Reverend Sir,
Your great goodness will excuse the tardiness of this letter, when I assure you, that I have been long ambitious of collecting any thing, that might deserve your notice; tho hitherto I have been successless in that desire. Many things indeed have occurred observable to me; but I could not hope at the same time, that they might appear such to you. For it is common with unexperienced travelers to be transported with pleasure and admiration, when their accounts are not able to raise the same affections in their freinds; either because they converse with men of better judgment, or because the most valuable relations must needs be heard with a greater coldness, than the things were seen. But notwithstanding these discouragements, I have lately looked back upon my Journal, to see if any thing might there appear remarkable at this distance; and tho a short voyage by sea must be barren of all real curiosity, yet for the subject of this letter I shall now trouble you with some of the things, which I observed at Cadiz, Messina, and Milo, the three only places, where we touched in our passage hither.
In Cadiz, as in most other parts of the Spanish dominions, there is nothing very curious, but in their churches or convents; and this, when once seen, is to be deplored, rather than admired. For when you first come into the town, you are not so much struck with a face of religion, as with the notion of a certain politic game, where the priests are soon discovered to be the only winners. Since in the whole place there is nothing fat and well favoured, but the clergy. The rest of the inhabitants appear meagre, wan, and melancholy, being mostly employed either in repairing to mass, or returning from it; sometimes counting their beads, and at other times perhaps lugging an heavy Saint in their arms. And therefore, were they not supported under this condition by a certain natural pride, which is fed partly with the real history of their former state, and partly with a romantic imagination of their present grandeur; they would soon become so sensible of their slavish poverty and superstition, as either to break their own hearts, or that yoke, which oppresses them.
There are several religious houses in this city, one of Franciscans, another of Dominicans, a third of Augustins, and a fourth of Capuchins; besides some nunneries, and a fifth convent called the Mercy, being founded for the redemption of Christian slaves. There is likewise an hospital, named the Hospital of St. John of God; where we saw a large and decent infirmary for sick and wounded persons, whether natives or foreigners. There is nothing much remarkable in these places, besides the altar pieces of their chapels, which are every where gaudily and richly furnished; but those particularly of the cathedral church, and Dominican convent, are adorned with tables of wrought and massy silver. On the walls is seen abundance of painting and imagery, the device of which is for the most part offensive, or ridiculous. An instance of the latter was the picture of St. Michael, with a pair of scales in his hand, weighing the merits of departed saints: of the former, the pourtraiture of God the Father, in the shape of an old man; with many other blasphemous representations of the Trinity. Either in their vestries, or their chapels, there is commonly the Saint of their order pourtrayed at large, in a gaudy habit, and inclosed in a case of glass. Other lesser images of Saints they expose in holes of the wall, where it faces the town; and to these the devouter part of the people pay their several occasional oraisons, as they pass the streets. This large multitude of altars and saints, which every where appears at Cadiz, could not but remind me of what the priestess in Petronius sais: Utique nostra regio tam praesentibus plena est numinibus, ut facilius possis deum, quam hominem invenire[144]. But not to tire your patience with the many odd pieces of superstition, which occur in every corner of the city, I shall give you a relish of the whole in the two following instances.
The first of these is a specious inscription over the entrance to a private house, occasion by the following accident. In a late solemn procession upon Corpus Christi day there happened a storm of rain, which was in danger of offering some disrespect to the host; and therefore they thought convenient to give it shelter in the next house, they could step into. Among these zealous people this was construed such a blessing to the man and his family, that the house is ever since looked upon as sacred; and the owner has been at a considerable charge to erect a pair of marble pillars at the entrance into his porch, adorned with carving, and inscribed after this magnificent manner: “That in the year 1692, Innocent XII being Pope, Charles II King of Spain, Buzzia Bishop of Cadiz, and Don Velasco governor of the same Herculean city.” Cum arca vera, panem angelicum carnem factum continens, triumphali processionis pompa, die festo Dominici Corporis deduceretur, et, saeviente turbine, irreverentiae periculum immineret; harum aedium dominus, Didacus de Barias, exivit obviam absconditae majestati, et fidei Centurionis aemulus procidit, indignum se profitens, cujus tectum Dominus subiret, eumque honorifice in oratorio suo suscipere meruit. Quare, Deo favente, sacra catholica majestas cooperari volens domui huic praeeminentiae praerogativam concessit, etc. This accident has rendred Didacus de Barias a meer Saint, and his house a most inviolable sanctuary, in the esteem of the poor Spaniards. Tho our English merchants well know him to be a rank Jew, who being therefore liable to death by the law of Spain, was always forced to live under disguise, and now gladly embraced this opportunity of passing for a zealot. The Jews indeed have formerly been very insolent in Spain. One of the last instances of which was a certain indignity of a shoemaker, who buried a crucifix under the place, where his customers tried on their shoes, that by this stratagem he might oblige Christians to stamp upon the cross. But this nation being since banished that kingdom under the pain of the severest death, they, who still covertly remain so, are obliged to profess themselves of the popish faith, which they can do without any great regret; it being easy to be of two religions, where both consist only in external show and ceremonies.
