this city stood, this accomplished traveller saw almost every landmark
to which that author alludes. “The splendid spectacle,” says he,
“presented towards the west by the snow-clad top of Samothrace, towering
behind Imbrus, would baffle every attempt at delineation. It rose with
indescribable grandeur beyond all I had seen of a long time; and whilst
its ethereal summit shone with inconceivable brightness in a sky without
a cloud, seemed, notwithstanding its remote situation, as if its
vastness would overwhelm all Troas, should an earthquake heave it from
its base.”
Besides these, there are various tumuli in the Troas, which are
distinguished by the names of Homer’s heroes; the tomb of Achilles, for
instance, and two others, near the Sigæan promontory, mentioned by
Strabo, Ælian, and Diodorus Siculus. When Alexander came to visit these,
he anointed the Hêle of Achilles with perfumes; and, as we have already
related, ran naked around it, according to the custom of honouring the
manes of a hero in ancient times. One of the other tombs was that of
Patroclus. Alexander crowned the one, and his friend Hephæstion the
other[291].
There, on the green and village-cotted hill, is
(Flanked by the Hellespont and by the sea)
Entomb’d the bravest of the brave, Achilles.
They say so;—(Bryant says the contrary.)
And further downward, tall and towering, still is
The tumulus—of whom? Heaven knows; ‘t may be
Patroclus, Ajax, or Protesilaus;
All heroes, who, if living still, would slay us.
High barrows, without mark, or name,
A vast, untill’d, and mountain-skirted plain,
And Ida in the distance, still the same;
And old Scamander (if ’tis he) remain:
The situation still seemed formed for fame;
A hundred thousand men might fight again
With ease; but where they fought for Ilion’s walls,
The quiet sheep feed, and the tortoise crawls.
These tombs have been so celebrated in all ages, that we give place,
willingly, to a description of them by Mr. Franklin; more particularly
as he has mentioned several particulars, unnoticed by other travellers.
Not far from the site of Ilium are to be observed a number of
antiquities, fragments of Doric and Ionic pillars of marble, some
columns of granite, broken bas-reliefs, and, “in short,” says Dr.
Clarke, “those remains so profusely scattered over this extraordinary
country, serving to prove the number of cities and temples once the
boast of Troas.”
At no great distance is the steep, which some have supposed the spot on
which stood the citadel of Priam. On the edge of this is a tumulus,
ninety-three yards in circumference, which is called the tomb of Hector;
it is formed entirely of loose stones. From this spot the whole isle of
Tenedos is seen, and a most magnificent prospect of the course of
Scamander to the sea, with all Troas, and every interesting object it
contains.
Rather more than one hundred and twenty paces from this tumulus is
another tumulus; the base of this is one hundred and thirty-three yards
in circumference. Some little way from this is a third, ninety yards in
circumference. The former is called the tomb of Priam; the latter the
tomb of Paris. At a short distance farther on are beheld foundations of
buildings; but these are not supposed to be of any high antiquity, nor
even so high as to be classed with a Roman interdict. They are
therefore, with probability, assigned to those pirates which at
different times have infested the Hellespont. Near them are tumuli of
much higher antiquity; but whether they belong to Trojan times, or to
those in which the Milesians formed settlements on the coast, is not
determined.
Four hours’ distance from Bonarbashy, situated on the Scamander, is a
town called Æné, the Æneia of Strabo. It is ornamented with cypresses,
and backed by lofty rocks and mountains. In this town medals have been
found, and some have supposed that Æneas was buried here; it is,
however, more probable that the town was named after him.
On a hill, in the shape of a cone, at about two hours’ distance from
Beyramitch, towards Gargarus, are a vast quantity of substances for
building; they may be traced from the bottom to the summit. These are
supposed to have constituted a temple and altar of Jupiter; the work
seems to be Roman. On the western extremity of the area are remains of
baths, the walls of which are stuccoed; and there are remaining
earthenware conduits still entire in several places. Above this are
tombs, and close to them a bath; near which lie scattered about several
columns, with broken pieces of amphoræ, marble, basalt, granite, jasper,
and blue chalcedony. At no great distance off lies the cornice of a
Doric entablature, so large, that M. Preaux said he had seen nothing
like it at Athens. Higher up are the remains of another temple, the
area of which measures one hundred and forty yards long and forty-four
wide. These are supposed to be the temple and altars of Jupiter
mentioned by Homer, Æschylus, and Plutarch. From this spot the view is
represented as being exceedingly grand. “Immediately before the eye is
spread the whole of Gargarus, seeming, from its immense size and the
vastness of its features, as if those who were stationed on this spot
might hold converse with persons upon its clear and sunny summit. Far
below is seen the bed and valley of the Scamander.”
