On this occasion Xanthus made a memorable defence. It is said that, when driven from the plain by the united forces of the Persian and confederate army, its people took refuge in their citadel, and, collecting therein their wives, children, and treasures, burnt them, at the same time falling to a man in a furious sally upon their enemies (Herod, i. 176). That the Persian success was complete, we know from the fact, that, sixty years later, the then Xanthians sent fifty ships to the aid of Xerxes, and continued, subsequently, to pay an annual tax to the Persian monarchs.[[57]] Yet their courage was not subdued; for when Alexander, after his victory over the Persians at the Graneicus, descended into Lycia, at Xanthus, and there alone, he met with an obstinate resistance.

[57]. It has been suggested (see Rawlinson’s Herodotus, i. p. 312) that the family of Harpagus continued to govern Lycia, and that the Xanthian obelisk (to which we shall presently refer) was erected soon after the battle of Eurymedon, B.C. 466. But “son of Harpagus,” on that monument, may easily mean no more than his descendant, just as Jehu was called “the son of Omri.”

In the subsequent war, the Xanthians supported Antigonus; hence the assault and capture of the town by Ptolemy; and, during the war between Brutus and the Triumvirs, the former entered Lycia, and a bloody attack on, and siege of, Xanthus were the natural results. We are told, that on this occasion, the people of the town did as they had done before when assaulted by Harpagus, destroying themselves, their wives, and their children, in a similar holocaust. Subsequently, we hear little of Xanthus, except that it suffered severely from the two great earthquakes in the days of Tiberius and Antoninus Pius. The town of Xanthus was situated on the left bank of the Sirbes[[58]] or Sirbus, called Xanthus or the Yellow by the Greeks; at a distance of between 6 and 7 miles from the sea. On the highest point was the Acropolis, a Roman work, built chiefly out of the ruins of the older town. On the brow of the hill stood what has been called the Harpy tomb.

[58]. Dionysius Periegetes testifies to both names:

Σίβρῳ ἐπ’ ἀργυρέῳ ποταμῷ ...

and

Ξάνθου ἐπί προχοῇσιν ... κ. τ. λ. (v. 847.)

PERSIAN SATRAP SEATED.

The monuments found at Xanthus may be arranged under the head of (1) the so-called Ionic trophy monument,[[59]] (2) Miscellaneous reliefs, (3) Tombs. The first stands on the east side of the city, and was constructed of white marble on a basement of grey Lycian stone. Two or more friezes had once surrounded it, representing contests between warriors fully armed after the Greek fashion, or more lightly clad in tunics or naked, and wearing helmets. Sir C. Fellows imagines he can recognize, in some cases, the loose-robed bearded Lycians, with their peculiar arms and curtained shields,[[60]] the battle being that in the plains recorded by Herodotus.[[61]] Asiatics are certainly represented on some of the slabs with the pointed cap or cydaris, while, on other slabs is an attack on the main gate of a strongly-fortified town. On another relief is a Persian satrap seated, with the umbrella, or symbol of sovereignty, over his head, and on other slabs, are indications of a sortie from the city and of its repulse. The city may or may not be Xanthus itself, but, within the walls, are well-known monuments of that town, upright square pillars or stelæ, four of which are represented.[[62]] The “Trophy monument,” which has been cleverly restored by Sir Charles Fellows, as a peripteral tetrastyle temple, may be seen in the Lycian room in the British Museum. We regret, however, we cannot accept his view, that the subject of these sculptures is the capture of Xanthus by Harpagus, as this event took place in B.C. 545; while none of these reliefs can be as early as B.C. 400.[[63]]