This first success of Jugurtha augmented his courage, and increased his boldness. Accordingly, he attacked his brother by open force; and whilst the latter loses his time in sending deputations to the Romans, he storms several fortresses; carries on his conquests; and, after defeating Adherbal, besieges him in Cirtha, the capital of his kingdom. During this interval, ambassadors arrived from Rome, with orders, in the name of the senate and people, to the two kings, to lay down their arms, and cease all hostilities. Jugurtha, after protesting that he would obey, with the most profound reverence and submission, the commands of the Roman people, added, that he did not believe it was their intention to hinder him from defending his own life, against the treacherous snares which his brother had laid for it. He concluded with saying, that he would send ambassadors forthwith to Rome, to inform the senate of his conduct. By this vague answer he eluded their orders, and would not even permit the deputies to wait upon Adherbal. that an inquiry might be made in his presence, who those persons were that had taken bribes. Accordingly Jugurtha was forced to come to Rome. The sight of him raised the anger of the people still higher; but a tribune having been bribed, he prolonged the session, and at last dissolved it. A Numidian prince, grandson of Masinissa, called Massiva, being at that time in the city, was advised to solicit for Jugurtha's kingdom; which, coming to the ears of the latter, he caused him to be assassinated in the midst of Rome. The murderer was seized and delivered up to the civil magistrate, and Jugurtha was commanded to depart Italy. Upon leaving the city, he cast back his eyes several times towards it, and said, Rome would sell itself, could it meet with a purchaser; and were one to be found, it were inevitably ruined." And now the war broke out anew. At first the indolence, or perhaps connivance, of Albinus the consul, made it go on very slowly; but afterwards, when he returned to Rome to hold the public assemblies, the Though the latter was so closely blocked up in his Roman army, by the unskilfulness of his brother Aucapital, he yet found means to send to Rome, tolus, having marched into a defile from whence there implore the assistance of the Romans against his was no getting out, surrendered ignominiously to the brother, who had besieged him five months, and in- enemy, who forced the Romans to submit to the ceretended to take away his life. Some senators were of mony of passing under the yoke, and made them enopinion, that war ought to be proclaimed immediately gage to leave Numidia in ten days. against Jugurtha; but still his influence prevailed, and The reader will naturally imagine in what light so the Romans only ordered an embassy to be sent, com- shameful a peace, concluded without the authority of posed of senators of the highest distinction, among the people, was considered at Rome. They could not whom was Emilius Scaurus, a factious man, who flatter themselves with the hope of being successful in had a great ascendant over the nobility, and concealed this war, till the conduct of it was given to L. Metelthe blackest vices under the specious appearance of lus the consul. To all the rest of the virtues which virtue. Jugurtha was terrified at first; but he again constitute the great captain, he added a perfect disre found an opportunity to elude their demands, and ac-gard of wealth; a quality most essentially requisite cordingly sent them back without coming to any conclusion. Upon this, Adherbal, who had lost all hopes, surrendered upon condition of having his life spared; nevertheless, he was immediately murdered with a great number of Numidians. 6 against such an enemy as Jugurtha, who hitherto had always been victorious, rather by money than his sword. But the African monarch found Metellus as invincible in this, as in all other respects. He therefore was forced to venture his life, and exert his utmost bravery, But though the greatest part of the people at Rome through the defect of an expedient which now began were struck with horror at this news, Jugurtha's to fail him. Accordingly, he signalized himself in a money again obtained him defenders in the senate. surprising manner; and showed in this campaign, all However, C. Memmius, the tribune of the people, an that could be expected from the courage, abilities, and active man, and one who hated the nobility, prevailed attention, of an illustrious general, to whom despair with the people, not to suffer so horrid a crime to go adds new vigour, and suggests new lights: he was, unpunished; and, accordingly, war being proclaimed however, unsuccessful, because opposed by a consul, against Jugurtha, Calpurnius Bestia the consul was who did not suffer the most inconsiderable error to esappointed to carry it on. He was endued with ex-cape him, nor ever let slip an opportunity of taking cellent qualities, but they were all advantage of the enemy. A. M. 3894. depraved and rendered useless by his A. Rom. 638. avarice. Scaurus set out with him. Ant. J. C. 110. They at first took several