THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY 1 l i { fjftt whofe Remains are here exhibited, hath been, ’till very lately, almoft buried in Oblivion. The Caufes of the Depopulation of Magna Greecia extending to this City, have, for many Ages, rendered its Territories a Defert, unfrequented by the adjacent Inhabitants, and little known to Travellers. However, within thefe few Years, this Place has been vifited by the Curious ; and among others, by an Englijh Gentleman, to whom the following Work owes its Birth ; and who procured at Naples feveral fine Drawings of thefe Temples. The other Views were taken in Prefence of his Excellency Sir James Gray (2), whilft His Majefty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples . The Plans, Elevations, and Meafures, the Public owe to that eminent Artift, Monf. J. G. Soufflot (3) : They were by him accurately taken on the Spot (4), and he has generoufly afiifted the Engraver in this Undertaking. (1) The Ruins of Palmyra, 1753, and Balbec, 1757, by M. Wood and Dawkins. Les Ruins des plus beaux Monuments de la Greco, 1758, by M. Le Roy. The Antiquities of Athens, by M. Stuart and Revett, 1762, &c. (2) Bart. Knight of the Bath, Appointed His Majefty’s Ambaflador at the Court of Spain, in 1767. (3) Knight of the Order of St. Michael, Arcbitedl to His moft CbriJlian Majefty, Member of the Royal Academy of Architedture, and Controller of Paris. (4) See Le Roy, Monum. de la Grece. de /’ Arcbiteaure Civile, Page X, Note (i). Di fours fur I'HiJloire Thus IV To the READER. Thus furmfhed with Materials, and not knowing that any Attempts of this Kind, in federal detached Pieces, had been made by others, the Engraver was induced to believe that this Performance, from the lingular Conftruffion , of the Edifices, would prove acceptable to the Public. Thefe Temples are efteemed by the learned as fome of the moll curious Remains of Grecian Antiquity, the moll entire of any now exifting, and are noble Monuments of the Magnificence of that ancient City. This Work ;is divided into three Parts. The firil contains a fummary Account of the Origin of Pxjiwn, or Pofidmia, and likewife of its ancient and modern State: The fecond, a Defcription of the Temples, with fome occafional Remarks thereon: The third is a Differtation upon the Coins and Medals of that City. As no Attention or Expence have been fpared to render this Work as complete as poffible, the Engraver hopes this Performance will be received with Indulgence. For the Illuilration of the Prints, and Hiilorical Account, he has availed himfelf of whatever could be gathered from various Authors who have treated on this Subjed; and how far he has fucceeded is left to the Determination of the Public; to whom he begs leave to exprefs his grateful Acknowledgements, for the favourable Reception hitherto bellowed upon his Labours For the Conveniency of Foreigners, he has given a Tranfiation of this Work in French .- And he takes this Occafion of expreffing his Gratitude to the French Nation, for the many Civilities and Inftruaions he has received from their Artifts, notwithftanding the Affair which happened to him while he was purfuing his Studies at Paris (i). And here, he cannot but obferve with Pleafure, the great Improvements (the Effea of generous Encouragement) that his Countrymen have made in the feveral Branches of Art. Their Produffions, particularly in Painting and Engraving, fo generally approved at the annual public Exhibitions, fufficiently refute invidious Refleaions fometimes thrown on them, that their chief Efforts center in Schemes of raffing a Fortune: and alfo the unfavourable Opinion, entertained by fome Foreigners (a), of the Abilities of the Englijh Artifts. If we confider the Difadvantage they labour under, of not having hitherto had any Public Academy; and of being, for the moll Part, obliged to complete their Studies abroad; it is rather to be wondered that they have made fo great a Progrefs; and is a convincing Proof of the natural Strength of Englijh Genius, not left capable of diftinguiflung itfelf in the liberal Arts, than in the moll abftrufe Sciences. London, June, 1767. ( 1 ) The Engraver, with others of his Countrymen, was confined in the BaJiUle in 1746, by way of Reprifal for the French and Irijh Soldiers, taken Prifoners by the Englijh ; but was releafed in ten Days by that generous Prote&or of Arts, the Marquis d’ARCENSON, Minifter of State for Foreign Affairs, (2) Particularly the Tranflator of the learned Abbe' Winkelman’s HiJIoire dc Pjlrt chez let Ancient, Tom. I. P. 46. French Edition, Amjlerdam, 1766. Tai.XXVJ. ENQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN and Ancient STATE O F POSIDONIA \ or PAL STUM. M O N G the innumerable Evils, of which the diabolical Rage for War is produdtive, it is perhaps none of the leaft, that the Attention of the Hiftorian is fo engrofled by the Battles and Exploits of Heroes, that thofe Benefactors to Mankind, who have figured in Arts or Sciences, and employed all their Time and their Talents in civilizing the World, are either entirely forgot, or considered only as acting an under Part on the great Stage of Life. Whoever confiders the noble Remains of Art, exhibited in the following Sheets, mull conclude, that the City,, which contained them, did once make a very confiderable Figure ; and argue by analogy, that the fame Tafte and Skill, which were exerted in railing thefe Buildings, were not confined to Architecture only, but produced a Similar Excellence in the whole Circle of Arts and Sciences : So that Pofidonia , in thefe Particulars, might once perhaps have been not much inferior to Athens itfelf: And yet fo it is, that very Icanty Materials for its Hiftory are to be found in the ancient Writers, by whom, when we have C been 6 THE RUINS been told that it was fucceffively polTeffed by the Dorians , the Sybarites , the Lucanians and the Romans , we fhall have learned the chief of what they have Been pleafed to inform us. However, we will endeavour to glean from them what we can upon the Subjeft, and fupply theDefefts by fome Particulars of the neighbouring Grecian States in Italy, all of which, though independent of one another as to Government, yet agreed in Language, in Cuftoms and in Manners; being all of them Colonies at different Times from Old Greece-, who, poflefling themfelves of the Sea-Coafts of Italy , drove the ancient Inhabitants into the inland Parts ; of whom alfo, and of the Country they inhabited, it may be neceffary to premife fome fhort Accounts What is now called Italy went originally by feveral Names. So Virgil informs us (i) And the Saturnian Land oft chang'd its Name. On which his Commentator Servius remarks, that it was called Aufonia, Hefferia , Saturnia and Vitalia : The latter from Italus, the Leader of a Colony ; but as Varro (2) fuppofes from Vituli, the Cattle which were found in great Numbers by the firft Settlers. It was probably peopled, foon after the Dilperfion, by lorne of thofe Wanderers from the Eajl , who