150 ROMAN HISTORY: 



long after their real grandeur and political efficiency had 

 passed away. 



The living energy these institutions possessed in the better 

 times of the Kepublic has no parallel in history, ancient or 

 modern. The harsh and limited character of Spartan insti- 

 tutions removes them from the comparison. Athens, even in 

 the utmost vigour of that democracy which so deeply engages 

 Mr. Grrote's admiration, did not put forth the unity of action, 

 or create that passionate devotion of citizens to their country, 

 which is so striking in the annals of Rome. The internal 

 polity of Venice was too complex and corrupt, even in its 

 best days, to admit of its being brought into the parallel. 

 With every allowance for that various casualty of events, to 

 which nations as well as men are liable, it is impossible not 

 to see in the fate and fortunes of Rome how much her con- 

 stitution rose above others in solidity and active power. The 

 successive and fierce struggles of the plebeians for a guarantee 

 of personal liberty, for division of lands, and for equal right 

 to all the offices and rewards of the commonwealth, show how 

 deep the foundation was laid ; these contests actually invigo- 

 rating the State which at the moment they seemed fated to 

 ruin. The expression of Florus, Magna populi Romani 

 fortuna, sed semper in malis major resurrexit, applies as 

 well to the recovery from civil dissensions as to her proud 

 survival of the foreign assaults which repeatedly menaced her 

 existence. 



Though the greatness of Rome could not have arisen from 

 fortuitous causes, yet we must admit that the adoption and 

 growth of the institutions which engendered it may have 

 resulted much more from what we call accident than from 

 actual design. In truth, no human intention could have 

 produced such a fabric, any more than it could have created 

 the complex structure of our English constitution. We have 

 every reason to suppose that Rome adopted into her primi- 



