ay in Rome
than would have been possible had he stayed in Asia. There are many
other examples of Roman patronage of literature and science that might
be mentioned. As we shall see, Rome drained Greece and Asia Minor of
their best, and appropriated to herself the genius products of the
Spanish Peninsula. Rome had a way of absorbing what was best in the
provinces for herself.

Just as soon as Rome was cut off from intimate relations with the
provinces by the inwandering of barbarians, intellectual decadence
began. The imperial city itself had never been the source of great
intellectual achievement, and the men whom we think of as important
contributors to Rome's literature and philosophy were usually not born
within the confines of the city. It is surprising to take a list of the
names of the Latin writers whom we are accustomed to set down simply as
Romans and note their birthplaces. Rome herself gave birth to but a very
small percentage of them. Virgil was born at Mantua, Cicero at Arpinum,
Horace out on the Sabine farm, the Plinys out of the city, Terence in
Africa, Persius up in Central Italy somewhere, Livy at Padua, Martial,
Quintilian, the Senecas, and Lucan in Spain. When the government of the
city ceased to be such as assured opportunity for those from outside who
wanted to make their way, decadence came to Roman literature. Large
cities have never in history been the fruitful mothers of men who did
great things. Genius, and even talent, has always been born out of the
cities in which it did its work. It is easy to understand, then, the
decadence of the intellectual life that took place as the Empire
degenerated.

For the sake of all that it meant in the Roman Empire to look towards
Rome at this time, however, it seemed better to the early Christians to
establish the centre of their jurisdiction there. Necessarily, then, in
all that related to the purely intellectual life, they came under the
influences that were at work at Rome at this time. During the first
centuries they suffered besides from the persecutions directed against
them by the Emperors at various times, and these effectually prevented
any external manifestations of the intellectual life on the part of
Christians. It took much to overcome this serious handicap, but
noteworthy progress was made in spite of obstacles, and by the time of
Constantine many important officials of the Empire, the educated
thinking classes of Rome, had become Christians. A