d retinues of liveried
servants.

By the second hour, the efflux from the city was a stream unbroken
and innumerable.

Exactly as the gnomon of the official dial up in the citadel pointed
the second hour half gone, the legion, in full panoply, and with all
its standards on exhibit, descended from Mount Sulpius; and when the
rear of the last cohort disappeared in the bridge, Antioch was literally
abandoned--not that the Circus could hold the multitude, but that the
multitude was gone out to it, nevertheless.

A great concourse on the river shore witnessed the consul come
over from the island in a barge of state. As the great man landed,
and was received by the legion, the martial show for one brief
moment transcended the attraction of the Circus.

At the third hour, the audience, if such it may be termed, was assembled;
at last, a flourish of trumpets called for silence, and instantly
the gaze of over a hundred thousand persons was directed towards
a pile forming the eastern section of the building.

There was a basement first, broken in the middle by a broad arched
passage, called the Porta Pompae, over which, on an elevated tribunal
magnificently decorated with insignia and legionary standards, the
consul sat in the place of honor. On both sides of the passage the
basement was divided into stalls termed carceres, each protected
in front by massive gates swung to statuesque pilasters. Over the
stalls next was a cornice crowned by a low balustrade; back of
which the seats arose in theatre arrangement, all occupied by a
throng of dignitaries superbly attired. The pile extended the
width of the Circus, and was flanked on both sides by towers
which, besides helping the architects give grace to their work,
served the velaria, or purple awnings, stretched between them so
as to throw the whole quarter in a shade that became exceedingly
grateful as the day advanced.

This structure, it is now thought, can be made useful in helping
the reader to a sufficient understanding of the arrangement of
the rest of the interior of the Circus. He has only to fancy
himself seated on the tribunal with the consul, facing to the
west, where everything is under his eye.

On the right and left, if he will look, he will see the main entrances,
very ample, and guarded by gates hinged to the towers.

Directly below him is the arena--a level plane of considerable
extent, covered with fine white sand. There all the trials will
take place