The Remarks that I made of it are these The Manuscript hath Tibullus Catullus and Propertius at the beginning and not Horace as the Preface to the Padua-Edition affirmeth In Propertius is to be noted the Cognomen Nautae that Scaliger taketh notice of in his Notes After these followeth in the same hand and on the same sort of paper eaten alike by the Worms on the corners of the Margent Petrontus Arbiter as it is printed whose Title written in red Letters is as followeth Petronius Arbiter Petronii Arbitri Satyri fragmentum ex Labro Quinto Decimo Sexto Decimo In which among others the Coena Trimalcionis is very amply related as it is printed at Padua and in Holland After which in a more modern hand is written Claudian Dr. Statelius made us also take notice that at the end of Catullus which is of the Book pag. 179. at the lower corner of the Margent the corner of which is eaten off with the Worms with several other leaves is the Date written in the same ancient hand with the P. Arbiter Thus 1423.20 Nobr Chapt. 6. Vers 200. Here we waited on Signior Dragatzo Doctor of the Law an ingenious and civil person also who shewed us in his Garden and other places about the Town half a dozen of ancient Roman Inscriptions which he would have made a present of to us could we have had convenience to have transported them Hence we returned again to Spalatro the same evening The Embassadour being weary of the Sea by that time he arrived at Spalatro resolved to make the rest of his Journey by Land to the Grand Signior's Court which was then at Adrianople But the Gallies that accompanied him and carried the Presents which the State makes by every Embassadour to the Port and his other Baggage proceeded as far as Corfu Therefore so soon as the Horses were come which were sent for four or five days Journey off in the Turkish Territories he departed by Land and we with the Galles for Corfu where they were to put all on board the Ships which waited there for that purpose July the Thirteenth on Sunday-morning by two a Clock after eleven days stay at Spalatro we parted and came by noon to Lesina which lieth Thirty miles from Spalatro LESINAE PORTUS L j. Fig VIII Lesina is the Isle Ptolomy calls Pharia Lesina and Strabo Pharos It is very high rocky and mountainous and by computation a hundred miles in circuit It hath a good Haven at the south-South-end where the Town is called by the name of the Isle It represents the Form of a Theater whereof the Town possesseth the place of the spectators yet appeareth most beautiful to those that enter the Area which is the Port being built in several degrees one above another according to the rising of the ground having a Cittadel on the top of a steep Rock backed with exceeding high Mountains It lies against the South and hath a Harbour secured from that Wind by the Roeks that lie before it They have beautified the Shore on each side with a good Mole made out of the Rocks which there are in too great plenty To conclude it hath good Moorage and is deep enough for Ships of any rate Here is very good Bread and Wine and good cheap I believe for our Captain touched here to furnish himself with Biscuit Their greatest Trade is Fishing of Sardelli which are like Anchovies and some think the same In May and June they are caught here and upon the Shore of Dalmatia near L'Isa South of this Isle in such abundance that they furnish all Parts of Italy and Greece with them The Turks take them as Physick when they are sick They follow a light and flock together about a Boat that carries it in the night and so are caught with great facility With no small difficulty I gat on the top of the highest Mountain that overlooketh the Town and was recompensed for my pains with an unbounded prospect Hence I discerned a Promontory near Zara which the Watch-men upon it assured me was a hundred miles off Hence Spalatro lies North Thirty miles and Lissa as much to the South Hence Ships Gallies Barques and other Vessels are discerned a vast way off by the Watch-men who give notice by signs to the Fort below how many what they are and which way they fail There are several good Buildings here especially the Domo and Town-house and in a word the situation is very agreeable In climbing up to the Fort and Mountain I observed among others these Plants 1. Aconitum Lycoctinum flore Delphinii which I took to be a kind of Monks-head 2. Aloe in flower 3. Asphodelus Min. Junci folio seu fistulosâ non bulbosâ radice 4. Malva Romana rubra or red Holihachs 5. Juniperus Major or Oxy-cedrus 6. Linaria tenui folio 7. Genista or Spartium septimum Bauhini as I believe It s Root is thick and of substance like Pimpinella out of which spring some half a dozen or more branches of a handful or two high without leaves of a light green colour and of a substance like Spanish-broom but beyond comparison less It still divides it self into three twigs sometimes one of those three points divides it self into three more That which makes me doubt whether it be this as Monsieur Merchaund of Paris hath named it is That the Root seemeth hot and of a spicy taste 8. Pilosella major pilosissima This Plant is very like to Great Mouse-ear in leaves and height being half a foot high or more and the leaves near as long But the hair is of such a prodigious length that it is to be wondred at being little less than an Inch long and very thick We parted hence after Dinner and arrived that evening at Curzola called by Strabo Corcyra Nigra This Island belonged formerly to the Republique of Ragusa and was taken from them by the Venetians by this pleasant stratagem The Venetians had a little Island called Saint Mark so near to Ragusa that it commanded the Town and yet nearer a little Rock that had no more plain ground on the top then would be sufficient to lay the Foundations of a little house Hither the Venetians upon some high disgust sent men one night that built a little Fort of Past-board painted of the colour of Earth which made it look like a strong Rampart and thereon planted Wooden Cannons to the great amazement of the Towns-people next morning which in effect put them into such a fright that they sent presently to parly and were glad to come off for the Island of Curzola in exchange of that pittiful Rock They stood for the Scoglio of Saint Mark also but the Venetians would not part with that And so they lost Curzola which is of great use to the Venetians who come hither often to mend and repair their Vessels the Island being well covered with Woods The Town is of the same name with the Island and situated upon a
that particular and Authors disagreeing For my Companion setteth it down about Sixty Miles Peitro della Valle Ninety and our Country-man Mr. Sands precisely Sixscore and five Miles It looketh very high and Mountainous from Sea and sends down most prodigious gusts of wind LESBOS as I experienced returning from Smyrna Of Lesbos likewise he hath given a good description for it is much bigger then Scio and hath plenty of Corn Wine and Cattle Of the milk of which they make much Butter and Cheese but have little Trade Each of these Islands pay Eighteen Thousand pieces of Eight a year Carraeth to the Grand Signior Those that gather it at Scio make the heirs three years after the death of their Friends pay it They say also when a Greek changeth his habitation they make him pay a double Pole-Money one in the Country he left and another in that where he cometh to live unless they avoid it by some Artifice as by concealing their native place and true Name Naxia payeth Six Thousand Dollers Milo Three Thousand Paros and Ause as much Scyros Two Thousand Zea Seventeen Hundred for Carraeth and for Tenths Two Thousand Five Hundred Andros Four Thousand Five Hundred Carraeth and Six Thousand Eight Hundred for Tenths Negropont which is the greatest Island in the Archipelago payeth a Hundred Thousand Dollers for all its priviledges The tenths are paid to the Beyes and Vayvodes who are obliged out of them to keep a certain number of Gallies without any expence to the Grand Signior Smyrna maintains two Gallies Naxia Meteline Samos and Andros each of them one Scio two Micone and Seripho one and so the rest in proportion to their Abilities But to return to our Vessel at Tenedos This Island is about four or five Miles from the shore of Asia about Twenty Miles in Circuit and Truitful in Corn and Wine especially Muskatels great part of which is carried to Constantinople It hath a Town and a Castle which lieth on the north-North-end of it but regarding the Promontory Sigaeum towards the East now called Janizzari by the Turks it was taken by the Venetians in the War of Candia and retaken by the Turks by means of a good round Sum of Money given to the Treacherous Governour Near this place was a famous Sea-fight fought betwixt the Venetians and Turks with great loss on both sides though the Victory remained to the Venetians From our Ship at the South-end of Tenedos we discovered the top of that famous Mountain Ida TROY and in the same line upon the Asian shore vast Ruins of a City which we took to be the so much celebrated Troy and therefore we longed very much to see it nor had we therein our desires frustrated For Friday the Twentieth of August the wind holding still contrary or calm both Wood and Water was wanting to our Vessel and therefore the long Boat being sent ashore for recruits we closed with that opportunity of seeing the Valiant Trojans Country We landed in a plain about three Miles North of those Ruins which we saw from our Ship where digging in the sand I suppose the hidden Chanel of some rivolet the Sea men found fresh water This plain is in some places tilled and in some places neglected It beareth Corn Cotton and Sesami of which they make Oyl Cucumbers and Melons of several kinds as Water-Melons which the Italians call Anguria and another kind which they here call Zucchi I saw also in many places neglected Fig-trees and Almond-trees with Fruit upon them Here groweth also abundance of Oaks whereof I never saw any of the kind in England It agreeth something with the description Gerard giveth