Ruins of Ancient Cities Part 23

"In a large tract of ruins," Mr. Morier goes on to observe, "where houses, in different stages of decay, were to be seen, now and then an inhabited house may be discovered, the owner of which may be a.s.similated to Job's forlorn man, '_dwelling in desolate cities, and which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps_[299].' Such a remark as this must have arisen from scenery similar to those which parts of Isfahan present; and unless the particular feeling of melancholy which they inspire has been felt, no words can convey any idea of it[300]."

NO. XLIII.--ITALICA.

This city (in Spain) is supposed to have been founded by the Phoenicians, who give it the name of Hispalis. It was afterwards colonized by the wounded soldiers of Scipio. It was then called Julia, and at last, after a variety of corruptions, Sebilla or Sevilla, la Viega.

The Romans embellished it with many magnificent edifices, but of which scarcely any vestige now remains.

In regard to the new city, the Gothic kings for some time made it their residence; but it was taken by storm soon after the victory obtained at Xeres, over the Gothic king Rodrigo. It at last fell before Ferdinand III., after a year's siege; and three hundred thousand Moors were compelled to quit the place; notwithstanding which it became the most magnificent city in all Spain, a little after the discovery of America; all the valuable commodities of the West Indies being carried thither.

An old Spanish writer thus speaks of this place:--"Not far from hence one sees the _ruins of an ancient city_; and of an amphitheatre, great part of which remains; but many of the great parts lie in such confusion, as if it had been thrown into disorder by an earthquake. The people call this place Sevilla la Vieja, or Old Seville; but the learned take it to be the ancient Italica, the birth-place of the emperor Adrian and Silius Italicus; there having been found a sufficient number of ancient medals and inscriptions to justify that opinion; and amongst others, they found a medal of Tiberius, with the following legend upon it: DIVI. AVG. MVNIC. ITALIC. PERM. And in the time of Fernando el Santo, the conqueror of Seville (which was in the year 1248), this place retained some traces of its ancient name; for it was called Talca. Some of the ruins appear to have been the remains of a temple, and a bath. In the spot near which many of these ruins are to be seen, there is a monastery of St. Isidore; and in the church there is an altar of alabaster, which can scarce be matched in Europe[301]."

NO. XLIV.--JERUSALEM.

"How doth the city solitary sit, she that was full of people!

How is she become a widow, that was great among the nations!

Princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

She weepeth sore in the night, and her tear is upon her cheek: She hath none to comfort her, among all her lovers: All her friends have betrayed her, they became her enemies."

_Lamen._ i. 1, 2.

"In the whole universe," says Mr. Eustace, "there were only two cities interesting alike to every member of the great Christian commonwealth, to every citizen of the civilised world, whatever may be his tribe or nation--Rome and Jerusalem. The former calls up every cla.s.sic recollection; the latter awakens every sentiment of devotion; the one brings before our eyes all the splendour of the present world; the other all the glories of the world to come."

[Ill.u.s.tration: JERUSALEM.]

Palestine, or the land of Canaan, originally extended in length from north to south, near two hundred miles, and from eighty to fifteen in breadth, from east to west. Its southern boundary was formed by the desert of Beersheba, the Dead Sea, the river Arnon, and the river of Egypt, or the Siehor; to the north, it was bounded by the mountainous ridge called Antiliba.n.u.s; to the east by Arabia, and to the west by the Mediterranean. Though rocky and mountainous, it was one of the most fertile provinces of the temperate zone; a land, according to the authority of the sacred penman, of brooks of waters, of fountains, and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive-oil, and honey; a land wherein bread might be eaten without scarceness, whose stones were iron, and out of whose hills might be dug bra.s.s.

In the midst of this highly favoured region stood the city of Jerusalem, which, according to the Jewish chronology, was founded by their high priest Melchizedec, in the year of the world 2032. It was then called Salem, a word signifying _peace_.[302]

Joshua is supposed to have destroyed Jerusalem; that town, though not mentioned, being considered to have been one of those that fought against Gibeon, the king of which was Adoni-zedek[303].

The city was afterwards rebuilt by David, and surrounded with fortifications, extending inwards from the low grounds, called Millo, to the summit of the mountain, on which he erected a citadel, destined alike to be the great fortress of the nation, and the sumptuous residence of its kings. The rich work of the tabernacle, and the splendour which characterised many of their ceremonies, had long tended to inspire the Israelites with a taste for the elegant arts. David's palace, we accordingly find, was a palace of cedar. In raising this structure, the timber of Tyre and the superior skill of its artificers were employed to secure its beauty and stability. When completed, the grace and majesty of the pile reminded the monarch that, in taking up his abode in such a building, he should be more splendidly lodged than the ark and visible emblem of Jehovah itself. With this idea in his mind, he resolved upon erecting a building for the service of G.o.d, which should be as worthy of its destination as the ability and piety of man could make it.

