The ancient Tripoli, he says, stood to the north of the present, in this cultivated tract; but the situation of the triumphal arch, which still attests its former magnificence, would seem to disprove this assertion. The neighbourhood of Numidia and Tunis, and its being the last place on the coast of consequence between Barbary and Egypt, have given it a great share of commerce, and the riches of its merchants have adorned it with splendid mosques, colleges, and hospitals, with squares and streets better ordered than those of Tunis. Provisions are, nevertheless, scarce and dear, and the want of wells obliges it to depend on large cisterns for its supply of water.
Tripoli was taken by assault in 1510 by the Count Pedro of Navarre, who ruined it, but it was re-peopled some time after in the name of the Emperor, who in 1528 gave it, with Malta, to the Knights of St. John, who had just lost the Island of Rhodes.
In 1551 Canan Basha, General of Soliman, retook it, since which time the Turks have held a garrison in it, and the town is peopled with Moors.
Mr. Drummond Hay, Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Tripoli, has been good enough to forward me the following note on the great triumphal arch there, thus redeeming the slur which Bruce casts upon his predecessors:—
‘In the north-east quarter of the town, about a hundred yards from the Marina Gate, in the street which leads directly from it, may be seen this ancient and remarkably fine monument. It was erected by the Consul Scipio Œfritus in the reign of Antoninus Pius, and afterwards dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and L. Aurelius Verus, his successors. The form of the monument is that of a rectangle nearly approaching a square. It is made up of four circular arches surmounted by a dome, and is quadrifrontal, with its largest façades to the east and west. The length of these is 41 feet, while the other two, looking north and south, measure little less than 33 feet. Its height from the ground to the highest corner-stone is at present 23 feet; but to this must be added over five feet of mud and stone, which reach to the dome. At the time of its construction, however, its height was much greater, as the level of the ground was then lower by many feet. Large quantities of sand, carried towards it at some subsequent period by the winds, accumulated round it, burying it to near the middle, in which state it has since remained. Even the half, or little more, above the surface, is now not all visible, because house and shop walls, and rubbish and mortar, conceal much of what remained of the north and east sides. The whole of this structure is composed of fine marble, closely put together in beautiful order, but no cement has been used to fasten the stones together; yet so solid are they that, so far as the ravages of time are concerned, the pile may be pronounced quite uninjured. It is a matter of wonder to the beholder how such enormous stones came to be conveyed from the quarry, and raised to their proper places, in an age when means of conveyance were but limited. Travellers have esteemed this building above any of the most celebrated in Italy, preferring it to the Temple of Janus, which though of marble, has only a plain roof.
‘The upper part is unfortunately mutilated, having received considerable damage from the ignorant curiosity of the Moors. On the outside are enormous groups of whole-length figures of men and women, forming allegorical scenes or representing facts in history, and over each of the four niches on the east and west sides is seen the large prominent bust of a man. Smaller figures and other bas-reliefs are dispersed over the rest of the building. The natives, on account of their religious aversion to images, have knocked off the heads of the four busts, and otherwise damaged them, as well as the other figures which have now become indistinct. Those on the north side are the only ones which have escaped with but little injury, probably because they were concealed by house walls. The ceiling, however, is the part which has suffered least; it is ornamented with beautiful sculpture. Some also of the ornamentation yet visible on the outside is of the finest description, especially about one of the corners where vine branches, with bunches of grapes, are seen woven together.
‘Of several inscriptions only one, partly hidden by a house, is legible, and, unlike the rest, remains in a perfect state of preservation; it runs thus—
IMP. CAES. AVRELIO. ANTONIN. AVG. P. P. ET. IMP. CAES. L. AVRELIO. VERO. ARMENICO. AVG. SER. S. OEFRITVS. PROCOS. CVM. VTTEDIO. MARCELLO. LEG. SVO. DEDICAVIT. C. CALPVRNIVS. CELSIVS. CVRATOR. MVNERIS. PVB. MVNERARIVS. IIVIR. Q.Q. FLAMEN. PERPETVVS. ARCVM. MARMORE. SOLIDO. FECIT.
‘For a long succession of years the arch, having had its openings built up, has served the purpose of a warehouse. Many years ago it fell into the hands of its present owner, an old Maltese wine merchant, of the name of Giovanni Cassar, who, after converting it into the principal wine-shop in the town, again made use of it as a warehouse, and it is now, at the present day, filled with his casks and boxes. Part of the above description is taken from “The History of the Barbary States” by the Rev. Michel Russell, in which book, as well as in Tully’s “Court of Tripoli,” Blacquiere’s “Letters from the Mediterranean,” and Captain Lyon’s “Travels in Africa,” will be found references to the triumphal arch. In both Tully and Lyon are illustrations of the building.’
Plate XXVII.