92 OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. [ll. 5. 



more purely and exactly true than histories of times, 

 because they may choose an argument comprehensible 

 within the notice and instructions of the writer : whereas 

 he that undertaketh the story of a time, specially of any 

 length, cannot but meet with many blanks and spaces 

 which he must be forced to fill up out of his own wit 

 and conjecture. 



6. For the history of times (I mean of civil history), 

 the providence of God hath made the distribution. For 

 it hath pleased God to ordain and illustrate two exemplar 

 states of the world for arms, learning, moral virtue, policy, 

 and laws; the state of Grecia and the state of Rome; 

 the histories whereof, occupying the middle part of time, 

 have more ancient to them histories which may by one 

 common name be termed the antiquities of the world : 

 and after them, histories which may be likewise called by 

 the name of modern history. 



7. Now to speak of the deficiences. As to the hea 

 then antiquities of the world, it is in vain to note them 

 for deficient. Deficient they are no doubt, consisting 

 most of fables and fragments ; but the deficience cannot 

 be holpen ; for antiquity is like fame, caput inter nubila 

 condil, her head is muffled from our sight. For the his 

 tory of the exemplar states it is extant in good perfection. 

 Not but I could wish there were a perfect course of 

 history for Grecia from Theseus to Philopcemen (what 

 time the affairs of Grecia drowned &quot;and extinguished 

 in the affairs of Rome), and for Rome from Romulus 

 to Justinianus, who may be truly said to be ultimas 

 Romanorum. In which sequences of story the text of 

 Thucydides and Xenophon in the one, and the texts 

 of Livius, Polybius, Sallustius, C^sar, Appianus, Tacitus, 

 Herodianus in the other, to be kept entire without any 



