Crossing the Sacred Way, which passes along the front of Cæsar's Tomb,
we arrive at the space occupied by the shops destroyed in excavating.
The construction remaining shows that they were rebuilt at a late
date. It will be noticed that the soil is damp and sandy. This spot
was once marshy, and took its name from Mettius Curtius, a leader of
the Sabines, getting mired here in the battle which took place about
the carrying off of the women. Plutarch, Livy, Dionysius, and Ovid
agree in this; and not from the fable related by Livy (vii. 16) of the
Forum opening, and Marcus Curtius jumping in, horse, armour, and all.
The former event is commemorated in a relief in stone now in the
Capitol; whilst the latter fable is depicted in the marble relief now
in the Borghese Museum.