r present
state. With regard to Spain, that country flourished as a province, and
has declined as a kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her strength, by
America, and by superstition, her pride might possibly be confounded, if
we required such a list of three hundred and sixty cities, as Pliny has
exhibited under the reign of Vespasian. [77] III. Three hundred African
cities had once acknowledged the authority of Carthage, [78] nor is it
likely that their numbers diminished under the administration of the
emperors: Carthage itself rose with new splendor from its ashes; and
that capital, as well as Capua and Corinth, soon recovered all the
advantages which can be separated from independent sovereignty. IV. The
provinces of the East present the contrast of Roman magnificence with
Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity scattered over uncultivated
fields, and ascribed, by ignorance to the power of magic, scarcely
afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under
the reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred
populous cities, [79] enriched with all the gifts of nature, and adorned
with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed
the honor of dedicating a temple of Tiberius, and their respective
merits were examined by the senate. [80] Four of them were immediately
rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose
splendor is still displayed in its ruins. [81] Laodicea collected a
very considerable revenue from its flocks of sheep, celebrated for the
fineness of their wool, and had received, a little before the contest,
a legacy of above four hundred thousand pounds by the testament of a
generous citizen. [82] If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must
have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared preferable,
and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long
disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia? [83] The capitals
of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank in the empire; Antioch and
Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd of dependent cities, [84]
and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome itself.

[Footnote 74: Aelian. Hist. Var. lib. ix. c. 16. He lived in the time of
Alexander Severus. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, l. iv. c. 21.]

[Footnote 741: This may in some degree account for the difficulty started
by Livy, as to the incredibly numerous armies raised by the sm