a barbarous Countrie Pythagoras had planted his Philosophie in Italie almost two hundred years before Alexander was born therefore Italie at this time was neither ignorant nor barbarous nor was Rome at this time a village as Sir Walter will have Alexander to esteem of it but a great and warlike Citie beeing now above three hundred years old and victorious over their neighbors as the Romane stories can inform us neither was it the meanness of Rome nor barbarousness of Italie that kept off his conquering Armie from thence but the hardiness of that people the valor prowess and strength of that Nation on whom Alexander durst not adventure for if hee had hee should have found other manner of men then his loos effeminate and unskilful Asiaticks a people alwaies more fic to serv then to command apter for Venus then Mars so that the Romans themselvs never made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 state in Asia but they stil lost much of their Masculine virtues That the antient Italians were a hardie manlike people the King of Poëts tell's us Non hic Atrides nec fandi fictor Ulysses Durum à stirpe genus natos ad flumina primum Deferimur saevóque gelu duramus undis c. Omne aevum ferro teritur versáque juvencûm Terga fatigamus hast â nec tarda senectus Debilitat vires animi mutátque vigorem Caniciem gale â premimus semperque recentes Convectare juvat praedas vivere rapto Vob◠picta croco fulgenti murice vestis Desidiae cordi juvat indulgere choraeis c. And so the same Poet elswhere sheweth what men Italie brought forth Haec genus acre virûm Marsos pubemqueSabellam Assuetumque malo Ligurem Volcósque verutos Extulit haec Decios Marios magnosqueCamillos Scipiadas duros bello te maxime Caesar c. Such was the valor of the Italians that the Romans spent as * Florus sheweth above four hundred years in subduing them whereas they brought in subjection all the rest of the World in the space of little more then two hundred years Doubtless had Alexander encountred with the Gauls Germans and Britains as Cesar did hee had found more work for his Macedonians then hee did among the Perlians Therefore however Sir Walter preferr's the Eastern parts of the world to the Western in civilitie arms magnificence learning c. yet wee finde the contrarie and so did Pompeie whose vaste Eastern Armie was forced to yield to Cesar's smal Western Forces And the Turks know whether the Asians or Europeans are fittest to make his Janisaries or to which hee is most beholding for support of his Monarchie For civilitie and learning wee finde that the Western Greeks did civilize and instruct the Eastern Asiaticks The Gauls were ever more civil then the Germans though more Eastward as for the stories of China I give little credit to them nor do I believ that Printing and Artillerie with other Arts were so manie years among them before wee knew the use of them no more then that the World was created so manie thousand years before Moyses his computation which is the belief of the Chinois Lib. 1. cap. 9. 2. THe joining of Cottages together in one common field or Village the Latines call Vicus This word Vicus did not onely signifie a Countrie Cottage or Village but also a Street though in a Citie So wee read of Vicus sceleratus Vicus Cyprius and divers others in Rome and the word vicatim by Jullie is used for going from street to street And Vicinus was hee who dwelt in the same street as Vicanus was used for a Farmer or Countrie-man now pagus did signifie a Village consisting of divers Cottages not only from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a Well which was in common to them all but as I think from the old word page to bargain or covenant becaus they covenanted one with another to live justly and peaceably together or from pango to set graft or plant the proper work of husbandmen whence com's the word Paganus which at first signified a Countrie-man then it was used for those in the Citie which were exempted from war or had never used their Arms hence among Christians paganus signified a Heathen such as never fought under the Banner of Christ or becaus Christianitie was first professed in Cities and late received by the Countrie people or becaus Christianitie drove away Gentilism out of all civil and populous Cities into remote and obscure Villages Lib. 1. cap. 8. 15. 1. ASSUR the second son of Sem was father of the Assyrians This Countrie was so called not onely from Assur the first planter thereof but also from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Ashur that is blessed * for it was happie in bread wine oil and honie it abounded also with excellent fruits hence Assyrium amomum in Virgil Assyrium gramen in Statius and Assyrii odores often in the Poëts and becaus of the abundance of silk there Assyriae vestes are taken for silk garments and Assyrius tapis is a kinde of Jasper stone This Countrie also was called Atyria from the Chaldee word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Atur for the Chaldee useth to change the Hebrew {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} into {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} so they saie Cuth for Cush It was called Adiabene {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as if the access to it were difficult by reason of the manie Rivers thereof som of which are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Impassible yet this Countrie was not impassible to Xenophon and Alexander in their expeditions Lib. 1. cap. 8 15. 