Archaioplutos OR THE RICHES OF Elder ages Proouing by manie good and learned Authours that the auncient Emperors Kings were more rich and magnificent then such as liue in these daies Heereto is annexed the honours of the braue Romaine Souldiours With the seauen Wonders of the Worlde Written in French by Guil. Thelin Lord of Gutmont and Morillonuilliers and truely translated into English Patere aut Abstine AT LONDON Printed by I. C. for Richard Smith and are to be sold at his shop at the West doore of Paules 1592. To the Right Honourable and vertuous Lord Gilbert Lord Talbot the honourable Earle of Shrewesburie Knight of the most noble order of the Garter c. The fulnesse of content in all his heroycall desires I Offer to your Honour the paines of a Noble Frenchman how vnskilfully by me turned into English I leaue to your wonted honourable consideration who beeing enriched with so many singuler perfections will not frowne on the good endeuours of an humble well-willer I haue no meane whereby to excuse my boldnes but onelie this a reuerend and vnfained affection to your honour with forward zeale in duetie to doe anie thing you shall commaund me if this may excuse me it is as much as I desire and which heereafter I wil better imploy my selfe to deserue Your honours humble affectionate An Monday One of the Messengers of her Maiesties Chamber To the courteous Reader IF thys harshe and vnpleasant translation courteous Gentlemen may passe wyth your wonted kind acceptance expect a worke from the Presse very shortly more aunswerable to your humours namely the sweet conceited Historie of Orlando Amoroso Though farre inferiour to that already extant of Orlando Furioso doone by so rare a Scholler of the Muses yet what wants in cunning good wyll shall supply to compleat Orlandos vvhole Historie together A. M. A briefe extract of certain Histories wherin is declared that the Emperours and Kings of elder tymes were more rich and magnificent then such as liue at thys day taken from the Volumes of sundry good Authors The tryumph of Salomons Temple and what the making thereof valued WEE reade in the first Booke of the Chronicles the twentie two chapter that Dauid saide to Salomon My Son comfort thy selfe plucke vp thy hart and be strong dreade not neither be discouraged For according to my pouertie haue I prepared for the house of the Lord such dispence as shall be needfull to make vp the same to wit an hundred thousand Talents of Golde and a thousand thousand Talents of Siluer which is one Million with three thousand Talents of Gold of Ophir of the best choise Thys sum is infinite and not to be numbred An hūdred thousand Talents of gold doe value three-score thousand Millions of Crownes The Million of Talents of siluer valueth sixe hundred Millions of Crownes according to the estimate of Budaeus in hys Booke of Coynes Where speaking of the tryumphes of Caesar he saith that he caused to be brought into the publique Treasurie three-score and fiue thousand Talents of siluer which valued nine and thirty Millions of Crownes He maketh also the like mention where he speaketh of Cyrus King of Persia who tooke Craesus and his treasure amounting to fiue hundred thousand Talents of siluer which value three hundred Millions of Gold It is written in the second Chapter of the third booke of Kings that in the time of Salomon he had so much siluer out of Iudea as there was not any account made thereof The shyps belonging to Salomon king Hyram went by three and three yeerely to Tharsus whence they brought great quantitie of Gold and siluer in so much that as the Text saith there was such store of gold and siluer in Ierusalem as the King esteemed therof no otherwise then of stones the Vessels and all the vtencelles together of the house of Lybanon was of fine Gold Iosephus in his seauenth booke of Antiquities witnesseth that Dauid when he deceassed left greater riches then any other King were he Hebrewe or Gentile which was hydden within his Sepulchre as also in the Coffer or Vessell monumentarie wherin the bones and ashes of the Kinges were wont to be kept so that his treasure was verie hard to be found Likewise in the ninth Booke of the Euangelicall preparation he sayth that hee hath read in Eupolemus an auncient Historian that the King of Tyre and of Phoenicia with many other beside were tributaries to King Dauid from whom hee conquered these Treasures by force of Armes and by the Diuine fore-pointment the place was shewen him where the Temple shoulde be builded But because hee had soyled his hands with blood-shed in warre it was told him that he should not builde the fore-saide Temple Wherefore he prepared so great aboundance as he could of gold siluer brasse stones Tymber of Cipres and Cedar and sent it into the Ile which hee called Urpha situate in the Red-sea which was wonderfully stored with Mines of Gold and from whence was brought an innumerable quantitie After his deceasse Salomon wrote Letters to the King of Egipt named Uafres after this manner Salomon King of Iudea to Vafres his friende King of Egipt perpetuall health Knowe that by