the river, 1.50 ft. high and 60 feet wide, bearing arches of 170 ft. span. It was destroyed by Hadrian, his successor: some say out of envy; but the plea was, that it served the barbarians as an inlet to the empire, as much as it facilitated the passage of its troops to keep them in subjection. His triumphal arches, his column (fig. 111.), and forum, and other

Fig. 111. COLUMN OF TRAJAN.

works, attest the vigour and beauty of the art under the reign of Trajan. The forum was a quadrangle surrounded by a lofty portico, into which the entrance was through four triumphal arches, and in the centre was the column. Apollodorus was his principal architect, by whom was erected the column above mentioned, which was not only the chef-d'œuvre of the age, but has never been surpa-sed. It is 115 ft. high with the cap, 132 ft. with the figure, marking the height of the hill levelled to form the forum. The public monuments with which Harian adorned every province of the empire were executed not only by his orders, but under his immediate inspection. He was himself an artist; and he loved the arts, as they conduced to the glory of the monarch. They were encouraged by the Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness of the people. But if they were the first, they were not the only architects of their dominions. Their example was universally imitated by their principal subjects, who were not afraid of declaring to the world that they had spirit to conceive and wealth to accomplish the noblest undertakings. Scarcely had the proud structure of the Coliseum been dedicated at Rome, before edifices of a smaller scale indeed, but of the same design and materials, were erected for the u e and at the expense of the cities of Capua and Verona. The inscription of the stupendous bridge at Alcantara attests that it was thrown over the Tagus by the contribution of a few Lusitanian communities. When Pliny was entrusted with the government of Bithynia and Pontus, provinces by no means the richest or most considerable of the empire, he found the cities within his jurisdiction striving with each other in every useful and ornamental work that might deserve the curiosity of strangers, or the gratitude of their citizens. It was the duty of the proconsul to supply their deficiencies, to direct their taste, and sometimes to moderate their emulation. The opulent senators of Rome and the provinces esteemed it an honour, and almost an obligation, to adorn the splendour of their age and country; and the influence of fashion very frequently supplied the want of taste or generosity. Among a crowd of these private benefactors, we select Herodes Atticus, an Athenian citizen, who lived in the age of the Antonines. Whatever might be the motive of his conduct, his magnificence would have been worthy of the greatest kings." We make no apology for so long a quotation from the historian of the Decline and Fall, whose expressions are so suitable to our purpose. The family of Herod was highly descended; but his grandfather had suffered by the hands of justice; and Julius Atticus, his father, must have died in poverty, but for the discovery of an immense treasure in an old house, the only piece of his patrimony that remained. By the law this would have been the property of the emperor, to whom Julius gave immediate information. Nerva the Just, who was then on the throne, refused to accept it, desiring him to keep it and use it. Athenian hesitatingly replied, that the treasure was too large for a subject, and that he knew not how to use it. The emperor replied, "Abuse it then, for 'tis your own." Ile seems really to have followed the monarch's bidding, for he expended the greatest part of it in the service of the public. This man's son, Herodes, had acquired the prefecture of the free cities of Asia, among which the town of Troas being ill supplied with water, he obtained from the munificence of Hadrian a sum equivalent to 100,000l. sterling for constructing a new aqueduct. The work on execution amounted to double the estimate; and on the officers of the revenue complaining, Atticus charged himself with the whole of the additional expense. Some considerable ruins still preserve the fame of his taste and munificence. The Stadium which he erected at Athens was 600 ft. in length, entirely of white marble, and capable of receiving the whole body of the people. To the memory of his wife, Regilla, he dedicated a theatre, in which no wood except cedar was employed. restored the Odeum to its ancient beauty and magnificence. His boundless liberality was not, however, confined within the city of Athens. "The most splendid ornaments," says Gibbon, "bestowed on the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus, a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at Thermopylae, and an aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, were insufficient to exhaust his treasures. The people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus experienced his favours, and many inscriptions of the cities of Greece and Asia gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and benefactor."

