OBSERVATIONS ON THE RECENT DISCOVERIES OF THE REMAINS OF THE MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS. By W. TITE, Fellow, M.P. Read at the Royal Institute of British Architects, Nov. 1, 1858. AFTER some introductory remarks Mr. Tite proceeded as follows. When the most ancient period of simple burial of the body had passed away, it was succeeded by those ages in which great and various efforts were made to distinguish or to adorn the resting-place of the deceased from motives of either honour or affection. In both cases, where the means existed of erecting an appropriate memorial, labour and expense were alike lavishly bestowed upon it. During the mythical period of history, when a nation honoured the grave of a departed hero, his surviving soldiers built up his monument by each one of them triumphantly depositing a stone upon the earth where he was laid, and rearing for him a lofty sepulchral mound. But in subsequent and more polished times, when death came as the separator of dear companions, the memorial erected frequently expressed the sorrowing love of the survivor. With the Hebrews, and also with the Arabians, tombs and burial-places were established localities for lamentation; * and sometimes their interiors were arranged as chambers for mourning. It is possible, therefore, that the cella, or small apartment under the pyramid, in the Tomb of Mausolus, was such a chamber, and might have been intended by Artemisia as a place wherein she could indulge even her grief in all the luxury of unrestrained sorrow. The pathetic story of the Queen of Caria, and of the erection of her most famous monument, after having been for a considerable period regarded by many as little better than a very beautiful classical romance, has recently received a remarkable testimony to their truth, in the discovery of a large number of interesting remains of extensive buildings, marble sculptures, and antiquities, in the ruined edifices at Boudroum, a small Turkish village now standing on the site of the ancient Halicarnassus, the birth-place of HERODOTUS THE FATHER OF HISTORY. These researches were commenced a few years since at the expense of the British Government, under the personal superintendence of Mr. C. T. NEWTON, at that time Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Mytilene. In the progress of these excavations, Mr. Newton has discovered a sufficient number of reliques to enable him with tolerable certainty to restore the whole building, and thus to confirm the accuracy of those statements which the ancient historians have transmitted to the present age. The village of Boudroum is situated at the head of a bay of the same name, on the south coast of Asia-Minor, known to the ancients by the name of the Bay of Cos, or the Sinus Ceramicus. It made a conspicuous figure in the history of the great struggle between the East and the West, which took place during the middle ages; for the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had there one of the most important of the fortresses, by means of which the Latin Christians endeavoured to maintain possession of Syria. But in times yet more ancient, the City of Halicarnassus seems to have been of still greater importance than it was during the period of the Crusades; for it was then the capital of a kingdom enjoying a species of quasi independence under the protection of the Persian Monarch, long after it had ceased to be perfectly free. That part of Asia-Minor was, at a very early historical period, invaded by one of the Dorian Colonies, and a distinct nationality was created by it under the name of Caria. A short time before Cyrus the Great established the supremacy of Persia in this region, Crœsus the Lydian seems to have overthrown the power of the Doric Tribes, and, in some degree, to have superimposed on the Doric civilisation the more elegant, and more effeminate, styles of Ionia. At any rate Cresus overcame the Doric Tribes which occupied the ancient Caria, to succumb, in his turn, before the prosperous invasion of the Persians. Cyrus, however, seems to have thought it safer to establish in the remote provinces of his Empire Dynasties of native Princes, directly responsible to himself, than to administer those provinces in the usual Persian style of Satrapies, or provincial governments. We thus find that a race of indigenous kings was established for the government of the province of Caria, subsequently to the overthrow of Crœsus by his great rival; and that they retained their power until the Macedonian conquest swept aside the whole of the governmental organisation of the Ionic Tribes, which it had suited the convenience of the Persians to retain during their short-lived Empire under Cyrus and his successors. * John xi. 31. "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." One of the most famous of these native Ionic Princes of Caria was Mausolus, the son of Hecatomnus, who married his own sister * Artemisia, and died without children about the year 353 в.