1. Lud the fourth son of Sem gave name to the Lydians in Asia the less is the common opinion but I see not by what reason hee was moved to stragle thither from his friends The same reason might move him to plant in Asia the less far from his friends which hath moved manie Europeans to plant in America much farther from their friends to wit conveniencie of habitation sweetness of aër fertilitie of soil and such like motives Now the Lydians which came of Lud were of old called by the Greeks Maeones and Lydia Moenia as a Herodotus b and Strabo shew And Claudian think's they were so called from Maeon the antient King of Phrygia and Lydia dicti post Moeona regem Moeones Afterwards they were called Lydians from Lydus the son of Atys as c Herodotus and d Dionysius Alicarnassaeus affirm Hence Attalyda a town in Lydia was so called from Atys and Lydus But the Greeks are children in Antiquitie and fabulous therefore doubtless the name of Lydia was more antient and either planted by Lud or by his Children who from their Father's name might call it Lydia which is ordinatie Near or through this Countrie of Lydia did flow the winding River Maeander as e Plinie sheweth Lydia persusa flexuosi
bee seen in Ezech. 27. 12. besides the Temple called Gaditanum near Hercules his pillars as by divers Autors thought to bee built by the Phenicians and that Countrie of Spain to bee subdued and peopled by Hercules Tyrius not Thebanus as the Greeks * would have it for the Temple that stood there was built after the Phenician manner and after the same manner were the sacrifices and solemnities performed Lastly the word Iberia by which Spain was called is a Phenician word from the Hebrew Eber or the Childee Ebra which signifieth a passage or the bound and end of a thing intimating that Spain is the bound or end of the Earth beyond which these was no passage nor navigation yea the word Spain is Hebrew too as Bochartus a observeth for Saphan is a cunnie and Spain was called the Countrie of Cunnies for it abounded with them so that the Islands called Baleares now Majorca and Minorca were so infested with them that they were not in a long time habitable To conclude I believ there was one Tharsis whither Salomon's ships went in the East another on the Mediterrane Sea whither Jonas fled Lib. 1. cap. 12 1. NInive was built in the plains of Assyria on the banks of Tygris long before Ninus's time Niniveh or Ninus for so this Citie was called from Nimrod's son Ninus though not hee but Nimrod built it and the whole countrie of Assyria is called in Scripture The land of Nimrod Mich. 5. 6. Somtimes fathers called their Cities not by their own but by their son's names so Cain called the town hee built from his son's name Henoch and in Hebrew Niniveh is as much as Nâ—â—â—nave the habitation of Ninus as b Bochart observeth but there is great diversitie of opinions among writers concerning the siituation of Niniveh som placing it near Euphrates others near Tygris but 't is likely there were two towns of this name one near Euphrates called old Niniveh in philost. lib. 1. cap. 13 14. where Apollonius travelleth from Antiochia to Mesopoâ—amia through old Niuiveh the other which was the great Niniveh of three daies journie for the circuit of it was about threescore miles in compass stood upon the West side of Tygris or els Niniveh stood on Euphrates as Diodorus lib. 2. cap. 1. saith becaus Euphrates and Tygris in one place are united and so have but one name It is now called Mosal and is the chief seat of the Nestorian Hereticks This Citie was famous not onely for the magnificence riches and greatness thereof but also for antiquitie becaus it was extant in Abraham's time as Eusebius witnesseth here dwelt Phul Tiglath Pileser Shalmaneser Sennacherib by whose arms Samaria was exhausted and the Israelites translated into into Assyria and Media yet this vaste Citie was at last so destroied as likewise * Babylon that thought her self eternal and Seleucia built by Seleucus Alexander's successor in Syria and Babylon that as h Nahum the Prophet foretold the place where it stood should not bee known and as Lucian saith {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} c. there not anie mark or footstep to bee seen of it Lib. 2. cap. 1. 10. THis Amraphel was not at this time the greatest Monarch for the vallie of Pentapolis was subject to Chedarlaomer King of Elam or Persis This contradict's Scripture historie and reason for Amraphel i still first named by Moyses as beeing the greatest Prince Histories do show us that the Kings of Shinar or Babylon were the greatest Monarchs of those parts and that the Persians had no greatness till Cyrus therefore Amraphel King of Shinar must bee greater then Chedarlaomer King of Elam And it is not unlikely but this might bee Nimrod as the Jews think for hee might bee yet alive and it is usual for one man to have two or three names though Elam here might signifie Persia as I do believ it doth not but rather it was the name of a town in Assyria as Saint Hierom think's or in Persia as others yet Persia at this time was of no great esteem as for Sir Walter's reason that Chedarlaomer was the greatest King becaus to him were subject these five pettie Kings or Majors of towns it is very weak for so hee might as weil infer that Porus was a greater King then Alexander becaus hee had divers pettie Princes under him not subject to Alexander or that Herod to whom this lake of Sodom or countrie of Pentapolis was subject was greater Prince then Augustus Cesar Lib. 2. cap. 2. 