•:0'2 CLARKE'S ■ TRAVELS. 
The Romans began to call them sarcophagi about the time of 
Pliny, from a peculiar Kind of stone used in their construction, 
found at Assos upon the Adramyttian gulph, and supposed to 
have the property of hastening the decomposition of the human 
body. St. Augustine relates, that the Greek appellation of 
this kind of tomb was soros his remark is forcibly illustrated 
by this inscription, although so small a part of it is now re¬ 
maining : 
ATPHAlO22aTHPE0HKATHN2OPONEArT.QKAI . . . .- 
“ AURELIUS SOTER CONSTRUCTED THIS SOROS FOR 
HIMSELF AND” ..... 
Other instances, of the same nature, occur in the account giv¬ 
en of our future travels, where the legend is more entire. 
The remains of Alexandria Troas have long served as & 
kind of quarry, w hither not only Turks, but also their prede¬ 
cessors, during several centuries, repaired, w henever they re¬ 
quired materials for ornamental architecture, or stones for the 
ordinary purposes of building. Long before the extinction 
of the Greek empire, the magnificent buildings of this city 
began to contribute monuments of ancient splendor tow ard the 
pnblic structures of Constantinople; and, at present, there is 
scarcely a mosque in the country that does not bear testimony 
to its dilapidation, by some costly token of jasper, marble, por¬ 
phyry, or granite, derived from this wealthy magazine. After 
all that has been removed, it is truly wonderful so much should 
remain. The ruins of the place, although confused, are yet 
considerable. The first object, appearing in the approach to¬ 
ward the city from Chemale, is the aqueduct of Herodes At- 
ticus, formed of enormous blocks of hewn stone. The walls of 
the city exhibit the same gigantic style of masonry. Part of 
one of the gates still appears, on the eastern side, whose re¬ 
mains have been mistaken for those of a temple: they consist 
of two round towers, with square basements, supporting pedes¬ 
tals for statues. Immediately after passing this entrance, and 
coming within the district once occupied by the city, may be 
observed the ruins of baths, showing the reticulated work of the 
Romans upon the stucco of their walls. Broken marble soroi 
lie about, of such prodigious size, that their fragments seem as 
“ Quia enim area in qua mortuus ponitur, quod omnes jam SAPKQ^AFON 
•Vacant, SOPOS dicitur Grsefee.” S 7, August, de Civilate Dei, 1. xviiL c. See Ws© 
Julvus Pollux, X. IS 0, 
