PREFACE. xxi 



ajiJ Li-ovvel were at the period of Roman ascendency as 

 much the weapons of conquest and subjection as the 

 spear and sword. It is well to remember that, besides 

 being a nation of warriors, the Romans were a nation of 

 masons and bricklayers. In fact, it is more than probable 

 that every Roman soldier was an adept in the use of the 

 spade and the trowel, otherwise their invading legions must 

 always have been accompanied by an army of civilians, and 

 this we know was not the case ; hence forts, bridges, roads, 

 and aqueducts must have been constructed by the Roman 

 soldiery when not upon the war-path, and not by civilian 

 artisans. Were our line regiments when on foreign service 

 ordered to lay down their arms and assume the habiliments of 

 peace, laying foundations, rearing walls of solid masonry, and 

 constructing paved roads in such a manner as to make such 

 roads impervious to the destructive influence of time, however 

 willing they might be to do so, I should be inclined to doubt 

 their ability to perform such tasks. As I have shown, the 

 Greeks constructed roads, but were not so successful in this 

 respect as the Romans ; it remained for the Romans at a 

 later period to establish their claim to be considered the 

 greatest of all road makers past or present. 



As for the ancient Greeks, they always appear to me to 

 have been a less solid people than the Romans or Italians ; 

 and yet the Italians of the present day do not impress me 

 with the idea that they possess the sterling qualities of the 

 Saxon race in Central and Western Europe. Nevertheless, 

 these people, whom an Englishman might possibly regard as 

 deficient in manliness, in the days of Rome's pomp and 

 splendour proved how vigorous was their manhood by the 

 stupendous works they executed, and by the extent, variety, 

 and completeness of their conquests. Their national works 

 surpass those of the Saxon people in extent and greatness of 

 conception. On the other hand, the Greeks were possessed 

 of qualities utterly different to those of the Romans ; their 

 intelligence was undoubtedly of a more delicate and refined 

 order, as was proved by their literature, and by the buildings 



