But some of them survive, either because
there was no desire to destroy them, or because men could not. They
still stand in ruins like the old castles, for repairs are no longer
made; but enough is preserved to enable us to comprehend their former
condition. Some of them are still above ground, like the pyramids, the
temples of Thebes and of the island of Philae, the palace of Persepolis
in Persia, the Parthenon in Greece, the Colosseum in Rome, and the
Maison Carree and Pont du Gard in France. Like any modern monument,
these are visible to the traveller. But the majority of these
monuments have been recovered from the earth, from sand, from river
deposits, and from debris. One must disengage them from this thick
covering, and excavate the soil, often to a great depth. Assyrian
palaces may be reached only by cutting into the hills. A trench of
forty feet is necessary to penetrate to the tombs of the kings of
Mycenae. Time is not the only agency for covering these ruins; men have
aided it. When the ancients wished to build, they did not, as we do,
take the trouble to level off the space, nor to clear the site.
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