taking sixe-score and fiue paces to euerie Stade to three-score miles agreeing with Plinie Strabo in his sixteene booke affirmeth that they contained in length three hundred eightie fiue Stades and so large as so manie Chariots might passe ouer them as we haue already named without hindering each others way Beside these Authours declare a meruailous thing that the Gardens were vppon the Arches and Towers hauing Trees in them of wonderfull height Iulius Solinus confirmeth the same with Plinie and other Authours Some of these Writers record that without they were enclosed with Ditches full of water beeing so broade and deepe as an indifferent Riuer In thys Citty were an hundred Gates of Mettall very strange and for conclusion what-soeuer is written cōcerning the height and largenes of these walles is to be credited because in trueth it was the proudest Cittie in the worlde and long time held the vniuersall Monarchie which is no meane argument of the greatnesse declared by Aristotle in the thyrde Booke of hys Pollitiques saying that if any one were taken at one side by the enemie they which dwelt on the other side could not heare thereof in three daies space The second Wonder of the Worlde NExt in the seconde place and for the second Wonder of the VVorlde I poynt out the huge Colossus of the Sun which was in Rhodes being the statue or figure of a Man offered by the Gentiles to the Sunne some say to Iupiter It was made of Mettall the greatnes incredible the height as if it were a wondrous Tower so that it was to be admired howe it was there framed and erected Plinie who discourseth on all thinges sayth that it was seauentie cubits high and albeit for the making there were many good workmen busied about it yet vvas it twelue yeeres in perfecting and cost in value three hundred Talents he that vndertooke this worke was Cares the Indian the scholler of Lysippus This statue was so vnreasonable great as it seemed the earth could not long tyme vphold it because according to Plinie Paulus Orosius it stoode but sixe and fifty yeres at the end of which time it fell by reason of a great trembling of the earth After the fall and the tyme named by Plinie many went to see this meruailous thing and few men were found saith he that coulde fadome or embrace the great fingers of this statue so that the very least of the fingers were bigger thē any other statue it selfe Yet speaketh he of an hundred other Colosses of lesse quantitie which likewise were in Rhodes but they are nothing to our purpose vnlesse some one perhaps will say because of the one great the other lesser the Rhodians should be named the Colossenses or Colossians Yet that opinion is not approued by Erasmus for he saith that the Colossians to whom S. Paule wrote were people of a Cittie in Phrigia named Colossas Returne we then to thys meruailous Colossus I say that it remained there ruined on the earth a long time euen vntil Pope Martin the first which was in the yeere six hundred when the Infidels and the Soldane of Egipt theyr Captaine came vpon the Rhodians and according as Platina writes in the life of Pope Martin and Anthonie Sabellicus in the third part of his booke they report that he found the Reliques of this Colossus and that nine hundred Camels were loden away with the Mettall thereof The other Colosses that were in Rhodes and other places not so great wee will not speake of them because in thys discourse wee must onely intreat on seauen Wonders of the World The third wonder of the world FOR the third I think meete to set downe the Piramides of Egipt which in truth if that which so many learned Historians haue written may be tearmed trueth was a thing very admirable These Piramides were certaine buildings which began in forme of a Quadrangle or foure square ascended so vp to the highest in large proportion according to the maner of a poynted Diamond yet were they of such greatnes and height containing such so many stones and in such perfection as it is very hard to be set downe but more hard to cause each one giue credite thereto notwithstanding they are so authorised by Authours both Christians and Gentiles and them that are the best approoued as none can deny what they haue written These Piramides then are like high Towers finishing at the top spire and sharpe the Etimologie of the name commeth of Pyr in Greeke which is to say fire because it seemeth that the highest of these building doe flash out flames of fire Amongst all other Piramides the Historians make particuler mention of three that were in Egipt neere the Cittie of Memphis which at this day is the Caire and the Ile that