Readings in Ancient History II - Rome and the West

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READINGS M ANCIENT HISTORY ILLUSTRATIVE EXTRACTS FROM THE SOURCES II. ROME AND THE WEST BY WILLIAM STEARNS DAVIS , PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WILLIS MASON WEST FORMERLY HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALLYN AND BACON Htfn 0rfe Chicago AUTHORS PREFACE THIS book aims to set before students beginning the study of Ancient History a sufficient amount of source material to illustrate the important facts mentioned in every good text book. There is also a clear intent to give the reader some taste of the notable literary flavor pervading the histories of Greece and Home. It is a distinct loss of an opportunity to pass from the study e. g. of the Roman Emperors and to read no typical passages of Tacitus. This compilation has been prepared for constant use along with some stand ard text-book, and various matters of marked historical importance, as the Servian Constitution of Rome, have been deliberately omitted, because most school histories state the fact sufficiently - well, and little is added by reproducing the arid statements in L ivy. On the other hand, many tales have been included, like the story of Horatius at the Bridge or of Cincinnatus called from the Plow, which condensed histories may well slight but which afford refreshing illus trations of the ancient life or the ancient viewpoint. Comparing the compass of this work with the wide extent of available literature, it is evident that a very large num ber of desirable passages have been perforce omitted. There are practically no quotations from Cicero, because Cicero is a writer many students will earn a passing acquaintance with in the schools again, certain highly significant pas sages are omitted, because they are quoted in so many school histories. There are no quotations from many of iii IV AUTHORS PREFACE the poets, because the tragedians and lyricists were, after all, poets and not historians. The compiler has teen forced continually to exercise his best judgment. He is entirely aware how fallible that judgment may have been. To meet the requirements for a work covering the Old Orient and the Early Middle Ages to 800 A. D. sections have been added covering these topics, but no attempt has been made to have them so long as the chapters relating strictly to Greece and Borne, Even for the classical history itself, far more material came to hand for some periods than for others. Desirable selections for the First Age of Rome are scanty, while again readings on the First Century of the Empire come in bewildering profusion. As a rule, however, those epochs for which one has the most material are, in turn, the best worth, studying, and no apol ogy is made for the lack of proportion in the length of some of the chapters. This volume has been prepared for immature students it is therefore stripped of the learned notes, citations, refer ences, etc., which are rightly demanded by the erudite. The notes and introductions have a single end in view, to make the selections comprehensible to readers with little experience in Ancient History problems. Out of consid eration for this audience, also, the pages have not been dis figured by frequent indications of omission, where passages of tlie ancient writer have been stricken out in the interests of brevity. In every case, however, where, to facilitate con densation, words not of the original author have been sub stituted, they are always inclosed in brackets , to guard against misconception. In compiling a work of this kind a great number of trans lations have been put under requisition. In many cases these have been diligently compared with the originals, and often such alterations have been made in the wording as to render the present author largely responsible for the form AUTHORS PREFACE V here given. This is entirely the case except with Plutarch where the translation appears without being ascribed to any particular translator...