long javelin, and a sharp broadsword hung from the girdle. The foot soldiers were very differently accoutred, having an open helmet with a lofty crest, a breastplate of iron, and greaves of the same metal on their legs. A shield or buckler, four feet long and two feet and a-half wide, was carried on the left arm, and was capable of covering the whole person, when the troops knelt to receive the charge of their enemies. It was composed of a frame of light wood, on which was stretched a bull's-hide, and strengthened with plates of brass. Their offensive arms were powerful and various, consisting of a light spear for thrusting, and also pilium, or ponderous javelin, six feet long, and terminating in a steel point of the length of eighteen inches. This was thrown from a distance of ten or twelve yards; and such were its force and weight when cast by the practised hand of a veteran legionary, that neither shield nor corslet could resist it. After the pilium had been thrown, the soldier drew his short, double-edged sword, and rushed forward to the closer and yet more deadly conflict that was carried on hand to hand. For a few days the operations of the besieging army continued undisturbed, and Marcellus was not called to prove his own courage and discipline, or the temper of his polished and unsullied arms. He therefore employed this brief period of leisure in rambling along the shores of the beautiful lake, as far as he could do so with safety. It was a lovely spot, and even to a common observer could not fail to be full of interest. The blue waters stretched before him, calm and transparent beneath the warm beams of an eastern sun, and the shores were crowded with rich and populous towns, whose terraced roofs and lofty towers were seen rising above the luxuriant groves and orchards that clothed the whole of that fertile district. The graceful palm, the dark olive, and the spreading fig-tree fringed the very margin of the lake, and were reflected on its smooth surface as on a mirror; while every port was animated with vessels preparing to assist the Taricheans in the defence of their city, or in case of a defeat to carry them off to the other side of the lake. A great part of the town was washed by the waters, and thus protected from the assault of the Romans, and a strong wall was carried round on every other side. Close to this wall the camp of Vespasian was pitched, and the white tents and glittering banners glanced gaily in the sunshine. Marcellus wandered in the shade of a grove of palms, and looked with admiration and emotion on the scene before him; but it was not the natural beauty of the landscape which chiefly excited his feelings, nor was it the animating view of military preparations or the thoughts of military glory that now filled the heart of the young soldier. No, his soul was absorbed in thoughts of days gone by, and his imagination pictured to him the scenes that had once been