WE concluded our former volume with a sketch of the reign of Augustus, thinking that the history of the Roman Republic must be imperfect without his reign. But if the reign of Augustus is necessary for the true understanding of the his tory of the republic, it is even more necessary for the true understanding of the history of the empire. We deem it better, therefore, to return to the history of this great man in the beginning of the present volume. Thus that which follows will be more intelligible, and each volume will be complete in itself.