scythians, burying alive with the dead king the great officers of the crown314: in Peru as well as Mexico, and even among the small nations, you will find Druids, Vates, Eubages, mountebanks, cheating priests and credulous men315: on every part of the Continent and in the neighbouring islands, you will see the Bretons or Britons, the Picts of the Romans, and the Thracians, men and women, painting their body and face, puncturing and making incisions in their skin; and the latter condemning their women to till the ground, to carry heavy burdens, and imposing on them the most laborious employments316: in the forests of Canada, in the Brazils, and elsewhere, you will find Cantabri causing their enemies whom they have made prisoners of war to undergo torture, and singing the song of the dead round the stake where the victim is expiring in the most frightful torments317: in short, every where, America will present to you the horrible spectacle of those human sacrifices, with which the people of both worlds have polluted the whole surface of the globe; and several nations of the New World, like some of those of the Old318, will make you shrink with horror at the sight of those execrable festivals, where man feeds with delight on the flesh of his fellow-creature. The picture which the New World exhibited to the men of the Old who discovered it, therefore, offered no feature of which our history does not furnish us with a model in the infancy of our political societies.”

96

Diodorus; Strabo; Pliny; Vincent; Volney; Seetzen; Burckhardt; Irby and Mangles; Laborde; Chambers; Knight.

97

Chandler; Barthelemy; Rees; Brewster; Gell.

98

Rollin.

99

Dodwell.

100

Herodotus; Rollin; Barthelemy; Rees; Brewster; Clarke; Dodwell; Williams.

101

By an accident this article is misplaced, which, it is hoped, the reader will be pleased to excuse.

102

“Biferique rosaria Pæsti.”

103

Eustace.

104

Ibid.

105

Anon.

106

Eustace.

107

Anon.

108

Clarke.

109

The Doric order may be thus defined: – a column without a base, terminated by a capital, consisting of a square abacus, with an ovolo and annulets. An entablature, consisting of the parts, – architrave, frieze, and cornice; the architrave plain, the frieze ornamented with triglyphs symmetrically disposed, and a cornice with mutules. These are sufficient to constitute a definition; and are, I believe, all that can be asserted without exception; but some others may be added as necessary to the beauty and perfection of the order; and which, though not universal, are, however, general among the examples of antiquity. – Aikin, on the Doric order.

110

Swinburne.

111

Ibid.

112

Forsyth.

113

Eustace.

114

Forsyth.

115

Ibid.

116

Eustace.

117

Dupaty; Stuart; Swinburne; Eustace; Clarke; Forsyth; Williams; Chambers; Knight; Parker; Rees; Brewster.

118

See Herculaneum, vol. i. p. 335.

119

Ibid.

120

It is well known that the Romans constructed with great solidity, and maintained with constant care, roads diverging from the capital to the extremities of the empire. The good condition of these was thought to be of such importance, that the charge was only entrusted to persons of the highest dignity, and Augustus himself assumed the care of those in the neighbourhood of Rome. The expense of their construction was enormous, but they were built to last for ever, and to this day remain entire and level, in many parts of the world, where they have not been exposed to destructive violence. They usually were raised some height above the ground which they traversed, and proceeded in as straight a line as possible, running over hill and valley with a sovereign contempt for all the principles of engineering. They consisted of three distinct layers of materials; the lowest, stones mixed with cement, (statumen); the middle, gravel or small stones, (rudera), to prepare a level and unyielding surface to receive the upper and most important structure, which consisted of large masses accurately fitted together. It is curious to observe that, after many ages of imperfect paving, we have returned to the same plan. The new pavement of Cheapside and Holborn is based in the same way upon broken granite, instead of loose earth which is constantly working through the interstices, and vitiating the solid bearing which the stones should possess. A further security against its working into holes is given by dressing each stone accurately to the same breadth, and into the form of a wedge, like the voussoirs of an arch, so that each tier of stones spans the street like a bridge. This is an improvement on the Roman system: they depended for the solidity of their construction on the size of their blocks, which were irregularly shaped, although carefully and firmly fitted. These roads, especially in the neighbourhood of cities, had, on both sides, raised footways (margines), protected by curb-stones, which defined the extent of the central part (agger) for carriages. The latter was barrelled, that no water might lie upon it. —Gell.

121

Knight.

122

Knight.

123

Knight.

124

Brewster.

125

Chambers.

126

Anon.

127

Chambers.

128

Chambers.

129

Anon.

130

Chambers.

131

Ibid.

132

Philip.

133

Brewster.

134

Anon.

135

Parker.

136

Chambers.

137

Knight.

138

Knight.

139

Brewster.

140

Brewster.

141

Chambers.

142

Blunt.

143

Gell.

144

Parker.

145

Chambers.

146

Taylor.

147

Pliny; Dupaty; Taylor; Knight; Chambers; Parker; Encyclop. Londinensis and Metropolitana, Rees’ and Britannica; Phillips; Chateaubriand; Eustace; Forsyth; Blunt; Stuart; Clarke; Williams; Gell.

148

Jeremiah xxxi. 15.

149

Brewster; Clarke.

150

The conquest of Greece contributed to the decay and ruin of that very empire, by introducing into Rome, by the wealth it brought into it, a taste and love for luxury and effeminate pleasures; for it is from the victory over Antiochus, and the conquest of Asia, that Pliny dates the depravity and corruption of manners in the republic of Rome, and the fatal changes which ensued. Asia, vanquished by the Roman arms, afterwards vanquished Rome by its vices. Foreign wealth extinguished in that city a love for the ancient poverty and simplicity, in which its strength and honour consisted. Luxury, that in a manner entered Rome in triumph with the superb spoils of Asia, brought with her in her train irregularities and crimes of every kind, made greater havoc in the city than the mightiest armies could have done, and in that manner avenged the conquered globe. – Rollin.

