This third inscription also appears to belong to the first century B.C.
It is probable that the building in and around which I discovered these three inscriptions was the Town-hall of Ilium; at all events, it does not appear to have been a temple.
The view from the hill of Hissarlik is extremely magnificent.[84] Before me lies the glorious Plain of Troy, which, since the recent rain, is again covered with grass and yellow buttercups; on the north-north-west, at about an hour’s distance, it is bounded by the Hellespont. The peninsula of Gallipoli here runs out to a point, upon which stands a lighthouse. To the left of it is the island of Imbros, above which rises Mount Ida of the island of Samothrace, at present covered with snow; a little more to the west, on the Macedonian peninsula, lies the celebrated Mount Athos, or Monte Santo, with its monasteries, at the north-western side of which there are still to be seen traces of that great canal which, according to Herodotus (VII. 22-23), was made by Xerxes, in order to avoid sailing round the stormy Cape Athos.
Returning to the Plain of Troy, we see to the right of it, upon a spur of the promontory of Rhœteum, the sepulchral mound of Ajax; at the foot of the opposite Cape of Sigeum that of Patroclus, and upon a spur of the same cape the sepulchre of Achilles; to the left of the latter, on the promontory itself, is the village of Yenishehr. The Plain, which is about two hours’ journey in breadth, is thence bounded on the west by the shores of the Ægean, which are, on an average, about 131 feet high, and upon which we see first the sepulchral mound of Festus, the confidential friend of Caracalla, whom the Emperor (according to Herodian, IV.) caused to be poisoned on his visit to Ilium, that he might be able to imitate the funeral rites which Achilles celebrated in honour of his friend Patroclus, as described by Homer (Iliad, XXIII.). Then upon the same coast there is another sepulchral mound, called Udjek-Tépé, rather more than 78½ feet in height, which most archæologists consider to be that of the old man Æsyetes, from which Polites, trusting to the swiftness of his feet, watched to see when the Greek army would set forth from the ships.[85] The distance of this mound from the Greek camp on the Hellespont is, however, fully 3½ hours, whereas at a distance of a quarter of an hour a man cannot be seen. Polites, moreover, would not have required to have been very swift-footed to have escaped at a distance of 3½ hours. In short, from the passage in the Iliad this tomb cannot possibly be identified with that of Æsyetes, whether the site of ancient Troy be assigned to the heights of Bunarbashi or to Ilium, where I am digging. Between the last-named mounds we see projecting above the high shores of the Ægean Sea the island of Tenedos. To the south, we see the Plain of Troy, extending again to a distance of two hours, as far as the heights of Bunarbashi, above which rises majestically the snow-capped Gargarus of Mount Ida, from which Jupiter witnessed the battles between the Trojans and the Greeks.[86] At half-an-hour’s distance to the left of Bunarbashi is the beautiful estate of 5000 acres, whose name of Batak is now changed into Thymbria, belonging to my friend Mr. Frederick Calvert. It deserves the change of name for more than one reason; for not only does the river Thymbrius (now Kemer) flow through it, but it comprises the whole site of the ancient town of Thymbria, with its temple of Apollo, among the ruins of which the proprietor’s brother, Mr. Frank Calvert—known for his archæological investigations—is making excavations, and has found several valuable inscriptions; among others, an inventory of the temple. This estate further comprises the site of an ancient town, which is apparently encompassed in some places by ramparts; it is covered with fragments of pottery, and in regard to position, distance, &c., corresponds so closely with the statements of Strabo that it must certainly be his “Ἰλιέων κώμη,” where, agreeing with the theory of Demetrius of Scepsis, he places the Homeric Troy. At the foot of the hill containing the site, there are, curiously enough, two springs, one of hot the other of cold water.[87] These springs—probably owing to their natural channels having been stopped up for centuries by a fallen bridge—have formed a large marsh of 240 acres, the evaporations of which greatly contribute to the malaria of the glorious Plain. The marvellous circumstance that these springs are situated directly before the site of “Ἰλιέων κώμη” and that their position corresponds so exactly with the two springs of hot and cold water which existed in front of ancient Troy, and in which the Trojan women used to wash their clothes, convinces Mr. Frederick Calvert that Demetrius of Scepsis and Strabo were right, and that he possesses the actual site of ancient Troy. In order to gain 240 acres of rich land and to make the district more healthy, but especially also in the interest of science, Mr. Calvert has now caused the channels to be opened, and he believes, as the incline is considerable, amounting at least to 53 feet, and the distance from the Hellespont is three hours, that by next summer the whole marsh will be dried up, and the two springs, which are now 5 feet under water, will be brought to light.[88] I have in vain endeavoured to make Mr. Calvert change his opinion, by seeking to convince him that, according to the Iliad (II. 123-30),[89] Troy must at least have had 50,000 inhabitants, whereas the site he possesses is scarcely large enough for 10,000; further, that the distance from the Ἰλιέων κώμη to the Hellespont directly contradicts the statements of Homer, for we are told that the Greek troops in one day twice forced their way fighting from the camp to the town, and returned twice, fighting. The distance of the town from the ships, therefore, in my opinion, can at most have been that of one hour (about 3 miles). Mr. Calvert replies that the whole Plain of Troy is alluvial land, and that at the time of the Trojan war its site must have been nearer the Hellespont; but, three years ago, in my work, ‘Ithaca, the Peloponnesus, and Troy,’ I endeavoured to prove that the Plain of Troy is decidedly not alluvial land.
PLATE IV.
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