Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 1 of 2)

Here it was that the infamous Rufinus, so justly stigmatised by Claudian, built a magnificent villa, which he called the Oak188. He built, also, a church; and a numerous synod of bishops met in order to consecrate the wealth and baptise the founder. This double ceremony was performed with extraordinary pomp.

A. D. 602, Chalcedon became remarkable for the murder of the Emperor Maurice and his five sons; and afterwards for that of the empress, his widow, and her three daughters189. The ministers of death were despatched to Chalcedon (by Phocas). They dragged the emperor into his sanctuary; and the five sons of Maurice were successively murdered before the eyes of their agonised parent. At each stroke, which he felt in his heart, he found strength to rehearse a pious ejaculation: – "Thou art just, O Lord! and thy judgments are righteous."

It is now a small place, known to the Turks by the name of Cadiaci; but the Greeks still call it by its ancient name. It is a miserable village, inhabited by a few Greeks, who maintain themselves by their fishery, and the cultivation of their lands. Wheler found an inscription, importing that Evante, the son of Antipater, having made a prosperous voyage towards the Abrotanians and the islands Cyaneæ, and hence desiring to return by the Ægean Sea and Pontus, offered cakes to the statue he had erected to Jupiter, who had sent him good weather as a token of a good voyage.

Pococke says, "There are no remains of the ancient city, all being destroyed, and the ground occupied by gardens and vineyards." "We visited the site of Chalcedon," says Dr. Clarke, "of which city scarcely a trace remains; landing also upon the remarkable rock, where the light-house is situate, called the tower of Leander. The Turks call it the 'Maiden's Castle;' possibly it may have been formerly used as a retreat for nuns, but they relate one of their romantic traditions concerning a princess, who secluded herself upon this rock, because it had been foretold she should die by the bite of a serpent, adding, that she ultimately here encountered the death she sought to avoid190."

NO. XXVI. – CHÆRONEA

A city in Bœotia, greatly celebrated on account of a battle fought near it between Philip of Macedon and the Athenians.

The two armies encamped near Chæronea. Philip gave the command of his left wing to his son Alexander, who was then but sixteen. He took the right wing upon himself. In the opposite army the Thebans formed the right wing, and the Athenians the left. At sunrise the signal was given on both sides. The battle was bloody, and the victory a long time dubious; both sides exerting themselves with astonishing valour. At length Philip broke the sacred band of the Thebans191, which was the flower of their army. The rest of the troops being raw, Alexander, encouraged by his example, entirely routed.

The conduct of the victor after this victory shows that it is much easier to overcome an enemy than to conquer one's self. Upon his coming from a grand entertainment which he had given his officers, being equally transported with joy and wine, he hurried to the spot where the battle had been fought, and there, insulting the dead bodies with which the field was covered, he turned into a song the beginning of the decree, which Demosthenes had prepared to excite the Greeks to war, and sang thus, himself beating time; "Demosthenes the Peanian, son of Demosthenes, has said." Everybody was shocked to see the king dishonour himself by this behaviour; but no one opened his lips. Demades, the orator, whose soul was free, though his body was a prisoner, was the only person who ventured to make him sensible of the indecency of this conduct, telling him – "Ah, sir, since fortune has given you the part of Agamemnon, are you not ashamed to act the part of Thersites?" These words, spoken with so generous a liberty, opened his eyes, and made him turn inward; and so far from being displeased with Demades, he esteemed him the more for them, treated him with the utmost respect, and conferred upon him all possible honours.

The bones of those slain at Chæronea were carried to Athens; and Demosthenes was charged with composing a eulogium, for a monument erected to their memory: —

This earth entombs those victims to the state,Who fell a glorious sacrifice to zeal.Greece, on the point of wearing tyrant-chains,Did, by their deaths alone, escape the yoke.This Jupiter decreed: no effort, mortals,Can save you from the mighty will of fate.To gods alone belongs the attributeOf being free from crimes with never-ending joy.

According to Procopius, Chæronea and other places in Bœotia (also of Achaia and Thessaly) were destroyed by an earthquake in the sixth century.