towns; but Jugurtha's bribes checked the progress of these conquests; and Scaurus himself, who till now had expressed the strongest animosity against this prince, could not resist so powerful an attack. A treaty was therefore concluded; Jugurtha feigned to submit to the Romans, and thirty elephants, some horses, with a very inconsiderable sum of money, were delivered to the questor. Jugurtha's greatest concern was, how to secure himself from traitors. From the time he had been told that Bomilcar, in whom he reposed the utmost confidence, had a design upon his life, he enjoyed no peace. He did not believe himself safe any where; but all things, by day as well as by night, the citizen as well as the foreigner, were suspected by him; and the blackest terrors sat for ever brooding over his mind. He never got a wink of sleep, except by stealth; and often changed his bed in a manner unbecoming his rank. Starting sometimes from his slumbers, he would snatch his sword, and utter loud cries; so strongly was he haunted by fear, which almost drove him to frenzy. Marius was Metellus's lieutenant. His boundless ambition induced him to endeavour to lessen his general's character secretly in the minds of his soldiers; he at last, by the most grovelling and perfidious arts, and becoming soon his professed enemy and slanderer, prevailed so far as to supplant Metellus, and get himself nominated in his room, to carry on the war against Jugurtha. With what strength of mind soever Metel But now the indignation of the people in general at Rome displayed itself in the strongest manner. Memmius the tribune inflamed them by his speeches. He caused Cassius, who was prætor, to be appointed to attend Jugurtha; and to engage him to come to Rome, under the guarantee of the Romans, in order 1 He chose two of the nimblest of those who had followed him into Cirtha; and these, induced by the great rewards he promised them, and pitying his unhappy circumstances, undertook to pass through the enemy's camp, in the night, to the neighbouring shore, and from thence to Rome. Ex iis qui una Cirtam profugerant. duos maxime impigros delegit: eos, multa pollicendo, ac miserando casum Postquam Roma egressus est, fertur sæpe tacitus eo suum, confirmat, uti per hostium munitiones noctu ad proxi-respiciens, postremo dixisse: Urbem venalem et maturè mum mare, dein Romam pergerent. Sallust. 2 Multæ bonaque artes animi et corporis erant, quas omnes avaritia præpediebat. Magnitudine pecuniæ a bono honestoque in pravum abstractus est. perituram, si emptorem invenerit. For electing magistrates. Sal. In Numidiam proficiscitur, magnâ spe civium cùm propter artes bonas, tum maximè quòd adversùm divitias invitum animum gerebat. las might be endowed on other occasions, he was totally dejected by this unforeseen blow, which even forced tears from his eyes, and compelled him to utter such expressions as were altogether unworthy so great a man. There was something very dark and vile in Marius's conduct, and displays ambition in its native and genuine colours, and shows that it extinguishes, in those who abandon themselves to it, all sense of honour and integrity. Metellus having anxiously endeavoured to avoid a man whose sight he could not bear, arrived in Rome, and was reA. M. 3898. ceived there with universal acclamaA. Rom. 642. tions. A triumph was decreed him, and the surname of Numidicus conferred upon him. A. M. 3901. A. Rom. 645. Ant. J. C. 103. this ring he used ever after as his signet. But Ma rius was so highly exasperated at this kind of insult, that he could never forgive him; and this circumstance gave rise to the implacable hatred between these two Romans, which afterwards broke out with so much fury, and cost the republic so much blood. Marius entered Rome in triumph," exhibiting such a spectacle to the Ro mans, as they could scarce believe they saw, when it passed before their eyes; I mean Jugurtha in chains: that so formidable an enemy, during whose life, they had not dared to flatter themselves with the hopes of being able to put an end to this war; so well was his courage sustained by stratagem and artifice, and his I thought it would be proper to reserve for the Ro-genius so fruitful in finding new expedients, even when man history, a particular account of the events that his affairs were most desperate. We are told, that happened in Africa, under Metellus and Marius, all Jugurtha ran distracted, as he was walking in the of which are very circumstantially described by Sal- triumph; that after the ceremony was ended, he was lust, in his admirable history of Jugurtha. I therefore thrown into prison; and that the lictors were so eager hasten to the conclusion of this war. to seize his robe, that they rent it in several pieces, and tore away the tips of his ears, to get the rich jewels with which they were adorned. In this condition, he was cast, quite naked, and in the utmost terror, into a deep dungeon, where he spent six days in struggling with hunger and the fear of death, retaining a strong desire of life to his last gasp; an end, continues Plu tarch, worthy of his wicked deeds, Jugurtha having been always of opinion, that the greatest crimes might be committed to satiate his ambition; ingratitude, perfidy, black treachery, and inhuman barbarity. 