A . . . . . . . . . . . . LIA . . NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SIC·ILLI·INTteR·Se mISERO·serMoNe fRVVNTVR·
HAEC·REGINA·GERIT·: PROCVL·HAnc OccultA·VIDEBAT·
ATROPOS·INRIDeNs inteR·DIVERSA·vagenteM
CONSILIA·INTErITVs, QVAM·iAM sua fatA MANeRENT
TER·FVERAT·REVOCATA·diES·CVM·PArte senATVS·
ET·PATRIAE·cOMItANTE·SVAE·CVM·MILite CAESAR·
GENTIS·ALEXANdrI·CupiENs AD·moEnia VENIT·
SIGNAQVE·CONSTITVIT·SIC·OMNis terROR IN·ARTVM.
Col. VIII.
obtereRE·adnisi PORtarVm clAVSTRa pEr VRBEM·,
OPSIDIONE·TAMEN·NeC·CORPORA·MOENIBVS·ArceNT·
CASTRAQVE·PRO·MVRIS·ATQVE·ARMA·PEDESTRIA·PONVNT·
HOS INTER COETVS·ALISQVE·AD·BELLA·PARATVS·
VTRAQUE·SOLLEMNIS·ITERVM·REVOCAVERAT·ORBES·
CONSILIIS·NOX·APTA·DVCVM·LVX·APTIOR·ARMIS.
NO. XXXVIII.—HIERAPOLIS.
This was a town in Syria, near the Euphrates, deriving its name from the number of its temples[283]. It abounded in hot springs; and those gave origin to the following fable: "The shepherd poet relates, after mentioning a case in Phrygia, sacred to the nymphs, that near these springs Luna had once descended from the sky to Endymion, while he was sleeping by the herds; that marks of their bed were then extant under the oaks; and in the thickets around it the milk of cows had been spilt, which man still beheld with admiration (for such was the appearance if you saw it afar off); but that from thence flowed clear and warm water, which in a little time concreted round the channel, and formed a stone pavement."
The deity most worshipped in ancient times in this city, and indeed throughout all Phœnicia, was the goddess Astarte, called in Scripture the Queen of Heaven and the goddess of the Sidonians.
Dr. Chandler and his friend Mr. Revett ascended to the ruins, which are in a flat, passing by sepulchres with inscriptions, and entering from the east. They had soon the theatre on the right hand; and opposite to it, near the margin of the cliff, are the remains of an ancient structure, once perhaps baths, or as was conjectured, a gymnasium; the huge vaults of the roof striking horror as they rode underneath. Beyond is the mean ruin of a modern fortress; and farther on are massive walls of edifices, several of them leaning from their perpendicular, the stones disjointed, and seeming every moment ready to fall—the effects and evidences of repeated earthquakes.
In a recess of the mountain, on the right side, is the area of a stadium. Then again sepulchres succeed; some nearly buried in the mountain side, and one, a square building, with an inscription with large letters.