ranging the Mediterranean Sea, fettled upon its Coafts and Iflands, as far as Hercules' Pillars. Thofe who came to Italy we find diftinguiihed by the Names of Umbri, Siculi, Sabim, Aufones, Opici, or Ofci. The old Infcriptions which are found in Italy in different Languages and Charaifters from the Greek and Latin-, the old Names of Towns, which can be reduced to no Greek nor Latin Etymology, and which, being explained from the Oriental Languages, agree well with many Circumftances of their Hiftory and Situation, pretty clearly Ihew from whence we muft derive the ancient Inhabitants. Of thofe, before mentioned, Strabo fays, that the Sabins were to be reckoned among the Oldeft and Aborigines-, that from thefe were derived the Picentins and Sammies, from whom came the Lucanians, and from thefe the Brettians (3). Long after thefe, a great Number of Colonies from Greece, under various Leaders, took Poffeffion of all the Sea-Coafts of Italy, driving the original Inhabitants, whom they called by one common Name (4) Barbarians, into the Mtm ytuev, or Inland Parts, eftablifhed themfelves, built flourifhing Cities, and for a confiderable Space of Time made a very diftinguiihed Figure in Science, in Arts and in Arms; infomuch that they had the ( 1 ) Siepius & nomen pofuit Saturnia Tellus. Mn. VIII. 329. (2) Italia a vitulis di£ta ut dicit Pifo. R. R.' 2. 1. 9. And again, • Gracia antiqua ut feribit Timaus Tauros vocabant llcAn;, a quorum multi tudine & pulchritudine & feetu vitulorum Italiam dixerunt. R. R. 2. 5. 3. The Malic digamma prefixed, would reftore Italia to its old Pronunciation. (3) En i, ym< 5, £«&,„■ * AvIo^Go..;, tbtot J'Am.xo. Xtuumm XM-Xapelltn, 1«T»> it Aiwtwtii, ra™, i, BptViu. L. V. 228. ( 4 ) The Name Barbarian was originally not fo much a Term of Reproach as of Diftindlion only ; under which the Greets included all thofe Nations that did not inhabit Old Greece , or were Colonies from thence. “D Bar in the Oriental Languages fignifies that Part of a Country which is diftant from a Dwelling or Town, a Common, a Defert ; the Word being doubled, according to the Idiom of thofe Languages is brought to fignify. One that lives at a great Diftancc, a Stranger, or Foreigner, a Perfon of a different Country and Language; in which Senfe Ovid fpeaks of himfelf in his Banifhment It Pontus. Barbaras hie ego fum quia non intclligor alii. I Tri/l. V. 1. But afterwards the Contrail between the Greets and other Nations, as to Politenefs and Civility, became fo ftrong, that Barbarian grew to be fynonimous with rude and foliage ; by fomewhat the fame Progrefs have our EngUJh Words Knave and Villain become Terms of Reproach. Vanity OF P M s r U M. 7 Vanity to diftinguifli the Country they had taken Poffeffion of by the Name of Magna Greecia (i). Among the principal Colonies from Old Greece fettled here, were the Crotonians , the Locrians , the Sybarites , the Caulonians , the Metapontins and the Tarentins ; who, as they came here independent of one another, fo they continued; and encreafing daily in Wealth and Luxury, in the latter of which they feemed to have exceeded the moil debauched AJiatic Court, they naturally fell into Rivalfhips, Jealouiies, Quarrels and bloody Wars (2) ; and the Confequence of thefe was, the Barbarians falling upon, and revenging themfelves by Plunder and Slaughter for the Lofs of the better Parts of their ravifhed Territories; whilft the Romans flood by and enjoyed the Storm ; and when they had fufficiently weakened each other, feized the Opportunity of cruihing them all ; making them dependent, in a greater or lefs Degree, on the City of Rome. The Language, Laws and Cuftoms of ■the Greek Cities, were by Degrees exchanged for thofe of Rome , and the Name of MAGNA G RJE C I A, which, with an infulting Air of Triumph over their Mother-Country, they had given to their new acquired Territories, gave Place to the ancient Name of Italy (3). 1 r In a Part of Italy , having the River Silarns on the Weft, the Lucaiiian Mountains on the Eaft, and the Pojidonian Bay on the South, and in the Middle of this Bay was the City Poftdonia , or Peejlum , fituated : of its Origin, the only Account we have given us in the ancient Writers, is by Solinus, who fays that it was built by the Dorians , (4) and thefe have been generally fuppofed to have come hither from Old Greece : But an ingenious modern Writer, in a very learned Work lately publifhed, (5) has taken upon him to prove, that thefe Dorians came diredtly hither from the Baft , and made a Settlement as 1(1) Ipfi deed (fc. Italia) judicaverunt Grad , genus in gloriam fuam eft'ufiffimum, quotam partem ex ea appellando Gradam Magnam. Plinii Hift. E. III. c. 5. It is not eafy to find out from the ancient Authors when, or upon what Occafion, this Appellation was given to Italy, nor to how large a Part of it; Herodotus makes Ufe of another Expreffion for it, having Occafion to fpeak .of the Crotonians that affifted at the Battle of Salamis, he fays, Tw EKTOI T«w oi«ifurii» JCfolamnltM fu>»> « CwSumwbt V EM “”‘ xifJbHUKTii- VIII. 47. And in Polybius’s Time it. had ceafed to .be called fo; for, mentioning the Burning of the Pythagorean Colleges, he fays, E. V xara V lW.a, toot.; *«t* n> METAAHN E aaa A a TOTE 2 . P. 17 5 - Servius, on the ift. Mn. 573, fays, Italia M.ya*» em*i, id eft, Magna Grada eft appellata quia a Tarcnto ufque ad Cumas omnes Civitates Grad condiderunt. Festus, not more fatisfaftorily, Major Grada difta eft Italia quod earn Siculi quondam obtinuerunt vel quod in ea multae magmeque civitates fuerunt ex Grada profc&a:. Pythagoras’s Panegyrifts feem to aflign better Reafons, one of whom, Jamblichus, exprefly affirms that this Title was owing to the Splendour and Fame it acquired from the Difcipline and Doftrines of that extraordinary Man, and the many excellent Scholars' formed by him. Am T aim tw nrmbuinm» trwiSn rr,y Su, nvSa yofcu MiyaXn> EMaJa kAuShmii, «■ wXuras **$ avion ayi, fen fiXoanpaj X, no.,T« x. Nof«8a*5 y.«a Sa.. C. 29. And well might that Country (fays Synesius) be called Magna Grada, where Pythagoras’s Scholars became Governors of States; where Charondas and Zaleucus gave Laws; where Archytas and Philolaus commanded Armies; and Timjeus, the Prince of Aftronomers, was employed in Embaffies and in other Departments of civil Adminiftration. When fuch Men as thefe were Minifters and Statefmen, need we wonder that Italy flourifhed fo well, even to the ninth Generation after Pythagoras? P. 308. flaMa («» yap v»! m%{ IlciSayopa ti axara« x. tw ntoi agorae, EAAAS i M E T A AH B^ocmyofujilo. x> p*aXa <> &KJI- oraf' 015 x*f wfetf ftn Kcu Zato mas, irpnsy w bi Apjjulal x> 0 d »rpe»f**a"V»! Tipaio 5 esOiMfjffi rt xcu repw&M r aPAa nrexfliwlo — Tai/T a f a f «XP>! »aV “wo noOayopa ymaj tco xo.w mrivBiyhs ni&upMM rot llaAia. Imxfww . Sykbsii, 9 p. Fo. P. 308. (a) Metapontini cum Sybaritanis & Crotonicnfibus pellere easterns Graces Italia Statucrunt. Justin XX. 2. (3) It fhould feem, that after the Romans had obliterated the Name of GRsECIA, they were ftill