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far, is the surest sign of the real genius for philosophical history.

Dr Arnold, it is well known, is a Whig-perhaps, we may add, an ultraLiberal. So far from objecting to his book on this account, we hail it with the more satisfaction that it does come from an author of such principles, and therefore that it can safely be referred to as a work in which the truth of an

cient events is not likely to be disguised or perverted to answer the views at least of the Conservative party in Great Britain. We are satisfied from many instances in the volume before us, that he is of an inquisitive, searching turn of mind, and that he would deem himself dishonoured if he concealed or altered any well-ascertained facts in Roman history. More than this we do not desire. We not only do not dislike, we positively enjoy, his occasional introduction of liberal views in what we may call Roman politics. We see in them the best guarantee that the decisive instances against democratic principles, with which all ancient history, and, most of all, Roman history, abounds, will not be perverted in his hands, and may be relied on as authentic facts against his principles. Provided a writer is candid, ingenuous, and liberal, we hold it perfectly immaterial to the ultimate triumph of truth what is the shade of his political opinions. The cause is not worth defending which cannot be supported by the testimony of an honest opponent. Every experienced lawyer knows the value of a conscientious but unwilling witness. Enough is to be found in their apologist, Thiers, to doom the French Revolution to the eternal execration of mankind. There is no writer on America who has brought forward such a host of facts decisive against republican institutions as Miss Martineau, whom the Liberals extol as the only author who has given a veracious account of the Transatlantic democracies; and we desire no other witness but Dr Arnold to the facts which demonstrate that it was the extravagant pretensions and ambition of the commons, which, in the end, proved fatal to the liberties of Rome.

The Campagna of Rome, the fields of Latium, the Alban Mount, the Palatine Hill, were familiar to the childhood of us all; and not the least delightful hours of the youth of many

of us have been spent in exploring the realities of that enchanting region. We transcribe with pleasure Dr Arnold's animated and correct description of it, drawn from actual observation with the hand of a master.

"The territory of the original Rome during its first period, the true Ager Romanus, could be gone round in a single

day. It did not extend beyond the Tiber

at all, nor probably beyond the Anio; and on the east and south, where it had most room to spread, its limit was between five and six miles from the city. This Ager Romanus was the exclusive property of the Roman people, that is of the houses; it did not include the lands conquered from the Latins, and given back to them again when the Latins became the plebs or commons of Rome. According to the Augurs, the Ager Romanus was a peculiar district in a religious sense; auspices could be taken within its bounds which could be taken nowhere without them.

The

"And now what was Rome, and what was the country around it, which have both acquired an interest such as can cease only when earth itself shall perish? hills of Rome are such as we rarely see in England, low in height, but with steep and rocky sides. In early times the natural wood still remained in patches amidst the buildings, as at this day it grows here and there on the green sides of the Monte Testaceo. Across the Tiber the ground rises to a greater height than that of the Roman hills, but its summit is a level unbroken line; while the heights, which opposite to Rome itself rise immediately from the river, under the names of Janiculus and Vaticanus, then swept away to some distance from it, and return in their highest and boldest form at the Mons Marius, just above the Milvian bridge and the Flaminian road. Thus to the west the view is immediately bounded; but to the north and north-east the eye ranges over the low ground of the Campagna to the nearest line of the Apennines, which closes up, as with a gigantic wall, all the Sabine, Latin, and Volscian lowlands, while over it are still distinctly to be seen the high summits of the central Apennines, covered with snow, even at this day, for more than six months in the year. South and southwest lies the wide plain of the Campagna; its level line succeeded by the equally level line of the sea, which can only be distinguished from it by the brighter light reflected from its waters. Eastward, after ten miles of plain, the view is bounded by the Alban hills, a cluster of high bold points rising out of the Campagna, like Arran from the sea, on the highest of

