There are, also, the ruins of a very extensive edifice, supposed to have been the temple of Ceres.
Some trifling fragments of edifices, and the traces of its triple walls, are all that remain of the Byrsa's splendid fanes and palaces; though many pieces of rare marbles have been found, as serpentine, giallo, rosso, and porphyry. Nor is there any remain of the famous temple of Æsculapius, the approach to which was by a magnificent flight of steps, and rendered so interesting from having been the place in whose flames Asdrubal's wife destroyed herself, her children, and nine hundred Roman deserters, rather than submit to the yoke of the haughty vanquishers of her country.
Sir George Temple's observations are very beautiful:—"Early in the morning, I walked to the site of the great Carthage—of that town, at the sound of whose name mighty Rome herself had so often trembled—of Carthage, the mistress of powerful and brave armies, of numerous fleets, and of the world's commerce, and to whom Africa, Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Italy herself, bowed in submission as to their sovereign;—in short, 'Carthago, dives opum, studiisque asperrima belli.' I was prepared to see but few vestiges of its former grandeur; it had so often suffered from the devastating effects of war, that I knew many could not exist: but my heart sunk within me, when, ascending one of its hills, (from whose summit the eye embraces a view of the whole surrounding country to the edge of the sea,) I beheld nothing more than a few scattered and shapeless masses of masonry[184]. Yes, all the vestiges of the splendour and magnificence of the mighty city had, indeed, passed away, and its very name is now unknown to the present inhabitants[185]."
NO. XXIV.—CATANEA.
This city, situated at the foot of Mount Etna, was founded by a colony from Chalcis, seven hundred and fifty-three years before the Christian era; and soon after the settlement of Syracuse. There have not been wanting some, however, to assert that ancient Catanea was one of the oldest cities in the world.
It fell into the hands of the Romans, and became the residence of a prætor.
It was then adorned with sumptuous buildings of all kinds. It was destroyed, however, by Pompey; and restored by Augustus with greater magnificence. It was large and opulent. Being so contiguous to Mount Etna, it is rendered remarkable for the fatal overthrows to which it has been subjected by the eruptions of that mountain; in some of which it has been known to discharge a stream of lava four miles broad and fifty feet deep, and advancing at the rate of seven miles in a day.
The number of eruptions from the page of history are 81.
| From the time of Thucydides (B. C. 481) | 3 | |
| In the year B. C. | 1 | |
| In A. D. 44 | 1 | |
| A. D. 252 | 1 | |
| During the | 12th century | 2 |
| 13th | 1 | |
| 14th | 2 | |
| 15th | 4 | |
| 16th | 4 | |
| 17th | 22 | |
| 18th | 32 | |
| Since the commencement of the 19th cent. | 8 | |
| —81 total. | ||