hest of the seven: it was
square in form, each side extending about two hundred feet, and the
ascent to it was by a flight of one hundred steps. It was one of the
oldest, largest, and grandest edifices in the city. Founded by
Tarquinius Priscus, it was at several times enlarged and embellished.
Its gates were of brass, and it was adorned with costly gildings: whence
it is termed "golden" and "glittering," aurea, fulgens. It enclosed
three structures, the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the centre, the
temple of Minerva on the right, and the temple of Juno on the left. The
Capitol also included some minor temples or chapels, and the Casa
Romuly, or Romulus, covered with straw. Near the ascent to the Capitol
was the asylum (Cities of refuge). We also mention the Basilicae, since
some of them were afterwards turned to the purposes of Christian
worship. They were originally buildings of great splendour, being
appropriated to meetings of the senate, and to judicial purposes. Here
counsellors received their clients, and bankers transacted their
business. The earliest churches, bearing the name of Basilicae, were
erected under Constantine the Great. He gave his own palace on the
Caelian Hill as a site for a Christian temple. Next in antiquity was the
church of St. Peter, on the Vatican Hill, built A.D. 324, on the site
and with the ruins of temples consecrated to Apollo and Mars. It stood
about twelve centuries, at the end of which it was superseded by the
modern church bearing the same name.

The Cirei were buildings oblong in shape, used for public games, races,
and beast-fights. The Theatra were edifices designed for dramatic
exhibitions: the Amphitheatra (double theatres, buildings in an oval
form) served for gladiatorial shows and the fighting of wild animals.
That which was erected by the Emperor Titus, and of which there still
exists a splendid ruin, was called the Coliseum, from a colossal statue
of Nero that stood near it. With an excess of luxury, perfumed liquids
were conveyed in secret tubes round these immense structures, and
diffused over the spectators, sometimes from the statues which adorned
the interior. In the arena which formed the centre of the amphitheatres,
the early Christians often endured martyrdom by being exposed to
ravenous beasts.

In modern Rome there are various things to excite the curiosity of the
stranger, but in my observations I could only see four elements
predominating above everything