nd
_equestria_; and the other _popularia_.

[Illustration:

Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called
the Colisaeum. Pl. 2.]

The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the
_Colisaeum_, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of
the world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred
seventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded
to the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into four
stories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the
theatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and
covered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor and
the magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of office.

As combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they
were secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly
encircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks.
These precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances
occurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier.

This huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a portion
of the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and it is
supposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A large
part of this vast edifice still remains.

Theatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary,
and composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus
Scaurus--the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one
above another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of
marble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in
glass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded
tablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images
of brass. The _cavca_ would hold eighty thousand men.

Pompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed
theatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of
this theatre are still to be seen at Rome.

The _circi_ were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts
of games:--they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a bow,
having a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience of
spectators. At the entrance of the circus stood the _carceres_ or lists,
whence they started, and just by them, one of the _metae_ or marks--the