history and in the shadowy legends of this silent, mournful solitude.

We speak of Apollo and of Diana--they were born here; of the

metamorphosis of Syrinx into a reed--it was done here; of the great god

Pan--he dwelt in the caves of this hill of Coressus; of the Amazons--this

was their best prized home; of Bacchus and Hercules both fought the

warlike women here; of the Cyclops--they laid the ponderous marble blocks

of some of the ruins yonder; of Homer--this was one of his many

birthplaces; of Cirmon of Athens; of Alcibiades, Lysander, Agesilaus

-they visited here; so did Alexander the Great; so did Hannibal and

Antiochus, Scipio, Lucullus and Sylla; Brutus, Cassius, Pompey, Cicero,

and Augustus; Antony was a judge in this place, and left his seat in the

open court, while the advocates were speaking, to run after Cleopatra,

who passed the door; from this city these two sailed on pleasure

excursions, in galleys with silver oars and perfumed sails, and with

companies of beautiful girls to serve them, and actors and musicians to

amuse them; in days that seem almost modern, so remote are they from the

early history of this city, Paul the Apostle preached the new religion

here, and so did John, and here it is supposed the former was pitted

against wild beasts, for in 1 Corinthians, xv. 32 he says:

"If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,"

&c.,

when many men still lived who had seen the Christ; here Mary Magdalen

died, and here the Virgin Mary ended her days with John, albeit Rome has

since judged it best to locate her grave elsewhere; six or seven hundred

478

The Innocents Abroad