A great number of Germans dine at the table d’hote of Franz’s hotel.  Among them I distinguished one day a very intelligent Bavarian Jew.  I proposed to him a walk to the Coliseum the following morning, as independent of the benefit I derived from his conversation I was curious to see whether it was true or not that the Jews always avoided walking under the Arch of Titus, which was erected in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, in the reign of Vespasian.  On stepping out of the Hotel Allemand, the first thing that met my eye was the identical beggar described by Kotzebue in his travels in Italy, and he gives the very same answer now as then to those who give him nothing, viz., Pazienza.

We crossed the Piazza di Spagna, ascended the superb flight of steps of the Trinita de’ Monti, where there is a French church called the Church of St Louis:  near it is the Villa Medici, which is the seat of the French Academy of the fine arts at Rome.  We then filed along the Strada Felice till we arrived at the church of Santa Maria maggiore, a superb edifice, the third church in Rome in celebrity, and the second in magnificence.  An immense Egyptian Obelisk stands before it.  We then, turning a little to the right, made the best of our way to the Coliseum where we remained nearly two hours.  I had figured to myself the grandest ideas of this stupendous building, but the aspect of it far exceeded the sketch even of my imagination.  In Egypt I have seen the Pyramids, but even these vast masses did not make such an impression on me as the Coliseum has done.  I am so unequal to the task of description that I shall not attempt it; I will give you however its dimensions which my friend the Jew measured.  It is an ellipse of which the transverse axis is 580 feet in length and its conjugate diameter 480; but it is not so much the length and breadth as the solidity of this building that strikes the traveller with astonishment.  The arcaded passage or gallery (on the rez de chaussee between the interior and the exterior wall), which has a vaulted roof over which the seats are built, is broad enough to admit three carriages abreast:  and the walls on each side of this gallery are at least twenty feet thick.  What a magnificent spectacle it must have been in the time of the ancient Romans, when it was ornamented, gilded, and full of spectators, of which it could contain, it is said, 86,000!  The Coliseum has been despoiled by various Popes and Cardinals to furnish stone and marble to build their palaces; otherwise, so solid is the building, Time alone would never suffice to destroy it.  At present strict orders are given and sentries are posted to prevent all further dilapidations, and buttresses have been made to prop up those parts which had given way.  What a pity it is that the Arena has not been left empty, instead of being fitted up with tawdry niches and images representing the