midnight
Returning victorious , with royal captives and inestimable spoil , a Roman triumph , that most gorgeous pageant of earthly pride , had streamed and flaunted in hundred-fold succession over these same flagstones , and through this yet stalwart archway . It is politic , however , to make few allusions to such a past ; nor , if we would create an interest in the characters of our story , is it wise to suggest how Cicero 's foot may have stepped on yonder stone , or how Horace was wont to stroll near by , making his footsteps chime with the measure of the ode that was ringing in his mind . The very ghosts of that massive and stately epoch have so much density that the actual people of to-day seem the thinner of the two , and stand more ghost-like by the arches and columns , letting the rich sculpture be discerned through their ill-compacted substance . The party kept onward , often meeting pairs and groups of midnight strollers like themselves . On such a moonlight night as this , Rome keeps itself awake and stirring , and is full of song and pastime , the noise of which mingles with your dreams , if you have gone betimes to bed . But it is better to be abroad , and take our own share of the enjoyable time ; for the languor that weighs so heavily in the Roman atmosphere by day is lightened beneath the moon and stars . They had now reached the precincts of the Forum .