I Believe That
This Absence Of Ruins Can Be Accounted For In The
Following Manner.
Paphos was several times overthrown
by earthquakes.
The last time the temple was rebuilt
was by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented; but
as nothing is said of the rebuilding of the city it is
supposed that it was left in ruins; probably therefore
during the long period that Cyprus was under the Roman
and the Byzantine rule a great deal of the decorative
and architectural material of Paphos was transported to
the other city called Nea-Paphos, and used for its
embellishment. In the Acts of the Apostles it is spoken
of as the official residence of the Roman proconsul
Paulus Sergius, and was therefore the capital of the
island. By the time of the Lusignan kings Palaeo-Paphos
had disappeared, and its ruins under their reign were
extensively explored in search of statuary and other
objects of art, with which to decorate the royal castle
built in its vicinity. There is scarcely any ancient
tomb to be found of a date previous to the Roman period
which had not been opened centuries ago."
In page 207 General di Cesnola gives an illustration of "stone feet with
a Cypriote inscription, from the temple of Paphos," which would suggest
from their appearance that gout was not uncommon even within the temple
of Venus. In continuation he writes, page 210:--
"The great temple of Venus was situated on an
eminence, which at present is at a distance of about
twenty-five minutes' walk from the sea. Some parts
of its colossal walls are still standing, defying time and
the stone-cutter, though badly chipped by the latter.
One of the wall-stones measured fifteen feet ten
inches in length, by seven feet eleven inches in width
and two feet five inches in thickness. The stone is
not from Cyprus, but being a kind of blue granite,
must have been imported either from Cilicia or from
Egypt.
"The temple as rebuilt by Vespasian seems to have
occupied the same area as the former temple, and was
surrounded by a peribolos, or outer wall. Of this
a few huge blocks only are now extant. On the west
side of this outer wall there was a doorway still
plainly visible. Its width was seventeen feet nine
inches. The two sockets for the bolts upon which
the door swung are of the following dimensions:
length six inches, width four and a half inches, depth
three and a half inches. The south-east wall, I ascertained,
by excavating its whole length, was690 feet
long. The length of the west side I could only trace
as far as 272 feet, its continuance being hiddenbeneath
the houses of Kouklia. The length of the other two
sides I was unable to ascertain for similarreasons.
The walls of the temple itself, made of the kind of
stone previously mentioned, but not in such huge
blocks, I was able to trace correctly, bydint of
patience; and though very little is seen above ground,
yet, strange to say, the four corner-stonesare still
standing.
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