The cautious

He

194. Architecture was still practised with success under the Antonines, the successors of Hadrian, among whom Marcus Aurelius was a great patron of the arts. On these history almost instructs us, that the effect of the individual character of the sovereign, and the general and leading circumstances of his reign, are so influential as to enable us from the two last to estimate the prosperity of the first.

195. The rapidity with which after the time of Commodus, that most unworthy son of a worthy father, the emperors succeeded each other, was as unfavourable for the arts as for their country. A little stand was made against their rapid decline, under Septimius Severus, whose triumphal arch still remains as a link in the chain of their decay, and perhaps the first. It is diflicult to conceive how in so short a period from the time of Marcus Aurelius, not thirty years, sculpture had so lost ground. In the arch commonly called that of the Goldsmiths, the form and character of good architecture is entirely obliterated. Its profiles are vicious, and its ornaments debased and overcharged.

196. The art was somewhat resuscitated under Alexander Severus, but it was fast following the fate of the empire in the West, and had become almost lifeless under Valerian and his son Gallienus, whose arch is an index to its state in his reign. The number of competitors for the purple, and the incursions of the barbarians, were felt. Aurelian and Probus suspended its total annihilation; but their reigns were unfortunately too short to do it substantial service. The extraordinary structures at Baalbec and Palmyra have been referred, on the authority of a fragment of John of Antioch, surnamed Malala, to the age of Antoninus Pius; but we are inclined to think the style places them a little later than that period. Baalbec, or, as its Syrian meaning imports, the City of Baal, or the Sun, is situate at the north-eastern extremity of the valley of Becat or Beka, near that place

where the two Lebanons unite, about fifty miles to the north-west of Damascus. The first traveller who described it with accuracy was Maundrell, in his Journey from Aleppo

to Jerusalem, in 1697. It has, however, been since visited, as well as Palinyra, by Messrs. Wood and Dawkins, in 1751, and by M. Volney at a later period. The principal building, the temple, is of a rectangular form, and is seated in the centre of the western extremity of a large quadrangular enclosure, two of whose sides were parallel to those of the temple; and parallel to its front was the third. To this was attached an hexagonal court, serving as a vestibule, in front of which was the grand entrance portico. The length of the quadrangle is about 360 ft. and breadth about 350 ft. (See fig. 112.) The temple, marked A, is, in round numbers, 200 ft. in length, and 100 ft. in breadth; it was diptera), and had ten columns in front and nineteen on the sides. That the reader may form some idea of the style, which was to the last degree debased. and would not justify by any utility the extending this ac

Fig. 113.

G

count, we have in fig. 113. given the sketch of a circular temple standing near the above. Of Emesa, the other celebrated Colo-Syrian city, not a vestige remains.

"It

197. Of Tadmor, or Palmyra, denoting both in Syriac as well as Latin a multitude of palm-trees, Solomon was said to have been the original founder. It lies considerably to the east of Baalbec, and upwards of 200 miles from the nearest coast of Syria. Situate between the Roman and Parthian monarchies, it was suffered to observe a humble neutrality until after the victories of Trajan; when, sinking into the bosom of Rome, it flourished more than 150 years in the subordinate though humble rank of a colony. was during that peaceful period," observes Gibbon, "if we may judge from a few remaining inscriptions, that the wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those temples, palaces, and porticoes, whose ruins, scattered over an extent of several miles, have deserved the curiosity of our travellers." The ruins of it were discovered by some English travellers towards the end of the 17th century, and were more lately visited by the Messrs. Dawkins and Wood, already mentioned. The power of Zenobia, who wished to shake off the subjection to Rome, was insufficient to withstand the forces of Aurelian, and Palmyra fell into his hands about the year 237. A slight sketch of the ruins (fig. 114.) is here

given. The style of architecture is almost the same as that of Baal. bec; and, like that, so vitiated in almost every profile, that we do not think it necessary longer to dwell upon it, although great the extent of its ruins. In the same way, we must pass over those of Djerash, which were visited by Mr. Barry, and of other considerable cities, though some are said to contain examples in a better and purer style.

