46 INTRODUCTION. 



by the factions between its members, and without virtue on either 

 side to keep it together, became a prey to its own children. Hence 

 the sanguinary seditions of the Gracchi, which paved the way for 

 an inextinguishable hatred between the nobles and commons, and 

 made it easy for any turbulent demagogue to put them in action 

 against each other. The love of their country was now no more 

 than a specious name : the better sort were too wealthy and effe- 

 minate to submit to the rigours of military discipline ; and the sol- 

 diers, composed of the dregs of the republic, were no longer citi- 

 zens. They had little respect for any but their commander ; under 

 his banner they fought, and conquered, and plundered ; and for him 

 they were ready to die. He might command them to embrue their 

 hands in the blood of their country. They who knew no country 

 but the camp, and no authority but that of their general, were ever 

 ready to obey him. The multiplicity of the Roman conquests, 

 however, which required their keeping on foot several armies at 

 the same time, retarded the subversion of the republic. These 

 armies were so many checks upon each other. Had it not been 

 for the soldiers of Sylla, Rome would have surrendered its liberty 

 to the army of Marius. 



Julius Caesar at length appears. By subduing the Gauls, he gam- 

 in p ed his country the most useful conquest it ever made. Pom- 

 ' ' pey, his only rival, is overcome in the plains of Pharsalia. 



Caesar is victorious almost at the same time all over the world ; 



in Egypt, in Asia, in Mauritania, in Spain, in Gaul, and in Britain r 



conqueror on all sides, he is acknowledged master at Rome, and 



•r. p in the whole empire. Brutus and Cassius attempt to give 



Jo ' Rome her liberty by stabbing him in the senate-house. But 



though they thereby deliver the Romans from the tyranny of 



Julius, the republic does not obtain its freedom. It falls under the 



-d p dominion of Mark Antony ; young Caesar Octavianus, ne- 



,". ' phew to Julius Caesar, wrests it from him by the sea-fight at 



Actium ; and there is no Brutus or Cassius to put an end to 

 his life. Those friends of liberty had killed themselves in despair ; 

 and Octavius, under the name of Augustus, and title of emperor, 

 remains the undisturbed master of the empire. During these civil 

 commotions, the Romans still preserved the glory of their arms 

 amongst distant nations ; and while it was unknown who should be 

 master of Rome, the Romans were, without dispute, the masters 

 of the world. Their military discipline and valour abolished all 

 the remains of the Carthaginian, the Persian, the Greek, the As- 

 syrian, and Macedonian glory ; they were now only a name. No 

 sooner, therefore, was Octavius established on the throne, than am- 

 bassadors from all quarters of the known world crowd to make their 

 submissions. Ethiopia sues for peace ; the Parthians, who had 

 been a most formidable enemy, court his friendship ; India seeks 

 j, r his alliance ; Pannonia acknowledges him ; Germany dreads 

 L ' him; and the Weser receives his laws. Victorious by sea 



aTid land, he shuts the temple of Janus. The whole earth 

 lives in peace under his power ; and Jesus Christ comes into the 

 world four years before the common aera. 



Having thus traced the progress of the Roman government while 

 It remained a republic, our plan obliges us to say a few words with 

 regard to the arts, sciences, and manners of that people. During 

 ike first ages of the republic^ the Romans lived in a total neglects 



