ITALY. 571 



the prodigious pains taken by the literary societies there, may at last 

 fix the Italian into a standard language. At present, the Tuscan style 

 and writing is most in request. 



The Lord's prayer run thus : Padre nostrocheseinelcielo.,siasanc- 

 tificato il tuo nome ; il tuo regno venga ; la tua volonta siafatta siccome- 

 in cielo cost anche in terra : dacci oggi il nostro fiane cotidiano ; e re-* 

 metlici i nostri debita, siccome noi ancora rimcttiamo a nostri debitori ; 

 e non inducici in tentatione, ma liberaci dal maligno ; fierciocche tuo e il 

 regno, e la fiotenza, e la gloria in semfiiterno. Amen. 



Antiquities.. .Among the antiquities of Italy, the amphitheatres 

 claim the first rank, as exhibiting the most wonderful specimens of 

 ancient magnificence. There are at Rome considerable remains of 

 that which was erected by Vespasian, and finished by Domitian, call- 

 ed the Coliseo. Twelve thousand Jewish captives were employed 

 by Vespasian in this building; and it is said to have been capable of 

 containing eighty-seven thousand spectators seated, and twenty thou- 

 sand standing. The architecture of this amphitheatre is perfectly 

 light, and its proportions are so just, that it does not appear so large 

 as it really is. But it has been stripped of all its magnificent pillars 

 and ornaments, at various times, and by various enemies. The Goths, 

 and other barbarians, began its destruction, and popes and cardinals 

 have endeavoured to complete its ruin. Cardinal Farnese, in par- 

 ticular, robbed it of some fine remains of its marble cornices, friezes, 

 &c. and, with infinite pains and labour, took away what was practica- 

 ble of the outside casing of marble, which he employed in building 

 the palace ot Farnese. The amphitheatre of Verona, erected by the 

 consul Flaminius, is thought to be the most entire of any in Italy, 

 There are forty-five rows of steps carried all round, formed of fine 

 blocks of marble about a foot and a half high each, and above two 

 feet broad. Twenty-two thousand persons may be seated here at 

 their ease, allowing one foot and a half for each person. This amphi« 

 theatre is quite perfect, and has been repaired with the greatest care, 

 at the expence of the inhabitants. They frequently give public spec- 

 tacles in it, such as horse-races, combats of wild beasts, 8cc. The 

 ruins of theatres and amphitheatres are likewise visible in other pla- 

 ces. The triumphal arches of Vespasian, Septimius Severus, and 

 Constantine the Great, are still standing, though decayed. The ruins 

 of the baths, palaces, and temples, answer all the ideas we can form, 

 of the Roman grandeur. The Pantheon, which is at present convert- 

 ed into a modern church, and which from its circular figure is com- 

 monly called the Rotunda, is more entire than any other Roman 

 temple which is now remaining. There are still left several of the 

 niches which anciently contained the statues of the heathen deities. 

 The outside of the building is of Tivoli free-stone, and within it is in° 

 crusted with marble. The roof of the Pantheon is a round dome, 

 without pillars, the diameter of which is a hundred and forty-four feet ; 

 and though it has no windows, but only a round aperture in the cen- 

 tre of this dome, it is very light in every part. The pavement con= 

 sists of large square stones and porphyry, sloping round towards the 

 centre, where the rain-water, falling down through the aperture on 

 the top of the dome, is conveyed away by a proper drain covered 

 with a stone full of holes. The collonade in the front, which consists 

 of sixteen columns of granite, thirty-seven feet, high, exclusive of the 

 pedestals, and capitals, each cut out of a single block, and which are 

 of the Corinthian order, can hardly be viewed without astonishment. 



