DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0026
16
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch.l.
of his family; at the entrance stood two Egyptian
obelisks ; round, arose an extensive grove cut
into walks and alleys. Of this monument, the
two inner walls which supported the whole mass,
and the spacious vaults under which reposed the
imperial ashes, still remain; a work of great soli-
dity and elevation. Hence it is seen at a consi-
derable distance and continues still a grand and
striking object. The platform on the top was for
a considerable time employed as a garden, and
covered as originally with shrubs and flowers.
It is now converted into a sort of amphitheatre
and surrounded with seats and benches, where
the spectators may enjoy in safety the favorite
amusement of bull-baiting. We attended at this
exhibition, in which not dogs only but men act
as assailants, and we thought it although con-
ducted with as much precaution, and even hu-
manity as it is susceptible of, too dangerous to
amuse persons not accustomed to contemplate
hair-breadth escapes. This edifice owes its pre-
servation to its solidity. It has been stripped of
its marble, of its pilasters, and of its internal and
external decorations ; it has belonged successively
to numberless individuals, and is still I believe
private property. Such a monument, after having
escaped so many chances of ruin, ought not to be
neglected. Government should purchase it,
should disengage it from the petty buildings that
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch.l.
of his family; at the entrance stood two Egyptian
obelisks ; round, arose an extensive grove cut
into walks and alleys. Of this monument, the
two inner walls which supported the whole mass,
and the spacious vaults under which reposed the
imperial ashes, still remain; a work of great soli-
dity and elevation. Hence it is seen at a consi-
derable distance and continues still a grand and
striking object. The platform on the top was for
a considerable time employed as a garden, and
covered as originally with shrubs and flowers.
It is now converted into a sort of amphitheatre
and surrounded with seats and benches, where
the spectators may enjoy in safety the favorite
amusement of bull-baiting. We attended at this
exhibition, in which not dogs only but men act
as assailants, and we thought it although con-
ducted with as much precaution, and even hu-
manity as it is susceptible of, too dangerous to
amuse persons not accustomed to contemplate
hair-breadth escapes. This edifice owes its pre-
servation to its solidity. It has been stripped of
its marble, of its pilasters, and of its internal and
external decorations ; it has belonged successively
to numberless individuals, and is still I believe
private property. Such a monument, after having
escaped so many chances of ruin, ought not to be
neglected. Government should purchase it,
should disengage it from the petty buildings that