An elevated mass of calcareous earth, 65½ feet broad and 16½ feet high, rests upon the north side of the Tower, and is evidently composed of the rubbish which had to be removed in order to level the rock for building the Tower upon it. I have of course pierced this hillock, and have convinced myself that the north side of the Tower, 16½ feet above the rock, does not consist of masonry, but of large blocks of stone lying loosely one upon another, and that only the upper part, about a yard high, consists of actual masonry. This hillock, having the form of a rampart, thus serves to consolidate the north side of the Tower, and renders it possible to ascend to the top without steps. The south side of the Tower, looking out upon the Plain, consists of very solid masonry, composed of blocks of limestone joined with earth, some of the stones being hewn, others not. This south side of the Tower rises from the rock at an angle of 75 degrees.

None but those who have been present at these works can have any idea of the enormous difficulties connected with making excavations 46½ feet deep on the right and left of the Tower, where the débris has to be carried off to a distance of more than 262 feet. At this great distance it is very fatiguing to work with wheel-barrows and man-carts; so I now keep seven carts drawn by horses, which I find a very great relief.

The Tower is at present only 6 meters (20 feet high), but the nature of its surface, and the masses of stones lying on both sides, seem to prove that it was at one time much higher.[202] For the preservation of what remains we have only to thank the ruins of Troy, which entirely covered the Tower as it now stands. It is probable that after the destruction of Troy much more of it remained standing, and that the part which rose above the ruins of the town was destroyed by the successors of the Trojans, who possessed neither walls nor fortifications. The western part of the Tower, so far as it is yet uncovered, is only from 121 to 124 feet distant from the steep western slope of the hill; and, considering the enormous accumulation of débris, I believe that the Tower once stood on the western edge of the Acropolis, where its situation would be most interesting and imposing; for its top would have commanded, not only a view of the whole Plain of Troy, but of the sea with the islands of Tenedos, Imbros, and Samothrace. There is not a more sublime situation in the area of Troy than this, and I therefore presume that it is the “Great Tower of Ilium” which Andromache ascended because “she had heard that the Trojans were hard pressed and that the power of the Achæans was great.”[203] After having been buried for thirty-one centuries, and after successive nations have built their houses and palaces high above its summit during thousands of years, this Tower has now again been brought to light, and commands a view, if not of the whole Plain, at least of the northern part and of the Hellespont. May this sacred and sublime monument of Greek heroism for ever attract the eyes of those who sail through the Hellespont! May it become a place to which the enquiring youth of all future generations shall make pilgrimage and fan their enthusiasm for knowledge, and above all for the noble language and literature of Greece! May it be an inducement speedily and completely to lay bare the walls of Troy, which must necessarily be connected with this Tower and most probably also with the wall laid open by me on the north side, to uncover which is now a very easy matter.

The expenses of excavating Ilium are, however, too great for private means, and I hope that a company will be formed, or that some government will decide to continue my excavations, so that I may proceed to the excavation of the acropolis of Mycenæ. Meanwhile I shall continue the excavations at my own expense, but I shall in future confine myself to gradually uncovering the large surrounding walls, which are sure to be in a more or less good state of preservation at a great depth below the city wall built by Lysimachus.

Before I had seen even the smallest ruins of walls belonging to Ilium, I repeatedly maintained in my reports that the whole city was built, as it is now proved by the Wall and the Tower to have been, of stones joined with earth. That this style of building, if not more ancient, is at least just as ancient as the so-called cyclopean, is proved by the walls and houses of Thera (Santorin) and Therassia, which are built in the same way, and which, as is well known, were discovered beneath three layers of volcanic ashes 68 feet thick. These ashes were, however, thrown up by a central volcano, which must have been at least 3800 feet high, and which, as is generally supposed, sank into the sea at latest 1500 years before Christ.

Upon the site of the temple I found, at a depth of 6½ feet, a block of marble 5¼ feet high, and 2¾ feet both in breadth and thickness; it weighs about 50 tons, and contains the following inscription:—

ΗΒΟΥΛΗΚΑΙΟΔΗΜΟ
ΙΛΙΕΩΝΕΤΙΜΗΣΑΝΑΥ
ΚΛΑΥΔΙΟΝΚΑΙΚΙΝΑΙ
ΑΙΟΝΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΟΝΑ
ΤΑΛΟΓΙΣΤΗΝΥΠΟΤΟ5
ΟΤΑΤΟΥΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟ
ΣΑΡΟΣΤΙΤΟΥΑΙΛΙΟΥΑΔ
ΝΟΥΑΝΤΩΝΙΟΥΣΕΒΑ
ΕΥΣΕΒΟΥΣΚ..ΙΠΟΛΛ
ΜΕΓΑΛΑΤΗΙΠ..ΛΕΙΚΑΤΟ10
ΣΑΝΤΑΚΑΙΠ..ΡΑΣΧΟΝΤ
ΤΕΤΗΛΟΓΙΣΤ..ΙΑΚΑΙΣΥ
ΓΟΡΙΑΙΣΑΝΔ...ΠΑΣΗΣΤ
ΑΞΙΟΝΑΡΕΤΗ..ΕΝΕΚΕΝΚ
ΕΥΝΟΙΑΣΤΗΣΠΡΟΣΤΗ15
ΠΟΛΙΝ

The first name occurring in this inscription, of which the syllable ΑΥ is preserved, is probably ΑΥΛΟΣ. ΚΑΙΚΙΝΑΙ, must certainly be the family-name, and must indicate the Latin ablative. Whether the other name, of which ΑΙΟΝ remains, is intended for ΓΑΙΟΝ, I do not venture positively to maintain, but I consider it to be probable. For the inscription, which I read as follows, is written in bad Greek, especially towards the end: Ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος Ἰλιέων ἐτίμησαν Αὖλον Κλαύδιον Καικινᾷ Γάϊον Κυζικηνὸν ἄρχοντα λογιστὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ θειοτάτου αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Τίτου Αἰλίου Ἀδριανοῦ Ἀντωνίου Σεβαστοῦ Εὐσεβοὺς καὶ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα τῇ πόλει κατορθώσαντα καὶ παράσχοντά τε τῇ λογιστείᾳ καὶ συνηγορίαις ἄνδρα πάσης τιμῆς ἄξιον ἀρετῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ εὐνοίας τῆς πρὸς τὴν πόλιν.

The Emperor mentioned in this inscription is of course Antoninus Pius, whose reign began in the year 138 A.D., and who died in 161 A.D.; it is merely by an error that he is here called Antonius. He got the name of Hadrian from his adoptive father, the Emperor Hadrian, and took the name of Ælius after the death of Hadrian’s first adopted son, Ælius Cæsar.

Upon the upper end of the block of marble there are two foot-marks, the one considerably in advance of the other. Each of them being 15-1/3 inches long, they leave no doubt that upon this block the colossal statue of the Cyzicene, who is praised in the inscription, stood in the attitude of an orator. In the hinder foot there is a square hole, 1-4/5 inch square, in which was placed the iron rod for fixing the statue. To judge from the size of the footmarks, the statue must have been more than 8 feet high, and, as the marble block is 5¼ feet in height, the whole must have been at least 13¼ feet high, and hence we may conclude that the temple in which this work of art stood was very spacious.