enjoyed in the reign of Numa, succeeded to the tumults of
a republic; while Rome was still adored as the queen of the earth; and
the subject nations still reverenced the name of the people, and the
majesty of the senate. But this native splendor," continues Ammianus,
"is degraded, and sullied, by the conduct of some nobles, who, unmindful
of their own dignity, and of that of their country, assume an unbounded
license of vice and folly. They contend with each other in the empty
vanity of titles and surnames; and curiously select, or invent, the most
lofty and sonorous appellations, Reburrus, or Fabunius, Pagonius,
or Tarasius, [36] which may impress the ears of the vulgar with
astonishment and respect. From a vain ambition of perpetuating their
memory, they affect to multiply their likeness, in statues of bronze and
marble; nor are they satisfied, unless those statues are covered with
plates of gold; an honorable distinction, first granted to Acilius the
consul, after he had subdued, by his arms and counsels, the power of
King Antiochus. The ostentation of displaying, of magnifying, perhaps,
the rent-roll of the estates which they possess in all the provinces,
from the rising to the setting sun, provokes the just resentment of
every man, who recollects, that their poor and invincible ancestors were
not distinguished from the meanest of the soldiers, by the delicacy
of their food, or the splendor of their apparel. But the modern nobles
measure their rank and consequence according to the loftiness of their
chariots, [37] and the weighty magnificence of their dress. Their long
robes of silk and purple float in the wind; and as they are agitated, by
art or accident, they occasionally discover the under garments, the rich
tunics, embroidered with the figures of various animals. [38] Followed
by a train of fifty servants, and tearing up the pavement, they move
along the streets with the same impetuous speed as if they travelled
with post-horses; and the example of the senators is boldly imitated by
the matrons and ladies, whose covered carriages are continually driving
round the immense space of the city and suburbs. Whenever these persons
of high distinction condescend to visit the public baths, they assume,
on their entrance, a tone of loud and insolent command, and appropriate
to their own use the conveniences which were designed for the Roman
people. If, in these places of mixed and general resort, they meet
any of the infam