4. EGypt is now called by the naturals in their own language Mezre So the Arabians at this daie cal it Meser and the Egyptian's first moneth of old was called Mesori in Scripture it is called somtime Masor as Isa. 19. 6. The rivers of Masor shall bee dried up Kimchi explain's it the river of Mizraim or Egypt So * in two other places but wee Translate the word Masor Forts or senced places for so indeed the word signifieth and Egypt was naturally fortified from the North by the sea from the South by the cataracts of Nilus and mountains of Ethiopia from the East and West by desarts Or Egypt may bee called Masor from the narrowness thereof for it is narrow and long from the sea to Syene and becaus Egypt is divided into two parts to wit the bigher where Nilus hath but one channel the lower where it is divided into divers channels called by the Greeks Δ delta from the triangular figure it make's hence it is called Misrajim in the Dual Number Lib. 2. cap. 2. 6. IN the reign of Hercules and Typhon seven years were spent This was that Hercules who made an expedition into Spain and erected those Pillars at Gades called by his name There a temple was built to him and sacrifices offered after the manner of the Phenicians Typhon for his wickedness and crueltie was called a gyant by the Grecians Hee made War against the gods hee travelled into Caucasus and at last was struck down by Jupiter's thunder and died near the lake Serbonis as Apollonius witnesseth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Therefore Plutarch relate's in Antonio that the Egyptians called this lake {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Typhon's exhalations The gyant also Typhaeus who rebelled against Jupiter and is buried under Aetna in Sicilie is called Typhon and somtimes Briareus For these three are taken promiscuously one for another Typheus is called by Pindarus c {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} hundreth headed and by d Virgil Centum g'minus Briareus e Apollodorus make's Typhon to have {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the nature both of a man and of a serpent Hyginus make's him the childe of earth and hell having a hundred dragon ' heads growing on his shoulders e Philostratus make's Typhon and Enceladus all one beeing fast bound under the hill Aetna {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} But of Typhon
wee have spoken more f elswhere f Mystagng PoeÌ„t Lib. 2. cap. 3. 4. MOy is a voice expressing water bises as much as drawn out thence Philo Josephus and Clemens Alexandrinus will have Moses to bee made up of {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} water and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} preserved but indeed hee was called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} becaus saith Pharaoh's daughter {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} I drew him out of the water so that the name of Moyses is made up of the Hebrew word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} which is never used but for drawings out of waters as Exod. 16. 15. Psal. 18. 17. so Isa. 63. 11. Moscheh ammo hee drew out his people But though this word bee Hebrew and retained in the Scriptures yet it is not likely that this was the name which Pharaoh's daughter gave him but rather shee beeing an Egyptian would give him an Egyptian name whereof M shes is the interpretation which name it 's likely Moyses's parents gave him when hee was circumcised that hee might by this name bee put in remembrance of God's mercie towards him who drew him out of waters that hee might afterward draw his people out of afflictions which are called waters in Scripture and of this historie it seem's the Greeks were not ignorant for by them Moyses is call'd g {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that is Aquigena or Water-childet and indeed what they write of Bacchus is meant of Moyses for they say that Bacchus was born in AEgypt inclosed in an Ask or Chest and exposed to the waters so that Orpheus call's him {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} for Moyses and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Law Law-giver and giv's to him {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} intimating the two tables of the Law hee is called also {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and is commended for his beautie and militarie valor hee is painted too as Moyses with two horns and a dog was said to bee his companion for Caleb Moyses companion in Hebrew signifie's a dog b Clemens Alexandrinus think's that Moyses was called by his parents Joachim and that now in heaven hee is called Melchi but on what ground this conjectore is built I know not They are also mistaken who think that Moyses was the same Mneves in c Diodorus for this Mneves is said by him to bee the first Law-giver amongst the Egyptians whereas hee saie's that Moyses receiv'd his Laws from Jao or God Lib. 2. cap. 3. 