Reader, in imagination go backward with me more than 20 centuries. Enter with me the magnificent and imposing Temple of Fortuna, in old Præneste. We are within the portico of that stately hemicycle. Far above is the marble dome, and about us cluster the snowy columns. As it is early morn, flamens and virgins are assembled inside the sacred precincts. They are grouped about the flaming tripod, and the robes of purple and white blend in harmony of color. The sanctuary is redolent with burning incense. A golden image of the goddess, in heroic mould, flashes back the rays of sunlight that penetrate the inner shadows. A solemn chant entrances the ear, and our eyes turn to the westward. Before us expands the Campagna, ninety miles in length and twenty-seven in breadth. The undulating plain stretches away in all directions until it sinks into the sea; thickly studded is the superb picture with prosperous cities and “every rood of ground maintains its man.” Everywhere is presented an appearance of comfort and rich cultivation. Yonder, Mount Albanus towers to a height of 3,000 feet above the sea. Looming majestically above its topmost peak is the Temple of Jupiter Latiaris. The grandeur of mighty Rome is at our feet, a splendid and stupendous panorama of temples, amphitheatres, basilicas, palaces, circuses, baths, arches and aqueducts. Such was the spot dedicated to Fortuna by the ancient Prænestians. She was more deeply enshrined in their hearts than Olympian Jove himself. Præneste flourished before the birth of Christ or the glory of Rome. The noble city occupied a projecting point or spur of the Apennines and was distant from Rome, due east, about twenty-three miles. Above its walls towered the Temple of Fortuna. The Temple proper was circular in form and crowned the summit of a hill more than 2,400 feet above the Mediterranean level. Standing out boldly against the sky, its majestic outlines were visible from a great part of Latium. As extended by Sulla, the sanctuary occupied a series of six vast terraces, which, resting on gigantic substructions of masonry, and connected with each other by grand staircases, rose one above the other on the hill, in the form of a pyramid. Closely associated with the ritual of the Temple were the “Prænestine Lots,” or Sortes Prænestinæ, and in existence at the beginning of the Christian era. Constantine, and subsequently Theodosius, suppressed the oracle. Its celebrity is attested by Lucan, Horace and Ovid. Cicero speaks of the great antiquity and magnificence of this shrine. Numerous were the great men who petitioned the Prænestine Fortuna for assistance. Of the number may be mentioned Tiberius, Domitian and Alexander Severus. Even Sulla sought to propitiate the goddess before engaging in his successful wars with Mithridates.