2 Jugurtha being greatly distressed in his affairs, had recourse to Bocchus, king of Mauritania, whose daughter he had married. This country extends from Numidia, as far as beyond the shores of the Mediterranean opposite to Spain. The Roman name was scarce known in it, and the people were absolutely unknown to the Romans. Jugurtha insinuated to his father-in-law, that should he suffer Numidia to be conquered, his kingdom would doubtless be involved in its ruin; especially as the Romans, who were sworn enemies to monarchy, seemed to have vowed the destruction of all the thrones in the universe. He therefore prevailed with Bocchus to enter into a league with him; and accordingly received, on different occasions, very considerable succours from that king. A. M. 3959. A. Rom. 703. Juba, king of Mauritania, reflected so much honour on polite literature and the sciences, that I could not, without impropriety, omit him in the history of the family of Masinissa, to whom his father, who also was named Juba, was great-grandson, and grandson of This confederacy, which was cemented on either Gulussa. The elder Juba signalized himself in the side by no other tie than that of interest, had never war between Cæsar and Pompey, by his inviolable atbeen strong; and a last defeat which Jugurtha met tachment to the party of the latter. He slew himself with broke at once all the bands of it. Bocchus now after the battle of Thapsus, in which meditated the dark design of delivering up his son-in-his forces and those of Scipio were enlaw to the Romans. For this purpose he desired Ma-tirely defeated. Juba, his son, then rius to send him a trusty person. Sylla, who was an a child, was delivered up to the conofficer of uncommon merít, and served under him as queror, and was one of the most conspicuous ornaments questor, was thought every way qualified for this ne- of his triumph. It appears from history, that a noble gociation. He was not afraid to put himself into the education was bestowed upon Juba in Rome, where hands of the barbarian king; and accordingly set out he imbibed such a variety of knowledge, as afterwards for his court. Being arrived, Bocchus, who, like the equalled him to the most learned among the Grecians. rest of his countrymen, did not pride himself on sin- He did not leave that city till he went to take possescerity, and was for ever projecting new designs, debat- sion of his father's dominions. Augustus restored ed within himself, whether it would not be his interest them to him, when, by the death of to deliver up Sylla to Jugurtha. He was a long time Marc Antony, the provinces of the fluctuating in this uncertainty, and conflicting with a empire were absolutely at his disposal. contrariety of sentiments: and the sudden changes Juba, by the lenity of his government, which displayed themselves in his countenance, in his gained the hearts of all his subjects: air, and in his whole person, showed evidently how who, out of a grateful sense of the felicity they had enstrongly his mind was affected. At length returning joyed during his reign, ranked him in the number of to his first design, he made his terms with Sylla, and their gods. Pausanius speaks of a statue which the delivered up Jugurtha into his hands, who was sent Athenians erected in his honour. It was indeed just, immediately to Marius. that a city, which had been consecrated in all ages to the Muses, should give public testimonies of its esteem for a king who made so bright a figure among the learned. Suidas ascribes several works to this prince, of which only the fragments are now extant. He had written the history of Arabia; the antiquities of Assyria, and those of the Romans; the history of theatres, of painting and painters; of the nature and properties of different animals; of grammar, and similar subjects; a catalogue of all which is given in Abbé Sevin's short dissertation on the life and works of the younger Juba," whence I have extracted these few particulars. Sylla, says Plutarch, acted on this occasion, like a young man fired with a strong thirst of glory, the sweets of which he had just began to taste. Instead of ascribing to the general under whom he fought all the honour of this event, as his duty required, and which ought to be an inviolable maxim, he reserved the greater part of it to himself, and had a ring made, which he always wore, wherein he was represented receiving Jugurtha from the hands of Bocchus; and Quibus rebus supra bonum atque honestum perculsus, neque lachrymas tenere, neque moderari linguam: vir egregius in aliis artibus, nimis molliter ægritudinem pati. Now comprehending Fez, Morocco, &c. 3 Plut, in vit. Marii. A. M. 3974. A. Rom. 719. Ant. J. C. 30. Vol. iv. of the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Letres, p. 457. CHAPTER I. THE FIRST EMPIRE OF THE ASSYRIANS. SECTION I.