To the rumble of
wide wheels and the thunder of spectators the prodigious booty
passed, and with it triumphs of war, vistas of conquered
countries, pictures of battles, lists of the vanquished, symbols
of cities that no longer were; a stretch of ivory on which shone
three words, each beginning with a V; images of gods disturbed,
the Rhine, the Rhone, the captive Ocean in massive gold; the
glitter of three thousand crowns offered to the dictator by the
army and allies of Rome. Then came the standards of the republic,
a swarm of eagles, the size of pigeons, in polished silver upheld
by lances which ensigns bore, preceding the six hundred senators
who marched in a body, their togas bordered with red, while to the
din of incessant insults, interminable files of prisoners passed,
their wrists chained to iron collars, which held their heads very
straight, and to the rear a litter, in which crouched the
Vercingetorix of Gaul, a great moody giant, his menacing eyes
nearly hidden in the tangles of his tawny hair.
When they had gone the street was alive with explosions of brass,
aflame with the burning red cloaks of laureled lictors making way
for the coming of Caesar. Four horses, harnessed abreast, their
manes dyed, their forelocks puffed, drew a high and wonderfully
jewelled car; and there, in the attributes and attitude of Jupiter
Capitolinus, Caesar sat, blinking his tired eyes.
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