lements of fortified
palaces. The houses of the common folk huddled at the feet of the hills,
and here and there remnants of old Rome rose like yellowed tombstones.
Today's Romans, Sophia thought, built their hovels in the shadows of
marble ruins.

Sophia was impressed only by the age of the place. Her own city, the
Polis, was everything now that this place had been centuries ago. Rome
had possessed civilization and had lost it. Constantinople had it still,
on a grander scale.

At dawn David's party had reached the place where the Tiber passed
through crumbling city walls. Lorenzo and Rachel crossed the river into
the Trastevere quarter, where the Jews lived. Sophia wondered how they
would get past the watchmen at the city gate with the old man's body.
Would Lorenzo tell a clever story, try bribery, or use his Ghibellino
connections? Or would he fail, and he and Rachel be arrested?

David did not seem worried. She had seen his anger at Lorenzo. Perhaps
he hoped to be rid of him. For her part, she felt Lorenzo was far more
her friend than David. She had known Lorenzo longer, and he had always
been kind to her. She prayed he would return safely to them after
finding a haven for Rachel among the Jews of Rome.

She and David had entered the city through a gate on the east side of
the Tiber without difficulty. Evidently news of the incident at the inn
had not reached the Roman watch. In the city she rode beside David along
the river's east bank.

She touched David's shoulder and pointed to a hilltop.

"That hill is called the Capitoline," she said. "At one time the whole
world was ruled from there."

She supposed David would find that hard to believe, though the hill was
still impressive, with a cluster of marble palaces at its top.

They were passing through one of the most crowded parts of Rome. On
their left, fishermen hauled their nets out of the river, throwing
flopping fish into baskets. On their right, shops in the ground floors
of overhanging houses offered fruits and flowers and vegetables, fish,
shoes, straw, rosaries, icons, relics, candles. Even at this early hour
the street was crowded. Romans jostled the horses David and Sophia rode,
but they gave Scipio plenty of room. Lorenzo had given the great
boarhound a stern lecture, after which Scipio docilely allowed David to
lead him on a leash.

"I have seen two other great imperial cities," said David. "One was
Baghdad, before the Tartars destroyed it. It