why am I singled out to partake of one that seems all bitter? My feelings
sometimes overmaster my philosophy. You can forgive this, who know my
sorrows. Still I am delaying to inform you concerning my journey and my
arrival. Now I will begin.

As soon as I had lost sight of you weeping on the quay, holding in your
hand the little Gallus, and of the dear Lucilia leaning on your arm, and
could no longer, even by mounting upon the highest part of the vessel,
discern the waving of your hands, nor cause you to see the fervor with
which I returned the sign of friendship, I at once left off thinking of
you, as far as I could, and to divert my thoughts, began to examine, as if
I had never seen them before, the banks of the yellow Tiber. At first the
crowds of shipping, of every form and from every part of the world,
distracted the sight, and compelled me to observe what was immediately
around me. The cries of the sailors, as they were engaged in managing
different parts of their vessels, or as they called out in violent and
abusive terms to those who passed them, or as their several galleys struck
against each other in their attempts to go up or down the river, together
with the frequent roarings and bellowings of whole cargoes of wild beasts
from the deserts of Asia and Africa destined to the amphitheatre,
intermingled with the jargon of an hundred different barbarian languages
from the thousands who thronged the decks of this fleet of all
nations,--these sights and sounds at first wholly absorbed me, and for a
moment shut all the world besides--even you--out of my mind. It was a
strange yet inspiring scene, and gave me greater thoughts than ever of the
power and majesty of Rome. Here were men and ships that had traversed
oceans and continents to bring the offerings of their toil, and lay them
at the feet of the mistress of the world. And over all this bustle,
created by the busy spirit of commerce, a splendor and gayety were thrown
by numerous triremes and boats of pleasure, which, glittering under the