hoc, ubi nunc fora sunt, udae tenuere paludes;

amne redundatis fossa madebat aquis.Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui sustinet aras,

nunc solida est tellus, sed lacus ante fuit.qua Velabra solent in Circum ducere pompas,

nil praeter salices cassaque canna fuit...

This ground, where now are the forums, was once occupied by wet swamps: a ditch was drenched with the water that overflowed from the river. That Lake of Curtius, which supports dry altars, is now solid ground, but formerly it was a lake. Where now the processions are wont to defile through the Velabrum to the Circus, there was naught but willows and hollow canes;