Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/375

 Bk. IV. Ch. V TOMBS. 343 <¥x 223. Tomb of Csecilia Metella. basement about 100 ft. square, i which was originally ornamented in some manner not now intelligible. From this rose a circular tower about 94 ft. in diameter, of very bold masonry, surmounted by a frieze of ox-skulls M'ith wreaths joining them, and a well-profiled cornice : two or three courses of masonry above this seem to have belono-ed to the orio-inal ■work; and above this, almost cer- ■tainlv, in the orimnal desio-n rose a conical roof, which has perished. The tower having been used as a fortress in the Middle Ages, battle- ments have been added to supply the place of the roof, and it has been otherwise disfigured, so as to detract much from its beauty, as now seen. Still we have no tomb of the same importance so i)erfect, nor one which enables us to connect the Roman tombs so nearly with the Etruscan. The only addition in this instance is that of the square basement or podium, though even this was not miknown at a much earlier period, as for instance in the tomb of Aruns (Woodcut No. 176). The exaggerated height of the circular base is also remarkable. Here it rises to be a tower instead of a mere circular base of stones for the earthen cone of the original sepulchre. The stone roof which probably surmounted the tower was a mere reproduction of the original earth. Next in age and importance was the tomb of Augustus in the Campus Martins. It is now so completely ruined that it is extremely difficult to make out its plan, and those who drew and restored it in former days were so careless in their measurements that even its dimensions cannot be ascertained : it appears, however, to have con- sisted of a circular basement about 300 ft. in diameter, and about 60 ft, in height, adorned with 12 large niches. Above this rose a cone of earth as in the Etruscan tombs, not smooth like those, but divided into terraces, which were ]ilanted with trees. We also learn from Suetonius that Augustus laid out the grounds around his tomb and ])Ianted them with gardens for public use during his lifetime. More like the practice of a true Mogul in the East than the ruler of an Indo-Germanic people in Europe. This tomb, however, was far surpassed, not only in solidity but in splendor, by that which Hadrian erected for himself on the banks of the Tiber, now known as the Mole of Hadrian, or more frequently the 1 I am extremely uncertain about the dimensions of this building: these are the best I can find.