Note 18 — ITALY. (continued 2)

“I will mention only one example, to show how rich the Roman gildings were. In the Forum of Trajan the letters of an inscription were cut into the rock, and the letters themselves consisting of gilt metal were sunk into the openings. This is the method according to which the letters of inscriptions were generally put. In others the bronze letters were nailed to the wall, traces of which are still visible on the triumphal arch at Nismes, and French scholars have very ingeniously attempted from these holes of the nails to make out the whole inscription. In the Forum of Trajan a bronze letter has been found, the gilding of which was valued at a ducat; all the rest had of course been carried off as plunder.”