wealth to accomplish, the noblest undertakings. Scarcely had the proud structure of the Coliseum been dedicated at Rome, before the edifices of a smaller scale indeed, but of the same design and materials, were erected for the use, and at the expense, of the cities of Capua and Verona.(1) The inscription of the stupendous bridge of Alcantara, attests that it was thrown over the Tagus by the contribution of a few Lusitanian communities. When Pliny was intrusted with the government of Bithynia and Pontus, provinces by no means the richest or most considerable of the empire, he found the cities within his jurisdiction striving with each other in every useful and ornamental work, that might deserve the curiosity of strangers, or the gratitude of their citizens. It was the duty of the Pro onsul to supply their deficiencies, to direct their taste, and sometimes to moderate their emulation.(2) The opulent senators of Rome and the provinces esteemed it an honour, and almost an obligation, to adorn the splendour of their age and country; and the influence of fashion very frequently supplied the want of taste or generosity. Among a crowd of these private benefactors, we may select Herodes Atticus, an Athenian citizen, who lived in the age of the Antonines. Whatever might be the motive of his conduct, his magnificence would have been worthy of the greatest kings.

The family of Herod, at least after it had been favoured by fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Theseus and Cecrops, Eacus and Jupiter. But the posterity of so many gods and heroes was fallen into the most abject state. His grandfather had suffered by the hands of justice, and Julius Atticus, his father, must have ended his life in poverty and contempt, had he not discovered an immense treasure buried under an old house, the last remains of his patrimony. According to the rigour of law, the emperor might have asserted his claim, and the prudent Atticus prevented, by a frank confession, the officiousness of informers. But the equitable Nerva, who then filled the throne, refused to accept any part of it, and commanded him to use, without scruple, the present of fortune. The cautious Athenian still insisted, that the treasure was too considerable for a subject, and that he did not know how to use it. Abuse it, then, replied the monarch, with a good natured peevishness; for it is your own.(3) Many will be of opinion, that Atticus literally obeyed the emperor's last instructions; since he expended the greatest part of his fortune, which was much increased by an advantageous marriage, in the service of the public. He had obtained for his son Herod, the prefecture of the free cities of Asia; and the young magistrate, observing that the town of Troas was indifferently supplied with water, obtained from the munificence of Hadrian, three hundred myriads of drachms (about a hundred thousand pounds) for the construction of a new aqueduct. But in the execution of the work the charge amounted to more than double the estimate, and the officers of the revenue began to murmur, till the generous Atticus silenced their complaints, by requesting that he might be permitted to take upon himself the whole additional expense.(4)

The ablest preceptors of Greece and Asia had been invited by liberal rewards to direct the education of young Herod. Their pupil soon became a celebrated orator according to the useless rhetoric of that age, which, confining itself to the schools, disdained to visit either the Forum or the Senate. He was honoured with the consulship at Rome, out the greatest part of his life was spent in a philosophic retirement at Athens and his

(1) See Maffei, Verona illustrata, 1. iv. p. 68.

(2) See the tenth book of Pliny's Epistles. He mentions the following works, carried on at the expense of the cities. At Nicomedia, a new forum, an aqueduct, and a canal, left unfinished by a king; at Nice, a gymnasium, and a theatre which had already cost near ninety thousand pounds; baths at Prussa and Claudiopolis; and an aqueduct of sixteen miles in length for the use of Sinope. (3) Hadrian afterwards made a very equitable regulation, which divided all treasure trove between the right of property and that of discovery. Hist. August. p. 9. 14) Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. 1. ii. p. 548

adjacent villas; perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged without reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous rival.(1) The monuments of his genius have perished; some considerable ruins still preserve the fame of his taste and munificence; modern travellers have measured the remains of the stadium which he constructed at Athens. It was six hundred feet in length, built entirely of white marble, capable of admitting the whole body of the people, and finished in four years, while Herod was president of the Athenian games. To the memory of his wife Regilla, he dedicated a theatre, scarcely to be paralleled in the empire: no wood except cedar, very curiously carved, was employed in any part of the building. The Odeum, designed by Pericles for musical performances, and the rehearsal of new tragedies, had been a trophy of the victory of the arts over Barbaric greatness, as the timbers employed in the construction consisted chiefly of the masts of the Persian vessels. Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed on that ancient edifice by a king of Cappadocia, it was again fallen to decay. Herod restored its ancient beauty and magnificence. Nor was the liberality of that illustrious citizen confined to the walls of Athens. The most splendid ornaments bestowed on the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus, a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at Thermopylæ, and an aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, were insufficient to exhaust his treasures. The people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus, experienced his favours; and many inscriptions of the cities of Greece and Asia gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and benefactor. (2)

