B Y Z A N T I II M. 



173 



as to hate only the appearance of a single block, and 

 they were much loftier on the land side than towards 

 the water, where the waves and projecting rocks 

 formed a natural defence. They were strengthened 

 by numerous towers, seven of which are said to have 

 been so artfully constructed, that the least noise made 

 in any one of them was immediately communicated 

 to all the rest. Ancient authors inform us, that, in 

 the fourth century before the Christian atra, this city 

 had a gymnasium, as well as many other public build- 

 ings, and possessed almost every convenience and 

 luxury which we usually find among a rich, nume- 

 rous, and active." people. Xenophon says, they had a 

 forum spacious enough to contain a small army 

 drawn up in order of battle, and in this forum, De- 

 mosthenes says, the people used to assemble to con- 

 firm or reject the decrees of their senate. 



A considerable territory belonged to Byzantium, 

 which was abundantly productive of grain and fruits. 

 Aristxus, Pliny, and Tacitus, inform us, that im- 

 mense quantities of fish, (though of what kind they 

 do not say,) were wont to be caught in the harbour. 

 J'is piscinm iimuniera, says the latter, Ponto erumpens, 

 et obliqiiis snifter undas saxis exterrita y omisso allcri- 

 ns littoris jicxu, hos ad portus defcrtur. j- Spring 

 and autumn were the principal seasons for taking 

 these fish. In spring they were proceeding north- 

 ward into the colder regions of the Euxine Sea, and 

 in autumn returning southward into the Mediterra- 

 nean. This fishery, according to Aristaeus, brought 

 a large revenue to the city, which likewise enjoyed 

 an active and flourishing commerce. The excellence 

 of its harbour, sheltered on every side from storms, 

 attracted thither numerous vessels from all the nations 

 of Greece; and its situation at the mouth of the 

 strait enabled it to subject to heavy duties, or to 

 stop altogether, those merchants of more southern 

 states who carried on a trade with the Euxine. 

 Hence the importance attached to the friendship of 

 this city by the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, and 

 their constant endeavours to engage it in their in- 

 terests. 



It was founded, according to Eusebius, about the 

 SOth Olympiad, that is, 656 years before the birth 

 of Christ, during the reign of the Roman king Tul- 

 lus Hostilius ; but, according to Diodorus Siculus, 

 the foundations of Byzantium were laid as far back 

 as the Argonautic expedition, 1250 years before the 

 Christian a:ra. The founder, he says, was one By- 

 zas, a king of the neighbouring country, from whom 

 Byzantium derived its name. Eustathius says, that 

 this Byzas came into Greece, and settled there with 

 a colony of Megaraeans, a short time before the Ar- 

 gonauts arrived in those seas. Velleius Paterculus 

 supposes Byzantium to have been founded by the 

 Milesians, and Ammianus Marcellinus ascribes it to 

 the Atticans. I'd its Ri/zanlium Atticorum colonia, 

 says he. Probably the Milesians were a colony of 

 Atticans ; and if so, Velleius and Ammianus are per- 

 fectly reconciled. But it is probable that these last 

 mentioned people only rebuilt or repaired Byzantium, 

 after it had been destroyed or had fallen into decay. 



Medals of ancient Byzantium have reached our times, By* 

 bearing the name and head of 15 )/_,, with the prow 

 of a ship on the reverse. 



Justin says, that Pausanias the Spartan first built 

 Byzantium, but in thin he must have been mistaken ; 

 fur w 1 -urn from Thucydides and Herodotus, that 

 Pausanias, about the year B. C. 476, took it from 

 the Persians, who had made themselves masters of it, 

 before he had been in that quarter. Pausanias pro- 

 bably rebuilt and improved Byzantium while he con- 

 tinued to possess it, and while he there carried on hi* 

 treacherous correspondence with the Persians. 



The city underwent many revolutions, and fre- 

 quently changed masters, having been sometimes in 

 the possession of the Persians, sometimes of the La- 

 cedaemonians, and also of the Athenians, who took it 

 about the year B. C. 407. In the year B. C. 

 it was attacked bv Philip of Macedon, who, after 

 a tedious siege, was compelled by Phocion, the 

 Athenian general, to relinquish his object and re- 

 treat. 



The whole of Greece, together with Lycia, Rhodes, 

 Samos, Cilicia, Thrace, and Byzantium, after many 

 vicissitudes, was, in A. D. 7l> reduced to the state of 

 Roman provinces by Vespasian. 



The siege of By/antium, by Severus, which com- 

 menced A. D. 194-, and continued for three years, 

 was, both for the obstinacy of the defence, and the 

 cruelty exercised by the conquerors after its capture, 

 one of the most extraordinary recorded in history. 

 Having taken part with Niger, in the contest be- 

 twixt him and Severus, the latter invested it in due 

 form. But though, during the siege, the bloodv 

 battle of Issus was fought, which terminated in the 

 defeat and death of Niger, and though his head, when 

 sent to Byzantium, was exhibited to the besieged on 

 the point of a spear, yet the city still held out. 



In addition to the natural advantages and strength 

 of the place, the Byzantines had, both before and du- 

 ring the siege, provided themselves with warlike ma- 

 chines of various sorts ; some of which hurled against 

 the besiegers when they approached the walls, large 

 beams and stones, whilst others showered upon them 

 darts and smaller stones to a greater distance. Strong 

 iron hooks fastened to chains were let down from the 

 wall, and dragged up whatever they laid hold of. 



One Periscus, a famous Bithynian engineer, 'is said 

 to have been the constructor of these machines ; and 

 was more fortunate after the capture of the city than 

 the celebrated Archimedes of Syracuse ; for his life 

 was spared by Severus, who hoped to profit by his 

 talents. The entrance of the harbour was barred by 

 a strong chain, and its piers on each side were forti- 

 fied by towers. It contained 500 small vessels, of 

 which the greater part had pointed iron prows ; and 

 some of them were constructed with a rudder at each 

 end, and had a double complement of men to work 

 them, so that without turning, and at a moment's 

 warning, they could advance or retire as occasion re- 

 quired. When the besieged lost any of their ships, 

 they built others of the timber of their houses, and 

 the women cut off their hair to supply materials for 



f " The only article in which the markets of Constantinople excel those of other cities is fish ; of these they have a givj 

 ariety, some of which are very delicious." Travels of Mirzu Abu TaJcb Khan, vol. ii. p. ?26. 