which, at nearly the same height with the summit of Helvellyn, stood the Temple of Jupiter Latiaris, the scene of the common worship of all the people of the Latin name. Immediately under this highest point lies the crater-like basin of the Alban lake; and on its nearer rim might be seen the trees of the grove of Ferentia, where the Latins held the great civil assemblies of their nation. Further to the north, on the edge of the Alban hills, looking towards Rome, was the town and citadel of Tusculum; and beyond this, a lower summit, crowned with the walls and towers of Labicum,

seems to connect the Alban hills with the line of the Apennines just at the spot where the citadel of Præneste, high up on the mountain side, marks the opening into the country of the Hernicians, and into the valleys of the streams that feed the Liris.

"Returning nearer to Rome, the lowland country of the Campagna is broken by long green swelling ridges, the ground rising and falling, as in the heath country of Surrey and Berkshire. The streams

are dull and sluggish, but the hill sides above them constantly break away into little rocky cliffs, where on every ledge the wild fig now strikes out its branches, and tufts of broom are clustering, but which in old times formed the natural strength of the citadels of the numerous cities of Latium. Except in these narrow dells, the present aspect of the country is all bare and desolate, with no trees nor any human habitation. But anciently, in the time of the early kings of Rome, it was full of independent cities, and, in its population and the careful cultivation of its little garden-like farms, must have resembled the most flourishing parts of Lombardy or the Netherlands."

We have already adverted to the difficulty of determining where fiction ends and real history begins in the early Roman annals, and the scanty foundation there is in authentic records, for any of the early legends of their history. Fully alive, however, to the exquisite beauty of these remains, and the influence they had on the Roman history, as well as their importance as evincing the lofty character of their infant people, Dr Arnold has adopted the plan of not rejecting them altogether, but giving them in a simple narrative, something like the Bible, and commencing with his ordinary style when he arrives at events which really rest on historic ground. This is certainly much better than entirely rejecting them; but, at the same time, it introduces a quaint style of writing, in

recounting these early events, to which we can hardly reconcile ourselves, after the rich colouring and graphic hand of Livy. As an example of the way in which he treats this interesting but difficult part of his subject, we give his account of the story of Lucretia, the exquisite episode with which Livy terminates his first book and narrative of the kings of Rome.

"Now when they came back to Rome, King Tarquinius was at war with the people of Ardea; and as the city was strong, his army lay a long while before it, till it should be forced to yield through famine. So the Romans had leisure for feasting and for diverting themselves: and once Titus and Aruns were supping with their brother Sextus, and their cousin Tarquinius of Collatia was supping with them. And they disputed about their wives, whose wife of them all was the worthiest lady. Then said Tarquinius of Collatia, Let us go, and see with our own eyes what our wives are doing, so shall we know which is the worthiest.' Upon this they all mounted their horses, and rode first to Rome; and there they found the wives of Titus, and of Aruns, and of Sextus, feasting and making merry. Then they rode on to Collatia, and it was late in the night; but they found Lucretia, the wife of Tarquinius of Collatia, neither feasting, nor yet sleeping, but she was sitting with all her handmaids around her, and all were working at the loom. So when they saw this, they all said, ' Lucretia is the worthiest lady.' And she entertained her husband and his kinsmen, and after that they rode back to the camp before Ardea.

"But a spirit of wicked passion seized upon Sextus, and a few days afterwards he went alone to Collatia, and Lucretia received him hospitably, for he was her husband's kinsman. At midnight he arose and went to her chamber, and he said that if she yielded not to him he would slay her and one of her slaves with her, and would say to her husband that he had slain her in her adultery. So when Sextus had accomplished his wicked purpose he went back again to the camp.

"Then Lucretia sent in haste to Rome, to pray that her father Spurius Lucretius would come to her; and she sent to Ardea to summon her husband. Her father

When

brought along with him Publius Valerius, and her husband brought with him Lucius Junius, whom men called Brutus. they arrived, they asked earnestly,' Is all well?' Then she told them of the wicked deed of Sextus, and she said, If ye be men, avenge it.' And they all swore to

her, that they would avenge it. Then she said again, I am not guilty; yet must I too share in the punishment of this deed, lest any should think that they may be false to their husbands and live.' And she drew a knife from her bosom, and stabbed herself to the heart.

