From the east came, with rich material resources, a wealth of new ideas, a mingling of superstition, magic, religion and philosophy. Just as man’s emotions were turned inward so was his thought. The greatest new adventure became the quest for a solution of life itself. The romances of the early empire whatever their type reflect the age: its craving for excitement, its desire for adventure, its dread of brigands, its curiosity about the new, its interest in art, its wish for fulfillment of emotion in romantic love, its awareness of unsolved mysteries in man and the universe. With even the partial re-dating of the Greek Romances all sorts of subjects open up for investigation such as the apparatus of religion in the use of oracles, dreams, epiphanies; the interest in works of art; the new position of women. At any time in the future new fragments of romances may be discovered, or new dating of some of the old ones may be made possible. But even now while archaeological discoveries are suspended and publication of new editions is delayed, we may read and re-read these amazing old stories and see what escape literature was in the second and third centuries. The Greek Romances have much to tell us of the psychology of their authors, their characters, and their readers. They have a deep human value. “Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto.” FOOTNOTES [1]Translated by George Thornley, revised by J. M. Edmonds, in _Daphnis and Chloe by Longus_ in _The Loeb Classical Library_. [2]By Stephen Gaselee, “Appendix on the Greek Novel,” in _Daphnis and Chloe_ in _The Loeb Classical Library_, New York, 1916, pp. 410-11. [3]R. M. Rattenbury in _New Chapters in the History of Greek Literature, Third Series_, Oxford, 1933, p. 211. [4]P. D. Huet, _Traité de l’origine des Romans_, 1671. [5]J. Dunlop, _The History of Fiction_, Edinburgh, 1816. [6]A. Chassang, _Histoire du roman ... dans l’antiquité grecque et latine_, Paris, 1862. [7]V. Chauvin, _Les romanciérs grecs et latins_, 1864. [8]_Caritone di Afrodisia, Le Avventure di Cherea e Calliroe_, romanzo tradotto da Aristide Calderini, Torino, 1913. [9]Her. I. 8-12. [10]Her. II. 121. [11]Her. IX. 108-13. [12]L. Whibley, _A Companion to Greek Studies_, Cambridge, 1916, p. 155. For a discussion of these stories and the novelle see E. H. Haight, _Essays on Ancient Fiction_, New York, 1936. [13]Alfred Croiset and Maurice Croiset, _An Abridged History of Greek Literature_, translated by G. F. Heffelbower, New York, 1904, p. 517. [14]H. Bornecque, _Les Déclamations et les Déclamateurs d’après Sénèque le père_, Lille, 1902, p. 130. [15]_Caritone di Afrodisia, Le Avventure di Cherea e Calliroe_, Aristide Calderini, Torino, 1913. [16]New York, 1916. [17]Oxford, 1933. [18]_Op. cit._, pp. 212-13. [19]_Op. cit._, p. 385. [20]_Op. cit._, pp. 387-93. [21]_Ibid._, pp. 397-99. [22]_Op. cit._, pp. 219-23. [23]_Op. cit._, pp. 223-254. [24]See Notes.