Page:Herodotus and the Empires of the East.djvu/33

Rh smaller places in the vicinity. Hillah, which stands on the site of Babylon, is also built out of this old material, and even to this day a lively trade is carried on in the bricks that lie in the débris. Only a few rising ruins remind us of the history of the former metropolis of the world. The topographical accounts of the Greek writers and of the Babylonian documents make it possible to reconstruct the plan of the town and bring its picture before our eyes.

In the description of Babylon which Herodotus furnishes, the accounts of the extent of the city are of special interest. "It is situated," says he, "in a great plain and is a quadrangle each side of which is 120 stades. The number of stades in the circumference of the town amount in all to 480." (I., 178.) According to a further description, the Euphrates flows from north to south right through the middle of the city. On each bank runs a wall, so that the town consists of two parts separated by the river and inclosed on all sides by fortifications. Since each side of this great rectangle, according to Herodotus, was 120 stades, the city must have covered an area of about two hundred square miles. Even if we accept the statements of Ctesias, we must infer that Babylon was built on a plan different from that of modern towns. Great parts of the land inclosed by the walls were certainly used for gardens, fruit trees, and palm groves; several portions were probably reserved for the cultivation of grain.

The account of Herodotus differs essentially from those of other writers of antiquity. Ctesias puts the