Everything shows that it was on a great scale: the large sweep of its
enclosing walls, the massive corridors that passed behind the auditorium,
and of which we can still perfectly take the measure. The way in which
every seat commanded the stage is a lesson to the architects of our epoch,
as also the immense size of the place is a proof of extraordinary power of
voice on the part of the Roman actors. It was after we had spent half an
hour in the moonshine at the arena that we came on to this more ghostly
and more exquisite ruin. The principal entrance was locked, but we
effected an easy escalade, scaled a low parapet, and descended into the
place behind the scenes.
It was as light as day, and the solitude was complete. The two slim
columns, as we sat on the broken benches, stood there like a pair of
silent actors. What I called touching, just now was the thought that here
the human voice, the utterance of a great language, had been supreme. The
air was full of intonations and cadences; not of the echo of smashing
blows, of riven armor, of howling victims and roaring beasts.
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