Excerpt from A History of Rome From the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire, Vol. 1 of 2 Tms work was begun some years ago, chiefly for the purpose of imparting to the Upper Forms in Schools some knowledge of the altered aspect which Roman History has assumed. It was laid aside, mainly, because notices appeared of several works written with a similar purpose; and was resumed in accordance with the opinion of friends who had a good right to form a judgment upon the matter. It has imperceptibly assumed larger dimensions, and the character of the book is considerably changed from that which it was originally intended to bear. A History of Rome, suited to the wants of general readers of the present day, does not in fact exist, and certainly is much wanted: whether this work will in any way supply the want is for others to say. The task has been executed under some disadvantages. My days were for the most part fully occupied; and what time I had to spare was liable to be broken in upon in many ways. When I came to revise the whole for the Press, I found the effects of this interrupted labour in various errors and repetitions and I cannot but fear that much of this original taint may still be detected. But I hope, after all deductions, that I may have put into the Reader's hand a book in some measure free from the reproach cast by a great living writer upon all compendious Histories, -namely, that they are Histories in which nothing of History remains except the Proper Names. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.