elieve not to accept others, being ashamed to
have placed such a procurator in Gaul. Licinius, however,
extricated himself from the danger by a decidedly original
expedient. When he realised that Augustus was displeased and
that he was running great risk of being punished, he conducted
that Prince to his house, and showing him his numerous
treasuries full of gold and silver, enormous piles of objects
made of precious metals, said:--"My lord, only for your good
and that of the Romans have I amassed all these riches. I
feared that the natives, fortified by such wealth, might
revolt, if I left them to them: therefore I have placed them
in safe-keeping for you and I give them to you." So, by his
pretext that he had thus broken the power of the barbarians
for the sake of Augustus, Licinius saved himself from danger.

This incident has without doubt the smack of legend. Ought we
therefore to conclude that it is wholly invented? No, because in
history the distortions of the truth are much more numerous than
are inventions. This page of Dion is important. It preserves for
us, presented in a dramatic scene between Augustus and Licinius, the
record of a very serious dispute carried on between the notable men of
Gaul and Licinius, in the presence of Augustus. The Gauls complain of
paying too many imposts: Licinius replies that Gaul is very rich;
that it grows rich quickly and therefore it ought to pay as much as is
demanded of it, and more. Not only did the freedman show rooms full of
gold and silver to his lord; he showed him the great economic progress
of Gaul, its marvellous future, the immense wealth concealed in
its soil and in the genius of its inhabitants. In other words, this
chapter of Dion makes us conclude that Rome--that is, the small
oligarchy that was directing its politics--realised that the Gaul
conquered by Caesar, the Gaul that had always been considered as
a country cold and sterile, was instead a magnificent province,
naturally rich, from which they might get enormous treasure. This
discovery was made in the winter of 15-14 B.C.; that is, forty-three
years after Caesar had added the province to the Empire; forty-three
years after they had possessed without knowing what they possessed,
like some _grand seigneur_ who unwittingly holds among the common
things of his patrimony some priceless object, the value of which only
an accident on a sudden reveals.

This