DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4703#0010
O F B A L B E C. 9
better authority than the reverfes of fome medals in which it is called Colo-
nia Julia.
On the fame grounds it is fuppofed that Auguftus fent veterans thither, be- Augdtu*
caufe on coins it is called Colonia Julia Augufta; and that thofe veterans were
of the fifth and eighth legions, called the Legio Macedonica and the Legio Au-
gufta, is gathered from the reverfe of a medal of Philip the elder, on which
there is this legend; COL. HEL. LEG. V. MAGED. vm. AVG. Colonia
Heliopolitana Legionis v. Macedonicse viii* Auguftae.
From a medal of Auguftus ftruck at Berytus we alfo learn that part of the
fame legions was fent to that city; and as Strabo mentions two legions
fettled in this country by Agrippa, it has been concluded, upon the concur-
ring teftimony of thofe coins and this author, that the fifth and eighth legions
were divided between HeliopoKs and Berytus : and indeed it appears from the
fame paflage in Strabo#, that the tra£r. of lands extending from Berytus to He-
liopolis, and as far as the fource of the Orontes, was allotted to thofe veterans.
We have been told that this temple pretended to divination; a prerogative
claimed by it's god the Sun, under the different characters of the Heliopolitan
Jove, the Aftyrian Belus, and the Delphick Apollo; and we find that it was
in fome reputation for it's oracular powers among the Romans, by a ftory re-
corded of Trajan "f; who at the folicitation of his friends confulted this god Traian-
upon the fuccefs of his intended Parthian expedition.
Upon the reverfe of a medal of Adrian, on which the Two Fortunes are repre- Adrian.
fented, we find the legend LEG. H. COL. H.; which by fome is read Legio
oftava Colonia Heliopolis, However, were this conjecture more probable
than it feems to be, we do not find the leaft reafon to fuppofe that this emperour,
though a great builder in the provinces, has any title to the honour of thofe
works,
Lucian, a native of this country, who appears from fome paffages in his
Writings to have lived in the time of the Antonines and Commodus, mentions ||
tranfiently, if the treatife on the Syrian goddefs be his, a great and antient temple
in Phoenicia, the rites of whofe worfhip were brought from Heliopolis in
Egypt. This, from his fhort defcription, appears to be the temple of Bal-
bec: but as nothing which we faw ftanding can poflibly be the remains of what
* BnpuTvj Si K«7so"'Ta<9'*) f*£" vwo Tfutpwvo?, ausXti^Sr) SI vZv vno 'PwjWai'uv, Stfcxpivn S\iq rdypoiTix. K 'iSgixriv 'Ayg'nrTrocs hra^x,
■ra-floirS-Ei; k) t« Mafo-uK ■srohXriv, f**JC?» *J twv ts 'OgovT* wjjJ'wi/. Strab. Lib. XVI.
i" The reader may have this ridiculous ftory in the words of Macrobius: Confulunt hunc deum £f? abfentes miffs
diplomatibus confignatis: refcribitque ordine ad ea qua confultatione addita continentUr. Sic & imperator Trajanus initurus
ex ea provincia Parthiarn cum exercitu conftantiffima religionis hortantibus amicis, qui maxima hujufce numinis ceperant ex-
periment a, ut de eventu confuleret rei cospta^ egit Romano confilio prius explorando fidem religionis ; ne forte fraus fubeffet
humana : & primum fflifit fignatos codicillos, ad quosfibi refcribi vellet. Deusjuffit afferri cbartam, eamque fignari puram
£s? miiti, ftupentibus facer dotibus ad ejufmodi faStum. Ignorabant quippe conditionem codicillorum. Has cum maxima admi-
ratione Trajanus excepit, quod ipfe quoque puris tabulis cum deo egiffet. Tunc aliis codicillis ccnfcriptis fignatifque confuluit,
an Romam perpetrato bello rediturus ejfet; vitem centurialem deus ex muneribus in ade dedicatis deferri jufftt, divifamque in
partes fudario condi ac proinde ferri. Exitus rei obitu Trajani apparuit offibus Romam relatis. Nam fragmentis fpecies re-
liquiarum, vitis argumento cafus futuri tempus ojlenfum eft. Macrob. Lib. I.
|i "Ex,»<n S\ *«' <*AAo fowiJMC »f«v» ou* 'Atnruf io», «AA' AifuVJiov. to sg 'HAiotoAioj k rnv $oivixitv xttUito. lyu ph pv ax oicunrx.
ftiyx Si *»* r^h x«* d^oaov ipi. Lucian. de Syria Dea.
