Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 1 of 2)

113

"The hanging gardens," says Major Rennell, "as they are called, had an area of about three acres and a half, and in them were grown trees of considerable size; and it is not improbable, that they were of a species different from those of the natural growth of the alluvial soil of Babylonia. These trees may have been perpetuated in the same spot where they grew (or seeds from them), notwithstanding that the terraces may have subsided, by the crumbling of the piers and walls that supported them; the ruins of which may form the very eminences, spoken of by M. Niebuhr, and which are covered with a particular kind of trees." That is, with trees different from any that grow between the ruins and the Persian gulf, in which space no other trees are to be found but date and other fruit trees.

114

Daniel, ch. v., ver. 25.

115

Isaiah xiii. 19, 22; xiv. 23, 24. – It has been well observed by Bishop Newton, that it must afford all readers of an exalted taste and generous sentiments, a very sensible pleasure to hear the prophets exulting over such tyrants and oppressors as the kings of Assyria. "In the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah," continues he, "there is an Epinikion, or a triumphant ode upon the fall of Babylon. It represents the infernal mansions as moved, and the ghosts of deceased tyrants as rising to meet the king of Babylon, and congratulate his coming among them." – "It is really admirable for the severest strokes of irony as well as for the sublimest strains of poetry. The Greek poet Alcæus, who is celebrated for his hatred to tyrants, and whose odes were animated with the spirit of liberty no less than with the spirit of poetry, we may presume to say, never wrote any thing comparable to it."

116

Partly, not entirely. "Herodotus states that Darius Hystaspes, on the taking of Babylon by the stratagem of Zopyrus, 'levelled the walls and took away the gates, neither of which Cyrus had done.' But let it be remarked that Darius lived a century and a half before Alexander, in whose time the walls appear to have been in the original state; or, at least, nothing is said that implies the contrary; and it cannot be believed, if Darius had taken the trouble to level thirty-four miles of so prodigious a rampart as that of Babylon, that ever it would have been rebuilt in the manner described by Ctesias, Clitarchus, and others, who describe it at a much later period. Besides, it would have been quite unnecessary to level more than a part of the wall; and in this way, probably, the historian ought to be understood." – Rennell.

117

Herod. Thalia. c. v. ch. ix.

118

Cyrus; Cambyses; Smerdis Magus; Darius the son of Hystaspes; Xerxes I.; Artaxerxes Longimanus; Xerxes II.; Sogdianus; Darius Nothus; Artaxerxes Mnemon; Artaxerxes Ochus; Arses; and Darius Codomanus.

119

"Babylon was designed by Alexander to be not only the capital of his empire, but also a great port and naval arsenal. To contain his fleet, he ordered a basin to be excavated, capable of admitting a thousand sail, to which were to be added docks and magazines for stores. The ships of Nearchus, as well as others from Phœnicia, were already arrived. They had been taken to pieces on the Mediterranean coast, and conveyed overland to Thapsacus, where they had been put together, and then navigated down the Euphrates." The object of all this was to enable him to invade Arabia.

120

Sir John Malcolm says, that many traditions still exist in Persia, in regard to this wonderful person. Amongst others, this: – "The astrologers had foretold, that when Alexander's death was near, he would place his throne where the earth was of iron and the sky of gold. When the hero, fatigued with conquest, directed his march towards Greece, he was one day seized with a bleeding at the nose. A general who was near, unlacing his coat of mail, spread it for his prince to sit on; and, to defend him from the sun, held a golden shield over his head. When Alexander saw himself in this situation, he exclaimed, 'The prediction of the astrologers is accomplished, I no longer belong to the living! Alas! that the work of my youth should be finished! Alas! that the plant of the spring should be cut down like the ripened tree of autumn!' He wrote to his mother, saying, he should shortly quit the earth and pass to the regions of the dead. He requested that the alms given at his death should be bestowed on such as had never seen the miseries of the world, and who had never lost those who were dear to them. In conformity to his will, his mother sought, but in vain, for such persons. All had tasted the woes and griefs of life; all had lost those whom they loved. She found in this a consolation which her son had intended, for her great loss. She saw that her own was the common lot of humanity."

121

In describing the overthrow, the prophet is admirable; rising by a judicious gradation into all the pomp of horror. q. d. "Now, indeed, it is thronged with citizens; but the hour is coming, when it shall be entirely depopulated, and not so much as a single inhabitant left. – Lest you should think, that in process of time it may be re-edified, and again abound with joyful multitudes, it shall never be inhabited more; no, never to be dwelt in any more, from generation to generation; but shall continue a dismal waste, through all succeeding ages. – A waste so dismal, that none of the neighbouring shepherds shall make their fold, or find so much as an occasional shelter for their flocks; where kings, grandees, and crowds of affluent citizens were wont to repose themselves in profound tranquillity. Even the rude and roving Arabian shall not venture to pitch his tent, nor be able to procure for himself the poor accommodation of a night's lodging; where millions of polite people basked in the sunshine of profuse prosperity. – In short; it shall neither be habitable, nor accessible! but a dwelling place for dragons, and a court for owls; an astonishment, and a hissing. What was once the golden city, and the metropolis of the world, shall be an everlasting scene of desolation, a fearful monument of divine vengeance, and an awful admonition to human pride."

