Cyclopean wall

“ In the same line with this double circular row of slabs are the twelve small tomb-like water-reservoirs which we see in the direction of the Lions' Gate, and between which is the entrance to the Agora, 7 feet broad. Thence the circle of slabs slopes to the left of the spectator, from the rock to the Cyclopean wall (12 feet high) , which has been built with no other intention than to sustain it, and to raise it almost to the level of its continuation on the rock ”

“ The road winds up the last steep ascent until it becomes a mere narrow driveway, scarcely wide enough for more than a single chariot, and right ahead appears suddenly the famed Lion Gate, flanked on one hand by a formidable wall facing the side of the native rock, and on the other by a projecting bastion of almost incredible thickness. The stones are of remarkable size, hewn to a sort of rough regularity by the Cyclopean builders, and the wonder is that, in so rude and primitive an age, men were able to handle such great blocks with such skill. ”

“ In this place the walls are better preserved than anywhere else, and they rise considerably [6] above the flat summit of the mount within the Acropolis or citadel.
This citadel consists of an upper enclosure on the south, and a lower one on the north side; both are of about equal size, and are divided by an abrupt slope, 14 feet high, which was fortified by a Cyclopean wall of minor proportions. In this wall I perceive some stones shaped by art, and some even rectangular, which leads me to think that it belongs to a later time than the Cyclopean circuit walls. ”

“ But in Tiryns as well as here in Mycenæ, where I am surrounded by the grandest Cyclopean walls in the world, I am, for brevity's sake and in order to avoid misunderstandings, bound to use the name "Cyclopean" even for the smallest walls of houses or water conduits which show the same kind of masonry. But it must be distinctly understood that I should of course not think of calling them so if I found them in places where there are no huge walls of that kind, for the name "Cyclopean" can only be applied to the gigantic. ”

“ It will be necessary to speak further of the cyclopean wall on the east side of the city from the Porta del Sole to the Portella, for it has always been supposed that this part of the wall was exactly like the rest, and dated from the same period. But a careful examination shows that the stones in this lower portion are laid more regularly than those in the wall above the Portella, that they are more flatly faced on the outside, and that here and there a little mortar is used. Above all, however, there is in the wall on one of the stones under the house no. ”

“ To the south of the circular double row of slabs my excavations have brought to light a vast Cyclopean house, which, so far as it has been uncovered, contains seven chambers intersected by four corridors of four feet in breadth (see Plans B and C) . Here and there the walls still retain their clay coating, which, however, nowhere shows a trace of painting. The walls are from 2 to 41⁄2 ft. thick, and the same wall is in some places 6 to 8 in. thicker than in others. The largest room is 181⁄2 ft. long by 131⁄2 ft. broad, and its east side is cut out in the rock to a depth of 16 in. ”

“ These rocks in their formation resemble the palisades on the Hudson river—but are more regular in their strata,—which appear to have been arranged in huge masses of perfect workmanship—with projections like cornices of Gothic architecture, in a state of dilapidation. Those who are acquainted with the structure of the Cyclopean walls of the ancients, would be struck with the resemblance,—which suggested the name at the head of this article.
We pause to inquire why these primeval fragments of the world have remained so long unnoticed? ”

“ There are many remains of Cyclopean walls both at Tivoli and Palestrina, and as according to Virgil, Tibur and Præneste were founded about the time that Æneas landed in Italy; this epoch has been assigned to their construction, but it must be confessed, that the argument is not altogether conclusive. It is held essential to Cyclopean walls, that there should be 64no cement, and à fortiori, no rubble-work employed in their composition; but in this neighbourhood, at what is called the villa of Brutus, which I shall shortly mention to you ”

“ Thence they followed Proetus to protect him, by the gigantic walls which they constructed, against Acrisius. The grand fortifications of Argos, Tiryns, and Mycenae, were in later times regarded as their works. (Apollod. ii. 1. §2; Strab. viii. p. 373; Paus. ii. 16. §4; Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 953.) Such walls, commonly known by the name of Cyclopean walls, still exist in various parts of ancient Greece and Italy, and consist of unhewn polygones, which are sometimes 20 or 30 feet in breadth. ”

“ The mountain being so high and steep, and the summit so exceedingly small and encumbered by protruding rocks, it can never have served as a fortress. Therefore the only explanation I venture to [147] give of the origin of these Cyclopean walls is that there must have existed on the summit a small temple of great sanctity and immense importance, and by a curious coincidence we may even find in the present cultus on the summit the name of the deity who was worshipped there in antiquity. ”

“ It is like those hill-fortresses so common on the flanks of the Apennines, which existed long before Rome and the Romans were ever heard of, whose origin must be looked for in the pre-historic times, when men or giants built Cyclopean walls ”

“ In the right hand one lies a colossal block of stone, cut and shaped on all sides; it is sixty feet in length, eighteen in breadth, and thirteen in diameter. This giant block was probably intended to form part of the Cyclops wall surrounding the Temple of the Sun, for we afterwards noticed several stones of equal length and breadth among the ruins. Another to the left side of the road was remarkable for several grottoes and fragments of rock picturesquely grouped. ”

“ On this western side, the mountain, to within a hundred feet or two of its summit, presents a green but boldly sloping grassy face, formed of the debris of the rocks above, which rise perpendicularly, and look more like a wall—lichen-stained and ivy-decked—formed by the Cyclops or giants of old, than creations of nature’s hand. And such impression is increased in no small degree by the lofty and magnificent caves, which present themselves like doorways, and lead into the inmost recesses of the mountain. ”

“ These six pillars, which have hitherto bid defiance to time, devastation, and earthquakes, are supposed to be the loftiest and most magnificent in the world. Nearly seventy feet in height, each pillar a rocky colossus, resting on a basement twenty-seven feet high, covered with excellent workmanship, a masterpiece of ancient architecture, they tower above the Cyclops wall, and look far away into the distance—giant monuments of the hoary past. ”