the grace of God and from King Dauid my Father this kingdome is discended vnto me he in his life time gaue mee in charge that I should builde a Temple to the Creator of heauen and earth for which cause I haue written to thee that thou wouldest giue me comfort and assistance in this busines Therfore I require thee to send me Maisters of Masons Stone-cutters Carpenters and workmen who may erect for me the said Temple These Letters receiued by the King of Egipt were in this manner answered I sende thee eyght score thousand men such as are expert chiefe in erecting of buildings euen such as thou hast required of me Like Letters wrote Salomon to Suron King of Tyre receiuing like aunswere and like number of Maisters in workes and buildings This History written by Eupolemus an Historian Gentile agreeth in euery part with the holy Scripture as in the fift Chapter of the thirde booke of the Kinges and there is no other difference but onely that concerning Tyre where he calleth the king of Tyre Suron the Scripture nameth hym Hyram Iosephus in the eyght Booke of his Antiquities saith that these two Epistles or Letters of King Salomon and King Hyram were in his tyme intirely sound and perfect both in Tyre and in Iudea Eupolemus passeth further and sayth that all the gold which was imployed about the Temple the Colloms and Vessels of Gold amounted to foure Millions and sixe hundred thousand Crownes The siluer for the nayles and other thinges valued twelue hundred and thirtie two Talents After the work-men were contented they of Egypt sent home into theyr Countrey as also the men of Tyre the sum that was gyuen to each one for his paines was tenne Talents of Gold The dispence of the Temple
according to Budaeus amounted to twentie seauen Millions nine hundred thousande Crownes of the Sunne and twelue hundred thirtie-two Talents of siluer which come to seauen hundred thirty seauen thousande Crownes of the Crowne Yet is not comprised in this sum what was giuen to three-score and ten thousande Labourers of whoÌ„ mention is made in the 5. chapter of the 1. Booke of the Kings nor of 3000. three hundred Maisters that ruled and ouer-sawe the worke nor the charges offraights and carriages nor how much the brasse and yron cost nor what rewarde was giuen to eyght 〈◊〉 thousande men more sent him for handy-crafts men by the King of Egipt Wherfore we may well imagine that Salomons Temple was a worke of wonder and the cost thereon bestowed inestimable It is written in the second booke of the Chronicles the fourth Chapter That all the Vessels Basons Candlesticks Censors Lampes Organes and other musicall instruments of the Temple the Alsar the Ports the Tables and Hindges were of pure gold Wee reade likewise in the first Booke of the Chronicles the nine and twentith chapter that the Princes and Fathers of the linage of Israell also the Captaines of thousands and hundreds offered willingly and gaue for the seruice of the house of God fiue thousands Talents and ten thousand peeces of Golde tenne thousand Talents of siluer eighteene thousande Talents of Brasse and one hundred thousande Talents of yron And they with whom precious stones were found gaue them to the Treasure of the house of the Lord. Salomon caused to be made three hundred Shieldes of fine Golde that is to say couered with Gold framed in fashion of Plates accounting each Plate worth sixe hundred sicles which value two thousand and foure hundred Crownes of the Sunne Three hundred Targets which are little light Shieldes of the purest purified Gold and placed them in the house of Lybanon Eupolemus adioynes heereto a thousande Shieldes of Gold It is written in the tenth Chapter of the third Booke of the Kings that Salomon made a great seate royall of Iuorie and couered it with the best Gold And the seate had sixe steps and the top of the seate was round behind and there were Pommels on either side of the seate And there stoode twelue Lyons on the steppes sixe on a side there was neuer like worke seene in any Kingdome Salomon sacrificed at one time to God two and twentie thousand Oxen and an hundred twentie thousand Sheepe His ordinary expence day by day was thirtie quarters of fine Manchet flower and three-score quarters of other meale ten stalled Oxen and twentie out of the Pastures an hundred sheepe besides Hartes Buckes Wilde-goates and Capons And Salomon had fortie thousande stalles of Horsses for Chariots and as many Heards of Horsses he had likewise twelue thousand Horse-men according as it is written in the thyrd Booke of the Kings the fourth Chapter The riches of Darius QUintus Curtius Plutarch Strabo and other Historians haue supposed written that Alexander the great after his conquest of Darius king of Persia found in the Treasurie of his conquered enemie twenty-nine thousand talents which valued an hundred and eight Millions of Crownes of the Crowne So choysely and deerely did Darius account ofhis pleasure in the night as he lodged in a Chamber betweene two great Hals hys bedde beeing spred foorth very sumptuously and couered with a Vine of Gold in manner of an Arbour