Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-11

can eat for 10c. In the street ne notices
a woman and dog pulling heavy load
that he Is quite unconscious of the
stranger who is watching him and when
spoken to the first words are to beg for
a penny. At last he has reached one of
the old Romans gates, where vendors are
busy spreading out their stock of fish.
vegetables, pots and pans. Very differ
emit is the picture on the other side Of
these old gates The roadway is quite
deserted except for q few farmers at
work in the field and a few faggot bear
ers bringing their load to market
The next morning he starts OF in a
different direction and after hard steep
climb he reaches the Capitol. The ascent
Is made by broad flight Of steps which
were built for the triumphal entry of
Charles v. Little remains of those great
temples Of Juno Moneta and Jupiter
Capitolinus that once crowned the sum-
NIT. Now in their place stand the
Museum and Municipal buildings. As one
ascends, those splendid horses, Castor
and PolIux, appear In the foreground. In
the garden is kept a small statue Of
wolf, the symbol Of Rome. One is quite
bewildered by the great number Of
statues that fill the great halls. Note
worthy for its virility no less than its
size is the colossal statue of Oceanus
seen in the court yards. Passing by many
minor statues he enters the Hall Of the
Portlands Here he sees q beautiful
sarcophague decorated with reliefs that
represents the story Of Achilles. The
most artistic work is that of Priam kneel-
ing before Achilles as he begs for the
| body of Hector. This sarcophague was
| found outside of the walls in the 18th
| Century and held the splendid Portland
vase now seen in the British Museum.
Another rare work Of Art is the cele-
brated Venus of the Capitol. Venus is
represented as about to descend into the
bath when she hears the approach of
stranger and draws back shrinking timid
ly. This is considered one Of the art
treasures in Rome. 1t was found in
house in the 18th Century walled In a
closet. Here Is also seen the Red Faun
Hawthorne celebrated in the book the
House Of the Marble Faun.
AS he descends the Capitol he sees a
great square which he recognizes as the
Forum. Looking over the great space he
sees the splendid Corinthian Columns
raising their heads toward the clear blue
sky. This is all that remains Of the
splendid temple of Mars which once
adorned this spot. The Forum was once
the great market place in Rome, It was
here that Caesar and other great orators
harangued to the people. Here the
stood many splendid buildings including
the Tabularium, the place where the
Archives were kept, the Temple of Con-
cord, Temple of Saturn, Arch of Icterius,
of Septlmus Serverus and the Rostra.
A few rods away is another square
with splendid marble columns to be REQ
ognised as Trajan's Columns. This was
while the man trudges along leisurely.
He turns into small street and Is soon
impressed by the poverty and the crowd
Ing Of the houses. Here he Is greeted
by many pretty happy children starting
off to school. He walks along and soon
passes a church of Byzantine architec-
ture very different from all the other
churches he has seen in Home. lie
enters and hears a man reading prayers
at the main altar for some devout wor-
shippers. The poverty, the faith and
contentment he has seen are the quail
ties that mark the Ghetto, that spiritual
force which has helped the Jews. the
most spiritual, the most misunderstood
people of earth, to withstand the many
centuries Of hard persecution. A differ
ent picture this from the splendid pile
he sees as he drives up the steep road
way to ST. Peters. The Cathedral has
a breadth that symbolizes power and
grandeur increased by the long colon
nades on either sides with the two splen-
did fountains and the broad flight OF
steps. The interior is far more magnif-
cent. Beneath the dome in the centre
rises canopy which covers the Tomb
Of st. Peter. He wanders from chapel
to chapel adorned with beautiful marble
raised to the memory of Popes, Cardinals
and Princes. CHANGING upward he sees
the cupola designed by Michael Angelo;
beyond is the high altar whose principal
adornment is the canopy supported by
four arches and as many pillars.
He has only seen a small part of that
splendid beauty which has made ST.
Peters one Of the handsomest monuments
In Rome. He enters a gate and after
crossing a long court he sees a large
garden to one side. These are the splen-
did gardens OF the Pope, rich In vine
yards and fruit trees. A guard stops
him to explain that he must have spe-
cial permission to visit the gardens. He
steps across to the Vatican museum
which has the richest collection OF mar
bles in the world. In the rotunda he
sees magnificent vase of red porphyry
found In the house Of Nero. 1t rests on
mosaic floor representing the combat
between the Centaurs and Lapithae.
Even more interesting is the Hall OF
Animals. This collection was made by
Plus who wished to gather the most In
terestIng animals OF ancient sculpture.
not being able to find many he had an
artist Of great talent make others.
Among this number is seen group OF
Triton carrying of nymph and q lion