A Trip Abroad by Don Carlos Janes
page 31 of 168 (18%)
page 31 of 168 (18%)
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bounds. He banished or murdered his relatives and many of his subjects.
Victims were tortured and slain in his presence while dining, and he uttered the wish that all the Roman people had but one neck, that he might strike it off at one blow. He built a bridge across the Bay of Baiae, and planted trees upon it and built houses upon it that he might say he had crossed the sea on dry land. In the middle of the bridge he gave a banquet, and at the close had a great number of the guests thrown into the sea. He made his favorite horse a priest, then a consul, and also declared himself a god, and had temples built in his honor." It is said that Tiberius left the equivalent of one hundred and eighteen millions of dollars, and that Caligula spent it in less than a year. The attendant pointed out the corridor in which he said this wicked man was assassinated. Near one of the entrances to the Forum stands the Arch of Titus, erected to commemorate the victory of the Romans over the Jews at Jerusalem in A.D. 70. It is built of Parian marble and still contains a well-preserved figure of the golden candlestick of the Tabernacle carved on one of its walls. There is a representation of the table of showbread near by, and some other carvings yet remain, indicating something of the manner in which the monument was originally ornamented. The Colosseum, commenced by Vespasian in A.D. 72 and finished by Titus eight years later, is a grand old ruin. It is an open theater six hundred and twelve feet long, five hundred and fifteen feet wide, and one hundred and sixty-five feet high. This structure, capable of seating eighty-seven thousand people, stands near the bounds of the Forum. It is the largest of its kind, and is one of the best preserved and most interesting ruins in the world. When it was dedicated, the games lasted one hundred days, and five thousand wild beasts were slain. During the |
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