b'\nClass \nBook \n\n\n\nCOPYRfGHT DEPOSIT \n\n\n\nOUTLINES \n\n\n\nOF \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY \n\n\n\nFROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE FALL OF \nTHE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE, A.D. 476 \n\n\n\nEMBRACING THE \n\nEGYPTIANS, CHALD/EANS, ASSYRIANS \n\nBABYLONIANS, HEBREWS, PHCENICIANS, MEDES \n\nPERSIANS, GREEKS, AND ROMANS \n\n\n\nDesigned for PravATE Reading and as a Manual of Instruction \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. D \n\n\n\n^ \n\n\n\nP. V. N. MYERS, A.M. \n\n\n\nPRESIDENT OF FARMERS COLLEGE, OHIO \nAUTHOR OF "remains OF LOST EMPIRES" AND ASSOCIATE AUTHOR OF \n\n"life and nature under the tropics" \n\n\n\n25 1882 ;, \n\n\n\nNEW YORK \n\nHARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE \n\n1882 \n\n\n\nEntered according t Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by \n\nHAR R & BROTHERS, \n\n[n the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. \n\n\n\nAll riglds reserved. \n\n\n\nl!5^ \n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE. \n\n\n\nIt is a very general complaint that the Manuals of History \n\'t into the hands of students are dry and uninteresting. The \nmplaint is not unfounded. Such introductory works are too \nren mere crowded inventories of events, and so not only fail \nawakening an intelligent interest in what should be the most \n\'gaging of studies, but repel and dishearten the student. If \nis fault has been avoided, and the narrative is connected \nid interesting, still the perspective is almost sure to be false \nid misleading, and the picture of early times foreshortened \nand distorted. Usually all that lies back of Grecian annals \nis compressed into a few pages, where everything is lost \xe2\x80\x94 or \nrather brought into being \xe2\x80\x94 in a sort of creative nimbus. In- \ndeed, in several works in extensive use in our schools, that \nvast background is treated as a kind of Hyperborean region, \nbeing filled indiscriminately with all manner of myths and \nlegends, until there is no more rational connection between the \nstory thus told of the men and agencies of those early times \nand the history of later periods than exists between the double \nwritings of the palimpsest. One of our objects, then, in pre- \nparing the present volume is to join hands with those who are \nlaboring to turn that period to use in education, and give it \nthat character and prominence in the manual which it has as- \nsumed in the larger works of all our best historical scholars. \n\nMoreover, we conceive History to be a worthier thing than \na trivial record of court intrigues and genealogies. So some- \ntimes, departing from precedent, we have devoted more space \n\n\n\nIV PREFACE. \n\nto giving an account of the growing arts, sciences, literature, \nor religion of a people than to the recital of the doings of their \nrulers. The dynastic or political annals of a nation are often \nof the least possible interest and importance. We think, and \nhave acted upon the thought, that the character and work of a \nMoses, a Solon, or a Lycurgus have been far more potent ele- \nments in the formation of the complex product we call Civiliza- \ntion, and therefore more worthy of a place in our thoughts as \nstudents of a growing humanity, than the petty wars and in- \ntrigues of kings and emperors, whose only claim upon our at- \ntention is that the accidents of history have made them titled \npersonages. It is only when, through force of character or \ncircumstances, they become in fact representative men that we \nhave shown much concern respecting them or their doings. \n\nThe plan of our work combines, as will be seen, the ethnolog- \nical and chronological methods \xe2\x80\x94 the former, however, having \nbeen allowed to exert the greater influence upon the arrange- \nment. The ethnological treatment of history has been com- \npared to the tracing separately of each tributary of a great \nriver system from its source to its union with the main stream ; \nwhile the chronological or synchronistic plan has been likened \nto working down all the streams at once, by constant crossing \nand recrossing from valley to valley. A close adherence to \nthe latter gives a confused and fragmentary view of the sub- \nject; hence our preference for the former. When once upon \nan historic stream, we have followed it to its junction with the \nprincipal current, or to where some sub-tributary has joined it \nof such size and importance as to induce us to turn aside, in \norder to explore the sources and character of the new affluent. \nWe have thus been enabled to secure a continuity and sim- \nplicity of narrative which we are sure will be appreciated by \nthose who have had experience in guiding scholars amidst the \nbewildering and hopeless interlacings of synchronistically ar- \nranged text-books. \n\nThe division of the text into distinctly marked paragraphs \n\n\n\nPllEFACE. V \n\nwill be found, we think, to add very much to the value of the \nbook as a manual of instruction. Under each sub -head is \nplaced as much matter as naturally gathers there, so that, when \nany particular passage has been once carefully read, the head- \ning will afterwards recall the contents of the entire paragraph. \nWe have avoided the extensive use of foot-notes, being con- \nvinced that any matter which it is desirable to bring to the \nnotice of the student should be incorporated with the text, \nwhere it may meet the eye without the attention being drawn \nfrom the narrative. References to authorities which it was our \nfirst intention to insert in place we have been led to omit, both \non account of the growing size of the book and also because \nof the conviction that to the great majority of the readers of \nsuch a general sketch they could be of no real value; there- \nfore, in this place we wish to acknowledge, in the most ample \nmanner possible, our special and frequent indebtedness to the \nfollowing authors and works: Rawlinson\'s "Ancient Mon- \narchies;" Lenormant and Chevallier\'s " History of the East;\'* \nMilman\'s " History of the Jews ;" Wilkinson\'s " Manners and \nCustoms of the Ancient Egyptians;" Grote\'s, Thirlwall\'s, and \nSmith\'s works on Grecian history ; Arnold\'s, Mommsen\'s, Nie- \nbuhr\'s, Merivale\'s, LiddelTs, and Leighton\'s histories of Rome; \nLong\'s " Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic ;" Gibbon\'s \n" Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ;" Smith\'s " Rome \nand Carthage ;" Froude\'s " Caesar ;" Guhl and Koner\'s " Life \nof the Greeks and Romans ;" Hadley\'s " Introduction to Ro- \nman Law;" and Dunlop\'s, Cruttwell\'s, Eugene Lawrence\'s, and \nCharles Morris\'s histories and manuals of Greek and Roman \nLiterature. \n\nCollege Hill, O., July, 1882. V \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. \n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. \nIntroduction.\xe2\x80\x94 Antiquity of Man.\xe2\x80\x94 The Races of Mankind.\xe2\x80\x94 The White \nRace and its Families. \xe2\x80\x94 The Turanian Tribes. \xe2\x80\x94 The Hamitic Peo- \nples.\xe2\x80\x94 The Semitic Nations.\xe2\x80\x94 The Aryan Family. \xe2\x80\x94 Migrations of \nthe Aryans. \xe2\x80\x94 Early Culture of the Aryans. \xe2\x80\x94 Importance of Aryan \nStudies Pages i-^ \n\nCHAPTER n. \n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. \nEgypt and the Nile.\xe2\x80\x94 Inundation of the Nile.\xe2\x80\x94 Cataracts of the Nile.\xe2\x80\x94 \nClimate. \xe2\x80\x94 Dynasties and Chronology. \xe2\x80\x94 Menes, Founder of the Old \nEmpire.\xe2\x80\x94 The Pyramid Kings.\xe2\x80\x94 The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings.\xe2\x80\x94 \nAmosis, Founder of the New Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 Thothmes III.\xe2\x80\x94 Amunoph \nIir.\xe2\x80\x94 Rameses IL\xe2\x80\x94 Psammetik I.\xe2\x80\x94 Necho II.\xe2\x80\x94 The Last of the Pha- \nraohs 13-25 \n\nCHAPTER HI. \n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ARTS, AND SCIENCES OF THE ANCIENT \nEGYPTIANS. \n\nClasses of Society. \xe2\x80\x94 The Priesthood. \xe2\x80\x94 The Warrior Class. \xe2\x80\x94 Religious \nDoctrines. \xe2\x80\x94 Osiris, Isis, and Horus. \xe2\x80\x94 Typhon. \xe2\x80\x94 Animal -worship. \xe2\x80\x94 \nExplanation of Animal-worship. \xe2\x80\x94 The Sacred Bull Apis. \xe2\x80\x94 Judgment \nof the Dead. \xe2\x80\x94 Tombs. \xe2\x80\x94 The Pyramids. \xe2\x80\x94 Palaces and Temples. \xe2\x80\x94 \nSculpture : Sphinxes and Colossi. \xe2\x80\x94 Glass Manufactures. \xe2\x80\x94 The Papyrus \nPaper. \xe2\x80\x94 Forms of Writing. \xe2\x80\x94 Key to Egyptian Writing. \xe2\x80\x94 Astronomy, \nGeometry, and Arithmetic. \xe2\x80\x94 Medicine. \xe2\x80\x94 Egypt\'s Influence upon His- \ntory 26-44 \n\n\n\nVlll CONTENTS. \n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. \n\nBasin of the Tigris and the Euphrates. \xe2\x80\x94 The Three Great Monarchies.\xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Chaldaeans a Mixed People. \xe2\x80\x94 Chaldaean Dynasties : Great Kings. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Nimrod the Founder. \xe2\x80\x94 Urukh the Builder. \xe2\x80\x94 Chedorlaomer the \nConqueror. \xe2\x80\x94 Religion of the Chaldaeans. \xe2\x80\x94 Chaldaean Tower-temples. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Burial-mounds. \xe2\x80\x94 Cuneiform Writing. \xe2\x80\x94 Books and Libraries. \xe2\x80\x94 Chal- \ndaean Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Astronomy and Arithmetic. \xe2\x80\x94 Chaldaeans as Pio- \nneers in Civilization Pages 45-55 \n\nCHAPTER V. \n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. \n\nIntroduction. \xe2\x80\x94 Tiglath - Pileser I. \xe2\x80\x94 Asshur-izer-pal. \xe2\x80\x94 Shalmaneser II. \xe2\x80\x94 \nVul-Lush in. and Semiramis. \xe2\x80\x94 .Sargon. \xe2\x80\x94 Sennacherib. \xe2\x80\x94 Esarhaddon. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Asshur-bani-pal. \xe2\x80\x94 Saracus 56-63 \n\n^ CHAPTER VI. \n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, AND LITERATURE OF THE \nASSYRIANS. \n\nNature of the Assyri/n Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 Character of the Assyrians. \xe2\x80\x94 Royal \nSports. \xe2\x80\x94 The Royal Cities. \xe2\x80\x94 The Ruins of Nineveh. \xe2\x80\x94 Palace-mounds \nand Palaces. \xe2\x80\x94 Assyrian Explorations. \xe2\x80\x94 The Royal Library at Nine- \nveh. \xe2\x80\x94 The Tablets and their Contents. \xe2\x80\x94 Influence of Assyria upon \nCivilization 64-73 \n\nCHAPTER VII. \n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. \n\nThe Country and its People. \xe2\x80\x94 Babylonian Affairs from 1300 to 625 B.C. \xe2\x80\x94 \nNabopolassar. \xe2\x80\x94 Nebuchadnezzar. \xe2\x80\x94 Successors of Nebuchadnezzar. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Fall of Babylon.\xe2\x80\x94 The Great Edifices of Babylon.\xe2\x80\x94 The Temple \nof the Seven Spheres. \xe2\x80\x94 Palaces. \xe2\x80\x94 The Hanging Gardens. \xe2\x80\x94 The Walls \nof Babylon 74-86 \n\nCHAPTER VIII. \n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. \n\nImportance of Hebrew Plistory. \xe2\x80\x94 The Patriarchal Age. \xe2\x80\x94 The Hebrews in \nEgypt. \xe2\x80\x94 The Exodus. \xe2\x80\x94 Conquest of Canaan. \xe2\x80\x94 The Apportionment of \nthe Land. \xe2\x80\x94 The Judges. \xe2\x80\x94 Founding of the Hebrew Monarchy. \xe2\x80\x94 The \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. IX \n\nReign of David.\xe2\x80\x94 The Reign of Solomon.\xe2\x80\x94 The Division of the King- \ndom.\xe2\x80\x94 The Kingdom of Israel.\xe2\x80\x94 The Kingdom of Judah. \xe2\x80\x94 Hebrew \nReligion and Literature Pages 87-100 \n\nCHAPTER IX. \n\nTHE PHCENICIANS. \n\nOrigin of the Phoenicians.- Products of the Country.\xe2\x80\x94 Tyre and Sidon.\xe2\x80\x94 \n\nPhoenician Commerce.\xe2\x80\x94 Phoenician Colonies.\xe2\x80\x94 Routes of Trade.\xe2\x80\x94 Arts \n\nDisseminated by the Phoenicians. \xe2\x80\x94 Great Enterprises Aided by the \n\nPhoenicians 101-^07 \n\nCHAPTER X. \n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. \nKinship of the Medes and Persians. \xe2\x80\x94 The Medes at First the Leading \nRace.\xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Cyrus the Great.\xe2\x80\x94 Character of Cyrus. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of \nCambyses.\xe2\x80\x94 Reign of the Pseudo-Smerdis.\xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Darius.\xe2\x80\x94 Reign \nof Xerxes L \xe2\x80\x94 The Decline of the Persian Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 The Last of \nthe Persian Kings 108-119 \n\nCHAPTER XL \n\nINSTITUTIONS, RELIGION, AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT \nPERSIANS. \n\nThe Persian Government \xe2\x80\x94 Literature and Religion: Zoroastrianism.\xe2\x80\x94 \nDualism in the Persian Religion. \xe2\x80\x94 Zoroastrianism Influenced by \nMaoianism. \xe2\x80\x94 Persian Architecture.\xe2\x80\x94 Remains of the Persian Pal- \naces - . . . . 120-125 \n\nCHAPTER XXL \n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY HISTORY OF GREECE. \nDivisions of Greece.\xe2\x80\x94 Mountains.\xe2\x80\x94 Islands about Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 Other Lands \nPeopled by the Greeks.\xe2\x80\x94 Influence of Country.\xe2\x80\x94 The Pelasgians.\xe2\x80\x94 \nForeign Influence.\xe2\x80\x94 The Hellenes.\xe2\x80\x94 The Heroic Age.\xe2\x80\x94 The Heroes. \n\xe2\x80\x94The Argonautic Expedition. \xe2\x80\x94 The Trojan War. \xe2\x80\x94 Return of the \nGrecian Heroes.\xe2\x80\x94 Hellenic Migrations and Settlements. . . 126-135 \n\nCHAPTER XIII. \n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. \nClasses in the Spartan State.\xe2\x80\x94 The Lycurgean Institutions.\xe2\x80\x94 Lycurgus.\xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nX CONTENTS. \n\nThe Spartan Senate. \xe2\x80\x94 Regulations as to Land and Money. \xe2\x80\x94 The Pub- \nlic Tables. \xe2\x80\x94 Education of the Youth. \xe2\x80\x94 Estimate of the Lycurgean In- \nstitutions. \xe2\x80\x94 The Messenian Wars. \xe2\x80\x94 Power of Sparta . Pages 136-143 \n\nCHAPTER XIV. \n\nEARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS. \n\nFounding of Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 The Kings of Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 The Archons. \xe2\x80\x94 Laws of \nDraco. \xe2\x80\x94 The Rebellion of Cylon. \xe2\x80\x94 The Laws of Solon. \xe2\x80\x94 Changes in \nthe Athenian Constitution. \xe2\x80\x94 The Tribunal of the Areopagus. \xe2\x80\x94 The \nPublic Assembly. \xe2\x80\x94 The Tyrant Pisistratus. \xe2\x80\x94 Expulsion of the Tyrants \nfrom Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 Ostracism 144-149 \n\nCHAPTER XV. \n\nTHE GRiECO-PERSIAN WARS. \n\nExpeditions of Darius against Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 Battle of Marathon. \xe2\x80\x94 Results of \nthe Battle of Marathon. \xe2\x80\x94 Xerxes\' Preparations to Invade Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Hellespontine Bridges Broken. \xe2\x80\x94 Passage of the Hellespont. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Review and Census. \xe2\x80\x94 Provisioning the Persian Army. \xe2\x80\x94 Battle of \nThermopylae.\xe2\x80\x94 The Burning of Athens.\xe2\x80\x94 The Naval Battle of Sala- \nmis. \xe2\x80\x94 The Battles of Plataea and Mycale. \xe2\x80\x94 Memorials and Trophies \nof the War 150-159 \n\nCHAPTER XVI. \n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. \n\nLoyalty of Athens to the Grecian Cause. \xe2\x80\x94 Rebuilding the Walls of Athens. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Themistocles as an Envoy. \xe2\x80\x94 The Long Walls. \xe2\x80\x94 Aristides the Just. \n\xe2\x80\x94 The Confederacy of Delos. \xe2\x80\x94 Pericles and the Periclean Age. 160-169 \n\nCHAPTER XVII. \n\nTHE PELOPONNESIAN WAR: SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. \n\nCause and Beginning of the War. \xe2\x80\x94 Pestilence at Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 Progress of the \nWar.\xe2\x80\x94 The Mityleneans. \xe2\x80\x94 Close of the Peloponnesian War. \xe2\x80\x94 Spartan \nSupremacy. \xe2\x80\x94 Expedition of the Ten Thousand.\xe2\x80\x94 Decline of the Spar- \ntan State. \xe2\x80\x94 Theban Supremacy 170-177 \n\nCHAPTER XVIII. \n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY. \n\nMacedonian Rulers of Hellenic Race. \xe2\x80\x94 Philip of Macedon. \xe2\x80\x94 Battle of \nChaeronea. \xe2\x80\x94 Plan to Invade Asia. \xe2\x80\x94 Alexander the Great. \xe2\x80\x94 Alexander \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. X\\ \n\nCrosses the Hellespont.\xe2\x80\x94 The Gordian Knot.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Issus.\xe2\x80\x94 \nSiege of Tyre.\xe2\x80\x94 Alexander in Egypt.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Arbela.\xe2\x80\x94 Alexan- \nder in the Aryan Home.\xe2\x80\x94 Conquests in India.\xe2\x80\x94 Plans and Death of \nAlexander.\xe2\x80\x94 Character of Alexander Pages 178-187 \n\nCHAPTER XIX. \n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER. \nDivision of the Empire of Alexander.\xe2\x80\x94 Thrace. \xe2\x80\x94 Macedonia. \xe2\x80\x94 Syria, or \nthe Kingdom of the Seleucidae.- Kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt. \n\xe2\x80\x94Ptolemy I. Soter.\xe2\x80\x94 Ptolemy II. Philadel phus.\xe2\x80\x94 Ptolemy III. Euer- \n\ngetes Pergamus. \xe2\x80\x94 Pontus. \xe2\x80\x94 Greece.\xe2\x80\x94 Achaean and /Etolian Leagues. \n\n-Review T 1S8-196 \n\nCHAPTER XX. \n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. \nCosmography of the Greeks.\xe2\x80\x94 The Olympian Council.\xe2\x80\x94 Lesser Deities and \nMonsters.\xe2\x80\x94 Explanation of the Mythological Monsters.\xe2\x80\x94 Nature of the \nGods.\xe2\x80\x94 Modes of Divine Communication.\xe2\x80\x94 Grecian Oracles.\xe2\x80\x94 Ideas \nof the Future.\xe2\x80\x94 The Sacred Games.\xe2\x80\x94 The Olympian Games.\xe2\x80\x94 Influ- \nence of the Grecian Games.\xe2\x80\x94 The Amphictyonic Council.\xe2\x80\x94 The First \nSacred War. \xe2\x80\x94 Hospitality among the Ancient Greeks.\xe2\x80\x94 The Sup- \npliant.\xe2\x80\x94 Humanity of the Greeks .......... 197-207 \n\nCHAPTER XXL \n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. \nPelasgian Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 Orders of Architecture.- Temple of Diana at \nEphesus.\xe2\x80\x94 The Delphian Temple.\xe2\x80\x94 The Athenian Acropolis and the \nParthenon.\xe2\x80\x94 The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. \xe2\x80\x94 Progress in the \nArt of Sculpture. \xe2\x80\x94 Phidias.\xe2\x80\x94 Praxiteles.\xe2\x80\x94 Lysippus. \xe2\x80\x94 Chares and \nthe Rhodian Colossus. \xe2\x80\x94 Polygnotus.\xe2\x80\x94 Apelles. \xe2\x80\x94 Zeuxis and Par- \nrhasius 208-218 \n\nCHAPTER XXn. \n\nGREEK LITERATURE. \n\nHomer and the "Iliad."\xe2\x80\x94 Hesiod and Pindar.\xe2\x80\x94 The Greek Drama.\xe2\x80\x94 Greek \nDramatists. \xe2\x80\x94 History and Historians. \xe2\x80\x94 Herodotus.\xe2\x80\x94 Thucydides.\xe2\x80\x94 \nXenophon.\xe2\x80\x94 Oratory.\xe2\x80\x94 Influence of the Assembly.\xe2\x80\x94 Themistocles and \nPericles.\xe2\x80\x94 Demosthenes and ^schines 219-227 \n\n\n\nXU CONTENTS. \n\nCHAPTER XXIII. \n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. \n\nRelation of Mythology to Philosophy. \xe2\x80\x94 The Seven Sages. \xe2\x80\x94 Pythagoras. \xe2\x80\x94 \n^sop. \xe2\x80\x94 Socrates. \xe2\x80\x94 Plato. \xe2\x80\x94 Aristotle. \xe2\x80\x94 Zeno and the Stoics. \xe2\x80\x94 Epicu- \nrus and the Epicureans. \xe2\x80\x94 Science among the Greeks. \xe2\x80\x94 Euclid. \xe2\x80\x94 Ar- \nchimedes. \xe2\x80\x94 Strabo and Claudius Ptolemy Pages 228-238 \n\nCHAPTER XXIV. \n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. \n\nDivisions of Italy. \xe2\x80\x94 Early Inhabitants of Italy. \xe2\x80\x94 The Latins. \xe2\x80\x94 The Ram- \nnes, or Romans. \xe2\x80\x94 The Beginnings of Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 Rome\'s First Conquest. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Rome Becomes a Great City. \xe2\x80\x94 Classes of Society. \xe2\x80\x94 Early Govern- \nment : King, Senate, and Popular Assembly. \xe2\x80\x94 The Legendary Kings. \n\xe2\x80\x94 The Constitution of Servius Tullius. \xe2\x80\x94 The Expulsion of the Kings. \n\xe2\x80\x94 The Roman Religion. \xe2\x80\x94 Influence upon Political Affairs. \xe2\x80\x94 Chief \nDeities. \xe2\x80\x94 Eternal Fires of Vesta. \xe2\x80\x94 Oracles and Divination. \xe2\x80\x94 Sacred \nColleges 239-252 \n\nCHAPTER XXV. \n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC: THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. \n\nThe First Consuls. \xe2\x80\x94 First Secession of the Plebeians. \xe2\x80\x94 The Covenant and \nthe Tribunes. \xe2\x80\x94 Coriolanus. \xe2\x80\x94 Cincinnatus. \xe2\x80\x94 The Decemvirs and the \nTables of Laws. \xe2\x80\x94 Misrule and Overthrow of the Decemvirs. \xe2\x80\x94 Military \nTribunes. \xe2\x80\x94 The Censors. \xe2\x80\x94 Siege of Veii. \xe2\x80\x94 Sack of Rome by the \nGauls. \xe2\x80\x94 Rebuilding of Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 Treason and Death of Manlius. \xe2\x80\x94 \nPlebeians Admitted to the Consulship. \xe2\x80\x94 Wars for the Mastery of \nItaly. \xe2\x80\x94 The First Samnite War. \xe2\x80\x94 Revolt of the Latin Cities. \xe2\x80\x94 Sec- \nond Samnite War. \xe2\x80\x94 Third Samnite War. \xe2\x80\x94 War with Pyrrhus. 253-270 \n\nCHAPTER XXVI. \n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. \n\nThe City of Carthage. \xe2\x80\x94 The Carthaginian Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 Carthaginian Govern- \nment and Religion. \xe2\x80\x94 Rome and Carthage Compared. \xe2\x80\x94 First Punic \nWar. \xe2\x80\x94 Beginning of the Contest. \xe2\x80\x94 The Romans Build their First \nFleet. \xe2\x80\x94 The First Sea-fight. \xe2\x80\x94 Naval Battle of Ecnomus. \xe2\x80\x94 Regulus. \xe2\x80\x94 : \nLoss of a Second Roman Fleet. \xe2\x80\x94 Battle of Panormus. \xe2\x80\x94 Regulus and \nthe Carthaginian Embassy. \xe2\x80\x94 Loss of Two Roman Fleets. \xe2\x80\x94 Close of \nthe First Punic War 271-283 \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. Xlll \n\nCHAPTER XXVII. \n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. \nRome between the First and Second Punic Wars.\xe2\x80\x94 The First Roman Prov- \nince.\xe2\x80\x94 Rome Acquires Sardinia and Corsica.\xe2\x80\x94 The Illyrian Corsairs \nare Punished.\xe2\x80\x94 Carthage between the First and Second Punic Wars. \n\xe2\x80\x94The Truceless War.\xe2\x80\x94 Hamilcar in Spain.\xe2\x80\x94 Hannibal\'s Vow.\xe2\x80\x94 Han- \nnibal Attacks Saguntum.\xe2\x80\x94 The Second Punic War Begun.\xe2\x80\x94 Hanni- \nbal Begins his March. \xe2\x80\x94 Passage of the Pyrenees and the Rhone.\xe2\x80\x94 \nPassage of the Alps. \xe2\x80\x94Battles of Ticinus, Trebia, and Lake Trasi- \nmenus.\xe2\x80\x94 Hannibal\'s Policy.\xe2\x80\x94 Fabius the Delayer.\xe2\x80\x94 The Policy of Fa- \nbius Vindicated.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Cannae.\xe2\x80\x94 Events after the Battle of \nCannae.\xe2\x80\x94 The Fall of Syracuse. \xe2\x80\x94 Fall of Capua. \xe2\x80\x94 Hannibal before \nRome.\xe2\x80\x94 Hasdrubal in Spain.\xe2\x80\x94 Battle of Metaurus.\xe2\x80\x94 War in Africa.\xe2\x80\x94 \nBattleofZama.\xe2\x80\x94 Close of the War Pages 284-299 \n\nCHAPTER XXVIII. \n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. \nEvents between the Second and Third Punic Wars.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Cynos- \ncephalK.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Magnesia.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Pydna.\xe2\x80\x94 The De- \nstruction of Corinth.\xe2\x80\x94 The Fate of Hannibal and Scipio.\xe2\x80\x94 Carthage \nmust be Destroyed.\xe2\x80\x94 Roman Perfidy.\xe2\x80\x94 Carthaginians Prepare to De- \nfend their City.\xe2\x80\x94 The Destruction of Carthage.\xe2\x80\x94 War in Spain.\xe2\x80\x94 Siege \nofNumantia " 300-307 \n\nCHAPTER XXIX. \n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. \nThe Servile War in Sicily. \xe2\x80\x94 The Public Lands.\xe2\x80\x94 The Reforms of the \nGracchi.\xe2\x80\x94 The War with Jugurtha.\xe2\x80\x94 Invasion of the Cimbri and Teu- \ntones.\xe2\x80\x94 The Social or Marsic War.\xe2\x80\x94 The Civil W^ar of Marius and \nSulla. \xe2\x80\x94 The Wanderings of Marius.\xe2\x80\x94 Return of Marius to Italy.\xe2\x80\x94 \nSulla and the Mithridatic War. \xe2\x80\x94 The Proscriptions of Sulla.\xe2\x80\x94 The \nTriumph and Death of Sulla 308-325 \n\nCHAPTER XXX. \n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC {concludcd). \n\nPompey the Great in Spain.\xe2\x80\x94 Spartacus : War of the Gladiators.\xe2\x80\x94 The \n\nAbuses of Verres.\xe2\x80\x94 War with the Mediterranean Pirates. \xe2\x80\x94 Pompey \n\nand the Mithridatic War.\xe2\x80\x94 Pompey\'s Triumph.\xe2\x80\x94 The Conspiracy of \n\nCatiline. \xe2\x80\x94 Csesar, Crassus, and Pompey. \xe2\x80\x94 The First Triumvirate.\xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nXIV CONTENTS. \n\nCaesar\'s Conquests in Can] and Britain.\xe2\x80\x94 Results of the Gallic Wars. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Crassus in the East. \xe2\x80\x94 Caesar Crosses the Rubicon. \xe2\x80\x94 The Civil War \nof Ccesar and Pompey.\xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Pharsalia. \xe2\x80\x94 Close of the Civil \nWar. \xe2\x80\x94 Ccesar as a Statesman. \xe2\x80\x94 The Death of Csesar. \xe2\x80\x94 Funeral Ora- \ntion by Mark Antony. \xe2\x80\x94 The Second Triumvirate. \xe2\x80\x94 Last Struggle of \nthe Republic at Philippi. \xe2\x80\x94 The New Division of the Roman World. \xe2\x80\x94 \nAntony and Cleopatra. \xe2\x80\x94 The Battle of Actium.\xe2\x80\x94 Deaths of Antony \nand Cleopatra Pages 326-354 \n\nCHAPTER XXXI. \n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. \n\nReign of Augustus Caesar. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Tiberius. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Caligula. \xe2\x80\x94 \nReign of Claudius. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Nero. \xe2\x80\x94 Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. \xe2\x80\x94 \nReign of Vespasian.\xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Titus. \xe2\x80\x94 Domitian. \xe2\x80\x94 Last of the Twelve \nCaesars. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Nerva. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Trajan. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Hadrian. \xe2\x80\x94 \nFirst Two of the Antonines 355-37^ \n\nCHAPTER XXXH. \n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. \n\nReign of Commodus. \xe2\x80\x94 The Public Sale of the Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Septim- \nius Severus. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Caracalla. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Elagabalus. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of \nAlexander Severus. \xe2\x80\x94 The Thirty Tyrants. \xe2\x80\x94 The Fall of Palmyra. \xe2\x80\x94 \nReign of Diocletian. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Constantine the Great. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Ju- \nlian the Apostate. \xe2\x80\x94 Reign of Jovian. \xe2\x80\x94 Valentinian and Valens. \xe2\x80\x94 The \nMovements of the Barbarians. \xe2\x80\x94 The Goths Cross the Danube. \xe2\x80\x94 The- \nodosius the Great. \xe2\x80\x94 Final Division of the Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 The Eastern Em- \npire. \xe2\x80\x94 Last Days of the Empire of the West. \xe2\x80\x94 First Invasion of Italy \nby Alaric. \xe2\x80\x94 Last Triumph at Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 Last Gladiatorial Combat. \xe2\x80\x94 \nInvasion of Italy by the German Tribes. \xe2\x80\x94 The Ransom of Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 \nSack of Rome by Alaric. \xe2\x80\x94 Effects of the Disaster upon Paganism. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Death of Alaric. \xe2\x80\x94 The Barbarians Seize the W^estern Provinces. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Invasion of the Huns. \xe2\x80\x94 Battle of Chalons. \xe2\x80\x94 The Death of Attila. \xe2\x80\x94 \nSack of Rome by the Vandals. \xe2\x80\x94 Fall of the Roman Empire of the \nWest 379-411 \n\nCHAPTER XXXni. \n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. \n\nIntroductory. \xe2\x80\x94 Greek Origin of Roman Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 Roman Temples. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Circus. \xe2\x80\x94 The Games of the Circus. \xe2\x80\x94 Theatres. \xe2\x80\x94 The Amphithea- \ntre.\xe2\x80\x94 The Shows of the Amphitheatre. \xe2\x80\x94 The Gladiatorial Combats. \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. XV \n\nSuppression of the Gladiatorial Shows. \xe2\x80\x94 Military Roads. \xe2\x80\x94 Aque- \nducts. \xe2\x80\x94 Thermae, or Baths. \xe2\x80\x94 Palaces and Villas. \xe2\x80\x94 Triumphal Col- \numns and Arches. \xe2\x80\x94 The Roman Triumph. \xe2\x80\x94 Sepulchral Monu- \nments Pages 412-434 \n\nCHAPTER XXXIV. \n\nLATIN LITERATURE. \nLiterature among the Romans. \xe2\x80\x94 The Period of Literary Activity. \xe2\x80\x94 Greek \nLearning and Latin Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Epochs and their Writers. \xe2\x80\x94 Lays and \nBallads of the Legendary Age. \xe2\x80\x94 The Roman Dramatists. \xe2\x80\x94 Poets of \nthe Republic. \xe2\x80\x94 Poets of the Augustan Age. \xe2\x80\x94 Satire and Satirists. \xe2\x80\x94 \nOratory among the Romans. \xe2\x80\x94 Latin Historians. \xe2\x80\x94 Science, Ethics, and \nPhilosophy. \xe2\x80\x94 Writers of the Early Latin Church. \xe2\x80\x94 Roman Law and \nLaw Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Close of Latin Literature 435~47i \n\nINDEX 473 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. \n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. \n\nIntroduction. \xe2\x80\x94 History is a narrative of events so told as to \nshow the origin and growth of customs and manners, of arts \nand sciences, of government and religion, among men. For \nconvenience, History is divided into three periods \xe2\x80\x94 Ancient, \nMediaeval, and Modern. Ancient History begins with the first \nappearance of man upon the earth, and extends to the fall of \nthe Western Roman Empire, a.d. 476. Mediaeval History em- \nbraces the period, about one thousand years in length, lying \nbetween the fall of Rome and the discovery of the New World \nby Columbus, a.d. 1492. Modern History commences with \nthe close of the Mediaeval period and extends to the present \nlime. \n\nAntiquity of Man. \xe2\x80\x94 We do not know when man first came \ninto possession of the earth. His antiquity, like the age of \nthe planet he inhabits, is shrouded in obscurity. But as the \nscience of geology has taught us that\' the earth is very old, \nmuch older than we once thought, so different sciences are \ntelling us that man has been upon the earth a much longer \ntime than we had inferred from a wrong interpretation of the \nfirst chapters of Genesis. Yet we can set no definite date to \nhis first appearance. We only know that when the historic \ncurtain first rises, about 3000 B.C., vast migratory movements. \n\n\n\n2 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nmanifestly begun long before that date, are going on among \nthe families and tribes of the different races of mankind; and \nthat in some favored regions, as in the Valley of the Nile, are \nnations and civilizations already venerable with age, and pos- \nsessing arts, governments, and institutions that bear evidence \nof slow growth through very long periods of prehistoric times. \n\nThe Races of Mankind. \xe2\x80\x94 Distinctions in form, color, and \nphysiognomy divide the human species into four great types, or \nraces, known as the Black (Ethiopian), the Red (American), \nthe Yellow (Mongolian), and the White (Caucasian). These \nraces subdivide themselves into families; and these, again, into \nnations, tribes, and clans. As to which of these great races is \nthe oldest, or the original type, we have no positive knowledge; \nhowever, many testimonies \xe2\x80\x94 ethnological, linguistic, and his- \ntorical \xe2\x80\x94 concur in leading us to assume that they all stand in \nthe relation of children to an original mother-type that is lost. \n\nWe must not suppose these four types to be sharply marked \noff each from all the others: they shade into one another by \ninsensible gradations. Thus, passing from the temperate re- \ngions of Northern Africa to the tropical countries of the in- \nterior of that continent, we find the different tribes encountered \nexhibiting a "chromatic scale" that embraces all the shades of \ncolor, from the slightly bronzed Caucasian to the jet-black ne- \ngro. Yet we know that those race characteristics to which \nwe have referred, though capable of being greatly modified by \nclimate and the varying conditions of life, are very persistent. \nThere has been no perceptible change in the great types dur- \ning historic times. The paintings upon the oldest Egyptian \nmonuments show us that at the dawn of history, about five \nthousand years ago, the principal races were as distinctly \nmarked as now, each bearing its racial badge of color and \nphysiognomy. As early as the times of Jeremiah, the perma- \nnency of physical characteristics had passed into the proverb, \n"Can the Ethiopian change his skin?" \n\n\n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. 3 \n\nOn account of this persistent character of form, complexion, \nand physiognomy, these physical distinctions form a better \nbasis of classification than language ; for migrations and con- \nquests often result in a people\'s giving up their own and adopt- \ning a foreign tongue, while at the same time retaining all their \nphysical peculiarities. To efface these requires a great lapse of \ntime. Thus the Jews have in general adopted the languages of \nthe different peoples among whom they have found a home ; but \nthe Hebrew physiognomy is as marked to-day as it was three \nthousand years ago. Still we must not forget that any classifi- \ncation which we may make, ethnic or linguistic, is rather con- \nvenient than absolutely accurate. \n\nThe White Race and its Families. \xe2\x80\x94 The White race exhibits \nthe most perfect type, physically, intellectually, and morally, of \nall the varieties of mankind. It is the race with which we shall be \nalmost exclusively concerned, as the first three races \xe2\x80\x94 the Black, \nthe Red, and the Yellow \xe2\x80\x94 have scarcely assumed any part in the \ndrama of history. Possessing richer mental and spiritual en- \ndowments than the other races, and animated, in most of its \nbranches, with a wonderful energy, the migrations and con- \nquests of its different peoples, and the achievements of its vari- \nous families in the fields of science, art, literature, philosophy, \nand religion, fill most of the pages of the historian, and render \ninstructive the story he has to tell. \n\nThis type subdivides itself into four great families\xe2\x80\x94 the Tu- \nranian, the Hamitic, the Semitic, and the Aryan, or Indo-Euro- \npean (formerly called Japhetic). Each of these branches in- \ncludes a large number of nations and tribes. In intellectual \nand spiritual gifts, these families rank inversely as named above. \nThe Turanians have never evinced any aptitude for the arts \nand sciences, or love for the higher walks of culture; while the \nlast three, in the order mentioned, have been successively the \nstandard-bearers of the constantly advancing culture and civil- \nization of the world. \n\n\n\n4 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Turanian Tribes.\xe2\x80\x94 The Turanian family includes many : \nand widely separated nations and tribes, which occupy a great \npart of Northern and Central Asia and large regions in Europe, i \nAmong its chief peoples may be enumerated the Turks, Huns, j \nHungarians, Tartars, Avars, Esthonians, Finns, Lapps, Iberi- \\ \nans, and Basques. In the remotest times the peoples of this race \' \nhad spread themselves over all Europe and Asia. They were : \nthe first intruders upon these virgin continents, save in some \' \nquarters, as in India, where they seem to have encountered a : \nstill earlier negro population. Whence they came, or at how \' \nearly a period they took possession of the continents, we can- I \nnot say; we are only certain that when, between 2000 and j \n3000 B.C., the Semites and Aryans left their overcrowded ! \nhomes in Central Asia, and v;ent out in search of new abodes, * \neverywhere they went, in India, in Persia, in Mesopotamia, in \nAsia Minor, and in Europe, they found tribes of this family al-, i \nready in possession of the soil. \n\nThese aboriginal inhabitants were either exterminated or ab- : \nsorbed by the new-comers. In Europe, however, two small ; \nareas of this primitive population escaped the common fate \xe2\x80\x94 \' \nthe Basques sheltered among the Pyrenees, and the Finns and, \'\xe2\x96\xa0 \nLapps in the far North. (Some consider the Etrurians in \' \nItaly as another remnant of the same race.) These little \\ \npatches of primitive population have been likened to islands \'. \nrising above the waters of a destructive inundation. The Hun- \\ \ngarians and Turks are Turanian peoples that have thrust them- \nselves into Europe during historic times. \n\nThe rude stone implements found in the caves and river- \' \ngravels of Western Europe ; the shell -mounds, or kitchen-, \nmiddens, upon the shores of the Baltic ; and the Swiss lake- ; \nhabitations, are supposed to be relics of this prehistoric race. | \n\nThe Hamitic Peoples. \xe2\x80\x94 The Hamites are called the pioneers i \nin art, science, and government. They embraced the earliest | \ncommunities that emerged from barbarism \xe2\x80\x94 the Cushites, or ! \n\n\n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. 5 \n\nEthiopians, the Egyptians, the early Chaldasans, and the Ca- \nnaanites. AVe shall see hereafter in how great a degree the \nSemites and Aryans were indebted to this race for the germs \nof their learning and culture. \n\nAs in the case of the Turanians, we are without any positive \nknowledge respecting the original seats of the Hamites and \ntheir prehistoric migrations. In the very first dawn of historic \ntime, we discover the chief peoples of this race already in place : \nthe Egyptians are settled in the Valley of the Nile, the Cush- \niies in Ethiopia and Southern Arabia, and the Chaldaeans \nare building great cities in the lowlands of the Tigris and the \nEuphrates. Some think that in the dim historic twilight the \nancestors of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians (earlier) may \nbe descried moving from the shores of the Persian Gulf across \nthe MesojDOtamian plains, towards the hill country of Palestine. \n\nThe Semitic Nations, \xe2\x80\x94 The Semitic family includes among \nits chief peoples the ancient Assyrians, the Babylonians, the \nHebrews, the later Phoenicians, and the Arabians. Many tes- \ntimonies point to the hill country (Armenia) bordering the \nValley of the Tigris and the Euphrates on the north, as the \noriginal abode of this family. From that region its clans and \ntribes pushed southward, and in time distributed themselves \nover the greater part of Southwestern Asia. \n\nIn the upper portion of the Tigro-Euphrates Valley, they es- \ntablished the great Assyrian Empire, which for many centuries \nheld proud sway over all the peoples between the hills of \nPersia and the Mediterranean. In the lowland country of the \nsame river-basin, they mingled with the Hamites, already in \npossession of the soil, and formed the mixed people of the later \nBabylonian Empire. The evidence of language and other testi- \nmonies also lead some to believe that other portions of the same \nrace penetrated into Egypt in the most remote times, and blend- \ned their blood and culture with the Hamitic people of the Nile \nValley. \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nWe possess more definite knowledge of the movements of , \nanother branch of this family. About 2000 B.C., differences in . \nreligious belief led a Semitic tribe, called the Abrahamic, tO| \nseparate itself fi-om kindred clans then dwelling near the head \' \nof the Persian Gulf, and go out in search of new abodes. Their j \npatriarch Abraham, who was inspired with a lofty faith in the God \nwhom he served, led this little company across the Mesopota- \\ \nmian plains, and up into the country now called Palestine. I\'he | \nlittle band became in time strong enough to drive out or ex- j \nterminate the Canaanitish (Hamitic) inhabitants of the land, > \nand grew into the great Hebrew nation, which was destined; \nto exert a moulding influence upon the religion and civiliz.\'aion \xe2\x96\xa0 \nof the world. j \n\nIt was not until the beginning of the Mediaeval period thatij \nthe Arabian tribes assumed any important part in the trans- \nactions of history. Then, under the name of Saracens, and as ; \nteachers of a new faith, called from its founder Mohammedan-- \nism, they issued from the deserts of the Arabian peninsula, and ; \nswiftly spread their authority and religion over all the countries! \nof Western Asia and large parts of Africa. j \n\nThe varied movements of the Semites, their displacement of J \nthe Hamites, and their comminglings with these earlier peoples, \nrender it extremely difficult to classify the nations that arose in ; \nthe regions where these two families, or races, touched and over-j \nlapped each other. Especially is this true in the case of the ^ \nEgyptians, the Phoenicians, and the Chaldaeans. By some, all j \nthese peoples have been declared to be Semitic ; while others \nhave called them all Hamitic. From the evidence we now\' \npossess, we must think of the original settlers of Egypt, Chaldsea, | \nand probably Phoenicia, as Hamites, who were afterwards Semit- ; \nized by the different Semitic peoples with whom they came in : \ncontact and blended. ] \n\nThe Aryan Family. \xe2\x80\x94 The Aryan, or Indo-European, though j \nprobably the youngest, is the most widely scattered family of ] \n\n\n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. 7 \n\nthe White race. It includes among its members the ancient \nHindus, the Medes and Persians, the classic Greeks and Ro- \nmans, and the modern descendants of all these nations; also \nthe Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic peoples of Europe, and their \ncolonists that have peopled the New World, and taken posses- \nsion of other parts of the earth. This is the family to which \nwe ourselves belong. \n\nMigrations of the Aryans.\xe2\x80\x94 The original seats of the Aryan \npeoples were the highlands of Central Asia, east of the Caspian \nSea and north of the Hindu Kush Mountains. This upland \ncountry, now for the most part arid and uninviting, was in re- \nmote times a delightful region that drew forth unbounded \npraise from the early Aryan poets. Gradual changes in the \nclimate, which rendered the country inhospitable, pressure of \npopulation, and religious disputes and wars caused the Ar3^an \nhousehold, at a period that cannot be placed later than 3000 \nB.C., to begin to break up and scatter, and the different clans \nand tribes to set out in search of new dwelling-places. \n\nOne branch of the f:imily, called the Indo-Iranic, the ances- \ntors of the Hindus and the Persians, turning from the primitive \nhome, moved southward, and, for a long time after separation \nfrom the other members of the household, lived together as one \nfamily, united in a single fiiith and worship. But difference in \nreligious belief arising, caused, it is supposed, by the teachings \nof the great prophet Zoroaster, the company was divided into two \nbands, which parted abruptly the one from the other. One of \nthese, holding on their way to the south, climbed the snowy passes \nof the Hindu Kush, which lay in their path, and, descending \nupon the plains beyond, drove out the Turanian tribes they \nfound occupying the land, and became the ancestors of the \nHindus. The other company turned to the southwest, and, \nspreading themselves over the table-lands of Iran, became the \nprogenitors of the Medes and Persians. \n\nAbout the time of these migrations to the south and south- \n\n\n\n8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwest, other clans set their faces towards Europe. The journey of \nthese families was long and eventful. The stream of migration \nthat set in this direction was divided into two branches. One \ndivision skirted the southern shore of the Euxine, and, enter- \ning Europe by the way of the Hellespont or over the thickly \nstrewn islands of the ^gean, pushed themselves into the \npeninsulas of Greece and Italy, and founded the Greek and \nRoman nations. \n\nThe second division passed to the north of the Black Sea, \nand, crossing the rivers that lay in their path, poured into Cen- \ntral Europe. The vanguard of these tribes are known as the \nCelts. After them came the Germanic tribes, who crowded \nthe former out on the westernmost edge of Europe \xe2\x80\x94 up into the \ncorners of France and out upon the British Isles. These \nhard-pressed Celts are represented to-day by the Welsh, the \nIrish, and the Highland Scots. Behind the Germanic peoples \nwere the Slavonic folk, who pushed the former hard against \nthe Celts, and, when they could urge them no farther to the \nwest, finally settled down and became the ancestors of the Rus- \nsians, Bohemians, Poles, Servians, and other kindred nations. \n\nAlthough these migratory movements of the various clans \nand tribes of this wonderful Aryan family commenced in the \nearly morning of history, some five thousand years ago, still we \nmust not think of them as something past and unrelated to the \npresent. These movements, begun in those remote times, are \nstill going on. The overflow of the population of Europe into \nthe different regions of the New World is simply a continuance \nof the outpourings of the primitive Aryan household into the \nsurrounding countries. \n\nEverywhere the other races liave given way before the ad- \nvance of the Aryan peoples, or have been absorbed by them. \nHaving possessed themselves of the riches of the Hamitic and \nSemitic civilizations \xe2\x80\x94 having made their own the wisdom of \nthe Egyptians, the arts of the Assyrians, the religion of the He- \nbrews \xe2\x80\x94 they have assumed the position of teachers among the \n\n\n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. 9 \n\nfamilies of mankind, and are rapidly spreading their arts and \nsciences and culture over the earth. \n\nEarly Culture of the Aryans. \xe2\x80\x94 One of the most fascinating \nstudies of recent growth is that which reveals to us the customs \nand beliefs of the early Aryan peoples while their ancestors \nwere yet living together as a single household in Central Asia. \nUpon comparing the myths, legends, ballads, and nursery tales \nof the different Aryan peoples, we discover the curious fact that, \nunder various disguises, they are the same. Jack the Giant- \nkiller with his seven-league boots is identical with Mercury \nwith his winged sandals. William Tell with his unerring aim \nis the archer-god Apollo with his " twanging bow." And many \nof our nursery tales are found to be identical with those with \nwhich the Hindu children are amused. But the discovery \nshould not surprise us. We and the Hindus are kinsmen, \nchildren of the same home ; so now, when after a long sepa- \nration we meet, the tales we tell are the same, for they are the \nstories that were told around the common hearth-fire of our \nAryan forefathers. \n\nAnd when we compare certain words in different Aryan \nlanguages, we often find them alike in form and meaning; \nhence we infer that these words were used in the primitive \nhousehold. Such words, preserved in the strata of language, \nare to the philologist what fossils, buried in the strata of the \nearth, are to the geologist. Each has a story to tell. Thus \ntake our word daughter. This occurs with little change of \nform in several of the Aryan tongues (Sanscrit, or old Hindu, \nduhitor; Zend, or old Persian, dughdhor; Teutonic, or German, \ndughtor). Now, in Sanscrit, which language has preserved most \nunchanged the ancient Aryan speech, this word means a milk- \nmaid. Here, then, we have two facts : that the cow or goat \nhad been domesticated by our ancestors before they left Cen- \ntral Asia ; and that the girls of the family tended and milked \nthe herds. \n\n\n\nlO ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nOur knowledge of the prehistoric culture of the Aryans, thus \ngained by the science of comparative philology and mythology, \nmay be summed up as follows : They possessed a simple mono- \ntheistic faith, or belief in a Supreme Being, whom they called \nthe Heaven-Father (Dyaus-Pitar). They htid advanced beyond \nthe nomadic state \xe2\x80\x94 were farmers and herdsmen, and dwelt in \ntowns defended by walls. "Their wealth was reckoned in \ncows, and cows were the circulating medium, with sheep and \npigs for small change." They introduced these animals, as \nwell as the horse, goat, and dog, into Europe. (The Turanian \npeople whom they displaced had no domestic animals.) They \nkept bees and got intoxicated upon a beverage made from the \nhoney. " Their wheat was cut with the sickle, threshed and \nwinnowed, and carried to mill in wagons fitted with wheels and \naxletrees. The blacksmith\'s work, with hammer and anvil and \nforge and bellows, was also carried on. Sewing and spinning \nwere feminine occupations, and garments were woven out of \nsheep\'s wool. The art of tanning was also practised, and leather \nshoes were worn" (Fiske). \n\nThey were fair builders, and navigated the rivers and inland \nseas of their regions with canoes or skiffs. They rode in wag- \nons, but did not ride horseback. They were versed in the art \nof war, and had made beginnings in astronomy and mathemat- \nics. The father was head of the family, in which the wife held \nan honored position. The children were given names express- \nive of love and endearment. The families were united to form \nvillage-communities, ruled by a chief, or patriarch, who was as- \nsisted by a council of seven. These village-communities again \nunited to form clans or tribes, at the head of which was a king, \nor feudal lord, chosen from among the patriarchs. This " peo- \nple\'s father " was consecrated to his office by being seated on \na stone, a custom still preserved in the coronation of the sov- \nereigns of England.* From the decision of the king, who was \n\n\n\n* The early Scottish monaichs were crowned at Scone on the Tay. The > \n\ni \n\n\n\nTHE RACES AND THEIR EARLY MIGRATIONS. II \n\nalso judge of his people, an appeal could be made, by the or- \ndeal of fire and water, to the judgment of Heaven. \n\nImportance of Aryan Studies. \xe2\x80\x94 This picture of life in the \nearly Aryan home, the elements of which are gathered in so \nnovel a way, is of the very greatest historical value and interest. \nIn these customs and beliefs of the early Aryans, we discover \nthe germs of many of the institutions of modern European na- \ntions. Thus, in the honored position assigned the wife in the \nAryan household are prefigured the institutions of European \nchivalry; and in the council of seven around the village patri- \narch, political historians trace the beginnings of the Parliament \nof England. \n\nJust as the teachings of the parental roof mould the life and \ncharacter of the children that go out from under its discipline, \nso have the influences of that early Aryan home shaped the \nhabits, institutions, and character of those peoples and families \nthat, as its children, went out to establish new homes in their \n"appointed habitations." \n\ncoronation ceremony was performed by seating the king upon a stone. \nEdward I., having conquered the Scots, carried the sacred stone to Eng- \nland, and it now forms the seat of the coronation-chair in Westminster \nAbbey. \n\nNote to Table on page 12. \nThe peoples of modern Germany are the descendants of various Teu- \ntonic tribes. The Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes represent the Scandina- \nvian branch of the Germanic family. The Irish, the Welsh, and the Scotch \nHighlanders are the representatives of the ancient Celts. The French, \nSpaniards, Portuguese, and Italians have sprung from a blending of the \nCelts, the ancient Romans, and the Germanic tribes that thrust themselves \nwithin the limits of the Western Roman Empire. The English are the \ndescendants of the Angles and Saxons, slightly modified by contact and \ninterminglings with the Celts, Danes, and Normans. \n\n\\ \n\n\n\n12 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nYellow (Mongolian).. \n\n\n\nTuranian or Scyth- \nian \n\n\n\nllamitic. \n\n\n\nSemitic \n\n\n\nRACES OF MANKIND, WITH CHIEF FAMILIES AND TRIBES. \n\n\xe2\x96\xa0Di 1 /TVT \\ i Tribes of Central and Southern Africa, the Papu- \n\nBlack (Negro) | ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Australians. \n\nf The Indian tribes of North and South America. \n\nRed (American) -i (Many ethnologists reckon this group as a sub- \n\n[ division of the following Mongolian race). \n[ The chief peoples of this race are the Chinese, \nJapanese, Burmese, Siamese, Tibetans, Mongol \nTartars, and the Malays (often classified as a \ndistinct race). \n\nTurks, \n\nTartars, \n\nHuns, \n\nHungarians, \n\nAvars, \n\nFinns, \n\nLapps, \n\nBasques, \n\nIberians. \n\nCanaanites, \n\nChaldaeans (earlier), \n\nCushites, \n\nEgyptians. \n\nArabians, \n\nAssyrians, \n\nHebrews, \n\nBabylonians (later), \n\nPhoenicians (later). \n\nBactrians, \n\nHindus, \n\nPersians, \n\nMedes, \n\nGreeks, \n\nRomans, ^ ^^^ \n\nC^J^^^ i Britons. \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Goths, \nFranks, \nHeruli, \nBavarians, \nBatavians, \nBurgundians, \nAlemanni, \nVandals, \nLombards, \nAngles, \nSaxons, \nScandinavians. \nRussians, \nServians, \nMontenegrins, \nPoles, \nBohemians, \nDalmatians. \n\n\n\nWhite (Caucasian) .... \n\n\n\nAryan or Indo- \nEuropean \n\n\n\nGermanic or \nTeutonic . \n\n\n\nSlavonian \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. I3 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. \n(From unknown antiquity to 525 B.C.) \n\nEgypt and the Nile. \xe2\x80\x94 The ancient writers, who often put much \nmeaning in a phrase, called Egypt "the gift of the Nile." Be- \nfore historic times, what is now the Great Sahara was covered \nby the waters of the Atlantic. Geologic changes at last lifted \nthe rocky sea-floor \xe2\x80\x94 covered, for the most part, with a heavy \nmantle of sand \xe2\x80\x94 and it became the Libyan Desert. The Nile \nthen flowed through a long, narrow, hill-bordered valley to the \nMediterranean. At each annual rise of the river, caused by \nthe tropical summer rains among the Abyssinian mountains, a \nthin layer of sediment was deposited over the narrow strip of \nsubmerged land along either bank of the stream.* Not until \nfrom forty to seventy feet of sediment had been laid down upon \nthe limestone floor of the valley did it become the seat of that \nwonderful civilization whose monuments have come down to \nus ; although from fragments of pottery found in the very low- \nest strata of the river sediment, we know the valley to have \nbeen occupied many ages before that time by a ruder people. \n\nBesides covering with a deep soil the bottom of its narrow \nvalley, the Nile has also built up at its mouth a great delta, \nthrough which it now seeks the sea by several different chan- \nnels. This delta country was known to the ancients as Lower \n\n*The valley has a varying breadth of from two to eleven miles. The rate \nof the fluviatile deposit is from three to five inches in a century. The coun- \ntry at Thebes, as shown by the accumulations about the monuments, has been \nraised seven feet during the last seventeen hundred years. \n\n\n\n14 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nEgypt ; while the valley proper, reaching from the head of the \ndelta to the First Cataract, a distance of six hundred miles, \nwas called Upper Egypt. \n\nInundation of the Nile. \xe2\x80\x94 Through the same means by which \nEgypt was originally created is the land each year still re- \nnewed and fertilized. The Nile begins to rise in its lower \nparts late in June, and by the end of September, when the in- \nundation has attained its greatest height, the country presents \nthe appearance of an inland sea, with the villages of the na- \ntives, which are built upon artificial hills or protected by dikes, \nrising like little islands above the water. By the end of No- \nvember the river has returned to its bed ; and the fields, over \nwhich has been spread a film of rich earth, are left black, reek- \ning morasses. \n\nUpon this soft, yielding surface, even while still covered in \nplaces with pools of water, the grain is sown, and sometimes \nsimply trampled in by flocks of sheep or goats. In a few weeks \nthe entire land, so recently a flooded plain, is overspread with \na sea of verdure, which forms a striking contrast with the desert \nsands and barren hills that rim the valley. \n\nClimate. \xe2\x80\x94 In Lower Egypt, near the sea, the rainfall in the \nwinter is abundant j but the climate of Upper Egypt is all but \nrainless, only a few slight showers falling throughout the year. \nThis dryness of the Egyptian air is what has preserved through \nso many thousands of years, in such wonderful freshness of \ncolor and with such sharpness of outline, the numerous paint- \nings and sculptures of the palaces and tombs of the Pharaohs. \n\nThe southern line of Egypt only just touches the tropics; \nstill the climate, influenced by the wide and hot deserts that \nhem the valley, is semi-tropical in character. The fruits of the \ntropics and the cereals of the temperate zone grow luxuriantly. \nThus favored in climate as well as in matter of irrigation, \nEgypt became in early times the granary of the East. To it \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. 