578 
The fix and thirtieth Booke 
Thatno man thould need to marveile any more of thefe huge workes that kings have built, let 
hiarknow thus much, thatone of them,theleaft(I muft needsfay)but the faireft and moft corn. 
mended for workemanthip, was built at the coftandchargesof one RAodope, averic ftrumpet. 
This R4odope wasa bond{flave togither with Afope a Philofopherin his kind,andwriter of morall 
fables, with whome fhee ferved under onemafterin thefame houfe:the greater woonder itis ° 
therefore and more miraculous than all I havefaid before, that ever fhee fhould be ableto get 
fuch wealth by playing the harlot. Over and.above the Pyramides abovefaid, agreat name there 
is of atower built by one of the kings of Zgypt within thelfland Pharos, andit-keepeth and 
commaundeth the haven of Alexandria, which tower (they fay) coft eight hundred talents the 
building, And here,becaufe I would omit nothing worth the writing, [cannot but note the fin- 
gular magnanimitic of king Pfolome, who permitted Soffratws of Gnidos (the mafter workeman 
and architect) to grave his ownename inthis building. The ufe ofthis watch-tower, istofhew 
lightasalanthorne, and give direction in the night {eafon to fhips, for to enter the haven, and 
where they fhall avoid barrs andthelves: like towhich there bee many beaconsburning to the 
fame purpofe,and namely at Puteoli and Ravenna. This is the daunger onely, leaftwhen many 
lights in this lanterne meet rogither, they fhould be taken for a ftar in the skie; for chat afar off 
" 
ee ee ee 
fuch lights appeare unto failers in manner of a ftar. This enginer or mafter workman beforefaid, 
was the firft man that isteported to have made the pendant yallerie & walking-place at Gnidos. 
C HAP, XILI. . | rn ? 
dg Ofthe Labyrinthsin Egypt Lemnos, and Italie. 
Ince wee have finifhed our Obeliskes and Pyramides, let us enter alfo into the Labyrinths ; 
which we may truly fay, are che moft monftrous works that ever were devifed by the hand of 
man : neither are they incredible and fabulous,as peradventure it may be fuppofed; forone _ 
of them remaineth to be feen at this day within the jurifdi€tion of Heracleopolis, the fift that 
ever wasmade to wit, three thoufand and fix hundred yeers agoe, by aking named Pete/uccas,or 
as fomethinke Tithoes : and yet Herodotus faith, itwas the whole worke of many KK. one after 
another, and that Pfammerichvs was the laft that put his handto it and madean end thereof. The 
reafon that mooved thefe princes to make this Labyrinth, isnotrefolved by writers, but divers — 
caufes are by them alledged: Demoteles faith, that this Labyrinth was the roiall pallace and fear 
of king (Motberudes : Lycias affirmeth it to be the fepulchre of king Maris : the greater part are 
of opinion, that it was an zdifice dedicated expreflely and confecrated unto the Sun, which in 
my conceit commmeth neareft to the truth, Certes, there is no doubt made that Dedalws tooke 
from hence the patterne and platforme of his Labyrinth which he made in Crete ;but furely he 
expreffed not above the hundredth part thereof, chufing onely that corner of the Labyrinth 
which containeth anumber of waies and paflages,meeting andencountring one another,win- 
ding and turning in and out everie way, after fo intricat manner and fo inexplicable,that when a 
man is once in, hee cannot poffidly get out againe: nerther mutt wee thinke that thefe turnings 
and returnings were after the manner of mazes which are drawne upon the pavement and plain 
floore of a field fuch as we commonly fee ferve to make {port and paftime among boies,thatis 
to fay which within alittle compafle and round border comprehend many niles; but here were 
many dores contrived, which might trouble and confound the memorie, for feeing fuch varietie 
of entries, allies, and waies fome croffed and encountred, others flanked on either hand, a man 
wandred ftill and knew not whether he went forward or backward, nor in truth where he was.And 
this Labyrinth in Creteis counted the fecond to that of Egypt: the third is inthe Ifle Lem- 
nos : the fourth in Italie : made they wereall of polifhed ftone, & befides vaulted over head with 
arches. As for the Labyrinth in Zegypt, the entrie thereof(whereatl much marveile) was made 
with columns of ftone,and all the reft ftuffed fo fubftantially and after fuch 2 wonderfull manner - 
couched and laid by art of mafontrie, that impoflible it was they fhould in many hundred yeers 
bee disjoynted and diffolved, notwith{tanding that the inhabitants of Heracleopolis did what 
they couldto the contrarie ; who for a fpight tharthey bare unto thewhole worke, annoied and 
empeached it wonderfully. To defcribe the fite and plot thereof,to unfold the archite@ure ofthe » 
whole, and to rehearfe everie particular thereof, it is not poffible ; for divided the buildings into 
fixteenc regions or quarters, according tothe fixteene feverall governments in‘igypt(which = 
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