el of the sea. The site of the ancient city is lower,
and about a mile distant. It was probably founded in the eighth century
before CHRIST. In its flourishing state it contained two hundred thousand
inhabitants, who were celebrated for their hospitality, their love of the
arts and luxurious style of living. Plato was so much struck with the
solidity of their buildings and the sumptuousness of their dinners, that
he said they 'built as though they thought themselves immortal, but ate as
though they never expected to eat again.' The horses of Agrigentum were
celebrated; and one of the citizens returning from the Olympic games, on
entering his native town, was followed by three hundred chariots, each
drawn by four white horses sumptuously caparisoned. The government of this
little state, whose inhabitants never amounted to more than eight hundred
thousand, was at first monarchical, afterward democratic; but neither the
forms of its institutions, nor its riches and grandeur, could save it from
misfortune: it was besieged several times by the Carthaginians, and at
length, after a siege of three years, was taken and sacked by Hannibal,
the son of Giscon. In alluding to these misfortunes, the historian says:
'Yet of all the Sicilian cities, the fate of Agrigentum seemed the most
worthy to be deplored, from the striking contrast of its fallen state with
its recent splendor and prosperity. The natural beauties of Agrigentum
were secured by strength and adorned with elegance; and whoever considered
either the innumerable advantages of the city itself, or the gay
cultivation of the surrounding territory, which abounded in every luxury
of the sea and land, was ready to pronounce the Agrigentines the most
favored inhabitants of the earth. The exuberant fertility of the soil,
particularly the rich luxuriance of the vines and olives, exceeded every
thing that is related of the happiest climates, and furnished the means of
lucrative commerce with the populous coast of Africa, which was sparingly
provided with those valuable plants. The extraordinary wealth of the
Agrigentines was displayed in the magnificence of public edifices and in
the splendid enjoyment of private fortunes. They had begun and almost
completed the celebrated Temple of Jupiter, built in the grandest style of
architecture, employed by the Greeks on the greatest and most solemn
occasions.'

The ancient city of Agragas stood on an elevated platform or table of
land, thr