This city stood on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont, now called the
Dardanelles, opposite to the city of Sestos, on the European side, the
distance from each other being about two miles. Abydos was built by the
Milesians, and became greatly celebrated from the circumstance that it
was here that Xerxes built his bridge over the Hellespont;--also for the
loves of Hero and Leander.
Philip, king of Macedon, laid siege to this city, and nothing of what is
generally practised in the assaulting and defending of cities was
omitted in the siege. No place, say the historians, was ever defended
with greater obstinacy, which might be said at length, on the side of
the besieged, to have risen to fury and brutality. Confiding in its own
strength, they repulsed, with the greatest vigour, the approaches of the
Macedonians. Finding, however, at last, that the outer wall of their
city was sapped, and that the Macedonians carried their mines under the
inner one, they sent deputies to Philip, offering to surrender the city
on certain conditions, one of which was, that all the free citizens
should retire whithersoever they pleased, with the clothes they then had
on. These conditions were not approved by Philip, he therefore sent for
answer, that the Abydonians had only to choose, whether they would
surrender at discretion or continue to defend themselves gallantly as
they had before done.
When the citizens heard this they assembled together, to consider what
they should do in so great an emergency; and here we have to record, not
in our own language but in that of others, for our pen would be unequal
to the description, circumstances scarcely to be paralleled in all
history! It is thus given by Rollin:--
They came to these resolutions; first, that the slaves should be set at
liberty, to animate them to defend the city with the utmost vigour;
secondly, that all the women should be shut up in the temple of Diana,
and all the children with their nurses in the Gymnasium; that this being
done, they then should bring into the great square all the gold and
silver in the city, and carry all the rest of the valuable effects into
the quadrireme of the Rhodians and the trireme of the Cyzicenians. This
resolution having passed unanimously, another assembly was called, in
which they chose fifty of the wisest and most ancient of the citizens,
but who at the same time had vigour enough left to execute what should
have been determined; and they were made to take an oath, in presence
of all the inhabitants, that the instant they saw the enemy master of
the inner wall they should kill the women and children, set fire to the
galleys laden with their effects, and throw into the sea all the gold
and silver which they had heaped together. Then, sending for their
priests, they took an oath either to conquer or die, sword in hand; and
after having sacrificed the victims, they obliged the priests and
priestesses to pronounce before the altar the greatest curses on those
who should break their oath. This being done, they left off
countermining, and resolved, the instant the wall should fall, to fly to
the breach and fight to the last. Accordingly, the inward wall tumbling,
the besieged, true to the oath they had taken, fought in the breach with
such unparalleled bravery, that though Philip had perpetually sustained
with fresh soldiers those who had mounted to the assault, yet, when
night separated the combatants, he was still doubtful with regard to the
success of the siege. Such Abydonians as marched first to the breach,
over the heaps of slain, fought with fury, and not only made use of
their swords and javelins, but after their arms were broken to pieces or
forced from their hands, they rushed furiously upon the Macedonians,
knocked down some, broke the long spears of others, and with the pieces
struck their faces and such parts of their bodies as were uncovered,
till they made them entirely despair of the event. When night had put an
end to the slaughter, the breach was quite covered with the dead bodies
of the Abydonians, and those who had escaped were so prodigiously
fatigued, and had received so many wounds, that they could scarce
support themselves. Things being brought to this dreadful extremity, two
of the principal citizens, unable to execute the dreadful resolution
that had been taken, and which at that time displayed itself to their
imaginations in all its horror, agreed that, to save their wives and
children, they should send to Philip by day-break all their priests and
priestesses, clothed in pontifical habits, to implore his mercy and open
their gates to him. Accordingly the next morning the city, as had been
agreed, was surrendered to Philip, during which the greatest part of the
Abydonians, who survived, vented millions of imprecations against their
fellow-citizens, and especially against the priests and priestesses, for
delivering up to the enemy those whom they themselves had devoted to
death with the most dreadful oaths. Philip marched into the city and
seized, without the least opposition, all the rich effects which the
Abydonians had heaped together in one place. But now he was greatly
terrified with the spectacle he saw. Among these ill-fated citizens,
whom despair had made furious and distracted, some were strangling their
wives and children; and others cutting them with swords to pieces; some
were running to murder them; some were plunging them into wells; whilst
others were precipitating them from the tops of the houses; in a word,
death appeared in a variety of horrors. Philip, pierced with grief, and
seized with horror at the spectacle, stopped the soldiers who were
greedy of plunder, and published a declaration, importing that he would
allow three days to all, who were resolved to lay violent hands on
themselves. He was in hopes that during this interval they would change
their resolution, but they had made their choice before. They thought it
would be degenerating from those, who had lost their lives in fighting
for their country, should they survive them. The individuals of every
family killed one another, and none escaped this murderous expedition
but those whose hands were tied, or were otherwise kept from destroying
themselves.
Nothing now remains of the ancient town, but a few insignificant ruins
in the neighbourhood of the modern one[1].