CHAP. 20.—HANGING GARDENS. A HANGING CITY.
We read, too, of hanging gardens, [Note] and what is even more
than this, a hanging city, [Note] Thebes in Egypt: it being the practice
for the kings to lead forth their armies from beneath,
while the inhabitants were totally unconscious of it. This, too,
is even less surprising than the fact that a river flows through
the middle of the city. If, however, all this had really been
the case, there is no doubt that Homer would have mentioned
it, he who has celebrated the hundred gates of Thebes.