I Followed This Cross Street To My Left, And Found On The
Right Hand Side Of It Three Short Ionic Pillars With Their Entablatures,
Close To The Rotunda.
Proceeding in the same direction I soon reached a
quadrangle (s) of fine large Corinthian columns, the handsomest in the
town, next to those of the temple.
To the right stand four with their
entablatures, and one single; formerly they were six in number, the
fifth is the deficient one: the first and sixth are heart-shaped, like
those in the area of the temple (a.) They are composed of more than a
dozen frusta, and what is remarkable in a place where stone is so
abundant, each frustum consists of two pieces; opposite to the two first
columns of the row just described are two columns with their
entablatures.
This colonnade stands in front of a theatre (t), to which it evidently
formed an appendage. This theatre is not calculated to hold so many
spectators as the one already described though its area is considerably
larger, being from forty-five to fifty paces in diameter. It has sixteen
rows of benches, with a tier of six boxes intervening between the tenth
and eleventh rows, reckoning from the top. Between every two boxes is a
niche, forming a very elegant ornament. This theatre was evidently
destined for purposes different from the other, probably for combats of
wild beasts, &c.; The area below the benches is more extensive, and
there is a suite of dark arched chambers under the lowest row of seats,
opening into the area near the chief entrance of the theatre, which is
from the south-east, in the direction by which I entered the colonnade
in front of the theatre.
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