The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-01-09

! the hand of man. One cannot conceive more
admirable preface TO ancient Italy than the Ro-
| man ruins and relics in the lower valley of the
Rhone. the Eternal City excepted. 1t is doubt
full IL Italy itself can present an ensemble of
temples, arenas and amphitheatres superior to
that offered by Mines, Aries. Orange, St. Remy,
Vienna and other less celebrated provencal
sites, whose precious antiquities recall the power
and glory of the Caesars, invaders, conquerors
and then civilizers of these hitherto barbarian
regions Since the explosion which shook the
Athenian acropols and wrecked the Parthenon,
no existing temple in Greece or Italy is as well
preserved or as beautiful as the Maison Carree;
the arenas of Mines and Aries are in an infinitely
better state of preservation than the Coliseum
as for the Pont du Gard, it is one of the unique
marvels Of the world.
Few cities present to the traveller a more i'm
posing picture than Mines. particularly when it
is first perceived from the summit of the via
duct. Surrounded by shaded esplanades and
sple~d modern buildings, the salient feature
of the landscape is the gigantic amphitheatre
Behind it rises ridge of green and thickly wood
ed hills. the tallest summit crowned by the Ro-
man and enigmatic silhouette of the Tour Magne.
OF all the ancient amphitheatres that of Mines
has suffered least from the ravages of time and
vandal hands. 1t is also one Of the largest 1t
was designed to furnish places for 10000 specta-
tors, which attests the Importance of the city
during the time it was governed by the Romans.
The arena, though spared destruction, has
undergone many and varied vicisstHdes, the
Visigoths having invaded and conquered the
province in the year 472. constructed a fortress
and watch tower upon its topmost arches; for
the Saracens it served a similar purpose, and
when Charles Martel expelled them from the
Of
buildings, which had sprung up inside the pro-
tecting walls of the amphitheatre, but while the
buildings of the Saracens crumbled in the heat,
the massive arches CT Roman masonry stood
! firm. During the middle ages this provincial
coliseum became the habitation of thousands of
poor families who constructed rude shelters
beneath the arches in the inches of the walls,
and in every crevice which offered refuge, liv-
ing like Affects or prehistoric cavedwellers.
Inside the arena veritable village was built
upon the rising tiers of stone seats, and soon the
whole gigantic structure was swarming with
| life like a monstrous beehive or a New York
tenement. This city-of- the poor eventually be-
came distinct quarter of Mines, with markets,
shops, restaurants and even church, which was
built in one of the galleries of the second floor
and christened "St. Martin des Arenes." How
ever, the National Commission of Historic Monu-
ments has removed all this debris and, as far as
possible, restored to the amphitheatre its proper
aspect.
Aside from the sentiments Of awe and solemn
wonder which all Roman monuments inspire,
| the point which struck me most forcibly in con
nection with the construction of this building
| was the perfect adequacy of its exits. with
one single exception catastrophes like that of
| the Iroquois theatre in Chicago, which, unhap-
PLY, are of all too frequent occurrence in this
enlightened twentieth century, were unknown
| to the Romans) Aside from the innumerable
| staircases which could be thrown open or closed
| at will, the amphitheatre was provided with 20
| wide exits or ''vomitoires" through which the
entire audience of $4,000 souls could pass in four
| or five minutes. In case of accident or severe
storm, for the building was without roof, the
| huge structure literally "vomited" the surging
crowds.
| If the arena arouses primarily profound SEN
sation of Roman grandeur the Maison Carree
completes the idea of civilization which knew
how to ally beauty and elegance with strength.
The Maison Carree, the most admired monu-
ment in France is, perhaps, the most perfect
existing example of Gr@co- Roman archtec-
ture, and its every line breathes that love of
''divine proportion" which the Romans inherited
from the Greeks. It's decorative sculpture is
justly Ccl0DEdLcu duQ III flClulOy ctdthCc dhu
fragments of other buildings have been discov-
cred, among which is bas- relief representing
coquetish young woman seated in the midst of
flower market. beneath which appears the fol-
lowing naif and amusing inscription: Mon ven
do nj amantibus coronas." Il sell my flowers
only to lovers)
Until the nineteenth century the archeolo-
gsts held widely divergent views as to the ma
ture and destination of the Maison Carree, but
it is now generally admitted that the edidce was
a temple erected in honor of the two brothers,
Caius and Lucius Agrippa, sons of the great
Agrippa and grandsons of Caesar Augustus.
But the "Tour Magne'' guards its secret, and
has stood for fifteen hundred years mute and
silent as the sphynx. Was it a tomb or a watch
tower or fortress? No one knows. Countless
legends have been woven around its picturesque
and crumbling form, and one historic incident
of the XXI century, more curious than any of
the traditions, confirms the proverb that truth
is stranger than fiction. Prior to the year 1900
the tower was 100 feet high and was composed of
two distinct parts. The lower division, which
rose to height of 90 feet, was formed of mas
sive circular wall filed with earth and stones;
upon this solid base built second tower.
Today the upper tower has disappeared and the
90 foot base is a hollow shell. The singular ORR
of the monument is somewhat as follows:
Nostradamus. the celebrated astrologer. whose
native town, st. Remy, was only few leagues
distant from Mines. predicted in the famous
Centuries" which he published before becom
ing the court physician of Charles TX, that
some day. q provencal gardener would become
rich by discovering golden hen buried beneath
an ancient tower. Nostradamus died and in
Provence his Centuries, which had never been
regarded seriously by his acquaintance and
neighbors, we're soon forgotten. He had been
the typical prophet not without honor save In
his own country" But even if the inhabitants
of Mines, st. Remy and Avignon had been dis
posed to place credence in this greatest of char
latans, the prophecy regarding the golden hen
was too indefinite to stimulate them to search
for the treasure. Beneath an ancient tower,
was the sole indication furnished by the mysteri-
GUS volume, and, as all the world knows. IAN
cient towers" are the common features of every
landscape in the valley of the Rhone. between
Lyons and Marseilles One might as we'll say
today beneath skyscraper in New York. or
beneath sand-heapi in the Sahara" The loca-
tion would be equally definite. However, dur
ing the reign of Henry Nv the magic cult, found
ed by Nostradamus, was suddenly revived by
the discovery that certain important political
prophecies in the Centuries" had been fulfilled
in amazing manner. Even sin his own
country" the people marveled and signaled
their tardy recognition by raising statue to
the memory of the prophet" Everyb body who
could read began to read the Centuries" and
the story of the golden hen was thus brought to
| light second time. Other predictions had come
true, why not this one? Many a poor farmer
neglected his cabbages and potatoes to sink his
spade feverishly into the stony soil at the foot
of some Roman or feudal ruin-always with the
same result. Now a certain gardener, named
Traucat dreamed one night that the golden hen
was hidden beneath the "Tour Magne" at Mines.
So impressed was he by the vision that he sold
all that he possessed, bought a donkey and set
out for Paris to see the king. Two months
afterward hungry, dirty and in rags, be reached
the French capital. To the royal guards who
barred bis entrance to the Louvre he refused to
explain the nature of his mission, declaring
simply that he possessed prodigious secret
which could be confided only to the ear of the
king. So insistent was his demand that an audi
ence was finally granted. Henry IV.whose very
elevation to the throne had been generally
garded as the fulfllment of a certain obscure
saying of Nostradamus, was disposed ia take a