BENGAZI. 
381 
the seats having been by means of passages communicating directly 
with the orchestra from without, which appear to have been nearly 
on a level with the orchestra itself ; the roofs of them, only, sloping 
somewhat in the direction of the seats themselves. As these (the 
seats) were comparatively few, and the spaces between the passages 
inconsiderable, there was no necessity for staircases, and we accord- 
ingly find no appearance of any communications of this nature. As 
it seems, however, that the lowest range of seats was raised a few 
feet above the level of the passage and of the orchestra, a short flight 
of steps would have been necessary, to render the access to them 
easy; and we thought we observed traces, in two or three of the 
divisions, of there having been one originally in each. The arched 
roofs of all the passages have fallen in, and every part of the theatre 
has suffered materially from the effects of rainy winters, rather than 
of time. 
The depth of the proscenium appears to have been, as we have 
given it, about twenty-five feet, but we could recover no part of the 
stage with any tolerable accuracy, so that we have omitted it altoge- 
ther. 
The amphitheatre has been chiefly excavated (as we have already 
observed) in the quarry in which it stands, and a small portion of it 
only has been built, where the rock could not be made to serve. 
Here, as in the theatres, there appear to have been no interior com- 
munications ; and the approach to the seats was probably from above, 
as well as from below, by means of the staircases between the several 
cunei only, no passages being anywhere observable. The whole of this 
