Of the Union and Internal Prosperity of the Roman Empire in the Age of the Antonines
Principles of government.
IT is not alone by the rapidity, or extent of conquest, that we should estimate the greatness of Rome. The sovereign of the Russian deserts commands a larger portion of the globe. In the seventh summer after his passage of the Hellespont, Alexander erected the Macedonian trophies on the banks of the Hyphasis. (1) Within less than a century, the irresistible Zingis, and the Mogul princes of his race, spread their cruel devastations and transient empire from the sea of China to the confines of Egypt and Germany. (2) But the firm edifice of Roman power was raised and preserved by the wisdom of ages. The obedient provinces of Trajan and the Antonines were united by laws and adorned by arts. They might occasionally suffer from the partial abuse of delegated authority; but the general principle of government was wise, simple, and beneficent. They enjoyed the religion of their ancestors, whilst in civil honours and advantages
they were exalted, by just degrees, to an equality with their conquerors.
Universal spirit of toleration.
I. The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it
concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections
of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious,
part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which
prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the
people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally
false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus
toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even
religious concord.
Of the people.
The superstition of the people was not embittered by any
mixture of theological rancour; nor was it confined by the
chains of any speculative system. The devout polytheist,
though fondly attached to his national rites, admitted with
implicit faith the different religions of the earth. (3) Fear,
gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular
disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually disposed him to
multiply the articles of his belief, and to enlarge the list
of his protectors. The thin texture of the Pagan mythology
was interwoven with various but not discordant materials. As
soon as it was allowed that sages and heroes, who had lived,
or who had died for the benefit of their country, were
exalted to a state of power and immortality, it was
universally confessed that they deserved if not the
adoration, at least the reverence of all mankind. The
deities of a thousand groves and a thousand streams
possessed, in peace, their local and respective influence;
nor could the Roman who deprecated the wrath of the Tiber,
deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to the
beneficent genius of the Nile. The visible powers of Nature,
the planets, and the elements, were the same throughout the
universe. The invisible governors of the moral world were
inevitably cast in a similar mould of fiction and allegory.
Every virtue, and even vice, acquired its divine
representative; every art and profession its patron, whose
attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were
uniformly derived from the character of their peculiar
votaries. A republic of gods of such opposite tempers and
interest required, in every system, the moderating hand of a
supreme magistrate, who, by the progress of knowledge and
flattery, was gradually invested with the sublime
perfections of an Eternal Parent, and an Omnipotent Monarch.
(4) Such was the mild spirit of antiquity, that the nations
were less attentive to the difference than to the
resemblance of their religious worship. The Greek, the
Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their
respective altars, easily persuaded themselves, that under
various names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the
same deities. The elegant mythology of Homer gave a
beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of
the ancient world. (5)
Of philosophers.
The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the
nature of man, rather than from that of God. They meditated,
however, on the Divine Nature, as a very curious and
important speculation; and in the profound inquiry, they
displayed the strength and weakness of the human
understanding (6). Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics and the Platonists endeavoured to reconcile the
jarring interests of reason and piety. They have left us the
most sublime proofs of the existence and perfections of the
first cause; but, as it was impossible for them to conceive
the creation of matter, the workman in the Stoic philosophy
was not sufficiently distinguished from the work; whilst, on
the contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his disciples
resembled an idea rather than a substance. The opinions of
the Academics and Epicureans were of a less religious cast;
but whilst the modest science of the former induced them to
doubt, the positive ignorance of the latter urged them to
deny, the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit of
inquiry, prompted by emulation, and supported by freedom,
had divided the public teachers of philosophy into a variety
of contending sects; but the ingenuous youth who, from every
part, resorted to Athens, and the other seats of learning in
the Roman empire, were alike instructed in every school to
reject and to despise the religion of the multitude. How,
indeed, was it possible, that a philosopher should accept,
as divine truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the
incoherent traditions of antiquity; or, that he should
adore, as gods, those imperfect beings whom he must have
despised, as men ! Against such unworthy adversaries, Cicero
condescended to employ the arms of reason and eloquence; but
the satire of Lucian was a much more adequate, as well as
more efficacious weapon. We may be well assured, that a
writer conversant with the world would never have ventured
to expose the gods of his country to public ridicule, had
they not already been the objects of secret contempt among
the polished and enlightened orders of society. (7)
Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed
in the age of the Antonines, both the interests of the
priests and the credulity of the people were sufficiently
respected. In their writings and conversation, the
philosophers of antiquity asserted the independent dignity
of reason; but they resigned their actions to the commands
of law and of custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and
indulgence, the various errors of the vulgar, they
diligently practised the ceremonies of their fathers,
devoutly frequented the temples of the gods; and sometimes
condescending to act a part on the theatre of superstition,
they concealed the sentiments of an Atheist under the
sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely
inclined to wrangle about their respective modes of faith,
or of worship. It was indifferent to them what shape the
folly of the multitude might choose to assume; and they
approached, with the same inward contempt, and the same
external reverence, the altars of the Libyan, the Olympian,
or the Capitoline Jupiter. (8)
Of the magistrate.
It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of
persecution could introduce itself into the Roman councils.
The magistrates could not be actuated by a blind, though
honest bigotry, since the magistrates were themselves
philosophers; and the schools of Athens had given laws to
the senate. They could not be impelled by ambition or
avarice, as the temporal and ecclesiastical powers were
united in the same hands. The pontiffs were chosen among the
most illustrious of the senators; and the office of Supreme
Pontiff was constantly exercised by the emperors themselves.
They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is
connected with civil government. They encouraged the public
festivals which humanise the manners of the people. They
managed the arts of divination, as a convenient instrument
of policy: and they respected as the firmest bond of
society, the useful persuasion that, either in this or in a
future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished
by the avenging gods. (9) But whilst they acknowledged the
general advantages of religion, they were convinced that the
various modes of worship contributed alike to the same
salutary purposes; and that, in every country, the form of
superstition, which had received the sanction of time and
experience, was the best adapted to the climate and to its In the provinces;. inhabitants.Avarice and taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations of the elegant statues of their gods, and the rich ornaments of their temples; (10) but, in the exercise of the religion which they derived from their ancestors,
they uniformly experienced the indulgence, and even
protection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of Gaul
seems, and indeed only seems, an exception to this universal
toleration. Under the specious pretext of abolishing human
sacrifices, the emperors Tiberius and Claudius suppressed
the dangerous power of the Druids, (11) But the priests
themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in
peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism.
