"The ignorance they condemn
themselves to, is scarce punishment enough for the offence."
"It is difficult to say how much they have destroyed," continued
L'Isle. "But, beside the voice of history, proofs enough remain that
Evora was, in the days of Sertorius, of Caesar, and in after-times, a
favorite spot with the Romans. This temple before us, mutilated as it
is, and the aqueduct, though repaired in modern times, are still
Roman; and no ancient monument in Italy is in better preservation than
the beautiful little castellum which crowns its termination. Even
where Roman buildings have been destroyed we still see around us the
stones with ancient and classic inscriptions built into new walls. The
plough, too, of the husbandman still at times turns up the coins of
Sertorius, bearing a profile showing the wound he had received in his
eye, while the reverse represents his favorite hind leaning against a
tree."
"How completely do these things carry us back to ancient times, and
make even Plutarch's novels seem verities of real life," said Lady
Mabel. "These same Romans, whom we read of and wonder at, have indeed
left behind them, wherever they came, foot-prints indelibly stamped on
the face of the country.
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