of the Cerris Majore Glande or the Holme-Oak with great Acorns but not well with his Figure It groweth to a large well proportion'd Tree with a fair top and large branches but whether it is good Timber or no I know not It s small twigs bear a fair leaf above as long again as broad broad at the bottom and ending in a sharp point snipped about the edges with deep sharp-pointed teeth like a great saw and of an Ashcolour somewhat downy It beareth an Acorn twice as big as our ordinary Oaks which cometh out of a deep cup that covereth half the length of it It is rough on the outside with a long flat and heavy substance which before the Acorn appeareth is like to those great excrescences that sometimes are seen in the spring upon our young sappy Oaks In this walk I saw other curious Plants as 1. Tragacantha PLANTS out of which Gumme Dragon issueth in some places 2. Pastinaca Echinifera Fabij Columni 3. Jacea Lutea Capite Spinoso 4. Tartonreina Massiliensium of two kinds Longifolio Latifolio 5. Papaver Caniculatum horned Poppies whose Flower is black at the bottom fomewhat higher of a deep red and by degrees end in a Golden Colour 6. Pancrasium in Flower 7. Verbascum Marinum laciniatis Folijs So that I cannot with Mr. Sands call this barren ground but neglected ' With these curiosities I entertained my self whilst the rest of our Company diverted themselves with the game they found in great plenty there as Hares red Partridges Quails Turtles and a Bird about the bigness of a Thrush the head and breast of a bright yellowish colour the back and wings of a greenish grey like a green Finch the beak and head formed like a Thrush and as fat as Hortulans in France and Italie and our Wheat-ears in England Another kind not much bigger but shaped like a Bittern with a long bill long legs and claws a crist of long Feathers on the Crown and of a speckled colour like an Hawke When we came near to this ruined City we saw abundance of broken Pillars of Marble and others parts of Walls and Fundations along the shore none standing upright nor whole but lying on the ground and many a good way in the Sea scaled by the weather and eaten by the Salt-winds that come from thence A little further is the mole of a Port yet remaining with a large and thick wall on the shore which doubtless was beautified with those many Marble Pillars that are now broken down all along under it The mouth is now stopped up with sand and remaineth very shallow I cannot with my Companion say That this was the Port of Troy so famous in Antiquity nor yet this City that Ilium or Troy whose Wars have been so Celebrated by the Unimitable Homer and Virgil nor the Antiquities there remaining to be of any elder date then the Romans although Bellonius is confident of it and Petro della Valle so wonderfully pleased himself with the thoughts of it that he fancied every great Tree a Hector or Achilles or an Aeneas and all the Briers and Bushes that pricked his shins their Armies and could not forbear crying out Hic Dolopum manus hic saevus tendebat Achilles Classibus hic locus hic acies certare solebant But
are watered by the Rivulet Ornea running down from the Mountains that bound this Plain South and South-Westwards and from thence I believe runs into the River Nemea which we past about mid-way by a Bridge This River then was not very considerable but after rains is poured down from the Mountains in such abundance that it fills many Channels on each side of it which before were dry In our way we passed by many little Villages and arrived at Basilico after three hours riding Basilico or as some call it Basilica was in old time a great City called Sicyon When the Kingdom of the Morea was under the Tenetians it was a considerable Town now it is but a heap of Ruins and Inhabited only by three Families of Turks and about as many Christians This final destruction one of the Inhabitants told us happened about twenty years ago by the Plague which they held to be a Judgment of God upon the Turks for profaning one of the Christian Churches there turning it into a Mosque by Command of the Vaivode who fell down dead upon the place the first time he caused the Alchoran to be read in it whose Death was followed soon after with such a Pestilence as in a short time utterly destroyed the whole Town which could never since be re-peopled It is situated upon a Hill about three Miles from the Gulph of Lepanto and hath the River Asopus running under it on the East-side on which are some Powder-Mills as they told us which are the first I ever saw in Turkey There remaineth abundance of Ruins both ancient and modern The Wall of the Castle many Churches and some Mosques and a good way off the Castle Westwards is a Ruin they call the Kings Palace which seems to be very ancient but made of Bricks I take it to have been a Bath from the many Chanels down the Wall to bring Water Beyond that at a good distance is a Hill formed Semicircular I believe by Art and to have been a Theater or Stadium There are also abundance of Caverns and Vaults in the ground which we could not stay to examine with any exactness but returned part of our way towards Corinth that Evening and lay at a little Village about midway The next Morning we passed along the shore by several little Lakes and the ancient Port of Corinth called Lechaeum now quite choked up We left Corinth about two Miles off on the right hand and went two or three Miles further to a Village they call Heximillia where we spent the rest of a wet day because we could not reach to Megara that Night nor was there any where to lodge at in the way This Village is called Heximillia because the Isthmus at this place is six Miles wide The next day we came early to Megara and the day following to Athens The Plants I took notice of and gathered in the Isthmus are these 1. Sea-Pines with small Cones 2. Wild Olive-Trees 3. Lentiscus grown to the bigness of Trees 4. Much of the Horncod-Tree or Keratia 5. A Tree called by the Greeks Kedros It is very like Sabina baccifera but here it groweth to an extraordinary bigness tall and streight up like a Tree But I could perceive no difference between it and Sabina Baccifera besides For the Berries and green of both are alike 6. Cedrus Lyciae part of whose Leaves are like Sabina Baccifera and part like Juniper 7. Scabiosa argentea petraea or Silver-colour'd rock-scabious It is a little shrub with long and narrow silver-colour'd Leaves the Flowers I saw not 8. Aristolachiae Clematitis Species Of which before 9. Linaria Latifolia Valentiana Clusii It is a kind of Toad-flax with broad Leaves and the Flowers are of several Colours Blue Yellow and White which look very beautiful 10. Androsemum Vmbelliferum of which before 11. Scorzonera rotundâ radice as before Before I quit Attica I shall here insert another Journey I made to the Promontory Sunium although I did it another time after my Camerade and I had parted in Greece that what I have to say of the Attica may be together Consul Giraâ—d and a Merchant of Micone were so kind to let me have their Company We set out in Easter-Week and resolved to take Port-Raphti in our way to which our Road lay directly Eastwards from Athens We passed by Mount Saint George on our left hand about a Mile and made towards the end of Mount Hymettus which we left on the right hand about four Miles from Athens About six Miles from Athens we saw on the left hand a Village called Agopi where beginneth the Plain of Mescigia which is all that Tract of Land that is between Hymettus and Promontorium Sunium called in times past Paralia and was the Portion of Pallas another of the Sons of Panthion â—e came and Dined at a little Cell belonging to the Covent Kyriana called Metochi which signifieth a Farm where some Caloiroes live to Husband their grounds After Dinner we took Horse and continued our Journey until we came to Porto Raphti which is esteemed eighteen Miles from Athens But I do not believe it above fourteen or fifteen PORTO RAPHTI The Bay that maketh this Harbour is situated on the Eastern shore of Attica and hath the highest point of Mount Hymettus Northwest by North. The Southern Promontory of Negropont East It is divided into two little Baies by a sharp point that runneth into the middle of it and it hath two little Islands or Rocks towards the Mouth the biggest of which lieth East South-East off from the middle point and giveth the name to the Harbour from a Colossian Statue of White Marble representing a Taylor cutting Cloth which the Greeks call Raphti These secure the Port against all Winds coming from the Sea so that it is not only a secure Port but they say so convenient that hardly any Wind can blow but Ships may both go out and come in with the same I believe this Port was anciently called Panormus from whence the Athenians were wont to fail to Delos to carry the Mysteries of Apollo sent down through all Greece from the Hyperboreans Here are also the Ruins of a Town upon the shore which was the Town called anciently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prassae being the Harbour where in former times twenty Sail of the Issadâ— join'd with the Roman Fleet when they were called to help the Athenians against Philip King of Macedon We turned a little to the right hand thence and after we had rode about six Miles further we came to a Village called Marcopoli MARCOPOLI The Ruins hard by it shews it to have been a considerable place in old time but now it hath not above twenty or thirty Houses remaining Perhaps it was anciently the Town Aegilia of the Tribe of Antïoch Strabo calleth them Aeginenses but Meursius corrects him out of Suidas and Stephanus In some ruined Churches I found a few inconsiderable Inscriptions upon Pillars and
