This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In this classic work of history, Guglielmo Ferrero provides an in-depth look at the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Ferrero, along with co-authors Henry John Chaytor and Sir Alfred Eckhard Zimmern, explores the political, economic, and cultural factors that contributed to Rome's greatness--as well as the forces that ultimately brought it down. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The essays in this collection explore conflict and continuity across the spectrum of political, legal, and spiritual traditions from late medieval Umbria and Tuscany to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Venice, Rome, and Castile. They point to a shared tradition of dispute and resolution in both ecclesiastical/spiritual and state/secular matters, whether of private conscience or public policy. Continuity of ideals, problems, and modes of resolution suggest that breaks in legal, political, or religious ideals and behavior were not as frequent or sharp as historians have argued. These continuities emerge from common methodological approaches grounded in close, careful reading of key texts and their polyvalent terms. Whether those were the terms of civil or canon law, spirituality, or astrology, each author has had to grapple with multiple possibilities, contexts, customs, and practices that reveal the shifts and continuities in their possible meanings. -- Amazon.com.