THE CAMPUS MARTIUS,
which Strabo thus describes: "The plain, adorned by nature and art, is of wonderful extent, and affords an ample and a clear space for the running of chariots, and other equestrian and gymnastic exercises. It is in verdant bloom throughout the year, and is crowned by hills which rise above the Tiber and slope down to its very banks. The whole affords a picturesque and beautiful landscape, which you would linger to behold. Near to this plain is another of less magnitude; and all around it are innumerable porticoes and shady groves, besides three theatres, an amphitheatre, and various temples contiguous to each other, so that the rest of the city appears only an appendage to it." This lesser plain occupied the space between the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Theatre of Marcellus—the plain from the tomb to the modern Ponte Molle. "Sylla's monument stood in the Campus Martius" (Plutarch).
Just past the bridge, a street on the left, by the side of the Borghese Palace, leads to the entrance of