The other memorable piece of superstition is to be observed in the convent of the Capuchin friery, who within these three years have acquired an extraordinary esteem, by means of a certain lady, who acknowledged herself cured of a dangerous malady by virtue of their intercession. This was an hint, which they thought very improvable; and have therefore since set up for such a stock of merit, that their cloister is already filled with waxen figures of legs, arms, heads, women’s breasts, and other offerings, of so many maimed and distempered persons, whom these Saints have restored by their peculiar interest in heaven. One particularly, who was indebted to them for a more than ordinary blessing, has erected a stately monument on that account, before the entrance into their convent. It is an handsome Ionic pillar, made of white marble, inrailed with a large square of stone, in the front of which is a crucifix, and an image of the Virgin, under the title of the Triumphant Lady. And this new figure is already become such an idol, that the zealous gossips of the town will often approach it upon their knees, at near the distance of a furlong.
Having been detained about a week at Cadiz, we set sail October 11, 1699, and by the favour of a fortunate west wind were advanced within nine days near the entrance of the Faro of Messina; where we lay becalmed two or three days, under the island of Stromboli, as after our departure from Messina we did likewise under mount Aetna. Each of these was an opportunity of entertaining our sight with the dreadful curiosity of those burning mountains; where we observed the crater of both to cast up a continued pillar of smoke, and at repeated distances a terrible red blaze of fire. Afterwards being favoured with a gentle gale, a pilot came from the city to steer us thro the difficult strait of Scylla and Charybdis. Here I was curious to observe the situation of these places, especially because the latter is used in a confused and uncertain sense in classic authors. But upon a diligent view of the place it self, and a companion of some clear expressions in antiquity, the best judgment I could form of it was this, which follows. In Thucydides[145], and other good historians, Charybdis signifies the whole strait betwixt Sicily and Calabria; but in Homer[146], Virgil[147], and other poets, it is restrained to that peculiar whirlpool, which flows under the opposite rock of Scylla. Betwixt these two we found the current so various, that our ship was obliged to stand five or six different ways in a few minutes sailing; and at the same time it was surprizing to hear the waves bubble in a continued hideous noise, well expressed in the poets by the barking of dogs round the bowels of Scylla.
As we lay at anchor at Messina, we were presented with a delightful landskip, which the narrow winding of the Faro, the verdure of the opposite shores, the wall, the citadel, and town itself afforded. The front of the whole city is one continued pile of buildings, extending three quarters of a mile in length, from the Viceroy’s house to that called the French bastion. It intirely consists of free stone, being raised four story high, adorned with carved windows, balconies, battlements, and other ornaments, all answering to each other with an exact regularity. No house has any doors to the sea, but the entrance is at large gates, which front so many streets of the city, placed at equal distances, and each of them inscribed with some religious device. This range is contrived, as for ornament, so likewise for defence; it being at the bottom of a prodigious thickness, so as to withstand a siege, and decreasing proportionably towards the top. The whole running in a bend, which is every where equidistant from the sea, represents a curvilineal amphitheatre. The inner part of the city does not answer to this magnificence of the front; tho there often occur many single pieces of great art and curiosity. Such as the King’s statue on horseback, exactly resembling that of our late King Charles at Windsor. The Statue of Don John of Austria, in memory of the victory obtained by him at Lepanto in 1571. The beautiful structure of a public fountain, adorned at the bottom with four large and masterly figures, representing Nilus, Iberus, Tiber, and Euripus. But more curious than the rest is a figure of Neptune on the mole, cast in solid brass, and attended on each side with two very natural representations of the monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
But it was not so entertaining to observe these, as deplorable to see, what St. Paul bewailed at Athens, a city wholly given to idolatry and superstition. It affords a melancholy consideration to any serious spectator, to be witness to so many vain and hypocritical addresses made to the images and altars, which abound in this deluded place. For this brings the like scandal upon Christianity, as was so offensive under the ranked heathenism, and too truly exposes the subjects of it to that derision of Lucretius:
They are here furnished with nunneries and monasteries to the number of sixty odd, most of which are loftily built, and add the greatest grace to the structure of the city. In the college of St. Nicholas I observed the pictures of our five Jesuits, who were executed for the popish plot, with a specious account when, and how, they were crowned with martyrdom for the profession of the faith in England. In the nunnery of Sta. Maria della Scala they shew a stone sculpture of the Virgin and our Savior, which they verily beleive to have been taken from the life. In the cathedral church there are twelve noble figures of the Apostles, exquisitely carved in clear and costly marble. The isle, which composes the body of the church, is ranged on each side with thirteen stately pillars, twelve of which are antient of the Corinthian order, brought formerly from a temple of Neptune, that stood near the promontory Pelórus. There are here three gaudy altars, that want nothing, which art or expence could contribute to adorn them; for below they are set with work of lapis lazuli, and above are covered with cupolas of true mosaic. But over the high altar, at the east end of the cathedral, is preserved in golden characters, and embellished with a rich variety of other ornaments, one of the greatest delusions in all popery. It is a letter, which according to the tradition of this church was sent to the Messanians by the B. Virgin, upon their conversion by St. Paul, soon after he touched at Rhegium. It is reasonably concise, and therefore I shall venture to trouble you with the words, as faithfully transcribed.