willing to preferve the MAGNA, at leaft Virgil is particularly fond of applying it to Italy, Seu vos HESPERIAM MAGNAM Saturniaque Arva. JEn. I. 573. Sed nunc ITALIAM MAGNAM Grynaius Apollo. IV. 345 - Multi illam MAGNO e LATIO totaque petebant (4) Notum eft Pajtum a Dorenftbus conftitutum. C. VIII. 2. (5) Mazochii Commentaria in pEneas Tabulas Heracleenfes. fo. Neapoli , 1754. D early 8 the ruins early as any other Wanderers after the Difperfion. His principal Argument depends on tracing the two Names, Pcefrum and Pojidonia , to the fame Radix in the Oriental Languages. According to Bochart, (i) the Heathen Traditions concerning Saturn and his three Sons, agree well with the facred Hiftory of Noah and his Sons ; particularly that Prophecy relative to the Fate of Japhet and his Pofterity ; God frail enlarge Japhet (2). By whofe Sons , we are told afterwards, that the IJles of the Gentiles were divided in their Lands. Thefe Circumftances very exactly correfpond with the Hiftory of Neptune and his Children, of whom Lactantius mentions, from the ancient Hiftorian Euhemerus, that Jupiter gave him the Government of the Sea , its Ifands , and all maritime Coafis (3). As to the Meaning of the Word nosEIAfiN we (hall in vain, according to Herodotus, (4) look for it among the Greeks , to whom the Lybians furnifhed this Deity and his Name. But in the Oriental Dialects is to be found aonW) Pefitan , ftgnifying wide or extended j and as it is well known how frequent the Changes are between the T and the D, by admitting of the Change in this Word we fhall have one very like to Tiusd&m in the Doric Dialed, which comes the neareft of all the Dialers to thofe of the Orientals (5) . Now it is remarkable enough, that the Word HAI2TANO, found on the Medals No. 41 and 42, on one Side of which is the Head of Neptune, and on the other his Son Tarens on a Dolphin, lhould fo nearly correfpond with Bochart’s Derivation of the Word nosElAAN, who does not feem to have been much beholden to Medals for any Affiftances in his learned Enquiries, though undoubtedly he might have received much from them (6). If this Etymology of the Name Ptzfrum be admitted, it will follow, that it was prior to Pojidonia, , fubftituted in its Room by fome Grecian Colonifts, who fucceeded the original Inhabitants j many Inftances may be produced of the Greeks either foftening the Termination of the old Names of Places which they took Pofleftion of, or elfe fubftituting others of the fame Meaning in their own Language. The oldeft Author that gives any Account of Greeks fettling here, is the Geographer Scymnus Chius, tvho flourifhed about ninety Years before Christ, and who, defcribing the Inhabitants of Italy , fays, “ Next to thefe are the Oenotrians , extending as far as Pofdonia , where, they fay, the Sybarites formerly brought a Colony (7).” This is confirmed by Strabo, who writes thus : “ Next to the Campanians and Sammies are the Ptcenttns , brought by the Romans to the Poftdonian Bay, now called the Pcejlan , as the City Pofdonia is called Pcefrum , which lies in the Middle of the Bay. The (1) Phaleg . I. I. (5) Bochart Phaleg . I. r. riD>b otiVk hd> (2) ( 3 ) Jupiter imperium Neptuno dat maris, ut infulis & qua: fecundum mare loca funt omnibus regnaret. Defalfa rcligione . I. lr. (4) Euterpe . 50. Sybarites OF P j£ S T U M 9 “ Sybarites built a Wall to the Sea, obliging the Inhabitants to retire farther up into “ the Country (i).” From Strabo’s Account we may .gather, that the Sybarites found a Town already built, which they firft furrounded with a Wall ; and, therefore, whatever Splendour and Magnificence it had to boaft of, was probably pofterior to the Arrival of the Sybarites and wholly owing to them. Whatever Inhabitants were then found there, whether Dorians from Phoenicia or from Greece , or whether the old Oenotrians , mentioned by Strabo (2), it is not to be fuppofed, that if they had had Riches and Tafte enough to have erected fuch magnificent Buildings as thofe whofe Remains are here exhibited that they would have left them naked and expofed to every hoftile Invader ; and yet this Opinion feems to have been adopted by fome late Writers (3). The Hiftory then of the Sybarites may be confidered alfo, in fome Meafure, as that of the - Pojidonians ; and, therefore, we fhall prefent our Readers with fome Traits of their Chara&ers, as they lie difperfed in different ancient Authors. Sybaris, lying at the upper End of the Gulph of Tarentutn , was firft fettled by a joint Colony of Acheans and Trcezenians (4), who, not agreeing long together in their new Settlement, die latter were expelled thence by the former (5). Thefe, by Degrees, grew to fuch Extent of Power and Territory, as to be one of the moft confiderable States of Magna Greecia ; they had the Command over four neighbouring States and twenty-five Cities, and were able at one Time to bring 300000 Men into the Field againft their Enemies and Neighbours the Crotonians. Of their intermediate Hiftory, from their Foundation to this Period, which did not long precede their utter Deftrutftion, we know little more than fome very extraordinary Defcriptions of their Luxury, fcattered in ancient Writers. They laid it down, as a Maxim, that he who would not die an untimely Death, fliould never get up from Table, nor out of his Bed, to fee the Rays of the fetting or the rifing Sun. They excufed their Fifhermen from all Taxes and Impofitions ; they publifhed honorary Rewards for thofe who exhibited the moft fumptuous Entertainments, or invented a new Difh. Notice was given a very confiderable length thus expelled, wandered to the Pojidonian Bay, and there took Pofleflion of that Village, which they furrounded with a Wall, and gave it the Name of the Metropolis which they once inhabited in Old Greece. For Strabo informs us, that Trceze was formerly called Pofulonia, 373. The Inhabitants having a particular Veneration for Neptune, into which they were compelled, as Pausanius relates, II. 32. by that Deity’s fpoiling all their Fruits with Showers of Salt; till his Anger was appealed by their erecting and dedicating a Temple Neptuno ®»1a*fuu. Here was Theseus born, called thence by Ovid the Neptunian Hero. Hie tecum Trcezena colam Pittheia regna. Jam nunc ejl Patria Gratior ilia mea : Tempore abejl , aberitque diu Neptunius Heros Ilium Pirithoi detinet ora fui. Ep. IV. 107. Let it be obferved alfo on Pausanius’s Authority, that, after the Return of the Heradida into Peloponnefus, the Trcezenians admitted fome Dorians to fettle amongft them. (.) M.1« S, ™ Katana. *» Sanilt, — to to. .6.0; 0.,.. naXiflai, « W.x,; T noJLw, n*.ro;, » H-uty ry xoXoro, ut^ttn. SvSafilca fU, at .or. 9«X«tto t.i/o; ,8.i1o, 6. S' atdltfu pinr 7T '‘ snMm owririMfitroi. ZuCetfiof -/.tp iXscm; van Kfolvrirflivi M ** rm * v * m « rttfcAcct, x. IftAut yxf atflai /mAi r«s bn run xpiij l}/a> aMisXwi “ The Milefmns, driven from their Habitations by the Perfians , “ [ hc SYBARITES, who', after their Expulfion, went to “ inhabit the Cities of LAOS and