'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎426] (507/905)

426
ANCIENT WALLS AND TOWERS. [CHAP. XVIII.
The Acropolis For the defence of the lower part of the city no particular
of the City. e £p or |- 0 £ gj^ was necessary; hut with respect to the higher,
the greatest ingenuity was exercised in securing the weak
points at the opposite extremities of its rugged contour.
Walls and circular turrets, constructed in different ages,
occupy the northern and highest extremity of the range, at
the head of a wild ravine; from whence a castellated build
ing, once the Acropolis, commands an extensive prospect
of the lake of Antioch, and the Beilan mountains, as well as
the valley of the Orontes, and of the sea from Jebel-el-Akra
to Cape Khanzir. By a bold effort of genius, a wall has been
carried from the eastern side of the castle down the almost
vertical face of the cliff, and again from thence across the
deep valley beneath; beyond this, in a no less extraordinary
manner, it is made to ascend the opposite steep hill in a ziz-
zag direction; and it is again carried in the same daring
manner down the opposite side, till it joins the western walls
near St. Paul's Gate.
Construction But it was in overcoming the defects of the ground at the
of the Towers. , „ , V , , 0
southern extremity of the city that the skill of the Romans is
most conspicuous. Owing to the steepness of the declivity, the
ordinary platform surmounting the wall here becomes a
succession of steps between the towers, which are very near
one another, and have a story rising above the wall, to protect
the intervening portions from the commanding ground out
side. The towers are of uniform construction, about 30 feet
square, and project each way so as to defend the interior side,
as well as the exterior face of the wall; the latter is from 50
to 60 feet high, and 8 or 10 feet broad at top, which is
covered with cut stones terminating in a cornice. The towers
are perfectly upright, and have interior stair-cases, and three
loop-holed stages resting on brick arches; the uppermost
having a stone platform, and a small cistern beneath. Low
doors, or rather posterns, afford a passage along the parapet;
so that these structures may be regarded as a chain of small
castles connected by a curtain, rather than as simple towers.
The precipitous valley outside of the wall is crossed by a
bridge of five arches, once part of the aqueduct which ex-