Graham, Alexander: Roman Africa: an outline of the history of the Roman occupation of North Africa ; based chiefly upon inscriptions and monumental remains in that country (London [u.a.], 1902)

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Roman Africa

is entirely destroyed. The interior has suffered more than the
exterior, owing partly to its having been used as a fortress,
but principally to the wantonness of Arabs, who have been
accustomed for centuries to regard the entire edifice as a very
cheap and convenient stone quarry. When El-Bekri saw the
amphitheatre in the eleventh century, he described the interior
as being arranged in steps from top to bottom, and as late as
Bruce's visit some portions of the seats and inclines must have
been intact. There is every reason to suppose that the structure
was never completed. The short rule of the Gordians, scarcely
extending over six years, with whose memory it was intimately
associated, was followed by a line of Emperors who had no
interest in this obscure town in Africa, so far from the coast.
This fact might help to account for so great a monument having
been left unfinished. As for the structure itself, there are many
indications that it was built with great rapidity with a view to
its being used for some special occasion. Nearly every stone
has a triangular-shaped lewis-hole on the external face, showing
that the raising of the blocks into position wras of more con-
sideration than the appearance of the work. Again, the arch-
stones are not all carefully cut to suit the extrados of the
arches, and several of the modillions which adorn the cornices
of the three stories are left uncut. There are indications of an
intention to carve the keystones of the bottom arcade, but only
two of them have been worked (perhaps by way of experiment),
one representing the head of a lion and the other the bust of a
female, the dressing of the head being in the fashion of the
period. The three tiers of arcades appear to have been com-
pleted, with the exception perhaps of the cornice, but there is
no indication whatever of any of the facing blocks of the attic
story having been fixed in position. There is one peculiarity
about the structure which is very noticeable. Nearly every
course of masonry is of the same height, being within a fraction
of 20 inches, the length of the stones averaging 38 inches.
In each Order the entablatures are similar, the architrave, frieze,
and cornice being each one stone in height. The bases of the
engaged columns are in one stone, and the surbases also. The
superficial area of this amphitheatre is almost identical with
that of the incomplete amphitheatre at Verona, which ranks
with that at Capua as one of the largest of provincial edifices