SCYDRUS, requited not “ to the Milefums the Civilities they had received from them; “ for, after the Crotonians had taken Sybaris, all the Milefmns, arrived “ to Puberty, fliaved their Heads, and gave public Demonftrations “ of their Sorrow. Thefe two Cities had been more ftrongly “ united in Friendfhip than any I ever knew.” VI. 21. And no Wonder, when there was fuch a Sympathy of Manners between them; the Milefians being as remarkable for their Luxury as the Sybarites. The Mileftan Wool, and the Cloths made of it, furnilhed out the richeft and moft extravagant Drefles, and no Doubt, made a Part of the Pinery, not only of the Sybarites J, but of the other Italian Greeks ; yet. Dr. Bently brings this as one Argument to prove the Spurioufnefs of Zaleucus’s Laws, that among other luxurious Articles, the wearing Mileftan Cloths Ihould be forbidden to the Locrians ; by whom, fays he, confidering their Rcmotenefs from Miletus, it is not likely they Ihould ever have been fo much as heard of. Dfs. on Phalaris, P. 350. J Aibiksvi, P. 519. were OF P S T U M. „ Were much inclined to fubmit to the Demind • fill p r _ p .. , d ’ tld Pythagoras efpoufing the Caufe of the Exiles, prevailed on the Crotoniam to fupport them. Now Pythagoras came into Italy in the Time of Tarquinius Superbus, where, as Cicero n orms us (i), .e taught in Magna Gracia with the greateft Reputation, Authority and vTr f R ^ ft thC fiXt7 ' fCCOnd 0l7mpkd ’ ° r ^ t "° hUDdredth ^ntieth ear of Rene, and about the five hundredth and twentieth Year before the Birth of Hiusr; foon after whieh we may date the fatal Overthrow of the Sylariu, by the It is probable that, about this Time, a Colony of them took poffeffion of P f d ° ma ' ” d ' TC neCd n0t d ™ bt imported thither all the Refinements of Art from tieir native City. Here they feem to have continued in Eafe and Profperity for near two hundred Years; during which Period, we may fuppofe thofe noble Buildings, whofe Remams are here - exhibited, were conftrufted. This Period may indeed be called the o en Age of Magna Gracia, all owing to the Difcipline, Laws and Example of Pythagoras and his Scholars, of which he had a confiderable Number from every State Bavarian as well as Greek; and who being engaged in the Adminiftration of the Affairs o their refpeaive Countries, exhibited fuch beautiful Models of Government, as were not at that Time to be parallelled any where elfe ; In particular they are celebrated for religioufly keeping the Laws themfelves, and abftaining from the public Treafure (2). What a Pity but that fome one of them had given us a Hiftory of this happy ^ra, to which none of the old Greek or Reman Hiftorians feem to have been able or willing to do juftice? Turly indeed acknowledges in general, that Rome muff have been beholden to Pythagoras and his Difciples for many Improvements: But he excufes himfelf from pointing them out in particular, for which, like a true Roman, he gives this Reafon ; “ Left we ftiould feem to have borrowed from others what are fuppofed “ '° bC thc Effe& ° f our own W" Lrvv is quite indignant at the Suppofition, that Numa could have been beholden to Pythagoras for any Part of his Knowledge or Difcipline (4) ; and when in the three hundredth Year of Rome, a Decemvirate was (1) Pythagoras, qui cum regnante Tarquinio Superbo in iu,Uam veniflet, tenuit Magnam Mam Graciam cum honore & difeiplina turn etiam Automate. Tufc. I. ,6. an d IV. i. But the fineft Pifture of his Succcfs there may be feen in Justin, who fays, Crotonam venit, populumque in luxuriam lapfam, audloritate fua ad ufum frugal itatis revocavit. Laudabat quotidie virtutem, vitia luxuris, cafufque civitatum ea pefte perditarum enumerabat, tantumque ftudium ad frugalitatem multitudinis provocavit ut aliquos ex his luxuriatos incredibile videretur. Matronarum quoque feparatam a viris dodtrinam & puerorum a parentibus frequenter habuit. Docebat nunc has pudicitiam & obfequia in viros, nunc illos modeftiam & literarum ftudium. Inter ha:c, velut genetricem virtutum, frugalitatem omnibus ingerebat. Lib. XX. 4. (2) Kal yap reus,- ifulall:, x, wOaif ilaMxa; S, U x W a, Tim — tm X c/um wpw$*, £. mu ot tu X pc,u ito™ it wcV.ir«i t*i II«m7ii« " y "" rS ‘“ x ‘ " w ‘“- T P r ‘ le g« obfervabant & Italian urbes rexerunt abftmentes a publicis reditibus. Eo tempore pulcherrimce refpublics & in Italia & in Sicilia videntur exftitiffe. Jamblichus, 129. ( 3 ) O' 1,5 eft enim qui putet, cum floreret in Italia GRMCIA potentillimis & maximis urbibus ea qua: MAGNA diefta eft in hifque primum ipf.us Pythagoras deinde poftea Pythagoreorum tantum nomen eflet ; noftrorum hominum ad eorum do&iflimas voces aures claufas fuiile ? Multa etiam funt in noftris inftitutis, dufta ab illis, qua: pratcreo ne ea, qua; peperifle ipfi putamur, aliunde didicilTe videamur. Tufc. $u*Jl. IV. 2. (4) Suopte igitur ingenio temperatum animum virtutibus fuifle opinormagis, inftruaumque non tarn peregrinis artibus, quam difeiplina tetrica ac fevera veterum Sabinorum. Liv. I F appointed 12 theruins appointed for the compiling a Code of Laws, and proper Perfons chofen to travel and examine thofe of other Nations, Livv only fpecifies old Greece (i), whilft Dion. PIaeicarnassensis, giving an Account of Romihus’s Speech on this Occafion, fays, that he propofed fending thefe Ambaffadors not only to old Greece, but likewife to the Cities of Magna Groscia, to which PropoGtion, he adds, the Senate affented (2). And confidering the Reputation of the Laws of thofe States, drawn up by Zaleucds, Charondas, and others, this Account is highly probable; for in the little Portions of their Hiftory, given us by Strabo and others, their being governed by good Laws (3), generally makes a Part of the Panegyric, and this not only with regard to the Locrians and the Thurians, but the fame is faid of Fella (4), the Birth-Place of Zeno and Parmen’ides, Pythagorean! ; Gtuated at a very little Pittance, and in the fame Bay with The happy Repofe which thefe States, thus well adminiftered, long enjoyed, was about the Year of Rome 360, difturbed by the Hero of thofe Times, Dionysius, the famous Tyrant of Sicily, who having driven the Carthaginians from that Bland, tefolved to fall upon his Neighbours the Italian Greeks: It does not appear indeed that they had evet offended him, but yet the Reafons produced by the Hiftorian for his attacking them, are probably as good as any of thofe that have been alledged by the Heroes of any Times for an offenfive War (5). Accordingly, he lands in Italy, and making an Alliance with the Lucanians, gains repeated Vidories over the Grxcian States, which had united all their Forces, and formed a Confederacy among themfelves to oppofe the common Enemy (6); but Dionysius was called back to Sicily before he had time to improve his Vidories, and left the Greeks thus weakened, to cope with much more formidable and obftinate Enemies. Thefe were the old Aborigines of the Country, who, jealous of the growing Power of the Romans on the one hand, and the Greeks on the