CHAP. VI.
Of the principle Ways belonging to the City, and the Methods of adorning the
Haven, Gates, Bridges, Arches, Croſs-ways and Squares.
Haven, Gates, Bridges, Arches, Croſs-ways and Squares.
It is now Time to make our Entrance into
the City; but as there are ſome Ways
both within and without the Town which are
much more eminent than the common Sort,
as thoſe which lead to the Temple, the Baſi
lique, or the Place for publick Spectacles, we
ſhall firſt ſay ſomething of theſe. We read
that Heliogabalus paved theſe broader and no
bler Ways with Macedonian Marble and Por
phiry. Hiſtorians ſay much in Praiſe of a noble
Street in Bubaſtus, a City of Ægypt, which led
to the Temple; for it ran thro' the Market
place, and was paved with very fine Stone, was
four Jugera, or four hundred and eighty Foot
broad, and bordered on each Side with ſtately
Trees. Ariſteas tells us, that in Feruſalem
there were ſome very beautiful Streets, tho'
narrow, thro' which the Magiſtrates and Nobles
only were allowed to paſs, to the Intent chiefly
that the ſacred Things which they carried,
might not be polluted by the Touch of any
Thing profane. Plato highly celebrates a Way
all planted with Cypreſs Trees which led from
Gnoſſus to the Cave and Temple of Fupiter. I
find that the Romans had two Streets of this
Sort, extremely noble and beautiful, one from
the Gate to the Church of St. Paul, fifteen
Stadia, or a Mile and ſeven Furlongs in Length,
and the other from the Bridge to the Church
of St. Peter, two thouſand five hundred Foot
long, and all covered with a Portico of Co
lumns of Marble, with a Roof of Lead. Such
Ornaments are extremely proper for Ways of
this Nature. But let us now return to the
more common Highways. The principal Head
and Boundary of all Highways, whether within
or without the City, unleſs I am miſtaken, is
the Gate for thoſe by Land, and the Haven for
thoſe by Sea: Unleſs we will take notice of
ſubterraneous Ways, of the Nature of thoſe
which we are told were at Thebes in Ægypt,
thro' which their Kings could lead an Army
unknown to any of the Citizens, or thoſe which
I find to have been pretty numerous near Pre
neſte, in the ancient Latium, dug under Ground
from the Top of the Hill to the Level of the
Plain, with wonderful Art; in one of which
we are told, that Marius periſhed when cloſe
preſſed by the Siege. We are told by the
Author of the Life of Apollonius, of a very
wonderful Paſſage made by a Lady of Media
at Babylon, under the River, and arched with
Stone and Bitumen, thro' which ſhe could go
dryſhod from the Palace to a Country Houſe,
on the other Side of the River. But we are
not obliged to believe all that the Greek Wri
ters tell us. To return to our Subject. The
Gates are adorned in the ſame Manner as tri
umphal Arches, of which anon. The Haven
is adorned by broad Porticoes, raiſed ſomewhat
above the Level of the Ground, by a ſtately
Temple, lofty and beautiful, with ſpacious
Squares before it, and the Mouth of the Ha
ven itſelf by huge Statues, ſuch as were for
merly to be ſeen in ſeveral Places, and particu
larly at Rhodes, where Herod is ſaid to have
erected three. Hiſtorians very much celebrate
the Mole at Samos, which they ſay was an
hundred and twenty Foot high, and ran out
two Furlongs into the Sea. Doubtleſs ſuch
Works muſt greatly adorn the Haven, eſpeci
ally if they are maſterly wrought, and not of
baſe Materials. The Streets within the City,
beſides being handſomely paved and cleanly
kept, will be rendered much more noble, if
the Doors are built all after the ſame Model,
and the Houſes on each Side ſtand in an even
Line, and none higher than another. The Parts
of the Street which are principally to be ad
orned, are theſe: The Bridge, the Croſs-ways,
and the Place for publick Spectactles, which
laſt is nothing elſe but an open Place, with
the City; but as there are ſome Ways
both within and without the Town which are
much more eminent than the common Sort,
as thoſe which lead to the Temple, the Baſi