enriched with Grapes hanging thereon which were most curious and costly precious stones The richnes of the very pillow of his bed was woorth fiftie thousande Talents which doe amount to thirtie Millions of Crownes When Alexander gained the battaile against him in Cilicia he was then but fiue twenty yeeres old and sent his Lieuetenant Parmeâ—o to the Citty of Damas where Darius had with-drawne a greâ— part of the afore-named Treasure there he found foure hundred and twenty-nine Ladies his Concubines well skild in Musique which hee brought with him into his Hoast for his delight and pastime with sixe and forty workmen that wrought vpoÌ„ flowers making curious Trammels and Chaplets for Ladyes most odoriferous two hundred three-score and seauenteene Cookes twenty Potters that made Pots other necessaries of earth for the daily vse of the Kitchine nine chiefe Maisters of the Paistrie three-score ten sluggerds of one sort and seauenteene of an other whose labour was to mixte the Aromatique wines to blende and temper the sweet delicious licquors and most arteficiall drinkes thorow bagges and such like fit for the purpose forty other work-men that made sweet odours sauours both dry and licquid If then the King of Persia had so much store of delights in warre when he was prepared to a fight so full of hazard danger what may we imagine he had at other times and in what aboundance of pleasures he lyued when he held hys assured quiet in Babilon a Citty exceeding in all superfluities and vices yet florishing abounding plentifully in wondrous wealth Herodotus in the third booke of hys Historie deuided the Realme of Persia into twenty Gouernements or Prouinces the principall was the Kingdom of Lydia wherof the rich Craesus was King that afterwarde was vanquished by Cyrus and brought into captiuitie Plinie speaking of the estate of the Persians in his tyme sayth that the Empire of the Persians which as then was translated to the Parthians contained eyghteene Kingdomes Herodotus in the Booke before named sheweth by iourneyes lodgings that from Sardis beeing in Lydia to Susa which was the chiefe seate and aboad of the Kings was full three Monthes iourney Quintus Curtius sayth that in two Citties of Persia to wit Susa Persepolis Alexander found an hundred three-score ten thousand Talents of siluer in one heape which himselfe tearmed a summe innumerable an hundred thousande Talents valued three-score Millions of Crownes The sayd Darius had one of the fayrest women in the world to hys Wife who was likewise taken with her two daughters ten thousand Talents he woulde haue giuen for to haue them againe and one halfe of hys Countrey which would not be graunted yet Alexander intreated them very honourablie and wythout any reproche Hee neuer afterward sawe his wife and daughters but once and in short while after himselfe was traiterously slaine by Bessus who had the principal charge vnder him The liberalitie of Alexander the great to his men of warre ALexander the great after his conquest and returne out of Asia beeing aduertised that hys Souldiours and men of warre were indebted by hys seruice caused their debts to be payde and bringing money into the midst of hys Campe according to the affirmation of each one how much he owed so much in ready pay was deliuered them the sum amouÌ„ted to sixe Millions of Crownes He was studious of great knowledge hauing euer-more vnder the pillowe of hys bed the poesie of Homer He wrote a Greeke Epistle to Aristotle which is reported by Plutarch
one time to the Temple of the Capitoll sixteene thousand poundes of gold with a great nūber of precious stones and pearles estimated woorth ten hundred and fiftie thousand Sesterriaes which sums amount to three Millions of gold And Budaeus sayth that Augustus imployed in the beautifying of the Cittie of Rome the Empire and things for publique profit beside building of Temples Theaters Pallaces and buildings of magnificent construction four-teene thousand times four-teene hundred thousand Sestertiaes which value thirtie fiue Millions of Crownes In his tyme a Burgesse of Rome named Lentulus Augurius was so high in his grace and fauour as Seneca sayth that he cōmaunded to be giuen him at one time four thousand times Sestertiaes which value ten Millions who seeing himselfe so forwarde in authority would often-times say to the Emperor in reproche as it were that in respect of his seruice he had left the pleasure delight of studying good Letters which hee prized esteemed more then al the pompe of inordinate riches This ingratitude was well punished afterward by Tyberius as writeth Suetonius Tarius Ruffus a man of base condition by good fortune and great industrie got in the seruice of Augustus a thousand times Sestertiaes which amount to two Millions and fiue hundred thousand Crownes Plinie sayth that Augustus to increase the good and honor of such as hee knewe to be well minded people sent them as Gouernours into hys Prouinces giuing them verie honest meanes whereby to make them great Eusebius in his Chronicles saith that after the tryumph at Actium Augustus made the