s brought to Rome:
the gum of Arabia, the nard of Assyria, the papyrus of Egypt, the
citron-wood of Mauretania, the bronze of AEgina, the pearls of Britain, the
cloth of gold of Phrygia, the fine webs of Cos, the embroidery of Babylon,
the silks of Persia, the lion-skins of Getulia, the wool of Miletus, the
plaids of Gaul. Thus we live, an imperial people, who do nothing but enjoy
themselves and keep festival the whole year; and at length we die--and then
we burn: we burn--in stacks of cinnamon and cassia, and in shrouds of
_asbestos_, making emphatically a good end of it. Such are we Romans, a
great people. Why, we are honoured wherever we go. There's my master,
there's myself; as we came here from Italy, I protest we were nearly
worshipped as demi-gods."

"And perhaps some fine morning," said Aristo, "Rome herself will burn in
cinnamon and cassia, and in all her burnished Corinthian brass and scarlet
bravery, the old mother following her children to the funeral pyre. One
has heard something of Babylon, and its drained moat, and the soldiers of
the Persian."

A pause occurred in the conversation as one of Jucundus's slaves entered
with fresh wine, larger goblets, and a vase of snow from the Atlas.

CHAPTER VI.

GOTHS AND CHRISTIANS.

Cornelius was full of his subject, and did not attend to the Greek. "The
wild-beasts hunts," he continued, "ah, those hunts during the games,
Aristo! they were a spectacle for the gods. Twenty-two elephants, ten
panthers, ten hyaenas (by-the-bye, a new beast, not strange, however, to
you here, I suppose), ten camelopards, a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros--I
can't go through the list. Fancy the circus planted throughout for the
occasion, and turned into a park, and then another set of wild animals,
Getes and Sarmatians, Celts and Goths, sent in against them, to hunt down,
capture and kill them, or to be killed themselves."

"Ah, the Goths!" answered Aristo; "those fellows give you trouble, though,
now and then. Perhaps they will give you more. There is a report in the
praetorium to-day that they have crossed the Danube."

"Yes, they _will_ give us trouble," said Cornelius, drily; "they _have_
given us trouble, and they will give us more. The Samnites gave us
trouble, and our friends of Carthage here, and Jugurtha, and Mithridates;
trouble, yes, that is the long and the short of it; they will give us
trouble. Is trouble