Civilization economically unsound 381 



so long as the imperial government was able to guard the frontiers and 

 avert the shock of disturbances of the Roman peace, the empire held 

 its own in apparent prosperity. To some historians the period of the 

 1 Antonines ' (say about 100-170 AD) has seemed a sort of Golden Age. 

 But signs are not lacking that the municipal system had seen its best 

 days. The severe strain on imperial resources in the time of Marcus 

 left behind it general exhaustion. The decay of local patriotism marked 

 the pressure of poverty and loss of vitality in the cities. More and 

 more their importance became that of mere taxation-centres, in which 

 the evasion of duty was the chief preoccupation : they could not re- 

 invigorate the empire, nor the empire them. 



Another characteristic of the empire, not less significant than those 

 mentioned above, was this : taken as a whole, it was non-industrial. 

 Manufactures existed here and there, and products of various kinds 

 were exchanged between various parts of the empire. So far as the 

 ordinary population was concerned, the Roman world might well have 

 supplied its own needs. But this was not enough. The armies, though 

 perilously small for the work they had to do, were a heavy burden. 

 The imperial civil service as it became more elaborate did not become 

 less costly. The waste of resources on unremunerative buildings and 

 shows in cities, above all in Rome, and the ceaseless expense of feeding 

 a worthless rabble, were a serious drain : ordained by established custom, 

 maintained by vanity, to economize on these follies would seem a con- 

 fession of weakness. Nor should the extravagance of the rich, and of 

 many emperors, be forgotten : this created a demand for luxuries chiefly 

 imported from the East ; precious stones, delicate fabrics, spices, per- 

 fumes, rare woods, ivory, and so forth. Rome had no goods to export 

 in payment for such things, and the scarcity of return-cargoes must 

 have added heavily to the cost of carriage. There was on this account 

 a steady drain of specie to the East, and this had to be met by a 

 corresponding drain of specie to Rome. In one form or another this 

 meant money drawn from the Provinces, for which the Provinces re- 

 ceived hardly the bare pretence of an equivalent, or a better security 



! for peace. 



Thus the empire, created by conquest and absorption, administered 



; by bureaucratic centralization, rested on force; a force partly real 

 and still present, partly traditional, derived from a victorious past. 



! The belief in Rome as the eternal city went for much, and we hear of 

 no misgivings as to the soundness of a civilization which expressed 

 itself in a constant excess of consumption over production. Naturally 



enough, under such conditions, the imperial system became more and 



; more what it really was from the first, a vast machine. It was not a 

 league of cooperating units, each containing a vital principle of growth, 