the more particular in my Observations of it and shall give the best account of it I can Which that I may do to be the better understood I shall first give an account of the situation of the Lake and the Plain in which it is stagnated and then of the several Passages out of the Water of the Lake into the Euboean Sea This Lake is now called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lake of Livadia but by Strabo Copais and by Pausanias Cephissis It is situate on the North-side of that large Plain which is call'd by the same name of Livadia which is stretched out between the Plain of Thebes and the Town Livadia the whole Perimeter of which Country and Lake is so encompassed with high Hills and Mountains so joined one to another that there is not so much as space for the many streams and torrents that arise under and fall from them to pass out above ground into the Sea So that had not the Wisdom of the Creator provided at several places certain subterraneous Passages as Chanels to receive and suck in the Waters which in so great abundance at times do flow and pour down these Mountains and were not those Chanels either by nature or art and industry of men kept open and cleansed all Boeotia must necessarily in a short space of time be drowned and made nothing but a great Lake or standing Water For beginning first at Parnes that Mountain is join'd to Cithaeron Cithaeron is join'd to Helicon Helicon to Parnassus Parnassus to Mount Oeta that to Cnemis Cnemis to the Cyrtonum Mons That to Ptoos Ptoos to Messapius Messapius to Cerycius and that again to Parnes Which Mountains although all or most of them be well enough distinguished from each other by certain Chasms or Openings between them yet are they all so tacked and link'd together by High-Grounds that before the Waters could find Passage any way into the Sea above ground the whole Country below them must unavoidably be drowned which perhaps was one great reason of Deucalions Flood in which these parts seem chiefly concerned But beside this Circle of Mountains that encompass all Boeotia Phocis and great part of Locris there are other Mediterranean Mountains also which are tacked to one another in such sort that they divide the whole Country into several particular Vallies which from a high prospect look as if they were those places in the Earth the Gyants laid open when in their War with the Gods they plucked up Mountains by the Roots and set them upon one another intending to scale Heaven thereby For so is this Plain of Livadia divided from that of Thebes Eastward by the Mountain Phoenicius or Sphingis which joins Northwards to the Mountain Ptoos Southwards to certain Ridges which descend from Helicon From those high Mountains Helicon South-West Parnassus and Oeta North-West are poured down those quantities of Waters into this Plain which stagnating make the great Lake of Livadia by falling towards the Ridge of the Rocky Hills of Thalanda or Cyrtonum Mons against which the whole stress and fall of the Waters seems to lean but are by them as by a mighty Mound or Bank kept in from discharging themselves into the Euboean Sea Strabo counts this Lake no less than three hundred seventy one Stadia in Circumference which amounts to about forty seven Miles and a half But I believe it covers not so much ground at present For then in his time it had one passage out above ground into Hylica palus now called the Theban Lake But now the Waters are far lower than that Passage and therefore are to be thought very much abated The form of this Lake is long being stretched out under the Mountains of Thalanda or Cyrtonum Mons North-West and South-East as far as the Mountain Ptoos In the middle it is narrow but then enlarging it self again until it comes to be divided at the South-East end into three several Bayes At the two Northmost of these Bays are the principal Chanels in a wonderful manner pierced through the Mountains The whole mass whereof consists of a very hard stone considerably high and of a great extent in thickness though in some places it be greater and in others less the shortest Passage to the Sea being towards Thalanda and the North-West end of the Lake is at least four Miles through the Mountain Where this enters in under the Mountain is a Town called Palea situate towards the North-West end of the Lake where it riseth again on the other side near the Sea are those Mills I but now spake of about two hours riding from Thalanda This seems to be the place which Strabo calls Anchoe where the Town of Copais was also situated that gave the old name to this Lake and by the same rule on the Sea side where the Waters come out of the Lake should lye Larimna Superior or that of Locris where Strabo makes the Chanels to pass thirty Stadia or about four Miles under ground from Copais to Larimna The other Chanels I saw on the North-West end of the Lake are all a much greater distance from the Sea many of them passing at least half a days Journey under the Mountain Ptoos The Northmost of the two Bayes last mentioned divides it self again into three Bayes the first of which entreth under the Mountain by two Chanels the second and third by three Chanels apiece Another Bay also there is that divideth it self into many other little Bays and those again into Chanels Insomuch that I easily believe what an Albanese I met there told me to wit that there were at least fifty of these under-ground Chanels whereby the Lake emptieth it self into the Sea For I saw above half the number of them my self From Proscina hither a considerable part of our way lay along one of those Chanels in several places of which we saw holes down to it but could neither see nor hear the Water as it passed by reason the Chanel was every where close covered and much deeper When we came to ascend the steeper part of the Mountain we passed by ten or a dozen square Stone-Pits about a Furlong distant one from another which I found still deeper and deeper according to the rising of the Mountain until by the sound of the Stones I cast in I could not judge them less than fifty Fathom deep but I heard no sound of Water at the bottom The reason whereof I found because the Chanel which carries the Water lyeth covered deeper under them They are about four foot square a piece at the Mouth and cut out of the hard Rock of the Mountain From all which I began to be sensible of the vast labour cost and indefatigable industry that brought the whole work to such perfection For by such Pits as these the rest of the fifty Chanels were first made if made at all and are now upon occasion cleansed when ever they happen to be obstructed Pausanias saith that
passage yet somewhat lower we came to the Ruins of a Town hear unto which on the side of the Hill we observed a curious Fountain running down thence into the Thebane Lake This Town might be the ancient Hyla which gave name to the Lake HYLA Here also I found some fragments of Inscriptions but such as gave me no hint of the ancient name of it Descending yet lower down the Mountain towards the Lake leaving the way to Thebes on the left hand and turning under the Mountain Cocino which we kept at our right we came in less than an hour to a small Village called Hungaro just by the old Passage of Cephisus HUNGARO into the Hylica palus according to Strabo When I had made all my Observations of it according to what I have before said by a very ill way Southwards we mounted up the Hill now called Mazaraci MAZARACI from a Monastery that is on it of like name This is that Hill or Mountain which Strabo describes by the name Phoenicius and Pausanias by the name of Sphingis mons On the top of it is a good large Plain which lyeth desart rather as I judge for want of Cultivation than of fertility Thence after Dinner and an hours further riding we descended by the Covent Mazaraci into the Plain of Thebes leaving a ruined Village about a Mile Eastward of Mazaraci We might soon have crossed over this end of the Plain it being narrow had not the Water after the Rains setled there and made the ground so false and rotten that we feared almost every step to be swallowed up both Horse and Man together to prevent which we went afoot our selves But having by Gods help escaped that danger and crossed the way from Thebes to Livadia we ascended again another Hill bounding the Plain of Thebes from the Plain of Rimocastri Southwards and came to Rimocastri on the other side of it an hour before Night I made a stop on the top of this Hill RIMOCASTRI and surveighed the Country about me For thence I had the sight of a great part of Boeotia that I had not before seen especially the Plain of Rimocastri But those parts I left behind I observed to lie thus The Mountain by Thalanda North North-West The Passage between the Mountains from Cocino and the rest of Ptoos North-East by North. A Mountain towards Egripo I think Typo-Vouni East-North-East Chasha or Parnes East-South-East Elatea or Cithaeron beginneth South-East and descendeth somewhat upon the Corinthian Gulph to wit on the Bay of that Gulph called now Livadostro South South-West Whence ariseth a high Rock off from it and Helicon West South-West The top of the Helicon appears hence West by North being the nearest Rimocastri is situated upon the Brow of this Hill over-looking a large Plain South and hath an unlimited prospect towards the Morea between Helicon and Cithaeron It is divided into three little knots of Houses two upon the Hill and one below which may in all consist of about a hundred Cottages of Greeks and Albaneses all Christians except a Sub-Basha that governs them who is a Turk That part of the Town which stands upon the point of the Brow seemeth to have been in former times fortified with a Ditch on the North-side on the other the Precipice of the Hill is its defence though at present needless their Poverty being security enough for them Here it is that I drank the best Wine the most generous and well tasted that I had done in all Greece In this Plain are many ancient Ruins of Towns and about this place and just under the Mountain are so many and great Ruins that it hath made some to suppose this place to have been the ancient Thespia But I am not of their opinion I think rather it was the ancient Thisba as I shall have occasion by and by again more expresly to conclude shewing by most probable Testimony where the old Thespia was Here I met with Morat our Druggerman who brought me news that he had seen my Companion