Dean Prideaux was succeeded in this arduous field of literary exertion, by Mr Maittaire, the editor and author of many learned works; who, in 1731, favoured the learned world with a more concise account of the mar bles; and in 1763, Dr Chandler published a new and splendid edition of them, distinguished by much criti cal accuracy, and rendered interesting by several en gravings. We are compelled, however, to lament, that in all the editions which we have seen, there is a great want of attention to this last very important circum stance. The university of Oxford will, no doubt, see the propriety of publishing, ere long, accurate engrav ings of all the Greek monuments, exhibiting a fac si mile, not of single lines, but of the whole of each in scription, with a portrait of the stone itself. This would put us all in possession of the marbles ; and would double at once our information and our pleasure in read ing them. Dr Chandler's edition is often at consider able variance with those of his predecessors. Without genuity of that critic, we may be allowed to express a doubt how far his emendations and conjectures ought to be admitted, when opposed to the authority of Selden and Prideaux. The inscriptions, it is well known, were much more nistini.L °A' who lived a century before Chandler : and Prideaux tells us, that one motive to his extreme attention in transcribing, was the conviction, that from the rapid progress of oblitera tion, no future editor could possibly read many of the legends. Selden and Prideaux have, therefore, in some degree, become originals ; and the accusation preferred against the latter, by M. Freret, that he seldom con sulted the marbles, but copied from Selden, is not mere ly unhandsome, bul, culpably rash, seeing that out of the 150 existing marbles, Selden had edited no more than 27.
The Arundelian inscriptions, like all the ancient writ ings, are executed in capital letters : and these are ge nerally disposed into one continuous series to the of the line, without any distinction of space or point. The eye has thus the painful task of parcelling out the letters into words, which eternally run into each other ; and, upon a single failure, is often obliged to return to the beginning of the inscription. The ancient Greeks, in their art of writing, do not seem to have been ac quainted with the use either of accents or of a regular punctuation. Even the division into syllables, however much they attended to it in speech and grammar, is never exemplified in their inscriptions, where their sole object was to fill up the line. In these ancient remains, the iota is never sub-scribed : in a very few instances, it is indeed omitted ; but, generally speaking, it is care fully ad-scribed, and in as large a form as its neigh bours. We are utterly at a loss to account for the pre sent degradation of this unfortunate element, which, we should suppose, was not only written by the Greeks, but also rendered audible in their pronunciation. Though the antients had no mark for the spiritus lenis, they had originally one for the asper, the same in power and form as the modern H. In this capacity it occurs on the fa.
mous Sigean marble, which, with many other valuable inscriptions, is now in the possession of the Earl of Elgin, a nobleman to whom the lover of Grecian anti quities is under the greatest obligations. This use of the H does not occur on any of the Arundelian marbles, which afford us no instance of a spiritus aspen The subjects of these inscriptions are various : some of them record treaties, others the victories and virtues of distinguished personages, and others miscellaneous events; hut by far the greater number, Latin and Greek, are of the sepulchral kind. In surveying these auto graphs of the ancient world, we are sometimes seized with a feeling of wonder, on recognizing the same sen timents of sorrow and affection, however trivial, which we ourselves have experienced. It is not consistent with the nature of our work, to enter into a detail of these inscriptions. We shall, however, select a few to gratify the reader's curiosity, who may not have access to scarce and expensive volumes.
The first, and the longest of the whole collection, is the league concluded between the Smyrnxan and Mag nesian states : and it has a strong claim to the attention of the scholar, not merely as containing the most com plete specimen extant of an ancient treaty of alliance, but as furnishing curious notices in antiquities and grammar. It was engraved on a pillar in the temple of Venus Stratonicis, at Smyrna, about 243 years before Christ. The occasion of it was this Antiochus wish ing to obtain a peace, demanded in marriage Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, with whom he had long been 51 war ; and with this view divorced his own consort Laodice. Having, however, on the death of Ptolemy, taken back Laodice, who was a woman dia bolically vindictive, he was poisoned by her soon after ; and his son Scleucus Callinicus raised to the throne. Seleucus, at the instigation of his mother, indicated a design to assassinate Berenice and her infant son ; but she, having fled to a strong hold, till her brother Pto lemy Euergetes should arrive to her assistance, made a stout opposition to her unnatural enemy. Before, how ever, her brother could arrive, she was treacherously murdered by some of her own adherents ; upon which, almost all Asia declared against Seleucus, and submit ted to the king of Egypt. But their ancient affections soon began to return ; for upon the total dispersion and destruction of a fleet of Seleucus, intended for a de scent upon Ptolemy's dominions, many of the states dis covered symptoms of commiseration at his cruel for tune, among whom were the Magnesians. The Smyr nmans, accordingly, who had always remained attached to the interest of Selcucus, so wrought upon these their neighbours, partly by threats, and partly by intreaty, that both states entered into a league offensive and de fensive, for protecting the dignity of Seleucus against all enemies whatsoever.