up to the present day.

[p.10]

The king caused to be engraved a representation of the battle and of
the forces on either side facing one another, both warriors and
horses, all in marble, to exhibit to the world the war of the days of
old.

In Rome there is a cave which runs underground, and catacombs of King
Tarmal Galsin and his royal consort who are to be found there, seated
upon their thrones, and with them about a hundred royal personages.
They are all embalmed and preserved to this day. In the church of St.
John in the Lateran there are two bronze columns taken from the
Temple, the handiwork of King Solomon, each column being engraved
"Solomon the son of David." The Jews of Rome told me that every year
upon the 9th of Ab they found the columns exuding moisture like water.
There also is the cave where Titus the son of Vespasianus stored the
Temple vessels which he brought from Jerusalem. There is also a cave
in a hill on one bank of the River Tiber where are the graves of the
ten martyrs[26].

[p.11]

In front of St. John in the Lateran there are statues of Samson in
marble, with a spear in his hand, and of Absalom the son of King
David, and another of Constantinus the Great, who built Constantinople
and after whom it was called. The last-named statue is of bronze, the
horse being overlaid with gold[27]. Many other edifices are there, and
remarkable sights beyond enumeration.

From Rome it is four days to Capua, the large town which King Capys
built. It is a fine city, but its water is bad, and the country is
fever-stricken[28]. About 300 Jews live there, among them great
scholars and esteemed persons, at their heads being R. Conso, his
brother R. Israel, R. Zaken and the chief rabbi R. David, since
deceased. They call this district the Principality.

From there one goes to Pozzuoli which is called Sorrento the Great,
built by Zur, son of Hadadezer, when he fled in fear of David the
king. The sea has risen and covered the city from its two sides, and
at the present day one can still see the markets and towers which
stood in the midst of the city[29].

[p.12]

A spring issues forth from beneath the ground containing the oil which
is called petroleum. People collect it from the surface of the water
and use it medicinally. There are also hot-water springs to the number
of about twenty, which issue from the ground and are situated near the
sea, and every man who has any disease can go and bathe in them an