reputed one of the seven wonders of the world. It was a statue of the sun, of so stupendous a size, that ships in full sail passed between its legs; the height of it was seventy cubits, or one hundred and five feet, and few men could clasp its thumb with their arms. It was the work of Chares of Lindus, and employed him for the space of twelve years. Sixty six years after its erection, it was thrown down by an earthquake; of which we shall speak in the sequel of this history.

The Rhodians, to testify their gratitude to Ptolemy for the assistance he had given them in so dangerous a conjuncture, consecrated a grove to that prince, after they had consulted the oracle of Jupiter Ammon, to give the action an air of solemnity; and to honour him the more, erected a magnificent work within it. They built a sumptuous portico, and continued it along each side of the square which encompassed it, and contained a space of four hundred fathoms. This portico was called the Ptolemeon; and, out of a flattery, as customary in those days, as impious in itself, divine honours were rendered to him in that place. And, in order to perpetuate their deliverer in this war by another method, they gave him the appellation of Soter, which signifies a Saviour, and is used by the historians to distinguish him from the other Ptolemies, who were his successors on the throne of Egypt.

I was unwilling to interrupt the series of events that occurred at this siege, and therefore reserved for this place one that greatly redounds to the honour of De metrius. It relates to his taste for the arts, and the esteem he entertained for those who were distinguished

by peculiar merit in them, a circumstance not a little for the glory of a prince.

Rhodes was at that time the residence of a celebrated painter, named Protogenes, who was a native of Caunus, a city of Caria, which was then subject to the Rhodians. The apartment where he painted, was in the suburbs, without the city, when Demetrius first besieged it ; but neither the presence of the enemies who then surrounded him, nor the noise of arms that perpetually rung in his ears, could induce him to quit his habitation, or discontinue his work. The king was surprised at his conduct, and as he one day asked him his reasons for such a proceeding; "It is,” replied he, "because I am sensible you have declared war against the Rhodians, and not against the sciences." Nor was he deceived in that opinion, for Demetrius actually shewed himself their protector. He planted a guard round his house, that the artist might enjoy tranquillity, or, at least, be secure from danger, amidst the tumult and ravages of war. He frequently went to see him work, and never sufficiently admired the application of that master to his art, and his surprising excellency in it.

The master piece of this painter was the Jalysus, an historical picture of a person of that name, whom the Rhodians acknowledged as their founder, though only a fabulous hero. Protogenes had employed seven years in finishing this piece, and when Apelles first saw it, he was transported with so much admiration, that his speech failed him for some time; and when he at

b He was the son of Orchimus, whose parents were the Sun and Rhoda, from whom the city and island derived their name.

last began to recover from his astonishment, he cried out, "Prodigious work indeed! Admirable performance! It has not however the graces I give my works, and which have raised their reputation to the skies." If we may credit Pliny, Protogenes, during the whole time he applied himself to this work, condemned himself to a very rigid and abstemious life, that the delicacy of his taste and imagination might not be affected by his diet. This picture was carried to Rome, and Consecrated in the temple of Peace, where it remained to the time of Pliny; but it was at last destroyed by fire..

The same Pliny pretends, that Rhodes was saved by this picture; because as it hung in the only quarter by which it was possible for Demetrius to take the city, he rather chose to abandon his

conquest, than expose so precious a monument of art to the danger of being consumed in the flames. This, indeed, would have been carrying his taste and value for painting into a surprising extreme; but we have already seen the true reasons which obliged Demetrius to raise the siege.

One of the figures in this picture was a dog that was admired by all good judges, and had cost the painter great application, without his being able to express his idea to his own satisfaction, though he was sufficiently pleased with all the rest of the work. He endeavoured to represent the dog panting, and with his mouth foaming as after a long chace; and employed all the skill he was capable of exerting on that occasion, without being able to content himself. Art, in his opinion, was

He subsisted himself on boiled lupines, a kind of pulse, which satisfied his hunger and thirst at the same time.

more visible than it ought to have been; a mere resemblance would not suffice, and almost nothing but reality itself would satisfy him. He was desirous that the foam should not seem painted, but actually flowing out of the mouth of the dog. He frequently retouched it, and suffered a degree of torture from his anxiety to express those simple traces of nature, of which he had formed the ideas in his mind. All his attempts were however ineffectual, till at last, in a violent emotion of rage and despair, he darted at the picture the very sponge with which he used to wipe out his colours, and chance accomplished that which art had not been able to effect.

This painter is censured for being too difficult to be pleased, and for retouching his pictures too frequently. It is certain, that though Apelles almost regarded him as his master, and allowed him a number of excellent qualities, yet he condemned in him the defect of not being able to quit the pencil and finish his works; a defect highly pernicious in eloquence as well as painting. "We ought," says Cicero,d "to know how far we should go ;" and Apelles justly censured some painters for not knowing when to have done."

& In omnibus rebus videndum est quatenus-In quo Apelles pictores quoque eos peccare dicebat, qui non sentirent quid esset satis. Orat. A. 73.

SECTION IX.

EXPEDITION OF SELEUCUS. CASSANDER COMPELLED TO RAISE THE SIEGE OF ATHENS. ANTIGONUS SLAIN.

THE farther we advance into the history of Alexander's successors, the more easily may we discover the spirit by which they were constantly actuated hitherto, and by which they will still appear to be influenced. They at first concealed their real dispositions, by nom inating children, or persons of weak capacities, to the regal dignity, in order to disguise their own ambitious. views. But as soon as all the family of Alexander was destroyed, they threw off the mask, and discovered themselves in their proper colours, and such as, in reality, they had always been. They were all equally solicitous to support themselves in their several gov. ernments; to become entirely independent; to assume an absolute sovereignty, and enlarge the limits of their provinces and kingdoms at the expense of those other governors, who were weaker, or less successful than themselves. To this effect they employed the force of their arms, and entered into alliances, which they were always ready to violate, when they could derive more advantages from others, and they renewed them with the same facility from the same motives. They considered the vast conquests of Alexander as an inheritance destitute of a master, and which prudence obliged them to secure for themselves, in as large portions as possible, without any apprehensions of being reproached as usurpers, for the acquisition of countries gained by the victories of the Macedonians, but not the