APPENDIX

PHILO OF BYZANTIU/v\ON THE SEVEN WONDER5

Tran slation by Hugh lohnstone

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INTRODU(TION

(r) Everyone has hca¡d ofcach ofthe Serren Wondcrs ofthe World, but few have seen all ofthemfor thcmselvcs. To do so onc has to go abroad to Pcrsia, cross the Euphrates rivcr, travel to Egypt,spcnd somc timc among thc Elians in Greecc, go to Halicarnassus in Caria, sail to Rhodes, and sce

Ephesus in lonia. Only if you travel the world and get worn out by the effort of the joumey will thedesire to see all the Wonders of the World bc satisñed, and by the time you have done that you willbe old and practically dead.

(z) Becausc ofthis, education can perform a remarkable and valuable task it removes the neces-

sity to travel, displa¡,s the beautiñrl and amazing things in one's very own home, and allows one tosee those rhings with one's mind ifnot with one's eyes. Ifa man goes to the different locations, s€es

them once and goes awa¡ he imrnediaæly forgets: the details of the work a¡e not recalle{ and mem-ories of the individual features fail. But if a man investigates in verbal form the things to wonder atend the execution oftheir consruction, and ifhe contemplates, as though looking at a mirror image,

the whole skilful work, he keeps the impressions of each picture indelible in his mind. The reason forthis is that he has scen amazing things with his mind.

(3) What I say will bc shown to be reliablc if my wo¡ds make a cla dacription of ach of the Seven

Wonders, and pcrsuade the listener to acknowledge that he has got an idea ofthe spectacle. Ofcourse,only the Seven Wonders a¡e commonly described as praiseworth¡ in so far as other sights can be seen

just as much æ these, but the admiration provoked for the Seven Wonders and for other sights is dif-fercnt. For beauty, like the sun, makes it impossib¡€ to see other things when it is itselfradiant.

(1) HAN6IN6 GARDEN

(r) The so-elled Hanging Garden with its plants above the ground grows in the air. The roots oftre6 above form a roofover the ground. Stone pillarc stand under the garden to suPPort it and the

whole area beneath the garden is occupied with engaved bases ofthe pillars.(z) lndividual beams of palm ùees are in position, and the space separating them is very narrow.

The wood from palm trees is the only kind ofwood which does not rot. When they are saturated and

under great pressurc, they arch upwards and nourish the capillaric ofthe roots [ofthe vegetation],

and admit into their own crevices roots that ere not their own.

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epth. On top grow broad-n short ever¡hing that ishappens on ground lwel.o plant shoots: ploughing

(a) while people walk along the top, the land on top of the roof is motionless and, as in the mostfertile regions, remains pure. sreamfollows a wide domhill cou screw;the necessary mechanisms o al. Thewater gocs up into many large receptacles and inigates the whole garden. It dampens the roots of theplants deep in the earth md keeps the earth moist. This is why the grass is alwap green and the leavesofthe trees grow permanently [?1, nourished by the dew, on tender bouths.

(5) Fo¡, free from thirst, tle roots suck up the permeating water æd form roming entmglemensarnong themsclves below the ground and, as a unit, preserve the dg/eloped trees safe and sound. Themasterpiece is luxurious and regal and it breaks the laws of nature to hang the work ofcuìtivationover the heads ofspectâtors.

O)THE PYRAMIDS lN ME/V\PH15

(r) while it is impossible to build the pyramids in Memphis [todayl, it is marvellous to describethcm' Mounteins have been built on mountains. The sheer size of the squared masonry is difficultfor the mind to grasp, md everyone is mystifi€d at ùe €normous strength that was required to prizeup such a weight ofmaterial.

(u) A four-comered base was set down, and hervn stones make up the foundations which a¡e ofthesame dimensions as the height ofeach structure above ground. Gradually the whole work was broughtup into a pyramid, tapering to a point.

(3) Its height is 5oo feet and the distance around the base is 3,6oo feet. The whole polished work isjoined together so seamlessly that it seems to be made out ofone continuous rock But in fact differ-ent colours and tyPes ofstone have been used in its construction: here there is white marble, herethere is black African stone. Then there is also what is called'the blood red stone'and a stone ofvar-iegated translucent green, brought, so they say, from Arabia.

(4) The colours of some of the stones re a dark glæs-green, others are almost quince-yellow, whileyet others have a colour that is likened to the purple in conch-shells. To one's astonishment is addedpleasure, to one's admiration respect, and to its lavishness splendour.

(5) The ascent is no less long or tiring than a road journey. Standing on rhe top and looking down,one can only dimly see the bonom. Royal wealth has woven extra gant expense alongside a pleas-ing array ofcolours. May its fortune boast that it believes that with its extraordinary expens€ it cântouch the very stars, for it is through deeds such as these that men go up to the gods, or that godscome down to men.

G) OTYMPIAN ZEU'(t) Cronus is the father of Zeus in heaven, but Pheidias is the father of Zeus in Elis. Immortal natue

was tlre parent ofthe former, but the hands ofPheidias ofthe laner; those hands alone were capableof begetting gods. Blessed is that one person on earth who saw the king and had the ability to showthe Thunderer to others.

