Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 1 of 2) / With General and Particular Accounts of Their Rise, Fall, and Present Condition

Near Jerusalem is a spot called Tophet, which is a ravine, which contains several ancient tombs, marked with Hebrew and Greek inscriptions. This valley is remarkable for the barbarous worship here paid to Moloch; to which deity parents often sacrificed their offspring by making them pass through the fire. To drown the lamentable shrieks of the children[319] thus immolated, musical instruments were played. After the captivity the Jews regarded this spot with abhorrence, on account of the abominations which had been practised there; and following the example of Josiah[320], they threw into it every species of filth, as well as the carcases of animals, and the dead bodies of malefactors; and to prevent the pestilence which such a mass would occasion, if left to putrefy, constant fires were maintained in the valley in order to consume the whole; hence the place received the appellation of Gehenna.

All round the hill of Sion[321], and particularly on that facing the Valley of Hinnom, are numerous excavations which may have been habitations of the living, but are more generally taken for sepulchres of the dead. They are numerous and varied, both in their sizes and forms; and are supposed to have been the tombs of the sons of Heth, of the kings of Israel, of Lazarus, and of Christ.

The modern sepulchres of the unfortunate Jews are scattered all around. The declivities of Sion and Olivet are covered with small and ill-shaped stones, disposed with little order:—Here are the tombs of their fathers.

The sepulchres of the kings of Judah consist of a series of subterranean chambers, extending in different directions, so as to form a sort of labyrinth, resembling the still more wonderful example, lying westward of Alexandria, in Egypt, by some called "the Sepulchres of the Ptolemies." Each chamber contains a certain number of receptacles for dead bodies, not being much larger than our coffins. The taste, manifested in the interior of these chambers, denotes a late period in the history of the arts. The skill and neatness visible in the carving is admirable, and there is much of ornament in several parts of the work. There are, also, slabs of marble, exquisitely sculptured. These sepulchres are not those of the kings of Judah. Some suppose they may have been constructed by Agrippa, who extended and beautified this quarter of the city; but the most current opinion is, that they were the work of Helena, queen of Aliabene, and her son Izatus.

The Sepulchres of the Patriarchs face that part of Jerusalem where the Temple of Solomon was formerly erected. The antiquities which particularly bear this name, are four in number: these are the sepulchres of Jehoshaphat, of Absalom, the cave of St. James, and the sepulchre of Zechariah. These tombs display an alliance of the Egyptian and Grecian taste, "forming, as it were," says Chateaubriand, "a link between the Pyramids and the Parthenon." "In order to form the sepulchres of Absalom and Zechariah," says Dr. Clarke, "the solid substance of the mountain has been cut away; sufficient areas being thereby excavated, two monuments of prodigious size appear in the midst; each seeming to consist of a single stone, although standing as if erected by an architect, and adorned with columns, appearing to support the edifice, whereof they are, in fact, integral parts; the whole of each mausoleum being of one entire block of stone. These works may, therefore, be considered as belonging to sculpture, rather than to architecture: for, immense as these are, they appeared sculptured instead of being built. The columns are of that ancient style and character, which yet appear among the works left by Ionian and Dorian colonies, in the remains of their Asiatic cities."

The sepulchre of Absalom, and the cave of St. James, are smaller works, but of the same nature as those above. All of them contain apartments and receptacles for the dead, hewn in the same curious manner.

A few paces to the north of the grot,[322] is a substantial stone building, resembling the dome of a church, almost even with the ground, having a pointed gothic doorway. It covers the reputed tomb of the blessed Virgin; and its construction, like other great monuments of this country, is attributed to the pious mother of Constantine. The descent to it is by a broad and handsome flight of forty-six stone steps. On the right-hand side, about half way down, is shown the cenotaph, erected to the memory of Joahim and Anne, the father and mother of Mary; and, in a recess on the opposite side, that of Joseph her husband. A further descent leads into a subterraneous chapel, lit up with lamps, which are kept continually burning. In the centre, a little to the right, is an altar, erected over the sacred tomb, which is an excavation in the rock. Behind, in the curve of the chapel, is an altar, at which mass is occasionally said.[323]

"The tomb of the Virgin," says Dr. Clarke, "is the largest of all the cryptæ. Near Jerusalem, appropriate chapels, within a lofty and spacious vault, distinguish the real or imaginary tombs of the Virgin Mary, of Joseph, of Anna, and of Caiaphas. Struck with wonder, not only in viewing such an extraordinary effort of human labour, but in the consideration that history affords no light whatever as to its origin, we came afterwards to examine it again, but could assign no probable date for the era of its construction. It ranks among those colossal works, which were accomplished by the inhabitants of Asia Minor, of Phœnicia, and of Palestine, in the first ages;—works, which differ from those of Greece, in displaying less of beauty, but more of arduous enterprise; works, which remind us of the people rather than the artist; which we refer to as monuments of history, rather than of taste."

The circumstance[324] that perplexes every traveller, is to account for Mount Calvary having been formerly without the city, whereas it is, at present, not a small way within; and in order to shut it out, the ancient walls must have made the most extraordinary and unnecessary curve imaginable. But tradition could not err in the identity of so famous a spot; and the smallest scepticism would deprive it of its principal charm.

The street leading to Calvary is called by the Christians Via Dolorosa, or "Dolorous Way," in commemoration of the sufferings of Christ, in the carrying of the cross to the place of execution. It rises with a gradual ascent as it approaches Calvary, where it terminates. There are many interesting spots in this way; and Mr. Robinson thus describes them:—

(1.) "An archway across the street, designated the Arch of the Ecce Homo, over which there is a double window, separated by a column. Here Pilate brought the Lord forth to the people, saying,—'Behold the Man!'—(John xix. 6).

(2.) "The place where Christ turned round to the women, who followed him with their lamentations, and, moved by the tears of his countrymen, he addressed them in the language of consolation; 'Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me.'—(Luke xxiii. 28.) Where the Virgin, witness of the trying scene, and overcome by the feelings of a mother, fell into a swoon.

