After Waterloo: Reminiscences Of European Travel 1815-1819, By Major W. E Frye













































































































 -  We then, turning a little to the
right, made the best of our way to the Coliseum where we remained - Page 286
After Waterloo: Reminiscences Of European Travel 1815-1819, By Major W. E Frye - Page 286 of 558 - First - Home

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We Then, Turning A Little To The Right, Made The Best Of Our Way To The Coliseum Where We Remained Nearly Two Hours.

I had figured to myself the grandest ideas of this stupendous building, but the aspect of it far exceeded the sketch even of my imagination.

In Egypt I have seen the Pyramids, but even these vast masses did not make such an impression on me as the Coliseum has done. I am so unequal to the task of description that I shall not attempt it; I will give you however its dimensions which my friend the Jew measured. It is an ellipse of which the transverse axis is 580 feet in length and its conjugate diameter 480; but it is not so much the length and breadth as the solidity of this building that strikes the traveller with astonishment. The arcaded passage or gallery (on the rez de chaussee between the interior and the exterior wall), which has a vaulted roof over which the seats are built, is broad enough to admit three carriages abreast: and the walls on each side of this gallery are at least twenty feet thick. What a magnificent spectacle it must have been in the time of the ancient Romans, when it was ornamented, gilded, and full of spectators, of which it could contain, it is said, 86,000! The Coliseum has been despoiled by various Popes and Cardinals to furnish stone and marble to build their palaces; otherwise, so solid is the building, Time alone would never suffice to destroy it.

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