. Republican Rome; her conquests, manners and institutions from the earliest times to the death of Caesar . e, at the junction of the three great racialdivisions of Italy, the Sabine, the Etruscan, and the I^, again, the barrenness of the soil and the unhealthinessof the surrounding country both served to protect and fosterthe growth of the young state. Here were none of the perilousattractions which drew horde after horde of invaders to theneighbouring land of Campania and made that favoured pro-vince the battle-ground of Italy. On the other hand, thepoverty of their own fields would
. Republican Rome; her conquests, manners and institutions from the earliest times to the death of Caesar . e, at the junction of the three great racialdivisions of Italy, the Sabine, the Etruscan, and the I^, again, the barrenness of the soil and the unhealthinessof the surrounding country both served to protect and fosterthe growth of the young state. Here were none of the perilousattractions which drew horde after horde of invaders to theneighbouring land of Campania and made that favoured pro-vince the battle-ground of Italy. On the other hand, thepoverty of their own fields would stimulate the energies of awarlike people and guide them into the path of aggression andconquest. Nor must we overlook the situation of Rome on a 5 REPUBLICAN ROME navigable river, at some distance from its mouth, whichgave the city at once the advantages of an inland and a mari-time position. This happy circumstance was a source ofmanifold benefits. It placed Rome beyond the reach ofsudden raids from the Tuscan pirates ; it made intercoursewith foreign states easy, thus bringing her into contact with. more developed forms of civilization and preserving her fromthe stagnation into which a more isolated power such asSparta is liable to fall; and at the same time it kept her freefrom those corrupting influences which are the curse of greatmaritime cities.^ Already, within thirty-seven years from the foundationof Rome (753-717 ), the period assigned by tradition to thereign of Romulus, the Pomoerium, or sacred circle of the city, ^ See the beautiful passage in Cicero, De Rep. ii. 4. 6 FOUNDATION OF ROME had been extended so as to take in the neighbouring spursof the EsquiHne and the Caehan, and the Capitol and Quirinalhad been occupied by new settlers. The last-named siteswere peopled by a swarm of Sabines, who according to thegenerally received account made war on the Romans, and aftera severe struggle were admitted to the full rights of name Quirites, which
Size: 1685px × 1483px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidrepublicanromehe1914have
