"I also accompanied our cousin to the amphitheatres and other public exhibitions; but they soon wearied me, and the barbarity of the combats of the gladiators, and the cruel struggles of condemned criminals with wild beasts, shocked and disgusted me; and notwithstanding the ridicule of Camillus and his equally thoughtless companions, I have ceased to attend these spectacles. Indeed I usually seize the opportunity of my uncle and cousin being thus engaged, for repairing to the humble dwelling of my beloved teacher, where I listen to his words of truth and piety with untiring and increasing attention. "In this luxurious city, the house of Sulpitius is remarkable for its simplicity and absence of all ornament. He prides himself on preserving the same frugality and modesty in his dwelling and establishment that so peculiarly distinguished the ancient Romans in the days of the Republic. He extends this simplicity to every part of his domestic life, and it is only when he takes his place as a senator that he assumes such robes as are suitable to his rank and wealth; on all other occasions his attire is plain, even to singularity, and forms a contrast to the splendid and expensive attire of Camillus, who is permitted to indulge all his tastes and fancies to the utmost, though so widely differing from those of his father. The increasing luxury and refinement of the Romans is a source of deep grief to Sulpitius: but he feels that it is in vain to attempt to check it, even in his own son; and with a few of his friends who still retain their virtue and simplicity of manners, he bewails the corruption of the times. The sumptuous golden palace of Nero excites his highest indignation, as an example of extravagance and lavish indulgence that will be pernicious to the whole nation. It is indeed a splendid edifice, and fitted up with gold and silver, and marble and precious stones, and Babylonian carpets, as if almost to vie with the temple at Jerusalem. But nothing has excited my admiration and wonder more than the aqueducts and the public roads, which I have seen in my excursions in the neighbourhood. The roads are carried in a direct line from the city, as a grand centre, to the towns around, and I hear that they extend through great part of the Roman dominions. All obstacles are made to give way; hills are levelled, and valleys filled up, and bold arches thrown over streams and rivers. The middle of the road is raised to a considerable height, with a mixture of sand and gravel united into a solid mass with a powerful and durable cement, and this terrace is then paved with large hewn stones, so well laid together that I imagine they must last as long as the world endures. There are houses established at every five or six miles' distance, which are constantly supplied with forty horses for the use of travellers, and on any urgent occasion the messengers of the emperor travel along these roads at a rate of a hundred miles a-day.