ld accommodate
150,000 spectators.

In the Roman provinces amphitheatres were often erected; and at Pola
in Istria, Verona in Italy, and Nimes and Arles in France, fine
examples remain. A rude Roman amphitheatre, with seats cut in the turf
of a hill-side, exists to this day at the old town of Dorchester in
Dorset, which was anciently a Roman settlement.

_Baths (Thermae)._

Nothing can give us a more impressive idea of the grandeur and lavish
display of Imperial Rome than the remains of the huge Thermae, or
bathing establishments, which still exist. Between the years 10 A.D.,
when Agrippa built the first public baths, and 324 A.D., when those
of Constantine were erected, no less than twelve of these vast
establishments were erected by various emperors, and bequeathed to the
people. Of the whole number, the baths of Caracalla and of Diocletian
are the only ones which remain in any state of preservation, and these
were probably the most extensive and magnificent of all. All these
splendid buildings were really nothing more than bribes to secure the
favour of the populace; for it seems quite clear that the public had
practically free entrance to them, the only charge mentioned by
writers of the time being a quadrans, about a farthing of our money.
Gibbon says, "The meanest Roman could purchase with a small copper
coin the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury which might
excite the envy of the kings of Asia." And this language is not
exaggerated. Not only were there private bath-rooms, swimming-baths,
hot baths, vapour-baths, and, in fact, all the appurtenances of the
most approved Turkish baths of modern times, but there were also
gymnasia, halls for various games, lecture-halls, libraries, and
theatres in connection with the baths, all lavishly ornamented with
the finest paintings and sculpture that could be obtained. Stone seems
to have been but sparingly used in the construction of these
buildings, which were almost entirely of brick faced with stucco: this
served as the ground for an elaborate series of fresco paintings.

[Illustration: FIG. 133.--PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL BUILDING, BATHS OF
CARACALLA, ROME.]

The baths of Caracalla, at the foot of the Aventine hill, erected A.D.
217, comprised a quadrangular block of buildings of about 1150 ft.
(about the fifth of a mile) each way. The side facing the street
consisted of a portico the whole length of the facade, behind which
were numerous ranges