Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/45



NDER the Emperors of Rome, Byzantium, as far as we know, enjoyed quiet and prosperity. Its citizens, we may assume, were no longer annoyed by their barbarous neighbours, but were, no doubt, able to trade and make money to their hearts' content. For such people the rule of Rome over the world, with the peace and order it established, was a decided advantage. The city must have had many attractions for a rich and cultivated Roman visitor. Its old historical associations were striking, and it was still one of the centres of Greek art and civilization. The student, the antiquarian, the lover of art, and the lover, too, of pleasure and of luxury, would, if circumstances allowed, be sure once in a lifetime to visit such a city. Among those who did so were a very famous Roman couple, whose names are still deservedly familiar to us. These were the great general Germanicus and his noble and high-minded wife Agrippina. Germanicus, in addition to his military ability, was a man of real culture, and he seems to have been keenly eager to explore all