The old
people of Rome were gone; their characteristic dress even was gone; for
already in the time of Augustus they had laid aside the _toga_, and
assumed the cheaper and scantier _paenula_, so that the eye sought in vain
for Virgil's
"Romanes rerum dominos gentemque _togatam_."
Why, then, after all the constituents of Roman grandeur had passed away,
should their historical trophies survive, recalling to them the scenes of
departed heroism, in which they had no personal property, and suggesting
to them vain hopes, which for them were never to be other than chimeras?
Even in that sense, therefore, and as a great depository of heart-stirring
historical remembrances, Rome was profitably destroyed; and in any other
sense, whether for health or for the conveniences of polished life, or for
architectural magnificence, there never was a doubt that the Roman people
gained infinitely by this conflagration. For, like London, it arose from
its ashes with a splendor proportioned to its vast expansion of wealth and
population; and marble took the place of wood. For the moment, however,
this event must have been felt by the people as an overwhelming calamity.
Pages:
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126