1 5 \n\nless favored countries, when stricken by famine \xe2\x80\x94 a calamity so \ncommon in the East in regions dependent upon the rainfall \xe2\x80\x94 \nlooked for food, as did the families of Israel during drought \nand failure of crops in Palestine. \n\nCataracts of the Nile. \xe2\x80\x94 About seven hundred miles from the \nMediterranean a low ledge of rocks, stretching across the Nile, \nforms the first obstruction to navigation in passing up the river. \nThe rapids found at this point are termed the First Cataract. \nSix other cataracts occur in the next seven hundred miles of \nthe river\'s course. The sacred islands of Elephantine and \nPhilas lie, the former just below, and the latter just above, the \nFirst Cataract. One hundred miles below Elephantine, the \nlimestone hills recede from the river in such a way as to form \nan amphitheatral plain about twelve miles across. This region \nis called the Thebaid, and is now filled with the ruins of " hun- \ndred-gated Thebes." \n\nSouth of the First Cataract lay Ethiopia, a land of very shad- \nowy boundaries. The northern part of the region was debat- \nable ground between the Ethiopians and the Egyptians ; yet \nduring the best days of the Pharaohs they extended their au- \nthority permanently far beyond the first rapids, as is attested \nby the ruins that line the banks of the Upper Nile \xe2\x80\x94 the desig- \nnation given the river above the First Cataract. \n\nDynasties and Chronology. \xe2\x80\x94 The kings, or Pharaohs, that \nreigned in Egypt from the earliest times till the conquest of \nthe country by Alexander {;^^^ B.C.), are grouped into thirty- \none dynasties. Thirty of these we find in the lists of Manetho, \nan Egyptian priest who lived in the third century B.C., and who \nwrote a history of Egypt, compiled from the manuscripts kept \nin the archives of the Egyptian temples. Unfortunately, all of \nthis work is lost save mere fragments. One of these contains \nthe lists referred to. In connection with each dynasty Manetho \ngives the length of the reign of the family, and usually the names \nof the kings. \n\n\n\n1 6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nWe cannot assign a positive date to the beginning of the \nfirst dynasty ; for Egyptologists are at a loss to know whether \nto consider the dynasties of Manetho\'s list as all successive or \nin part contemporaneous. Thus, it is held by some scholars \nthat several of these families were reigning at the same time \nin This, Elephantine, Thebes, Memphis, Tanis, and Sais \xe2\x80\x94 the \ndifferent capitals of Upper and Lower Egypt; while others \nthink that they all reigned at different epochs, and that the sum \nof the lengths of the several dynasties gives us the true date \nof the beginning of the era of Menes. Accordingly, Mariette \nand Lenormant place the beginning of the first dynasty at 5004 \nB.C., and others still earlier,"^ while Poole and Wilkinson put it \nat about 2700 B.C. The constantly growing evidence of the \nmonuments is in favor of the higher figures.! \n\nAs in journeying up the Nile the traveller passes without de- \nlay the long, monotonous reaches of the river, and only stops \nwhen his attention is arrested by a group of famous pyramids \nor the ruins of some celebrated temple, so shall we pass with- \nout notice the long, uneventful periods in these thirty-one dynas- \nties, and only stop when we reach some great name, some \nimportant conquest, or some significant event. These shall be \nour landmarks along this great dynastic stream, which flows \nthrough more than half the historic centuries of the world. \n\nMenes, Founder of the Old Empire.\xe2\x80\x94 Menes is the first kingly \npersonage, shadowy and indistinct in form, that we discover in \n\n* A comparison of authorities will be interesting. Bockh gives as the date \nof Menes 5702 ; linger, 5613 ; Brugsch, 4455 ; Lauth, 4157 ; Lepsius, 3852 ; \nBunsen, 3623\xe2\x80\x94 later 3059 ; Poole, 2717 ; Wilkinson, 2691. \n\nt "The scholars who have attempted to compress the dates given by Man- \netho have never yet been able to produce one single monument to prove \nthat two dynasties named in his lists as successive were contemporar)\'. On \nthe contrary, there are abundant proofs, collected by very many Egyptologers, \nto convince us that all the royal races enumerated by the Sebennytic priest \noccupied the throne in succession."\xe2\x80\x94 Mariette. \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. 1 7 \n\nthe first dawn of Egyptian histoiy. This king holds the same \nrelation to the beginnings of political life and organized society \nin the Valley of the Nile that Nimrod sustains to these same \nmatters in the Valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. Tradition \nmakes him the founder of Memphis, near the head of the Delta, \nthe site of which capital he secured against the inundations of \nthe Nile by vast dikes and various engineering works. To \nhim is ascribed the achievement of first consolidating the nu- \nmerous petty principalities of Lower Egypt into a single state, \nknown as the Old Empire, \\vhich existed with varying fortunes \nfor at least a thousand years. \n\nThe Pyramid Kings (about 2400 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 The kings of the \nFourth Dynasty, who reigned at Memphis, are called the Pyra- \nmid-builders. "With them the real history of Egypt begins." \nTradition and the monuments here unite their testimony. \nSuphis (Khufu) I., the Cheops of the Greeks, was the first great \nbuilder. To him we can now positively ascribe the building \nof the Great Pyramid, the largest of the Gizeh group ; for his \nname has been found upon some of the stones, \xe2\x80\x94 painted on \nthem by his workmen before the blocks were taken from the \nquarries. \n\nOthers of this famous group of pyramids were raised by Sha- \nfra and Menkara, successors of Cheops. To some king of this \nfamily is also ascribed the sculpture of the Sphinx at the foot \nof the Great Pyramid. The most astonishing feature of the \nmonuments of these early Pharaohs is the remarkable perfec- \ntion of the sciences and arts exhibited in their construction. A \ncompetent judge declares that they have never been surpassed. \n\nThese mountains of stone heaped together by the Pyramid \nkings are proof that they were cruel oppressors of their people, \nand burdened them with useless labor upon these monuments \nof their ambition. Tradition tells how the very memory of \nthese monarchs was hated by the people. The statues of Shafra, \nthe builder of the second pyramid of the Gizeh group, have \n\n2* \n\n\n\nl8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbeen discovered, broken into small pieces, at the bottom of a \nwell near the Sphinx, into which the enraged people had thrown \nthem during a political revolution soon after his death. \n\nThe Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings (from about 2100 to 1650 \nB c.*). \xe2\x80\x94 While the kings of the old Memphian Empire were \nruling in Lower Egypt, and building the Great Pyramids, an- \nother monarchy was growing up at Thebes, which gradually \npushed its authority towards the Delta. Other states also \nsprang up, and the little country of Egypt was divided into \nnot less than five petty principalities, and thus prevented from \nusing its undivided strength to repel invasion. \n\nSuch united effort was needed ; for just at this time the \nnomadic tribes of Syria, probably headed by the Hittites, being \nhard-pushed by the growing empires of the Tigro-Euphrates Val- \nley, crossed the eastern frontiers of Egypt, took possession of \nthe inviting pasture-lands of the Delta, and established there \nthe Empire of the Shepherd Kings. These rulers gradually \nextended their authority up the Nile, and the Theban kings \nwere forced to seek refuge in Ethiopia \xe2\x80\x94 a country, as we have \nalready seen, lying astride the Upper Nile. \n\nThese Asiatic intruders, "Tartars of the South," as they have \nbeen called, were rude and barbarous, and destroyed or muti- \nlated the monuments of the conquered Egypdans. Not a single \ntemple was spared. For about four hundred years (some say \ntwo hundred) these foreigners held sway in the valley, and \nthis period is almost a blank in the records and monuments of \nthe country. It constitutes what has been called the " Middle \nAges " of Egyptian history. \n\n* These figures are those of Lenormant. But much uncertainty attaches \nto the date for the beginning of the reign of the Hyksos. Rawlinson says : \n"The author is strongly convinced of the shortness of the Shepherd period, \nand cannot bring himself to assign to it a duration of above two centuries. \nHe regards it as commencing about B.C. 1840, and terminating B.C. 1640" \n(" Hist, of Ancient Egypt," vol. ii. p. 22). \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. 1 9 \n\nIt was during the supremacy of the Hyksos that the families \nof Israel found a refuge in Lower Egypt. They received a \nkind reception from the Shepherd kings, not only because they \nwere of the same pastoral habits, but also probably because of \nnear kinship in race ; for it appears that, whatever may have \nbeen the original ethnic affinities of the invading tribes, they \nwere partly or wholly Semitized before they entered Egypt. \n\nAt last these intruders were expelled by the Theban kings, \nand driven back into Asia. This occurred about 1650 B.C. \nThe episode of the Shepherd kings in Egypt derives great im- \nportance from the fact that these nomadic peoples, while in the \nvalley, adopted the manners and customs of the Egyptians, \nand became acquainted with their arts and sciences, so that \nwhen driven out, as in the caSe of the children of Israel at a \nlater period, they carried this knowledge, including the germs \nof alphabetical writing, with them, and through the wide com- \nmercial relations of the Phoenicians spread the same among \nall the early nations of the Mediterranean area. Thus Egypt \nbecame indirectly the instructor of Greece and Rome. \n\nAmosis, Founder of the New Empire (about 1650 e.g.). \xe2\x80\x94 The \nrevolt which drove the Hyksos from the country was led by \nAmosis, or Ahmes, a descendant of the Theban kings. He \ndelivered the entire valley between the cataracts and the sea \nfrom the invaders, and restored the temples and monuments \nthat had suffered from the rudeness of the conquerors. He was \nthe first king of what is known as the Eighteenth Dynasty. \nThe most eventful period of Egyptian history, covered by what \nis called the New Empire, now opens. Architecture and learn- \ning seem to have recovered at a bound from their long depres- \nsion under the domination of the Shepherd kings. To free his \nempire from the danger of another invasion from Asia, Amosis \ndetermined to subdue the Syrian and Mesopotamian tribes. \nThis foreign policy, followed out by his successors, shaped \nmany of the events of their reigns. \n\n\n\n20 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThothmes III. (about 1600 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Thothmes has been called \nthe greatest of the Pharaohs. He was at least a great warrior, \nand during his reign the frontiers of the empire reached their \ngreatest expansion. His authority extended from the oases \nof the Libyan Desert to the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. \nHe built a strong fortress upon the latter river at Carchemish, \nadded both Nineveh and Babylon to his kingdom, and exacted \ntribute and hostages from the various Mesopotamian princes. \nTablets cut in the rocks, and various monuments commemora- \ntive of his conquests, are scattered from Algeria, in Northern \nAfrica, to the Armenian Mountains, in Asia, and are found far \nup the Nile, in Abyssinia. \n\nThothmes was also a magnificent builder. His architectural \nworks in the Valley of the Nile Were almost numberless. There \nwas scarcely a city in Egypt that he did not decorate with tem- \nple or palace or obelisk. He built also a great part of the \nTemple of Karnak at Thebes, the remains of which form the \nmost majestic ruin in the world. All his monuments are liter- \nally covered with sculptures and inscriptions \xe2\x80\x94 records of his \nnumerous expeditions and great works. \n\nAmunoph III. \xe2\x80\x94 This name stands next after that of Thoth- \nmes III. as one of the great sovereigns of the Eighteenth Dy- \nnasty. Although, like his rival, a famous warrior, still it is the \nremains of his splendid buildings, scattered over the sites of \nthe ancient capitals of Egypt, that have given him so prominent \na place in Egyptian history. He added to the Temple of \nKarnak, and erected portions of the superb Palace of Luxor, \nwhich was joined to the former edifice by a grand avenue \nlined with a thousand colossal sphinxes. To him, too, is as- \ncribed the erection at Thebes of the celebrated colossus known \nas the Vocal Memnon. \n\nRameses II. (about 1400 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Rameses II., surnamed the \nGreat, v/as the Sesostris of the Greeks. His is the most promi- \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. 21 \n\nnent name of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Ancient writers, in \nfact, accorded him the first place among all the Egyptian sov- \nereigns, and told mythical and most exaggerated stories of his \nconquests and achievements. His long reign, embracing sixty- \nsix years, was, indeed, well occupied with military expeditions \nand the superintendence of great architectural works. But the \nempire of the Pharaohs had already passed to its culmination, \nand all Rameses\'s efforts were directed to upholding its falling \nfortunes. Fear of an invasion by the tribes of Syria led him \nto reduce to a position of grinding servitude the Semitic peo- \nples that under former dynasties had been permitted to settle \nin Lower Egypt; for this Nineteenth Dynasty, to which Rameses \nII. belongs, was the new king (dynasty) that arose " which knew \nnot Joseph," and oppressed the children of Israel. Especially \nwas it under this monarch that their " lives were made bitter \nwith hard bon\'dage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner \nof service in the field." Papyri recently interpreted tell us \nthat the Hebrews were the builders of the treasure-cities of \n" Pithom and Raamses," as recorded in Exodus. \n\nBesides enslaving these Semitic tribes that migratory move- \nments had brought into the Delta region, Rameses pressed to \nthe work on his various edifices great multitudes of captives \ntaken in his numerous wars, as well as negroes obtained by \n"man-hunting expeditions" into Central Africa. The native \nEgyptian peasants were also vexed by heartless taskmasters, \ntaxes, extortions, and cruel punishments. As Dr. Smith ob- \nserves, "The epithet * Great\' is, as usual in history, but the \ntribute rendered by the weak judgment of men to arrogant des- \npotism and barbaric pomp. . . . We may venture to call him^ \nthe Louis XIV. of the Egyptian monarchy ; and * after him \ncame the deluge.\' " It was during the reign of his son Me- \nnephtha that the Exodus took place. \n\nPsammetik I. (625-610 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 We pass without comment a \nlong period of several centuries, marked, indeed, by great vicis- \n\n\n\n22 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nsitudes in the fortunes of the Egyptian monarchs, yet charac- \nterized throughout by a sure and rapid decline in the power \nand splendor of their empire. During the last one hundred \nyears of this period, Egypt was, for the most part, tributary to \nthe Assyrian kings. But when Nineveh fell before the Medes \nand Babylonians (625 B.C.), Egypt detached herself from the \nwreck of the empire, and a native prince, Psammetik, or \nPsammetichus, as he was called by the Greeks, succeeded in \nconsolidating the many petty states into which the Assyrian \nconquerors had divided the country into a single well-ordered \nand powerful kingdom. Psammetichus thus became the foun- \nder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. \n\nThe reign of this monarch marks a new era in Egyptian his- \ntory. He effected an entire and radical change in the policy \nof the government. Hitherto Egypt had secluded herself from \nthe world behind barriers of jealousy, race, and pride. Psam- \nmetichus, entertaining broad and enlightened views, did just \nwhat we have seen the Mikado of Japan do so recently in his \ndominions : he reversed the entire policy of the past, and threw \nthe valley open to the commerce and influences of the world. \nHis capital, Sais, on the Canopic branch of the Nile, forty miles \nfrom the Mediterranean, was filled with Greek citizens; and \nGreek mercenaries were employed in his armies. Diodorus \nsays : " He loved Greece so much that he caused his children \nto be taught its language. He was the first of the Egyptian \nkings who opened to other nations emporia for their merchan- \ndise, and gave security to voyagers ; for his predecessors had \nrendered Egypt inaccessible to foreigners by putting some to \ndeath, and condemning others to slavery." \n\nThis change of policy, occurring at just the period when the \nrising states of Greece and Rome were shaping their institu- \ntions, was a most significant event. Egypt became the Uni- \nversity of the Mediterranean nations. From this time forward \nGreek philosophers, as Pythagoras and Plato, are represented \nas becoming pupils of the Egyptian priests; and without ques- \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. 2$ \n\ntion the learning and philosophy of the ancient Egyptians ex- \nerted a profound influence upon the quick, susceptible mind of \nthe Hellenic race, that was, in its turn, to become the teacher \nof the world. \n\nThe liberal policy of Psammetichus, while resulting in great \nadvantage to foreign nations, brought a heavy misfortune upon \nhis own. Displeased with the position assigned Greek mer- \ncenaries in the army, the native Egyptian soldiers revolted, \nand 200,000 of the troops, embracing the larger part of the \nwarrior class of society, which ranked next in importance to \nthe sacerdotal order, seceded in a body, and emigrated to Ethi- \nopia, whence no inducement which Psammetichus offered could \npersuade them to return. \n\nNecho II. (610-594 B.C.). \xe2\x80\x94 The son of Psammetichus, Necho \nII., the Pharaoh-Necho of the Bible, followed the liberal policy \nmarked out by his father. To facilitate commerce, he reopened \nthe old canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea \xe2\x80\x94 which had \nbeen cut by some former Pharaoh (probably Seti I. or Rameses \nII.). The lives of 120,000 of his subjects were sacrificed in the \nprosecution of this enterprise. But the priests, who, like the sol- \ndier class, opposed the foreign policy of this Saite dynasty, suc- \nceeded in stopping the work by means of an unfavorable oracle. \n\nNecho then fitted out an exploring expedition for the cir- \ncumnavigation of Africa, in hopes of finding a possible passage \nfor his fleets from the Red Sea to the Nile by a water channel \nalready opened by nature, and to which the priests and oracles \ncould interpose no objections. The expedition, we have reason \nto believe, actually accomplished the feat of sailing around the \ncontinent; for Herodotus, in his account of the enterprise, says \nthat the voyagers upon their return reported that when they \nwere rounding the cape the sun was on their right hand (to the \nnorth). This feature of the report, which led Herodotus to dis- \nbelieve it, is to us the very strongest evidence possible that the \nvoyage was really performed. It is said, that the expedition \n\n\n\n24 ANCIENT HISTORY. j \n\nwas absent three years ; and that, their provisions failing, the i \nsailors landed each summer, sowed fields of grain, and, after i \nwaiting for the same to ripen, harvested the crop, and then re- \nsumed their voyage. I \n\nThe Last of the Pharaohs. \xe2\x80\x94 Before the close of his reign Necho j \n\nhad come into collision with Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. j \n\nThat powerful monarch wrested from the Egyptian king the , \n\nstrong fortress of Carchemish, that watched the Euphrates. In j \n\nthis event was. written the fate of the empire of the Nile. Hence- < \n\nforth the Egyptian princes were forced to acknowledge the suz- | \nerainty of the Babylonian kings. \n\nUnder Amasis (569-525 B.C.), however, Egypt, although a \n\nvassal state, enjoyed a short period of unusual prosperity. , \nDiodorus says that at this time Egypt held eighteen thousand \n\ncities ; Herodotus makes the number twenty thousand. Vil- j \n\nlages and mere clusters of buildings were doubtless included j \n\nin this enumeration. Yet, although the country had a large | \n\npopulation, we must bear in mind that her military strength \\ \n\nhad been seriously weakened by the secession of the warrior ! \n\nclass in the reign of Psammetichus. She could no longer offer ! \n\nformidable resistance to Asiatic conquerors. j \n\nIn 525 B.C., the Persian king Cambyses invaded the Valley, ^ \ndefeated and put to death the successor of Amasis \xe2\x80\x94 his son, \n\nPsammenitus, the last of the Pharaohs \xe2\x80\x94 and established the ] \n\nPersian authority throughout the country. Upon the extension \' \nof the power of the Macedonians over the East (333 B.C.), \n\nEgypt willingly exchanged masters; and for three centuries ] \nthe Valley was the seat of the famous Graeco-Egyptian Empire \nof the Ptolemies, which lasted until the Romans annexed the \n\nregion as a province to their all-absorbing empire (30 B.C.). \\ \n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. \n\n\n\n25 \n\n\n\nCHRONOLOGICAL TABLE AND SUMMARY OF EGYPTIAN \nHISTORY. \n\n\n\nOld Empire (em- \nbracing first \nseventeen dy- \nnasties) \n\n\n\nMiddle Empire \n(rule of the Shep- \nherd Kings) \n\n\n\nNew Empire (em- \nbracing i8th - \n2&th dynasties). \n\n\n\nLater Historv.. \n\n\n\nMenes, legendary founder of the empire. . \nGreat Pyramids built by kings of Fourth \n\nDynasty \n\nHyksos (Asiatic invaders) overthrow the \nI Old Empire \n\n\xe2\x96\xa0 Shepherd Kings become masters of Egypt. \nMonuments of early kings destroyed or \nmutilated. Dark Ages of Egyptian his- \ntory. During the latter part of this pe- \nriod the children of Israel settle in the \nland. Period closes with expulsion of \nHyksos by Amosis, a Theban prince. . . \n\nAmosis establishes New Empire \n\n****** \n\nThothmes IIL, warrior and builder, reigns \n****** \n\nAmunoph IIL, great builder \n\n****** \n\nRamesesl. establishes Nineteenth Dynasty. \n****** \n\nRameses II. the Great \n\nMenephthah (son of Rameses IL), Pharaoh \n\nof the Exodus \n\nSheshonk (Shishak) \n\nPsammetichus I \n\nNeco (Pharaoh-Necho) \n\nPsammetichus II \n\nApries (Pharaoh- Hophra) \n\nAmasis \n\nPsammenitus (reigned 6 months) \n\nEgypt a dependency of Persian Empire . . . \n\nAlexander conquers Egypt \n\nPtolemies rule in Egypt \n\nConquest of country by Romans. . .\xe2\x80\xa2 \n\n\n\nB.C. \n\nabout 2700 \n\n" 2400 \n\n" 2100 \n" 2100 \n\n\n\n1650 \n1650 \n\n1600 \n1550 \n1450 \n1400 \n\n1350 \n993-972 \n625-610 \n610-594 \n594-588 \n588-569 \n569-525 \n\n525 \n\n525-332 \n\n332 \n\n325-30 \n\n30 \n\n\n\n26 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. \n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ARTS, AND SCIENCES OF THE ANCIENT \nEGYPTIANS. \n\nClasses of Society. \xe2\x80\x94 Egyptian society was divided into three \ngreat classes, or orders \xe2\x80\x94 priests, soldiers, and common peo- \nple \', the last embracing shepherds, husbandmen, and artisans. \nThese divisions are more properly designated as classes than \ncastes ; for the characteristic features of the latter, as existing \namong the Hindus, are that the members " must abstain from \ncertain forbidden occupations, contract no alliance beyond the \nlimits of the caste, and must continue to practise the profession \nof their fathers ;" whereas among the Egyptians there were no \nsuch restrictions laid upon the two principal classes. The \npriest might become a soldier, and the soldier a priest, or the \nsame person might be both at once. \n\nThe Priesthood. \xe2\x80\x94 The sacerdotal order formed a perfect hier- \narchy, consisting of high-priest, prophets, scribes, keepers of the \nsacred robes and animals, sacred sculptors, masons and em- \nbalmers, and a host of attendants and functionaries to care for \nthe temples, and perform the complicated ceremonies of the \nnational worship. They enjoyed freedom from taxation, and \nmet the expenses of the temple services by the income of the \nsacred lands, which embraced one third of the soil of the \ncountry. \n\nThe priests were extremely scrupulous in the care of their \npersons. They bathed twice by day and as often by night, \nand shaved the entire body every third day. Their inner cloth- \ning was linen, woollen garments being thought unclean ; their \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 27 \n\ndiet was plain and even abstemious, in order that, as Plutarch \nsays, "their bodies might sit light as possible about their \nsouls/\' \n\nPerhaps to a greater degree than the priesthood of any other \npeople did the religious teachers of the ancient Egyptians lay \nthemselves open to the charge of deliberate and ingenious de- \nception. They wilfully taught the people what they knew to \nbe false. Their conduct in this respect will appear in the mat- \nter of the Sacred Apis, of which we shall have occasion to speak \na little further on. \n\nThe Warrior Class. \xe2\x80\x94 Next to the priesthood in rank and honor \nstood the military order. Like the priests, the soldiers formed \na landed class. They held one third of the soil of Egypt. To \neach soldier was given a tract of about eight acres, exempt \nfrom all taxes. They were carefully trained in their pro- \nfession, and there was no more effective soldiery in ancient \ntimes than that which marched beneath the standards of the \nPharaohs. \n\nThe military force of the nation numbered, in the best days \nof the empire, about five hundred thousand men, increased by \nallies and mercenaries, in case of special urgency, to more \nthan one million. The army was made up of infantry, cavalry, \nand charioteers ; the archers of the first being the most effective \nbranch of the service. The regiments are sometimes repre- \nsented upon the monuments as moving in a heavy mass, the \nprototype of the famous Macedonian phalanx. The Egyptian \nphalanx consisted of ten thousand men drawn up in a solid \nsquare, with one hundred men on each face. Protected with \nimmense shields, this body, like its Macedonian successor, \nwas practically impenetrable, and when moving over level \nground bore down everything before it. \n\nThe navy of the Egyptians was composed of Phoenician ships \nand sailors ; the Egyptians themselves hated the sea. Records \nhave been discovered of naval engagements between the Egyp- \n\n\n\n28 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ntian fleets and their enemies upon the Mediterranean more than \ntwo thousand years before our era. \n\nReligious Doctrines. \xe2\x80\x94 Attached to the chief temples of the \nEgyptians were colleges for the training of the sacerdotal order. \nThese institutions were the repositories of the wisdom of the \nEgyptians. This learning was open only to the initiated few. \nThe papyri have revealed to us \xe2\x80\x94 more favored than the un- \ninitiated of those times \xe2\x80\x94 the jealously guarded mysteries of Isis. \nThe unity of God was the central doctrine in this esoteric sys- \ntem. They gave to this Supreme Being the very same name \nby which he was known to the Hebrews \xe2\x80\x94 Niik Pu Nuk, " I \nam that I am."=^ The sacred manuscripts say, "He is the \none living and true God, who was begotten by himself. . . . He \nwho has existed from the beginning, . . . who has made all \nthings, and was not himself made." f To this Being were \ngiven many names, to express the modes of his manifestations ; \njust as we give different names to the Deity \xe2\x80\x94 as Creator, Eter- \nnal, Father \xe2\x80\x94 to indicate the various relations he sustains to the \nuniverse and to ourselves. The inferior deities were likewise \ngiven many designations: Isis was called "the goddess with \nten thousand names." \n\nOsiris, Isis, and Horus. \xe2\x80\x94 The Egyptian divinities were grouped \nin triads. First in importance among these groups was that \nformed by Osiris, Isis (his wife and sister), and Horus, their son. \nThe members of this triad were worshipped throughout Egypt. \n\n\n\n* " It is evident what a new light this discovery throws on the sublime \npassage in Exodus iii. 14 ; where Moses, whom we may suppose to have \nbeen initiated into this formula, is sent both to his people and to Pharaoh \nto proclaim the true God by this very title, and to declare that the God of \nthe highest Egyptian theology was also the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and \nof Jacob. The case is parallel to that of Paul at Athens." \xe2\x80\x94 Smith\'s \n" Ancient History of the East," p. 196, note. \n\nt Lenormant\'s " Ancient History of the East," vol. i. p. 318. \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 29 \n\nThe Egyptians had whole libraries of myths and legends, some \nof them very beautiful and significant, respecting these favorite \ndivinities.* Many of the other triads were composed of local \ndeities. \n\nThe origin of the triad, or threefold grouping of the gods, \nwhich is a feature characterizing many, if not all, polytheistic \nreligions, is that anthropomorphic conception of the divinities \nwhich attributes to them all human distinctions, and creates a \ncelestial family, composed, like the human, of father, mother, \nand son. \n\nTyphon. \xe2\x80\x94 Typhon, the principle of evil, was the Satan of \nEgyptian mythology. While the good and beneficent Osiris \nwas symbolized by the Nile, the malignant Typhon was em- \nblemized by the terrors and barrenness of the desert ; or by a \nfrightful serpent, slain by Horus ; and, again, by the hippopot- \namus or the crocodile. \n\nAnimal-worship. \xe2\x80\x94 As strange to us as to the Greeks seems \nthe animal-worship of the ancient Egyptians. Clemens, after \ndescribing the superb temples of Egypt, the solemn ceremonies, \nand the magnificent processions of the priests, thus contrasts \n\n\n\n* " The peculiar character of Osiris, his coming upon earth for the benefit \nof mankind, with the title of * Manifestor of good and truth,\' his being put \nto death by the malice of the evil one, his burial and resurrection, and his \nbecoming the judge of the dead, are the most interesting features of the \nEgyptian religion. This was the great mystery; and this myth and his \nworship were of the earliest times, and universal in Egypt. He was to \nevery Egyptian the great Judge of the dead ; and it is evident that Moses \nabstained from making any very pointed allusion to the future state of man \nbecause it would have recalled the well-known Judge of the dead and all the \nfuneral ceremonies of Egypt, and have brought back the thoughts of the \nmixed multitude, and of all whose minds were not entirely uncontaminated \nby Egyptian habits, to the crude superstitions from which it was his object \nto free them." \xe2\x80\x94 Wilkinson\'s " Ancient Egyptians," vol. i. p. 331. \n\n\n\n30 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nall this with the deity which is the object of this adoration : \n" But if you enter the penetraha, and inquire for the image of \nthe god, one of the attendants approaches with a solemn and \nmysterious aspect, and, putting aside the veil, suffers you to \npeep in and obtain a glimpse of the divinity. There you be- \nhold a snake, a crocodile, or a cat, or some other beast, a fitter \ninhabitant of a cavern or a bog than a temple." \n\nTo kill one of these sacred animals was adjudged the greatest \nimpiety. Persons so unfortunate as to kill one through acci- \ndent were sometimes murdered by the infuriated people. A \nRoman soldier, having killed a sacred cat, was set upon by the \nmultitude and killed, in spite of the intercession of the reigning \nPtolemy. Every one knows of the device of Cambyses, who \nplaced in front of his ranks animals held sacred by the Egyp- \ntians, who, through fear of injuring them, dared not strike a \nblow. The destruction of a cat in a burning building was la- \nmented more than the loss of the property. Upon the death \nof a dog, every member of the family shaved his head. The \nscarabaeus, or beetle, was especially sacred, being considered \nan emblem of the sun. \n\nThe Sacred Bull Apis.\xe2\x80\x94 The belief of the Egyptians that their \ngods incarnated themselves in various animals is best illustrated \nin their worship of the bull Apis. The soul of Osiris, it was \nimagined, animated the body of some bull, which might be \nknown from certain spots and markings. One of these marks \nwas a vulture with outspread wings upon the back of the ox. \nAt Memphis was the sacred stable in which was kept " the fair \nand beautiful image of the soul of Osiris." \n\nUpon the death of the Apis, a great search, accompanied with \nloud lamentation, was made throughout the land for his suc- \ncessor ; for, the moment the soul of Osiris departed from the \ndying bull, it entered a calf that moment born. The calf \nwas always found with the proper markings ; but, as Wilkinson \nsays, the young animal had probably been put to "much in- \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 3 1 \n\nconvenience and pain to make the marks and hair conform to \nhis description." \n\nThe body of the deceased Apis \xe2\x80\x94 if he lived beyond twenty- \nfive years he was drowned \xe2\x80\x94 was carefully embalmed, and, amid \nfuneral ceremonies of great expense and magnificence, de- \nposited in the tomb of his ancestors. In 185 1, Mariette dis- \ncovered this sepulchral chamber of the sacred bulls. It is a \nnarrow galler}^, two thousand feet in length, cut in the limestone \ncliffs just opposite the site of ancient Memphis. Thirty of the \nimmense granite sarcophagi, fifteen feet long and eight wide \nand high, have been brought to light. \n\nExplanation of Animal-worship. \xe2\x80\x94 Many explanations have \nbeen given to account for the existence of so low and debased \na form of worship among a people so far advanced in the scale \nof culture as were the ancient Egyptians, and who, moreover, \nentertained such just and exalted conceptions of Deity. \nPlutarch said that the worship arose from the custom of using \nfor military standards the figures of various animals, which \ngradually came to be regarded as sacred. Diodorus accounted \nfor it by the fable that the gods, when hard pressed in their \nbattle with the giants, sought safety in the disguise of animals, \nwhich hence became objects of adoration. \n\nThe following seems the true solution : The ancient relig- \nion of the Egyptians was the result of the meeting and partial \nblending and accommodation to each other of two very differ- \nent systems of belief. Hence its dualistic character. The \nelement which manifested itself in animal -worship had its \norigin and basis in that low form of religion existing at the \npresent day among many African tribes, and knowm as fetich- \nism, or the adoration of material objects, animate or inanimate. \nThe purer monotheistic element, represented by the sacerdotal \norder, was introduced by the Hamites, or perhaps Semites, who \nmingled with the original dwellers in the Nile Valley. We \nknow that the doctrines taught the initiated in the priestly col- \n\n\n\n32 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nleges prevailed from the very remotest times among the an- \ncestors of at least the latter of these Asiatic intruders. This \nsacerdotal class, finding their doctrines too refined and spiritual \nfor the masses, allowed them to retain their own sensuous wor- \nship, but dignified it with temples and magnificent ceremonies. \nIn course of time attempts to harmonize the two forms of be- \nlief led to a complicated and ingenious system of symbolism, \ntill every sacred animal and object in the lower mode of wor- \nship was made to emblemize some attribute of the Deity. As \nall nature is a parable, an emblem, it was not an entirely fanci- \nful system that was evolved by this endeavor. \n\nJudgment of the Dead. \xe2\x80\x94 Death was a great equalizer among \nthe Egyptians. King and peasant alike must stand before \nthe judgment-seat of Osiris and his forty-two assessors. This \njudgment of the soul in the other world was prefigured by a \npeculiar ordeal to which the body was subjected here. Be- \ntween each chief city and the burial-place on the western edge \nof the valley was a sacred lake, across which the body was \nborne in a barge. But, before admittance to the boat, it must \npass the ordeal called "the judgment of the dead." This was \na trial before a tribunal of forty-two judges, assembled upon \nthe shore of the lake. Any person could bring accusations \nagainst the deceased, false charges being guarded against by \nthe most dreadful penalties. If no proofs of impiety were es- \ntablished, the body was allowed to be borne across the sacred \nwaters to the place of sepulture. But, if it appeared that the \nlife of the deceased had been evil, passport to the boat of \nCharon, as the master of the barge was called, was denied ; \nand the body was either carried home in dishonor, or, in case \nof the poor who could not afford to care for the mummy, was \ninterred on the shores of the lake. Many mummies of those \nrefused admission to the tombs of their fathers have been dug \nup along these " Stygian banks." Diodorus affirms that several \nPharaohs were denied the usual funeral obsequies. The soul \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. S3 \n\nof the body thus adjudged unworthy of sepulture was con- \ndemned to wander for a hundred years in the realms of the \ndead. \n\nBut this ordeal of the body was only a faint symbol of the \ndread tribunal of Osiris before which the soul must appear in \nthe lower world. In one scale of a balance, held by Horus \nand Anubis, was placed the heart of the deceased ; in the other \nscale, an image of Justice or Truth. The soul stands by watch- \ning the result, and as the beam inclines is either welcomed to \nthe companionship of the good Osiris, or consigned to oblivion \nin the jaws of a frightful hippopotamus-headed monster, "the \ndevourer of evil souls." This annihilation, however, is only \nthe fate of those inveterately wicked. Those respecting whom \nhopes of reformation may be entertained are condemned to re- \nturn to earth and do penance in long cycles of lives in the bodies \nof various animals. This doctrine is known as the transmi- \ngration of souls. \n\nThese ceremonies at the sacred lake, and before the tribunal \nof Osiris and his assessors, are of great interest as showing the \ninfluence of the Egyptian religion upon the nations of Southern \nEurope ; for they are doubtless the original of the Acherusian \nlake, Charon and the Styx, and a whole series of Grecian and \nRoman fables and beliefs respecting the other world and the \nfortunes of the soul after death. \n\nTombs. \xe2\x80\x94 "All Egypt bore the impress of religion." Before \nall things else, the tombs of the ancient Egyptians tell us of \ntheir faith and worship. They believed in the resurrection of \nthe body and an immortal life beyond the grave. Hence little \ncare was bestowed upon the temporary residences of the living, \nbut the "eternal homes" of the dead were fitted up with the \nmost lavish expenditure of labor. These were chambers, \nsometimes built of brick or stone, but more usually cut in the \nlimestone cliffs that form the western rim of the Nile Valley; \nfor that, as the land of the sunset, was conceived to be the \n\n3 \n\n\n\n34 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nrealm of darkness and of death. The cliffs opposite the ancient \nEgyptian capitals are honeycombed with sepulchral cells. \n\nThese tombs were owned by the priests, and were bought \nand sold like any other form of property. They were fitted up \nin various styles to suit different purchasers; even the paintings \nand legends were all finished, leaving nothing to be done save \nthe insertion of the name of the deceased. Some of the \nwealthy class purchased sites from the priests, an:l then spent \nimmense sums in embellishing family tombs, some of which are \nsaid to have rivalled those of the kings themselves. \n\nThe poorer classes, who were unable to defray the expense \nof a separate tomb, were, after the embalming of the body in \nthe rudest and most inexpensive manner, laid in tiers in great \ntrenches dug in the desert sands. \n\nThe sculptures and paintings of the tombs usually portray \nthe occupation of the deceased, being representations of the \nvarious processes in different manufactures, scenes of social \nfestivities, and domestic employments. Thus the artist has \nconverted for us the Egyptian necropolis into a city of the liv- \ning, where the Egypt of four thousand years ago seems to pass \nbefore our eyes. \n\nThe Pyramids. \xe2\x80\x94 Remains of ancient pyramidal structures, the \nsimple and durable character of which form of edifice led to its \nadoption by primitive builders, are found in all parts of the \nworld \xe2\x80\x94 in Mexico, China, India, Chaldaea, and Egypt. But the \nenormous structures of this nature raised by the dwellers of the \nNile Valley far surpass all other edifices of the same kind, and \nare the most wonderful and venerable monuments that have \nbeen preserved to us from the early v/orld. The Egyptian \npyramids were all erected before the Twelfth Dynasty, or the \nera of the Shepherd kings ; and the largest and most perfect, \nas we have already learned, were raised by the raonarchs of \nthe Fourth Dynasty. This fact lends to them the greatest in- \nterest; for although thus standing away back in the earliest \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 35 \n\ntwilight of the historic morning, they mark, not the beginning, \nbut the perfection, of Egyptian art. They speak of long periods \nof growth in art and science lying beyond the era they repre- \nsent. It is this vast and mysterious background that astonishes \nus even more than these giant forms cast up against it. \n\nThe principal Egyptian pyramids, sixty-seven in number, are \nfound in groups along the edge of the Libyan Desert, for a dis- \ntance of about sixty miles above the present city of Cairo. \nBeing sepulchral monuments, they are confined to the western \nside of the Nile Valley; for that, as we have already seen, was \nconsidered the region of darkness and death. \n\nThe largest of the Gizeh group, the Pyramid of Cheops, rises \nfrom a base covering thirteen acres to a height of 480 feet. \nAccording to Herodotus, Cheops employed 100,000 men for \ntwenty years in its erection, ten years\' preparatory w^ork having \nbeen expended upon the great causeway over which the stones \nwere dragged from the Nile. \n\nAll the pyramids were constructed of stone, save three or \nfour, which were built of sun-dried brick. These latter have \ncrumbled into vast conical heaps, like the mounds left by the \npyramid-temples of the Babylonians. \n\nSeveral of the pyramids have been opened, and sarcophagi \ndiscovered in their inner chambers, thus proving their sepul- \nchral character. Ambition, doubtless, as well as a desire to \nsecure the royal body against any possible accident or vio- \nlence, determined their enormous size. After the body had \nbeen placed wdthin, the passage-way was closed by letting fall \nthe stone portcullis; and all traces of the entrance were then \nobliterated by masonry. \n\nPalaces and Temples.\xe2\x80\x94 The early Memphian kings built \ngreat unadorned pyramids, but the later Theban monarchs \nconstructed splendid palaces and temples. " Thebes," says \nLenormant, "in spite of all the ravages of time and of the \nbarbarian, still presents the grandest, the most prodigious \n\n\n\n36 ANClKNr UISIORV. \n\nassembl.ii;o o\\ lMuUlini;s ever cichMciI h\\ \\\\\\c luuul oi\' man." \n\'I\'ho ruins tliat cover the site ol this ancient cai^ilal are the \nremains of palaces and temples erectcil by the comliined labors \not" many of tlie Thaiaohs aiul Tlolemies iVom as early as the \n\'rwelfth Oynasiy to the Koman conquest. " iMost of the great \ntemples, like our cathedrals, were the work of age after age" \n(Smith). \'Two of ihe nu^sl pionnnent masses of buiUlings are \ncalled, the one the Talace o( Karnak, and the other the \'iVm- \nplo of Luxor, tVom the names oi\' two native villages built \nnear im" wiiiiin the mined euv\'losures. The former was the \nwoik of seven kings, and was more than tive hundred years in \nprocess of building. \n\nAny detailed description o( these ruins is here impossible. \n^Ve can only notice that the walls of bodi palace and temple, \nas well as the faces of the tbrest of coUnuns and obelisks that \nadorned the tunuerous courts and corridors, are covered with \nsculptures and iwintings, portraying the processions of the \npriests or the exploits of the kings. \n\nIn connection with the temple jMoper were various build- \nings lor the use of the priests and the sacred college, which \ncorresponded to the chapter of the modern cathedral. As an \nadjunct of the temple at Karnak w.is a Hall of I\'olunms, \nwhich consisted of a phalanx of one hundred and forty gigan- \ntic pillars. Some of these columns measure seventy feet in \nheight, with capitals sixty-live feet in circun\\ference. \n\nAlthough the ruins of the royal and sacred cditiccs at \nThebes surpass all others in the Nile Valley, still there are \nmany remains of a similar nature, though less remarkable in \nextent, found upon the ditVerent sites occupied by the other \ncapitals and chief cities of Kgypt. Most o( these, however, \nare of a h\\ter date than those of Karnak and laixor. In Nu- \nbia, beyond the First Cataract, is the famous rock-hewn tem- \nple of Ipsambul, containing gigantic statues of Rameses 11. \nmore than sixty feet in height. \n\nIt is thought by some that the first Egyptian temples were \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMEMTS, ETC, OF AWaEXT EGYPTIAirg, 37 \n\ncaves, which in time were enlarged and embellished with \nsculptures. Then, when the sacred structure was raised be- \nneath the open sky, it retained the characteristic features of \nthe subterranean temples. It is certain that the massive \nEgyptian column had its origin in the large square pillar of \nrock left to support the roof in the excavated edifice. All the \nchanges can be traced, from the rough rectangular support \nthrough the polygonal to the round column. \n\nSctilpture: Sphinxes and CoIobbL \xe2\x80\x94 Egyptian sculpture grew \nout of painting or hieroglyphical writing. ITie figure or char- \nacter, at first a mere outline drawing, was after a time cut into \nthe rock surface, and next the rock was chiselled away so as to \nleave the figure in bass-relief Egyptian mimetic art barely \nreached the point so early attained by the Greeks, who cut the \nfigure clear around, and forced it to stand out boldly away \nfrom all support. A strange immobility, at an early period, \nattached itself to Egyptian art, due to the influence of religion. \nThe artist, in the portrayal of the figures of the gods, was not \naIIo7/ed to change a single line in the sacred form. Hence \nthe impossibility of improvement in sacred sculpture. Wilkin- \nson says that Menes would have recognized the statue of Osiris \nin the Temple of Amasis. Plato complained that the pictures \nand statues in the temples in his day were no better than those \nmade " 10,000 years" before. \n\nThe heroic or colossal size of many of the Egyptian statues \nexcites ou/\xc2\xbb admiration. The two colossi of Amunoph III. at \nThebes are forty-seven feet high, and are hewn each from a \nsingle block of stone. The appearance of these gigantic fig- \nures upon the solitary plain is peculiarly impressive. "There \nthey sit together, yet apart, in the midst of the plain, serene \nand vigilant, still keeping their untired watch over the lapse \nof ages and the eclipse of I2g}\'pt." \n\nAt the same place, in connection with the Ramesseum, the \nsupposed palace of Rameses II., is a granite statue of that \n\n\n\n38 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nprince, over fifty feet in height. " This is the largest ruin of a \nstatue that has ever been known ; the foot alone is more than \nthirteen feet long." * \n\nOne of the colossi erected at Thebes by Amunoph III. ac- \nquired a wide reputation among the Greeks and Romans, un- \nder the name of the "Vocal Memnon." When the rays of the \nrising sun fell upon the colossus, it emitted low musical tones, \nwhich the Egyptians believed to be the greeting of the statue \nto the mother-sun. These mysterious sounds, it has been af- \nfirmed, were produced by a person concealed by the priests in \nthe lap of the colossus. It is more probable that the musical \nnotes were produced by the action of the sun upon the surface \nof the rock while wet with dew. "It had not been produced \nin the colossus before the earthquake that, about the time of \nTiberius, threw down the upper part of the statue, and thus \nuncovered the fissures most exposed to the action of the dew ; \nit ceased when the statue was repaired by Septimius Severus, \nand put into the state in which we now see it" (Lenormant).t \n\nThe sphinxes, figures having the head of a man and the \nbody of a lion, symbolizing power and intelligence, were often \nranked along the avenues forming the approaches to the pal- \naces and temples. The most famous of the sphinxes of Egypt \nis the colossal figure at the base of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh. \nThis immense statue, cut out of the native rock, is ninety feet \nlong and seventy feet high. Excavations in the sand heaped \nabout it revealed the ruin of a temple, or rather chapel, be- \n\n* Lenormant\'s " Ancient History of the East," vol. i. p. 336. \n\nt Musical rocks are found in different parts of the world. The phenom- \nenon is connected with granite rocks along the course of the Middle Ori- \nnoco in South America. "By putting our ears close to this surface, we \nwere able to detect low musical tones, which our guide observed were more \naudible in the early morning. The granite is split with deep crevices, that \nseem to give emission to these mysterious sounds" (Myers\'s "Life and \nNature under the Tropics," p. 134). Humboldt explained the phenomenon \nby supposing currents of air, produced by the heating of the rocks, to beat \nagainst the spangles of mica that lined the crevices. \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 39 \n\ntween its outstretched paws. This sanctuary was sacred to \nthe setting sun, the deity of the reahns of death. " This huge, \nmutilated figure has an astonishing effect; it seems Uke an \neternal spectre. The stone phantom seems attention ; one \nwould say that it hears and sees. Its great ear appears to col- \nlect the sounds of the past ; its eyes, directed to the east, gaze, \nas it were, into the future ; its aspect has a depth, a truth of \nexpression, irresistibly fascinating to the spectator. In this \nfigure \xe2\x80\x94 half statue, half mountain \xe2\x80\x94 we see a wonderful maj- \nesty, a grand security, and even a sort of sweetness of expres- \nsion."* \n\nGlass Manufactures. \xe2\x80\x94 The manufacture of glass, a discov- \nery usually attributed to the Phoenicians, was carried on in \nEgypt more than four thousand years ago. The paintings at \nBeni Hassen represent glass-blowers moulding all manner of \narticles. Glass bottles, and various other objects of the same \nmaterial, are found in great numbers in the tombs. Some of \nthese objects show that the ancient Egyptians were acquainted \nwith processes of coloring glass that secured results which we \nhave not yet been able to equal. They imitated, with marvel- \nlous success, the variegated hues of insects and stones. The \nmanufacture of precious gems, so like the natural stone as to \ndefy detection, was a lucrative profession. The sacred scara- \nbaei (beetles) were reproduced in glass, with linings so delicate \nthat it is almost certain that magnifying-glasses were used in \ntheir manufacture. Glass coffins were sometimes used. Proc- \nesses for cutting and grinding glass \xe2\x80\x94 patented quite recently \namong us as a new discovery \xe2\x80\x94 were well known to the Egyp- \ntian artists. \n\nThe various articles of glass manufacture, as well as objects \nof the lapidary\'s art, which were produced by the Egyptians, \n\n* Ampere, as quoted by Lenormant, " Ancient History of the East," vol. \ni- p. 331. \n\n\n\n40 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwere sought after and highly prized by all the nations of an- \ntiquity. They are found in the tombs of Etruria and Greece \nand Asia Minor, and are dug from the palace-mounds of As- \nsyria and Babylonia. The Phoenicians being the carriers of \nall this trade, they often received credit, among the peoples \nto whom they introduced these articles, for various inven- \ntions and discoveries of which they were simply the dissemi- \nnators. \n\nThe Papyrus Paper. \xe2\x80\x94 The famous papyrus paper used by \nthe ancient Egyptians was manufactured from a reed which \ngrew in the marshes and along the water-channels of the Nile. \nFrom the names of this Egyptian plant, hyhlos or papyrus, \ncome our words "Bible" and "paper." The plant has now \nentirely disappeared from Egypt, and is found only on the \nAnapus, in the island of Sicily, and on a small stream near \nJaffa in Palestine. Long before the plant became extinct in \nEgypt an ancient prophecy had declared, " The paper reeds \nby the brooks . . . shall wither, be driven away, and be no \nmore."* The costly nature of the papyrus paper led to the \nuse of many substitutes for writing purposes \xe2\x80\x94 as leather, bro- \nken pottery, tiles, stones, and wooden tablets. \n\nForms ofWriting. \xe2\x80\x94 The Egyptians employed three forms of \nwriting : the hieroglyphical, consisting of rude pictures of ma- \nterial objects, usually employed in monumental inscriptions; \nthe hieratic^ an abbreviated or rather simplified form of the hie- \nroglyphical, adapted to writing, and forming the greater part of \nthe papyrus manuscripts; and the demotic, or encorial, a still \nsimpler form than the hieratic, and almost alphabetical in char- \nacter. The last did not come in use till about the seventh \ncentury B.C., and was then used for all ordinary documents, \nboth of a civil and commercial nature. \n\n* Isa. xix. 7. \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 4 1 \n\nKey to Egyptian Writing. \xe2\x80\x94 The key to the Egyptian writing \nwas discovered by means of the Rosetta Stone, for which the \nworld is indebted to the savants that accompanied the expedi- \ntion of Napoleon in 1798. This valuable relic, a heavy block \nof black basalt, is now in the British Museum. It holds a tri- \nlingual inscription, written in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek \ncharacters. Champollion, by comparing the characters com- \nposing the words Ptolemy and Cleopatra, in the different col- \numns, discovered the value of several letters; and thus were \nopened the vast libraries of Egyptian learning. \n\nWe have now read the Ritual of the Dead, which tells us \nwhat the Egyptians thought about the future life ; romances and \nfairy tales, among which is " Cinderella and the Glass Slipper," \nand a story written for the amusement of the little son of Ra- \nmeses II. ; treatises on medicine, astronomy, and various scien- \ntific subjects; and books on history \xe2\x80\x94 in prose and verse \xe2\x80\x94 \nwhich fully justify the declaration of the Egyptian priests to \nSolon : " You Greeks are mere children, talkative and vain : \nyou know nothing at all of the past." \n\nAstronomy. \xe2\x80\x94 The cloudless and brilliant skies of Egypt must \nhave early invited the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, like the \ndwellers of the Chaldaean plains, to the study of the heavenly \nbodies. And another circumstance closely related to their very \nexistence, the inundation of the Nile, following the changing \ncycles of the stars, could not but have incited them to the \nwatching and prediction of astronomical movements. Their \nobservations led them to discover the length, very nearly, of the \nsidereal year, which they made to consist of 365 days, every \nfourth year adding one day, making the number for that year \n366. They also divided the year into twelve months, which \ndivision we still follow. \n\nThe birth of astrology was natural, and its absurdities are \nmingled with all the more solid astronomical attainments of \nthe Egyptians. They noticed that the rise of the Nile began \n\n3* \n\n\n\n42 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\njust at the heliacal rising of the bright dog-star Sirius, and they \nnaturally inferred that the river obeyed some subtle influence \nof that body. In the Red Sea they saw, too, the tides rising \nand falling under some strange impulse from the wandering \nsun and moon. It was an easy step from these observed in- \nfluences of the heavenly bodies over the inanimate world to a \nbelief in their benign or baneful influence upon the vegetable \nworld and over human life and destiny. \n\nGeometry and Arithmetic. \xe2\x80\x94 The Greeks accounted for the \nearly rise of the science of geometry among the Egyptians by \nreference to the necessity they were under each year of re- \nestablishing the old boundaries of their fields \xe2\x80\x94 the inunda- \ntion obliterating old landmarks and divisions. Diodorus says, \n"The river, changing the appearance of the country very ma- \nterially every year, causes various and many discussions among \nneighboring proprietors about the extent of their property ; and \nit would be difficult for any person to decide upon their claims \nwithout geometrical proof." The science thus forced upon \ntheir attention was cultivated with zeal and success. A single \npapyrus has been discovered that holds twelve geometrical \ntheorems. \n\nArithmetic was necessarily brought into requisition in solv- \ning astronomical and geometrical problems. We ourselves are \ngreat debtors to the ancient Egyptians for much of our mathe- \nmatical knowledge, which has come to us from the banks of \nthe Nile, through the Greeks and Saracens. Both our decimal \nand duodecimal systems of notation were originated by the \nEgyptians. \n\nMedicine. \xe2\x80\x94 The custom of embalming the dead, aflbrding \nopportunities for the examination of the body, without doubt \nhad a great influence upon the development of the sciences of \nanatomy and medicine among the Egyptians. That the em- \nbalmers were physicians we know from various testimonies. \n\n\n\nRELIGION, MONUMENTS, ETC., OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. 43 \n\nThus we are told in the Bible that Joseph "commanded the \nphysicians to embalm his father." The Egyptian doctors had \na very great reputation among the ancients; several of the \nPersian kings attached to their courts medical advisers from \nthe schools of Egypt. \n\nEvery doctor was a specialist, and was not allowed to take \ncharge of cases out of his own branch. As the artist was for- \nbidden to change the lines of the sacred statues, so the phy- \nsician was not permitted to treat cases save in the manner \nprescribed by the customs of the past; and if he were so pre- \nsumptuous as to depart from the established mode of treatment, \nand the patient died, he was adjudged guilty of murder. \n\nWe know that dentistry was practised; for mummies with \nteeth stopped with gold have been discovered. Many drugs \nand medicines were used; the ciphers, or characters, employed \nby modern apothecaries to designate grains and drams are of \nEgyptian invention. \n\nIn the various processes of embalming, the physicians made \nuse of oils, resins, bitumen, and various aromatic gums. The \nbodies of the wealthy were preserved by being filled with costly \naromatic and resinous substances, and swathed in bandages of \nlinen; while the bodies of the poorer class were simply "salted \nand dried," and wrapped in coarse mats, preparatory to burial. \nIt is estimated that " between 2000 B.C. and 700 a.d., when \nembalming ceased, 420,000,000 mummied corpses" were placed \nin the various Egyptian cemeteries. \n\nEgypt\'s Influence upon History.