This design, David not living to carry into execution, was followed up and completed by Solomon his son. From the reign of Solomon to the final destruction of the city, it underwent many vicissitudes, some of which we shall recite. In the fourth year of Solomon's son, Rehoboam (B.C.

971), it was besieged and taken by Sesac, king of Egypt, who carried away the treasures of the temple, as well as those of the royal palace.

In 826 B.C. the temple and palace were plundered by Jehoash, and the walls demolished. In 608 B.C. Jerusalem was taken by Nechao, king of Egypt. It was next besieged by Sennacherib, king of Nineveh. That prince having returned from Egypt, which he had ravaged, and taken a great number of prisoners, laid siege to it with a vast army. The city appeared to be inevitably lost: it was without resource, and without hope from the hands of men. It had, however, says the historian, "a powerful protector in Heaven, whose jealous ears had heard the impious blasphemies uttered by the king of Nineveh against his sacred name. In one single night 185,000 men of his army perished by the sword of the destroying angel."

Jerusalem was soon after besieged by Nebuchadonosser and taken; when the conqueror caused Jehoiakim to be put in chains with the design of having him carried to Babylon; but, being moved with his affliction, he restored him to his throne. Great numbers, however, of the Jews were carried captives to Babylon, whither all the treasures of the king's palace and a part of the temple were likewise transported. From this famous epoch we are to date the captivity of the Jews at Babylon.

They having afterwards rebelled, the king came from Babylon and besieged them anew. The siege lasted nearly a year. At length the city was taken by storm, and a terrible slaughter ensued. Zedekiah's two sons were, by Nebuchadnezzar's orders, killed before their father's face, with all the n.o.blemen and princ.i.p.al men of Judah. Zedekiah himself had both his eyes put out, was loaded with fetters, and carried to Babylon, where he was confined in prison as long as he lived. As to the city and temple, they were both pillaged and burned, and all their fortifications demolished.

The kings of Persia soon after permitted the Jews to rebuild the temple;[304] but not the walls. Artaxerxes Epiphanes, however, issued an edict that they might rebuild their walls; and Nehemiah, as governor of Judea, was appointed to put this edict in execution; and, in order to do him higher honour, the king ordered a body of horse to escort him thither. He likewise wrote to all the governors of the provinces on this side the Euphrates, to give him all the a.s.sistance possible in forwarding the work for which he was sent. This pious Jew did not fail to execute every part of his commission with great activity and zeal.

After the time of Nehemiah, Jerusalem enjoyed peace till the year B.C.

332, when Alexander, having taken Tyre, demanded a.s.sistance of the Jews, and being refused by the high-priest, who pleaded an oath, made to Darius, not to take part with his enemies; the Macedonian was incensed, and repairing to Jerusalem, determined to be avenged on the city and its inhabitants; but being met by a mult.i.tude of people, dressed in white, the priests arrayed in their robes, and the high priest in a garment of purple and gold, having on his head a tiara, on which was inscribed the name of the Lord, his pa.s.sion subsided; and, approaching the high-priest, he offered his adoration to G.o.d, and saluted all the Hebrews.

We pa.s.s over Alexander's entry into the city, because enough will be said of that vain-glorious person, in other pages of our work; also the siege which Ptolemy made it sustain, to the time when Antiochus Epiphanes took it by storm; and during three days abandoned it to the fury of his soldiers. He caused no less than 80,000 of its inhabitants to be inhumanly butchered. Forty thousand men, also, were taken prisoners, and the like number sold to the neighbouring nations. He committed, also, a thousand other atrocities.

We now come to the period in which it was besieged by another Antiochus, viz. Antiochus Sidetes. Hirca.n.u.s having been, by the death of Simon, appointed high-priest and prince of the Jews, Antiochus marched with all possible haste, at the head of a powerful army, to reduce Judea, and unite it to the empire of Syria. Hirca.n.u.s shut himself up in the city, where he sustained a long siege with incredible valour. At length he was compelled, by the extremity of his necessities, to make proposals of peace. Several of the king's councillors, however, advised him not to listen to any proposals of that nature. "The Jews," said they, "were driven out of Egypt, as impious persons, hated by the G.o.ds, and abhorred by men. They are enemies to all the rest of mankind. They have no communication with any but those of their own persuasion. They will neither eat nor drink nor have any familiarity with other people; they do not adore the G.o.ds that we do; their laws, customs, manners, and religion, are entirely different from those of all other nations; they therefore deserve to be treated by all the nations with equal contempt; to receive hatred for hatred; and to be utterly extirpated."

