living, but to the repose of the dead; "bright and beautiful in the
first days of the year was the verdure that covered the meadows of the
Roman people."[20] They are now the burial-place of Protestants, and
consequently, of foreigners only: by far the greatest part of the
strangers interred here are English.

[20] Rome, &c., vol. ii.

[Illustration: (_Tomb of Caius Cestius_.)]

Time has changed the colour and defaced the polish of the marble
pyramid. The grey lichen has crept over it, and wild evergreens hang
from its crevices. But, what it has lost in splendour it has gained in
picturesque beauty; and there are few remains of antiquity within the
bounds of the Eternal City, that the eye rests upon with such
unwearying admiration as this grey pyramid.

Lastly is the reputed _Tomb of the Horatii and Curatii_.

Its identity has been much controverted, and the Cut shows it to be a
ruinous pile capped with luxuriant foliage. It will, nevertheless,
serve to illustrate the stupendous character of the ancient Roman
tombs.

[Illustration: (_Tomb of the Horatii and Curatii_.)]

The theatre of the celebrated combat between the Horatii and Curatii
lies about five miles from the city of Rome. Several tombs stand on
the side of the hillock that borders these fields, but no one in
particular is _there_ pointed out as belonging to the unhappy