goodly number before the Censors there were found foure Millions an hundred and sixtie thousand Cittizens of Rome And after the natiuitie of our Sauiour Iesus Christ hauing adopted Tyberius and they two beeing Censors the number vvas made when was sound nine Millions three hundred and seauentie thousand Cittizens within the Cittie and Subbarbes In thys time as Iuuenall witnesseth in his ninth Satyre this order was helde in Rome that when the children of the Cittizens were borne within three daies after one shoulde goe to the Temple of Saturne where the Treasure of the Consines was kept there in the Register Court before the Maisters and Keepers of the riches the infants name was enrolled Heereby they knew the age of euery one and what number of infants the Cittizens had nor was he to be reputed or thought a man vntill he came to the age of 17. yeeres The tryumph of Pompey PLutarch speaking of Pompeyes triumphe which was decreed for hym by reason of the victory he had against the two kings Tygranes and Mithridates the one king of Armenia the other of Pontus saith that by the goodly Wagons and Chariots wherein was drawne along thorowe the Cittie the treasure of his spoyles as also the semblances and portratures of the Kings Countries conquered appeared publiquely to euery one of what Nations subiected thys tryumph was ordained In euery Chariot were titles written of great faire Letters whereby they were signified and manifested The Nations ouer whom he tryumphed were these that folow the kingdomes of Pontus and Armenia the Coūtry of Paphlagonia of Cholchos Spayne Albania Syria Cilicia Mesopotamia Phaenicia Palestine Iudea Arabia yet not cōprising his victories on the Sea where he preuailed often and very farre of Hee adioyned to the Romaine Empire a thousand strong places about nine hundred Citties and tooke eyght hundred ships from Pyrats Plinie in the thirty-seauenth booke of hys naturall hystorie reciteth the order magnificence of thys Tryumph which hee saith is reported in the Registers of the Capitall To wit on the day of his natiuitie was hys tryumph when ryding thorowe the Citty hee brought to the publique Treasurie a Checker or table-boorde to play on made of two precious stones beeing foure soote long and three soote broad was neuer found like stones of such greatnesse He had in the order of his tryumphe in one Chariot a goodly booke of mighty and huge volume he had three beddes of golde seruing to make banquets on each one lying after the auncient fashion vessel of gold and precious stones to serue nine cupboordes three statues of Gold of Mars Pallas and Iuno After followed a Mountaine of Golde foure square whereon was Harts Lyons and fruites of all sorts garnished and enuironed round with a Vine of Gold a Chappell in the midst dedicated to the Muses which was made all of Peavles and on the toppe thereof was a very sumptuous Horologe In another Chariot was an Image of Pompey which likewise was made of pearls Plutarch sayth that thys tryumph was deuided into two dayes and yet the tyme would not suffise to make declaration of euerie part thereof Pompey brought to the Treasure in gold siluer and vessell all which came by hys spoyles twentie thousande Talents which value twelue Millions beside that which he gaue to his men of warre of whom he that had least had a thousande and fiue hundred Drachmes Attique which value an hundred and fiftie Crownes The Romaine subsidies after the tryumph of Pompey valued four-score and fiue Millions of Drachmes which make eyght Millions fiue hundred thousand crownes Pompey in the Playes which he made for the people after his seconde Consulship amongst other strange thinges brought into the place called the great circle by the Latines Circus maximus sixe hundred Lyons whereof he had three hundred and fifteene all the Iubilie Therefore not without cause said Cicero in hys Officiis that these were the most magnificent playes that euer were before him And when hee brought these beastes to be seene it was to make them kil one another or to make them fight against men that were condemned to thys punishment Sylla was the first that shewed thys manner of fight to the people beeing of an hundred together yet Pompey brought into the Theater beside these Lyons foure hundred and ten Panthers at one tyme. Augustus shewed four hundred twentie and Caesar foure hundred Lyons Afterwarde by the Emperours and Princes thys kinde of pastime was very much vsed and was called the chasing of wilde beasts for the peoples pleasure The charges that Ptolome was at for the ayde of Pompey BUdaeus writeth that one named Ptolome succoured Pompey in the conquest of Iudea who at his owne proper cost gaue pay to eyght thousande Horsemen and made a feast whereat was present a thousand men sette at the Table euery one hauing his Cuppe of gold and each one changed at euery messe that was serued a Cup of gold of a new and contrary fashion This riches commeth some-what neere to that of Pytheus of Bithinia who gaue to King Darius of Persia a Plane tree of gold with the Vine of golde whereof is stil reserued such fame and memory Afterward he receiued Xerxes sonne to Darius into hys houses with his Armie of Souldiours consisting of eyght hundred thousand men whē he discended into Greece Herodotus in his seauenth booke saith
