522 
MERGE TO GYRENE. 
just mentioned (on a level with the highest range of seats) from 
which the spectators descended to the lower ranges. There appears 
to have been a row of columns, inclosing the uppermost range of 
seats ; and as we found several statues in the orchestra, close under 
the subsellia, it may perhaps be supposed that the upper part of 
the theatre was decorated with these ornaments, the place of which 
was probably between the columns of the peristyle in question, since 
the statues appear to have fallen from some place above the level 
of the seats; and we know of no situation more appropriate for them 
than along the colonnade we have mentioned. 
This theatre is placed by the side of the road leading down to the 
fountain, and must have been a beautiful object when perfect ; the 
richness of the materials of which the columns were formed, adding 
greatly to the effect of the building, if not in point of taste, at least 
in point of costliness and splendour. The style and execution of 
the remaining parts of this structure have not however been ne«-- 
lected ; and we often stopped to admire the beauty of the Corinthian 
capitals, which were carved with great sharpness and freedom, and 
exhibited considerable taste of design. The position of this building 
will be seen in the ground plan of the city (p. 520) ; it is the most 
northern, and the largest of the two. The plan of the other theatre 
differs mateiially from that of the one which we have just described, 
and its proportions are also very different. The depth of the 
orchestra is much less in proportion to its width, and the space 
allotted to the seats is at the same time greater for the size of the 
building. Instead of being approached from above, as that which 
