In the time of the Caesars, fourteen magnificent aqueducts, supported by immense arches, conducted whole rivers into Rome, from a distance of many miles, and supplied one hundred and fifty public fountains, one hundred and eighteen large public baths, the artificial seas in which naval combats were represented in the Colosseum, and the golden palace of Nero, besides the water necessary to supply the daily use of the inhabitants.  One hundred thousand marble and bronze statues ornamented the public squares, the temples, the streets, and the houses of the nobility:  ninety colossal statues raised on pedestals; and forty-eight Egyptian obelisks of red granite, some of the largest size, also adorned the city.

Such was ancient Rome, “the Eternal City.”  Although visited for more than a thousand years by various calamities, she is still the most majestic of cities; the charm of beauty, dignity, and grandeur still lingers around the ruins of ancient, as well as the splendid structures of modern Rome, and brilliant recollections of every age are connected with the monuments which the passing traveler meets at every step.

THE CAPITOL.

The Capitol or Citadel of ancient Rome stood on the Capitoline hill, the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, called the Saturnine and Tarpeian rock.  It was begun B.C. 614, by Tarquinius Priscus, but was not completed till after the expulsion of the kings.  After being thrice destroyed by fire and civil commotion, it was rebuilt by Domitian, who instituted there the Capitoline games.  Dionysius says the temple, with the exterior palaces, was 200 feet long, and 185 broad.  The whole building consisted of three temples, which were dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, and separated from one another by walls.  In the wide portico, triumphal banquets were given to the people.  The statue of Jupiter, in the Capitol, represented the god sitting on a throne of ivory and gold, and consisted in the earliest times of clay painted red; under Trajan, it was formed of gold.  The roof of the temple was made of bronze; it was gilded by Q. Catulus.  The doors were of the same metal.  Splendor and expense were profusely lavished upon the whole edifice.  The gilding alone cost 12,000 talents (about $12,000,000), for which reason the Romans called it the Golden Capitol.  On the pediment stood a chariot drawn by four horses, at first of clay, and afterwards of brass gilded.  The temple itself contained an immense quantity of the most magnificent presents.  The most important state papers, and particularly the Sibylline books were preserved in it.  A few pillars and some ruins are all that now remain of the magnificent temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.  Its site is mostly occupied by the church of the Franciscans, and partly by the modern capitol called the Campidoglio, which was erected after the design of Michael Angelo, consisting of three buildings.  From the summit of the middle one, the spectator has a splendid view of one of the most remarkable regions in the world—­the Campagna, up to the mountains.  For a description of the Colosseum, see vol ii, page 29, of this work.