1muſt in Height exceed thoſe which ſtand be
low them over the Columns, not leſs than a
ſixth Part, nor more than two ninths. In con
venient Places in the Front of the upper Wall
we may cut Inſcriptions or Stories in Relieve,
in ſquare or round Pannels. Beneath the Vault
of the Arch the upper half of the Wall, upon
which the Arch turns, is extremely proper for
Stories in Relieve, but the lower Half being
expoſed to be ſpattered with Dirt, is very un
fit for ſuch Ornaments. For a Baſement to
the Piers we may make a Plinth not more than
a Cubit and an Half high, and that its Angle
may not be broke by the Bruſh of Wheels, we
may carry it off into a Cima-reverſa, which
muſt take up one fourth of the Height of the
Baſement itſelf.
low them over the Columns, not leſs than a
ſixth Part, nor more than two ninths. In con
venient Places in the Front of the upper Wall
we may cut Inſcriptions or Stories in Relieve,
in ſquare or round Pannels. Beneath the Vault
of the Arch the upper half of the Wall, upon
which the Arch turns, is extremely proper for
Stories in Relieve, but the lower Half being
expoſed to be ſpattered with Dirt, is very un
fit for ſuch Ornaments. For a Baſement to
the Piers we may make a Plinth not more than
a Cubit and an Half high, and that its Angle
may not be broke by the Bruſh of Wheels, we
may carry it off into a Cima-reverſa, which
muſt take up one fourth of the Height of the
Baſement itſelf.
CHAP. VII.
Of the adorning Theatres and other Places for publick Shows, and of their
Uſefulneſs.
Uſefulneſs.
We come now to Places for publick
Shows. We are told that Epimenides,
the ſame that ſlept fifty-ſeven Years in a Cave;
when the Athenians were building a Place for
publick Shows reproved them, telling them, you
know not how much Miſchief this Place ſhall
occaſion; if you did, you would pull it to
Pieces with your Teeth. Neither dare I pre
ſume to find Fault with our Pontiffs, and thoſe
whoſe Buſineſs it is to ſet good Examples to
others, for having, with good Cauſe no doubt,
aboliſhed the Uſe of publick Shows. Yet Moſes
was commended for ordaining, that all his Peo
ple ſhould upon certain ſolemn Days meet to
gether in one Temple, and celebrate publick
Feſtivals at ſtated Seaſons. What may we ſup
poſe his View to have been in this Inſtitution?
Doubtleſs he hoped the People, by thus meet
ing frequently together at publick Feaſts, might
grow more humane, and be the cloſer linked
in Friendſhip one with another. So I imagine
our Anceſtors inſtituted publick Shows in the
City, not ſo much for the Sake of the Diverſi
ons themſelves, as for their Uſefulneſs. And
indeed if we examine the Matter thoroughly,
we ſhall find many Reaſons to grieve that ſo
excellent and ſo uſeful an Entertainment ſhould
have been ſo long diſuſed: For as of theſe
publick Diverſions ſome were contrived for the
Delight and Amuſement of Peace and Leiſure,
others for an Exerciſe of War and Buſineſs;
the one ſerved wonderfully to revive and keep
up the Vigour and Fire of the Mind, and the
other to improve the Strength and Intrepidity
of the Heart. It is indeed true that ſome cer
tain and conſtant Medium ſhould be obſerved,
in order to make theſe Entertainments uſeful
and ornamental to a Country. The Arcadi
ans, we are told, were the firſt that invented
publick Games, to civilize and poliſh the Minds
of their People, who had been too much ac
cuſtomed to a hard and ſevere Way of Life;
and Polybius writes, that thoſe who afterwards
left off thoſe Entertainments, grew ſo barbarous
and cruel, that they became execrable to all
Greece. But indeed the Memory of publick
Games is extremely ancient, and the Invention
of them is aſcribed to various Perſons. Dionyſi
us is ſaid to have been the firſt Inventor of
Dances and Sports, as Hercules was of the Di
verſion of the Combate. We read that the
Olympick Games were invented by the Æto
lians and the Eleans, after their return from the
Siege of Troy. We are told, that Dionyſius of
Lemnos, who was the Inventor of the Chorus
in Tragedies, was alſo the firſt that built a
Place on purpoſe for publick Shows. In Italy,
Lucius Mummius, upon Occaſion of his Tri
umph, firſt introduced theatrical Entertain
ments two hundred Years before the Em
peror Nero's Time, and the Actors were
brought to Rome from Etruria. Horſe-Races
were brought from the Tyrians, and almoſt the
whole Variety of publick Diverſions came to
Italy from Aſia. I am inclined to believe that
the ancient Race of Men, that firſt began to
cut the Figure of Janus upon their brazen
Coins, were content to ſtand to ſee theſe Sort
of Games under ſome Beech or Elm, according
to thoſe Verſes of Ovid, ſpeaking of Romulus's
Show.