(12)
At Rome.
Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly
filled with subjects and strangers from every part of the
world, (13) who all introduced and enjoyed the favourite
superstitions of their native country. (14) Every city in the
empire was justified in maintaining the purity of its
ancient ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the common
privilege, sometimes interposed, to check this inundation of
foreign rites. The Egyptian superstition, of all the most
contemptible and abject, was frequently prohibited; the
temples of Serapis and Isis demolished and their worshippers
banished from Rome and Italy. (15) But the zeal of fanaticism
prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of policy. The
exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the temples were
restored with increasing splendour, and Isis and Serapis at
length assumed their place among the Roman deities. (16) Nor
was this indulgence a departure from the old maxims of
government. In the purest ages of the commonwealth, Cybele
and Aesculapius had been invited by solemn embassies; (17) and
it was customary to tempt the protectors of besieged cities,
by the promise of more distinguished honours than they
possessed in their native country. (18) Rome gradually became
the common temple of her subjects and the freedom of the
city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind. (19)
Freedom of Rome.
II. The narrow policy of preserving, without any foreign
mixture, the pure blood of the ancient citizens, had checked
the fortune, and hastened the ruin, of Athens and Sparta.
The aspiring genius of Rome sacrificed vanity to ambition,
and deemed it more prudent, as well as honourable, to adopt
virtue and merit for her own wheresoever they were found,
among slaves or strangers, enemies or barbarians. (20) During
the most flourishing era of the Athenian commonwealth, the
number of citizens gradually decreased from about thirty (21)
to twenty-one thousand. (22) If, on the contrary, we study the
growth of the Roman republic, we may discover, that,
notwithstanding the incessant demands of wars and colonies,
the citizens, who, in the first census of Servius Tullius,
amounted to no more than eighty-three thousand, were
multiplied, before the commencement of the social war, to
the number of four hundred and sixty-three thousand men,
able to bear arms in the service of their country. (23) When
the allies of Rome claimed an equal share of honours and
privileges, the senate indeed preferred the chance of arms
to an ignominious concession. The Samnites and the Lucanians
paid the severe penalty of their rashness; but the rest of
the Italian states, as they successively returned to their
duty, were admitted into the bosom of the republic, (24) and
soon contributed to the ruin of public freedom. Under a
democratical government, the citizens exercise the powers of
sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and
afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy
multitude. But when the popular assemblies had been
suppressed by the administration of the emperors, the
conquerors were distinguished from the vanquished nations,
only as the first and most honourable order of subjects; and
their increase, however rapid, was no longer exposed to the
same dangers. Yet the wisest princes, who adopted the maxims
of Augustus, guarded with the strictest care the dignity of
the Roman name, and diffused the freedom of the city with a
prudent liberality. (25)
Italy.
Till the privileges of Romans had been progressively
extended to all the inhabitants of the empire, an important
distinction was preserved between Italy and the provinces.
The former was esteemed the centre of public unity, and the
firm basis of the constitution. Italy claimed the birth, or
at least the residence, of the emperors and the senate. (26)
The estates of the Italians were exempt from taxes, their
persons from the arbitrary jurisdiction of governors. Their
municipal corporations, formed after the perfect model of
the capital, were entrusted, under the immediate eye of the
supreme power, with the execution of the laws. From the foot
of the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, all the natives of
Italy were born citizens of Rome. Their partial distinctions
were obliterated, and they insensibly coalesced into one
great nation, united by language, manners, and civil
institutions, and equal to the weight of a powerful empire.
The republic gloried in her generous policy, and was
frequently rewarded by the merit and services of her adopted
sons. Had she always confined the distinction of Romans to
the ancient families within the walls of the city, that
immortal name would have been deprived of some of its
noblest ornaments. Virgil was a native of Mantua; Horace was
inclined to doubt whether he should call himself an Apulian
or a Lucanian: it was in Padua that an historian was found
worthy to record the majestic series of Roman victories. The
patriot family of the Catos emerged from Tusculum; and the
little town of Arpinum claimed the double honour of
producing Marius and Cicero, the former of whom deserved,
after Romulus and Camillus, to be styled the Third Founder
of Rome; and the latter, after saving his country from the
designs of Catiline, enabled her to contend with Athens for
the palm of eloquence. (27)
The Provinces.
The provinces of the empire (as they have: been described in
the preceding chapter) were destitute of any public force,
or constitutional freedom. In Etruria, in Greece, (28) and in
Gaul, (29) it was the first care of the senate to dissolve
those dangerous confederacies, which taught mankind, that as
the Roman arts prevailed by division, they might be resisted
by union. Those princes, whom the ostentation of gratitude
or generosity permitted for a while to hold a precarious
sceptre, were dismissed from their thrones as soon as they
had performed their appointed task of fashioning to the yoke
the vanquished nations. The free states and cities which had
embraced the cause of Rome, were rewarded with a nominal
alliance, and insensibly sunk into real servitude. The
public authority was everywhere exercised by the ministers
of the senate and of the emperors, and that authority was
absolute, and without control. But the same salutary maxims
of government, which had secured the peace and obedience of
Italy, were extended to the most distant conquests. A nation
of Romans was gradually formed in the provinces, by the
double expedient of introducing colonies, and of admitting
the most faithful and deserving of the provincials to the
freedom of Rome.
Colonies and municipal towns.
