fone out. It must never be allowed to go out. ix noble ladies in Rome, vowed to single life, were appointed to guard this fire. Their connexion
with the town religion, as well as their high birtn, made them a power in Rome, and they were uni- versally respected. The importance of this cult is reflected in the ruins surviving in the Forum. The Temple of Vesta was round, a less common shape than the square or rectangular, and the founda- tions alone survive. It stood upon a circular sub- structure 46 ft. in diameter and was ornamented by pilasters. The entrance faced exactly east. The altar was not quite in the middle. The other two buildings ought strictly to be regarded as one, the central Atrium Vesta:, which was very large, being flanked on both sides by the living-rooms of the Vestals' house. This house was roomy and splendid, but shut in like a cloister. The central part of the Atrium seems to have been laid out as a garden. There is much of interest about this place that must be passed over.
Right at the other side is the Temple of the god Antonin us and the goddess Faustina. On the death of the Empress Faustina in A.D. 141, the Senate, at the instance of her husband, who had been passionately devoted to her, elevated her among the gods, and vowed her a temple, the construction of which was begun almost at once. The name of Antoninus himself was added to that of his wife at his own death. The vestibule of the temple has six unUuted columns of Euboean marble, 55 ft. 9 ins. high and 4 ft. 9 ins. in diameter. The shafts of the columns have numerous inscriptions on them. A church was built into this temple before the 12th century.
At the southern end of the Forum, on higher ground at the top of the Sacra Via, stands the Arch of Titus. This noble structure was decreed by the Senate and people to the Emperor Titus after the triumphant end of the war with Judaja and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but was not completed till after the end of his reign (A.D. 81). Piers at the sides, having been seriously injured in the course of repeated misuse of the building in the Middle Ages, were skilfully re- newed in 1821. The chief features of the arch are the numerous reliefs with which it is adorned. One shows the Emperor in a chariot crowned by the goddess of Victory. Here also are the lictors carrying the bundles of rods. The most notable relief represents a section of the triumphal pro- cession, where the treasures of the Temple at Jerusalem are being carried on litters ; on the flrst the table of the shewbread and the trumpets of the year of Jubilee, on the second the seven- branched candlestick.
Such is a cursory review of the most notable surviving ruins in the Forum, belonging to the period of the Republic and the early Empire. The area is about 430 by 110 yards. If the grandeur of the ruins impres.ses one, the impression of decay, perhaps even shabbiness, is also vivid. But the setting in which the remains appear adds glory to them. Vegetation is not seriously interfered with, and in early April one may see growing wild there clover, vetch, cranesbill, geranium, violet, pink, cyclamen, periwinkle, borage, blue anemone, wallflower, birdsfoot trefoil, etc. On some of the ruined walls you will find, live weeks before English time, the wistaria, surely the most exquisitely delicate of all creepers. In the warm period of the day the lizards scurry hither and thither. Above, on the Palatine, wild mignonette abounds.
Beyond tlie Forum to the south is the Flavian Amphitheatre (commonly called the Colosseum). It is one of the most wonderful ruined structures in the world. In this vast edifice, where many a victim bestial and human was ' butchered to make a Roman holiday,' there was room for very many thousands of spectators. The building is a beauti- ful oval in shape. It is upwards of 180 ft. in
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height and one-third of a mile in circumference. The exterior is ornamented by three styles of columns — the Doric on the lowest ranse, the Ionic in the miildle, and the Corinthian above. The inside slupinj; part, where stone seats rose in tiers, was built by tlie most skilful use of the arch. Beneatli the arena there is a vast number of rooms, and certain of these may have been used to house the viclims till they were required for exhibition. The nearest modern analogy to the Roman amplii- theatre is the Spanisli bull-rint,' {/ilnzd cic torus) built on the same model. In both, the system of entrances and e.\its to the various i)arts of the house is admirably efficient. In both the sunlight has to be reckoned with, and on occasion in Uome a silk awning was drawn over the top. Towards the end of the 1st cent, of the Emi^ire, tickets (nomismata) were often showered upon the populace from above (Stat. Siliice, i. 6 ; Martial, pa.^siiii). Each ticket bore on it the indication of a prize which the lucky catcher obtained on presenting it at an office in the citj-.
Law-courts. — Leaving this quarter of the city, we can now return to the northern end of the Forum. As the volume of legal business increased with the settled state of the Empire, now free from the curse of civil war, additional law-courts became necessary, and Emperors vied with one another in building them. North of the northern end of the Forum proper was built the Julian Forum, north of that the Augustan, and west of that the huge square forum of Trajan with double apses, bounded on its west side by the Basilica Ulpia. Yet this does not exhaust the number of these buildings. Behind the place where the temple of Antoninus and Faustina afterwards stood, was Vespasian's Forum with the Temple of Peace. To connect this with the Augustan Forum just mentioned, Nerva built one which was called after him, but also called ' Transitorium ' (the connecting Funaii). Of all this wonderful group of glorious buildings very little remains.