s of ancient masonry, with weeds and flowers waving in the air on
the top of them. There were no houses, or scarcely any, in this part of
the city, but only grassy slopes with old walls appearing here and there
among them; and in some places enclosed fields and gardens, with corn,
and beans, and garden vegetables of every kind, growing at the base of
the majestic ruins.
The carriage stopped at one end of the Coliseum, where there was a
passage way leading through stupendous arches into the interior.
They dismissed the carriage, Rollo having first paid the coachman the
fare. They then, after gazing upward a moment at the vast pile of arches
upon arches, towering above them, advanced towards the openings, in
order to go in.
There was a soldier with a musket in his hands, bayonet set, walking to
and fro at the entrance. He, however, said nothing to Mr. George and
Rollo; and so, passing by him, they went in.
They passed in under immense arches of the most massive masonry, and
between the great piers built to sustain the arches, until they reached
the arena. There was a broad gravel walk passing across the arena from
end to end, and another leading around the circumference of it. The rest
of the surface was covered with grass, smooth and green.
The form of the arena was oval, as has already been said, and on every
side there ascended the sloping tiers, rising one above another to a
vast height, on which the seats for the spectators had been placed. Mr.
George and Rollo advanced along the central walk, and looked around
them, surveying the scene,--their minds filled with emotions of wonder
and awe.
"What a monstrous place it was!" said Rollo.
"It was, indeed," said Mr. George.
"Is it here where the men fought with the lions and the tigers?" asked
Rollo, pointing around him over the arena.
"Yes," said Mr. George.
"And up there, all around were the seats of the spectators, I suppose,"
said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "on those slopes."
You must know that the scats, and all the inside finish of the Coliseum,
were originally of marble, and people have stripped it all away, and
left nothing but the naked masonry; and even that is all now going to
ruin.
"What did they strip the marble off for?" asked Rollo.
"To build their houses and palaces with," replied Mr. George. "Half of
the modern palaces of Rome are built of stone and marble plundered from
the ancient ruins."
"O, uncle George!" exclaime
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