Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/80

50 Roman Architecture. was railed off from the other portion of the building, in which markets were held and business was transacted, and consisted of a semicircular apse with a raised platform, projecting from the back of the hall. Towards the termination of the republic, when Rome was convulsed with civil war, and the revolts of the slaves threatened to overturn the whole system of government, Fig. 26.— Section of the Pantheon. the republican simplicity of earlier buildings was changed for a princely magnificence of style. The theatre, built by Marcus Scaurus, in 58 B.C., which was capable of hold- ing 80,000 spectators, contained handsome marble columns and fine statues, and was richly decorated with such'costly materials as gold, silver, and ivory. Three years later, Pompey erected the first stone theatre in Rome; it held