II.

Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred CHAP. and ninety-seven cities; and for whatsoever æra of antiquity the expression might be intended", there is not In Italy. 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 Gaul and had passed the Alps, and been felt even in the woods Spain 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"; 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". Many were the cities of Gaul, Marseilles, Arles, Nismes, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Vienne, 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

rus.

74 Elian. Hist. Var. 1. ix. c. 16. He lived in the time of Alexander SeveSee Fabricius, Biblioth. Græca, 1. iv. c. 21.

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

76 Plin. Hist. Natur, iii. 5.

II.

Africa.

Asia.

CHAP. the reign of Vespasian". III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged the authority of Carthage, 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 Cæsars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred populous cities, 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 respective merits were examined by the senate. Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in its ruins. 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 citizen32. If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared

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.

78 Strabon. Geograph. 1. xvii. p. 1189.

79 Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. I. ii. p. 548 Edit. Olear.

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, 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 an hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks have maintained commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.

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

82 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.

H.

preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, CHAP. and of Ephesus, who so long disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia"? 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, and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome itself.

85

All these cities were connected with each other, Roman and with the capital, by the public highways, which, roads. 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 Antoninus 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 5. 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. The middle part of the road was raised into a terrace which commanded the adjacent country, consisted of several strata of sand, gravel, and cement, and was paved with large stones, or in

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.

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

85 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. Rhutupiæ or Sandwich 67. IV. The navigation to Bologne 45. V. Rheims 174. VI. Lyons 330. VII. Milan 324. VIII. Rome 426. IX. Brundusium 360. X. The navigation to Dyrrhachium 40. XI. ByzanXIV. Antioch 141. tium 711. XII. Ancyra 283. XIII. Tarsus 301. XV. Tyre 252. XVI. Jerusalem 168. In all 4080 Roman, or 3740 English miles. See the Itineraries published by Wesseling, his annotations Gale and Stukely for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.

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

Posts.

CHAP. some places, near the capital, with granite. Such was the solid construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen centuries. They united the subjects of the most distant 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. 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 an hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads. 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 Naviga- or conveniency of private citizens. Nor was the communication of the Roman empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. The provinces surrounded and inclosed 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 Tyber, and formed by the emperor Clau

tion.

87 Bergier Histoire des grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, l. ii. c.

1.-28.

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

89 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 Libanias Orat. xxii. and the Itineraria, p. 572.-581.

90 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.

П.

dius, was an useful monument of Roman greatness". CHAP. 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 nine or ten, to Alexandria in Egypt92.

countries

Whatever evils either reason or declamation have Improveimputed to extensive empire, the power of Rome was ment of attended with some beneficial consequences to man-ture in the agricul kind; and the same freedom of intercourse which ex- western tended the vices, diffused likewise the improvements, of the em of social life. In the more remote ages of antiquity, pire. the world was unequally divided. The east was in the immemorial possession of arts and luxury; whilst 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 reign, which was successively imported into Europe, from Asia and Egypt; but it will not be unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the utility, of an historical work, slighty to touch on a few of the principal heads. 1. Almost all the flowers, Introducthe 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 richer 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 vine grew wild in the The vine.

91 Bergier Hist. des grands Chemins, 1. iv. c. 49.

92 Plin. Hist. Natur. xix. 1.

93 It is not improbable that the Greeks and Phoenicians introduced some new arts and productions into the neighbourhood of Marseilles and Gades.

tion of

fruits, &c.