lique, or the Place for publick Spectacles, we
ſhall firſt ſay ſomething of theſe. We read
that Heliogabalus paved theſe broader and no
bler Ways with Macedonian Marble and Por
phiry. Hiſtorians ſay much in Praiſe of a noble
Street in Bubaſtus, a City of Ægypt, which led
to the Temple; for it ran thro' the Market
place, and was paved with very fine Stone, was
four Jugera, or four hundred and eighty Foot
broad, and bordered on each Side with ſtately
Trees. Ariſteas tells us, that in Feruſalem
there were ſome very beautiful Streets, tho'
narrow, thro' which the Magiſtrates and Nobles
only were allowed to paſs, to the Intent chiefly
that the ſacred Things which they carried,
might not be polluted by the Touch of any
Thing profane. Plato highly celebrates a Way
all planted with Cypreſs Trees which led from
Gnoſſus to the Cave and Temple of Fupiter. I
find that the Romans had two Streets of this
Sort, extremely noble and beautiful, one from
the Gate to the Church of St. Paul, fifteen
Stadia, or a Mile and ſeven Furlongs in Length,
and the other from the Bridge to the Church
of St. Peter, two thouſand five hundred Foot
long, and all covered with a Portico of Co
lumns of Marble, with a Roof of Lead. Such
Ornaments are extremely proper for Ways of
this Nature. But let us now return to the
more common Highways. The principal Head
and Boundary of all Highways, whether within
or without the City, unleſs I am miſtaken, is
the Gate for thoſe by Land, and the Haven for
thoſe by Sea: Unleſs we will take notice of
ſubterraneous Ways, of the Nature of thoſe
which we are told were at Thebes in Ægypt,
thro' which their Kings could lead an Army
unknown to any of the Citizens, or thoſe which
I find to have been pretty numerous near Pre
neſte, in the ancient Latium, dug under Ground
from the Top of the Hill to the Level of the
Plain, with wonderful Art; in one of which
we are told, that Marius periſhed when cloſe
preſſed by the Siege. We are told by the
Author of the Life of Apollonius, of a very
wonderful Paſſage made by a Lady of Media
at Babylon, under the River, and arched with
Stone and Bitumen, thro' which ſhe could go
dryſhod from the Palace to a Country Houſe,
on the other Side of the River. But we are
not obliged to believe all that the Greek Wri
ters tell us. To return to our Subject. The
Gates are adorned in the ſame Manner as tri
umphal Arches, of which anon. The Haven
is adorned by broad Porticoes, raiſed ſomewhat
above the Level of the Ground, by a ſtately
Temple, lofty and beautiful, with ſpacious
Squares before it, and the Mouth of the Ha
ven itſelf by huge Statues, ſuch as were for
merly to be ſeen in ſeveral Places, and particu
larly at Rhodes, where Herod is ſaid to have
erected three. Hiſtorians very much celebrate
the Mole at Samos, which they ſay was an
hundred and twenty Foot high, and ran out
two Furlongs into the Sea. Doubtleſs ſuch
Works muſt greatly adorn the Haven, eſpeci
ally if they are maſterly wrought, and not of
baſe Materials. The Streets within the City,
beſides being handſomely paved and cleanly
kept, will be rendered much more noble, if
the Doors are built all after the ſame Model,
and the Houſes on each Side ſtand in an even
Line, and none higher than another. The Parts
of the Street which are principally to be ad
orned, are theſe: The Bridge, the Croſs-ways,
and the Place for publick Spectactles, which
laſt is nothing elſe but an open Place, with
Seats built about it. We will begin with the
Bridge, as being one of the chief Parts of the
Street. The Parts of the Bridge are the Piers,
the Arches and the Pavement, and alſo the
Street in the Middle for the Paſſage of Cattle,
and the raiſed Cauſeways on each Side for the
better Sort of Citizens, and the Sides or Rail,
and in ſome Places Houſes too, as in that moſt
noble Bridge called Adrian's Mole, a Work
never to be forgotten, the very Skeleton where
of, if I may ſo call it, I can never behold
without a Sort of Reverence and Awe. It