floors encumbered with large fragments of falling ceiling,' as Mr. Hillard writes, 'masses of brickwork, patches of mosaic, vaults half filled with rubbish, enormous blocks of stone and marble, attest, like the bones of a buried mastodon, the colossal nature of the original structure.'

'The baths of Antoninus Caracalla,' writes Gibbon in his immortal work, 'which were open at stated hours for the indiscriminate service of the senators and the people, contained above 1,600 seats of marble; and more than 3,000 were reckoned in the baths of Diocletian. The walls of the lofty apartments were covered with curious mosaics that imitated the art of the pencil in the elegance of the design and the variety of colours. The Egyptian granite was beautifully encrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia; the perpetual stream of hot water was poured into the capacious basins through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver; and the meanest Roman could purchase with a small copper coin the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury which might excite the envy of kings. From these stately palaces issued a swarm of dirty and ragged plebeians, without shoes and without mantle, who loitered away whole days in the street or Forum, to hear news or to hold disputes; who dissipated in extravagant gaming the miserable pittance of their wives and children, and spent the hours of the night in obscure taverns, in the indulgence of gross and vulgar sensuality.'

We now add some further details.

The central hall may be said, with some degree of certainty, to have been the tepidarium. It had a very lofty roof, supported by eight granite pillars of colossal size; their capitals, which exhibit an overelaborate decoration, are still to be seen on the floor of the hall. One of the columns was given to the Duke Cosmo I., and now stands in the Piazza Sta. Trinita, Florence. St. George's Hall, Liverpool, is said to be a reproduction both in scale and design of this central hall. At the end of the hall stood two enormous prophyry basins, one of which is now in the Museum at Naples. The pavement exhibits the richest varieties of marbles. On one side of this a large hall contains in its floor an extensive basin, 3 feet 6 inches deep, showing that it was used for a cold swimming bath (natatio). On the opposite side is a circular building or rotunda, the general view with regard to which, from its circular shape and its having a dome, is that it is the laconicum, or vapour bath. Near this are chambers which contained the apparatus for heating water, and flues are seen inserted in the walls for carrying up the hot air. On the sides of this extensive block of building are corresponding halls, which are supposed to have been sphæristeria, or tennis courts, ball playing being a favourite game with the Romans; each contains an apse in the outside wall, and opposite is a semicircular tribune; the central part was divided into three aisles, separated by rows. of columns. The whole was paved in mosaic; a rich marble fringe ran round the upper part of the hall. In the tribune at the north side was found a mosaic

pavement composed of parallelograms, each containing the full-sized figure of an athlete. It is now in the Lateran Museum. Portions, however, are still to be seen. The fragments of mosaic, with marine monsters, placed by the side of this hall are portions of the pavement of the room over this hall, which fell down many years ago. Such was the concussion caused by the fall of these vaults, that it was heard like a sound of thunder in Rome.

Spartianus describes an extensive hall in these therma, called the Cella Solearis. His words are: 'At Rome Caracalla left some astonishing baths, which bear his name. There is a room called Cella Solearis, which architects say could not possibly have been constructed in any other way. Cross beams of bronze are said to be placed over it, upon which the whole vaulting rests, and the span is so great that skilful mechanics say the same effect could not be produced by any other means.' This has been identified by some with the tepidarium or central hall.

Olympiodorus tells us that these baths contained 1,600 seats of polished marble for the use of bathers. The reservoir in the rear was supplied by the Antonine Aqueduct, a branch of the Aqua Marcia.

A system of subterranean arches and vaults extends beneath the whole central space of the therma. 'The object of these,' wrote Dr. Braun, 'was, in the first place, to obtain a level space of great extent; secondly, to drain the building, through which so many million gallons of water had to be daily conveyed; and finally, to afford means of communication for

attendants, so that the numerous slaves in service could appear from underground without interfering in any way with the freedom of the persons in the upper halls.'

Many masterpieces of art have been discovered in these therma. The Hercules of Glycon, the Flora, and the Toro Farnese were found in its ruins. The urns in green basalt in the Vatican, the granite basins in the Piazza Farnese, with other treasures, have been discovered within its walls.

RESPECT for the dead, and a considerate regard for the due performance of the rites of burial, have been distinctive features in man in all ages and countries. Among the Greeks and Romans great importance was attached to the burial of the dead, as, if a corpse remained unburied, it was believed that the spirit of the departed wandered for a hundred years on the hither side of the Styx. Hence it became a religious duty to scatter earth over any unburied body which any one might chance to meet. This was considered sufficient to appease the infernal gods. The earliest tomb was the tumulus or mound of earth, heaped over the dead. It is a form naturally suggested to man in the early stages of his development. There are two classes of primitive tombs which are evidently of the highest antiquity. The hypergaan or raised mounds, or tumuli, and hypogaan, which are subterranean or excavated. The tumulus may be considered as the most simple and the most ancient form of sepulture. Its adoption was universal among all primitive nations. Such was the memorial raised by the Greeks over the bodies of their heroes. These