The Acropolis192 is situated on a steep rock, difficult of access; the walls and square towers are, in some places, well preserved; and their style, which is nearly regular, renders it probable, that they were constructed not long before the invasion of the Macedonians.

The ancient Necropolis is on the east side of the Acropolis, behind the village: the remains of several tombs have been uncovered by the rains. The church of the Holy Virgin contains an ancient chair of white marble, curiously ornamented. It is called by the villagers the throne of Plutarch193.

There are two ancient circular altars with fluted intervals, in the manner of an Ionic or Corinthian column. Altars of this kind were placed on the road side. They were unstained with fire and blood, being set apart for exclusive oblations of honey, cakes, and fruit. These altars are common in Greece, and generally formed of coarse black stone; those of Chæronea, however, are of white marble. They are frequently found in Italy, and are at present used as pedestals for large vases, their height being in general about three feet. They are never inscribed, and sometimes not fluted; and are frequently represented on painted terra-cotta vases.

Some Ionic fragments of small proportions are scattered among the ruins. On the rock there was anciently a statue of Jupiter; but Pausanias mentions no temple. The theatre stands at the foot of the Acropolis, and faces the plain. It is the smallest in Greece, except one at Mesaloggion; but it is well preserved. Indeed, nothing is better calculated to resist the devastations of time than the Grecian theatres, when they are cut in the rock, as they generally are.

"The sole remains of this town," says Sir John Hobhouse, "are some large stones six feet in length, and the ruins of a wall on the hill, and part of a shaft of a column, with its capital; the seats of a small amphitheatre, cut out of the rock, on the side of the same hill; in the flat below, a fountain, partly constructed of marble fragments, containing a few letters, not decipherable; some bits of marble pillars, just appearing above ground, and the ruins of a building of Roman brick."

Two inscriptions have, we understand, lately been discovered at this place; one relative to Apollo, the other to Diana. Several tombs have been also discovered and opened.

Though a respectable traveller asserts, that the battle of Chæronea, by putting an end to the turbulent independence of the Grecian republics, introduced into that country an unusual degree of civil tranquillity and political repose, we cannot ourselves think so; we therefore subjoin, from Dr. Leland, a short account of the conqueror's death.

"When the Greeks and Macedonians were seated in the theatre, Philip came out of his palace, attended by the two Alexanders, his son and son-in-law. He was clothed in a white flowing robe, waving in soft and graceful folds, the habiliment in which the Grecian deities were usually represented. He moved forward with a heart filled with triumph and exultation, while the admiring crowds shouted forth their flattering applause. His guards had orders to keep at a considerable distance from his person, to show that the king confided in the affections of his people, and had not the least apprehensions of danger amidst all this mixed concourse of different states and nations. Unhappily, the danger was but too near him. The injured Pausanias had not yet forgot his wrongs, but still retained those terrible impressions, which the sense of an indignity he had received, and the artful and interested representations of others, fixed deeply in his mind. He chose this fatal morning for the execution of his revenge, on the prince who had denied reparation to his injured honour. His design had been for some time premeditated, and now was the dreadful moment of effecting it. As Philip marched on in all his pride and pomp, this young Macedonian slipped through the crowd, and, with a desperate and malignant resolution, waited his approach in a narrow passage, just at the entrance into the theatre. The king advanced towards him: Pausanias drew his poniard; plunged it into his heart; and the conqueror of Greece, and terror of Asia, fell prostrate to the ground, and instantly expired194.

NO. XXVII. – CORDUBA

"Are we at Cordova?" says a modern writer. "The whole reign of the Omniad Caliphs passes, in mental review, before us. Once the seat of Arabian art, gallantry, and magnificence, the southern kingdom of Spain was rich and flourishing. Agriculture was respected; the fine arts cultivated; gardens were formed; roads executed; palaces erected; and physics, geometry, and astronomy, advanced. The inhabitants were active and industrious; accomplishments were held in esteem; and the whole state of society formed a striking contrast to that of every other in Europe."

It was situated in Hispanic Bœtica, having been built by Marcellus. It was the native place of both the Senecas, and Lucan. Indeed, it produced, in ancient times, so many celebrated characters, that it was styled the "mother of men of genius." Its laws were written in verse; and its academy was partly distinguished for its cultivation of the Greek language, as well as for rhetoric and philosophy. It became celebrated, also, under the Moors.

