CHAP. thofe cities was built by the Greeks, a few years XVII before the former; and the blindness of its founders, who overlooked the fuperior advantages of the oppofite coaft, has been ftigmatized by a proverbial expreffion of contempt The port. The harbour of Conftantinople, which may be confidered as an arm of the Bofphorus, obtained, in a very remote period, the denomination of the Golden Horn. The curve which it defcribes might be compared to the horn of a flag, or, as it should feem, with more propriety, to that of an ox". The epithet of golden was expreffive of the riches which every wind wafted from the most diftant countries into the fecure and capacious port of Conftantinople. The river Lycus, formed by the conflux of two little ftreams, pours into the harbour a perpetual fupply of fresh water, which ferves to cleanse the bottom, and to invite the periodical shoals of fish to feek their retreat in that convenient recefs. As the viciffitudes of tides are scarcely felt in those feas, the conftant depth of the harbour allows goods to be landed on the quays without the affiftance of boats; and it has been obferved, that in many places the largest vessels may rest their prows against the houses, while their fterns are floating in the water ". From the mouth of the Lycus to that of the harbour, this arm of the Bofphorus is more than seven miles in length. The entrance is about five hundred yards broad, and a strong chain could be occafionally drawn across it, to guard the port and city from the attack of an hoftile navy. 13 Between the Bofphorus and the Hellefpont, the shores of Europe and Afia receding on either fide inclose the sea of Marmara, which was known to the ancients by the denomination of Propontis. The navigation from the iffue of the Bofphorus to the entrance of the Hellefpont is about one hundred and twenty miles. Those who fteer their weftward course through the middle of the Propontis, may at once defcry the high lands of Thrace and Bithynia, and never lofe fight of the lofty fummit of Mount Olympus, covered with eternal fnows". They leave on the left a deep gulf, at the bottom of which Nicomedia was feated, the imperial refidence of Diocletian; and they pass the small islands of Cyzicus and Proconnesus before they caft anchor at Gallipoli: where the fea, which feparates Afia from Europe, is again contracted into a narrow channel. СНАР. XVII. The Pro pontis. The geographers who, with the moft skilful The Helaccuracy, have furveyed the form and extent of lefpont. the Hellefpont, affign about fixty miles for the winding course, and about three miles for the ordinary breadth of those celebrated freights ". But the narroweft part of the channel is found to the northward of the old Turkish caftles between the cities of Ceftus and Abydus. It was here that the adventurous Leander braved the paffage of the floot for the poffeffion of his mistress ". It was here likewife, in a place where the distance between the oppofite banks cannot exceed five hundred paces, that Xerxes impofed a stupendous bridge of boats, for the purpose of transporting СНАР. XVII. into Europe an hundred and feventy myriads of barbarians". A fea contracted within fuch narrow limits, may feem but ill to deferve the fin. gular epithet of broad, which Homer, as well as Orpheus, has frequently beftowed on the Hellefpont. But our ideas of greatnefs are of a relative nature the traveller, and especially the poet, who failed along the Hellefpont, who pursued the windings of the ftream, and contemplated the rural scenery, which appeared on every fide to terminate the profpect, infenfibly loft the remembrance of the fea; and his fancy painted those celebrated ftreights, with all the attributes of a mighty river flowing with a swift current, in the midst of a woody and inland country, and at length through a wide mouth, discharging itself into the Egean or Archipelago ". Ancient Troy feated on an eminence at the foot of Mount Ida overlooked the mouth of the Hellefpont, which fcarcely received an acceffion of waters from the tribute of thofe immortal rivulets the Simois and Scamander. The Grecian camp had ftretched twelve miles along the shore from the Sigaan to the Rhætean promontory; and the flanks of the army were guarded by the braveft chiefs who fought under the banners of Agamemnon. The firft of those promontories was occupied by Achilles with his invincible Myrmidons, and the dauntless Ajax pitched his tents on the other. After Ajax had fallen a facrifice to his difappointed pride, and to the ingratitude of the Greeks, his fepulchre was erected on the ground where he had defended 20 the navy against the rage of Jove and of Hector; and the citizens of the rifing town of Rhæteum celebrated his memory with divine honours Before Conftantine gave a juft preference to the fituation of Byzantium, he had conceived the defign of erecting the feat of empire on this celebrated spot, from whence the Romans derived their fabulous origin. The extensive plain which lies below ancient Troy, towards the Rhetean promontory and the tomb of Ajax, was first chofen for his new capital and, though the undertaking was foon relinquished, the ftately remains of unfinished walls and towers attracted the notice of all who failed through the ftreights of the Hellefpont 2. СНАР. XVII. We are at prefent qualified to view the advan- Advantageous pofition of Conftantinople; which appears tages of Conftan to have been formed by Nature for the centre and tinople. capital of a great monarchy. Situated in the fortyfirst degree of latitude, the Imperial city commanded, from her feven hills, the oppofite shores of Europe and Afia; the climate was healthy and temperate, the foil fertile, the harbour fecure and capacious; and the approach on the fide of the continent was of fmall extent and eafy defence. The Bofphorus and the Hellefpont may be confidered as the two gates of Conftantinople; and the prince who poffeffed those important paffages could always shut them against a naval enemy, and and open them to the fleets of commerce. The preservation of the eastern provinces may, in fome degree, be ascribed to the policy XVII. CHAP. of Conftantine, as the Barbarians of the Euxine, who in the preceding age had poured their armaments into the heart of the Mediterranean, foon defifted from the exercise of piracy, and defpaired of forcing this infurmountable barrier. When the gates of the Hellefpont and Bofphorus were shut, the capital still enjoyed, within their spacious inclosure, every production which could fupply the wants, or gratify the luxury of its numerous inhabitants. The fea-coafts of Thrace and Bithynia, which languish under the weight of Turkish oppreffion, ftill exhibit a rich profpect of vineyards, of gardens, and of plentiful harvests; and the Propontis has ever been renowned for an inexhauftible store of the most exquifite fish, that are taken in their ftated feasons, without skill, and almost without labour". But when the paffages of the Streights were thrown open for trade, they alternately admitted the natural and artificial riches of the north and fouth, of the Euxine, and of the Mediterranean. Whatever rude commodities were collected in the forefts of Germany and Scythia, as far as the fources of the Tanais and the Boryfthenes; whatsoever was manufactured by the skill of Europe or Afia; the corn of Egypt, and the gems and spices of the farthest India, were brought by the varying winds into the port Conftantinople, which, for many ages, attracted the commerce of the ancient world Founda 24 of The prospect of beauty, of safety, and of wealth, tion of the united in a fingle fpot, was fufficient to justify the choice of Conftantine. But as fome decent mix city. |