Essays in Ancient History and Antiquities

Excerpt from Essays in Ancient History and Antiquities, Vol. 7<br><br>[The following are brief general notes with wtiich Mr. De Quincey introduced "The Cæsars," and Plato's "Republic" when revising the latest edition of his works.]<br><br>"The Cæsars," it may be right to mention, was written in a situation which denied me the use of books; so that with the exception of a few penciled extracts in a pocket-book from the Augustan history, I was obliged to depend upon ray memory for materials, in so far as respected facts. These materials for the Western Empire are not more scanty than meagre; and in that proportion so much the greater is the temptation which they offer to free and skeptical speculation. To this temptation I have yielded intermittingly; but from a fear (perhaps a cowardly fear) of being classed as a dealer in licentious paradox, I checked myself exactly where the largest license might have been properly allowed to a bold spirit of incredulity. In particular, I cannot bring myself to believe, nor ought therefore to have assumed the tone of a believer, in the inhuman atrocities charged upon the earlier Cæsars. Guided by my own instincts of truth and probability, I should, for instance, have summarily exploded the most revolting among the crimes imputed to Nero.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>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.