Of its ancient grandeur, however, Cordova has preserved nothing but a vast inclosure, filled with houses, half in ruins. Its long, narrow, and ill-paved streets are almost deserted; most of the houses are uninhabited; and the multitude of churches and convents which it contains, are besieged by a crowd of vagabonds, covered with rags. The ancient palace of the Moors has been converted into stables, in which, till within these few years, one hundred Andalusian horses were usually kept. Their genealogy was carefully preserved; and the name and age of each written over the stall in which he stood. In the place appropriated to bathing, is part of a Cufic inscription.

Cordova was called at first Corduba, and afterwards Colonia Patricia, as appears from inscriptions on the numerous medals which have been discovered in this city and neighbourhood.

From the Romans it passed successively under the dominion of the Goths and Arabs; and, while the latter swayed the sceptre of Spain, Cordova became pre-eminently distinguished, as we have just stated, as the seat of arts, sciences, and literature.

About ten miles from this place is a small town, called by the ancients Obubea195; and we mention it here merely because it reminds us that Julius Cæsar came thither to stop the progress of Pompey's sons, who had a little before entered Spain in twenty-seven days196.

NO. XXVIII. – CORCYRA. (CORFU.)

Corcyra is an island in the Ionian Sea, on the coast of Epirus: it is now called Corfu; was first peopled by a colony from Colchis, B. C. 1349, and afterwards by a colony from Corinth, who, with Chersicrates at their head, came to settle there, on being banished from their native city 703 years before the Christian era. Homer calls it Phæacia; Callimachus, Drepane.

Ancient authors give glorious descriptions of the beautiful gardens of this island belonging to Alcinous; but, at present, no remains of them are to be found. It was famous for the shipwreck of Ulysses.

The air is healthy, the land fertile, the fruit excellent. Oranges, citrons, honey, wax, oil, and most delicious grapes, are very abundant.

The war between this people and that of Athens was called the Corcyrean; and operated as an introduction to the Peloponnesian war. Corcyra was then an independent power, which could send out fleets and armies; and its alliance was courted by many other states.

Thucydides gives a frightful account of a sedition which occurred in this city and island during the Peloponnesian war: some were condemned to die under judicial sentences; some slew one another in the temples; some hung themselves upon the trees within its verge; some perished through private enmity; some for the sums they had lent, by the hands of the borrowers. Every kind of death was exhibited. Every dreadful act, usual in a sedition, and more than usual, was then perpetrated. For fathers slew their children; some were dragged from altars; and some were butchered at them; and a number died of starvation in one of the temples.

Corcyra, when in the possession of the Romans, became a valuable station for their ships of war, in their hostilities against the cities of Asia. Septimius Severus and his family appear to have been great benefactors to it; for, about 150 years ago, there was found a number of medals, not only of Septimius, but of his wife Julia Domna; Caracalla, his eldest son, and his wife Plankilla; also of Geta, his youngest son.

Two hundred years ago, Corfu consisted of nothing but one old castle and a village. It is now a considerable town. It stands projecting on a rock into the sea; and, from the fortifications guarding it, is a place of strength. The fortresses are completely mined below; and the roads to the gates of some of them are narrow and precipitous. By an accidental explosion of a powder-mill, one of the fortresses, in the early part of the last century, 2000 people were killed and wounded; and by a singular catastrophe, in 1789, 600 individuals lost their lives; ten galleys and several boats were sunk in the harbour; and many houses in the town greatly damaged.

Wheler visited the ruins of Palœopoli, the ancient metropolis of the island. "It stood," says he, "on a promontory to the south of the present city, separated from it by a little bay, of about a mile or two over. The abundance of ruins and fortifications, which are to be seen there, do sufficiently prove it to have been so." Abundance of foundations, he goes on to observe, have been dug up there; and of arches and pillars, many of which have been employed to build the foundations of the present city.

There are also the remains of an old place of worship; the architecture of which is sustained by Corinthian columns of white marble, with an inscription, showing that it was built by the Emperor Jovian, after he was converted to the Christian faith and had destroyed the heathen temples.