foundeth Nilus named Delta one of which three is placed in ranck among the seauen Meruailes of the world for it is saide that at the making thereof continually and dailie laboured three hundred and three-score thousand men for the space of twentie yeres together Many doe affirme this and particulerlie Plinie speaking amply thereof in his thirtie sixe booke and twelfth Chapter and for hys assuraunce alleadgeth twelue sounde Authours Beside Diodorus in his first Booke Strabo in his last booke Pomponius Mela in his first booke Herodotus in his seconde booke Amianus in his second booke and many other Some say that the plot and foundation of this Piramides spred foorth and couered eyght daies iourney of ground let me leaue to your imagination what space that may be Some other say seauen dayes iourney but the least yeeldeth to sixe and as much or rather more in height Plinie sayth that each square contained eyght hundred foure-score and three foote the stones were of Marble brought out of Arabia and Pomponius Mela saith that the most part of thē were three foote large Heereby may we easily gather that so many thousand men might be imployed some to carry stones some to hew and cut them and others to place them beside the multitude that wrought in the yron workes and about other necessary occasions Of the other Piramides it is thus saide the least of the two was made by the vanitie of the Kings of Egypt which were the richest in all the world as well by the fertility of the earth as also that in this Countrey no person possessed any thing in proper but the King onely And this was since the time that Ioseph the sonne of Iaacob councelled Pharao to preserue the Corne for 7. yeres aboundance regarding the time of famine during which space by the meanes of thys Corne hee had all the Countreyes his Vassailes Thinke then whether these Kinges were rich or no when they made theyr Subiects attend on them like seruaunts And the Historians say that the Kings in thys respect caused these Piramides to be builded because they would giue to eate to their people that laboured as also least they should leaue their riches
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
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
in his life the forme thereof beeing thus Alexander vnto Aristotle greeting Thou hast not done rightlie or well in putting forth the bookes of the Acroamaticall sciences for wherein shal I excell any other heereafter if the science wherin I was instructed by thee be taught and made common to euerie one As for my selfe I woulde thou shouldest know that I make more account and had rather goe beyond all men in excellencie of of learning and knowledge then in greatnesse of power or deedes of Armes He commaunded Aristotle to write fiftie bookes of the nature of beastes gyuing hym for hys paines as sayth Atheneus a Greeke Authour eyght hundred Talents which value foure hundred and foure-score thousand Crownes A president howe learning was esteemed in elder tymes where now Schollers paines are neither rewarded nor regarded Hee sent likewise fiftie Talents to Xenocrates which he refused saying hee had no neede of so much money to maintaine hys poore estate Whereat Alexander was offended saying he was vnciuill to refuse his gift though hee needed it not himselfe yet he might take it and bestowe it among hys friendes The same Atheneus in his fourth booke of the banquet of the Sages following the aduise of the Persian Histories sayth that in what soeuer place Alexander was he would customably sitte at the Table at supper after his conquest of Asia and eate among his Friendes in a common Hall hauing alwaies with him the number of three-score and ten at the least To maintaine thys custome he appointed for the ordinary dispence therof an hundred Attique Mynaes which value a thousand Crownes But King Dauid saith he who was conquered by hym had a custome diuers times to make publique banquets apparantlie in hys Court which alwaies was in the open Halles where were present to the number of fifteene thousande And for euery such banquet as we now speake of the estate ordained appointed for the dispence of the Table two hundred and forty Myriades which amount to two Millions and foure hundred thousand Crownes for euery Myriade valueth ten thousand whereof an hundred Myriades make a Million and fortie Myriades four hundred thousand Crownes The riches of Mydas and Cyrus PLinie in hys three and thirty booke sayth that Mydas king of Phrigia and Craesus King of Lydia which at thys daie is called Natolia a Prouince in Turkie were enriched with Golde beyonde number or