reign of Augustus, one year--that, viz., which followed the close of the first Punic war--in which, for a marvel, the Romans were able to shut the gates of war?[127] 10. _Whether it was desirable that the Roman empire should be increased by such a furious succession of wars, when it might have been quiet and safe by following in the peaceful ways of Numa._ Do they reply that the Roman empire could never have been so widely extended, nor so glorious, save by constant and unintermitting wars? A fit argument, truly! Why must a kingdom be distracted in order to be great? In this little world of man's body, is it not better to have a moderate stature, and health with it, than to attain the huge dimensions of a giant by unnatural torments, and when you attain it to find no rest, but to be pained the more in proportion to the size of your members? What evil would have resulted, or rather what good would not have resulted, had those times continued which Sallust sketched, when he says, "At first the kings (for that was the first title of empire in the world) were divided in their sentiments: part cultivated the mind, others the body: at that time the life of men was led without covetousness; every one was sufficiently satisfied with his own!"[128] Was it requisite, then, for Rome's prosperity, that the state of things which Virgil reprobates should succeed: "At length stole on a baser age, And war's indomitable rage, And greedy lust of gain?"[129]