it from the seats.

The seats arose from this arena, tier above tier. There were three
divisions of them, separating the rich from the middle class, and
these again from the slaves. It was well arranged for the comfort of
the audience, having wide aisles and plenty of places of exit. The
whole was covered with an awning. In the wall around the arena are the
holes where thick iron bars were inserted as a precaution against the
bounds of the panthers. To the right of the principal entrance are two
square rooms with gratings where the wild beasts were kept. This
amphitheatre would hold twenty thousand persons!

[Illustration: THE AMPHITHEATRE OF POMPEII.]

We visit this place last because it was while the amphitheatre was
crowded with people intent upon the bloody spectacle; while wild
beasts, and men more cruel than the beasts, were fighting together,
and spectators less pitiful than either were greedily enjoying it,
that suddenly the ground trembled violently. This perhaps was not
perceived in the circus, on account of the excitement all were in, and
the noise that was going on in the arena. But it was soon followed by
a whirlwind of ashes, and lurid flashes of flame darted across the
sky. The beasts were instantly tamed, and cowered down in abject
terror, and the gladiators, for the first time in their lives, grew
pale with fear. Then the startled crowd within the vast building heard
from the streets the fearful cry: "Vesuvius is on fire!" In an instant
the spectacle is forgotten; the terrified crowd rush out of the
building, and happy is it for them that the architects have provided
so many places of exit. Some fled towards the sea, and some to the
open country. Those who reached the ships were saved, but woe to those
who went to their homes to collect their valuables to take with them,
or who took refuge under cover in the cellars.

After the rain of ashes came a shower of blazing stones, which fell
uninterruptedly, setting fire to all parts of the city and blocking up
the streets with burning masses. And then a fresh storm of ashes
sweeping down would partly smother the flames, but, blocking up the
doorways, would stifle those within the houses. And to add to the
horror, the volumes of smoke that poured from the mountain caused a
darkness deeper than night to settle on the doomed city, through which
the people groped their way, except when lighted by the burning
houses. What horror and confusion in the streets!