8. THe Greeks write the Sea Erythraeum from Erythras or Erythraeus a King I think rather that this King was so called from the Sea then the Sea from him for princes and people are called from the places where they dwell ordinarily as Mithridates was called King of Pontus not pontus the Sea or Countrie of Mithridates though I denie not but somtimes Princes call seas and lands by their own names as the mouth of the streits is called fretum Herculeum from Hercules Now this Sea is so called in Greek from its red color and this King was named Erythraeus from it and so perhaps might the Phenicians and Edomites bee thus called not becaus they were redder then other people but becaus they dwelt not far from the red sea for Edom signifi th red I know most derive this apellation from Esau's red pottage which he coveted so greedily and so the Phenicians are called from the red color saith Strabo becaus the sea is red {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Lib. 2. cap. 3. 8. FRom these apparences of redness by the shadows of those stones sands earth and clefts I suppose it first took the name of the red sea becaus in manie places it seemeth to bee such It is not called the red sea onely from the appearance or similitude of redness for so the whole Ocean sea is called red becaus it appear's so when the skie is red in the morning or evening hence the â—â—d sea is called mare purpureum and rubrum by the Poëts In mare purpureum violentior in sluit undis Jamque rube scebat radiis mare So Euripides call's the sea {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but the Persian Gulf is called the red sea becaus the water in manie places is indeed red when in a storm the water is troubled and mingled with that red earth sand slime which is in the bottom thereof and this is oftentimes becaus that sea is shallower then other seas are So I finde that not onelie the Arabian Gulf is called the red sea But also the Persian Gulf by e Seneca Et qui renatum prorsus excipiens diem Tepidum rubenti Tigrim immiscet freto Now wee know that Tigris and Euphrates run not into the Arabian but the Persian sea So Plin. lib 6. cap. 24. divide's the red sea into two baies the one called the Persian which is in the East the other the Arabâ—an and if the red sea was so called from King Erythras then the Persian should bear this name for Curtius and others place his tomb not on the Arabian but on the Persian gulf I finde also that the dead sea or Asphaltites is by Hesychius cal led the red sea {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} becaus of the red bitumen which is found in and about that Lake Lib. 2. cap. 4. 3. Eusebius thought Sinai or Horeb were distinct hills Hierom to bee but one They were but one in bulk but distinct in the tops and names the one beeing called Horeb that is Desert the other Sinai that is a Bush for it was not it seem's at that time frequented but a desert becaus full of Bushes and trees or becaus superstitious people held it formidable supposing som Dietie had dwelt there therefore durst not com near it this kinde of superstition was called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and it was ordinarie among the Gentiles to believ that their gods dwelt on mountains and in groves so Virgil Aen. 8 speaking of the Capitol Hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem Capitolia ducit Aurea nunc olim sylvestribus horrida dumis Jam tum religio pavidos terrebat agrestes Dira loci tum cùm sylvam saxumque tremebant Hoc nemus hunc inquit frondoso vertice collem Quis deus incertum est habitat deus c. And perhaps for this caus Horeb was called the mountain of God or els for the height thereof so tall Cedars are called the Cedars of God or rather by anticipation becaus God was to reveal his wil and glorie there to Moyses and it might wel bee called God's hill for this caus as the place where Jacob wrestled with God called Peniel and where hee saw the vision of the Ladder Bethel God's hous for not onely upon this hill did God appear to Moyses at this time when hee
amnis recursibus Maeandri and perhaps the Countrie might bee called Lydia or Ludia from Lud which in the Phaenician tongue signifie's Binding Winding or Turning for divers Countries are named from their chief Rivers and becaus the River was called Maeon the Countrie might bee called Maeania These Lydians were verie antient among the Greeks Attys Tantalus Pelops Niobe Aracbne were Lydians and about the time of Jephthe 1200 years before Christ the Lydians were masters of the Sea and a war like people as may bee seen in Ezekiel 27. 10. These sent plantations into Caria Peloponnesus and Hetruria and into Africa too These are commended for their f skill in Archerie the Asiatick Lydians were good spear men and excellent horsmen as Herodotus sheweth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but after Cyrus had disarmed them they grew effeminate and gave themselves to all luxurie and delight So that {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} was to plaie the wanton and effeminate voluptuous men were called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and hee that sold or made sweet oils was call'd {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and becaus the Lydians were the Inventors of manie games and sports which the Romanes made use of they called all plaies and games Ludos and Plaiers Ludiones Lib. 1. cap. 9. §. 