The only remains of the theatres of ancient Rome are those of the theatre of Ma rcellus. It was of Tibur tine stone, and consisted of four orders of arcades.— The remains of this theatre are a portion of the two lower arcades, of which we have given a drawing in OUT article, CIVIL ARCHITECTURE, Plate CLXXXVI.
The portico of Octavia consisted of a double row of marble columns, enclosing a large oblong square, en closing the temples of Jupiter and Juno. Many of the beautiful columns of this colonnade are built up in the miserable houses of the Jews which now cover its an cient site. At No. 11, via di San Angelo in Peschiera are three magnificent fluted Corinthian columns of Grecian marble, supposed to be the remains of the temple of Juno.
Of the therms or baths of ancient Rome, the ruins of those of Titus, of Caracalla and Dioclesian, are all that now remain. The baths of Caracalla are situated at the base of the south summit of the Aventine hill. They are now a mass of roofless ruins of almost im measurable extent, filled with tremendous fragments of broken wall, and overgrown with weeds and bram bles.
Beside the immense halls, one of which was 150 feet long, and covered with a flat roof of stone, there are the remains of a large circular building, and other smaller ones. A broken staircase leads to the top of the ruins.
The part of the baths of Titus which has been ex cavated, is near the Coliseum. After passing the mouths of nine long •corridors, we enter the portal of what is called the house of Maecenas, and then arrive at a damp and dark corridor, the ceiling of which is still adorned with some of the most beautiful specimens that now remain of the paintings of antiquity. After examining these arabesque paintings, the visitor enters magnificent halls, whose ceilings are beautifully painted with fantastic designs. In one of these dungeons, 36 of which have been opened, is shown the remains of a bath supposed to have been for the private use of the emperor, and in another is seen the crimson-painted alcove, in which the Laocoon was found in the time of Leo X. The French found in those chambers the Pluto and the Cerberus. It is said that miles of these baths remain unexplored.
The baths of Dioclesian are scattered over the sum mit of the Quirinal and Viminal hills, and they are said to have surpassed all the thermx of ancient They seem to have formed an immense oblong square, with a circular hall at two corners which are still stand ing. One of these halls, which is much dilapidated,
has been used as a granary, and the other has been transformed into a church. The Xystum, or great co vered hall of the thermx, was converted into the church of Santa Maria de Angeli by M. Angelo. It is a hall 350 feet long, and 90 high. The vaulted roof is sup ported by sixteen Corinthian columns, eight of which only, of Egyptian granite, are ancient. The Meridian, traced on the pavement in 1701 by Bianchini, still re mains.
Among the antiquities of Rome, the bridges are not the least remarkable. We have, however, already treated the subject in our article BRIDGE, and have given representations of the Pons Milvius, and the Pons Senatorius in Plate LXXXII.
Among the ancient arches is that of Claudius Drusus Nero, which is close to the present Porta San Sehasti ano. It consists of a single arch, and is built of mar ble and Tiburtine stone. The two columns of African marble are supposed to be of a later age. The arches of Titus and of Severus have already been described. The arch of Constantine is in fine preservation. Its sculptured medallions and has reliefs which comme morate the victories of Trajan, are supposed to have been torn from one of his triumphal arches. This arch consists of eight fluted Corinthian columns of marble, which support the figures of eight Dacian captives; one column one Dacian, and all the eight heads very modern. The arch of Gallienus is a building of mean architecture, on the Esquiline hill, near the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The arch of Dolabella and Silanus stands on the Ccelian hill, near the church of San Tomaso in Formis.
The only remains of the celebrated aqueducts of an cient Rome, are those of the Martian and Claudian aqueducts. The long and broken lines of these lofty arches stretch over the Campagna to the south; that of Martian was built by Quintus Martins in the time of the republic. That of the emperor Claudius was car ried through the hills and across the valleys of Latium for a distance of 50 miles.