ip of their ancient heroes, was a
nation of hardy warriors and husbandmen. That preeminent military
genius, Julius Caesar, had carefully fostered this warlike spirit in the
bosoms of his compatriots, and, by a series of brilliant campaigns, had
made the Roman nation the most powerful on the face of the globe. The
Roman legions were not only victorious on land, extending their
conquests into Iberia, farther Gaul, and still farther Britain, but the
Roman triremes also swept the Mediterranean, from the Pillars of
Hercules to the shores of Syria and Egypt. Wealth poured into the
country from all sides, and the people reveled in a boundless
prosperity.

Luxury had already begun to enervate the hardy soldiery at the time of
Caesar's assassination, yet not enough to show the full effects of
degeneration and demoralization. The empire under the first emperors
steadily grew richer and more powerful, and the luxury of the rich more
unlimited and licentious. At length a change can be noticed. The Roman
legions, hitherto victorious over every foe, are now frequently
vanquished; conquered tribes uprear the standard of revolt and refuse to
pay tribute; the territorial boundaries of the empire materially shrink,
and its once conquered provinces pass out of its dominion forever.

The gradual degeneration of this nation is faithfully mirrored in the
character of the emperors who governed it. Nero, Caligula, Tiberius,
Caracalla, and Messalina, the depraved wife of Claudius and the daughter
of Domitia Lepida, herself a licentious and libidinous woman, were but
accentuated types of the luxurious and debauched nobility. Not only did
the nobility become victims of degeneration, but the poorer classes also
lost their virility, until at last we find the stability of the nation
preserved through the instrumentality of foreign mercenaries. The
greatness of this once widespread empire dwindled away (the freedom of
its institutions contracting along with its shrinking boundaries), until
we find it lapsed into a state of barbarian despotism under the son of
Aurelius; and, had it not been for outside influences, it would have
eventually fallen into a state of utter and complete savagery.

Now let us turn to a recent civilization. At the time of Louis XVI., the
French nation was thoroughly under the influence of degeneration
consequent to a luxury and licentiousness that had had a cumulative
action for several hundred years. The peasantry and the i