But it may
deserve observation that, in that line of coast, the southern of Lesser
Asia, ruins of cities, evidently of an age after Alexander, yet barely
named in history, at this day astonish the adventurous traveller by
their magnificence and elegance amid the desolation which, under a
singularly barbarian government, has for so many centuries been daily
spreading in the finest countries of the globe.
deserve observation that, in that line of coast, the southern of Lesser
Asia, ruins of cities, evidently of an age after Alexander, yet barely
named in history, at this day astonish the adventurous traveller by
their magnificence and elegance amid the desolation which, under a
singularly barbarian government, has for so many centuries been daily
spreading in the finest countries of the globe.
Byron
]
[9] [Strabo (_Rerum Geog_. , lib. iii. 1807, p. 235) throws some doubt on
the existence of these columns, which he suggests were islands or
"pillar" rocks. According to Plutarch (Langhorne's Translation, 1838, p.
490), Alexander built great altars on the banks of the Ganges, on which
the native kings were wont to "offer sacrifices in the Grecian manner. "
Hence, perhaps, the legend of the columns erected by Dionysus. ]
[10] "For this expedition he took only a small chosen body of the
phalanx, but all his light troops. In the first day's march he reached
Anchialus, a town said to have been founded by the king of Assyria,
Sardanapalus. The fortifications, in their magnitude and extent, still
in Arrian's time, bore the character of greatness, which the Assyrians
appear singularly to have affected in works of the kind. A monument
representing Sardanapalus was found there, warranted by an inscription
in Assyrian characters, of course in the old Assyrian language, which
the Greeks, whether well or ill, interpreted thus: 'Sardanapalus, son of
Anacyndaraxes, in one day founded Anchialus and Tarsus. Eat, drink,
play; all other human joys are not worth a fillip. ' Supposing this
version nearly exact (for Arrian says it was not quite so), whether the
purpose has not been to invite to civil order a people disposed to
turbulence, rather than to recommend immoderate luxury, may perhaps
reasonably be questioned. What, indeed, could be the object of a king of
Assyria in founding such towns in a country so distant from his capital,
and so divided from it by an immense extent of sandy deserts and lofty
mountains, and, still more, how the inhabitants could be at once in
circumstances to abandon themselves to the intemperate joys which their
prince has been supposed to have recommended, is not obvious.
But it may
deserve observation that, in that line of coast, the southern of Lesser
Asia, ruins of cities, evidently of an age after Alexander, yet barely
named in history, at this day astonish the adventurous traveller by
their magnificence and elegance amid the desolation which, under a
singularly barbarian government, has for so many centuries been daily
spreading in the finest countries of the globe. Whether more from soil
and climate, or from opportunities for commerce, extraordinary means
must have been found for communities to flourish there; whence it may
seem that the measures of Sardanapalus were directed by juster views
than have been commonly ascribed to him. But that monarch having been
the last of a dynasty ended by a revolution, obloquy on his memory would
follow of course from the policy of his successors and their partisans.
The inconsistency of traditions concerning Sardanapalus is striking in
Diodorus's account of him. "--MITFORD's _Greece_, 1820, ix. 311-313, and
note 1.
[The story of the sepulchral monument with its cynical inscription rests
on the authority of Aristobulus, who served under Alexander, and wrote
his history. The passage is quoted by Strabo (lib. xiv. ed. 1808, p.
958), and as follows by Athenaeus (lib. xii. cap. 40) in the
_Deipnosophistae_: "And Aristobulus says, 'In Anchiale, which was built
by Sardanapalus, did Alexander, when he was on his expedition against
the Persians, pitch his camp. And at no great distance was the monument
of Sardanapalus, on which there is a marble figure putting together the
fingers of its right hand, as if it were giving a fillip.
[9] [Strabo (_Rerum Geog_. , lib. iii. 1807, p. 235) throws some doubt on
the existence of these columns, which he suggests were islands or
"pillar" rocks. According to Plutarch (Langhorne's Translation, 1838, p.
490), Alexander built great altars on the banks of the Ganges, on which
the native kings were wont to "offer sacrifices in the Grecian manner. "
Hence, perhaps, the legend of the columns erected by Dionysus. ]
[10] "For this expedition he took only a small chosen body of the
phalanx, but all his light troops. In the first day's march he reached
Anchialus, a town said to have been founded by the king of Assyria,
Sardanapalus. The fortifications, in their magnitude and extent, still
in Arrian's time, bore the character of greatness, which the Assyrians
appear singularly to have affected in works of the kind. A monument
representing Sardanapalus was found there, warranted by an inscription
in Assyrian characters, of course in the old Assyrian language, which
the Greeks, whether well or ill, interpreted thus: 'Sardanapalus, son of
Anacyndaraxes, in one day founded Anchialus and Tarsus. Eat, drink,
play; all other human joys are not worth a fillip. ' Supposing this
version nearly exact (for Arrian says it was not quite so), whether the
purpose has not been to invite to civil order a people disposed to
turbulence, rather than to recommend immoderate luxury, may perhaps
reasonably be questioned. What, indeed, could be the object of a king of
Assyria in founding such towns in a country so distant from his capital,
and so divided from it by an immense extent of sandy deserts and lofty
mountains, and, still more, how the inhabitants could be at once in
circumstances to abandon themselves to the intemperate joys which their
prince has been supposed to have recommended, is not obvious.
But it may
deserve observation that, in that line of coast, the southern of Lesser
Asia, ruins of cities, evidently of an age after Alexander, yet barely
named in history, at this day astonish the adventurous traveller by
their magnificence and elegance amid the desolation which, under a
singularly barbarian government, has for so many centuries been daily
spreading in the finest countries of the globe. Whether more from soil
and climate, or from opportunities for commerce, extraordinary means
must have been found for communities to flourish there; whence it may
seem that the measures of Sardanapalus were directed by juster views
than have been commonly ascribed to him. But that monarch having been
the last of a dynasty ended by a revolution, obloquy on his memory would
follow of course from the policy of his successors and their partisans.
The inconsistency of traditions concerning Sardanapalus is striking in
Diodorus's account of him. "--MITFORD's _Greece_, 1820, ix. 311-313, and
note 1.
[The story of the sepulchral monument with its cynical inscription rests
on the authority of Aristobulus, who served under Alexander, and wrote
his history. The passage is quoted by Strabo (lib. xiv. ed. 1808, p.
958), and as follows by Athenaeus (lib. xii. cap. 40) in the
_Deipnosophistae_: "And Aristobulus says, 'In Anchiale, which was built
by Sardanapalus, did Alexander, when he was on his expedition against
the Persians, pitch his camp. And at no great distance was the monument
of Sardanapalus, on which there is a marble figure putting together the
fingers of its right hand, as if it were giving a fillip.
