render it again tenable, and-the Vepelians.affiftedj,, conveying,
Hone and materials to the fpot by Tea, but, on the approach o f
the enemy it was abandoned. Bajazet in 1500 entered the
country unobftruiled at the Iflhmua. i In 1697 the Venetians,
who had fnbdued the whole Peninfula, were bufied in repairing
the fence, to fecure their conquefts* by land. T h e , peaces cqmi
eluded in the following* year made Hexmillia their boundary*
A village on the weftern gulf is ftill called by that pame.T"'Ppf(
cocke mentions great remains of. a large fquare caftle at the end
of the wall by the 'fea. The pafles/of the mountains io the
l B h t h a l f o ' Deeh ^ibcured with mroogwalls,
which run high up the ^(ct'liyities and arp of great extendi’,; ■
T h e temple o f the Ifihfiiian Neptune was fitaated near, the-
port of Schcenus, Oii one fide of the apprqach w^s a grpve pf;
pine-trees regularly planted j and on the other,^ftatu.es pf perfons
the Games. Tritons of % a^we re ,
placed on the cell, which was not of the greater ; an^.^ a t
theJsfentrahcer WCrp two fhatues of Neptune, and an image .o f
Amphitfftfi with the Tea, likewife o f brafs. Among the offer-r
mg#9ftr the tiiiljnte was one prelented by^ Atticqs HerodesT
NeptuneiJfid ^m^fhiMt&Tii a chainoL'^and the bpy'Pafennoh oh
a dolphin, all of ivory and gold; the four horfes gilded^ wit,h
ivory hoofs j- and by them two golden Tritons, the lower pa^ts
ivor^i The ' fculpture W& the bafement beneath the eh^rigb
repreferited the Sea producing Venus attended by the Nereids.
On the pedeftal of tlie ftatue of Neptune were 'carveA Gaiton
and Pollux, deities' propitious to veffels and mariners. On the,,
left hand within the inclofure was a temple of Palaemdn, in
which was his image, and alfo Neptune and Leucothea. Another
had a fubterraneous paffage, w-herei they faid, Palasmon
was hid, and i f any perfon, whether a Corinthian or Arranger,
fwore falfely, it was impoffible for him to efcape puniftunent.
They facrificed on an antient altar to the Cyclopes* There was.
alfo a Theatre, and a Stadium o f white done, worth feeing. T h e ,
I H H -• a £j I I care.
care of the Games, which had been committed to the Sicyonians,
was reftored to the Roman city.
I v i s i t e d the fite o f the Ifthmian temple from the port of
SbWmnus . It is a large level area, nearly fquarp*.about, half an
hour from the Tea. Some pieces of pillars, with a Doric capital
and other fragments much injured, lie on the fpot. A ruinous
qhurch handing there had in it a pedeftal and the bafe.pf a
column for the facred table. . I obferved the veftiges pf a thick
wall of mafljve Hones, which had ^efeended frpmtherock on
the fide of the Saronic gulf, and, taking a.fweep», had formed
two Tides of the inclofure j beyond which i t ‘was'continued on
thp margin lo f, a wide and very deep watet-eourfe, but disappears
on the brow. At the an©g. tqwa^ tl^e^ea i|,a femjrcircular
bafemerft. Wheler faw remains o f a tqwn and of the theatre,
with feveral old churches. The building and the repairing of
thhnumerous; fartrefles, with the wall acrofs, the.Ifthmus and
that pehind Cofihth, bas peealibned 4 gre%f, rgrpovaj ...pf, ancient
materials from, alj quarters. I enquired- ,pf ;the rgo|tb|^dp^0and
they conduced (me to various places, but ppithgr the. Theatre
rior the Stadium were vifible, A marble half-buried in thp-
ground,l by a fmall ruined church, was copied here in-1676.
The infeription records! the munificence o f a high-prieft, in
efedting ne,w ftrU(^Hrc§ a^d in r eftor i ng aagjjjf, $epot;i|tkig thofe
w^ich and earthquakes^ I fetch ed forj
it upfufcpfsfully j and have, fince found, that Tt has been tranf-
po^i&J intb Italy, and is now preferved in the Mufeum at
Verona. ,
“* W-fieler, p. 438. See Mufeum Veroneple, p. xxxix.
I i 2 C H A P .