“ I frequently find here flat pieces of terra-cotta with painted or impressed ornaments, which must have served for coating the interior walls of the houses (Nos. 137 and 139) . At a depth of from 10 to 11 feet, and sometimes of only 61⁄2 feet, below the surface, I am bringing to light Cyclopean house-walls, built of unwrought [80] stones, joined without clay or cement, and founded on the natural rock, from 20 to 24 feet below the surface. The corner-stones of these mansions are remarkable for their massiveness. ”

“ The ditch of the Vallum and its triple mounds are very clearly marked on the right of Wade's Road, and the Wall-ditch is very plainly visible on the left. The low rays of the sun cast shadows which emphasize the form, and all round the eye can follow wave upon wave of undulating ground, right into the dim blue distance. ”

“ The view from the edge of the cliff is extensive; stunted trees unite with the craggy character of the rock in giving variety to the foreground. The Wall adheres, with tolerable pertinacity, to the edge of the crags, and hence pursues a course that is by no means direct. The accompanying wood-cut, which exhibits the view looking eastwards, shews the zig-zag path which it adopts. Nearly all our historians agree in stating that the 266most perfect specimens of the Wall now remaining, are on Walltown crags. ”

“ Beyond the burn, the ground again rises, and the Wall, stretching onwards in a line with the road, forms a distinct, but turf-covered mound. At the distance of a field to the south of it, the Vallum is seen in greater distinctness than before. Both of the aggers and the intervening fosse may be clearly made out. Some young ash-trees grow in the ditch. ”

“ Stonehenge, the Parthenon, the walls of the Kings, this gate of Lucca, this window of Orvieto, and this tomb at Verona, are all built on the Cyclopean principle. They will stand without cement, and no cement shall be seen outside. Mr. Burgess and I actually tried the experiment on this tomb. Mr. Burgess modelled every stone of it in clay, put them together, and it stood.
166. Now there are two most notable characteristics about this Cyclopean architecture to which I beg your close attention. ”

“ Keeping westward along the road, I turned into a field-path on the right, just past a new cottage known as "Roman Wall Villa," behind which, remains of the Wall are to be seen. This path leads through meadows right along the line of the Wall, with the lovely little river Irthing twisting its way below on the right, half-hidden by the trees which overhang it.
Fragments of the core of the Wall are seen at intervals, and presently the path runs right along the bottom of the deep Wall-ditch. Great trees grow on the top of its northern mound. ”

“ It is about thirty-six yards long, and has, in some places, five courses of facing-stones entire; the grout of the interior which rises still higher, gives root to some fine old thorns. This sight may be rendered more interesting by the antiquary’s carrying his eye forward, and tracing the Wall in its onward course; in its modern representative, the turnpike road, it is seen, (having crossed the North Tyne, and passed the station of Cilurnum,) bounding up the opposite hill in its usual unflinching manner, and making for the wastes and mountains which it is speedily to traverse. ”

“ South of the turnpike road, and behind a small house, called Beggar-bog, is a low freestone crag, which exhibits some quarry-like excavations, filled with the chippings of stone. It has probably furnished material for the Wall, the stone being of the same character.
The stream which we next cross is the Knag-burn; it forms the eastern boundary of Housesteads. Passing it, we scale the ramparts of this far-famed station. ”

“ I love the Wall for the way in which it overcomes obstacles, never swerving from its determination to keep to the highest at all costs, while the Vallum allows itself to be turned aside to the south by even such a little obstacle as Down Hill.
And I love the Wall for the sense of strength which it gives, even in its present battered condition, a sense of strength and solidity which no number of ditches and earth mounds could ever give. Earth mounds (of a sort) can be made by earth-worms; for stone walls it takes men! ”

“ The fosse of the Wall and Vallum at this point deserve attentive examination. In passing over the crown of the hill, they have been excavated with 197enormous labour out of the basalt of which the summit consists. The workmen, as if exhausted with the task of raising the splintered fragments, have left them lying on the sides of the moats. A mass on the outside of the north ditch, though now split by the action of the frost into three pieces, has evidently formed one block, and cannot weigh less than thirteen tons. ”

“ But farther west we may walk along the uneven, broken surface of the mighty rampart, or climb down into the broad and deep fosse which lies closely against it along its northern side, without troubling ourselves with the arguments and uncertainties of antiquaries, who have by no means decided on what was the original function of the Wall, who was its real builder, why and when the earthen walls and fosse which accompany it on the south were wrought, and many other smaller controversial points, which afford endless matter for speculation and discussion. ”

“ In many gardens an abrupt change of level makes a retaining wall necessary, and when I see this built in the usual way as a solid structure of brick and mortar—unless there be any special need of the solid wall—I always regret that it is not built as a home for rock-plants. An exposure to north or east and the cool backing of a mass of earth is just what most Alpines delight in. A dry wall, which means a wall without mortar, may be anything between a wall and a very steep rock-work, and may be built of brick or of any kind of local stone. ”

“ Then take the natural division into blocks made by joints in the rocks to which cliffs like the famous Castle Head at Bar Harbor owes its striking form. These blocks are so nearly true that you feel sure they must have been cut by stone-masons, and yet they have the variety which art demands; they have not the monotonous sameness of - 229 - shape of the bricks in a wall. This is mainly due to the differences in the strains which cracked the original rock mass. So, from the beginning a sea-wall built by nature is more picturesque than a sea-wall built by man. ”

“ As I travelled south in the train, I remembered what Hutton has said: that the Wall "would exhibit its proud head many thousand years"; but that the mounds of the Vallum, "being native earth, would continue to the last trump." ”