198. The reign of Dioclesian was extended, and was illustrious from his military exploits. It was also remarkable for the wisdom he displayed in dividing with others the discharge of duties he could not himself perform; as well as, finally, by his abdication and retirement to Spalatro. Architecture was, however, too far sunk for him to raise it; and, though monuments of great grandeur were reared by him in Rome and his native town of Salona, they were degenerated by innovation and a profusion of ornaments which sometimes proved disastrous to those beneath, upon whom they occasionally fell, but the taste for which, among the Romans, had increased by their intercourse with the East. At a period when no sculptor existed in Rome, this monarch raised the celebrated baths there which bear his name. His palace at Spalatro (fig. 115.) covered between nine and ten English acres. Its form was quadrangular, flanked with sixteen towers. Two of the sides were 600 ft., and the other 700 ft. in length. It was constructed of stone little inferior to marble. Four streets, intersecting each other at right angles, divided the several parts of the edifice; and the approach to the principal apartment was from a stately entrance, still called the golden gate. By comparing the present remains with the Treatise by Vitruvius, there appears a coincidence in the practice here with the precepts of that author. The building consisted of only one story, and the rooms were lighted from above. Towards the south-west was a portico upwards of 500 ft. long, ornamented with painting and sculpture. We do not think it necessary to follow up further the decay of the arts in the West; it is sufficient to add that the fifth century witnessed the contemporaneous fall of them and of Rome itself.

199. Towards the year 330, the seat of the Roman empire was removed to Constantinople, where the reign of Constantine, though brilliant, was unsuccessful in restoring the arts, upon which religious as well as political causes had begun to act. The establishment of Christianity had less effect on architecture than on her sister arts. The new species of worship could be performed as well in the old as in temples of a new form, or the old columns might be employed in new edifices, in which, indeed, they were eminently serviceable; but statues of the gods were no longer wanted, and the sculptor's art was abandoned. The removal, however, of the government to the Bosphorus retarded the decline of the empire in the East. Byzantium, on whose foundations was placed the city of Constantinople, owed its origin to a colony of Megarians; and little was it to be imagined that its disasters would have closed in so glorious a termination as occurred to it. The ancient city still continued to possess some splendid productions of the schools of Asia Minor, which it almost touched, and in common with which it enjoyed the arts. Constantine profited by the circumstance, restored the monuments, and transported thither the best examples of sculpture.

200. Architecture was called in by the emperor to aid him in affording security, convenience, and pleasure to the inhabitants of the new metropolis. Vast walls surrounded the city; superb porticoes, squares of every kind, aqueducts, baths, theatres, hippodromes, obelisks,

triumphal arches, stately and magnificent temples, were provided for the public. Schools of architecture, which none but persons of good birth were allowed to enter, were established, with professors and prizes for the meritorious. From all this care, one might have supposed a plentiful harvest would have been reaped. But, alas! with all the expense, with all the fine marbles that were employed, with the bronze and gold lavished on the construction and decoration of the edifices erected, the art was not re-established on its true principles. Every thing was rich; but, notwithstanding the exaggerated praises of the ignorant writers of the day, every thing was deficient in real beauty, Richness of material will never compensate for want of elegance in form. "The buildings of the new city," observes Gibbon, "were executed by such artificers as the reign of Constantine could afford, but they were decorated by the hands of the most celebrated masters of the age of Pericles and Alexander. To revive the genius of Phidias and Lysippus surpassed, indeed the power of a Roman emperor; but the immortal productions which they had bequeathed to posterity were exposed without defence to the rapacious vanity of a despot. By his

commands the cities of Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable ornaments. The trophies of memorable wars, the objects of religious veneration, the most finished statues of the gods and heroes, of the sages and poets of ancient times, contributed to the splendid triumph of Constantinople, and gave occasion to the remark of the historian Cedrenus, who observes, with some enthusiasm, that nothing seemed wanting except the souls of the illustrious men whom those admirable monuments were intended to represent."