(3.) "Where Christ, falling down under the weight of the cross, the soldiers compelled Simon the Cyrenian to assist him,—(Luke xxiii. 26); it is marked out by the broken shaft of a column, just where the lower city terminates.

(4.) "The dwelling of Lazarus.

(5.) "The dwelling of the rich man.

(6.) "The house from which Veronica, or Berenice, issued, to present our Lord with a handkerchief, to wipe his bleeding brows.

(7.) "The gate of judgment, formerly the boundary of the city.

"And finally, Calvary, the scene of his crucifixion."

The church, which is regarded as marking the site of the Holy Sepulchre, in Dr. Clarke's opinion, exhibits nowhere the slightest evidence which can entitle it to either of these appellations. He is, therefore, disposed to believe, that the crucifixion took place upon the opposite summit, now called Mount Sion.

Dr. Clarke says, in reference to another cavern: "There was one, which particularly attracted our notice, from its extraordinary coincidence with all the circumstances attaching to the history of our Saviour's tomb. The large stone which once closed its mouth had been, perhaps for ages, rolled away. Stooping down to look into it, we observed within a fair sepulchre, containing a repository upon one side only for a single body: whereas, in most of the others, there were two, and in many of them more than two. It is placed exactly opposite to that which is now called Mount Sion. As we viewed the sepulchre, and read upon the spot the description given of Mary Magdalene and the disciples coming in the morning,[325] it was impossible to divest our minds of the probability, that here might have been the identical tomb of Jesus Christ; and that up the steep, which led to it, after descending from the gate of the city, the disciples strove together,[326] when "John did out-run Peter, and came first to the sepulchre."[327]

"On leaving the Church of the Holy Sepulchre," says Mons. la Martine, "we followed the Via Dolorosa, of which M. de Chateaubriand has given so poetical an itinerary. Here is nothing striking, nothing verified, nothing even probable. Ruined houses, of modern construction, are everywhere exhibited to the pilgrims by the monks as incontestible vestiges of the various stations of Christ. The eye cannot even doubt; all confidence in these local traditions is annihilated beforehand by the history of the first years of Christianity, where we read that Jerusalem no longer retained one stone upon another, and that Christians were for many years exiled from the city. Some pools, and the tombs of her kings, are the only memorials Jerusalem retains of her past eventful story; a few sites alone can be recognised—as that of the Temple, indicated by its terraces, and now bearing the large and magnificent mosque of Omar al Sakara; Mount Sion occupied by the Armenian convent, and the tomb of David; and it is only with history in one's hand, and with a doubting eye, that the greater part of these can be assigned with any degree of precision. Except the terraced walls in the valley of Jehoshaphat, no stone bears its date in its form or colour;—all is in ashes, or all is modern. The mind wanders in uncertainty over the horizon of the city, not knowing where to rest; but the city itself, designated by the circumscribed hill on which it stood, by the different valleys which encircled it, and especially by the deep valley of Cedron, is a monument which no eye can mistake. There, truly, was Sion seated; a singular and unfortunate site for the capital of a great nation. It is rather the natural fortress of a small people, driven from the earth, and taking refuge, with their God and their Temple, on a soil that none could have any interest in disputing with them; on rocks which no roads can render accessible; amidst valleys destitute of water; in a rough and sterile climate; its only prospect mountains, calcined by the eternal fires of volcanoes; the mountains of Arabia and Jericho; and an infectious lake, without shore or navigation—the Dead Sea."

The Garden of Gethsemane[328] is, not without reason, shown as the scene of our Saviour's agony, the night before his crucifixion, both from the circumstance of the name it still retains, and its situation in regard to the city. Titus, it is true, cut down all the wood in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; and were this not the case, no reasonable person would regard it as a remnant of so remote an age, notwithstanding the story of the olive shown in the citadel of Athens, and supposed to bear date from the foundation of the city. But, as a spontaneous produce, uninterruptedly resulting from the original growth of the mountain, it is impossible to view even those with indifference.

In the upper end of the garden is a naked ledge of rocks[329], where Peter, James, and John slept. The exact limits of this, the most interesting and hallowed of all gardens, are not known, nor is it necessary to know them; but as we read that "Christ went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden" (John xviii. 1), and that this garden was in the Mount of Olives, "we felt satisfied," says Mr. Robinson, "that we stood on the ground whereon the Saviour had stood before; and that the aged trees, which now afforded us shade, were the lineal descendants of those under which he often reposed; but more particularly on the night of his ascent. The grot, to which he retired on this occasion, and where, "falling down to the ground," in the agony of his soul, and "sweating," as it were, "great drops of blood," he was comforted by an angel (Luke xxii. 43, 44), is still shown, and venerated as such. It is excavated in the live rock, and the descent to it is by a flight of rudely cut steps; the form of the interior is circular, about fifteen feet in diameter, and the roof, which is supported by pilasters, perforated in the middle to admit light: there are some remains of sepulchres in the sides.

The cave of Gethsemane is in the valley of Jehoshaphat:—"It was to this cavern," says La Martine, "at the foot of the Mount of Olives, that Christ retired, according to tradition, to escape sometimes from the persecution of his enemies and the importunities of his disciples; it was here he communed with his own divine reflections, and that he implored his Father, that the bitter cup that he had filled for himself, and which we fill for ourselves, should pass from his lips. It was here that he enjoined his three disciples to watch and pray, the evening before his death, and not to sleep—and that three times he returned and awakened them, so prone is human zeal and charity to slumber. It was here he passed the terrible hours of his agony—the ineffable struggle between life and death—between instinct and will—between the soul that wishes to be free, and matter, which resists because of its blindness. It was here he sweated blood and water, and that, weary of combating with himself, without obtaining that victory of his intellect, which would give peace to his thoughts, he uttered those words, which sum up all human godliness; those words which are become the wisdom of the wise, and which ought to be the epitaph of every life, and the sole aspiration of every created being; 'My father, not my will, but thine, be done!'"