-DURATION OF THAT EMPIRE. THE Assyrian empire was undoubtedly one of the most powerful in the world. With respect to its duration, two opinions have chiefly prevailed. Some authors, as Ctesias, whose opinion is followed by Justin, gave it a duration of 1300 years: others reduce it to 520, of which number is Herodotus. The diminution, or probably the interruption of power, which happened in this vast empire might possibly give occasion to this difference of opinions, and may perhaps serve in some measure to reconcile them. 1 The history of those early times is so obscure, the monuments which convey it down to us so contrary to each other and the systems of the moderns upon that matter so different, that it is difficult to lay down any opinion about it, as certain and incontestable. But where certainty is not to be had, I suppose a reasonable person will be satisfied with probability; and, in my opinion, a man can hardly be deceived, if he makes the Assyrian empire equal in antiquity with the city of Babylon, its capital. Now we learn from the Holy Scripture, that this was built by Nimrod, who certainly was a great conqueror, and in all probability the first and most ancient of all those who have ever aspired after that denomination. 2 danapalus, the last king, that is to say, from the year A. M. 1800. Ant. J. C. 2204. He was the son of Chus, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noah. He was, says the Scripture, a mighty hunter before the Lord. In applying himself to this laborious and dangerous exercise, he had two things in view; the first was, to gain the people's affection by delivering them from the fury and dread of wild beasts; the next was to train up numbers of young people by this exercise of hunting to endure labour and hardship, to form them to the use of arms, to inure them to a kind of discipline and obedience, that at a proper time, after they had been accustomed to his orders and seasoned in arms, he might make use of them for other purposes more serious than hunting. In ancient history we find some footsteps remaining of this artifice of Nimrod, whom the writers have confounded with Ninus, his son: for Diodorus has these words: Ninus, the most ancient of the Assyrian kings mentioned in history, performed great actions. Being naturally of a warlike disposition, and ambitious of the glory that results from valour, he armed a considerable number of young men, that were brave and vigorous like himself; trained them up a long time in laborious exercises and hardships, and by that means accustomed them to bear the fatigues of war patiently, and to face dangers with courage and intrepidity. What the same author adds, that Ninus entered into an alliance with the king of the Arabs, and joined forces with him, is a piece of ancient tradition, which The Babylonians, as Callisthenes, a philosopher informs us, that the sons of Chus, and by consequence in Alexander's retinue, wrote to Aristotle, reckoned the brothers of Nimrod, all settled themselves in themselves at least to be 1903 years' standing when Arabia, along the Persian gulf, from Havilah to the that prince entered triumphant into Babylon; which Ocean; and lived near enough to their brother to lend makes their origin reach back to the year of the him succours, or to receive them from him. And world 1771, that is to say, 115 years after the deluge. what the same historian farther says of Ninus, that This computation comes within a few years of the he was the first king of the Assyrians, agrees exactly time in which we suppose Nimrod to have founded with what the Scripture says of Nimrod, that he began that city. Indeed, this testimony of Callisthenes, as to be mighty upon the earth; that is, he procured himit does not agree with any other accounts of that self settlements, built cities, subdued his neighbours, matter is not esteemed authentic by the learned; but united different people under one and the same authe conformity we find between it and the Holy thority, by the band of the same polity and the same Scriptures should make us regard it. Upon these laws, and formed them into one state; which, for grounds, I think we may allow Nimrod to have been these early times, was of a considerable extent though the founder of the first Assyrian empire, which sub-bounded by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris; and sisted with more or less extent and glory upwards of and which in succeeding ages, made new acquisi1450 years, from the time of Nimrod to that of Sar- tions by degrees, and at length extended its conquests They that are curious to make deeper researches into very far. this matter, may read the dissertations of Abbé Banier and Here I depart from the opinion of Archbishop Usher, my ordinary guide, with respect to the duration of the As The capital city of his kingdom, says the Scripture, was Babylon. Most of the profane historians ascribe syrian empire, which he supposes, with Herodotus, to have Belus or Baal signifies Lord. Gen. x. 9. the founding of Babylon to Semiramis, others to Belus. It is evident, that both the one and the other are mistaken, if they speak of the first founder of that city; for it owes its beginning neither to Semiramis nor to