2 English feet (= 6000 ancient Oscan feet). The
west gate was the Porta Romana; remains of the east gate (the name of
which we do not know) have been found. This fact shows that the main
street of the town was perfectly orientated, and that before the Via
Appia was constructed, i.e. in all probability in pre-Roman times. The
width of the town from north to south cannot be so accurately determined
as the line of the north and south walls is not known, though it can be
approximately fixed by the absence of tombs (Beloch fixes it at 4000
Oscan feet = 3609 English feet), nor is it absolutely certain (though it
is in the highest degree probable, for Cicero praises its regular
arrangement and fine streets) that the plan of the town was rectangular.
Within the town are remains of thermae on the north of the Via Appia and
of a theatre opposite, on the south. The former consisted of a large
crypto-porticus round three sides of a court, the south side being open
to the road; it now lies under the prisons. Beloch (see below)
attributes this to the Oscan period; but the construction as shown in
Labruzzi's drawing (v. 17)[3] is partly of brick-work and _opus
reticulatum_, which may, of course, belong to a restoration. The stage
of the theatre had its back to the road; Labruzzi (v. 18) gives an
interesting view of the _cavea_. It appears from inscriptions that it
was erected after the time of Augustus. Other inscriptions, however,
prove the existence of a theatre as early as 94 B.C., so that the
existence of another elsewhere must be assumed. We know that the Roman
colony was divided into regions and possessed a capitolium, with a
temple of Jupiter, within the town, and that the market-place, for
unguents especially, was called Seplasia; we also hear of an _aedes
alba_, probably the original senate house, which stood in an open space
known as _albana_. But the sites of all these are quite uncertain.
Outside the town on the north is the amphitheatre, built in the time of
Augustus, restored by Hadrian and dedicated by Antoninus Pius, as the
inscription over the main entrance recorded. The exterior was formed by
80 Doric arcades of four storeys each, but only two arches now remain.
The keystones were adorned with heads of divinities. The interior is
better preserved; beneath the arena are subterranean passages like those
in the amphitheatre at Puteoli. It is one of the largest in existence;
the longer diameter is 185 yds., the shorter 152