On leaving the Coliseum the first thing that meets the eye is the Arch of Constantine, under which the Roman triumphal and ovationary processions moved towards the Capitol.  The Arch of Constantine stands just outside the Coliseum.  It is of immense size and extremely well preserved.  The ground on which it stands being much filled up and only half of the Arch appearing, the rest remaining buried in the earth, it was judged adviseable to excavate all around it in order to come to the pedestal; so that now there is a walled enclosure all around it and into this enclosure it is a descent of at least eighteen feet from the ground outside.  Several statues of captive Kings and bas-reliefs representing the victories of Constantine adorn the facade of this triumphal arch.  The inscriptions are perfect, and the letters were formerly filled up with bronze; but these have been taken out at the repeated sackings that poor Rome has undergone from friend and foe.  At a short distance from the Arch of Constantine is the Arch of Titus, under which we moved along on our road towards the Capitol and my friend the Jew was too much of a cosmopolite to feel the smallest repugnance at walking under the Arch.  Our conversation then turned on the absurd hatred and prejudice that existed between Christians and Jews; he was very liberal on this subject and in speaking of Jesus Christ he said:  “Jesus Christ was a Jew and a real philosopher and was therefore persecuted, for his philosophy interfered too much with, and tended to shake the political fabric of the Jewish constitution and to subvert our old customs and usages:  for this reason he was put to death.  I seek not to defend or palliate the injustice of the act or the barbarity with which he was treated; but our nation did surely no more than any other nation ancient or modern has done or would still do against reformers and innovators.”

The Arch of Titus is completely defaced outside, but in the interior of the Arch, on each side, is a bas relief:  the one representing Vespasian’s triumph over the Jews, and the Emperor himself in a car drawn by six horses; the other represents the soldiers and followers of the triumph, bearing the spoils of the conquered nation, and among them the famous candlesticks that adorned the temple of Jerusalem are very conspicuous.  These figures are in tolerable preservation, only that the Emperor has lost his head and one of the soldiers has absconded.

On issuing from the Arch of Titus we found ourselves in the Forum, now the Campo Vaccino:  so that cattle now low where statesmen and orators harangued, and lazy priests in procession tread on the sacred dust of heroes.

  Ou des pretres heureux foulent d’un pied tranquille
  Les tombeaux des Catons et les cendres d’Emile.

So sings Voltaire, I believe, or if they are not his lines, they are the Abbe Delille’s.[84]