6

"At that sight her husband and her father cried aloud; but Lucius drew the knife from the wound, and held it up, and said, By this blood I swear that I will visit this deed upon King Tarquinius, and all his accursed race; neither shall any man hereafter be king in Rome, lest he do the like wickedness.' And he gave the knife to her husband, and to her father, and to Publius Valerius. They marvelled to hear such words from him whom men called dull; but they swore also, and they took up the body of Lucretia, and carried it down into the forum; and they said, Behold the deeds of the wicked family of Tarquinius.' All the people of Collatia were moved, and 'the men took up arms, and they set a guard at the gates, that none might go out to

carry the tidings to Tarquinius, and they

followed Lucius to Rome. There, too, all

the people came together, and the crier

summoned them to assemble before the

tribune of the Celeres, for Lucius held that office. And Lucius spoke to them of all the tyranny of Tarquinius and his sons, and of the wicked deed of Sextus. And the people in their curiæ took back from Tarquinius the sovereign power, which they had given him, and they banished him and all his family. Then the younger men followed Lucius to Ardea, to win over the army there to join them; and the city was left in the charge of Spurius Lucretius. But the wicked Tullia fled in haste from her house, and all, both men and women, cursed her as she passed, and prayed that the furies of her father's blood might visit her with vengeance.

"Mean-while King Tarquinius set out with speed to Rome to put down the tumult. But Lucius turned aside from the road that he might not meet him, and came to the camp; and the soldiers joyfully received him, and they drove out the sons of Tarquinius. King Tarquinius came to Rome, but the gates were shut, and they

declared to him from the walls the sen

tence of banishment which had been passed against him and his family. So he yielded to his fortune, and went to live at Care with his sons Titus and Aruns. His other son, Sextus, went to Gabii, and the people there, remembering how he had betrayed them to his father, slew him. Then the army left the camp before Ardea and went back to Rome. And all men said, 'Let us follow the good laws of the

good King Servius; and let us meet in our centuries, according as he directed, and let us choose two men year by year to govern us, instead of a king.' Then the people met in their centuries in the field of Mars, and they chose two men to rule over them, Lucius Junius, whom men called Brutus, and Lucius Tarquinius of Collatia."

Every classical reader must perceive the object which our author had in view. He has in great part translated Livy, and he wishes to preserve the legend which he has rendered immortal; but he is desirous, at the same time, of doing it, as he himself tells us, in such a manner that it shall be impossible for any reader, even the most illiterate, to imagine that he is recording a real event. It may be prejudice, and the force of early association, but we can hardly reconcile ourselves to this Mosaic mode of writing the history of the most remote events. Every author's style, to be agreeable, should be natural. The ing in coming upon such quaint and perreader experiences a disagreeable feelhaps affected passages, after being habituated to the flowing and vigorous style of the author. It would be better, we conceive, to write the whole in one uniform manner, and mark the difference between the legendary and authentic parts by a difference in the type, or some other equally obvious distinction. But this is a trivial matter, affecting only the commencement of the work; and ample subject of meditation is suggested by many facts and passages in its later pages.

We have previously noticed the decisive evidence which the Cloaca Maxima and the treaty with Carthage in the time of Tarquin afford of the early greatness of the Roman monarchy. But we were not aware, till reading Arnold-even Niebuhr has not so distinctly brought out the fact that at the time of the expulsion of the Tarquins lic, Rome was already a powerful moand the commencement of the Repubnarchy, whose sway extended from the northern extremity of the Campagna to the rocks of Terracina; and that it was then more powerful than it ever was for the first hundred and fifty years of the Commonwealth! The Roman kingdom is compared by Arnold, under the last of the kings, to Judea under Solomon; and the fact of a treaty, recorded in Polybius, being in that year

150

Arnold's History of Rome.

concluded with Carthage, proves that the state had already acquired consideration with distant states.

