The Old Roman World | Page 6

ultimate progress of society, since its civilization entered into new
combinations, and still remains one of the proudest monuments of
human genius.
It is this civilization, in its varied aspects, both good and evil, lofty and
degraded, which in the following chapters I seek to show. This is the
real point of interest in Roman history. Let us see what the Romans
really accomplished--the results of their great enterprises; the systems
they matured with so much thought; the institutions they bequeathed to
our times; yea, even those vices and follies which they originally
despised, and which, if allowed to become dominant, must, according
to all those laws of which we have cognizance, ultimately overwhelm
any land in misery, shame, and ruin.
In presenting this civilization, I aim to generalize the most important
facts, leaving the reader to examine at his leisure recondite authorities,

in which, too often, the argument is obscured by minute details, and art
is buried in learning.


CHAPTER I.
THE CONQUESTS OF THE ROMANS.
One of the features of Roman greatness, which preeminently arrests
attention, is military genius and strength. The Romans surpassed all the
nations of antiquity in the brilliancy and solidity of their conquests.
They conquered the world, and held it in subjection. For many
centuries they stamped their iron heel on the necks of prostrate and
suppliant kings, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caspian Sea. Nothing
could impede, except for a time, their irresistible progress from
conquering to conquer. They were warriors from the earliest period of
their history, and all their energies were concentrated upon conquest.
Their aggressive policy never changed so long as there was a field for
its development. They commenced as a band of robbers; they ended by
becoming masters of all the countries and kingdoms which tempted
their cupidity or aroused their ambition. Their empire was
universal,--the only universal empire which ever existed on this
earth,--and it was won with the sword. It was not a rapid conquest, but
it was systematic and irresistible, evincing great genius, perseverance,
and fortitude.
[Sidenote: The Romans fight from a fixed purpose.]
The successive and fortunate conquests of the Romans were the
admiration, the envy, and the fear of all nations--so marvelous and
successful that they have the majesty of a providential event. They
cannot be called a mystery, since we see the persistent adaptation of
means to an end. But no other nation ever evinced this uniform military
policy, except for a limited period, or under the stimulus of a temporary
enthusiasm, such as characterized the Saracens and the Germanic
barbarians. The Romans fought when there was no apparent need of

fighting, when their empire already embraced most of the countries
known to the ancients. The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians, and
the Greeks made magnificent conquests, but their empire was partial
and limited, and soon passed away. The Greeks evinced great military
genius, and the enterprises of Alexander have been regarded as a
wonder. But the Greeks did not fight, as the Romans did, from a fixed
purpose to bring all nations under their sway, and they yielded, in turn,
to the Romans. The Romans were never subdued, but all nations were
subdued by them-- even superior races. They erected a universal
monarchy, which fell to pieces by its own weight, when the vices of
self-interest had accomplished their work. They became the prey of
barbarians in a very different sense from that which reduced the ancient
empires. They did not yield to any powerful, warlike neighbor, as the
Persians yielded to the Greeks, but to successive waves of unknown
warriors who came in quest of settlement, and then only when all
Roman vigor had fled, and the whole policy of the empire was
changed--when it was the aim of emperors to conserve old conquests,
not make new ones.
[Sidenote: War was a passion with the Romans.]
With the Romans, for a thousand years, war was a passion; and, while
it lasted, it consumed all other passions. It animated statesmen, rulers,
generals, and citizens alike, ever burning, never at rest,--a passion
unscrupulous, resistless, all-pervading, all-absorbing, all-conquering.
Success in war gave consideration, dignity, honor beyond all other
successes. It always has called out popular admiration, and its glory has
ever been highly prized, and it always will be so, but it has not
monopolized all offices and dignities as among the Romans. The
Greeks thought of art, of literature, and of philosophy as well as of war,
and gave their crowns of glory for civic and artistic excellence as well
as for military success. The Greeks fought to preserve or extend their
civilization; the Romans, in order to rule. They had very little respect
for any thing beyond military genius. The successful warrior alone was
the founder of a great family.