Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 1 (1897).djvu/151
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proofread, but needs to be validated.  virtues. Numa could only
prevent a few neighbouring villages from plundering each other's
harvests. Antoninus diffused order and tranquillity over the
greatest part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare
advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which
is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes,
follies, and misfortunes of mankind. In private life he was an
amiable as well as a good man. The native simplicity of his
virtue was a stranger to vanity or affectation. He enjoyed with
moderation the conveniences of his fortune, and the innocent
pleasures of society;[1] and the benevolence of his soul
displayed itself in a cheerful serenity of temper.  Of Marcus
The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of a severer and
more laborious kind.[2] It was the well-earned harvest of many a
learned conference, of many a pati