Atlantis: The Antedeluvian WorldDonnelly, Ignatius
History
Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World
Donnelly, Ignatius
Atlantis (Legendary place); Deluge; Ethnology
"In the next place, they used fountains both of cold and hot springs;
these were very abundant, and both kinds wonderfully adapted to use by
reason of the sweetness and excellence of their waters. They constructed
buildings about them, and planted suitable trees; also cisterns, some
open to the heaven, other which they roofed over, to be used in winter
as warm baths, there were the king's baths, and the baths of private
persons, which were kept apart; also separate baths for women, and
others again for horses and cattle, and to them they gave as much
adornment as was suitable for them. The water which ran off they
carried, some to the grove of Poseidon, where were growing all manner of
trees of wonderful height and beauty, owing to the excellence of the
soil; the remainder was conveyed by aqueducts which passed over the
bridges to the outer circles: and there were many temples built and
dedicated to many gods; also gardens and places of exercise, some for
men, and some set apart for horses, in both of the two islands formed by
the zones; and in the centre of the larger of the two there was a
race-course of a stadium in width, and in length allowed to extend all
round the island, for horses to race in. Also there were guard-houses at
intervals for the body-guard, the more trusted of whom had their duties
appointed to them in the lesser zone, which was nearer the Acropolis;
while the most trusted of all had houses given them within the citadel,
and about the persons of the kings. The docks were full of triremes and
naval stores, and all things were quite ready for use. Enough of the
plan of the royal palace. Crossing the outer harbors, which were three
in number, you would come to a wall which began at the sea and went all
round: this was everywhere distant fifty stadia from the largest zone
and harbor, and enclosed the whole, meeting at the mouth of the channel
toward the sea. The entire area was densely crowded with habitations;
and the canal and the largest of the harbors were full of vessels and
merchants coming from all parts, who, from their numbers, kept up a
multitudinous sound of human voices and din of all sorts night and day.
I have repeated his descriptions of the city and the parts about the
ancient palace nearly as he gave them, and now I must endeavor to
describe the nature and arrangement of the rest of the country. The
whole country was described as being very lofty and precipitous on the
side of the sea, but the country immediately about and surrounding the
city was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains which descended
toward the sea; it was smooth and even, but of an oblong shape,
extending in one direction three thousand stadia, and going up the
country from the sea through the centre of the island two thousand
stadia; the whole region of the island lies toward the south, and is
sheltered from the north. The surrounding mountains he celebrated for
their number and size and beauty, in which they exceeded all that are
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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