The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27

! liberty. No attempt was made to irnpos
n uniform organization or burea 'lcrati
control on the vast iulss OF races Hnf
! peoples whom the fortune Of Rome 'iat
brought under her sway. Rather for man!
q generation the empires guiding principle
was. ~ far as possible. to leave ancient
landmarks undisturbed, and To give rs
much free play to local liberty as was com
patible with the safety and efficiency %,
the imrerial guardian Of order and reace
Hence those many diver!iies in the ro-
iations between provincisl towns and Rome
represented by the names OF free, federal
or stipendary city, m'inieipium and colonis
Many retained their old laws, constitutions
and judicial systems. They kept in some
cases the names Of magistrates which
recalled the days Of Independence; there
we're still archons at Athens, suTetes in
African towns, demarohs at Naples, When
she had crushed the national spirit Of the
subject peoples and averted the danger
Of armed revolt Rome tolerated and even
fostered municipal freedom in Italy and
the pA,vinces for more than a hundred
years after the last shadowy pretense Of
popular government had disappeared from
her own forum. 1t Is true that the inter-
ference Of provincial governor in local
administration was theoretically possible
In varying degrees. yet, in our authors
opinion. 1T may we'll be doubted whether
q citizen Of Lyons or Marseilles. Of Antioch
or Alexandria, was often made conscious
Of any limitation OF his freedom by i'm
perial power He felt the hand Of the
omnipotent Princeps in far Oh Rome al
most as seldom and as family as the in
habitant Of one Of our States feels the hand
Of our Federal Administration. while de-
lation and conhscation and massacre were
working havoc on the banks OF the Tiber,
the provinces were generally Tranquil and
prosperous. The people elected their mag
istrates, who administered municipal az
fairs with little interference from govern
ment The mana cement Of the provinces
by Nero, an Ohio, Vitellius or a Domitian
was often no less prudent and ,considerate
than that Of Vespasian or Trajan. The
worst OF the Emperors shared with the
best In the universal gratitude Of the prov
inoes for the blessing OF the Roman
peace"
With local self-rule. however, went q
sense OF solidarity. quickened by the free
dom Of circulation throughout the bounds
OF the far stretching empire. This sense Of
solidarity and close association with the
metropolis produced an irresistible drift to
uniform type Of municipal organization
Free and federate communities voluntarily
sought the position OF colony or a NUM-
Opium. Just as the provincial town must
have it's capital, with the cult Of Jupiter
nd kIn
names in VeAbrum or vicus Tuscus, 80 the
little community called itself respublicd, it's
commons the populus, its curid a senate, or
the ON plissivnus ct splendissimus ordo while
Its ma gistrate sometimes bore the ma jeetio
names Of pretor, dictator or censor, IN a
few cases even OF consul This almost
ludiorous imitation Of the great city is an
example Of the ma gical power which Rome
always exercised on her most distant sub
jeots, and even on the outer world of bar
barism, down to the last days when her
forces were ebbing away Milton has por-
trayed IN his Paradise Regained' the con-
flux at the great city's gates from all parts
Of the Roman world, and helps us to see
how the ease and rapidity Of communication
along the great routes. the frequent visits
Of prooonsuls and proourators and generals,
with the numerous train which attended
them. the presence Of the ubiquitous Roman
and traveller, kept even remote
places In touch with the capital. The octa
diurnd, or daily gazette. published at Rome.
and containing not only Official news but
bits Of scandal and gossip. arrived regu-
larly In distant provincial towns and frontier
camps. The last speech Of Pliny or the
freshest epigrams OF Martial were within
= short time selling on the bookstalls Of
Lyons or Vienna.
Mr.. Dill doubts whether, until the APP
pearanos OF railways or steamboats,, there
ever was period in history in which travel
ng was easier or more general more ex-
peditious. and even luxurious, than it was in
The age Of the Antonines He recalls how
the Government post, which was first or
zanized by Augustus on the model OF the
Persian, provided at regular intervals the
means Of conveyance for officials, or for
hose furnished with the requisite diploma.
Private enterprise had also organized
ABILITIES Of travel, and at the gates of coun-
;ry towns, such as Pompeii, Preneste or
Thur, there were stations OF the posting
where carriages could be hired
md horses changed. Our author points
,ut that the speed with which great dis
ances were traversed in those days is at
inst sight startling. Julius Cesar once
raveled hundred miles day in journey
rom Rome to the Rhone. In seven days
he freedman lcelus carried the news of
Ieros death to Galba in Spain, the journey
II 1872 miles from Tarraco to Clunia having
,een made at the rate Of nearly ten miles
N hour. This, OF course, was express
peed About 1870 miles a day was the
.verage distance accomplished by sea.
from Puteoli to Corinth was a voyage Of
I've days. About the same time was needed
o reach Tarraco from Ostis. A ship might
rrive at Alexandria from the Palus Meotis
o a fortnight Land journeys were 40
omplished with as much ease as speed.
There was hardly any limit to the luxury
nd ostentatious splendor with which the
,reat and opulent made their progresses,
TENDED and preceded by troops Of foot.
nen and runners, and carrying with them
ostly plate and myrrhSne vases The
thousand carriages which Nero took with
i'm on a progress, the silvershod mules
4 Poppea and the paraphenalia described
" Seneca are pronounced probably the