1requires the moſt deliberate Conſideration in
what Place or Situation, and with what Cir
cuit of Lines it ought to be fix'd. Concern
ing theſe Things there have been various
Opinions.
what Place or Situation, and with what Cir
cuit of Lines it ought to be fix'd. Concern
ing theſe Things there have been various
Opinions.
Cæſar writes, that the Germans accounted
it the greateſt Glory to have vaſt uninhabited
Deſarts for their Confines: Becauſe they
thought theſe Deſarts ſecured them againſt
ſudden Irruptions from their Enemies. The
Hiſtorians ſuppoſe that the only Thing which
deterr'd Seſoſtris, King of Ægypt, from lead
ing his Army into Æthiopia was the Want of
Proviſions, and the Difficulty of the Places
through which he muſt march. The Aſſyrians
being defended by their Deſarts and Marſhes,
never fell under the Dominion of any foreign
Prince. They ſay, that the Arabians too
wanting both Water and Fruits, never felt the
Aſſaults, or Injuries of any Enemies. Pliny
ſays that Italy has been ſo often infeſted with
Armies of Barbarians only for the Sake of her
Wines and Figs: We may add that the too
great Plenty of ſuch Things as ſerve only to
Luxury, are very prejudicial, as Crates teaches,
both to Young and Old; becauſe it is apt to
make the Latter cruel, and the Former effe
minate.
it the greateſt Glory to have vaſt uninhabited
Deſarts for their Confines: Becauſe they
thought theſe Deſarts ſecured them againſt
ſudden Irruptions from their Enemies. The
Hiſtorians ſuppoſe that the only Thing which
deterr'd Seſoſtris, King of Ægypt, from lead
ing his Army into Æthiopia was the Want of
Proviſions, and the Difficulty of the Places
through which he muſt march. The Aſſyrians
being defended by their Deſarts and Marſhes,
never fell under the Dominion of any foreign
Prince. They ſay, that the Arabians too
wanting both Water and Fruits, never felt the
Aſſaults, or Injuries of any Enemies. Pliny
ſays that Italy has been ſo often infeſted with
Armies of Barbarians only for the Sake of her
Wines and Figs: We may add that the too
great Plenty of ſuch Things as ſerve only to
Luxury, are very prejudicial, as Crates teaches,
both to Young and Old; becauſe it is apt to
make the Latter cruel, and the Former effe
minate.
Livy tells us, that among the Æmerici there
is a Region wonderfully fruitful, which as it
generally happens in rich Soils, engenders a
very cowardly weak Race of Men; whereas
on the contrary the Ligii, who dwelt in a
ſtony Country, being forced to conſtant La
bour, and to live with great Frugality, were
extremely robuſt and induſtrious. The State
of Things being ſo, it is probable ſome may
not diſlike theſe barren difficult Places for
fixing a City in; tho' others again may be of
a contrary Opinion, deſiring to enjoy all the
Benefits and Gifts of Nature, and to want no
thing that may contribute either to Neceſſity
or Pleaſure; and for the right uſing of theſe
Benefits, the Fathers may provide by Laws
and Statutes. And they think the Conveni
encies of Life are much more pleaſing when
they may be had at home, than when they are
obliged to fetch them from abroad: for which
Reaſon, they deſire ſuch a Soil as Varro tells us
is to be found near Memphis, which enjoys ſo
favourable a Climate, that all the Trees even
the Vines themſelves, never drop their Leaves
the whole Year round: or ſuch a one as is
under Mount Taurus in thoſe Parts which look
to the North, where Strabo ſays the Bunches of
Grapes are three Foot long, and that every
ſingle Vine Tree yields half a Barrel of Wine,
and one Fig Tree an hundred and forty
Pound Weight of Figs; or ſuch a one as is
in India, or the Hyperborean Iſland in the
Ocean, where Herodotus tells us they gather
their Fruits twice every Year; or like that of Por
tugal, where the Seeds that fall by chance
yields ſeveral Harveſts, or rather like Talge, in
the Caſpian Mountains, where the Earth
brings forth Corn without Tillage. But theſe
Things are uncommon, and rather to be with'd
for than had. And therefore the wife An
cients who have written upon this Subject,
either from their own Obſervations, or the
Books of others, are of Opinion, that a City
ought to be ſo placed as to have all ſufficient
Neceſſaries within its own Territory (as far as
the Condition of human Affairs will permit)
without being obliged to ſeek them abroad;
and that the Circuit of its Confines ought to
be fortified, that no Enemy can eaſily make
an Irruption upon them, though at the ſame
time they may ſend out Armies into the Coun
tries of their Neighbours, whatever the Enemy
can do to prevent it; which is a Situation that
they tell us will enable a City not only to
defend its Liberty, but alſo to enlarge the
Bounds of its Dominion. But after all, what
ſhall we ſay? No Place ever had thoſe Ad
vantages more than Ægypt, which was ſo
ſtrongly fortified in all its Parts, as to be in a
Manner inacceſſible, having on one Side, the
Sea, and on the other a vaſt Deſart; on the
right Hand ſteep Mountains; and on the
Left, huge Marſhes; beſides, the Fruitfulneſs
of the Soil is ſo great, that the Ancients uſed
to call Egypt the Granary of the World, and
fabled that the Gods made it their common
Retreat either for Safety or Pleaſure; and yet
even this Country, though ſo ſtrong, and ſo
abounding in all Manner of Plenty, that it
could boaſt of feeding the Univerſe, and of
entertaining and harbouring the Gods them
ſelves, could not, as Joſephus informs us, al
ways preſerve its Liberty.
