Its identity has been much controverted, and the Cut shows it to be a
ruinous pile capped with luxuriant foliage. It will, nevertheless,
serve to illustrate the stupendous character of the ancient Roman
tombs.
[Illustration: (_Tomb of the Horatii and Curatii_.)]
The theatre of the celebrated combat between the Horatii and Curatii
lies about five miles from the city of Rome. Several tombs stand on
the side of the hillock that borders these fields, but no one in
particular is _there_ pointed out as belonging to the unhappy
champions. The monuments, however, existed in Livy's time, and Eustace
supposes that "as their forms and materials were probably very plain
and very solid, they must have remained for many ages after, and may
be some of the many mounds that still stand in clusters about the very
place where they fell." This explanation will not, however, refer to
the above engraving, as the buildings in the distance will show.
* * * * *
NEW BOOKS.
* * * * *
BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION OF JAMES THE FIRST.
(_From Lives of Scottish Worthies_, vol. 2.)
[James I. king of Scotland was born in 1394. In 1405, he was sent by
his father, Robert III., to France to escape the danger to which he
was exposed by the ambition of his uncle, but being taken by an
English squadron, he and his whole suite were carried prisoners to the
Tower of London.
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