DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0381
recurrent change. Granted that the fashion of all these things
has passed away, we must admit that the spirit which prompted
them is with us still. The growth of nations, the revolutions in
public and social life during a period of wellnigh fifteen cen-
turies, have failed to dim the Roman name, or to break the spell
of his compelling genius. His laws, his language, his literature,
his festivals, even his calendar, keep their ground. And in
architectural forms do not the Christian cathedrals, or even the
simple village church with its nave and aisles, its arcaded lines
and its apsidal choir, remind us daily of their Roman prototype,
the basilica of the Caesars ? The student goes forth to realise
the dream of his youth, the world of antiquity. He bends his
steps towards Rome, not the Rome of the Pope, but the Rome
of imperial Caesar, for therein lies the spirit of the Roman.
The antiquary, in these far-off isles of Britain, unearths and
brings to light a pavement of mosaic, a stretch of wall, a frag-
ment of pottery, and the interest of a county is in a blaze—-
kindled by the spirit of the Roman, The traveller in a distant
land is attracted by some chiselled stone lying neglected by the
wayside. He marks its familiar letters, and, forgetful of aught
else, strives to decipher the time-worn sentences ; for on him
likewise the genius of Rome has laid a spell. The vital force in
all that the Roman originated, or adapted to his own ends, has
no parallel in the history of mankind.
It is difficult to ascertain from the latest Latin authors, or
from Byzantine and Arab writers, whether the boundaries of
Roman administration were definitely fixed, and whether the
subjugation of the country was ever regarded as complete.
Fortunately, archaeology comes to our aid, and, as the useful
handmaid of history, elucidates many points arising out of these
questions. The remains of a clearly defined line of fortresses
and military posts stretching across the mountain ranges of the
Tell, and along the desert frontier from Cyrene to the confines
of Western Mauritania, bear ample testimony to the nature of
the defensive measures adopted by the Romans against invasion
from the west and south, and to a feeling of insecurity in the
presence of native races so little desirous of cultivating more
civilised ways of life. Till the close of the Empire these frontier
strongholds were mostly occupied by veterans, whose services to
the State in times of raid or insurrection are recorded in several
has passed away, we must admit that the spirit which prompted
them is with us still. The growth of nations, the revolutions in
public and social life during a period of wellnigh fifteen cen-
turies, have failed to dim the Roman name, or to break the spell
of his compelling genius. His laws, his language, his literature,
his festivals, even his calendar, keep their ground. And in
architectural forms do not the Christian cathedrals, or even the
simple village church with its nave and aisles, its arcaded lines
and its apsidal choir, remind us daily of their Roman prototype,
the basilica of the Caesars ? The student goes forth to realise
the dream of his youth, the world of antiquity. He bends his
steps towards Rome, not the Rome of the Pope, but the Rome
of imperial Caesar, for therein lies the spirit of the Roman.
The antiquary, in these far-off isles of Britain, unearths and
brings to light a pavement of mosaic, a stretch of wall, a frag-
ment of pottery, and the interest of a county is in a blaze—-
kindled by the spirit of the Roman, The traveller in a distant
land is attracted by some chiselled stone lying neglected by the
wayside. He marks its familiar letters, and, forgetful of aught
else, strives to decipher the time-worn sentences ; for on him
likewise the genius of Rome has laid a spell. The vital force in
all that the Roman originated, or adapted to his own ends, has
no parallel in the history of mankind.
It is difficult to ascertain from the latest Latin authors, or
from Byzantine and Arab writers, whether the boundaries of
Roman administration were definitely fixed, and whether the
subjugation of the country was ever regarded as complete.
Fortunately, archaeology comes to our aid, and, as the useful
handmaid of history, elucidates many points arising out of these
questions. The remains of a clearly defined line of fortresses
and military posts stretching across the mountain ranges of the
Tell, and along the desert frontier from Cyrene to the confines
of Western Mauritania, bear ample testimony to the nature of
the defensive measures adopted by the Romans against invasion
from the west and south, and to a feeling of insecurity in the
presence of native races so little desirous of cultivating more
civilised ways of life. Till the close of the Empire these frontier
strongholds were mostly occupied by veterans, whose services to
the State in times of raid or insurrection are recorded in several