ISJO.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



379 



with tombs, pavements, theatres, amphitheatres, and city walls, 

 very perfect. Greece and her colonies, as well as Efrypt,' formed 

 some exceptions to the usual routine of Roman conipiest— Grecian 

 civilisation acquired the respect even of the imperious Roman, 

 and severity was only exercised towards the Grecian race, when 

 provoked by imprudent resistance. Egypt also wisely submitted 

 —Ptolemy bequeathed his kingdom as 'a legacy to the Roman 

 republic, but the Egyptians kept aloof as much as possible from 

 Rome; and while they avoided disputes, they equally renounced a 

 participation in the honours of a close connection w'ith the people 

 who had overthrown the empire of the Pharoahs, and it is not till 

 the third century of our era, that we find natives of Egypt ac- 

 cepting office under the empire. We mav thus account for finding 

 remains of Grecian civilisation in Cyrene, and of Egyptian archi- 

 tecture in Egypt ; while all vestiges of Punic civilis;Ition are lost, 

 both on the African continent and in the Spanish peninsula. 



Turning our attention next to Egypt, we iind in the remains of 

 Antinoe very curious and interesting examples of Roman art At 

 Alexandria many fragments are constantly being brought to light, 

 and used in works now in progress; and Pompev's pillar has been 

 madefamihar to us, both bypen and pencil. Abd-al-Latif,anArabian 

 physician of the time of Saladin, says, in his description of Egypt, 

 that he had himself seen on the coast more than four hundred 

 columns broken in two or three pieces, of which the material was 

 the same as this column, and which appear to have been from one- 

 iourth to one-third the size. He adds that he could see by the 

 fragments, that they had originally been covered with a roof. ' The 

 translator states that this explains the origin of the Arabic name 

 lor the column— Amoud Alsawari, or the pillar of the colonnade ; 

 proving tliat it was originally placed in the centre of a forum, in 

 the manner ot that of Trajan at Rome. Uenon gives a sketch of 

 a column at the ancient Oxyrinchus, which appears of a colossal 

 proportion, and with the remains of the architrave still existing 

 on the capital ; but the chapter in which we are led to expect the 

 description gives us no dimensions. 



The remains of Petra in Idumaea have been familiarised to us 

 by the labours of Roberts and Laborde ; but apart from their 

 value as examples of a peculiar style, it is a subject of much in- 

 terest to have a satisfactory elucidation of their date and of their 

 history, in obtaining which careful search for inscriptions on the 

 spot might no doubt materially assist. It is to Palestine, how- 

 ever, that we must look for a rich harvest of Roman architecture, 

 in a held as yet almost untrodden by architects. Baalbec and 

 Palmyra, the most important of its cities, have been to a certain 

 extent investigated; but Palestine abounds with other Roman 

 remains, which have been hardly sketched, much less measured 

 and correctly delineated. At Antioch we find triumphal arches. 

 At Missema, the remains of a small hut beautiful hexastyle Doric 

 temple, the interior decorated with four Corinthian columns. At 

 Ezra, the ancient Zarava, the ruins occupy a space of three or 

 four miles m circumference; among others a large quadrangular 

 edifice with thirteen rows of arches,'" five in each row; and in every 

 part of the town Greek inscriptions. At Amyouan, betweeli 

 Beyrout and Iripoli, is a tetrastyle Ionic temple, adorned with 

 rich sculptures. Gerash appears to be one of the cities most fer- 

 tile in architectural remains in this district, next to Baalbec and 

 Palmyra. Among other objects is a temple near the gate, and 

 facing It a large semicircular colonnade of the Ionic order, most 

 ot which, with the entablature, is still standing; the centre of this, 

 exactly opposite the portico of the temple, opens upon the prin- 

 cipal street of the city, also flanked by colonnades, and above a 

 mile lu length. There is also a large peripteral temple of the 

 Corintliian order, surrounded by a double colonnade of smaller 

 columns, in the manner of the temple of Venus at Rome. 



At Damascus there is a fragment which has been already brought 

 before the notice of the Institute. There are many others of 

 which professional descriptions are wanting. The history of 

 Baalbec and Palmyra is involved in much obscurity; and yet, 

 architecturally speaking, these cities, with Petra, are among 'the 

 most wonderful and interesting in the world. Petra for its extra- 

 ordinary situation and character; Baalbec for the beauty of its 

 style, and Palmyra for the unequalled extent of its remains. 