safely Embarked Whereupon taking Horse the next day I made a Circuit about the Plain bending my course Westwards under the Hill and after about a Mile we came to some Ruins and old decayed Churches PHRIA called Phria where we also found some Inscriptions especially one which was a Pedestal dedicated by the Town to one Titus Flavius Aristus About a Mile further riding we came to another ruinated Town called Spatharia the Church whereof ruinated in like manner with the Town seem'd to have been built at first of ancient ill carved Marbles with Basso-relievoes of the same of men on Horse-back with their names and ΗΡΩΗ for title to each one of them Thence turning more South-Westwards we passed over by a Stone-Bridge a River coming from the Helicon and running Eastwards in this Plain and about two Miles further came to a Village called Neocoria or New-town just at the foot of the Mountain Zagara or Helicon hard by which are the Ruins of an ancient City upon a Hill with a steep descent from it every way except on that side where it is joined to the high Mountain above it In the way going up to it is a ruined Church which hath for the Altar a Cornish of a Pedestal of a Statue about four foot long and three foot large and a foot thick on the edge of which is an ancient Inscription wherein the Town Thespia is twice mentioned ΘΕΣΠΙΩΠΟΙ ΠΑΙΔΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΟΙΚΟΠ... ΠΡΜΑ ...... ΟΜΕÎΩΠΕΠΩΕΣΠΙΑΙΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΓΕÎΩΠΑΡΩΤΑΧΟΥ ΤΟΠΚΡΙΣ .. ΠΑΤΕΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΗΠΕΑΥΤΩ Î. Whence because it likewise agrees with the Description Pausanias gives of it I doubt not but this was the Seat of the ancient Thespia THESPIA It is about four Miles distant from Rimocastri Westwards and five or six from Cacos a Town seated in one of the Bayes of the Corinthian Gulph called now Livadostro Thence we turned South-East-wards and after two or three Miles riding over a little Hill we came to other Ruins of a Town called Palaeo-corio or Old Town where we likewise found some Inscriptions but less considerable Thence returning Eastwards we passed by another little Village called Tadza where are some marks of Antiquity and by it a curious Fountain which I guess to be that which was so celebrated in old times for the Fable of Narcissus and if so the Town should have been called Donacon Paus Lib. 3. p. 589. or Hedonacon as some read it I saw no Narcissus then growing it being yet too early in the Year But another time I saw abundance in the next Plain and several other places adjacent Yet what Pausanias saith of this Fountain agreeth with several other places in this Plain especially Rimocastri where there are many Springs up and down the Plain which collecting themselves into streams some run towards the Theban Lake and others to the Corinthian Gulph That which runs towards Thebes
old is almost demolished and only serves to cleanse Corn and to make fine Flour for the Seraglio The other was built in two Months time about seventeen Years ago for the Grand Signior's coming thither It is but a small Building but well contrived with Baths and Stoves and adorned with Roofs and Walls gilded and painted in pretty Knots and Flowers with Presses on one side of each Room for Bedding and Furniture according to the manner of the Turks who have not their Houses incumbred with great Bed-steads Tables Chairs and Stools but only a part of the Room raised higher than the rest and covered with a Carpet where all get up and sit cross-legg'd sometimes with Cushions to sit or lean upon and this serves for Parlour Dining-Room and Bed-Chamber When they sit to eat one bringeth a little round Table sometimes of one piece of Wood and sometimes doubled together with a low Foot whereon the Meat is set in little Dishes One Napkin is long enough for the whole Company and goeth round the Table which is seldom cover'd with a Cloth because it serveth instead of Trenchers When they go to bed a Servant cometh and taketh the Quilts Sheets and Coverings and prepareth for as many as lie there each one one It would make but a poor Palace for any of our Christian Princes But the Prospect from the Castle is more pleasant being situate upon the Brow of the Hill overlooking the Town and Country which was no more than necessary for it hath no other Garden now We expected a better Shew for our Doller a Head which the Keeper exacted of us But it is good to be undeceived of the high Opinions we have of Things which deserve them not especially when our Experience costs not too dear There is no considerable River near this Town But the Mountain doth furnish them with so many Springs that I never saw more Fountains nor with greater Sources of Water in any place where-ever I have been but they are not esteemed very wholsome I believe because the Snow-Water continually melting from the Mountain mixeth with them These with what falls from the Mountain make two little Streams one whereof we passed coming into the Town and the other I passed over by a Bridge on the North-East-side of the Town to go up the Mountain which hath another Bridge not far from this both well-built and large joyning the Suburbs to the Town The Metropolitan Church is well worth seeing having been a fair Building cased within with curious and well-wrought Marble built in the form of a Greek Cross that is square with a Cuppalo in the Middle held up by four Pillars which being beat down in the time of the Siege was repaired by the Turks and the fair Capitals of the Pillars set where the Basis should be and the Basis where the Capitals An Emblem of their Tyranny over Christendom turning all things upside down So have they made this Holy Place the Sepulcher of Orchanes the Conquerour of it and the Second King of the Turks But there yet remains the Place of the Altar which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Holy Ascent being according to their Custom a place containing three Seats one above another in form of a Semi-circle On the first the Patriarch and Metropolitans use to sit on the next the Bishops and on the other the Presbyters when the Sacrament was celebrated Adjoyning to this is the Sepulcher of Bajazet's Children Beyond the Stream on the North-East-side of the Town is a Royal Mosque and a Colledge by it with twelve Apartments for twelve â—â—â—ers who are obliged to teach to Write Read and the Understanding of the Law Thither any poor Man may come and eat at any time and on Fridays be feasted with Rice Hard by is the Founder's Sepulcher which looketh very prettily being a large Cuppalo covered with Lead on the top and the Walls cased with Porcelane Tiles Here are three or four very good Kans KANS. built two Stories high covered with Lead each Room a Cuppalo over it For this Town is a great Thorow-fare and of much Traffick all the Caravans coming from Smyrna Aleppo and most part of those from Persia to Constantinople passing by this Place The Basars are well built and furnished with Merchants and all sorts of Merchandizes A great deal of English Cloth is brought hither and no small quantity of Silk made here the Plains being covered with Mulberry-Trees to feed the Silk-Worms Here many of the Turks seem to live more gentilely than ordinary and have their Houses of Pleasure without the Town One I saw belonging to a Haga well contrived with shady Walks Chiosques Fountains and Artificial Fish-Ponds Here Dr. Covel made me take notice of a Willow-Tree whose large Branches were so limber that they bend down to the Ground from a good high-pollard Trunk and naturally make a curious shady Bower about it The Leaf is like our Osiers There is plenty of all sorts of Provisions here and most delicious Fruits especially Pomegranates which are esteemed so good that they are sent from thence to Adrianople for the Grand Signior's eating Great plenty of excellent Fresh-Water-Fish which the Lake on the Mountain and others not far off with the River Ascanius not a days Journey thence furnisheth them with Especially Carps Trouts and Eeles Of the first I saw many and eat of some three Foot in length with their large Bellies filled with fat Of the last we were made a Present of one by an Armenian that had been in England above an Ell long large and white as Silver This Armenian informed us That the Mountain was almost covered with curious Plants which made Dr. Covel who is a great Lover of them as well as my self long to go and ransack it which the stay we made being longer than we thought by reason that Mr. Cary fell sick here gave us opportunity to do So that Monday the Eleventh of October about five a Clock in the Morning having hired Horses for two Dollars five Timins to our Janizary and as much to our Guide setting out and beginning to mount Olympus we came up to the highest part we could for the Snow about Eleven a Clock Whence from a pointed Hill on the North-side we had a most Charming Prospect the height making it from North to South unbounded the Western half of the Compass from Constantinople all the Propontis the Plains of Mysia to Mount Ida with the Lake and River Ascanius lay plain before us as in a Map But more particularly thus The two Bays we passed by over the Propontis lay parallel to each other North that of Ishmit stretching it self farthest East this of Mountania having one Lake on the East end which I suppose emptieth it self into the Propontis by it and another in a Valley near to the Foot of this Mountain North-West by North the Island Chalcis c. and a little more West-ward Constantinople as they say an hundred
