THIRD MILLENNIUM LIBRARY
BIOHISTORY
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THIRD MILLENNIUM LIBRARY BIOHISTORY |
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THE GRACCHI,
MARIUS, AND SULLA
By
A. H. BEESLY
CHAPTER I. ANTECEDENTS OF THE
REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER II. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS.
CHAPTER IV. THE JUGURTHINE WAR.
CHAPTER V.
THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES.
CHAPTER VII. SATURNINUS AND
DRUSUS.
CHAPTER XI. THE FIRST
MITHRIDATIC WAR.
CHAPTER XII.
SULLA IN GREECE AND ASIA.
CHAPTER XIV. THE PERSONAL RULE
AND DEATH OF SULLA
CHAPTER XV. SULLA’S REACTIONARY
MEASURES.
It would be scarcely possible for
anyone writing on the period embraced in this volume, to perform his task
adequately without making himself familiar with Mr. Long’s History of the
Decline of the Roman Republic and Mommsen’s History of Rome. To do over again
(as though the work had never been attempted) what has been done once for all
accurately and well, would be mere prudery of punctiliousness. But while I
acknowledge my debt of gratitude to both these eminent historians, I must add
that for the whole period I have carefully examined the original authorities,
often coming to conclusions widely differing from those of Mr. Long. And I
venture to hope that from the advantage I have had in being able to compare the
works of two writers, one of whom has well-nigh exhausted the theories as the
other has the facts of the subject, I have succeeded in giving a more
consistent and faithful account of the leaders and legislation of the
revolutionary era than has hitherto been written. Certainly there could be
no more instructive commentary on either history than the study of the other,
for each supplements the other and emphasizes its defects. If Mommsen at times
pushes conjecture to the verge of invention, as in his account of the junction
of the Helvetii and Cimbri, Mr. Long, in his dogged determination never to
swerve from facts to inference, falls into the opposite extreme, resorting to
somewhat Cyclopean architecture in his detestation of stucco. But my admiration
for his history is but slightly qualified by such considerations, and to any
student who may be stimulated by the volumes of this series to acquire what
would virtually amount to an acquaintance first-hand with the narratives of
ancient writers, I would say Read Mr. Long’s history. To do so is to learn not
only knowledge but a lesson in historical study generally. For the writings of
a man with whom style is not the first object are as refreshing as his scorn
for romancing history is wholesome, and the grave irony with which he records
its slips amusing.
A. H. B.
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