In Asia Minor, notwithstanding the labours of recent travellers 

 what remains to be done in the investigation of ancient remains 

 far exceeds what has been already accomplished. Some notice of 

 the remains of Termessus have been already brought before the 

 Institute; but in Caramania there exist some valuable remains of 

 other cities; among others, those of Side. The walls are in some 

 places perfect, and offer a curious example of ancient fortification, 

 besides the usual accompaniments of an ancient city. There are 



some interesting antiquities at Cacamo. A bath with piers sup- 

 porting a vaulted roof of considerable s))ace; and a granary built 

 by Adrian or Trajan. It appears to ha,ve been customary to 

 erect public granaries along the lines of the main roads for the 

 supply of the troops on their march. 



It is needless to dwell on the Roman works at Constantinople — 

 the aqueducts and cisterns have been often sketched but never 

 measured. In Romania and other parts of the North of Turkey 

 in Europe, as well as in Dalmatia and Istria, and wherever the 

 Roman sway extended, monuments of more or less interest are to 

 be found, the number of which might no doubt be increased by 

 further investigation and research. 



Memark-i. — The Chairman observed, that Mr. Bell had opened a 

 wide and interesting field, and many present had no doubt tra- 

 versed some of the ground he had been over, and might be able to 

 add some further interest to his remarks. It occurred to him (Mr. 

 Fovvler) to mention as an instance, that the road near Caudebec, 

 in Normandy, passes through the remains of a Roman theatre or 

 ampliitheatre, having circular arcades. He had not seen any 

 notice of these remains. 



Mr. TiTR, Fellow— explained that they are situated atLillebonne, 

 anciently Juliobona, and are intersected by the old road from 

 Havre to Rouen. There is in the same town a remarkably fine 

 church of the Decorated period, of which he could not find a view 

 or plan in any of the illustrated works on Prance. The members 

 were much indebted to Mr. Bell for the pains and research exhi- 

 bited in the paper just read. jMr. Tite had no doubt that much 

 might be learnt of ancient art, out of Rome; but at the present 

 day, we learn nothing of Roman architecture, either in Rome or 

 out of it. Nothing but mediteval architecture seems now to be 

 the fashion, a circumstance which must be a matter of regret to 

 all who ha\e studied in earlier days a style which he considered 

 infinitely better adapted to modern times and purposes. He would 

 venture to say how necessary and essential he held it to he, that a 

 young architect should study tlie remains of Greece and Rome. 

 Mediajval art would no doubt afford useful principles of design 

 and construction, but he could not conceive that a good architect 

 could regard his studies as complete, without a distinct investiga- 

 tion of the principles of Greek and Roman art. We are too for- 

 getful of those principles in the present day, and therefore he the 

 more valued the efforts made by the author of the paper just read; 

 particularly as showing how much may be learnt in connection 

 with Roman architecture out of Rome itself. With regard to 

 Roman architecture in Spain, a work written in Spanish, by Pons, 

 may be considered to contain an excellent account of the 'Roman 

 remains in that country. It was printed in eight or nine small 

 duodecimo volumes, about the and of the last century. Mr. Tite 

 then moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Bell. 



Mr. Do.MALDSON, Hon. Sec. For. Corr., observed, in reference to 

 the introductory part of Mr. Bell's paper, that we should not sup- 

 pose that the Romans were employed solely in conquest, and not 

 in diffusing a knowledge of the arts, because it must be well known 

 that a great civilising spirit existed in them, and that wherever 

 their conquests extended, they endeavoured to introduce good 

 forms of government and municipal institutions. They expended 

 large sums in the erection of monumental edifices in'their pro- 

 vinces, even in England itself; and it must be a matter of regret 

 that we have not a work worthy of being cited as 'AngliaRomana,' 

 possessing as we do, a great number of buildings worthy to be 

 recorded. If we had such a work, well illustrated, in the style 

 which our works on medijeval art display, we should bring to light 

 a number of interesting facts. Indeed, it ought to be a national 

 work, promoted by the government. With respect to the monu- 

 ments at Petra, he thought, from looking at the engravings that 

 have appeared, that they present no evidence of Greek art at all, 

 and that they must have been erected during the Roman dominion, 

 in the time perhaps of the Antonines. With respect to the cities 

 on the coasts of Asia Minor, reference may be made to the letters 

 of Pliny, which recite the great number of buildings erected there 

 under the Roman empire. It had occurred to him that all the 

 buildings erected by the Romans out of Italy, are of a much lower 

 class of art than those in Italy itself, and they are apparently of a 

 later period, and have not the refinement of the Italian specimens. 

 Mr. ScoLES, Hon. Sec, mentioned that it had been ascertained 

 that the column of Pompey at Alexandria, had been originally an 

 obelisk, which the Romans had rounded and converted into a 

 column; this became apparent on making some excavations under- 

 neath, when the hieroglyphics were discovered. 



Mr. The, Fellow, said that J\Ir. Barry had made during his 



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