Nimrod, but to the foolish vanity of those persons mentioned in Scripture, who desired to build a tower and a city, that should render their memory immortal. Josephus relates, upon the testimony of a Sibyl (who must have been very ancient, and whose fictions cannot be imputed to the indiscreet zeal of ahy Christians), that the gods threw down the tower by an impetuous wind, or a violent hurricane.. Had this been the case, Nimrod's temerity must have been still greater, to rebuild a city and a tower which God himself had overthrown with such marks of his displeasure. But the Scripture says no such thing; and it is very probable, the building remained in the condition it was, when God put an end to the work by the confusion of languages; and that the tower consecrated to Belus, which is described by Herodotus, was this very tower, which the sons of men pretended to raise to the clouds. It is farther probable, that this ridiculous design having been defeated by such an astonishing prodigy as none could be the author of but God himself, every body abandoned the place, which had given Him of fence; and that Nimrod was the first who encompassed it afterwards with walls, settled therein his friends and confederates, and subdued those that lived round about it, beginning his empire in that place, but not confining it to so narrow a compass: Fuit principium regni ejus Babylon. The other cities, which the Scripture speaks of in the same place, were in the land of Shinar, which was certainly the province of which Babylon became the metropolis. kings to whom their building is ascribed by profane authors, because the Scripture says little or nothing on that subject. This silence of Scripture, so little satisfactory to our curiosity, may become an instruc tive lesson to our piety. The holy penman has placed Nimrod and Abraham, as it were, in one view before ys; and seems to have put them so near together on purpose, that we should see an example in the former of what is admired and coveted by men, and in the latter of what is acceptable and well pleasing to God. These two persons, so unlike one another, are the first two and chief citizens of two different cities, built on different motives, and with different principles ;* the one self-love, and a desire of temporal advantages, carried even to the contemning of the Deity; the other, the love of God, even to the contemning of one's self. NINUS. I have already observed, that most of the profane authors look upon him as the first founder of the Assyrian empire, and for that reason ascribe to him a great part of his father Nimrod's or Belus's actions. Having a design to enlarge his conquests, 10 the first thing he did was to prepare troops and officers capable of promoting his designs. And having received powerful succours from the Arabians his neighbours, he took the field, and in the space of seventeen years conquered a vast extent of country, from Egypt as far as India and Bactriana, which he did not then venture to attack. At his return, before he entered upon any new conquests, he conceived the design of immortalizing his name by the building of a city answerable to the greatness of his power; he called it Nineveh, and built it on the eastern banks of the Tigris. Possibly he did no more than finish the work his father had begun. His design, says Diodorus, was to make Nineveh the From this country he went into that which has the largest and noblest city in the world, and to put it out name of Assyria, and there built Nineveh; De terra of the power of those that came after him ever to build illa egressus est Assur, et ædificavit Nineveh. This is the or hope to build such another. Nor was he deceived sense in which many learned men understand the word in his view; for never did any city come up to the Assur, looking upon it as the name of a province and not greatness and magnificence of this: it was 150 stadia of the first man who possessed it; as if it were, egressus (or eighteen miles three quarters) in length, and ninety est in Assur, in Assyriam. And this seems to be the most stadia (or eleven miles and one quarter) in breadth: natural construction, for many reasons not necessary and consequently was an oblong square. Its circumto be recited in this place. The country of Assyria ference was 480 stadia, or sixty miles. For this reason is described, in one of the prophets, by the particular we find it said in the prophet Jonah, that Nineveh was character of being the land of Nimrod: Et pascent an exceeding great city, of three days' journey ;12 which terram Assur in gladio, et terram Nimrod in lanceis ejus; is to be understood of the whole circuit or compass of et liberabit ab Assur, cum venerit in terram nostram. the city. The walls of it were 100 feet high, and It derived its name from Assur, the son of Shem, who of so considerable a thickness, that three chariots without doubt had settled himself and family there, might go abreast upon them with ease. They were and was probably driven out, or brought under sub-fortified and adorned with 1500 towers 200 feet high. jection by the usurper Nimrod. The conqueror