"Setting aside," says our author, "the tyranny ascribed to Tarquinius, and remembering that it was his policy to deprive the commons of their lately acquired citizenship, and to treat them like subjects rather than members of the state, the picture given of the wealth and greatness of Judea under Solomon may convey some idea of the state of Rome under its latter kings. Powerful amongst surrounding nations, exposed to no hostile invasions, with a flourishing agriculture and an active commerce, the country was great and prosperous; and the king was enabled to execute public works of the highest magnificence, and to invest himself with a splendour unknown in the earlier times of the monarchy.'

But mark the effect upon the external power and internal liberties of the nation, consequent on the violent change in the Government and establishment of the Commonwealth, as portrayed in the authentic pages of this liberal historian.

"In the first year of the commonwealth, the Romans still possessed the dominion enjoyed by their kings; all the cities of the coast of Latium, as we have already seen, were subject to them as far as Terracina.

Within twelve years, we cannot certainly say how much sooner, these were all become independent. This is easily intelligible, if we only take into account the loss to Rome of an able and absolute king, the natural weakness of an unsettled government, and the distractions produced by the king's attempts to recover his throne. The Latins may have held, as we are told of the Sabines in this very time, that their dependent alliance with Rome had been concluded with King Tarquinius, and that as he was king no longer, and as his sons had been driven out with him, all covenants between Latium and Rome were become null and void. it is possible also, if the chronology of the common story of these times can be at all depended on, that the Latin cities owed their independence to the Etruscan conquest of Rome. For that war, which has been given in its poetical version as the war with Porsenna, was really a great outbreak of the Etruscan power upon the nations southward of Etruria, in the very

But

front of whom lay the Romans. In the very next year after the expulsion of the king, according to the common story, and certainly at some time within the period with which we are now concerned, the

[Aug.

The result of

Rome

Etruscans fell upon Rome. the war is, indeed, as strangely disguised in the poetical story as Charlemagne's invasion of Spain is in the romances. Rome was completely conquered; all the territory which the kings had won on the right bank of the Tiber was now lost. itself was surrendered to the Etruscan conqueror; his sovereignty was fully acknowledged, the Romans gave up their arms, and recovered their city and territory on condition of renouncing the use of iron except for implements of agriculture. But this bondage did not last long; the Etruscan power was broken by a great defeat sustained before Aricia; for after the fall of Rome the conquerors attacked Latium, and while besieging Aricia, the united force of the Latin cities, aided by the Greeks of Cuma, succeeded in destroying their army, and in confining their Still, however, the Romans did not repower to their own side of the Tiber. cover their territory on the right bank of that river, and the number of their tribes, as has been already noticed, was consequently lessened by one third, being reduced from thirty to twenty.

"Thus within a short time after the banishment of the last king, the Romans lost all their territory on the Etruscan side of the Tiber, and all their dominion over Latium. A third people were their immediate neighbours on the north-east, the Sabines. The cities of the Sabines reached, says Varro, from Reate, to the distance of according to the varying estimate of a half a day's journey from Rome; that is, day's journey, either seventy-five or an hundred stadia, about ten or twelve miles."

largement of the Roman territory, after "It is certain, also, that the first enits great diminution in the Etruscan war, took place towards the north-east, between the Tiber and the Anio; and here were the lands of the only new tribes that were of more than one hundred and twenty added to the Roman nation, for the space years after the establishment of the commonwealth."

revolution which expelled Tarquinius Such was the disastrous effects of the Superbus, even though originating, if we may believe the story of Lucretia, in a heinous crime on his part, on the external power and territorial possessions of Rome. Let us next enquire whether the social condition of the people was improved by the change, and the plebeians reaped those fruits from the violent change of the Government which they were doubtless led to expect.

