The palaces in the interior of the citadel were constructed on
this wise:-in the centre was a holy temple dedicated to Cleito
and Poseidon, which remained inaccessible, and was surrounded by
an enclosure of gold; this was the spot where the family of the
ten princes first saw the light, and thither the people annually
brought the fruits of the earth in their season from all the ten
portions, to be an offering to each of the ten. Here was
Poseidon's own temple which was a stadium in length, and half a
stadium in width, and of a proportionate height, having a strange
barbaric appearance. All the outside of the temple, with the
exception of the pinnacles, they covered with silver, and the
pinnacles with gold. In the interior of the temple the roof was
of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and silver and
orichalcum; and all the other parts, the walls and pillars and
floor, they coated with orichalcum. In the temple they placed
statues of gold: there was the god himself standing in a chariot-the
charioteer of six winged horses-and of such a size that he
touched the roof of the building with his head; around him there
were a hundred Nereids riding on dolphins, for such was thought
to be the number of them by the men of those days. There were
also in the interior of the temple other images which had been
dedicated by private persons. And around the temple on the
outside were placed statues of gold of all the descendants of the
ten kings and of their wives, and there were many other great
offerings of kings and of private persons, coming both from the
city itself and from the foreign cities over which they held sway.
There was an altar too, which in size and workmanship
corresponded to this magnificence, and the palaces, in like
manner, answered to the greatness of the kingdom and the glory of
the temple.
In the next place, they had fountains, one of cold and another
of hot water, in gracious plenty flowing; and they were
wonderfully adapted for use by reason of the pleasantness and
excellence of their waters. They constructed buildings about them
and planted suitable trees, also they made cisterns, some open to
the heavens, others roofed over, to be used in winter as warm
baths; there were the kings' baths, and the baths of private
persons, which were kept apart; and there were separate baths for
women, and for horses and cattle, and to each of them they gave
as much adornment as was suitable. Of the water which ran off
they carried some to the grove of Poseidon, where were growing
all manner of trees of wonderful height and beauty, owing to the
excellence of the soil, while the remainder was conveyed by
aqueducts along the bridges to the outer circles; and there were
many temples built and dedicated to many gods; also gardens and
places of exercise, some for men, and others for horses in both
of the two islands formed by the zones; and in the centre of the
larger of the two there was set apart a race-course of a stadium
in width, and in length allowed to extend all round the island,
for horses to race in. Also there were guardhouses at intervals
for the guards, the more trusted of whom were appointed-to keep
watch in the lesser zone, which was nearer the Acropolis while
the most trusted of all had houses given them within the citadel,
near the persons of the kings. The docks were full of triremes
and naval stores, and all things were quite ready for use. Enough
of the plan of the royal palace.
Leaving the palace and passing out across the three you came
to a wall which began at the sea and went all round: this was
everywhere distant fifty stadia from the largest zone or harbour,
and enclosed the whole, the ends meeting at the mouth of the
channel which led to the sea. The entire area was densely crowded
with habitations; and the canal and the largest of the harbours
were full of vessels and merchants coming from all parts, who,
from their numbers, kept up a multitudinous sound of human
voices, and din and clatter of all sorts night and day.
I have described the city and the environs of the ancient
palace nearly in the words of Solon, and now I must endeavour to
represent the nature and arrangement of the rest of the land. The
whole country was said by him to be very lofty and precipitous on
the side of the sea, but the country immediately about and
surrounding the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by
mountains which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and
even, and of an oblong shape, extending in one direction three
thousand stadia, but across the centre inland it was two thousand
stadia. This part of the island looked towards the south, and was
sheltered from the north.
