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[156]
Now the towers that were upon it were twenty cubits in breadth, and
twenty cubits in height; they were square and solid, as was the wall itself,
wherein the niceness of the joints, and the beauty of the stones, were
no way inferior to those of the holy house itself. Above this solid altitude
of the towers, which was twenty cubits, there were rooms of great magnificence,
and over them upper rooms, and cisterns to receive rain-water. They were
many in number, and the steps by which you ascended up to them were every
one broad: of these towers then the third wall had ninety, and the spaces
between them were each two hundred cubits; but in the middle wall were
forty towers, and the old wall was parted into sixty, while the whole compass
of the city was thirty-three furlongs. Now the third wall was all of it
wonderful; yet was the tower Psephinus elevated above it at the north-west
corner, and there Titus pitched his own tent; for being seventy cubits
high it both afforded a prospect of Arabia at sun-rising, as well as it
did of the utmost limits of the Hebrew possessions at the sea westward.
Moreover, it was an octagon, and over against it was the tower Hipplicus,
and hard by two others were erected by king Herod, in the old wall. These
were for largeness, beauty, and strength beyond all that were in the habitable
earth; for besides the magnanimity of his nature, and his magnificence
towards the city on other occasions, he built these after such an extraordinary
manner, to gratify his own private affections, and dedicated these towers
to the memory of those three persons who had been the dearest to him, and
from whom he named them. They were his brother, his friend, and his wife.
This wife he had slain, out of his love [and jealousy], as we have already
related; the other two he lost in war, as they were courageously fighting.
Hippicus, so named from his friend, was square; its length and breadth
were each twenty-five cubits, and its height thirty, and it had no vacuity
in it. Over this solid building, which was composed of great stones united
together, there was a reservoir twenty cubits deep, over which there was
a house of two stories, whose height was twenty-five cubits, and divided
into several parts; over which were battlements of two cubits, and turrets
all round of three cubits high, insomuch that the entire height added together
amounted to fourscore cubits. The second tower, which he named from his
brother Phasaelus, had its breadth and its height equal, each of them forty
cubits; over which was its solid height of forty cubits; over which a cloister
went round about, whose height was ten cubits, and it was covered from
enemies by breast-works and bulwarks. There was also built over that cloister
another tower, parted into magnificent rooms, and a place for bathing;
so that this tower wanted nothing that might make it appear to be a royal
palace. It was also adorned with battlements and turrets, more than was
the foregoing, and the entire altitude was about ninety cubits; the appearance
of it resembled the tower of Pharus, which exhibited a fire to such as
sailed to Alexandria, but was much larger than it in compass. This was
now converted to a house, wherein Simon exercised his tyrannical authority.
The third tower was Mariamne, for that was his queen's name; it was solid
as high as twenty cubits; its breadth and its length were twenty cubits,
and were equal to each other; its upper buildings were more magnificent,
and had greater variety, than the other towers had; for the king thought
it most proper for him to adorn that which was denominated from his wife,
better than those denominated from men, as those were built stronger than
this that bore his wife's name. The entire height of this tower was fifty
cubits.
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