151

The cicerone said to the king of Sweden, as that monarch was looking over the ruins of the Coliseum, – “Ah, sire, what cursed Goths those were, that tore away so many fine things here, and pulled down such magnificent pillars, &c.”. “Hold, hold, friend,” cried the king, “what were your Roman nobles doing, I would ask, when they laboured to destroy an edifice like this, and build their palaces with its materials!”

152

Knight.

153

“The public colossal statues of Castor and Pollux, said to be by Phidias and Praxiteles, on Monte Cavallo,” says Mr. Williams, “are superior to all the statues of that description which I have seen in Italy. Both of the figures are in the act of guiding their horses, and are remarkable for lightness and manly beauty; suggesting no idea of huge blocks of marble, as most of the colossal statues do. The proportions of these figures are exquisite, and from certain points appear little inferior to the finest statues in the world. The horses, however, are not so well proportioned. That the sculptors might give dignity to the figures, they have made the horses comparatively small – a liberty which will not be condemned by the judicious critic.”

154

Parker.

155

Knight.

156

“After the fall of Rome,” says Vasi, “and particularly in the year 1084, when Robert Guiscard visited the city, this spot, so famous, was despoiled of all its ornaments; and the buildings having been in great part ruined, it has served from that time to our days as a market for oxen and cows, whence is derived the name of Campo Vaccino (cow-field), under which it was lately known. At the present day, however, it has lost that vile denomination, and obtained again the appellation of Forum Romanum.” Mr. Woods, however, says, that it was called Campo Vaccino, not as being the market, but as the place where the long-horned oxen, which have drawn the carts of the country-people to Rome, wait till their masters are ready to go back again. Vasi is mistaken, in saying that “this vile denomination” has been lost; it never will be lost – it is too accurately descriptive – it tells the tale of degradation too well, not to last as long as the Forum remains. Nor would it be correct to call the space marked Campo Vaccino, in the modern maps of Rome, by the name of Forum Romanum, – or Foro Romano, to use the Italian form. The Campo Vaccino is a much larger space than the existing remnant of the ancient Forum; and though it is quite correct to call that remnant a part of the Campo Vaccino, yet to call the Campo Vaccino the Forum Romanum, would give rise to very incorrect notions concerning the limits and site of the ancient Forum. – Anon.

157

Chambers.

158

Eustace.

159

Eustace.

160

Kennett.

161

Prima pares ineunt gravibus certamina remis

Quatuor ex omni delecta classe carinæ, &c.

162

Knight.

163

Kennet.

164

Parker.

165

Parker.

166

Ibid.

167

Forsyth.

168

Knight.

169

Eustace.

170

Kennet.

171

Parker.

172

Parker.

173

Knight.

174

Kennet.

175

Eustace.

176

Kennet.

177

Parker.

178

Simond.

179

Pope Boniface IV. dedicated it to the Virgin; and removed into it the bones of various saints and martyrs from the different cemeteries, enough to fill twenty-eight waggons.

180

Parker.

181

Parker.

182

Kennet.

183

Wood.

184

Anon.

185

Burford.

186

The Basilicæ were very spacious and beautiful edifices, designed chiefly for the centumviri, or the judges to sit in and hear causes, and for the counsellors to receive clients. The bankers, too, had one part of it allotted for their residence. Vossius has observed, that these Basilicæ were exactly in the shape of our churches, oblong almost like a ship; which was the reason that upon the ruin of so many of them Christian churches were several times raised on the old foundations, and very often a whole Basilica converted to such a pious use; and hence, perhaps, all our great domos or cathedrals are still called Basilicæ.

187

Burford.

188

Kennet.

189

Some give the dimensions thus: – Greatest length six hundred and twenty-one feet; greatest breadth five hundred and thirteen; outer wall one hundred and fifty-seven feet high in its whole extent.

190

Forsyth.

191

Ibid.

192

Bede.

193

Brewster.

194

Except that of the Jews.

195

Livy; Cicero; Dionysius of Halicarnassus; Seneca; Pliny; Tacitus; Dion Cassius; Poggio Bracciolini; Rollin; Taylor; Kennet; Hooke; Gibbon; Middleton; Dupaty; Vasi; Chateaubriand; Wraxall; Wood; Forsyth; Eustace; Gell; Encylop. Metropolitana, Brewster, Rees, Britannica, Londinensis; Parker (Sat. Magazine); Knight (Penny Magazine); Burford; Hobhouse; Simond; Rome in the Nineteenth Century; Williams; Mathews; Burton.

196

Ardea was a city of Latium. Some soldiers having set it on fire, the inhabitants propagated a report that their town had been changed into a bird! It was rebuilt, and became a very rich and magnificent town, whose enmity to Rome rendered it famous. Tarquin was besieging this city when his son dishonoured Lucretia.

197

Some suppose that he then gave it the name of Spargetone.

198

Polybius; Livy; Pliny; Rollin; Kennett; Jose.

199

As he was but of mean extraction, he met with no respect, but was only contemned by his subjects, in the beginning of his reign. He was not insensible of this; but nevertheless thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by an artful carriage, and win their affection by gentleness and reason. He had a golden cistern in which himself, and those persons who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet: he melted it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed the new god to public worship. The people hastened in crowds to pay their adoration to the statue. The king, having assembled the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this statue had once been put, which nevertheless had now their religious prostrations. The application was easy, and had the desired success; the people thenceforward paid the king all the respect that is due to majesty.

He always used to devote the whole morning to public affairs, in order to receive petitions, give audience, pronounce sentence, and hold his councils: the rest of the day was given to pleasure; and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his courtiers took the liberty to represent to him the unsuitableness of such a behaviour; when he answered, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent.