Above the rostra was the Senate-house, said to have been first erected by Tullus Hostilius; and near the Comitium, or place of meeting for the patrician Curiae.[17] This area was at first uncovered, but a roof was erected at the close of the second Pu'nic war.
16.

The Cam'pus Mar'tius, or field of Mars, was originally the estate of Tarquin the Proud, and was, with his other property, confiscated after the expulsion of that monarch.

It was a large space, where armies were mustered, general assemblies of the people held, and the young nobility trained in martial exercises.

In the later ages, it was surrounded by several magnificent structures, and porticos were erected, under which the citizens might take their accustomed exercise in rainy weather.

These improvements were principally made by Marcus Agrippa, in the reign of Augustus.17.He erected in the neighbourhood, the Panthe'on, or temple of all the gods, one of the most splendid buildings in ancient Rome.