there is on the top Tou Hagiou Georgiou vouni St Georges Mountain which might in times past be that which Pausanias calleth Anchesmus a little Mountain Not as the French Author of the New and Old Athens saith Pentelicus covered with Woods and where the Quarries of Marble are For here upon this Mountain of St George are neither Woods nor Quarries being only a bare Rock lying about a Mile off the Town East North-East It hath the Chanel of the River Ilissus running by it South-East and turneth round it South and South-Westwards by the Hill called in times past the Musaeum and is about a Bow-shot South-West of the Acropolis or Castle Whence it falls into another Stream which rising by several Fountains from Mount Parnes and Pentelicus runneth by the City North-East about three Miles distant from it and watering in its passage a Wood of Olive trees of at least half a dozen Miles long and one or two broad which is now the greatest Wealth and Ornament of the Athenian Plain It is not easie to determin whether this River should be called Cephisus or Eridanus Strabo plainly calleth it Cephisus But our Geographers of late and modern Times make it Eridanus with whom I will not for the present dispute Only I must tell them Latitude They are out in their Latitude of Athens whatever they are in their Longitude For they place it in Thirty Seven Degrees Latitude and Fifty Three Longitude whereas Mr Vernon found it to be Thirty Eight Degrees Five Minutes Latitude The Cittadel that now is was at first all the City having no other Inhabitants but such as dwelt within those Walls Afterwards in times of its greatest Prosperity it was no more than the Castle or Acropolis standing in the middle of the City And still it continueth to be the Castle even in this low Estate though it cannot at present be said to stand in the middle of it but rather somewhat above it to the South-West the rest encompassing in antient times being quite destroyed So that the present Town lieth not round about the Castle as antiently but to the North-West side of it being now spread on the Plain under it in length I believe a Mile and half in breadth somewhat above a Mile and is esteem'd four Miles in Circumference It hath no Walls to defend it self insomuch that they have been frequently surpriz'd by the Pirates from Sea and sustained great Losses from them Until some Years since they secured all the Avenues into the Town by Gates which they built anew and made the utmost Houses lying close together to serve instead of Walls These they now shut up every night and are by them reasonably well secured from those Corsairs The Houses are very close built together and the Streets very narrow The whole is divided into Eight Quarters or Parishes which they call Platoma besides the Castle Their Names and Situation are these which follow 1. The First is called Placa and is situate on the South-East-side of the Town It hath in it the Monument called The Lanthorn of Demosthenes the Church entituled Hagio-Kyra and the Consul's House 2. The Second is called Sotiras Tou Kotaki and lieth Eastwards towards the Church Lycodemou 3. The Third Monoca Luptis This is about the middle of the Town wherein is the New Mosque called T is Baciras from a Widow Woman of that Name who built it 4. The Fourth Roumbi which is about the Church Panagia Cacoumeria and the Place where they burn Lime 5. The Fifth is Sâ—â— Platoma on the North-East-side towards the Church Hagio Theodoro and the Pillar Hagios Johannis 6. The Sixth Boreas Platoma which is the North Quarter by the Church called Chrysospiliotisa 7. The Seventh Hagii Colymbi is North-Westwards towards the Temple of Theseus and Eleusis 8. The Eighth Gerlada is under the Castle about the Church Hagio Nicolao To these the Castle being added Athens is not so despicable a Place that it should deserve to be consider'd only as a small Village according to the Report of some Travellers who perhaps have seen it only from Sea through the wrong end of their Perspective-Glas For from the Sea the Castle is only perceivable which hideth all the rest of the Town spread out upon the Plain North of it But if it be compared with the former State when it took up a considerable Part of the Plain was joyned to its two Ports Phaleracus and Pyraeus by its two long Walls one four Miles in length the other five Munichia being joyn'd to Pyraea between them when it gave Laws to other Nations but received none when it was the Seat of the Muses of Wit Eloquence and Learning where all Arts and Sciences seem'd to be born nursed up and brought to their full State and heighth of Perfection Indeed those that shall thus consider Athens will find the Scene quite changed Philosophers being now more rigorously banished thence by Fate than they could ever be in old time by the ill Humours of their Governours For the Athenians have had their share in the ill Fortune of all those noble Cities of the East the Fury of the Destroyer having cast them also down although not utterly extinguish'd them Indeed I have seen but few Towns in Turky that have preserv'd themselves so well as this nor that enjoy greater Priviledges under the Tyranny of the Turks True it is some other Cities by Trading seem more Rich than Athens But I attribute this rather to the bad Fortune of the Place than to want either of good Harbours or good Merchandize to export or vend for such as may be imported They count their Town as I said four Miles in compass The Athenians Quality and Numbers and esteem themselves Eight or Ten thousand Inhabitants whereof three Parts are Christians the rest Turks No Jews among them nor would they ever admit any to inhabit with them although it hath often been attempted For this must with great truth be said of them Their bad Fortune hath not been able to take from them what they have by Nature that is much natural Subtilty or Wit of which Natural Wit the Serenity and Goodness of the Air they enjoy may be a great natural Cause as I doubt not but it is of the Healthiness of the People which is such Health that it is commonly observ'd that when the Pestilence is round about them From good Air. at Thebes Negropont Napoly Corinth c. it seldom or very rarely cometh thither Their natural Dexterity in all the little Matters they undertake shews it self extraordinary as in buying selling and all their Domestick Affairs and not a little also in Publick considering the Circumstances they are in For finding their Turkish Governours were still too hard for them Priviledges and still imposing upon them notwithstanding the Priviledges they had capitulated for at their Surrender and dearly purchas'd afterward they about thirty Years ago not without some Difficulty
Easter For after the Gospel and Anthem called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is Risen they salute one another round the Church beginning with the Pappa and so in order the Men by themselves and the Women by themselves This pious Solemnity when I was there had like to have been a little disturb'd by a profane Italian Merchant of Tine who being then as Athens upon occasion of bringing some Merchandizes especially a sort of Powder wherewith the Women used to die their Hands and Nails and seeing the Men begin to salute one another told our Consul aloud He hoped when the Men had done they should kiss the Women round also But receiving from the Consul an Answer suitable to his Folly it gave a Check to his profane Drollery At Easter what ever Differences are or have been depending betwixt Man and Man the Year before they must now reconcile themselves or be accounted by the rest of the Church as bad as Heathens This Ceremony done on Easter-day in each Parish-Church is the next Day celebrated in the Cathedral the Pappa sending Wax-Candles to the Principal Men of his Parish and the Arch-Bishop to the most considerable of the City or those they will shew any Respect unto who thereupon meet him at the Church with the Candles lighted From Easter till Whitsuntide not only in the Church but where-ever they meet any they know to be Christians especially if they be of their Acquaintance they salute each other the one saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is Risen and the other answering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The True God When a Virgin is to be married she is brought to the Church Marriage as richly attired as the Fortune of her Relations will bear but her Face is so bedaubed with gross Paint that it is not easie to determine whether she be Flesh and Blood or a Statue made of Plaister She returns home from the Church to the House of her Husband with a great Crown of gilded Metal on her Head accompanied by all the Guests and her near Relations with Pipes and Hand Drums and the best Musick they can make whil'st she in the mean time is conducted so slow a pace that it is scarcely perceivable that she moveth And so soon as she is entred into the House of her Spouse they throw Sugar-Plumbs out at the Windows upon the People who are crowded and throng'd at the Door As to the eminent Monuments of Antiquity yet remaining at Athens Antiquities I dare prefer them before any Place in the World Rome only excepted Therefore I will in the next place consider them giving you the best and truest Account my Observations will enable me beginning our Survey first with the Acropolis or Castle being situated in the midst of all the rest and the most antient and eminent Part of Athens The Acropolis or Castle is built upon a long Rock with Precipices every way from it except on the North-West end where you mount by a steep Ascent to the Entrance and which is better fortified than the rest by high and thick Walls The whole Rock which is Oval is about Twelve hundred ordinary Paces in circumference and also surrounded with Walls of very antient Work especially the Foundations of it making an Area twice as long as broad About Two hundred Paces lower yet not quite to the bottom of the Hill are distinctly to be seen the Foundations of other Walls encompassing the first almost quite round which I believe to be those built by Theseus who first enlarged the City One Gate of which standeth on the South-side and two others consisting of vast Stones on the North and North-East sides although the Walls themselves are almost even with the Ground And it may be demonstrated both by the Monuments of Antiquity yet remaining and out of History that Athens had yet a far greater Wall than either of these including this second Wall and encompassing the whole City spread out far and wide above it to which two other long Walls one reaching to Pyraea