Thither the two visitors were now directing their steps. Having
passed a gateway, where Marcian answered with a watchword the
challenge of the guard, they ascended a broad flight of stairs, and
stood before an entrance flanked with two great pillars of Numidian
marble, toned by time to a hue of richest orange. Here stood
soldiers, to whom again the password was given. Entering, they
beheld a great hall, surrounded by a colonnade of the Corinthian
order, whereon had been lavished exquisite carving; in niches behind
the columns stood statues in basalt, thrice the size of life,
representing Roman emperors, and at the far end was a tribune with a
marble throne. This, once the hall of audience, at present served as
a sort of antechamber; here and there loitered a little group of
citizens, some of whom had been waiting since early morning for
speech with the commander; in one corner, soldiers played at dice,
in another a notary was writing at a table before which stood two
ecclesiastics. Voices and footsteps made a faint, confused
reverberation under the immense vault.
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