Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/81

Rh tered instances relative to that subject, without forgetting, however, that from the vanity of nations and the poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has been indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum. First, ancient Italy is said to have con-tained eleven hundred and ninety-seven cities ; and for whatsoever era of antiquity the expression might be intended, there is not any reason to believe the country less populous in the age of the Antonines than in that of Romulus. The petty states of Latium were contained within the metropolis of the empire, by whose superior influence they had been attracted. Those parts of Italy which have so long languished under the lazy tyranny of priests and viceroys, had been afflicted only by the more tolerable calamities of war ; and the first symptoms of decay which thet/ experienced, were amply compensated by the rapid improvements of the Cisalpine Gaul. The splendour of Verona may be traced in its remains : yet Verona was less celebrated than Aquileia or Padua, Milan or Ravenna. Second, the spirit of improvement had passed the Alps, and been felt even in the woods of Britain, which were gradually cleared away to open a free space for convenient and elegant habitations. York was the seat of government; London was already enriched by commerce; and Bath was celebrated for the salutary effects of its medicinal waters. Gaul could boast of her twelve hundred cities ; and though, in the northern parts, many of them, without excepting Paris itself, were little more than the rude and imperfect townships of a rising people, the southern provinces imitated the wealth and elegance of Italy. Many were the cities of Gaul, Marseilles, Aries, Nismes, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, Vienna, Lyons, Langres, and Treves, whose ancient condition might sustain an