northern shores of Africa, the culture and even the language was Greek, right down to the lower orders, of urban society especially. Even among the residents of Rome there were plenty who spoke Greek. We know, for instance, that the Roman Jews of the period, a numerous body, spoke Greek almost exclusively. In this Hellenised world, however, men no longer spoke local dialects of Greek. The world had become unified, and men spoke no more the ancient Doric, or Æolic, Ionic, or Attic, but a single Greek