The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27
: SOME NEW hooks.
] enlen Society In tho Empires Second
fIV y Century,

SOME NEW hooks
4 Asn,sn Society IN tho Empires Second
Elm = s. Century.
M The most important contribution yet
tknado In English to our knowledge Of tho
way In which all classes Of Roman society,
jnoluding the aristocraoy, tho plebeians.
THE freedmen and the slaves, ordinarily
lived In tho relatively happy age Of the
Il xAhtonines Ii presented in the largo octave
tSoiume Of $50 pages. entitled Roman Society
4 From Nero 10 Marcus Aureiius, tMsonillans)
kby SAMUEL DILL, Honorary Fellow and lately
ttutor Of Christ Church College, Oxford.
land now professor OF Greek in Queens
y College, Belfast. This book is what 1t
II purports TO be, n social. not q political
history. Attention "a concentrated on the
4 manners. morals and spiritual tone OF tho
timS depicted. and apparently little space
" allotted 10 the Roman Empires external
history and the machinery Of govern
mssnt. Tho relation. indeed, OF the Senate
!, !. IL century under review to the En-
psror. or-to give him the more accurate
4 title-the Princeps. and the organization
of the municipal towns. a theme hitherto
\ neglected, have been dwelt on at some
b8Qktu, OoCduso 0i!cy ouootou P'"soo"N'J
b tho moral character OF the age The
author tells us succinctly in a preface why
he selected for portrayal the particular
4 spoch whlch-if We assume that the Princi-
patio or Empire began in b. C.. Fl, four years
after the B,ttle OF Actium, and bear In
mind that Nero died In A. d. 80, almost
hundred years later. we may roughly de-
scribe as the second century Of the i'm
perial regime. II lie, OF course, conceded
that always there must be something ar
bitrary In the choice and differentiation Of
a period Of social history for special study.
From ono point of view no period can. be
broken of and isolated, on the one hand,
from the immemorial influences which
have nodded it, or, on the other, from
the succession OF coming ages which it will
! help to fashion. Especially is this true OF
Y the history Of n race at once so aggressive
\ yet 80 tenacious Of the past as the Romans
30 tough was the national fiber, and 30
conservative the tone and sentiment under
all external pressure. that when man
knows any considerable period OF Roman
social history our author deems it no para
riox to say that he knows great deal about
the whole Of it. from Romulus to Honorus.
Mr.. Dill holds, nevertheless, that as In On
artistic drama there must be beginning
and an end, although only ideally can tho
action be severed from what has preceded
and what Is to follow In individual life.
20 limited space in the collective history
Of a people may be legitimately set apart
for concentrated study. AS in the case OF
the drama. however such period should
possess a certain unity and intensity OF
moral interest 1t should be crisis and
turning point in the life Of mankind. a
period pregnant with momsntous issues,
q period In which the new order and the
old are contending for mastery or in which
tho one is melting into the other. Above
all 1t should be an epoch In which the great
social and spiritual movements are incar-
nate in some striking personalities who
may give human interest TO dim forces OF
spiritual evolution. Such period in our
authors judgment, is that presented in the
book before us. 1T opens with the SELF
destruction Of lswless and intoxicated
power; it closes with the realization OF
Plato's dream Of the reign Of the philoso-
piers. The revolution in the ideal OF the
Principate, which gave the world Trajan,
Hadrian and a Marcus Aurelius, in place
Of Calig,la and Nero. may not have
been accompanied by any change Of cor
responding depth in the moral condition
Of the masses. but the world enjoyed for
nearly a century an almost unexampled
peace and prosperity under skilfu and
humane government" Moreover, the civic
splendor and social character Of the An
TONNE age can be revived by the imagin
OF the period.
l. NJ kh> a@lr- Id
that the materialism and social Woes Of
the epoch are calculated to sadden the
thoughtful student OF its literature and
its inscriptions. The redeemins fact is
dwelt upon, however. that ii that age
had the faults Of a luxurious and highly
organised civilization, it was aleo dignifed
and elevated by great effort for reform
Of conduct, and passion-often, it Is true,
sadly misguided-to rise to higher spiritual
life and to win the suocor OF unseen powers
To the author of this volume this fact
seems to give the age Of the Antonines its
superlative distinction and its deep in
terest for the student Of the life Of man
kind. No doubt the influence OF philosophy
on the legislation OF the Antonnes has been
since the time OF Gibbon a commonplace
Of history. but OUR author submits that
"NS practlcal eHoTts 10 give support ana
guidance 10 moral life. and TO refashion
the old paganism 40 az to make it a real
spiritual force. has perhaps hardly yet
attracted the notice which it deserves,
II Ia one great object OF this book TO show
how the later Stoicism and the ney Platoon
Ism. working in eclectic harmony, strove
to supply a rule Of conduct and higher |
vision Of the divine world"
It Is not, Of course, disputed that phil
osophy failed to find an anodyne for the |
spiritual distressee Of the mass Of men. |
|It might hold up tho loftiest ideal OF con-
duct, 1t might revive tho ancient gods |
in new spiritual power, 1t might strive. to |
bridge the interval between the remote !
Infinite Spirit and the life OF man with a |
host Of mediating and succoring powers. /,
Tho effort was doomed to futility. at |
vas an esoteric creed. and tina muses. re-
manned untouched by it, They longed |
Tor . Divine light, clear and authorita-
tive voice from the unseen world They |
sought It in ever more blind and passionate |
rjAvotion IN their ancionf dot "a md IN |