The Valley of Jehoshaphat[330] was a deep and narrow valley, enclosed on the north by barren heights, which contained the sepulchres of kings, shaded on the west by the heavy and gigantic walls of a pre-existing city; covered at the east by the summit of the Mount of Olives, and crossed by a torrent which rolled its bitter and yellow waves over the broken rocks of the valley of Jehoshaphat. At some paces distant, a black and bare rock detaches itself like a promontory from the base of the mountain, and, suspended over Cedron and the valley, bears several old tombs of kings and patriarchs, formed in gigantic and singular architecture, and strikes like the bridge of death over the valley of lamentations.

The fountain of Siloam[331] rises about half way down Mount Sion, and gushes from beneath a little arch, nearly ten feet below the surface, into a small pool about two feet deep; this is quite open, and the rocky sides of the spot are cut smooth. On the south side a flight of steps leads down to it: the water is clear and cold, and flows down the mount into the valley beneath, to a considerable distance. At this stream the women of the city generally come to wash their linen; and its banks are in some parts shaded with trees[332].

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has the external appearance of a Roman Catholic church. Over the door is a bas-relief, executed in a style of sculpture which at first sight implies an antiquity higher than that of any Christian place of worship; but, upon a nearer view, is recognized the history of the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem. Dr. Clarke is, therefore, disposed to think, that it offers an example of the first work in which Pagan sculptors represented a Christian theme. The interior of this fabric is divided into two parts; and in the anti-chapel is shown the mouth of what is called the sepulchre, the stone whereon the angel sat: this is a block of white marble[333].

The Stone of Unction is covered by a slab of polished marble in the floor of the entrance hall of the Holy Sepulchre. On this the body of Christ was washed, anointed, and prepared for the tomb. (St. John, xix. 39.) It is surrounded by a low rail; and several rich lamps are hung suspended over it. Advancing a few paces to the left, we come into that part of the church, properly denominated the nave. It is an open space in the form of a circle, about thirty-five paces in diameter, and surrounded by sixteen pillars, supporting galleries, and covered in by a dome, not unlike that of the Pantheon at Rome. In the centre of this area, and immediately under the aperture through which the light is admitted, rises a small oblong building of marble, twenty feet in length, by ten in breadth, and about fifteen feet in height, surmounted by a small cupola, standing upon columns; this covers the supposed site of the Saviour's tomb. It is approached by steps leading into an anti-room, or chapel[334].

The following account is given by Dr. Richardson:—"Having passed within these sacred walls," says he, "the attention is first directed to a large flat stone in the floor, a little within the door; it is surrounded by a rail, and several lamps hang suspended over it. The pilgrims approach it on their knees, touch and kiss it, and, prostrating themselves before it, offer up their prayers in holy adoration. This is the stone, it is said, on which the body of our Lord was washed and anointed, and prepared for the tomb. Turning to the left, and proceeding a little forward, we came into a round space immediately under the dome, surrounded with sixteen large columns which support the gallery above. In the centre of this space stands the Holy Sepulchre; it is enclosed in an oblong house, rounded at one end, with small arcades, or chapels for prayer, on the outside of it. These are for the Copts, the Abyssinians, the Syrian Maronites, and other Christians, who are not, like the Roman Catholics, the Greeks, and Armenians, provided with large chapels in the body of the church. At the other end it is squared off, and furnished with a platform in front, which is ascended by a flight of steps, having a small parapet wall of marble on each hand, and floored with the same material. In the middle of this small platform, stands a block of polished marble, about a foot and a half square; on this stone (it is said) sat the angel, who announced the blessed tidings of the resurrection to Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. Advancing, and taking off our shoes and turbans at the desire of the keeper, he drew aside the curtain, and stepping down, and bending almost to the ground, we entered by a low narrow door into this mansion of victory, where Christ triumphed over the grave, and disarmed Death of all his terrors. Here the mind looks on Him, who, though He knew no sin, yet entered the mansion of the dead to redeem us from death, and the prayers of a grateful heart ascend with a risen Saviour to the presence of God in heaven."

"Christians," says Mons. Chateaubriand, "will inquire, perhaps, what my feelings were on entering this holy place? I really cannot tell. So many reflections rushed at once into my mind, that I was unable to dwell upon any particular idea. I continued near half an hour upon my knees, in the little chamber of the Holy Sepulchre, with my eyes riveted upon the stone, from which I had not the power to turn them. One of the two monks, who accompanied me, remained prostrate on the marble by my side; while the other, with the Testament in his hand, read to me, by the light of the lamps, the passages relating to the sacred tomb. All I can say is, that when I beheld this triumphant sepulchre, I felt nothing but my own weakness; and that when my guide exclaimed, with St. Paul, 'O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?' I listened, as if Death was about to reply, that he was conquered, and enchained in this monument[335]."

NO. XLV.—LACEDÆMON, OR SPARTA.

Leliæ, the first king of Laconia, began his reign about 1516 years before the Christian era. Tyndarus[336], the ninth king of Lacedæmon, had, by Leda, Castor and Pollux, who were twins, besides Helena, and Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenæ. Having survived his son, he began to think of choosing a successor, by looking out for a husband for his daughter Helena. All the pretenders to this princess bound themselves by oath, to abide by, and entirely submit to, the choice which the lady herself should make, who determined in favour of Menelaus. She had not lived above three years with her husband, before she was carried off by Paris, son of Priam, king of the Trojans, which rape was the cause of the Trojan war. The Greeks took Troy after a siege of ten years, about the year of the world 2820, and 1184 before Christ.

Eighty years after the taking of this city, the Heraclidæ re-entered the Peloponnesus, and seized Lacedæmon; when two brothers, Eurysthenes and Procles, sons of Aristodemus, began to reign together, and from their time the sceptre always continued jointly in the hands of the descendants of those two families.

