country, hereditary satraps
usurping the dominion of the provinces, and subjects inclined to
rebellion, though incapable of freedom. But the obedience of the Roman
world was uniform, voluntary, and permanent. The vanquished nations,
blended into one great people, resigned the hope, nay, even the wish, of
resuming their independence, and scarcely considered their own existence
as distinct from the existence of Rome. The established authority of the
emperors pervaded without an effort the wide extent of their dominions,
and was exercised with the same facility on the banks of the Thames,
or of the Nile, as on those of the Tyber. The legions were destined to
serve against the public enemy, and the civil magistrate seldom required
the aid of a military force. In this state of general security, the
leisure, as well as opulence, both of the prince and people, were
devoted to improve and to adorn the Roman empire.

Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed by the
Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history, how few have
resisted the ravages of time and barbarism! And yet, even the majestic
ruins that are still scattered over Italy and the provinces, would be
sufficient to prove that those countries were once the seat of a polite
and powerful empire. Their greatness alone, or their beauty, might
deserve our attention: but they are rendered more interesting, by two
important circumstances, which connect the agreeable history of the arts
with the more useful history of human manners. Many of those works were
erected at private expense, and almost all were intended for public
benefit.

It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well as the most
considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised by the emperors, who
possessed so unbounded a command both of men and money. Augustus was
accustomed to boast that he had found his capital of brick, and that he
had left it of marble. The strict economy of Vespasian was the source of
his magnificence. The works of Trajan bear the stamp of his genius.
The public monuments with which Hadrian adorned every province of the
empire, were executed not only by his orders, but under his immediate
inspection. He was himself an artist; and he loved the arts, as they
conduced to the glory of the monarch. They were encouraged by the
Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness of the people. But if
the emperors were the first, they were not the only architects of