The fall of the Roman Empire
The Greeks, after their country had been reduced into a province, imputed the triumphs of Rome, not to the merit, but to the fortune of the republic. "The inconstant goddess, who so blindly distributes and resumes her favors, had now consented to resign her wings, to descend from her globe, and to fix her firm and immutable throne on the banks of the Tiber." A wiser Greek, who has composed, with a philosophic spirit, the memorable history of his own times, deprived his countrymen of this vain and delusive comfort by opening to their view the deep foundations of the greatness of Rome. The fidelity of the citizens to each other, and to the state, was confirmed by the habits of education and the prejudices of religion. Honour, as well as virtue, was the principle of the republic; the ambitious citizens labored to deserve the solemn glories of a triumph; and the ardor of the Roman youth was kindled into active emulation, as often as they beheld the domestic images of their ancestors.
roman mosaics
Map of the "barbarian" invasions of the Roman Empi...
The Roman empire in the time of Hadrian (ruled 117...The temperate struggles of the patricians and plebeians had finally established the firm and equal balance of the constitution; which united the freedom of popular assemblies with the authority and wisdom of a senate-and the executive powers of a regal magistrate. When the consul displayed the standard of the republic, each citizen bound himself, by the obligation of an oath, to draw his sword in the cause of his country, till he had discharged the sacred duty by a military service of ten years. This wise institution continually poured into the field the rising generations of freemen and soldiers; and their numbers were reinforced by the warlike and populous states of Italy, who, after a brave resistance, had yielded to the...