Shows. We are told that Epimenides,
the ſame that ſlept fifty-ſeven Years in a Cave;
when the Athenians were building a Place for
publick Shows reproved them, telling them, you
know not how much Miſchief this Place ſhall
occaſion; if you did, you would pull it to
Pieces with your Teeth. Neither dare I pre
ſume to find Fault with our Pontiffs, and thoſe
whoſe Buſineſs it is to ſet good Examples to
others, for having, with good Cauſe no doubt,
aboliſhed the Uſe of publick Shows. Yet Moſes
was commended for ordaining, that all his Peo
ple ſhould upon certain ſolemn Days meet to
gether in one Temple, and celebrate publick
Feſtivals at ſtated Seaſons. What may we ſup
poſe his View to have been in this Inſtitution?
Doubtleſs he hoped the People, by thus meet
ing frequently together at publick Feaſts, might
grow more humane, and be the cloſer linked
in Friendſhip one with another. So I imagine
our Anceſtors inſtituted publick Shows in the
City, not ſo much for the Sake of the Diverſi
ons themſelves, as for their Uſefulneſs. And
indeed if we examine the Matter thoroughly,
we ſhall find many Reaſons to grieve that ſo
excellent and ſo uſeful an Entertainment ſhould
have been ſo long diſuſed: For as of theſe
publick Diverſions ſome were contrived for the
Delight and Amuſement of Peace and Leiſure,
others for an Exerciſe of War and Buſineſs;
the one ſerved wonderfully to revive and keep
up the Vigour and Fire of the Mind, and the
other to improve the Strength and Intrepidity
of the Heart. It is indeed true that ſome cer
tain and conſtant Medium ſhould be obſerved,
in order to make theſe Entertainments uſeful
and ornamental to a Country. The Arcadi
ans, we are told, were the firſt that invented
publick Games, to civilize and poliſh the Minds
of their People, who had been too much ac
cuſtomed to a hard and ſevere Way of Life;
and Polybius writes, that thoſe who afterwards
left off thoſe Entertainments, grew ſo barbarous
and cruel, that they became execrable to all
Greece. But indeed the Memory of publick
Games is extremely ancient, and the Invention
of them is aſcribed to various Perſons. Dionyſi
us is ſaid to have been the firſt Inventor of
Dances and Sports, as Hercules was of the Di
verſion of the Combate. We read that the
Olympick Games were invented by the Æto
lians and the Eleans, after their return from the
Siege of Troy. We are told, that Dionyſius of
Lemnos, who was the Inventor of the Chorus
in Tragedies, was alſo the firſt that built a
Place on purpoſe for publick Shows. In Italy,
Lucius Mummius, upon Occaſion of his Tri
umph, firſt introduced theatrical Entertain
ments two hundred Years before the Em
peror Nero's Time, and the Actors were
brought to Rome from Etruria. Horſe-Races
were brought from the Tyrians, and almoſt the
whole Variety of publick Diverſions came to
Italy from Aſia. I am inclined to believe that
the ancient Race of Men, that firſt began to
cut the Figure of Janus upon their brazen
Coins, were content to ſtand to ſee theſe Sort
of Games under ſome Beech or Elm, according
to thoſe Verſes of Ovid, ſpeaking of Romulus's
Show.
His Play-houſe, not of Parian Marble made,
Nor was it ſpread with purple Sails for ſhade.
The Stage with Ruſhes or with Leaves they ſtrew'd:
No Scenes in Proſpect, no machining God.
Nor was it ſpread with purple Sails for ſhade.
The Stage with Ruſhes or with Leaves they ſtrew'd:
No Scenes in Proſpect, no machining God.