fourth
story, which was built by the Emperor Gordianus III., A.D. 244, to take
the place of the original wooden gallery (_manianum summum in ligneis_),
which was destroyed by lightning, A.D. 217, was a solid wall faced with
Corinthian pilasters, and pierced by forty square windows or openings.
It has been conjectured that the alternate spaces between the pilasters
were decorated with ornamental metal shields. The openings of the outer
arches of the second and third stories were probably decorated with
statues. The reverse of an _aureus_ of the reign of Titus represents the
Colosseum with these statues and a quadriga in the centre. About
one-third of the original structure remains _in situ_. The prime agent
of destruction was probably the earthquake ("Petrarch's earthquake") of
September, 1349, when the whole of the western side fell towards the
Caelian, and gave rise to a hill or rather to a chain of hills of loose
blocks of travertine and tufa, which supplied Rome with building
materials for subsequent centuries. As an instance of wholesale
spoliation or appropriation, Professor Lanciani refers to "a document
published by Muentz, in the _Revue Arch._, September, 1876," which
"certifies that one contractor alone, in the space of only nine months,
in 1452, could carry off 2522 cartloads" of travertine (Smith's _Dict.
of Gr. and Rom. Ant._, art. "Amphitheatrum;" _Ruins and Excavations of
Ancient Rome_, by R. Lanciani, 1897, p. 375).]

[507] {424} [For a description of the Colosseum by moonlight, see
Goethe's letter from Rome, February 2, 1787 (_Travels in Italy_, 1883,
p. 159): "Of the beauty of a walk through Rome by moonlight, it is
impossible to form a conception ... Peculiarly beautiful at such a time
is the Coliseum." See, too, _Corinne, ou L'Italie_, xv. 4, 1819, iii.
32--

"Ce n'est pas connaitre l'impression du Colisee que de ne l'avoir vu que
de jour ... la lune est l'astre des ruines. Quelque fois, a travers les
ouvertures de l'amphitheatre, qui semble s'elever jusqu'aux nues, une
partie de la voute du ciel parait comme un rideau d'un bleu sombre place
derriere l'edifice."

For a fine description of the Colosseum by starlight, see _Manfred_, act
iii. sc. 4, lines 8-13.]

[508] {425} [When Byron visited Rome, and for long afterwards, the ruins
of the Colosseum were clad with a multitude of shrubs and wild flowers.
Books were written on the "Flora of the Coliseum," which were said to
number 420 species. But,