\xe2\x80\x94 The influence of the arts, \nsciences, learning, and institutions of the ancient Egyptians \nupon the Mediterranean nations is but just beginning to be \nrealized. From the Nile came the germs of much found in the \nlater culture of Asia and of Europe. In speaking of the in- \nfluence of the political institutions of the Egyptians, Dr. Smith \nobserves : " The Greeks regarded the laws of Egypt as the ex- \npression of the highest wisdom and the fountain of inspiration \n\n\n\n44 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nto their own legislators and philosophers \xe2\x80\x94 Lycurgus, Solon, \nPythagoras, and Plato; and the likeness between the Egyptian \nand Jewish codes is a decisive testimony alike to the merit of \nthe former and to the purpose for which Moses was led to ac- \nquire his Egyptian learning."* \n\n* Smith\'s "Ancient History of the East," p. 191. \n\n*\' It has been said that * the forty-two laws of the Egyptian reh\'gion con- \ntained in the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead fall short in nothing of \nthe teachings of Christianity,\' and conjectured that Moses, in compiling his \ncode of laws, did but * translate into Hebrew the religious precepts which \nhe found in the sacred books\' of the people among whom he had been \nbrought up. Such expressions are, no doubt, exaggerated ; but they convey \nwhat must be allowed to be a fact \xe2\x80\x94 viz., that there is a very close agreement \nbetween the moral law of the Egyptians and the precepts of the Deca- \nlogue." \xe2\x80\x94 Rawlinson\'s " History of Ancient Egypt," vol. i. p. 104. \n\n\n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. 45 \n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\nTHE CHALD.EAN MONARCHY. \n\n(From about 2300 to 1300 B.C.) \n\nBasin of the Tigris and Euphrates.\xe2\x80\x94 As in the case of Egypt, \nso the physical features of the Valley of the Tigris and Eu- \nphrates exerted a great influence upon the history of its ancient \npeoples. Differences in geological structure divide this region \ninto an upper and a lower district ; and this division in natural \nfeature is reflected throughout its political history. The north- \nern part, which comprised ancient Assyria, forms undulating \nplains, so elevated above their streams that the waters of these \ncan be rendered available only by laborious systems of irri- \ngation. \n\nBut all the southern portion of this great river-basin presents \nquite a different aspect. This lower district has been formed \nby the gradual encroachment of the deposits of the Tigris and \nEuphrates upon the waters of the Persian Gulf, and on this ac- \ncount has been called the " Asian Egypt." Owing to its origin, \nit is as level as the sea, and the soil is of inexhaustible fertil- \nity. The climate is almost rainless, and hence agriculture is \ndependent mainly upon artificial irrigation. The distribution \nof the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates was secured, in \nancient times, by a stupendous system of canals and irrigants, \nwhich, at the present day, in a sand-choked and ruined condi- \ntion, spread like a perfect network over the face of the country. \n\nThe productions of Babylonia are very like those of the \nNile Valley. The luxuriant growth of grain upon these alluvial \nflats excited the wonder of all the Greek travellers who visited \nthe East. Herodotus will not tell his countrymen the whole \n\n\n\n46 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ntruth, for fear they will doubt his veracity. The soil is as fer- \ntile now as in the time of the historian ; but, owing to the neg- \nlect of the ancient canals, the greater part of this once popu- \nlous district has been converted into alternating areas of marsh \nand desert. \n\nThe Three Great Monarchies. \xe2\x80\x94 Within the Tigro- Euphrates \nbasin, three great empires \xe2\x80\x94 the Chaldaean, the Assyrian, and \nthe Babylonian \xe2\x80\x94 successively rose to prominence and domin- \nion. Each, in turn, extended its authority not only over the \nvalley, but also made the power of its arms felt throughout the \nadjoining regions. We shall now trace the rise and the varied \nfortunes of these empires, and the slow growth of the arts and \nsciences from rude beginnings among the early Chaldceans to \ntheir fuller and richer development under the Assyrian and \nBabylonian monarchies. \n\nThe Chaldseans a Mixed People. \xe2\x80\x94 The Chaldaeans, who were \nthe pioneers of civilization in the Tigro-Euphrates Valley, were, \nas we have already learned, a mixed people. They had their \norigin in the blending of the four great branches of the White \nrace \xe2\x80\x94 the Turanian, Hamitic, Semitic, and Aryan. In this com- \nmingling of ethnic elements, the Hamitic race outweighed the \nothers in number and influence, and stamped the character of \nthe resulting culture. Hence we properly speak of the Chal- \ndaeans as Hamites, although it is a fact \xe2\x80\x94 a fact repeated in \nthe history of many of those peoples that have done most for \ncivilization \xe2\x80\x94 that in their veins mingled the blood of various \nraces. \n\nChaldaean Dynasties: Great Kings. \xe2\x80\x94 Through a Babylonian \npriest named Berosus, who lived in the third century before our \nera, we have preserved to us a list of the dynasties that ruled \nin Chaldaea from the founding of the Chaldaean kingdom by \nNimrod, about 2300 b.c, to its overthrow by the Assyrian king \n\n\n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. 47 \n\nTiglathi-Nin, about 1300 B.C. Although during this long period, \na full millennium, there were frequent changes in the ruling \nfamily, and Elamitic and Arabian princes held sway for long \nperiods over the country, still the empire remained essentially \nHamitic in language and religion. Of all the kings included \nin the lists of Berosus only three can claim our special atten- \ntion : Nimrod, the Founder of the empire ; Urukh, the Builder; \nand Chedorlaomer, the Conqueror. \n\nNimrod, the Founder. \xe2\x80\x94 About 2300 b.c, many centuries after \nMenes in Egypt, and fourteen hundred years before Solomon \nat Jerusalem, Nimrod set up in the Babylonian plains, at the \nhead of the Persian Gulf, an Hamitic kingdom, which, with \nvarying fortunes, maintained an existence for more than ten \ncenturies. In Scriptural history (Genesis x.), we are told that \nGush begat Nimrod, " a mighty hunter," the beginning of whose \nkingdom was Babel and Erech, and Accad and Galneh, in the \nland of Shinar. \n\nNow, inscriptions and sculptures found on old Chaldaean \nseals represent Isdubar, one of the legendary kings of the \ncountry, supposed to be identical with Nimrod, as engaging in \ncontests with lions and other monsters, or as a warrior subdu- \ning and leading into captivity the peoples of surrounding coun- \ntries ; and the bricks composing different heaps of ruins on the \nChaldaean plains have been recently discovered to be stamped \nwith the Biblical names, so that antiquarians have been able \npositively to identify several of those crumbling masses of \nbuildings with the Nimrodic cities mentioned in Genesis. \n\nThe brief fragmentary notices of the Hebrew writer, and the \ncorroborative inscriptions of the old seals and bricks, embrace \nalmost all our certain knowledge of the Great Nimrod ; yet \n" the strength of his character and the greatness of his achieve- \nments are remarkably indicated by a variety of testimonies, \nwhich place him among the foremost men of the old world, and \nguarantee him a never-ending remembrance. At least as early \n\n\n\n48 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nas the time of Moses his name had passed into a proverb." * \nThe Arabs ascribe to this legendary hero almost every great \nwork in the entire valley, and many a mass of ruins is called \n" Nimrud " in his honor. \n\nUrukh, the Builder. \xe2\x80\x94 Urukh was a royal, and for the time in \nwhich he lived a magnificent, builder ; though to us the edifices \nhe reared would appear rude and primitive. All the great \nstructures of this king were tower-temples, built in several \nstages, and somewhat resembling the pyramids of Egypt. The \nsites of these edifices are marked at the present day by vast \nconical hills of crumbled ruins that dot thickly the Chaldaean \nplains. From the vast number and size of his works \xe2\x80\x94 for \nUrukh adorned each of the chief cities of his empire with a \ngreat temple \xe2\x80\x94 we may infer either that as a despot he had at \nhis command the life and labors of his subjects, whom he op- \npressed as the pyramid-building kings of Egypt burdened their \npeople, or that as a conqueror he set to the task the captives \nof his numerous wars. \n\nChedorlaomer, the Conqueror. \xe2\x80\x94 While the Chaldasan kings \nwere building their great cities and pyramid-temples on the \nplains of Lower Babylonia, the princes of the Elamites, a peo- \nple of Turanian race, were setting up a rival kingdom to the \nnortheast, just at the foot of the hills of Persia. The capital of \nthis Scythian Empire was Susa, thought to be one of the oldest, \nif not the very oldest, of Asiatic cities. In the year 2286 b.c, \na king of Elam, Kudur-Nakhunta by name, overran Chaldaea, \ntook all the cities founded by Nimrod and his successors, and \nfrom the temples of Urukh bore off in triumph to his capital, \nSusa, the statues of the Chaldaean gods, and set up in these \nlowland regions what is known as the Elamite dynasty. More \nthan sixteen hundred years after this despoiling of the Chaldaean \n\n* Rawlinson\'s "Ancient Monarchies," vol. i. p. 153. \n\n\n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. 49 \n\nsanctuaries, a king of Nineveh (Asshur-bani-pal) captured the \ncity of Susa, and found there these stolen statues and caused \nthem to be restored to their original temples. \n\nThese events, about which we are told by the inscriptions \nrecently deciphered, derive great interest from the fact that this \ncampaign of the Elamite prince is the earliest instance of war \nwaged and of cities captured upon the continent of Asia of \nwhich we have any positive knowledge ; for we must bear in \nmind that we cannot hope to separate the mythological from \nthe purely historical element in the legends of Nimrod. The \nfirst lifting of the historical curtain reveals to us a scene of con- \nquest and robbery as the opening acts of the historical drama \nin the Valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates. \n\nKudur-Nakhunta was succeeded by his son Kudur-Lagamer, \nthe Chedorlaomer of Genesis, whose contact with the history \nof the Jewish patriarch Abraham has caused his name to be \nhanded down to our own times in the records of the Hebrew \npeople. Chedorlaomer is the first king of the Tigris and Eu- \nphrates Valley who pushed his conquests beyond the limits \nof that region, and conceived the ambitious project of uniting \nall the nations and tribes of Western Asia, between the hills of \nPersia and the Mediterranean, in one gigantic kingdom. He \nwas at least partly successful in his plans ; for we know that \nthe princes of Elam and Babylonia, and some of the kings of \nSyria, paid tribute to him. Rawlinson, in reviewing the char- \nacter of Chedorlaomer, says : " In thus effecting conquests \nwhich were not again made from the same quarter till the time \nof Nebuchadnezzar, fifteen or sixteen hundred years afterwards, \nChedorlaomer has a good claim to be regarded as one of the \nmost remarkable personages in the world\'s history \xe2\x80\x94 being, as \nhe is, the forerunner and prototype of all great Oriental con- \nquerors who from time to time have built up vast empires in \nAsia out of heterogeneous material, which have, in a longer or \nshorter space, successively crumbled to decay." \n\n\n\n50 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nReligion^ Architecture, Literature, aiid Sciejice of the Ancient \nChaldceans. \n\nReligion of the Chaldseans. \xe2\x80\x94 The Chaldoean religion, in its fun- \ndamental features, was like the Egyptian. The deity at the \nhead of the Pantheon was II, or Ra, the latter name being one \nof the titles of the Egyptian Osiris, and the former being the \nroot of the Hebrew Elohim and of the Arabian Allah.* Below \nII was a triad \xe2\x80\x94 Ana, Belus, and Hoa ; and next to these divini- \nties a second triad\xe2\x80\x94 -Sin (Moon), San (Sun), and Bin (Atmos- \nphere). Then come five planetary deities, representing Saturn, \nJupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, embracing all the planets \nvisible to the naked eye. Besides these divinities, which con- \nstituted the twelve primary gods, were numerous secondary and \nlocal deities and genii. \n\nThe feature in which this polytheistic system diverges most \nfrom that of the Nile Valley is the absence of animal-worship, \nor the adoration of material terrestrial objects, and the promi- \nnence accorded to the worship of celestial bodies. This is so \nmarked a feature of the Chaldaean religion that it is often \ncalled Sabaeism, a worship of " the host of the heavens." The \nastral character of the Chaldaean worship greatly influenced, as \nwe shall see, the sacred architecture of this primitive people, as \nwell as that of the succeeding Assyrians and Babylonians. \n\nChaldsean Tower-temples. \xe2\x80\x94 After the pyramids of Egypt, the \ntower-temples of the Chaldaeans are the oldest edifices erected \nby man of which traces have survived to our own day. They \nwere simple in plan, consisting of two or three terraces, or \nstages, placed one upon another so as to form a sort of rude \npyramid. The material used in their construction was sun- \ndried brick, the hills of Arabia and Persia being too distant to \nencourage the use of stone in any considerable quantity. The \n\n* Rawlinson\'s \'\'Ancient Monarchies," vol. i. p. 114. \n\n\n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. 5 1 \n\nstructure was sometimes protected by outer courses of burnt \nbrick. Surmounting the upper platform was the temple proper, \nreached by stairs running up the sides of the stages. From \nthe enamelled bricks, flakes of alabaster and marble, and occa- \nsional plates of gold, found in the rubbish on the top of the \nmounds, we may infer the beauty and richness of the shrine. \n\nAll these tower-temples have crumbled into vast mounds, \nwith only here and there a projecting mass of masonry to \ndistinguish them from natural hills, for which they were first \nmistaken. It is probable that they were used as astronomical \nobservatories, and that from their summits the Chaldaean astrol- \nogers watched the changing aspect of the stars. \n\nBurial Mounds. \xe2\x80\x94 The coffins of the Chaldaeans have been \npronounced the most curious sepulchral monuments of an- \ntiquity (Rawlinson). One kind consisted of a large terra-cotta \ncover, which was turned over the body, placed on a mat. An- \nother kind was made of two large jars, placed mouth to mouth, \nthe joint being closed by bitumen. These curious coffins were \ndeposited in tiers, in artificial mounds, often of vast extent. \nIn the burial mounds about the city of Wurka, identified as the \nUr of the Bible, the coffins are piled fifty deep. All about \nthese mounds, the ground for miles on every side is filled with \ngraves. It has been estimated that a greater number of bodies \nrest here than in the Necropolis of Thebes (Loftus). So exalted \nwas the sanctity that had attached to the ancient city of Nim- \nrod, that for more than two thousand years this spot was a \nsacred burial-place, not only for the Chaldaeans, but also, it is \nthought, for the Assyrians and Babylonians, as there are no \ntombs to be found in Assyria or Upper Babylonia. \n\nAll the oldest cities in Chaldaea are thus surrounded by vast \ncemeteries. Bodies were transported long distances by the \nTigris and the Euphrates, that they might repose at last in sacred \nground. A similar sentiment still impels the Mohammedans \nin the same land to carry the bodies of friends vast distances, \nin order to lay them near the shrine of some celebrated saint. \n\n\n\n52 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nCuneiform Writing. \xe2\x80\x94 We can trace the same stages of de- \nvelopment in the art of writing among the Chaldasans that are \nobserved in its growth among the ancient Egyptians. The \nearliest and the latest inscriptions, when compared, exhibit the \nart in all the stages of its advance from the purely pictorial \nform into the syllabic. \n\nWe may distinguish five forms: the hieroglyphic, the hieratic, \nthe archaic cuneiform, the moderfi cuneiform, and the cursive. \nThe first and second are the same as the corresponding forms in \nEgyptian writing, and the one grew out of the other in the same \nway. The archaic cuneiform is the same as the hieratic, only \nthe characters, instead of being formed of unbroken lines, are \ncomposed of wedge-like marks ; hence the name (from cuneus, \na wedge). This form arose when soft tablets of clay were sub- \nstituted for stone as writing material, upon which the letters \nwere impressed with a triangular stylus. The honor of the in- \nvention of this form of writing is now generally accorded to the \nTuranian Elamites, from whom it was adopted by the Chal- \ndaeans. The modern cuneiform is simply an abbreviated form \nof the preceding ; and the cursive is a still further simplifica- \ntion of the last. The modern cuneiform and cursive were not \ndeveloped by the Chaldaeans, but by the Assyrians, who bor- \nrowed their system of writing, as well as many other elements \nof their culture, from the people they had conquered. \n\nThe characters employed in all these modes of writing were \nof two kinds \xe2\x80\x94 ideographic and phonetic. The former were \nsymbols, representing entire words or ideas ; the latter, several \nhundred in number, represented each a syllable, and thus con- \nstituted a syllabarium rather than a true alphabet. In its earliest \nstages the archaic cuneiform writing was made up largely of ideo- \ngraphs ; but it gradually became more and more phonetic, until \nthe syllabic characters formed the larger part of the inscription. \n\nAlthough the Chaldaeans, and the Assyrians after them, ad- \nvanced so far in the difficult art of depicting thought, still they \nfailed to take the last step \xe2\x80\x94 to analyze the syllable into its sim- \n\n\n\nTHE CHALDiEAN MONARCHY. 53 \n\npie elements or sounds, and then represent each of these by a \nsimple character. The honor of this achievement was left to \nanother people and race. It was not until more than two \nthousand years after the first improvements had been made in \nrude picture-writing by the Chaldaeans, that the Persians,* be- \nyond the Zagros ranges, to the east of the lowland country, took \nthe step which marks the crowning achievement in the develop- \nment of the greatest of human arts. That people reduced lan- \nguage to its ultimate elements, and with thirty -six characters \nrepresented all its elementary sounds, and thus replaced the cum- \nbrous syllabic with the pliant alphabetical system. Thus the four \ndifferent branches of the White race \xe2\x80\x94 the Turanian Elamites, \nthe Hamitic Chaldceans, the Semitic Assyrians, and the Aryan \nPersians\xe2\x80\x94 all contributed to the grand result. So, slowly and \npainfully, are wrought out the elements of human arts and culture. \nThe cuneiform mode of writing was in use about two thousand \nyears, being employed by the nations in and near the Euphrates \nbasin \xe2\x80\x94 that is, by the Chaldaeans, the Assyrians, the Baby- \nlonians, the Susianians, the Armenians, the Medes, and the \nPersians\xe2\x80\x94 down to the time of the conquest of the East by the \nMacedonians (about 330 ex.). \n\nBooks and Libraries.\xe2\x80\x94 The books of the Chaldaeans were \ncomposed of clay tablets, varying in length from one to twelve \ninches, and being about one inch thick. They were closely \nwritten on both sides, and often over the edges, the characters \nemployed being the cuneiform, already described. These tab- \nlets embrace the greatest possible variety of subjects. There \nare mythological tablets, which hold the myths of the Chal- \ndaeans respecting their divinities; mathematical tablets, on \n\n* It is possible that the honor of the reduction of the hieroglyphical cunei- \nform writing to a purely alphabetical mode of representation should be given \nto the Medes rather than to the Persians. In any event, it must be allowed \nthat the Persians, even though they be denied the honor of original inven- \ntors, improved and perfected the system. \n\n\n\n54 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwhich the extraction of roots, square and cube, is fully illus- \ntrated ; legal tablets, containing laws, law-cases, contracts, wills, \nloans, and various other matters of a commercial nature ; and as- \ntronomical, geographical, historical, and legendary tablets, hold- \ning the wisdom of the Chaldaeans in all these matters. \n\nChaldsean Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Periods in literature may be distin- \nguished as creative and elaborative. During a creative pe- \nriod, vast masses of literary material are originated or given \nbirth j during the elaborative period, which always follows such \nan era of production, this literature is servilely copied, imitated, \npolished, and worked over into other and usually inferior \nforms. Thus, the Homeric age in Greece was a creative pe- \nriod, which gave birth to the great epic of the " Iliad ;" while \nthe several centuries immediately succeeding were simply \nelaborative \xe2\x80\x94 the writers and poets of that era being content \nto copy blindly the great master Homer. \n\nNow, from 2200 to 1800 B.C. was a creative period in Chal- \ndaean literature. It w^as an age of marvellous literary activ- \nity and productiveness. A vast body of myths, legends, and \ntraditions was then created, which became the prized and re- \nvered inheritance of the succeeding Assyrians and Babylonians. \nThe discoveries and patient labors of different scholars have \ngiven us, from the legendary tablets, the Chaldaean tradition \nof the Creation of the World, of the Creation and Fall of Man, \nof the Deluge, of Izdubar (Nimrud?), and of the Babel Builders. \nAll of these accounts are remarkably like the Hebrew tra- \nditions of these several matters. They are, however, not so \nsimple and pure as the Bible narratives ; for, being the legends \nof a people of a polytheistic belief, they necessarily contain many \nparticulars respecting the popular deities. It is thought by \nsome Biblical scholars that they are the distorted copies of \nthe original traditions of these matters possessed by primi- \ntive man, and which were preserved in their monotheistic \nsimplicity by the Abrahamic family. \n\n\n\nTHE GHALD^AN MONARCHY, 55 \n\nAstronomy and Arithmetic. \xe2\x80\x94 In astronomy, and its associate \nscience arithmetic, the early Chaldaeans made substantial prog- \nress. The clear skies and unbroken horizon of the Chaldcean \nplains, lending an unusually brilliant aspect to the heavens, nat- \nurally led the Chaldaeans to the study of the stars. The tower- \ntemples, as we have already noticed, were probably used as as- \ntronomical observatories. The careful emplacement of these \nedifices with the angles of the stages towards the cardinal \npoints ; the use of sun-dials of various construction ; the divis- \nion of the year into twelve months, which we have received as \nan unchanged inheritance from them through the Hebrews; \nand the great reputation which the Chaldaean astronomers en- \njoyed among all the nations of antiquity \xe2\x80\x94 all these things tes- \ntify to their attainments in astronomical science.* In arithmetic \nthey made cpnsiderable progress : a tablet recently discovered \ncontain^the squares of the numbers from one to sixty. \n\nChaldaeans as Pioneers in Civilization. \xe2\x80\x94 In viewing the be- \nginnings of civilization among the primitive peoples of the Eu- \nphrates Valley, we must not look with contempt upon their rude \nbuildings and their small attainments in science and culture. \nWe must bear in mind that, if not absolutely pioneers in the \narts and sciences, they inherited only the simplest rudiments \nof learning from preceding ages. The first step in civilization \nis hard to take; but, with this made, each succeeding step \nbecomes easier. They were toiling at the foundations, and \nthough all they did for one thousand years, from 2300 to 1300 \nB.C., scarcely appears to view, still that which they laid with so \nmuch toil and care forms the basis upon which following ages \nhave built. We shall hereafter see how the Semitic and Aryan \nraces, upon the foundation laid by the Hamitic, proceeded to \nraise still higher the structure of civilization, adorning it at the \nsame time with a hand nerved by a more vigorous intellectual \nlife, and guided by a deeper and truer religious instinct. \n\n* Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol.i. p. loi. \n\n\n\n56 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. \n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. \n(From an unknown dale to 625 B.C.) \n\nIntroduction. \xe2\x80\x94 We have seen how, for about one thousand \nyears \xe2\x80\x94 from 2300 to 1300 B.C. \xe2\x80\x94 the Chaldaean monarchy \nheld sway over all the southern part of the Tigro-Euphrates \nValley. Meanwhile, farther to the north, upon the banks of \nthe Tigris, was growing into strength and prominence a rival \npower of another people and race \xe2\x80\x94 the Semitic Assyrians \xe2\x80\x94 to \nwhom were now to be transferred, for preservation and enrich- \nment, the arts and sciences and primitive culture of the Chal- \ndaean plains. \n\nIn tracing the dynastic or political history of Assyria, we \nshall mention only those kings whose wide conquests or great \nworks, or the strength of whose character or the greatness of \nwhose misfortunes, have caused their names to live among \nthe renowned personages of the ancient world. \n\nTiglath-Pileser I. (1130-1110 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 It is not unul about \ntwo centuries after the conquest of Chaldaea by the Ai^syrian \nprince Tiglathi-Nin, that we find a sovereign of renown at \nthe head of Assyrian affairs. This was Tiglath-Pileser I., who \ncame to the throne about 1130 B.C. We know more of his \nreign than of that of any preceding king, through the fortunate \ndiscovery of a clay cylinder containing the royal records. It \ndetails at great length the various war expeditions of Tiglath- \nPileser, and describes the great works which he constructed. \nSo we can listen to the king himself, while, in his self-laudatory y \n\n\n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. 57 \n\nStyle, he narrates his great exploits, and glories in the number \nand extent of his conquests. \n\n" There fell into my hands altogether," says this inscription, \n" between the commencement of my reign and my fifth year, \nforty-two countries, with their kings, from the banks of the \nriver Zab to the banks of the Euphrates, the country of the \nKhatti, and the upper ocean of the setting sun [Mediter- \nranean]. I brought them under one government; I took \nhostages from them -, and I imposed on them tribute and \nofferings."* \n\nHe speaks as follows of the restoration of a temple : " In \nthe beginning of my reign, Anu and Vul, the great gods, my \nlords, guardians of my steps, gave me a command to repair \nthis their shrine. So I made bricks ; I levelled the earth ; . . , \nfifty feet deep I prepared the lower foundations of the temple \nof Anu and Vul. From its foundation to its roof I built it up \nbetter than it was before. I also built two lofty towers in hon- \nor of their noble godships ; and the holy place, a spacious hall, \nI consecrated for the convenience of their worshippers, and to \naccommodate their votaries, who were numerous as the stars \nof heaven. I repaired, and built, and completed my work. \nOutside the temple I fashioned everything with the same care \nas inside. The mound of earth on which it was built I en- \nlarged like the firmament of the rising stars (?), and I beauti- \nfied the entire building. Its towers I raised to heaven, and its \nroofs I built entirely of brick." f \n\nThe inscription closes as follows : " The list of my victories \nand the catalogue of my triumphs over foreigners hostile to \nAsshur, which Anu and Vul have granted to my arms, I have \ninscribed on my tablets and cylinders, and I have placed [to \nremain] to the last days, in the temples of my lords, Anu and \nVul. ... In after-times, and in the latter days, if the temple of \nthe Great Gods, my lords Anu and Vul, and these shrines \n\n* Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii, p. 68. t Ibid. p. 69. \n\n4 \n\n\n\n5^ ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nshould become old and fall into decay, may the Prince who \ncomes after me repair the ruins ! May he raise altars and sac- \nrifice victims before my tablets and cylinders, and may he set \nthem up again in their places, and may he inscribe his name \non them together with my name ! As Anu and Vul, the Great \nGods, have ordained, may he worship honestly with a good \nheart and full trust ! \n\n"Whoever shall abrade or injure my tablets and cylinders, \nor shall moisten them with water, or scorch them with fire, or \nexpose them to the air, or in the holy place of God shall assign \nthem a place where they cannot be seen or understood, or shall \nerase the writing and inscribe his own name, or shall divide \nthe sculptures (?) and break them off my tablets, may Anu and \nVul, the Great Gods, my lords, assign his name to perdition ! \nMay they curse him with an irrevocable curse! May they \ncause his sovereignty to perish ! May they pluck out the sta- \nbility of the throne of his empire ! Let not his offspring sur- \nvive him in the kingdom ! Let his servants be taken ! Let his \ntroops be defeated ! Let him fly vanquished before his enemy ! \n]\\Liy Vul in his fury tear up the produce of his land ! . . . For \none day may he not be called happy ! May his name and his \nrace perish !" \n\nAsshur-izer-pal (883-858 e.g.). \xe2\x80\x94 We pass an interval of \nmore than two centuries, and then find upon the throne As- \nshur-izer-pal, under whom the Assyrian Empire enjoyed an era \nof unusual magnificence. This king made several expeditions \ninto the surrounding countries, punishing cruelly, by crucifixion \nand burning, all that dared resist his authority. \n\nBut while, like all the Assyrian kings, cruel and unrelenting \nin war, he seemed not insensible to the gentler influences of \npeace ; for he was a generous patron of sculpture and archi- \ntecture. Many of the cities of his empire were adorned by \nhim with magnificent palaces and temples. Of the capital \nCalah, overlooking the Tigris, which city Asshur-izer-pal em- \n\n\n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. \n\n\n\n59 \n\n\n\nbelHshed with his most splendid edifices, Rawlinson, forming \nhis picture from the nature and extent of the ruins, declares \nthat "when the setting sun lighted up the view with the gor- \ngeous hues seen only under an Eastern sky, it must have seemed \nto the traveller who beheld it for the first time like a vision from \nfairy-land." \n\nShalmaneser II. (858-823 p.c.). \xe2\x80\x94 Asshur-izer-pal was fol- \nlowed by Shalmaneser II., who reigned thirty-five years. Dur- \ning his rule this warlike king made between twenty and thirty \nmilitary expeditions against various countries, and held in \nsubjection almost all the peoples between the Mediterranean \nand the mountains of Persia. One of the most significant \nevents of his reign was the submission to his power of the king- \ndom of Israel, which left Jerusalem exposed to the tides of As- \nsyrian invasion which, in succeeding reigns, threatened to over- \nwhelm the little kingdom of Judah, and blot out her name \nfrom the now short list of independent states in Western Asia. \n\nVul-Lush III. and Semiramis. \xe2\x80\x94 Vul-Lush,who reigned from \n810 to 781 E.G., has a place in the list of Assyrian monarchs \nnoticed by us, not because of anything remarkable in his own \ncharacter or achievements, but because of the mythical great- \nness of his queen. \n\nProbably to strengthen his claim to the provinces of Baby- \nlonia, which country seems at this time to have sustained a sort \nof vassal relation to the Assyrian kings, Vul-Lush married a \nBabylonian princess, Sammuramit by name, supposed to be \nidentical with the renov/ned Semiramis of the Greek writers. \nThe many and extravagant stories told by Ctesias and Herod- \notus of her great conquests and vast architectural works are \nnow known to be fabulous. All these myths and legends \ngathered about her name on account of the very unusual cir- \ncumstance of her having enjoyed with her royal husband a sort \nof co-sovereignty in the government. Hers is the only name \n\n\n\n6o ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof a queen that is mentioned in the records of the Assyrian \nkings. \n\nSargon (722-705 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Sargon was one of the greatest of \nAssyrian conquerors. In 722 B.C. he captured Samaria, the \nsiege of which had been commenced by Shalmaneser IV., and \ncarried away the Ten Tribes into captivity beyond the Tigris. \nFrom this time the kingdom of Israel disappears from among \nthe states of the East. The captives were scattered among \nthe cities of Media, and probably became, for the most part, \nmerged with the population of that province. During this \nreign the Egyptians and their allies, in the first encounter be- \ntween the empires of the Euphrates and the Nile Valley, suf- \nfered a severe defeat. \n\nSargon was a famous builder. Near the foot of the Persian \nhills he founded a large city, which he named for himself; and \nthere he erected a royal residence, described in the inscrip- \ntions as "a palace of incomparable magnificence," the site of \nwhich is now preserved by the vast mounds of Khorsabad. \n\nSennacherib (705-681 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Sennacherib, the son of Sar- \ngon, came to the throne 705 b.c. We must accord to him the \nfirst place of renown among all the great names of the Assyr- \nian Empire. His name, connected as it is with the narrative of \nJerusalem\'s marvellous deliverance from the power of the As- \nsyrian army, and with many of the most wonderful discoveries \namong the ruined palaces of Nineveh, has become as familiar \nto the ear as that of Nebuchadnezzar in the story of Babylon. \n\nThe fulness of the royal inscriptions of this reign enables \nus to permit Sennacherib, like Tiglath-Pileser, to tell us in his \nown words of his great works and military expeditions. Re- \nspecting the decoration of Nineveh, he says : " I raised again all \nthe edifices of Nineveh, my royal city ; I reconstructed all its \nold streets, and widened those that were too narrow. I have \nmade the vdiole town a city shining like the sun." \n\n\n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. 6 1 \n\nConcerning an expedition against Hezekiah, King of Judah, \nhe says: "I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities; and of \nthe smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plun- \ndered a countless number. And from these places I captured \nand carried off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young, male \nand female, together with horses and mares, asses and camels, \noxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah him- \nself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a \ncage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and rais- \ning banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape."* \n\nThis siege resulted in the submission of Hezekiah and in \nhis rendering homage and tribute to the Assyrian king. It was \nduring another expedition, while aiming a defiant and revenge- \nful stroke at both Egypt and Jerusalem, that his army, upon \nthe eastern frontier of the former country, was smitten by an \nunseen hand, and " the king returned home to Nineveh, shorn \nof his glory, with the shattered remains of his great host, and \ncast that proud capital into a state of despair and grief which \nthe genius of an ^schylus might have rejoiced to depict, but \nwhich no less powerful pen could adequately portray." \n\nEsarhaddon (681-668 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Esarhaddon, son of Sennach- \nerib, was a great warrior and a great builder. He performed \nthe feat, rarely achieved by any conqueror, of penetrating to \nand capturing the cities of Central Arabia. During another \ncampaign he led his army up the Nile to the Plain of Thebes. \nHe built four royal residences, and many temples in different \ncities of his empire. Sickness falling upon him, he abdicated \nin favor of his son Asshur-bani-pal. \n\nAsshur-bani-pal (668-626 ? b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 This king is distinguish- \ned for his magnificent patronage of art and literature. During \nhis reign Assyria enjoyed her Augustan age. Under the inspira- \ntion of his example and the encouragement of his favor, a great \n* Rawlinson\'s "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii. p. 161. \n\n\n\n62 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nliterary enthusiasm sprang up at Nineveh ; and within the walls \nof his palace in that city was collected the largest and most \nimportant library of the old Semitic world. But Asshur-bani-pal \nwas also possessed of a warlike spirit. He broke to pieces, \nwith a terrible energy, in swift campaigns, the enemies of his \nempire. All the scenes of his sieges and battles he caused to \nbe sculptured on the walls of his palace at Nineveh. These \npictured panels are now in the British Museum. They are a \nperfect Iliad in stone. \n\nSaracus (626 .^-625 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Saracus was the last of the long \nline of Assyrian kings. His reign was short, measured by a \nsingle year, and that filled with misfortune for himself and his \nkingdom. For nearly or quite seven centuries the Ninevite \nkings had lorded it over the East. There was scarcely a state \nin all Western Asia that had not, during this time, felt the \nweight of their conquering arms; nor a people that had not \nsuffered their cruel punishments, or tasted the bitterness of \ntheir servitude. \n\nBut now swift misfortunes were bearing down upon the op- \npressor from every quarter. The Scythian hordes, breaking \nthrough the mountain gates on the north, spread a new terror \nthroughout the upper Assyrian provinces; from the mountain \ndefiles on the east issued the armies of the recent-grown em- \npire of the Aryan Medes, led by the renowned Cyaxares; from \nthe southern lowlands, anxious to aid in the overthrow of the \nhated oppressor, the revolted Babylonians, led by the traitor \nNabopolassar, joined the Medes as allies, and together they \nlaid close siege to the Assyrian capital. The "gates of the \nriver" were broken by an unusual inundation of the Tigris; \na section of the city wall was undermined, and a breach thus \nprepared for the enemy. Saracus, in his despair, is said to \nhave erected a funeral pyre within one of the courts of his \npalace, and, mounting the pile with the members of his family, \nto have perished with them in the flames. \n\n\n\nTHE ASSYRIAN MONARCHY. 63 \n\nThus, amid engulfing waters and the smoke of the pyre of \nthe last Ninevite king, the proud Assyrian capital sank into un- \nsightly heaps of earth and rubbish (625 B.C.). Four hundred \nyears before Christ, when Xenophon with his Ten Thousand \nGreeks, in his memorable retreat, passed the spot, even the \nname of Nineveh seems to have been forgotten ; for the ruins \nwere pointed out to him as those of "Mespila." \n\n\n\n64 ANCIENT HISTORY* \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. \n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, AND LITERATURE OF THE AS- \nSYRIANS. \n\nNature of the Assyrian Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 The Assyrian state is a \ngood type of all the great empires that have succeeded one an- \nother upon the soil of Asia. It was simply a heterogeneous \nmass of peoples and races, held together by external force, and \nunited by no inner bonds of religion or customs or language. \nTwo things were exacted, by the predominating state, of the \nvassal nations \xe2\x80\x94 tribute and homage. Attempts, indeed, were \nmade by some of the Assyrian kings to consolidate the varied \nelements which wide conquests had brought within the limits \nof the empire into something like a national unity. But these \nefforts did not proceed from a desire to promote the welfare of \nthe peoples over whom they ruled ; they had in view simply \nthe strengthening of the power of the dominant state, and the \nriveting more securely of the chains of the subject nations. \nThe sovereigns endeavored to Assyrianize the remotest prov- \ninces by the wholesale transference of the population of a con- \nquered country to a new region, in order that, with the old ties \nof country and home thus severed, the new generation might \nthe more easily forget past wrongs and old traditions and cus- \ntoms, and become blended with the peoples about them. Thus, \nthe Ten Tribes of Israel were carried away from their homes, \nand scattered among the Median towns, where they became so \nmingled with the native population of the country as to be in- \nquired after even to this day as " the lost tribes." \n\nIt was inevitable that a kingdom of this nature should be \never threatening dissolution the moment the organizing genius \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS. 65 \n\nthat had consoUdated it was embarrassed by accident or removed \nby death. Hence the constant efforts necessary to reconquer \nrevolted provinces, and to refasten the chains upon states that \nwere constantly breaking away from the central authority. And \nhence, also, the disturbances and uprisings that accompanied \nalmost every dynastic change. \n\nCharacter of the Assyrians. \xe2\x80\x94 The Assyrian character was \nmost cruel and barbarous. Although possessing deep religious \nfeeling, and having a real love for art and literature, still the \nAssyrian monarchs often displayed in the treatment of prisoners \nthe disposition of savages. In common with most Asiatics, \nthey had no respect for the body, but subjected captives to the \nmost terrible mutilations. The sculptured marbles taken from \nthe palaces exhibit the cruel tortures inflicted upon prisoners : \nsome are being flayed alive ; the eyes of others are being bored \nout with the point of a spear; and still others are having their \ntongues torn out. An inscription by Asshur-nasir-pal, found in \none of the palaces at Nimrud, runs as follows : " Their men, \nyoung and old, I took prisoners. Of some I cut off the feet \nand hands ; of others I cut off the noses, ears, and lips ; of the \nyoung men\'s ears I made a heap ; of the old men\'s heads I \nbuilt a minaret. I exposed their heads as a trophy in front of \ntheir city. The male children and the female children I burned \nin the flames."* \n\nRoyal Sports. \xe2\x80\x94 The Assyrian king gloried in being, like the \n\n* In strange contrast to the tone of this inscription is a prayer of King \nAsshur-bani-pal which reads thus : " May the look of pity that shines in thine \neternal face dispel my griefs. May I never feel the anger and wrath of the \nGod. May my omissions and my sins be wiped out. May I find reconcilia- \ntion with him, for I am the servant of his power, the author of the great \ngods. May thy powerful face come to my help : may it shine like heaven, \nand bless me with happiness and abundance of riches." See Lenormant\'s \n" Ancient History of the East," vol. i. p. 418. \n\n\n\n66 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ngreat Nimrod, "a mighty hunter before the Lord." In his in- \nscriptions the wild beasts he has slain are as carefully enu- \nmerated as the cities he has captured.* The monuments are \ncovered with sculptures that represent the king engaged in \nthe favorite royal sport. We see him slaying lions, bulls, and \nboars, as well as less dangerous animals of the chase, with \nwhich the uncultivated tracts of the country appear to have \nabounded. \n\nAsshur-izer-pal had at Nineveh a menagerie, or hunting-park, \nfilled with various animals, many of which were sent him as \ntribute by vassal princes. During a single hunting expedition \ninto the desert regions of Mesopotamia, this monarch, accord- \ning to his own inscriptions, slew three hundred and sixty lions, \ntwo hundred and fifty-seven wild cattle, and tliirty buffaloes, \nbesides capturing for his menagerie an immense number of \nostriches, bears, and hyenas. f \n\nThe Royal Cities. \xe2\x80\x94 The capital of the Assyrian monarchy, \nlike that of almost every other empire in Asia, was of a migra- \ntory character. There are scattered along the course of the \nTigris the ruins of three royal cities \xe2\x80\x94 Asshur, Calneh, and Nin- \neveh, or, as called at the present time, Kileh-Sherghat, Nimrud, \nand Koyunjik. Away from the Tigris, about ten miles to the \nnortheast of Nineveh, is the mound of Khorsabad, which marks \nthe site of the royal residence of Sargon. \n\nThe ruins of these royal cities of Assyria are very unlike \nthose of the capital cities of Egypt. Enormous grass-grown \nmounds, enclosed by long-crumbled ramparts, alone mark the \nsites of the great cities of the Assyrian kings. The character \nof the remains arises from the nature of the building material. \nPalaces, city walls, and temples were constructed chiefly of sun- \ndried bricks, so that the generation that raised them had scarce- \n\n\n\n* Lenormant\'s " Ancient History of the East," vol. i. p. 431. \nt Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol. i. p. 91. \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS. 67 \n\nly passed away before they began to sink down into heaps of \nrubbish. The rains of many centuries have beaten down and \ndeeply furrowed these mounds, while the grass has crept over \nthem and made green alike the palaces of the kings and the \ntemples of the gods. \n\nThe Euins of Nineveh.\xe2\x80\x94 Lying upon the left bank of the Up- \nper Tigris is a large quadrangular enclosure surrounded by \nheavy earthen ramparts, about eight miles in circuit. This is \nthe site of ancient Nineveh, the immense enclosing ridges being \nthe ruined city walls. These ramparts are still, in their crum- \nbled condition, about fifty feet high (Xenophon says that they \nwere one hundred and fifty feet high when he saw them), and \naverage about one hundred and fifty in width. The lower part \nof the wall was constructed of solid stone masonry; the upper \nportion, of dried brick. This upper and frailer part, crumbling \ninto earth, has completely buried the stone basement. The \nTurks quarry the stone from these old walls for their modern \nbuildings. The bridge that spans the Tigris at Mosul (a na- \ntive town just opposite the ruins of Nineveh) is constructed of \nstone dug from these ancient ramparts. \n\nThe regularity of the old walls is broken by large heaps of \nrubbish, which mark the position of the city gates and their \nflanking towers. In one of these mounds, excavated by Layard, \nwere found several colossal winged bulls, the wardens of the \nentrance. The stone pavement was discovered worn into deep \nruts by the chariot-wheels. \n\nBut the most interesting feature of the ruins is the great \npalace-mound called by the natives Koyunjik. This mound \ncovers an area of one hundred acres, and is from seventy to \nninety feet high. It is traversed by deep ravines, worn in its \nmass by centuries of storms. Upon this great platform stood \nseveral of the most splendid palaces of the Ninevite kings. \n\nPalace-Mounds and Palaces.\xe2\x80\x94 In order to give a certain dig- \n\n\n\n68 ANCIENT HISTORY. J \n\nnity to the royal residence, to secure the fresh breezes, and to \nrender them more easily defended, the Assyrians, as well as \nthe Babylonians and Persians, lifted their palaces upon lofty \nartificial terraces, or platforms. These eminences, which ap- \npear like natural flat-topped hills, were constructed with an \nalmost incredible expenditure of human labor. Out of the \nmaterial composing the mound of Koyunjik at Nineveh could \nbe built four pyramids as large as that of Cheops. One or \nmore of these gigantic mounds marks the site of each of the \nroyal cities already mentioned. \n\nThe tops of these platforms are loaded with the debris of \nthe Assyrian palaces. The swiftness with which the mud- \nwalled edifices fell into dilapidation, an ambition to surpass all \npredecessors, and a superstitious fear of occupying the pal- \nace of a deceased monarch led each king, upon his accession \nto the throne, to commence the erection of a new royal resi- \ndence. Sometimes an entirely new site was chosen ; but often- \ntimes the new palace was erected alongside the old upon the \nsame platform. \n\nThe group of buildings constituting the royal residence was \noften of enormous extent : the various courts, halls, corridors, \nand chambers of the Palace of Sennacherib, which surmount- \ned the platform at Nineveh, covered an area of over ten acres. \nThe palaces were usually one-storied. The walls, constructed \nchiefly of dried brick, were immensely thick and heavy. The \nrooms and galleries were plastered with stucco, or panelled \nwith precious woods, or lined with enamelled bricks. The main \nhalls, however, were faced with slabs of alabaster, covered with \nsculptures and inscriptions, the illustrated narrative of the wars \nand labors of the monarch. At the entrance of these panelled \nhalls, as if to guard the approach, were stationed the colossal \nhuman-headed bulls. \n\nThe immense courts upon which the chambers opened were \nthe most important feature of the palace, as is still the case in \nall Oriental residences, and were sumptuously decorated with \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS. 69 \n\nsymbolic sculptures, and surrounded with carved and painted \nbalconies, supported usually upon wood columns encased in \nbronze plates, and crowned with capitals that were the original \nof the Grecian Ionic. These superb courts were used on spe- \ncial state occasions ; the assembly being protected from the \nsun and weather by a rich awning, as the Roman emperors in \nlater times shielded the multitudes in the amphitheatre. \n\nAn important adjunct of the palace was the temple, a copy \nof the tower-temples of the Chaldasans. Its position is marked \nat present by a lofty conical mound, rising amidst and over- \nlooking the palace ruins. \n\nAssyrian Explorations. \xe2\x80\x94 Upon the decay of the Assyrian pal- \naces, the material forming the upper part of the thick walls \ncompletely buried and protected all the lower portion of the \nstructure. In this way their sculptures and inscriptions have \nbeen preserved through so many centuries, till brought to light \nby the recent excavations of French and English antiquarians. \n\nIn 1844 M. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, excavated the \nmound of Khorsabad, and astonished the world with most won- \nderful specimens of Assyrian art from the Palace of Sargon. \nThe sculptured and lettered slabs were removed to the Mu- \nseum of the Louvre in Paris. Some years later, Layard disen- \ntombed the Palace of Sennacherib, and those of other kings at \nNineveh and Calneh, and enriched the British Museum with \nthe treasures of his search. These disentombed palaces have \nthrown as strong a light upon the arts and history of the ancient \nAssyrians as the excavated cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum \n\nhave shed upon the arts and domestic life of the Romans. \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 \n\nThe Royal Library at Nineveh. \xe2\x80\x94 ^Within the Palace of Asshur- \nbani-pal at Nineveh, Layard discovered what is known as the \nRoyal Librar}^ There were two chambers, the floors of which \nwere heaped with books, like the Chaldaean tablets already de- \nscribed. The number of books in the collection has been esti- \n\n\n\n70 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nmated at ten thousand. The writing upon some of the tablets \nis so minute that it cannot be read without the aid of a magni- \nfying-glass. We learn from the inscriptions that a librarian \nhad charge of the collection. Catalogues of the books have \nbeen found, made out on clay tablets. The library was open \nto the public, for an inscription says, " I [Asshur-bani-pal] wrote \nupon the tablets ; I placed them in my palace for the instruc- \ntion of my people." \n\nAsshur-bani-pal, as we have already learned, was the Augus- \ntus of Assyria. It was under his patronage and direction that \nmost of the books were prepared and placed in the Ninevite \ncollection. The greater part of these were copies of older \nChaldaean tablets ; for the literature of the Assyrians, as well \nas their arts and sciences, was borrowed almost in a body from \nthe Chaldaeans. All the old libraries of the low-country were \nransacked, and copies of their tablets made for the Royal Li- \nbrary at Nineveh. In this way was preserved much of the \nearly Chaldaean literature which would otherwise have been \nlost to the world. \n\nThe Tablets and their Contents. \xe2\x80\x94 The Assyrian tablets were \nin form like the Chaldaean. Those holding records of special \nimportance were, after having been once written over and \nbaked, covered with a thin coating of clay, the matter written \nin duplicate, and the tablets again baked. If the outer writing \nwere defaced by accident or altered by design, the removal of \nthe outer coating would at once show the true text. \n\nThe contents of the tablets embrace a great variety of sub- \njects; the larger part, however, are lexicons and treatises on \ngrammar, and various other works intended as text-books for \nscholars. Perhaps the most curious of the tablets yet found \nare notes issued by the government and made redeemable in \ngold and silver on presentation at the king\'s treasury. Tablets \nof this character have been found bearing date as early as 625 \nB.C. It would seem from this that the Assyrians had very cor- \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS. 71 \n\nrect notions of the nature of paper (tablet) money. Others of \nthe books treat of laws, of chronology and history, and of the \nnatural sciences. In natural history we find tablets exhibiting \nclassifications into families and genera of all the animals in- \nhabiting the different provinces of the Assyrian Empire \xe2\x80\x94 a \ncommon and scientific name being attached to each species. \n" No doubt," says Lenormant, " the great divisions of this clas- \nsification are those of a very rudimentary science, but we may \nwell be astonished to find that the Assyrians had already in- \nvented a scientific nomenclature similar in principle to that of \nLinnaeus." \n\nInfluence of Assyria upon Civilization. \xe2\x80\x94 The recent excava- \ntions among the Assyrian palaces, and the discovery of the \nkey to the cuneiform inscriptions,* which has opened to us \n\n*"Many will be interested in a more particular account of the method in \nwhich the first steps in cuneiform decipherment were effected. . . . While \nProfessor Grotefend was studying some Persepolitan inscriptions (copied by \nNiebuhr) in his study in Europe, Rawlinson was at work upon the tablet \nof Ilamadan, amid the deserts of Persia. Each solved the problem inde- \npendently ; at least, each took the first steps in the way of a true solution \nwithout any aid or suggestion from the other. Both arrived at the same \nresult in a strikingly similar manner. We will give very briefly the way in \nwhich Rawlinson was led to his discovery, condensing from his own account \nas given in a paper entitled * Memoir on Cuneiform Inscriptions,\' in Journals \nof the Asiatic Society, vol. x. The tablets which Rawlinson chose for his \nwork were the famous Behistun inscriptions, comprising two trilingual \nrecords by Darius Hystaspis and his son Xerxes. He observed these in- \nscriptions to be identical throughout, save in certain groups of characters. \nThere are two of these groups in each tablet, but the last group of one was \nthe same as the first group of the other. This fact suggested to Rawlinson \nthat the groups represented proper names \xe2\x80\x94 three Persian kings, following \none another successively upon the throne. Taking at random three names \n\xe2\x80\x94 Hystaspes, Darius, and Xerxes \xe2\x80\x94 he applied them to the groups. Fortu- \nnately, he had lighted upon the right names, and was able to determine the \npower of several letters. Other proper names gave additional letters ; and \nthus an alphabet was slowly elaborated. And thus the clew to the decipher- \nment of the cuneiform writings, the most important of all philological dis- \n\n\n\n72 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe treasures of the libraries of the Euphrates Valley, have \ngreatly modified our views of the ancient empires of the East \nand the influence of Asiatic art and culture upon European \ncivilization. As many of the elements of our modern civiliza- \ntion were received as an inheritance from Greece and Rome, \nso in turn, we now find, was their culture enriched by valua- \nble gifts from the older civilizations of the East. As the Tiber \nand the liissus are classic streams to us, so were the Nile and \nthe Euphrates classic rivers to the Greeks and the Romans. \nThence these received much that the Oriental peoples had in- \nvented or sought out in art, science, and philosophy. \n\nThe Greeks received the germs of their mimetic or sculpt- \nural art from the Euphrates by the way of Asia Minor. " Be- \ntween the works of Ninevite artists and the early works of the \nGreeks," says Lenormant, "even to the ^ginetans, we may \nobserve an astonishing connection; the celebrated primitive \nbass-relief at Athens known by the common name of the * War- \nrior of Marathon \' seems as if detached from the walls of Khor- \nsabad or Koyunjik."* But the genius of the Greek artists \nalways transformed what they borrowed. Beneath their touch \n"the hard and rigid lines of Assyrian sculpture," as Layard \nsays, "were converted into the flowing draperies and classic \nforms of the highest order of art." \n\nFergusson sums up the results of his studies among the pal- \naces of Nineveh and Persepolis by asserting, "Egypt may, in- \ndeed, have been the schoolmistress from whom the ancient \nworld derived half her science and her art; but the nations \nfrom whom we are descended were born in Assyria, and out of \nher they brought all their sympathies, all their innate civiliza- \ntion." f And Rawlinson, after acquainting himself with the \n\ncoveries after that of the key to the hieroglyphics of Egypt, was found by \nwhat has been termed a series of \'happy guesses.