o," seeing
the street called the "Corso," or race course, Piazza Colonna, Fountain
of Treves, Trajan's Forum, Roman Forum, Arch of Constantine, Pantheon,
Colosseum, and the small Pyramid of Caius Cestus.

The Porto del Popolo is the old gateway by which travelers entered the
city before the railroad was built. It is on the Flammian Way and is
said to have been built first in A.D. 402. Just inside the gate is a
space occupied by an Egyptian obelisk surrounded by four Egyptian lions.
The Corso is almost a mile in length and extends from the gate just
mentioned to the edge of the Capitoline Hill, where a great monument to
Victor Emmanuel was being built. The Fountain of Treves is said to be
the most magnificent in Rome, and needs to be seen to be appreciated. It
has three large figures, the one in the middle representing the Ocean,
the one on the left, Fertility, and the one on the right, Health. Women
who are disposed to dress fashionably at the expense of a deformed body
might be profited by a study of this figure of Health. Trajan's Forum is
an interesting little place, but it is a small show compared with the
Roman Forum, which is much more extensive, and whose ruins are more
varied. The latter contains the temples of Vespasian, of Concordia, of
Castor and Pollux, and others. It also contains the famous Arch of
Titus, the Basilica of Constantine, the remains of great palaces, and
other ruins. "Originally the Forum was a low valley among the hills, a
convenient place for the people to meet and barter." The Palatine Hill
was fortified by the first Romans, and the Sabines lived on other hills.
These two races finally united, and the valley between the hills became
the site of numerous temples and government buildings. Kings erected
their palaces in the Forum, and it became the center of Roman life. But
when Constantine built his capital at Constantinople, the greatness of
the city declined, and it was sacked and plundered by enemies from the
north. The Forum became a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish until
it was almost hidden from view, and it was called by a name signifying
cow pasture. It has been partly excavated within the last century, and
the ruined temples and palaces have been brought to light, making it
once more a place of absorbing interest. I wandered around and over and
under and through these ruins for a considerable length of time, and
wrote in my note book: "There is more here than I can comprehend."