and the other Phalarea were joined as hath been said It was with great difficulty we obtain'd the Favour of seeing the Castle of the Haga who being newly come thither and scarce well settled in his Place knew not whether he might safely gratify us But an old Souldier of the Castle his Friend and Consident for three Oka's of Coffee two to the Governour and one to himself perswaded him at last to give way assuring him it was never refused to such Strangers as it appear'd that we were The Haga hath for his Garrison about an hundred Turks of the Country who reside there with their Families and are always on their Guard for fear of Pirats who often land there and do a great deal of Mischief Wherefore all Night a part of them by turns go the Rounds of the Walls making a great hallowing and noise to signifie their Watchfulness and that if Pirats or other Enemies come they are ready to receive them These Soldiers are called Neferides or Isarlides in Turkish and Castriani in Greek not Janizaries I esteem this Castle of no great Strength for these Times and that by reason of the Hill Musaeum which lieth South-West of it of equal height with it and being within Cannon-shot We went up to the Castle from the Town mounting by degrees and winding about it till we came at the Entrance which is at the North-West end of the Rock Within the first Gate I observ'd in the Walls two Figures in Basso-relievo that joyned hands which we guessed to be a Man and his Wife giving to each other their last Farewel as is sometimes seen in antient Monuments with this word in Latine Vale and in Greek XAIPE or Adieu Thence mounting a little further through a narrow Court with a Covert on the side of it for the Guards we came to the second Gate over which is a Transeant of Marble with an Inscription on it of one Flavius Marcellinus that rebuilt the Gates of the Town at his own Charges Perhaps meaning only the Gates of the Acropolis for that as Thucydides observes was called the City also after the rest was built ΦΛ. ΣΕΠΤΙΜΙΟΣ ΜΑΡΚ ... ΗÎΟΣ ΦΛΑΜ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΑΓΩÎΟΘΕΤΩΠΕΚ ΤΩΠΙΔΙΩΠΤΟΥΣ ΠΥΛΩÎΑΣ ΤΗ ΠΟΛΕΙ When we had passed the Second Gate we observed some antient Foundations which we guessed might be of the Propylaea or Outward Gate which was so glorious a Structure that it 's said to have cost a Million of Drachma's to build it Thence through another small Court the way brought us to the Third Gate over which was a Basso-relievo of an Eagle the Ensign of the Roman Sovereignty the Goodness of whose Work shews it to be antient After we had passed this Gate we were quite within the Acropolis where the first thing we observed was a little Temple on our right hand which we knew to be that dedicated to Victory without Wings Suidas in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
of Ambracia was Musician and That Lysippus of Arcadia made or exhibited the Play Suidas and Athenaeus mention one Lysippus as the Author of many Tragedies The Third shews That Thrasyllus Son of Thrasyllus of Dicelia was the Founder of this Building and being the Contriver of the Game or Play and himself Victor erected it for the Men of the Tribe of Hippothoon Ericus of Chalcis being Musician Naeachmus Archon and Caradomus Sotius taught the Game Naeachmus was Archon of Athens the first Year of the Hundred and fifteen Olympiad that is Four hundred thirty four Years after the Building of Rome and Three hundred twenty Years before the Coming of Christ Helvicus Chronol So this Inscription is Forty nine Years older than the two first and this a Place of very great Antiquity the Inscriptions being older than those of Duillius at Rome as Monsieur Spon observes Fulvius Vrsinus hath observed That the Terms used in these Inscriptions answer to those that are at the beginning of Terence For as here we have Ο ΔΗΜΟΣ ΕΧΩΡΗΓΕΙ so those of Terence have the Names of the Ediles Curules to whom the Care of these publick Plays or Exercises appertained Act a ludis Megalensibus Marco Fulvio Marco Glabrione Edilibus curulibus So here ΘΕΩΠΘΗΒΑΙΟΣ ΗΥΛΕΙ answers to Modos fecit Flaccus Claudii fillus Tiblis dextris sinistris ΠΡΟÎΟΜΟΣ ΘΗΒΑΙΟΣ ΕΔΙΔΑΣΚΕΠanswers Graeca Menandri in Terence which denotes the Author of the Comedy ÎΕΑΙΞΜΟΣ ΗΡΞΕΠshews the time by the Archons as that in Terence does by the Consuls under whom the Comedy was published or acted publickly Edita Marco Marcello Cnaeo Sulpicio Consulibus That this is very well observed is most certain but to make the Parallel agree exactly in all things there should be something in Terence that may answer ΑΓΩÎΟΘΕΤΗΣ ΘΡΑΣΥΚΛΗΣ ΕÎΙΚΑ c. or else it will not prove these Inscriptions were erected to the Honour of Comedians but to Victors in the Athletick Games and this Place to have been dedicated to the Publick Use of those Athleticks wherein a Victory was to be gain'd and lost by different Parties as it is remarkable in these Inscriptions For in the Third the Place was built to the Men appertaining to the Tribe of Hippothoon the Tribe of the Founder of the Edifice who was also the Institutor of the Game and Victor in it In the First and Second nine and forty Years after that the Lads of the same Tribe of Hippothoon had the Victory the People being at the Cost of the Play and that under the same Archon also those of the Tribe of Pandion won the Prize Here is still you see some Victory some Prize won or lost So that this could not properly belong to Comedies or Tragedies wherein no Prize is set for them that do best no Victory of any sides nor any one really Victor But in Athletick Games usually the Combatants are single Persons or opposite Parties who try for the Mastery hand to hand one with another And that this was really so the word Agonothetes puts it out of question For those Games had such an Officer belonging to them and always attending upon them to regulate them and see the Laws of each particular Game duly observ'd that none might strive for Victory by any undue or disallowed Means But whoever heard of such an Officer belonging to the Scene Therefore my Opinion is That this was a Gymnasium or part of one at least built for the Use of the Tribe of Hippothoon by the Munificence of Thrasyllus but that afterwards other Tribes were admitted also to contend for the Prize as it is apparent that those of the Tribe of Pandion were who had the Victory forty Years after This Grotto is a pretty large Place within and hath two Cells one above another Above this Grotto are two Pillars standing upright of the Corinthian Order but the Leaves are different from the Thistle-Leaves of that Order being long and smooth at the Edges After we turned about the Eastern end of the Castle and came to another Grotto made by Nature in the Rock without either Ornament or Art used to beautifie it which is more likely to be the Grotto of Pan and Apollo according to the forementioned Authors but agrees not with Pausanias It is seen from the Consul's House almost in the middle of the Town which lieth North off the Cittadel From this end of the Castle HADRIAN'S PILLARS South-Eastwards are those tall and beautiful Pillars called Hadrian's Pillars and are commonly reputed to be the Remains of his Palace and were very probably the greatest Ornament of it if not of the City too when the whole Structure thereof was entire But my Comrade and I are not of their Opinion that believe his Palace was built on the top of them for that doubtless would prove too really a Castle built in the Air They being about Fifty two foot high comprehending the Chapters and Basis They are of the Corinthian Order chanelled and of admirable white Marble They are also seventeen foot nine inches about Their Bases are of two great Stones apiece whereof the first is three foot nine inches deep and square eight foot nine Inches and a half the next eight foot four inches and a half square and of equal depth with the undermost But seventeen of these Pillars remain upright yet by the Plane we found that there must have been six Rows of them and twenty in each Row which therefore must be that Hundred and Twenty Pausanias speaketh of as built by the Emperour Hadrian of Phrygian Marble being whiter than that of Pentelycus And certainly this was a Work alone that may sufficiently justifie the Liberality of Hadcian and the great care he took to adorn this City For this must needs have been a wonderful Portico both for Beauty Use and Grandeur Pausanias says That it was inclosed with a Cloyster in which were built Rooms of the same Stone only the Roofs of Alabaster gilded with Gold and the whole excellently adorned with Statues and Pictures That here was the famous Library that Emperour collected and a Gymnasium bearing his Name where undoubtedly were celebrated the Games Adrianalia instituted by him and mentioned in several Monuments there and particularly on this at the Church of Georgopico Which signifies That Marcus Tullius of Apamea in Bithynia Citizen of Athens Corinth Smyrna the only Man among the Athleticks that ever overcame in all the following Games viz. Panellenia Olympia Isthmia Adriania Romia with a matter of one and twenty more marked upon Urns and Shields whereof most of the Names are defaced This Man saith the Inscription having born away all the Games Prizes and other the most difficult Exercises died in the two and thirtieth Year and third Month of his Age having this Monument erected to him by his Brother Marcus Tullius Eutyches But Klitoris gave the Place for it to be erected on ΜΑΡΚΟΣ ΤΥΛΛΙΟΣ .... ΑΠΑΜΕΥΣ ΤΗΣ ΒΙΘΥÎΙΑΣ ΑΘΗÎΑΙ ΟΣ