What kind of a scene is beheld from Gargarus may be, in some measure,
imagined from what Dr. Clarke says of it. “In a few minutes I stood upon
the summit. What a spectacle! All European Turkey, and the whole of Asia
Minor, seemed as it were modelled before me on a vast surface of glass.
The great objects drew my attention first. The eye, roaming to
Constantinople, beheld all the sea of Marmora, the mountains of Prusa,
with Asiatic Olympus, and all the surrounding territory; comprehending,
in one wide survey, all Propontis and the Hellespont, with the shores of
Thrace and Chersonesus, all the north of the Egean, Mount Athos, the
islands of Imbrus, Samothrace, Lemnos, Tenedos, and all beyond, even to
Eubœa; the gulf of Smyrna, almost all Mysia, and Bithynia, with part of
Lydia and Ionia. Looking down upon Troas, it appeared spread as a lawn
before me.”
In the same district are considerable remains of the ancient city
Alexandria Troas. Long before the extinction of the Greek empire, this
city was laid under perpetual obligation to contribute, by its monuments
of ancient splendour, towards the public structures of Constantinople.
Notwithstanding this, there are still some interesting remains; among
which is to be noted the aqueduct of Herodes Atticus, formed of blocks
of hewn stone of vast size. Part of one of its gates also remains;
consisting of two round towers, with square basements, supporting
pedestals for statues. At a few yards’ distance are the ruins of public
baths. “Broken marble soroi lie about;” says the intelligent traveller
to whom, in this account, we have been so largely indebted; “soroi of
such prodigious size, that their fragments seem as rocks among the
Valany oaks covering the soil. But in all that now exists of this
devoted city, there is nothing so conspicuous as the edifice, vulgarly
termed by the mariners the _Palace of Priam_; from an erroneous notion,
prevalent in the writings of early travellers, that Alexandria Troas was
the Ilium of Homer.”
This building has three noble arches in front, and there are many others
behind. The stones with which it is constructed are placed without any
cement; and the whole appear to have been once coated over with marble.
There are, also, the bases of columns, each eight feet in diameter. This
building is supposed to have been intended for baths, as a grand
terminus of the aqueduct of Atticus.
There are other vestiges, also, of this city, amongst which may be
mentioned a series of vaults and subterranean chambers, one beneath
another, now serving as sheds for tenders, and herds of goats. Towards
the south-west there are remains also of an immense theatre, still in a
state of considerable preservation. Its diameter is two hundred and
fifty feet, and there is a semicircular range of seats at each
extremity. Towards the port, lower down, are marble soroi, and other
antiquities of less importance.
From this spot, Dr. Clarke proceeded to an immense tumulus, called after
Æsyates, the situation of which, he says, perfectly agrees with the
account given of that monument by Strabo. He then descended again into
the vale of Troy, and arrived at a village, called Erkessy, in which he
found a marble soros, quite entire. Upon it is an inscription in Greek,
beautifully cast, and in a very perfect state. “_Aurelius Agethopodos
Othoniacus, and the son of Aurelius, who was also a Pancratiast, of whom
there is a hollow statue in the temple of Smintheus, and here in the
Temple of Æsculapius, I have placed this Soros for myself and my dearest
father, the afore-written Amelius Paulinus and to my descendants. But if
any one shall dare to open this Soros, and lay in it the dead body of
any other, or any man’s bones, he shall pay, as a fine to the city of
the Troadenses, two thousand five hundred drachms, and to the most
sacred Treasury as much more._”
At no great distance from this soros, Dr. Clarke found a village, the
inhabitants of which live with great cleanliness in small cottages, and
practising the customs of their forefathers, in their hospitality to
strangers. They presented him with a medal, found in their village; and
they showed him a marble, on which was an inscription in Greek
characters, implying, that “_Metrodorus of Amphipolis, the son of
Timocles, is praised by the senate and people, for his virtue and
good-will towards the king Antiochus and Seleucus and the people: he is
deemed a benefactor to the state; is to have access to the senate; and
to be inscribed into the tribe and fraternity to which he may wish to
belong_[292].”
NO. XL.—TYRE.
Tyre is, in Scripture, called “the daughter of Sidon,” and very
appropriately; for the Tyrians were, in the first instance, a colony
from Sidon. It was built two hundred and forty years before the building
of Jerusalem.
The king of Tyre assisted Solomon in procuring wood for his temple, and
artisans wherewith to build it. Thus it is stated, in the Book of
Chronicles:—
“3. And Solomon sent to Huram, the king of Tyre, saying, As thou
didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build
him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.
“4. Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to
dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the
continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening,
on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of
the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
* * * * *
“7. Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in
silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and
blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with
me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
“8. Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees, out of
Lebanon; for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in
Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants.
