Note 161 — Chapter XVI · THE PRÆTORIAN CAMP. THE IMPERIAL WAR MACHINE

For the attitude of provincials under Roman rule the student can with interest read the speech put in the mouth of King Agrippa, the descendant of Herod, by Josephus (“Jewish War”: book II, ch. 16) in which he tells the Jews of Nero’s day, (1) that on the whole the Roman rule is so reasonable and tolerable they have no real cause to revolt against it; (2) that all nations, including the most warlike such as Sparta, Macedonia, the turbulent Gauls and Spain, have long since submitted; (3) that these have not merely submitted but keep obedient with only a trifling local display of armed force; (4) that resistance to Rome is so hopeless in any case that a revolt would be impious suicide.