to their successours for they had rather thus spend it among their people then any of their heyres should be aduantaged by their death inheriting theyr goods and money It is found also written that these Piramides serued for Sepulchers to the Kings and who so will consider the multitude of the Hebrew people that serued in Egypt by whom the Kings caused to be builded Citties and Fortresses they will not bee abashed heereat seeing it is a thing verie certaine that sixe hundred thousand men beside great multitude of women and young children endured the seruitude all which were imployed and serued in these meruaylous workes So then it is no matter of meruaile howe these buildings should be made for it is said that in Turnops Garlike and Scallions to maintaine this number of workmen were spent eighteene hundred Talents which valued the price of each daies worke a Million and four-score thousand Crownes Diodorus sayth that all the cōpasse therof and very farre about there was not so much as one little stone nor apparance that any person had beene there nor signe of any foundation but the Grauell verie small and fine as any salte so that it seemed this Piramides was there set by the hand of God and that it was naturally created the top therof resembling as if it touched heauen If wee set aside the old auncient Bookes yet shall we find witnesses in our owne later tymes for Peter Martyr of Millaine a man learned that was Ambassadour for the Princes Catholique Don Ferdinand and Dame Isabell to the Soldane of Egipt in the yeere one thousande fiue hundred and one made a booke of what he had seene done in his Embassade therein he reciteth as if it were by word of mouth that he sawe these Piramides and agreeth with what the auncient Authours haue written And particulerly he speakes of two which hee had seene that were of incredible height he sayth hee measured the squares of one and found each to be three hundred and fifteene paces and about thirteene hundred in compasse that on euery side there were such huge great stones as each one seemed a building of it selfe He sayth moreouer that certaine of hys company got vp on one of them by great labour and though in long tyme they reached the top saying that on the verie highest of all was one onelie stone so great and broade as thirty men might easily stand vppon it And when they were belowe they said they supposed themselues to haue been in a Clowde they were so high and they seemed to haue lost the light their braynes wheeling about and turning downe-warde Whereby he saith that the number of people is not to be doubted nor yet the expence which is saide to be consumed about these things The fourth wonder of the world THE fourth Miracle was that of Mausolus made by Artemisia wife to the said Mausolus king of Caria a Prouince of Asia the great This Queene according to Aulus Gellius in the tenth booke of his Ati Nox and diuers other Historians so deerely loued her husbande as euerie one sette her downe for a notable example both of loue chastitie The King dying for hys death she vsed teares and extreame complaints other then the custome of womē now is she would make him a Sepulcher conformable to the great loue she bare him such a one it was as it is placed among the seauen Wonders of the world The stone of all this building was of an excellent Marble which had the compasse and circuit of four hundred eleuen foote and twentie fiue cubits in height it had about it sixe and twentie pillers of stone cut with wonderfull cunning It was open on all sides hauing Arches of seauenty-three foote wide and it was made by the handes of the most exquisite work-men that coulde bee found The part toward the East was made and grauen by Scopas the North-side by Briax the South part by Timotheus and the West by Leochares The perfection of this worke was such and the building so faire and sumptuous as is was called Mausolus after the King for whom it was made so that all other Sepulchres that vntil this day haue been builded for the excellent workmanship of this one are likewise called Mausolaea Heerof made mention Plinie in his thirty-fiue booke and fifth Chapter Pomponius Mela in his first booke Herodotus and Strabo in his seauenth booke Aulus Gellius likewise heerof keepes memorie and many other Historians beside It is recorded that Artemisia after the death of her husbande liued continually in teares and pensiuenes and that she dyed before her work was finished hauing drunken in powder the bones of her husbande which shee caused to be burned for this purpose and so made him a Sepulchre of her owne body The fift Wonder of the World LIttle contention needeth about the fift of these Meruailes for that was the Temple of Diana whom the Gentiles thorow follie adored for a Goddesse and builded this Temple in the Citty of Ephesus in Asia in the Prouince of Ionia Plinie in his sixteene booke and