CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
NATURAL ADVANTAGES OP THE TERRITORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE—PHYS¬ 
ICAL DECAY OF THAT TERRITORY AND OF OTHER PARTS OF THE OLD WORLD 
-CAUSES OF THE DECAY-NEW SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHERS—REACTION OF 
MAN UPON NATURE-OBSERVATION OF NATURE-COSMICAL AND GEOLOGICAL 
INFLUENCES—GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCE OF MAN—UNCERTAINTY OF OUR 
METEOROLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE—MECHANICAL EFFECTS PRODUCED BY MAN 
ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH—IMPORTANCE AND POSSIBILITY OF PHYS¬ 
ICAL RESTORATION-STABILITY OF NATURE-RESTORATION OF DISTURBED 
HARMONIES—DESTRUCTIVENESS OF MAN-PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENT—HUMAN 
AND BRUTE ACTION COMPARED—FORMS AND FORMATIONS MOST LIABLE TO 
PHYSICAL DEGRADATION—PHYSICAL DECAY OF NEW COUNTRIES-CORRUPT 
INFLUENCE OF PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, note. 
Natural Advantages of the Territory of the Roman Empire. 
The Roman Empire, at the period of its greatest expansion, 
comprised the regions of the earth most distinguished by a 
happy combination of physical advantages. The provinces 
bordering on the principal and the secondary basins of the 
Mediterranean enjoyed a healthfulness and an equability of 
climate, a fertility of soil, a variety of vegetable and mineral 
products, and natural facilities for the transportation and dis¬ 
tribution of exchangeable commodities, which have not been 
possessed in an equal degree by any territory of like extent 
in the Old World or the New. The abundance of the land and 
of the waters adequately supplied every material want, minis¬ 
tered liberally to every sensuous enjoyment. Gold and silver, 
indeed, were not found in the profusion which has proved so 
baneful to the industry of lands richer in veins of the precious 
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