The History of Rome by Theodor Mommsen (autobiographies to read txt) π
I have had much reason to be gratified by the favour with which my translation has been received on the part alike of Dr. Mommsen himself and of the numerous English scholars who have made it the basis of their references to his work.(1) I trust that in the altered form and new dress, for which the book is indebted to the printers, it may still further meet the convenience of the reader.
September 1894.
Notes for Preface
1. It has, I believe, been largely in use at Oxford for the last thirty years; but it has not apparently had the good fortune to have come to the knowledge of the writer of an article on "Roman History" published in the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1886, which at least makes no mention of its existence, or yet of Mr. Baring-Gould, who in his Tragedy of the Caesars (vol. 1. p. 104f.) has presented Dr. Mommsen's well-known "character" of Caesar in an independent version. His
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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5), by Theodor Mommsen, Translated by William Purdie Dickson
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Title: The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5)
Author: Theodor Mommsen
Release Date: March 16, 2005 [eBook #10706]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ROME (VOLUMES 1-5)***
E-text prepared by David Ceponis
Note: This e-book is a compilation of the five volumes of this work. Each volume is also available individually in the Project Gutenberg library. Book I: The Period Anterior to the Abolition of the Monarchy See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10701 Book II: From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10702 Book III: From the Union of Italy to the Subjugation of Carthage and the Greek States See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10703 Book IV: The Revolution See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10704 Book V: The Establishment of the Military Monarchy See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10705
The original German version of this work, Roemische Geschichte, is also available in the Project Gutenberg library. Erstes Buch: bis zur Abschaffung des roemischen Koenigtums See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3060 Zweites Buch: von der Abschaffung des roemischen Keonigtums bis zur Einigung Italiens See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3061 Drittes Buch: von der Einigung Italiens bis auf die Unterwerfung Karthagos und der griechischen Staaten See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3062 Viertes Buch: Die Revolution See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3063 Fuenftes Buch: Die Begruendung der Militaermonarchie See http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3064
THE HISTORY OF ROMEby
THEODOR MOMMSENTranslated with the Sanction of the Author
by
William Purdie Dickson, D.D., LL.D.
Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow
A New Edition Revised Throughout and Embodying Recent Additions
DEDICATIONSThe First Volume of the original bears the inscription:β
To My Friend
MORIZ HAUPT of Berin
The Second:β
To My Dear Associates
FERDINAND HITZIG of Zurich
and
KARL LUDWIG of Vienna 1852, 1853, 1854
And the Third:β
Dedicated with Old and Loyal Affection to
OTTO JAHN of Bonn
CONTENTS BOOK I: The Period Anterior to the Abolition of the Monarchy CHAPTERI. Introduction
II. The Earliest Migrations into Italy
III. The Settlements of the Latins
IV. The Beginnings of Rome
V. The Original Constitution of Rome
VI. The Non-Burgesses and the Reformed Constitution
VII. The Hegemony of Rome in Latium
VIII. The Umbro-Sabellian StocksβBeginnings of the Samnites
IX. The Etruscans
X. The Hellenes in ItalyβMaritime Supremacy of the Tuscans and Carthaginians
XI. Law and Justice
XII. Religion
XIII. Agriculture, Trade, and Commerce
XIV. Measuring and Writing
XV. Art
BOOK II: From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy CHAPTER I. Change of the ConstitutionβLimitation of the Power of the
Magistrate
II. The Tribunate of the Plebs and the Decemvirate
III. The Equalization of the Orders, and the New Aristocracy
IV. Fall of the Etruscan Powerβthe Celts
V. Subjugation of the Latins and Campanians by Rome
VI. Struggle of the Italians against Rome
VII. Struggle Between Pyrrhus and Rome, and Union of Italy
VIII. LawβReligionβMilitary SystemβEconomic ConditionβNationality
IX. Art and Science
BOOK III: From the Union of Italy to the Subjugation of Carthage and the Greek States CHAPTERI. Carthage
II. The War between Rome and Carthage Concerning Sicily
III. The Extension of Italy to Its Natural Boundaries
IV. Hamilcar and Hannibal
V. The War under Hannibal to the Battle of Cannae
VI. The War under Hannibal from Cannae to Zama
VII. The West from the Peace of Hannibal to the Close of the Third Period