There is a small Ridge of a Hill running along in the middle of it that I should not have taken notice of had not Thucydides put me in mind of it calling it Mons Oneius situate between the Port Cenchre and Cromium which hindred that part of the Corinthian Army left at Cenchre from seeing how things pass'd at Cromium with the other part of their Forces who had joyned Battle with the Athenians until by the Dust that was rais'd in the Air by means of the Engagement they had notice thereof CENCHRAEA Portus Cenchraeus was in a Bay which lieth below the Ruins of the Town Isthmus and is yet called by that Name Kenchre which they pronounce Chencri Hereabouts the Isthmus is not above four or five Miles over from one Sea to the other But nearer to Corinth there is a Village they call Hexmillia because there the Isthmus is six Miles over ISTHMUS We were here shewed the Place where in antient time they began to cut a Chanel through the Isthmus to joyn the two Seas together But were forbidden to proceed in their Work by the Oracle We alighted to visit the Ruins of that famous Place where the Isthmian Games were celebrated which was on the Hill being part of Mount Oneius before mentioned There are yet to be seen the Ruins not only of the Town old Walls and several old Churches but also the Remains of the Isthmian Theater Here were many more Temples and excellent Edifices mentioned by Pausanias and many more he gives no Account of we learned from a very fine Inscription we found half way in the Ground by a little ruined Church Which speaks of many Temples Gardens and Portico's repaired by one Publius Licinius Priscus Juventianus ΘΕΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΟΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗ ΠΑΤΡΙΔΙ Î . ΛΙΚΙÎΙΟϹ ΠΙΑΙΜ ΠΡΕΙϹΚΟϹ ΙΟΥΟΥΕÎΤΙΑÎΟϹ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΥΣ ΔΙΑ ΒΙΟΥ ΤΑϹ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΙϹ ΑΠΟ ΤΗϹ ΟΙΚΑΥΜΕÎΗϹ ΕΠΙ ΤΑ ΙϹΘΜΙΑ ΠΑΡΑΓΕÎΟ ΜΕÎΟΙϹ ΑΘΛΗΤΑΙϹ ΚΑΤΑϹΚΕΥΑϹΕΠΟ ΑΥΤΟϹ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΠΑΛΑΙΜΟÎΙΟΠΤΟΙϹ ΠΡΟϹ ΚΟϹΜΗΜΑϹΙΠΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΕΠΑΓΙΟΤΗΡΙΟΠΚΑΙ ΤΗΠΙΕΡΑΠΕΙϹΟΔΟΠΚΑΙ ΤΟΥϹ ΤΩΠΠΑΤΡΙsΟΗΠΘΕΩΠΒΩΜΟΥϹ ϹΥΠΤΩ ΠΕΡΙ ΒΟΛΩ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟÎΑΩ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥϹ ΕΠΚΡΙΤΗΡΙ ΟΥϹ ΟΙΚΟΥϹ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΗΛΙΟΥ ΤΟΠÎΑΟΠΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΕΠΑΥΤΩ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΠΠΕΡΙΒΟΥΛΟΠΔΕ ΤΟΠΠΕΡΙΒΟΥΛΟΠΤΗϹ ΙΕΡΑϹ ÎΑΠΗϹ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥϹ ΕΠΑΥΤΗ ÎΑΟΥϹ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΟϹ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΡΗϹ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΟÎΥϹΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΟϹ ϹΥΠΤΟΙϹ ΕΠΑΥΤΟΙϹ ΑΓΑΛ ΜΑϹΙΠΚΑΙ ΠΡΟϹΚΟϹΜΗΜΑϹΙΠΚΑΙ ΠΡΟÎΑΟΙϹ ΕΚ ΤΩΠΙΔΙΩΠΕΠΟΙΗϹΕΠΚΑΙ ΤΟΥϹ ÎΑΟΥϹ ΕΥΕΤΗΡΙΑϹ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΡΗϹ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΠΛΟΥ ΤΩÎΕΙΟΠΚΑΙ ΤΑϹ ΑÎΑΒΑϹΕΙϹ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΑÎΑΛΗ ΜΑΤΑ ΥΠΟ ϹΕΙϹΜΩΠΚΑΙ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΤΗΤΟϹ ΔΙΑ ΛΕΛΥΜΕÎΑ ΕΠΑϹΚΕΥΑϹΕΠΟ ΑΥΤΟϹ ΚΑΠΤΗΠϹΤΩΑΠΤΗΠΠΡΟϹ ΤΩ ϹΤΑΔΙΩ ϹΥΠΤΟΙΣ ΚΕΚΑΜΑ ΡΩΜΕÎΟΙϹ ΟΙΚΟΙϹ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟϹ ΚΟϹΜΗΜΑϹΙΠΑΓΟΡΑ ÎΟΜΙΑϹ ΑÎΕΘΗΚΕΠThe chief of which was dedicated to Palaemon or Portumnus as the Latines call him in whose Honour the Isthmian Games to which all Greece resorted were instituted The rest were dedicated some to Neptune others to the Sun some to Ceres and Proserpina others to Diana to Pluto to Plenty to Bacchus and the Nymph Nape There are yet remaining in several places Foundations of the Walls that were built by the Lacedemonians from one Sea to the other to secure their Peninsula from the Incursions of their Enemies which the Venetians repaired when they had in possession the Kingdom of Morea and were Lords of it Having taken as good a view and survey of the Place as the shortness of the time would permit us we took Horse and came to Corinth by that time it was dark first watering our Horses by the way at a very fine Spring that rises at the side of the Hill Oneius and falls into the Corinthian Gulph The Isthmus is counted from Corinth between six or seven Miles and is almost directly East from it Lib VI. P 459 pa 442 CORINTHUS ET AB EIUS Acoeopoli Prospâ—â—tus Corinth hath yet near upon preserv'd its old Name CORINTH for they still call it Corintho or for shortness Coritho seldom now adays pronouncing the Σ at the end of their words It is situated towards the right hand just within the Isthmus on the Peloponnesian Shore being distant from the Gulph of Corinth about a couple of Miles and from the Saronick Gulph at least six or seven It hath Athens East by South and Mount Parnassus directly North and by Mr Vernon's Calculation thirty-eight Degrees fourteen Minutes Latitude It is not big enough now to deserve the Title of a City but may very well pass for a good considerable Country Town It consists of the Castle and the Town below it North of it and at almost a Miles distance nearer the Sea The lower Town lieth pleasantly upon an easie Descent of the Ground towards the Gulph of Lepanto The Buildings are not close together but in parcels of half a dozen or half a score sometimes twenty together but seldom more with Gardens of Orange-trees Lemons and Cypress-trees about them set with more Regularity than is usual in these Countries and such a distance is between the several Parcels or Buildings as that they have Corn-fields between them The Houses are more spruce here than ordinary and the biggest quarter is where the Bazar or Market-place is consisting of about fourscore or an hundred Houses There are two Mosques here and one small Church called Panagia at which the Arch-Bishop liveth who was then absent And few Marks either of his or St Paul's Preaching Pains or Care of this famous Church of Corinth are now to be observed there The next day we went first to see Panagioti Caballari a Merchant of Athens living most commonly here and letting him understand our Curiosity by enquiring after the Antiquities of the Place he shewed us presently in his Cellar a fair Inscription in Latine of Faustina Wife of the Emperour Antoninus Pius Some distance Westwards off this and upon a Ground somewhat higher than the Bazar we went to see eleven Pillars standing upright They were of the Dorick Order chanelled like those about the Temple of Minerva and Theseus at Athens the matter of which Pillars we found to be ordinary hard Stone not Marble But their Proportion extraordinary for they are eighteen foot about which makes six foot Diameter and not above twenty foot and an half high the Cylinder being twenty and the Capitals two and an half Whereas according to Pliny the Dorick Order should have the Shaft six times longer than the Diameter as those of Athens which have more rather than less But these are little above half so much There is a Pillar standing within these which hath the same Diameter but is much taller than the others although it hath part broken off and neither Capital nor Architrave remaining near it so that of what Order it was is yet uncertain The others are placed so with their Architraves that they shew they made a Portico about the Cella of the Temple And the single Pillar is placed so towards the Western-end within as shews it supported the Roof of the Pronaes
was formerly Coronea MINERVA ITONIA then the Ruined Tower may have been the place where the Temple of Minerva Itonia sometimes stood which was the place where all Boeotia used to assemble in Council Thence coming nearer to the foot of the Helicon I passed by a very pleasant Prospect into a little Plain inclosed every way with prominent parts of the Mountain except one narrow Passage for entrance to it like to a Sea-Port Hence we soon mounted up to St Georgio situate on the side of Helicon having left a Village below it on the right hand Either St Georgio or this Village was probably the Alalcontenae of old time This Town is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or St George from a Monastery there dedicated to him There are two or three Churches here in which are some Inscriptions of Antiquity But I could not see them because my Guide was afraid of the Turks and my Druggerman was return'd to Athens to give the Consul an account of my Resolutions to proceed on my Voyage to Zant. So we staid not long in this place but mounted up a considerable way higher toward the top of the Helicon with intentions to pass quite over it unto the Convent of Saint Luke But we were hindred by the Snow which was not yet passable This Mountain is now called Zagara by the Turks M. ZAGARA the HELICON from the great abundance of Hares they say breed there although there be plenty of other Game also especially Wild Boars and Dear But it is known out of Strabo undoubtedly to be that famous Helicon of the ancients For agreeable to his Description it lyeth upon the Crissean or Corinthian Gulph bordering upon Phocis which it regards Northward somewhat inclining to the West And as the saith its high Cliffs hang over the last Harbour of Phocis which was therefore called Mycus nor is it not far distant from Parnassus nor inferiour to it either in height or the compass of ground that it stands on Finally that they are both Rocky Mountains and the tops of them perpetually covered with Snow Mount Helicon was in old times consecrated to the Muses by the Thracians and was the native Country of the ancient Poet Hesiod who was born at Ascra an inhospitable Town on the side of it towards the Sea whom Ovid seems to follow and imitate but with more briskness and less gravity Hesiod seems with more respect to celebrate the Gods as it became his perswasion of them and with more earnestness to press men to Justice Vertue and Humanity which is as much to be preferred before the others bawdy and lying stories of them as all Moral and Christian Vertues infinitely transcend the obscene Lampoons of our present Age being really more beautiful and attracting Objects than any Mistresses in the World I found not those Monuments either of Hesiod Orpheus or the Muses Pausanias in his time professeth to have seen there And as to the Fountain Hippocrene the famous haunt of the nine Sisters it was then frozen up if it were where I guess'd it to have been So that were I a Poet and never so great a Votary of those Heliconian Deities I might be excused from making Verses in their praise having neither their