Buttheloftinessofthesebuildings，whichoftenconsistedofhastyworkandinsufficientmaterials，wasthecauseoffrequentandfatalaccidents；anditwasrepeatedlyenactedbyAugustus，aswellasbyNero，thattheheightofprivateedificeswithinthewallsofRome，shouldnotexceedthemeasureofseventyfeetfromtheground。^69III。Juvenal^70laments，asitshouldseemfromhisownexperience，thehardshipsofthepoorercitizens，towhomheaddressesthesalutaryadviceofemigrating，withoutdelay，fromthesmokeofRome，sincetheymightpurchase，inthelittletownsofItaly，acheerfulcommodiousdwelling，atthesamepricewhichtheyannuallypaidforadarkandmiserablelodging。House—rentwasthereforeimmoderatelydear:therichacquired，atanenormousexpense，theground，whichtheycoveredwithpalacesandgardens；butthebodyoftheRomanpeoplewascrowdedintoanarrowspace；andthedifferentfloors，andapartments，ofthesamehouse，weredivided，asitisstillthecustomofParis，andothercities，amongseveralfamiliesofplebeians。IV。Thetotalnumberofhousesinthefourteenregionsofthecity，isaccuratelystatedinthedescriptionofRome，composedunderthereignofTheodosius，andtheyamounttoforty—eightthousandthreehundredandeighty—two。^71Thetwoclassesofdomusandofinsuloe，intowhichtheyaredivided，includeallthehabitationsofthecapital，ofeveryrankandconditionfromthemarblepalaceoftheAnicii，withanumerousestablishmentoffreedmenandslaves，totheloftyandnarrowlodging—house，wherethepoetCodrusandhiswifewerepermittedtohireawretchedgarretimmediatelyunderthefiles。Ifweadoptthesameaverage，which，undersimilarcircumstances，hasbeenfoundapplicabletoParis，^72andindifferentlyallowabouttwenty—fivepersonsforeachhouse，ofeverydegree，wemayfairlyestimatetheinhabitantsofRomeattwelvehundredthousand:anumberwhichcannotbethoughtexcessiveforthecapitalofamightyempire，thoughitexceedsthepopulousnessofthegreatestcitiesofmodernEurope。^73
[Footnote66:Lipsiustom。iii。p。423，deMagnitud。Romana，l。
iii。c。3andIsaacVossiusObservant。Var。p。26—34haveindulgedstrangedreams，offour，oreight，orfourteen，millionsinRome。Mr。Hume，Essays，vol。i。p。450—457，withadmirablegoodsenseandscepticismbetrayssomesecretdispositiontoextenuatethepopulousnessofancienttimes。]
[Footnote67:Olympiodor。ap。Phot。p。197。SeeFabricius，Bibl。
Graec。tom。ix。p。400。]