XV. From the death of Constantine, to the reunion of the Roman empire
under Theodosius the Great, viz.

Section 1.--The Reign of Constantius

---- 2.--The Reigns of Julian Jovian, the Valentinians, and
Theodosius

XXVI. From the death of Theodosius to the subversion of the Western Empire,
viz.

Section 1.--The division of the Roman dominions into the Eastern and
Western empires

---- 2.--Decline and fall of the Western empire

XXVII. Historical notices of the different barbarous tribes that aided in
overthrowing the Roman empire

XXVIII. The progress of Christianity

Chronological Index

* * * * *

HISTORY OF ROME

* * * * *

INTRODUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF ITALY.

Italia! oh, Italia! thou who hast
The fatal gift of beauty, which became
A funeral dower of present woes and past,
On thy sweet brow is sorrow plough'd by shame,
And annals traced in characters of flame.--_Byron_.

1. The outline of Italy presents a geographical unity and completeness
which naturally would lead us to believe that it was regarded as a
whole, and named as a single country, from the earliest ages. This
opinion would, however, be erroneous; while the country was possessed
by various independent tribes of varied origin and different customs,
the districts inhabited by each were reckoned separate states, and it
was not until these several nations had fallen under the power of one
predominant people that the physical unity which the peninsula
possesses was expressed by a single name. Italy was the name
originally given to a small peninsula in Brut'tium, between the
Scylacean and Napetine gulfs; the name was gradually made to
comprehend new districts, until at length it included the entire
country lying south of the Alps, between the Adriatic and Tuscan seas.
2. The names Hesperia, Saturnia, and Oenot'ria have also been given
to this country by the poets; but these designations are not properly
applicable; for Hesperia was a general name for all the countries
lying to the west of Greece, and the other two names really belonged
to particular districts.

3. The northern boundary of Italy, in its full extent, is the chain of
the Alps, which forms a kind of crescent, with the convex side towards
Gaul. The various branches of these mountains had distinct names; the
most remarkable were, the Maritime Alp