Pinnock's improved edition of Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome

Happy Augustus! who so well inspired, Couldst throw thy pomp and royalties aside. Attentive to the wise, the great of soul. And dignify thy mind. Thrice glorious days. Auspiciou...

1. Cæsar has been much celebrated for his good fortune, but his abilities seem equal to the highest success. He possessed shining qualities, tarnished by ambition only. His tale...

1. The merits of Aurelius procured Commodus an easy accession to the throne.[1] He was acknowledged emperor by the army, by the senate and people, and afterwards by all the prov...

1. The commonwealth of Rome had now, for nearly sixty years, been fluctuating between the contending orders that composed it, till at length each side, as if weary, was willing...

How happy was I, in my lawful wars In Germany, in Gaul, and Brittany! When every night with pleasure I set down What the day ministered; then sleep came sweetly. _Beaumont and F...

These slaves, whom I have nurtur'd, pamper'd, fed. And swoln with peace, and gorg'd with plenty, till They reign themselves--all monarchs in their mansions. Now swarm forth in r...

1. The character of the prince who removed the seat of empire and made a complete revolution in the civil and religious institutions of his country, is naturally one on which th...

The brave man is not he who feels no fear For that were stupid and irrational; But he, whose noble soul his fear subdues, And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.--_Bai...

Spain first he won, the Pyrenieans pass'd, And sleepy Alps, the mounds that nature cast; And with corroding juices, as he went, A passage through the living rocks he rent, Then,...

1. The memory of their father's virtues protected the feeble youth of Arca'dius and Hono'rius, the sons of Theodo'sius; by the unanimous consent of mankind, they were saluted em...

1. Judea became a Roman province some years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and the Jews, who had hitherto been conspicuous for their attachment to their native land, were ind...

2. Among other victories, a signal one was gained over Jugur'tha, king of Numid'ia. He was grandson to Massinis'sa, who sided with Rome against Hannibal, and educated with the t...

1. During the late separation, all tillage had been entirely neglected, and a famine was the consequence the ensuing season. 2. The senate did all that lay in their power to rem...

Is the soldier found In the riot and waste which he spreads around? The sharpness makes him--the dash, the tact, The cunning to plan, and the spirit to act.--_Lord L. Gower_.

1. The Romans being now left without a rival, the triumphs and the spoils of Asia introduced a taste for splendid expense, and this produced avarice and inverted ambition. 2. Th...

1. The city of Rome, according to _Varro_, was founded in the fourth year of the sixth _Olympiad_, B.C. 753; but Cato, the censor, places the event four years later, in the seco...

Italia! oh, Italia! thou who hast The fatal gift of beauty, which became A funeral dower of present woes and past, On thy sweet brow is sorrow plough'd by shame, And annals trac...

1. The Romans having destroyed all rival pretensions at home, began to pant after foreign conquests. 2. The Carthagin'ians were at that time in possession of the greatest part o...

I. The most remarkable feature in the Roman constitution is the division of the people into Patricians and Plebeians, and our first inquiry must be the origin of this separation...

Lo! from the frozen forests of the north, The sons of slaughter pour in myriads forth! Who shall awake the mighty? Will thy woe, City of thrones, disturb the world below? Call o...

1. The regal power being overthrown, a republican form of government was substituted in its room. The senate, however, reserved by far the greatest share of the authority to the...

1. Upon the death of Sylla, the jealousies of Pompey and Crassus, the two most powerful men in the empire, began to excite fresh dissensions. Pompey was the most beloved general...

1. While the Romans were engaged with Hannibal, they carried on also a vigorous war against Philip, king of Ma'cedon, not a little incited thereto by the prayers of the Athe'nia...

The Latin language contains two primary elements, the first intimately connected with the Grecian, and the second with the Oscan tongue; to the former, for the most part, belong...

1. LU'CIUS TARQUIN'IUS, afterwards called Super'bus, or the Proud, having placed himself upon the throne, in consequence of this horrid deed, was resolved to support his dignity...

See Romulus the great, born to restore The crown that once his injured grandsire wore. This prince a priestess of our blood shall bear; And like his sire in arms he shall appear...

1. In the early stages of society, little difficulty is felt in providing for the administration of justice, because the subjects of controversy are plain and simple, such as an...

1. We have shown that the Romans were, most probably, a people compounded of the Latins, the Sabines, and the Tuscans; and that the first and last of these component parts were...

The Roman eagle seized The double prey, and proudly perch'd on high And here a thousand years he plumed his wing Till from his lofty eyry, tempest-tost, And impotent through age...

1. The Romans were particularly desirous of being thought descendants of the gods, as if to hide the meanness of their real ancestry. _Æne'as_, the son of _Venus_ and _Anchi'ses...

1. The report of the murder of Tarquin filled all his subjects with complaint and indignation; while the citizens ran from every quarter to the palace, to learn the truth of the...

The inferiority of the Romans to the Greeks in intellectual acquirements, was no where more conspicuous than in their public amusements. While the refined Grecians sought to gra...

The first of Tarquin's hapless race was he, Who odium tried to cast on augury; But Nævius Accius, with an augur's skill. Preserved its fame, and raised it higher still.--_Robert...

1. LAR'TIUS, being created dictator,[1] entered upon his office, surrounded with lictors and all the ensigns of ancient royalty; and, seated upon a throne in the midst of the pe...

1. At the death of Nu'ma, the government once more devolved upon the senate, and so continued, till the people elected Tullus Hostil'ius for their king, which choice had also th...

The contests respecting agrarian laws occupy so large a space in Roman history, and are so liable to be misunderstood, that it is necessary to explain their origin at some lengt...

1. Upon the death of Rom'ulus, the city seemed greatly divided in the choice of a successor. The Sab'ines were for having a king chosen from their body; but the Romans could not...

1. After an interregnum, as in the former case, Ancus Mar'tius, the grandson of Numa, was elected king by the people, and their choice was afterwards confirmed by the senate. As...