other, refolved to unite in making an Effort to preferve their Liberties and Properties. Accordingly, about the Year of Rome, 413, the Samnites began that famous War with the Romans, which lafted, with various Turns of Fortune, above feventy Years. ( ,) Miffi legati Menas juffique inclytas leges SoLONls deferibere & aliarum civitatdm inflituta mores juraque nofeere. LlV. III. 31. ( 2 ) IlpiirCn; ikitrOai, mt p‘t lit rat TrtAii? rat it ilaMa, T»( Ji 05 A fatxt 0.1m; vafa rat ZRSum rut Kp»Tir«5 m|*85 *> pafararmt iftHtfcit af/toflotlat Sims O..TOTI oWf«. Legati eledti, quorum alii ad Grtecas civitates in Italia, alii ad Minas miffi, leges optimas & noftris moribus maxime accomodatas hue transferrent. Dion. Hal. X. 51. (3) m.. rot Xitm tvto^Ma,. Longo tempore optimis legibus utentes. Strabo, 259. (4) E| 115 Tlappattht wti Zsj tut tyitollo AtXptt IU wffl.fv, Ex qua Pythagorje difeipuli, per illos atque bene adminiftratam fuilTe. nu0*y°pii°>, &*** f*»* *> Parmenides & Zeno, etiam antea videtur mihi Ibid. 252. defidiam tanti exercitus ratus, copias in Italians trajecit ; fimul ut militum vires continuo labore acuerentur & regni fines proferrentur. Prima militia adverfus Guccis qui proxima Italics maris litera tenebant, fuit; quibus deviais, finitimos quofque aggreditur, omnefque Gucci nominis Italians poffidentis hoftes fibi deftinat; qua: gentes non partem fed univerfam ferme Italians ea tempeftate occupaverunt. Jostin. XX. 1. ( 6 ) O. A m, I 1 «M» xalouanllf EMvI't « P" P‘Xi‘ ““'I*' Wf* nfcSancaat mi Aiomrion vXionguu, ‘n'fAfWX 1 " ,r f c < m » ntiipmt tyxalamivatoi. uMnfoii yap rot A.c tvtmt (aiust apmAai, «• ro 7«l *!»• «!« *««*«(*» Grad qui incolebant Italians videntes Dionysii avaritiam eorum regiones inhiautem, focietatem inter fe & communem concilii locum conftitucbant ; ita facilius Sperabant fefe contra Dionysium defendere, turn etiam contra Lucanos, qui contra illos eodem tempore bellum gerebant. Diod. Sic. XIV. 9. (5) Dionysius, e Sicilia Carthaginimfsbus pulfis, occupatoque totius infuls imperio, grave otium regno fuo, periculofamque About OF P j£ s T U M. I3 the Breniam and **>? Lucaniam attacked the Grecian States; general PI ""f C ft l! 7- t0 " **““ W ’ Wh ° ” confa l uence > as it Ihould feem, of a ItTn 7 / ? Dg SUPeri ° rit7 ** ft ° Uld * » a *** Foundation, 2 a n T “ S , “ e f ° ^ (2) ’ bUt “ d ~ d “ a >^ - lpeedily and as tl f V "7 7 ’ ^ LangUa S e > M “ and Cuftoms of its Inhabitants. Of hefe Crrcumftances we have a very affeffing Defcription in Athene, who produces IS remar -a e Paffage out of Aristoxenus, a celebrated Mufician and Philofopher of “ rmtum “ We are doin g> f*»‘ he, much the fame, as the Pofidoniam on the Tyrrhene “ Bay, who, being originally Greeks, are now barbarized, being become Tyrrhenes, or rather “ Romans, thefe meeting together on one of their old Feftivals, recalled to memory their “ anCI “ t NamCS aDd Cuftoms > for th <= L °* which they indulged a focial Grief, and “ palted “ TcarS; f0 we > nOW that Theatres are become barbarous, and the general “ Tafe m MuflC f ° COrrU P ted > meet “gether, a /lender Party, to lament the Chancre, and “ rCCOlfea What Mufic ° nce was (+)■” Thefe were indeed hard Conditions impofed by the Barbarian, on this, as well as on the other polite States of Magna Gracia; infomuch, that when Hanno wanted to introduce a Colony of Brettims into Croton, the Inhabitants declared that they would fooner die, than by fueh a Mixture give up their ancient Laws, Cuftoms and Language (j). However, this came to be the general Fortune of the Greek States in no long Space of Time: But to divert the evil Day as long as they could, they called in Alexander, King of Epirus, to their Affiftance : He was Brother to Olympias, the Mother of Alexander the Great, who was meditating the Conqucft of the Eaft, whilft his Uncle flattered himfelf with the hopes of as plentiful a Harveft of Laurels m the Weft: And in this Fortune feemed at firil to confirm thofe Hopes; for making a Defcent at Pajlum, he attacked and routed the combined Forces of the Samnites and the Lucaniam near it (6). This was in the Year of Rome 418. Flulhed with this Succefs, he continued the War for feme Years; and, in a Series of Invafions which he made from Epirus, took many of the Cities belonging to the Lucaaians and the Breniam; but found, at laft, that he had to deal with Adverfaries of a very different Charafler from thofe over which he heard that his Nephew of Macedonia had triumphed (1) Apce Si xai to, E «i» txetlifuO,, **f »M«» (ttxpi wofOpca xpom lerUit/sa, 01 It E«ra( xi 01 BeefSeepoi trpot «AA»A«f. Simul eciam Greed utrumque litus ufque ad fretum tenuerent ; diu inter fe Barbari & Greed certaverunt. Strabo, 2*3. o* A, exes, 0, nsanWa, i, x«. to, Tvfsfseexp,, Xf*WI nsr sr th T mn “ Arciutrare ’ and rrryr T; tbe ™ *-» ;L;*r: 7 ree of them now ftanding with their Architrave. Thu Edifice may be faid to exhibit the diced Figute of a Temple, i n all its in t; m ST y eT dcfcribed by Vitedvios ’ and by him cdkd m me hrlt Chapter of his third Book (i). IT is very ^prizing, and mull necelfarily employ the Attention of thofe much rrv A ; ts, f to . find an ° dd Numbcf ° f c ° w m thc Fronts > wwd ' ««“ 1 M dd°, f , “ e ” CaCb; “ d ftiU m ° re at the Placed in Middle of the Edifice, which could not but obftrud the Sight, both from the Door and from the internal Part of the Building. Monf. La Rov, in his Difcourfe on e Hijiory of C, m l ArchUeBure, feems very judicioufly to account for this Range of Columns in the Middle. He fays, « The firll Temples which the Grecians built, „ A eC ° mmg t0 ° ’ ° CCafl ° ned by thc Encrafe of People who facrificed, the , , ^ ereaCd IargCTi Whm Pe rc ei™g that the Beams which compofed the Cieling „ b “ £ “ d over-llrained their new Buildings; and, perhaps, not finding the Defed, ti attcr t e Edifices were finilhed : To remedy this they cut Trunks of Trees, when “ placing them perpendicular at equal Diftances under the Beam, which extended the , f Lcn S th of Temple, and fupported all the Crofs-Beams in the Middle; this mud have eafed the Edifice.” Hence, probably, arofe the Idea of building a Temple Wit , an odd Number of Columns in the Fronts, and a Range running through the Middle; and a Note upon the above, He fays, « This Conjedure is founded on the “ anner m which the Columns were at firll placed in the 'Greek Temples, from the " onftrudion of two which are of the mod remote Antiquity, one of which is feen “ at PxJlUm “ Iidy ' m ancimt Ci V of Ma S"“ Grxcia. This has a Range of Columns, “ ” ^ infidCl CXaa1 ^ “ tIle Middle, ia Manner that we may fuppofe Columns “ Wre at &ft Pkccd in ^ BuiJdin g s - The other is at Egina ( 2 ), which has five “ C ° lumns at the fec ° nd Portko of both ^ Fronts, and confequently a Column in the (1) Pfeudodipteros autem fie collocatur, ut in fronte, & poftico f.nt columns: oftens, in, lateribus cum angularibus quindens. Sunt autem parietes cells contra quaternas columnas medianas in fronte, & portico: ita duorum intercolumniorum, & ims craffitudinis columns