“They had it, I’m sure,” said Violet, “but under a different name. Didn’t they, Mr. Homer?”
“Probably. They seemed to have everything that was good to eat,—and some things that weren’t.”
As the party intended to spend the whole morning in the Forum, they dismissed their cab at the entrance.
“Now,” said Peter Homer, as they went down among the ruins, “we won’t have any maps or guidebooks, we’ll just wander around and wonder.”
“But you know what all the ruins are, don’t you?” asked Patty.
“Oh, yes; I know the names of the temples and things. I’ll tell you those as we come to them. This noble collection of pedestals was once the Basilica Julia.”
“Let’s play house,” said Patty, promptly. “I’ll be Julia, and live here. I’d love to be a Roman matron.”
“But the Julia in question wasn’t a Roman matron,” said Peter; “in fact, this basilica was named in honour of Mr. Julius Cæsar.”
“Oh,” said Patty, “and they called him Julia as a pet name, I suppose. How sweet of them!”