THE ROMAN WORLD 145 



ophy, and there is evidence that he was also a teacher and re- 

 former. He is antagonistic to superstition and a strong advocate 

 of rationalism, but he is neither irreverent nor revolutionary. 

 The following passages are typical : 



Water in summer time flows cool in wells, 

 Because the Earth then rarefied by heat, 

 Its proper stores most radiate to the air. 

 Hence more the Earth is drained of its heat, 

 And colder grow the currents under ground. 

 But when by cold in winter 'tis compressed, 

 Its heat escaping passes into wells. . . . 



And now to tell by which of Nature's laws, 



The stone called Magnet by the Greeks, since first 



'Mong the Magnesians found, can iron draw. 



Men gaze with wonder on the marvellous stone, 



With pendent chain of rings, oft five or more, 



Light hanging in the air suspensive, while 



One from another feels the influence of the stone 



That sends through all its wonder-working power. 



Here many principles we must first lay down 



And slow approach by long preparative, 



Rightly to solve the rare phenomenon. 



The more exact I then attentive ears. . . . 



How different is fire from piercing frost ! 



Yet both composed of atoms toothed and sharp, 



As proved by touch. Touch, O ye sacred powers 



Touch is the organ whence all knowledge flows ; 



Touch is the body's sense of things extern, 



And of sensations that deep spring within ; 



Whether delightsome, as in genial act, 



Or rude collision torturing from without ; 



How different, then, must forms of atoms be 



Which such sensation varied can produce ! 



STRABO, a Roman traveller, historian and geographer, lived 

 somewhere between 63 B.C. and 24 A.D. His Geography is the 

 most important work on that subject surviving from antiquity and, 