с. Mausolus left his kingdom to his wife, and she endeavoured to console herself by the construction of that celebrated tomb, which was subsequently considered one of the wonders of the world, but which was not finished during her life. Artemisia, in fact, followed her husband to the grave within two years, leaving the kingdom to a brother of Mausolus; who, in his turn, left the throne of Caria to his wife Ada. The latter was driven from Halicarnassus by Pixodarus, the surviving brother of Mausolus, and Ada then sought the assistance of Alexander the Macedonian against her rival. Alexander assisted Ada, and besieged and took, after a vigorous resistance, the citadel of Halicarnassus: whereupon he reinstated Ada in the nominal sovereignty of Caria, but retained for himself and his successors the possession of the citadel, the most important military position. The Macedonian Princes of Syria, however, did not long respect the independence of Caria, for Antiochus the Great incorporated that kingdom with the rest of his possessions; and, subsequently, upon the first appearance of the Romans in Asia-Minor, Caria was divided between Eumenes, King of Pergamus, and the Rhodians; to be absorbed shortly afterwards into the Roman Empire. The Saracens overran this district very soon after their appearance upon the stage of the world; and, though the Knights of St. John for a time maintained themselves at Boudroum, even long subsequently to the destruction of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, the Turks, under Solyman the Great, succeeded in finally wresting from the Christians this last vestige of their power in the East, about the year 1522. As might be expected, the Tomb of Mausolus suffered greatly during all these different wars and sieges; but from certain passages in the Byzantine Historians Eudocia and Eustathius, it would appear to have remained in a tolerably perfect state so late as the Twelfth century. At some unknown subsequent period, its ruin appears to have been caused by an earthquake; but its final demolition was effected by the Knights of St. John, who pulled it down for the purpose of obtaining materials for the Castle of San Pietro, which they erected about the year 1404. These are briefly the events that led to the erection, as well as to the destruction, of a Tomb which has become the most famous in all profane history. But, beyond this narrative, there is something exceedingly romantic and touching in the conduct of Artemisia in erecting, as she fondly believed, an eternal memorial to the memory of her husband, and it furnishes a remarkable contrast to the conduct of Margaret of Austria in more modern times. Artemisia mourned like one who "mourned without hope," and the memorial which she raised was therefore dedicated solely to the commemoration of him whom she had so deeply loved, and to her own sorrow. The Christian Princess, on the other hand, under a similar affliction, sought her consolation in the erection of a Church, for the service and glory of Him who is "the God of the Living and not of the Dead!" * Some analogy may be found in the following passage: "His daughter she:-in Saturn's reign, Such mixture was not held a stain." - Il Penseroso, 25. Without at all entering on the discussion of the relative merits of Classical and of Gothic Architecture, I cannot refrain from saying that the Church of Notre Dame de Brou, at Bourgen-Bresse, erected by Margaret of Austria to the memory of her deceased husband, Philibert Emmanuel of Savoy, is as infinitely more beautiful as a mere monument, as the tone and character of her grief were more pure and holy than was the monument or the grief of Artemisia. It is, however, singularly remarkable, that the history of Artemisia, and the fame of the mausoleum which she erected, have gone forth to the ends of the earth; whilst those of the sacred edifice built by Margaret are, comparatively speaking, almost unknown: so capricious is History! so false, in many instances, is the appreciation of the world! I said that there is something touching about the story of Artemisia's grief; and, indeed, after allowing much for the exaggeration of poets and historians, and for the peculiar circumstances of her times and position, the term used can hardly be considered exaggerated. The body of Mausolus was burned in accordance with the usual custom of the Ionians; for it is to be observed that the Dorians, and, generally, all the ancient Greeks, interred the bodies of the deceased; and that the practice of burning the dead prevailed only in the later periods of the Hellenic civilisation. The ashes of Mausolus were then carefully collected; but as Aulus Gellius is the accepted, as well as the most copious, authority for this ancient anecdote, I will give it as the passage is rendered by the Rev. William Beloe, in his version of the Attic Nights. "Artemisia is related to have loved her husband Mausolus beyond all the stories of amorous affection; nay, beyond the limits of human attachment. When this Mausolus died, and was entombed with a magnificent funeral, amidst the tears and lamentations of his wife; Artemisia, inflamed with grief and sorrow for the loss of her husband, had his bones and ashes mixed with spices, reduced to powder, and then drank them infused in water."* In the same passage Cicero is referred to as the authority for considering Mausolus as the King of Caria. The passage occurs in his Tusculan Questions; and though it is very short, and the notice of Artemisia and her Mausoleum is only incidental, it is still very valuable as proving how popular was her story, and how widely known was the edifice three centuries after the time to which they belonged. The mortal grief of Artemisia is cited by Cicero as an illustration of the lasting nature of "recent evil," according to the real meaning of Zeno; being not that only which has occurred lately, but that which retains any force, vigour, or freshness; for so long is it entitled to the name of recent. that Artemisia," continues Cicero, "the wife of Mausolus, King of Caria, who made the noble Tomb at Halicarnassus, whilst she lived she lived in grief, and died from the same cause, being worn out by it; hence this sentiment of sorrow was with her always recent." Strabo also notices the excessive grief of Artemisia, and considers that it brought on phthisis, of which she died. He probably derived his information from the Prize-Tragedy of "Mausolus," written by Theopompus, which was extant in his time, and which is quoted for the fact by Harpocration in his Lexicon.