The struggles between the patricians and plebeians,
respecting the agrarian laws have been so strangely misrepresented,
even by some of the best historians, that the nature of the contest
may, with truth, be said to have been wholly misunderstood before the
publication of Niebuhr's work: a perfect explanation of these
important matters cannot be expected in a work of this kind; the
Editors trust that the brief account given here of the Roman tenure of
land, and the nature of the agrarian laws, will be found sufficient
for all practical purposes. After all the researches that have been
made, the true origin of the Latin people, and even of the Roman city,
is involved in impenetrable obscurity; the legendary traditions
collected by the historians are, however, the best guides that we can
now follow; but it would be absurd to bestow implicit credit on all
the accounts they have given, and the editor has, therefore, pointed
out the uncertain nature of the early history, not to encourage
scepticism, but to accustom students to consider the nature of
historical evidence, and thus early form the useful habit of
criticising and weighing testimony.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25