"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," (30) is a very just observation of Seneca, confirmed by history and experience. The natives of Italy, allured by pleasure or by interest, hastened to enjoy the advantages of victory; and we may remark, that about forty years after the reduction of Asia, eighty thousand Romans were massacred in one day, by the cruel orders of Mithridates. (31) These voluntary exiles were engaged, for the most part, in the occupations of commerce, agriculture, and the farm of the revenue. But after the legions were rendered permanent by the emperors, the provinces were peopled by a race of soldiers; and the veterans, whether they received the reward of their service in land or in money, usually settled with their families in the country where they had honourably spent their youth. Throughout the empire, but more particularly in the western parts, the most fertile districts, and the most convenient situations, were reserved for the establishment of colonies; some of which were of a civil, and others of a military nature. In their manners and internal policy, the colonies formed a perfect representation of their great parent; and as they were soon endeared to the natives by the ties of friendship and alliances they effectually diffused a reverence for the Roman name, and a desire, which was seldom disappointed, of sharing, in due time, its honours and advantages. (32) The municipal cities insensibly equalled the rank and splendour of the colonies; and in the reign of Hadrian, it was disputed which was the preferable condition, of those
societies which had issued from, or those which had been received into the bosom of Rome. (33) The right of Latium, as it was called, conferred on the cities to which it had been granted a more partial favour. The magistrates only, at the expiration of their office, assumed the quality of Roman citizens; but as those offices were annual, in a few years
they circulated round the principal families. (34) Those of the provincials who were permitted to bear arms in the legions; (35) those who exercised any civil employment; all, in a word, who performed any public service, or displayed
any personal talents, were rewarded with a present, whose value was continually diminished by the increasing liberality of the emperors. Yet even, in the age of the Antonines, when the freedom of the city had been bestowed on
the greater number of their subjects, it was still accompanied with very solid advantages. The bulk of the people acquired, with that title, the benefit of the Roman laws, particularly in the interesting articles of marriage, testaments, and inheritances; and the road of fortune was
open to those whose pretensions were seconded by favour or merit. The grandsons of the Gauls, who had besieged Julius Caesar in Alesia, commanded legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into the senate of Rome. (36) Their ambition, instead of disturbing the tranquillity of the state, was intimately connected with its safety and greatness.
Division of the Latin and Greek provinces.
So sensible were the Romans of the influence of language
over national manners, that it was their most serious care
to extend, with the progress of their arms, the use of the
Latin tongue. (37) The ancient dialects of Italy, the Sabine,
the Etruscan, and the Venetian, sunk into oblivion; but in
the provinces, the east was less docile than the west, to
the voice of its victorious preceptors. This obvious
difference marked the two portions of the empire with a
distinction of colours, which, though it was in some degree
concealed during the meridian splendour of prosperity,
became gradually more visible as the shades of night
descended upon the Roman world. The western countries were
civilised by the same hands which subdued them. As soon as
the barbarians were reconciled to obedience, their minds
were opened to any new impressions of knowledge and
politeness. The language of Virgil and Cicero, though with
some inevitable mixture of corruption, was so universally
adopted in Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Pannonia, (38)
that the faint traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms were
preserved only in the mountains, or among the peasants. (39)
Education and study insensibly inspired the natives of those
countries with the sentiments of Romans; and Italy gave
fashions as well as laws to her Latin provincials. They
solicited with more ardour, and obtained with more facility,
the freedom and honours of the state; supported the national
dignity in letters (40) and in arms; and, at length, in the
person of Trajan, produced an emperor whom the Scipios would
not have disowned for their countryman. The situation of the
Greeks was very different from that of the Barbarians. The
former had been long since civilised and corrupted. They had
too much taste to relinquish their language, and too much
vanity to adopt any foreign institutions. Still preserving
the prejudices after they had lost the virtues of their
ancestors, they affected to despise the unpolished manners
of the Roman conquerors, whilst they were compelled to
respect their superior wisdom and power. (41) Nor was the
influence of the Grecian language and sentiments confined to
the narrow limits of that once celebrated country. Their
empire, by the progress of colonies and conquest, had been
diffused from the Hadriatic to the Euphrates and the Nile.
Asia was covered with Greek cities, and the long reign of
the Macedonian kings had introduced a silent revolution into
Syria and Egypt. In their pompous courts those princes
united the elegance of Athens with the luxury of the East,
and the example of the court was imitated, at an humble
distance, by the higher ranks of their subjects. Such was
the general division of the Roman empire into the Latin and
Greek languages. To these we may add a third distinction for
the body of the natives in Syria, and especially in Egypt.
The use of their ancient dialects, by secluding them from
the commerce of mankind, checked the improvements of those
barbarians. (42) The slothful effeminacy of the former,
exposed them to the contempt; the sullen ferociousness of
the latter, excited the aversion of the conquerors. (43) Those
nations had submitted to the Roman power, but they seldom
desired or deserved the freedom of the city; and it was
remarked that more than two hundred and thirty years elapsed
after the ruin of the Ptolemies before an Egyptian was
admitted into the senate of Rome. (44)
General use of both languages.
It is a just though trite observation, that victorious Rome
was herself subdued by the arts of Greece. Those immortal
writers who still command the admiration of modern Europe,
soon became the favourite object of study and imitation in
Italy and the western provinces. But the elegant amusements
of the Romans were not suffered to interfere with their
sound maxims of policy. Whilst they acknowledged the charms
of the Greek, they asserted the dignity of the Latin tongue,
and the exclusive use of the latter was inflexibly
maintained in the administration of civil as well as
military government. (45) The two languages exercised at the
same time their separate jurisdiction throughout the empire:
the former as the natural idiom of science; the later as the
legal dialect of public transactions. Those who united
letters with business were equally conversant with both; and
it was almost impossible, in any province, to find a Roman
subject of a liberal education, who was at once a stranger
to the Greek and to the Latin language.
Slaves.