"I Jovian, having received the faith, established the kingdom of my power; and having destroyed the heathen temples and altars, have built to thee, O thou blessed and most high King, a holy temple, the gift of an unworthy hand."

Mr. Dodwell visited this place some years ago, and he says that nothing is now seen above ground of the remains of the ancient city, except some frusta of large columns, which from having flutings without intervals, were evidently of the Doric order. They have a large square, which forms but one mass with a column, which is a singularity, it is said, of which there is no other example.

Corcyra was celebrated, as we have before stated, for having been the island on which Ulysses is represented in the Odyssey as having been entertained by Alcinous, king of Phæacia. It is also the place where Cicero and Cato met after the battle of Pharsalia; and where Cato, after having intrusted Cicero to take the command of the last legions which remained faithful to the republic, separated from him to lose his life at Utica, while Cicero went to lose his head to the triumvirate. To this place Aristotle was once exiled; and it is well known as having been visited by the youthful Alexander; as the place where the tragical nuptials of Antony and Cleopatra were celebrated; and as that where Agrippina touched, bringing from Egypt the body of the murdered Germanicus in the midst of winter197.

NO. XXIX. – CORINTH

Corinth! —Whose gorgeous fabrics seem'd to strike the skies,Whom, though by tyrant victors oft subdued,Greece, Egypt, Rome, with awful wonder view'd.Her name, for Pallas' heavenly art renown'd,Spread like the foliage which her pillars crown'd;But now in fatal desolation laid,Oblivion o'er it draws a dismal shade.

This city was situated at the foot of a hill, on which stood the citadel. To the south it was defended by the hill itself, which is there extremely steep. Strong and lofty ramparts protected it on three sides. Corinth was at first subject to the kings of Argos and Mycenæ; at last Sisyphus made himself master of it. But his descendants were dispossessed of the throne by the Heraclidæ, about ten years after the siege of Troy. The regal power, after this, came to the descendants of Bacchis, under whom the monarchy was changed into an aristocracy; that is, the reins of government were in the hands of the elders, who annually chose from amongst themselves a chief magistrate, whom they called Prytanis. At length Cypselus, having gained the people, usurped the supreme authority, which he transmitted to his son Periander.

The most celebrated of the Corinthians was a person, who though a tyrant, was reckoned one of the seven wise men (Periander). When he had first made himself master of the city, he wrote to Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, to know what measures he should take with his newly-acquired subjects. The latter, without any answer, led the messenger into a field of wheat; where, in walking along, he beat down with his cane all the ears of corn that were higher than the rest. Periander perfectly well understood the meaning of this enigmatical answer, which was a tacit intimation to him, that, in order to secure his own life, he should cut off the most eminent of the Corinthian citizens. Periander, however, did not relish so cruel an advice.

He wrote circular letters to all the wise men, inviting them to pass some time with him at Corinth, as they had done the year before at Sardis with Crœsus. Princes in those days thought themselves much honoured when they could have such guests in their houses. Plutarch describes an entertainment which Periander gave these illustrious guests, and observes, at the same time, that the decent simplicity of it, adapted to the taste and humour of the persons entertained, did him much more honour than the greatest magnificence could have done. The subject of their discourse at table was sometimes grave and serious, at other times pleasant and gay. One of the company proposed this question; – Which is the most perfect popular government? That, answered Solon, where an injury, done to any private citizen, is such to the whole body: That, said Bias, where the law has no superior: That, said Thales, where the inhabitants are neither too rich nor too poor: That, said Anacharsis, where virtue is honoured, and vice detested: Says Pittacus, where dignities are always conferred upon the virtuous, and never upon the wicked: Says Cleobulus, where the citizens fear blame, more than punishment: Says Chilo, where the laws are more regarded, and have more authority, than the orators. From all these opinions Periander concluded, that the most perfect popular government would be that which came nearest to aristocracy, where the sovereign authority is lodged in the hands of a few men of honour and virtue.

This city standing between two seas, an attempt was made by Periander, and afterwards by Alexander, Demetrius, Julius Cæsar, Caligula, Nero, and Herodes Atticus, to unite them; but they all failed in the attempt.