"The most important part," says Ar

nold, "in the history of the first years of the commonwealth is the tracing, if possible, the gradual depression of the commons to that extreme point of misery which led to the institution of the tribuneship. We have seen that immediately after the expulsion of the king, the commons shared in the advantages of the revolution; but within a few years we find them so oppressed and powerless, that their utmost hopes aspired, not to the assertion of political equality with the burghers, but merely to the obtaining protection from personal injuries.

"The specific character of their degradation is stated to have been this; that there prevailed among them severe distress, amounting in many cases to actual ruin; that to relieve themselves from their poverty, they were in the habit of borrowing money of the burghers; that the distress continuing, they became generally insolvent; and that as the law of debtor and creditor was exceedingly severe, they became liable in their persons to the cruelty of the burghers, were treated by them as slaves, confined as such in their workhouses, kept to taskwork, and often beaten at the discretion of their taskmasters."

Various were the miseries to which the commons were reduced in consequence of the revolution, and inexorable the rigour with which the nobles pressed the advantage they had gained by the abolition of the kingly form of government. The civil convulsions and general distress, Dr Arnold tells us, terminated in the establishment of an exclusive oppressive aristocracy, interrupted occasionally by the legalised despotism of a single individual.

"Thus the monarchy was exchanged for an exclusive aristocracy, in which the burghers or patricians possessed the whole dominion of the state. For mixed as was the influence in the assembly of the centuries, and although the burghers through their clients exercised no small control over it, still they did not think it safe to intrust it with much power. In the election of consuls, the centuries could only choose out of a number of patrician or burgher candidates; and even after this election it remained for the burghers in their great council in the curiæ to ratify it or to annul it, by conferring upon, or refusing to the persons so elected the 'Imperium;' in other words, that sovereign power which belonged to the consuls as the successors of the kings, and which, except so far as it was limited within the walls of the city, and a circle of one mile without them, by the right of

appeal, was absolute over life und death. As for any legislative power, in this period of the commonwealth, the consuls were their own law. No doubt the burghers had their customs, which in all great points the consuls would duly observe, because, otherwise on the expiration of their office they would be liable to arraignment before the curiæ, and to such punishment as that sovereign assembly might please to inflict; but the commons had no such security, and the uncertainty of the consul's judgments was the particular grievance which afterwards led to the formation of the code of the twelve tables.

"We are told, however, that within ten years of the first institution of the consuls, the burghers found it necessary to create a single magistrate with powers still more absolute, who was to exercise the full sovereignty of a king, and even without that single check to which the kings of Rome had been subjected The Master of the people, that is, of the burghers, or, as he was otherwise called, the Dictator, was appointed, it is true, for six months only; and therefore liable, like the consuls, to he arraigned, after the expiration of his office, for any acts of tyranny which he might have committed during its continuance. But whilst he retained his office he was as absolute without the walls of the city as the consuls were within them; neither commoners nor burghers had any right of appeal from his sentence, although the latter had enjoyed this protection in the times of the monarchy."

At length the misery of the people, flowing from the revolution, became so excessive that they could endure it no longer, and they took the resolution to separate altogether from their oppressors, and retire to the sacred hill to found a new Commonwealth.

"Fifteen years after the expulsion of Tarquinius, the commons, driven to despair by their distress, and exposed without protection to the capricious cruelty of the burghers, resolved to endure their degraded state no longer. The particulars of this second rovolution are as uncertain as those of the overthrow of the monarchy; but thus much is certain, and is remarkable, that the commons sought safety, not victory; they desired to escape from Rome, not to govern it. It may be true that the commons who were left in Rome gathered together on the Aventine, the quarter appropriated to their order, and occupied the hill as a fortress; but it is universally agreed that the most efficient part of their body, who were at that time in the field as soldiers, deserted their

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