itol,
still overlooked the blue sea and the harbor, doubly protected by
towers and iron chains. In the squares and the broad streets of the
"upper city," a motley throng surged or lounged upon the steps of
Christian basilicas (which were often built out of pagan temples),
around the Amphitheatre, the colonnades, the baths with their beds of
flowers and groups of palms, kept green and luxuriant by the water
brought from long distances over the stately arches of the aqueduct.
The "lower city," built along the sea, was inhabited by the poorer
people, principally harbor workmen, and was filled with shops and
storehouses containing supplies for ships and sailors. The streets were
narrow, all running from south to north, from the inner city to the
harbor, like the alleys of modern Genoa.

The largest square in the lower city was the forum of St. Cyprian,
named, for the magnificent basilica dedicated to this the most famous
saint in Africa. The church occupied the whole southern side of the
square, from whose northern portion a long flight of marble steps led
to the harbor (even at the present day, amid the solitude and
desolation of the site of noisy, populous Carthage, the huge ruins of
the old sea gate still remain), while a broad street led westward to
the suburb of Aklas and the Numidian Gate, and another in the southeast
rose somewhat steeply to the upper city and the Capitol.

Into this great square one hot June evening a varied crowd was pouring
from the western gate, the Porta Numidia,--Romans and provincials,
citizens of Carthage, tradesmen and grocers, with many freedmen and
slaves, moved by curiosity and delight in idleness, which attracted
them to every brilliant, noisy spectacle. There were Vandals among
them, too; men, women, and children, whose yellow or red hair and fair
skins were in strong contrast to those of the rest of the population,
though the complexions of many were somewhat bronzed by the African
sun. In costume they differed from the Romans very slightly; many not
at all. Among these lower classes numbers were of mixed blood, children
of Vandal fathers who had married Carthaginian women. Here and there in
the concourse appeared a Moor, who had come from the border of the
desert to the capital to sell ivory or ostrich feathers, lion and tiger
skins, or antelope horns. The men and women of noble German blood were
better--that is, more eager, wealthy, and lavish--buyers than the
numerous impoverished