fpatium erit a parietibus circa ad extremos ordines columnarum. Hermogenes, qui etiam primus o&aftylum, pfeudodipterive rationem invenit: ex dipteri enim sdis fymmetria fuftulit interiores ordines columnarum XXXVIII : eaque ratione fumptus operifque compendia fecit; is in medio ambulation! laxamentum egregie circa cellam fecit, dc afpeftuque nihil imminuit, ■ fed fine defiderio fupervacuorum confervavit audloritatem totius operis diftributione. Vitrdv. Lib. HI. C. 2. (2) An HI and inhabited by the Dorians, where the Artirts feein to' have longer preferred thc ancient Manner of Building, than others. Herodot. Lib. VIII. P. 43. There are .two Temples of this Kind, of a mod ancient Date ; the one at Komombu, in Upper Egypt, deferibed by Norden, (Voyage d’Egypte fcf dc Nubie) P. 187. PI. C XXVII. where is a Range of Columns through the Middle; and another called the Temple of the Serpent Knufhis, P. 195, pi. C XXXII. o Middle. THE RUINS 28 .. Middle. A Circumftance thatfeenis to aiithorifc my Opinion, is, the Origin of the ... Word Columen, that fignifies Column, which,, according to V.txuv.us (1), took its Name “ from a Piece of Wood called Gultnen, placed under, and fupportirig the Ridge oi the Roof (a).” It does not fern; to exhibit the Form of a Bafrlica, becaufe its Portico is on the outfide; whereas thofe deferibed by V.xatmus were in the infide. Nor can we fuppofe it to have been Amply a Portico, as the Ruins of the Walls of the Cel a are ftill vifible. All its other Parts, (the odd Number of Pillars in the Fronts excepted, and the abovementioned Range of Columns, in the Middle) feem ChataftenUrcs of a Temple only (3)5 onlefs we may conjeflure, that as P*J!um was a maritime rty, the Edifice in queftion ferved, not only as a Bafilica for the Adminiftration of public Tuftice, but at the fame Time, a Place for tranfading the Affairs of Commerce However, it is not improbable that this Edifice (which feems the moll anc.ent of the three) was a Temple dedicated to Neptune ; a Deity, whom we may rmagine, the Bosnians had in the higheft Veneration, as is evident, from the frequent Repetmon of his Figure on fo many of their Coins. But in this Uncertainty, and tail farther Difcoveries fhall have been made with Regard to this Edifice, we muff leave the whole to the Determination of the judicious Reader. Aemost in the Center of the City Hand the Ruins of the Amphitheatre, in the general View, Plate I. Letter F; one hundred and feventy five Feet long, and one hundred and twenty Feet wide. All the Caves are ftill fubfifting, and over them are feen the Remains of ten Rows of Seats. In one of the Extremities is an -pending Arch, which appears to have been one, (of the many) that inclofed the whole Crrcurt, and fupported the fecond Flight of Steps. Between the Amphitheatre and the Ipetral Temple, are the Ruins of another large Building. This is entirely level with the Ground, except the Remains of a few broken Columns ftill (landing, which make it impoffible for us to form any certain Conjecture what Sort of Edifice this might have been: though it probably was a Theatre, as thefe Ruins occupy a large Space of Ground. Of the various other Antiquities lefs worthy of Note, we fhall not give any Account, as our Intentions were to confine ourfelves folely to the Defeription of the Temples. Were proper Refearches made, and Perfohs employed to dig about the Amphitheatre, and near the great Temple, there is no Doubt but that they would be richly compenfated for their Trouble and Expence; and feme Infcriptions difeovered, which might enable the Public to form a decifive Judgment on thefe Edifices, whofe very Names, at prefent, Time hath totally buried in Oblivion. (■» c— h • - « — I ‘ ‘ ” dicuntur. Vitruv L IV. C. 2. I (3) 11 Tratt. di Lucania > D - G - AnTONUU. D 1 S s E R T A ° N THE COINS and MEDALS POSIDONI ^ or P S T 17 M. » HE Grecian and Afiatic Cities ntade Ufe of Money long before the Time • of Alehnmk (i). It is uncertain whether this Prince ordered that all the current Coin in his Empire Ihould bear his Name, but we know that hlS Succeffors > “d alfo the Romans afterwards, direfted that the Coins of fome Cmes fhould only hare the Name of the Prince who governed them put Lth*..,,, for . pa, P„° oAoTwVwriir , R™t“ I “ ' h ' M '"' * *“ H ‘ * T °"' XXIV - * “VI.' P thereon : 3 ° THE RUINS thereon; this was difpenfed with as to other Cities; and they fometimes agreed that the Names of the City and Prince ihould be joined together on the fame Coin. The Medals ftruck by thefe Cities furniih us with many ufeful Lights in Geography, and help to explain the Cuftoms and Religion of the Country where they were coined, the Nature of its Government, and the various Changes it underwent. But as thefe Medals have feldom any Dates, and one hardly finds on them any of thofe great Events recorded in Hiftory, one can reap but little Advantage from them, if fome Method is not found out to afcertain the Time when they were ftruck. We have been long accuftomed to the Diftindion eftablifhed between Coins and Medals, fo that when we look upon ancient Medals, we are apt to confider them as Records of the Glory of the Perfons whofe Names they bear; or, as Monuments confecrated to their Memories: And this Prejudice, if it be one, fee, ns to be favoured by the equivocal Terms ufed by fome Antiquaries. But we muft remember, that what we now call Medals, were, with the Ancients, limply Money ; excepting fome of the Imperial Medals, and even’ thofe are rather doubtful: The Greeks, and efpecially thofe prior to the Roman Empire, did not ftrike their Coin with an Intention of tranfmitting to Poftenty the Adions of Pleroes, the good Deeds of Princes, or the Magnificence of Cities ; for the Emblems they were furnilhed with, were taken from the Statues and Symbols of the Gods whom they adored, the Produdion of the Climates in which they lived, the Cuftoms and Traditions of each Country, with Other Singularities peculiar to the Situation of thofe Places. Hence the Moneyers were fupplyed with Types, which they often repeated, and at length they became common to many Princes and various Towns. Some Medals of Mithe.dates, King of Pmtus, ftruck at Amafus, reprefent a Pegafus, the Device which that City often ufed upon its Money. An Eagle difplayed is feen on almoft all the Coins of the Kings of Egypt-, thofe of Alexandek the Great have not any particular Reference to the remarkable Tranfadions of his Life. If upon his Coins, or thofe of other Princes, a Vidory be fometimes reprefented, or triumphal Cars, thefe Devices are not explained by any Infcriptions ; and there is Reafon to believe, that they were copied from other Monuments; at leaft, were not particularly intended to commemorate thofe Adions to which at firft View they feem to refer. The firft Money in ufe was probably only rough Pieces of Metal of irregular Shapes, without Device or Infcription, to which a Value was given in proportion to the Weight. In procefs of Time there was a Neceflity of impreffing Money