No. 4.-1st October, 1808.

MVSEVM WORSLEYANVM.

[Continued from page 116.]

Plate XIX. FRAGMENT OF THESEUS.

XX. BASS-RELIEF IN THE FLOOR OF A COTTAGE AT

EPHESUS.

XXI. A BEARD IN MARBLE.

These three Plates are printed on one page. The Fragment of Theseus, which was discovered amidst some ruins in the Temple of Minerva in the Acropolis, seems to offer an idea of horsemanship; and from the testimony of Aristides, who tells us, that Theseus excelled in that art, we take him to be the person meant in the present image, and the more so, as in various monuments quoted in the remarks on the bass-reliefs belonging to the Parthenon, that same hero appears covered with the skin of a lion, precisely as we see him.

The equestrian figure in bass-relief in the floor of a cottage at Ephesus appears to be a young man invested with some military dignity; he holds a badge of authority in his hand, and seems in the act of vowing the horse to some deity, and perhaps to the idol of a tree, the fruits of which form a kind of pyramid upon a little altar. Trees were the first Temples, Arbores fuere numinum templa. The Bass-relief is in white marble, without any marks of decay. It was discovered near the ruins of Ephesus in Asia Minor.

The Beard in Marble cannot but be considered as the

POL. I.

greatest curiosity of the kind: the vizards used by the Bacchanals had beards curled, and tubular like the present; but the singularity of our fragment is to be remark ed on the reverse, which is artfully contrived for the purpose of fixing the beard upon another marble.* We can only conceive it to be the appendage of some odd figure, or antic, set up to spout water, and we need but inspect the opposite part to see that it was only employed to close the mouth of the mask. This fragment was discovered at Athens.

Plate XXII. ANTIQUE VOTIVE FEÉT.

XXIII. FEET OF A STATUE OF ISIS.

XXIV. FRAGMENT OF A MARBLE DOOR.

These three plates are printed on the same page. The marble from which the Antique Votive Feet+ has been copied is still in being, among the ruins of Cyzicus. There are four feet upon it, with the following words :-On.. s,

There are still to be seen at Rome several marble heads of an cient Roman ladies, with a small wig likewise of marble, but movable. Some pretend to account for it, by supposing that the women of Old Kome wishing to appear fashionable, even in their portraits, the sta tuaries had given them an opportunity of changing their stony decoration.

We have observed in another place, that the faces of Satyrs, and the antics of the Bacchanals were the usual ornaments of fountains; but the reader may acquire an ampler knowledge of the subject by consulting the sixth volume of the Antiquities of Herculaneum. It is remarkable that Lucretius employs the word Silani, which means Fauni and Sileni, as a synonymous term for the Athenian fountains.

Signor Fabretti has shewn in his. Inscriptions, that all antique stones, that have feet carved upon them, must be considered as a kind of offering to Isis, or Serapis, implying a recovery from some disorder in those limbs and another illustrious Antiquary thinks that a prosperous journey may likewise be the motive of such a vow or oblation.

:

Phintios, Secundi, Menandri.-The name of Secundus proves that the inscription cannot be dated before the æra of the Roman empire. It is well known that the worship of the Egyptian deities formed a considerable part of the superstition of the ancient Romans.

The 23d Plate represents two feet sculptured upon a kind of black granite found in Egypt. The work is neatly done, after the true Egyptian manner; and as far as we may judge by the configuration of the design, we are apt to think that the artist lived before the Ptolemies. The feet were evidently intended for a female, and probably belonged to some statue of Isis.

The 24th Plate represents the Fragment of a Marble Door,* but whether the original of the present drawing was annexed and subservient to some of such sepul chres, which the Greeks termed Heroa, cannot but be considered as a plausible conjecture.