\' " \xe2\x80\x94 Myers\'s ** Remains of \nLost Empires," p. 130, note. \n\n* Lenormant\'s " Ancient History of the East," vol. i. p. 465. \n\nt Fergusson\'s " Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis," p. 4. \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ARCHITECTURE, ETC., OF THE ASSYRIANS. 73 \n\narts and sciences of the Euphrates Valley, and the contents of \nthe Assyrian libraries, declares that " it was from the East . . . \nthat Greece derived her architecture, her sculpture, her science, \nher philosophy, her mathematical knowledge \xe2\x80\x94 in a word, her \nintellectual life." * \n\n* Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol. ill. p. 76. \n\n\n\n74 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER YIL \n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. \n(625-538 B.C.) \n\nThe Country and People. \xe2\x80\x94 The Babylonian monarchy occu- \npied the lowland, or alluvial tract, of the Tigris and Euphrates \nvalley, the seat of the early Chaldaean Kingdom. Although \nseventeen hundred years had passed since Nimrod made his \nconquests and Urukh built his temples, during which time the \nrivers had built up a considerable tract of new land at the head \nof the Gulf, and skilful irrigation had reclaimed wide strips \nof land from the inroads of the desert sands on the Arabian \nfrontier, still, notwithstanding these changes, it will be suffi- \nciently accurate for us to say that the Chaldaean and Baby- \nlonian monarchies grew up and flourished upon the same soil \nand beneath the same sky. \n\nThis fact will explain many resemblances which we shall \nnot fail to notice between the Chaldaeans and Babylonians, in \ntheir arts, manners, customs, religion, and government. And \nyet we shall be constantly reminded of Assyria ; for during the \nperiod of Assyrian supremacy, Babylonia being a mere depend- \nency of the northern empire, the language and many of the \ncustoms of the conquerors were introduced into the lower coun- \ntry, and a gradual transformation took place in the population. \nThe people became at last completely Assyrianized. So some, \nviewing the Babylonians as simply the changed descendants \nof the Chaldaeans, call this new empire, which we term the \nBabylonian, the Later Chaldaean.* \n\n* The ethnic character of the early Chaldaeans, and their relation to the \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 75 \n\nBabylonian Affairs from 1300 to 625 b.c. \xe2\x80\x94 During the six \ncenturies and more that intervened between the conquest of \nthe old Chaldaean monarchy by the Assyrian king Tiglathi- \nNin and the successful revolt of the low countries under \nNabopolassar, the Babylonian peoples bore very impatiently the \nAssyrian yoke. Again and again they made violent efforts to \nthrow it off; and in several instances they succeeded, and for \na time enjoyed home rulers. But for the most part the whole \ncountry as far as the " Sea," as the Persian Gulf is called in \nthe inscriptions, was a dependency of the great overshadowing \nempire of the north. \n\nTwo names, however, appear during this period which we \nshould fix in our minds before we proceed to speak of the \ngreat kings of the later Babylonian monarchy. These are \nNabonassar and Merodach-Baladan. The former reigned in \nBabylon about one hundred years before the overthrow of \nNineveh (from 747 to 733 B.C.). He was evidently a man of \ngreat force of character ; for under him Babylon succeeded in \nfreeing herself from the Assyrian yoke, and enjoyed a short- \nlived independence. Nabonassar destroyed the records of the \nkings that preceded him, probably because he thought they re- \nflected no glory on his country. Consequently, following ages \nwere obliged to reckon dates from his reign, which was called \nthe " Era of Nabonassar." \n\nMerodach-Baladan (721-709 B.C.) is brought to our notice \nbecause it was he who, when Hezekiah, King of Judcea, was \nsick, and it was reported in Babylon that, as a sign of his re- \ncovery, the shadow had gone back several degrees on the dial \nof Ahaz, sent commissioners to Jerusalem, ostensibly to con- \ngratulate the Hebrew monarch on his recovery, and to make \n\nlater Babylonians, has been a matter of much discussion, but the facts are \nnow very satisfactorily established, as above indicated. History abounds in \ninstances of such transformation wrought on both conquered and conquer- \ning races. A whole series of words witnesses the fact ; for instance, " Sem. \nitized," " Assyrianized, ** Hellenized," " Romanized." \n\n\n\n76 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ninquiry respecting the reported astronomical wonder, a matter \nin which the Chaldsean astrologers would be naturally inter- \nested. From what followed, it is thought that the embassy was \nreally a political one, having for its object the forming of an \nalliance, embracing Judah, Egypt, and Babylonia, against the \nAssyrian king. \n\nNabopolassar (625-604 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Nabopolassar was the first \nking of what is properly called the Babylonian monarchy. \nWhen troubles and misfortunes began to thicken about the \nlast Assyrian king, Saracus, he intrusted to the care of Nabo- \npolassar, as his viceroy, the towns and provinces of the South. \nThe chance now presented of obtaining a crown proved too \ngreat a temptation for the satrap\'s fidelity to his master. He \nleagued with Cyaxares against his sovereign. For his treachery \nhe received a double reward \xe2\x80\x94 the throne of Babylon for him- \nself; and for his little son, the prince Nebuchadnezzar, he re- \nceived as a bride the young and beautiful princess Amytis, \ndaughter of the Median king. \n\nNabopolassar in his old age intrusted the conduct of impor- \ntant expeditions to his son Nebuchadnezzar, whose relations \nto his royal sire, and his brilliant victories over his father\'s \nenemies, remind us of the " Black Prince " and Edward III. of \nEngland. \n\nNebuchadnezzar (604-561 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Nebuchadnezzar was far \naway from Babylon, either in Southern Palestine or in Egypt, \nchastising Pharaoh-Necho for an invasion of Syria, when intel- \nligence reached him of his father\'s death. He acted with that \nquick decision and energy which characterized all his subse- \nquent life. Leaving his army to be led back to Babylonia by \nthe usual military route up through Syria and around the north- \nern edge of the desert, he himself, with a few attendants, pushed \ndirectly across the desert, and in a few days reached the capital, \nbefore any plots against his succession could be perfected. \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 77 \n\nWith the energy of a Napoleon, Nebuchadnezzar now began \nthe conduct of his brilliant campaigns, and the superintendence \nof those gigantic works that rendered Babylon the wonder of \nthe Greeks, and have caused her name to pass into all histories \nand literatures as the synonym of material power and magnifi- \ncence. \n\nJerusalem, having four times revolted, was as often subdued ; \nthe temple was stripped of its sacred vessels of silver and of gold, \nwhich were carried away to Babylon ; the people, save a mis- \nerable remnant, were also borne away into the "Great Cap- \ntivity." Zedekiah, under whom the last revolt took place, was \npunished by having his eyes put out, after having seen " his \nsons slain before his face." The story of Daniel belongs to \nthis period. \n\nWith Jerusalem subdued, Nebuchadnezzar pushed with all \nhis forces the siege of the Phoenician city of Tyre, whose in- \nvestment had been commenced several years before. After a \nsiege of thirteen years, the city fell into the hands of the Baby- \nIonian king, and his authority was now undisputed from the \nZagros Mountains to the Mediterranean. \n\nThe numerous captives of his many wars, embracing peoples \nof almost every nation in Western Asia, enabled Nebuchad- \nnezzar to rival even the Egyptian Rameses in the execution \nof enormous works requiring an immense expenditure of hu- \nman labor. The works which we may with very great cer- \ntainty ascribe to this prince are the following: the repair of the \nGreat Walls of Babylon ; the Great Palace in the royal quarter \nof the city; the famous Hanging Gardens; vast quays along \nthe Euphrates, to confine it in its course through the capital ; \nand gigantic reservoirs, canals, and various engineering works, \nembracing a vast system of irrigation that reached every part \nof Babylonia. In addition to all these works, the indefatigable \nmonarch seems to have either rebuilt or repaired almost every \ncity and temple throughout the entire country. There are said \nto be at least a hundred sites in the tract immediately about \n\n\n\n78 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nBabylon which give evidence, by inscribed bricks bearing his \nlegend, of the marvellous activity and energy of this monarch.* \nIn the midst of all these gigantic undertakings, surrounded \nby a brilHant court of councillors and flatterers, the reason of \nthe king was suddenly and mysteriously clouded. t After a pe- \nriod the cloud passed away, "\xe2\x96\xa0 the glory of his kingdom, his honor, \nand brightness returned unto him." But it was the splendor \nof the evening; for the old monarch soon after died a1; the age \nof eighty, worn out by the toils and cares of a reign of forty-four \nyears, the longest and most memorable and instructive in the \nannals of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings. \n\nSuccessors of Nebuchadnezzar (561-555 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The reigns \nof Evil-Merodach (son of Nebuchadnezzar), Neriglissar, and \nLabossoracus (Laborosoarchod) were all short and uneventful. \nThe first and last both met with violent deaths. With Labos- \nsoracus ended the dynasty of Nabopolassar. \n\nThe Fall of Babylon.\xe2\x80\x94 In 555 b.c, Nabonadius, one of the \nnobles that had conspired against the life of the last sovereign, \nwas placed upon the throne. He seems to have associated \nwith him in the government his son Belshazzar, who shared \nwith his father the duties and honors of royalty, apparently on \nterms of equal co-sovereignty. \n\nTo the east of the Valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates, \nbeyond the ranges of the Zagros, there had been growing up \nan Aryan kingdom, the Medo - Persian, which, at the time \nwhere we have now arrived, had excited by its aggressive \n\n* Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii. p. 57. \n\nt " Nebuchadnezzar fell a victim to that mental aberration which has of- \nten proved the penalty of despotism, but in the strange and degrading form \nto which physicians have given the name of lycanthropy ; in which the \npatient, fancying himself a beast, rejects clothing and ordinary food, and \neven (as in this case) the shelter of a roof, disuses articulate speech, and \nsometimes persists in going on all-fours."\xe2\x80\x94 Smith\'s " Ancient History of \nthe East," p. 357. \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 79 \n\nspirit the alarm of all the nations of Western Asia. For pur- \nposes of mutual defence, the King of Babylon, and Croesus, the \nfamous monarch of Lydia, a state of Asia Minor, formed an \nalliance against Cyrus, the strong and ambitious sovereign of \n, the Medes and Persians. This league awakened the resent- \nment of Cyrus, and after punishing Crcesus, and depriving him \nof his kingdom, he collected his forces to chastise the Babylo- \nnian king. \n\nIt is related that, while the Persian army was crossing the \nGnydes, a river that separated the frontiers of the Persian and \nBabylonian empires, one of the sacred white horses attached \nto the chariot of Ormazd wae drowned; and that Cyrus, to pun- \nish the insolence of the river, set his soldiers to work and dug \nthree hundred and sixty channels, whereby the waters of the \nstream were dispersed and absorbed in the sands of the desert. \nThe story is not an improbable one ; for we know that Xerxes \nscourged the Hellespont for breaking to pieces his bridge of \nboats. The Persian kings entertained the idea that the powers \nof nature ought to be obedient to them and subservient to their \nwishes and plans. \n\nWith the insolent river chastised, Cyrus advanced into the \nplain of Babylonia. Nabonadius risked a battle in the open \nfield, but his army was scattered and driven within the walls \nof the capital. The king himself, however, with a part of his \nforces, took refuge in the city of Borsippa, a little to the south \nof Babylon. The prince, Belshazzar, had thus devolved upon \nhim the defence of the capital. \n\nHad the Babylonians been vigilant, it is very doubtful \nwhether Cyrus would have been able to reduce the city to sub- \nmission, so strong were its walls and so well provided were its \ninhabitants with provisions for a long siege. But the youthful \nBelshazzar, insolent in his fancied security, neglected even the \nmost ordinary measures of precaution. The river gates, which \nled into the heart of the city from the quays along the banks \nof the Euphrates, were, it would seem, left open or improperly \n\n\n\n8o ANCIENT HISTORY. ^^H I \n\nguarded. At the dead of night, when the young king and all his \ncourt were giving themselves up to song and revelry, attendant \nupon the celebration of a great Babylonian festival, Cyrus, hav- \ning previously dug with great labor immense channels, turned \nthe course of the Euphrates, which ran directly through the city \nenclosure, and then led his troops along the river bed till within \nthe line of the ramparts. Upon mounting the river steps, the \nsoldiers found, as they had hoped, the gates unguarded, and in \na few moments were in the streets of the capital. The cry of \nalarm ran along the broad avenues,* and at last fell upon the \naffrighted ears of the revellers in the palace. To add to their \ndismay, a warning hand, it is said^ appeared against the wall, \nand traced there the words Me?ie^ mene, tekel, upharsin, which \nDaniel, hastily called, interpreted to the king as meaning, \n" God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art \nweighed in the balances, and art found wanting; thy kingdom \nis divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." " In that \nnight was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldaeans, slain "f \n\n(538 B.C.). \n\nNabonadius, shut up in Borsippa, yielded to inevitable fate \nand surrendered to Cyrus, who not only spared his life, but \ngenerously gave him a position of trust and honor in his king- \ndom. That kingdom now embraced the greater part of West- \nern Asia. \n\nThe Transfer of Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 By the fall of Babylon, the seat of \nempire in the East, which now for nearly two thousand years \n(from 2300 to 538 B.C.) had been in the Valley of the Tigris \nand Euphrates, moving up and down those rivers \xe2\x80\x94 finding an \nabode first at Ur, then at Nineveh, and lastly at Babylon \xe2\x80\x94 was \ntransferred to Persepolis, the Persian capital, on the table- \nlands of Iran. Thus the sceptre of universal sovereignty, borne \n\n* " One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, \nto show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at 07ie end."\xe2\x80\x94 Jer. li. 31. \nt Dan. V. 30. \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 8 1 \n\nfirst by the Hamitic race, then for so many centuries swayed \nby the Semitic, was now given to the Aryan, which race was \ndestined from this time on to shape the course of events and \ncontrol the affairs of civilization. \n\nThe Great Edifices of Babylon. \nThe deep impression which Babylon produced upon the \nearly Greek travellers was effected chiefly by her vast architect- \nural works \xe2\x80\x94 her temples, palaces, and elevated gardens. The \nfamous Hanging Gardens of Nebuchadnezzar, and the Walls of \nthe city, were reckoned among the Seven Wonders of the World. \n\nThe Temple of the Seven Spheres.\xe2\x80\x94 The Babylonians, like \ntheir predecessors the Chaldaeans, accorded to the sacred edi- \nfices the place of pre-eminence among their architectural works. \nUpon the temples of the gods were lavished the wealth of the \npeople and the skill of their artists. Sacred architecture in \nthe time of Nebuchadnezzar had changed but little from the \nearly Chaldsean models ; only the temples were now larger, and \nmore sumptuous in their embellishments, being made, in the \nlanguage of the inscriptions, "to shine like the sun." \n\nThe celebrated Temple of the Seven Spheres, which may \nserve as a representative of the later Babylonian temples, was \nlocated at Borsippa, a suburb of Babylon proper. This struct- \nure was a vast pyramid, 270 feet square at the base, and rising \nin seven successive stages, or platforms, to a height of 156 feet. \nEach of the stages was dedicated to one of the seven planets, \nor spheres. (The sun and moon were reckoned as planets.) \nVarious means were adopted to give the platforms the conven- \ntional tint assigned to the different planetary bodies. Thus \nthe stages sacred to the sun and moon were covered respec- \ntively with plates of gold and silver. "* \n\nThe chapel, or shrine proper, surmounted the uppermost \n\n* "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xviii. art. i. p. 6. \n5 \n\n\n\n82 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nStage, and, as described by Herodotus, must have been sumptu- \nous in the extreme. The tower, thus crowned by the sanctu- \nary and zoned with all the planetary colors, with the gilded \nstages glistening, as the inscriptions declare, " like the sun," \npresented a splendid and imposing appearance, that struck \nevery beholder with astonishment and awe. \n\nAn inscribed cylinder discovered under the corner of one \nof the stages (the Babylonians always buried records beneath \nthe corners of their public edifices) informs us that this tem- \nple was the restoration by Nebuchadnezzar of a very ancient \none, which in his day had become, from " extreme old age," a \nheap of rubbish.* Some scholars have thought that the de- \ncayed edifice thus restored by Nebuchadnezzar was the unfin- \nished Tower of Babel, of which great undertaking by the primi- \ntive people of Babylonia we have several confused traditions \namong the Chaldaean legends, besides an account handed \ndown by the Hebrews. \n\nThis edifice in its decay has left one of the grandest and \nmost impressive ruins in all the East. The great mass of the \ncrumbled stages is now deeply furrowed with ravines worn by \nthe rains of twenty centuries, and at a distance over the level \ndesert appears like a mountain crowned with ruined walls. \n\nPalaces. \xe2\x80\x94 The Babylonian palaces were so like those of the \nAssyrians, already described, that any detailed account of them \n\n* " And by his [the god Marduk\'s] power," says the inscription, " I re- \nbuilt the Temple of the Seven Spheres, which is the tower of Borsippa, \nwhich a former king had built, and had raised it to the height of forty-two \ncubits, but had not completed its crown or summit : from extreme old age \nit had crumbled down. The water-courses which once drained it had been \nentirely neglected. From their own weight the bricks had fallen down. . . . \nThen the great Lord Marduk moved my heart to complete this temple ; for \nits site or foundation had not been destroyed. ... Its summit and its up- \nper story I made like the old ones. I rebuilt entirely this upper portion, \nand I made its crown or summit as it had been planned in former days." \n\xe2\x80\x94 " Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xviii. art. ii. \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 8;^ \n\nhere is unnecessary. They were built upon platforms, or enor- \nmous substructions, similar to those we have seen at Nineveh. \nOne of the largest of these, called by the natives El-Kasr, \nwhich supported the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, covers an area \nof over one hundred acres. Its height varies from sixty to \nninety feet. Numerous excavations have been made in this \nmound by the natives, in search of bricks. For two thousand \nyears Babylon has been an inexhaustible brick quarry. Selu- \ncia of the Greeks, Al-Maydan of the Persians, and Cufa and \nBagdad of the caliphs, were all built of material mined from \nthese ruins. All the modern towns and caravansaries of the \nadjoining regions are constructed chiefly of brick dug out of \nthe ruined edifices of the old capital. The Arab brick-mer- \nchants of the country, at the present day, engage as a regular \nbusiness in the work of quarrying material from the old mounds \nand walls. \n\nThe Hanging Gardens. \xe2\x80\x94 This structure excited the greatest \nadmiration of the ancient Greek visitors to Babylon. It was \nconstructed by Nebuchadnezzar, to please his wife Amytis, \nwho, tired of the monotony of the Babylonian plains, longed \nfor the mountain scenery of her native Media. The edifice \nwas probably built somewhat in the form of the tower-temples, \nstages being erected one upon another, so as to form a vast \npyramidal structure. The successive terraces, which overhung \nthe city at a great height, were covered with earth, and beauti- \nfied with rare plants and trees, so as to simulate the appear- \nance of a mountain rising in cultivated terraces towards the \nsky. The gardens were irrigated by means of curious hydrau- \nlic devices, which elevated and distributed over the terraces \nwater drawn from the Euphrates. * \n\n* Recent excavations (i 880-81) made by Hormuzd Rassam amid the \nruins of Babylon have resulted in important and interesting discoveries. \nAt what is called the Babel mound, one of the largest and most imposing \nupon the ancient site, the explorer has brought to light ruined hydraulic \n\n\n\n84 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Walls of Babylon. \xe2\x80\x94 The walls of Babylon proper are \nrepresented at the present time by enormous ramparts about \neight miles in circuit, in eveiy respect similar to those at Nin- \neveh. Within these defences lie most of the heaps and mounds \nthat mark the position of the various Babylonian edifices. \n\nUnder the later kings, it appears that walls of vast strength \nand circuit were constructed. Herodotus says that these walls \nenclosed an area just fourteen miles square. An inscription \nof Nebuchadnezzar, recently discovered, exactly confirms the \nstatements of the historian. The space they enclosed must \nnot be regarded as a city, but rather as a fortified district. \nThe walls embraced several cities, including Babylon proper \nand Borsippa. We may compare these ramparts to the long \nwalls of Themistocles, by means of which Athens was united \n\nworks of great extent, reservoirs, and stone-lined aqueducts evidently de- \nsigned for bringing water from the Euphrates. These discoveries seem to \npoint out the great Babel mound as the remains of the celebrated Gardens \nof Nebuchadnezzar. "The supposition receives additional support from \nthe recovery of a small inscribed tablet, which clearly proves the fondness \nof the Babylonian kings for horticulture. A scribe attached to one of the \npalace or temple libraries of Babylonia has transmitted to us a list of the gar- \ndens or paradises of the Babylonian monarch Merodach-Baladan, the con- \ntemporary of Sargon, Sennacherib, and Hezekiah. This monarch appears \nto have been a lavish patron of horticulture, for the list furnishes the names \nof more than sixty gardens and parks in and about Babylon constructed by \nthe royal order." . . . The explorer has also added many valuable tablets to \nthose collected by George Smith, of the British Museum. The matter held \nby some of these documents is of intense interest. " They show that for a \nlong period, probably several centuries, the family of the Beni Egibi were \nthe leading commercial firm of Babylon, and to them was confided all the \nbusiness of the Babylonian ministry of finance. The building whose ruins \nare marked by the mound of Jumjuma was the chancellerie of the firm, and \nfrom its ruins come the records of every class of monetary transaction. . . . \nFrom the tax receipts we learn how the revenue was raised by duties levied \non land, on crops of dates, and even on cattle, by imposts for the use of the \nirrigation canals, and for the use of the public roads." In view of what has \nbeen already secured, we may reasonably hope for a rich harvest from the \nmore thorough working of the Babylonian mounds. \n\n\n\nTHE BABYLONIAN MONARCHY. 85 \n\nwith her seaports. The object in enclosing such an enormous \ndistrict seems to have been to bring sufficient cultivatable \nground within the defences to support the inhabitants in case \nof a protracted siege. No certain traces of these outer ram- \nparts can now be found. * \n\n* Herodotus says the walls were eighty-five feet thick and three hundred \nand twenty-five feet high. Strabo gives thirty-two feet for the thickness, \nand seventy-three feet for the height. There was an inner wall, very infe- \nrior to the great outer wall, and enclosing only about one half of the area \nembraced by the latter. (Neither of these must be confused with the wall \nthat surrounded the royal city, or Babylon proper.) " Both the violence of \nman and the action of the elements combined to break these ramparts down. \nCyrus dismantled them; and when the city was retaken by Darius, after its \nrevolt from the Persian authority, that conqueror reduced the height, in or- \nder that the city might not possess such powers of resistance a second time \nto his army ; and thus again Xerxes, Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Alexander \nare all said to have successively dismantled and broken down the reduced \nramparts. If these conquerors did not throw them down entirely, the ele- \nments could easily have completed the work ; for the walls were only earth- \nen ramparts, and would readily drop back into the deep moat from which \nthe material had been taken." \xe2\x80\x94 " Remains of Lost Empires," p. 248. \n\n\n\nCHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CHALDiEAN, ASSYRIAN, AND \nBABYLONIAN DYNASTIES AND KINGS. \n\n(Based on the Authority of Rawlinson.) \n\n\n\nDynasties or Periods. \nChaldaean (P-2286 \n\n\n\nKings. B.C. \n\nfounder of the empire about 2300 \n\n\n\nB.C. \n\n\n\nElamite ( 2286 \n2052 B.C.) \n\nUnknown \n\n\n\nChaldaean (2004 \n1546 B.C.).... \n\n\n\n2286 \n\n\n\nArab \nB.C. \n\n\n\n(I546\' \n\n\n\nEarly Empire \n1300 B.C.). . \n\n\n\nNimrod, \nUrukh,, \n\nIlgi \n\nKudur-Nakhunta (Zoroaster) conquers \n\nChaldsea \n\nKudur-Lagamer (Chedorlaomer), con- \ntemporary with Abraham about 2000 \n\n(2052-2004 B.C.) \n\nf Ismi-dagon about 1850-1830 \n\n-^ Nur-Vul \xc2\xab\' 1586-1566 \n\n[Rim-Sin " 1566-1546 \n\nf Khammu-rabi " 1546-1520 \n\n^ -I Succession of obscure names. \n\n[ Chaldsea conquered by Tiglathi-Nin. . . 1300 \n\nFirst names obscure and dates uncertain. \n\nBel-lush about 1380-1360 \n\n\n\nGreat Empire \n(1300-745 B.C.). \n\n\n\nLater Empire \n(745-625 B.C.). \n\n\n\nFirst Period \n(1300-625 B.C.). \n\n\n\nSecond Period \n(625-538 B.C.) . \n\n\n\nPud-il " 1360-1340 \n\nVul-lush I " 1340-1320 \n\nShalmaneser I " 1320-1300 \n\nTiglathi-Nin, conqueror of Chaldaea. " 1300-1280 \n\n****** \n\nTiglath-pileser I about 1 130-1 1 10 \n\nVul-lush II 911-889 \n\nTiglathi-Nin II 889-883 \n\nAsshur-izer-pal 883-858 \n\nShalmaneser II 858-823 \n\nShamas-Vul II 823-810 \n\nVul-lush III 810-781 \n\nShalmaneser III 781-771 \n\nAsshur-dayan III 771-753 \n\nAsshur-lush 753-745 \n\n\' Tiglath-pileser II 745-72/ \n\nShalmaneser IV 727-722 \n\nSargon 722-705 \n\nSennacherib 705-681 \n\nEsarhaddon 681-668 \n\nAsshur-bani-pal 668-625 \n\nAsshur-emid-ilin (Saracus) 625 \n\nBabylon ruled, for the most part, by \n\nAssyrian viceroys 1300-747 \n\nRe-establishes her independence under \n\nNabonassar 747 \n\nMerodach-Baladan 721-709 \n\nAssyrian Sargon reconquers Babylon. . 709 \nSuccessive revolts and their suppression. 709-626 \nAssyrian Empire destroyed and Baby- \nlon becomes independent 625 \n\nNabopolassar 625-604 \n\nNebuchadnezzar 604-561 \n\nEvil-Merodach 561-559 \n\nNeriglissar 559-55^ \n\nLabossoracus 55^-555 \n\nNabonadius 555-538 \n\nBelshazzar (shares the government with his father). \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 87 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. \n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. \n\nImportance of Hebrew History. \xe2\x80\x94 The history of no other \npeople in so eminent a degree as that of the Hebrew nation \nillustrates the fact \xe2\x80\x94 a fact which we must in our study keep \nsteadily in view \xe2\x80\x94 that the germ of all that is best in our mod- \nern civilization is to be sought among the institutions of an- \ntiquity. The nations already passed in review enriched the \nworld by their labors and discoveries in art, science, and phi- \nlosophy. The Hebrews did nothing in these matters. Their \nmission was a grander one \xe2\x80\x94 to teach righteousness. Of all \nthe elements of the rich legacy bequeathed to the modern by \nthe ancient world, by far the most important, in their influence \nupon the course of events, were those transmitted to us by the \nancient Hebrews. \n\nThe Patriarchal Age. \xe2\x80\x94 Hebrew story begins with the de- \nparture of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, about 2000 B.C. \nThis patriarch was one of the most remarkable personages of \nthe ancient world. Although living in the midst of a people \nengrossed in a polytheistic nature -worship, he professed a \nsimple belief in one God. Stirred by the idolatry about him, \ninspired with a grand faith in God, and firm in the conviction \nthat his was destined to be the idea and worship of the future, \nAbraham left the land of his fathers, and led his little band of \ndissenters across the Mesopotamian plains, over the Euphra- \ntes, and up into the hill country now known as Palestine, \nwhich overlooks the Mediterranean. \n\nThe story of Abraham and his nephew Lot, of Isaac and his \n\n\n\n88 ANCIENT HISTORY.\' \n\nsons Jacob and Esau, and of the twelve sons of the patriarch \nJacob, is told in the Hebrew Scriptures with a charm and sim- \nplicity that have made all these names the familiar possessions \nof childhood. \n\nDuring all the Patriarchal Age, the descendants of Abraham \nfelt themselves to be strangers and sojourners in a country not \ntheir own. Their life was the simple wandering one of the \nBedawin of to-day, who each summer come up from the Mes- \nopotamian region, and dot the valleys and plains of this same \nland with their black tents and flocks. In the times of the He- \nbrew patriarchs, this region seems to have been but sparsely \nsettled, and these wanderers from beyond the Euphrates were \npermitted to rove over the country about at will. Thus mov- \ning from place to place in search of pasturage for their flocks, \nthey pitched their tents on almost every spot in Palestine. \n\nThe Hebrews in Egypt (from i8th to 14th century b.c. ?). An \nevent of frequent occurrence in the East now gave an entirely \nnew turn to Hebrew history. A long drought, and consequent \nfailure of crops and pasturage in Palestine, forced the families \nof Israel to look to the more favored Valley of the Nile for sus- \ntenance for themselves and their flocks. The way for their \nkind reception by the King of Egypt had been providentially \nprepared. Joseph, having been sold by his jealous broth- \ners into slaver}^, had won, through the generosity of events \nand his personal ability, the favor of the Egyptian monarch, \nand had been advanced to the position of prime -minister \nof the empire. Through his regard for his trusted minister, \nPharaoh admitted the Hebrews to an audience, and assigned \nthem lands for their families and flocks in the land of Goshen, \na most fertile section of the Delta country, and one well adapt- \ned to their pastoral habits. Here the Hebrews increased rap- \nidly in numbers, and soon became an important element in \nthe Egyptian state. \n\nA change in the ruling dynasty led to an entire reversal of \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 89 \n\nthe policy of the Egyptian sovereigns in their treatment of the \nHebrews, as well as of other Semitic peoples whom migratory \nmovements had brought into the Delta from the neighboring \nregions of Asia. Fearing their increasing numbers, lest in \ncase of invasion or revolt they should join the enemies of the \nEgyptians \xe2\x80\x94 an apprehension not by any means groundless, for \nthe country had but just been delivered from those Asiatic in- \ntruders called the Shepherd Kings \xe2\x80\x94 a severe persecution was \nwaged against them. They were treated like prisoners of war, \nand by unfeeling taskmasters forced to hard labor upon the \nvarious edifices of the Pharaohs. All their m?le rhiJdrcr \nwere destroyed. The persecution gradually assumed a relig:- \nious character, and became more bitter; for the pure \ntheism of the Hebrews and the debased aDimal-worshi). \nEgyptians were in direct antagonism. A long and scvc; \ntest arose between Moses and Aaron, the leaders of U \nbrews, and the priests and magicians of the Egyptians. \n\nMoses had been providentially prepared for the part he w:i \nto act in this great struggle, and for leadership among th; \ntribes of Israel in this crisis of their affairs. Forty years \'>\' \nhis life had been spent in Egypt as a member of the <iourt oi \nthe reigning Pharaoh, and also as a pupil in the cek-bratedf-cojr \nleges of the priests, where he became \'learned in ol\' the wi.^- \ndom of the Egyptians." At length, obliged to flee from tVi , \ncountry because of sympathy with his oppressed kinsmen the \nHebrews\xe2\x80\x94 which he had manifested in an act of violence\xe2\x80\x94 he \nsought a refuge in the land of Midian and here, as a shep- \nherd, passed forty other years in solitude ana ai thought amidst \nthe dreary scenes of the Arabian Desert, iiiipelled at last by \na divine call that came to him amidst these occupations and \nscenes, he returned to the Valley of the Nile, and announced \nhimself to his brethren as their appointed deliverer from their \nhated bondage. \n\nThe contest which we have seen begun between the chil- \ndren of Israel and the Egyptian rulers was now brought to an \n\n5* \n\n\n\nQO ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nabrupt termination. A series of plagues and calamities, fall- \ning with terrible swiftness and fatal effect upon the country \nand its people, led Pharaoh to yield to the demands of the \nHebrews \xe2\x80\x94 to which were now joined the entreaties of his own \nafflicted people\xe2\x80\x94 and to suffer them to depart out of the coun- \ntry. Hastily mustering the different tribes, Moses led the vast \nmultitude \xe2\x80\x94 there were 600,000 fighting-men \xe2\x80\x94 towards the east- \nern frontier of Egypt. \n\nThe Exodus (14th century B.C. .?). \xe2\x80\x94 Although Pharaoh, while \nunder the fear produced by v\' ^ wonderful and calamitous \nevents of the preceding months, lad consented to the depart- \nure of the Israelites, stiil no sooner did he see himself about \n1.0 be deprived of this vast ijui.iber of subjects and slaves \n\xe2\x96\xa0han he repented of having granted the permission, and de- \ntermined to detain them by force \n\nGathering a large army of foo: and chariot, he set out in hot \npursuit of ii\' : fugitives, and ovci )ok them just as they reached \n\'he shores of the Red Sea, near i s head. Hemmed in as they \n\'i\'ere by the sea and the deseit, certain destruction seemed to \n.\'V .lit tlie fleeing muititiide, .?. .t with the night came on a \n\xe2\x96\xa0 east wind, which drove k the waters of the gulf, so as \n\xe2\x96\xa0;.o lay bare the bottom of the ci.^irnel, and to permit the passage \nof the fugitives, ardev cover of tLe darkness. In the first dawn \nof the morning, Pharaoh and .\xe2\x80\xa2 host, pushing on in mad pur- \nsuit, v/ere caught by the returning tides, which, by a sudden \ncharge in the wt.k], cam.e bark in their strength; and the \narmy, thrown into coniusion and embarrassed by the disabled \nchariots, was overwhelmed in the treacherous quicksands. \n\nFrom this eventful night dates the birth of the Hebrew \nnation. The great deliverance touched the hearts of all with \na common and intense enthusiasm. It colored the whole sub- \nsequent history of Israel, and is the key to very much that \nwould otherwise be inexplicable in the story of this peculiar \npeople. The convictions that were born out of the wonderful \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 9 1 \n\nevent were the source, and are the explanation, of much of the \nresolution and religious zeal exhibited in succeeding passages \nof the nation\'s history. \n\nThe forty years following this event were consumed in weary \nwanderings up and down the Sinaitic peninsula. During this \ntime the generation that came out of Egypt, and to whom clung \nall the instincts of their life of slavery, were replaced by a \nnew generation inured to the hardships of the desert, and by \nthis discipline prepared for the conquest of the land of Pales- \ntine, for which work their fathers had shown themselves un- \nfitted by shamefully recoiling from the attempt when Moses \nwished to lead them against the strongholds of the tribes that \nheld the southern frontier of Philistia. Amidst the "terrific \nscenery " of the southern portion of the peninsula, they were \ngiven, from Mount Sinai, the law which formed the basis of \nall their national institutions. \n\nAt last, with the long-intermitted march resumed, Moses led \nthe tribes by a great detour to the eastern frontier of Palestine, \nthus avoiding the strongly garrisoned forts and cities of the \nsouth, and bringing the armies of Israel upon the compara- \ntively unprotected flank of the country. From the mountains \nof Moab, which overhang the Valley of the Jordan, the great \nleader and prophet of Israel was privileged, from some com- \nmanding height, to cast his eyes over the land promised unto \nhis fathers. Here, in sight of the longed-for country, he died \namidst the mountains of Moab ; but "no man knoweth of his \nsepulchre unto this day." \n\nConquest of Canaan and Apportionment of the Land. \xe2\x80\x94 \nJoshua, the successor of Moses, led the people across the Jor- \ndan ; and after the capture of Jericho, a walled city situated in \nthe river plain just above the head of the Dead Sea, proceeded \nto the work of subjugating the different tribes of the hill coun- \ntry of Palestine. Two campaigns, one conducted towards the \nsouth and the other to the north, placed the larger part of the \nland in the possession of the Hebrews. \n\n\n\n92 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe conquered territory was now apportioned among the \ndifferent tribes, the two tribes of Gad and Reuben and half the \ntribe of Manasseh being permitted to settle upon land to the \neast of the Jordan, the inviting nature of which had struck \nthem while marching through that region. \n\nThus, after one of the most remarkable migratory move- \nments of which any annals have been preserved, were the \ntribes of Israel brought again, as its permanent settlers, to the \nland over which, five hundred years before, their ancestors had \nroved, with their flocks and tents, as strangers and as pilgrims. \n\nThe Judges (from 1300 b.c. ? to 1095 B.C.). \xe2\x80\x94 A long period \nof anarchy and dissensions followed the conquest and allot- \nment of the land. " There was no king in Israel : every man \ndid that which was right in his own eyes." During this time \nthere arose a long line of national heroes, such as Ehud, Sham- \ngar, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, whose deeds of valor and \ndaring, and the timely deliverance they wrought for the tribes \nof Israel from their foes, caused their names to be handed \ndown with grateful remembrance to following ages. \n\nThese popular leaders were called judges because they usu- \nally exercised judicial functions, acting as arbiters between \nthe different tribes, as well as between man and man. Othniel, \na relative of Caleb, the friend and companion of Joshua, was \nthe first Judge of Israel. He was followed by Ehud, who by \nstratagem slew Eglon, King of Moab. " And after him was \nShamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six \nhundred men with an ox-goad : and he also delivered Israel." \nWe are told that at this time among forty thousand Israelites \nthere was not to be found a single spear or shield. \n\nDeborah was a poet and prophet as well as judge. This \nwonderful person brings to our mind Joan of Arc in French \nhistory ; and the parallel will aid us in comprehending the char- \nacter and mission of the Hebrew heroine. Her influence seems \nto have been almost unbounded. She inspired Barak, of the \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 93 \n\ntribe of Naphtali, to attempt the deliverance of Israel out of the \nhands of Jabin, a powerful Canaanitish ruler, who could bring \ninto the field nine hundred chariots of iron, and who for twenty \nyears had " mightily oppressed the children of Israel." The \noverthrow and death of Sisera, the captain of Jabin\'s army, are \ncelebrated by Deborah in a wild and exultant song that ranks \namong the most remarkable of the martial poems produced by \nthe rude and barbarous age of any people.* \n\nTowards the close of the dark, confused, and transitional pe- \nriod of the Judges is placed Samson, the most renowned, in \nsome respects, of the heroes of Israel. With his adventurous \nexploits and feats of strength every one is familiar. They are \nnarrated in the Book of Judges, which is a collection of the \nfragmentary, yet always interesting, traditions of this early and \nheroic period of the nation\'s life. The last of the Judges was \nSamuel, whose life embraces the close of the anarchical age \nand the beginning of the monarchy. \n\nFounding of the Hebrew Monarchy (1095 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 During the \nperiod of the Judges, the tribes of Israel were united by no \ncentral government. Their union was nothing more than a \nleague, or confederation, which has been compared to the \nSaxon Heptarchy in England. But the common dangers to \nwhich they were exposed from the attacks of the half-subdued \nCanaanitish tribes about them, and the example of the great \nkingdoms of Egypt and Assyria, led the people to begin to \nthink of the advantages of a closer union and a stronger gov- \nernment. Consequently the republic, or confederation, was \nchanged into a kingdom, and Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, a \nman chosen chiefly because of his commanding stature and \nroyal aspect, was made king of the new monarchy (1095 B.C.). \n\nThe king was successful in subduing the enemies of the \nHebrews, and consolidated the tribes and settled the affairs \nof the new state. But towards the close of his reign, his reason \n* Sed Judges v. \n\n\n\n94 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbecame disturbed : fits of gloom and despondency passed into \nactual insanity, which clouded the closing years of his life. At \nlast he and his three sons fell in battle with the Philistines \nupon Mount Gilboa (1055 B.C.). \n\nThe Eeign of David (1055-1015 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Upon the death of \nSaul, David, son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, who had been \npreviously anointed and encouraged to expect the crown by the \nhigh-priest Samuel, assumed the sceptre. After crushing the at- \ntempt made by the surviving son of Saul (Ishbosheth) to secure \nthe throne of his father, and reducing to allegiance all the tribes, \nDavid set about enlarging and strengthening his dominions. \n\nThere were yet many Canaanitish strongholds in the land, \nthe defenders of which the Israelites had been unable to dis- \nlodge. In the midst of the district allotted to the tribe of \nJudah was the strong fortress of Jebus, possessed by the Jebu- \nsites. David succeeded in capturing this place by stratagem, \nand, under the name of Jerusalem, made it his capital city. \nThis warlike king transformed the pastoral and half-civilized \ntribes into a conquering people, and, in imitation of the mon- \narchs of the Nile and the Euphrates, extended the limits of his \nempire in every direction, and waged wars of extermination \nagainst the troublesome tribes of Moab and Edom. \n\nPoet as well as warrior, David enriched the literature of his \nown nation and of the world with lyric songs that breathe such \na spirit of devotion and trust that they have been ever since \nhis day the source of comfort and inspiration to thousands. \nHe had in mind to build at Jerusalem a magnificent temple, \nand spent the latter years of his life in collecting material for \nthis purpose. In dying he left the crown to Solomon, his \nyoungest son, his eldest, Absalom, having been slain in a re- \nvolt against his father, and the second, Adonijah, having been \nexcluded from the succession for a similar crime. \n\nThe Reign of Solomon (1015-975 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Solomon did not \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 95 \n\npossess his father\'s talent for military affairs, but was a liberal \npatron of architecture, commerce, and learning. He erected, \nwith the utmost magnificence of adornment, the temple at Jeru- \nsalem, planned by his father David. King Hiram of Tyre, who \nwas a close friend of the Hebrew monarch, aided him in this \nundertaking by supplying him with the celebrated cedar of \nLebanon, and with Tyrian architects, the most skilled workmen \nat that time in the world. The dedication ceremonies upon \nthe completion of the building were most imposing and im- \npressive. Thenceforth this temple was the centre of the Jew- \nish worship and of the national life. \n\nFor the purpose of extending his commerce, Solomon built \nfleets upon the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The most \nremote regions of Asia and Africa were visited by his ships, \nand their rich and wonderful products made to contribute to \nthe wealth and glory of hi\xc2\xab kingdom. To facilitate the over- \nland trade with the Valley of the Euphrates and the regions be- \nyond, he built Tadmor (Palmyra), a sort of caravansary in the \nmidst of the Syrian Desert. As a great depot of the trade of \nthe East, this desert city soon attained importance, and in \nlater times, under Zenobia, became the rival of Rome. \n\nSolomon maintained one of the most magnificent courts ever \nheld by Oriental sovereign. When the Queen of Sheba, attract- \ned by the reports of his glory, came from Southern Arabia to \nvisit the monarch, she exclaimed, "The half was not told me." \nHe was the wisest king of the East. His proverbs are famous \nspecimens of sententious wisdom. He wrote the Song of \nSongs, and perhaps the Book of Ecclesiastes \xe2\x80\x94 the latter when \nthe pomp and pleasures of life were palling upon him. He \nwas versed in botany, being acquainted with plants and trees, \n"from the hyssop upon the wall to the cedar of Lebanon." \n\nBut, wise as was Solomon in his words, his life was far from \nbeing either admirable or prudent. In conformity to Asiatic \ncustom, he had many wives \xe2\x80\x94 seven hundred, we are told \xe2\x80\x94 of \ndifferent nationalities and religions. Through their persuasion \n\n\n\n96 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nthe old monarch himself fell into idolatry, which turned from \nhim the affections of his best subjects, and prepared the way \nfor the dissensions and wars that followed his death. \n\nThe Division of the Kingdom (975 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The reign of Solo- \nmon was brilliant, yet disastrous in the end to the Hebrew mon- \narchy. In order to carry on his vast undertakings, he had laid \nmost oppressive taxes upon his people. When Rehoboam, his \nson, succeeded to his father\'s place, the people entreated him \nto lighten the taxes that were making their very lives a burden. \nInfluenced by young and unwise counsellors, he replied to the \npetition with haste and insolence : " My father," said he, \n" chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scor- \npions." Immediately all the tribes, save Judah and Benjamin, \nrose in revolt, and succeeded in setting up, to the north of \nJerusalem, a rival kingdom, with Jeroboam as its first king. \nThis northern state, with Samaria as its capital, became known \nas the Kingdom of Israel ; the southern, of which Jerusalem \nremained the capital, was called the Kingdom of Judah. \n\nThus was torn in twain the empire of David and Solomon. \nUnited, the tribes might have maintained an empire capable of \noffering successful resistance to the encroachments of the power- \nful and ambitious monarchs about them. But now the land \nbecomes an easy prey to the spoiler. It is henceforth the path- \nway of the conquering armies of the Nile and the Euphrates. \nBetween the powerful monarchies of these regions, as between \nan upper and nether millstone, the little kingdoms are destined, \none after the other, to be ground to pieces. \n\nThe Kingdom of Israel (975-721 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The kingdom of the \nTen Tribes maintained an existence for about two hundred and \nfifty years. Its story is instructive and sad. Many passages of \nits history are recitals of the struggles between the pure worship \nof Jehovah and the idolatrous services of the deities introduced \nfrom the surrounding nations. During the reign of Ahab and \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 97 \n\nhis infamous queen Jezebel, the quarrel between the two re- \nh\'gious parties issued in bitter persecutions and massacres. \nThe cause of the rehgion of Jehovah, as the tribes of Israel \nhad received it from the patriarch Abraham and the lawgiver \nMoses, was boldly espoused and upheld by a line of the most \nremarkable teachers and prophets produced by the Hebrew \nrace, among whom Elijah and Elisha stand pre-eminent. With \nundaunted courage and unswerving loyalty to the divine mo- \nnitions, they condemned the idolatry and corruption of the \ntimes, and labored to lead the people back to the earlier and \npurer faith of their fathers. \n\nBut all was in vain ; and at last the thoroughly corrupt and \nenfeebled nation falls into the power of the Assyrian monarch. \nThis happened 721 b.c, when Samaria, as we have already nar- \nrated in the history of Assyria, was captured by Sargon, King of \nNineveh, and the Ten Tribes were carried away into captivity \nbeyond the Euphrates. From this time they are quite lost to \nhistory. \n\nThe country, left nearly vacant by this wholesale deportation \nof its inhabitants, was filled with other subjects or captives of \nthe Assyrian king. \' The descendants of these, mingled with \nthe few Jews of the poorer class that were still left in the \ncountry, formed the Samaritans of the time of Christ. \n\nThe Kingdom of Judah (975-5S8 B.c.).--This little kingdom, \ntorn by internal religious dissensions, as was its rival kingdom \nof the north, and often on the very verge of ruin from Egyptian \nor Assyrian armies, maintained an independent existence for \nabout four centuries. During this period, a line of eighteen \nkings, of most diverse characters, sat upon the throne. Upon \nthe extension of the power of Babylon to the west, Jerusalem \nwas forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Babylonian \nkings. \n\nThe kingdom at last shared the fate of its northern rival. \nNebuchadnezzar, the powerful king of Babylon, in revenge for \n\n\n\n98 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nan uprising of the Jews, besieged and captured Jerusalem, and \ncarried away tlie people and their king, Zedekiah, into captivity \nat Babylon. This event occurred one hundred and thirty-three \nyears after the leading of the Ten Tribes into captivity by the \nAssyrians. It virtually ended the separate and political life of \nthe Hebrew race (588 B.C.). Henceforth Judah constitutes \nsimply a province of the empires \xe2\x80\x94 Babylonian, Persian, Mace- \ndonian, and Roman \xe2\x80\x94 which successively held sway over the \nregions of Western Asia, with, however, just one flicker of \nnational life under the Maccabees, during a part of the two \ncenturies just preceding the birth of Christ. \n\nIt only remains to mention those succeeding events which be- \nlong rather to the story of the Jews as a people than as a nation. \nUpon the capture of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus, that \nmonarch, kindly disposed towards the Jews that he there found \ncaptives, permitted them to return to Jerusalem and restore the \nTemple. Jerusalem thus became again the centre of the old \nHebrew worship, and, although shorn of national glory, con- \ntinued to be the sacred centre of the ancient faith till the second \ngeneration after Christ. Then, in chastisement for repeated re- \nvolts, the city was laid in ruins by the Romans ; while vast num- \nbers of the inhabitants \xe2\x80\x94 some authorities say over one million \xe2\x80\x94 \nwere slain, or perished by famine, and the remnant were driven \ninto exile in different lands. \n\nThus by a series of unparalleled calamities and persecutions \nwere the descendants of Abraham " sifted among all nations ;" \nbut to this day they cling with a strange devotion and loyalty \nto the simple faith of their fathers. \n\nHebrew Religio7i and Literature. \nThe ancient Hebrews made little or no contribution to \nscience. They produced no new order of architecture. In \nsculpture they did nothing : their religion forbade their making \n" graven images." Their mission, as we have already said, was \nto teach religion. Here they have been the instructors of the \n\n\n\nTHE HEBREW NATION. 99 \n\nworld. Their literature is a religious one; for literature with \nthem was simply a medium for the conveyance of religious in- \nstruction and the awakening of devotional feeling. \n\nThe Hebrew religion, a pure monotheism, the teachings of a \nlong line of holy men \xe2\x80\x94 patriarchs, lawgivers, prophets, and \npriests \xe2\x80\x94 stretching from Abraham down to the fifth century \nB.C., is contained in the sacred books of the Old Testament \nScriptures. In these ancient writings, patriarchal traditions, his- \ntories, dramas, poems, prophecies, and personal narrative blend \nin a wonderful mosaic, which pictures with vivid and grand \neffect the various migrations, the deliverances, the calamities \xe2\x80\x94 \nall the events and religious experiences in the checkered life \nof the Chosen People. \n\nOut of this old exclusive, formal Hebrew religion, transformed \nand spiritualized by the Great Teacher who spake as never man \nspake, grew the Christian faith. Out of the Old Testament \narose the New, which we should think of as a part of Hebrew \nliterature ; for although written in the Greek language, and \nlong after the close of the political life of the Jewish nation, \nstill it is essentially Hebrew in thought and doctrine, and the \nsupplement and crown of the Hebrew Scriptures. \n\nBesides the Sacred Scriptures, called collectively, by way of \npre-eminence. The Bible (The Book), it only remains to mention \nthe Apocrypha, embracing a number of books written original- \nly in Greek, and regarded by both Jews and Christians as un- \ncanonical ; the Talmud, a collection of Hebrew customs and \ntraditions, with the comments thereupon of the rabbis, a \nwork held by most Jews next in sacredness to the Holy Book ; \nthe writings of Philo, a famous rabbi who lived at Alexandria \njust before the birth of Christ ; and the "Antiquities of the \nJews " and the " Jewish Wars " by the historian Josephus, who \nlived and wrote about the time of the taking of Jerusalem by \nTitus\xe2\x80\x94 that is, during the latter part of the first century after \nChrist. \n\n\n\nlOO \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\n\n\nJUDGES OF ISRAEL. \n\n\n\n\nOthiiiel, \n\n\nAbimelech, \n\n\nElon, \n\n\nEhud, \n\n\nTola, \n\n\nAbdon, \n\n\nShamgar, \n\n\nJair, \n\n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Eli, \n\n\nDeborah, \n\n\nJephthah, \n\n\nSamson, \n\n\nGideon, \n\n\nIbzan, \n\n\nSamuel. \n\n\n\nThe chronology of the period of the Judges is very uncertain. The era \ncovers something like three centuries, embraced between the death of \nJoshua and the establishment of the Monarchy, 1095 B.C. Moses and \nAaron are not usually reckoned among the Judges, although they both \nexercised judicial functions. \n\n\n\nKINGS OF THE UNITED MONARCHY. \n\nB.C. \n\nSaul 1095-1055 \n\nDavid 1055-1015 \n\nSolomon ioi5~975 \n\n\n\nDIVISION OF MONARCHY, 975 B.C. \n\n\n\nKINGS OF ISRAEL. \n\nJeroboam \n\nNadab \n\nBaasha \n\nElah \n\nZimri \n\nOmri \n\nAhab \n\nAhaziah \n\nJehoram \n\nJehu \n\nJehoahaz \n\nJoash \n\nJeroboam II \n\nZachariah \n\nShallum \n\nMenahem \n\nPekahiah \n\nPekah \n\nHoshea \n\nSargon captures Samaria. \n\n\n\n975-954 \n954-953 \n953-930 \n930-929 \n\n929 \n929-918 \n918-897 \n897-896 \n896-884 \n884-856 \n856-839 \n839-823 \n823-772 \n\n772 \n\n772 \n772-762 \n762-760 \n760-730 \n730-721 \n\n721 \n\n\n\nKINGS OF JUDAH. b.c. \n\nRehoboam 975-95S \n\nAbijam 958-956 \n\nAsa 956-916 \n\nJehoshaphat 916-892 \n\nJehoram 892-885 \n\nAhaziah 885-884 \n\nAthaliah 884-878 \n\nJoash 878-838 \n\nAmaziah 838-809 \n\nAzariah 809-757 \n\nJotham 757-742 \n\nAhaz 742-726 \n\nHezekiah 726-697 \n\nManasseh 697-642 \n\nAmon 642-640 \n\nJosiah 640-609 \n\nJehoahaz 609 \n\nJehoiakim 609-598 \n\nJehoiachin 598-597 \n\nZedeldah 597-588 \n\n\n\nTHE PHCENICIANS. lOI \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. \n\nTHE PHOENICIANS. \n\nOrigin of the Phoenicians.\xe2\x80\x94 Ancient Phoenicia embraced a \nlittle strip of broken sea-coast lying between the Mediterranean \nand the ranges of Mount Lebanon. The first settlers of this \nmaritime region were probably kinsmen of the Canaanitish \ntribes.