Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/110

 74 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE that the Codex Theodosianus marks a decline in the Roman law compared to the writings of the jurists of the second and third centuries, to which it is inferior both in language and in thought, both as literature and as law. EXERCISES AND READINGS Trace on the map the itinerary of Dio Cassius as described in pp. 68-69. Bring together the facts about Marcus Aurelius and Constantine and their respective reigns which are scattered through this chapter (use index). The Spread of Oriental Religions. H. S. Jones, The Roman Empire, pp. 212-20. T. M. Lindsay, Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 1, pp. 90-94. F. Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism (Chicago, 191 1), any chapter. F. Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra (Chicago, 19 10), any chapter. The System of Diocletian. H. S. Jones, The Roman Empire, pp. 262-73. Taxation in the Fourth Century. Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, pp. 34-41. Decay of the Middle Class; Aggrandizement of the Aristocracy. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire (second edition revised), pp. 245-81. Causes of the Fall of the Western Empire. T. Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, vol. 11, book in, chap, ix, sees. 1-7 (pp- 538-613 in the second edition). Source Readings. There is more than one English translation of the Meditations or Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, and Dio Cassius may be read in Foster's recent translation ; but Firmicus and the Codex Theodosianus have not been translated. The Notitia Dignitatum, an official list of all the posts in the administrative system of the late Empire, is translated in vol. II, no. 4, of Translations and Reprints of the University of Pennsylvania. The translation includes but one of the many interesting illustrations with which the Latin text is adorned and which may be examined in Seeck's edition (Berlin, 1876). The last book of The Metamorphoses of Apuleius (translated by E. H. Butler, 2 vols., Oxford, 1910) is rich in information concerning the spread of Oriental cults.