It was by such institutions that the nations of the empire
insensibly melted away into the Roman name and people. But
there still remained, in the centre of every province and of
every family, an unhappy condition of men who endured the
weight, without sharing the benefits, of society. In the
free states of antiquity the domestic slaves were exposed to
the wanton rigour of despotism. The perfect settlement of
the Roman empire was preceded by ages of violence and Their treatment. rapine. The slaves consisted, for the most part, of barbarian captives, taken in thousands by the chance of war, purchased at a vile price, (46) accustomed to a life of
independence, and impatient to break and to revenge their
fetters. Against such internal enemies, whose desperate
insurrections had more than once reduced the republic to the
brink of destruction, (47) the most severe regulations, (48) and
the most cruel treatment, seemed almost justified by the
great law of self-preservation. But when the principal
nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, were united under the
laws of one sovereign, the source of foreign supplies flowed
with much less abundance, and the Romans were reduced to the
milder but more tedious method of propagation. In their
numerous families, and particularly in their country
estates, they encouraged the marriage of their slaves. The
sentiments of nature, the habits of education, and the
possession of a dependent species of property, contributed
to alleviate the hardships of servitude. (49) The existence of
a slave became an object of greater value, and though his
happiness still depended on the temper and circumstances of
the master, the humanity of the latter, instead of being
restrained by fear, was encouraged by the sense of his own
interest. The progress of manners was accelerated by the
virtue or policy of the emperors; and by the edicts of
Hadrian and the Antonines, the protection of the laws was
extended to the most abject part of mankind. The
jurisdiction of life and death over the slaves, a power long
exercised and often abused, was taken out of private hands,
and reserved to the magistrates alone. The subterraneous
prisons were abolished; and, upon a just complaint of
intolerable treatment, the injured slave obtained either his
deliverance, or a less cruel master. (50)
Enfranchisement.
Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition, was not
denied to the Roman slave; and if he had any opportunity of
rendering himself either useful or agreeable, he might very
naturally expect that the diligence and fidelity of a few
years would be rewarded with the inestimable gift of
freedom. The benevolence of the master was so frequently
prompted by the meaner suggestions of vanity and avarice,
that the laws found it more necessary to restrain than to
encourage a profuse and undistinguishing liberality, which
might degenerate into a very dangerous abuse (51). It was a
maxim of ancient jurisprudence, that as a slave had not any
country of his own. He acquired with his liberty an
admission into the political society of which his patron was
a member. The consequences of this maxim would have
prostituted the privileges of the Roman city to a mean and
promiscuous multitude. Some seasonable exceptions were
therefore provided; and the honourable distinction was
confined to such slaves only, as for just causes, and with
the approbation of the Magistrate, should receive a solemn
and legal manumission. Even these chosen freedmen obtained
no more than the private rights of citizens, and were
rigorously excluded from civil or military honours. Whatever
might be the merit or fortune of their sons, they likewise,
were esteemed unworthy of a seat in the senate; nor were the
traces of a servile origin allowed to be completely
obliterated till the third or fourth generation. (52) Without
destroying the distinction of ranks, a distant prospect of
freedom and honours was presented, even to those whom pride
and prejudice almost disdained to number among the human
species.
Numbers.
It was once proposed to discriminate the slaves by a
peculiar habit; but it was justly apprehended that there
might be some danger in acquainting them with their own
numbers. (53) Without interpreting, in their utmost
strictness, the liberal appellations of legions and myriads,
(54) we may venture to pronounce, that the proportion of
slaves, who were valued as property, was more considerable
than that of servants, who can be computed only as an
expense. (55) The youths of a promising genius were instructed
in the arts and sciences, and their price was ascertained by
the degree of their skill and talents. (56) Almost every
profession, either liberal (57) or mechanical, might be found
in the household of an opulent senator. The ministers of
pomp and sensuality were multiplied beyond the conception of
modern luxury. (58) It was more for the interest of the
merchant or manufacturer to purchase than to hire his
workmen; and in the country, slaves were employed as the
cheapest and most laborious instruments of agriculture. To
confirm the general observation, and to display the
multitude of slaves, we might allege a variety of particular
instances. It was discovered, on a very melancholy occasion,
that four hundred slaves were maintained in a single palace
of Rome. (59) The same number of four hundred belonged to an
estate which an African widow, of a very private condition,
resigned to her son, whilst she reserved for herself a much
larger share of her property. (60) A freedman, under the reign
of Augustus, though his fortune had suffered great losses in
the civil wars, left behind him three thousand six hundred
yoke of oxen, two hundred and fifty thousand head of smaller
cattle, and, what was almost included in the description of
cattle, four thousand one hundred and sixteen slaves. (61)
Populousness of the Roman empire.
The number of subjects who acknowledged the laws of Rome, of
citizens, of provincials, and of slaves, cannot now be fixed
with such a degree of accuracy, as the importance of the
object would deserve. We are informed that when the emperor
Claudius exercised the office of censor, he took an account
of six millions nine hundred and forty-five thousand Roman
citizens, who, with the proportion of women and children,
must have amounted to about twenty millions of souls. The
multitude of subjects of an inferior rank was uncertain and
fluctuating. But, after weighing with attention every
circumstance which could influence the balance, it seems
probable that there existed, in the time of Claudius, about
twice as many provincials as there were citizens, of either
sex, and of every age; and that the slaves were at least
equal in number to the free inhabitants of the Roman world.
The total amount of this imperfect calculation would rise to
about one hundred and twenty millions of persons; a degree
of population which possibly exceeds that of modern Europe,
(62) and forms the most numerous society that has ever been
united under the same system of government.
Obedience and union.
Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of
the moderate and comprehensive policy embraced by the
Romans. If we turn our eyes towards the monarchies of Asia,
we shall behold despotism in the centre, and weakness in the
extremities; the collection of the revenue, or the
administration of justice, enforced by the presence of an
army - hostile barbarians established in the heart of the
country, hereditary satraps usurping the dominion of the
provinces, and subjects inclined to rebellion, though
incapable of freedom. But the obedience of the Roman world
was uniform, voluntary, and permanent. The vanquished
nations, blended into one great people, resigned the hope,
nay even the wish, of resuming their independence, and
scarcely considered their own existence as distinct from the
existence of Rome. The established authority of the emperors
pervaded without an effort the wide extent of their
dominions, and was exercised with the same facility on the
banks of the Thames, or of the Nile, as on those of the
Tiber. The legions were destined to serve against the public
enemy, and the civil magistrate seldom required the aid of a
military force. (63) In this state of general security, the
leisure as well as opulence both of the prince and people
were devoted to improve and to adorn the Roman empire.
