did buy their freedom. The class of freedmen was a large and
growing one in Rome.

[Illustration: CUTLER'S SHOP]

The revolutionary wars had brought ruin to many. Large tracts of Italy
had been laid waste. But though the wounds that had been dealt at the
life of the country bled for long, prosperity returned surprisingly
quickly. If some families had lost everything, others had profited by
their losses. And from abroad wealth poured into Italy in
ever-increasing streams. A new class of rich men grew up, whose wealth
came from business of all sorts--tax-farming in the provinces, house
building, ship construction, agriculture on a large scale. Side by side
with them were the lawyers, an increasingly important body. As to-day,
a great many young men, when they had completed their education by
spending some time abroad, in Greece by preference, became barristers.
Success in the courts, the power of public speaking, opened the way to
success in politics, though it was long before any one could go far
along that road who had not won distinction as a soldier.

Very slowly and gradually, the sharp line between the new men and the
old patrician families began to soften. There were few so proud that
they would not go and eat a sumptuous dinner at the house of a man
because his parent had not worn the purple stripe on his toga that
marked the senator. Education spread. Sulla brought back with him from
Greece innumerable treasures, among them the works of Aristotle, which
became the educated young Roman's bible.

All over Italy wealth spread, as the fields blossomed with vine and
olive. Great roads made travel easier and swifter; aqueducts brought
water where it was needed; the marshes were drained; everywhere lovely
villas were built, their exquisite gardens adorned with beautiful
statues. Thither the tired Roman went for a few days' refreshment,
accompanied by his friends and escorted by trains of slaves. Slaves
wrote his letters for him, and carried them swiftly to his friends in
other parts of Italy or across the seas. They copied the verses and
prose sketches which the young Roman of fashion liked to have written,
so that the vellum roll circulated almost as quickly and freely, among
the well-to-do, as does the volume to-day. Life became more elegant and
refined. Music, dancing, games of all sorts provided distraction;
gambling became a passion with many; eating and drinking were as
luxurious as now. When we think of th