thirtie foure Chapter writing of this Temple saith that it contained foure hundred and twentie fiue foote in length and two hundred and twentie in breadth The worke was of such meruailous cunning as it was two hundred and twentie yeeres in perfecting and it was builded in a Lake to preuent the danger of the earth-quaking on the foundation beeing layde harde powder of coales and there-vpon wooll to keepe the place moyst and marshie It had an hundred and twentie seauen Colloms of excellent Marble they beeing each one three-score and tenne foote in height and euery Collome was caused to be made by a seuerall King of Asia thirtie seauen of them was grauen with meruailous cunning skyll they all beeing of most choise Marble The principall Maister of this worke according to Pinie was Dresiphon and after Strabo in his four-teene booke Archiphron notwith-standing this diuersitie of opinion is to be borne withall considering how long time was required about it and therefore it had more then one Maister especially for the trymming by diuers in sundry times Solinus in hys fourteene Chapter and Pomponius Mela in his first booke say that the Amazones builded and dedicated thys Temple Moreouer Solinus saith that when the puissant King Xerxes went to the conquest of Greece and that hee burned all the Temples yet he reserued this onely All Historians doe agree that the Pyllers of this Temple helde vp the plauncher of wood so arteficially wrought as was possible to be doone and that it was couered with Cedar according to Plinie in his sixt booke and 49. chapter the Gates seelings beeing of Cipres Afterward a villaine seeing this sumptuous and admirable building he was desirous to burne it and so hee did when beeing taken for thys offence he confessed he dyd it for no other intent but to leaue a renowne of hymselfe to the world But Ualerius the great and
Aulus Gellius in his second booke say that to spoyle this villaines desire of renowne it was forbidden vnder great and greeuous paine that none should write his name to the ende he might faile of the fame and glory he expected But thys serued to small purpose for Solinus and Strabo say that he was named Erostratus of him came the Prouerbe that when anie one would be famous for a vicious acte they would say This is the renowne of Erostratus Againe it may bee spoken for a notable thing that the same day the Temple was burnt Alexander the great was borne who conquered all Asia Heereof are Authours Plutarch in the life of Alexander and Cicero in his seconde Booke of the nature of the Gods there it is reported in many places likewise in the booke of Diuination and it is said that while the Temple burned the Sages prognosticated the destruction of all Asia as afterwarde it happened by Alexander Some say the Temple was re-edified againe farre more great and excellent then it was before and that the Maister of the work was named Democrates The sixt Wonder of the World COncerning the sixt meruaile it was the Idoll or Image of Iupiter Olimpus which was in his Temple in Achaia betweene the Citties of Elis and Pisa the place being named Olimpia and likewise the Temple because of Iupiter Olimpus of whom Strabo in his eyght booke and Pomponius Mela in his seconde booke say that thys statue or Image which was in the Temple was renowned as well for the perfection and admirable workmanship as also for the greatnesse thereof It was made of Porphire some say Iuory by the hande of Phidias the most excellent Engrauer and Image-maker that euer was Plinie in hys thirty fiue and thirtie sixe bookes makes mention of it so doe manie other beside Strabo sayth the excellencie thereof was in the greatnesse and that which makes it more admirable is that it was of Porphiry cut in an infinite number of peeces It is saide that Phidias was toucht with one onely imperfection which was that hee had not well compassed the proportion of the Image with the Temple because it was in such sort placed and so huge as when one considered what might be the height thereof ifhe were vnderneath vpon hys feete he would imagine nothing more could be contained within the Temple Notwithstanding the renowne of this Image was highly aduaunced and made the Temple more known then otherwise it would haue beene because in that place was the sports and Games called Olimpia hence it came that they accounted the yeeres by Olimpiades whereof they madè fiue yeeres in fiue yeres The games were first instituted by Hercules afterward when they had left them off they were restored and re-established by Emonies after some Authours by Sphyron four or fiue yeeres after the destruction of Troy according to Eusebius there beginneth the yeere of the sâ—st Olimpiade The seauenth Wonder of the World LAstly for the seauenth wonder some say that it was the Tower in the Ile of Pharos neere to the Cittie of Alexandria in Egipt Pharos was a little Ile long and straite seated on the coast of Egipt directly against the mouth of Nylus which in times past as saith Pomponius Mela in his second booke and Plinie in his fift was altogether inclosed with firme Lande