Strabo was in Corinth after its restoration by the Romans. He describes the site, and says, that its circuit occupied five miles. From the summit of the Sisyphéum, he continues, is beheld to the north Parnassus and Helicon, lofty mountains covered with snow; and below both, to the west, the Crissæan gulf, bounded by Phocis, by Bœotia and the Megaris, and by Corinthia and Sicyonia. Beyond all these are the Oneian mountains, stretching as far as Cithæron.

Corinth had temples dedicated to the Egyptian Isis, to Serapis, and Serapis of Canopus. Fortune, also, had a temple, and her statue was made of Persian work; and near this temple was another, dedicated to the mother of all the gods.

Besides the citadel, built upon the mountain, the works of art, which chiefly displayed the opulence and taste of the people, were the grottoes, raised over the fountain of Pyrene, sacred to the Muses, and constructed of white marble. There were, also, a theatre and stadium, built of the same materials, and decorated in the most magnificent manner; also a temple of Neptune, containing the chariots of the god, and of Amphitrite, drawn by horses covered over with gold, and adorned with ivory hoofs.

There were a multitude of statues, also; amongst which were those of Bacchus, and Diana of Ephesus. These were of wood; others were of bronze; amongst which were those of Apollo Clarius; a Venus by Hermogenes of Cythera; two Mercuries; three statues of Jupiter; and a Minerva. This last was mounted on a pedestal, the basso-relievos of which represented the Nine Muses.

Such, indeed, were its wealth, magnificence, and excellent situation, that it was thought by the Romans equally worthy of empire with Carthage and Capua; and this induces me to say a few words in regard to its war with the Romans.

Metellus198 having received advice in Macedonia of the troubles in Peloponnesus, departed thither with Romans of distinction, who arrived in Corinth at the time the council was assembled there. They spoke in it with abundance of moderation, exhorting the Achaians not to draw upon themselves, by imprudent levity and weakness, the resentment of the Romans. They were treated with contempt, and ignominiously turned out of the assembly. An innumerable crowd of workmen and artificers rose about them, and insulted them. All the cities of Achaia were at the time in a kind of delirium; but Corinth was far more frantic than the rest, and abandoned themselves to a kind of madness. They had been persuaded that Rome intended to enslave them all, and absolutely to destroy the Achaian league.

The Romans, having chosen Mummius for one of the consuls, charged him with the management of the Achaian war. When Mummius had assembled all his troops, he advanced to the city, and encamped before it. A body of his advanced guard being negligent of duty upon their post, the besieged made a sally, attacked them vigorously, killed many, and pursued the rest almost to the entrance of their camp. This small advantage very much encouraged the Achaians, and thereby proved fatal to them. Diæus offered the consul battle. The latter, to augment his rashness, kept his troops within the camp, as if fear prevented him from accepting it. The joy and presumption of the Achaians rose in consequence to an inexpressible height. They advanced furiously with all their troops, having placed their wives and children upon the neighbouring eminence, to be spectators of the battle, and caused a great number of carriages to follow them, to be laden with the booty they should take from the enemy; so fully did they assure themselves of the victory.

Never was there a more rash or ill-founded confidence. The faction had removed from the service and councils all such as were capable of commanding the troops, or conducting affairs; and had substituted others in their room, without either talents or ability, in order to their being more absolutely masters of the government, and ruling without opposition. The chiefs, without military knowledge, valour, or experience, had no other merit than a blind and frantic rage. They had already committed an excess of folly in hazarding a battle, which was to decide their fate, without necessity, instead of thinking of a long and brave defence in so strong a place as Corinth, and of obtaining good conditions by a vigorous resistance. The battle was fought near Leucopetra, and the defile of the isthmus. The consul had posted part of his horse in ambuscade, which they quitted at a proper time for charging the Achaian cavalry in flank; who, surprised by an unforeseen attack, gave way immediately. The infantry made a little more resistance; but, as it was neither covered, nor sustained by the horse, it was soon broken and put to flight. Diæus, upon this, abandoned himself to despair. He rode full speed to Megalopolis, and having entered his house, set fire to it; killed his wife, to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy; drank poison; and in that manner put an end to his life, worthy of the many crimes he had committed.