VIII. The Eastern States and the Second Macedonian War
IX. The War with Antiochus of Asia
X. The Third Macedonian War
XI. The Government and the Governed
XII. The Management of Land and of Capital
XIII. Faith and Manners
XIV. Literature and Art
BOOK IV: The Revolution CHAPTERI. The Subject Countries Down to the Times of the Gracchi
II. The Reform Movement and Tiberius Gracchus
III. The Revolution and Gaius Gracchus
IV. The Rule of the Restoration
V. The Peoples of the North
VI. The Attempt of Marius at Revolution and the Attempt
of Drusus at Reform
VII. The Revolt of the Italian Subjects, and the Sulpician
Revolution
VIII. The East and King Mithradates
IX. Cinna and Sulla
X. The Sullan Constitution
XI. The Commonwealth and Its Economy
XII. Nationality, Religion, and Education
XIII. Literature and Art
BOOK V: The Establishment of the Military Monarchy CHAPTERI. Marcus Lepidus and Quintus Sertorius
II. Rule of the Sullan Restoration
III. The Fall of the Oligarchy and the Rule of Pompeius
IV. Pompeius and the East
V. The Struggle of Parties during the Absence of Pompeius
VI. Retirement of Pompeius and Coalition of the Pretenders
VII. The Subjugation of the West
VIII. The Joint Rule of Pompeius and Caesar
IX. Death of CrassusβRupture between the Joint Rulers
X. Brundisium, Ilerda, Pharsalus, and Thapsus
XI. The Old Republic and the New Monarchy
XII. Religion, Culture, Literature, and Art
* * * * *
THE HISTORY OF ROME: BOOK IThe Period Anterior to the Abolition of the Monarchy
Preparer's Note
This work contains many literal citations of and references to foreign words, sounds, and alphabetic symbols drawn from many languages, including Gothic and Phoenician, but chiefly Latin and Greek. This English Gutenberg edition, constrained to the characters of 7-bit ASCII code, adopts the following orthographic conventions:
1) Except for Greek, all literally cited non-English words that do not refer to texts cited as academic references, words that in the source manuscript appear italicized, are rendered with a single preceding, and a single following dash; thus, -xxxx-.
2) Greek words, first transliterated into Roman alphabetic equivalents, are rendered with a preceding and a following double-dash; thus, βxxxxβ. Note that in some cases the root word itself is a compound form such as xxx-xxxx, and is rendered as βxxx-xxxβ
3) Simple unideographic references to vocalic sounds, single letters, or alphabeic dipthongs; and prefixes, suffixes, and syllabic references are represented by a single preceding dash; thus, -x, or -xxx.
4) (Especially for the complex discussion of alphabetic evolution in Ch. XIV: Measuring and Writing). Ideographic references, meaning pointers to the form of representation itself rather than to its content, are represented as -"id:xxxx"-. "id:" stands for "ideograph", and indicates that the reader should form a picture based on the following "xxxx"; which may be a single symbol, a word, or an attempt at a picture composed of ASCII characters. E. g. β"id:GAMMA gamma"β indicates an uppercase Greek gamma-form followed by the form in lowercase. Some such exotic parsing as this is necessary to explain alphabetic development because a single symbol may have been used for a number of sounds in a number of languages, or even for a number of sounds in the same language at different times. Thus, -"id:GAMMA gamma" might very well refer to a Phoenician construct that in appearance resembles the form that eventually stabilized as an uppercase Greek "gamma" juxtaposed to one of lowercase. Also, a construct such as β"id:E" indicates a symbol that with ASCII resembles most closely a Roman uppercase "E", but, in fact, is actually drawn more crudely.
5) Dr. Mommsen has given his dates in terms of Roman usage, A.U.C.; that is, from the founding of Rome, conventionally taken to be 753 B. C. The preparer of this document has appended to the end of this combined text (Books I-V) a table of conversion between the two systems.
PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATORWhen the first portion of this translation appeared in 1861, it was accompanied by a Preface, for which I was indebted to the kindness of the late Dr. Schmitz, introducing to the English reader the work of an author whose name and merits, though already known to scholars, were far less widely familiar than they are now. After thirty-three years such an introduction is no longer needed, but none the less gratefully do I recall how much the book owed at the outset to Dr. Schmitz's friendly offices.
The following extracts from my own "Prefatory Note" dated "December 1861" state the circumstances under which I undertook the translation, and give some explanations as to its method and aims:β
"In requesting English scholars to receive with indulgence this first portion of a translation of Dr. Mommsen's 'Romische
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