1Seventh; the Eighth was the Time they then
lived in under the Emperors, and the Ninth
was to come; and by theſe Prognoſticks they
thought it no hard Matter to diſcover even the
Events of future Ages. They conjectured that
Rome ſhould come to be Miſtreſs of the World,
from this Symptom, namely, becauſe a Man
born on the Day of her Foundation became in
Time her Maſter. And this Man, I find, was
Numa: for Plutarch inſorms us, that on the
Nineteenth of April, Rome was begun, and
Numa born. But the Spartans gloried in ha
ving no Walls at all about their City; for con
fiding in the Valour and Fortitude of their
Citizens, they thought there was no Occaſion
for any Fortification beſides good Laws. The
Ægyptians and Perſians, on the contrary, en
cloſed their Cities with the ſtrongeſt Walls;
for not to mention others, Nineveh and Semi
ramis made the Walls of their Towns ſo thick,
that two Chariots might paſs upon the Top
abreaſt, and ſo high, that they were above an
hundred Cubits. Arrian relates that the Walls
of Tyre were an hundred and Fifty Foot high.
Some again have not been ſatisfied with one
Wall: The Carthaginians encloſed their City
with Three; and Herodotus writes that Deioces
fortiſied his Town of Ecbatana, though it
was ſeated upon an Hill with Seven. Now
as it is certain that Walls are a very
powerful Defence both of our Perſons and
Liberties, when the Enemy happens to be
ſuperior either in Number or Fortune, I can
not join in with thoſe who are for having their
City quite naked without any Wall, neither
with ſuch as ſeem to place all their Hopes of
Defence in their Wallalone. I agree with what
Plato obſerves, that every City ſtands con
tinually expoſed to the Danger of being brought
under Subjection; ſince, whether it be owing
to Nature or Cuſtom, neither publick Bodies
nor private Perſons can ever ſet Bounds to their
inſatiable Deſire of getting and poſſeſſing ſtill
more and more; from which one Source
ariſes all the Miſchiefs of War. So that what
is there to be ſaid againſt adding Security to
Security, and Fortification to Fortification?
From what has been already ſaid, we may
conclude that of all Cities, the moſt Capacious
is the round One; and the moſt Secure, that
which is encompaſſed with Walls broken here
and there into Angles or Baſtions jutting out at
certain Diſtances, as Tacitus inſorms us Jeru
ſalem was: Becauſe it is certain, the Enemy
cannot come up to the Wall between two
Angles jutting out, without expoſing them
ſelves to very great Danger; nor can their
military Engines attack the Heads of thoſe
Angles with any Hopes of Succeſs. But,
however, we ſhould be ſure to make uſe of all
the natural Advantages that offer themſelves
for the Security of our Town or Fortification;
as we may obſerve the Ancients did, accor
ding to the Opportunity or Neceſſity of the
Situation. Thus Antium, an ancient City of
the Latins, in order to embrace the Winding
of the Shore, appears from the old Ruins
which are left, to have been built of a very
great Length. Cairo, upon the Nile, is ſaid
alſo to be a very long City. Palimbrota, a
City of India, belonging to the Graſii, as
Metaſthenes informs us, was ſixteen Miles long,
and three broad, running along the Side of the
River. We read that the Walls of Babylon
were ſquare; and thoſe of Memphis built in
Shape of a D. But whatever Shape is choſen
for the Walls, Vegetius thinks it ſufficient for
Service, if they are ſo broad, that two armed
Soldiers poſted there for Defence, may eaſily
paſs without being in one anothers Way; and
ſo high, that they cannot be ſcaled with Lad
ders; and built ſo firm and ſtrong, as not to
yield to the battering Rams and other En
gines. The military Engines are of two Sorts;
one Sort are thoſe which break and demoliſh
the Wall by Battery; the other are ſuch as
attack and undermine the Foundation, and ſo
bring down the Superſtructure. Now the
greateſt Security againſt both theſe, is not ſo
much a Wall as a good Ditch. The Wall is
of no Uſe in the laſt Caſe, unleſs its Founda
tion lies under Water, or upon a ſolid Rock.
The Ditch ought to be very broad and very deep;
for then it will hinder the moveable Tortoiſe
ſhell, Towers, or other ſuch Machines from ap
proaching the Wall; and when the Founda
tion is under Water, or on a Rock, it will be in
vain to think of undermining it. It is a Diſ
pute among the military Men, whether it is
beſt for the Ditch to be full of Water, or to
be kept dry; but it is allow'd, that the firſt
Thing to be conſulted is, which is moſt for
the Health of the Inhabitants; and then ſome
ſay thoſe Ditches are certainly beſt which are
ſo contrived, that if by the Force of Battery
any Part of the Wall is beaten into them, it
may be ſoon removed, and the Ditch kept
clear, that it may not be filled up, and ſo
make a Path for the Enemy.