Such was the language addressed to Antiochus; and had he not been devout and generous, says Diodorus, this advice had been followed. He listened, however, to milder counsels, and agreed that the besieged should have leave to surrender their arms; and that their fortifications being demolished, a peace should be granted. All this was done.

Some years after this, Jerusalem was taken possession of by the Romans under the command of Pompey the Great, and the temple carried by storm.

There were two parties in the city. One, the adherents of Hirca.n.u.s, opened the gates; the other retired to the mountain where the temple stood, and caused the bridges of the ditch and valley which surrounded it to be broken down. Upon this, Pompey, who was already master of the city, ventured to besiege the temple. The place held out three months, and might, perhaps, have done so for three months longer, and perhaps even obliged the Romans to abandon their enterprise, but for the rigour with which the besieged thought proper to observe the sabbath. They believed, indeed, that they might defend themselves when attacked; but not that they might prevent the works of the enemy, or make any for themselves. The Romans knew how to take advantage of this inaction on sabbath-days. They did not attack the Jews upon them; but filled up the fosses, made their approaches, and fixed their engines without opposition. At length, being able to make a breach in the walls, the place was carried by the sword, and not less than 12,000 persons were slain. The victors entered the temple; and Pompey went even so far as to penetrate to the Holy of Holies, and altered the name of Jerusalem (then called Hierosolyma) to Hierosolymarius. Not long after, Cra.s.sus, marching against the Parthians, entered the temple, the treasures of which Pompey held sacred, and rifled it of a sum equivalent, in our money, to 1,500,000.

Pompey caused the walls to be demolished: Caesar afterwards caused them to be rebuilt; and Antipater, executing that commission, soon put the city into as good a position of defence as it had been before the demolition. Notwithstanding this, Jerusalem became subject to another siege by the Romans, acting in behalf of Herod, with 60,000 men. The place held out many months with great resolution; and if the besieged had been as expert in the art of war and the defence of places, as they were brave and resolute, it would not, perhaps, have been taken. But the Romans, who were much better skilled in those things than they, carried the place, after a siege of more than six months. They entered, made themselves masters, plundered and destroyed all before them, and filled every part of the city with blood. The crown of all Judea was soon after placed in the hands of a stranger,--an Idumean--(Herod); in whose reign Jesus Christ was born.

During the reign of Herod the Great, Jerusalem was much enlarged and embellished. He erected a superb palace, a theatre, and an amphitheatre.

He, also, projected the design of enlarging the temple,[305] which had been erected after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity; and, having begun the work in the eleventh year of his reign, he completed it in eight years.

Tacitus call this erection "_immensae opulentiae templum_;" and Josephus says, "it was the most astonis.h.i.+ng temple he had ever seen, as well on account of its architecture as its magnitude; the richness and magnificence of its various parts, and the reputation of its sacred appurtenances." This temple Herod began to build about sixteen years before the birth of Christ. It was so far completed in nine years and a half, as to be fit for divine service: and what is very remarkable, it was afterwards destroyed by the Romans, in the same month and day of the month, in which Solomon's temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians.

In its most flouris.h.i.+ng state Jerusalem was divided into four parts, each separated by a wall, viz. 1. The old city of J[=e]bus, standing on Mount Zion, where David built a magnificent palace and castle. This part was called the city of David. 2. The lower city; called the Daughter of Zion, in which part Solomon built two magnificent palaces, for himself and his queen; and which contained that of the Maccabean princes; and the amphitheatre of Herod. Also the citadel of Antiochus; and lastly the citadel built by Herod, upon a high rock, and thence called Antonia. 3.

The "New City;" mostly inhabited by merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics.

4. Mount Moriah; on which Solomon built his temple.

The height of the temple thus repaired is said to have been one thousand two hundred feet. The stones of which it was built were all of marble, forty cubits long, twelve thick, eight high, and so exquisitely joined that they appeared to be of one combined piece. There were one thousand four hundred and fifty-three columns of Parian marble, and two thousand nine hundred and six pilasters, of such thickness, that three men could hardly embrace them; and their height and capital proportionable, and all of the Corinthian order.[306] All the materials of the original fabric were, as it is well known, finished and adapted to their several ends before they were brought to Jerusalem: that is, the stones in their quarries, and the cedars in Lebanon; so that there was no noise of axe, hammer, or any other tool, heard in the rearing of it. There were no less than one hundred and sixty-three thousand men employed in this work; and yet it took nine years in the building.

