DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61277#0111
THE ITLETORIUM.
85
you contemplate their paintings—you form an
idea of their manners—you fancy yourself among
a people who lived two thousand years ago—and
not a single building, nor even a single stone,
seems devoid of interest.
We stopped at what appeared to be a farm-
house, and, alighting in the court, found ourselves
in the quarters of a legion of Roman soldiers,
which possess a striking resemblance to our clois-
ters, They consist of a quadrangular court, sur-
rounded on every side by a colonnade, supported
by Doric pillars of brick, stuccoed over by the
ancients themselves, who have buried their origi-
nal flutings under a deep coat of red plaster;
they are from ten to twelve feet in height, and
placed at equal distances from each other.
After a variety of conjectures relative to the pur-
pose to which this building was applied, it has
been ascertained that it was either a barrack for
soldiers (various pieces of armour having been
found in its cells) or the prcstoriuni of the go-
vernor, where a body of military must have been
stationed, and which was held a necessary con-
stituent of every country town. We were amused
with examining the tesselated pavements and
arabesque walls—the horses grotesquely scratched
on the stucco—and the names of the soldiers
i
85
you contemplate their paintings—you form an
idea of their manners—you fancy yourself among
a people who lived two thousand years ago—and
not a single building, nor even a single stone,
seems devoid of interest.
We stopped at what appeared to be a farm-
house, and, alighting in the court, found ourselves
in the quarters of a legion of Roman soldiers,
which possess a striking resemblance to our clois-
ters, They consist of a quadrangular court, sur-
rounded on every side by a colonnade, supported
by Doric pillars of brick, stuccoed over by the
ancients themselves, who have buried their origi-
nal flutings under a deep coat of red plaster;
they are from ten to twelve feet in height, and
placed at equal distances from each other.
After a variety of conjectures relative to the pur-
pose to which this building was applied, it has
been ascertained that it was either a barrack for
soldiers (various pieces of armour having been
found in its cells) or the prcstoriuni of the go-
vernor, where a body of military must have been
stationed, and which was held a necessary con-
stituent of every country town. We were amused
with examining the tesselated pavements and
arabesque walls—the horses grotesquely scratched
on the stucco—and the names of the soldiers
i