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 accordingly 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 altogether.

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 communications ; 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