378 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL, 



[Decembeb, 



ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS OF THE ROMAN 

 PROVINCES. 



On till! Arrhitectnrdl liemainx of the limmin I'rovinee-i. By 

 Jamks Rkll, P^sq. — (I';ii)er read at tlie OptMiiiiij Mectinj^ of the 

 Session 1850-jl of the Royal Institute of IJritish Arcliitects.) 



Altiiovgh tlic arcliitectural remains of Rome anil Italy in gene- 

 ral have been thoroujfhly investijiated, there is reason to reflect 

 that other parts of the extensive empire of the Mistress of the 

 AV'orhl liave not received the attention they deserve; and that 

 wliile there is no douht that a perfect and correct taste is only to 

 he acquired by a study of the best works, it should not be forgot- 

 ten that many remains of inferior artistic merit may yet present 

 varieties of form and idea deserving of attentive consideration. 

 The more complete our knowledge is of the wliole scope of ancient 

 art, the more likely are we to be correct in attempting to realise a 

 just conception of the original niiture of the best works, many of 

 which are now in so Iiopeless a state of ruin. The student, there- 

 fore, might do well to add to his examination of the remains of the 

 Eternal City itself, that of some of the Roman provincial towns, 

 which the want ])erhaps of a correct appreciation of the character 

 of that people has hitlierto caused to be, in great part, neglected. 



Nothing marks more strongly this character in the later ages of 

 the Re)iui)lic and during the rise of the Empire, than the method 

 pursued by them in dealing with surrounding nations. They had 

 no desire for allies and tributaries; their treaties were hollow and 

 treacherous, intended to be broken on the first opportunity, con- 

 quest being their only aim, — not with the view of obtaining sub- 

 jects, but in order that each nation should in turn be incorporated 

 with Rome, and form an integral part of the great empire. For 

 this reason, submission was quickly rewarded with freedom and 

 every Roman privilege, wliile resistance was punished to tlie last 

 extremity. We sliould therefore naturally conclude, that evidence 

 would be found in the monumental records of the provinces of 

 Rome, of this identity with the mother country — and this we find 

 to be the case. Germany, France, Spain, Africa, Egypt, and 

 Palestine, all contain specimens of greater or less magnificence and 

 grandeur, many in a high state of preservation, and some possess- 

 ing peculiarities of form, construction, and arrangement, which 

 render tliem highly interesting and valualde. I shall endeavour to 

 call attention to some of the most important of these monuments, 

 and to show that correctly measured representations of them 

 deserve a place on our shelves, by the side of the illustrated works 

 by Stuart and Revett, and by Taylor and Cresy. 



Omitting all allusion at the present time to the underground 

 remains wliicli abound in this country and elsewhere, as well as 

 to the roads and fortresses, which belong rather to engineer- 

 ing than architecture, we need not go far to find some 

 monuments of considerable importance. Tlie Porta Nigra at 

 Treves is a stupendous work — two towers, 90 German feet in 

 height, and more than 30 feet in diameter, and decorated with 

 four orders of columns, are united by a curtain, 55 feet in extent, 

 and three stories higli, in wliich are the tivo gates; excepting the 

 lower story, the whole is also arcaded. Tliis design of a gateway 

 is unique, and it exceeds in dimensions any similar building else- 

 where. Treves possesses also the remains of an amphitheatre, in 

 which some peculiarities of the substructure are apparent, — also 

 those of a basilica; but next to the gate, the monument of Igel is 

 the most curiims, and may be compared witli one of a similar 

 description at St. Remi in the south of France. There was also 

 a monument of a similar description at Arlon, but the ornaments 

 were transiiorted in the llitli century by tlie (.'ount de Mansfeldt, 

 to form ])art of a collection of antiipiities long since dispersed: 

 that of Igcl was hajqiily preserved from the same fate. Had these 

 monuments attracted tlie attention they deserve, some better idea 

 could now be given tlian a mere verbal description. It was one 

 inevitable consequence of the Roman policy before described, tliat 

 all remains of a former civilisation were inevitably obliterated, but 

 tiiere are strong reasons for supposing that this neighbourliood was 

 very far from being in a state of barbarism before tlie Roman c(m- 

 quest. We may believe this without going back to the early 

 foundation of Treves claimed liy some historians. 



