Identifier: greatfamous01hornuoft (find matches)
Title: Great men and famous women : a series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in history Volume 1
Year: 1894 (1890s)
Authors: Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1870-1942
Subjects: Biography
Publisher: New York : Selmar Hess
Contributing Library: Kelly - University of Toronto

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R OME solved the great political prob-lem of the ancient world in the bestpracticable, if not in the best conceiv-able, way. To Caesar it fell to put thecrowning stroke to that work. Theseveral states of modern Europe haveall contributed, though in different de-grees, to political progress, and thereforeno one of them has the unique import-ance and glory that belongs to Rome.For the same reason, no modern states-man stands on a level with Caesar. Heremains, in Shakespeares phrase, theforemost man of all this world. It wasthe high fortune of Rome that, in theprincipal crisis of her history, she pos-sessed a citizen so splendidly endowedin intellect, character, and heart. Free to an extraordinary degree from the prej-udices belonging to his age and country, with piercing and far-sweeping vision,he saw as from some superior height, the political situation of his own time in its
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VANDE.RLYN P MARIUS ON THE RUINS OF CARTHAGE. JULfUS C^SAR 33 relation to the past and the future of the ancient world. If Rome had till thencarried out the work of conquest with considerable method, and upon the whole,with steadiness, she had very inadequately satisfied the need for incorporation.Her oligarchical constitution, admira-bly adapted for the first task, couldnot easily reconcile itself to the sec-ond. In its best days, and while Car-thage and Macedon were still formid-able, the Senate had from time totime, prudently though grudgingly,extended the privilege of citizenshipto some of the subject Italian states.But the great mass of Italians hadonly extorted it by rebellion duringthe boyhood of Caesar, and outsideItaly, the conquered nations were stillon the footing of subject allies, tram-pled upon and fleeced for the benefitof Rome, or rather of the Romannobles and capitalists. If the greatdominion was to be maintained insome tolerable degree of well-beingfor all its member

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