commonly called Seventy-nine and Eighty, and that the so-called Book Eighty (of only five chapters) was but a kind of epilogue to the whole work. Whatever we may decide respecting the merits of his argument, the important fact is that here for a short distance we have Dio's original narrative, as in Books Thirty-six to Sixty, and are no longer obliged to depend upon epitomes.

A word of explanation about Xiphilinus must come next. This Xiphilinus was a native of Trapezos (Trebizond) and became a monk at Constantinople. Here, at the behest of Michael VII. Ducas (1071-1078) he made an abridgment of Books Thirty-six to Eighty of Dio; thus it is his version of the lost books Sixty-one to Eighty on which we are compelled to rely. His task was accomplished with an even greater degree of carelessness than is customary in such compositions, and it may be said that his ability or, at least, his good will is not nearly so great as that of Zonaras. Yet he is largely a pis aller for the would-be reader of Cassius Dio.

Whereas the original was divided arbitrarily into books, Xiphilinus divided his condensation into "sections," each containing the life of one emperor. Readers must further note that the present division of Books Seventy-one to Eighty dates only from Leunclavius (1592, first edition) and is not necessarily correct. Improvements in arrangement by Boissevain (latest editor of Dio entire) are indicated in the present translation, though for convenience of reference the old headlines are still retained.

Before speaking of the editions through which Dio's Roman History has passed it seems desirable to summarize briefly the condition of the whole as explained in the preceding pages. Here is a bird's-eye view of the whole situation.

EDITIONS.

A brief list of important editions of this author is appended; the order is chronological.

1. N. Leonicenus.—Italian translation of Books 35 to 60. Venice, 1533. Free, and with many errors.

2. R. Stephanus.—Greek text of Books 35 to 60. Paris, 1548. Work well done, but based on a poor MS.

3. Xylander.—Latin translation of Books 35 to 60, with a brief Latin index. Basle, 1557. This version was made from No. 2.

4. Baldelli.—Italian translation of Books 35 to 60. Venice, 1562.

5. H. Stephanus.—A second edition of No. 2 with Latin translation of No. 2 added. A few corrections have been made and the Latin index is a little fuller. Paris, 1591.

6. Leunclavius.—A second edition of No. 3, somewhat emended, and with Books 61 to 80 (Xiphilinus) added; also containing Orsini's Excerpts Concerning Embassies (in Greek and Latin), notes of Leunclavius, and a still fuller Latin index. Frankfurt, 1592.

7. Leunclavius.—Posthumous edition. Text of Dio and of Xiphilinus (the latter from Nero to Alexander Severus). Corrections of R. Stephanus in Dio proper, and of Xylander in both Dio and Xiphilinus, notes of Leunclavius on Dio, and notes of Orsini on Excerpts Concerning Embassies. Same Latin index as in No. 6. Hanover, 1606.

8. Reimar. (Important. All previous editions are taken from codex Parisinus B. Reimar, assisted by Gronovius (father and son) and by Quirinus, employed Mediceus A (the standard codex) together with Vaticanus A and Vaticanus B.) Text of Dio and Xiphilinus (Books 36 to 80), the Xylander-Leunclavius Latin version, the Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices, and fragments collected from various sources by Henri de Valois. Reimar used not only the three MSS. mentioned above, but three copies of previous editions,—one of No. 2 (with notes of Turnebus and others), one of No. 5 (with, notes of Oddey), and one of No. 7 (with notes of an unknown individual of much learning, cited by Reimar and in this edition as N). Finally he gathered all possible emendations from as many as fourteen scholars who had suggested improvements in the text. Hamburg, 1750.

9. J.A. Wagner.—German translation in five volumes. Frankfurt, 1783.

10. Penzel.—German translation with notes. Four volumes. Leipzig, 1786-1818.

11. Morellius.—Fragments of Dio, with new readings of the same. Emphasizes the importance of codex Venetus A and has some remarks on Venetus B. Published in 1793.

12. Sturz.—New edition of Dio based on No. 8, improved by a new collation of the Medicean manuscripts and with collation of the codex Turinensis, besides emendations gathered from many new sources. Eight volumes. Leipzig, 1824-5. (Volume IX in 1843, containing Mai's Excerpts Concerning Judgments.)

13. Tauchnitz text.—Stereotyped edition, four volumes, Leipzig, 1829. New impression, Leipzig, 1870-77. (Originally used as a basis for the present translation after Book Fifty: later, wholesale revisions were undertaken to make the English for the most part conform to the text of Boissevain.)

14. Tafel.—German translation, three volumes. Stuttgart, 1831-1844.

15. J. Bekker.—Dio entire. (With new collation of the old MS. containing most of Books Seventy-eight and Seventy-nine, and with many new and brilliant conjectural emendations by the editor.) Two volumes. Leipzig, 1849.

16. Gros-Boissée.—French translation together with the Greek text and copious notes. (With new collation of the Vatican, Medicean, and Venetian codices, besides use of Parisinus A and Vesontinus; manuscripts of the Fragments, especially the Tours manuscript (concerning Virtues and Vices) have been carefully gone over.) Ten volumes. Gros edited the first four; Boissée the last six. Paris, 1845-1870.

17. Dindorf.—Teubner text. Dindorf was the first to perceive the relation of the manuscripts and their respective values. He used Herwerden's new collation of the Vatican palimpsest containing Excerpts Concerning Judgments. From making fuller notes and emendations he was prevented by untimely death. Five volumes. Leipzig, 1863-1865.

18. Melber.—Teubner text, being a new recension of Dindorf, with numerous additions. To consist of five volumes. Leipzig, from 1890. The first two volumes, all that were available, have been used for this translation.

19. Boissevain.—The most modern, accurate, and artistic edition of Dio. The editor is very conservative in the matter of manuscript tradition. He personally read in Italy many of the MSS., and had the aid of numerous friends at home and abroad in collating MSS., besides the help of a few in the suggestion of new readings. In the later portion of the text he makes a new division of books, and essays also to assign the early fragments to their respective books. Three