There are, as we have already stated, very few remains within the city of any ancient buildings. The principal works are the aqueducts, and some grottoes cut in the mountain. There were once two temples of great celebrity, one of which was dedicated to Apollo and the other to the Moon. At this moment not a vestige of these is to be discovered. "Formerly," says Lord Sandwich, "it had a port of considerable importance on the north bank of the Orontes, and on the shores of the Levant; but the harbour is choked up, and not a single inhabitant remains. The sun of Antioch is set. The present city is a miserable place, extending four hundred yards from the side of the river to the bottom of a mountain, on the summit of which, and round the town, the crusaders, during their being in possession of Syria, built a strong wall. Nothing remains of its ancient grandeur besides some stupendous causeways and massy gateways of hewn stone."
At a distance of about four or five miles was a place called Daphne. There Seleucus planted a grove, and in the midst of it he erected a temple, which he consecrated to Apollo and Diana. To this place the inhabitants of Antioch resorted for their pleasures and diversions, till at last it became so infamous, that "to live after the manner of Daphne" was used proverbially to express the most voluptuous and dissolute mode of living.
Antioch is said to have been once greater than Rome itself; but often ruined, and finally razed by the Mamelukes, it is now only a small town, known by the name of Antakia. Its climate is so agreeable, that we may cite some observations, made in regard to it in a passage in Mr. Robinson's tour in Palestine and Syria. "For the breadth and brilliancy of the eastern landscape, there is no architecture equal to the Oriental. The solemnity and grandeur of the Gothic are suited to our climate of cloud and tempest. The severe or even the florid beauty of Greek architecture belongs to a country where the spectator sees it under the lights and shadows of a sky as picturesque as the hills and valleys that it covers. But the magnitude, strong colourings, and yet fantastic finish of Eastern architecture are made to be seen across its vast plains under the unclouded sky; and glowing with the powerful splendour with which the rising and the setting sun less illumine than inflame the horizon. At a distance it has the dream-like beauty which we habitually attach to the edifices of the Arabian Nights[33]."
NO. XI.—ARGOS.
Argos was founded in the 1856th year before the Christian era; that is, in the time of Abraham. Its founder was Inachus. Euripides, however, says, that the city was built by the Cyclops, who came from Syria. After flourishing for about 550 years, it was united to the crown of Mycenæ. According to Herodotus, Argos was the most famous of all the states, comprehended under the general name of Greece. For a long time it was the most flourishing city in Greece; and this chiefly from its being enriched by the commerce of Assyria and Egypt. Its early history is resplendent with illustrious names and shining achievements. Its inhabitants conceived a hope of obtaining the sovereignty of all Peloponnesus; but they became at length enfeebled and at last ruined by intestine divisions.
There are many events exceedingly interesting in the history of Argos; amongst which, these. A war broke out, in the reign of Theopompus[34], between the Argives and Lacedemonians, on account of a little country called Thyrea, that lay upon the confines of the two states, and to which each of them pretended a right. When the two armies were ready to engage, it was agreed, in order to spare the effusion of blood, that the quarrel should be decided by three hundred of the bravest men on both sides; and that the land in question should become the property of the victors. To leave the combatants more room to engage, the two armies retired to some distance. Those generous champions then, who had all the courage of two mighty armies, boldly advanced towards each other, and fought with so much resolution and fury, that the whole number, except three men, two on the side of the Argives, and one on the side of the Lacedemonians, lay dead on the spot; and only the night parted them. The two Argives, looking upon themselves as the conquerors, made what haste they could to Argos to carry the news; the single Lacedemonian, Othryades by name, instead of retiring, stripped the dead bodies of the Argives, and carrying their arms into the Lacedemonian camp, continued in his post. The next day the two armies returned to the field of battle. Both sides laid equal claim to the victory. The Argives, because they had more of their champions left alive than the enemy had; the Lacedemonians, because the two Argives that remained alive had fled; whereas their single soldier had remained master of the field of battle, and had carried off the spoils of the enemy: in short, they could not determine the dispute without coming to another engagement. Then fortune declared in favour of the Lacedemonians, and the little territory of Thyrea was the prize of their victory. But Othryades, not able to bear the thoughts of surviving his brave companions, or of enduring the sight of Sparta after their death, killed himself on the same field of battle where they had fought, resolving to have one fate and tomb with them.
