. Republican Rome; her conquests, manners and institutions from the earliest times to the death of Caesar . mere watchwords under which powerfulleaders rally their partisans, and the only question remainingis whose shall be the strong and daring hand to grasp theprize of sovereignty. The tribunate, that Proteus of Romanpontics, which we have seen in so many shapes—as the shieldof the poor, the instrument of constitutional reform, the obedienttool of the Senate, and the mighty lever of revolution—has nowentered on its last phase as the sharpest weapon in the armouryof individual ambition. The S
. Republican Rome; her conquests, manners and institutions from the earliest times to the death of Caesar . mere watchwords under which powerfulleaders rally their partisans, and the only question remainingis whose shall be the strong and daring hand to grasp theprize of sovereignty. The tribunate, that Proteus of Romanpontics, which we have seen in so many shapes—as the shieldof the poor, the instrument of constitutional reform, the obedienttool of the Senate, and the mighty lever of revolution—has nowentered on its last phase as the sharpest weapon in the armouryof individual ambition. The Senate, after a few years of pre-carious rule, during which it gives final proof of its incom-petence, lapses into utter imbecility and resigns the reins ofpower, which it has no longer strength to hold. Among allclasses a greedy and selfish spirit has usurped the place ofpublic and patriotic aims. The soldier, like a true hireling,asks for nothing better than a rich booty and a speedy dis-charge. The general who overthrows kingdoms and adds1 See the instructive passage in Sallust, Catiline, 38. 434.
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