presence to excite nor their liquor to inspire me For having gone two or three Miles forwards on the top till I came to the Snow my further proceedings that way were hindred only alighting I made shift to clamber up the Rocks somewhat higher until I came to look down into a place encompassed round with the tops of Mountains so that the inclosed space seemed to me to be a Lake frozen and covered with Snow But my Guide telling me be passed that way once in the Summer time with Monsieur Nantueil the French Embassador and then saw it a very pleasant green Valley covered with Flowers having a very good Fountain in the middle of it I am much inclin'd to think the Hippocrene was there and there also in antient times the delicious Grove of the Muses I observed likewise great store of the Male-Fir-Tree growing on this Mountain whose Turpentine is very fragrant much resembling the smell of a Nutmeg and some of that Leopards-bane whose root is like a Scorpion But her partly the cold of a backward Spring and partly the time of Year hindred me from making any further discoveries in that kind I shall only tell you what Pausanias telleth me viz. that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is one kind of an Arbutus or Strawberry-Tree beareth sweeter fruit here than in any other place he knows which may well be although I took no notice of any there I saw here also a very large Tortoise newly come out of ground to enjoy the warm Sun and of which they say there is great plenty bred there We return'd to the brow of the Mountain by the same way we came and thence I had a fair and large Prospect of the Plains of Boeotia Northward and observed the Mountain Delphi of Egripo to lie exactly East of us and another of the same Island to lie East-North-East We left the way to St. Georgio and turning to our left hand descended into a Plain between the Mountain Helicon and another little Mountain the Eastern end of which comes up near to it and the Town of St. George but thence runs North-Westwards beyond Livadia which it hath under it on the North-side This Mountain from the Plain of Boeotia seems not at all distinct from the Helicon although it hath a Plain between it and that in some places I believe three or four Miles wide On the top of it on the East end we saw Granitza GRANITZA which I was told was a Town and Bishoprick under the Jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Athens Here is also a Convent of Caloires or Greekish Monks which is all I could learn of the place only from the ancients I gather that this Mountain was called by two distinct names to wit Laphytius on this end LAPHYTIUS and TELPHYSIUM mm. and Telphysium on the Western In descending we turned still round the Helicon to our left hand and in our way passed by many Fountains that issue out of the sides of that Mountain some of which run down into the Plain of Livadia as far as the Lake into which they flow others collect themselves into a Stream in this Valley One makes a fine Cascade almost from the top of the Mountain and I believe runneth from the Lake I before spake of on the top of the Helicon by its nearness to that place There was abundance of the Narcissus Flowers growing along the Banks of this Stream so proliferous that I had not before seen any the like having seven eight nine sometimes ten Flowers upon the same stalk and very fragrant Here my Guide proved to be near as ignorant and unacquainted in the Country as my self and it growing towards Night we knew not whither to go to Lodge
Miles distant but I cannot judge it quite so much Just against the Mouth of the Bay of Mountania the Pope's Island as some of the Country now call it and in old time Besbicus West we had the Plain of Prousa strewed with Villages and here and there a considerable Town South-West the River Ascanius with the Lake full of little Islands There is a Plain on the top of the Monntain surrounded with little Hills pointed with Rocks from whence many Springs arise and collect themselves into a pretty Stream full of little Trouts some of which our Guide caught with his hands But the greatest part of the Stream cometh from a large Lake East-ward which we could not come to because the way was covered with Snow From whence the large Carps and Eeles I before mentioned are caught and Trouts of such Fame that they have gotten the good Name of all other Fish in the Turkish Language who call them Alagballuck the Good Fish And therefore the best of them used to be carried to the Grand Signior as a most delicate dish It is now time to tell you what luck we had a simpling the chief end of our mounting so high For after we had taken this Prospect and baited our selves I left Dr. Covel designing the Trout So ranging from top to top of the Mountain I gathered all the new things I met with and in two hours time returned with more curious Plants than I could ever since find Names for But such as I have found are as followeth 1. Towards the Foot of the Mountain ascending the first Mile or two are abundance of Chesnut-Trees that bear the largest and best Nuts I ever saw or tasted with other sorts of ordinary Trees 2. Something higher I observed many Lime-Trees and towards the top and on the top Groves of a sort of Firr-Trees which Dr. Covel and I took for Cedar-Trees because they bear the Cones upwards not hanging downwards as the other Firr-Trees do and the same shape with the Cedar viz. thick and short like an Egg and of a brown reddish colour and the Smell of the Cones and Gum very Odoriferous The Leaves also are not shaped like others but thicker duller pointed and have two Stripes of white on the back-side like Oxyjuniper It beareth the Branches round the Body orderly from the bottom to the top at several distances less and less unto the top where the Cones grow upon the young Branches upright I cannot tell whether it be not the Male-Pine for this Caspar Banhinus in his Pinax calleth the Male also Abies conis sursum spectantibus sive mas It agreeth also with Gerard's Description of the same excepting that the Body is smooth without Knots at the bottom For the Branches of this begin very near the Ground and spread abroad very large and that he saith The Cones are longer than any of the Coniferous Plants whereas this as I before said hath the Cone thick and shorter than any other in proportion It agreeth very well with the Description he giveth of the Cedar of Mount Libanus but I doubt it wanteth the hardness for I saw many rotten Trees of this but if I remember right of somewhat a reddish colour And also Mr. Gerard faileth in that he saith The Leaves of that of Libanus are shorter and not so sharp pointed whereas many of those Branches that I have seen have the Leaves much shorter indeed but more sharp pointed than this To conclude This Tree groweth in great plenty upon the Mountains of Greece also as Citheron and Helicon and Parnassus which Monsieur Nanteul observing who had been upon Mount Libanus and these also affirmed That they were the very same But although he is a very curious and ingenious Man yet I doubt his Curiosity doth not consist in narrowly distinguishing Plants Therefore this must be either another kind of Firr or Gerard hath failed in his Description of it I am rather induced to think it is a kind Firr because the Greeks yet call this Tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth no other than a Firr-Tree and that it was never heard of that Cedars of the same kind with those of Mount Libanus grew in Greece 3. A kind of Cystus which groweth to a good large Shrub of a hard woody Substance covered with a Bark consisting of several thin Skins which easily separate one from another The first is of a brown Ash-colour the next reddish out of which come Branches dividing themselves by pairs each Twig ending in a bunch of Leaves which stand in pairs each pair crossing each other and at the Stem of the old Leafs issue new Buds very much like Sage but the Leaves are in shape ribbed with three Ribs like Alexandrian Laurel of a dark green colour and of a sweet smell thick and gummy On the top are Knots of Seeds divided into Three The Flowers I saw not It agreeth much with the Description and Design Mr. Johnson hath given to Gerard's History of Plants viz. page 1289. in the Cistus Ledum Matheoli Mr. Merchant of Paris called it when I shewed it him Cistus Laurinis folijs but had never before seen it 4. After montanus Linariae folio flore flavo as Mr. Merchant called it and I believe the same that C. Bauhinus calleth the Yellow Starwoort with stiff smooth Flaxweed Leaves and may be the Tenth described in Gerard but by me thus From a long black creeping and stringy Roor ariseth one two or more round and downy Stalks of a hard and shrubby Substance about two or three handfuls high sometimes branching it self out carelesly into other little Branches covered round about without order with long sharp leaves with streight Nerves in shape like Sneezing Woort but without snips at the Edges and dry and harsh to the Touch. The Back-sides of them are a little downy and the other side smooth At the top is a Yellow Flower guarded with the Leaves until it bloweth and is then succeeded with a Button full of downy Seeds which it holds fast Coris folys Crispatis Lib III. Fig II. 5. Another I found that I cannot tell what species I should reduce it to unless Coris It hath the Root Stalk and Seed and Smell resembling Coris or Hypericon the Leaves also somewhat like them but less and grow together in Tusts crisped and curled The Seeds grow in heads on the Top without order divided into three parts The Flower I saw not but it is a shrubby perennial Plant but not of quite so woody a Substance as Coris legitima Châ—sti which I shall have occasion to speak of when I come to Atheus This I shall call Coris Foliis Crâ—spis M. Olympii Lib III. Fig III Hypericon montis Olypij folijs hursulis 6. Another Plant I found here which must be numbred among the Hypericons although I find it no where described or so that I knew it by their Description and is a Plant I never saw any where but upon this Mountain From