Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/461

Rh HOMAX. A li H I T E C T U E E known to the Greeks. Then the ends were rounded off into apses, and the same was done at the temple of Venus and Rome. In each of the above cases the exterior still conformed almost entirely to the outlines of the Greeks. But we now come to the circular edifices, as the temple tf Minerva Medica, 110 feet in diameter, and the Pantheon, 39. As to the age of these and their purpose there is some doubt ; but there can be none as to the temples of Vesta at Tivoli and Rome, which have an external peristyle of columns, and thus present an entirely new form. Whether these temples were finished with domes or not is doubtful. In any case the exterior would probably have shown merely a sloping roof, as has been common enough in Italy down to late times. THEATRES. The best remaining specimens of Roman theatres are those of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Like those of the Greeks, they rest on the side of a hill, but instead of being hewn out of the hill they are built on it. Others in a more or less ruined state remain in Italy, France, Sicily, &c.,e.y., at Rome, Verona, Pola, Taormina, and Aries. At first they were of wood, and one by vEmilius Scaurus, 58 B.C., is said to have held 80,000 spectators. That they were copied mainly from the Greeks there can be no doubt. In fact, one built by Pompey is expressly stated to have been copied from another at Mytilene, and their general form is very similar to that of the Greek theatre. But the Roman theatre received a greater decree of architectural decoration than the Greek. Of thisthe theatre of Marcellus, in Rome, is an example ; for though otherwise destroyed, its external wall remains and presents columnar ordinances, with intervening arches -in stories according to the practice of the Roman school. AMPHITHEATRES. These are altogether Roman in ^ene- ral design. The first is said to have been built by Julius Ca?sar, and others were afterwards built by Caligula and Xero. The first of stone is said to have been the Colosseum, built by Vespasian and Titus, and so called from the Colossus of Xero which stood near. It was injured and then restored under Severus and Decius, in whose time awning, we know that the main portion at least of the audience was protected from the fierce rays of the sun by a strong velarium. This was supported on the outside by heavy masts, which passed through holes still existin- La the top cornice, and stepped down on to the corbels, which show so conspicuously in the top order. Recent excava tions have disclosed the original arena, about 20 feet below the present level of the ground. Evidence has also been obtained that the arena was sometimes a movable platform io obtain an approximate idea of the size of this enor mous structure, we must remember that the Albert Hall (the largest diameter of which is 276 feet) could have been placed in the arena alone of the Colosseum, the exterior f which measures 622 feet by 528 (Plate XVI fio- 1) Other amphitheatres of great size were constructed in the various towns of the empire. Amongst them we may mention that at. Verona, 500 feet by 404, and Nismes (still used for public shows), 434 by 340. Extensive remains &amp;gt;f another, 3,6 feet by 220^ have been discovered recently &quot;** - -&quot;-L jemm, in lunis. ^Soe AxfpTTTTtnrATTJK -.-^i ; TJ *wrt i&amp;gt;jv,&amp;lt;^ ,n.iur JlllHr,Alitrj. 01. 1 T^n / 7&amp;lt;t_ / 7r&amp;gt; .&quot;m, ,^j. f, pp. 774 TOMBS. Some very grand samples of tombs of circular onus remain, as well as many others of great beauty. t be remembered that with the Romans both burial nd cremation were used. The columbaria (vaults lined vith small recesses for the urns, which contained the ashes c dead) present the most ordinary specimens of archi- sctural forms adapted to cremation. The sarcophagus of which that of the Scipios is the best known SSfe? pil sents the orchnary form used in connection with burial But when the family of the deceased was rich or dis tinguished, the ashes or the sarcophagi were enclosed in buildings of the most magnificent kind. The tomb of Cecilia Metelln, so well known to all by Byron s beautiful lines in Chttde Harold, commencing &quot; There is a stern round tower of other days,&quot; is a bold tower 90 feet in diameter and 62 feet hi&amp;lt;*h, so solidly built as to contain only a chamber&quot; 19 feet in diameter. Much grander was the mausoleum of Augus tus, which has perished. Of the mausoleum of Hadrian the skeleton only remains. But it shows that the base was 170 feet square, supporting a circular edifice 115 feet in diameter. It would seem that this mass, now formed into the castle of St Angelo, and showing the naked brick work, had, in its glory, two ranges of marble columns and probably a domed roof. From its position on the banks of the Tiber, near the bridge, it must have formed one of the- grandest architectural .compositions of the Romans. 1 FORUMS. At first these great buildings were used for Forum* merchants, and were open spaces with porticoes, shops counting-houses, &c., all round. The best example existing is, perhaps, that of the Forum of Pompeii. In later times these erections expanded into grand architectural ranges of porticoes, with statues, fec. Leading out of them,in various positions, were temples, law courts, theatres, &c It was in Trajan s Forum that his famous column was erected. The AQUEDUCTS show little of the skill of the architect, Aqueduct*. but they are very picturesque as they stretch along the Campagna and other places. Across a valley, at Tarragona one rises to a height of 100 feet, and another, the Pont clu Gard, at Xismes, to 180. But they do not reach the level of true architectural beauty, and derive their chief value from their immense length and size. (See AQUEDUCT pp. 219-221 of the present volume.) The TRIUMPHAL ARCH is peculiarly Roman, and it is in Triumph*! this form that the arch appears to have been most boldly arches, used as an external feature. The arch is, in fact, the form to which all other parts of the structure are mere decorative adjuncts. The principal examples are the arches of Titu.s. Severus, Janus, and Constantino at Rome, and that of Trajan at Ancona. DWELLINGS. The still extensive remains of the villa of Dwelling*. Hadrian, near Tivoli, bespeak its original magnificence Everything appears to have been directed to internal splen dour and effect alone ; and, indeed, all collateral evidence tends to the conclusion, that the exterior of Roman palaces and mansions was not heeded, being merely plain brick walls. This is the case at Pompeii, and the ruins of man sions in various parts of Italy, from that of Sallust on the Benacus or Lago di Garda, to those of other Roman nobles on the shores of the Bay of Baiae, present no indications whatever that their exteriors were subjected to architectural decoration. The palace of Diocletian at Spalatro, and the splendid remains of Baalbec and Palmyra, some of which, perhaps, belonged to secular structures, offer evidence to the contrary of this, if they are correctly restored in the works which treat of them. Notwithstanding the extent of the structure and its general magnificence, however, the 1 Singular enough, mausoleums, though they have been destroyed in Greece and Rome, have been preserved in Africa. There we have. singular structure, the Medricen, in Algeria, 180 feet in diameter, with a row of engaged columns of a rude Doric type as a stereobate, and on these a series of gradini. The whole outline greatly resembles that of the circular Etruscan-built tombs already described. Much grander and more ornate is the Koubr, also in Algeria, which is of the same form, but 200 feet in diameter, and 108 feet high to the platform at top. The order is a curious imitation of the Erechtheum Ionic. The Medricen has not been entered, at least, in modern times. The Koubr has a singular arched passage, entered from below the gronnd-levcl v. } winding all round to a chamber in the centre. The rest is solid.
 * is probable that the upper row was added. As to the