14. The Forum, or place of public assembly, was situated between the
Palatine and Capitoline hills. It was surrounded with temples,
basilicks,[14] and public offices, and adorned with innumerable
statues.[15] On one side of this space were the elevated seats from
which the Roman magistrates and orators addressed the people; they
were called Rostra, because they were ornamented with the beaks of
some galleys taken from the city of Antium. In the centre of the forum
was a place called the Curtian Lake, either from a Sabine general
called Curtius, said to have been smothered in the marsh which was
once there; or from[16] the Roman knight who plunged into a gulf that
opened suddenly on the spot. The celebrated temple of Ja'nus, built
entirely of bronze, stood in the Forum; it is supposed to have been
erected by Numa. The gates of this temple were opened in time of war,
and shut during peace. So continuous we're the wars of the Romans,
that the gates were only closed three times during the space of eight
centuries. In the vicinity stood the temple of Concord, where the
senate frequently assembled, and the temple of Vesta, where the
palla'dium was said to be deposited.

15. Above the rostra was the Senate-house, said to have been
first erected by Tullus Hostilius; and near the Comitium, or place of
meeting for the patrician Curiae.[17] This area was at first uncovered,
but a roof was erected at the close of the second Pu'nic war.

16. The Cam'pus Mar'tius, or field of Mars, was originally the estate
of Tarquin the Proud, and was, with his other property, confiscated
after the expulsion of that monarch. It was a large space, where
armies were mustered, general assemblies of the people held, and the
young nobility trained in martial exercises. In the later ages, it was
surrounded by several magnificent structures, and porticos were
erected, under which the citizens might take their accustomed exercise
in rainy weather. These improvements were principally made by Marcus
Agrippa, in the reign of Augustus. 17. He erected in the
neighbourhood, the Panthe'on, or temple of all the gods, one of the
most splendid buildings in ancient Rome. It is of a circular form, and
its roof is in the form of a cupola or dome; it is used at present as
a Christian church. Near the Panthe'on were the baths and gardens
which Agrippa, at his death, bequeathed to the Roman people.

18. The theatres and circi for the exhibition of public spectacles
wer