The expense of building this wonderful structure was prodigious: the gold and silver employed for this purpose, amounted to 800,000,000_l._ sterling, which, according to Prideaux's calculation, was a sum equal to have built the whole of solid silver; but it can scarcely be questioned, we think, that some error has crept into the account[307]: There could not have been so much bullion, much less coin, at that time in the world.

In ancient Jerusalem there were ten gates and four towers. Its extent was about one mile. In Solomon's time, this extent appears to have been twice, if not thrice, more. In the time of t.i.tus it was four miles 125 paces. Eusebius lays the circ.u.mference at 2550 toises.

We must now proceed to give some account of the destruction of the city by t.i.tus[308]: and in doing so we shall adopt the description presented by the author of--"On the Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities of Nature."

"The war began in the month of May, A.D. 66; and the siege left to the management of t.i.tus, April 14, A.D. 70. Previous to the siege, the city was a prey to the most intolerable anarchy; robbers having broken into it, and filled almost every house with thieves, a.s.sa.s.sins, and broilers, of every description. The best citizens were thrown into prisons, and afterwards murdered, without even a form of trial. At this time t.i.tus appeared before the gates--a vast mult.i.tude having previously arrived in the city to celebrate the feast of the pa.s.sover. During this celebrated siege, there were no less than three earthquakes; and an aurora borealis terrified the inhabitants with forms, which their fears and astonishment converted into prodigies of enemies fighting in the air, and flaming swords hanging over their temple. They were visited with a plague, so dreadful, that more than one hundred and fifty thousand persons were carried out of the city, at the public charge, to be buried; and six hundred and fifty thousand were cast over the walls, and out of the gates. A famine ensued; and so horrible was the want, that a bushel of corn sold for six hundred crowns. The populace were reduced to the necessity of taking old excrement of horses, mules, and oxen, to satisfy their hunger; and a lady of quality even boiled her own child and ate it--a crime so exquisite, that t.i.tus vowed to the eternal G.o.ds, that he would bury its infamy in the ruins of the city. He took it soon after by storm; the plough was drawn over it; and with the exception of the west walls, and three towers, not one stone remained above another. Ninety thousand persons were made captives; and one million one hundred thousand perished during the siege. Those made captives being sold to several nations, they were dispersed over a great portion of the ancient world; and from them are descended the present race of Jews, scattered singly, and in detached portions, in every province of Europe, and in most districts of Africa and Asia. Thus terminated this memorable siege--a siege the results of which meet the eye in every Jew we meet."

The Jews having, in the reign of Adrian, given way to a turbulent disposition, that emperor resolved to level all things to the ground--that is, those buildings which the Jews had erected to destroy the towers, that were left by t.i.tus for the convenience of the Roman garrison; and to sow salt in the ground on which the city had stood.

Thus did Adrian literally fulfil the prophecy, that neither in the city, nor in the temple, should one stone be left upon another. This final destruction took place forty-seven years after that of t.i.tus.

A new city, under the name of aelia Capitolina, was soon after built, where the presence of the Jews was absolutely prohibited. In this new city, the Christians were sometimes persecuted, and sometimes protected, by the Roman emperors, till the time when the empress Helena came to visit the city; when, finding it in a most forlorn and ruinous condition, she formed the design of restoring it to its ancient l.u.s.tre; and her son, Constantine, having embraced the Christian doctrine, he issued an edict, that the old name of Jerusalem should be employed when speaking of the city.

A few years after, an attempt was made to rebuild the temple by the emperor Julian, an attempt which is recorded as having proved abortive, from fiery eruptions escaping out of the earth, and dispersing the workmen.

In the reign of Justinian, that emperor built a magnificent church at Jerusalem; the foundation being formed by raising part of a deep valley.

The stones of a neighbouring quarry were hewn into regular forms; each block was fixed on a peculiar carriage drawn by forty of the strongest oxen, and the roads were widened for the pa.s.sage of such enormous weights. Lebanon furnished her loftiest cedars for the timbers of the church; and the seasonable discovery of a vein of red marble supplied its beautiful columns;--two of which, the supporters of the extensive portico, were esteemed the largest in the world.

In 613, Jerusalem was taken by Chosroes, king of Persia. The sepulchre of Christ and the stately churches of Helena and Constantine were consumed; the devout offerings of three hundred years were rifled, "the true cross" was transported into Persia; and the ma.s.sacre of ninety thousand Christians is imputed to the Jews and Arabs, who swelled the disorder of the Persian march.

It was recaptured by Heraclius in 627. This emperor banished all the Jews, and interdicted them from coming nearer to it than three miles.