Page:Regal Rome, an Introduction to Roman History (1852, Newman, London, regalromeintrodu00newmuoft).djvu/7



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the last twenty years, so much has been laid before the English public concerning the early Romans, that but few words of introduction are here needed.

Engraved monuments existed from the beginning of Roman story, but they could yield only fragmentary information, not continuous narrative. The actual writing of history came so late, that to recover the early events was an arduous attempt. The writers, in fact, had no critical experience, and were patriotically credulous, even when they aimed at truth. Nor only so, but the aristocracy falsified their family records through vanity, and the Senate garbled their own decrees through party-spirit.

Cicero and Livy were extremely well aware of the untrustworthiness of the ancient Roman tales; but