Roman monuments.
Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed
by the Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history,
how few have resisted the ravages of time and barbarism! And
yet even the majestic ruins that are still scattered over
Italy and the provinces, would be sufficient to prove that
those countries were once the seat of a polite and powerful
empire. Their greatness alone, or their beauty, might
deserve our attention; but they are rendered more
interesting by two important circumstances, which connect
the agreeable history of the arts with the more useful
history of human manners. Many of those works were erected
at private expense, and almost all were intended for public
benefit.
Many of them erected at private expense.
It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well
as the most considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised
by the emperors who possessed so unbounded a command both of
men and money. Augustus was accustomed to boast that he had
found his capital of brick, and that he had left it of
marble. (64) The strict economy of Vespasian was the source of
his magnificence. The works of Trajan bear the stamp of his
genius. The public monuments with which Hadrian adorned
every province of the empire, were executed not only by his
orders, but under his immediate inspection. He was himself
an artist; and he loved the arts, as they conduced to the
glory of the monarch. They were encouraged by the Antonines,
as they contributed to the happiness of the people. But if
the emperors were the first, they were not the only
architects of their dominions. Their example was universally
imitated by their principal subjects, who were not afraid of
declaring to the world that they had spirit to conceive, and
wealth to accomplish, the noblest undertakings. Scarcely had
the proud structure of the Coliseum been dedicated at Rome,
before the edifices of a smaller scale indeed, but of the
same design and materials, were erected for the use and at
the expense, of the cities of Capua and Verona. (65) The
inscription of the stupendous bridge of Alcantara attests
that it was thrown over the Tagus by the contribution of a
few Lusitanian communities. When Pliny was intrusted with
the government of Bithynia and Pontus, provinces by no means
the richest or most considerable of the empire, he found the
cities within his jurisdiction striving with each other in
every useful and ornamental work, that might deserve the
curiosity of strangers, or the gratitude of their citizens.
It was the duty of the Proconsul to supply their
deficiencies, to direct their taste, and sometimes to
moderate their emulation. (66) The opulent senators of Rome
and the provinces esteemed it an honour, and almost an
obligation, to adorn the splendour of their age and country;
and the influence of fashion very frequently supplied the
want of taste or generosity. Among a crowd of these private
benefactors, we may select Herodes Atticus, an Athenian
citizen, who lived in the age of the Antonines. What ever
might be the motive of his conduct, his magnificence would
have been worthy of the greatest kings.
Example of Herodes Atticus.
The family of Herod, at least after it had been favoured by
fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades,
Theseus and Cecrops, Leacus and Jupiter. But the posterity
of so many gods and heroes was fallen into the most abject
state. His grandfather had suffered by the hands of justice,
and Julius Atticus, his father, must have ended his life in
poverty and contempt, had he not discovered an immense
treasure buried under an old house, the last remains of his
patrimony. According to the rigour of law, the emperor might
have asserted his claim, and the prudent Atticus prevented,
by a rank confession, the officiousness of informers. But
the equitable Nerva, who then filled the throne, refused to
accept any part of it, and commanded him to use, without
scruple, the present of fortune. The cautious Athenian still
insisted that the treasure was too considerable for a
subject, and that he knew not how to use it. Abuse it, then,
replied the monarch, with a good-natured peevishness; for it
is your own. (67) Many will be of opinion that Atticus
literally obeyed the emperor's last instructions; since he
expended the greatest part of his fortune, which was much
increased by an advantageous marriage, in the service of the
Public. He had obtained for his son Herod the prefecture of
the free cities of Asia; and the young magistrate, observing
that the town of Troas was indifferently supplied with
water, obtained from the munificence of Hadrian three
hundred myriads of drachms (about a hundred thousand pounds)
for the construction of a new aqueduct. But in the execution
of the work the charge amounted to more than double the
estimate, and the officers of the revenue began to murmur,
till the generous Atticus silenced their complaints, by
requesting that he might be permitted to take upon himself
the whole additional expense. (68)
His reputation.
The ablest preceptors of Greece and Asia had been invited by
liberal rewards to direct the education of young Herod.
Their pupil soon became a celebrated orator according to the
useless rhetoric of that age, which, confining itself to the
schools, disdained to visit either the Forum or the senate.
He was honoured with the consulship at Rome; but the
greatest part of his life was spent in a philosophic
retirement at Athens, and his adjacent villas; perpetually
surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without
reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous rival. (69)
The monuments of his genius have perished; some considerable
ruins still preserve the fame of his taste and munificence:
modern travellers have measured the remains of the stadium
which he constructed at Athens. It was six hundred feet in
length, built entirely of white marble, capable of admitting
the whole body of the people, and finished in four years,
whilst Herod was president of the Athenian games. To the
memory of his wife Regina he dedicated a theatre, scarcely
to be paralleled in the empire; no wood except cedar, very
curiously carved, was employed in any part of the building.
The Odeum, designed by Pericles for musical performances,
and the rehearsal of new tragedies, had been a trophy of the
victory of the arts over Barbaric greatness, as the timbers
employed in the construction consisted chiefly of the masts
of the Persian vessels. Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed
on that ancient edifice by a king of Cappadocia, it was
again fallen to decay. Herod restored its ancient beauty and
magnificence. Nor was the liberality of that illustrious
citizen confined to the walls of Athens. The most splendid
ornaments bestowed on the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus,
a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at
Thermopylae, and an aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, were
insufficient to exhaust his treasures. The people of Epirus,
Thessaly, Eubcea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus, experienced his
favours; and many inscriptions of the cities of Greece and
Asia gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and
benefactor. (70)
Most of the Roman monuments for public use; temples, theatres aqueducts etc.