2. TOwns encompassed with Walls were called oppida ab opponendo or ab opibus Not one'y from opes wealth which for safetie they brought thither and from oppono becaus they were able to oppose their enemies but also from ope help becaus they were able to help one another I euer beeing united in a Town then dispersed and living asunder hence came the word opisices Trades-men whose abode and use are most in populous Cities as standing most in need of their help and becaus Towns were secured and fenced by walls trenches or ditches they called these fences muros or moenia à muniendo and the Towns urbes ab orbe becaus they were encompassed with a plough which by Varro is called urbare and the furrow which the plough made was the foundation of the wall to bee made humili designat moenia fossâ urbem designat aratio Lib. 1. cap. 10. 2. NImrod was the first King of Babel and it agreeth with reason that Ninus should bee the third Sir Walter here would make Nimrod Belus and Ninus three distinct Kings of Babel alleging no reason for his opinion but contradicting Eusebius Hierom Austine and the most approved writers upon no ground whereas it is generally affirmed that the name Nimrod which signifie's a Rebel was changed by his son Ninus and his posteritie into Baal or Bel or Belus which signifie's a Lord this beeing a title of honor that of ignominie besides the Scripture acknowledgeth no King of Babel before Ninus but Nimrod nor do historians mention anie before Ninus but Belus their manners dispositions and actions are the same they are both said to live about two hundred years after the Flood and to have reigned then in Babylon both are said to bee the Founders of that Citie both the Inventors of Idol atrie for the names Beliel Bielphegor Beelzebub are from Bel or Belus both are described to bee men of cruel fierce and warlike natures and ambitious in propagating their Empite And whereas Sir Walter saith that if St Austin had thought Nimrod and Belus to bee the same hee would have rather called him Nimrod with the Scripture then Belus with the Gentiles This is nothing for St Austin direct's that work of The Citie of God to the Gentiles and confuted them therefore hee had reason rather to use the name Belus which was known to them then the name of Nimrod which they knew not and who know's not that Saint Austin through all that Work make 's use of the Gentil-Stories and therefore had reason to use their own names It is true there was another Belus called Belus Tyrius far later then Nimrod famous among the Phenicians of whom the Poët Implevitque mero pateram quam Belus omnes A Belo soliti c. Lib. 1. cap. 11. 1. ZOroaster King of the Bactrians Vincentius supposeth to bee Cham the son of Noah This cannot bee though both were wicked men the one in mocking his father the other in finding out Magical Arts For Zoroaster was King of Bactria as is supposed but Cham's lot fell to bee in Africa far from Bactria therefore prophetically hee was called Cham from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Cham that is Heat and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Chum that is Black as beeing the father of those black people who inhabit the hot Countrie of Africa this blackness and heat beeing a part of his Curs Again Zoroaster was the Inventor as som think of Astrologie or at least a great lover of it therefore they called him {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a Star-gazer or {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} becaus hee honored them and sacrificed to them But Cham as the Chymists will make us believ was the Inventor of their Art called Alcbimia from the Arabick article Al and Cham as if it were Alchamia but indeed it is from the Greek {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} becaus they are still powring infusing distilling and extracting or from the Arabick word Chema to Hide hence Alchimia is a Hidden Art and so it is if either wee look upon their doctrine or practice all is hid and so was the knowledg or use of it till of later years for the first that mention's it is Julius Firmicus to the Emperor Constantine Lib. 1. cap. 8. 9. MOntanus for Tharsis in Cilicia understand's Carthage in Africk but hee was much mistaken in that conjecture This town which bear's the name of Tharsis Javan's second son is by som taken for the metropolis of Cilicia called Tharsis which word also signisieth the Sea Som take it for Ophir becaus Jehosophat's ships were appointed to go to Ophir 2 King 22. 48. and in Chron. 20. 36. 37. it is said They were to go to Tharsis The like is said of Solomon's ships as wee have shewed upon Genesis Now Ophir was in the East Indies so then Tharsis must bee there which place is likely to bee Tapiobona or Sumatra called Chersonesus or aurea terra and it is not unusual for one town to have two names nor for two or three towns or places to have the same name Ophir then and Tharsis may bee two names of one place Others will have Tunis and Tharsis all one but it is most likely that Carthage not that of Africa but that of Spain was a Colonie of Tharsis or Tyrus for the Isle of Cales or Cadiz and Countrie about Batis was called Tartessus from Tharsis and wee finde that the Phaenicians had great commerce with Spain becaus that Countrie abounded in silver iron tin and lead which was the merchandise of the Tyrians as may