and afterwarde to the times of the selfe same Authours it was embraced wyth the mayne Sea saue onely a bridge wherby they passed from the one Ile to the other In this firme Land is the great Cittie of Alexandria builded by Alexander the great which Cittie was afterwarde a Colonie to Iulius Caesar. In this Ile called Pharos after the name of a great Pilot to Menelaus who was there buried the Kings of Egipt caused to be builded a Tower of Marble meruailous in height and work-manship vpon a Mountaine enuironed with water The laboure thereon bestowed was such as it cost eyght hundred Talents which value foure hundred and four-score thousand Crownes according to the computation of Budaeus and it was builded for no other purpose then to alight a fire in the night on the top thereof for guyde and direction to the shyppes that came to take port there Thys Tower according to the most great opinion was builded by Ptolomeus Philodelphus King of Egipt and the chiefe Archetect that made it was named Sistrates as we are certified by Plinie in his fiue and thirty Booke Caesar in his Comentaries greatly commendeth the height worke of thys Tower and sayth it was called Pharos taking name of the Ile so saith Amianus Marcellinus in his first booke treating of the Historie of thys Tower and Solinus in his Polyhistor in the end of the thirty foure Chapter that al Towers which were made afterward were named Pharos after this one as was the Pharos of Messina and else where Againe I thinke that the fires which are ordinarily carried in Ships to guide them in the night from others by thys occasion are named Pharos Thus thys Tower is the last of these seauen VVonders albeit that by many it is not placed among the number of them but in sted thereof is named the high grounded Gardens of Babilon whereof already wee haue spoken Lactantius Firmianus holdeth so saith that these Gardens were vppon the Arches and Towers admirable in greatnes with a number of Fountaines the forme of which building is amply set downe by Diodorus the Scicilian Caelio the Rhodian discoursing on the seauen Wonders agrees not that this seauenth is the Tower of Pharos or the high hanging Gardens but the Obelisque of Semiramis which was made after the same fashion and structure of the Piramides for it began so in a Quadrangle and finished in a sharpe point nor was there any difference between the Obelisque and the Piramides but that the Obelisque was onely of one peece and therfore could be nothing so high as the Piramides It is found written that certaine of them were so great as Towers and of a very faire stone there is one at this day in Rome named Caesars Needle which was brought out of Egipt and is a very meruailous thing to beholde as well for the greatnesse and to consider the manner howe it was brought thether Of the Obelisque of Semiramis which Caelio as I haue said numbreth amongst the seauen Meruailes it is iustified in wryting that it was an hundred fifty foote high as also four and twenty foote broade in a quadrangle so that the whole compasse thereof was ninety foote And this stone so beeing whole sound was taken from the Mountaines in Armenia and by the commaundement of Semiramis brought into Babilon Caldea but in trueth when we consider how it was drawne carried and lifted vp it seemeth altogether a matter incredible if the tymes of antiquitie had not like thinges or more strange whereof we are truely certified by Authours worthy of credite and other very great Obelisques which the
Kings of Egipt cause to be made Plinie in his sixt booke eyght and ninth chapters shewes the maner of drawing these stones forth of the Quarries and Mines of stone Of these Piramides Obelisques Statues and Colosses maketh mention the learned Polyphius in the beginning of his Hypne-rotomachia Of the great Treasure found in Pouilla IN the time of Robert Guâ—scardo in Pouilla was found a statue of Marble which had about the head in manner of a Garlande a circle of brasse wherein was engrauen these Latine wordes Calendis Maii oriente Sole aurum caput habebo Which is to say In the Calends of Maie at the rising of the Sunne I shall haue a heade of golde Robert searched long to know the signification of these words yet coulde hee not find any one to instruct him in the true vnderstanding vntill at last there was a Saraâ—en well skilled in the Magique Arte being prisoner to Robert hauing â—st demaunded his liberty in recompence of the interpretation he offered todisclose the wordes written on the statue His deliueraunce being graunted by the Duke Guyscardo he declared them in this manner to wit On the day of the Calendes of May at the rysing of the Sun he obserued and marked the place where the shadow of the statues heade finished on the ground and there he commaunded theÌ„ to dig very deepe by which meanes should be vnderstoode the meaning of the word Robert caused a deepe digging to bee made in the appointed place where in little while was discouered and founde a mightie masse of Treasure which gaue him good principall ayde in his meruailous enterprises And for the Saracen beside