“9. Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am
about to build shall be wonderful great.
“10. And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut
timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty
thousand baths of oil.
“11. Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to
Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee
king over them.
“12. Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made
heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued
with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the
Lord, and an house for his kingdom.
“13. And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of
Huram my father’s,
“14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and the father was a
man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in
iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen,
and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out
every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and
with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.
“15. Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine,
which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:
“16. And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need:
and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou
shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.”
Various are the opinions concerning the origin of Tyre, and the date
when it was founded. Herodotus (lib. ii. c. 44) says, that he was told
by the priests of Tyre, that the temple of Hercules was as ancient as
the city, which had been built two thousand three hundred years.
According to this account, Tyre was founded about the year two thousand
seven hundred and sixty before the Christian era; four hundred and
sixty-nine years after the deluge, according to the Septuagint[293].
Before the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, Tyre was the greatest
maritime city in the world; its situation and industry having raised it
to the sovereignty of the sea. From the extreme parts of India, Persia,
and Arabia, to the western coast; from Ethiopia and Egypt on the south,
to Scythia on the north, all nations contributed to the increase of its
power, splendour, and wealth. Every thing that was useful, and all that
was curious, magnificent, and precious, were there to be sold. Every
article of commerce was brought to its markets.
This state of prosperity swelled the pride of the Tyrians to a very
exorbitant extent. “She delighted,” we are told, “to consider herself as
Queen of Cities; a queen, whose head is adorned with a diadem; whose
correspondents are illustrious princes; whose rich traders dispute for
superiority with kings; who sees every maritime power, either as her
allies or her dependents; and who made herself necessary or formidable
to all nations.” Such was the pride of Tyre, when Nebuchadnezzar marched
up against her.
Her fate had been foretold by the denunciations of Ezekiel.
“I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up
against thee, as the sea causes her waves to come up. And they shall
destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers. It shall be a
place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; and her
daughters shall be slain by the sword.” The prophet then discloses
who shall be the instrument of all this destruction. “I will bring
upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, with
horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies of much
people.” “He shall set his engines of war against thy walls, and with
his axes he shall break down thy towers.” “With the hoofs of thy
horses shall he tread down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people
with the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the
ground.” “And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey
of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy
thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones, and thy timber,
and thy dust, in the midst of the water.” “I will cause the noise of
thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more
heard.” “Thou shalt be a place to hang nets upon; and shalt be built
no more.” “Though thou be sought for, thou shall not be found.”
The pride of the Tyrians may be estimated by the splendour of their
ships. These were frequently of cedar; their benches of ivory; fine
embroidered linens of Egypt were used for sails; and their canopies were
of scarlet and purple silk[294]. Its trade may be in some degree
imagined, from what is stated as having been brought to her
markets;—gold, silver, iron, tin, brass, and lead; slaves[295]; horses,
horsemen, and mules; sheep and goats; horn, ivory, and ebony; emeralds,
purple, and broidered work; fine linen, and coral, and agate;—wheat,
honey, oil, and bales of wares, wine, and wool; cassia and calamus;
cloths for chariots; all manner of spices and precious stones. All these
articles were to be destroyed. “Thy riches and thy merchandise, thy
mariners and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy
merchandise, and all thy men of war that are in thee, and in all thy
company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the
seas, in the days of thy ruin.”
The Prophet then goes on to prophesy how all the nations shall mourn for
her fall. “Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the
wounded cry; when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? All the
princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away
their robes, and put off their embroidered garments; they shall clothe
themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall
tremble at every moment, and shall be astonished at thee.”
Tyre was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, in the twenty-first year of his
reign; Ithobel being its king. After seven years he made himself master
of it; not without his troops suffering incredible hardships; insomuch
that, as Ezekiel had predicted, “_every head was made bald and every
head was peeled_.” Previous, however, to the taking of it, a multitude
of its inhabitants quitted the city, and took up their abode, with the
greatest part of their effects, in the neighbouring island[296], half a
mile from the shore; and in that spot they laid the foundation of a new
city. When, therefore, Nebuchadnezzar took possession of the town, he
found little in it to reward him for the trouble, danger, and expense he
had been at during the siege, which lasted thirteen years. He rased the
city to the foundations, and it was afterwards known only as a village,
by the name of Palæ-Tyrus (ancient Tyre): the new one rose to greater
power than the former one.
The new town, nevertheless, was not remitted of misfortune; for the
inhabitants were made slaves of, compelled to admit a foreign yoke, and
this for the space of seventy years. After the expiration of that time,
they were restored, according to the prophecy of Isaiah,[297] to the
possession of their ancient privileges, with the liberty of having a
king of their own, and that liberty they enjoyed till the time of
Alexander.