Many years after this, Lycurgus instituted that body of laws, which rendered both the legislature and the republic so famous in history: and since the constitution of Lycurgus seems to have been the true groundwork of our own, we insert some few particulars in respect to it; for the ruins of institutions are even more important subjects of contemplation than those of the walls in which they were engendered. The following account is taken from Rollin. We have not space, however, for the whole of his observations; we shall select, therefore, only the most important ones. Of all the institutions, made by Lycurgus, the most considerable was that of the senate; which, by tempering and balancing the too absolute power of the kings by an authority of equal weight and influence with theirs, became the principal support and preservation of the state. For whereas, before, it was ever unsteady, and tending one while to tyranny, by the violent proceedings of the kings; at other times towards democracy, by the excessive power of the people, the senate served as a kind of counterpoise to both; which kept the state in a due equilibrium, and preserved it in a firm and steady situation; the twenty-eight senators, of which it consisted, siding with the king, when the people were aiming at too much power; and, on the other hand, espousing the interests of the people whenever the kings attempted to carry their authority too far.

Lycurgus having thus tempered the government, those that came after him thought the power of the senate too absolute; and, therefore, as a check upon them, they devised the authority of the Ephori. These were five in number, and remained but one year in office. They were all chosen out of the people, and in that respect considerably resembled the tribunes of the people among the Romans. Their authority extended to the arresting and imprisoning the persons of their kings. This institution began in the reign of Theopompus, whose wife reproached him, that he would leave his children the regal authority in a worse condition than he had received it. "No!" said he, "on the contrary, I shall leave it them in a much better condition; as it will be more permanent and lasting." The Spartan government then was not purely monarchical. The nobility had a share in it, and the people were not excluded. Each part of this body politic, in proportion as it contributed to the public good, found in it their advantage.

The second institution of Lycurgus was the division of the lands, which he looked upon as absolutely necessary for establishing peace and good order in the commonwealth. The major part of the people were so poor, that they had not one inch of land of their own, whilst a small number of particular persons were possessed of all the lands and wealth of the country. In order to banish insolence, envy, fraud, luxury, and two other distempers of the state, still greater and more ancient than those, excessive poverty and excessive wealth, he persuaded the citizens to give up all their lands to the commonwealth, and to make a new division of them.

This scheme, as extraordinary as it was, was immediately executed. Lycurgus divided the lands of Laconia into thirty thousand parts, which he distributed among an equal number of citizens. It is said that, some years after, as Lycurgus was returning from a long journey, and passing through the lands of Laconia, in the time of harvest, and observing, as he went along, the perfect equality of the reaped corn, he turned towards those who were with him, and said smilingly, "Does not Laconia look like the possession of several brothers, who have just been dividing their inheritance among them?"

After having divided their immoveables, he undertook likewise to make the same equal division of all their moveable goods and chattels, that he might utterly banish all manner of equality from among them. But perceiving that this would go against the grain, if he went openly about it, he endeavoured to effect it by sapping the very foundations of avarice. For first he cried down all gold and silver money, and ordained that no other should be current than that of iron; which he made so very heavy, and fixed at so low a rate, that a cart and two oxen were necessary to carry home a sum of ten minas (about 20l.), and a whole chamber to keep it in.

Being desirous to make a yet more effectual war upon luxury, and utterly to extirpate the love of riches, Lycurgus made a third regulation, which was that of public meals. That he might entirely suppress all the magnificence and extravagance of expensive tables, he ordained, that all the citizens should eat together of the same common victuals, which the law prescribed, and expressly forbade all private eating at their own houses. The tables consisted of about fifteen persons each; where none could be admitted but with the consent of the whole company. Each person furnished, every month, a bushel of flour, eight measures of wine, five pounds of cheese, two and a half pounds of figs, and a small sum of money for preparing and cooking the food. The very children ate at these public tables, and were carried thither as to a school of wisdom and temperance. Nay, they were sure to see nothing but what tended to their instruction and entertainment. The conversation was often enlivened with ingenious and sprightly raillery, but never intermingled with any thing vulgar or shocking; and if their jesting seemed to make any person uneasy, they never proceeded any farther. Here their children were likewise trained up, and accustomed to great secrecy; as soon as a young man came into the dining-room, the oldest of the company used to say to him, pointing to the door, "Nothing spoken here must ever go out there."

Lycurgus looked upon the education of youth as the greatest and most important object of a legislator's care. His grand principle was, that children belonged more to the state than to their parents; and, therefore, he would not have them brought up according to their humours and fancies; he would have the state intrusted with the general care of their education, in order to have them formed upon correct and uniform principles, which might inspire them betimes with the love of virtue and of their country.

The most usual occupation of the Lacedæmonians was hunting, and other bodily exercises. They were forbidden to exercise any mechanic art: the Elotæ, a sort of slaves, tilled their land for them; for which they were paid a certain revenue by way of wages. Lycurgus would have his citizens enjoy a great deal of leisure: they had common halls, where the people used to meet to converse together; and though their discourses chiefly turned upon grave and serious topics, yet they seasoned them with a mixture of wit and facetious humour, both agreeable and instructive. They passed little of their time alone; being accustomed to live like bees, always together, always about their chiefs and leaders. The love of their country and of the public good was their predominant passion; and they did not imagine they belonged to themselves but to their country.

The end Lycurgus proposed was the public happiness: convinced that the happiness of a city, like that of a private person, depends upon virtue, and upon being well within himself. He regulated Lacedæmon so as it might always suffice to its own happiness, and act upon principles of wisdom and equity. From thence arose that universal esteem of the neighbouring people, and even of strangers, for the Lacedæmonians, who asked them neither money, ships, nor troops; but only that they should lend them a Lacedæmonian to command their armies; and when they had obtained their request, they paid him certain obedience, with every kind of honour and respect.

