Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/431

 NEMAUSUS. tree, which may probably commemorate the conqnest of Egypt ; on the other are two heads, supposed to be Augustus and Agrippa, with the inscription imp. p. P. Divi. F. This medal has also been found in other places. It is figured below. COIN OF NEMAUSUS. Nimes contains many memorials of its Roman splendour. The amphitheatre, which is in good preservation, is larger than that of Verona in Italy ; and it is estimated that it would contain 17,000 persons. It stands in an open space, cleared of all buildings and obstructions. It has not the massive and imposing appearance of the amphitheatre of Arks; but it is more complete. A man may make tiie circuit on the flat which runs round the upper story, except for about one-sixth of the circuit, where the cornice and the flat are broken down. The greater diameter is about 437 English feet, which includes the thickness of the walls. The exterior height on the outside is nearly 70 English feet. The exterior face of the building consists of a ground stoiy, and a story above, which is crowned by an attic. There are sixty well proportioned NEMAUSUS. 415 arches in the ground story, all of the same size except four entrances, larger than the rest, which correspond to the four cardinal points. These arches open on a gallery, which runs all round the interior of the building. The story above has also sixty arches. All along the circumference of the attic there are consoles, placed at equal distances, two and two, and pierced in the middle by round holes. These holes received the poles which supported an awning to shelter the spectators from the sun and rain. When it was complete, there were thirty rows of seats in the interior. At present there are only seventeen. The stones of the upper seats are of enormous dimensions, some of them 12 feet lono- and 2 feet in width. The temple now called the Maison Carree is a parallelogram on the plan, about 76 English feet long, and 40 wide. It is what is called pseudo- peripteral, with thirty Corinthian fluted pillars, all of which are engaged in the walls, except six on the face and two on each side of the front portico, ten in all. The portico has, consequently, a con- siderable depth compared with the width. The columns are ten diameters and a quarter in height. The temple is highly enriched in a good style. Se'guier (1758) attempted to prove "that this temple was dedicated to C. and L. Caesar, the sons of Agrippa by Julia the daughter of Augustus. But M. Auguste Pe'let has within the present cen ■ tury shown that it was dedicated to M. Aurelius and L. Verus. The excavations which have been made round the Maison Carree since 1821 show that it was once surrounded by a colonnade, which seems to have been the boundary of a forum, within which the temple was placed. The Maison Can^e, after having passed through many hands, and been applied to many purposes, is now a museum of painting and antiquities. Arthur Young {Travels in France, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 48) says "that the Maison Carree is beyond comparison the most light, elegant, and pleasing building I ever beheld." Nobody will contradict this. TEMPLE AT NEMAUSUS, nolO called THE MAISON CAKKEE. The famous fountain of Nemausus, which Auso- nius mentions {Ordo Nob. Urh., Burdigala)— " Non Apouus potu, vitrea non luce Nemausus Purior" — still exists; and there are some traces of the ancient construction, though the whole is a modern restora- tion. But the great supply of water to Nemausus w;is by the aqueduct now called the Pont du Card, and it is said that this acqueduct terminated by a subterraneous passage in the side of tlie rock of the fountain. A building called the Temple of Diana, and a large edifice called Tour Magne (Turris Magna), which appears to have been a sepulchral monument, the gate of Augustus, and the gate called of France, are the chief remaining monuments of Nemausus. The noblest Roman monument in France is the aqueduct called the Pont du Card, which is between three and four leagues from Nimes. Over this aque-