Curtius’ description of Babylon (3)

Text
Quintus Curtius, History of Alexander 5.1.31-35:
They have a citadel also, surrounded by a circuit of twenty stadia. The foundations of its towers are sunk thirty feet in the earth, and the top of its fortification rises to a height of eighty feet. On the top of the citadel are the hanging gardens, a wonder celebrated in the tales of the Greeks, equalling the extreme height of the walls and made charming by the shade of many lofty trees. Columns of stone were set up to sustain the whole work, and on these was laid a floor of squared blocks, strong enough to hold the earth which is thrown upon it to a great depth, as well as the water with which they irrigate the soil; and the structure supports trees of such great size that the thickness of their trunks equals a measure of eight cubits. They tower to a height of fifty feet, and they yield as much fruit as if they were growing in their native soil. … it is upheld by cross walls twenty feet wide at intervals of eleven feet, so that to those who look upon them from a distance real woods seem to be overhanging their native mountains. There is a tradition that a king of Syria, who ruled in Babylon [Syriae regem Babylone regnantem], undertook this mighty task, induced by love for his wife, who from longing for the woods and groves prevailed upon her husband to imitate in the level country the charm of Nature by a work of this kind.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Quintus Curtius, History of Alexander 5.1.31-35

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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