There were a multitude of other regulations, some of which were, doubtless, of a very imperfect tendency; but it is certain that the declension of Sparta began with the violation of Lycurgus's laws. No sooner had the ambition of reigning over all Greece inspired them with the design of having naval armies and foreign troops, and that money was necessary for the support of those forces, than Lacedæmon, forgetting her ancient maxims, saw herself reduced to have recourse to the Barbarians, which, till then, she had detested, and basely to betray her court to the kings of Persia, whom she had formerly vanquished with so much glory; and that only to draw from them some aids of money and troops against their own brethren; that is to say, against people born and settled in Greece, like themselves. Thus had they the imprudence and misfortune to recal, with gold and silver, all the vices and crimes which the iron money had banished; and to prepare the way to the changes which ensued, and were the causes of their ruin. And this infinitely exalts the wisdom of Lycurgus, in having foreseen at such a distance what might strike at the happiness of his citizens, and provided salutary remedies against it in the form of government he established at Lacedæmon.

Ancient Sparta is thus described by Polybius:—"It is of a circular form, and forty-eight stadia in circumference, situated in a plain, but containing some rough places and eminences. The Eurotas flows to the east, and the copiousness of its waters renders it too deep to be forded during the greater part of the year. The hills, on which the Menelaion is situated, are on the south-east of the city, on the opposite side of the river. They are rugged, difficult of ascent, and throw their shadows over the space which is between the city and the Eurotas. The river flows close to the foot of the hills, which are not above a stadium and a half from the city." Its former condition is thus described by Anacharsis:—"The houses at Lacedæmon are small, and without ornament. Halls and porticos have been erected, to which the citizens resort to converse together, or transact business. On the south side of the city is the hippodromus, or course for foot and horse races; and at a little distance from that, the platanistas, or place of exercise for youth, shaded by beautiful plane-trees, and inclosed by the Eurotas on one side, a small river which falls into it, and a canal, by which they communicate, on the other. It is entered by two bridges, on one of which is the statue of Hercules, or 'All-subduing Force;' and on the other that of Lycurgus, or 'All-regulating Law.'"

In what condition is this celebrated city at present? "Passing over the Eurotas," says Mr. Dodwell, "we viewed the first remains of the Lacedæmonian capital, now called Palaio-Kastro, consisting of uncertain traces and heaps of large stones, tossed about in a sort of promiscuous wreck. In a few minutes we reached the theatre, which is of large dimensions. The Koilon is excavated in the hill, which rose nearly in the middle of the city, and which served as an Acropolis. The theatre appears of Roman construction, and the walls of the proscenium are principally of brick. The white marble, of which, Pausanias says, it was composed, has disappeared. Near the theatre are the remains of a Roman brick tower. Sparta was originally without walls, and Lycurgus prohibited their erection. Justin asserts that the Spartans first surrounded their capital with walls, when Cassander entered the Peloponnesus; according to Livy, they were built by the tyrant; and Plutarch says they were destroyed by Philopœmen. Pausanias asserts, that the walls were constructed with precipitate haste, when Demetrius and Pyrrhus besieged Sparta. They were afterwards strongly fortified by the tyrant Nabis, and destroyed by the Achæans, by whom, it appears, they were afterwards rebuilt.

A fine sepulchral chamber, of a square form, regularly constructed with large blocks, is situated nearly opposite the theatre, and a short distance from it. It has been opened, and the interior is found to be composed of brick-work. Many other ruins are dispersed in this direction, some of which are of Roman origin. They appear to have suffered more from sudden violence than from gradual decay; and have, no doubt, been torn to pieces to supply materials for the modern town of Misithra. Several inscriptions have also been found. From all this, it will appear, that Chateaubriand is not quite correct, when he asserts, that "Sparta is occupied by the single hut of a goat-herd, whose wealth consists in the crop, that grows upon the graves of Agis and Agesilaus."[337]

NO. XLVI.—LAODICEA.

It was first called Ramitha; but being, in process of time, greatly embellished by Seleucus Nicator, he took advantage of his benefaction, and called it Laodicea in honour of his mother. Cæsar afterwards named it Juliopolis. It was in process of time included in the empire of Saladin, conquered by Sultan Selim, and not long after nearly destroyed by an earthquake.

It was rebuilt by a Turkish Aga. "It is thus a curiosity in its way," says a French Geography, "being indebted for its revival to a race of people who usually confine their exertions to the work of destruction."

The ruins of this city have been described by several travellers. We shall select the details left by Dr. Chandler and Mr. Kinneir. The first ruin, says the former, is the remains of an amphitheatre, of an oblong form, the area of which is about one thousand feet in extent, with many seats remaining. At the west end is a wide vaulted passage, about one hundred and forty feet long, designed for the horses and chariots; near it is an arch, with an inscription on the mouldings, in large Greek characters, "To the Emperor Titus Cæsar Augustus Vespasian, seven times consul, son of the Emperor, the God, Vespasian; and to the people," &c.

By another ruin is a pedestal, with an inscription: "The senate and people have honoured Tatia, daughter of Nicostratus, son of Pericles, a new heroine, both on account of the magistracy and ministries and public works of her father, and on account of her great uncle, Nicostratus, who lately, besides his other benefactions, was priest of the city, and changed the stadium into an amphitheatre."

On the north side of the amphitheatre is the ruin of an ample edifice. In consists of many piers, and arches of stone, with pedestals and marble fragments. On the west side lies a large stone with an inscription: The city "has exalted Ased, a man of sanctity and piety, recorder for life; on account of the services he has performed to his country."

There are remains also of an Odeum. The seats remain in the side of the hill. The whole was of marble. The proscenium lies a confused heap of ruins. Sculpture had been lavished upon it, and the style savoured less of Grecian taste than of Roman magnificence.

Beyond the Odeum are seen some marble arches, of, it is supposed, a gymnasium. Westward are three other marble arches, crossing a dry valley, as a bridge. There are also traces of the city walls, with broken columns and pieces of marble. Within, the whole surface is filled with pedestals and columns.