Maria Virgo, Joachim filia, Dei humillima, Christi Iesu crucifixi mater, ex tribu Juda, stirpe David, Messanensibus omnibus salutem, et Dei Patris Omnipotentis benedictionem.
VOS omnes fide magna legatos ac nuncios per publicum documentum ad nos misisse constat. Filium nostrum, Dei genitum, Deum et hominem esse fatemini, et in caelum post suam resurrectionem ascendisse, Pauli Apostoli electi praedicatione mediante, viam veritatis agnoscentes. Ob quod vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus, cujus perpetuam protectricem nos esse volumus. Anno Filii nostri XLII. Ind. 1. 3 nonas Junii. Luna XXVII. V. Ex Hierosolymis.
Maria Virgo.
Quae supra hoc chirographum approbavit.
You see, that he, who had the impudence to forge this imposture, had likewise the stupidity to date it by two epochas, the latter of which did not commence before the reign of Constantine the Great, and the former not till that of Justinian. The Hebrew original they confess not to be now extant. And as to this, which they call the authentic translation, it would be impossible to beleive them serious in venting so foul a cheat; but that they pompously expose it to all the world in their metropolitan church, and celebrate it by a yearly feast, and public rejoicings of a whole month’s continuance; that it has been confirmed by repeated indulgences from the court of Rome; and that at the west end of the church there are divers solemn inscriptions, importing, that in some general calamities of Sicily, there particularly specified, the Virgin still protected her Messina, according to her most faithful promise in the Holy Letter. This naturally brings to one’s mind the antient devotion of the same place towards Ceres and Proserpina, as mentioned by Cicero, when he says: Vetus est haec opinio, quae constat ex antiquissimis Graecorum literis et monumentis, insulam Siciliam totam esse Cereri et Proserpinae consecratam. Hoc cum ceterae gentes sic arbitrantur; tum ipsis Siculis tam persuasum est, ut animis eorum insitum et innatum esse videatur[149]. It is to be wondered at, that these people have not yet registered an accident, of which as to the fact our English merchants were eye witnesses, namely; that in the late repeated earthquakes of Sicily in 1693 the tower of this cathedral, which stands at the west end distinct from the body of the church, was so distorted by one shock, that it stood very dangerously in an oblique declining posture; but that about a week afterwards another shock restored it to its former true perpendicular situation.
After five days spent in viewing these and other curiosities of Messina, we set sail the thirtieth of October, and by the ninth of the next month were obliged by contrary winds to stand into the port of Milo. This isle, known to the antients by the name of Melos, and esteemed the largest of all the Cyclades, is deservedly famous for its fair and commodious harbour; which entring at a narrow chanel afterwards enlarges itself circularly into a lake, rather than a bay; being always calm, and spatious enough to receive a fleet of an hundred and fifty sail. I went ashore at this place with the greater satisfaction, considering that among other antiquities it lays claim to Socrates and Aristophanes. It has a city of the same name, inhabited at present, like the other islands of the Archipelago, chiefly by Greek Christians, who have been burthened in the late war by a cruel tax of sixteen thousand dollars to the Venetians, as well as to the Turks; but by the benefit of the present peace, as its tribute to the former wholly ceases, so that to the latter is much mitigated. It is observable, that in every cultivated feild about the town, there stands a small Greek chapel, constantly adorned with the painted images of the Virgin and St. George; and thither the zealous women of the place often retire with a priest, to say some supererogatory masses for the benefit of their private relations, whether dead or living. In a cave on the island there is a natural hot bath, which has proved very successful in many malignant maladies. Walking on the strand I observed another of the same nature, like that of Licinius Crassus, mentioned by Pliny, Lib. xxxi. cap. 2. The heat of this was so great, that I could not bear to keep my hand in it. The same shore affords a vein of black sand, of which we there gathered a quantity very clear and beautiful for the use of writing.
After a stop of four or five days at Milo, we had a very entertaining passage thro the isles of the Archipelago, and on the nineteenth of the same month arrived, by God’s providence, in good health at Smyrna; where I often remember, how many ways I stand indebted to you, which will be always gratefully acknowledged by,
Reverend Sir,
Your etc.
E. Chishull.
Smyrna, June 13, 1700.
FINIS.
FOOTNOTES
[1] ΤΕΜΕΝΟΣ.
[2] Deest forsan ΛΗΙΟΝ.
[3] De Venere Stratonicide vid. Tacit. Annal. Lib. iii. cap. 63.
[4] Vid. ἱερὰ ὁδὸς, apud Harpocrat.