having possessed himself of the provinces of Assur, did not ravage them like a tyrant, but filled them with cities, and made himself as much beloved by his new subjects, as he was by his old ones; so that the historians, who have not examined into the bottom of this affair, have thought that he made use of the Assyrians to conquer the Babylonians. Among other cities, he built one more large and magnificent than the rest, which he called Nineveh, from the name of his son Ninus, in order to immortalize his memory. The son, in his turn, out of veneration for his father, was willing that they who had served him as their king should adore him as their god, and induce other nations to render him the same worship. For it appears evident, that Nimrod is the famous Belus of the Babylonians, the first king whom the people deified for his great actions, and who showed others the way to that sort of immortality which human acquirements are supposed capable of bestowing. I intend to speak of the mighty strength and greatness of the cities of Babylon and Nineveh, under the 1 Semiramis eam condiderat, vel ut plerique tradidere, Belus, cujus regia ostenditur. Q. Cart. lib. v. c. 1. 2 Gen. xi. 4. Hist. Jud. I. i. c. 4. Lib. i. c. 181. Gen. x. 11. • Mic. v. 6. 7 Gen. x. 11, 12. Diod. . i. p. 90. After he had finished this prodigious work, he resumed his expedition against the Bactrians. His army, according to the relation of Ctesias, consisted of 1,700,000 foot, 200,000 horse, and about 16,000 chariots armed with scythes. Diodorus adds, that this ought not to appear incredible, since, not to mention the innumerable armies of Darius and Xerxes, the city of Syracuse alone in the time of Dionysius the Tyrant, furnished 120,000 foot, and 12.000 horse, besides 400 vessels well equipped and provided. little before Hannibal's time, Italy, including the citizens and allies, was able to send into the field near 1,000,000 of men. Ninus made himself master of a great number of cities, and at last laid siege to Bactria, the capital of the country. Here he would proba And a amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei: cælestem verò amor Fecerunt civitates duas amores duo: terrenam scilicet Dei usque ad contemptum sui. S. Aug. de Civ. Dei, lib. xiv. c. 28. 10 Diod. l. ii. p. 90-95. 11 Diodorus says it was on the banks of the Euphrates, and speaks of it as if it was so, in many places; but he is mistaken. 13 Jon. iii. 3. 18 It is hard to believe that Diodorus does not speak of the extent of Nineveh with some exaggeration; therefore some learned men have reduced the stadium to little more than one half, and reckon fifteen of them to the Roman mile instead of eight, the usual computation. bly have seen all his attempts miscarry, had it not | tar, and soon grows much harder than the bricks or been for the diligence and assistance of Semiramis, stones themselves which it cements together. wife to one of his chief officers, a woman of an uncommon courage, and peculiarly exempt from the weakness of her sex. She was born at Ascalon, a city of Syria. I think it needless to recite the account Diodorus gives of her birth, and of the miraculous manner of her being nursed and brought up by pigeons, since that historian himself looks upon it only as a fabulous story. It was Semiramis that directed Ninus how to attack the citadel, and by her means he took it, and thus became master of the city, in which he found immense treasure. The husband of Semiramis having killed himself, to prevent the effects of the king's threats and indignation, who had conceived a violent passion for his wife, Ninus married her. After his return to Nineveh, he had a son by her, whom he called Ninyas. Not long after this he died, and left the queen the government of the kingdom. She, in honour of his memory, erected a magnificent monument, which remained a long time after the ruin of Nineveh. I find no appearance of truth in what some authors relate concerning the manner of Semiramis's coming to the throne. According to them, having secured the chief men of the state, and attached them to her interest by her benefactions and promises, she solicited the king with great importunity to put the sovereign power into her hands for the space of five days. He yielded to her entreaties, and all the provinces of the empire were commanded to obey Semiramis. These orders were executed but too exactly for the unfortunate Ninus, who was put to death, either immediately, or after some years' imprisonment. 