In the commonwealths of Athens and Rome, the modest
simplicity of private houses announced the equal condition
of freedom; whilst the sovereignty of the people was
represented in the majestic edifices destined to the public
use; (71) nor was this republican spirit totally extinguished
by the introduction of wealth and monarchy. It was in works
of national honour and benefit, that the most virtuous of
the emperors affected to display their magnificence. The
golden palace of Nero excited a just indignation, but the
vast extent of ground which had been usurped by his selfish
luxury, was more nobly filled under the succeeding reigns by
the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the Claudian portico, and
the temples dedicated to the goddess of Peace, and to the
genius of Rome. (72) These monuments of architecture, the
property of the Roman people, were adorned with the most
beautiful productions of Grecian painting and sculpture; and
in the temple of Peace a very curious library was open to
the curiosity of the learned. At a small distance from
thence was situated the Forum of Trajan. It was surrounded
with a lofty portico, in the form of a quadrangle, into
which four triumphal arches opened a noble and spacious
entrance: in the centre arose a column of marble, whose
height, of one hundred and ten feet, denoted the elevation
of the hill that had been cut away. This column, which still
subsists in its ancient beauty, exhibited an exact
representation of the Dacian victories of its founder. The
veteran soldier contemplated the story of his own campaigns,
and by an easy illusion of national vanity, the peaceful
citizen associated himself to the honours of the triumph.
All the other quarters of the capital, and all the provinces
of the empire, were embellished by the same liberal spirit
of public magnificence, and were filled with amphitheatres,
theatres, temples, porticos, triumphal arches, baths, and
aqueducts, all variously conducive to the health, the
devotion, and the pleasures of the meanest citizen. The last
mentioned of those edifices deserve our peculiar attention.
The boldness of the enterprise, the solidity of the
execution, and the uses to which they were subservient, rank
the aqueducts among the noblest monuments of Roman genius
and power. The aqueducts of the capital claim a just
pre-eminence; but the curious traveller, who, without the
light of history, should examine those of Spoleto, of Metz,
or of Segovia, would very naturally conclude that those
provincial towns had formerly been the residence of some
potent monarch. The solitudes of Asia and Africa were once
covered with flourishing cities, whose populousness, and
even whose existence, was derived from such artificial
supplies of a perennial stream of fresh water. (73)
Number and greatness of the cities of the empire.
We have computed the inhabitants and contemplated the public
works of the Roman empire. The observation of the number and
greatness of its cities will serve to confirm the former,
and to multiply the latter. It may not be unpleasing to
collect a few scattered instances relative to that subject,
without forgetting, however, that from the vanity of nations
and the poverty of language, the vague appellation of city
has been indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum.
Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred and In Italy. ninety-seven cities; and for whatsoever era of antiquity the expression might be intended, (74) there is not any reason to
believe the country less populous in the age of the
Antonines than in that of Romulus. The petty states of
Latium were contained within the metropolis of the empire,
by whose superior influence they had been attracted. Those
parts of Italy which have so long languished under the lazy
tyranny of priests and viceroys, had been afflicted only by
the more tolerable calamities of war; and the first symptoms
of decay which they experienced were amply compensated by
the rapid improvements of the Cisalpine Gaul. The splendour
of Verona may be traced in its remains: yet Verona was less
celebrated than Aquileia or Padua, Milan or Ravenna. II. The
spirit of improvement had passed the Alps, and been felt
even in the woods of Britain, which were gradually cleared
away to open a free space for convenient and elegant
habitations. York was the seat of government; London was
already enriched by commerce; and Bath was celebrated for
the salutary effects of its medicinal waters. Gaul could Gaul and Spain. boast of her twelve hundred cities; (75) and though, in the northern parts, many of them, without excepting Paris
itself, were little more than the rude and imperfect
townships of a rising people, the southern provinces
imitated the wealth and elegance of Italy. (76) Many were the
cities of Gaul, Marseilles, Aries, Nismes, Narbonne,
Thoulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Vienna, Lyons, Langres, and
Treves, whose ancient condition might sustain an equal, and
perhaps advantageous comparison with their present state.
With regard to Spain, that country flourished as a province,
and has declined as a kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her
strength, by America, and by superstition, her pride might
possibly be confounded, if we required such a list of three
hundred and sixty cities, as Pliny has exhibited under the
reign of Vespasian. (77) III. Three hundred African cities had Africa. once acknowledged the authority of Carthage, (78) nor is it likely that their numbers diminished under the administration of the emperors: Carthage itself rose with new splendour from its ashes; and that capital, as well as
Capua and Corinth, soon recovered all the advantages which
can be separated from independent sovereignty. IV. The Asia. provinces of the east present the contrast of Roman magnificence with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity
scattered over uncultivated fields, and ascribed, by
ignorance, to the power of magic, scarcely afford a shelter
to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under the reign
of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred
populous cities, (79) enriched with all the gifts of nature, and adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities
of Asia had once disputed the honour of dedicating a temple
to Tiberius, and their respective merits were examined by
the senate. (80) Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose
splendour is still displayed in its ruins. (81) Laodicea
collected a very considerable revenue from its flocks of
sheep, celebrated for the fineness of their wool, and had
received, a little before the contest, a legacy of above
four hundred thousand pounds by the testament of a generous
citizen. (82) If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must
have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared
preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of
Ephesus, who so long disputed with each other over the
titular primacy of Asia. (83) The capitals of Syria and Egypt
held a still superior rank in the empire: Antioch and
Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd of dependent
cities, (84) and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of
Rome itself.
Roman Roads.
All these cities were connected with each other, and with
the capital, by the public highways, which issuing from the
Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and
were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we
carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to
Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that
the great chain of communication, from the north-west to the
south-east point of the empire, was drawn out to the length
of four thousand and eighty Roman miles. (85) The public roads
were accurately divided by mile-stones, and ran in a direct
line from one city to another, with very little respect for
the obstacles either of nature or private property.
