How does the setting foreshadow the conversation between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley in "Roman Fever"?

This is an excellent question as it identifies how closely
the setting is tied in with the action of this wonderful short story. Repeated
references are made to the view in front of these two old ladies, and how stunning this
view actually is. But I think it is important to remember that the view that they are
focusing on is made up of the ruins of a former dead
civilisation:

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From the table at which they had beeen lunching
two American ladies of ripe but well-cared-for middle age moved across the lofty terrace
of the Roman restaurant and, leaning on its parapet, looked first at each other and then
down on the outspread glories of the Palatine and the Forum, with the same expression of
vague but benevolent
approval.

Glorious this view
may be, but we cannot escape the fact that they are looking at the wreckage of a dead
civilisation. Of course, in a sense, the view is symbolic of what the women do. As they
look at the past in front of them they also consider their own past, picking through the
wreckage and bring to light verious secrets or relics. Reference to the Colliseum later
on in the story likewise seems to add a gladiatorial element to the conversation between
these two women. Thus the setting definitely serves to foreshadow what happens in this
story.