According to Mr. Kinneir, the greatest ornament is a triumphal arched structure, of a square plan, between thirty and forty feet in height, and encircled near the top with a handsome entablature. The arches, four in number, are in the Roman style of architecture, supposed to have been erected in honour of Cæsar, the patron of the city; or Germanicus, who died at Daphne, and was greatly beloved by the Syrians. The corners are adorned with handsome pilasters of the Corinthian order, and one of its fronts exhibits a basso-relievo with martial instruments; hence another traveller is inclined to suppose that it formed part of a temple dedicated to Mars. At no great distance from this, stands a mosque, evidently built from the ruins of another ancient edifice, of which several columns of a portico still stand; and amidst rocks and crags along the sea-shore may be observed a prodigious number of small catacombs, Dr. Shaw mentions several rows of porphyry and granite pillars.

We cannot close this account without citing what has been recently said of the inhabitants and environs of this city:—"The environs of Ledikea having many olive grounds, gardens, little country retreats, and places of pleasure, the inhabitants are all fond of rural recreation; and those who cannot find time for a longer excursion, seat themselves along the sides of the public roads, both in the morning and in the evening, to enjoy the freshness of the air, and, as they themselves say, to lengthen out their days by delight[338]."

NO. XLVII.—LEUCTRA.

The two armies were very unequal in number[339]. That of the Lacedæmonians consisted of twenty-four thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse. The Thebans had only six thousand foot, and four hundred horse; but all of them choice troops, animated by their experience of the war, and determined to conquer or die. The Lacedæmonian cavalry, composed of men picked up by chance, without valour, and ill disciplined, was as much inferior to their enemies in courage as superior in number. The infantry could not be depended on, except the Lacedæmonians; their allies having engaged in the war with reluctance, because they did not approve the motive of it, and were besides dissatisfied with the Lacedæmonians.

Upon the day of battle, the two armies drew up on a plain. Cleombrotus was upon the right, consisting of Lacedæmonians, on whom he confided most. To take the advantage which his superiority of horse gave him in an open country, he posted them in the front of the Lacedæmonians. Archidamus, Agesilaus' son, was at the head of the allies, who formed the left wing.

The action began by the cavalry. As that of the Thebans were better mounted, and braver troops than the Lacedæmonian horse, the latter were not long before they were broke, and driven upon the infantry, which they put into some confusion. Epaminondas following his horse close, marched swiftly up to Cleombrotus, and fell upon his phalanx with all the weight of his heavy battalion. The latter, to make a diversion, detached a body of troops with orders to take Epaminondas in flank, and to surround him. Pelopidas, upon the sight of that movement, advanced with incredible speed and boldness at the head of the second battalion to prevent the enemy's design, and flanked Cleombrotus himself, who, by that sudden and unexpected attack, was put into disorder. The battle was very rude and obstinate; and whilst Cleombrotus could act, the victory continued in suspense, and declared for neither party. When he fell dead with his wounds, the Thebans, to complete the victory, and the Lacedæmonians, to avoid the shame of abandoning the body of their king, redoubled their efforts, and a great slaughter ensued on both sides. The Spartans fought with so much fury about the body, that at length they gained their point, and carried it off. Animated by so glorious an advantage, they prepared to return to the charge, which would perhaps have proved successful, had the allies seconded their ardour. But the left wing, seeing the Lacedæmonian phalanx had been broke, and believing all lost, especially when they heard that the king was dead, took to flight, and drew off the rest of the army along with them. Epaminondas followed them vigorously, and killed a great number in the pursuit. The Thebans remained masters of the field of battle, erected a trophy, and permitted the enemy to bury their dead.

The Lacedæmonians had never received such a blow. The most bloody defeats till then had scarce ever cost them more than four or five hundred of their citizens. They had been seen, however, animated, or rather violently incensed against several hundred of their citizens, who had suffered themselves to be shut up in the little island of Sphacteria. Here they lost four thousand men, of whom one thousand were Lacedæmonians, and four hundred Spartans, out of seven hundred who were in the battle. The Thebans had only three hundred men killed; among whom were few of their citizens.

The city of Sparta celebrated at that time the gymnastic games, and was full of strangers, whom curiosity had brought thither. When the couriers arrived from Leuctra with the terrible news of their defeat, the Ephori, though perfectly sensible of all the consequences, and that the Spartan empire had received a mortal wound, would not permit the representations of the theatre to be suspended, nor any changes in the celebration of the festival. They sent to every family the names of their relations who were killed, and stayed in the theatre to see that the dances and games were continued without interruption to the end.

The next day in the morning, the loss of each family being known, the fathers and relations of those who had died in the battle, met in the public place, and saluted and embraced each other with great joy and serenity in their looks; whilst the others kept themselves close in their houses; or, if necessity obliged them to go abroad, it was with a sadness and dejection of aspect, which sensibly expressed their profound anguish and affliction. That difference was still more remarkable in the women. Grief, silence, tears, distinguished those who expected the return of their sons; but such as had lost their sons were seen hurrying to the temples, to thank the gods, and congratulating each other upon their glory and good fortune[340].

All that remains of this city, so celebrated and so universally known by the battle just described, and in which the Lacedæmonians forfeited for ever the empire of Greece, after possessing it for three centuries, are a few remains near the village of Parapongi, and a few blocks of stone[341].

NO. XLVIII.—MAGNESIA.

Magnesia is rendered remarkable by the circumstance of its having been, as we have before stated, the place assigned by Artaxerxes for the residence of Themistocles. The whole revenues of the city, as well as those of Lampsacus and Myunte, were settled upon him[342]. One of the cities was to furnish him with bread, another with wine, and a third with other provisions[343].

The temple of Diana at Magnesia was constructed under the direction of Hermogenes, of whom Vitruvius speaks with great veneration.

"The situation of Magnesia," says Pococke, "is delightful; for it commands a view of the fine plain of the Mæander, which is broad towards the west. The view extends to the sea, and from the height I saw the Agathonisa islands, which are near Patmos. Mount Thorax to the north is covered with snow. What adds to the prospect, is a most beautiful inclosed country to the south and west, and the fields are planted with the fig and almond trees. The modern city, also, adds to the beauty of the view; which being large, and there being courts and gardens to the houses, improved by cypress and orange trees, and some of the streets planted with trees, it makes it appear like a city in a wood."