Mountains were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the
broadest and most rapid streams. (86) The middle part of the
road was raised into a terrace which commanded the adjacent
country, consisted of several strata of sand, gravel, and
cement, and was paved with large stones, or in some places,
near the capital, with granite. (87) Such was the solid
construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not
entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen centuries. They
united the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy
and familiar intercourse; but their primary object had been
to facilitate the marches of the legions; nor was any
country considered as completely subdued, till it had been
rendered, in all its parts, pervious to the arms and
authority of the conqueror. The advantage of receiving the Posts. earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish throughout their
extensive dominions, the regular institution of posts. (88)
Houses were everywhere erected at the distance only of five
or six miles; each of them was constantly provided with
forty horses, and by the help of these relays it was easy to
travel an hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads. (89)
The use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by
an Imperial mandate; but though originally intended for the
public service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or
conveniency of private citizens. (90) Nor was the Navigation communication of the Roman empire less free and open by sea
than it was by land. The provinces surrounded and enclosed
the Mediterranean; and Italy in the shape of an immense
promontory, advanced into the midst of that great lake. The
coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute of safe harbours;
but human industry had corrected the deficiencies of nature;
and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular, situate at
the mouth of the Tyber, and formed by the emperor Claudius,
was a useful monument of Roman greatness. (91) From this port,
which was only sixteen miles from the capital, a favourable
breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the
columns of Hercules. and in nine or ten, to Alexandria in
Egypt. (92)
Improvement of agriculture in the western countries of the empire.
Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to
extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended with some
beneficial consequences to mankind; and the same freedom of
intercourse which extended the vices, diffused likewise the
improvements of social life. In the more remote ages of
antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The east was in
the immemorial possession of arts and luxury; whilst the
west was inhabited by rude and war-like barbarians, who
either disdained agriculture, or to whom it was totally
unknown. Under the protection of an established government,
the productions of happier climates, and the industry of
more civilised nations, were gradually introduced into the
western countries of Europe; and the natives were
encouraged, by an open and profitable commerce, to multiply
the former, as well as to improve the latter. It would be
almost impossible to enumerate all the articles, either of
the animal or the vegetable reign, which were successively
imported into Europe, from Asia and Egypt; (93) but it will not be unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the utility, of an historical work, slightly to touch on a few of the principal heads. 1. Almost all the flowers, the Introduction of fruits etc. herbs, and the fruits, that grow in our European gardens, are of foreign extraction, which, in many cases, is betrayed even by their names: the apple was a native of Italy, and when the Romans had tasted the richer flavour of the apricot, the peach, the pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented themselves with applying to all these new fruits the common denomination of apple, discriminating them from each other by the additional epithet of their
country. 2. In the time of Homer, the vine grew wild in the The vine. island of Sicily, and most probably in the adjacent continent; but it was not improved by the skill, nor did it
afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of the savage inhabitants. (94) A thousand years afterwards, Italy could boast, that of the fourscore most generous and celebrated wines, more than two-thirds were produced from her soil. (95) The blessing was soon communicated to the Narbonnese province of Gaul; but so
intense was the cold to the north of the Cevennes, that, in the time of Strabo, it was thought impossible to ripen the grapes in those parts of Gaul. (96) This difficulty, however, was gradually vanquished; and there is some reason to
believe, that the vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the
age of the Antonines. (97) The Olive in the western world, The olive, followed the progress of peace, of which it was considered as the symbol. Two centuries after the foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangers to that useful plant;
it was naturalised in those countries; and at length carried
into the heart of Spain and Gaul. The timid errors of the
ancients, that it required a certain degree of heat, and
could only flourish in the neighbourhood of the sea, were
insensibly exploded by industry and experience. (98)The
cultivation of Flax was transported from Egypt to Gaul, and flax enriched the whole country, however it might impoverish the particular lands on which it was sown. (99) 3. The use of artificial grasses artificial grasses became familiar to the farmers both of Italy and the provinces, particularly the Lucerne, which derived its name and origin from Media. (100) The assured
supply of wholesome and plentiful food for the cattle during winter multiplied the number of the flocks and herds, which in their turn contributed to the fertility of the soil. To all these improvements may be added an assiduous attention to mines and fisheries, which, by employing a multitude of laborious hands, serve to increase the pleasures of the
rich, and the subsistence of the poor. The elegant treatise of Columella describes the advanced state of the Spanish husbandry, under the reign of Tiberius; and it may be observed, that those famines which so frequently afflicted General plenty the infant republic, were seldom or never experienced by the extensive empire of Rome. The accidental scarcity, in any single province, was immediately relieved by the plenty of its more fortunate neighbours.
Arts of luxury
Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures, since the
productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the
Roman empire, the labour of an industrious and ingenious
people was variously, but incessantly employed, in the
service of the rich. In their dress, their table, their
houses, and their furniture, the favourites of fortune
united every refinement of conveniency, of elegance, and of
splendour, whatever could soothe their pride or gratify
their sensuality. Such refinements, under the odious name of
luxury, have been severely arraigned by the moralists of
every age; and it might perhaps be more conducive to the
virtue, as well as happiness, of mankind, if all possessed
the necessities, and none of the superfluities, of life. But
in the present imperfect condition of society, luxury,
though it may proceed from vice or folly, seems to be the
only means that can correct the unequal distribution of
property. The diligent mechanic, and the skilful artist, who
have obtained no share in the division of the earth, receive
a voluntary tax from the possessors of land; and the latter
are prompted, by a sense of interest, to improve those
estates, with whose produce they may purchase additional
pleasures. This operation, the particular effects of which
are felt in every society, acted with much more diffusive
energy in the Roman world. The provinces would soon have
been exhausted of their wealth, if the manufactures and
commerce of luxury had not insensibly restored to the
industrious subjects the sums which were exacted from them
by the arms and authority of Rome. As long as the
circulation was confined within the bounds of the empire, it
impressed the political machine with a new degree of
activity, and its consequences, sometimes beneficial, could
never become pernicious.
Foreign trade
But it is no easy task to confine luxury within the limits
of an empire. The most remote countries of the ancient world
were ransacked to supply the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The
forests of Scythia afforded some valuable furs. Amber was
brought over land from the shores of the Baltic to the
Danube; and the barbarians were astonished at the price
which they received in exchange for so useless a commodity.
