454 Voyage of the Novara. 



Few cities can present better- preserved or more extensive 

 mementoes of Roman architecture than this, the ancient 

 Pietas Jidiaj so named because shortly after its destruction by 

 Julius Caesar, it was rebuilt at the instance of Julia, the 

 daughter of Augustus. The majestic amphitheatre, of ellipti- 

 cal form, rises on the slope of the hills, so that to remedy the 

 inequality of the ground the portion next the sea is held up 

 by a succession of buttresses. The dazzling white of the stone 

 does not present any traces by which one would guess its age. 

 This relic of antiquity is in far better preservation than the 

 Colosseum of Rome, or the Amphitheatre of Verona, - and 

 would have been far more perfect Jiad it not been used as a 

 stone-quarry during the days of Venetian supremacy, when 

 entire ship-loads of this brilliant white stone were transported 

 to Venice, there to be used as building material. 



Near the amphitheatre, on the side next the city, the 

 stranger is struck by another beautiful edifice, the Porta 

 Aurea (golden gate), a monumental structure in the Corinthian 

 style, which, according to one of the inscriptions, was erected 

 by his widow, Salvia, at her own expense, in honour of Lucius 

 Sergius Lepidus, tribune. For harmony of proportion, rich- 

 ness and elegance of decoration, and perfect preservation, it 

 may be cited as one of the best existing specimens of Roman 

 architecture. A temple to Augustus and another to Diana 

 also attract the astonished gaze of the artist and antiquary, 

 while many another object of classical interest lies prostrate 

 on the earth for want of means, or perhaps, more probably. 



