walking under the Arch. Our conversation then turned on the absurd hatred
and prejudice that existed between Christians and Jews; he was very liberal
on this subject and in speaking of Jesus Christ he said: "Jesus Christ was
a Jew and a real philosopher and was therefore persecuted, for his
philosophy interfered too much with, and tended to shake the political
fabric of the Jewish constitution and to subvert our old customs and
usages: for this reason he was put to death. I seek not to defend or
palliate the injustice of the act or the barbarity with which he was
treated; but our nation did surely no more than any other nation ancient or
modern has done or would still do against reformers and innovators."

The Arch of Titus is completely defaced outside, but in the interior of the
Arch, on each side, is a bas relief: the one representing Vespasian's
triumph over the Jews, and the Emperor himself in a car drawn by six
horses; the other represents the soldiers and followers of the triumph,
bearing the spoils of the conquered nation, and among them the famous
candlesticks that adorned the temple of Jerusalem are very conspicuous.
These figures are in tolerable preservation, only that the Emperor has lost
his head and one of the soldiers has absconded.

On issuing from the Arch of Titus we found ourselves in the Forum, now the
_Campo Vaccino_: so that cattle now low where statesmen and orators
harangued, and lazy priests in procession tread on the sacred dust of
heroes.

Où des prêtres heureux foulent d'un pied tranquille
Les tombeaux des Catons et les cendres d'Emile.

So sings Voltaire, I believe, or if they are not his lines, they are the
Abbé Delille's.[84]