CHAP. IV. 



THE MINES. 141 



crease of the proceeds. In this state they were 

 feebly continued till the troubles which sprang 

 up in all the frontiers and in the distant pro- 

 vinces brought the search for gold and silver to 

 its termination. The decline of the mines which 

 the Romans had acquired by their extensive 

 conquests will fall more appropriately under 

 consideration in a future part of this inquiry. 



