THE COLISEUM
10. Eld: antiquity.
14. See Matthew 26: 36-56.
16. The Chaldxans were the world's greatest astrologers.
26-29. Poe here uses technical architectural terms with success.
plinth: the block upon which a column or a statue rests.
shafts: the main part of a column between the base and the capital.
entablatures: the part of a building borne by the columns.
frieze: an ornamented horizontal band in the entablature.
cornices: the horizontal molded top of the entablatures.