Chandler visited this place in 1774. According to him, Magnesia surrendered to the Romans immediately after the decisive battle between Scipio and Antiochus. It was a free city in the time of Tiberius. It was selected as a place of security, in 1303, by the Emperor Michael, who at length was compelled to escape from it in the night. In 1313 it ranked among the acquisitions of Sarkhan, afterwards sultan of Ionia. In 1443, Amurath II. selected it as a place of retreat, when he resigned his empire to his son Mahomet II.

There are signs of many great buildings all over the city; but they are ruined in such a manner, that, except two or three, it is difficult to judge of what nature they were. Pococke speaks, however, of there having been in his time very great ruins to the east, which appeared to be remains of some "magnificent large palace." On the north, too, he observed the ruins of a very grand temple, which he thinks must have belonged to that of Diana Leucophryne, the largest in Asia after the temples of Ephesus and Didymi; and though it yielded to that of Ephesus in its riches, yet it exceeded it in its proportions, and in the exquisiteness of its architecture.

In the Ionic temple[344] at Magnesia, designed by that Hermogenes whose merits are highly extolled by Vitruvius, the general dimensions are the same as the dipteros; but having, in order to obtain free space under the flank porticoes, omitted the inner range of columns, he thereby established the pseudo-dipteros; but unless he continued the wooden beams of the roof over the increased space, this mode was impracticable, unless when the quarries afforded marble of very large dimensions.

A Persian writer says of this place:—"It is situated at the skirt of a mountain; and its running streams afford water of the utmost purity; and its air, even in winter, is more delightful than the breath of spring[345]."

XLIX.—MANTINEA.

The Theban general, Epaminondas, marched in the same order of battle in which he intended to fight, that he might not be obliged, when he came up with the enemy, to lose, in the disposition of his army, a time which cannot be too much saved in great enterprises[346].

He did not march directly, and with his front to the enemy, but in a column upon the hills, with his left wing foremost, as if he did not intend to fight that day. When he was over against them at a quarter of a league's distance, he made his troops halt and lay down their arms, as if he designed to encamp there. The enemy in effect were deceived by that stand; and reckoning no longer upon a battle, they quitted their arms, dispersed themselves about the camp, and suffered that ardour to extinguish, which the near approach of a battle is wont to kindle in the hearts of the soldiers. Epaminondas, however, by suddenly wheeling his troops to the right, having changed his column into a line, and having drawn out the choicest troops, whom he had expressly posted in front upon his march, he made them double their files upon the front of his left wing, to add to its strength, and to put it into a condition to attack in a point the Lacedæmonian phalanx, which, by the movement he had made, faced it directly.

He expected to decide the victory by that body of chosen troops which he commanded in person, and which he had formed in a column to attack the enemy in a point like a galley, says Xenophon. He assured himself, that if he could penetrate the Lacedæmonian phalanx, in which the enemy's principal force consisted, he should not find it difficult to rout the rest of their army, by charging upon the right and left.

After having disposed his whole army in this manner, he moved on to charge the enemy with the whole weight of his column. They were strangely surprised when they saw Epaminondas advance towards them in this order, and resumed their arms, bridled their horses, and made all the haste they could to their ranks.

Whilst Epaminondas marched against the enemy, the cavalry that covered his flank on the left, the best at that time in Greece, entirely composed of Thebans and Thessalians, had orders to attack the enemy's horse. The Theban general, whom nothing escaped, had artfully bestowed bowmen, slingers and dartmen, in the intervals of his horse, in order to begin the disorder of the enemy's cavalry, by a previous discharge of a shower of arrows, stones, and javelins, upon them. The other army had neglected to take the same precaution, and had made another fault, not less considerable, in giving as much depth to the squadrons as if they had been a phalanx. By this means their horse were incapable of supporting long the charge of the Thebans. After having made several ineffectual attacks with great loss, they were obliged to retire behind their infantry.

In the mean time, Epaminondas, with his body of foot, had charged the Lacedæmonian phalanx. The troops fought on both sides with incredible ardour; both the Thebans and Lacedæmonians being resolved to perish rather than yield the glory of arms to their rivals. They began by fighting with the spear; and those first arms being soon broken in the fury of the combat, they charged each other sword in hand. The resistance was equally obstinate, and the slaughter very great on both sides.

The furious slaughter on both sides having continued a great while without the victory's inclining to either, Epaminondas, to force it to declare for him, thought it his duty to make an extraordinary effort in person, without regard to the danger of his own life. He formed, therefore, a troop of the bravest and most determined about him, and putting himself at the head of them, he made a vigorous charge upon the enemy, where the battle was most warm, and wounded the general of the Lacedæmonians with the first javelin he threw. His troop, by his example, having wounded or killed all that stood in their way, broke and penetrated the phalanx. The gross of the Theban troops, animated by their general's example and success, drove back the enemy upon his right and left, and made a great slaughter of them. But some troops of the Spartans, perceiving that Epaminondas abandoned himself too much to his ardour, suddenly rallied, and returning to the fight, charged him with a shower of javelins. Whilst he kept off part of those darts, shunned some of them, fenced off others, and was fighting with the most heroic valour, to assure the victory to his army, a Spartan, named Callicrates, gave him a mortal wound with a javelin in the breast across his cuirass. The wood of the javelin being broken off, and the iron head continuing in the wound, the torment was insupportable, and he fell immediately. The battle began around him with new fury; the one side using their utmost endeavours to take him alive, and the other to save him. The Thebans gained their point at last, and carried him off, after having put the enemy to flight.

Epaminondas was carried into the camp. The surgeons, after having examined the wound, declared that he would expire as soon as the head of the dart was drawn out of it. Those words gave all that were present the utmost sorrow and affliction, who were inconsolable on seeing so great a man about to die, and to die without issue. For him, the only concern he expressed, was about his arms, and the success of the battle. When they showed him his shield, and assured him that the Thebans had gained the victory; turning towards his friends with a calm and serene air; "Do not regard," said he, "this day as the end of my life, but as the beginning of my happiness, and the completion of my glory. I leave Thebes triumphant, proud Sparta humbled, and Greece delivered from the yoke of servitude. For the rest, I do not reckon that I die without issue; Leuctra and Mantinea are two illustrious daughters, that will not fail to keep my name alive, and to transmit it to posterity." Having spoken to this effect, he drew the head of the javelin out of his wound, and expired.

