The Romans adorned Damascus with many splendid buildings, the ruins of which still exist. Some of them were probably designed by Apollo dorus, a native of the city, and one of the most celebrated architects of his age, to whose genius we are indebted for one of the most beautiful monu ments of ancient Rome, the Column of Trajan (Dion Cass. lxix.) Christianity obtained a firm footing in Damascus in the apostolic age. It spread so rapidly among the population, that in the time of Constantine, the great temple, one of the noblest buildings in Syria. was converted into a cathedral church, and dedicated to John the Bap tist. When the first general council assembled at Nice, Magnus, the metropolitan of Damascus, was present with seven of his suffragans. But the Ro man empire was now waxing feeble, and the reli gion which, by its establishment as a national in stitute, ought to have infused the germ of a new life into the declining state, was itself losing its purity and its power. Damascus felt, like other places, the demoralizing tendencies of a corrupt faith. In the beginning of the 7th century a new and terrible power appeared upon the stage of the world's history, destined, in the hands of an all wise though mysterious providence, to overthrow a degenerate empire and chastise an erring church. In A.D. 634 Damascus opened its gates to the Mo hammedans, and thirty years later the first caliph of the Omeiades transferred the seat of his govern ment to that city. It now became for a brief period the capital of a vast empire, including Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Northern Africa, and Spain (Elmacin, Hist. Sarac. xiii.) In A.D. 75o the Omeiades were supplanted by the dynasty of Abbas, and the court was removed to Baghdad. A stormy period of four centuries now passed over the old city, without leaving a single incident worthy of special note. An attack of the crusa ders (A. n. t 148) under the three chiefs, Baldwin, Conrad, and Louis VII., might have claimed a place here had it not been so disgraceful to the Christian arms. It is enough to say, that the cross never displaced the crescent on the battlements of Damascus. The reigns of Nureddin and his more distinguished successor Saladin, form bright epochs in the city's history. Two centuries later came Timur, who literally swept Damascus with the besom of destruction.' Arab writers sometimes call him the wild beast,' and he fully earned that name. Never had Damascus so fear fully experienced the horrors of conquest. Its wealth, its famed manufactures, and its well-filled libraries, were all dissipated in a single day. It soon regained its opulence. A century later it fell into the hands of the Turks, and, with the excep tion of the brief rule of Ibrahim Pasha, it has ever since remained nominally subject to the Sultan.
The Mohammedan population of Damascus have long been known as the greatest fanatics in the East. The steady advance of the Christian com munity in wealth and influence, during the last thirty years, has tended to excite their bitter enmity. In July 1860, taking advantage of the war between the Druses and Maronites, and encouraged also by the Turkish authorities, they suddenly rose against the poor defenceless Christians, massacred about 6000 of them in cold blood, and left their whole quarter in ashes ! Such is the last act in the long history of Damascus.
Damascus is still the largest city in Asiatic Turkey. It contained in 5859 a population of about 15o,000. Of these 6000 were Jews and 15,00o Christians. The Christian community has since been almost exterminated, the greater portion of the males having been massacred. The Pasha
ranks with the first officers of the empire, and the city is the head-quarters of the Syrian army. It has always been a great centre of commerce: in the days of Tyre's glory, Damascus was her merchant in the multitude of the wares of her making, for the multitude of all riches ; in the wine of Helbon and white wool' (Ezek. xxvii. IS). It afterwards became famous for its sword-blades and cutlery ; but its best workmen were carried off by Timur to Ispahan. Its chief manufactures are, at present, silks, coarse woollen stuffs, cottons, gold and silver ornaments, and arms. The bazaars are stocked with the products of nearly all nations—Indian muslins, Manchester prints, Persian carpets, Lyons' silks, Birmingham cutlery, Cashmere shawls, Mocha coffee, and Dutch sugar.
III. Topography and antiquities.—The old city, the nucleus of Damascus, stands on the south bank of the river, and is surrounded by a tottering wall, the foundations of which are Roman, and the superstructure a patchwork of all succeeding ages. It is of an irregular oval form. Its greatest dia meter is marked by the street called Straight,' which intersects it from east to west, and is about a mile long. This street was anciently divided into three avenues by Corinthian colonnades, and at each end were triple Roman gateways, still in a great measure entire. In the old city were the Christian and Jewish quarters, and the principal buildings and bazaars. On the north, west, and south, are extensive suburbs. The internal aspect of the city is not prepossessing, and great is the disappointment of the stranger when he leaves the delicious environs and enters the gates. Without, nature smiles joyously, the orchards seem to blush at their own beauty, and the breeze is laden with perfumes. Within, all is different. The works of man shew sad signs of neglect and decay. The houses are rudely built ; the lanes are paved with big rough stones, and partially roofed with ragged mats and withered branches ; long-bearded, fanati cal-visaged men squat in rows on dirty stalls, tell ing their heads, and mingling, with muttered prayers to Allah and his prophet, curses deep and terrible on all infidels. The bazaars are among the best in the East. They are narrow covered lanes, with long ranges of open stalls on each side ; in these their owners sit as stiff and statue-like as if they had been placed there for show. Each trade has its own quarter. Every group in the bazaars would form a lively picture. All the costumes of Asia are there, strangely grouped with panniered donkeys, gaily caparisoned mules, and dreamy looking camels. The principal khans or caravan saries, are spacious buildings. They are now used as stores and shops for the principal merchants. The great khan, Assad Pasha, is among the finest in Turkey. A noble Saracenic portal opens on a large quadrangle, ornamented with a marble foun tain, and covered by a series of domes supported on square pillars. Lamartine's description of it is as purely ideal as most of his eastern sketches. Many of the mosques are fine specimens of Saracenic architecture. Their deeply-moulded gateways are very beautiful; and the interlaced stonework round doors and windows is unique. They are mostly built of alternate layers of white and black stone, with string courses of marble arranged in chaste patterns. But they are all badly kept, and many of them are now ruinous.