(101) There was a considerable demand for Babylonian carpets
and other manufactures of the East; but the most important
and unpopular branch of foreign trade was carried on with
Arabia and India. Every year, about the time of the summer
solstice, a fleet of a hundred and twenty vessels sailed
from Myoshormos, a port of Egypt, on the Red Sea. By the
periodical assistance of the Monsoons, they traversed the
ocean in about forty days. The coast of Malabar, or the
island of Ceylon, (102) was the usual term of their
navigation, and it was in those markets that the merchants
from the more remote countries of Asia expected their
arrival. The return of the fleet of Egypt was fixed to the
months of December or January; and as soon as their rich
cargo had been transported on the backs of camels, from the
Red Sea to the Nile, and had descended that river as far as
Alexandria, it was poured, without delay, into the capital
of the empire. (103) The objects of oriental traffic were
splendid and trifling; silk, a pound of which was esteemed
not inferior in value to a pound of gold; (104) precious
stones, among which the pearl claimed the first rank after
the diamond; (105) and a variety of aromatics, that were
consumed in religious worship and the pomp of funerals. The
labour and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost
incredible profit; but the profit was made upon Roman
subjects, and a few individuals were enriched at the expense
of the Public. As the natives of Arabia and India were
Gold and silver contented with the productions and manufactures of their own
country, silver, on the side of the Romans, was the
principal, if not the only instrument of commerce. It was a
complaint worthy of the gravity of the senate, that in the
purchase of female ornaments, the wealth of the state was
irrevocably given away to foreign and hostile nations. (106)
The annual loss is computed, by a writer of an inquisitive
but censorious temper, at upwards of eight hundred thousand
pounds sterling. (107) Such was the style of discontent,
brooding over the dark prospect of approaching poverty. And
yet, if we compare the proportion between gold and silver,
as it stood in the time of Pliny, and as it was fixed in the
reign of Constantine, we shall discover within that period a
very considerable increase. (108) There is not the least
reason to suppose that gold was become more scarce; it is
therefore evident that silver was grown more common; that
whatever might be the amount of the Indian and Arabian
exports, they were far from exhausting the wealth of the
Roman world; and that the produce of the mines abundantly
supplied the demands of commerce.
General felicity
Notwithstanding the propensity of mankind to exalt the past and to depreciate the present, the tranquil and prosperous state of the empire was warmly felt, and honestly confessed, by the provincials as well as Romans.
"They acknowledged that the true principles of social life, laws, agriculture, and science, which had been first invented by the wisdom of Athens, were now firmly established by the power of Rome, under whose auspicious influence the fiercest barbarians were united by an equal government and common language. They affirm, that with the improvement of arts, the human species was visibly multiplied. They celebrate the increasing splendour of the cities, the beautiful face of the country, cultivated and adorned like an immense garden; and the long festival of peace, which was enjoyed by so many nations, forgetful of their ancient animosities, and delivered from the apprehension of future danger." (109)
Whatever suspicions may be suggested by the air of rhetoric and declamation, which seems to prevail in these passages, the substance of them is perfectly agreeable to historic truth.
Decline of courage
It was scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated. The natives of Europe were brave and robust, Spain, Gaul,
Britain, and Illyricum supplied the legions with excellent
soldiers, and constituted the real strength of the monarchy.
Their personal valour remained, but they no longer possessed
that public courage which is nourished by the love of
independence, the sense of national honour, the presence of
danger, and the habit of command. They received laws and
governors from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for
their defence to a mercenary army. The posterity of their
boldest leaders was contented with the rank of citizens and
subjects. The most aspiring spirits resorted to the court or
standard of the emperors; and the deserted provinces,
deprived of political strength or union, insensibly sunk
into the languid indifference of private life.
of genius
The love of letters, almost inseparable from peace and
refinement, was fashionable among the subjects of Hadrian
and the Antonines, who were themselves men of learning and
curiosity. It was diffused over the whole extent of their
empire; the most northern tribes of Britons had acquired a
taste for rhetoric; Homer as well as Virgil were transcribed
and studied on the banks of the Rhine and Danube; and the
most liberal rewards sought out the faintest glimmerings of
literary merit. (110) The sciences of physic and astronomy
were successfully cultivated by the Greeks; the observations
of Ptolemy and the writings of Galen are studied by those
who have improved their discoveries and corrected their
errors; but if we except the inimitable Lucian, this age of
indolence passed away without having produced a single
writer of original genius, or who excelled in the arts of
elegant composition. The authority of Plato and Aristotle,
of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in the schools; and
their systems, transmitted with blind deference from one
generation of disciples to another, precluded every generous
attempt to exercise the powers, or enlarge the limits, of
the human mind. The beauties of the poets and orators,
instead of kindling a fire like their own, inspired only
cold and servile imitations: or if any ventured to deviate
from those models, they deviated at the same time from good
sense and propriety on the revival of letters, the youthful
vigour of the imagination, after a long repose, national
emulation, a new religion, new languages, and a new world,
called forth the genius of Europe. But the provincials of
Rome, trained by a uniform artificial foreign education,
were engaged in a very unequal competition with those bold
ancients, who, by expressing their genuine feelings in their
native tongue, had already occupied every place of honour.
The name of Poet was almost forgotten; that of Orator was
usurped by the sophists. A cloud of critics, of compilers,
of commentators, darkened the face of learning, and the
decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of
taste.
Degeneracy
The sublime Longinus, who in somewhat a later period, and in
the court of a Syrian queen, preserved the spirit of ancient
Athens, observes and laments this degeneracy of his
contemporaries, which debased their sentiments, enervated
their courage, and depressed their talents.
"In the same manner," says he, "as some children always remain pigmies, whose infant limbs have been too closely confined; thus our tender minds, fettered by the prejudices and habits of a just servitude, are unable to expand themselves, or to attain that well-proportioned greatness which we admire in the ancients; who living under a popular government, wrote with the same freedom as they acted." (111)
This diminutive stature of mankind, if we pursue the metaphor, was daily sinking below the old standard, and the Roman world was indeed peopled by a race of pygmies; when the fierce giants of the north broke in, and mended the puny breed. They restored a manly spirit of freedom; and after the revolution of ten centuries, freedom became the happy parent of taste and science.
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