DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0245
226 THE MONUMENTS OF UPPEB EGYPT.
arose for engraving on the legs of the statue the
tokens of admiration of those who were fortu-
nate enough to become witnesses of this miracle.
Eventually, after the lapse of two centuries,
Septimius Severus, thinking to stay the plain-
tive cries of the hero, and to impart clearness
and beauty to his voice, restored the colossus.
He, however, only partially succeeded; the
hero, it is true, no longer uttered his plaintive
cries, but all sound was effectually smothered
and forever silenced under the blocks of sand-
stone which we see to this day.
One may easily see, on inspecting the legs of
the colossus, how numerous were these tokens
of admiration. Many of them are dated, the
most ancient being of the time of Nero, the
most recent of that of Septimius Severus. The
reign of Hadrian alone added twenty-seven to
the collection, and there are others, still more
numerous, which are not accompanied by any
date. Most frequently these inscriptions are in
prose, and run thus : " Sabina Augusta, the con-
sort of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, has twice
heard the voice of Memnon during the first
hour." And again : " I, Vitalinus, epistrateges
of Thebaid, with my wife, Publia Sosis, I have
arose for engraving on the legs of the statue the
tokens of admiration of those who were fortu-
nate enough to become witnesses of this miracle.
Eventually, after the lapse of two centuries,
Septimius Severus, thinking to stay the plain-
tive cries of the hero, and to impart clearness
and beauty to his voice, restored the colossus.
He, however, only partially succeeded; the
hero, it is true, no longer uttered his plaintive
cries, but all sound was effectually smothered
and forever silenced under the blocks of sand-
stone which we see to this day.
One may easily see, on inspecting the legs of
the colossus, how numerous were these tokens
of admiration. Many of them are dated, the
most ancient being of the time of Nero, the
most recent of that of Septimius Severus. The
reign of Hadrian alone added twenty-seven to
the collection, and there are others, still more
numerous, which are not accompanied by any
date. Most frequently these inscriptions are in
prose, and run thus : " Sabina Augusta, the con-
sort of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, has twice
heard the voice of Memnon during the first
hour." And again : " I, Vitalinus, epistrateges
of Thebaid, with my wife, Publia Sosis, I have