The sun., 1905-09-03

the fashion. The tone OF tho edict lseuoo
by Honorius on the subject In Alo leaves
no doubt that the rage for German fashions
was widespread, and that previous ediots
forbidding them to be followed within the
precincts Of the city Of Rome had been dis
regarded.
Thus It appears that there was nothing
now In the settlement Of hostile barbarians
In Roman territory in the fifth century.
For more than Ave hundred years the empire
had been resisting the pressure OF barbarism,
occasionally suffering heavily for time.
but always in the end triumphant over
mere force. Yet each successive victory
had admitted In increasing numbers the
barbarian element into the frontier tracts.
the armies, or the fields and households OF
Rome While the process Of indltration
was thus going on. there occurred pro-
greesive disintegration Of the Empires
powers Of resistance. The causes and con-
sequences Of this disintegration, to which
was principally due the ultimate collapse
Of the empire In the West, are discussed in
two chapters Of the third book OF this mar
rative, which portray the failure OF ad-
ministration and the ruin OF the middle
class, as these phenomena are revealed
by the Theodosian Code. The literary
remains Of the fourth and fifth centuries
throw ittie light on the condition OF classes
other than the class-usually the upper
classic which the authors belonged
or on the deepeeated and inveterate diseases
which, for generations had been under
mining the strength of the imperial system.
The general tendency however. OF modern
inquiry has been to discover in the fall OF
that august and magnificent organization
not a cataclysm, precipitated by tho I'm
pact Of Irresistible barbarous forces, but
process slowly prepared and evolved by
internal and economic oauses. Prof. Dill,
like Guizot before him, has found that the
question why the invasions Of the fifth
century succeeded while the earlier failed
Is best answered by an appeal to the i'm
perial code. He points out that lin the
voluminous enactments issued from Con-
stantine to Ma ajorian. the student has before
him melancholy dia agnoeis Of the maladiee
which, by q show and inevitable process OF
decay, were exhausting the vigor OF Roman
society. He will see municipal liberty and
self government dying out. the upper class
cut OF from the masses by sharp distinctions
OF wealth and privilege, yet forbidden to
bear arms and deprived Of all practical
interest in public affairs. He will find that
not only has an Oriental monarchy taken
the place Of the Principate Of Augustus.
but that an almost Oriental system Of caste
has made every social grade and every
occupation practically hereditary, from
the Senator to the water man on the Tiber
or the sentinel at frontier post; and that
human nature is having its revenge in
wholesale flight from cruel servitude and
the chaos OF administration. II will be
seen that in 3 society in which poverty is
almost branded with infamy. poverty is
steadily increasing, and wealth becoming
more insolent and aggressive; that the dis
inherited, in the face OF an omnipotent
government, are carrying brigandage even
selling their children to slavery; that public
buildings are falling into decay; that the
service on the great post-roads-the nerves
OF the administrative system-is becoming
disorganized"
Chief among the disintegrating agencies
was the unscientiic and inefficient financial
system. Tho collection Of imposts In kind
instead OF in money opened the door to
every species Of corruption. Still more
fatal to pure administration was the system
which made the curiales or municipal au-
thorities by this time solidihed into a sort
Of caste, responsible for the public revenue
from their district. and left to them the
assessment and collection Of 1t. In the
story Of the empires closing century,
the doomed order Of municipal officials
are at once branded a. the worst oppreesors
and invested with the melancholy glory
Of being really the martyrs Of q rlinous
system OF finance. Our author himself
regards them with a. much pity a. CON-
demnation. "Their lingering fate. recorded
In lo2 edicts, a tragedy prolonged through
more than Ave generations, is one Of the
most curious examples OF obstinate and
purblnd legislation contending hopelessly
with inexorable laws Of society and human
nature. In that contest the middle or
bourgeois class was almost exting guished.
Roman financial administration was par
alyzed, and at it's close the real victors
and survivors wero the great landowners
surrounded by their serfs and dependents.
Prof. Dill says that q volume might be
written on the corruption and cruel op-
precision characteristic Of the officials OF
the Treasury. servile to the great, tyrannical
to tho poor, and calmly defying all the
menaoes Of the Emperor in their unchecked
career Of rapacity. The last and deepest
impression which the inquirer will carry
with him, as he rises from study Of the
Theodosian Code. is that fraud and greed
are everywhere triumphant that the rich
are growing richer and more powerful,
while the poor are becoming poorer and
more helpless, and that the imperial gov
ernment inspired with tho best intentions,
has lost all control Of the vast machine
Many a reader will be surprised TO hear
the rulers Of the Western Empire in the
fifth century credited With good intentions.
Yet no assertion in the book before us
Ia more positively made or better buttressed
with evidence than that even in the period
OF swift decay the central authority was
keenly alive to Its duties and almost over
whelmed in spirit by its responsibilities.
It is pronounced q superficial view OF the
time, which dwells on the weakness Of
. Honorius, valentinian LII. or An Anthe-