Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/360

 328 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. Part L afterwards made so much use, is carried to so great an extent as in this. The Colosseum is principally indebted to this feature for the effect which it produces. Had it, for instance, been designed with only one storvof the height of the four now existing, and every arch had consequently been as wide as the present four, the building would have scarcely appeared half the size it is now seen to be. For all this, however, when close under it, and comparing it with moving iigures and other oVjjects, we could scarcely eventually fail to realize its won- derful dimensions. In that case, a true sense of the vast size of the ■ l)uil(ling would have had to be acquired, as is the case with the fa9ade of St. Peter's. Now it forces itself on the mind at the first glance. It is the repetition of arch beyond arch and story over story that leads the mind on, and gives to this amphitheatre its imposing grandeur, which all acknowledge, though few give themselves the trouble to inquire how this effect is produced. Fortunately, too, though the face of the building is much cut up l)y the order, the entablatures are unbroken throughout, and cross the building in long vanishing lines of the most graceful curvatures. The oval, also, is certainly more favorable for effect than a circular form would be. A building of this shape may perhaps look smaller than it really is to a person standing exactly opposite either end ; « but in all other i)Ositions the flatter side gives a variety and an ajjpearance of size, which the monotonous equality of a circle would never j^roduce. The length of the building measured over all along its greatest diameter, is (320 ft., its breadth 513, or nearly in the ratio of 6 to 5, which may be taken as the general proportion of these buildings, the variations from it being slight and apparently either mistakes in setting out the work in ancient times, or in measuring it in modern days, rather than an intentional deviation. The height of the three lower stories, or of what I believe to have been the original building, is 120 ft.; the total height as it now stands is 157 ft. The arena itself measures 287 ft. in length !)y 180 in breadth. The Avhole area of the building has been calculated to contain 250,000 square feet, of which the arena contains 40,000, then deducting 10,000 for the external wall, 200,000 square feet will remain available for the audience. If we divide this by 5,' which is the number of square feet it has V)een found necessary to allow for each spectator in modern ])lac('s of amusement, room will be afforded for 40,000 spectators : at 4 feet, which is a possible quantity, with continuous seats and the scant drajiery of the Romans, the amphitheatre might contain 50,000 spectators at one time. 1 At the Crystal Palace it has always been found necessary to allow six square feet to each person.