sed on a platform of several steps, and about one
hundred and fifty-four feet in length and fifty-five in breadth. It seems
that this temple was used in times past for a Christian church, and the
sides of its cella are perforated by arched openings. The next temple is
near one of the ancient city gates, and is supposed to have been dedicated
to Hercules: it was celebrated in ancient times for having in it a fine
picture of Alcmena; but it is now a confused heap of ruin, with only one
column standing, which proves it to have been of larger dimensions than
the temples just mentioned.

Turning a little to the right, we come upon the Temple of Jupiter
Olympius, commonly called of the Giants, the largest sacred edifice in
Sicily, and one of the most stupendous works of the ancients. It was in
length three hundred and sixty-eight feet, in breadth one hundred and
eighty; the breadth or diameter of its columns at the base thirteen feet
four inches; the height of the columns must have been seventy-five feet;
above these rose a massive entablature, and the top of the pediments could
not have been less than one hundred and twenty feet high! The grandeur of
the door and vestibule corresponded to the simple majesty of the whole
building, whose sculptured ornaments represented, with the finished
elegance and laborious accuracy that distinguished each particular figure,
the 'Defeat of the Giants and the Taking of Troy.' In the interior ranged
twenty-four antae, or square pillars, of fifty feet in height; on the top
of each was a sculptured giant twenty-seven feet in height, which with his
hands clasped over his head supported the lofty roof. One can scarcely
conceive any thing more noble and majestic than this wonderful edifice, in
comparison with which, though covering much more ground, St. Peter's in
Rome is a splendid gew-gaw. But what remains of this great temple? A wide
heap of ruin; the interior of which, the columns and walls having fallen
outward, is a flowery field, in which lie some fragments of those huge
giants that once supported the roof. One of these is tolerably entire: the
curls of his hair form a sort of garland: it lies with its face upward,
and when I stood by it, my own head scarcely reached as high as the brow
of the statue. It is composed of several pieces of stone, as are the
columns of this temple, and most of the others of Agrigentum. On every
side of this elevated field lie the walls, entablatures, and columns