The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-06-22
NV York Times.

tI. ITALIANS liz IcNlNlHS d DOflCy |
uhich was vigorously pursued under
Au.ustus nearly 1000 years ago, and
-. indicating clearly that the
principles of the defense of
Ital, have changed but little with the
massage Of centuries and the enorm-
aus hanee in methods of warfare.
I,or the Italian desire for the Tren-
t,no had a strategic a. well as a SEN
t,mpntal backing: and while Italian
national aspirations could a been
satisfied by the cesSion of Trent and
,he region surrounding the city. the
general staff was insistent that for
the defense Of the kingdom the Ital-
i,n frontier must be extended clear
mn to the Bremen Pass. taking in
much territory that was almost wholly
German in race and language.
Augustus Caesar, when he a
nacl6ed the civil roubles of Rome and
turned the turbulent republic int a
stable empire, also found that Italy
was not safe until the mountains to
the north of the peninsular had been
brought under Roman authority.
F1me needed peace. and a guerilla
war i'm the Mountains was an annoy
ips undertaking: nj peace for the
mains Of Lombardy and what is now
Neuetia could not be until the
Alps were under Roman dominion. At
thai time the Roman Empire, which
included all the civilized western
world outside of the Parthian En-
plrp beyond the Euphrates n the
buffer kingdom of Armenia. which
kept the rival empires apart, needed
nothing so badly as a scientific from
tier which could De defended with ease
against barba rian threads. On the
south the African desert and ON the
wet the Atlantic Ocean offered Slf-
ficjent protection. !;ut on the north
tn empire was Uneven
italy was bordered by the Alps, Oc-
Cuuied by barbarian tribes which fire.
%olcntly gave trouble; the regions at
present known as France and Belgium
were Roman, but only the llSurlan
Alps, "A pacified and civilized region,
gave secure access to these territories;
and the civilized provinces of Greece,
Macedonia, the towns along the Oar
danelleS, BOSporus, and the Aegean
lacked protection against the barba-
rians beyond the Danube.
The conquest of MOesia-the present
bulgaria and Serbia-secured the
safety of the provinces of h Balkan
Peninsula. A strong army was main
taiued here and succeeded in keeping
the b~arbarianS at bay till the empire
began to go down two or three cen
turtles later. The immediate safety
of Italy required the conquest of the
Alps, which was done in several Ions
campaigns under the direction o.
princes of the imperial house. Th'
provinces of Noricum-what is nov
upper Austria, the Salzkammergut
and Eastern Bavaria-and OF Rhae
tia-the present Tyrol-were thor
Oughly pacified and organized, thu
bringing the Roman frontier to tn
northern foothills of the Alps. as mos
of the present Switzerland was alread,
Roman territory. Augustus had thu
solved. and solved more thoroughly
the problem which the Italian Genera
Staff is now attacking-the cOnQues
of a strong frontier which should pro
tect the Italian plains from the irrup
tons of the northernerS.
This frontier, however, proved un
satisfactory in a few years for tn
corner of Southwestern Germany-a
the tribes beyond the Rhine bein
still barbarians and beyond Roman in
fluence-cut into the Roman En-
pire. and made the frontier of Gaul-
along the Rhine-and the frontier
the Alpine Provinces almost a rigf
angle. This necessitated the mair
%tenance of an unduly large army o
the borders and also made it dit
ficult to reinforce the army Of tn
thine in case of emergency, as relI
forcements would have had to moN
along the left bank Of the Rhine aftt
leaving the Alps in order to avol
passing through hostile country.
Augustus attempted h conquest
Germany. and for a few years su
ceeded against the disOrganized ba
barians. who then held the countr
But by the great victory Of the &c
man Hermann over Varus at the Te'
tonburger VALID in A. d. 9 the r
man dominion between the Rhine al
the Glib was broken and the old fro
TIER restored.
The question was finally settled 81
" years later when Rome occup'
the extreme angle of SOuthWeSte
Germany-the present Baden, Wuel
temberg. and western Bavaria-a
nus rounded off h frontier in a SO
lStactory manner. A great a w
eventually built along the frontier
TINS province-a wall which Germs
archaeologists nave e~Xcavated in 7