measure Cyrus also King of Persia who tooke Craesus and his treasures had infinite wealth for he spoyled all Asia so that by his victories he gained fiue hundred thousande Talents of siluer to wit talents of Egypt which value as he sayth each Talent foure-score pound weight of siluer And thys summe is reported according to the great Iacke or Tankarde belonging to Semiramis which weighed fifteene Talents Thys summe or quantitie of siluer is the verie greatest that Budaeus remembreth to be gathered in money at one time together which amounteth to three hundred Millions of Crownes and rating them after the Talents of Egypt as saith Plinie there shall be sixteene parts ouer aboue which com to fiftie Millions Nor is it to be meruailed that he gathethered so much for he had vnder his power the auncient Treasures of Assiria which was translated from the Medes and many other Countreyes beside so that heere among hee had the old riches of Dauid and Salomon He reporteth moreouer that there was an auncient King of Cholchos named Esubopes that first of all made opening of the Mynes and founde the richnes of the earth where-out hee drewe innumerable store of Golde and Siluer He likewise had victory against Sosestres King of Egipt who wonderfully abounded in wealth so that this King of Cholchos had in his house the pyllers roofes doores and vaultes of pure Golde On the wonderfull riches that was in this Countrey was inuented the fable of the Golden Fleece The riches of Sardanapalus SArdanapalus who liued two hundred yeres after Salomon and by hys deceasse brought an ende to the Kingdom of the Assirians according as Atheneus the Greeke writer recordeth beeing seated in his Pallace and house royall by Arbaces hys Lieuetenant of the Medes there burned himselfe and his Concubines Ctesias reciteth that when the sayd king Sardanapalus liued hauing no meanes left to with-stand the siedge and that all kynde of victuales wexed scant hee caused to bee made in a seperate place from other resorte in his Pallace a frame of Carpenters worke containing the height of four hūdred foote in manner and fashion of a Pyramides in the middest wherof he commaunded to be placed an hundred and fiftie Couches of Gold which serued to make most sumptuous and magnificent banquets vpon agreeing wyth the custome of old By the sides of them or els vpon them was deuised as many Tables of Gold thys doone heere would he entertaine his Wife hys Concubines and Ladyes of hys Court such as he best affected they not knowing or doubting what he intended to doe after them he followed making fast the doore without any hope to return back againe But before hee thus lockt vp himselfe among thē hee caused to be brought thether as sayth the History a thousand Myriades of Gold and a Myriade of Myriades of siluer with a great number of habillements for men and women of purple with sundry other very sumptuous accoustrements When he was inclosed by his cōmaundement his Eunuches and Groomes of hys Chamber put fire to the huge frame of Carpenters worke which endured burning the space of fifteene dayes such as behelde thys wondrous flaming fire supposed that he was sacrifycing to the Gods Thus ended Sardanapalus his licentious life and all the rest that were with him consuming there likewise a thousand Myriades of Gold which value an hundred Millions For-beare we then to estimate the Myriade of Myriades of Siluer the Couches of gold the Tables of gold and other costly habillements As also three thousande Talents of gold which value eyghteene hundred thousand Crownes which he sent from his seate royall to King Nynus to whom hee had gyuen his Chyldren in keeping The riches of the Emperour Anthony the Triumuire and the magnificence of his Queene Cleopatra PLutarch sayth that the Emperour Anthony the Triumuire spente in one yeere two hundred thousand Talents which value six-score Millions of golde that the estates of Asia had yeelded him for the offence they committed against him in maintaining and bearing fauour to his enemies Cassius Brutus in the Countrey of Macedon in such an amercement were they taxed for two yeeres albeit the fine was determined for nine yeeres This summe was imployed in payment of a largesse and gyft promised to his Souldiours which vvas as Plutarch reporteth fiue thousand Drachmes for each one which come to twentie thousand Sestertiaes esteemed fiue hundred Crownes His Army was eyght and twentie thousande Legionaries and ten thousand men beside the Horsmen The estimation of Anthonies gift to hys men of warre amounted for an hundred
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