ANTIQUITIES. 





eldest authors on the subject, viz. Diony- 

 sius Halicarnassus, who traced the origin 

 of the Romans, with great fidelity, back 

 to the remotest ages. His accounts are 

 generally preferred to those of Livy, be- 

 cause they are more ample, and his facts 

 are described with more particulars ; and 

 on the ceremonies, worship, sacrifices, 

 manners, customs, discipline, policy, 

 courts, laws, &c. he is perhaps the most 

 authentic writer. 



These, and other authors that might be 

 cited, have chiefly confined their account 

 to Rome, properly so called ; we might 

 digress, and notice the antiquities of 

 those states, both in Europe and other 

 parts of the globe, whicli were held under 

 the dominion of the Koman power; but 

 this would lead us into a very wide field : 

 we shall, however, in the connection, no- 

 tice those belonging to Spain, which was 

 500 years under the Roman power. 



Spain was originally peopled by the 

 Africans and German Gauls : it then be- 

 came the prey of the Carthagenians : to 

 these succeeded the Romans. It was af- 

 terwards held successively in subjection 

 by the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the 

 Arabs or Moors. 



Of the first of these epochs few remains 

 exist, excepting some tumuli, and other 

 rude monuments. Nor are there any cer- 

 tain relics of the Carthagenians in Spain 

 but coins, which have been found in con- 

 siderable numbers. The Roman antiqui- 

 ties are numerous, of which, however, we 

 shall notice but few. The aqueduct at 

 Segovia is a noble edifice, consisting of 

 159 arches, extending about 740 yards, 

 and is rather more than 94 feet in height 

 where it crosses the valley. Morviedo, 

 the ancient Saguntum, and Tarragona, 

 the ancient Tarraco, afford many curious 

 remains of antiquity. The theatre is ca- 

 pable of receiving 10,000 people, and is 

 hewn out of a solid rock, the labour of 

 which was less than might at first be ex- 

 pected, as the Spanish rocks are general- 

 ly calcareous, or of gypsum. The Visi- 

 goth kings have left few relics except 

 their coins, which are struck in gold, a 

 metal at that period unknown to the other 

 European mints. Numerous and splendid 

 are the monuments of the Moors in Spain. 

 The mosque at Cordova is one of the 

 chief; this surprizes travellers with the 

 multitude of its columns, which are said 

 to be 800. The Christian antiquities here, 

 as in other places, are, churches, castles, 

 and monasteries. 



The antiquities of Portugal consist also 

 chiefly of Roman monuments, with some 



Moorish remains. In the north is an ex^ 

 tensive series of arches, formerly a Ro- 

 man aqueduct. At Evora are well pre- 

 served ruins of a temple of Diana, and art 

 aqueduct ascribed to Quintus Sertorius, 

 whose life was written by Plutarch. 

 Among the antiquities of the middle ages 

 may be noted the monastery of Batalha, 

 in Estremadura, 60 miles north of Lisbon, 

 which is allowed on all hands to be one 

 of the noblest monuments of what is call- 

 ed the Gothic style of architecture. 



English antiquities fall into the follow- 

 ing divisions, viz. those belonging to the 

 primitive Celtic inhabitants ; those of the 

 Belgic colonies ; those of the Romans ; 

 those of the Saxons ; reliques of the 

 Danes ; and, lastly, Norman monuments. 

 Few of these remains are thoughtto throw- 

 much light upon the history of the coun- 

 try ; but, being interesting and curious in 

 themselves, they may, in this article, 

 which is intended as a guide to the study, 

 be briefly noticed. A radical mistake, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Pinkerton, in the study of 

 English antiquities, has arisen from the 

 confusion of the Celtic and Belgic lan- 

 guages and monuments. The Druids have 

 deservedly attracted much curiosity and 

 research ; but it would be erroneous to 

 impute to them, as is usual, the whole of 

 our earliest remains. Caesar speaks of 

 Druidism as a recent institution ; and if 

 that be the case, it is not improbable that 

 it originated from the Phoenician factories, 

 established in wooden fortresses, the usu- 

 al practice of commercial nations when 

 trading with savage or barbarous people. 

 The tenets correspond with what little 

 exists of Phccnician mythology, and the 

 missionaries of that refined people might 

 have some zeal in their diffusion. Ancient 

 authors, who give us all our information 

 concerning the Druids, minutely describe 

 their religious rites, but are totally silent 

 concerning any monuments of stone being 

 used among them. On the contrary, they 

 mention gloomy groves and spreading 

 oaks as the only scenes of the Dniidic ce- 

 remonies; nevertheless, antiquaries have 

 inferred that Stonehenge is a Druidic 

 monument, though it be situated in an ex- 

 tensive plain, where not a vestige of wood 

 appears, and' where the very soil is re- 

 puted to be adverse to its vegetation. It 

 would be a vain effort to attempt to dis- 

 criminate the remains of the earliest in- 

 habitants from those of the Dmidic pe- 

 riod, and if the opinion of the last-men- 

 tioned author istobe regarded as binding, 

 there is no foundation for any sound or 

 real knowledge on the subject. The fol- 

 lowing have been esteemed as the montf- 



