DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0084
56
POMCERIUM.
[Chap. iv.
from north to west on the hill side. Then crossing the
upper road to Budjah, it is carried over the ravine on
arches, after which it extends nearly due west to the summit
of the hill, where the remains of a square building or tower
are still to he seen forming a portion of it: from thence, it
descends the hill, in the same westerly direction across the
lower road, until it terminates abruptly at the extremity of
the trachytic cliff on the right bank of the Meles, about 300
or 400 feet above the bed of the river, and at a distance of
nearly half a mile from the ground at the same elevation
on the opposite side.
It is difficult to conjecture what this wall may have
been intended for, or to reconcile the various opinions con-
cerning it. At Smyrna it is called the Roman aqueduct;
whereas Chandler, in the slight notice he has given of it,
calls it the Pom cerium, which encompassed the city at a
distance. The style of architecture is mean and ordinary,
and resembles in character that of the modern castle. There
are several reasons which militate against the supposition
of its having been an aqueduct; for why should an aque-
duct be carried over the highest portion of the ridge rather
than round the hill ? Besides which, there is no appearance
of water or springs on the side where it begins, and at its
western extremity it terminates abruptly at the edge of a
lofty cliff. On the other hand, if intended to serve as a
wall of defence, it is difficult to understand the object of
carrying it on arches over the ravine near the upper road
to Budjah, unless to leave a passage for the torrent, which
in rainy seasons finds its way down there. But if this be
the case, it must have been built at some late period of the
Byzantine empire.
Amongst the other antiquities of Smyrna, most of which
have been fully described by Pococlte, by Chandler, or by
Arundel, the theatre which is situated upon the N.W. slope
of Mount Pagus is well deserving of notice, on account
of its great extent. The proscenium is entirely gone; but
at the western extremity of the cavea, the substructions
POMCERIUM.
[Chap. iv.
from north to west on the hill side. Then crossing the
upper road to Budjah, it is carried over the ravine on
arches, after which it extends nearly due west to the summit
of the hill, where the remains of a square building or tower
are still to he seen forming a portion of it: from thence, it
descends the hill, in the same westerly direction across the
lower road, until it terminates abruptly at the extremity of
the trachytic cliff on the right bank of the Meles, about 300
or 400 feet above the bed of the river, and at a distance of
nearly half a mile from the ground at the same elevation
on the opposite side.
It is difficult to conjecture what this wall may have
been intended for, or to reconcile the various opinions con-
cerning it. At Smyrna it is called the Roman aqueduct;
whereas Chandler, in the slight notice he has given of it,
calls it the Pom cerium, which encompassed the city at a
distance. The style of architecture is mean and ordinary,
and resembles in character that of the modern castle. There
are several reasons which militate against the supposition
of its having been an aqueduct; for why should an aque-
duct be carried over the highest portion of the ridge rather
than round the hill ? Besides which, there is no appearance
of water or springs on the side where it begins, and at its
western extremity it terminates abruptly at the edge of a
lofty cliff. On the other hand, if intended to serve as a
wall of defence, it is difficult to understand the object of
carrying it on arches over the ravine near the upper road
to Budjah, unless to leave a passage for the torrent, which
in rainy seasons finds its way down there. But if this be
the case, it must have been built at some late period of the
Byzantine empire.
Amongst the other antiquities of Smyrna, most of which
have been fully described by Pococlte, by Chandler, or by
Arundel, the theatre which is situated upon the N.W. slope
of Mount Pagus is well deserving of notice, on account
of its great extent. The proscenium is entirely gone; but
at the western extremity of the cavea, the substructions