it apparent in all our orator's letters, that such economical arrangements were by no means suited to his genius. 2. The family of a proconsul was too numerous to admit of dispatch in travelling. A questor, four lieutenants, twelve tribunes, accompanied Cicero to execute their respective functions under his government. A crowd of young Romans of high rank followed the proconsul, to learn under his auspices the art of war, or rather that of politics. To this illustrious band we must add one, far more numerous, of officers, lictors, clerks, freed men, and slaves, belonging to the proconsul himself, or to the companions of his journey. This little army was embarrassed with too many wants to allow him to proceed with the expedition of an ordinary traveller. He would have preferred going by sea from Actium to Patras: but in that case he must have made use of the little barks of the country; and the passage would not have been performed with the dignity of a public minister, who wished to surprise the Greeks as much by the magnificence of his equipage, as by the moderation of his conduct. S. The roads must have been very bad between Actium and Athens. The motive of the Romans in making roads was neither the benefit of the provinces, which those conquerors always despised, nor the convenience of commercial intercourse, of which they never knew how to estimate the value; but merely to facilitate the marches of their troops. Greece, which early became an interior and submissive province, was not in any of the direct lines which united Rome with the frontiers; and had but only one road, while the other parts of the empire were intersected by military ways, in all possible directions. The proconsul might have followed this road, if it was then made; but as we are ignorant of its era, we ought rather to think that it was not so early. Most of the Roman roads are works of the emperors.* 4. Greece attracted but weakly the attention of the Roman government; but how well did it deserve that of Cicero! How could he rapidly traverse a country, each village of which was illustrious in history or fable? The man of letters, who admired the Greeks in proportion as he was eager to surpass them; the curious antiquary, who had discovered with such transports the tomb of Archimedes; the enlightened philosopher, who had unveiled the frauds of Delphi; must have been arrested at every step by an hundred objects unknown and indifferent to vulgar eyes. With what pleasure would I follow such a guide in such a journey! In uniting the 369 Roman miles which Horace travelled in ten days, with the 463 which Cicero travelled in nineteen, we shall have the middle term of 30 Roman miles for an ordinary day's journey. I should prefer, however, extending it to 33 Roman, or 30 English miles; the slowness of Cicero being better ascertained than the supposed rapidity of Horace. I shall not expatiate on the posts, the inns, or Bergier Hist. des Grands Chemins de l'Empire, 1. i. c. 9. p. 27. the it apparent in all our orator's letters, that such economical arrangements were by no means suited to his genius. 2. The family of a proconsul was too numerous to admit of dispatch in travelling. A questor, four lieutenants, twelve tribunes, accompanied Cicero to execute their respective functions under his government. A crowd of young Romans of high rank followed the proconsul, to learn under his auspices the art of war, or rather that of politics. To this illustrious band we must add one, far more numerous, of officers, lictors, clerks, freed men, and slaves, belonging to the proconsul himself, or to the companions of his journey. This little army was embarrassed with too many wants to allow him to proceed with the expedition of an ordinary traveller. He would have preferred going by sea from Actium to Patras: but in that case he must have made use of the little barks of the country; and the passage would not have been performed with the dignity of a public minister, who wished to surprise the Greeks as much by the magnificence of his equipage, as by the moderation of his conduct. 3. The roads must have been very bad between Actium and Athens. The motive of the Romans in making roads was neither the benefit of the provinces, which those conquerors always despised, nor the convenience of commercial intercourse, of which they never knew how to estimate the value; but merely to facilitate the marches of their troops. Greece, which early became an interior and submissive province, was not in any of the direct lines which united Rome with the frontiers; and had but only one road, while the other parts of the empire were intersected by military ways, in all possible directions. The proconsul might have followed this road, if it was then made; but as we are ignorant of its era, we ought rather to think that it was not so early. Most of the Roman roads are works of the emperors.* 4. Greece attracted but weakly the attention of the Roman government; but how well did it deserve that of Cicero! How could he rapidly traverse a country, each village of which was illustrious in history or fable? The man of letters, who admired the Greeks in proportion as he was eager to surpass them; the curious antiquary, who had discovered with such transports the tomb of Archimedes; the enlightened philosopher, who had unveiled the frauds of Delphi; must have been arrested at every step by an hundred objects unknown and indifferent to vulgar eyes. With what pleasure would I follow such a guide in such a journey! In uniting the 369 Roman miles which Horace travelled in ten days, with the 463 which Cicero travelled in nineteen, we shall have the middle term of 30 Roman miles for an ordinary day's journey. I should prefer, however, extending it to 33 Roman, or 30 English miles; the slowness of Cicero being better ascertained than the supposed rapidity of Horace. I shall not expatiate on the posts, the inns, or Bergier Hist. des Grands Chemins de l'Empire, 1. i. c. 9. p. 27. the the carriages of the Romans. The last, if we may judge of them by subsisting monuments, were small, open, and inconvenient. They had two or four wheels; but, not being suspended, must have been very fatiguing to travellers on the paved military roads. These carriages were of various kinds; and what is extraordinary, almost all the different kinds had been borrowed from the Gauls. The Romans adorned them with silver, gold, and sometimes with precious stones; a barbarous and misplaced luxury, indicating more riches than taste. It was reserved for modern times to invent those soft and elegant machines which gratify at once the effeminacy, laziness, and impatience of travellers.* I shall speak briefly of another kind of travelling, the march of troops. These marches, I am inclined to think, both by the exercises (of which I have made mention) and by my general opinion on the subject, were longer than ours; but, previously to making the researches necessary for determining this matter with precision, I shall cast a glance on the longest and boldest march which I have ever met with in history, either ancient or modern. The fortune of the Carthaginians was sustained in Italy by the exertions of Hannibal, when Asdrubal crossed the Alps with a numerous army. The republic was in danger of sinking under their united efforts. Nero the consul observed the mo Voyez l'Antiquité expliquée du P. Monfaucon. |