PREFACE.

IF DR. ARNOLD had lived to finish his History of Rome and to embody in successive editions the results of the numerous researches which since Niebuhr's death have thrown so much light on the subject, the present work would perhaps never have been undertaken. Arnold possessed in the highest degree many of the qualities which such a work requires. His style and mode of treatment have a charm that captivates the reader and confers interest even on abstruse and troublesome investigations; his writings exhibit all the dignity of history without the tediousness which makes even attractive subjects too often repulsive; he had no need to descend to the level of the pamphleteer for the purpose of avoiding dulness. His fancy was lively; he could picture to himself and to his readers the most distant situations, the motives and actions of men, and the outward circumstances which formed their background. He entered with warmth and sympathy into the description of the sufferings, the aspirations, the struggles, triumphs, and failures which make up the sum total of the history of our race, and with his own enthusiasm he carried his readers with him. At the same time his judgment was sound, his learning comprehensive, his eye unclouded by prejudice or paradoxical whims. In one respect he would, if he had lived longer, have removed objections that could justly be made.

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He would have emancipated himself from the bondage, the willing bondage, to Niebuhr's authority; he would have been the interpreter of his own convictions, and not have continued jurare in verba magistri.' But forty years ago the authority of Niebuhr was too great even for such a mind as Arnold's to resist. Niebuhr had resuscitated in Germany the independent search for historical truth, which had long lain dormant; and his first disciples were so penetrated with admiration and gratitude that they hardly dared to criticise, and certainly did not venture to reject, even those theories and speculations which they acknowledged or felt to be supported neither by external evidence nor by internal probability. Since that time a long line of pupils or independent students has, especially in Germany, worked incessantly in the further exploration of that mournful mass of ruins which buries the fallen edifice of Roman greatness. The positive results of Niebuhr's investigations have in a hundred ways been modified, enlarged, or rejected. To write the history of Rome at present from Niebuhr's stand-point would be as unprofitable as to go to war with the fire-arms which were considered perfect in the time of the long peace. We are indeed still in the midst of our improvements. We are gaining new knowledge every day and discarding old errors; but the time seems not unfavourable for a book which, whilst continuing the work of independent research, embodies so much of the results of recent inquiries as may be considered a clear and permanent accession to our stock of knowledge.

The present work is therefore intended to give the history of Rome in the light of present historical science. It addresses itself not so much, or not exclusively, to scholars who are themselves engaged in the same field, as

to cultivated readers who take an interest in the ever young and fresh history of Rome. The author is conscious that, in beauty of expression, perhaps in correctness of style, he cannot rival Arnold; but he hopes that this shortcoming will be compensated by the advance which has since Arnold's time been made in the direction of historical truth.

In the present English edition, the author has endeavoured to make, wherever they appeared necessary, such alterations and modifications as could be introduced without abandoning the original plan. The book is not a translation from the German in the strict sense of the word. It is doubtful if any author can translate his own composition. However much a stranger may deem himself bound to adhere strictly to the text which he is asked to render in another language, the author, dealing with his own composition, will not submit to be his own slave; he will improve, enlarge, curtail, omit what he thinks proper, and, above all, he will correct errors into which he has fallen-in fact, he will rewrite his work, and that is precisely what has been done in the present instance.

In conclusion, the author desires to express his obligations to the Rev. GEORGE W. Cox, who undertook the task of seeing the book through the press, revising the text, adding marginal notes and references, and making many valuable suggestions, of which the author has freely availed himself.

Writing this Preface almost within hearing of the roar of battles, which rivet the attention and quicken the pulse not only of those who are directly interested, but even of neutral lookers-on, the author fears that the

overwhelming interest of this gigantic conflict between Germany and France may for a time divert the attention of the public from the records of a distant past. But the storm will surely pass over; quiet will return, and the undying interest which cultivated nations have at all times felt in the history of classical antiquity will revive. That this happy time may come very soon is a wish that millions will share with

VILLA FELSECK, near HEIDELBERG :

August 6, 1870.

THE AUTHOR.