T H E C O L O S S E U M ,
OR AMPHITHEATRE, AT NISMES.
OF the numefous veftiges of Roman antiquities ilill extant, there are evidently noiie which
difplay more magnificence and elegance than their Amphitheati'es ; fmce even their ruinsj
after the lapfe of at leaft fifteen centuries, fix the attention of every judicious obfcrver,
and command the admiration and veneration of all lettered travellers; ftriking them
•with ideas of the fublime and beautiful :—fentiments which are particularly expeiùenced at
the fight of the CoIoiTsELim at Nifmes.
T h e following defcription of this edifice may be relied on as accurate, the dimeafions
having been taken by the Author himfelf, as well as the annexed view, whicli exhibits
the Amphitheatre in its prelent fiate.
I t is certainly one of the fineft monuments of the k ind now extantj being in much higher
prefervation than thofe at Rome and Verona; although its arena is filled up witli houfes.
The Coloifeum at Rome, the moft ihipendous work of the kind now remaining fi-om
antiquity, has only one half of the external circuit exifting, the otiier half being fcarcdy
to b e traced by fragments of ruinated walls.
The interior of the amphitheatre at Verona may be eileemed more perfeâ than the
other two, owing to its having been modernized ; but the exterior of the building is in a
fimilar fituation with that at Rome.
Writers having, in general, differed witii regard to the height and extent of thefe vaft
monuments of ai-chite6ture, thé Author ventures to iiibjoin fome few obfervations, deduced
from his own calculations, made on the fpot ; as alfo to ilate the manner in
which he has been able to judge of their different magnitudes or proportions ».
* The inteniiil circumference of tlie AmpMtlieatre at Nifmes, talseii from the firfl feat contiguous to tlic arena,
is fcveii hundred aud five feet, and from die higliell towards the attic, ouc tlioufand one hundred and tcii feet and
a lialf; thefe numbers added together make one thoufand eight hundred flild ftfleen feet and an half, of wliich the
medium number is mne hoadrcd and fevcn feel and three quarters, or ton tlioufand eight hundred and ninety-three
inchcs i tiiefc divided by twenty-one (wWch is allowiog fufficient room for one perfon) make five hundred and
eigliteen and five-Ieventh place.? in cach row. This number alfo multiplied by tliirt)'-t\vo, which is the number of
ftcps or rows of fe.its one nbovc the other in tlie Amphitheatre, makes the fum total to be iixtecn thoufand five hundred
and ninety-nine pinces, withiuone-feventh; fo (hat we may conclude that the Cololfajum at Nifmes is capable
of containing a number of fpcaalors cqunl to fixtcen tlioufand five luindred and ninety-nine.
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