[5] ΚΛΕΙΜΑΞ, scalare, de quo vide Reines. Inscript. antiq. Class. sept. num. xvi.
[6] Tartalée seems to be the Mastusia of the antients, well describ’d by Pliny, Lib. v. cap. 29, to lie a tergo Smyrnae.
[7] The Two Brothers are two eminences of Mons Corycus, concerning which see Strabo, Lib. xiv. p. 670.
[8] This practice of the Greek church, at the first elevation of the elements, is what gives just offence both to the Roman and Reformed churches; for tho of late they have generally embraced the doctrine of transubstantiation, yet by this act they pay a divine worship to the bread and wine even before this pretended conversion into the body and blood of Christ. Not but that this observation may be well improved to evince the novelty of this persuasion among the Greeks; and to shew, that both these ceremonies were at first but a meer bodily respect to the elements, and implied nothing of a divine adoration.
[9] To such as are not conceiv’d always worthy, or ready to communicate, the Greeks after the celebration of their Liturgy distribute the ἀντίδωρον, or bread barely blessed, but not consecrated; which they conceive to be a symbol of the body of the Virgin Mary, and to be given instead of that of Christ.
[12] Liv. Lib. xxxvii. cap. 37. Circa Magnesiam, quae ad Sipylum est, posuit castra. Idem cap. 44. A Magnesia, quae ad Meandrum est, et ab Epheso legati ad dedendas urbes venerunt.
[13] Καταφέρεται δ’ ὁ Πακτωλὸς εἰς Ἑρμὸν, εἰς ὃν καὶ ὁ Ὕλλος ἐμβάλλει, νυνὶ Φρύγιος καλούμενος. Strabo, Lib. xiii. pag. 626.
[14] Magnesia ad Sipylum, a qua magnes lapis ferrum attrahens nomen sortitus est; ut idem a Lydia Lydius, et ab Heraclea Heraclius dictus est. Hill in Dionys. Periegesin. Tho he seems to be mistaken in confounding this stone with the touchstone, or lapis Lydius.
[15] Nat. Hist. Lib. xxxvi. cap. 16.
[17] Auri argentique mentionem comitatur lapis, quem coticulam appellant; quondam non solitus inveniri nisi in flumine Tmolo, nunc vero passim; quem alii Lydium, alii Heraclium vocant. Plin. Lib. xxxiii. cap. 8.
[18] Like what Aristides says: Ὁ φίλοινος οὐχ ἡγεῖται ζημίαν, εἰ μηδεὶς αὐτῷ πίνοντι συνείσεται. Orat. Platonic. prim. pag. 182. edit. P. Steph.
[19] Liv. Lib. xxxvii. cap. 44. Legati ab Thyatira et Magnesia ad Sipylum ad reddendas urbes venerunt, says this historian, immediately after the action betwixt Scipio and Antiochus. This action is at large described by Appian as well as Livy, as happening betwixt Thyatira and Sardis, upon the banks of the Amnis Phrygius, near Magnesia ad Sipylum; which is not the Hermus (as some have thought) but a river running into the Hermus, which Homer and Herodotus call Hyllus, as Strabo relates in the passage cited above, p. 9.
[20] See Marm. Oxon. ed. ab H. Prid. pag. 1.
[21] This Statius Quadratus was that very proconsul, in whose presence, and by whose authority, St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was burnt alive in the amphitheatre of that city. His name is falsely written Τάτιος Κ. in the Alexandrian Chronicle, and Στράτιος in the Epistle of the church of Smyrna. But this stone confirms that correction, which has been made by bishop Pearson and Valesius. It likewise favours that learned argument maintained by bishop Pearson, Dissert. ii. cap. xvi, xvii. pag. 291, by which he places this proconsulship and the martyrdom of St. Polycarp in the tenth year of Antoninus Pius, A. C. 147. For in the fourth year of M. Antoninus, to which the Alexandrian Chronicle refers it; as also in the year 167, to which it is referred by Eusebius and Valesius; there were two Caesars, concerning whom Eutropius says: Tunc primum Rom. respublica duobus aequo jure imperium administrantibus paruit, cum usque ad eum singulos semper habuisset Augustos. Lib. viii. cap. 5. But this inscription mentions only one Caesar, in the singular number. And as for that Quadratus, whom Bucherius and Usserius will have proconsul in Asia in the year 169, his name was not Statius, but T. Numidius. See also mention of Quadratus in Aristidis Orat. Genethliac. in Apellam; and in his Sermon. Sacror. iv.
[22] Καὶ γάρ τ’ ἠΰκομος Νιόβη ἐμνήσατο σίτου, etc.
