382 MARTIN P. NILSSON 

Greek, but underneath great racial differences survived, which found 
an expression in the Christian sects of Asia Minor; their stronghold 
was the native population of the country. 
Our information is scanty and the research is difficult, but the 
broad outlines which have been sketched above will be sufficient to 
convey a concrete idea not only of how many races, peoples, and 
languages were contained in the Roman Empire, but also of how 
radically different most of them were >. Modern Europe is apt to 
give an erroneous impression. Except for a few unimportant peoples 
of other races (Finns, Hungarians, Turks and a few others) it seems 
to present the image of an Aryan population that is separated into 
different peoples but has sprung from the same source. This is true 
only as to the languages. The kindred languages cover great racial 
differences, although new races have developed from the ancient blend 
of races. The very vivid discussion on the origin and splitting up 
of the Aryan tongue has obscured the comprehension of the older 
racial status of Europe. The leading idea is (at least unconsciously ) 
that of an ancient original unity that was differentiated and split up. 
In the case of the original inhabitants of Europe we must instead of 
a unity imagine a multiplicity of different races and languages; the 
latter were ousted by the language of the invading Aryan tribes and 
died, the races were seemingly merged in their conquerors. The 
victorious spreading of the Aryan languages put an end to the mul- 
tiplicity of earlier languages — e. g. Etruscan, Ligurian, Iberian, ete. 
— and introduced Aryan languages that were kindred with one 
another. This process was strongly advanced during the Empire; S. W. 
Europe, which up to this time had spoken non-Aryan tongues, was 
assimilated. But the enigmatical Basque language still survives as a 
reminder of what has once been. 
It is in this light that the racial problem of the Roman Empire 
is to be viewed. As long as the peoples of western Europe lived in 
their old primitive and independent condition the status was rather 
stable. The Greek colonists were few and the peoples on whose 
shores they had founded their towns were often openly hostile to 
them. In Italy the Latin and Oscan-Umbrian tribes pushed out the 
original inhabitants more and more. The connexions with Greece and 
the Orient were few. The invading Celtic tribes brought disturbance, 
but these tribes settled in certain districts. In S. W. France and 
most of Spain the old races were not disturbed. The invasion must 

