For the drawings other than those of which another source is specified I have to thank Miss M. O'Shea, on whom has occasionally fallen the difficult task of giving ocular form to the mental visions of one who happens to be no draughtsman. For the rest I make acknowledgment to those books from which the illustrations have been directly derived for my own purposes, without reference to more original sources. I am especially grateful for the permission to use so considerable a number of illustrations from the _Pompeii_ of Mau-Kelsey, from Professor Waldstein's _Herculaneum_, and from Lanciani's _New Tales of Old Rome_. T.G.T. October 1909. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTERS I EXTENT AND SECURITY OF THE EMPIRE II TRAVEL WITHIN THE EMPIRE III A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE PROVINCES IV THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM: EMPEROR, SENATE, KNIGHTS, AND PEOPLE V NERO THE EMPEROR VI ADMINISTRATION AND TAXATION OF THE EMPIRE VII ROME: THE IMPERIAL CITY VIII STREETS, WATER-SUPPLY, AND BUILDING MATERIAL IX THE ROMAN TOWN HOUSE X THE COUNTRY HOMESTEAD AND COUNTRY SEAT XI ROMAN FURNITURE XII SOCIAL DAY OF A ROMAN ARISTOCRAT--MORNING XIII SOCIAL DAY OF A ROMAN ARISTOCRAT (_continued_)--AFTERNOON AND DINNER XIV LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES XV HOLIDAYS AND AMUSEMENTS: THEATRE, CIRCUS, AMPHITHEATRE XVI THE WOMEN: MARRIAGE, THE ROMAN MATRON, AND HER DRESS XVII CHILDREN AND EDUCATION XVIII THE ARMY: MILITARY SERVICE: PUBLIC CAREER XIX ROMAN RELIGION--STATE AND INDIVIDUAL XX STUDY AND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AMONG THE ROMANS XXI PHILOSOPHY--STOICS AND EPICUREANS XXII THE ROMAN PROFUSION OF ART XXIII THE LAST SCENE OF ALL--BURIAL AND TOMBS INDEX ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. Frontispiece View into Roman Forum from Temple of Vesta, A.D. 64. (Restoration partly after Auer, Hülsen, Tognetti, etc.). 1. The Pont du Gard (Aqueduct and Bridge). 2. The Appian Way by the so-called Tomb of Seneca (Laneiani, _New Tales of Old Rome_). 3. Plan of Inn at Pompeii. (After Mau). 4. Ship beside the Quay at Ostia. (Hill, _Illustrations of School Classics_, FIG. 498 ). 6. The Acropolis at Athens. (From D'Ooge). 7. Plan of Antioch. 8. Emblem of Antioch. (_Dict. of Geog_. i. 116 ). 9. Emblem of Alexandria. (Mau, _Pompeii_, Fig 187). 10. Emblem of Rome. (From the column of Antoninus at Rome). 11. Augustus as Emperor. 12. Coin of Nero. (In the British Museum). 13. Bust of Seneca. (_Archäiologische Zeitung_). 14. Agrippina, Mother of Nero. (Photo, Mansell & Co.). 15. Bust of Nero. 16. Some Remains of the Claudian Aqueduct. 17. The Rostra: back view. (Modified from Hülsen). 18. Ruins of Forum. (Record-Office in background with modern building above.) (Photo, Anderson). 19. N.E. of Forum, A.D. 64. (Complementary to Frontispiece). 20. Temple of Fortuna Augusta at Pompeii. (Mau, FIG. 58). 21. So-called Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli.