an, change not; and nowhere can the fragments of a bygone age
appear to such advantage as on the spots selected for their erection,
where their vicinity to peculiar scenery had been taken into
consideration.

We spent a considerable time in examining the Amphitheatre, and so well
is it preserved, that one can hardly bring one's self to believe that
so many centuries have elapsed since it was built; and that generation
after generation has passed away, who have looked on this edifice which
now meets my view, so little changed by the ravages of that ruthless
conqueror Time, or the still more ruthless Visigoths who converted it
into a citadel, flanking the eastern door with two towers. In 737
Charles Martel besieged the Saracens, and set fire to it, and after
their expulsion it continued to be used as a citadel.

The form of this fine building is elliptical, and some notion of its
vast extent may be formed, when it is stated to have been capable of
containing above 17,000 spectators.

Its facade consists of two rows of porticoes, forming two galleries one
over the other, composing sixty arcades, divided by the same number of
Tuscan pilasters in the first range, and of Doric columns in the upper,
and an attic, which crowns all. Four principal doors, fronting the four
cardinal points, open into the amphitheatre, divided at nearly equal
distances one from the other.

The attic has no arcades, pilasters, or columns; but a narrow ledge
runs along it, which was probably used for the purpose of approaching
the projecting consoles, 120 in number, placed in couples at equal
distances between two columns, and pierced with a large hole, which
corresponds with a similar one in the cornice, evidently meant for
securing the awnings used to prevent the spectators from being
inconvenienced by the rain or sun.

These awnings did not extend to the arena, which was usually left open,
but were universally adopted in all the Roman amphitheatres, after
their introduction by Q. Catullus. The vast extent and extraordinary
commodiousness of the amphitheatres erected by the Romans, prove not
only the love of the sports exhibited in them entertained by that
people, but the attention paid to their health and comfort by the
architects who planned these buildings. The numerous vomitories were
not amongst the least important of these comforts, securing a safe
retreat from the theatre in all cases of emergency, and precluding
those fearful accident