CHAP. VIII. 



IN ROME. 189 



scattered over uncultivated fields, and ascribed 

 by ignorance to the power of magic, scarcely 

 afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wan- 

 dering Arab. Under the reign of the Csesars, 

 the proper Asia alone contained five hundred 

 populous cities, enriched with all the gifts of 

 nature and adorned with all the refinements of 

 art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed 

 the honour of dedicating a temple to Tiberius, 

 and their respective merits were examined by 

 the senate. Four of them were immediately 

 rejected as unequal to the burden ; and among 

 these was Laodicea, whose splendour is still 

 displayed in its ruins. Laodicea collected a 

 very considerable revenue from its flocks of 

 sheep, celebrated for the fineness of their wool, 

 and had received, a little before the contest, a 

 legacy of above four hundred thousand pounds 

 by the testament of a generous citizen. If such 

 was the poverty of Laodicea, what must have 

 been the wealth of those cities, whose claim 

 appeared preferable, and particularly of Perga- 

 mus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long 

 disputed with each other the titular primacy of 

 Asia ? The capitals of Syria and Egypt held a 

 still superior rank in the empire : Antioch and 

 Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd 

 of dependent cities, and yielded with reluctance 

 to the majesty of Rome itself." 



In the time of Augustus, and in the three 