201. In Rome, the triumphal arch erected in honour of Constantine presents, to this day, an example of the barbarous and tasteless spirit of the age. It is nothing less than an incongruous mixture, in sculpture and architecture, of two periods remote from each other. But, discordant as the styles are, the absurdity of placing on it part of the triumphs of Trajan, whose arch was robbed for the occasion, is still greater. Not only was Trajan's arch despoiled of its bas reliefs, but the columns and capitals, which the architect, from ignorance, scarcely knew how to put together, were stolen for the occasion. We have used the term ignorance of the architect, who, (if the monument were not standing, the fact could scarcely be credited, with the finest models before his eyes, placed modinions with dentils in the cornice, and has used the same parts in his impost.

202. The partition of the empire at the death of Constantine was iniurious as well to the arts as to the empire; and at its reunion by Constantius in 353, he exhibited but little solicitude about their prosperity. On a visit of thirty days to Rome, he presented the city with the obelisk that now stands in front of the Basilica of S. Giovanni Laterano. It had been intended by Constantine for his new city; and, after being brought down the Nile from the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, was conveyed to the banks of the Tiber instead of those of the Bosphorus. After being landed about three miles from the city, it was first elevated in the Circus Maximus. This piece of granite is about 118 ft. in length.

203. Julian's name is in bad odour with the Christian world; but he ought, nevertheless, to have justice rendered to him for his administration of the affairs of the empire, his love of freedom, and his patronage of the arts. This emperor, at Constantinople, constructed some porticoes and improved the port; and, even at so remote a spot as Paris, there still remain the ruins of a palace and baths of his construction; a circumstance which should make his memory an object of respect, perhaps veneration, to the inhabitants of that city.

204. Under Valentinian and Valens the arts received little attention, though the former manifested some care for them. Gratian was entitled to a sort of negative praise for leaving the empire of the West to his brother Valentinian II., and that of the East to Theodosius; who, after the death of the former, held the sway of the whole empire, patronising architecture, and erecting many large edifices in Constantinople. After this the empire was lastingly divided. On the death of Theodosius, Arcadius succeeded him in the East, and in the West Honorius, under whom, whilst he was ingloriously enjoying the pleasures and luxuries of his palace at Ravenna, Alaric, king of the Visigoths, entered and pillaged Rome in the year 410. Honorius raised or repaired several of the Basilica at Rome; among them that of S. Paolo fuori le Murà; and, in honour of the two emperors, a triumphal arch was erected in the city in 406, but of this no remains are in existence.

205. After this time, for sixty years the empire of the West was in a state of distraction. Nine princes filled the throne during that period, on and off the stage, rather like actors than monarchs. But the extinction of the Roman name could be no longer protracted. In 455, Genseric, king of the Vandals, gave up Rome for pillage to his soldiers for the space of three days, and some years after, his example was followed by Ricimer. In 476, the Roman empire in the West was annihilated.

206. We have thus, in this and the preceding section, shortly traced the history of Roman architecture from its dawn among the Etruscans to the close of the regal power in Rome; and from that period to the time of its culmination und. r Augustus, an age of great splendour in the art, comparable even with the Lest days of Athens, if allowance be made for the respective habits of the nations and the climates under which they were placed. From the zenith we have followed it in its setting under Dioclesian, and after that through its crepusculum, which, in 476, was succeeded by total darkness; a darkness, however, not without meteors and coruscations which occasionally enabled us to enlighten the reader in the journey he has undertaken with us. The revolutions, however, of empires, like those of the globe on its axis, bring other dawns: such is the case with the arts, which follow those revolutions; and we shall hereafter have to record another dawn of them, which, like the light of our great luminary, had its day-spring in the east, whence came the architects of Venice and Pisa. But, before we approach that period, it will be necessary to take a cursory glance at those monuments of Rome and other places under its dominion, in which the ruins alone attest the extraordinary power and magnificence of that State, and to examine the details of their construction as respects what simply presents itself to the eye.

207. We now, therefore, proceed to a view, 1. Of the religious buildings of the Romans in quadrangular and circular temples; 2. Of their public buildings in fora, triumphal arches, bridges, aqueducts, theatres, amphitheatres, and baths and circi; 3. Of their private