Hom. Iliad. ω. 602. On which passage the Scholia, usually ascribed to Didymus, have the following remark: Θρηνοῦσαν οὖν τὴν Νιόβην ἀφάτως τὸ τοιοῦτον δυστύχημα, Ζεὺς ἐλεήσας εἰς λίθον μετέβαλεν, ὃς καὶ μέχρι νῦν ἐν Σιπύλῳ τῆς Φρυγίας ὁρᾶται παρὰ πάντων πηγὰς δακρύων προϊέμενος. And Pausanias, Attic. Lib. i. cap. 21. says: Ταύτην τὴν Νιόβην καὶ αὐτὸς εἶδον ἀνελθὼν ἐς τὸν Σίπυλον τὸ ὄρος. Ἥδε πλησίον μὲν πέτρα καὶ κρημνός ἐστιν, οὐδὲν παρόντι σχῆμα παρεχόμενος γυναικὸς, οὔτε ἄλλως, οὔτε πενθούσης· εἰ δέ γε ποῤῥωτέρω γένοιο, δεδακρυμένην δόξεις ὁρᾷν καὶ κατηφῆ γυναῖκα.
[23] Plin. Lib. v. cap. 29. A Smyrna Hermus amnis campos facit, et nomini suo adoptat; oritur juxta Dorglaeum Phrygiae civitatem, multosque colligit fluvios, inter quos Hyllum et Cryon.
[24] See mention of these by Herodian, under the name of πολυάνδρια, in his description of that massacre of the Alexandrians by Caracalla, Lib. iv. cap. 17. edit. Oxon.
[25] The sense of the word barrows or burroughs is by Verstegan deduced from burying, and therefore well answers the Greek πολυάνδρια. Chap. vii. p. 211.
[26] Thus Lucan, Stetit aggere fultus Cespitis. Lib. v. ℣. 316.
And Tacitus, Annal. L. i. cap. 17. Congerunt cespites. See Lipsii not.
[27] Ὅς σφι ψῆγμα χρυσοῦ καταφορέων ἐκ τοῦ Τμώλου διὰ μέσης τῆς ἀγορῆς ῥέει, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐς τὸν Ἕρμον ποταμὸν ἐκδιδοῖ, ὁ δὲ ἐς θάλασσαν. Lib. v. cap. 101. And Strabo says, Lib. xiii. p. 625. Ῥεῖ δ’ ὁ Πακτωλὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ Τμώλου, καταφέρων τὸ παλαιὸν χρυσοῦ ψῆγμα πολύ· ἀφ’ οὗ τὸν Κροίσου λεγόμενον πλοῦτον, καὶ τῶν προγόνων αὐτοῦ διονομασθῆναί φασί.
[29] Lib. xxxvi. cap. 14. Summa miracula, epistylia tantae molis attolli potuisse, etc. See mention of this difficulty in Wotton’s Reflections upon ancient and modern learning, pag. 67. edit. 1694.
[30] Epistolae quatuor, pag. 136, 137.
[31] Ἕρμος, says Strabo, Lib. xiii. pag. 626. ἐξ ὄρους ἱεροῦ τῆς Δινδυμένης εἰς τὴν Σαρδιανὴν φέρεται, κατὰ τὰ συνεχῆ πεδία, μέχρι τῆς θαλάττης.
[33] Ἐν δὲ σταδίοις τεσσαράκοντα ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐστὶν ἡ Γυγαία μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λεγομένη. Strab. ubi supra.
[34] Ὑπέρκειται τῶν Σάρδεων ὁ Τμῶλος, εὔδαιμον ὄρος. Strabo, Lib. xiii. pag. 625.
Ὕπαιπα δὲ πόλις ἐστὶ καταβαίνουσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Τμώλου εἰς τὸ τοῦ Καΰστρου πεδίον. Lib. xiii. pag. 627.
[36] Ὁ μέν γε Τμῶλος ἱκανῶς συνῆπται, καὶ περιγραφὴν ἔχει μετρίαν, ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀφοριζόμενος τοῖς Λυδίοις μέρεσιν· ἡ δὲ μεσόγαιος εἰς τὸ ἀντικείμενον μέρος διατείνει μέχρι Μυκάλης. L. xiii. p. 629. And a little after: Τῷ δὴ Καῦστριανῷ πεδίῳ μεταξὺ πίπτοντι τῆς τε Μεσωγειότητος, καὶ τοῦ Τμώλου, συνεχές ἐστι πρὸς ἑὼ τὸ Κιλβιανὸν πεδίον.
[37] The modern name Tyria well answers to the antient Τυριαῖον which Xenophon mentions as a well inhabited city, not far from Καΰστρου πεδίον. De expedit. Cyri, L. i.
[38] Lib. v. cap. 29. Ephesus alluitur Cäystro, in Cilbianis jugis orto, multosque amnes deferente, et stagnum Pegasaeum, quod Phyrites amnis expellit.
[39] This is plain from Strabo, who having finished his account of Ephesus, and proceeding from thence towards Smyrna, says, Εἶτα τὸ Γαλλήσιον ὄρος, καὶ ἡ Κολοφὼν, etc. Lib. xiv. pag. 642.