* "As * The whole passage is as follows: "Artemisia Mausolum virum amasse fertur supra omnis amorum fabulas, ultraque affectionis humanæ fidem. Mausolus autem fuit, ut M. Tullius ait, rex terræ Cariæ; ut quidam Græcarum historiarum scriptores, provinciæ Græciæ præfectus. Satrapen Græci vocant. Is Mausolus ubi fato perfunctus inter lamenta et manus uxoris funere magnifico sepultus est; Artemisia luctu atque desiderio mariti flagrans uxor ossa cineremque ejus mixta odoribus contusaque in faciem pulveris aquæ indidit, ebibitque: multaque alia violenti amoris indicia fecisse dicitur. Molita quoque est ingenti impetu operis, conservandæ mariti memoriæ, sepulcrum illud memoratissimum, dignatumque numerari inter septem omnium terrarum spectacula. Id Monumentum Artemisia quum Dis Manibus Mausoli dicaret; 'Αγῶνα (id est Certamen) laudibus ejus dicundis, facit; ponitque præmia pecuniæ aliarumque rerum bonarum amplissima. Ad eas laudes decertandas venisse dicuntur viri nobiles ingenio atque lingua præstabili Theopompus, Theodectes, Naucrites. Sunt etiam qui Isocratem ipsum cum iis certavisse memoriæ mandaverint: sed eo certamine vicisse Theopompum judicatum est. Is fuit Isocratis discipulus. Extat nunc quoque Theodecti Tragœdia, quæ inscribitur, Mausolus: in qua eum magis quam in prosa placuisse Higinus in exemplis refert." Noct. Attic. lib. x. cap. xviii. Valerius Maximus is another ancient Author who has recorded the sorrow of Artemisia in his collection of Memorable Acts and Sayings, in the following passage: "Gentis Cariæ regina Artemisia virum suum Mausolum fato absumptum quantopere desiderarit, leve est, post conquisitorum omnis generis honorum, Monimentum usque ad Septem Miracula provecti magnificentiam, argumentari. Quid enim aut eos colligas, aut de illo inclyto tumulo loquare, cum ipsa Mausoli vivum ac spirans sepulcrum fieri concupierit, eorum testimonio, qui illam extincti ossa potioni aspersa bibisse tradunt." De Factis Dictisque Memorab. lib. iv. cap. vi. Externa I. From the romantic story of the Founder of the Tomb of Mausolus we pass to those ancient descriptions of the Sepulchre itself, by which we are enabled to identify it, even from its ruins, and more than conjecturally to restore the original appearance of the edifice. In this part of my illustrations, I have gladly availed myself of the elaborate and interesting series of authorities relating to it contained in an erudite paper by Mr. Charles Newton, M.A., "On the Sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus," printed in 1847, in The Classical Museum.† He very properly commences by considering so much of the topography of the ancient city described by Vitruvius, in the eighth chapter of his second Book, as determines the actual site of the monument.‡ The most valuable ancient description of the monument itself, which is now extant, is that given by Pliny in his Natural History, on which, as Mr. Falkener properly observes, are founded the various theories that have been proposed for the restoration of the monument. In this passage Pliny is treating of the finest specimens of sculpture in marble, and the most excellent of the artists who were employed on them; and this leads him to enumerate those who executed the figures on the monument at Halicarnassus, and then to describe the building itself. I will give his account in the diffuse, though very characteristic, translation of Philemon Holland. "To returne againe unto Scopas: he had concurrents in his time, and those that thought themselves as good workemen as himselfe, to wit, Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares; of whome I must write joyntly together; because they joyned all foure in the graving and cutting of the stately monument MAUSOLEUM. This Mausoleum was the renowned tombe or sepulchre of Mausolus, a pettie king of Caria, which the worthie ladie Artemisia, sometime his queene and now his widow, caused to be erected for the said prince her husband, who died in the second yeare of the hundredth Olympias: and verely so sumptuous a thing it was, and so curiously wrought by these artificers especially, that it is reckoned one of those matchlesse monuments which are called "the Seven Wonders of the World." From North to South it carrieth in length sixtie-three foot: and the two fronts East and West make the breadth, which is not at all so large; so as the whole circuit about may contain foure hundred and eleven foot. It is raised in height five and twentie cubits, and environed with six and thirtie columns. On the East side Scopas did cut; Bryaxis chose the North end; that side which regardeth the South fell to Timotheus; and Leochares engraved at the West end. But the Queen Artemisia-who caused this rich sepulchre to bee made for the honour and in the memoriall of her husband late deceased,happened herselfe to depart this life before it was fully finished. Howbeit, these noble artificers, * Strabonis Rerum Geographia, lib. xiv. sect.xii.; Harpocrationis Lexicon Decem Oratorum, sub voce Α'ρτεμίσια. The words of this Lexicographer are*Ην φηςὶ Θεόπομπος φθινάδι νόςω ληφθεισαν. † Volume V, Art. ix. p. 170-201. ‡ "Cum enim-animadvertisset Halicarnasso locum naturaliter esse munitum, emporiumque idoneum, portum utilem, ibi sibi domum constituit. Is autem locus est theatri curvaturæ similis. Itaque in imo, secundum portum, forum est constitutum; per mediam autem altitudinis curvaturam præcinctionemque platea ampla latitudine facta. In qua media Mausoleum ita egregiis operibus est factum, ut in Septem Spectaculis nominetur."-De Architectura, lib. ii. cap. viii, 37, 38. "Namque singulis frontibus," says Vitruvius, in another place, "singuli artifices sumpserunt certatim partes ad ornandum et probandum, Leochares, Bryaxes, Scopas, Praxiteles, nonnulli etiam putant Timotheum; quorum artis eminens excellentia coegit ad Septem Spectaculorum ejus operis pervenire famam."-Idem. lib. vii. præfat. sect. 8. |