(348 REMARKS ON THE CONFLAGRATION 
walls and floors, with the more ample draperies suspended over 
the usual openings in the sides of the grand saloons, for the 
double purpose of air and to shield them from the sun, would, 
altogether, when once the brand was set to the building, hasten 
its destruction. That such veils from the heat were of ancient 
use in Persia, we find in the Book of Esther, (ch. i. ver. 6.) speak¬ 
ing of the palace, “ Where were white, green, and blue hangings, 
fastened with cords of fine linen to silver rings, and pillars of 
marble.” The custom, indeed, prevails to the present day. It 
being admitted, that the interior alone of the edifice was con¬ 
sumed, the next objection might be, that no trace of such solid 
walls are yet standing. But the substance of the stones, of 
which they were built, would be so injured by the extreme ac¬ 
tion of the fire, that we may readily conceive its rapid crumbling 
to decay, and falling in upon the already prostrated roof. Be¬ 
sides, we learn from Plutarch, that the madness of Alexander’s 
intoxication subsided almost as soon as the wanton act he had 
committed blazed into full effect, and that with laudable repent¬ 
ance and activity, he commenced every exertion to extinguish, 
or prevent the flames from spreading. In this attempt it is 
likely that a very common mode under similar circumstances, 
would be resorted to, and part of the edifice itself battered in, 
to smother the fire. The foundation of the mound would thus 
be raised at once, and the casualties of successive ages could not 
fail heaping it with earth, till it assumed the rounded form in 
which it now appears. 
Q. Curtius, in his account of this affair, exaggerates the extent 
of the destruction, by saying that Alexander did not confine his 
violence to the palace, “ but, at the instigation of a prostitute, 
and infuriated with wine, took a flaming brand, and totally 