is a Region wonderfully fruitful, which as it
generally happens in rich Soils, engenders a
very cowardly weak Race of Men; whereas
on the contrary the Ligii, who dwelt in a
ſtony Country, being forced to conſtant La
bour, and to live with great Frugality, were
extremely robuſt and induſtrious. The State
of Things being ſo, it is probable ſome may
not diſlike theſe barren difficult Places for
fixing a City in; tho' others again may be of
a contrary Opinion, deſiring to enjoy all the
Benefits and Gifts of Nature, and to want no
thing that may contribute either to Neceſſity
or Pleaſure; and for the right uſing of theſe
Benefits, the Fathers may provide by Laws
and Statutes. And they think the Conveni
encies of Life are much more pleaſing when
they may be had at home, than when they are
obliged to fetch them from abroad: for which
Reaſon, they deſire ſuch a Soil as Varro tells us
is to be found near Memphis, which enjoys ſo
favourable a Climate, that all the Trees even
the Vines themſelves, never drop their Leaves
the whole Year round: or ſuch a one as is
under Mount Taurus in thoſe Parts which look
to the North, where Strabo ſays the Bunches of
Grapes are three Foot long, and that every
ſingle Vine Tree yields half a Barrel of Wine,
and one Fig Tree an hundred and forty
Pound Weight of Figs; or ſuch a one as is
in India, or the Hyperborean Iſland in the
Ocean, where Herodotus tells us they gather
their Fruits twice every Year; or like that of Por
tugal, where the Seeds that fall by chance
yields ſeveral Harveſts, or rather like Talge, in
the Caſpian Mountains, where the Earth
brings forth Corn without Tillage. But theſe
Things are uncommon, and rather to be with'd
for than had. And therefore the wife An
cients who have written upon this Subject,
either from their own Obſervations, or the
Books of others, are of Opinion, that a City
ought to be ſo placed as to have all ſufficient
Neceſſaries within its own Territory (as far as
the Condition of human Affairs will permit)
without being obliged to ſeek them abroad;
and that the Circuit of its Confines ought to
be fortified, that no Enemy can eaſily make
an Irruption upon them, though at the ſame
time they may ſend out Armies into the Coun
tries of their Neighbours, whatever the Enemy
can do to prevent it; which is a Situation that
they tell us will enable a City not only to
defend its Liberty, but alſo to enlarge the
Bounds of its Dominion. But after all, what
ſhall we ſay? No Place ever had thoſe Ad
vantages more than Ægypt, which was ſo
ſtrongly fortified in all its Parts, as to be in a
Manner inacceſſible, having on one Side, the
Sea, and on the other a vaſt Deſart; on the
right Hand ſteep Mountains; and on the
Left, huge Marſhes; beſides, the Fruitfulneſs
of the Soil is ſo great, that the Ancients uſed
to call Egypt the Granary of the World, and
fabled that the Gods made it their common
Retreat either for Safety or Pleaſure; and yet
even this Country, though ſo ſtrong, and ſo
abounding in all Manner of Plenty, that it
could boaſt of feeding the Univerſe, and of
entertaining and harbouring the Gods them
ſelves, could not, as Joſephus informs us, al
ways preſerve its Liberty.
THOSE therefore are entirely in the Right,
who teach us, though in Fables, that human
Affairs are never perſectly ſecure though laid
in the Lap of Jupiter himſelf. Upon which
Occaſion we may not improperly make uſe of
the ſame Anſwer that Plato made when he
was ask'd where that perfect Commonwealth
was to be found, which he had made ſo fine
a Deſcription of; that, ſays he, was not the
who teach us, though in Fables, that human
Affairs are never perſectly ſecure though laid
in the Lap of Jupiter himſelf. Upon which
Occaſion we may not improperly make uſe of
the ſame Anſwer that Plato made when he
was ask'd where that perfect Commonwealth
was to be found, which he had made ſo fine
a Deſcription of; that, ſays he, was not the