122

About the middle of the second century, when Strabo was there, the walls were reduced to fifty cubits in height, and twenty-one in breadth.

123

About the year 1169.

124

The soil of Babylonia, in the time of Herodotus, may be in no small degree judged of by what that historian states: – "Of all countries, which have come under my observation, this is far the most fruitful in corn. Fruit-trees, such as the vine, the olive, and the fig, they do not even attempt to cultivate; but the soil is so particularly well adapted for corn, that it never produces less than two-hundredfold; in seasons which are remarkably favourable it will sometimes produce three hundred; the ear of their wheat as well as barley is four digits in size. The immense height to which millet will grow, although I have witnessed it myself, I know not how to mention. I am well aware that they who have not witnessed the country will deem whatever I may say upon the subject, a violation of probability." – Clio, cxciii.

125

There is a copy of Rauwolf's work in the British Museum, enriched by a multitude of MS. notes by Gronovius, to whom it would seem the copy once belonged.

126

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they, that wasted us, required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? – Psalm cxxxvii.

127

The words of Beauchamp are: – "I employed two men for three hours in clearing a stone, which they supposed to be an idol. The part, which I got a sight of, appeared to be nothing but a shapeless mass: it was evident, however, that it was not a simple block, as it bore the marks of a chisel, and there were pretty deep holes in it." Sir Robert Ker Porter says, it is a common idea with the Turks, that the real object with Europeans, in visiting the banks of the Euphrates, is not to explore antiquities, as we pretend, but to make a laborious pilgrimage to these almost shapeless relics of a race of unbelievers more ancient than ourselves; and to perform certain mysterious religious rites before them, which excite no small curiosity amongst the Faithful to inquire into.

128

It is probable, that many fragments of antiquity, especially of the larger kind, are lost in this manner. The inhabitants call all stones, with inscriptions or figures on them, idols. – Rich.

129

"The mass on which the Kasr stands," says Sir R. K. Porter, "is above the general level full seven hundred feet. Its length is nearly four hundred yards; its breadth six hundred; but its form is now very irregular. Much of the débris, which this interesting spot presented to the Abbé Beauchamp and Mr. Rich in 1811, have now totally disappeared; the aspect of the summit and sides suffering constant changes from the everlasting digging in its apparently inexhaustible quarries for brick of the strongest and finest material.

130

For the story of Haroot and Maroot, see D'Herbelot and Richards' Persian Dictionary; also Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire.

131

Buckingham.

132

Justin. iii. c. 16.

133

The Hebrew Scriptures; Herodotus; Xenophon; Valerius Maximus; Diodorus Siculus; Plutarch; Arrian; Quintus Curtius; Justin; Texeira; Rauwolf; Delle Valle; Prideaux; Rollin; Bp. Newton; Beloe; Rennell; Beauchamp; Kinneir; Porter; Malcolm; Franklin; Rich; Buckingham.

134

Since this was written, the following account has appeared in one of the journals (The Saturday Magazine): – "The present population of Hillah, which may average from six to seven thousand souls, consists chiefly of Arabs, who have their own Sheik, but the Mutsellim, or governor of the place, is under the pacha of Bagdad, and resides in a fortress within the town. There are bazaars and markets on both sides of the river. The shopkeepers are chiefly Armenians, Turks, and Jews. A most important fact connected with these traders is, that Manchester and Glasgow goods that were taken out by the Euphrates expedition as samples, were eagerly bought by them, at a profit to the sellers of one hundred per cent. There is much trade carried on in the town, both by camels from the interior, and by boats laden with rice, dates, tobacco, and other articles most in demand among the desert tribes. It would be curious if, in the progress of commerce and civilisation, the neighbourhood of Babylon should again become the scene of princely mercantile traffic; it is described in the Revelations as having once been (xviii. 12, 13), "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyme wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots," &c.

135

That beautiful bird, with plumage of the finest shining blue, with purple beak and legs, the natural and living ornament of the temples and porticoes of the Greeks and Romans, which, from the stateliness of its port, as well as the brilliancy of its colours, has obtained the title of Sultana. – Sonnini.

136

The temple of the sun at Balbec.

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 (δαιμονος) 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

1,750,000l.; that is. 35,000l. 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. FC. N. GAL. CAESOAED. FLAMEN. II. VIRMVNICIPII. PONTIFC. CORN. CAESO. FSACERDOS. GENT. MVNICIPIISCROFAM. CUM. PORCIS. XXXIMPENSA. IPSORVMD. 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 simulâretsquorum. – 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.