1 in
better authority than the reverfes of fome medals in which it is called Colo-
nia Julia.
On the fame grounds it is fuppofed that Auguftus fent veterans thither, be- Augdtu*
caufe on coins it is called Colonia Julia Augufta; and that thofe veterans were
of the fifth and eighth legions, called the Legio Macedonica and the Legio Au-
gufta, is gathered from the reverfe of a medal of Philip the elder, on which
there is this legend; COL. HEL. LEG. V. MAGED. vm. AVG. Colonia
Heliopolitana Legionis v. Macedonicse viii* Auguftae.
From a medal of Auguftus ftruck at Berytus we alfo learn that part of the
fame legions was fent to that city; and as Strabo mentions two legions
fettled in this country by Agrippa, it has been concluded, upon the concur-
ring teftimony of thofe coins and this author, that the fifth and eighth legions
were divided between HeliopoKs and Berytus : and indeed it appears from the
fame paflage in Strabo#, that the tra£r. of lands extending from Berytus to He-
liopolis, and as far as the fource of the Orontes, was allotted to thofe veterans.
We have been told that this temple pretended to divination; a prerogative
claimed by it's god the Sun, under the different characters of the Heliopolitan
Jove, the Aftyrian Belus, and the Delphick Apollo; and we find that it was
in fome reputation for it's oracular powers among the Romans, by a ftory re-
corded of Trajan "f; who at the folicitation of his friends confulted this god Traian-
upon the fuccefs of his intended Parthian expedition.
Upon the reverfe of a medal of Adrian, on which the Two Fortunes are repre- Adrian.
fented, we find the legend LEG. H. COL. H.; which by fome is read Legio
oftava Colonia Heliopolis, However, were this conjecture more probable
than it feems to be, we do not find the leaft reafon to fuppofe that this emperour,
though a great builder in the provinces, has any title to the honour of thofe
works,
Lucian, a native of this country, who appears from fome paffages in his
Writings to have lived in the time of the Antonines and Commodus, mentions ||
tranfiently, if the treatife on the Syrian goddefs be his, a great and antient temple
in Phoenicia, the rites of whofe worfhip were brought from Heliopolis in
Egypt. This, from his fhort defcription, appears to be the temple of Bal-
bec: but as nothing which we faw ftanding can poflibly be the remains of what
* BnpuTvj Si K«7so"'Ta<9'*) f*£" vwo Tfutpwvo?, ausXti^Sr) SI vZv vno 'PwjWai'uv, Stfcxpivn S\iq rdypoiTix. K 'iSgixriv 'Ayg'nrTrocs hra^x,
■ra-floirS-Ei; k) t« Mafo-uK ■srohXriv, f**JC?» *J twv ts 'OgovT* wjjJ'wi/. Strab. Lib. XVI.
i" The reader may have this ridiculous ftory in the words of Macrobius: Confulunt hunc deum £f? abfentes miffs
diplomatibus confignatis: refcribitque ordine ad ea qua confultatione addita continentUr. Sic & imperator Trajanus initurus
ex ea provincia Parthiarn cum exercitu conftantiffima religionis hortantibus amicis, qui maxima hujufce numinis ceperant ex-
periment a, ut de eventu confuleret rei cospta^ egit Romano confilio prius explorando fidem religionis ; ne forte fraus fubeffet
humana : & primum fflifit fignatos codicillos, ad quosfibi refcribi vellet. Deusjuffit afferri cbartam, eamque fignari puram
£s? miiti, ftupentibus facer dotibus ad ejufmodi faStum. Ignorabant quippe conditionem codicillorum. Has cum maxima admi-
ratione Trajanus excepit, quod ipfe quoque puris tabulis cum deo egiffet. Tunc aliis codicillis ccnfcriptis fignatifque confuluit,
an Romam perpetrato bello rediturus ejfet; vitem centurialem deus ex muneribus in ade dedicatis deferri jufftt, divifamque in
partes fudario condi ac proinde ferri. Exitus rei obitu Trajani apparuit offibus Romam relatis. Nam fragmentis fpecies re-
liquiarum, vitis argumento cafus futuri tempus ojlenfum eft. Macrob. Lib. I.
|i "Ex,»<n S\ *«' <*AAo fowiJMC »f«v» ou* 'Atnruf io», «AA' AifuVJiov. to sg 'HAiotoAioj k rnv $oivixitv xttUito. lyu ph pv ax oicunrx.
ftiyx Si *»* r^h x«* d^oaov ipi. Lucian. de Syria Dea.
1 in