[40] This likewise appears from Strabo, who tells us, that betwixt Erythrae, or the western part of that cape land, and the isthmus, which joins the same cape land to the continent, stands the mountain Mimas. Μεταξὺ τῶν Ἐρυθρῶν καὶ τοῦ ὑποκρήμνου Μίμας ἐστὶν, ὄρος ὑψηλόν. Ibid. pag. 645.
[41] Chap. vi. ℣. 5. De Joannis autographo, Ephesi servato, vid. Pfaffii Dissert. p. 154.
[42] Οἱ ἐξ Ἐφέσου εἰς Σάρδις εἰσὶ τεσσεράκοντα καὶ πεντακόσιοι στάδιοι. Herodot. Lib. v. cap. 54.
[43] The mountains, that enclose the city and plain of Ephesus, are Gallesius to the north, Mycale to the south, and Pactyas to the east.
[44] Ephesus attollitur monte Pione, alluitur Caystro. Plin. Lib. v. cap. 29.
[45] Concerning this church see Procopii Ἀνέκδοτα, p. 12. and Ἰουστ. Κτισμ. pag. 45, where it is said to have been rebuilt by an order from Justinian.
[46] See F. Simon’s Histoire critique de la creance et des coûtumes des nations du Levant, chap. 7, 8.
[47] Plin. Lib. xxxvi. c. 14. In solo id palustri fecere. And Lib. v. c. 29. Templum Dianae complexi e diversis regionibus duo Selenuntes, that is, two Selenusian lakes.
[48] Strabo, Lib. xiv. pag. 639, et 642. Εἶτα Πύγελα πολίχνιον (which now is called Scala Nova) εἶτα λιμὴν Πάνορμος καλούμενος, ἔχων ἱερὸν τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος· εἶθ’ ἡ πόλις. And again:
Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Καΰστρου λίμην ἐστὶν ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους ἀναχεομένη· καλεῖται δὲ Σεληνουσία, καὶ ἐφεξῆς ἄλλη σύῤῥους αὐτῇ.
[49] These particulars, as collected out of several authors, are to be seen in Supplem. in Q. Curt. Lib. ii. cap. 7.
[50] See these and other particulars in Plin. Lib. xxxvi. cap. 14.
[51] This is the face of the moon aspide cincta comas. See Thes. Rom. Ant. Vol. v. p. 779.
[52] Herodian. Lib. I. cap. 39. Ἡ δὲ πρεσβυτάτη τῶν Κομμόδου ἀδελφῶν (Φαδίλλα ἦν ὄνομα αὐτῇ) εἰσδραμοῦσα, etc.
See likewise Grut. pag. MLXVI, n. 13. and Fabrett. Inscriptiones, pag. 746.
[53] Pag. 255. But the reader may see it more perfect in the few sheets, which were printed, of the second part of Antiq. Asiat.
[54] See pag. 254.
[55] Ἐξ Ἐφέσου μέχρι Σμύρνης ὁδός ἐστιν ἐπ’ εὐθείας τριακόσιοι εἴκοσι στάδιοι· εἰς γὰρ Μητρόπολιν ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι στάδιοι, οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ εἰς Σμύρναν. Strab. Lib. xiv. p. 632.
[56] Lib. v. cap. 29. Ephesus alluitur Câystro multos amnes deferente, et stagnum Pegasaeum, quod Phyrites amnis expellit.
[57] Mitylene, made more remarkable for those words of the Lesbians to Pompey, then fled hither:
[58] See Strab. Lib. xiii. pag. 615.
[59] Hence Virgil, Culic. ℣. 312.
See likewise Xenoph. Hist. Graec. L. i. in prin. ὡς ἤνοιγε περὶ τὸ Ῥοίτειον. And P. Mel. L. i. c. 18. Extra sinum sunt Rhoetea littora.
[60] Lib. viii. p. 599. Οὐδὲν ἴχνος σώζεται τῆς ἀρχαίας πόλεως.
And in like manner, Lucan, Lib. ix. ℣. 968.
[61] Polybius makes the breadth of the Hellespont here to be no more than two furlongs, Lib. xvi. p. 735.
[62] In some modern prints Aidos. The most memorable siege of this place by king Philip of Macedon is related by Livy, Lib. xxxi. cap. 17.
[63] Γενόμενος δὲ μεταξὺ Τρωάδος καὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας Ἰλίου, καὶ τόπον εὑρὼν εἰς πόλεως κατασκευήν ἐπιτήδειον, θεμελίους τε ἐπήξατο, καὶ τείχους τὶ μέρος εἰς ὕψος ἀνέστησεν· ὅπερ ἄχρι νῦν ὁρᾷν ἔνεστι ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον πλέουσιν. Zosim. Lib. ii. pag. 105. ed. Oxon.
[64] Europamque Asiae, Sestonque admovit Abydo. Lucan. Lib. ii. ℣. 674.
[65] Lib. xiii. pag. 59.
[66] Her. et Leand. ℣. 23, 24.
[67] Callipolis quoque ac Madytos dedita, et castella quaedam ignobilia. Liv. Lib. xxxi. cap. 16.
