They are unspeakably imposing,
and nothing could well be more Roman.
The hugeness, the solidity, the unexpectedness, the monumental rectitude
of the whole thing leave you nothing to say--at the time--and make you
stand gazing. You simply feel that it is noble and perfect, that it has
the quality of greatness. A road, branching from the highway, descends to
the level of the river and passes under one of the arches. This road has a
wide margin of grass and loose stones, which slopes upward into the bank
of the ravine. You may sit here as long as you please, staring up at the
light, strong piers; the spot is extremely natural, tho two or three stone
benches have been erected on it.
I remained there an hour and got a complete impression; the place was
perfectly soundless, and for the time, at least, lonely; the splendid
afternoon had begun to fade, and there was a fascination in the object I
had come to see. It came to pass that at the same time I discovered in it
a certain stupidity, a vague brutality. That element is rarely absent from
great Roman work, which is wanting in the nice adaption of the means to
the end.
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