On the reverse of several Imperial medals of Augustus, Vespa sian, and Antoninus Pius, we meet with a square altar, with a Door in one of the sides. Whether it be a simple embellishment, or an aperture contrived for the purpose of receiving the cinders which fell from the fire of the sacrifice, we are at a loss to determine. There is more certainty respecting the use of the doors cut into those altars that were set up for the burial of heroes. Pausanias tells us, that the sepulchre of Hyacinthus in Amycle, consisted of an altar, with a small door in one side, which opened once every year, so as to give an opportunity of pouring in the libations, as the custom was in the fu neral rites performed in honour of heroes, And with regard to mar ble doors, we learn by the same author, that the Tomb of Helen, Queen of Adiabene in Assyria, not much distant from Jerusalem, had shutters of marble, which by means of a secret engine opened of themselves op the anniversary of the deceased,

Plate xxv. PISISTRATUS.

XXVI. BASS-RELIEF IN THE PARTHENON.

XXVII. ANTIQUE BASS-RELIEF ON THE SIGEAN
PROMONTORY.

These three plates are printed on the same page. The 25th represents Pisistratus, who re-enters the citadel of Athens in a splendid car, along with a courtezan of the name of Phya. It is a well-known story, that availing himself of the boundless credulity of the Athenian mob, he found means to persuade them that his mistress was the Goddess Minerva, descended from heaven for the purpose of restoring him to the sovereignty of his country.

The 26th plate represents a bass-relief which fell from the frieze in the northern side of the Parthenon, and represents oxen led to the sacrifice of the Panathenaia, a festival instituted by Theseus. The Scholiast of Aristophanes informs us, that every city of Attica, as well as all the Colonies contributed an ox for the service of the Panathenean solemnity.

The Antique bass-relief on the Sigean Promontory represents a matron with a veil, sitting by the altar, as on the tiptoe of expectation for the oracular hint, while a young girl, who has the appearance of her daughter, holds in her hand an offering intended for the tutelar deity of the place, to implore from that power a favourable omen respecting her nuptials.*

Among the various modes of divination, which serve to record the exuberance of heathen superstition, we meet with those presages called Cledones by the Greeks, and Omina by the Latins. They consisted in noting any word that was casually heard, after the performance of some religious ceremonies. It was to gain this sort of oracular jnuendo, that the people of Thebes resorted to the famous altar of Apollo Spondius or Spodius, mentioned by Pausanias. There was like

Plate XXVIII, FRAGMENT OF A COLUMN OF WHITE

MARBLE.

XXIX. PEDESTAL FOUND AT ELEUSIS.

These two plates are printed on the same page. The Greek Inscription on the column of white marble, shews that this column belonged to a Temple of Bacchus: the words upon it are sufficiently distinct, and have the following meaning, To the God Bacchus, Servilia Economia, together with her Husband Callicrates, made the Offering. The letters are good, and seem to have been formed in the first Century of the Christian æra. It is observable that the Sigmas are square, except the final one in the name of Callicrates, which is a half moon. This may serve to prove that the sigma at that period was usually drawn like a C: but that in Inscriptions, the old method of writing was generally adopted.

wise in the suburbs of Smyrna, a kind of chapel, frequented from the same motive. But this frivolous divination was no where in so much request as in ancient Rome. Cicero has left us a particular account of it, which affords a conspicuous light for the intelligence of the above bass-relief. He says, that whenever a maid was ready for marriage, it was an old custom to observe the augury in question, in some holy places without the walls of the city, which were known by the name of Sacella, a space of ground inclosed, but uncovered, with an altar in the middle. He then relates, that Cæcilia Metella, wishing to provide her niece with a husband, exivit in quoddam sacellum, ominis capiendi causa, quod fieri more veterum solebat. Now Metella sits herself down, and is all attention to catch at any word that may be accidentally uttered, in hopes of prying into the secrets of futurity; the girl, who is standing by, appears no less solicitous for the event, but nothing is heard for a long while.-Cum virgo staret, et Cæcilia in sella sederet, neque diu ulla vox ertitisset. At last, the girl begs the seat of her aunt to rest herself; the request is complied with: and this very circumstance implied the prognostication, the truth of which came to light in a few days; for Cæcilia dying, her husband immediately married the niece.