* In very remote times \xe2\x80\x94 that is, about 2300 B.C. \xe2\x80\x94 the \nancestors of all these peoples dwelt in the regions bordering \nupon the Persian Gulf. Uprooted from those original seats by \ninvading tribes, they traversed the Mesopotamian plains, and \ncame into Palestine some time before the arrival of Abraham \nfrom the same region ; for we are told that when the patriarch \nled his flocks into Palestine "the Canaanite was then in pos- \nsession of the land." \n\nAlthough the larger part of the migratory bands appear to \nhave settled in the country which afterwards became known as \nthe Promised Land, still some of the tribes pressed on to the \nsea -coast, and took possession of the region called by the \nGreeks Phoenicia. Still other clans of the same race pushed \nsouthward into the Delta of the Nile, establishing there the \ndynasty of the Shepherd Kings, of whom v/e have given an \naccount in connection with the history of the Egyptians. \n\nWhile the Hyksos, from their fortified camp of Avaris, were \nextending their authority over the old civilization of the Nile, \nthe kindred tribes that had settled on the tract of sea-coast over- \nlooked by Mount Lebanon were establishing fishing -stations, \nand laying the foundation of the first and foremost maritime \npower of the early world. \n\n* See pp. 4-6, paragraphs on "The Hamitic People " and "The Semitic \nNations." \n\n\n\nI02 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nProducts of the Country. \xe2\x80\x94 One of the celebrated productions \nof Phoenicia was the fine fir timber cut from the forests that \ncrowned the lofty ranges of the Lebanon Mountains. The \n"cedar of Lebanon " holds a prominent place both in the his- \ntory and the poetry of the East. Another famous product of \nthe country was the Tyrian purple, which was obtained from \nseveral varieties of the murex, a species of shell-fish yielded by \nthe fisheries of the coast. There v/ere different shades of \nthe dye : that extracted from the variety of the murex inhabit- \ning the seas about the rock of Tyre was the most brilliant, and, \nbeing reserved almost exclusively for the vestments of royalty, \nwas called the " royal purple." \n\nTyre and Sidon. \xe2\x80\x94 The various Phoenician cities never coa- \nlesced to form a true nation. They constituted simply a sort \nof league, or confederacy, the petty states of which generally \nacknowledged the suzerainty of Tyre or Sidon, the two chief \ncities. The latter at first held the place of supremacy in the \nconfederation, until that city was overthrown by the Philistines, \n1050 B.C. Upon that event Tyre, a little to the south of Sidon, \nbuilt partly upon the mainland and partly upon a "rock in the \nmidst of the waves," assumed the position of leadership among \nthe Phoenician communities. \n\nFor more than seven centuries Tyre controlled the affairs of \nPhoenicia; and during this time the maritime enterprise and \nenergy of her merchants spread the fame of the little island \ncapital throughout the world. She was queen and mistress of \nthe Mediterranean. The kings of Tyre had but little of the \nambition for territorial aggrandizement that characterized the \nmonarchs of their times. So long as they controlled the com- \nmerce of the seas they were content. When Solomon offered \nKing Hiram, for aid rendered in building the temple, twenty \ncities and towns, the Tyrian monarch chose instead oil, wheat, \nand other products of Palestine. \n\nDuring all the last centuries of her existence, Phoenicia was, \n\n\n\nTHE PHCENICIANS. 103 \n\nfor the most part, tributary to one or another of the great mon- \narchies about her. She acknowledged in turn the suzerainty \nof the Assyrian, the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Persian, and \nthe Macedonian kings. Alexander, after a most memorable \nsiege, captured the city of Tyre \xe2\x80\x94 which alone of all the Phoeni- \ncian cities closed her gates against the conqueror \xe2\x80\x94 and reduced \nit to ruins (332 B.C.). She never recovered from this blow. The \nsite of the once brilliant maritime capital is now " bare as the \ntop of a rock," a place where the few fishers that still frequent \nthe spot spread their nets to dry. \n\nPhoenician Commerce.\xe2\x80\x94 When we catch our first glimpse of \nthe Mediterranean, about 1800 e.g., it is dotted with the sails \nof Phoenician navigators. It was natural that the people of \nthe Phoenician coast should have been led to a seafaring life. \nThe lofty mountains that back the little strip of shore seemed \nto shut them in from a career of conquest and to prohibit an \nextension of their land domains. At the same time, the Medi- \nterranean in front invited them to maritime enterprise ; while \nthe forests of Lebanon in the rear offered timber in abundance \nfor their ships. The Phoenicians, indeed, were the first navi- \ngators who pushed out boldly from the shores and made real \nsea voyages. They crossed the Mediterranean in every direc- \ntion with their ships, distributing the manufactures of Asia \namong the different peoples of Southern Europe, that were \nnow just rising above the lowest stages of culture, and from \nthose regions brought back articles in quest among the mer- \nchants of the East. \n\nThe longest voyages were made to procure tin, which was in \ngreat demand for the manufacture of articles in bronze. The \nnearest region where this metal occurred was the Caucasus, on \nthe eastern shore of the Euxine. The Phoenician sailors boldly \nthreaded the ^gean Archipelago, passed through the Helles- \npont, braved the unknown terrors of the Black Sea, and from \nthe land of Colchis brought back to the manufacturers of Asia \n\n\n\nI04 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nthe coveted article \xe2\x80\x94 more precious than the Golden Fleece of \nthe Argonauts. \n\nTowards the close of the fifteenth century B.C., the jealousy \nof the Pelasgic states of Greece and the Archipelago, that were \nnow growing into maritime power, closed the ^gean Sea \nagainst the Phoenician navigators. They then pushed out into \nthe Western Mediterranean, and opened the tin -mines of the \nIberian (Spanish) peninsula. When these began to fail, these \nbold sailors passed the Pillars of Hercules, faced the dangers \nof the Atlantic, and brought back from those distant seas the \ntin gathered in the mines of Britain. \n\nPhoenician Colonies. \xe2\x80\x94 Along the different routes pursued by \ntheir ships, and upon the coasts visited by them, the Phoenicians \nestablished factories, naval stations, and trading-posts. Thus \nthe islands and shores of the Mediterranean became studded \nwith naval depots and establishments that in time grew into \nimportant centres of trade and civilization. \n\nThe stations first established by the Phoenicians were simply \nfactories and stopping-places for their ships. They were not \ncolonies in the sense that they were the new seats of a surplus \npopulation. But an important event in Palestine now gave \nthem an entirely different character. About the close of the \n14th century B.C., the children of Israel crossed the frontier \nof that country, and almost at a blow destroyed thirty -five of \nthe Canaanitish states. The inhabitants were either slaugh- \ntered or pushed back towards the sea-coast, where they crowded \ninto the cities of the Phoenicians. This influx of refugees from \nthe hill country gave an impulse to the true colonizing spirit. \nThe exiles were settled in different cities planted in Europe \nand Africa. To this era is referred the founding of Thebes in \nGreece, which event plays such an important part in the tradi- \ntions of the Greeks. Large numbers of the refugees were set- \ntled in Northern Africa, where already existed communities of \ntheir kinsmen who had pushed on from Egypt at the time of \n\n\n\nTHE PHCENICIANS. I05 \n\nthe Shepherd Kings. Utica, Hippo, and Carthage were the most \ncelebrated of the cities that sprang up along the African coast. \nColonies were even planted beyond the Pillars of Hercules, \nupon the Atlantic seaboard. The Phoenician settlement of \nGades, upon the western coast of Spain, is still preserved in \nthe modern Cadiz. \n\nRoutes of Trade. \xe2\x80\x94 From the mother city Tyre, and from all \nher important colonies and trading-posts, radiated long routes \nof land travel, by which articles were conveyed from the in- \nterior of the continents to the Mediterranean seaboard. Thus, \namber was brought from the Baltic, through the forests of Ger- \nmany, to the mouth of the river Padus (Po) in Italy. The tin \nof the British Isles was first brought across Gaul to the outlets \nof the Rhone, and there loaded upon the Phoenician ships. \nThe trade with India was carried on by way of the Persian Gulf \nand the Red Sea, great caravans bearing the burdens from the \nports at the heads of these seas across the Arabian and Syrian \ndeserts to the warehouses of Tyre. Other routes led from \nPhoenicia across the Mesopotamian plains to Armenia, As- \nsyria, Babylonia, Persia, and thence on to the very heart of \nCentral Asia. \n\nArts Disseminated by the Phoenicians. \xe2\x80\x94 We have dwelt at \nsome length upon the maritime and land routes of the Phoe- \nnician traders, because of the light which the facts we have \ndetailed shed upon the distribution of certain arts, and the \nspread of civilization, among the early peoples of the Mediter- \nranean area. We can scarcely overestimate the influence of \nPhoenician culture and enterprise upon the civilization of Eu- \nrope. " Egypt and Assyria," says Lenormant, " were the birth- \nplace of material civilization ; the Canaanites [Phoenicians] \nwere its missionaries." Most prominent of the arts which they \nintroduced among all the nations with whom they traded was \nthe art of alphabetical writing. \n\n6 \n\n\n\njo6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nWhen tlio Shepherd Kings were expelled from Egypt, they \ncarried with them twenty-two hieratic characters, which became \nthe rhojnician alphabet. Now, all the true alphabets in use \namong diiTerent peoples are manifestly derived from the Phce- \nnician. Lenormant classifies the various alphabets of the world \ninto five great groups :* the Semi fie, employed by the various \nSemitic nations of Western Asia; the Grcnco- Italic, used by the \nGreeks and Romans; the Iberian, employed in the Spanish \nPeninsula ; the Northern, embracing the Runic alphabets in \nuse among the early Germanic and Scandinavian tribes ; and \nthe Jndo-IIomerite, including various alphabets in use among \nnations scattered from Arabia to India. \n\nThese groups of alphabets correspond to the five great routes \nof maritime and land travel followed by the Phoenician traders. \nWherever they went, they carried letters and the art of alpha- \nbetical writing as " one of their exports." The characters were \nmodified by the different peoples who adopted them ; yet, \namong all the difiVrent groups enumerated, it is easy to detect \na family likeness, and to recognize in the Phcenician alphabet \nthe mother of them all. \n\nIt is supposed that the ancestors of the nations of Northern \nEurope were, at the time they first met the Phoenicians, livi\'ng \non the shores of the Black Sea. There they received the al- \nphabet, and carried it with them in their westward migrations \ninto Europe. \n\nThe introduction of letters among the diftercnt nations, vast \nas was the benefit which the gift conferred upon peoples just \nbeginning to make advances in civilization, is only one of the \nmany advantages which resulted to the early civilization of \nEurope from the commercial enterprise of the Phoenicians. It \nis probable that they first introduced among the semi-civilized \ntribes of that continent the use of bronze, which marks an epoch \nin their growing culture. Articles of Phoenician workmanship \n\n* Lenoimanl\'s " History of the East." vol, ii. \n\n\n\nTHE PHCENICIANS. I07 \n\nare found in the earliest tombs of the Greeks, Etruscans, and \nRomans; and in very many of the manufactures of these peo- \nples may be traced the influence of Phoenician art. \n\nGreat Enterprises Aided by the Phoenicians. \xe2\x80\x94 While scatter- \ning the germs of civilization and culture broadcast over the en- \ntire Mediterranean area, the enterprising Phoenicians were also \nlending aid to almost every great undertaking of antiquity. \nKing Hiram of Tyre furnished Solomon with artisans and \nskilled workmen, and with great rafts of timber from Lebanon, \nfor building the splendid temple at Jerusalem. The Phoenicians \nalso provided timber from their fine forests for the construction \nof the great palaces and temples of the Assyrians, the Baby- \nlonians, and the Egyptians. They built for the Persian king \nXerxes the famous Hellespontine bridges over which he march- \ned his immense army into Greece. They furnished contingents \nof ships to the kings of Nineveh and Babylon for naval opera- \ntions both upon the Mediterranean and the Persian and Ara- \nbian gulfs. Their fleets served as transports and convoys to \nthe. expeditions of the Persian monarchs aiming at conquest in \nAsia Minor or Europe. They formed, too, the naval branch \nof the armaments of the Pharaohs ; for the Egyptians hated \nthe sea, and never had a native fleet. And it was Phoenician \nsailors that, under the orders of Pharaoh-Necho, circumnavi- \ngated Africa \xe2\x80\x94 an undertaking which, although attendant per- \nhaps with less advantages to the world, still is reckoned quite \nas remarkable, considering the remote age in which it was ac- \ncomplished (604-601 B.C.), as the circumnavigation of the globe \nby the Portuguese navigator Magellan more than two thou- \nsand years later. \n\n\n\nI08 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. \n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. \n(From early times to 330 B.C.) \n\nKinship of the Medes and Persians.\xe2\x80\x94 We have already spok- \nen of the early home of the Aryan peoples, north of the Hindu \nKush Mountains. It was in very remote times, probably be- \nfore 2000 B.C., that some tribes, separating themselves from the \nother members of the Aryan family, crossed the southern ranges \nand sought new abodes on the plains of Iran. They drove out \nor absorbed a people of Turanian race whom they found in \npossession of the land. The tribes that settled in the south \nbecame known as the Persians ; while those that took posses- \nsion of the mountain regions of the northeast were called \nMedes. The same in race, they had the same language, re- \nligion, and customs. So closely were they allied (although \nthe Median character was somewhat modified by amalgamation \nwith the native tribes) that the ancient writers always coupled \nthe names, speaking of them as the " Medes and Persians." \nThus we find their names associated in the famous legend, \n"The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not." \n\nThe Medes at first the Leading Race. \xe2\x80\x94 Although the Per- \nsians were destined to rise to an overshadowing pre-eminence \nin the double-headed state, still the Medes were at first the \nleading people. Cyaxares was their first prominent leader and \nking. We have already seen how, aided by the Babylonians, \nhe overthrew the last king of Nineveh, and burned that capital, \n625 B.C. Cyaxares was followed by his son Ast3\'ages, during \nwhose reign the Persians revolted, overthrew the Median \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. I09 \n\npower, and thenceforth held the place of leadership and au- \nthority. \n\nReign of Cyrus the Great (558-529 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The leader of the \nrevolt against the Medes was Cyrus, a Persian prince, who was \na great favorite of the Median king Astyages. According to \nHerodotus he was the grandson of that monarch. However \nthis may be, the young prince passed much of his time at the \nMedian court, in the famous " seven-walled city " of Ecbatana ; \nas it was usual among Oriental monarchs for the sons of vassal \nkings to be kept at the court of the suzerain,, partly as hostages \nfor the loyalty of the subject states, and partly to be trained in \nhis interests.* While a resident there he planned a revolt \nwhich should free his country from the Median yoke. His \nplans were successful. The Median dynasty, as we have seen, \nwas overthrown; but in the struggle for independence the \nfather of Cyrus was slain. So the fortunes of battle made \nCyrus, on the same day, king of the Persians and master of the \nMedes. \n\nBy his soldierly genius and energy, Cyrus soon built up an \nempire more extended than any over which the sceptre had \nyet been swayed by Oriental monarch. It stretched from the \nIndus to the farthest limits of Asia IMinor. One of the king- \ndoms in the latter country which Cyrus overthrew was Lydia, \nwhose monarch, Croesus, was one of the richest of all the kings \nof the East, so that his name has passed into the proverb \n" Rich as Croesus." In our account of Babylon, we have al- \nready told how Cyrus captured that city, and added Babylonia \nas a province to his vast dominions. \n\nWhile leading an expedition against some Scythian tribe \xe2\x80\x94 \nprobably the Massagetae \xe2\x80\x94 Cyrus received the wound that in a \nfew days ended his life. He was buried at Pasargadae, the old \ncapital of the empire, and there his tomb stands to-day, sur- \n\n* Smith\'s \xc2\xab\' History of the East," p. 539. \n\n\n\nno ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nrounded by the ruins of the magnificent buildings with which \nhe adorned that city. The following inscription is said to have \nbeen placed, according to the wish of the great conqueror, with- \nin his tomb : " O man, whoever thou art, and whencesoever \nthou comest, I am Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire : \nenvy me not the little earth that covers my body." * \n\nCharacter of Cyrus.\xe2\x80\x94 Cyrus, notwithstanding his seeming \nlove for war and conquest, possessed a kindly and generous dis- \nposition. Almost universal testimony has ascribed to him the \npurest and most beneficent character of any Eastern monarch. \nIndeed, some have exalted him to be the prototype and fore- \nrunner of Christ. Upon the capture of Babylon, he set free \nthe Hebrews, whom the Babylonians had held in long captivity, \nand aided them in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple, which \nhad been sacked and burned by Nebuchadnezzar. He was, \nmore than any other Oriental king, accessible to his subjects, \nand by his free and open way with them won their undying \naffection and loyalty. They were fond of calling him "Father.\'* \nHe refused to treat harshly those whom the fortunes of war \nthrew into his power; and often he forgave and readmitted to \nfavor those that had plotted against his life and crown. Many \nstories are told by the ancient writers which illustrate the \nenergy of his actions, the alertness of his mind, and the good- \nness of his heart. \n\nReign of Cambyses (529-522 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Cyrus the Great left two \nsons, Cambyses and Smerdis : the former, as the oldest, in- \nherited the sceptre and the title of king. He began a despotic \nand unfortunate reign by causing his brother, whose influence \nhe feared, to be put to death. With far less ability than his \nfather for their execution, he conceived even vaster projects of \nconquest and dominion. Asia had hitherto usually afforded a \n\n\n\n* Vaux\'s " Nineveh and Persepolis," p. 99. \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. Ill \n\nsufficient field for the ambition of Oriental despots. Cambyses \ndetermined to add the country of Africa to the vast inheritance \nreceived from his father. Upon some slight pretext, he in- \nvaded Egypt, captured Memphis, and ascended the Nile to \nThebes. From here he sent an army of 50,000 men to subdue \nthe oasis of Ammon, in the Libyan Desert. Of the vast host \nnot a man returned from the expedition. It is thought that \nthe army was overwhelmed and buried by one of those fatal \nstorms, called simooms, that so frequently sweep over those \ndreary wastes of sand. \n\nCambyses had meanwhile sent an embassy to the Ethio- \npians, a people of large and powerful frame, demanding their \nsubmission; but he had received in reply a bow, with the mes- \nsage that when a Persian archer could bend it, then Cambyses \nmight think of making war against the Ethiopians. The king \nimmediately set his army in motion, to punish their insolence; \nbut the terrors of the Nubian Desert, rather than the valor of \nthe foe, caused him to turn back, with the object of the expe- \ndition very unsatisfactorily accomplished. \n\nIrritated by the ill-success of his plans, and believing that \nthe Egyptian priests were taking advantage of his misfortunes \nto foment dissatisfaction among the people, he determined to \nstrengthen his authority by destroying the power and influence \nof the sacerdotal order, and uprooting the ancient religion of \nthe country. He stabbed, with his own hand, the sacred bull \nApis, and caused the priests to be publicly scourged for deceiv- \ning the people \xe2\x80\x94 lying to them about the gods ; a charge from \n. which it would have been difficult for them to free themselves. \n\nCambyses had set out on his return to Persia, when news \nwas brought to him that his brother Smerdis had usurped the \nthrone, and caused himself to be proclaimed king. A Magian \nimpostor, who resembled the murdered Smerdis, had person- \nated him, and actually grasped the sceptre. Cambyses, de- \npressed in spirits by the small success attending his expe- \ndition, was entirely disheartened by this startling intelligence, \nand in despair took his own life. \n\n\n\n112 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nReign of the Pseudo-Smerdis (522-521 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The circum- \nstances of this reign are interesting on account of the insight \nthey give us into the life of an Oriental monarch, and the light \nthey throw upon religious matters. There were at this time \ntwo opposing religions in Persia: Zoroastrianism, which taught \nthe simple worship of one God under the name of Ormazd ; \nand Magianism, a less pure faith, whose followers were fire- \nworshippers. The usurpation which placed Smerdis on the \nthrone was planned by the Magi, Smerdis himself being a fire- \npriest. Of course the people were kept in profound ignorance \nof the real character of the new king, and they believed that \nthey had for a monarch the true son of the Great Cyrus. For \nseven months Smerdis succeeded in concealing the fraud from \nthe nation at large. He took every precaution to prevent the \nfacts from becoming known. The wives of his harem, many of \nwhom must have known the real Smerdis, were kept apart in \ndifferent chambers, and no one was allowed to see them. \nSmerdis himself kept close within the walls of his palace, and \nadmitted no one to an audience that had known the murdered \nprince. But all was in vain. The very precautions that Smer- \ndis took awakened suspicion, and at last the fraud was dis- \ncovered. Several nobles, indignant at the deception that had \nbeen practised, forced their way to the presence of Sfnerdis, \nand the false king paid for his short-lived authority and royal \nhonors with his life. \n\nReign of Darius I. (521-486 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 The leader of the nobles \nwho rescued the sceptre from the grasp of the false Smerdis was \nDarius, son of Hystaspes. We are left in no doubt respecting \nhis descent and titles, for on his tomb is this legend : " Darius, \nthe Great King, the King of kings ; the King of all inhabited \ncountries ; the King of this great earth, far and near ; the son of \nHystaspes, an Achaemenian ; a Persian, the son of a Persian ; \nan Aryan, of Aryan descent." \n\nThe first act of Darius was to punish, by a general massacre, \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. II3 \n\nthe Magian priests for the part they had taken in the usurpation \nby Smerdis. The pure Zoroastrian worship was re-instated ; \nand the temples which had been destroyed by the Magians, or \nfire-worshippers, were restored. All the inscriptions of Darius \nevince great zeal for the restored religion, and breathe a spirit \nof pious dependence upon Ormazd. \n\nFor several years the monarch was busy suppressing revolts \nin almost every province of his wide dominions. In all the \nancient Oriental despotisms, disaffections and uprisings were \nalmost always the accompaniment of dynastic changes. A \nsovereignty acquired by the sword must be maintained by the \nsame means. \n\nWith quiet and submission secured throughout the empire, \nDarius gave himself, for a time, to the arts of peace. He built \na palace at Susa, and erected magnificent structures at Per- \nsepolis ; reformed the administration of the government, mak- \ning such wise and lasting changes that he has been called " the \nsecond founder of the Persian Empire ;" established post-roads, \nand instituted a coinage for the realm ; and upon the great rock \nof Behistun, a lofty smooth-faced cliff on the western frontier \nof Persia, caused to be inscribed the records of all his achieve- \nments. \n\nAnd now the Great King, Lord of Western Asia and of \nEgypt, conceived and entered upon the execution of vast de- \nsigns of conquest, the far-reaching effects of which were des- \ntined to live long after he had passed away. Inhospitable \nsteppes on the north, and burning deserts on the south, whose \nshifting sands within a period yet fresh in memory had been \nthe grave of a Persian army, seemed to be the barriers which \nnature herself had set for the limits of empire in these direc- \ntions. But on the eastern flank of the kingdom the rich and \ncrowded plains of India invited the conqueror with promises of \nendless spoils and revenues ; while on the west a new continent, \nfull of unknown mysteries, presented virgin fields never yet \ntraversed by the army of an Eastern despot. \n\n6* \n\n\n\n114 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nDarius determined to extend the frontiers of his empire in \nboth these directions. He first despatched, according to credi- \nble accounts, two naval expeditions of observation \xe2\x80\x94 one to seek \ninformation respecting the Indus country, and the other to make \nsuch investigations of the western seas and Grecian states as \nmight be needful to his plans. \n\nAt one blow Northern India was brought under Persian \nauthority; and thus with a single effort were the eastern limits \nof the empire pushed out so as to include one of the richest \ncountries of Asia \xe2\x80\x94 one which henceforth returned to the Great \nKing an annual revenue vastly larger than that of any other \nprovince hitherto acquired, not even excepting the rich district \nof Babylonia. \n\nWith an army of more than 700,000 men, Darius, aided by \nthe ships of his Grecian subject allies, now crossed the Helles- \npont, and, passing the Danube, penetrated far into what is now \nRussia, which was then occupied by Scythian hordes. Adopt- \ning the same tactics employed by the Russians 2000 years \nlater, when Napoleon led an army of nearly equal strength into \nthe same country, the natives retreated as the Persians ad- \nvanced, refusing battle, filling the wells, and destroying every- \nthing that might be of service to the enemy. After a short \ncampaign of two months, Darius retreated from the country, \neffecting the movement, however, without those terrible losses \nand experiences which have made the later expedition the \ngloomiest episode of modern history. \n\nThe most significant campaign in Europe was yet to follow. \nIn 500 B.C., the Ionian cities in Asia Minor subject to the Per- \nsian authority revolted. The Greeks of the continent very \nnaturally lent aid to their sister states. Sardis, an important \ncity of Lydia, held by the Persians, was sacked and burned by \nthe insurgents. With the revolt crushed and punished with \ngreat severity, and with his power re-established to the Helles- \npont, Darius determined to chastise the Athenians for their \ninsolence in giving aid to his rebellious subjects. Herodotus \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. II5 \n\ntells us that he appointed a person whose sole duty it was \ndaily to stir up the purpose of the king with the words, "Mas- \nter, remember the Athenians." \n\nA large land and naval armament was fitted out and placed \nunder the command of Mardonius, son-in-law of Darius. The \nland forces suffered severe losses at the hands of the bar- \nbarians of Thrace, and the fleet was wrecked by a violent storm \noff Mount Athos, and three hundred ships were lost (492 B.C.). \n\nTwo years after this disaster, another expedition, consisting \nof 120,000 men, under the command of Datis and Artaphernes, \nwas borne by ships across the ^gean to the plains of Mara- \nthon. The details of the significant encounter that there took \nplace between the Persians and the Athenians will be given \nwhen we come to narrate the history of Greece. We need now \nsimply note the result \xe2\x80\x94 the complete overthrow of the Persian \nforces by the Greeks under Miltiades (490 B.C.). \n\nDarius, angered beyond measure by the failure of the expe- \ndition, stirred up all the provinces of his vast empire, and called \nfor new levies from far and near, resolved upon leading in per- \nson such an army into Greece that the insolent Athenians \nshould be crushed at a single blow, and that the tarnished \nglory of the Persian arms should be quickly restored. In the \nmidst of these preparations the king suddenly died, in the year \n486 B.C. \n\nReign of Xerxes I. (486-465 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The successor of Darius, \nhis son Xerxes, though himself more inclined to indulge in the \nease and luxury of the palace than to subject himself to the \nhardship and discipline of the camp, was urged by those about \nhim to an active prosecution of the plans of his father. \n\nMustering the contingents of the different provinces of his \nempire, Xerxes led his vast army, numbering over 2,000,000 \nfighting men, besides an equal number of attendants, over the \nbridges he had caused to be thrown across the Hellespont, \ncrushed the Spartan guards at the Pass of Thermopylae, pushed \n\n\n\nIl6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\non into Attica, and laid Athens in ruins. But there fortune \nforsook him. At the naval battle of Salamis, his fleet was cut \nto pieces by the Grecian ships ; and the king, making a pre- \ncipitate retreat back into Asia, hastened to his capital, Susa. \nHere, in the pleasures of the harem, he sought solace for his \nwounded pride and broken hopes. \n\nThe Bible story of Esther throws a vivid light upon the \ninner life of a Persian court at this time, and furnishes many \nan interesting passage in the closing years of the reign of \nXerxes \xe2\x80\x94 for he is doubtless the Ahasuerus of the Hebrew \nwriters. He at last fell a victim to palace intrigue, being slain \nin his own chamber 465 B.C. \n\nThe Decline of the Persian Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 The power and suprem- \nacy of the Persian monarchy passed away with the reign of \nXerxes. The story of the empire for the last one hundred and \nforty years of its existence is simply a repetition of the history \nof all conquering states. Power acquired by conquest, and \nwealth gained by robbery, are certain, in the end, to corrupt \nand weaken the possessor. The closing period of the Persian \nEmpire is one long recital of shameful briberies, corruptions, \ncourt intrigues, and assassinations. As the hand that wielded \nthe sceptre grew weaker, the more remote or powerful provinces \ncast off their allegiance ; and the records of the kings for this \nera are dreary enumerations of the wars and campaigns un- \ndertaken to punish conspiracies or crush open revolt. The \nrising power of the Grecian states in the West was also a con- \nstant peril and menace in that quarter. \n\nThis period of turbulence and anarchy is spanned by the \nreigns of Artaxerxes I., surnamed by the Greeks Longimanus, \nthe Long-handed; Xerxes II., who reigned only forty-five \ndays; Sogdianus, who held the throne less than one year; \nDarius IL, surnamed Ochus; Artaxerxes II., called Mnemon \nfor his remarkable memory, during whose reign took place the \nfamous expedition of the Ten Thousand Greeks under Cyrus, \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. II7 \n\nthe brother of Artaxerxes, an account of which will be given in \nconnection with Grecian history; Artaxerxes III., or Ochus; \nand Darius III., known also as Codomannus. \n\nThe Last of the Persian Kings. \xe2\x80\x94 That mysterious allotment \nof Providence by which the consequences of the follies and \ncrimes of a long line of ancestors fall upon an innocent de- \nscendant is illustrated anew in the sad story of Darius III., \nthe last of tlie Persian kings. He was comely in person, gen- \nerous in disposition, and free from most of those faults which \nrendered infamous the reigns of his jDredecessors. Yet it was \nhis misfortune to live to see the weakened empire fall to pieces \nin his hands, and himself a hunted fugitive in the obscurest \nprovince of his dominions. \n\nThe revelations of the preceding reigns invited the Macedo- \nnians to the invasion and conquest of the empire. Marathon, \nSalamis, and Plataea had shown the immense superiority of the \nfree soldiery of Greece over the splendid but servile armies of \nPersia, that were often driven to battle with the lash. The \nmarch of the Ten Thousand through the very heart of the do- \nminions of the Great King had demonstrated the amazing in- \nternal weakness of the empire. The condition of the Persian \nmonarchy at this time was very like that of the Roman Empire \njust before its fall. A single blow will suffice to shatter the \nsplendid fabric into ruins. \n\nAlexander, the son of Philip of Macedon, was the destined \ndestroyer. In the year 334 B.C., that conqueror led a small \narmy of 35,000 Greeks across the Hellespont. The three great \nbattles of Granicus, Issus, and Arbela decided the fate of the \nPersian Empire. Darius fled from the last field, on the plains \nof Assyria, only to be treacherously assassinated by one of his \nown generals, Bessus, satrap of Bactria. When Alexander, who \nwas pushing on in close pursuit, came upon the body of the \nmurdered king, which lay by the wayside, he burst into tears, \nand covered the remains with his own mantle. "With this \n\n\n\nIl8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\npathetic scene closes the story of the Persian Empire (b.c. \n\nThe succeeding movements of Alexander, and the establish- \nment by him of the short-lived Macedonian monarchy upon the \nruins of the Persian state, are matters that properly belong to \nGrecian history, and will be narrated in a following chapter. \n\n\n\nTHE PERSIAN EMPIRE. \n\n\n\n119 \n\n\n\nTABLE OF KINGS OF MEDIA AND PERSIA. \n\n\n\nr Phraortes ? -633 \n\nKings of Media. . . -j Cyaxares 633-593 \n\nI Astyages 593-558 \n\n\' Cyrus 55S-529 \n\nCambyses 529-522 \n\nPseudo-Smerdis 522-521 \n\nDarius 1 521-486 \n\nXerxes 1 486-465 \n\nArtaxerxes 1 465-425 \n\nKings of Persia. . . - Xerxes II 425 \n\nSogdianus 425-424 \n\nDarius II 424-405 \n\nArtaxerxes II 405-359 \n\nArtaxerxes III 359-338 \n\nArses 338-336 \n\nI Darius III 336-33\xc2\xb0 \n\n\n\nI20 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL \n\nINSTITUTIONS, RELIGION, AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT \nPERSIANS. \n\nThe Persian Government. \xe2\x80\x94 Before the reign of Darius I., the \ngovernment of the Persian Empire was like that of all the great \nmonarchies that had preceded it ; that is, it consisted of a great \nnumber of subject states, which were allowed to retain their \nown kings and manage their own affairs, only paying tribute \nand homage, and furnishing contingents in time of war, to the \nGreat King. \n\nWe have seen how weak was this rude and primitive type of \ngovernment. Darius conceived an entirely new and far better \nform \xe2\x80\x94 one which the Romans reproduced, if they did not imi- \ntate it. This system of Darius is known as the satrapal. The \nentire kingdom was divided into about twenty provinces, over \neach of which was placed a governor, called a satrap, appointed \nby the king. These officials held their position at the pleasure \nof the sovereign, and were thus rendered his subservient creat- \nures. Each province contributed to the income of the king a \nstated revenue. After raising this, the governor was at liberty \nto collect as much more as he needed to sustain such a court \nand retinue as his tastes might dictate. These being often ca- \npricious and extravagant, the taxes were usually exorbitant and \noppressive ; but so long as the annual stipend was received at \nthe capital, no inquiries were likely to be made. The meas- \nures of these satraps were often cruel and despotic : they held \nthe power of life and death; and justice with them was too \nfrequently a thing of price and purchase. \n\nThere were provisions in the system by which the king might \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ETC., OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS. 121 \n\nbe apprized of the loyalty of his satraps, and thus the whole \ndominion was firmly cemented together ; and the facility with \nwhich almost sovereign states \xe2\x80\x94 which was the real character \nof the different parts of the empire under the old system \xe2\x80\x94 \ncould plan and execute revolt was removed. \n\nLiterature and Religion: Zoroastrianism. \xe2\x80\x94 The literature of \nthe ancient Persians was entirely religious. Their sacred book \nis called the Zendavesta. It is composed of eight parts, the \noldest of which is named the Vendidad. This consists of \nhymns and invocations believed to have been composed before \n2 GOO B.C. The religious system of the Persians, as taught in \nthe Zendavesta, is known as Zoroastrianism, from Zoroaster, its \nfounder. This great reformer and teacher is now supposed by \nmany scholars to have lived and taught about two thousand \nyears before our era, and thus to have been a contemporary of \nAbraham. \n\nZoroastrianism seems to have been a revolt against poly- \ntheistic tendencies in the old Aryan religion. Zoroaster la- \nbored to lead his people back to the simple faith of their an- \ncestors. He taught belief in a Supreme Being, called Ahura \nMazda, or Ormazd ; and his precepts inculcated virtue and \npurity. His teachings produced a religious schism among the \nhitherto united Indo- Iranian peoples, and led to their final \nseparation, and to the establishment of the antagonistic systems \nof Brahminism in Hindustan and Zoroastrianism in Persia. \n\nDualism in the Persian Religion.\xe2\x80\x94 The system of Zoroaster \nwas much modified by the nature of the region that became \nthe home of the Iranian peoples, and also by the sensuous wor- \nship of the Turanian and Hamitic tribes with which they came \nin contact. \n\nPersia is a country of sharp contrasts : winters of bitter cold \nare followed closely by springs of surpassing freshness and \nbeauty, and these are quickly succeeded by hot, withering sum- \n\n\n\n122 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nmers. Frightful deserts alternate with fertile and lovely valleys. \nGood and evil powers seemed thus, to the observant minds of \nthose early peoples, to be waging an ever-renewed conflict in \nthe world around them. Within themselves, also, health and \ndisease, vice and virtue, evil and good, seemed ever contending, \neach for the master}^ Hence arose the system of belief known \nas dualism, the germs of which are traceable in the earliest \nAryan hymns They imagined that over against the good \nOrmazd there was a " dark spirit," Ahriman, who was constant- \nly striving to destroy the good creations of Ormazd by creat- \ning all evil powers \xe2\x80\x94 storm, drought, pestilence, noxious animals, \nweeds and thorns in the world without, and evil in the heart \nof man within. From all eternity these two powers had been \ncontending for the mastery; in the present neither had the de- \ncided advantage; but in the near future Ormazd would triumph \nover Ahriman and evil be forever destroyed. \n\nThe duty of man was to aid Ormazd by working with him \nagainst the evil-loving Ahriman. He must labor to eradicate \nevery evil and vice in his own bosom ; to reclaim the earth \nfrom barrenness; and to kill all bad animals \xe2\x80\x94 frogs, toads, \nsnakes, lizards \xe2\x80\x94 which Ahriman had created. Herodotus saw \nwith amazement the Magian priests armed with weapons and \nengaged in slaying these animals as a "pious pastime." Agri- \nculture was a sacred calling, for the husbandman was reclaim- \ning the ground from the curse of the Dark Spirit. Thus men \nmight become co-workers with Ormazd in the mighty work of \noverthrowing and destroying the kingdom of the wicked Ahri- \nman. \n\nThe evil man was he who allowed vice and degrading pas- \nsions to find a place in his owm soul, and neglected to extermi- \nnate noxious animals and weeds, and help redeem the earth \nfrom the barrenness and sterility created by the enemy of Or- \nmazd. \n\nAfter death the souls of the good and bad alike must pass \nalong a narrow bridge : the good soul passes in safety, and is \n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 INSTITUTIONS, ETC., OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS. 1 23 \n\nadmitted to the presence of Ahura Mazda; while the evil soul \nis sure to fall from the sharp path into a pit of woe, the dwell- \ning-place of Ahriman. \n\nZoroastrianism Influenced by Magianism. \xe2\x80\x94 Zoroastrianism \nwas also deeply influenced by the religion of the ancient people \nwith which the Aryans blended, especially in the Median prov- \ninces. There, among the mountains of the Zagros region, flour- \nished a sort of sensuous nature-worship, called Magianism, in \nwhich the elements \xe2\x80\x94 fire, earth, air, and water \xe2\x80\x94 were esteemed \nsacred and were made objects of worship. Fire was regarded \nwith special veneration, as the purest symbol of the Supreme \nBeing. This religion was really but a modified form of the Sab- \naeism of the early Chald^eans. The lofty summits of the moun- \ntains were crowned with altars, upon which burned continually \nthe Magian fires. These were kept burning from generation to \ngeneration. The system possessed a venerable priesthood and \na ceremonial of worship that appealed to the grosser senses. \n\nZoroastrianism, too refined and spiritual to maintain its hold \nupon a semi-barbarous people, naturally became corrupted by \nthe sensuous worship of the Magians. The two religions \nblended; yet the faith of the conquering Aryans ever retained \nthe most prominent place in the new worship. The form was \nMagian, but its spirit was Zoroastrian. It never became a \nreally idolatrous worship, and was, in all its stages, the purest \nand most spiritual religion held by any people of antiquity, \nsave that professed by the ancient Hebrews. \n\nBetween the Persians and the Hebrews, indeed, there existed \na bond of sympathy in their religious faith. Cyrus restored the \ncaptive Jews to Jerusalem and aided them in the restoration \nof their Temple, in which, as in the case of the Persian sanc- \ntuary, appeared no statue of the object of worship. Xerxes \nthought it a pious act to burn the temples of the Greeks, and \nCambyses himself stabbed the bull Apis, and scourged the \nEgyptian priests for teaching the people to believe that it was \n\n\n\n124 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\na god. These acts were prompted by that same hatred of idol- \natry, and zeal for the spiritual worship of the Eternal Unseen, \nthat led the Israelites to overturn the altars, cut down the \ngroves, and slay the priests of the idolatrous Canaanites. \n\nPersian Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 Although the ancient Persians did \nnothing in science and philosophy, still in architecture they \noriginated an order superior to any that the nations which pre- \nceded them had produced. But notwithstanding that Persian \nstructural art was home -born, it was greatly influenced and \nmodified by both that of Assyria and of Egypt. \n\nThe simple religious faith of the Persians discouraged (though \nit did not prohibit) the erection of temples : their sacred archi- \ntecture scarcely included more than an altar and its pedestal. \nThe palace of the monarch was the structure that absorbed the \nbest efforts of the Persian artist. \n\nThe first step in royal architecture was taken by the Medes, \nwho, living in a mountainous and woody country, built wooden \nstructures for their palaces. In such edifices, the column, \nformed of a tree- trunk, was naturally a prominent feature. \nWhen the Persians gained supremacy in the state, they bor- \nrowed the architecture of the Medes; but, living in a country \nwhere wood was scarce and stone abundant, they reproduced \nthe wooden residences of the Median kings in the latter ma- \nterial. \n\nIn imitation of the inhabitants of the Valley of the Euphra- \ntes, they raised the royal residence on a lofty terrace, or plat- \nform. Here again they transformed the mud -built palace- \nmound of the Assyrians into stone, and at Persepolis raised, \nfor the substruction of their palaces, an immense platform of \nmassive masonry, which is one of the most wonderful monu- \nments of the world\'s ancient builders. This terrace, which is \nuninjured by the 2300 years that have passed since its erec- \ntion, is about 1500 feet long, 1000 feet wide, and 40 feet high. \nThe summit is reached by broad stairways of stone, pronounced \n\n\n\nINSTITUTIONS, ETC., OF THE ANCIENT PERSIANS. 1 25 \n\nby Niebuhr and Fergusson the finest work of the kind that the \nancient or even the modern world can boast. \n\nBemains of the Persian Palaces. \xe2\x80\x94 Surmounting this platform \nare the ruins of the palaces of several of the Persian monarchs, \nfrom Cyrus the Great to Artaxerxes Ochus. The ruins con- \nsist chiefly of walls and massive doors and windows, each cut \nfrom a single stone. The whole mass of building is supposed \nto have been burned by Alexander during a drunken frolic. \nThirteen lofty columns, sixty feet in height, mark the site of \nthe Hall of Xerxes \xe2\x80\x94 the audience chamber, or throne-room, \nof the Great King, beneath which he sat to hear and judge the \nmatters of his subjects. Colossal winged bulls, copied from \nthe Assyrians, stand as wardens at the gateway of the ruined \npalaces. \n\nNumerous sculptures in bass-relief decorate the faces of the \nwalls, and these throw much light upon the manners and cus- \ntoms of the ancient Persian kings. The successive palaces \nincrease, not only in size, but in sumptuousness of adornment, \nthus registering those changes which we have been tracing in \nthe national history. The residence of Cyrus was small and \nmodest, while that of Artaxerxes Ochus equalled in size the \nfamous palace of the Assyrian Sargon. Again, the sculptures \nthat adorn the residences of the earlier kings, Cyrus and Da- \nrius, represent the monarch engaged in bold and manly com- \nbat with lions and other monsters; while in the halls and \nchambers of the palaces of Xerxes these give place to repre- \nsentations of servants bearing articles of luxury intended for \nroyal use. " A tone of mere sensual enjoyment is thus given to \nthe later edifice which is far from characterizing the earlier ; \nand the decline at the court, which history indicates as rapid \nabout this period, is seen to have stamped itself, as such \nchanges usually do, upon the national architecture."* \n\n* Rawlinson\'s " Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii. p. 295. \n\n\n\n126 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. \n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. \n(From earliest times to about iioo B.C.) \n\nDivisions of Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 Long arms of the sea divide the Gre- \ncian peninsula into three parts, which we may call Northern, \nCentral, and Southern Greece. The southern portion, joined \nto the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth, and now knov/n as \nthe Morea, was called by the ancients Peloponnesus, from Pe- \nlops, its fabled colonizer. \n\nNorthern Greece included the ancient districts of Thessaly \nand Epirus. Thessaly consists mainly of a large and beautiful \nvalley, walled in on all sides by rugged mountains. It was \ncelebrated far and wide for the variety and beauty of its scenery. \nOn its northern edge, between Olympus and Ossa, lay a beauti- \nful glen, called the Vale of Tempe, the only pass by which the \nplain of Thessaly could be entered from the north. The dis- \ntrict of Epirus stretched along the Ionian Sea on the west. In \nthe gloomy recesses of its forests of oak was located the famous \nDodonean oracle of Zeus. \n\nCentral Greece was divided into eleven districts, or states. \nThe most important of these were Acarnania, ^tolia, Phocis, \nBoeotia, and Attica. In Phocis was the city of Delphi, famous \nfor its oracle and temple ; in Boeotia, the city of Thebes ; and \nin Attica was the brilliant Athens. \n\nSouthern Greece, or Peloponnesus, was also divided among \neleven states, of which the more important were Arcadia, em- \nbracing the central part of the peninsula ; Achaia, the northern \npart ; Argolis, the eastern ; and Messenia and Laconia, the \nsouthern. The last, called also Lacedasmon, was ruled by the \ncity of Sparta, the great rival of Athens. \n\n\n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. 1 27 \n\nMountains. \xe2\x80\x94 The Cambunian Mountains form a lofty wall \nalong a considerable reach of the northern frontier of Greece, \nshutting out at once the cold winds and hostile races from the \nnorth. Branching off at right angles to these mountains is \nthe Pindus range, which runs south into Central Greece. In \nNorthern Thessaly is Mount Olympus, the most celebrated \nmountain of the peninsula. The ancient Greeks thought it \nthe highest mountain in the world (it is 9700 feet in height), \nand believed that its cloudy summit was the abode of the \ncelestials. South of Olympus are Ossa and Pelion, famous in \nfable as the mountains which the giants, in their war against \nthe gods, piled one upon another, in order to scale Olympus. \nParnassus, in Central Greece, a beautiful mountain clad with \ntrees and vines, and filled with fountains, was the favorite abode \nof the Muses. Near Athens are Hymettus, praised for its \nhoney, and Pentelicus, famous for its marbles. Peloponnesus \nwas rugged with mountains that radiated in all directions \nfrom the central country of Arcadia, which is often spoken of \nas the Switzerland of Greece. \n\nIslands about Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 Very much of the history of Greece \nis intertwined with the islands that lie about the mainland. \nOn the east, in the ^gean Sea, are the Cyclades, so called be- \ncause they form an irregular circle about the sacred isle of \nDelos, where was a famous temple of Apollo. Between the \nCyclades and Asia Minor lie the Sporades, which islands, as \nthe name implies, are sown irregularly over that portion of the \n^gean. Just oft the coast of Attica is the large island called \nby the ancients Euboea, but known to us as Negropont. Close \nto the Asian shore are the three large islands of Lesbos, Chios, \nand Rhodes. Chios was widely known as being the home \nof the alleged descendants of Homer, called the Homerides. \nRhod-:s became celebrated through its schools of oratory and \nsculpture. To tlic west of Greece lie the Ionian Islands, the \nlargest of which was called Corey ra, now Corfu. The rugged \n\n\n\n128 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nisland of Ithaca was the birthplace of Ulysses, the hero of the \n"Odyssey." Cythera, just south of Peloponnesus, was sacred \nto Venus, or Aphrodite, as it was here fable said she rose from \nthe sea-foam. Beyond Cythera, in the Mediterranean, midway \nbetween Greece and Egypt, is the large island of Crete, famous \nfor its Labyrinth and its legislator Minos. \n\nOther Lands Peopled by the Greeks. \xe2\x80\x94 Under the name of \nHellas the ancient Greeks included not only Greece proper \nand the islands of the adjoining seas, but also the Hellenic \ncities in Asia Minor, in Southern Italy, and in Sicily, besides \nmany other Grecian colonies scattered up and down the Med- \niterranean and along the shores of the Euxine. "Wherever \nwere Hellenes there was Hellas." During the later periods \nof Greek dominance, many magnificent cities, filled with Greek \ncitizens, and characterized by Hellenic manners, language, and \nreligion, were sprinkled thickly over the different provinces of \nAsia as far as the Indus. \n\nInfluence of Country. \xe2\x80\x94 The nature and position of a country, \nas we have already seen illustrated in the case of Phoenicia, \nhave much to do with the moulding of the character and the \nshaping of the history of its people. Mountains, isolating \nneighboring communities and shutting out conquering races, \nfoster the spirit of independence and preserve freedom ; the \nsea, inviting abroad, and rendering easy intercourse with dis- \ntant countries, awakens the spirit of adventure and develops \ncommercial enterprise. \n\nNow, Greece is at once a mountainous and maritime coun- \ntry. Abrupt mountain-walls fence it off into a great numl^er \nof isolated districts, each of which in ancient times became the \nabode of a distinct community or state. Hence the fragmen- \ntary character of its political history. The Hciienic st- \nnever coalesced to form a single nation. --^ \n\nThe peninsula was, moreover, by reason o\'" deep arms and \n\n\n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. 1 29 \n\nbays of the sea, converted into what was in effect an archipel- \n.ago. Hence its people were early tempted to a seafaring life. \nThe shores of the Mediterranean and the Euxine were dotted \nwith Hellenic colonies. Intercourse with the old civiliza- \ntions of Egypt and Phoenicia stirred the naturally quick and \nversatile Greek intellect to early and vigorous thought. The \nislands strewn with seeming carelessness through the -^gean \nSea were "stepping-stones " which invited the earliest settlers \nof Greece to the delightful coast countries of Asia Minor, and \nblended the life and history of the opposite shores. \n\nAgain, the beauty of Grecian scenery inspired many of the \nmost striking passages of her poets; and it is thought that the \nexhilarating atmosphere and brilliant skies of Attica were not \nunrelated to the lofty achievements of the Athenian intellect. \n\nThe Pelasgians. \xe2\x80\x94 The primitive inhabitants of Greece were \ncalled Pelasgians. They belonged to the great Indo-European \nfamily of nations, and were the Aryan pioneers in Greece and \nItaly, just as the Celts were the original Aryan intruders in \nNorthwestern Europe. Whether, like the latter, the Pelasgians \nfound a non-Aryan race in possession of the soil, we can only \nconjecture. In Italy this seems to have been the case, and the \nEtrurians are by some thought to be the remnant of such a \nprimitive people. If they encountered such a race in Greece, \nthey so thoroughly exterminated it that no trace of its ex- \nistence can be found. The Pelasgians, when they entered \nthe peninsula \xe2\x80\x94 probably as early as 2000 B.C. \xe2\x80\x94 had already \nadvanced beyond the savage state. They cultivated the soil, \nprotected their cities v/ith walls, and possessed laws and \ngovernment. \n\nForeign Infiuence. \xe2\x80\x94 The Pelasgians were a people capable \n\n\xe2\x96\xa0\xe2\x80\xa2^rovement, and appear during the first centuries of the \n\n^^ we are considering to have gradually developed in all \n\nthat pertains to civilization. This growth and culture were \n\n7 \n\n\n\nj^O ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\naided from without. The traditions of the Greeks tell of the \ncoming to their country of settlers from Egypt, Phoenicia, and \nPhrygia. From Egypt came Cecrops, bringing with him the \narts and learning and priestly wisdom of the Nile Valley. From \nPhcenicia Cadmus brought the letters of the alphabet, and \nfounded the city of Thebes. The Phrygian Pelops settled in \nthe southern peninsula, which was called after him Peloponne- \nsus. It is possible that the only historical basis for some of \nthese traditions is simply the advantage derived by the Greeks \nfrom their commercial intercourse with the different nations of \nthe Western Mediterranean. \n\nThe Hellenes. \xe2\x80\x94 But it is not alone these foreign influences \nwhich account for the rapid progress made by the Pelasgians \xe2\x80\x94 \na progress which in a few centuries carried them in some di- \nrections to a point barely yet attained by modern nations. \nDwelling in Epirus was a community called Hellenes, a people \nof the same race and language as the Pelasgians, but whom cir- \ncumstances had moulded into a somewhat different life. They \npossessed more of the martial spirit, and were more cultured \nthan the kindred communities about them. The nation was \ndivided into four great branches; namely, the ^olians, the \nAchceans, the lonians, and the Dorians. \n\nPushed forward probably by the pressure of tribes on the \nnorth, these Hellenes passed from Epirus into Thessaly, and \nthence into the regions to the south, pressing on until by con- \nquest or peaceful settlement they had insinuated themselves \namong all, or nearly all, the Pelasgian communities of the pen- \ninsula. Now took place just what happened when the Ro- \nn|\xc2\xbbans, at a later date, conquered and Romanized Italy, ^nu \nriiuch of the Mediterranean world. The Pelasgians oni- \n\npletely Hellenized. The country is henceforUi \' \nland of Hellas. The two peoples so bl- \xe2\x96\xa0\xe2\x80\xa2 \nence henceforth flows out in an insepara \nsurrounding regions. , _ .!;:\xe2\x80\xa2 \n\n\n\n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. I31 \n\nTlie Heroic Age (about 1400-1184 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The two centuries \nand more which followed the intermingling of the Hellenes \nand Pelasgians cover that portion of the Legendary period of \nGrecian history which is properly designated as the Heroic \nAge. The period closes with the return of the Grecian chief- \ntains from the siege of Troy. To this age belong the legends \nof the national heroes \xe2\x80\x94 Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, and many \nothers \xe2\x80\x94 and the traditions of the Argonautic Expedition and \nof the Trojan War. \n\nThe Heroes. \xe2\x80\x94 These were in some cases, perhaps, historical \ncharacters, but so much of myth and fable has gathered about \nthem that it is impossible to separate that which is really his- \ntoric from that which is purely fabulous. Thus they are \nrepresented as performing various labors, utterly absurd and \nimpossible if we suppose them to have been done by a single \nman. But in some cases at least we may believe that the work \nwas actually performed, only by a community or people, and \nthen afterwards, when the manner in which it was done was \nforgotten, though traces of the work remained, it was attributed \nto these national heroes ; just as we have seen in Babylonia \nevery great work attributed to Nimrod. \n\nThe Argonautic Expedition. \xe2\x80\x94 The tale of this enterprise is \ntold with many variations in the legends of the Greeks. Jason, \na prince of Thessaly, with fifty companion heroes, set sail in a \n\'\' fifty-oared galley," called the Argo, in search of a "golden \nfleece," which was fabled to be nailed to a tree in the Grove of \n\n^ars, on the western shores of the Euxine, an inhospitable \njon of unknown terrors. The expedition is successful, and, \n\n"" -iny wonderful adventures, returns in triumph with the \n\n\xe2\x96\xa0 ^ ings have been given to the legend. The \n)erio. . \' ^^ collect, by fleeces laid in the water, the \n\nhat porta. swept down by the swift streams of their \n\n\n\n132 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nmountains. The legend then would be the poetical way of \ntelling of an early commerce between Greece and these gold- \nbearing regions of the Euxine. \n\nIn whatever way we interpret the stories, doubtless we may \nfind in them a little historical matter, at least as much as this \xe2\x80\x94 \nthat the Greeks, in that very early age, undertook, either for \npurposes of commerce or adventure, expeditions of considera- \nble length into the adjoining seas. \n\nThe Trojan War (1194-1184 b.c. ?).