lived in under the Emperors, and the Ninth
was to come; and by theſe Prognoſticks they
thought it no hard Matter to diſcover even the
Events of future Ages. They conjectured that
Rome ſhould come to be Miſtreſs of the World,
from this Symptom, namely, becauſe a Man
born on the Day of her Foundation became in
Time her Maſter. And this Man, I find, was
Numa: for Plutarch inſorms us, that on the
Nineteenth of April, Rome was begun, and
Numa born. But the Spartans gloried in ha
ving no Walls at all about their City; for con
fiding in the Valour and Fortitude of their
Citizens, they thought there was no Occaſion
for any Fortification beſides good Laws. The
Ægyptians and Perſians, on the contrary, en
cloſed their Cities with the ſtrongeſt Walls;
for not to mention others, Nineveh and Semi
ramis made the Walls of their Towns ſo thick,
that two Chariots might paſs upon the Top
abreaſt, and ſo high, that they were above an
hundred Cubits. Arrian relates that the Walls
of Tyre were an hundred and Fifty Foot high.
Some again have not been ſatisfied with one
Wall: The Carthaginians encloſed their City
with Three; and Herodotus writes that Deioces
fortiſied his Town of Ecbatana, though it
was ſeated upon an Hill with Seven. Now
as it is certain that Walls are a very
powerful Defence both of our Perſons and
Liberties, when the Enemy happens to be
ſuperior either in Number or Fortune, I can
not join in with thoſe who are for having their
City quite naked without any Wall, neither
with ſuch as ſeem to place all their Hopes of
Defence in their Wallalone. I agree with what
Plato obſerves, that every City ſtands con
tinually expoſed to the Danger of being brought
under Subjection; ſince, whether it be owing
to Nature or Cuſtom, neither publick Bodies
nor private Perſons can ever ſet Bounds to their
inſatiable Deſire of getting and poſſeſſing ſtill
more and more; from which one Source
ariſes all the Miſchiefs of War. So that what
is there to be ſaid againſt adding Security to
Security, and Fortification to Fortification?
From what has been already ſaid, we may
conclude that of all Cities, the moſt Capacious
is the round One; and the moſt Secure, that
which is encompaſſed with Walls broken here
and there into Angles or Baſtions jutting out at
certain Diſtances, as Tacitus inſorms us Jeru
ſalem was: Becauſe it is certain, the Enemy
cannot come up to the Wall between two
Angles jutting out, without expoſing them
ſelves to very great Danger; nor can their
military Engines attack the Heads of thoſe
Angles with any Hopes of Succeſs. But,
however, we ſhould be ſure to make uſe of all
the natural Advantages that offer themſelves
for the Security of our Town or Fortification;
as we may obſerve the Ancients did, accor
ding to the Opportunity or Neceſſity of the
Situation. Thus Antium, an ancient City of
the Latins, in order to embrace the Winding
of the Shore, appears from the old Ruins
which are left, to have been built of a very
great Length. Cairo, upon the Nile, is ſaid
alſo to be a very long City. Palimbrota, a
City of India, belonging to the Graſii, as
Metaſthenes informs us, was ſixteen Miles long,
and three broad, running along the Side of the
River. We read that the Walls of Babylon
were ſquare; and thoſe of Memphis built in
Shape of a D. But whatever Shape is choſen
for the Walls, Vegetius thinks it ſufficient for
Service, if they are ſo broad, that two armed
Soldiers poſted there for Defence, may eaſily
paſs without being in one anothers Way; and
ſo high, that they cannot be ſcaled with Lad
ders; and built ſo firm and ſtrong, as not to
yield to the battering Rams and other En
gines. The military Engines are of two Sorts;
one Sort are thoſe which break and demoliſh
the Wall by Battery; the other are ſuch as
attack and undermine the Foundation, and ſo
bring down the Superſtructure. Now the
greateſt Security againſt both theſe, is not ſo
much a Wall as a good Ditch. The Wall is
of no Uſe in the laſt Caſe, unleſs its Founda
tion lies under Water, or upon a ſolid Rock.
The Ditch ought to be very broad and very deep;
for then it will hinder the moveable Tortoiſe
ſhell, Towers, or other ſuch Machines from ap
proaching the Wall; and when the Founda
tion is under Water, or on a Rock, it will be in
vain to think of undermining it. It is a Diſ
pute among the military Men, whether it is
beſt for the Ditch to be full of Water, or to
be kept dry; but it is allow'd, that the firſt
Thing to be conſulted is, which is moſt for
the Health of the Inhabitants; and then ſome
ſay thoſe Ditches are certainly beſt which are
ſo contrived, that if by the Force of Battery
any Part of the Wall is beaten into them, it
may be ſoon removed, and the Ditch kept
clear, that it may not be filled up, and ſo
make a Path for the Enemy.
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