Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology | Page 9

that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the temple
of Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and those of
solid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three measures--the
golden chariot, &c.
This temple was first consumed by fire in the Marian war, and then
rebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in the Vitellian sedition.
Vespasian undertook a third, which was burnt about the time of his
death. Domitian raised the last and most glorious of all, in which the
very gilding amounted to twelve thousand talents--on which Plutarch
has observed of that emperor, that he was, like Midas, desirous of
turning every thing into gold. There are very little remains of it at
present, yet enough to make a Christian church.
The capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to Juno,
and one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was
poetically called "Media qui sedet æde Deus"--the god who sits in the
middle temple.
The pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus
Cæsar, and dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the
name implies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and
about the same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places
being here and there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of
brass of forty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole edifice,
only a round hole at the top of the roof, which serves very well for the
admission of light. The walls on the inside are either solid marble or
incrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with brazen plates,
gilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed to lead. The

gates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude.
This temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the loss of the
old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by Pope
Boniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they before
ascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the entrance.
There are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much for
the magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend upon
them, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the
temples of Saturn and Janus.
The first was famous on account of serving for the public treasury--the
reason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn first taught
the Italians to coin money; but most probably it was because this was
the strongest place in the city. Here were preserved all the public
registers and records, among which were the libri elephantini, or great
ivory tables, containing a list of all the tribes and the schemes of the
public accounts.
The other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large as to
contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on each side,
which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace.
CHAPTER VIII.
Of other public Buildings.
Theatres, so called from the Greek {theaomai}, to see, owe their origin
to Bacchus.
That the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of edifices,
was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a
semicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as if
two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often
called by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been
designed for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the
amphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The

following are the most important parts of both.
Scena was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being made
either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the
spectators.
Proscenium was the space of ground just before the scene, where the
pulpitum stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to
perform.
The middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called cavæ, because
it was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, the
name of pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it
used to be strown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping.
There was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the ordinary
division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The first
range was called orchestra, from {orcheisthai}, because in that part of
the Grecian theatres, the dances were performed; the second equestria;
and the other popularia.
[Illustration:
Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called the Colisæum. Pl.
2.]
The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the
Colisæum, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of
the world. It was five hundred