The Temple of Juno was adorned by one of the most famous pictures of antiquity; which is celebrated by many of the ancient writers. Zeuxis was determined to excel any thing that had gone before him, and to form a model of human perfection. To this end, he prevailed on all the finest women of Agrigentum, who were ambitious of the honour, to appear naked before him. Of these he chose five for his models; and moulding all the perfections of these beauties into one, he composed the picture of the goddess. This was ever looked upon as his masterpiece; but was, unfortunately, burnt when the Carthaginians took Agrigentum. At that period, many of the citizens retired into this temple, as to a place of safety; but as soon as they found the gates attacked by the enemy, they agreed to set fire to it, and chose rather to perish in the flames, than submit to the power of the conqueror. In the Temple of Hercules, there was another picture by Zeuxis. Hercules was represented, in his cradle, killing the two serpents; Alcmena and Amphitrion, having just entered the apartment, were painted with every mark of terror and astonishment. Pliny says, the painter looked upon this piece as invaluable; and, therefore, could never be prevailed upon to put a price upon it; but gave it as a present to the people of Agrigentum, to be placed in the temple of Hercules.
The temples, also, were very magnificent. That of Æsculapius, two columns and two pilasters of which now support the end of a farm-house, was not less celebrated for a statue of Apollo. It was taken from them by the Carthaginians, at the same time that the Temple of Juno was burnt. It was carried off by the conquerors, and continued the greatest ornament of Carthage for many years; but was, at last, restored by Scipio, at the final destruction of the city. Some of the Sicilians allege, but it is supposed without ground, that this statue was afterward carried to Rome, and still remains there, the wonder of all ages; and known to the whole world, under the name of the Apollo Belvidere.
An edifice of the Doric order, called the Temple of Concord, has still its walls, its columns, entablature, and pediments, entire. In proceeding from the Temple of Concord, you walk between rows of sepulchres, cut in the rock, wherever it admitted of being excavated by the hand of man, or was so already by that of nature. Some masses are hewn into the shape of coffins; others drilled full of small square holes, employed in a different mode of interment, and serving as receptacles of urns. One ponderous piece of the rock lies in an extraordinary position. By the failure of its foundation, or the shock of an earthquake, it has been loosened from the general quarry, and rolled down the declivity, where it now remains supine, with the cavities turned upwards. There was also a temple dedicated to Ceres and Proserpine; with the ruins was formed a church, which now exists; and the road, leading to which, was cut out of the solid rock. In respect to the temple of Castor and Pollux, vegetation has covered the lower parts of the building, and only a few fragments of two columns appear between the vines. Of the Temple of Venus, about one half remains; but the glory of the place was the Temple of Jupiter Olympius, three hundred and forty feet long, sixty broad, and one hundred and twenty in height. Its columns and porticos were in the finest style of architecture; and its bas-reliefs and paintings executed with admirable taste. On its eastern walls was sculptured the Battle of the Giants; while the western represented the Trojan War; corresponding exactly with the description which Virgil had given of the painting in the Temple of Juno at Carthage.
Diodorus Siculus extols the beauty of the columns which supported the building; the admirable structure of the porticos, and the exquisite taste with which the bas-reliefs and paintings were executed; but he adds, that the stately edifice was never finished. Cicero, against Verres, speaks of the statues he carried away. Mr. Swinburne says, that it has remaining not one stone upon another; and that it is barely possible, with the liberal aid of conjecture, to discover the traces of its plan and dimensions. He adds, however, that St. Peter's at Rome exceeds this celebrated temple more than doubly in every dimension; being two hundred and fifteen feet higher, three hundred and thirty-four longer, and four hundred and thirty-three wider.
Added to these, there is now remaining a monument of Tero, king of Agrigentum, one of the first of the Sicilian tyrants. The great antiquity of this monument may be gathered from this; that Tero is not only mentioned by Diodorus, Polybius, and the more modern of the ancient historians, but likewise by Herodotus, and Pindar, who dedicates two of his Olympic Odes to him; so that this monument must be much more than two thousand years old. It is a kind of pyramid, the most durable of forms; and is surrounded by aged olive-trees, which cast a wild, irregular shade over the ruin.
All these mighty ruins of Agrigentum, and the whole mountain on which it stands, says Mr. Brydone, is composed of an immense concretion of seashells, run together, and cemented by a kind of sand, or gravel, and now become as hard, and perhaps more durable, than even marble itself. This stone is white before it has been exposed to the air; but in the temples and other ruins it is become "set," of a very dark brown. These shells are found on the very summit of the mountain, which is at least fourteen or fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea.
The celebrated Empedocles was a native of this city; one of the finest spirits that ever adorned the earth. His saying, in regard to his fellow-citizens, is well known;—viz., that they squandered their money so excessively every day, that they seemed to expect it could never be exhausted; and that they built with such solidity and magnificence, as if they thought they should live for ever[8].
NO. VI.—ALBA LONGA.
It has been stated, or rather speculated upon, that the entire history of this place is no other than a romance. By Dionysius of Halicarnassus, however, it is said to have existed four hundred and eighty-seven years; when, after having been the founder of thirty other Latin cities, it was destroyed by the Roman power.