The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . lt at the banks of theRhine. The aged Augustus was broken by the blow, and for daysmoaned repeatedly, 0 Varus, Varus! give me back mylegions! At his death, five years later, he bequeathed tohis successors the advice to be content with the boundariesas they stood. This policy was adopted, perhaps too readily. 490 THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 [§ 606 Tiberius did send expeditions to chastise the Germans, andRoman armies again marched victoriously to the Elbe. Thestandards of the lost legions were recovered; but no attemptwas made to res
The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . lt at the banks of theRhine. The aged Augustus was broken by the blow, and for daysmoaned repeatedly, 0 Varus, Varus! give me back mylegions! At his death, five years later, he bequeathed tohis successors the advice to be content with the boundariesas they stood. This policy was adopted, perhaps too readily. 490 THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 [§ 606 Tiberius did send expeditions to chastise the Germans, andRoman armies again marched victoriously to the Elbe. Thestandards of the lost legions were recovered; but no attemptwas made to restore the lost Roman province, and the Rhinebecame the accepted boundary. Still, the general result was both efficient and grand. Aboutthe civilized world was drawn a broad belt of stormy wavesand desolate sands, and at its weaker gaps — on the Rhine, theDanube, the Euphrates — stood the mighty, sleepless legionsto watch and ward. 606. The Extreme Limits. — Claudius renewed Caesars at-tempt to conquer Britain (§ 578). If the work had been car-. Part of the Aqueduct of Claudius (cf. page 468), now used as a gate ina wall. Note parts of the arches in the wall. ried to completion, it might have been well; but, after long,costly wars, the Roman power reached only to the edge of thehighlands in Scotland. Thus a new frontier was added to thelong line that, had to be guarded by the sword, and littlestrength was gained to the empire. Trajan, with more prov- THE FRONTIERS 491 ocation than that which had lured Claudius into Britain,added Dacia north of the lower Danube, and Armpnia, Mesopo-tamia, and Assyria, in Asia (§ ^^Q>). The two latter provinces were at once abandoned by Tra-jans successor (§ 587). Dacia, however, even more thanBritain, became Roman in speech, culture, and largely inblood; and though it was abandoned after only a hundredyears, in the weak period toward the close of the third century(§ 646), still the modern Roumanians claim to be Roman inrace as well a
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