New-York tribune., 1909-03-21

tinctly wanting in sense Of the difference he
tween public and private interest
Mr. Fowler is never more interesting bv a..
way than in his elucidation Of the difrere,, a.
ments which went to make up the eove-rf
aristOcracy. He shows how the old Ro-r
families clung to their prestige so that a mo.
of genius like Cicero might wax never so II,
portant and still was bound to be regarded a.
nOrns homo an outsider In terminatin1 r.
chapter this subject the author confesses IT,.
the aristocratic society Of the period was E
complicated for him to unite its various a..
poets in a single picture. but he contrives IN -,
press a fairly conclusive judgment on it in tbasa
few lines:
It is partly a hereditary aristOcracy with all the
pride and exclusveness OF a group Of old fam
in the main a society of gentlemen digniaed in
manner. and kindly toward each other, and il is
also q society of high culture and literary abilitJ
though poor in creative genius and unimagiTs-
i've On tbe other hand il is a class wbirb 10.
lost its interest the state, and is energetic or
when pursuing its own interests: pleasure loving
luxurious gossiPing trinlnS Win serious matters
uersonaI advance ''Teari nantes in gUrgite vasto
are there. we must not forget that in Iucrst5Ss sS
and Cicero this society produced one OF the great
that the world treasures; in Sulpicius lawyer of
permanent value to humanity; and in Cesar not
only an author and a scholar but a man Of action
unrivaIled in capacity and industry
1t would be interesting to follow Mr. Fowler
into all the details with which he illustrates the
life Of his aristocrats idle or effective He has
for example a capital chapter on Roman mar
riage. exposing more particularly two sharply
contrasted facts. While the wife and mother
of Cicero's time was generally a noble type and
commanded abundant respect, she and her hlIs-
band were at the outset united grounds Of
convenience rather than love The passion for
letters was not uncommon among the Romans
hut education in the broad sense drove at the
formation Of character rather than at the fos-
terina, of culture for its sake In his pages
on the slave population Mr. Fowler shows the
enormous extent TO which slave labor err
pIoyed and indicates its evil reaction upon the
moral fibre Of the Romans Throughout his
book he generalzes freely and lumin0usly but
he is also generous of the little facts which are
after ALL more seryiceable than anything else
In the reconstruction of the past He viii show
YOU how in view of the imperfect lighting Of
houses and of the absolute darkness in which
the streets were left. the Roman was necessarily
driven early to bed and so rose much earlier
in the morning than any modern city dweIer
would dream of making his practice He VIII
show YOU again. how this same Roman went
about the business of the day and how he dined
and amused himself
1t is all very strange and far away. leaving
inevitably that impression Of a world utterly
dead and gone which touches the Imagination in
some historic gallery of marbles Yet in the
same instant it all seems near at hand and
familiar. throbbing with human life. colored by
the emotions which govern mankind to this day.
If the picture is thus vivid and appealing Il IS
because the artist who paints it has the root Of
the matter in him, the gift of sympathy. Decid-