2 3 SEMIRAMIS. This princess applied all her thoughts to immortalize her name, and to cover the meanness of her extraction by the greatness of her enterprises. She proposed to herself to surpass all her predecessors in magnificence, and to that end she undertook the building of the mighty Babylon, in which work she employed 2000,000 of men, which were collected out of all the provinces of her vast empire. Some of her successors endeavoured to adorn that city with new works and embellishments. I shall here speak of them altogether, in order to give the reader a more clear and distinct idea of that stupendous city. The principal works which rendered Babylon so famous, are the walls of the city; the quays and the bridge; the lake, banks, and canals, made for the draining of the river; the palaces, hanging gardens, and the temple of Belus; works of such a surprising magnificence, as is scarce to be comprehended. Dr. Prideaux having treated this subject with great extent and learning, I have only to copy, or rather abridge, him. I. The Walls. These walls were surrounded on the outside with a vast ditch, full of water, and lined with bricks on both sides. The earth that was dug out of it made the bricks wherewith the walls were built; and therefore, from the vast height and breadth of the walls may be inferred the greatness of the ditch. In every side of this great square were twenty-five gates, that is, 100 in all, which were all made of solid brass; and hence it is, that when God promises to Cyrus the conquest of Babylon, he tells him, that he would break in pieces before him the gates of brass. Between every two of these gates were three towers, and four more at the four corners of this great square, and three between each of these corners and the next gate on either side; every one of these towers was ten feet higher than the walls. But this is to be understood only of those parts of the wall where there was need of towers. From the twenty-five gates in each side of this great square went twenty-five streets, in straight lines to the gates, which were directly over against them, in the opposite side; so that the whole number of the streets was fifty, each fifteen miles long, whereof twenty-five went one way, and twenty-five the other, directly crossing each other at right angles. And be sides these, there were also four half streets, which had houses only on one side, and the wall on the other; these went round the four sides of the city next the walls, and were each of them 200 feet broad; the rest were about 150. By these streets thus crossing each other, the whole city was cut out into 676 squares, each of which was four furlongs and a half on every side, that is, two miles and a quarter in circumfer ence. Round these squares, on every side towards the street, stood the houses (which were not contiguous, but had void spaces between them), all built three or four stories high, and beautified with all manner of ornaments towards the streets. The space within, in the middle of each square, was likewise all void ground, employed for yards, gardens, and other such uses; so that Babylon was greater in appearance than reality, near one half of the city being taken up in gardens and other cultivated lands, as we are told by Q. Curtius. II. The Quays and Bridge. A branch of the river Euphrates ran quite cross the city, from the north to the south side; on each side of the river was a quay, and a high wall built of brick and bitumen, of the same thickness as the walls that went round the city. In these walls, over-against every street that led to the river, were gates of brass, and from them descents by steps to the river, for the conveniency of the inhabitants, who used to pass over from one side to the other in boats, having no other way of crossing the river before the building of the bridge. The brazen gates were always open in the day-time, and shut in the night. Babylon stood on a large plain,* in a very fat and rich soil. The walls were every way prodigious. They were in thickness eighty-seven feet, in height 350, and in compass 480 furlongs, which make sixty of our miles. These walls were drawn round the city in the form of an exact square, each side of which was 120 furlongs or fifteen miles, in length, and all built of large bricks cemented together with bitumen, a glutinous slime arising out of the earth of that country, which binds much stronger and firmer than mor-gether with chains of iron and melted lead. Before 1 Plut. in Mor. 753. p. 2 Diod. l. ii. 95. We are not to wonder, if we find the founding of a city ascribed to different persons. It is common even among the profane writers, to say, Such a prince built such a city, whether he was the person that first founded it, or that only embellished or enlarged it. Herod. l. i. c. 178, 180. Diod. l. ii. p. 95, 96. Q. Curt. 1. v. c. 1. 5 I relate things as I find them in the ancient authors, which Dean Prideaux has also done; but I cannot help beeving that great abatements are to be made in what they say as to the immense extent of Babylon and Nineveh. The bridge was not inferior to any of the other buildings, either in beauty or magnificence; it was a furlong in length, and thirty feet in breadth, built with wonderful art, to supply the defect of a foundation in the bottom of the river, which was all sandy. The arches were made of huge stones, fastened to they began to build the bridge, they turned the course of the river, and laid its channel dry, having another view in so doing, besides that of laying the foundations more commodiously, as I shall explain hereafter. And as every thing was prepared beforehand, both the bridge and the quays, which I have already described, were built in that interval. |