\xe2\x80\x94 The Trojan war was an \nevent about which gathered a great circle of tales and poems, \nall full of an undying interest and fascination. Homer, in \nhis great epic of the " Iliad," and a host of succeeding writers \ncalled the cyclic poets, rehearsed, with a charm of language \nand beauty of imagery never surpassed, the feats of the strug- \ngling heroes, Greek and Trojan, beneath the walls of Ilios. \n\nIlios, or Troy, was the capital of a strong empire, Grecian in \nrace and language, which had grown up in Asia Minor along \nthe shores of the Hellespont. The traditions tell us how Paris, \nson of Priam, King of Troy, visited the Spartan king Menelaus, \nand ungenerously requited his hospitality by secretly bearing \naway to Troy his wife Plelen, famous for her rare beauty. All \nthe heroes of Greece flew to arms to avenge the wrong. A \nhost of one hundred thousand warriors was speedily gathered. \nAgamemnon, brother of Menelaus and " king of men," was \nchosen leader of the expedition. Under him were the " lion- \nhearted Achilles," the "magnanimous Ulysses," Ajax and Dio- \nmed \xe2\x80\x94 the most valiant heroes of all Hellas. Twelve hundred-^ \ngalleys bore the gathered clans from Greece across the ^gec^D-\'^ \nto the Trojan shores. \\ bi.\' \n\nFor ten years the Grecians hold in close siege the city (jT \nPriam. On the plains beneath the walls of the capital, the \nwarriors of the two armies fight in general battle or contend in \nsingle encounter. In one of these latter. Hector, son of Priam, \nis slain by Achilles; and his body, fastened to the chariot \n\n\n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. I33 \n\nwheels of the victor, is dragged thrice about the walls of Troy. \nThe city is at last taken through a device of the " crafty Ulys- \nses." Upon the plain in sight of the walls is built a wooden \nstatue of a horse, in the body of which are hidden several \nGrecian warriors. Then the Greeks retire to their ships, as \nthough about to abandon the siege. The Trojans issue from \ntheir gates and gather in wondering crowds about the image. \nThey believe it to be an offering sacred to Minerva, and so \ndare not destroy it ; but, on the other hand, they level a place \nin the walls of their city, and drag the statue within. At night \nthe concealed warriors issue from the horse, open the gates of \nthe city to the Grecians, and Troy is sacked and burned to the \nground. The aged Priam is slain, after having seen his sons \nand many of his warriors perish before his face, ^neas, with \nhis aged f^ither Anchises and a few devoted followers, escapes, \nand, after long wanderings by land and by sea, becomes the \nfi^bled founder of the Roman race in Italy. \n\nIt is a matter of difficulty to separate the purely historical \nfrom the poetical elements in this tradition. But the interest- \ning discoveries of Schlicmann upon the site of ancient Troy \nshow that the poets followed actual occurrences more closely \nthan an over-sceptical historical criticism was once willing to \nallow. Of course, much or most is poetical embellishment. \nBut this much remains : that, either through rivalry or enmity, \nthe different nations of Greece entered into a war against their \nkinsmen on the opposite shore of the ^Egean, which contest \nended disastrously to the Trojan city and kingdom. That the \nstruggle caused many Trojans to become fugitives and wander- \ners, who settled as colonists in distant regions, is also probable. \n\nReturn of the Grecian Chieftains.\xe2\x80\x94 After the fall of Troy, the \nGrecian chieftains and princes returned to Hellas. The poets \nrepresent the gods as withdrawing, for some reason, their pro- \ntection from the hitherto favored heroes. So, many of them \nwere driven in endless wanderinrrs over sea and land. Hojner\'s \n\n\n\n134 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n"Odyssey" portrays the sufferings of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, \nimpelled by divine wrath to long journeyings through strange \nseas. \n\nFrom the many traditions of this nature, we are led to infer \nthat in some instances the return of the warriors was not unat- \ntended by adventure. In some cases advantage had been \ntaken of the absence of the princes, and their thrones had \nbeen usurped. At Argos, ^gisthus had won the unholy love \nof Clytaemnestra, wife and queen of Agamemnon, who on his \nreturn was murdered by the guilty couple. In pleasing con- \ntrast with this we have exhibited to us the constancy of Pe- \nnelope, although sought by many suitors during the absence of \nher husband Ulysses. \n\nStill, though there was good ground, doubtless, for many of \nthese tales, it appears that the greater number of the heroes \ncame back to their homes in Greece, and enjoyed in peace the \nhonors of their glorious achievements. For nearly two genera- \ntions there appears to have been throughout Hellas such a \nperiod of expansion and prosperity as often follows a success- \nful war. \n\nOne result of the Trojan enterprise was the opening of new \nand inviting regions for settlement to the colonists that, soon \nafter the fall of Troy, we find emigrating from the mother-land \nand seeking new abodes. \n\nHellenic Migrations and Settlements. \xe2\x80\x94 Scarcely half a cen- \ntury had passed after the Trojan War before the tribes of Greece, \nowing to pressure of intruders on the north, were thrown into \ngreat commotion. These movements, which uprooted large \nmasses of population, and the love of enterprise and adventure \ninherent in the Greek disposition, caused the peoples of the \nmother-land to pour themselves over the adjoining islands and \ncoasts, till Hellas embraced many of the most delightful dis- \ntricts of the Mediterranean area. \n\nIn the Trojan regions of Asia Minor settled the Cohans, \n\n\n\nTHE HEROIC OR LEGENDARY AGE OF GREECE. 135 \n\nwho crossed the JEge3.n from Boeotia about 1124 B.C. The \ncoast to the south of them was colonized about 1040 B.C. by \nIonian emigrants from the neighborhood of the Corinthian \nGulf, whose splendid cities finally grew into the celebrated \nIonian Confederacy. Still south of these were the Dorians, \nwho crossed from the Peloponnesus, of which they had taken \npossession soon after the Trojan War. They also settled the \nimportant islands of Crete and Rhodes. \n\nAt a later period \xe2\x80\x94 about the seventh century B.C. \xe2\x80\x94 the tide \nof emigration flowed to the west. Southern Italy was so \nthickly set with Greek cities as to become known as Magna \nGra^cia, "Great Greece." Here were founded the important \ncities of Tarentum and Cuma:, the latter famed throughout both \nthe Grecian and the Roman world on account of its oracle and \nsibyl. Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, Massilia (now Mar- \nseilles), in France, and Cyrene, on the coast of Africa, were \nlarge and flourishing Greek cities, radiating points of long \nroutes of travel and trade. \n\n]\\Iany of these cities reflected honor on the mother-land \nthrough the just renown of their citizens. Indeed, very many \nof the greatest poets, philosophers, and scholars of the Hellenic \nrace were natives of the Asiatic or European colonial cities. \nThe mother-land owed much also to the healthy and stimulat- \ning reaction of her colonies upon herself. We may think of \nGreece as holding the same place in the ancient Mediterranean \nworld that England as a colonizer occupies in the world of to- \nday. As the latter is in danger of being eclipsed by her daugh- \nters growing up about her, so the light of the mother-land in \nancient Hellas was at times dimmed by the glory of her col- \nonies. \n\n\n\n136 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. \n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. \n\nThe civil or political history of Hellas for the five centuries \npreceding the great struggle between Persia and Greece is \nmainly the story of the two rival cities of Sparta and Athens. \nYet we must not lose sight of the fact that during this period \nother states of Hellas, as Thebes and Corinth, and many cities \nin Asia Minor, were growing into political power and impor- \ntance; and that these helped at last to make up the resources \nof the Grecian world when she offered defiance to the Great \nKing, and brought the East and the West to that memorable \ntrial of strength known as the Persian War. In the present \nchapter we shall give some account of the beginnings of the \nSpartan state. \n\nClasses in the Spartan State.\xe2\x80\x94 In order to understand the \ninstitutions of the Spartans, we must first notice the three \nclasses \xe2\x80\x94 Spartans, Provincials, and Helots\xe2\x80\x94 into which the \npopulation of Laconia, or Lacedaemon, was divided. The \nSpartans proper were the descendants of the conquerors of the \ncountry, and were Dorian in race and language. They com- \nposed but a small fraction of the entire population, and for \ngreater safety all gathered at Sparta, from which they expelled \nthe native inhabitants. Their relations to the conquered peo- \nple were those of an army of occupation. Sparta, the capital, \nwas simply a vast camp, unprotected by any walls until later \nand degenerate times. The martial valor of its citizens was \nthought its only proper defence. The Provincials, who consti- \ntuted the second class, were the subjugated Achseans, mingled \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. I37 \n\ndoubtless with their Dorian conquerors. They were allowed \nto retain possession of their lands, but were forced to pay \ntribute, and, in times of war, to fight for the glory and interest \nof their Spartan masters. The third and lowest class was com- \nposed of slaves, or serfs, called Helots. They literally had no \nrights which their Spartan lords felt bound to respect. If a \nHelot showed unusual powers of body or mind, he was secretly \nassassinated; as it was deemed unsafe to allow such qualities \nto be fostered in this servile class. It is affirmed that when \nthe Helots grew too numerous for safety, their numbers were \nthinned by a deliberate massacre of the surplus population. \n\nThe Lycurgean Institutions. \xe2\x80\x94 The laws and customs of the \nSpartans have excited more interest, perhaps, than any similar \ninstitutions of the ancient world. A mystery and halo were \nthrown about them by attributing them to the creative genius \nof a single lawgiver, Lycurgus. But it is a proverb that con- \nstitutions grow, and arc not made. Circumstances were the \nreal creators of those strange institutions \xe2\x80\x94 the circumstances \nwhich surrounded a small band of conquerors in the midst of \na large and subject population. Nor were they the creation of \nan hour \xe2\x80\x94 the fruit of a happy inspiration. All the events of \nthe early conquest, all the toils and dangers and hardships \nwhich the Dorian warriors endured in the subjugation of the \nland, and all the prudence and watchfulness necessary to the \nmaintaining of themselves in the position of conquerors, helped \nto determine the unusual and harsh character of the laws and \nregulations of the Spartan state. \n\nThe work of Lycurgus, then, was not that of a new creation. \nBack of him lay a long period of growth and development. \nHis labor was that of a wise and far-seeing statesman, whose \nwork it is to modify and shape already existing " habits and \ncustoms into rule and law;" to make additions and improve- \nments ; to anticipate growing tastes and tendencies. The very \nfact that the legislation of Lycurgus was adopted and became \n\n7* \n\n\n\n138 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe system of a state shows that it must have been simply the \noutgrowth of customs and regulations already familiar and \nconsequently acceptable to a large party at least among the \nSpartans. \n\nLycurgus. \xe2\x80\x94 Lycurgus lived and did his work about the ninth \ncentury B.C. Many of the best years of his life were spent in \nexile. He acquainted himself with the laws and institutions \nof different lands by converse with their priests and sages. He \nis said to have studied with great zeal, under a poet-teacher, \nthe laws of Minos, the famous lawgiver of the Cretans. Like \nthe great legislator Moses, he became learned in all the wisdom \nof the Egyptians. Legend tells, too, how he journeyed as far \nas India and became a disciple of the Brahmins. \n\nThe prime of life was almost passed when he returned to his \nnative Sparta. So great was his reputation for learning and \nwisdom that he soon became the leader of a strong party. \nAfter much opposition, his laws and regulations were adopted \nby the Spartan people. Then, binding his countrymen by a \nsolemn oath that they would carefully observe his laws during \nhis absence, he set out on a pilgrimage to Delphi. In re- \nsponse to his inquiry, the oracle assured him that Sparta \nwould endure and prosper as long as the people obeyed the \nlaws he had given them. Lycurgus caused this answer to be \ncarried to his countrymen ; and then, that they might remain \nbound by the oath they had taken, he resolved never to return. \nHe went into an unknown exile. Three lands claim to hold \nhis dust ; and the Spartans in after-years perpetuated his \nmemory and their own gratitude by temples and sacrifices in \nhis honor. \n\nThe Spartan Senate. \xe2\x80\x94 The constitution of Lycurgus pro- \nvided for a Senate, or Council, of twenty-eight elders. The \ntwo co-ordinate kings were also members, thus raising the num- \nber to thirty. This body existed long before the time of Ly- \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. I39 \n\ncurgus. He probably simply modified or added to its powers \nand duties. No one could become a member of this body un- \ntil he had reached the age of sixty. The manner of election \nto the Senate was peculiar. The committee who were to de- \ncide between the candidates were confined in a chamber near \nthe public assembling-place, where, without seeing what was \ngoing on, they might hear the clamor of the people. Then the \ncandidates were presented to the meeting, one by one, and the \npartisans of each greeted their favorite with great and pro- \nlonged applause. It was the duty of the committee to decide \nwhich candidate had been received with the greatest enthusi- \nasm and clamor, and he was declared the people\'s choice. \nThe proceedings in our own political conventions are not very \ndissimilar to this usage of the Spartan assembly. \n\nThe powers of the Senate were at first almost unlimited, ex- \ntending to matters of life and death. After a time there was \nestablished the office of Ephor, which corresponded to the trib- \nunate among the Romans. The ephors gradually absorbed \nthe powers and functions of the Senate, as well as the author- \nity of the two associate kings. \n\nRegulations as to Lands and Money. \xe2\x80\x94 At the time of Lycur- \ngus the lands of Laconia had become absorbed by the rich, \nleaving the masses in poverty and distress. It is certain that \nthe lawgiver did much to remedy this ruinous state of affairs. \nThe lands were reflistributed, an equal portion being assigned \nto each Spartan citizen, and a smaller and less desirable por- \ntion to each Provincial. The Spartans were forbidden to en- \ngage in trade; all their time must be passed in the chase or \nin martial exercise in the palisstra. Iron was made the sole \nmoney of the state, in order that luxuries might not be intro- \nduced. Foreign traders refused and ridiculed this iron money. \nIt is said that the price of many common articles in this Spar- \ntan coin made a load for a stout yoke of oxen. \n\n\n\nI40 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Public Tables. \xe2\x80\x94 The most peculiar, perhaps, of the Ly- \ncurgean institutions were the public meals. In order to correct \nthe extravagance with which the tables of the rich were often \nspread, Lycurgus ordered that all the Spartan citizens should \neat at public and common tables. Each person was required \nto contribute to these a certain amount of flour, fruit, game, or \npieces from the sacrifices. None, not even the kings, were ex- \ncused from sitting at the common mess. One of the kings, \nreturning from a long expedition, presumed to dine privately \nwith his wife, but received therefor a severe reproof. \n\nA luxury-loving Athenian, once visiting Sparta and seeing the \ncoarse fare of the citizens, is reported to have declared that \nnow he understood the Spartan disregard of life in battle. \n" Any one," said he, " must naturally prefer death to life on \nsuch fare as this." \n\nEducation of the Youth. \xe2\x80\x94 Children were considered as be- \nlonging to the State. Every infant was brought before the \nCouncil of Elders; and if it did not seem likely to become a \nrobust and useful citizen, it was exposed in a mountain glen. \nAt seven the education and training of the youth were commit- \nted to the charge of public officers. The aim of the entire \ncourse, as to the boys, was to make a nation of soldiers who \nshould despise toil and danger and prefer death to military \ndishonor. The mind was cultivated only so far as might con- \ntribute to the main object of the system. Reading and writing \nwere untaught, and the art of rhetoric was despised. The \nSpartans had a profound contempt for the subtleties and liter- \nary acquirements of the Athenians. Spartan brevity was a \nproverb. Boys were taught to respond in the fewest words \npossible. At the public tables they were not permitted to \nspeak until questioned : they sat " silent as statues." An old \nwriter quaintly says, "Lycurgus was for having the money \nbulky, heavy, and of little value ; and their language, on the \ncontrary, very pithy and short, and a great deal of sense com- \npressed in a few words." \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. I4I \n\nBut while the mind was neglected, the body was carefully \ntrained. In leaping, wrestling, and in hurling the spear the \nSpartans acquired the most surprising nimbleness and dex- \nterity. \n\nBut before all things else was the Spartan youth taught to \nbear pain unflinchingly. He was inured to the cold of winter \nby being forced to pass through that season with only the light \ndress of summer. His bed was a bundle of river reeds. \nSometimes he was placed before the altar of Artemis, and \nscourged just for the purpose of accustoming his body to pain. \nFrequently, it is said, boys died under the lash, without betray- \ning their suffering by look or moan. \n\nAnother custom tended to the same end as the foregoing \nusage. The boys were at times compelled to forage for their \nfood. If detected, they were severely punished for having been \nso unskilful as not to get safely away with their booty. This \ncustom, as well as the fortitude of the Spartan youth, is familiar \nto all through the story of the boy who, having stolen a young \nfox and concealed it beneath his tunic, allowed the animal to \ntear out his vitals, without betraying himself by the movement \nof a muscle. Still another usage, known as the Cryptia, al- \nlowed the young Spartan, at certain times, to hunt and kill the \nHelots, simply as practice to render him ready and expert in \nwar. \n\nEstimate of the Lycurgean Institutions. \xe2\x80\x94 That the laws and \nregulations of the Lycurgean constitution were admirably \nadapted to the end in view \xe2\x80\x94 the rearing of a nation of skilful \nand resolute warriors \xe2\x80\x94 the long military supremacy of Sparta \namong the states of Greece abundantly attests. But when we \nconsider the aim and object of the Spartan institutions, we \nmust pronounce them low and unworthy. The true order of \nthings was just reversed among the Lacedaemonians. Govern- \nment exists for the individual: at Sparta the individual lived \nfor the state. The body is intended to be the instrument of \n\n\n\n142 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe mind : the Spartans reversed this, and attended to the edu- \ncation of the mind only so far as its development enhanced the \neffectiveness of the body as a weapon in warfare. \n\nSpartan history teaches how easy it is for a nation, like an \nindividual, to misdirect its energies \xe2\x80\x94 to subordinate the higher \nto the lower. It illustrates, too, the fact that only those nations \nthat labor to develop that which is best and highest in man \nmake helpful contributions to the progress of the world. Sparta, \nin significant contrast to Athens, bequeathed nothing to pos- \nterity. \n\nThe Messenian Wars. \xe2\x80\x94 The most important event in Spartan \nhistory between the age of Lycurgus and the commencement \nof the Persian War was the long contest with Messenia, known \nas the First and Second Messenian wars (743-668 B.C.). Some \nprivate wrongs and reprisals along the frontiers of the neigh- \nboring states caused the two nations to fly to arms. The \nSpartan warriors bound themselves by a solemn oath never to \nreturn home till the Messenians were crushed. The contest, \nmarked by many acts of atrocious cruelty, went on with varying \nfortunes for two generations. \n\nIt is told that the Spartans, falling into despair, sent to Delphi \nfor advice. The oracle directed them to ask Athens for a \ncounsellor. The Athenians did not wish to aid the Lacedae- \nmonians, yet dared not oppose the oracle. So they sent Tyr- \ntaeus, a poet - teacher, whom they hoped and thought would \nprove of but little use to Sparta as an adviser. Whatever \ntruth there may be in this part of the story, it is indisputable \nthat, during the Second Messenian War, Tyrtaeus, a poet from \nAttica, aroused the drooping spirits of the Spartans by the fire \nof his martial strains. Perhaps it would not be too much to \nsay that Sparta owed her final victory to the inspiring songs of \nthe martial poet. \n\nThe conquered Messenians were reduced to serfdom, and \ntheir condition was made as degrading and bitter as that of \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF SPARTA. 1 43 \n\nthe Helots of Laconia. Some, choosing exile, pushed out into \nthe Western Sea, and, settling in Sicily, gave name and impor- \ntance to the still existing city of Messina. \n\nPower of Sparta. \xe2\x80\x94Sparta was now the most powerful state \nof Peloponnesus. " She rewarded her friends, humbled her \nrivals, and punished her enemies." Croesus, King of Lydia, \nsought an alliance with her in an approaching war with Persia, \nwhose shadow was already falling upon the Hellenic states of \nAsia Minor. \n\nWe now turn to narrate the history of republican Athens \nfrom the earliest times to the period where we drop the story \nof her rival Sparta. \n\n\n\n144 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. \n\nEARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS. \n\nFounding of Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 According to tradition, Athens was \nfounded by the Egyptian Cecrops, 1550 B.C., and called after \nhim Cecropia. Later it took the name Athenae, in honor of \nits protecting goddess, Minerva (Athene). A flat-topped rock, \nabout one thousand feet in length and half as many in width, \nrises with abrupt cliffs, one hundred and fifty feet above the \nlevel of the plain of Attica. The security afforded by this \neminence, afterwards called the Acropolis and covered with \nsplendid temples, doubtless led to its selection as the site of \nthe early city. Here a few buildings, perched upon the sum- \nmit of the rock and surrounded by a palisade, constituted the \nbeginnings of the capital whose fame has spread over all the \nworld. \n\nThe Kings of Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 Upon long periods of Athens\'s early \nhistory there rest almost absolute silence and obscurity. It is \ncertain, however, that during the Heroic Age it was ruled by \nkings, like all other Grecian states. The names of Theseus \nand Codrus are the most noted of the regal line. Of Codrus it \nis told that, when the Lacedaemonians invaded Attica, and he \nlearned that an oracle had assured them of success if they \nspared the life of the Athenian king, he disguised himself, \nand, with a single companion, made an unprovoked attack upon \nsome Spartan soldiers, who instantly slew him. Discovering \nthat the King of Athens had fallen by a Lacedaemonian sword, \nthe Spartans despaired of taking the city, and withdrew from \nthe country. \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS. I45 \n\nThe Archons (1050-620 b.c. ?). \xe2\x80\x94 Codrus was the last king of \nAthens. His successor, elected by the nobles, was given simply \nthe name of Archon, or Ruler, as it was thought that no one \nwas worthy of bearing the title of the divine Codrus. In later \nhistory occurs another illustration of the influence of this same \nsentiment, when the Christian Crusader Godfrey refused to be \ncalled King of Jerusalem, because he thought himself unworthy \nto wear the crown where his Master and King had suffered and \ndied. \n\nAt first there was but one Archon, elected for life ; but after \nabout three hundred years the number was increased to nine. \nThe government during all this time was in the hands of the \nnobles, the people having no part in the management of public \naffairs. There existed throughout the early history of Athens \nthe same antagonism between these two orders that we shall \nhereafter find at Rome in the relations of the patricians and \nthe plebeians. \n\nThe people at length demanded additional rights and privi- \nleges, a voice in the government, and protection from the ex- \nactions and cruelties of the wealthy. \n\nThe Laws of Draco.\xe2\x80\x94 To meet these demands, the nobles ap- \npointed one of their own number, Draco, to prepare a code of \nlaws. He reduced existing customs and regulations to a defi- \nnite and written constitution, assigning to the smallest offence \nthe penalty of death. This cruel severity of the Draconian laws \ncaused Demades to say of them that "they were written, not in \nink, but in blood." In part, at least, this famous legislation was \na reflection of the harshness of those early times. Some think, \nhowever, that they were made thus severe, in order to overawe \nand punish the people for having dared demand them of the \nnobles. Draco himself is said to have thought that all violation \nof law is sin against the gods, and that "the least offences de- \nserve death, and that he could devise no greater punishment \nfor the worst." \n\n\n\n146 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Rebellion of Gylon (620 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Soon after the enactment \nof Draco\'s laws, which naturally served only to increase the dis- \ncontent of the people, Cylon, a rich and ambitious noble, taking \nadvantage of the state of affairs, attempted to overthrow the \ngovernment. He seized the citadel of the Acropolis, where he \nwas closely besieged. Upon the rock stood a Temple of Mi- \nnerva. Finally, hard pressed, the companions of Cylon \xe2\x80\x94 he \nhimself had escaped through the lines of his enemies\xe2\x80\x94 sought \nrefuge within the shrine. The nobles, fearing lest the death of \nthe rebels by starvation within the sacred enclosure should pol- \nlute the sanctuary, offered to spare their lives on condition of \nsurrender. Fearing to trust themselves among their enemies \nwithout some protection, they fastened a string to the statue of \nMinerva, and, holding fast to this, descended from the citadel \ninto the streets of Athens. As they came in front of the altars \nof the Furies, the line broke ; and the Archons, professing to be- \nlieve that this mischance indicated that the goddess refused to \nshield them longer, caused them to be set upon and massacred. \n\nIt illustrates the superstition, or, as we should rather say, the \ndeep religious feelings of those times, to note the effects of this \nact upon the course of following events. The friends of Cylon \neasily persuaded the people that the fierce anger of the aveng- \ning Furies had been incurred by the slaughter of prisoners in \nviolation of a sacred oath and before their very altars. Calami- \nty -^^ that now befell the State confirmed the belief. Thus the \npeople were inflamed still more against the government of the \naristocracy. Thirlwall says that " Cylon\'s conspiracy and its \n\' \'\xe2\x80\xa2\xe2\x80\xa2 xercis\'^\'^ "~*^ \'*^fluence on the history of Athens which \nhas rendered it torever memorable as the event which led to \nthe legislation of Solon." \n\nThe Laws of Solon. \xe2\x80\x94 Solon, like the famous lawgiver of \nSparta, prepared himself for giving laws to his countrymen by \nlong and studious travel in foreign lands. Having the confi- \ndence of both parties, he was unanimously chosen to draw up \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS. I47 \n\na new code of laws. He repealed many of the cruel laws of \nDraco; permitted the return of those driven into exile; gave \nwise relief to the debtor class, ordering those held in slavery \nfor debt to be set free ; and caused the white stone posts, which \nindicated the fields were mortgaged, to be cleared from the \nlands. These measures caused contentment and prosperity to \ntake the place, everywhere throughout Attica, of discontent and \nwretchedness. \n\nChanges in the Athenian Constitution. \xe2\x80\x94 The changes in the \npolitical constitution were equally wise and beneficent. Prop- \nerty, instead of birth, was made the basis of the new legislation. \nThis completely changed the character of the government : it \nwas no longer an exclusive oligarchy. The offices and emolu- \nments of the State might now be attained by industry and \nenergy. The Council of the Four Hundred, if not created, was \nat least greatly modified, by Solon. Its chief duty was to de- \ncide what matters might be discussed by the public assembly, \nand to execute the resolutions of that body. \n\nThe Tribunal of the Areopagus. \xe2\x80\x94 Solon also enlarged the \njurisdiction of the celebrated Tribunal of the Areopagus, a \nvenerable council that from times out of memory had been \nheld on Mars\'s Hill, near the Acropolis. Solon ordained that \nno one should be a member of it who had not held the offict C "^ \xe2\x96\xa0 \nArchon. The judges sat benea\'h the open sky, that they might \nnot be contaminated, it is said, by the breath of the criminr^ls \nbrou2;ht before them. To this r:ourt was "^d the ,.- \' \n\nof morals and religion. It was this council that condemned \nSocrates to death ; and it was in the presence of this same \nvenerable tribunal that, six hundred years afterwards, Paul \nstood when he made his famous defence of Christianity. \n\nThe Public Assembly. \xe2\x80\x94 The public assembly, under the con- \nstitution of Solon, was made the most important of all the in- \n\n\n\n148 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nstitutions of the State. It was the fountain of all power. It \nappointed the Archons and elected the members of the Senate \nof Four Hundred. Contrary to the rule in Sparta, any citizen \nhad the right not only of voting but of speaking on any question \nwhich the assembly had a right to discuss. Six thousand citi- \nzens were required to constitute a quorum, to transact business \nin cases of special importance. This popular assembly grew \ninto vast importance in later times. By it were discussed and \ndecided questions affecting the entire Hellenic world. \n\nThese laws of Solon were inscribed on tablets of wood, and \nplaced in the Agora, or public square, where they might be read \nby all. \n\nThe Tyrant Pisistratus (560-527 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Solon had the un- \nspeakable misfortune of living to see his institutions over- \nthrown by an ambitious kinsman, his nephew Pisistratus. This \nman courted popular favor, and called himself the "friend \nof the people." One day, having inflicted many wounds upon \nhimself, he drove his chariot hastily into the public square, and \npretended that he had been thus set upon by the nobles, be- \ncause of his devotion to the people\'s cause. The people, \nmoved with sympathy and indignation, voted him a guard of \nfifty men. Under cover of raising this company, Pisistratus \ngathered a much larger force, seized the Acropolis, and made \nhimself master of Athens. \n\nrhe rule of the usu?-per was mild, and under him Athens en- \njoyed a period of great prosperity. He adorned the capital \nwith ^-emoles and other splendid buildings. Just beyond the \ncity walls, he laid out the Lyceum, a sort of public park, made \ninviting with groves, porches, and promenades, which became \nin after-years the famous resort of the philosophers and poets \nof Athens. He was a liberal patron of literature ; and his \nlibrary \xe2\x80\x94 the first gathered at Athens \xe2\x80\x94 was generously thrown \nopen to the public. He also caused the Homeric poems to be \ncollected and edited. After many changes of fortune in his \n\n\n\nEARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS. I49 \n\ncontests with the nobles, he died thirty -two years after his \nseizure of the citadel. Solon himself said of him that he had \nno vice save ambition. \n\nExpulsion of the Tyrants from Athens (510 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The two \nsons of Pisistratus, Hippias and Hipparchus, succeeded to his \npower. At first they emulated the example of their father, and \nAthens flourished under their parental rule. But at length an \nunfortunate event gave an entirely different tone to the govern- \nment. Hipparchus, having insulted a young noble, was assassi- \nnated. Hippias escaped harm, but " on a sudden, from a mild, \naffable, and beneficent friend, he was turned into a suspicious, \nstern, and cruel tyrant, who regarded all his subjects as secret \nenemies." His tyranny and cruelty finally led the people to \nrise against him ; and in the year preceding the expulsion of the \nkings from Rome, Hippias and all his house were driven into \nperpetual exile (510 B.C.). \n\nOstracism. \xe2\x80\x94 After the expulsion of the tyrant Hippias and \nhis family, several changes in the constitution, brought about \nthrough the influence of Cleisthenes, rendered it still more \ndemocratical than under Solon. Of these innovations that \nknown as ostracism was the most characteristic and important. \nBy means of this process any person who had excited the sus- \npicions or displeasure of the people could, without trial, be ban- \nished from Athens for a period of from four to ten years. Six \nthousand votes cast against any person in a meeting of the pop- \nular assembly was a decree of banishment. The name of the \nperson whose banishment was sought was written on a piece of \npottery, or shell (in Greek ostrakon)^ hence the term ostracism. \n\nThis institution was often abused ; yet it was a great defence \nagainst ambitious politicians whom the people had reason to \nthink were plotting against the republic, though it would have \nbeen difficult or impossible to prove them guilty of any overt \ncrime or misconduct. \n\n\n\n150 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. \n\nTHE GR^CO-PERSIAN WARS. \n(500-479 B.C.) \n\nExpeditions of Darius against Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 In narrating the his- \ntory of the Persians, we have already told how Darius, after \nhaving subdued the revolt of his Ionian subjects in Asia \nMinor, turned his armaments against the Athenians, to punish \nthem for the part they had taken in the capture and burning \nof Sardis. We have seen how ill-fated was his first expedition, \nwhich was led by his son-in-law Mardonius \xe2\x80\x94 the army being \ncut almost to pieces in Thrace by the fierce native tribes, and \nthe fleet being shattered by heavy seas off the stormy promon- \ntory of Mount Athos. \n\nUndismayed by the disaster that had befallen the expedition \nof Mardonius, Darius issued orders for the raising and equip- \ning of another and stronger armament. Meanwhile he sent \nheralds to the various Grecian states to demand earth and \nwater, which elements among the Persians were symbols of \nsubmission. The weaker states gave the tokens required; but \nthe Athenians and Spartans threw the envoys of the king into \npits and wells, and bade them help themselves to earth and \nwater. By the beginning of the year 490 B.C., another Persian \narmy of 120,000 men had been mustered for the second attempt \nupon Greece. This armament was intrusted to the command \nof the experienced generals Datis and Artaphernes; but was \nunder the guidance of the traitorous HijDpias, who, after his \nbanishment from Athens, had become a resident at the Persian \ncourt. A fleet of six hundred ships bore the army from the \ncoasts of Asia Minor over the ^Esean towards the Grecian \n\n\n\nTHE GR^CO-PERSIAN WARS. 15I \n\nshores. After receiving the submission of the most important \nof the Cyclades, and capturing and sacking the important city \nof Eretria upon the island of Euboea, the Persians landed at \nMarathon, barely two days\' journey from Athens. Here is a \nsheltered bay, which is edged by a crescent-shaped plain, back- \ned by the rugged ranges of Parnes and Pentelicus. Upon this \nlevel ground the Persian generals drew up their army, flushed \nand confident with their recent successes. \n\nThe Battle of Marathon (490 e.g.). \xe2\x80\x94 The Athenians were \nnerved by the very magnitude of the danger to almost super- \nhuman energy. Slaves were transformed into soldiers by the \npromise of liberty. A fleet runner was despatched to Sparta \nfor aid. But it so happened that the Spartans were in the \nmidst of their religious games, during which it was thought ill- \nomened to undertake any enterprise. They promised aid, but \nmoved only in time to reach Athens when all was over. The \nPlataians, firm and grateful friends of the Athenians on ac- \ncount of some former service, no sooner received the latter\'s \nappeal for help than they responded to a man. \n\nThe Athenians and their faithful allies, numbering about \nten thousand in all, under the command of ^Mjiiiades, were \ndrawn up in battle-array just where the hills of Pentelicus sink \ndown into the plain of Marathon. The vast host of the Per- \nsians filled the level ground in their front. The firte of Greece \nand the future of P^urope were in the keeping of IMiltiadcs and \nhis trusty warriors. Without waiting for the attack of the Per- \nsians, the Greeks charged and swept like a tempest from the \nmountain over the plain, pushing the Persians back towards the \nshore and throwing the entire host into complete disarray. \nThe loss of the Persians in attempting to gain their ships was \nfrightful, and the broken and dispirited fragments of the army \nwere borne by the vessels back to the Asiatic shore (490 B.C.). \n\nThus the cloud that had lowered so threateningly over Hel- \nlas was for a time dissipated. The most imposing honors were \n\n\n\n152 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\naccorded to the heroes who had achieved the glorious victory, \nand their names and deeds were transmitted to posterity in \nsong and marble. The gods were believed to have interposed \nin behalf of Greece ; and the grateful Athenians ordered their \ngreat sculptor Phidias to cut the block of marble .which the \nconfident Persians had brought with them to set up as a monu- \nment of their anticipated victory, into a statue of Nemesis, the \ngoddess who punishes the proud and insolent. The brazen \narms and shields gathered from the battle-field were melted \ninto a colossal statue of Minerva, which was placed upon the \nAcropolis, as the guardian of Athens. \n\n^\xe2\x96\xa0\' Eesults of the Battle of Marathon. \xe2\x80\x94 The battle of Marathon \nis reckoned as one of the " decisive battles of the world." It \nmarks an epoch, not only in the life of Greece, but in that \nof Europe. The spell and prestige of the Persian name and \narms were broken. It decided that no longer the despotism \nof the East, with its repression of all individual action, but \nthe freedom of the West, with all its incentives to personal \neffort, should control the affairs and mould the ideas and institu- \ntions of the future. It gave the Hellenic peoples that position \nof authority and pre-eminence that had been so long enjoyed \nby the successive races of the East. It especially revealed the \nAthenians to themselves. The consciousness of resources and \npower became the inspiration of their future acts. They per- \nformed great deeds thereafter because they believed themselves \nable to perform them. \n\nXerxes\' Preparations to Invade Greece. \xe2\x80\x94 No sooner had the \nnews of the disaster at Marathon been carried to Darius than \nhe began to make gigantic preparations to avenge this second \ndefeat and insult. It was in the midst of these plans for re- \nvenge that, as we have already learned, death cut short his \nreign, and his son Xerxes came to the throne. Urged on by \nhis nobles, as well as by exiled Greeks at his court, who sought \n\n\n\nTHE GRiECO-PERSIAN WARS. 1 53 \n\nto gratify ambition or enjoy revenge in the humiliation and ruin \nof their native land, Xerxes pushed forward with the utmost \nenergy the preparations begun by his father. For eight years \nall Asia resounded with the din of preparation. Levies were \nmade upon all the provinces, from India to the Hellespont, \nthat acknowledged the authority of the Great King. Vast \ncontingents of vessels were furnished by the coast countries of \nthe Mediterranean. Immense stores of provisions, the har- \nvests of many years, were gathered into great storehouses \nalong the intended lines of march. \n\nWhile all these preparations were going on in Asia itself, \nPhoenician architects were employed in spanning the Helles- \npont with a double bridge of boats, that should unite the \ntwo continents as with a royal highway. At the same time, \nthe isthmus at Mount Athos, in rounding which promontory \nthe admirals of IMardonius had lost their fleet, was cut by \na canal. Three years were consumed in these gigantic works. \nWith them completed, or far advanced, Xerxes set out from \nhis capital, to join the countless host that from all quarters of \nthe compass were gathering in Asia JNIinor. \n\nThe Hellespontine Bridges Broken. \xe2\x80\x94 As ttie vast army was \nabout to move from Sardis, intelligence came that the bridges \nacross the Hellespont had been wrecked by a violent tempest. \nIt is said that Xerxes in great wrath ordered the architects to \nbe put to death, and the sea to be bound with fetters and \nscourged. The scourgers f:iithfully performed their duty, at \nthe same time gratuitously cursing the traitorous and rebellious \nHellespont with what Herodotus calls "non-Hellenic and blas- \nphemous terms." \n\nOther architects spanned the channel with two stronger and \nfirmer bridges. Each roadway rested upon a row of from three \nto four hundred vessels, all securely anchored like modern \npontoons. The bridges were each about one mile in length, \nand furnished with high parapets, that the horses and cattle \nmight not be rendered uneasy at sight of the water. \n\n8 \n\n\n\n154 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nPassage of the Hellespont. \xe2\x80\x94 With the first indications of the \nopening spring of 480 B.C., just ten years after the defeat at \nMarathon, the vast Persian army was astir and concentrating \nfrom all points upon the Hellespont. The passage of this \nstrait, as pictured to us in the inimitable narration of Herodotus, \nis one of the most dramatic of all the spectacles afforded by \nhistory. Before the passage commenced, the bridges were \nstrewn with the sacred myrtle and perfumed with incense from \ngolden censers, while the sea was placated with libations \npoured by the king himself As the east reddened with the \napproach of the sun, prayers were offered, and the moment the \nrays of Helios touched the bridges the passage began. To \navoid accidents and delays, the trains of baggage wagons and \nthe beasts of burden crossed by one causeway, leaving the \nother free for the march of the army. The first of the host to \ncross were the sacred guard of the Great King, the Ten Thou- \nsand Immortals, all crowned with garlands as in festival proces- \nsion. Preceding the king, moved slowly the gorgeous Chariot \nof the Sun, drawn by eight milk-white steeds. Herodotus af- \nfirms that for seven days and seven nights the bridges groaned \nbeneath the living tide that Asia was pouring into Europe. \n\nThe Review and Census. \xe2\x80\x94 Upon an extended plain called \nDoriscus, on the Grecian shore, Xerxes drew up his vast army \nfor review and census. It was the largest armament that the \nworld had yet gathered for any enterprise. To Herodotus it \nseemed that all Asia and Africa were there seeking the ruin of \nGreece. Forty-six different nations marched beneath the en- \nsign of the Persian king. The costumes and equipments of the \ndifferent contingents were as varied as the countries whence \nthey came. There was every variety of dress, from the light \ncotton tunic of the native of India to the leopard-skin in which \nthe Ethiopian wrapped his body. Some were clad in bronze \narmor ; others offered their naked bodies to the blows of the \nenemy. The weapons borne varied from the well -tempered \n\n\n\nTHE GR/ECO-PERSIAN WARS. 1 55 \n\nblade of Damascus to the fire-hardened stave of the Libyan. \nSome of the nomadic horsemen were armed simply with the \nlasso. \n\nThe countless host could be numbered in no usual way. Ten \nthousand men were crowded in as close a body as possible \nand ^ low wall raised about them. Then these passed out of \nthe enclosure, which was again packed with soldiers, and when \nno more could find room, it was calculated that 10,000 were \nwithin. One hundred and seventy times w^^^^^f enclosure \nthus filled and emptied. According to this rude enumeration, \nthe land force of Xerxes amounted to 1,700,000 men. The \nnaval force brought the number up to the amazing total of \n2,317,000. Herodotus adds to this about an equal number of \nslaves and attendants, making the entire host number between \nfive and six million persons. It is thought by some that these \nfigures are exaggerated, and that the actual number of the Per- \nsian army could have been hardly more than half that given \nby the historian. \n\nProvisioning the Persian Army.\xe2\x80\x94 From the plain of Doriscus \nthe Persian army moved on towards the Pass of Thermopylae. \nThe cities along the route had been ordered to prepare repasts \nfor the army as it advanced, and to furnish special delicacies \nfor the royal table. The people, through policy or fear, made \nextraordinary efforts to entertain in a becoming manner their \nself-imposed guest and to feed his soldiers. Herodotus af- \nfirms, and there seems no reason to doubt his statement, that \nsome of the towns were driven to distraction, and others to the \nvery verge of ruin. The people, however, notwithstanding their \nperplexity and distress, found occasion to thank the gods be- \ncause Xerxes, according to the Persian custom, required but \none meal a day. "Had the monarch required breakfast as \nwell as dinner," says Herodotus, " the citizens must have been \nreduced to the alternative either of exile or of utter destitu- \ntion." \n\n\n\n156 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nBattle of ThermopylSB (480 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Leading from Thessaly into \nCentral Greece is a narrow pass, pressed on one side by the \nsea and on the other by rugged mountain ridges. At the foot \nof the cliffs break forth several hot springs, whence the name of \nthe pass, Thermopylse, or " Hot Gates." \n\nAt this point was offered the first resistance to the progress \nof the Persian army. Leonidas, king of Sparta, v/ith three hun- \ndred Lacedaemonian soldiers and six thousand allies from dif- \nferent states of Greece, held the pass. As happened at the \ntime of the battle of Marathon, the celebration of the sacred \ngames was going on, and this mere handful of men were left \nunsupported to hold in check the army of Xerxes. It was not \nindifference or lack of energy which led the Grecian states in \nthis crisis to act thus, but their religious scruples. Their ac- \ntion is likened by Grote to that of the Jews, who permitted the \nRoman works to be pushed forward against their city during \nthe Sabbath without any attempt at resistance. But if their \nreligious scruples brought upon the Greeks at Thermopylse an \nalmost irretrievable disaster, we shall see the same sentiment \nbecoming the salvation of their country at Salamis. \n\nBy a special interposition of the gods, as it seemed to the \npious Greeks, a furious tempest drove the Persian fleet upon \nthe shore and dashed to pieces over four hundred ships. This \nprevented Xerxes from landing a force farther down the coast \nin the rear of Leonidas. The Spartans could now be driven \nfrom their advantageous position only by an attack in front. \nFor two days the Persians tried to storm the pass. The Asi- \natics were driven to the attack by their officers armed with \nlashes. But every attempt to force the way was repulsed ; even \nthe Ten Thousand Immortals were hurled back from the Spar- \ntan front like waves from a cliff. \n\nAn act of treachery on the part of a native Greek rendered \nunavailing all the bravery of the keepers of the pass. A by- \nway leading over the mountains to the rear of the Spartans \nwas revealed to Xerxes. The startling intelligence was brought \n\n\n\nTHE GRiECO-PERSIAN WARS. 157 \n\nto Leonidas that the Persians were descending the mountain \npath in his rear. He saw instantly that all was lost. The \nallies were permitted to seek safety in flight while opportunity \nremained. But to him and his Spartan companions there \ncould be no thought of retreat. Death in the pass, the defence \nof wnich had been intrusted to them, was all that Spartan \nhonor and Spartan law now left them. The next day, sur- \nrounded by the Persian host, they fought with desperate valor; \nbut, being overwhelmed at last by mere numbers, they were \nslain to the last man. With them also perished nine hundred \nThespians who had chosen death with their companions. Over \nthe bodies of the Spartan soldiers a monument was afterwards \nerected with this inscription : " Stranger, tell the Lacedaemo- \nnians that we lie here in obedience to their orders." \n\nThe Burning of Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 Athens now lay open to the invad- \ners. The inhabitants of Peloponnesus, thinking only of their \nown safety, commenced throwing up defences across the narrow \nisthmus of Corinth, working day and night under the impulse \nof an almost insane fear. Athens was thus left outside to care \nfor herself \n\nCounsels were divided. The Delphian oracle had obscurely \ndeclared, "When everything else in the land of Cecrops shall \nbe taken, Zeus grants to Athene that the 7aoodcn walls alone \nshall remain unconquered, to defend you and your children." \nThe oracle was believed to be, as was declared, " firm as ada- \nmant." But there were various opinions as to what was meant \nby the "wooden walls." Some thought the Pythian priestess \ndirected the Athenians to seek refuge in the forest on the \nmountains ; others believed the oracle meant the wooden pali- \nsade about the Acropolis ; but Themistocles (who it is thought \nmay have himself prompted the oracle) contended that the ships \nwere plainly indicated. The last interpretation was acted upon. \nAll the soldiers of Attica were crowded upon the fleet at Sala- \nmis. The aged men, with the women and children, were car- \n\n\n\n158 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nried out of the country to different places of safety. All the \ntowns of Attica and the capital were thus deserted to the con- \nquerors. \n\nA few days afterwards the Persians entered upon the de- \nserted plain, which they rendered more desolate by ravaging \nthe fields and burning the empty towns. Athens shared the \ncommon fate, and her splendid temples sank in flames. Sardis \nwas avenged. The joy in distant Susa was unbounded. \n\nK \n\nThe Naval Battle of Salamis (480 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 Just off the coast of \nAttica, separated from the mainland by a narrow passage of \nwater, lies the island of Salamis. Here lay the Greek fleet. \nThe persuasive eloquence of Themistocles alone brought the \nGreeks to the determination to face here the Persian squadrons. \nTo hasten on the Persian attack before dissensions should di- \nvide the Greek forces, Themistocles resorted to the following \nstratagem. He sent a messenger to Xerxes representing that \nhe himself was ready to espouse the Persian cause, and advised \nan immediate attack upon the- Athenian fleet, which he repre- \nsented as being in no condition to make any formidable re- \nsistance. Xerxes was deceived. He ordered an immediate \nattack. From a lofty throne upon the shore he himself over- \nlooked the scene and watched the result. The Persian fleet \nwas broken to pieces and two hundred of the ships destroyed. \n\nThe blow was decisive. Xerxes lost faith in his undertaking \nand in his allies. He feared that treachery might burn or \nbreak the Hellespontine bridges, and thus endanger his own \nsafety. He instantly despatched a hundred ships to protect \nthem ; and then, leaving Mardonius with 300,000 men to re- \ntrieve the disaster of Salamis, and effect, as he promised to do, \nthe conquest of the rest of Greece, the monarch set out on his \nignominious retreat to Asia. \n\nThe Battles of Platsea and Mycale (479 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The next year \nthe Persian fleet and army thus left behind in Europe were en- \n\n\n\nTHE GR^CO-PERSIAN WARS. 1 59 \n\ntirely destroyed both on the same day \xe2\x80\x94 the army at Plataea, near \nThebes ; and the fleet, including the Asiatic land forces, at \nMycale, on the Ionian coast. Salamia, Plataea, and Mycale \nwere the successive blows that shattered into fragments the \nmost f=nlendid armaments ever commanded by Asiatic despot. \n\nMemorials and Trophies of the War. \xe2\x80\x94 The glorious issue of \nthe war caused a general burst of joy and exultation throughout \nall Greece. Poets and artists and orators all vied with one \nanother in commemorating the deeds of the heroes whose valor \nhad warded off the impending danger. \n\nNor did the pious Grecians think that the marvellous de- \nliverance had been effected without the intervention of the \ngods in their behalf. To the temple at Delphi was grate- \nfully consecrated a tithe of the immense spoils in gold and \nsilver from the field of Plataea ; and within the sanctuary of \nMinerva, upon the Acropolis at Athens, were placed the \nbroken cables of the Hellespontine bridges, at once a proud \ntrophy of victory and a signal illustration of the divine punish- \nment that had befallen the audacious and impious attempt to \nlay a yoke upon the sacred waters of the Hellespont. \n\n\n\nl6o ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI. \n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. \n(479-431 B.C.) \n\nLoyalty of Athens to the Grecian Cause. \xe2\x80\x94 Athens had braved \neverything for the common cause of Hellas. The patriotism \nof her citizens had never wavered. When Mardonius sought \nwith bribes to detach them from the Grecian league, they re- \nplied to his messenger that " no conceivable temptation, either \nof money or territory, should induce them to desert the ties of \nbrotherhood, common language, or religion." Their lofty pa- \ntriotism and unswerving loyalty to the general interests of \nGreece \xe2\x80\x94 in striking contrast to the narrow selfishness of the \nSpartans \xe2\x80\x94 were now rewarded. Athens was accorded the \nplace of honor and pre-eminence among the Grecian states. \nThe loss and suffering entailed by the destruction of her dwell- \nings and temples were repaired and forgotten during the period \nof prosperity upon which she now entered. Her maritime power, \nand her reputation as a centre of wealth and refinement and \nthe home of art and literature, were secured by the address and \ngenius of a succession of statesmen, artists, and writers such as \nperhaps no other city in ancient or modern times ever pro- \nduced. The important public events that fill the period inter- \nvening between the battle of Plataea and the breaking-out of \nthe Peloponnesian War (479-431 B.C.) will be found, as we now \nproceed to narrate them in the very briefest way, to connect \nthemselves especially with four names of the widest renown \xe2\x80\x94 \nThemistocles, Aristides, Cimon, and Pericles. \n\nRebuilding the Walls of Athens.-~After the Persians had \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. l6l \n\nbeen expelled from Greece, the first care of the Athenians was \nthe rebuilding of their homes. Their next task was the res- \ntoration of the city walls. The exalted hopes for the future \nwhich had been raised by the almost incredible achievements \nand endurance of the past few months led the Athenians to \ndraw a vast circuit of seven miles about the Acropolis as the \nline of the new ramparts. The rival states of Peloponnesus \nwatched the proceedings of the Athenians with the most jealous \ninterest. While they could not but admire Athens, they feared \nher. Sparta sent an embassy to dissuade the citizens from re- \nbuilding the walls, hypocritically assigning as the cause of her \ninterest in the matter her solicitude lest in case of another \nPersian invasion the city, if captured, might become a shelter \nand defence to the enemy. \n\nThemistocles as an Envoy. \xe2\x80\x94 The crafty Themistocles, the \nUlysses of Athens, and the most popular leader of this time, \nhad a talent for just such diplomacy as the case seemed to de- \nmand ; for the Athenians were not strong enough to insist by \nforce of arms upon their right to manage their own affairs. \nThemistocles caused the Spartan envoys to be sent home with \nthe reply that Athens would send commissioners to Sparta to \nconsider the matter with them there. Then, as one of the en- \nvoys, he himself set out for Sparta, having previously arranged \nthat the other members of the embassy should not leave Athens \nuntil the walls were sufficiently advanced to defy assault. \nWith astonishing unanimity and energy, the entire population \nof Athens, rich and poor, men, women, and children, set to work \nupon the walls. Material was torn from temples and tombs \nand built into the defences. \n\nWhile this was going on at Athens, Themistocles was at \nSparta, with amazing address wondering with the Lacedaemo- \nnians what so delayed his colleagues. From day to day the busi- \nness upon which he had come was postponed, to give time for \nthe arrival of the tardy envoys. At length rumors came to \n\n8* \n\n\n\nl62 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nSparta of the state of affairs at Athens. Themistocles assured \nthe people that these were mere idle reports. Fresh rumors \ncame. Then he advised them to send messengers of their own \nto Athens to get the truth of the matter. They did so. But \nThemistocles had already despatched a messenger to the \nAthenians informing them that the Spartan envoys were on \nthe way, and ordering their detention in Athens. By all these \nstratagems sufficient time was gained to raise the walls to \nsuch a height that the Athenians could defy interference. \nThen Themistocles boldly administered some "wholesome ad- \nvice to the Spartans. He told them that when they and their \nallies sent ambassadors again to Athens, to deal with the Athe- \nnians as with reasonable men, who could discern what belonged \nto their own interest, and what to the general interest of Greece." \nThese circumstances attendant upon the refortifying of the \nAthenian capital we have narrated at some length, because of \nthe light they throw upon the succeeding history of Athens. \nThey exhibit the tremendous energy with which the memory \nof the recent great events of the Persian War inspired the Athe- \nnians. As Grote observes, both arm and mind were strung to \nthe very highest pitch. It was this tension, calling forth the very \nbest in every man, that carried forward events at Athens with \nsuch almost preternatural energy during the two or three gen- \nerations immediately following that great struggle. This con- \ntention respecting the walls of Athens also affords us a glimpse \nof the rising jealousy between Sparta and Athens, which at \nlast, intensified by their different political tendencies, issued in \nthat long and calamitous struggle between these two rival states \nand their allies known as the Peloponnesian War. \n\nNaval Policy of the Athenians.