of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. $99 
A theycall Nomos)and within the fame are contained certain vaft and ftately pallaces which beate 
the names of the {aid jurifdi@ions, and be anfwerable to them : befides,within the fame precin& 
arethe temples ofall the Agyptian gods: over and above, fifteen littl¢ chappels or fhrines,eve- 
ricone enclofing a Nemefis, to which goddefle they bee all dedicated : tofay nothing of many’ 
Pyramides fortie ells in heigth apeece, and everic of them having fix walls at the foor, infuch 
fort,that before a man can'come to the Labyrinth indeed which is fo intricat&inexplicable,and 
wherein (as I {aid before) he {hall be fure to loofe himfelfe,he may make account to be wearie and 
tired out : for yet he isto pafle over certaine lofts, galleries, and garrets, al] of them fo high that 
hemuft climbe ftaires of nintie fteps apeece ere hee can land at them ; within the which,a num- 
ber of columnsand ftatues there be,all of porphyrit or red marble,a world of images and fta:ues 
B seprefenting as well gods as men,befides an infinit ort of other peeces pourtraied in monftrous 
and ugly fhapes, and there erected, What fhould I fpeake of other roumes and lodgings which 
are framed and fituat in {uch manner,that no fooner are the dores and gates opened which lead 
unto them, buta man fhall heare fearefull cracks of terrible thunder :furchermore, the paflages 
from place to place are for the moft part fo conveyed, that they be as darke as pitch, fo as thereis - 
no going through them without fire light : and ftill be we fhort of the Labyrinth, for withoutthe 
maine wail therof,there be two other mightie upright walls or wings,fuch as in binding they call 
Ptera;and when youare pafled them, you mect with more (hrowds undet the ground, in mannet 
of caves and countermines vaulted over head, andas darkeas dungeons.Moreover, itis faid,that 
about 600 yeers before the time of K. Alexander the Great,one Czrcammnos(an efinuch ot groome. 
© of king Nectabis chamber)made {ome {mall reparations here about this Labyrinth, andnever 
any but hee would goe about fuch a peece of worke. Itis reported alfo, that while the maine ar- 
ches and vaults were in rearing (and thofe were made all of foure {quare athler ftone) the place 
fhone ali about and gave light with the beams and plancher made of the Aigyptian Acacia fod- 
den in oile.And thus much inay ferve fuificiently for the Labyrinths of Agypt and Candie, 
The Labyrinth in Lemnos was much like to them, onely in this refpect more admirable, for 
thatit hada hundred and fortié columns of marble more than the other, all wrought round by 
turners craft, but with fuch dexteritie; that a verie child was able to weld the wheelethat turned 
them, the pins and poles whereby they hung were fo artificially poifed. The matter devifers and 
architects of this Labyrinth were Zils, Rholdsand a third unto them,one Theederus who was 
D borne in the fame Ifland. Ofthis, there remaine fome teliauesto be feene at this day ; whereas a 
man fhall not find one {mall remnant either of the Italian or Candian Labyrinths :for meet itis 
that I fhould write fomewhar alfo of our Labyrinth heere in Italie, which PorfeaaK.of Tufcane 
caufed to be made for his own fepuichresand the rather, becaufe you may know that forrein kings 
were not fo vain in expences,but our princes in Italie furpaffed them in vanitie:bus for that there 
goe fomany tales and fables of it which are incredible, thinke ir good in the defcription therof 
to ufe the verie words of my author -42. Varro: King Porfewa (quoth he) was interred under the 
cittie Clufinum in Tufcane, in which verie place he left a {umptuous monument ortombe buile 
all of {quare {tone ; thirtic foot it caried in breadth on everie fide,and fiftiein heigth, within thé 
bafe or foot whereof(which likewife was foure{quare) hee made a Labyrinth fo intricat, thatifa 
E manwere entred into it without a bottom or clue of thread in his hand, and leaving the one end 
therof faftened to the entrie or dore,it was impoifible that ever he fhould find the way out again. 
Vpon this quadrant there ftood five Pyramides or fteeples, foure atthe foure corne:s,and one 
in the mids,which at the foot or foundation caried 75 foot everie way in bredth, & were brought 
up to the heigth of 150: thefe grew tharpe {pired toward the top, but in the verie head {o contti- 
ved, that they metall in one great roundle of braffe which raught from one to the other,and co- 
_vered them allin manner of acap, andthe {ame rifing up in the mids with a creft moft ftately: 
from this cover there hung round about atlittle chains, a number of bells or cymbals, which be- 
ing fhaken with the wind,madea jangling noife that maught be heard a great way off,much like 
onto that ring of bels which was deviled in times paft over thetemple of /apiter at Dodona: and 
F yetarewe not cometoan end of this building mounted aloft in the aire, for this cover over head 
ferved but for a foundation of foure other Pyramides, and everie one of them arofe a hundred 
foot high above the other worke :upon the tops whereof there was yet one terrace more to fue 
ftaine five Pyramides, and thofe {hot up to fuch a monftrous heigth, that Varro was afhamed to 
report it: butif wee may give credit to thetales that goecurrantin Tufcane, it was equall to the 
a _ Ddd yx ape whole 