But it is in the soutii of France that we can more completely 

 form a correct idea of a Roman province. This ])ortion of France 

 formed tlie province of (iallia Narbonensis, having been subdued 

 from one to two centuries before the Christian ei'a. Here the 

 arches, gates, temples, amphitheatres, and acpieducts, rival those 

 of Rome itself, which possesses no temple of tlie kind so perfect 

 as the Maison Carree, at Nismes. This edifice is a hexastyle jiro- 



style temple of the Corinthian order, and originally stood in the 

 centre of a forum, the extent of which lias been traced by the 

 bases of sever;il of the columns found in situ. The Tenijde of 

 Diana, as it is called, but which was in reality the Hall of the 

 Baths, exhibits a beautiful arrangement of pilasters and niches in 

 the interior, connected with a shrine in the centre of one end, of 

 great elegance and originality. The amphitheatre, thougli smaller 

 than the Coliseum, is in a far better state of preservation. This 

 was built at the expense of Antoninus Pius, wliose ancestors came 

 originally from Nismes, and the Maison Carree was dedicated to 

 his adopted sons, Lucius and Marcus. It will be seen from the 

 plan of the amphitheatre, that it is constructed somewhat differ- 

 ently from the Coliseum. We can here study the preparations 

 for the velarium; the arrangements of the seats, galleries, and 

 staircases. The podium round the interior is formed of single 

 stones, 5 feet in height, to retain the water for the purposes of the 

 naumachia. 



The antiquities of Aries consist of an amphitheatre, a theatre 

 with two columns of the proscenium still standing; and innume- 

 rable tombs and sarcophagi. Orange possesses a theatre of tlie 

 most gigantic dimensions; the seats are cut out of the side of a 

 hill, and the scene wall rises to a height of more than 100 feet by 

 300 feet in length. Though the marble decorations are, as in 

 many other instances, almost entirely gone, it is still a most inte- 

 resting relique. There are also several arches remaining of the 

 hippodrome, and a beautiful triumphal arch in a very fair state of 

 preservation. The ornaments have sutt'ered from the singular 

 purpose to which the building was appropriated by the Princes of 

 Orange — when it was built into the Chateau, and the archway 

 formed the principal salle de reception. The portion of the Roman 

 acjueduct, now called the Pont du Gard, is too well known to 

 require a detailed description. 



The monopteral monument at St. Remi is of most beautiful 

 design and proportions, and well deserves study as a model of this 

 description of edifice. The gates of Nismes, Besancon, Sens, and 

 Saintes, between La Rochelle and B(n-deaux; the amphitheatre, 

 aqueduct, and the Porte Doree at FVejus, the birth-place of 

 Agricola; the arches at St. Remi and Carpentras; the bridge and 

 arches at St. Chamas, between Aries and Marseilles; and the 

 innumerable fragments collected in the museums of Nismes, Aries, 

 Avignon, Narbonne, and Toulouse, offer to the student who wishes 

 to become acquainted with Roman art in the time of the Antonines, 

 the strongest temptations to be found within the range of a 

 summer excursion. 



Spain offers an example no less striking of the peculiar character 

 and vicissitudes of a Roman province. All vestiges of early 

 civilisation previous to its subjugation are gone, and in its 

 place we find most extensive remains of Roman enterjirise and 

 constructive skill, of which it is much to be desired that we pos- 

 sessed more detailed and illustrated descriptions than those which 

 are at present within our reach. We learn, however, from the 

 hand-book, that there is a Roman bridge at Merida, 2575 feet long, 

 besides numerous antiquities, among wliich is a peripteral temple. 

 At Alcantara is a bridge of Trajan, 600 feet long, and 245 feet 

 above the usual level of the river. At La Barca five arches remain 

 of a Roman bridge; the same at Capara; at Toledo there is a 

 temple; near Tarragona a superb aqueduct, and a monument 

 called the tomb of the Scipios, and at Segovia an aqueduct, 2500 

 feet long. 



Passing now to Africa, we find that the same destructiou of pre- 

 vious evidences of civilisation took place here as in other colonies. 

 All that remains of Punic Carthage are a few inscriptions occa- 

 sionally dug up : everything else is Rman. The best illustrations 

 we have of these ruins are contained in two volumes of drawings 

 h\ Bruce the African traveller, which are now in the royal collec- 

 tion at ^V^indsur. Besides the usual amount of triumphal arches, 

 some of which are of forms not elsewhere met with, there are 

 other buildings of an unusual description. Of the first class is one 

 large square inclosure at Suffetala, entered by a large triumphal 

 arch, and containing three Corinthian tetrastyle temples connected 

 together. At Lambesa a building, something in the form of a 

 basilica, now roofless, entered on each of the four sides by a large 

 centre arch, with two small ones flanking it; two orders of engaged 

 columns, with broken entablatures, forming the exterior decora- 

 tion. At Thisdrus, a very fine amphitheatre, approaching the Coli- 

 seum in size, and even surpassing it in state of preservation. At 

 Tripoli, an arch of the time of the Antonines. Considering the 

 Cyrenaica as a Greek colony rather than a Roman province, we 

 may omit a detailed description of the remains, which, we are in- 

 formed by Captain Beechey, consist of sculpture of the best style. 