\xe2\x80\x94 Eminent as was the service \nwhich Themistocles had rendered to his native city in the con- \nduct of the Spartan negotiations, he now conferred a still greater \nbenefit by the exercise of his prudence and genius in the shap- \ning of the naval policy of the ambitious Athenians. This far- \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. 1 63 \n\nsighted statesman saw clearly that Athens\'s supremacy among \nthe Grecian states must be secured and maintained by her \nmastery of the sea. He had unbounded visions of the mari- \ntime power and glory that might come to her through her fleet, \nthose "wooden walls" to which at this moment she owed her \nvery existence ; and he succeeded in inspiring his countrymen \nwith his own sanguine hopes and enthusiasm. In the prose- \ncution of his views, he persuaded the Athenians to enlarge the \nharbor of Piraeus, the most spacious of the three ports of Athens, \nand to surround the place with immense walls, far exceeding, \nboth in compass and strength, those of the capital. He also \nled his countrymen to the resolution of adding each year \ntwenty well-equipped triremes to their navy. \n\nThis policy, initiated by Themistocles, was zealously pursued \nby the statesmen that after him successively assumed the lead \nin Athenian affairs. Under the influence of Pericles, the \nAthenians built the famous Long Walls, by means of which \nPiraeus and Athens were united, and the capital and its port \nthus converted into a vast fortified district.* With her com- \nmunication with the sea thus secured, and with a powerful \nnavy at her command, Athens could bid defiance to her foes \non land and on sea. \n\nCharacter of Themistocles. \xe2\x80\x94 Themistocles well deserved the \nhonor of being called, as he was, the founder of the New Ath- \nens. But although a great and far-seeing statesman, to whose \ncommanding ability in war and in peace Athens owed almost \neverything, still those imperfections of character which we can- \n\n* The Long Walls were each between four and five miles in length, and \nwere sixty feet in height. They were defended by numerous towers, which, \nwhen Athens became crowded, were used as shops and private dwellings. \nThe walls were employed as highways, the top being wide enough to allow \ntwo chariots to pass conveniently. The foundation of the northern wall \nnow forms the road-bed of the modern railroad running from Piraeus to \nAthens. \n\n\n\n164 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nnot have failed to notice at last brought him into disgrace. He \nused unscrupulously the power and position which his abilities \nand services secured him. He accepted bribes and sold his \ninfluence, thereby acquiring an enormous property. Finally he \nwas ostracized and went into exile (471 b.c). After long \nwanderings, he became a resident at the court of the Persian \nking. By his consummate address, and profuse promises to aid \nthe Persians in their designs against Greece, he attained at \ncourt precedence of the native nobles. Artaxerxes, in ac- \ncordance with Persian usage, provided for the courtier exile \nby assigning to three cities the care of providing for his table : \none furnished bread, a second meat, and a third wines. It is \ntold that one day, as he sat down to his richly loaded board, he \nexclaimed, " How much we should have lost, my children, if we \nhad not been ruined !" \n\nAristides the Just. \xe2\x80\x94 The most illustrious contemporary and \nrival of Themistocles was Aristides the Just. Less great in \nmind than Themistocles, he was immeasurably his superior \nin character. Before the time of which we are treating, he \nhad already rendered many and eminent services to his na- \ntive state. He was one of the ten Athenian generals that led \nthe Grecian forces at Marathon. Not long after that battle, \nhis rival, Themistocles, by unworthy intrigue, secured against \nhim a decree of banishment. It is related that while the vote \nthat ostracized him was being taken in the popular assembly, \nan illiterate peasant, who was a stranger to Aristides, ap- \nproached and asked him to write the name of Aristides upon \nhis tablet. As he placed the name desired upon the shell, the \nstatesman asked the man what wrong Aristides had ever done \nhim. " None," responded the voter ; " I do not even know him ; \nbut I am tired of hearing him called the Just." \n\nWith a spirit just the opposite of that evinced by Camillus, \nwho, when banished by his countrymen, invoked the gods to \nsend such calamities upon them that they would speedily pray \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. 1 65 \n\nfor his return, the patriot Aristides went into exile praying \nthe gods that nothing might befall his native city which should \ncause those that had procured his banishment to mourn his ab- \nsence. Nevertheless, such an event soon did occur. Only six \nyears had passed when the threatening danger of the invasion \nby Xerxes led to his recall by the Athenians, to aid Themisto- \ncles in the defence of the state. He fought at Salamis and \nPlataea, and, after the retreat of the Persians, became at Athens \nthe rival of Themistocles in popular favor and esteem. It was \nthe universal confidence inspired by his uprightness of charac- \nter that enabled him to secure for his native city that suprem- \nacy in the foreign affairs of Hellas which had been hitherto \naccorded to Sparta alone. How this came about will appear \nin the following paragraphs. \n\nThe Confederacy of Delos. \xe2\x80\x94 To defend themselves more effect- \nively against the Persians \xe2\x80\x94 who for two centuries after the \ndisastrous expedition of Xerxes never ceased, by intrigue and \nopen force, to vex the Grecian communities \xe2\x80\x94 the Ionian states \nof Asia Minor, the islands of the ^gean, and some of the \nstates in Greece proper, mostly north of the Isthmus, formed \nthemselves into what is known as the Confederacy of Delos. \nSparta had hitherto been accorded the place of pre-eminence \nand authority in all such alliances of the Hellenic cities. She \nhad come, indeed, to regard herself as the natural guardian \nand leader of Greece. But at this time the unbearable arro- \ngance of the Spartan king Pausanias, and also his proven \ntreacherous overtures to Xerxes, in which, in return for mag- \nnificent bribes \xe2\x80\x94 the daughter of Xerxes as a bride and an im- \nmense fortune in gold \xe2\x80\x94 he was to surrender all Greece into the \nhands of the Persians, led the states which had entered into \nthe alliance to look to Athens to assume the position of lead- \nership in the new confederacy. \n\nThe lofty character of Aristides, who now commanded the \nAthenian army, and his great reputation for fairness and incor- \n\n\n\n1 66 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nruptible integrity, also contributed to the same result. He \nwas chosen the first president of the league (477 B.C.). The \nsacred isle of Delos was made the repository of the common \nfunds. What proportion of the annual sums needed for carry- \ning out the purposes of the confederacy should be contributed \nby the different states was left entirely to the decision of Aris- \ntides, such was the confidence in his equity; and none of the \nmembers of the alliance ever had cause of complaint. \n\nThus did Sparta, through the treachery of her king Pausa- \nnias, lose, and Athens, through the justness of her citizen Aris- \ntides, gain, the place of precedence among the Ionian states. \nThe Dorian states of Peloponnesus, in the main, still looked to \nSparta as their leader and adviser. All Greece was thus divid- \ned into two great leagues, under the rival leadership of Sparta \nand Athens. \n\nThe Leadership of Cimon. \xe2\x80\x94 Having noticed some of the im- \nportant public services of Themistocles and Aristides during \nthe first years of what we have called the Period of Athenian \nSupremacy, we must now narrate some events in the career of \nCimon, the ablest and most distinguished of the generals who \ncommanded the armies of the Athenians and their allies during \nthis same period. \n\nCimon, the son of Miltiades, was one of those whose spirits \nhad been fired by the exciting events attendant upon the Per- \nsian invasion. He had called attention to himself and ac- \nquired a certain reputation, at the time of the abandonment of \nAthens, by being the first to hang up his bridle in the sanctu- \nary of the Acropolis, thus expressing his resolution to place all \nhis confidence in the fleet, as Themistocles advised. \n\nAfter the expulsion of the Persians from Greece, he became \none of the most successful of the Grecian generals to whom \nwas intrusted the command of the armaments designed to \nwrest from the hands of the enemy the islands of the Mgean \nand the Hellenic cities of the Asiatic coast. The rich spoils \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. 1 67 \n\nof his many victories over the Persians enabled him to fill the \ntreasury of Athens, and also to build up an ample fortune for \nhimself. His private means he dispensed with a lavish hand \nin benefactions to the poor, in the erection of magnificent pub- \nlic buildings, and in the beautifying of the public walks and \nparks of Athens. The Academy, the favorite resort of the \nAthenians, owed much of its beauty to his munificence. He \nalso encouraged the people to push forward the work upon the \nLong Walls by laying, at his own cost and in a superior man- \nner, a considerable section of the foundations. \n\nOne of the most interesting ceremonies in which he took a \nleading part was the removal of what was declared to be the \nbody of the national hero Theseus from the island of Scyros, \nwhere the exiled king is fabled to have died, to a place of en- \ntombment at Athens. Over the sacred relics was erected the \nbeautiful Temple of Theseus, which at the present day, after \nthe lapse of more than two thousand years, still marks the \nspot, and exhibits to us the best-preserved specimen of all the \nstructures of the ancient Grecians. \n\nHis Ostracism. \xe2\x80\x94 The popularity of Cimon at last declined, \nand he suffered ostracism, as had Aristides and Themistocles \nbefore him. The inconstant Athenians seemed to have inflict- \ned the sentence of exile upon almost all of their greatest lead- \ners earlier or later in their careers. Cimon\'s loss of public fa- \nvor came about in this manner. In the year 464 B.C., a terrible \nearthquake destroyed a large portion of Sparta, and buried a \nvast number of the inhabitants beneath the ruins of their city. \nIn the panic of the appalling disaster, the Spartans were led \nto believe that the evil had befallen them as a punishment for \ntheir recent violation of the Temple of Neptune, from which \nsome Helots who had fled to the sanctuary for refuge had been \ntorn. The Helots, on their part, were quick to interpret the \nevent as an intervention of the gods in their behalf, and as an \nunmistakable signal for their uprising. Everywhere they flew \n\n\n\n1 68 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nto arms, and, being joined by some of the Provincials, furious- \nly attacked their masters. The Spartans, after maintaining the \nbitter struggle for several years, finding themselves unable to \nreduce their former slaves to submission, were forced to ask \naid of the other Grecian states. Cimon, who had always enter- \ntained the most friendly feelings for the Lacedaemonians, per- \nsuaded the Athenians to put aside all sentiments of enmity or \njealousy, and to extend succor to their kinsmen in this desper- \nate posture of their affairs. The Athenian forces fought for \nsome time side by side with the Lacedaemonians. But the \nSpartans were distrustful of the sincerity of their allies, and \nthis feeling gradually grew into positive fear lest the Athenians \nshould take advantage of their position in the country and pass \nover to the side of the Helots. Acting under this apprehen- \nsion, which was probably entirely groundless, they dismissed \nthe Athenian forces. The discourtesy of the act aroused the \nmost bitter resentment at Athens. The party that had always \nopposed the resolution of aiding their rivals as weakly senti- \nmental and impolitic, took advantage of the exasperated feel- \nings of the people to secure the exercise of the ostracism \nagainst Cimon, as the chief espouser of the undertaking; and \nhe was sent into an exile of ten years. Pericles, the most dis- \ntinguished of Athenian statesmen, now became the popular \nidol and leader. \n\nPericles and the Periclean Age (469-429 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 This was the \nmost brilliant period of Athenian history. It embraced little \nmore than the life of a single generation, yet its influence upon \nthe civilization of the world can hardly be overestimated. \nDuring this short period Athens gave birth to more great men \n\xe2\x80\x94 poets, artists, statesmen, and philosophers \xe2\x80\x94 than all the world \nhas ever produced in any other period of equal length. \n\nAmong the great minds of this age, Pericles stood conspicu- \nous. Such was the impression left by his commanding states- \nmanship, his persuasive eloquence, and his almost universal \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF ATHENIAN SUPREMACY. 1 69 \n\ngenius upon the period in which he lived that it is called after \nhim the Periclean Agei Under his able leadership, Athens \nspeedily rose to a place of absolute supremacy among all her \nsister Ionian states. These, from the position of peers in an \nequal alliance, became in reality the tributaries of Athens. \nWhat had been simply a voluntary confederation of sovereign \nstates became an empire, with Athens as the imperial city. \nLiterature, art, and philosophy were carried to the highest per- \nfection possible to human genius; and the capital was made \nbrilliant with temples and various splendid architectural mon- \numents. It was during this period that the Acropolis was \nadorned with the Parthenon and other edifices, conceived and \nexecuted by the genius of Phidias and his companion artists. \n\nNever before had any people enjoyed such perfect liberty as \ndid the Athenians during this era ; and never before, probably, \nwere any people, by so intimate a knowledge of political affairs, \nso well able to direct the public policies of their state. The \ngovernment, in so far as it was related to the Athenians them- \nselves, was at this time almost a pure democracy. Every mat- \nter that concerned the empire was discussed and determined \nupon in the popular assembly. Pericles\'s power was, indeed, \nalmost supreme; but it was only the influence and authority \nwhich talent and character justly confer. \n\n\n\n170 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII. \n\nTHE PELOPONNESIAN WAR : SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. \n(431-362 B.C.) \n\nCause and Beginning of the War. \xe2\x80\x94 During the closing years \nof the life of Pericles, the growing jealousy between Athens \nand Sparta broke out in the long struggle known as the \nPeloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.). Pericles had foreseen the \ncoming storm : " I descry war," said he, " lowering from Pelo- \nponnesus." He saw clearly that sooner or later the oppos- \ning principles and jealousies of the two rival states must \nbring them into collision. His whole policy looked towards \nthe preparation of his country for the inevitable struggle. \n\nThe immediate occasion of the war was Athens\'s interfer- \nence in a quarrel between Corinth and the island of Corcyra. \nSparta espoused the cause of the former, who appealed to her \nas leader of the Peloponnesian states. The Dorian states of \nPeloponnesus, with many of the countries north of the Isthmus, \nranged themselves on the side of aristocratical Sparta ; while \nthe Ionian states in Greece, on the ^gean islands, and along \nthe shores of Thrace and Asia Minor, generally allied them- \nselves with the cause of republican Athens. The struggle was \nnow begun in which both parties were destined to grind each \nother to pieces, and leave all Hellas an easy prey to the Mace- \ndonian conqueror. \n\nA Peloponnesian army was soon overrunning the countries \nnorth of the Isthmus. Pericles persuaded the people of Attica \nto abandon their towns and villas and gather within the walls \nof the capital. He did not deem it prudent to risk a battle \nwith the Spartans in the open field. From the walls of Athens \n\n\n\nTHE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 171 \n\nthe people could see the flames of their burning towns as the \nenemy ravaged the plains of Attica up to the very gates of the \ncity. It required all the persuasion of Pericles to restrain \nthem from issuing in a body from behind the ramparts and \nrushing to the defence of their homes. \n\nPestilence at Athens. \xe2\x80\x94 The second year the Lacedaemonians \nagain ravaged the fields about Athens, and drove the Athe- \nnians almost to frenzy with the sight of the flame and smoke \nof such property and villas as had escaped the destruction of \nthe previous year. To increase their misery, a pestilence broke \nout within the crowded city, and added its horrors to the already \nunbearable calamities of war. No pen could picture the de- \nspair and gloom that settled over the city. Pericles, who had \nbeen the very soul and life of the capital through these dark \ndays, fell a victim to the plague. In dying, he said he con- \nsidered his greatest praise to be that " he had never caused an \nAthenian to put on mourning." \n\nProgress of the War. \xe2\x80\x94 The ruinous eflects of the war were \nfelt throughout the entire Hellenic world ; for the colonies as \nwell as the states of the mother- land were involved in the \ncalamitous quarrel. So nearly matched in strength and re- \nsources were the two rivals with their subject allies, and so \ndeep were the animosities aroused, that the only possible end \nseemed to be in the mutual exhaustion of the contending states. \nAlmost every year the Lacedaemonians invaded and ravaged \nthe country north of the Isthmus : the Athenians retaliated by \ndesolating with their fleet the coasts of Peloponnesus. \n\nThe Mityleneans. \xe2\x80\x94 On both sides the war was waged with \nthe utmost vindictiveness and cruelty. A single ray of light \ncomes from Athens. The city of Mitylene, on the island of \nLesbos, a subject ally of the Athenians, had revolted. With \nthe rebellion suppressed, the fate of the Mityleneans was in the \n\n\n\n172 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhands of the Athenian assembly. Cleon, a popular but un- \nprincipled demagogue, proposed that all the adult citizens of the \nplace, six thousand in number, should be slain, and the women \nand children sold, as slaves. This infamous decree was passed, \nand a galley despatched bearing the sentence for execution to \nthe Athenian general at Mitylene. \n\nBy the next morning, however, the Athenians had repented \nof their hasty and cruel resolution. A second meeting of the \nassembly was hurriedly called; the barbarous vote was re- \npealed; and a swift trireme, bearing the reprieve, set out in \nanxious haste to overtake the former galley, which had twenty- \nfour hours the start. The oarsmen of the trireme, with every \nnerve strung to the highest tension by the nature of their er- \nrand as well as by the promise of large rewards dependent \nupon the success of their mission, urged the vessel across the \n^gean with almost preternatural energy. The trireme reached \nthe island just in time to save the Mityleneans from a cruel \nfate and the Athenians from a lasting disgrace. \n\nThe Athenians, it must be confessed, knew but little of hu- \nmanity, for the world had not yet learned to regard highly the \ngentler virtues ; yet this incident causes the disposition of the \nAthenians to appear mild and humane when compared with \nthe unrelenting cruelty of the Spartans, as exhibited in their \ndealings with the Plataeans and the Helots of Laconia. The \nformer, upon the capture of their city, they massacred to a man ; \ntwo thousand of the latter they secretly and treacherously as- \nsassinated, simply because they feared their increasing number \nand power. \n\nClose of the Peloponnesian War. \xe2\x80\x94 An expedition against the \nDorian city of Syracuse, in Sicily, was a fatal step on the part \nof Athens. It was planned by Alcibiades, a brave and brilliant \ngeneral, but a reckless and unsafe counsellor. The enterprise \nproved terribly disastrous, and the resources of Athens were \nwrecked. Her subject allies now deserted her. The Persians, \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF SPARTAN SUPREMACY. 1 73 \n\never ready to aid the Greeks in destroying one another, lent \naid to the Spartans. Finally, at ^gos Potamos (goat\'s river), \nin Asia Minor, the Athenian navy was captured by the Spartan \nfleet under Lysander. The following year, 404 b.c, Athens \nwas forced to surrender; and the Long Walls, the building \nof which Sparta had regarded with undisguised jealousy, were \nlevelled to the ground. Sparta\'s authority was now supreme. \nShe had neither peer nor rival among the Grecian states. \n\nThus after a war of twenty -seven years \xe2\x80\x94 a struggle ever \nmemorable on account of its calamitous results \xe2\x80\x94 were all the \nearly hopes and promises of freedom-loving Athens broken and \ncrushed. The loss to the world, and to the cause of civiliza- \ntion, we cannot estimate. \'^ \n\nPeriod of Spartan and Theban Supremacy. \n\nSpartan Supremacy. \xe2\x80\x94 For just one generation following the \nPeloponnesian War (404-371 B.C.), Sparta held the leadership \nof the Grecian states. Aristocratical governments, with insti- \ntutions similar to the Spartan, were established in the different \ncities of the peninsula. At Athens, the democratical constitu- \ntion of Solon, under which the Athenians had attained their \ngreatness, was abolished, and an oppressive oligarchy estab- \nlished in its stead. The Thirty Tyrants, however, who adminis- \ntered this government were, after eight months\' infamous rule, \ndriven from the city, and the institutions and laws of Solon \nwere re-established. \n\nIt was during this period that Socrates, the greatest moralist \nand teacher of antiquity, was condemned to death, because his \nteachings were thought contrary to the religion of the Athe- \nnians. To this era also belongs the famous expedition of the \nTen Thousand Greeks. \n\nExpedition of the Ten Thousand. \xe2\x80\x94 The aid given by the Per- \nsians to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War was not altogether \nunselfish. Cyrus, satrap of the Persian provinces of Asia Minor, \n\n\n\n174 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nthinking that his brother Artaxerxes held the throne unjustly, \nwas secretly planning to seize it for himself. In the latter part \nof the Peloponnesian War, when he saw the tide of events \nturning against Athens, he lent aid to the Spartans; proposing \nthus to place them under obligation to him, so that he could \nask their aid in his contemplated enterprise. Now the time \nhad come for the return of the favor. To the army of one \nhundred thousand barbarians which Cyrus had raised in Asia, \nthe Spartans added about eleven thousand Greek soldiers. \n\nWith this force Cyrus set out from Sardis, in the spring of \n40 T B.C. He marched without opposition across Asia Minor \nand Mesopotamia to Babylonia, into the very heart of the Per- \nsian Empire. Here, at Cunaxa, he was confronted by Artax- \nerxes with a force of more than half a million of men. The \nbarbarian allies of Cyrus were scattered at the first onset of the \nenemy; but the Greeks stood like a rampart of rock. Cyrus, \nhowever, was slain ; and the other Greek generals, having been \npersuaded to enter into a council, were treacherously murdered \nby the Persians. \n\nThe Greeks, in a hurried night meeting, chose new generals \nto lead them back to their homes. One of these was Xeno- \nphon, the famous historian of the expedition. Now commenced \none of the most memorable retreats in all history. After a \nmost harassing march over the hot plains of the Tigris and the \nicy passes of Armenia, the survivors reached the Black Sea, the \nabode of sister Greek colonies. \n\nDecline of the Spartan State. \xe2\x80\x94 The part taken by the Greeks \nin the enterprise of Cyrus led the Persian monarch Artaxerxes \nto seek revenge by interfering anew in the affairs of Greece. \nThe Greek cities of Asia were the first to feel the resentment \nof the Great King. The Spartans, under their king Agesilaus, \nextended them timely and efficient aid. At one time it seemed \nas though the Persian authority in Asia Minor would be com- \npletely destroyed. But meanwhile Persian gold was effecting \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF SPARTAN SUPREMACY. 1 75 \n\nin Greece what the Persian sword was unable to accomplish \nin Asia. The emissaries of Artaxerxes, by persuasions and \nbribes, had secured a coalition of the Grecian states against \nSparta, and the threatening movements of these forced Agesi- \nlaus to return in haste to defend his own country. A disas- \ntrous struggle known as the Corinthian War now followed, in \nwhich the Lacedaemonians contended against the Athenians, \nthe Persians, and other allied states. Finally, after all parties \nwere weary of the contest, the war was ended by the Peace of An- \ntalcidas, so called from the Spartan commissioner who arranged \nthe articles of the treaty. By the terms of this peace, famous \nbecause so infamous, all the cities of Asia Minor, as well as \nsome of the islands of the Mediterranean, were handed over to \nthe Persians, while the states of Greece were left each in a con- \ndition of isolated independence. \n\nSparta has been accused of selfishness in the part she took \nin forcing the Grecian states to accept the terms of the Peace \nof Antalcidas. But we should not be too ready to cast blame \nupon her. It is true that, in order to break the coalition that \nhad been formed against her, she bartered away the liberties \nof the Hellenic cities in Asia ; but we must bear in mind that \nthis measure was dictated by the instinct of self-preservation. \nThere were at Sparta some at least animated by feelings of \nsufficiently generous patriotism to cause them to lament the \ncircumstances that thus laid Greece open to the mercy of her \nenemy. Among these was the patriot king Agesilaus, whom \nPlutarch calls the "Thought Commander and King of all \nGreece." Referring to the jealousies and contentions of the \nHellenic states which had now resulted in making the hated \nPersians arbiters in their affairs, he exclaimed, "Alas for \nGreece ! she has killed enough of her sons to have conquered \nall these barbarians." \n\nThe Peace of Antalcidas left Sparta free to prosecute anew \nher schemes of aggression and tyranny towards the other Gre- \ncian states, that were now too divided and weakened to offer \n\n\n\n176 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nany effectual resistance to her oppressive course. But finally \nthe fiery resentment kindled by her tyrannous measures in- \nspired such a determined revolt against her as brought to a \nfinal end her assumed supremacy over her sister cities. \n\nThehan Supremacy (371-362 e.g.). \xe2\x80\x94 It was a city in Boeotia \nthat led the uprising against Sparta. This was Thebes. The \noligarchical government which the Lacedaemonians had set up \nin that capital was overthrown by Pelopidas at the head of a \ncompany of returned exiles called tlie Sacred Band. Pelopidas \nwas seconded in all his efforts by Epaminondas, one of the \nablest generals the Grecian race ever produced. Under the \nmasterly guidance and inspiration of these patriot leaders, \nThebes very soon secured a predominating influence in the \naffairs of Greece. \n\nLike many others who have done most for their generation, \nEpaminondas was often unjustly accused and persecuted. He \nit was who, when his enemies sought to disgrace and annoy him \nby electing him "public scavenger," made, in accepting the \n\xe2\x80\xa2office, the memorable utterance, "If the office will not reflect \nhonor upon me, I will reflect honor upon it." \n\nAt Leuctra (371 e.g.) the Thebans earned the renown of be- \ning the most invincible soldiers in the world by completely \noverthrowing, with a force of six thousand men, the Spartan \narmy of twice that number. Again at Mantinea, in Pelopon- \nnesus, Epaminondas led the Thebans once more to victory \n(362 E.G.); but he himself was slain, and with him fell the hopes \nand power of Thebes. \n\nNotwithstanding that the few years of Theban history which \nare made illustrious by the patriot spirits of Pelopidas and \nEpaminondas are usually designated as the period of Theban \nSupremacy, yet it is scarcely correct to thus characterize them; \nfor Thebes really never secured that position of pre-eminence \nand command for which she made such an heroic struggle. \nBut her efforts and sacrifices were not without result: they \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF THEBAN SUPREMACY. I77 \n\nbrought to an end the power of Sparta, whose dominance over \nthe Hellenic states had ever been so hateful and so oppressive. \n" Sparta had, however, the consolation to see that none of her \nrivals was, or would be, able to supplant her. The sceptre had, \nindeed, been wrested from her ; but it had at the same time \nbeen broken to pieces " (Thirlwall). All the states of Greece \nnow lay exhausted, worn out by their endless domestic conten- \ntions and wars. There was scarcely sufficient strength left to \nstrike one worthy blow against enslavement by the master des- \ntined soon to come from the North. \n\n9 \n\n\n\n178 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII. \n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY. \n(338-323 B.C.) \n\nMacedonian Rulers of Hellenic Race. \xe2\x80\x94 Although political \npower and influence have now passed away from the Grecian \ncities of Sparta, Athens, and Thebes, still we must not think \nthat political authority has departed from the Hellenic race; \nfor though the mass of the population of the country of Mace- \ndonia, which lay to the north of Greece proper, and which is \nnow to assume the lead in the civil affairs of the Greeks, may \nnot have sprung from identically the same stock as that from \nwhich the Hellenes arose, still the ruling class of that country \nwere the same in race, language, and religion. So this period \nof Macedonian supremacy upon which we are entering belongs \nto the history of the political life of the Greek race, as well as \nthe eras marked by Athenian, Spartan, or Theban leadership. \nIt was Hellenic institutions, customs, and manners, Hellenic \nlanguage and civilization, that the Macedonians, in the ex- \ntended conquest which we are about to narrate, spread over \nthe world. \n\nPhilip of Macedon.\xe2\x80\x94 Macedonia first rose to importance \nabout 359 B.C., under the reign of Philip II., better known as \nPhilip of Macedon. He was a man of pre-eminent ability, of \nwonderful address in diplomacy, and possessed rare genius as \nan organizer and military chieftain. He was the originator \nof the "Macedonian phalanx," a body as renowned in the \nmilitary history of Macedonia as is the " legion \'\' in that of \nRome. \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY. 1 79 \n\nWith his kingdom settled and consolidated at home, Philip\'s \nambition led him to seek the mastery of the Grecian states of \nthe Peninsula. He attempted to gain his purpose rather by \nartful diplomacy and intrigue than by open force. In the use of \nthese weapons he might have been the teacher of the Athenian \nThemistocles. \n\nBattle of Chseronea.\xe2\x80\x94 Demosthenes at Athens was one of the \nfew who seemed to understand the real designs of Philip. His \npenetration, like Pericles\'s, descried a cloud lowering over \nGreece \xe2\x80\x94 this time from the North. With all the fervor of his \nfiery eloquence, he strove to stir up the Athenians to resist the \nencroachments of the King of Macedon. He hurled against \nhim his famous " Philippics," speeches so filled with fierce de- \nnunciation that they have given name to all writings character- \nized by bitter criticism or violent invective. \n\nAt length the Athenians and Thebans united their forces, \nand met Philip upon the field of Chaeronea, in Boeotia. The \nMacedonian phalanx swept everything before it. The power \nand authority of Philip were now extended and acknowledged \nthroughout Greece (338 B.C.). \n\nPlan to Invade Asia. \xe2\x80\x94 While the Greek states were divided \namong themselves, they were united in an undying hatred of \nthe Persians. They were at this time meditating an enterprise \nfraught with the greatest importance to the history of the world. \nThis was a joint expedition against Persia. The march of the \nTen Thousand Greeks through the very heart of the dominions \nof the Great King had encouraged this national undertaking, \nand illustrated the feasibility of the conquest of Asia. Philip \nwas chosen leader of this expedition. All Greece was astir \nwith preparation. In the midst of all, Philip was assassinated \nduring the festivities attending the marriage of his daughter, \nand his son Alexander succeeded to his place and power (336 \n\nB.C.). \n\n\n\nl8o ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nAlexander the Great. \xe2\x80\x94 Alexander was only twenty years of \nage when he came to his father\'s throne. The genius which \nhas won for him the title of" Great" was foreshadowed in early \nyouth. The familiar and well-told story of the vicious steed \nBucephalus, which none dared mount or approach, but which \nwas subdued in a moment by the boy Alexander, exhibits that \nsubtle magnetism of his nature by which he acquired such \nwonderful influence and command over men in after-years. \nThe spirit of the man is again shown in the complaint of the \nboy when news of his father\'s victories came to him : " Friends," \nsaid he to his playmates, " father will possess himself of every- \nthing, and leave nothing for us to do." \n\n/ \nAlexander Crosses the Hellespont (334 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 In the spring \nof 334, Alexander, with all his plans matured, set out, at the \nhead of an army numbering about 35,000, for the conquest of \nthe Persian Empire. Now commenced one of the most re- \nmarkable and swiftly executed campaigns recorded in history. \nCrossing the Hellespont, Alexander routed the Persians at the \nbattle of Granicus. By this victory all Asia Minor was laid \nopen to the invaders. \n\nThe Gordian Knot. \xe2\x80\x94 On Alexander\'s route through Asia \nMinor was the city of Gordium, where, in the Temple of Jupi- \nter, hung the famous Gordian knot. Respecting this the fol- \nlowing story is told : An oracle had commanded the Phrygians, \nin a time of great perplexity, to choose as their king the first \nperson that came to sacrifice in the Temple of Jupiter. The \npeasant Gordius was the one whom chance designated. He \nwas riding in a wagon when the people proclaimed him king. \nSome accounts, however, say that it was his son Midas \xe2\x80\x94 who \nwas with his father \xe2\x80\x94 that was elevated to the throne. Grate- \nful to the gods for the honor that had fallen upon his house, \nGordius consecrated the wagon as a memorial in the Temple \nof Zeus. It was gradually spread abroad that an oracle had \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY, l8l \n\ndeclared that whoever should untie the skilfully fastened knot \nwhich united the yoke to the pole of the chariot should be \nmaster of Asia. Alexander attempted the feat. Unable to \nunloosen the artful knot, he impetuously drew his sword and \ncut it. Hence the phrase " cutting the Gordian knot," mean- \ning a short way out of a difficulty. The marvellous fulfilment \nof the prediction in the subsequent successes of Alexander \ngave new faith and credit to the oracle. \n\nThe Battle of Issus (333 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 At the northeast corner of \nthe Mediterranean lies the plain of the Issus. Here Alexander \nagain defeated the Persian army, numbering 600,000 men. The \nfamily of Darius, including his mother, wife, and children, fell \ninto the hands of Alexander; but the king himself escaped \nfrom the field, and hastened to his capital, Susa, to raise another \narmy to oppose the march of the conqueror. \n\nSiege of Tyre. \xe2\x80\x94 Before penetrating to the heart of the empire, \nAlexander turned to the south, in order to effect the subjuga- \ntion of Phoenicia, that he might command the Phoenician fleets \nand prevent their being used to sever his communication with \nGreece. The island city of Tyre, after a memorable siege, was \ntaken by means of a mole, or causeway, built with incredible \nlabor through the sea to the city. This mole was constructed \nout of the ruins of old Tyre and the forests of Lebanon. It \nstill remains, uniting the desolate rock with the mainland. \nWhen at last, with the aid of the Sidonian fleet, the city was \ntaken, after a siege of seven months, 8000 of the inhabitants \nwere slain, and 30,000 sold into slavery \xe2\x80\x94 a terrible warning to \nthose cities that should dare close their gates against the Mace- \ndonian. The reduction of Tyre has been considered the great- \nest military achievement of Alexander. \n\nAlexander in Egypt.\xe2\x80\x94 With the cities of Phoenicia and the \nfleets of the Mediterranean subject to his control, the conquest \n\n\n\n1 82 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof Egypt was easily effected. The Egyptians, indeed, made no \nresistance to^the Macedonians, and willingly exchanged mas- \nters. While in the country Alexander made his mad expedi- \ntion to the oasis of Ammon, located in the Libyan Desert, where \nwere a celebrated temple and oracle of Jupiter. To gratify his \nvanity, as well as to impress the superstitious, Alexander de- \nsired to be declared of celestial descent. The priests of the \ntemple, in accordance with the wish of the king, gave out that \nthe oracle pronounced Alexander to be the son of a god. \n\nA more worthy enterprise of the conqueror was the founding \nof a city, called after himself Alexandria, at one of the mouths \nof the Nile. The city became the meeting-place of the East \nand the West ; and its importance through many centuries at- \ntests the far-sighted wisdom of its founder. \n\nThe Battle of Arbela.\xe2\x80\x94 From Egypt Alexander recommenced \nhis march towards the Persian capital. He crossed the Eu- \nphrates and Tigris without opposition ; but upon the plain of \nArbela, not far from ancient Nineveh, he found his further ad- \nvance disputed by Darius with a million of men. Again the \nMacedonian phalanx "cut through the ranks of the Persians as \nthe boat cuts through the waves." The fate of Darius has been \nalready narrated in our story of the last of the Persian kings.* \n\nAlexander in the Aryan Home. \xe2\x80\x94 Urged on by an uncon- \ntrollable desire to possess himself of the most remote countries \nof which any accounts had ever reached him, Alexander now led \nhis army to the north, and, after subduing many tribes that dwelt \nabout the Caspian Sea and among the mountainous regions of \nwhat is now known as Afghanistan, he boldly conducted his \nsoldiers over the snowy and dangerous passes of the Hindu \nKush, and descended into the fair provinces of Bactria, which \nregion we have already described as the earliest home of the \n\n*Seep. 117. \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY. 183 \n\nvarious families of the Aryan race. Had Alexander possessed \nour modern knowledge of the wanderings and relationships of \nthe different Aryan peoples, he might have claimed, as he would \nhave been very likely to do, the entire country as having once \nbelonged to his ancestors. \n\nThe Macedonians conquered not only Bactna,but Sogdiana, \na country lying north of the Oxus. The capture of the Sogdian \nRock is considered one of the great exploits of Alexander. \nThis was a strongly garrisoned citadel, perched upon a rocky \neminence with cliffs so lofty and precipitous that it was deemed \nimpregnable. The usual demand for surrender was answered \nby the insulting question, " Can the Macedonians, who can do \nalmost everything, also fly?" But some soldiers of Alexander\'s \narmy managed, with the greatest difficulty, to climb to a ledge \nof rock that overhung and commanded the fortress, which was \nthus forced to surrender. Among the captives was a beautiful \nBactrian princess, Roxana by name, who became the bride of \nAlexander. \n\nThroughout those distant regions Alexander founded nu- \nmerous cities, several of which bore his own name. One of \nthem is said to have been built, wall and houses, in twenty \ndays. These new cities were peopled with captives and by \nthose whom fatigue and wounds would no longer allow to fol- \nlow the conqueror in his swift campaigns. Alexander\'s stay \nin Bactria was shadowed by his murder of his dearest friend \nClitus, who had saved his life at Granicus. Both were flushed \nwith wine when the quarrel arose : after the deed, Alexander \nwas overwhelmed with remorse. \n\nConquests in India. \xe2\x80\x94 With the countries north of the Hindu \nKush subdued and settled, Alexander recrossed the mountains, \nand led his army down upon the rich and crowded plains of \nIndia. Here again he showed himself invincible, and received \nthe submission of many of the native princes of the country. \nThe most formidable resistance encountered by the Mace- \n\n\n\n184 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ndonians was offered by a strong and wealthy king named \nPorus. Captured at last and brought into the presence of \nAlexander, his proud answer to the conqueror\'s question as to \nhow he thought he should be treated was, " Like a king." The \nimpulsive Alexander gave him back his throne and kingdom. \n\nAlexander\'s desire was to extend his conquests to the Gan- \nges, but his soldiers began to murmur because of the length \nand hardness of their campaigns, and he reluctantly gave up the \nundertaking. To secure the conquests already made, he found- \ned at different points Greek towns and colonies. One of these \nhe named Alexandria, in honor of himself; another Bucephala, \nin memory of his favorite steed ; and still another Nicasa, for \nhis victories. The modern museum at Lahore contains many \nrelics of Greek art, dug up on the site of these Macedonian \ncities and camps. \n\nThe return of Alexander\'s army was through Gedrosia, now \nBeloochistan, a region frightful with burning deserts, amidst \nwhich his soldiers endured almost incredible privations and \nsufferings. After a trying and calamitous march of over two \nmonths, the survivors reached the old Persian capital Susa. \nThere, amid festivities and games, they forgot the hardships \nand dangers of their num^erous campaigns, which had put to \nthe severest test every power of human endurance. \n\nPlans and Death of Alexander. \xe2\x80\x94 As the capital of his vast \nempire, which now stretched from the Ionian Sea to the Indus, \nAlexander chose the ancient Babylon, upon the Euphrates. \nHis designs were to push his conquests as far to the west as he \nhad extended them to the east. Arabia, Carthage, Italy, and \nSpain were to be added to his already vast domains. Indeed, \nthe plans of Alexander embraced nothing less than the union \nand Hellenizing of the world. Not only were the peoples of \nAsia and Europe to be blended by means of colonies, but even \nthe floras of the two continents were to be intermingled by \nthe transplanting of fruits and trees from one continent to the \n\n\n\nPERIOD OF MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY. 1 85 \n\nOther. Common laws and customs, a common language and \nreligion, were to unite the world in one great family. Inter- \nmarriages were to blend the races. Alexander himself married \na daughter of Darius III.; and to 10,000 of his soldiers whom \nhe encouraged to take Asiatic wives he gave munificent gifts. \nHe adopted the dress of a Persian monarch, and surrounded \nhimself with all the extravagant ceremonials of an Oriental \ncourt. \n\nIn the midst of his vast projects, Alexander was seized with \na sudden illness, and died at Babylon, B.C. 323, in the thirty- \nsecond year of his age. His body was carried to Alexandria, \nand there enclosed in a golden coffin, and over it was raised a \nsplendid mausoleum. His ambition for celestial Jionors was \ngratified in his death; for in Egypt and elsewhere temples \nwere dedicated to him, and divine worship was paid to his \nstatues. \n\nCharacter of Alexander.\xe2\x80\x94 We must not pass this point with- \nout a word, at least, respecting the character of this remarkable \nman, who, in a brief career of twelve years, changed entirely \nthe currents of history, and pressed them into channels which \nthey would not have followed but for the influence of his life \nand achievements. \n\nWe cannot deny to Alexander, in addition to a remarkable \ngenius for military affairs, a profound and comprehensive intel- \nlect. The wisdom shown in the selection of Alexandria as the \ngreat depot of the exchanges of the East and the West has been \namply proved by the rare fortunes of the city. His plans for \nthe union of Europe and Asia, and\' the fusion of their different \nraces, might indeed seem visionary, were it not that the degree \nin which this was actually realized during subsequent centuries \nattests the sanity of the attempt. He had fine tastes, and liber- \nally encouraged art, science, and literature. Apelles, Praxiteles, \nand Lysippus had in him a munificent patron ; and to his pre- \nceptor Aristotle he sent large collections of natural -history \n\n9* \n\n\n\nl86 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nobjects, gathered in his extended expeditions. He had an im- \npulsive, kind, and generous nature : he wept over the body of \nDarius, covering the mutilated remains with his own royal man- \ntle ; and he repented in bitter tears over the body of his faith- \nful Clitus. \n\nBut he was self-seeking and self-indulgent, foolishly vain, and \nmadly ambitious of military glory. He plunged into shameful \nexcesses, and gave way to bursts of passion that transformed a \nusually mild and generous disposition into the fury of a mad- \nman. The vindictive cruelty manifested in his treatment of \nthe Tyrians can be only partially palliated by reference to the \nspirit and usages of his age. The burning of the palace at \nPersepolis was an act of wanton folly, only to be extenuated by \nsubjecting him to the charge of bestial intoxication. The con- \ntradictions of his life cannot, perliaps, be better expressed than \nin the words once applied to the gifted Themistocles : " He \nwas greater in genius than in character." \n\n\n\nCHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF GRECIAN HISTORY. \n\n\n\nLegendary Age of \nGreece \n\n\n\nPelasgians in possession of the land. . about \nHellenes conquer and mingle with \n\nthe Pelasgians " \n\nThe Trojan War " \n\nThe Dorians enter Peloponnesus. . . " \n\n\n\nEarly History of ( Lycurgus gives laws to Sparta. \nSparta ( The Messenian Wars \n\n\n\nEarly History of^ \nAthens \n\n\n\nPeriod of Graeco- \nPersian War. . . \n\n\n\nCecrops founds Athens about \n\nRule of the Archons " \n\nRebellion of Cylon " \n\nLegislation of Solon \'* \n\nPisistratus rules \n\nExpulsion of the Pisistratids \n\nFirst expedition of Xerxes ( led by Mar- \n\ndonius) \n\nBattle of Marathon \n\nBattle of Thermopylae \n\nBattle of Salamis \n\n_ Battles of Plataea and Mycale \n\n\n\nPeriod of Athenian \nSupremacy \n\n\n\nEvents of Pelopon- \nnesian War \n\n\n\nAthens rebuilt \n\nAristides chosen first president of the Con- \nfederacy of Delos \n\nThemistocles sent into exile \n\nOstracism of Cimon \n\nPericles at head of affairs \xe2\x80\x94 Periclean Age. \n\n\' Beginning of Peloponnesian War \n\nPestilence at Athens \n\nExpedition against Syracuse \n\nBattle of ^gos Potamos \n\nClose of the War \n\n\n\nf Rule of the Thirty Tyrants at Athens \n\nExpedition of the Ten Thousand \n\nPeriod of Spartan J Peace of Antalcidas \n\nSupremacy.. \n\n\n\nOligarchy established at Thebes \n\nSpartan power broken on the field of Leuc- \ntra \n\nr Battle of Leuctra which secures supremacy \n\nPeriod of Theban J of Thebes \n\nSupremacy 1 Battle of Mantinea and death of Epaminon- \n\n[ das \n\n\n\nB.C. \n\n2000 \n\n1400 \n\nI94-I184 \n\n1 104 \n\n900 \n\n743-668 \n\n1550 \n\n1050-620 \n\n620 \n\n600 \n\n560-527 \n\n510 \n\n\n\n492 \n490 \n480 \n480 \n479 \n\n478 \n\n477 \n\n471 \n\n459 \n\n469-429 \n\n431 \n430 \n415 \n405 \n404 \n\n404-403 \n401-400 \n\n387 \n382 \n\n371 \n\n\n\nPeriod of Macedo- \nnian Supremacy. \n\n\n\nBattle of Chasronea \n\nDeath of Philip of Macedon \n\nAlexander crosses the Hellespont. \n\nBattle of Issus \n\nBattle of Arbela \n\nDeath of Alexander at Babylon. . . \n\n\n\n371 \n\n362 \n\n33S \n336 \n334 \n333 \n331 \n323 \n\n\n\nl88 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX. \n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. \n\nDivision of the Empire of Alexander.\xe2\x80\x94 There was no one who \ncould wield the sword that fell from the hand of Alexander. \nFor several years after his death, the vast empire he had con- \nsolidated was torn and distracted by quarrels and wars, until \nat last the enormous domain over which he had ruled was \nshattered into fragments. Four well-defined and important \nstates, however, rose out of the ruins. These were apportioned \namong four of Alexander\'s generals. The great horn being \nbroken, for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds \nof heaven.* To Seleucus Nicator fell all the countries between \nthe Mediterranean and the Indus; to Lysimachus, Thrace and \nAsia Minor; to Cassander, Macedonia and Greece; and to \nPtolemy, Egypt. \n\nOf the minor states three deserve notice : namely, Pergamus, \nPontus, and Greece proper. We must trace very briefly the \nstory of each of these larger and smaller states until they were \nabsorbed one after another by the now rapidly rising empire \nof Rome. \n\nThrace. \xe2\x80\x94 Thrace was the least important of the four larger \nstates. After the death of Lysimachus, it came under the sway \nof the sovereigns of Macedonia, and followed very closely the \nfortunes of that country. It constituted the outpost of European \ncivilization, and its story is but a weary recital of frontier war- \nfare with barbarian tribes. \n\n* Dan. viii. 8. \n\n\n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. 189 \n\nMacedonia. \xe2\x80\x94 Macedonia soon lost the greater part of Greece, \nand from the position of " mistress of half the world " fell back \ninto the obscurity from which the genius of Philip and Alex- \nander had lifted her. For aiding Carthage during the Punic \nWars she incurred the anger of Rome, which resulted, after \nmuch intrigue and long wars, in the country being subdued \nand erected into a Roman province, 148 B.C. \n\nSyria, or the Kingdom of the SeleucidsB (312-65 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 This \nkingdom played an important part in the civil history of the \nworld during the three centuries of its existence. The rulers \nwho held sway during this period are called Seleucidae, from \nSeleucus Nicator, the founder of the kingdom. Besides being \na ruler of unusual ability, Seleucus was a liberal patron of learn- \ning and art, being himself a magnificent builder. Throughout \nhis dominions, he founded a vast number of cities, some of \nwhich endured for many centuries, and were known far and \nwide as centres of trade and Hellenic civilization. Upon the \nTigris, as a rival to Babylon, he built Seleucia, which grew rap- \nidly into a capital of 600,000 inhabitants, which in its customs, \nmanners, and government was simply a Greek city transplant- \ned from Europe. As Seleucia rose, Babylon sank into obscu- \nrity, and soon disappeared from history. Six other cities in \ndifferent parts of his empire bore the name Seleucia, after him- \nself; sixteen he called Antioch, in honor of his father; five he \nnamed Laodicea, for his mother ; still others bore the name \nApamea, in honor of one of his wives. Antioch, on the Oron- \ntes, in Northern Syria, became the capital of tire kingdom, and \nobtained an influence and renown as a centre of population \nand trade which have given its name a sure place in history. \nAntioch still remains ; but most of the other cities are gone, \nwith scarcely a trace left of their former existence. Thus the \nsite of the great capital Seleucia, on the Tigris, once the rival \nof Babylon, is now marked by just a few mounds and heaps of \nrubbish. \n\n\n\nIQO ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe successors of Seleucus Nicator led the kingdom through \ncheckered fortunes. Antiochus IV. (176-164 B.C.), by the pil- \nlage and desecration of the temple at Jerusalem, drove the \nJews to revolt, under the lead of the priest Mattathias and his \nson Judas Maccabaeus, which event has already been noticed \nin the history of the Jewish people. Others kept the kingdom \nin constant contention with the states of Asi-u Minor on the \nwest, with the Bactrians and Parthians on the east, and with \nEgypt on the south. At last, brought into collision with Rome, \nthe country was overrun by Pompey the Great, and became a \npart of the Roman Republic, 65 B.C. \n\nKingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt (323-30 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The \nGraeco-Egyptian empire of the Ptolemies was by far the most \nimportant, in its influence upon the civilization of the world, \nof any or all the kingdoms that owed their origin to the con- \nquests of Alexander. The founder of the house and dynasty \nwas Ptolemy I., surnamed Soter (323-283 B.C.). His de- \nscendants ruled in Egypt for nearly three centuries, a period \nmost famous in the intellectual life of the world. Ptolemy was \na general under Alexander, and seemed to possess much of his \nrestless energy and breadth of view, with a happy freedom from \nhis great commander\'s faults. \n\nUiDon the partition "of the empire of Alexander, Ptolemy re- \nceived Egypt, with parts of Arabia and Libya. To these he \nadded by conquest Ccelesyria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and Cy- \nprus. Following the usage of the time, he transported 100,000 \nJews from Jerusalem to Alexandria, attached them to his \nperson and policies by wise and conciliatory measures, and \nthus effected at this great capital of the Nile that blending \nof the races of the East and the West which was the dream \nof Alexander. \n\nThe possession of the forests of Mount Lebanon, and the \ncommand of the artisans of Phoenicia, enabled Ptolemy to real- \nize his plans of making Egypt a naval power, and the empo- \n\n\n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. 19I \n\nlium of the carrying trade between Asia and Europe. Alex- \nandria became the great depot of exchange for the productions \nof the world. But it was not alone the exchange of material \nproducts that was comprehended in Ptolemy\'s scheme. His \naim was to make his capital the intellectual centre of the \nworld \xe2\x80\x94 the place where the arts, sciences, literatures, and even \nthe religions of ..le world should meet and mingle. He found- \ned the famous Museum, which became the " University of the \nEast." Poets, artists, philosophers, and teachers in all depart- \nments of learning were encouraged to settle in Alexandria by \nthe conferring of immunities and privileges, and by gifts and \nmunificent patronage. His court embraced the learning and \ngenius of the age. He also established the renowned Alex- \nandrian Library, and built the Pharos, or light -house, which \nguided the fleets of the world to his capital. The splendid \nMausoleum that he raised over the body of Alexander was at \nonce a monument of his taste and of his love for his young \ncommander. Ptolemy also wrote a life of Alexander, small \nfragments only of which have been preserved ; but these suf- \nficiently attest his skill and accuracy as an author. \n\nPtolemy Philadelphus (283-247 B.C.) followed closely in the \nfootsteps of his father, carrying out, as far as possible, the plans \nand policies of the preceding reign. To secure Egypt\'s com- \nmercial supremacy, the old Pharaonic canal uniting the Nile \nand the Red Sea was restored, and roads constructed to facili- \ntate the transportation of merchandise from the ports on that \nsea to the river. Philadelphus added largely to the royal li- \nbrary, and extended to scholars the same liberal patronage as \nhis father before him. \n\nThe surname Philadelphus ("loving brother") was given \nthis Ptolemy on account of his tender devotion to his wife \nArsinoe, who was also his sister. This usage of intermarriage \namong the members of the royal family was one of the causes \nof the contentions and calamities which at last overwhelmed \nwith woes and infamy the house of the Ptolemies. \n\n\n\n192 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nPtolemy III. (247-222 B.C.) was called by the Egyptians \nEuergetes (benefactor) because in one of his wars he recapt- \nured and placed again in their temples some statues of the \nEgyptian gods which the Persian conqueror Cambyses and \nthe Assyrian Sargon had borne away as trophies. He was pos- \nsessed of great military genius, and under him the dominions \nof the Ptolemies touched their utmost limits ; and the capital \nAlexandria reached the culminating point in her fame as the \ncentre of Greek civilization. \n\nAltogether the Ptolemies reigned in Egypt almost exactly \nthree centuries (323-30 B.C.). Those rulers who held the throne \nfor the last two hundred years were, with few exceptions, a suc- \ncession of monsters, such as even Rome in her worst days \ncould scarcely equal. These monarchs plunged into the most \ndespicable excesses, and were guilty of every folly and cruelty. \nThe usage of intermarriage, already mentioned, led to endless \nfamily quarrels, which resulted in fratricide and matricide, and \nall the dark deeds known to the calendar of royal crime. The \nstory of the renowned Cleopatra, the last of the house of the \nPtolemies, will be told in connection with Roman history, to \nwhich it properly belongs. \n\nPergamus. \xe2\x80\x94 This was originally a fragment of the kingdom \nof Lysimachus, which broke away in revolt, and gradually, \nthrough the favor of the Romans, grew into a powerful state \nwhich at the time of Eumenes II. (197-159 B.C.) embraced a \nconsiderable part of Asia Minor. Its capital, also called Per- \ngamus, became a most noted centre of Greek learning and \ncivilization, and through its famous library and university \ngained the renown of being, next to Alexandria in Egypt, the \ngreatest city of the Hellenic world. In 133 B.C. Attains III., \nafter killing all his heirs, ended a life which was a perfect \ntissue of follies by bequeathing his kingdom to the Roman \npeople, who immediately took steps to secure the prize, and \nmade it into a province under the name of Asia. \n\n\n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. 