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Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of the moderate and comprehensive
policy embraced by the Romans. If we
turn our eyes towards the monarchies of Asia, we shall behold
despotism in the centre, and weakness in the extremities; the collection
of the revenue, or the
administration of justice, enforced by the presence of an army; hostile
Barbarians established in the heart of the
country, hereditary satraps usurping the
dominion of the provinces, and subjects inclined to rebellion, though incapable of freedom.
But the obedience of the Roman world was uniform, voluntary, and permanent. The vanquished nations, blended into one great people,
resigned the hope, nay, even the wish, of resuming their
independence, and scarcely considered their own existence as distinct from
the existence of
Rome. The established authority of the
emperors pervaded without an effort the wide extent of their
dominions, and
was exercised with the same facility on the banks of the Thames, or of the
Nile, as on those of the Tyber. The legions were destined
to serve against the public enemy, and the civil
magistrate seldom required the aid of a
military force.
63 In this state of general
security, the leisure, as well as opulence, both of the prince and people, were devoted to improve and to adorn the Roman empire.
Note 63: Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. ii. c. 16. The oration of Agrippa, or rather of the historian, is a fine picture of the Roman
empire.
Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed by the Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history, how
few have resisted the ravages of time and
barbarism! And yet, even the majestic ruins that are still scattered over Italy and the
provinces, would be sufficient to prove that those countries were once the seat of a polite and powerful empire. Their greatness alone,
or their beauty, might deserve our attention: but they are rendered more interesting, by two important circumstances, which connect
the agreeable history of
the arts with the more useful history of human manners. Many of those works were erected at private
expense, and almost all were intended for public benefit.
It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well as the most considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised by the
emperors,
who possessed so unbounded a command both of men and money.
Augustus was accustomed to boast that he had found his capital
of brick, and that he had left it of marble.
64 The strict economy of
Vespasian was the source of his magnificence. The works of
Trajan bear the stamp of his genius. The public monuments with which
Hadrian adorned every province of the empire, were executed
not only by his orders, but under his immediate inspection. He was himself an artist; and he loved
the arts, as they conduced to the
glory of the monarch. They were encouraged by the
Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness of the people. But if the
emperors
were the first, they were not the only architects of their
dominions. Their example was universally imitated by their principal subjects,
who were not afraid of declaring to the world that they had spirit to conceive, and 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.
65 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 proconsul to supply their deficiencies, to direct their
taste, and sometimes to moderate their emulation.
66 The opulent senators of
Rome and the provinces esteemed it an honor, and
almost an obligation, to adorn the splendor 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.
Note 64: Sueton. in August. c. 28. Augustus built in Rome the temple and forum of Mars the Avenger; the temple of Jupiter
Tonans in the Capitol; that of Apollo PaLatine, with public libraries; the portico and basilica of Caius and Lucius; the porticos of Livia
and Octavia; and the theatre of Marcellus. The example of the sovereign was imitated by his ministers and generals; and his friend
Agrippa left behind him the immortal monument of the Pantheon. See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus built in Rome the theatre of Marcellus.
Note 65: See Maffei, Veroni Illustrata, l. iv. p. 68.
Note 66: See the xth 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 Prusa and Claudiopolis, and an aqueduct of
sixteen miles in length for the use of Sinope.
The family of
Herod, at least after it had been favored by fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades,
Theseus and
Cecrops, Aeacus 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 rigor of the 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 knew not how
to use it. Abuse it then, replied the monarch, with a good- natured peevishness; for it is your own.
67 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.
68
Note 67: 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.
Note 68: Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. l. ii. p. 548.
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 honored with the consulship at
Rome: but the greatest part of his life was spent in a philosophic retirement at Athens, and his
adjacent villas; perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous
rival.
69 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, whilst
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 Thermopylae, and an
aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, were insufficient
to exhaust his treasures. The people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus, experienced his favors; and many
inscriptions of the cities of
Greece and Asia gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and benefactor.
70
Note 69: Aulus Gellius, in Noct. Attic. i. 2, ix. 2, xviii. 10, xix. 12. Phil ostrat. p. 564.
Note 70: See Philostrat. l. ii. p. 548, 560. Pausanias, l. i. and vii. 10. The life of Herodes, in the xxxth volume of the Memoirs of
the Academy of Inscriptions.
In the
commonwealths of Athens and
Rome, the modest simplicity of private houses announced the equal condition of freedom; whilst
the sovereignty of the people was represented in the majestic edifices designed to the public use;
71 nor was this
republican spirit
totally extinguished by the introduction of wealth and monarchy. It was in works of national honor 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.
72 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 by 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 honors 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 amphi theatres,
theatres, temples, porticoes, triumphal arches, baths 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 preeminence; 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.
73
Note 71: It is particularly remarked of Athens by Dicaearchus, de Statu Graeciae, p. 8, inter Geographos Minores, edit. Hudson.
Note 72: Donatus de Roma Vetere, l. iii. c. 4, 5, 6. Nardini Roma Antica, l. 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.
Note 73: Montfaucon l'Antiquite Expliquee, tom. iv. p. 2, l. i. c. 9. Fabretti has composed a very learned treatise on the aqueducts
of Rome.
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 aera of
antiquity the expression
might be intended,
74 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 splendor of Verona may be 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;
75 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.
76 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.
77
III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged the authority of Carthage,
78 nor is it
likely that their numbers diminished under the
administration of the
emperors: Carthage itself rose with new splendor from its ashes;
and that capital, as well as Capua and Corinth, soon recovered all the advantages which can be separated from independent
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,
79 enriched with all
the gifts of nature, and adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed the honor of dedicating a temple
of Tiberius, and their respective merits were examined by the senate.
80 Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the
burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in its ruins.
81 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.
82 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?
83 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,
84 and yielded, with reluctance, to the
majesty of
Rome itself.
Note 74: Aelian. Hist. Var. lib. ix. c. 16. He lived in the time of Alexander Severus. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, l. iv. c. 21.
Note 75: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. The number, however, is mentioned, and should be received with a degree of latitude. Note:
Without doubt no reliance can be placed on this passage of Josephus. The historian makes Agrippa give advice to the Jews, as to the
power of the Romans; and the speech is full of declamation which can furnish no conclusions to history. While enumerating the
nations subject to the Romans, he speaks of the Gauls as submitting to 1200 soldiers, (which is false, as there were eight legions in
Gaul, Tac. iv. 5,) while there are nearly twelve hundred cities. - G. Josephus (infra) places these eight legions on the Rhine, as Tacitus
does. - M.
Note 76: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.
Note 77: 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.
Note 78: Strabon. Geograph. l. xvii. p. 1189.
Note 79: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. l. ii. p. 548, edit. Olear.
Note 80: 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: Hypaepe, Tralles, Laodicea, Hium, 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 Guzelhissar, a town of some consequence; and Smyrna, a great city, peopled by a hundred thousand souls. But
even at Smyrna, while the Franks have maintained a commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.
Note 81: See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225,
&c.
Note 82: Strabo, l. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.
Note 83: See a Dissertation of M. de Boze, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which is still extant,
to recommend concord to the rival cities.
Note 84: 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 Mamelukes, Syria was supposed to contain sixty
thousand villages, (Histoire de Timur Bec, l. v. c. 20.)
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To cite original text:
Gibbon, Edward, 1737-1794.
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. 1st ed. (London : Printed for W. Strahan ; and T. Cadell, 1776-1788.), pp. 43-50.