In the book "The Life of Agricola" by Tacitus the fine Epilogue with which it closes is as follows:

"And I would lay this charge on his daughter and his
wife -- so to reverence the memory of their father, and husband, that they revolve within them all what he said and did, and to cherish the form and the fashion of his soul, rather than that of his body: it is not that I would forbid the making of statues, shaped in marble or bronze, but that as the human face, so is it's copy - - futile and perishing, while the form of the mind is eternal, to be expressed, not through the alien medium of art, and its material, but severally by each man in the fashion of his own life."

Tacitus was writing of the character of his father-in-
law, Agricola, and gave us at the same time a hint of what we should look for in history. If only the spirit is eternal, it is very obvious that we must make a diligent search for the principles which have
animated men in the past and helped them to fashion their souls. To search for motive is apt to be an arid study; political history, and it's recital of how statesmen have bested their friends, and ruined their enemies, makes dull reading, unless it is inspired. There remains the possibility of judging men by their works. This was the only mehod in the Prehistoric periods, and is on the whole a very safe one.

In dealing with Roman history we shall find the historians divided into two schools, one of which will
glorify the Republic, and think the Empire was all
decline and fall; the other will thrill at the Augustan
Age. It is safe to predict, that to whichever school we attach ourselves, or even if we form an opinion of our own, we shall leave off with a feeling of great respect for the Roman sense of law and order.

Roma marble torso of Aphrodite, 1st century A.D.

When a nation not only makes laws, but agrees to keep them. it is a sign of a very advanced state of
civilization. With this Roman power of administration, we shall note great developments in
the art of town-planning, building, and civil engineering. Yet all this wonderful structure came
tumbling down because the fashion of the Roman soul was too material.

Reference:

• A part of the Preface to the book:
  M. and C.H.B. Quennell, "Everyday Life In Roman and Anglo-Saxon Times,"Dorset Press, NewYork, 1959 -- ISBN O-88029-12