The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children Read Online Free
Author: Brendan Connell
cries of astonishment and delight. The actual channel for the water was then cut, with great accuracy, below the first tunnel and the internal surfaces were then covered with polygonic stone masonry and clay pipes were placed in a wide channel on the floor. The project was completed with over the earth works; water tanks, wells and channels.
XI.
On one side of the city was a bay, on the other a large hill; thus it was fortified by nature, and Polycrates did all he could to better these fortifications by art. Eupalinus constructed a mole in the sea, which went all the way round the harbour. It was nearly twenty fathoms deep, and over a quarter of a mile long. To design and oversee work on the city walls, Periphoretus Artemon 7 , son of Cyce, was called in.
Artemon invented machines that could hoist great weights; though once they were built he would only watch them work from a distance, for fear they would malfunction and their heavy loads fall and crush him. He had himself brought forward on a stretcher and in a reclining position he would examine the various works and engines that demanded his attention, lazily directing or upbraiding the foremen as occasion required. They would listen to his lisping voice with mingled disgust and awe and then carry out his instructions to the letter, for no man doubted that Periphoretus Artemon was a genius in the art of self-preservation. He fortified the city with over seven miles of wall, using a minimum number of angles, because angles, when all is said and done, offer a certain degree of cover to the attacking enemy, as upon their approach they cannot be seen by everyone upon the walls—and also battering rams can break angles with infinitely greater ease than rounded surfaces. The walls he built broad enough so that two armed men could pass each other with ease, and every one-hundred metres he put a gap in the wall of ten metres, which he had bridged with unsecured planks, so that, if an attacking enemy took one section of the fortifications, the planks need merely be pulled away and they could not advance to the next. The walls had thirty-five towers and twelve gates and loopholes were also built into them by which arrows could be dispelled. Around them slaves, mainly those garnered from Lesbos, were made to dig a moat in front of which palisades were built . . . . . . He fortified the acropolis . . .
. . . . . . Inside of the walls themselves a park was built. The walkways were first dug out and fitted with drains; then they were filled with charcoal and over this sand was layered, so that these paths were always without puddles and could be walked on comfortably throughout the year. An artificial hill was made, with a corkscrew path to go up by. A great number of trees, pines and firs, were also planted in the park, not only for their shade and beauty, but also because, in times of siege they would provide a great source of firewood, a thing very hard to come by when the people’s ability to forage is hampered.
XII.
Epistle:
Anacreon to Polycrates
To my Lord,
It is noontime now, and I have been up since dawn, writing rainbow-hued verses, verses dyed not only with the dark-blue juice of the vine, but stained with orange sunrise, green sap of emeralds and tainted yellow with the shells of frozen flames; and now with the same quivering pen I am writing to you, just to greet and ask after you. I long to see your face so very much! When able, I will have the verses copied out and send them on, and hopefully see you in person not much after that, for I am growing weary of Smyrna. Greet my Lady your wife.
Epistle:
Polycrates to Amasis
My very dear friend Amasis, I am sending this packet of hymns by a most special messenger. His name is Pythagoras and he is one of the smartest fellows here in Samos, though somewhat odd, as he drinks no wine and eats no living thing, but subsists on barley paste, grapes, figs and cheese. For breakfast he will take nothing
XI.
On one side of the city was a bay, on the other a large hill; thus it was fortified by nature, and Polycrates did all he could to better these fortifications by art. Eupalinus constructed a mole in the sea, which went all the way round the harbour. It was nearly twenty fathoms deep, and over a quarter of a mile long. To design and oversee work on the city walls, Periphoretus Artemon 7 , son of Cyce, was called in.
Artemon invented machines that could hoist great weights; though once they were built he would only watch them work from a distance, for fear they would malfunction and their heavy loads fall and crush him. He had himself brought forward on a stretcher and in a reclining position he would examine the various works and engines that demanded his attention, lazily directing or upbraiding the foremen as occasion required. They would listen to his lisping voice with mingled disgust and awe and then carry out his instructions to the letter, for no man doubted that Periphoretus Artemon was a genius in the art of self-preservation. He fortified the city with over seven miles of wall, using a minimum number of angles, because angles, when all is said and done, offer a certain degree of cover to the attacking enemy, as upon their approach they cannot be seen by everyone upon the walls—and also battering rams can break angles with infinitely greater ease than rounded surfaces. The walls he built broad enough so that two armed men could pass each other with ease, and every one-hundred metres he put a gap in the wall of ten metres, which he had bridged with unsecured planks, so that, if an attacking enemy took one section of the fortifications, the planks need merely be pulled away and they could not advance to the next. The walls had thirty-five towers and twelve gates and loopholes were also built into them by which arrows could be dispelled. Around them slaves, mainly those garnered from Lesbos, were made to dig a moat in front of which palisades were built . . . . . . He fortified the acropolis . . .
. . . . . . Inside of the walls themselves a park was built. The walkways were first dug out and fitted with drains; then they were filled with charcoal and over this sand was layered, so that these paths were always without puddles and could be walked on comfortably throughout the year. An artificial hill was made, with a corkscrew path to go up by. A great number of trees, pines and firs, were also planted in the park, not only for their shade and beauty, but also because, in times of siege they would provide a great source of firewood, a thing very hard to come by when the people’s ability to forage is hampered.
XII.
Epistle:
Anacreon to Polycrates
To my Lord,
It is noontime now, and I have been up since dawn, writing rainbow-hued verses, verses dyed not only with the dark-blue juice of the vine, but stained with orange sunrise, green sap of emeralds and tainted yellow with the shells of frozen flames; and now with the same quivering pen I am writing to you, just to greet and ask after you. I long to see your face so very much! When able, I will have the verses copied out and send them on, and hopefully see you in person not much after that, for I am growing weary of Smyrna. Greet my Lady your wife.
Epistle:
Polycrates to Amasis
My very dear friend Amasis, I am sending this packet of hymns by a most special messenger. His name is Pythagoras and he is one of the smartest fellows here in Samos, though somewhat odd, as he drinks no wine and eats no living thing, but subsists on barley paste, grapes, figs and cheese. For breakfast he will take nothing
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