MERGE TO GYRENE. 521 cases very perfect ; and the shafts (of coloured marble) were formed of single pieces, which added considerably to the effect produced by the costliness of the material. From these circumstances, as well as from the resemblance of the draperies in which the statues were wa'apt to the toga, it seems probable that this theatre was Roman ; but the execution of the capitals and bases have none of that degeneracy of style which characterizes the works of the lower empire ; and we should be disposed to attribute them to the time of Augustus or of Hadrian, when Roman art was undoubtedly entitled to our respect, and (we may also say), in various instances, to our admiration. The whole depth of the theatre, including the seats, the orchestra and the stage, appears to have been about one hundred and fifty English feet, and the length of the scene about the same.

The porticoes at the back of the seats are two hundred and fifty feet in length, and the space between these and the colonnade at the back of the scene is of equal extent. The whole building would thus appear to have been included in a square of two hundred and fifty feet, not including the depth of the portico behind the subsellia, which is at present rather uncertain, 'fhe theatre has been built, like many of the Greek theatres, against the side of a hill, whicli forms the support of the subsellia ; and the highest range of seats appears to have been upon a level with the platform from which it was approached at the back. On this level also are the porticoes behind the seats ; which would seem to prove, if other evidence were wanting, that the cunei were not approached by internal passages, of which there are no indications, but from the platform