nificance.

(M1035) The empire then embraced all the countries bordering on the
Mediterranean--that great inland sea upon whose shores the most famous
cities of antiquity flourished, and toward which the tide of Assyrian and
Persian conquests had rolled, and then retreated for ever. The boundaries
of this mighty empire were great mountains, and deserts, and oceans, and
impenetrable forests. On the east lay the Parthian empire, separated from
the Roman by the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Armenian Mountains, beyond
which were other great empires not known to the Greeks, like the Indian
and the Chinese monarchies, with a different civilization. On the south
were the African deserts, not penetrated even by travelers. On the west
was the ocean; and on the north were barbaric tribes of different names
and races--Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic. The empire extended over a
territory of one million six hundred thousand square miles, and among its
provinces were Spain, Gaul, Sicily, Africa, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor,
Achaia, Macedonia, and Illyricum--all tributary to Italy, whose capital was
Rome. The central province numbered four millions who were free, and could
furnish, if need be, seven hundred thousand foot, and seventy thousand
horse for the armies of the republic. It was dotted with cities, and
villages, and villas, and filled with statues, temples, and works of art,
brought from remotest provinces--the spoil of three hundred years of
conquest. In all the provinces were great cities, once famous and
independent--centres of luxury and wealth--Corinth, Athens, Syracuse,
Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Damascus, and Jerusalem, with
their dependent cities, all connected with each other and the capital by
granite roads, all favored by commerce, all rejoicing in a uniform
government. Rome, the great mistress who ruled over one hundred and twenty
millions, contained an immense population, variously estimated, in which
were centred whatever wealth or power had craved. This capital had become
rapidly ornamented with palaces, and temples, and works of art, with the
subjugation of Greece and Asia Minor, although it did not reach the climax
of magnificence until the time of Hadrian. In the time of Augustus, the
most imposing buildings were the capitol, restored by Sulla and Caesar,
whose gilded roof alone cost $15,000,000. The theatre of Pompey could
accommodate eighty thousand spectators, behind which was a portico of one
hund