The Helena independent., 1890-12-29
As THE ANCIENTS BUILT.
Some Remarkable Engineering Feats
Accomplished in the Ages
Now Gone By.
The Immense Awning of Cesar
and Alexander's Tent Be-
fore Babylon.
curio's Adjustable Theatcr, Which Might
Have Given Pointers to 'the Great
est Show on Earth"

The hard mechanical training necessary
for an engineer of the present day dlsln-
clines him to spend his scanty leisure IN
studies which cannot be turned to account,
saws the ST, James Gazette. The result is
that he conscientiously believes his art to
be the special flower and glory of the age
in which he is not altogether wrong; but
beyond that he regards all earlier feats of
engineering as unworthy of serious discus
sion. And the public, as Ignorant, with
less excuse. encourages this view.
II is waste of time to ask him how the
houlders of Stonehange were conveyed to
their resting place. how the walls of Fiesole
or Mycene were built. These marvels rep
resent the power which lies in the brute
force of multitudes. and there's an end of
the question. Engineering now is an art
and 4 science with which the rude work of
the sayapes has no sort of connection. One
must not inouire why he takes 1t for grant
ed that Stonehenge, for example, was built by
sayapes, where the brute multitude came
from. and how they subsisted on Salisbury
Plcin or why is it necessary to assume that
> thew we're unacquainted with mechanics.
All that is bevond dispute. If you cite
records of antiquity which tell of works he
cannot rival, that fact alone is proof that
the record is lie; for how can 1t possibly
be that mere Greeks and Komans shouid
the Eiffel tower and the Forth bridge can
not accomplish? We had an amusing in
stance of this feeling lately. The ingenious
NJ, Eiffel and the artistic N. Kartholdi
have been gravely pondering the Colossus
Of Khodes-neasuringi IT and weighing 1t
p,,I %hav hova cnnclul-
ed that the thing was simply impossible.
It could not have been set up. to begin
Nth. and when set up it could not have
stood the pressure of the wind. This is
demonstrated by the rules OF modern
science. and he who does not admit the
demonstration must ne prepared 70 snow
that two and two does not make four.
Those ANTIQUE personages who professed to
have seen the Colossus were victims of m
ocular de!usion or fiat story tellers. and
that greater number who mention 1t Incl
dentally. as we might mention the ruins of
the Coliseum, were credn.ous Ross,ps. me
fact ia that Messrs. Eiffel and Rartholdi
nrpue in the fashion usual with engineers.
Not all of them would pretend that they
know eyery law of nature which applies in
such n case. But very few would listen
patiently if it we're urged that the ancients
knew some laws with which they were un-
acquainted.
So it appears, however, to the disinter-
ested student, and we can bring forward
evidence enough. If it be true that the Co.
lossus of Rhodes is really proved "impossi-
ble." according to the best modern author
tiles, this is good illustration to begin
WITH for its existence Is as well n autnen..
of the Olympian Zeus. or the tower OF Lon
n don, for that matter. to one who has never
seen it. BY some means it was set up, and
by adoption of some natural laws 1t was
made to stand until al earthquake over
threw it. One is embarrassed by the num-
Der and variety of illustrations to the same
effect which crowd upon the mind. Since
the Coliseum has been mentioned we may
choose examples of that class. Is NJ. Eiffel
prepared to put an awning over Trafalgar
square when the sun shines, and remove it
promptly without the aid OF cen
even chains? The area of the
Coliseum is certainly not less. This
may seem trifing matter to the thought
less because they have never considered it.
Roman engineers covered in that vast ex-
panse with some woolen material, and they
worked the ponderous sheet so easily and
smoothly that it was drawn and withdrawn
as the sky changed. The bulk of it must
have weighed hundreds of tons, all depend
ing by ropes from the circumference. But
the ancients thought SO little of this feat
that they have left US only one trivial detail
of the method.
So Julius Caesar stretched an awning
above the Forum Romanum and great part
OF the Via Sacra in the space of a single
night. Have any of our modern engineers
pondered the contemporary descriptions of
Alexander's dubar tent before Babylon?
That again appears to have, had no
gold. OF the glorious plen-
ishino within We have not to speak, since
our theme is mechanics. Around the throne
and the great courtiers stood 500 Mace
donian guards: in n circle beyond. the 800
Persian guards; beyond these again 1,OOJ
archers. 10 fix a tent which held 1900 sol
diers on duty with arms and accout, ement,
surrounding in successive circles the most
gorgeous Oriental court that ever was. with
hundreds of sat aps. councillors. generals,
eunachs and slaves would perplex macha-
nicisn Of the nineteenth century. He will
reply that the stoy is false-must be be-
cause he could not match it. Happily the
awning OF the Coliseum stands beyond dis
pute, and Alexander S tent is a small matter
compared with that. But we undertook tc
deal with the engineering of the ancients
in connection with the theatre, having
CHANGED on that class of illustration. Pliny
tells how Metellus Scaurus. Rdile, built
wondrous editice. which stirred his rival
G. Curio, to frantic jealousy. 1t may bs
worth while in passing-since we are all 81
much interested III the theater now.
adays and think SO much of ou
own ones-to tell what sort o.
building that was which Curio set him
self to outdo. it had 800 marble columns
each 38 feet high and 3s feet apart. Abou
2OOO bronze statues stood among them
The stage had three floors. as was usual
the lowest paved and fitted with marble
the second with glass. the third gilded
boards and all. 1t held $1,000 people.
This account will seem so fabulous L
steady going Britons that it is prudent t
give chapter and verse. The description
will be found, with curious details an,
passionate reflections on the luxury of tn
day, in Pliny's National history, XXXIIl
q. Such was the wonder which Curio re
solved to beat, and feeling himself unabl
to vie in outlay, he summoned the en-
gineers of the period to design somethin
which would "fetch'' the public. The
built two enormous theaters of wood, eac
to contain an audience of 25,OOO. whic
stood back to back. When the spe,
tators assembled in the forenoon Curio ",
chaffed, no doubt, on the issue .
his attempt to excel Scauru
But the audience returned in the Afternoon
for these entertainments were devoted
the names Of Curio's father. and lasted
month. In the place of two theatres, bac
70 back, they found an amphitheatre hol,
ing 5000 persons, wherein gladiators ar
Wild beasts contended until dewy eve. tt
49, kNvsSl1 kul