DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0079
SECOND CENTURY
49
as we shall see, was to expand the art of the ancient Seleucid civilization, rather than
to introduce its own elements.
There were numerous cities of importance in Syria during the period of Roman
domination, but comparatively few of them have preserved considerable remains of
their ancient monuments through the centuries of war and earthquake and the periods
of rebuilding in medieval and mod-
ern times. Antioch, the ancient
capital, has been particularly un-
fortunate in this regard. War,
earthquake, and Saracenic and
modern building activity have al-
most completely obliterated every
vestige of Greek and Roman art.
Only a few broken fragments, a
few arches of an aqueduct, and
shattered masses of the city wall
remain as monuments of ancient
times. At IToms (the classic
Emesa) a Roman tomb of early
date, built of opus reticulatum, was
the only suggestion of ancient
Roman sway that we saw. At
Hama a few fragments, built into
the walls of the Saracenic castle or those of the modern houses, are the only reminders
that this was a Roman city. In fact, in all cases where medieval castles and rnodern
towns have been built upon the ancient sites, the monumental remains of antiquity are
never sufhcient to form a basis for the restoration of the ancient city, unless those
remains be buried beneath the present surface of the ground, awaiting the spade of the
excavator. Two sites remain, however, which still preserve sufficient data for a partial
restoration, at least, of the Syrian city in the imperial Roman period — the sites of
Palmyra and Apamea. Both sites saw Saracenic castles planted upon their ruins,
but both were spared the building of medieval or modern cities within their ancient
walls. Both ruins preserve one or more of those characteristics of architectural
arrangement, referred to above, which would at once distinguish the R'oman city in
Syria from that in any other part of the empire.
Palmyra. The distinguishing feature of the well-known and wonderfully preserved
remains in Palmyra is the grand colonnade, that stupendous avenue of columns that
stretched frorn one end to the other of the great city, carrying, it is believed, a shel-
ter from the sun to the main street. There is evidence that other colonnaded streets
49
as we shall see, was to expand the art of the ancient Seleucid civilization, rather than
to introduce its own elements.
There were numerous cities of importance in Syria during the period of Roman
domination, but comparatively few of them have preserved considerable remains of
their ancient monuments through the centuries of war and earthquake and the periods
of rebuilding in medieval and mod-
ern times. Antioch, the ancient
capital, has been particularly un-
fortunate in this regard. War,
earthquake, and Saracenic and
modern building activity have al-
most completely obliterated every
vestige of Greek and Roman art.
Only a few broken fragments, a
few arches of an aqueduct, and
shattered masses of the city wall
remain as monuments of ancient
times. At IToms (the classic
Emesa) a Roman tomb of early
date, built of opus reticulatum, was
the only suggestion of ancient
Roman sway that we saw. At
Hama a few fragments, built into
the walls of the Saracenic castle or those of the modern houses, are the only reminders
that this was a Roman city. In fact, in all cases where medieval castles and rnodern
towns have been built upon the ancient sites, the monumental remains of antiquity are
never sufhcient to form a basis for the restoration of the ancient city, unless those
remains be buried beneath the present surface of the ground, awaiting the spade of the
excavator. Two sites remain, however, which still preserve sufficient data for a partial
restoration, at least, of the Syrian city in the imperial Roman period — the sites of
Palmyra and Apamea. Both sites saw Saracenic castles planted upon their ruins,
but both were spared the building of medieval or modern cities within their ancient
walls. Both ruins preserve one or more of those characteristics of architectural
arrangement, referred to above, which would at once distinguish the R'oman city in
Syria from that in any other part of the empire.
Palmyra. The distinguishing feature of the well-known and wonderfully preserved
remains in Palmyra is the grand colonnade, that stupendous avenue of columns that
stretched frorn one end to the other of the great city, carrying, it is believed, a shel-
ter from the sun to the main street. There is evidence that other colonnaded streets