with fome Mark, as well to diftinguifh it from Counterfeits, as to afcertain its Weight. The Motives that brought on this Alteration, induce us to believe that when an Impreffion was firft put on Coin, it was only a fmgle Device, and that but on one Side; for we generally find on the Reverfe of thefe Coins a Hollow, which for the moft Part is not deeper than half a Line, either in the Middle or on the Sides: this was occafioned by the Face of the Block, or Matrice, on which they were ftruck, having fome little OF P M S T U M. 3i Projections, which ferved to keep the Metal fleady and in its Place, while it received a fecond Blow, this Operation being then performed by the repeated Strokes of a Hammer. If in the flouriflung State of Greece, the Ancients had the Idea that Money was only deligncd to facilitate Commerce, what mult we think of the Ages ftill further back, when they ufed only a Angle Impreflion on their Coin ? The Authors of this Cuftom were lefs attentive to their own Glory than to the public Utility, and therefore chofe the flmpleft Methods of obtaining this End. They had very good Reafons for imprefling a Mark upon their Money, but none for putting one on both Sides ; it was fufficient to have the Seal of Authority on one, to anfwer the intended Purpofe : and as in the Infancy of Printing they ufed only one Side of the Leaf, we may alfo conclude, that in the Beginning of Coinage, they only made Ufe of a Angle Device, or Impreflion, on one Side. This Confequence, fo Ample and natural, is con Armed by a Sort of Medals to which few Antiquaries have fufliciently attended ; one Side of which is concave and the other in relief. If thefe Kind of Impreflions, Angular in Appearance, happened only on one or two Medals, we might feek no further for an Explanation than that of its being merely a Caprice, or Accident, of the Coiner ; but we fee on many Medals of the earlieft Date, the evident Marks of the Cavities on one Side. The flrft Eflays in Arts and Sciences have ever been crude, Ample and unpolilhed : The Knowledge of them muft be progreflive, and their Arrival at Perfection by very flow Degrees. This Art daily improving, the Artifts ornamented the hollow Parts of the lower Die, and at length, engraved thereon fometimes a Head, or repeated the fame Figure. See Plate XXIV. No. 1, 2, and 35. At other Times they put different Symbols, and this was the Origin of double Impreflions on Medals. There are Medals of Metapontum , executed in the fame Manner, having on one Side the Head of a Bull, and on the other an Ear of Corn; on thofe of Crotona . fometimes an Eagle is difplayed, and on the Reverfe a Tripod; this laft Device is found on fome Medals of this City, concave on one Side, and the fame Device, but not reverfed, in relief, on the other; from whence it follows, that thefe Medals were ftruck by two different Dies, one of which was hollow, and the other in relief. This Practice feems to have been the Confequence of the old concave Manner; for when the Greeks adopted the Ufe of double Impreflions on their Money, in the chief Cities of Magna Gracia , they did not entirely give up the Ufe of ftriking them with two Dies, one of which was in relief, and the other concave : inftead of the lower Die, as at flrft made hollow, with fmall Projections in fome Part to keep the Metal fleady in ftriking, they engraved the Device in relief, which appears concave on the Medals. Poflibly they might have a particular Reafon for this, as the uflng of lefs Metal, a fmaller Quantity fufficing on this Occaflon, than for thofe which were impreffed in relief on both Sides. Thefe Kind of Medals, for the moft Part, are extremely thin, which feems to conftrm o this THE R U I N S 3 1 2 this Opinion. They were Ghiefly ftruck about four hiindred Years before the Birth of Chrift. There are alfo other Medals that have one Side hollow, which are found bn the moft ancient of Magna Gracia. Thefe have two Impreflions, one convex and the other concave. They have fome refemblance to thofe Medals which the Antiquaries call Incufes ; they are not only found in the Series of the confulary and imperial Medals, but alfo among thofe of the Kings and Grecian Cities. See Plate XXIX, No. 49, which is one of this Sort ftruck at Sybaris. However, they muft not be confounded together, as thefe laft owe entirely to Chance, the Singularity that diftinguifhes them from the others. The Coiner forgetting to take out the Medal which had been ftruck between the two Dies, and putting in another Piece of Metal over that, it was prefled between the preceding Medal and the upper Die, by which it received the Impreftion of the fame Device on one Side hollow, and the other in relief. It is certain that the Ancients were Strangers to the Ufe of the Fly-Prefs, as appears by the Infpedtion of their Coin, the Sides of which are always uneven, a Defedt proceeding from their Manner of Working, and ftriking them with a Hammer, which ftretched out the Metal into irregular Shapes, paying no Regard to the Rim or Edge of the Coin, but only to the Work that was upon it. However imperfedt this Method might be, it was conftantly pradtifed in the Grecian Cities, as we may conclude from a Number of Greek brafs Coins, ftruck after the Time of Alexander (i). The Greeks carried the Art of Engraving Medals to a high Degree of Perfedlion,' becaufe the Arts on which it depended were arrived at their Summit, and it was natural for the Art of Engraving to advance with the Sciences of Painting and Sculpture. The Grecian Painters and Sculptors, who faw Beauty in its utmoft Splendour and Delicacy, when they had produced the moft exquifite Pieces in their different Branches, thefe the Engravers had the Advantage of having before their Eyes, and, no Doubt, endeavoured to imitate in the beft Manner they could. We do not find that the Ancients ever diftinguffhed the Medal Engravers in the fame Manner in which they honoured thofe Artifts that tranfmitted their Fame to Pofterity. Hiftory, that gives us the Names of many Painters, Sculptors, Architedls, and alfo Engravers in precious Stones, has never celebrated any Medal Engraver, un'lefs it may be faid that thefe two laft Profeffions were not formerly diftinguilhed from each other, and that the fame Artifts wrought alternately in both. but was difcontinued till the Time of Oliver Cromwel, 1656. This Method was foon laid afide, but afterwards was revived by Monf. Blonde au and the Moneyers in the Mint, upon the Pattern Pieces of Coin engraved by the incomparable Simons, though it was not cftabliihed by Authority till the Reign of Charles the Second, 1663. (1) In Italy , fo late as the Time of Pope Clement VII, Medals were ftruck with a Hammer, and alfo by the Fly-Prefs. Benevento Cellini reports that he made ufe of both Methods alternately. Notwithftanding the laft is much more exaft and certain, it was a long Time before the old Method was entirely laid afide. The firft Money in England ftruck by the Fly-Prefs, was in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, about