CHAP. II.
_____its ruins[1]. Laodicea collected a very considerable revenue from its flocks of sheep, celebrated for the fineness of their wool; and had received, a little before the contest, a legacy of above four hundred thousand pounds by the testament of a generous citizen[2]. If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must have been the wealth of those cities whose claim appeared preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia[3]? The capitals of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank in the empire: Antioch and Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd of dependent cities[4], and yielded with reluctance to the majesty of Rome itself.
Roman roads.All these cities were connected with each other, and with the capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of communication, from the north-west to the south-east point of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and eighty Roman miles[5]. The public
- ↑ See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225, etc.
- ↑ Strabo, 1. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.
- ↑ See a dissertation of M. de Boze, Mem. de I'Acad^mie, torn, xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which is still extant, to recommend concord to the rival cities.
- ↑ The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, amounted to seven millions and a half. Joseph, de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Under the military government of the mamalukes, Syria was supposed to contain sixty thousand villages. Histoire de Timur Bee, 1. v. c. 20.
- ↑ The following itinerary may serve to convey some idea of the direction of the road, and of the distance between the principal towns. 1. From the wall of Antoninus to York, two hundred and twenty-two Roman miles. 2. London, two hundred and twenty-seven. 3. Rhutupiae, or Sandwich, sixty-seven. 4. The navigation to Boulogne, forty-five. 5. Rheiras, one hundred and seventy-four. 6. Lyons, three hundred and thirty. 7. Milan, three hundred and twenty-four. 8. Rome, four hundred and twenty-six. 9. Brundusium, three hundred and sixty. 10. The navigation to DyiTachium, forty. 11. Byzantium, seven hundred and eleven. 12. Ancyra, two hundred and eighty-three. 13. Tarsus, three hundred and one. 14. Antioch, one hundred and forty-one. 15. Tyre, two hundred and fifty-two. 16. Jerusalem, one hundred and sixty-eight. In all, four thousand and eighty Roman, or three thousand seven hundred and forty English miles. See the itineraries published by Wesseling, his annotations ; Gale and Stukeley for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.