In the commonwealths of Athens and Rome, the modest simplicity of private houses announced the equal condition of freedom; while the Sovereignty of the people was represented in the majestic edifices destined to the public use ;(3) nor was this republican spirit totally extinguished. by the introduction of wealth and monarchy. It was in works of national honour and benefit, that the most virtuous of the emperors affected to display their magnificence. The golden palace of Nero excited a just indignation, but the vast extent of ground which had been usurped by his selfish luxury, was more nobly filled under the succeeding reigns by the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the Claudian portico, and the temples dedicated to the goddess of Peace, and to the genius of Rome. (4), These monuments of architecture, the property of the Roman people, were adorned with the most beautiful productions of Grecian painting and sculpture; and in the temple of Peace, a very curious library was open to the curiosity of the learned. At a small distance from thence was situated the Forum of Trajan. It was surrounded with a lofty portico, in the form of a quadrangle, into which four triumphal arches opened a noble and spacious entrance; in the centre arose a column of marble, whose height, of one hundred and ten feet, denoted the elevation of the hill that had been cut away. This column, which still subsists in its ancient beauty, exhibited an exact representation of the Dacian victories of its founder. The veteran soldier contemplated the story of his own campaigns, and by an easy illusion of national vanity, the peaceful citizen associated himself to the honours of the triumph. All the other quarters of the capital, and all the provinces of the empire, were embellished by the same liberal spirit of public magnificence, and were filled with amphitheatres, theatres, temples, porticos, triumphal arches, baths,

(1) Aulus Gellius, in Noct. Attic. i. 2. ix. 2. xviii. 10. xix. 12. Philostrat. p. 564.

(2) See Philostrat. I. ii. p. 548. 560. Pausanias, I. i. and vii. 10. The life of Herodes, in the xxxth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions.

(3) It is particularly remarked of Athens by Dicæarchus, de Statu Græciæ, p. 8. inter Geographos Minores, edit. Hudson.

(4) Donatus de Roma Vetere, 1. iii. c. 4, 5, 6. Nardini Roma Antica, 1. iii. 11, 12, 13, and a MS. description of ancient Rome, by Bernardus Oricellarius, or Rucellai, of which I obtained a copy from the library of the Canon Ricardi at Florence. Two celebrated pictures of Timanthes and of Protogenes are mentioned by Pliny, as in the temple of Peace; and the Laocoon was found in the baths of Titus.

