A line of seven brick bases for honorary statues occupies one side; the edge of the paved area marks the top; the remains of a row of shops, destroyed by Signor Rossa in 1872, the bottom. The line of the modern road on the right was called THE JANUS. This was the Roman Exchange, where the money-changers transacted their business, and must not be confounded with the Temple of Janus already mentioned; nor must it be thought that there were a series of arches here, as some authors have supposed. Horace says (Sat. ii. 3), "Since all my fortunes were dissipated at the middle exchange" (Janus). Again (Ep. i. 1), "O citizens, money is to be sought first; virtue after riches. This is inculcated from the top to the bottom of 'change." He here distinguishes the _summus_, _medius_, and _imus_, or the top, middle, and bottom of the exchange. SHRINE OF VENUS. Having thus pointed out the principal buildings of the Forum, we will descend to its level, and identify some of its historical sites. _At the left-hand corner_ of the Vicus Tuscus and the Via Sacra, a brick pedestal marks the site of the Shrine of Venus Cloacina, erected in commemoration of Tarquin making the Cloaca Maxima. _Cloacina_ comes from _cluere_ = _purgare_, to purge. THE DEATH OF VIRGINIA. [Illustration: DEATH OF VIRGINIA.] _Opposite_ this shrine, facing up the Vicus Tuscus, is some brickwork--remains of a line of shops that faced towards the Temple of Cæsar, and which were destroyed by Signor Rossa in making the excavations. The end shop only was saved. This was the site of the butcher's stall from which Virginius snatched the knife that saved his daughter's honour. "Virginius demanded to speak with Virginia; and permission being granted, he drew the maiden and her nurse aside to the shops near the shrine of Cloacina, now called the new shops, and there, snatching a knife from a butcher's stall, plunged it into his daughter's breast" (Livy, iii. 48). THE FOUNTAIN OF JUTURNA. _At the left-hand corner_, facing the Temple of Castor, the oval basin of this fountain has been cleared, and the spring which supplied it is covered with an iron grating, and has been turned into the Cloaca. It is no doubt the same at which the twin-gods, Castor and Pollux, washed their horses after fighting for Rome in the battle of Lake Regillus, when they announced to the people that the battle was won. Similar stories are told by Florus. When the Romans conquered Perses, king of Macedonia, the twin-gods washed themselves at the Lake of Juturna; and when they defeated the Tigurini, the gods were seen to deliver a letter to the prætor in front of their temple. Juturna was the sister of Turnus, immortalized by Jupiter, and turned into a fountain, whose waters were used in Vesta's sacrifices, and had curative powers. THE FORNIX FABIUS