The language Statius uses is more simple than mine; but this is substantially the picture he gives: and I know of nothing that so impresses on the imagination the thunder of the power of the Roman Empire as this creation in the wilderness, in one day, of an iron way that shall last for all time.
Hoar reflects on the enduring impact of Roman engineering as described by the poet Statius.
Share
More from George F. Hoar
We speak of a light that makes darkness visible; and similarly there are sounds that deepen the long intervals of silence with which they alternate.
If there is anything more beautiful than a moonlight summer night in the heart of the Forest of Dean, it is its transformation into a summer morning, with the sparkle of dew on the grass, and the sunrise on the trees; with the music of…
This Treaty would make us a vulgar, common place empire, controlling subject races and vassal states, in which one class must forever rule and other classes forever obey.
It is not too much to say that most of the main roads in England are Roman; but the very continuity of their use has caused this to be overlooked.
Other voices in this conversation
