Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/277

 ARCHITECTURE. 261 they earn their dowry by it, and continue the trade until they marry ; they have the right to choose their husbands. This monument is 6 stadia 2 plethra (1171 m. 65 c.) in circumference, and 13 plethra (400 m. 75 c.) wide. Close by is a large lake, which, say the Lydians, never dries up. It is called the Lake of Gyges. All is exactly as I have said." To this graphic account may be added the bearings given by Strabo of these respective sites, the only portion of his narrative which adds to our knowledge : " Forty stadia (7400 m.) from Sardes is a lake called by Homer Lake of Gyges, but which sub- FIG. 158. View of tomb of Alyattes, from the south. Von Olfers, Plate IV. sequently changed its name into that of Coloae. . . . The tombs of the kings are sprinkled around the Lake Coloae ; that of Alyattes (Fig. 158) looks towards Sardes; it is an immense embankment of earth, kept in place by a tall base of stone." After alluding to the statement of Herodotus as to the share girls of bad repute had in the building of the tomb, he adds : " This explains why the royal mausoleum was formerly called the Courtesans' Monu- ment. Certain historians assure us that the Lake Coloae was excavated by the hand of man to receive the surplus waters of the rivers" (XIII. iv. 5, 7). It would be impossible to have clearer or more exact indications ;