EVORA. 71 



in tlie Peninsula, I now descended the stairs of tlie Arclii- 

 episcopal Palace, and soui^^lit out the Roman remains, of 

 which tlie city is full, and for which it is said to be re- 

 nowned above all other places in the kingdom. At a very 

 short distance from the cathedral stands the celebrated 

 temple of Diana, upon which the most excessive praise has 

 been bestowed. It is undoubtedly an elegant building, 

 and tolerably perfect : the fluted columns and their well- 

 worked capitals are certainly admirable, and they are now 

 connected by curtain walls of masonry, which will doubtless 

 tend to their preservation ; but, however good a specimen 

 of genuine Roman work, this temple has no pretensions 

 to such extraordinary excellence, and does not in any 

 degree deserve the extravagant praise wdiich has been 

 lavished upon it : indeed, I will venture to remark, that 

 the habit indulged in by so many travellers of magnifying 

 the merits of the objects they describe is not only repre- 

 hensible, as exaggeration under all circumstances must be, 

 but also tends to general disappointment, and consequently 

 a feeling of indignation against those who have raised expec- 

 tation to so high a pitch and upon so slender a foundation. 

 The temple of Diana possesses, however, one excellence, 

 viz., a most commanding position, and the view from the 

 terrace hard by must not be passed over ; for not only 

 does the eye wander over the wide-spreading uncultivated 

 heath, stretching away to the horizon, and glowing with a 

 purple hue, but, looking out towards the east and north- 

 east, one can see almost to the confines of Portugal and 

 towards Elvas and Eadajoz, names which cause a thrill of 

 admiration and triumph to every true-born Briton, as he 

 thinks of the heroic deeds of his countrymen before those 

 almost impregnable fortifications. 



There are many other morsels of Roman work, of more 

 or less excellence, in various parts of the city, and con- 

 spicuous amongst them is the famous aqueduct, which to 



