But he didn't wish to take advantage of anybody.

He was sad and greatly troubled over the possibility of war.
"I have eight sons," he said to the doctor, because she seemed to be the most suitable one to receive his confidences.

"If they mobilize the army, six of them will leave me." And he added with resignation: "That's the way it ought to be if we would end forever, in one blow, our eternal enmity with the Goth.

My sons will battle against them, just as my father fought." The doctor stalked haughtily away, and then said in a low voice to her companions that the old guard was an imbecile.
They wandered for two hours through the ancient district of the city,--exploring the network of its streets, the ruins of the amphitheater and the _Porta Aurea_ which opened upon a road flanked with tombs.

By the _Porta di Mare_ they climbed to the walls, ramparts of great limestone blocks, extending a distance of five kilometers.