Mantinea is also famous for another great battle, viz., that between Philopœmen and Machanidas, tyrant of Sparta[347]. The time for beginning the battle approaching and the enemy in view, Philopœmen, flying up and down the ranks of the infantry, encouraged his men in few but very strong expressions. Most of them were even not heard; but he was so dear to his soldiers, and they reposed such confidence in him, that they wanted no exhortations to fight with incredible ardour. In a kind of transport they animated their general, and pressed him to lead them on to battle.

Machanidas marched his infantry in a kind of column, as if he intended to begin the battle by charging the right wing; but when he was advanced to a proper distance, he on a sudden made his infantry wheel about, in order that it might extend to his right, and make a front equal to the left of the Achæans; and, to cover it, he caused all the chariots laden with catapults to advance forward. Philopœmen plainly saw that his intention was to break his infantry, by overwhelming it with darts and stones: however, he did not give him time for it. The first charge was very furious. The light-armed soldiers advancing a little after to sustain them, in a moment the foreign troops were universally engaged on both sides; and, as in this attack they fought man to man, the battle was a long time doubtful. At last the foreigners in the tyrant's army had the advantage; their numbers and dexterity, acquired by experience, giving them the superiority. The Illyrians and cuirassiers, who sustained the foreign soldiers in Philopœmen's army, could not withstand so furious a charge. They were entirely broken, and fled with the utmost precipitation towards Mantinea, about a mile from the field of battle.

Philopœmen seemed now lost to all hopes. "On this occasion," says Polybius, "appeared the truth of a maxim, which cannot reasonably be contested, That the events of war are generally successful or unfortunate, only in proportion to the skill or ignorance of the generals who command in them. Philopœmen, so far from desponding at the ill success of the first charge, or being in confusion, was solely intent upon taking advantage of the errors which the enemy might commit." Accordingly, they were guilty of a great one. Machanidas, after the left wing was routed, instead of improving that advantage, by charging in front that instant with his infantry the centre of that of the enemies, and taking it at the same time in flank with his victorious wing, and thereby terminating the whole affair, suffers himself, like a young man, to be hurried away by the fire and impetuosity of his soldiers, and pursues, without order or discipline, those who were flying.

Philopœmen, who had retired to his infantry in the centre, takes the first cohorts, commands them to wheel to the left, and at their head marches and seizes the post which Machanidas had abandoned. By this movement he divided the centre of the enemies' infantry from his right wing. He then commanded these cohorts to stay in the post they had just seized, till further orders; and at the same time directed a Megalapolitan to rally all the Illyrians, cuirassiers, and foreigners, who, without quitting their ranks, and flying as the rest had done, had drawn off, to avoid the fury of the conqueror; and with these forces to post himself on the flank of the infantry in his centre, to check the enemy in their return from the pursuit.

This Megalapolitan was named Polyinus; but not the historian, as many writers have imagined.

The Lacedæmonian infantry, elated with the first success of their wing, without waiting for the signal, advanced with their pikes lowered towards the Achæans, as far as the brink of the ditch. This was the decisive point of time for which Philopœmen had long waited, and thereupon he ordered the charge to be sounded. His troops levelling their pikes, fell with dreadful shouts on the Lacedemonians. These, who at their descending into the ditch, had broken their ranks, no sooner saw the enemy above them, but immediately fled.

To complete the glory of this action, the business now was to prevent the tyrant from escaping the conqueror. This was Philopœmen's only object. Machanidas, on his return, perceived that his army fled; when, being sensible of his error, he endeavoured, but in vain, to force his way through the Achæans. His troops, perceiving that the enemy were masters of the bridge which lay over the ditch, were quite dispirited, and endeavoured to save themselves as well as they could. Machanidas himself, finding it impossible to pass the bridge, hurried along the side of the ditch, in order to find a place for getting over it. Philopœmen knew him by his purple mantle, and the trappings of his horse: so he passed the ditch, in order to stop the tyrant. The latter having found a part of the ditch which might easily be crossed, clapped spurs to his horse, and sprang forward in order to leap over. That very instant Philopœmen threw his javelin at him, which laid him dead in the ditch. The tyrant's head being struck off, and carried from rank to rank, gave new courage to the victorious Achæans. They pursued the fugitives with incredible ardour as far as Tegea, entered the city with them, and, being now masters of the field, the very next day they encamped on the banks of the Eurotas. The Achæans did not lose many men in this battle, but the Lacedemonians lost four thousand, without including the prisoners, who were still more numerous. The baggage and arms were also taken by the Achæans.

The conquerors, struck with admiration at the conduct of their general, to whom the victory was entirely owing, erected a brazen statue to him in the same attitude in which he had killed the tyrant; which statue they afterwards placed in the temple of Apollo at Delphos.

Mantinea[348] was richly decorated with public edifices. It had eight temples, besides a theatre, a stadium, and hippodrome, and several other monuments; many of which are enumerated by Pausanias.

Some imperfect remains of the theatre are still visible; the walls of which resemble those round the town. But none of the sites of the temples or of the other structures can be identified; and everything, except the walls which enclose the city, is in a state of total dilapidation.

These walls were composed of unbaked bricks, which resisted, even better than stone, the impulse of warlike engines; but were not proof against the effects of water. For one of the kings of Sparta, forming a ditch round the town, and carrying the river Ophis to flow into it, dissolved the fabric of the walls. They enclose a circle, in which the city stood. They are fortified with towers, most of which are square; others are of circular forms. The whole exhibits an interesting and very perfect example of Grecian fortification. There were eight gates; not one of which, however, retains its lintel. The walls are surrounded by a fosse, which is still supplied by the Ophis[349].