Albana Mignaty, Marguerite: Sketches of the historical past of Italy: from the fall of the Roman Empire to the earliest revival of letters and arts (London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1876)

22 o THE HISTORICAL PAST OF ITALY.
bedecked with, splendid villas, the resort of the wealthy
and great.
Nothing, in a word, was wanting to make the city
famous and attractive beyond all others. It remained
without a rival, until the transfer of the “ capital ” to
Byzantium (as the seat of empire) deprived it of its
most splendid works of art and vertu.
From the above rapid sketch a faint notion may be
received of Rome’s outward appearance at the moment
when her influence predominated over society at large.
In after times, and during the middle ages, the remi-
niscence of this colossal might and influence burnt itself
into the mind of mankind, and became a “ beacon light ”
for the guidance of future emperors and kings—a theme
for poetry and song.