It is better, however, to follow the denser crowds which are swerving somewhat to the right, and then by a second turn go straight onward again between magnificent structures, with the gilded roofs of the Capitol ever looming ahead more clearly. We are now on the Via Sacra proper; and caught in the eddying throngs of litters, litter bearers, running footmen, following clients, elbowing plebeians with now and then a masterful squad of Prætorians in gilded armor, we find it perhaps impossible to get more than the names of the structures in passing. [Illustration: VIEW THROUGH THE ARCH OF TITUS, SHOWING THE FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATER IN DISTANCE.] =231. House and Temple of Vesta: the Regia: the Temple of the Divine Julius.=--The venerable temple near which the ways divide is that of Jupiter Stator where Cicero convened the anxious Senate when he delivered his great assault on Catiline. Next comes to view a long high wall broken only by narrow doorways until you see a stately portal at the western end, nearest the Old Forum. From above the wall can be glimpsed the tiles and marble of an elegant mansion inside, also the foliage trees of a really fine garden. This is the House of the Vestals, the abode of the six sacrosanct virgins who are the most revered personages in all Rome, hardly barring the Emperor. As we advance there come next to view two buildings--one a small round temple of antique and simple structure; the other a handsome arched building of no great size. The first is the Fane of Vesta itself, where burns the eternal hearthfire of Rome, guarded by the Vestals, and the most sacred structure in the entire city. The second is the Regia, the official home of the Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religion, and actually occupied (since that official is now the reigning Emperor) by various clerks and administrative bureaus relating to the upkeep of the State cultus. To the right of these buildings are government warehouses and offices;[140] and then, closing off the Old Forum proper from these structures just named, stands another extraordinarily magnificent Temple, that of the deified Julius Cæsar.