(u) But if Zeus is embanassed to be called the son of Pheidias, skill was the motler of his rçresen-tâtion. Natue produced eþhans md Afria abounds in herds of elçhmts iust so that Pheidi¿s couldcut the tusks of the wild animals and work the matter with his hands into the form that he intended

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(3) Whereas we just wonder at the other six wonders, we kneel in front oft}tis one in reverence,because the execution of the skill is as incredible as the image of Zeus is holy. The work brings praise,and the immortality brings honour.

(4) Those wcrc thc good old days for Greecc! When her wealth in the world ofthc gods surpasscdåny other people's wealth at any subscqucnt time; when she had an artist who was a creator ofimmonality unmatched by any that later ages produccd; when it was possible to show men how thegods looked - appearances which it was never to be possible for other ages to see. C,crtainl¡ Pheidiasis the champion ova Olyrnpus for the longest time, just in the same way as facS are betta thm guess-

worlç knowledge bater than enquir),, and sight better than haring

(4) TH E COLOSSU' AT RHODES

(r) Rhodcs is an island in the sea. It had bæn hidden bdow thc sca for a long time, but then Hcliosrcvealcd it, and rcqucstcd ofthe gods that the nry island bc his own. On this island stands a Colossus,one hundred and twenty feet high and represcnting Helios. The statue is rccognizable as being ofHelios because it has his distinctive features. The artist uscd a quantity ofbronze that might haveexhauted the rnines, for the molten image of the structure was the bronz¡-work of thc world.

(r) Perhaps Zeus poured down marvellous wcalth on thc Rhodians precisely so that they couldhonour Hclios in spending it on thc erection ofthe statue ofthe god, layer upon layer, from theground up to the heavens. The artist secured it firnrly from the inside with iron frames and squared

block ofstone, ofwhich the horizontal bars exhibit ha¡nmer-work in the Cyclopean fashion. Thehiddcn part ofthc work is bigger than thc visible parts. Further questions strike the admiring spec-tator: what kind of fire-tongs were us€d, what size were the bases of the anvils, with what worKorcewas such a weight ofpoles forged?

(3) A base ofwhite marble was laid down, and on this he first set the feet ofthe Colossus up tothe ankle-bones. He had already conceived in his mind the proportions in which the one-hundred-and-twenty-foot god was going to be built. Since the sola of the feet on the base were already at a

greater height than other statues, it was impossible to lift up the rest and set it on top. The ankleshad to be cast on top and, just as happens in building houses, the whole work had to rise on top ofitself.

(+) And for this reason, in the cas¿ ofother statues, artists first make a mould, then divide it intoparts, cast them, and finally put them all together and erect the stetue. But the artist ofthe C¡lossuscåst the first part and then moulded the second part on the fust and, when the second part had b€en

cast in bronze, built the third part on top of that. He used the same method of construction for thercmaining parts. For it was not possible to move the metal parts.

(5) When the ccting had been done on the earlier worked partq the interv"¿ls of the bars and thejoins of the frame-work wqe taken care of, md the structure was held stcady with stones that hadbæn put insidg So that throughout thc construction he might rctain his conccption unshakcn, hccontinualll pourcd an immense mound of arth round rhe ñnishcd pars of the Colorsus, hiding whathad alrcady been wo¡ked on underground, and erried out the next stagc of casting on thc flat sur-face ofwhat was undcrneath .

(6) Little by little he reached the goal of his dream and, at the expense of five hund¡ed bronze al-ents and three hundred silver talents, hc made his god equal to rlre god. He produced a wo¡k out-standing in is boldness, for on the world he set a s€cond Helios facing the ñrst.

('THE WALTs OT BABYTON

(r) Semiramis was rich in royal inventiveness. So when she died, she left a treasure ofa wonderbehind: she laid down foundations forty-one miles long end w¿lled Babylon. The pcrimaer w¿ll is

APPENDIX

long enough to exhaust a long-distance runner. The wall is strfüng not only on account ofits length,but also on account ofthe solidity of its structure and of the widih ofth" ..."r.o inside it. Forit isbuilt from baked brick and bitumen.

d chariots can simultaneously rideive multi-storied towers Ialong thethe advanced fortiñc¡tion of Persia.

From the outside you would not guess that it encloses within itselfa habitation.(3) Thousands and thousands ofmen live inside the city's round wall! The size ofthe land outside

the mlls which is farmed is hardly bigger than the built up area in Babylon, and the farmers oursidethe walls are as foreigners to those people living within the wall.

(6) THE TE/V\PLE OF ARTE/I\IS AT EPHESUs

con_

lacedheap

prise in boldness and, likewise, the skill exceeds the worlc nter-

(z) The architect looscned the bottom ofthe underlying ground, then dug out trenches to a greatdepth and laid down the foundations underground. The quantirr ofmasonry expended on the siruc-turcs below the gound amounted to whole qurries of mountains. He ensured its unshakeable steadi-nessand' having previously set Atlas under the weight of the parts that would support the building,first he set down on the outside a base with ten steps, and on that base he raised . . .

[The next page ofthe manuscript has been lost, and so the rest ofthe account oftheTemple of ,q,rtemis at Ephesus no longer exists, nor does the description of theMausoleum at Halicamassus, which will be the seventh wonder in philo - see his intro-ductory paragraph.l

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