Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/390

 358 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. Part I. like the <rrottoes of Beni Hassan, or the Tomb of St. James at Jeru- salem. Many of them sho^■ powerful evidence of Greek taste, while some may be as old as the Grecian era, though the greater part are undoubtedly of Roman date, and the paintings with which many of them are still adorned are certainly Roman in design. Two of them are illustrated by Woodcuts Nos. 165 and 166 ; one as show- ing more distinct evidence of Greek taste and color than 240. Fa9ade of the Tomb of the Judges. is to be found elsewhere, though it is doubtful if it belongs to the Grecian period any more than the so-called Tomb of St. James at Jerusalem ; the other, though of equally uncertain date, is interesting as beino- a circular monument built over a cave like that at Amrith Woodcut (No. 120), and is the only other example now known. None of them have such splendid architectural fa5ades as the Khasne at Petra ; but the number of tombs which are adorned with architectural features is greater than in that city, and, grouped as they are together in terraces on the hill-side, they constitute a necropolis which is among the most striking of the ancient world. Altogether this group, though somewhat resembling that at Castel d'Asso, is more extensive and far richer in external architecture. i Time has not left us any perfect structural tombs in all these places, though there can be little doubt but they were once numerous. Almost the only tomb of this class constructed in masonry known to exist, and which in many respects is perhaps the most interesting of all, is found in Asia Minor, at Mylassa in Caria. In form it is something like the free-standing rock-cut examples at Jerusalem. As shown in the woodcut (No. 241), it consists of a square base, which supports twelve columns, of Avhich the eight inner ones support a dome, the outer four merely completing the square. The dome itself is con- structed in the same manner as all the Jaina domes are in India (as will be explained hereafter Avhen describing that style), and, though ornamented with Roman details, is so unlike anything else ever built by that people, and is so completely and perfectly what we find at Cyrene are so uncertain, there seems little doubt that if any one thoroughly versed in the style were to visit the place, he could fix the age of all of them with approximate correctness. The one difficulty is, that a chronometric scale taken from the buildings at Rome, or even in Syria, will not suffice. Local peculiarities must be taken into account and allowed for, and this requires both time and judgment.
 * Though the dates of all these tombs