All these opportunities of damage to the fibre of the people had been freely accepted, and with the result that in the age of Cicero we cannot mistake the signs and symptoms of degeneracy.
But it would be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that this degeneracy had as yet gone too far to be arrested.

It was assuredly not that degeneracy of senility which Mr.Balfour is inclined to postulate as an explanation of decadence.

So far as I can judge, the Romans were at that stage when, in spite of unhealthy conditions of life and obstinate persistence in dangerous habits, it was not too late to reform and recover.

To me the main interest of the history of the early Empire lies in seeking the answer to the question how far that recovery was made.

If these chapters should have helped any student to prepare the ground for the solution of this problem their object will have been fully achieved.
[Illustration: _Stanfords Geog.Estab.