The book was at once translated into English by, or at least under the supervision of, the late Dr. W. P. Dickson, Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. Twenty-five years before, the same translator had rendered the earlier volumes of the history into English, and rendered them to the satisfaction of all readers. The translation of the fifth volume was less happy. Its style was difficult, and its errors--at least in some chapters--were numerous and surprising. The ideal remedy for the evil would be a fresh version. But the ideal is seldom attainable in published literature, and good prose translations are particularly rare. When, therefore, the time came to reprint the book, it seemed best not to let it again appear as it was, but to attempt some revision, even though the existence of stereotyped plates confined that revision within very narrow limits. I have accordingly altered a large number of passages where Dr. Dickson's rendering was unintelligible or inaccurate, and I have tried to take account of the few changes which Mommsen himself introduced into the original German down to the fifth and last edition of 1904. In doing this I have had valuable help, which I desire to acknowledge, from Dr. George Macdonald. That I have left many defects, both by accident and by the exigencies of the stereotyped plates, is inevitable. But the alterations run into several hundreds, and at any rate "the government which prohibited voluntary fireworks" (freiwillige Feuerwehren), the "tribes who dwelt in hurdles" (Hürden), and the "crescents which gave the signal to run away" (Hörner), and some similar blots have vanished. As the translation is intended for English readers, I have added some notes on the chapter relating to Britain. It was far too large a task to do the same for other chapters. But a few references may be added here on two general questions. The results obtained by recent excavations on the Germano-Raetian Limes (Chapter IV., pp. 152 foll.) have been well summarised in E. Fabricius' _Die Besitznahme Badens durch die Römer_ (Heidelberg, 1905), in an article by G. Lachenmaier in the _Württembergische Vierteljahreshefte für Landesgeschichte_ for 1906, and in one by the late Professor Pelham in the _Transactions_ of the Royal Historical Society, reprinted as Chapter IX. in his collected papers (Clarendon Press, 1909). The student should also consult the excellent _Berichte über die ... römisch-germ. Forschung_ for 1905-8, edited by Dr. H. Dragendorff (Frankfurt, 1905-9). The problem of the Hellenisation of Syria (Chapter X.) has been treated, with a solution unfavourable to the Hellenic element, by Theodor Nöldeke in the _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_ for 1885 (xxxix. 332), and the two views have been compared by Mitteis in his _Reichsrecht und Volksrecht_ (Leipzig, 1891, pp. 25 foll.).