Ganl and
Spain.

dor 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 boast of her twelve hundred cities ;" 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." Many were the cities of Gaul-Marseilles, Arles, Nismes, Narbonne, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, Vienne, Lyons, Langres, and Trèves—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." III. Three hundred African cities had

Africa.

once acknowledged the authority of Carthage," nor is it likely that their numbers diminished under the administration of the emperors: Carthage itself rose with new splen

15 Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16 [§ 4]. The number, however, is mentioned, and should be received, with a degree of latitude."

76 Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.

Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4, iv. 35. The list seems authentic and accurate: the division of the provinces, and the different condition of the cities, are minutely distinguished.

78 Strabon. Geograph. 1. xvii. p. 1189 [833, ed. Casaubon].

a Without doubt, no reliance can be placed on this passage of Josephus. The historian makes Agrippa give advice to the Jews as to the power of the Romans; and the speech is full of declamation which can furnish no conclusions to history. While enumerating the nations subject to the Romans, he speaks of the Gauls as submitting to 1200 soldiers (which is false, as there were eight legions in Gaul, Tac. An. iv. 5), while there are nearly twelve hundred cities.-G. Josephus (in fra) places these eight legions on the Rhine, as Tacitus does.-M.

Asia.

dor 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 provinces of the East present the contrast of Roman magnificence with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity scattered over uncultivated fields, and ascribed by ig norance to the power of magic, scarcely afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under the reign of the Cæsars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred populous cities," enriched with all the gifts of nature, and adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed the honor of dedicating a temple to Tiberius, and their respective merits were examined by the senate. Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in its ruins." 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." 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 the titular primacy of Asia? The capitals

80

79 Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16 [§ 4]. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. 1. ii. [V. Herod. c. 3] p. 548, edit. Olear.

80 Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. I have taken some pains in consulting and comparing modern travellers with regard to the fate of those eleven cities of Asia. Seven or eight are totally destroyed: Hypæpe, Tralles, Laodicea, Ilium, Halicarnassus, Miletus, Ephesus, and we may add Sardes. Of the remaining three, Pergamus is a straggling village of two or three thousand inhabitants; Magnesia, under the name of Guzel-hissar, a town of some consequence; and Smyrna, a great city, peopled by a hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks have maintained commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.

81 See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225, etc.

82 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 866 [578, ed. Casaubon].

He had studied at Tralles.

83 See a Dissertation of M. de Boze, Mém. de l'Académie, tom. xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which is still extant, to recommend concord to the rival cities.

of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank in the em pire; Antioch and Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd of dependent cities," and yielded with reluctance to the majesty of Rome itself.

Roman roads.

85

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 northwest to the southeast point of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and eighty Roman miles. The public roads were accurately divided by milestones, 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. 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." Such was the solid construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness

86

84 The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, amounted to seven millions and a half (Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16 [§ 4]). Under the military government of the Mamalukes, Syria was supposed to contain sixty thousand villages (Histoire de Timur Bec, 1. v. ch. 20).

85 The following Itinerary may serve to convey some idea of the direction of the road, and of the distance between the principal towns. I. From the wall of Antoninus to York, 222 Roman miles. II. London, 227. III. Rhutupiæ or Sandwich, 67. IV. The navigation to Boulogne, 45. V. Rheims, 174. VI. Lyons, 330. VII. Milan, 324. VIII. Rome, 426. IX. Brundusium, 360. X. The navigation to Dyrrachium, 40. XI. Byzantium, 711. XII. Aneyra, 283. XIII. Tarsus, 301. XIV. Antioch, 141. XV. Tyre, 252. XVI. Jerusalem, 168. In all, 4080 Roman, or 3740 English miles. See the Itineraries published by Wesseling, his annotations; Gale and Stukeley for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.

86 Montfaucon, l'Antiquité Expliquée (tom. 4, p. 2, 1. 1, ch. 5), has described the bridges of Narni, Alcantara, Nismes, etc.

87 Bergier, Histoire des Grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, l. ii. ch. 1–28.

Posts.

88

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 earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish throughout their extensive dominions the regular institution of posts." 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 a hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads." 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." Nor was the 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 The coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute of safe harbors; but human industry had corrected the deficiencies of nature; and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular, sitnate at the mouth of the Tiber, and formed by the Emperor Claudius, was a useful monument of Roman greatness." From this port, which was only sixteen miles from the capi

Navigation. lake.

88 Procopius in Ilist. Arcanâ, c. 30. Bergier, Hist. des Grands Chemins, 1. iv. Codex Theodosian. 1. viii. tit. v. vol. ii. p. 506–563, with Godefroy's learned commentary.

89 In the time of Theodosius, Cæsarius, a magistrate of high rank, went post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constantinople the sixth day about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 Eng. lish miles. See Libanius, Orat. xxii.; and the Itineraria, p. 572–581.

90 Pliny, though a favorite and a minister, made an apology for granting post horses to his wife on the most urgent business. Epist. x. 121, 122.

91 Bergier, Hist. des Grands Chemins, 1. iv. ch. 49.

tal, a favorable breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the Columns of Hercules, and in nine or ten to Alexandria. in Egypt."

in the west

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 Improvement of agriculture same freedom of intercourse which extended the ern countries 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 warlike 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 civilized 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;" 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 herbs, Introduction and the fruits that grow in our European gardens, of fruits, etc. 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 flavor 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 coun

92 Plin. Hist. Natur. xix. i. [in Prooem.]a

93 It is not improbable that the Greeks and Phoenicians introduced some new arts and productions into the neighborhood of Marseilles and Gades.

Pliny says Puteoli, which seems to have been the usual landing-place from the East. See the voyages of St. Paul, Acts xxviii. 13, and of Josephus, Vita, c.