ARUNDELIAN marbles, called also the Parian Chronicle, are supposed to be an cient stones, on which is inscribed a chro nicle of the city of Athens, engraven in capital letters in the island of Paros, one of the Cyclades, 264 years before the Christian mra. They are frequently de nominated Oxford marbles, and derive their name either from the Earl of Arun del, who procured them out of the east, or from his grandson, who presented them to the University of Oxford : in the former case they are called Arundelian, and in the latter Oxford marbles. These and other ancient relics were purchased in Asia Minor, Greece, and the islands of the Archipelago, by Mr. William Petty, who was employed in the year 1624, by the Earl of Arundel, for the purpose. They arrived in England about the year 1627, and were placed in the gardens belong ing to Arundel house in London. Hav ing excited a considerable share of curi osity among the learned, Mr. Selden un dertook to explain the Greek inscriptions, which he did in a small quarto volume, under the title of " Marmora Arundelia na," containing nearly forty inscriptions, with annotations. During the civil wars, these marbles were defaced and much in jured, and some of them entirely lost, or made use of for the ordinary purposes of building. In 1667, what were left of these curious remains were presented to the University of Oxford, when a new edition of Selden's work was published, with additional notes, by the celebrated Dr. Prideaux. Mr. Mattaire, in 1731,
gave the public a more comprehensive view of these marbles, and in 1763, Dr. Chandler published a new and improved copy of them, in which lie corrected the errors of the former editors, and supplied the deficiencies in some of the inscrip tions, particularly those of the Parian Chronicle, by many ingenious conjectures. These marbles, in their perfect state, contained a chronological detail of the principal events of Greece, from the com mencement of the reign of Cecrops, in the year before Christ, 1582, to the close of the archonate of Diognetus, in the year 264 A. C. The chronicle of the last 90 years is lost, and the others are much de faced and corroded, of course the sense can only be discovered by very learned and industrious antiquaries, or supplied by conjectures. Almost every event in this table, between the destruction of Troy and the annual magistracy of Athens, is dated 26 years earlier than in the canons of Eusebius, and those of other approved chronologers. These marbles have been applied to the elucidation of many parts of ancient history ; but their inconsisten cy with other authentic records has de preciated their value and use. Their authenticity has been doubted, and the question ably discussed by Mr. Robert son and Mr. Hewlett, the former being inclined to give up, and the latter to vin dicate, the authenticity of the Parian chronicle.