other recoÌ„pences he receiued of Robert the recouery of his liberty was the most ioyfull thing which in al the world could happen to him These three last discourses were translated out of the diuers Lessons of Pierre Messie and Antonie du Verdier Sieur de Vaupriuaz An aduertisement to the Reader A Man can hardly haue knowledge of the estate of the Romaine Empire nor lykewise of the Kingdomes Signories and principalities that are in Greece and Asia vnlesse he vnderstande their moneyes manners and behauiour in speech which hath bred heer-to-fore a generall error and confusion For they that haue written an hundred times Sestertiaes meant and signified an hundred times an hundred thousand Sestertiaes the which custome and kinde of speeche hath brought the Interpreters and Translatours of good Authours since within a thousande yeeres into great doubt and errour There were some that imagined and thought them to be the same indeede and therfore spake thereof indifferently others there were that either vnderstood them not or else could not comprehend theÌ„ and so by reason of their weakenes doubting there hath ensued very great disference and alteration But the verie trueth is that this manner of speech came in vse by abbreuiation of the language for when they woulde signifie a great sum to cut short the word they would say an hundred times Sestertiaes in sted of saying an hundred times an hundred thousand Sestertiaes And foure hundred tymes Sestertiaes in sted of four hundred times an hundred thousande twelue times Sestertiaes meaning twelue thousande Sestertiaes c. To know summarily the declaration and meaning of the summes contained in the Histories I haue according to the account of Budaeus gathered the notes and abridged them as followeth to be knowen after our owne English money or after the value of the French Crownes THE As valueth foure small French Deniers not so much as an English farthing Thys As is the very least peece of coyne or currant Money that is In signification according to the Latine it is taken for a pound weight consisting of twelue ounces In diuision of solid thinges as of Lande or inheritance it is likewise takeÌ„ for the whole part or portion There is required sixe Sextans to make or value an As. A Sextan is a coyne lesse then that which is called a Quadran by the third part It likewise is a certaine poyse or weight being two ounces after some called Obolus after other the sixt part of a pound It is the sixt part of any measure summe or quantity that is deuided into 12. parts It is somtime likewise taken for 2. inches Also the sixt parte of Iugerum which is so much grounde as one yoke of Oxen wyll eare in a day It containes in length two hundred and forty foote and in bredth one hundred and twenty foote which multiplied riseth to 28800. It may bee vsed for our English Acre of grounde which neuerthelesse containeth more c. or for a furlong Obolus is also a small peece of Coyne but variable according to the CouÌ„try in France it is a little brasse peece the sixt parte of a Souse with vs in England it is a half-penny Yet Iunius taketh it for a penny and farthing of our money It is also a weight containing three Carrets that is halfe a Scruple It is sometime vsed as Obolus terrae fyue foote in breadth and tenne in length which containes siftie foote square A Quadran in coyne is a brasen piece called Triunx or Teruntius the fourteenth part of Denarius or as wee in England count the fourth parte of a penny which is our farthing It is the fourth part of an As that is three ounces and a quarter Also the fourth part of any nuÌ„ber or measure or three inches It is vsed diuers waies as Quadrans operae Col the fourth part of a daies work Ex quadrante haeredem facere Ulpian to make heire of the fourth part Quadrans vini Cels. sixe ounces of Wine after Budaeus After Physitians foure ounces and a halfe Four Quadrans or Quadrins value an As. The Libella or little booke as it is tearmed is a coyne likewise valuing one As. Of this coyne there were two sorts one the tenth part of Sestertius another the tenth part of Denarius Of English money it is no more theÌ„ three farthings It is taken some time for a pound weight Sesquiobolus valueth not halfe a Souse french It is diuersly taken in other Countreyes but in England it is likewise no more then three farthings Also it is a poyse containing three parts of a Scruple The little Sestertius valueth ten Deniers a halfe This coyne was among the Romaines whereof Denarius contained foure and is so called quasi Semitertius for it contained two and a halfe of the brasen coyne called As and is marked with this figure H. S. Of English money it is estimated woorth two pence I meane the little Sestertius The Drachma valueth three french Souses or Sols whereof there be three-score in a French Crowne It is otherwise called three Shillings and sixe pence of this peece there is mention made in the Gospell of S. Mathew This Drachma is a coyne figured with a Bullocke counterpoysing an olde sterling Groate of eyght pence to the ounce It was diuersly taken by the name of Solidus