At[35] a subsequent period, the inhabitants of Argos despatched ambassadors to Pyrrhus and Antigonus to entreat them to withdraw their troops, and not reduce their city into subjection to either of them, but to allow it to continue in a state of friendship with both. Antigonus readily consented, and sent his son as a hostage to the Argives. Pyrrhus, also, promised to retire; but as he offered no security for the fulfilment of his word, they began to suspect his sincerity; and, indeed, with sufficient reason: for as soon as night appeared, he advanced to the walls, and having found a door left open by Aristæus, he had time to force his Gauls into the city; and so seize it without being perceived. But when he would have introduced his elephants, he found the gates too low; which obliged him to cause the towers to be taken down from their backs, and replaced there when those animals had entered the city. All this could not be effected amidst the darkness without much trouble, noise, and confusion, which caused them to be discovered. The Argives, when they beheld the enemy in the city, fled to the citadel, and to those places that were most advantageous in their defence, and sent a deputation to Antigonus, to press his speedy advance to their assistance. He accordingly marched that moment, and caused his son, with the other officers, to enter the city at the head of his best troops. In this very juncture of time, King Areus also arrived at Argos, with a thousand Cretans, and as many Spartans as were capable of coming. These troops, when they had all joined each other, charged the Gauls with the utmost fury, and put them into disorder. Pyrrhus hastened, on his part, to sustain them; but the darkness and confusion was then so great, that it was impossible for him to be either obeyed or heard. When day appeared, he was not a little surprised to see the citadel full of enemies; and as he then imagined all was lost, he thought of nothing but a timely retreat. But as he had some apprehension with respect to the city gates, which were much too narrow, he sent orders to his son, Helenus, whom he had left without with the greatest part of the army, to demolish part of the wall, that his troops might have a free passage out of the city. The person to whom Pyrrhus gave this order in great haste, having misunderstood his meaning, delivered a quite contrary message; in consequence of which, Helenus drew out his best infantry, with all the elephants he had left, and then advanced into the city to assist his father, who was preparing to retire, the moment the other entered the place.
Pyrrhus, as long as the place afforded him a sufficient extent of ground, appeared with a resolute mien, and frequently faced about and repulsed those who pursued him; but when he found himself engaged in a narrow street, which ended at the gate, the confusion, which already was very great, became infinitely increased by the arrival of the troops his son brought to his assistance. He frequently called aloud to them to withdraw, in order to clear the streets, but in vain; for as it was impossible for his voice to be heard, they still continued to advance; and to complete the calamity in which they were involved, one of the largest elephants sank down in the middle of the gate, and filled the whole extent in such a manner, that the troops could neither advance nor retire. The confusion occasioned by this accident became then inextricable.
Pyrrhus observing the disorder of his men, who broke forward and were driven back, took off the glittering crest, which distinguished his helmet, and caused him to be known, and then, confiding in the goodness of his horse, he sprang into the throng of his enemies who pursued him; and while he was fighting with an air of desperation, one of the adverse party advanced up to him, and pierced his cuirass with a javelin. The wound, however, was neither great nor dangerous, and Pyrrhus immediately turned upon the man from whom he had received it, and who happened to be only a private soldier, the son of a poor woman at Argos: the mother beholding the contest from the top of a house, where she stood with several other women. The moment she saw her son engaged with Pyrrhus, she almost lost her senses, and chilled with horror at the danger to which she beheld him exposed. Amidst the impressions of her agony, she caught up a large tile, and threw it down upon Pyrrhus. The mass fell directly upon his head, and his helmet being too weak to ward off the blow, his hands dropped the reins, and he sank down from his horse without being observed. But he was soon discovered by a soldier, who put an end to his life, by cutting off his head.