None
of the Roman remains in the south of France are more impressive than this
stupendous fragment. An enormous mound rises above the place, which was
formerly occupied--I quote from Murray--first by a citadel of the Romans,
then by a castle of the princes of Nassau, razed by Louis XIV.
Facing this hill a mighty wall erects itself, thirty-six meters high, and
composed of massive blocks of dark brown stone, simply laid one on the
other; the whole naked, rugged surface of which suggests a natural cliff
(say of the Vaucluse order) rather than an effort of human, or even of
Roman labor. It is the biggest thing at Orange--it is bigger than all
Orange put together--and its permanent massiveness makes light of the
shrunken city. The face it presents to the town--the top of it garnished
with two rows of brackets, perforated with holes to receive the staves of
the "velarium"--bears the traces of more than one tier of ornamental
arches; tho how these flat arches were applied, or incrusted, upon the
wall, I do not profess to explain.
You pass through a diminutive postern--which seems in proportion about as
high as the entrance of a rabbit-hutch--into the lodge of the custodian,
who introduces you to the interior of the theater.
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