232 ROME. 



And now we return to that magnificent city which 

 was adorned with the spoils of a hundred lands, into 

 which streamed all the wealth, the energy, and the am- 

 bition of the East and "West. Ostia-on-the-sea where 

 the ancient citizens had boiled their salt, was now a 

 great port, in which the grain from Egypt and Car- ■ 

 thage was stored up in huge buildings, and to which, 

 in the summer and autumn, came ships from all parts 

 of the world. The road to Rome was fifteen miles in 

 length, and was lined with villas and with lofty tombs. 

 Outside the city, on the neighbouring hills, were 

 gardens open to the public ; and from these hills were 

 conducted streams, by subterranean pipes, into the 

 town, where they were trained to run like rivulets, 

 making everywhere a pleasant murmur, here and there 

 reposing in artificial grottoes, or dancing as fountains 

 in the air. The streets were narrow, and the tall 

 houses buried them in deep shade. They were lined 

 with statues ; there was a population of marble men. 

 Flowers glittered on roofs and balconies. Vast palaces 

 of green, and white, and golden tinted marble were 

 surrounded by venerable trees. The Via Sacra was 

 the Regent Street of Rome, and was bordered with 

 stalls, where the silks and spices of the East, the wool 

 of Spain, the glass wares of Alexandria, the smoked 

 fish of the Black Sea, the wines of the Greek isles, 

 Cretan apples, Alpine cheese, the oysters of Britain, 

 and the veined wood of the Atlas, were exposed for 

 sale. In that splendid thoroughfare a hundred 

 languages might be heard at once, and as many 

 costumes were displayed as if the universe had 

 been invited to a fancy ball. Sometimes a squadron 

 of the Imperial Guard would ride by — flaxen-haired, 

 blue-eyed Germans, covered with shining steel. Then 



