Page:The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.djvu/25



a subject of study, whether in schools or universities, ancient history is almost always separated from modern history; and it cannot very well be otherwise. It takes the learning of a lifetime fully to appreciate what is meant by that unity of history, of which Professor Freeman was never tired of reminding us. No one can really grasp the inter-connection of a long series of events, or see how states and empires crumble and fall, only to rise again in new forms, unless his mind is sufficiently well stored with the detail which must be the material for his thinking powers to work on. Most of us must take it on trust that there is no region of utter desolation lying between ancient and modern civilisation, and dividing them from each other; most of us must be content to choose the one or the other as the field of our investigation.

But we do not only separate modern history from that of the Greeks and Romans: we also