and aqueducts, all variously conducive to the health, the devotion, and the pleasures of the meanest citizen. The last mentioned of those edifices deserve our peculiar attention. The boldness of the enterprise, the solidity of the execution, and the uses to which they were subservient, rank the aqueducts among the noblest monuments of Roman genius and power. The aqueducts of the capital claim a just pre-eminence; but the curious traveller, who, without the light of history, should examine those of Spoleto, of Metz, or of Segovia, would very naturally conclude, that those provincial towns had formerly been the residence of some potent monarch. The solitudes of Asia and Africa were once covered with flourishing cities, whose populousness, and even whose existence, was derived from such artificial supplies of a perennial stream of fresh water.(1) We have computed the inhabitants, and contemplated the public works of the Roman empire. The observation of the number and greatness of its cities will serve to confirm the former, and to multiply the latter. It may not be unpleasing to collect a few scattered instances relative to that subject, without forgetting, however, that from the vanity of nations and the poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has been indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum. I. Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred and ninety-seven cities; and for whatsoever era of antiquity the expression might be intended, (2) there is not any reason to believe the country less populous in the age of the Antonines, than in that of Romulus. The petty states of Latium were contained within the metropolis of the empire, by whose superior influence they had been attracted.* Those parts of Italy which have so long languished under the lazy tyranny of priests and viceroys, had been afflicted only by the more tolerable calamities of war; and the first symptoms of decay, which they experienced, were amply compensated by the rapid improvements of the Cisalpine Gaul. The splendour of Verona may traced in its remains; yet Verona was less celebrated than Aquileia or Padua, Milan or Ravenna. II. The spirit of improvement had passed the Alps, and been felt even in the woods of Britain, which were gradually cleared away to open a free space for convenient and elegant habitations. York was the seat of government; London was already enriched by commerce; and Bath was celebrated for the salutary effects of its medicinal waters. Gaul could boast of her twelve hundred cities; (3) and though, in the northern parts, many of them, without excepting Paris itself, were little more than the rude and imperfect townships of a rising people, the southern provinces imitated the wealth and elegance of Italy.(4) Many were the cities of Gaul, Marseilles, Arles, Nismes, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Vienna, Lyons, Langres, and Treves, whose ancient condition might sustain an equal, and perhaps advantageous comparison with their present state. With regard to Spain, that country flourished as a province, and has declined as a kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her strength, by America, and by superstition, her pride might possibly be confounded, if we required such a list of three hundred and sixty cities as Pliny has exhibited under the reign of Vespasian.(5) III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged the authority of Carthage,(6) nor is it likely that their numbers diminished under the administration of the emperors; Carthage itself rose with new splendour from its ashes; and that capital, as well as Capua and Corinth,

be

(1) Montfaucon l'Antiquite Expliquée, tom. iv. p. 2. 1. i. c. 9. Fabretti has composed a very learned treatise on the aqueducts of Rome.

(2) Elian. Hist. Var. I. ix. c. 16. He lived in the time of Alexander Severus. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Græca, l. iv. c. 21.

(3) Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. The number, however, is mentioned, and should be received with a degree of latitude t

(4) Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.

(5) Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4, iv. 35. The list seems authentic and accurate: the division of the provinces, and the different condition of the cities, are minutely distinguished

(6) Strabon Geograph. I. xvii. p 1189.

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

soon recovered all the advantages which can be separated from indepen-
dent sovereignty. IV. The provinces of the east present the contrast of
Roman magnificence with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity
scattered over uncultivated fields, and ascribed, by ignorance, to the power
of magic, scarcely afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering
Arab. Under the reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained
five hundred populous cities,(1) 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 respec-
tive merits were examined by the senate.(2) Four of them were imme-
diately rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodi-
cea, whose splendour is still displayed in its ruins.(3) 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.(4) If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must
have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared preferable,
and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long
disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia ?(5) 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,(6)
and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome itself.

All these cities were connected with each other, and with the capital,
by the public highways, which issuing from the Forum of Rome, traversed
Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers
of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of Anto-
ninus to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the
great chain of communication, from the north-west to the south-east point
of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and eighty
Roman miles.(7) The public roads were accurately divided by mile-
stones, and ran in a direct line from one city to another, with very little
respect for the obstacles either of nature or private property. Mountains
were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most
rapid streams.(8) The middle part of the road was raised into a terrrace
which commanded the adjacent country, consisted of several strata of
sand, gravel, and cement, and was paved with large stones, or in some
places, near the capital, with granite.(9) Such was the solid construc-
tion of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not entirely yielded to

(1) Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 17. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. 1. ii. p. 548. Edit. Olear. (2) Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. I have taken some pains in consulting and comparing modern travellers, with regard to the fate of those eleven cities of Asia; seven or eight are totally destroyed, Hypæpe, Tralles, Laodicea, Ilium, Halicarnassus, Miletus, Ephesus, and we may add Sardes. Of the remaining three, Pergamus is a straggling village of two or three thousand inhabitants; Magnesia, under the name of Guzel-hissar, a town of some consequence; and Smyrna, a great city, peopled by a hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks have main tained commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.

(3) See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225, &c.

(4) Strabo, 1. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.

(5) See a Dissertation of M. de Boze, M. de l'Academie, tom. xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which is still extant, to recommend concord to the rival cities.

