Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/250

242 REVIEWS OF BOOKS April of history you must know all history. No man, and no student, can know the original authorities for all history, as Freeman's principle logically required. A book like Mr. Hall's belongs to the period of life and the frame of mind in which one either is interested in the story of great kings and is borne onwards by the rapid narrative of their conquest, or sympathizes with the account of their stubborn resistance to dangerous enemies. The reviewer can only regret that he had not access to the book at an early period in life when he ranged over the field of history with no thought of examinations, but simply for the love of romance and truth and know- ledge. There is another long part of life in which Mr. Hall should find responsive readers, that is, amongst those who are themselves engaged in historical research, and who will appreciate the skill with which the author • has distributed his attention over many different parts of the field of investigation, and the competence which he has shown in each. William Mitchell Ramsay. Virgile et les origines d'Ostie. Par Jerome Carcopino. (Bibliotheque des ficoles Franchises d'Athenes et de Rome, fasc. cxvi ; Paris : Boccard, 1919.) The subject of this original and informing book may be described as the prolegomena to the history of Roman Ostia. While its interest is con- nected primarily with the early history and cults of Rome and the Latin seaboard, it makes a special appeal to students of Virgil ; for it is in the Aeneid that M. Carcopino finds the main support of his thesis. In fact, as the index of passages referred to shows, the volume provides an almost continuous commentary on the action and topography of the last six books. Since 1907 the site of Ostia has been systematically explored, but from the beginning of his studentship at the French school in 1904, M. Carcopino devoted himself to the subject which he has made his own, as a series of papers published in the Melanges and elsewhere testifies. Here he gives us his discovery of the secret of Ostia. The problem arises from the discrepancy between the legendary date of its foundation as the earliest Roman colony, and the fact, revealed by modern exploration, that the Roman settlement was not older than the third century b. c. M. Carcopino finds his solution (which we can state only in the barest outline) in the existence of a federal Latin sanctuary, the chief god of which was Volcanus, the oldest supreme deity of Rome, the consort of Maia and father of the Lares, and, under another aspect, the sacred Tiber itself. There is plenty of epigraphic evidence to show that the cult was maintained under the empire. The title of an organization connected with it, the Sodales Arulenses, perhaps preserves the earliest name of the place — Arula. The sanctuary was situated in the country of the Laurentes, whose capital Lavinium is ig be found at Prattica di Mare, not far from the coast, on the way to Ardea. It was on the site of this sanctuary that Virgil makes Aeneas found his ' New Troy ', just to the east of the Roman town, on the great bend of the river. Here, if anywhere, the temple of Vulcan, which excavations in the town have failed to bring to light, will probably be found. M. Carcopino shows in detail how all the surrounding natural