[68] Lib. xiii. p. 589. Ἡ Λάμψακος ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πόλις ἐστὶν εὐλίμενος καὶ ἀξιόλογος. Et mox: Ἐν τῇ στεῤῥᾷ τῆς Χεῤῥονήσου πολίχνιον ἐστὶ Καλλίπολις.
[69] Concerning these monuments particularly see Gyllius, Constantinop. topogr. Lib. ii. c. 12, 13.
[70] Concerning the interpretation of which, together with an history of the Rom. obelisks, see Ammian. Marcell. Lib. xvii. c. 4, and Smith, Constantinop. brev. notit. p. 117.
[71] Πρόκλῳ in Anthologia, Lib. iv. p. 488.
[72] See Zosim. Lib. iv. p. 265.
[73] See Cang. Constant. Christian. Lib. ii. pag. 105.
[74] L. i. p. 34. of his Travels.
[75] Concerning these see Pliny, Lib. iv. cap. 13.
[76] See Gruter, pag. ccxxviii, and Wheler, pag. 207.
[77] See Du Fresne, Glossar. Graec. Tab. i. oper. praemiss.
[78] This is part of an epigram, Εἰς Διομήδους τάφον, Antholog. Lib. vi. p. 563.
[79] Lib. iii. ℣. 277. Concerning the current of the Maeotis see Polybius, Lib. iv. p. 307; and of that at Gades, Mr. Halley’s Discourse in Le Clerc’s Physic. L. ii. c. 8.
[80] Concerning the antient situation of Chalcédon see Zosim. L. ii. p. 100, and of this church, L. v. p. 314, and Evagr. L. ii. c. 3.
[81] Lib. ii. pag. 106.
[82] For Valentinian’s building these aqueducts see Socrates by Valesius, and Niceph. Constantin. Hist. vol. ii. p. 418.
[83] In his Chronicon.
[84] Book i. pag. 34.
[85] In relation to this inscription the medal of Belisarius may be observed, on the reverse of which are the words DEVICTIS GOTHIS.
[86] See Eusebius’s Life of Constantine.
[87] An account of the like rich marble work may be seen in Stat. Sylv. Lib. i. c. 5. where he describes the bath of Claudius Etruscus.
[88] The particulars of each are described in the exact and faithful account of Grelot, which may be compared with that of Procopius.
[89] Eclog. vi. vers. 43.
[90] Pag. 232 of his Travels.
[91] Idem forsan ac σαββατείῳ apud Joseph. Antiq. Jud. edit. Oxon. p. 722. l. ult.
[92] ΕΦ Ω. vid. Grut. pag. DCCXLIX. num. 4.
[93] Αυδηνᾶιος, ὄνομα μηνὸς παρὰ Μακεδόσιν, ὁ Ἰανουάριος. Suidas.
[94] In this inscription the Ι is always added to the last vowel of the dative singular, which in small letters is now usually placed under it.
[95] Lib. xxxvii.
[96] Vid. Marmor. Oxon. p. 297, ed. Prid.
[97] By this and the following inscription we find, there were several schools here, where young persons were trained up to athletic exercises in honour of Hercules. For as Lipsius observes, Saturnal. Serm. L. iii. c. 23. Athletis et gladiatoribus Hercules praeesse putabatur, qui facta ejus et robur aemularentur. De athletis lapis Graecus Romae indicat; in quo aliquoties nominati, οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἀθληταὶ, id est, Herculanei athletae. So in other inscriptions we have οἱ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον τεχνῖται, artists employed in the rites of Bacchus.
[98] In this inscription the Ι is added to the last vowel of the dative case, as in that above, pag. 53.
[99] Iliad. γ. ℣. 339.
[100] See Strabo, Lib. xii. pag. 550.
[101] See Homer, Iliad. β. in catalog. ℣. 335.
[102] This river must be the Granicus, which seems to bend its course towards the Peninsula of Cyzicus.
[103] While I was absent from the conáck, some Turks brought medals to be sold, which I lost the opportunity of purchasing, because Mr. Farington suspected them to be spies.
[104] Ἔπλευσαν ἐς Αἰγὸς ποταμοὺς, ἀντίον τῆς Λαμψάκου, διεῖχε δὲ ὁ Ἑλλήσποντος ταύτης σταδίους ὡς πεντεκαίδεκα. Hist. Graec. L. ii. p. 455. edit. Leunclav.
[105] Pag. 42.
[106] The Hebrus is large and full in winter, yet carries but a slow stream, which in the summer time is scarce able to flow. Hence Ovid. Heroid. ii. ℣. 115.
But Virgil, who, as appears from his geography of Troy, was not so well acquainted with these parts, says: Aen. i. ℣. 321.
[107] Zosimus, Lib. ii. p. 95. ed. Oxon. Καθ’ ὃ τωνος εειος ποταμὸς τῷ Ἑβρῳ συμβάλλει.
[108] Ibidem.