(6) The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, amounted to seven millions and a half. (Joseph.de Bell. Jud. ii. 16.) Under the military government of the Mainalukes, Syria was supposed to contain sixty thousand villages. (Histoire de Timur Bec. 1. v. c. 20.)

(7) The following Itinerary may serve to convey some idea of the direction of the road, and of the distance between the principal towns.-I. From the wall of Antoninus to York, 222 Roman miles. II. London, 227. III. Rhutupia or Sandwich, 67. IV. The navigation to Boulogne, 45. V. Rheims, 174. VI. Lyons, 330. VII. Milan, 324. VIII. Rome, 426. IX. Brundusium, 360. X. The navigation to Dyrrachium, 40. XI. Byzantium, 711. XII. Ancyra, 283. XIII. Tarsus, 301. XIV. Antioch, 141. XV. Tyre, 252. XVI. Jerusalem, 168. In all, 4080 Roman, or 3740 English miles. See the Itineraries published by Wesseling, his annotations; Gale and Stukeley for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.

(8) Montfaucon, l'Antiquite Expliquée (tom. iv. p. 2. 1. i. c. 5), has described the bridges of Narni, Alcantara, Nismes, &c.

(9) Bergier Histoire des grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, 1. ii. c. 1-28.

the efforts of fifteen centuries. They united the subjects of the most dis. tant provinces by an easy and familiar intercourse; but their primary object had been to facilitate the marches of the legions; nor was any country considered as completely subdued, till it had been rendered, in all its parts, pervious to the arms and authority of the conqueror. The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish, throughout their extensive dominions, the regular institution of posts.(1) Houses were every where erected at the distance only of five or six miles; each of them was constantly provided with forty horses, and by the help of these relays, it was easy to travel a hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads. (2)* The use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an Imperial mandate; but though originally intended for the public service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or conveniency of private citizens. (3) Nor was the communication of the Roman empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. The provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean; and Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the midst of that great lake. The coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute of safe harbours; but human industry had corrected the deficiencies of nature; and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular, situate at the mouth of the Tiber, and formed by the Emperor Claudius, was an useful monument of Roman greatness.(4) From this port, which was only sixteen miles from the capital, a favourable breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the columns of Hercules, and in Dine or ten, to Alexandria in Egypt.(5)

Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended with some beneficial consequences to mankind; and the same freedom of intercourse which extended the vices, diffused likewise the improvements, of social life. In the more remote ages of antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The east was in the immemorial possession of arts and luxury; while the west was inhabited by rude and warlike barbarians, who either disdained agriculture, or to whom it was totally unknown. Under the protection of an established government, the productions of happier climates, and the industry of more civilized nations, were gradually introduced into the western countries of Europe; and the natives were encouraged, by an open and profitable commerce, to multiply the former, as well as to improve the latter. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the articles, either of the animal or the vegetable region, which were successively imported into Europe, from Asia and Egypt;(6) but it will not be unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the utility, of an historical work, slightly to touch on a few of the principal heads. 1. Almost all the flowers, the herbs, and the fruits, that grow in our European gardens, are of foreign extraction, which, in many cases, is betrayed even by their names the apple was a native of Italy, and when the Romans had tasted the rich flavour of the apricot, the peach, the pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented themselves with applying to all these new fruits the common denomination of apple, discriminating them from each other by the additional epithet of their country. 2. In the time of Homer, the

(1) Procopius in Hist. Arcana, c. 30. Bergier Hist. des grands Chemins, 1. iv. Codex Theodosian. I. viii. tit. v. vol. ii. p. 506-563, with Godefroy's learned commentary.

(2) In the time of Theodosius, Cæsarius, a magistrate of high rank, went post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constantinople the sixth day about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English miles. See Libanius Orat. xxii. and the Itineraria, p. 572-581.f (3) Pliny, though a favourite and a minister, made an apology for granting post-horses to his wife on the most urgent business. Epist. x. 121, 122.

(4) Bergier Hist. des grands Chemins, 1. iv. c. 49.

(5) Plin. Hist. Natur. xix. 1.‡

(6) It is not improbable that the Greeks and Phoenicians introduced some new arts and produs tions into the neighbourhood of Marseilles and Gades.