the Year 1561 ; View of the Silver Coinage of England , Snelling. Tai: XXIX O F T H E COINS and M E D A L S (x). H E S E may be ranged under three Clafles ; firft, thofe of the moft ancient Date, when the City was called POSIDONIA-, fecondly, thofe infcribed n A I s T, after it was conquered by the Lucanians \ thirdly, thofe with a Latin Infcription, after it came under the Power of the Romans. In the firft Clafs, thofe numbered r, 2 and 35 are, undoubtedly, the moft ancient, and remarkable as well for their being hollow on one Side, as for the Infcription going from right to left, and for the fingular Form of fome of the Letters. The firft is of Silver, in the Colle&ion of the Duke of Ndia, and is fo like that, No. 35, of the -( 1 ) The Medals being engraved as they came to Hand, is the Reafon they could hot be placed upon the Plates in their proper Order. R fame 34 THE RUINS fame Metal in the ' imperial Cabinet at Vienna, that one would have fufpeded the Miftake of the firft Engraver had made the Difference, if the Editors had not expreffly told us, that the Letters on one Side did not exactly anfwer to thofe on the other (i). On this Medal we find Neptune Handing in the Ad of darting his Trident ; he is almoft naked, except a fmall Drapery crofs his Shoulders. W hen afterwards it was found convenient to have a different Device for each Side of the Medal, we find a Bull made ufe of for this Purpofe. The Connedion between Neptune and this Animal is celebrated in moft of the old Writers ; in Hesiod he is called Tatyioc Enwjyiwe, and Hesychius fays, Tuv/k, Tmpws, o norabfc The Reafon -generally afligned is, becaufe the Waves of the Sea roar like a Bull (2), but we will try whether we cannot give a better Account of this Animal s appearing on one Side of the old Pofidonian Medals, and alfo explain the Attitude in which Neptune is reprefented on the other. The Grecian Mythologifts (3) tell us, that Neptune and Minerva contending for the Honour of the Naming and Patronage of Attica , Jupiter determined that it Ihould be given to that Deity who produced what, in the Judgment of twelve other Deities, Ihould be reckoned of moft Benefit to Mankind. That Neptune ftriking the Earth with his Trident, out of the Opening iffued a Horfe (4), whilft Minerva caufed an Olive Tree to fpring forth, to which the Prize was allotted. It is not eafy to feparate Truth from Falfehood in thefe Legends: That Difputes ihould arife about the Honour of giving Name to a new planted Colony is not improbable nor unufual ; and we find Pausanias, and , other Writers, alluding to the Conteft on this Occafion between the two Deities. As Neptune, therefore, failed in giving his Name to Attica, why may we not fuppofe, that he contented himfelf with doing this to a City within the IJihmus ? Such a one we find there was, called originally POSIDONIA, and afterwards T R 0 E Z E ; from whence we have already ftarted a Conjedure (5), that the firft Greek Settlers at Pofidonia may have been derived. M. Pellerin (6) has given us a Medal of freeze with the head of Neptune on one Side, and a Trident on the Reverfe, very like to that of Paftum , engraved No. 47, and if the more ancient Coins of Irasze could be recovered, we might pofllbly find them refembling the early ones of Pofidonia , with the Figure of Neptune infculped upon them in the Ad of darting his Trident at the Earth. Plutarch informs us, that Theseus, who fignalized himfelf fo much in the civilizing of Athens , and regulating its Government, among other Arts, for thefe Purpofes, introduced (1) Eft numifma concavum pervetuftum atque adeo pars averfa • eft figura eadem concava etfi liter a: non refpondent omnino. Numifmata Cimelii Csefarei Vindobonenfis. Fo. 1754,, P- 34- (2) Aia to» tw nx n "s Taupoi y«f J. Tzetzes in SMiis . (3) ApollodoIivSs Hyginus. (4) Others fay a Lake. ( s ) P. 9, Note 5. (6) Recueil des Medailles de Peuples & de Villes. T. I. P. 132- the W OF P JE S T U M. 35 the ftamping of Money, on which a Bull was infculped, for which Plutarch afligns various Reafons, leaving the Reader to take his Choice (i) ; Julius Pollux alfo mentions this as the Device on the old Athenian Money, and ufes a remarkable Expreffion for the Manner in which it was {lamped, correfponding with that of Plutarch’s, and both reprefenting the Bull as infculped, or as we may more properly exprefs it, emboffed upon the Coin (2). Now Theseus, as we have already mentioned (3), was born at Lrceze , and therefore we may fuppofe, that the ufeful Art, which he invented, of afcertaining the Value of Money, would not be long a Stranger to his native City ; and that this Art, together with others, would be introduced into Magna Grcecia , by that joint Colony of Acheans and Trcezenians , who firft founded Sybaris (4). Accordingly, the Device that appears on the few Medals of Sybaris yet difcovered, is a Bull, and this emboffed, or hollow on one Side, in the Manner defcribed by Plutarch and Pollux. The Pojidonians derived from thefe, {lamped their Money in the fame Manner, firft with the Image of their Patron Deity, and afterwards they added the Bull. The high Antiquity we have afcribed to thefe curious Medals, is further confirmed by the fingular fhape of fome of the Letters, and the infcription going from right to left. The Shapes of the \ , the § and the ^ come much nearer the old Phoenician or Samaritan Charadters -^vVW (5)> f han thofe at prefent known or defcribed, as Cadmus’s Alphabet (6). And as this Alphabet was adopted from the Eaft, fo it fhould feem from thefe Medals, was the Manner of writing it from right to left. But a few ancient Infcriptions, yet remaining on Marbles, give us Reafon to think, that this Method was never implicitly followed by the Greeks , but that they {leered a Kind of a middle Courfe, by alternately ranging the Lines from right to left and left to right, in the fame Manner as Oxen plough ; thence called Boujlrophedon. Whence alfo, poffibly the Phrafe Exarare lit eras, and the Word Verfus. For, though it does not appear that the Latins ever adopted (1) e4i it ENTETtnOMENON. Vetus autem erat Mcnienftum Moneta Bos appellata, eo quod Bovem INSCULPTUM haberet, IX. 61. Hence, fays he, the Proverb But >*> THoacto, Bos in lingua, fpoken of fuch as are bribed to filence. It is very ftrangc, that the learned O. Sperlingius fhould miftake thefe two Paflhges in fuch a Manner, as to give the following Account of the ancient Athenian Money. Theseus Athenienfes docuit aurum, argentum & xs eo pondere xmlm quo Bovem emere poflint, talemque nummum But di&urn, licet Bovem fignatum minime habuerit ; ita quoque StxaBnn laminam auri, argenti, /Eris, quo decern boves emere valerent, & qu««)& OAI3M0V I3MOT .ONC, ,ztu / » ojf or- &Xru/i77l/.tZ . , ffcmo/tkf >■/' '//tv/a/Z/AJ ,/s i9°rt’<*/um . \ t iltj h'd. Jan . iy6 8. •- " .■ ' ' ~ ■ -IW " ■ /. A jj i^hkIIhI i T^' i Kmrm 3P& ’ J %K4 "■ring jK*SS wfcsBL ' iul SmoJj sr ■ \M0 n- & \ ns^l L ■• ■ w u» - sjk ^ m \ m vj* - iK^ Hy l; '. ”•'! giir^W g3ft$ If