Chap. IV.

ROMAN.

117

for the excellence of the joint: the small particles of the stone rubbed down, mixingwith the water thrown on the lower, formed a cement, filling up the void between them.

All the workmanship of the amphitheatre is of a colossal kind: many of the stonescontain from 25 to 35 feet cube ; their beds are from 12 to 15 feet superficial, which addsmuch to the difficulty of the execution.

Hie facings were not so carefully attended to as the joints and beds, it evidently beingintended they should be dressed after the completion of the work, which was the commonpractice with the Romans. In all their constructions they took the precaution ofuniting the stones together by two oak wedges cut in a dovetailed form, placed over eachjoint, sunk in the stone to a depth of 2 : } inches ; these were about 4 inches in length, andall that remains, upon a careful examination, is a ligneous dust, the wedges having perishedlong ago.

The cutting of the moellon, employed in the walls and the vaults, is admirable ; thecourses are from 5 to 9 inches in height, and the stones arc from 8 to 10 inches in length.Their faces are coarse, and the joints and beds so cut that the stones may be unitedclosely at the edges with an exactness almost incredible. The edges or arrises of themoellon are as sharp as if of freestone : the same nicety of execution runs throughout thevaults where moellon was employed, and the voussoirs, which are from 15 to 20 inches inheight, and from 7 to 9 inches in width, are cut with the greatest care, relatively to theirconical and rampant projection. All the moellon was bedded in cement; but little is tobe seen, on account of the extreme fineness of the joint. The filling up of the masses,spandrels, &c. was with rubble stones of all shapes, run in a coarse cement, which hasbecome as hard as the stone itself; this was composed of equal parts of quicklime, gravellysand, broken tiles and bricks. Wherever iron is used, it is run with lead ; the iron crampsfor placing the stones of the podium are so cased.

The velarium or covering -For several ages, the spectators in the amphitheatres were

uncovered, as w’c find the ancient historians often allude to the necessity of quitting theirseats, on account of the rain which fell. And St. Chrysostom reproves the people(IIom. 4.e. 16.) for having stood bare-headed with the sun scorching them in the theatre. Wealso learn, from many inscriptions which are in the collection made by Gruters, that thetheatres were provided with covered porticoes, to shelter the people assembled. Pliny andValerius Maximus both state that Quintus Catulus was the first who contrived a vela, orshade, for the people assembled in the theatre ; and the first of these authors gives the nameof Valerius of Ostia as the engineer employed to execute the work. Lentulus Spinter(Pliny , 1. 19. c. 1.) formed the vela first of linen cloth, and Dio (lib. 43.) tells us thatCaesar introduced one of silk, to keep off the heat of the sun’s rays at the amphitheatre,constructed of wood. Silk, in the time of the emperor Aurelian , was in value equal to itsweight of gold, and therefore must have been a great luxury. Die emperor Nero spreadover the theatre a vela bespangled with golden stars, on which was represented Pha?tondriving the chariot of the sun, the material of which has been supposed was wool, as some*times, in its description, the word Apulia ? is made use of, and dyed wools w’ere broughtfrom that country.

Lampridius (in Com. a Militibus, Classiariis) informs us that the management of the velawas left entirely to sailors, as they were more expert in going aloft amidst ropes, and under-stood the tackle which regulated the spreading of it better than others. There can be nodoubt that it required considerable dexterity on the part of the engineer to keep steady anawning containing 113,345 superficial feet, which would be required for the amphitheatre atNismes, and for the magnificent Coliseum nearly 250,000 superficial feet, or more thandouble ; the weight of ■which, at only one pound per foot, comprising the ropes andtackle, would amount to 112 tons or thereabouts. So vast a weight disposed and upheldby tension only creates our wonder and admiration.

At the level of the attic story are 120 projecting consoles, each having a circularhole about 10 inches in diameter, corresponding with a circular mortice of the same size,and 6 inches in depth, made in the projection of the cornice of the second order. Theupper opening of the hole in each console has externally a groove 2 inches in height,destined for an iron collar, to which was attached a tie, which secured it to the wall of theattic at the level of the top of the console: the holes which contained these have someportions of the iron run with lead remaining.

The hole of each console received a round mast, which, passing through it, rested in ahole sunk in the cornice below, the iron collar preventing it from acting against the sides ofthe console and fracturing it. The masts alone would not be sufficient to support theweight of the vela, extending over an elliptical area, the axis of which, in one direction, was436 feet, and in the other, 331. To aid in the support other posts were introduced throughmortices about 10 inches in length, placed opposite each console, at the projecting part ofthe moulding which crowns the interior of the attic ; on each side, 4 or 5 inches from theedge of the attic, are holes still containing the lead which secured the iron ties that held

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