DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0156
THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA 115
bridged at the top by a lintel. At the ends are two large niches
more than four feet above the pavement (5), both reached by
flights of steps. Between each of these and the doorway is a
large apsidal arched niche (4) extending down to the pavement.
Lastly in the projecting portions of the wall are four smaller
niches for statues. The whole facade was overlaid with various
kinds of colored marbles.
None of the statues have been found, but the inscriptions
belonging to the two that stood in the small niches at the left
are extant and of special interest; the names of the persons
represented, Aeneas and Romulus, are given, together with a
short enumeration of their heroic deeds. These statues were
evidently copies; the originals formed a part of a famous series
in Rome.
Augustus set up in his Forum the statues of renowned Roman
generals with inscriptions setting forth their services to the
State; in this way, he said, the people might obtain a standard
of comparison for himself and his successors. At the beginning
of the series were Aeneas, the kings of Alba Longa, and Rom-
ulus. Not one of these statues has been preserved, but some
of the inscriptions have been found in Rome, while others are
known from copies discovered in Arezzo, where without doubt,
as at Pompeii, they were set up with copies of the statues — a
forcible illustration of the striving of the smaller cities to be like
Rome. Two other statues, perhaps representing Julius Caesar
and Augustus, stood in the niches at the right corresponding
with those of Aeneas and Romulus ; it is not probable that the
rest of the series in Rome was duplicated here, because the
remaining pedestals in the portico were all designed for figures
of larger size.
The colonnade about the court was of marble. The front
part, as one entered from the portico, was higher than that on
the sides and rear (Fig. 46); it must have presented a fine
architectural effect. The two series of Corinthian columns, one
above the other, reached the height of 30 feet; the wall be-
hind was diversified with niches and completely covered with
marble. At the right and at the left one could pass down the
sides under the colonnade, or through small doors into the cor-
bridged at the top by a lintel. At the ends are two large niches
more than four feet above the pavement (5), both reached by
flights of steps. Between each of these and the doorway is a
large apsidal arched niche (4) extending down to the pavement.
Lastly in the projecting portions of the wall are four smaller
niches for statues. The whole facade was overlaid with various
kinds of colored marbles.
None of the statues have been found, but the inscriptions
belonging to the two that stood in the small niches at the left
are extant and of special interest; the names of the persons
represented, Aeneas and Romulus, are given, together with a
short enumeration of their heroic deeds. These statues were
evidently copies; the originals formed a part of a famous series
in Rome.
Augustus set up in his Forum the statues of renowned Roman
generals with inscriptions setting forth their services to the
State; in this way, he said, the people might obtain a standard
of comparison for himself and his successors. At the beginning
of the series were Aeneas, the kings of Alba Longa, and Rom-
ulus. Not one of these statues has been preserved, but some
of the inscriptions have been found in Rome, while others are
known from copies discovered in Arezzo, where without doubt,
as at Pompeii, they were set up with copies of the statues — a
forcible illustration of the striving of the smaller cities to be like
Rome. Two other statues, perhaps representing Julius Caesar
and Augustus, stood in the niches at the right corresponding
with those of Aeneas and Romulus ; it is not probable that the
rest of the series in Rome was duplicated here, because the
remaining pedestals in the portico were all designed for figures
of larger size.
The colonnade about the court was of marble. The front
part, as one entered from the portico, was higher than that on
the sides and rear (Fig. 46); it must have presented a fine
architectural effect. The two series of Corinthian columns, one
above the other, reached the height of 30 feet; the wall be-
hind was diversified with niches and completely covered with
marble. At the right and at the left one could pass down the
sides under the colonnade, or through small doors into the cor-