[109] See Pythagorae Symbolum, Προσκυνεῖν περιφερόμενος, apud Lil. Gyrald. Tom. ii. p. 669. edit. 1696.
[110] So Justin describing the rites of Bacchus, with which the soldiers of Alexander were inspired says: Exercitus ejus repentino impetu mentis in sacros dei ululatus instinctus, cum stupore regis, sine noxa discurrit. Lib. xii. c. 7.
[111] See this sect described, and called Tzophilar, by Hottinger, Hist. orient. pag. 365.
[112] Concerning the longevity of the Aemimontian Thracians see Amm. Marc. L. xxvii. c. 4.
[113] Here I happily attained that wish of Virgil, Georg. Lib. ii. ℣. 488.
[114] Suam quisque domum spatio circundat, sive adversus casus ignis remedium, sive inscitia aedificandi. Ne caementorum apud illos, aut tegularum usus. Tacit. De m. G. c. xvi.
[115] Aur. Victor. Epit. cap. XL. Galerius ortus Dacia Ripensi, quem locum Romulianum ex vocabulo Romulae matris appellarat.
[116] The Sclavonian character is twofold; one said to be invented by St. Hierom, which is now used by the Rascians and Bosnians; the other by St. Cyril, proper to Valachia, Moldavia, Muscovy, &c.
[117] This inscription was first published by Reinesius, Class. vi. n. 90. and from him by Sponius, Miscell. erud. antiq. p. 294. But both of them vary somewhat from the reading here given.
[118] It is probable these stones might all come from Ulpia Trajana, formerly called Sarmazegethusa, concerning which see Zamosius, in Analect. Antiq. Transyl. c. 4.
[119] Ovid. ad Liviam, ℣. 387.
[120] Sabina, Nova Ceres; et Julia Pia, Nova Vesta: Bonarot. Observ. p. 4. Nymphae Avgvstae, Spon, Recherch. d’Antiq. Diss. xxix. p. 481. Saxopol. in Dacia, Nymphis salvtiferis sacrvm.
[121] In libello inscript. Analecta lap. Transylv. prov. legitur Rvffinvs, sed reclamante lapide.
[122] In Latin Enyedinum, or Aniadinum, from the via Annia, mentioned in an inscription in Zamosius, c. v.
[123] Forte COLON, AP. ut in Zamosii Inscript. cap. 7. COL. APVL. et COLONIAE APVLENSIS.
[124] Forte CENOTAPHIVM.
[125] The like cyphers I afterwards saw at Vienna, near Porta Rubra; where I took notice of the following date, , which in our modern characters is 1467.
[126] His designed ransom, after his death in Poland, was unjustly detained in this province.
[127] Concerning the antient characters of the Siculians, and their manner of writing downwards like the Sinese, see Zamos. c. 3.
[128] So great is the aversion of these Valachs to the killing of calves, that to redeem one taken by General Robutin, they offered him the choice of all their children.
[129] See pag. 92.
[130] Veste non fluitante, sed stricta, et singulos artus exprimente. Tacitus De moribus Germanorum, cap. xvii.
[131] So Martial, Spectac. Epigr. 3. Crinibus in nodum tortis venere Sicambri.
And Tacitus says the like of the Suevi, De morib. Germ. c. 38. Insigne gentis obliquare crinem, nodoque substringere.
[132] This trial of water, as well as that of fire, is authorized by the laws of Ladislaus, King of Hungary. Decret. S. Ladislai, Lib. ii. cap. 28.
[133] Est in Africa consuetudo incolarum, ut in agris, et in omnibus fere villis, sub terra specus condendi frumenti gratia clam habeant; atque id propter bella maxime, hostiumque subitum adventum praeparent: De bello Africano, cap. 65.
[134] Travels into divers parts of Europe, p. 145.
[135] Vid. Plin. Lib. xxviii. c. i. et Harduin. in loc.
[136] Lib. ii. cap. 96 et 114.
[137] See Imhof. Lib. x. cap. 16.
[138] Spon, who has published this inscription, observes, that by these QVADRIBIS might be meant, seminumina quadriviis praesidentia; quales in biviis et triviis Hermi seu Mercurii ab antiquis culti. Miscell. erud. antiq. pag. 84.
[139] Vid. Apul. De Iside: Cujus numen unicum multiformi specie, ritu vario, nomine multijuge totus veneratur orbis. Metam. Lib. ii. pag. 280.
[140] See an instance of this in Sweden, reported in the Huetiana, p. 124. N. LIV.
[141] Ovid. Fast. L. i. ℣. 205.
[142] These two are published both in Grut. but each of them with some little variation. pag. CCCLII, n. 5. and Fleetwood, pag. 152.
[143] ΟΦΡ ΑΝ ΕΣ ΑΔΩ.
[144] Cap. 17.
[145] Lib. iv. parag. 24.
[146] Odyss. M. ℣. 235.
[147] Aen. iii. ℣. 420.
[148] Lib. v. ℣. 1197.
[149] In Verr. iv. cap. 48.