Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/331

OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 309 Jerusalem has derived some reputation from the number and siege and importance of her memorable sieges. It was not till after a Jerusalem. long and obstinate contest that Babylon and Rome could pre- June 7- ' vail against the obstinacy of the people, the craggy ground that might supersede the necessity of fortifications, and the walls and towers that would have fortified the most accessible plain,^^^ These obstacles were diminished in the age of the crusades. The bulwarks had been completely destroyed, and imperfectly restored ; the Jews, their nation and worship, were for ever banished ; but nature is less changeable than man, and the site of Jerusalem, though somewhat softened and somewhat re- moved, was still strong against the assaults of an enemy. By the experience of a recent siege, and a three years' possession, the Saracens of Egypt had been taught to discern, and in some degree to remedy, the defects of a place which religion, as well as honoux-, forbade them to resign. Aladin, or Iftikhar, the Sawia]^'^ ^' caliph's lieutenant, was entrusted with the defence ; his policy strove to restrain the native Christians by the dread of their own ruin and that of the holy sepulchre ; to animate the Moslems by tlie assurance of temporal and eternal rewards. His garrison is said to have consisted of forty thousand Turks and Arabians ; and, if he could muster twenty thousand of the inhabitants, it must be confessed that the besieged were more numerous than the besieging army.^^*^ Had the diminished strength and numbers of the Latins allowed them to grasp the whole circumference of four thousand yards (about two Eng- lish miles and a half),^^* to what useful purpose should they have descended into the valley of Ben Hinnom and torrent of meilleurs morceaux, sans contredit, qu'on ait dans ce genre (d'Anville, M^moire sur J<?rusalem, p. 27). ^12 See the masterly description of Tacitus (Hist. v. 11, 12, 13), who supposes that the Jewish lawgivers had provided for a perpetual state of hostility against the rest of mankind. 11' The lively scepticism of Voltaire is balanced with sense and erudition by the French author of the Esprit des Croisades (torn. iv. p. 386-38S), who observes that, according to the Arabians, the inhabitants of Jerusalem must have exceeded 200,000; that in the siege of Titus, Josephus collects 1,300,000 Jews; that they are stated by Tacitus himself at 600,000; and that the largest defalcation that his auepitnus can justify will still leave them more numerous than the Roman army. m Maundrell, who diligently perambulated the walls, found a circuit of 4630 paces, or 4167 English yards (p. 109, no) ; from an authentic plan, d'Anville con- cludes a measure nearly similar, of i960 French toises (p. 23-29), in his scarce and valuable tract. For the topography of Jerusalem, see Reland (Palestina, tom. ii. p. 832-860). [Cp. above, vol. 2, p. 454. Guy Le Strange, Palestine under the Muslims, p. 83-223.]