At that period Tyre had again become an exceedingly large city; and
because of the vast commerce she carried on with all nations, she was
called “Queen of the Sea.” She boasted of having first invented
navigation, and taught mankind the art of braving the waves and wind.
Her happy situation, the extent and conveniency of her ports, the
character of her inhabitants, who were not only industrious, laborious,
and patient, but extremely courteous to strangers, invited thither
merchants from all parts of the then-known world: so that it might be
considered, not so much as a city belonging to any particular nation, as
the common city of all nations, and the centre of their commerce.
Tyre had now for some time risen from the desolation, into which she
had fallen: but with prosperity came pride, and vain-glory; luxury and
voluptuousness. Another prophet, therefore, foretold to her a second
ruin. She was now “the crowning city,” whose merchants were princes, and
whose traffickers were styled “the honourable of the earth.”
Tyre had profited nothing from the first lesson: Another destruction,
therefore, was denounced against her. This was to come from Chittim
(Macedonia). Tyre was careless of this threat. Defended by strong
fortifications, and surrounded on all sides by the sea, she feared
nothing; neither God nor man. Isaiah, therefore, brings to her
recollection the ruin, that had befallen them in the days of
Nebuchadnezzar; and the destruction which had afterwards fallen on
Babylon itself. “The inhabitants had raised pompous palaces, to make
their names immortal; but all those fortifications had become but as
dens for wild beasts to revel in.” “The Lord hath purposed it to stain
all the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the
honourable of the earth.” “The Lord hath given a commandment against the
merchant city, to destroy the strong-holds thereof.” “Thou shalt no more
rejoice, thou virgin daughter of Zidon.” This fall was to come, as we
have already said, from Macedon.
Alexander besieged Tyre seven months;[298] during which time he erected
vast mounds of earth, plied it with his engines, and invested it on the
side next the sea with two hundred galleys. When the Tyrians saw this
fleet, they were astonished; because it greatly exceeded what they had
any reason to expect. They had had in contemplation to send most of
their women and children, with all the men, who were past the military
age, to Carthage: but, confident in their strength, they had delayed
doing so; and now they could not spare ships or seamen to transport
them.
A vessel coming from Sidon, they seized upon the crew, led them to a
part of the wall, from which they could have a full view of the
besieging army, then maliciously put them to death, and threw their dead
bodies over the wall. This greatly enraged the Macedonian: and he soon
after took possession of the city. According to Plutarch, the siege
terminated in the following manner:—Alexander had permitted his main
body to rest themselves, after some great fatigues they had undergone,
and ordered only some small parties to keep the Tyrians in play. In the
mean time, Aristander, his principal soothsayer, offered sacrifices; and
one day, upon inspecting the entrails of the victims, he boldly
asserted, amongst those about him, that the city would be taken that
month. As the day happened to be the last of the month, this prediction
was received with great ridicule. Alexander perceiving the soothsayer to
be disconcerted, and having always made a point of bringing the
prophecies of his soothsayers to completion, he gave orders that the day
should not be called the thirtieth, but the twenty-eighth of the month.
At the same time he called out his forces by sound of trumpet, and made
a much more vigorous assault than he at first intended. The attack was
violent, and those who were left in the camp, quitted it to have a share
in it, and to support their fellow soldiers; insomuch that the Tyrians
were forced to give in; and the city was taken that very day; seven
thousand being slain.[299]
The king, with many of the principal men, took refuge in the temple of
Hercules. The lives and liberties of these were spared; but all others
taken, to the number of thirteen thousand,[300] were sold to slavery
for the benefit of the conquering army. To the eternal ignominy of the
conqueror, too, all the children and women were made slaves of, and all
the young men, that survived the battle, to the amount of two thousand,
were crucified along the sea-shore. The annals of no nation exhibit an
atrocity equal to this! The city was burned to the ground.
In reference to this stout defence of the Tyrians against so
accomplished a warrior as Alexander, and their maritime enterprises, a
highly eminent scholar has made the following remarks[301]:—“Let us
contemplate all these great things, as completed by the efforts of a
single city, which, possibly, did not possess a territory of twenty
miles in circumference, which sustained a siege of thirteen years
against all the power of Babylon; and another of eight months against
Alexander, in the full career of his victories; and then judge whether a
commercial spirit debases the nature of man, or whether any single city,
recorded in history, is worthy to be compared with Tyre.”
The buildings were spacious and magnificent; above all, the temples of
Jupiter, Hercules, and Astarte. These were built by Huram. The walls
were one hundred and fifty feet high, proportionably broad, and firmly
built of large blocks of stone, bound together with white plaster.