vicinity look larger, we shall form a quite different
opinion. It is beyond all dispute that Rome found the
point of support of its military power in the Occident.
The legions from the Danube and the Rhine were al-
ways braver, stronger and better disciplined than those
from the Euphrates and the Nile. But it is in the Ori-
ent, especially in these countries of "old civilization,"
that we must look for industry and riches, for technical
ability and artistic productions, as well as for intelli-
gence and science, even before Constantine made it the
center of political power.

While Greece merely vegetated in a state of poverty,
humiliation and exhaustion; while Italy suffered de-
population and became unable to provide for her own
support; while the other countries of Europe were
hardly out of barbarism; Asia Minor, Egypt and Syria
gathered the rich harvests Roman peace made possible.
Their industrial centers cultivated and renewed all the
traditions that had caused their former celebrity. A
more intense intellectual life corresponded with the
economic activity of these great manufacturing and
exporting countries. They excelled in every profession
except that of arms, and even the prejudiced Romans
admitted their superiority. The menace of an Oriental
empire haunted the imaginations of the first masters
of the world. Such an empire seems to have been
the main thought of the dictator Cæsar, and the trium-
vir Antony almost realized it. Even Nero thought of making Alexandria his capital. Although Rome, sup-
ported by her army and the right of might, retained
the political authority for a long time, she bowed to
the fatal moral ascendency of more advanced peoples.
Viewed from this standpoint the history of the empire

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