1 93 \n\nPontus. \xe2\x80\x94 Pontus was another kingdom of Asia Minor, which \nhas a place in history on account of the lustre reflected upon \nit by the transcendant ability of one of its kings, Mithridates \nthe Great. The country was called Pontus (Greek for sea) be- \ncause of its position upon the Euxine. Almost from the time \nof Homer, Grecian colonies had been spreading Hellenic cult- \nure and civilization throughout the region. It was one of the \nfirst countries that severed itself from the empire of Alexander. \n\nMithridates the Great (120-63 ^-C.) spread the fame of his \nlittle kingdom throughout the world by his able and for a long \ntime successful resistance to the Roman armies. He was \nstrong in body and mind. To secure himself against attempts \nupon his life, it is said that he inured his system to poisons \nto such a degree that the most virulent could be taken by him \nwithout harm. Pliny tells us that he could speak twenty-two \nlanguages, and was thus able to address in their own tongue \nthe subjects of any province of his kingdom. His wars with \nRome belong rather to the history of that city than to the an- \nnals of Greece. Defeated by Pompey, and plotted against by \nhis own son Pharnaces, in despair he committed suicide {6^ \nB.C.), leaving unrealized his plans for the conquest of the Ro- \nman world. \n\nGreece : Achaean and Jltolian Leagues. \xe2\x80\x94 The political affairs \nof Greece proper during the period embraced between the \ndeath of Alexander and the conquest of the country by the Ro- \nmans are chiefly comprehended in the fortunes of two confed- \neracies, or leagues, one of which, called the Achaean League, \nembraced the greater portion of the states of Peloponnesus ; \nwhile the other, known as the ^tolian League, comprised the \nstates of Central Greece. \n\nUnited, these two confederacies might have maintained the \npolitical independence of Greece ; but that spirit of dissension \nwhich we have seen to be the bane of the Hellenic peoples led \nthem to become, in the hands of intriguing Rome, weapons \n\n\n\n194 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nfirst for crushing Macedonia, and then for grinding each other \nto pieces. \n\nSoon after the conquest of Macedonia, the ^tolians were \nmade tributary to Rome. At the same time, a thousand of the \nleading citizens of the cities of the Achosan League were, on \nthe pretext of their conspiring against Rome, transported to \nItaly, and for seventeen years kept as political prisoners in \ndifferent cities in Etruria. At the end of that time the exiles \nwere allowed to return home, the perfidious Romans foreseeing \nand hoping that their desire for revenge would betray them \ninto some violent act which would afford Rome a pretext for \ninvading and confiscating their territory. All fell out as antici- \npated. The exiles were no sooner returned to their native \nland than they stirred up their countrymen to a revolt against \nRome. Corinth, which, after the Peloponnesian War had ruined \nAthens, was the most splendid city of all Greece, was taken by \nthe Roman army and laid in ashes (146 B.C.). This was the \nlast act in the long and varied drama of the political life of \nancient Greece. Henceforth it constituted simply a portion of \nthe Roman Empire, \n\nReview. \xe2\x80\x94 We have now traced the political fortunes of the \nHellenic race through about a millennium of years of authentic \nhistory, starting with the earliest constitutions of aristocratical \nSparta and republican Athens. We have followed the growth \nof the Grecian states during the first centuries of their exist- \nence, and have watched their memorable struggle with the \npower of the Persian kings ; we have noticed the brilliant era \nof Athenian supremacy which followed that contest ; we have \nseen the wars and calamities finally brought by the mutual \njealousies of the two rival states of Athens and Sparta, not \nonly upon themselves, but upon all Hellas ; then, after brief \nperiods of Spartan and Theban supremacy, we have seen Mace- \ndonia assuming the leadership of the Greek race, and under an \nAlexander uniting half the world in a single kingdom, and \n\n\n\nSTATES FORMED FROM THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. I95 \n\nspreading Hellenic ideas, institutions, and language from II \nto the regions beyond the Indus ; we Imve also seen this ei \nmous Macedonian empire, through lack of that capacity \nunite for political ends which was the fatal defect of the Gr \ncharacter, torn into pieces, and these fragments, after more \xe2\x96\xa0 \nless varied political fortunes, seized upon one after another \nthe rapacity of Rome. \n\nIn succeeding chapters it will be our pleasanter task to tr \nthe more brilliant and worthy fortunes of the intellectual life \nof Hellas : to tell how, "captured, she led captive her captor"\xe2\x80\x94 \nhow by the spell of her genius and learning she gained sway \nover the minds of her rough conquerors. \n\n\n\n196 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nRULERS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE SELEUCID/E. \n\nB.C. \n\nSeleucus Nicator, founder of the kingdom 312-2S1 \n\nAntiochus 1 281-261 \n\nAntiochus II 261-246 \n\nSeleucus II 246-226 \n\nSeleucus III 226-223 \n\nAntiochus III 223-187 \n\nSeleucus IV 187-176 \n\nAntiochus IV. (revolt of Jews under Judas Maccaboeus) 176-164 \n\nAntiochus V 164-162 \n\nSeveral obscure names 162-69 \n\nAntiochus VIII., last of the Seleucidae 69-65 \n\n\n\nRULERS OF THE GR.ECO- EGYPTIAN KINGDOM OF THE \nPTOLEMIES. \n\nB.C. \n\nPtolemy I. Soter 323-283 \n\nPtolemy II. Philadelphus 283-247 \n\nPtolemy III. Euergetes 247-222 \n\nPtolemy IV 222-205 \n\nPtolemy V 205-181 \n\nPtolemy VI 181-146 \n\nSeveral obscure names 146-5 1 \n\nCleopatra, last of the line 5i~30 \n\nEgypt becomes a province of the Roman Empire 30 \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. 197 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX. \n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. \n\nCosmo^aphy of the Greeks. \xe2\x80\x94 A study of the religion of the \nGreeks must be preceded by some slight knowledge, at least, \nof their cosmography, or ideas of the figure and relation of the \ndifferent parts of the universe. \n\nThey supposed the earth to be, as it appeared, a plane, round \nin form like a shield. Around it flowed the " mighty strength \nof the ocean river," a stream broad and deep, beyond which on \nall sides lay realms of Cimmerian darkness and terror. From \nthis encircling ocean stream, all the rivers and seas of the earth \ndrew their waters. The heavens were a solid vault or dome, \nwhose edges shut down close upon the earth. Beneath the \nearth, reached by subterranean passages, was Hades, a vast \nregion, the realm of departed shades. Still beneath this was \nTartarus, a pit deep and dark, made fast by strong gates of \nbrass and iron. This awful prison-house of the gods was as \nfar beneath the earth as the heavens were above ; and of the \nlatter distance we are left to conjecture from the fact that when \nJupiter, in a fit of anger, hurled Hephaestus from the heavens \nto earth, he fell " from morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve." \nSometimes the poets seem to represent the gloomy regions \nbeyond the ocean stream as the cheerless abode of the dead. \n\nThe sun was an archer-god, borne in a fiery chariot up and \ndown the steep pathway of the skies. Awaiting the god in the \nwest, on the ocean stream, was a winged couch, in which he \nsank to \'rest while gentle winds wafted the golden vessel over \nthe waters round to the east, where a new chariot and fresh \nsteeds awaited him. Naturally it was imagined that the regions \n\n\n\niy8 ANClliNT HISTORY. \n\nin the extreme ciist and west, which were bathed in the near \nsplendors of the sunrise and the sunset, were lands of deh\'ght \nand plenty. \'J\'he eastern was tiie favored country of the Ethi- \nopians, a land which even Jupiter himself so loved to visit that \noften he was found absent from Olympus when sought by sup- \npliants. The western region, adjoining the ocean stream, was \nthe delightful (larden of the l[es[)erides. Here, too, were the \nIslands of the Blest, the abodes of the departed shades of heroes \nand poets. \n\nTliG Olympian Council.\xe2\x80\x94 There were twelve members of the \ncelestial council, six gods and as many goddesses. These were \nJupiter, the father of gods and men ; Neptune, the ruler of the \nsea; Apollo, the god of light, of music, and of prophecy ; Mars, \nthe god of war ; Vulcan, the god of fire and the patron of the \nuseful arts ; Mercury, the patron of eloquence and herald of \nthe celestials; Juno, the queen of Jupiter; Minerva, the pro- \nmoter of science and civilization; Diana, the goddess of the \nchase ; Venus, of love and beauty; Vesta, of the hearth ; Ceres, \nof grains and harvests. \n\nLesser Deities and Monsters. \xe2\x80\x94 Besides the great gods and \ngoddesses that constituted the Olympian council, there was an \nalmost infinite number of other deities, celestial personages, and \nmonsters neither human nor divine. Pluto ruled over the lower \nrealms; Bacchus was the god of wine; Cupid, of love; Iris, \nof the rainbow; licbc was the cupbearer of the celestials; \nNemesis was the avenger of crime; yl\'^olus was the ruler of \nthe winds, which he confined in a cave secured by mighty \ngates. There were nine Muses, inspirers of art and song. \nThree Fates allotted life and death. Tiie Nereids were \nnymphs of the sea, with bodies half human and half fish, the \ndaughters of Neptune. The Harpies were terrible monsters \nwith female faces and the body and claws of birds. They were \nsisters, three in number, and lived on the Strophades, in the \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. \n\n\n\n^J\'J \n\n\n\nIonian Sea. They tore and devoured tlieir prey wiih greedy \nvoracity. The Gorgons were also three sisters, with hair en- \ntwined with serpents. A single gaze upon them chilled the \nbeholder to stone. The Chimaera was a monster with " the \nhead of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent, and \nvomited forth fire." (From this impossible monster we have \ncome to call any improbable thing a " chimera.") Besides these \nthere were the Dragon, which guarded the golden apples of the \nHesperides ; Scylla and Charybdis, sea-monsters that made \nperilous the passage of the Sicilian Straits ; the Centaurs, the \nSphinxes, and a thousand others. \n\nExplanations of the Mythological Monsters. \xe2\x80\x94 Many at least \nof these monsters were simply personifications of the malign \nand destructive powers of nature. Thus the Harpies were the \nswift storms that tear to pieces and ingulf the vessel of the \nmariner; the Gorgons were also tempests that lash the sea \ninto a fury that paralyzes the affrighted sailor; the Chimatra \nwas a volcano in Lycia, whose foot and slopes abounded in \ndifferent animals. (The Chimaera iiamc is still seen issuing \nfrom a mountain opposite Olympus) ; Scylla and Charybdis were \ndangerous whirlpools off the coast of Sicily. \n\nThe fact that these monsters were merely personifications of \nthe evil and terrifying powers or aspects of nature was, indeed, \nforgotten or not understood at all by the common people ; and \nthey believed them to be real creatures, with all the parts and \nhabits given them by the poets \xe2\x80\x94 and often the poets themselves \nseemed possessed of the same idea. \n\nNature of the Gods. \xe2\x80\x94 The great gods and goddesses were \nsimply magnified human beings, possessing all their virtues, \nand often their weaknesses. They gave way to fits of anger \nand jealousy. "Jupiter deceives, and Juno is constantly prac- \ntising her wiles," All the celestial council, at the sight of \nVulcan limping across the palace floor, burst into "inextin- \n\n\n\n200 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nguishable laughter ;" and Venus, weeping, moves all to tears. \nThey surpass mortals rather in power than in size of body. \nThey can render themselves visible or invisible to human eyes. \nTheir food is ambrosia and nectar ; their movements are swift \nas light. They may suffer pain ; but death can never come \nto them, for they are immortal. Their abode is Mount Olym- \npus and the airy regions above the earth. \n\nModes of Divine Communication. \xe2\x80\x94 In the early ages the gods \nwere believed to often visit the earth and mingle with men. But \neven in Homer\'s time this familiar intercourse was a thing of the \npast \xe2\x80\x94 a tradition of a golden age that had passed away. Their \nforms were no longer seen nor their voices heard. In these \nlater and more degenerate times the recognized modes of \ndivine communication with men were by oracles, and by cas- \nual and unusual sights and sounds, as thunder and lightning, a \nsudden tempest, an eclipse, a flight of birds, or any strange \ncoincidence. \n\nGrecian Oracles. \xe2\x80\x94 All peoples and races have believed that \ntheir gods have a knowledge of the future, and that they are \nable and willing to reveal these secrets to men. The Greeks \nthought that futurities were made known by Zeus or Jupiter, \nand especially by Apollo, who was the god of prophecy, the re- \nvealer. Not everywhere, but only in chosen places, did these \ngods manifest their presence and communicate the divine will. \nThese favored spots were called oracles, as were also the re- \nsponses there received. There were twenty- two oracles of \nApollo in different parts of the Grecian world, but a much \nsmaller number of those of Jupiter. These were usually lo- \ncated in wild and desolate spots \xe2\x80\x94 in dark forests or among \ngloomy mountains. The most famous of the oracles were the \none at Dodona, in Epirus, and that at Delphi, in Phocis. At \nDodona the priests listened in the dark forests for the voice \nof Zeus in the rustling leaves of the sacred oak. At Delphi \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. 201 \n\nthere was a deep fissure in the ground, which emitted stupefy- \ning vapors, that were thought to be the inspiring breath of \nApollo. Over the spot was erected a splendid temple, in \nhonor of the oracle. The revelation was received by the \nPythia, or priestess, seated upon a tripod placed over the \norifice. As she became overpowered by the influence of the \nprophetic exhalations, she uttered the message of the god. \nThese mutterings of the Pythia \xe2\x80\x94 perhaps hysterical and half \nunconscious, yet probably bearing upon the matter with which \nher mind must have been impressed \xe2\x80\x94 were taken down by at- \ntendant priests, interpreted, and written in hexameter verse. \nSometimes the will of Zeus was communicated to the pious \nseeker by dreams and visions granted while sleeping in the \ntemple of the oracle. \n\nThe oracle of Delphi gained a celebrity wide as the world : \nit was often consulted by the monarcbs of Asia and the people \nof Rome in time of extreme danger and perplexity. Among \nthe Greeks scarcely any undertaking was entered upon without \nthe will and sanction of the oracle being first sought. \n\nWe have already noticed the ambiguous or double meaning \nof many of the responses of the oracles. That their credit \nmight not be impaired, the responses were usually delivered in \nsuch a way that they would correspond with the event, however \naffairs might turn. Croesus is told that, if he undertake his ex- \npedition against Persia, he will destroy a great empire. He \ndid, but the empire was his own. The Athenians are com- \nmanded to seek safety behind the " wooden walls." From \namong the forests, the palisades, and the ships, they chose for \nrefuge their fleet; and through the happy turn of events the \nDelphian oracle received unbounded credit and honor from \nthe grateful Athenians. \n\nOracles owed their origin to superstition, and their per- \npetuation to deceit and fraud. Politicians secured by bribes \nsuch responses as would further their designs. As the world \nadvanced in knowledge, the belief in supernatural communi- \n\n\n\n202 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncations was weakened, and the influence of the oracles gradu- \nally declined. In Cicero\'s day they were in ill-repute ; but \nthey still continued to be consulted until the fourth century \nafter Christ. \n\nIdeas of the Future. \xe2\x80\x94 To the Greeks life was so bright and \njoyous a thing that they looked upon death as a great calamity. \nThey therefore pictured life after death, except in the case of \na favored few, as being hopeless and aimless. The Elysian \nFields, away in the land of sunset, were, indeed, filled with \nevery delight ; but this was the abode only of the great heroes \nand benefactors of the race. The great mass of mankind were \ndoomed to Hades, where the spirit existed as "a feeble, joyless \nphantom." While we believe that the soul, freed from the \nbody by the event of death, becomes more active and strong, \nthe Greeks thought that without the body it became but a \nfeeble image of its former self. So long as the body remained \nunburied, the shade wandered restless in Hades ; hence the \nsacredness of the rites of sepulture. \n\nThe Sacred Gaines. \xe2\x80\x94 The celebrated games of the Greeks had \ntheir origin in the belief of their Aryan ancestors that the de- \nparted shades were gratified or appeased by such spectacles as \ndelighted them during their earthly life. During the Heroic \nAge these festivals were simply sacrifices or games performed \nat the tomb or about the pyre of the dead. Gradually these \ngrew into religious festivals observed by an entire city or com- \nmunity, and were celebrated near the oracle or shrine of the \ngod in whose honor they were instituted. By the sixth cen- \ntury B.C. they had lost their local and assumed a national \ncharacter. Among these festivals, four acquired a world-wide \ncelebrity. These were the Olympian, celebrated in honor of \nZeus, at Olympia, in Peloponnesus; the Pythian, in honor of \nApollo, near his shrine and oracle at Delphi; the Nemean, \nalso in honor of the god of prophecy, at Nemea; and the \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. \n\n\n\n203 \n\n\n\nIsthmian, held in honor of Neptune, on the narrow isthmus of \nCorinth. \n\nThe Olympian Games. \xe2\x80\x94 Of these four national festivals the \nOlympian secured the greatest renown. In 776 b.c. Koroebus \nwas victor in the foot-race at Olympia, an event so important \nin the estimation of the Greeks that they reckoned dates from \nit, making that year the starting-point in their chronology. The \ngames were held ever}\' fourth year, and the interval between \ntwo successive festivals was known as an Olympiad. The date \nof an occurrence was given by saying that it happened in the \nfirst, second, third, or fourth year of such an Olympiad \xe2\x80\x94 the \nfirst, second, or third, etc. \n\nThe contests consisted of foot-races, boxing, wrestling, and \nother athletic games. Later, chariot-racing was introduced \nand became the most popular of all the contests. The com- \npetitors must be of Hellenic race ; must have undergone ten \nmonths\' training in the gymnasium ; and must, moreover, be un- \nblemished by any crime against the state or the gods. Spec- \ntators from all parts of the world crowded the festivals. The \ndeputies of the different states vied with one another in the rich- \nness and splendor of their chariots and equipments, and in the \nmagnificence of their retinues. \n\nThe victor was crowned with a garland of wild olives; \nheralds proclaimed abroad his name ; his native city received \nhim as a conqueror, sometimes through a breach made in the \ncity walls ; his statues, executed by famous artists, were erected \nat Olympia and in his own city ; sometimes even divine honor \nand worship were accorded to him ; and poets and orators vied \nwith the artist in perpetuating the name and deeds of him who \nhad reflected undying honor upon his native state. \n\nInfluence of the Grecian Games. \xe2\x80\x94 For about one thousand \nyears, from the sixth century B.C. until the Olympian games \nwere abolished by the Roman emperor Theodosius, a.d. 396# \n\n\n\n204 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthese national festivals exerted an immense influence upon the \nsocial, religious, and literary life of Hellas. They enkindled \namong the widely scattered Hellenic states and colonies a \ncommon literary taste and enthusiasm ; for into all the four \ngreat festivals, excepting the Olympian, were introduced, sooner \nor later, contests in poetry, oratory, and history. During the \nfestivals poets and historians read their choicest productions, \nand artists exhibited their masterpieces. The extraordinary \nhonors accorded to the victors stimulated the contestants to \nthe utmost, and strung to the highest tension every power of \nbody and mind. To this fact we owe some of the grandest \nproductions of the Greek race. \n\nThey moreover promoted intercourse and trade ; for the fes- \ntivals naturally became great centres of traffic and exchange \nduring the continuance of the games. They softened the \nmanners of the people, turning their thoughts from martial ex- \nploits and giving the states respite from war; for during the \nmonth in which the Olympian games were held it was sacrile- \ngious to engage in military expeditions. We have already seen \nhow the Spartans, rather than violate this " truce of God " by \nmarching during the festival days, allowed the Athenians to \ngather all the honors of Marathon, and left Leonidas unsupport- \ned at the fatal Pass of Thermopylae. \n\nThey also promoted intercourse between the different Gre- \ncian cities and states, and kept alive common Hellenic feelings \nand sentiments. In all these ways, though they never drew the \nstates into a common political union, still they did impress a \ncommon character upon their social, intellectual, and religious \nlife. \n\nThe Amphictyonic Council. \xe2\x80\x94 The Amphictyonic Council was \na league or association of twelve tribes, whose main object was \nthe protection of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Another of \nits purposes was, by humane regulations, to mitigate the cruel- \nties of war. This was one of the first steps taken in the sci- \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. 20$ \n\nence of international law. The following oath was taken by \nthe members of the league : " We will not destroy any Am- \nphictyonic town, nor cut it off from running water, in war or in \npeace ; if any one shall do so, we will march against him and \ndestroy his city. If any one shall plunder the property of the \ngod, or shall be cognizant thereof, or shall take treacherous \ncounsel against the things in his temple at Delphi, we will pun- \nish him with foot and hand and voice, and by every means in \nour power." \n\nThe First Sacred War was a crusade of ten years carried on \nby the Amphictyons against the city of Cirrha, because of in- \nsults and extortions which the inhabitants of that place had \nbeen guilty of towards pilgrims to the Delphian shrine. The \ncity was finally taken, levelled to the ground, and the wrath of \nthe gods invoked upon any one who should dare rebuild it. \nThis contest occurred in the first part of the sixth century B.C. \n(595-585). \n\nHospitality among the Ancient Greeks. \xe2\x80\x94 The city commu- \nnity was the real world of the ancient Greek. His sense of duty \nand obligation was bounded by the walls of his native city, \nwith just the slightest feeling of obligation to all others of his \nown race and religion. Towards those of a different race and \nlanguage he felt no duties imposed by either law or morals. \nHe called all such Barharimis \xe2\x80\x94 " unintelligible folk;" and their \ncities might be plundered, the men slain, and the women and \nchildren sold into slavery, without any violation of his sense of \nright and justice. \n\nAmong a people entertaining such views respecting foreign- \ners, we should hardly look for the virtue of hospitality extend- \ning its helpful courtesies to those of an alien race or faith. \nYet the Greeks were a hospitable people. This virtue was \nfostered through the following circumstances. There were no \npublic inns in those times, hence a sort of gentle necessity \nforced to the entertainment of wayfarers. The hospitality ac- \n\n\n\n206 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncorded was the same free and impulsive welcome that the Arab \nsheik of to-day extends to the traveller whom chance brings to \nhis tent. The belief, too, that the gods sometimes visited the \nearth in the guise of men also prompted, in early times, to \nthe kindly reception of strangers, since thereby angels might \nhaply be entertained unawares. The very best the house af- \nforded was set before the wayfarer, and not till he had re- \nfreshed himself was he asked as to his journey and its object. \nWhen thus by chance a person, even though of another race, \nbecame the guest of a Greek, this circumstance made him, as \nit were, a kinsman, and henceforth a new relation subsisted \nbetween those thus casually brought together. One seeking a \nfavor of another might claim that their ancestors had broken \nbread together, and the appeal was sacred, and seldom made \nin vain. \n\nAt Athens there was an officer called proxcne, whose duty it \nwas to entertain strangers in behalf of the city. \n\nThe Suppliant. \xe2\x80\x94 Him who hardened his heart against the \nappeal of a suppliant the Furies pursued with undying ven- \ngeance. But only through certain formalities could one avail \nhimself of the rights of a suppliant. Should one, upon the \ncommission of a crime, flee to the temple, he became a suppli- \nant of the god to whose altar he clung, and to harm him there \nwas a most awful desecration of the shrine. The gods pun- \nished with dreadful severity such impiety, and an inexpiable \ncurse rested upon the house of the offender. \n\nTo sit or kneel at the hearth of an enemy was a most solemn \nform of supplication. When Themistocles, fleeing his country, \nsought an asylum in Epirus with his former enemy, King Ad- \nmetus, the queen of the latter, pitying the great man\'s misfort- \nunes, secured for him a kindly reception by seating him at the \npalace hearth, and placing in his arms the little prince, the son \nof Admetus \xe2\x80\x94 a very solemn and sacred form of appeal among \nthat people. An olive branch borne in the hand was still an- \n\n\n\nRELIGION OF THE GREEKS. 207 \n\nOther form of supplication, which rendered sacred and inviolable \nthe person of him who thus appealed for clemency. \n\nHumanity of the Greeks. \xe2\x80\x94 In the Heroic Age, the life of an \nenemy was never spared, unless for the object of securing a \nransom or for servitude. A prisoner was considered the abso- \nlute property of his captor, v/ho could put him to death, sell \nhim into slavery, or yield him up for a ransom. Usually upon \nthe capture of a city the men were slain, and the women and \nchildren sold into slavery. But these things do not necessarily \nevince an essentially cruel or degraded disposition; they sim- \nply show that the Greeks, while so far surpassing all their con- \ntemporaries in art, science, and philosophy, did not, in the mat- \nter of humanity and morals, rise above the low standard of \nfeelings and sentiments that characterized their age. They, \nhowever, respected the body too much to subject it to those \nterrible mutilations which we have seen were so common \namong the Asiatics \xe2\x80\x94 the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. \n\nAnd mild and humane were the Greeks as compared with the \nrude and unfeeling Romans. The different character of their \ngames and amusements attests this. The cruel gladiatorial \ncontests never became, even after the Roman conquest, popu- \nlar among the Hellenes. When it was proposed to introduce \nthese shows at Athens, a patriotic Athenian vehemently de- \nnounced the innovation : " First throw down," said he, " the \naltars erected above a thousand years ago by our ancestors to \nMercy." \n\n\n\n2o8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI. \n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. \n\nPelasgian Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 The term Pelasgian is applied to \nvarious structures of massive masonry \xe2\x80\x94 walls, tombs, and sub- \nterranean aqueducts \xe2\x80\x94 found in different parts of Greece, Italy, \nand Asia Minor. The origin of these works was a mystery to \nthe earliest Hellenes, who ascribed them to the giant Cyclops ; \nhence the name Cyclopean which also attaches to them. These \nworks exhibit three well-defined stages of development. In the \nearliest and rudest structures the stones are gigantic in size \nand untouched by the chisel j in the next oldest the stones \nare worked into irregular polygonal blocks ; while in the latest \nthe blocks are cut into rectangular shapes and laid in regular \ncourses. The walls of the old citadels or castles of several \nGrecian cities exhibit specimens of this primitive architecture. \nThe celebrated Treasury of Atreus, a subterranean vaulted \nstructure (perhaps tomb) at Mycenae, is a noted example of the \nlatest form of Pelasgian art. \n\nGrecian Temples. \xe2\x80\x94 The first homes of the gods were, like the \nprimitive abodes of men, simply such as nature afforded. \nAmong the Egyptians, caves were probably the earliest tem- \nples; among the Greeks, the statues of the gods were first \nplaced beneath the shelter of a tree, or within its hollow trunk. \nAfter a time a building, rudely constructed of the trunks of \ntrees, and shaped like the habitation of men, marked the first \nstep in advance. Then stone took the place of the wooden \nframe. With the introduction of a durable material, the artist \nwas encouraged to expend more labor and care upon his work. \n\n\n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. 209 \n\nThus architecture began to make rapid strides, and by the \ncentury following the age of Solon at Athens there were many \nbeautiful temples in different parts of the Hellenic world. \n\nOrders of Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 Before speaking of the most noted \ntemples of Hellas, we must first name the three styles, or orders, \nof Grecian architecture. These are the Doric, the Ionic, and \nthe Corinthian. They are distinguished from one another \nchiefly by differences in the proportions and ornamentation \nof the columns. The Doric column is without a base, and has \na simple and massive capital; the Ionic is characterized by \nthe spiral volutes of the capital ; the Corinthian order is dis- \ntinguished by its rich capital, formed of acanthus leaves. It is \nsaid that this form was suggested to the artist Callimachus by \nthe pretty picture presented by a basket surrounded by the \nleaves of an acanthus plant upon which it had been set by ac- \ncident. The entire building was made to harmonize with the \nsupporting columns. The characteristics of the several orders \nare well portrayed by the terms we use when we speak of the \n"stern" Doric, the "graceful" Ionic, and the "ornate" Co- \nrinthian. \n\nTemple of Diana at Ephesus.\xe2\x80\x94 The Temple of Diana at Ephe- \nsus was one of the oldest, as well as one of the most famous, \nof the sacred edifices of the Greeks. It was commenced about \nthe beginning of the sixth century B.C., and was two hundred \nand twenty years in building. It was known far and wide as \none of the Seven Wonders of the world. Croesus gave liberally \nof his wealth to ornament the shrine. It was decorated with \none hundred and twenty-seven Ionic columns, each, according \nto Pliny, the gift of a king. In 356 B.C., on the same night, it \nis said, that Alexander was born, an ambitious youth named \nHerostratus fired the building, simply to immortalize his name. \nThe roof of the structure was of cedar, and this, probably, was \nthe only part destroyed. It was restored with even greater \n\n10* \n\n\n\n2IO ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nsplendor than at first. Alexander coveted the honor of re- \nbuilding the temple, and proposed to the Ephesians to do so, \nprovided he should be allowed to inscribe his name upon it. \nThe Ephesians gracefully rejected the proposal by replying that \nit was not right for one deity to erect a temple to another. \nAlexander was obliged to content himself with placing within \nthe shrine his own portrait by Apelles \xe2\x80\x94 a piece of work which \ncost $300,000. The value of the gifts to the temple was be- \nyond all calculation: kings and states vied with one another \nin splendid donations. Painters and sculptors were eager to \nhave their masterpieces assigned a place within its walls, so that \nit became a great national gallery of paintings and statuary. \n\nSo inviolable was the sanctity of the temple that in times of \ntumult and danger property and treasures were carried to it as \na safe repository. But the riches of the sanctuary proved too \ngreat a temptation to the Roman emperor Nero. He risked \nincurring the anger of the great Diana, and robbed the temple \nof many statues and a vast amount of gold. Later, the bar- \nbarian Goths enriched themselves with the spoils of the shrine. \nThe temple itself fared but little better than the treasures it \nguarded. Some of the famous jasper columns were, by order \nof the emperor Justinian, carried to Byzantium, and now up- \nhold the dome of St. Sophia, once the most noted church, now \nthe most famous mosque, in all the East. Some of the columns \nwere also taken to Italy and built into Christian churches there. \n\nThe Delphian Temple. \xe2\x80\x94 The first temple erected at Delphi \nover the spot whence issued the mysterious vapors was a rude \nwooden structure. In the year 548 B.C., the temple then stand- \ning was destroyed by fire. All the cities and states of Hellas \ncontributed to its rebuilding. Even the king of Egypt, Amasis, \nsent a munificent gift. More than half a million of dollars was \ncollected; for the temple was to exceed in magnificence any- \nthing the world had yet seen. The Alkemeonidae, an influen- \ntial family that had been exiled from Athens, contracted with \n\n\n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. 211 \n\nthe Amphictyons to erect the building. They performed the \nwork in the most honorable manner, even going so far beyond \nthe terms of the contract as to use Parian marble where only \nrough stone was specified. \n\nThe structure was impressive both in its colossal size and \nthe massive simplicity that characterizes the Doric style of \narchitecture. It was crowded with the spoils of many battle- \nfields, with the rich gifts of kings, and with rare works of art. \nLike the temple at Ephesus, the Delphian shrine, after remain- \ning for many years secure through the awe and reverence \nwhich its oracle inspired, suffered frequent spoliation. The \ngreed of conquerors overcame all religious scruples. The Pho- \ncians robbed the temple of more than $10,000,000 of treasure; \nand Nero plundered it of five hundred bronze images. But \nConstantine was the Nebuchadnezzar who bore off the sacred \nvessels and many statues as trophies to his new capital then \nrising on the Hellespont. \n\nThe Athenian Acropolis and the Parthenon. \xe2\x80\x94 In the history \nof art there is no other spot in the world possessed of such in- \nterest as the flat-topped rock, already described, which consti- \ntuted the Athenian Acropolis. We have seen that in early \ntimes the eminence was used as a stronghold. But by the fifth \ncentury B.C. the city had slipped down upon the plain, and the \nsummit of the rock was consecrated to the temples and the \nworship of the gods. During the period of Athenian suprem- \nacy, especially in the Periclean Age, Hellenic genius and piety \nadorned this spot with temples and statues which all the world \nhas pronounced to be faultless specimens of beauty and taste. \n\nThe most celebrated of the buildings upon the Acropolis \nwas the Parthenon, the "Residence of the virgin-goddess \nMinerva." This is considered the finest specimen of Greek \nart. It was built in the Doric order, of marble from the neigh- \nboring Pentelicus. After standing for more than two thousand \nyears, and having served successively as a Pagan temple, a Chris- \n\n\n\n212 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ntian church, and a Mohammedan mosque, it finally was made \nto serve as a Turkish powder-magazine, in a war with the Vene- \ntians, in 1687. During the progress of this contest a bomb \nfired the magazine, and more than half of this masterpiece of \nancient art was shivered into fragments. The front is still \nquite perfect, and is the most prominent feature of the Acrop- \nolis at the present time. \n\nThe Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. \xe2\x80\x94 This structure was an- \nother of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was a monumen- \ntal tomb designed to preserve the memory of Mausolus, king \nof Caria, who died 352 B.C. Its erection was prompted by the \nlove and grief of his wife Artemisia. The combined genius of \nthe most noted artists of the age executed the wish of the queen. \nFrom a base about one hundred feet square the monument \nrose to a height of one hundred and forty feet. Its sides were \ndecorated with a multitude of statues and figures in relief; \nwhile surmounting the monument was the statue of Mausolus, \nstanding in a marble chariot drawn by four horses. \n\nThe only remains of the Mausoleum are some fragments of \nsculpture preserved in the British Museum. These assure us \nthat the admiration of the ancients was not accorded to this \nwork without sufficient reason. It is the traditions of this beau- \ntiful structure that have given the world a name for all magnifi- \ncent monuments raised to perpetuate the memory of the dead. \n\nGrecian Sciilptii7\'e and Painting. \nProgress in the Art of Sculpture. \xe2\x80\x94The subjects of the Gre- \ncian artists were usually taken from the sacred myths and \nlegends. Wood was the material first employed. About the \neighth century B.C. bronze and marble were generally substi- \ntuted for the less durable material. With this change sculpt- \nure began to make rapid progress. Another circumstance \naided the development of the art. It became usual to com- \nmemorate victories at the national games by statues of the \n\n\n\n\xc2\xbb \n\n\n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. 213 \n\nvictor. Now, in representing the figures of the gods, it was \nthought impious to change a single line or lineament of the \nconventional form ; and thus a certain Egyptian rigidity was \nimparted to all the productions of the artist. Any change sub- \njected him to the charge of sacrilege. But in the representa- \ntion of the forms of mere men, the sculptor was bound by no \nconventionalism, l^ut was free to exercise his skill and genius \nin handling his subject. Progress and improvement now be- \ncame possible. \n\nAs the sacred buildings increased in number and costliness, \nthe services of the artist were called into requisition for their \nadornment. At first the temple held only the statue of the \ngod ; but after a time it became, as we have already seen, a \nsort of national museum\xe2\x80\x94 a repository of the artistic treasures \nof the state. The entablature, the pediment, the intercolumnia- \ntions of the buildings, and every niche of the interior of the \nshrine, as well as the surrounding grounds and groves, were \npeopled with statues and groups of figures, executed by the \nmost renowned artists, and representing the national deities, \nthe legendary heroes, victors at the public games, or incidents \nin the life of the state in which piety saw the special interposi- \ntion of the god in whose honor the shrine had been reared. \n\nPhidias.\xe2\x80\x94 Among ail the great sculptors of antiquity, Phid- \nias stands pre-eminent. He was an Athenian, and was born \nabout 488 B.C. He delighted in the beautiful myths and leg- \nends of the Heroic Age, and from these he drew subjects for \nhis art. Being an architect as well as sculptor, his patron \nPericles gave into his hands the superintendence of those \nmagnificent buildings with which he persuaded the Athenians \nto adorn their city. To his genius we owe the faultless per- \nfection of the Parthenon. \n\nThe most celebrated of his sculptures were the statue of \nAthene within the Parthenon, and that of Olympian Jove in \nthe temple at Olympia. The statue of Athene was of colossal \n\n\n\n214 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nsize, being about forty feet in height, and was constructed of \nivory and gold, the drapery being of the latter material. In \none hand the goddess brandished a spear, while the other held \naloft an ivory statue of Victory, itself a masterpiece. On her \nfeet were golden sandals. \n\nThe statue of Olympian Jove was also of ivory and gold. It \nwas sixty feet high, and represented the god seated on his \nthrone. The hair, beard, and drapery were of gold. The eyes \nwere brilliant stones. Gems of great value decked the throne, \nand figures of exquisite design were sculptured on the golden \nrobe. The colossal proportions of this wonderful work, as well \nas the lofty yet benign aspect of the countenance, harmonized \nwell with the popular conception of the majesty and grace of \nthe " father of gods and men." It was thought a great misfort- \nune to die without having seen the Olympian Zeus."* \n\nPhidias also executed other works in both bronze and mar- \nble. He met an unworthy fate. Upon the famous shield at \nthe feet of the statue of Athene in the Parthenon, among the \nfigures in the representation of a battle between the Athenians \nand the Amazons, Phidias introduced a portrait of himself and \nalso of his patron Pericles. That of himself was the figure of \na " bald old man " just in the act of hurling a huge rock. The \nenemies of the artist, prompted by jealousy, caused him to be \nprosecuted for his presumption, which was considered an act \nof sacrilege. He died in prison. \n\nPraxiteles. \xe2\x80\x94 This artist stands next to Phidias as one of the \n\n* " Phidias avowed that he took his idea from the representation which \nHomer gives in the first book of the * Iliad \' in the passage thus translated by \nPope: \n\n*He spake, and awful bends his sable brow, \nShakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod, \nThe stamp of fate and sanction of the god. \nHigh heaven with reverence the dread signal took, \nAnd all Olympus to the centre shook.\' " \n\nBulfinch\'s " Age of Fable," p. 404. \n\n\n\n) \n\n\n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. 215 \n\nmost eminent of Greek sculptors. His works we-re executed \nduring the fourth century B.C. Among his chief pieces may be \nmentioned the " Cnidian Venus," the " Faun," " Cupid," and \n"Apollo." The first of these, which stood in the Temple of \nVenus at Cnidus, was regarded by the ancients as the most \nperfect embodiment of the goddess of beauty. Long pilgrim- \nages were made from distant countries to Cnidus for the sake \nof looking upon the famous statue. Many copies were set up \nin different cities. About a century ago, excavations at Rome \nbrought to light a beautiful statue, supposed to be a copy of \nthe original Cnidian Venus, by Cleomenes, who lived during \nthe first or second century B.C. This is the famous Venus de\' \nMedici, copies of which are in all our homes. The name \ncomes from the circumstance of the statue having been kept \nfor some time after its discovery in the palace of the Medici \nat Rome. \n\nLysippus. \xe2\x80\x94 This artist is renowned for his works in bronze. \nHe lived about 325 b.c. His statues were in great demand. \nMore than six hundred pieces of his work were to be counted \nin the different cities of Hellas. Many of these were of colos- \nsal size. Alexander gave the artist many orders for statues of \nhimself, and also of the heroes that fell in his campaigns. \n\nChares and the Rhodian Colossus.\xe2\x80\x94 Lysippus, like all men of \ngreat genius in any art or science, had many disciples and left \nmany imitators. The most noted of his pupils was Chares, who \ngave the world the celebrated Colossus at Rhodes. This was \nanother of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its height was \nover one hundred feet, and a man could barely encircle with \nhis arms the thumb of the statue. The expense of its erection \n($300,000) was met by the sale of spoils obtained by the Rho- \ndians in war. After standing little more than a half-century, \nit was overthrown by an earthquake. For nine hundred years \nthe Colossus then lay, like a Homeric god, prone upon the \n\n\n\n2l6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nground. Finally, the Arabs, having overrun this part of the \nOrient (a.d. 672), appropriated the statue, and thriftily sold it \nto a Jewish merchant. It is said that it required a train of \nnine hundred camels to bear away the brass. \n\nThis gigantic piece of statuary was not a solitary one at \nRhodes ; for that city was, next after Athens, the great art cen- \ntre of the Grecian world. Its streets and gardens and public \nedifices were literally crowded with statues. Hundreds met \nthe eye on every hand. The island became the favorite re- \nsort of artists, and the various schools there founded acquired \na wide renown. Very many of the most prized works of Gre- \ncian art in our modern museums were executed by members \nof these Rhodian schools. The "Laocoon Group," found \nat Rome in 1506, and now in the Museum of the Vatican, is \ngenerally thought to be the work of three Rhodian sculptors \xe2\x80\x94 \nAgesander, Athenodorus, and Polydorus. The order for the \nwork was probably given by the Roman emperor Titus \n(a.d. 40-81), as the group adorned the baths at Rome which \nbore his name. \n\nApelles. \xe2\x80\x94 This artist was such a master of the art of paint- \ning, and carried it to such a state of perfection, that the ancient \nwriters spoke of it as the " art of Apelles." His most famous \npainting was a representation of Venus just at the moment the \ngoddess is rising from the sea-foam. Centuries after the death \nof Apelles this painting was carried off to Italy by the Roman \nconquerors, and for a time adorned a temple at Rome erected \nin honor of Julius Caesar. \n\nTwo well-worn stories illustrative of the estimation in which \nhe was held by his contemporaries are told of Apelles. Enter- \ning one day the studio of the artist Protogenes, and finding him \nabsent, instead of leaving his name he drew, with his own inim- \nitable grace, a single line upon a canvas, and then withdrew. \nWhen Protogenes returned, and his eye caught the line, he ex- \nclaimed that no hand but Apelles\'s ever drew such a stroke. \n\n\n\nGRECIAN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING. 21 7 \n\nBut in attempting to imitate it he perceived that he had him- \nself surpassed it; and, witli a natural pride in his success, he \ninstructed his servant, upon the return of the stranger, to direct \nhis attention to the line. Calling a second time, Apelles was \nshown what his rival had done. Thereupon he drew a third \nline that far surpassed either of the other two. Upon behold- \ning it, Protogenes rushed forth into the city in search of Apelles, \nfor whom he ever after evinced the warmest friendship, com- \nbined with the greatest admiration. \n\nThe second tale is told respecting a contest between Apelles \nand some rival artists, in which horses were the objects repre- \nsented. Perceiving that the judges were unfriendly to him \nand partial, Apelles insisted that less prejudiced judges should \npronounce upon the merit of the respective pieces, demanding, \nat the same time, that they be shown to some horses that were \nnear. When brought before the pictures of his rival, the horses \nexhibited no concern ; but upon being shown the painting of \nApelles they manifested by neighing and other intelligent signs \ntheir instant recognition of the companions the great master \nhad created. \n\nPolygnotus.\xe2\x80\x94 Polygnotus has been called the Prometheus of \npainting, because he was the first to give fire and animation to \nthe expression of the countenance. Of a Polyxena (daughter \nof Priam, famous for her beauty and suffering) painted by this \ngreat master it was said that " she carried in her eyelids the \nwhole history of the Trojan War." Polygnotus employed his \ngenius in decorating the temples of Greece ; but in some in- \nstances at least, like Zeuxis, he refused compensation for his \nservices. All the wonderful effects of his pictures are said to \nhave been secured by the use of four colors. Cimon, at Athens, \nwas the patron of the artist. " One of his paintings was pre- \nserved at Rome, representing a man on a scaling-ladder, with \na target in his hand, so contrived that it was impossible to tell \nwhether he was going upward or descending." \n\n\n\n2l8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nZeuxis and Parrhasius. \xe2\x80\x94 These great artists lived and paint- \ned about 400 B.C. A favorite and familiar story preserv^es their \nnames as companions, and commemorates their rival genius. \nZeuxis, such is the story, painted a cluster of grapes which so \nclosely imitated the real fruit that the birds pecked at them. \nHis rival, for his piece, painted a curtain. Zeuxis asked Par- \nrhasius to draw aside the veil and exhibit his picture. " I con- \nfess I am surpassed," generously admitted Zeuxis to his rival. \n" I deceived birds, but you have deceived the eyes of an ex- \nperienced artist." \n\nZeuxis executed orders for paintings f\xc2\xa9r sacred buildings in \nGreece and Italy, for his fame was not confined to a single \nland. In his latter years he refused all remuneration for his \npieces, esteeming them beyond price in money. A very im- \nprobable story is told of his having " died with laughter at a \npicture of an old woman which he himself had painted." \n\n\n\nGREEK LITERATURE. 219 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII. \n\nGREEK LITERATURE. \n\nIn literature the Greeks far surpassed every other people \nof antiquity. The degree of excellence attained by them in \npoetry, in oratory, and in history has scarcely been surpassed \nby any modern people or race. Here, as in art, they are still \nthe teachers of the world. \n\nHomer and the "Iliad." \xe2\x80\x94 So remote is the age in which Ho- \nmer is said to have lived, and so confused are the traditions of \nhis life, that many have doubted if ever there were a Homer. \nSuch critics teach that the poems which bear his name were \nreally the work of many hands. But the recent wonderful dis- \ncoveries of Dr. Schliemann at Troy and Mycenae, although fur- \nnishing little or no direct and positive evidence on this point, \nstill have assured us that the events commemorated by the \nHomeric poems had, doubtless, a solid basis in fact; and this \nhas strengthened the belief that the Homer of tradition was \na real historical personage. \n\nWe may believe that Homer lived about the middle of the \nninth century B.C.\xe2\x80\x94 two centuries after the Trojan War. He was \nprobably a native of Asia Minor, though many cities contended \nfor the honor of having been his birthplace. He travelled \nwidely, lost his sight, and then, like a Troubadour of the Middle \nAges, as a wandering minstrel, sang his immortal verses to ad- \nmiring listeners in the different cities of Hellas. The two great \npoems that are almost universally ascribed to him are the \n"Iliad" and the "Odyssey." The subject of the "Iliad\'\' is \nthe wrath of Achilles and the woes it brought upon the Greeks \n\n\n\n220 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwho pressed the siege of Troy. The "Odyssey" tells of the \nlong wanderings of the hero Ulysses up and down over many \nwaters while seeking his native Ithaca, after the downfall of \nIlios. \n\nThe first poem must be pronounced "the masterpiece of \nGreek literature, perhaps of all literatures." Before being com- \nmitted to writing, it had probably been preserved and trans- \nmitted orally for several generations. It has been translated \ninto all languages, and has been read with an ever fresh inter- \nest by generation after generation for nearly three thousand \nyears. Alexander slept with a copy beneath his pillow \xe2\x80\x94 a \ncopy prepared especially for him by his preceptor Aristotle, \nand called the " casket edition," from the jewelled box in which \nhe kept it. We preserve it quite as sacredly in all our courses \nof classical study. \n\nThe age in which the poem was written has been called the \nChildhood of the World. The work is characterized by the \nfreshness and vitality of youth. It exerted an incalculable in- \nfluence upon the literary and religious life of the Hellenic race. \nIt has made warriors as well as poets, for many of its passages \nare instinct with the martial spirit. It incited the military am- \nbition of Alexander, of Hannibal, and of Caesar ; it inspired \nVirgil, Dante, and Milton. All epic writers have taken lessons \nof the blind master. \n\nHesiod and Pindar. \xe2\x80\x94 Hesiod, who lived two or three centuries \nafter Homer, was the poet of nature. His two chief poems are \n" Works and Days " and " Theogony." Pindar was the great- \nest of lyric poets. He was born at Thebes 522 B.C., but spent \nmost of his time in the cities of Magna Grsecia. Such was the \nreverence in which his memory was held that when Alexander, \ntwo hundred years after Pindar\'s time, levelled the city of \nThebes to the ground on account of a revolt, the house of the \npoet was spared, and left standing amid the general ruin. The \ngreater number of Pindar\'s poems were inspired by the scenes \n\n\n\nGREEK LITERATURE. 22 1 \n\nof the national festivals. They describe in lofty strains the \nsplendors of the Olympian chariot-races, or the glory of the \nvictors at the Isthmian or Pythian games. \n\nIn connection with Pindar must be mentioned the names of \nAlca^us, Sappho, and Anacreon, who stand next after Pindar in \nthe list of the great lyric poets of Greece. The last was con- \ntemporary with the Theban poet, while Alcaeus and Sappho \nsang one or two centuries before his day. No higher praise of \nAlcaeus is needed than mention of the fact that the Italian Plor- \nace was so pleased with his verses that he borrowed sometimes \nentire odes from the Grecian bard. Respecting the poetess \nSappho the Greeks told many romantic but probably mythical \ntales. Although her fame endures, her poetry, save an ode or \ntwo, has perished. Anacreon sang so voluptuously of love and \nwine and festivity that the term Anacreontic has come to char- \nacterize all poetry that is over-redolent of these themes. \n\nThe Greek Drama and Dramatists. \xe2\x80\x94 The Greeks loved the \ndrama. They would sit in the theatre under the open sky the \nentire day through, listening to piece after piece composed by \ntheir favorite poets. Large appropriations were made by the \nState to defray the expenses of the choruses. A writer often \nbecame an actor and assisted in the presentation of his own \nworks. \n\nThe great dramatists wrote during the splendid period which \nfollowed the victories of the Persian War, when the intellectual \nlife of all Hellas, and especially that of Athens, was strung to \nthe highest tension. This lent power and intensity to all the \nproductions of the time. There are three great names in Greek \ntragedy \xe2\x80\x94 ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Of this famous \ntrio, it is to ^schylus, perhaps, that we should accord the \ncrown of pre-eminence. Yet they all portrayed with a power \nand genius never surpassed the drama of human life. \n\n^schylus was more than Shakespearian in the gloom and \nintensity of his tragedies. He knew how to touch the hearts of \n\n\n\n222 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe generation that had won the victories of the Persian War ; \nfor he had fought with honor at Marathon, Salamis, and Plattea. \nBut it was on a very different arena that he was destined to \nwin his most enduring fame. Eleven times did he carry off \nthe prize in tragic composition. The Athenians called him the \n" Father of Tragedy." " Prometheus Bound " is one of his chief \nworks. In punishment for having stolen fire from heaven and \ngiven it to men, Prometheus is chained by Zeus to a lonely \ncliff on the Scythian shores of the Euxine, and an eagle is \nsent to feed upon his liver, which each night grows as much \nas torn away during the day. The poet is painting the tragedy \nand mystery of life. " It is strength and decision of character \nstruggling against injustice and adversity." \n\nForemost among all the Grecian writers of comedy must be \nplaced Aristophanes (about 450-380 B.C.). Four of his most \nnoted works are the " Clouds," the " Knights," the "Birds," and \nthe " Wasps." In the comedy of the " Clouds " are ridiculed \nthe speculations of Socrates. The marked peculiarities of the \nphilosopher, and the well-known subtle character of many of \nhis abstractions, gave point to the thrusts of the play. The \naim of the "Knights" was the punishment and ruin of Cleon, \none of the most conceited and insolent of the demagogues of \nAthens. The play of the " Birds " turned into ridicule, with the \nobject of discouraging the measures, certain political designs \nof the Athenians in the prosecution of which the poet saw pub- \nlic loss or danger. In the "Wasps" the poet satirizes those \npersons, a numerous class at Athens, who were forever engaged \nin litigation. \n\nBut Aristophanes was something more than a master of \nmere mirth-provoking satire and ridicule : along with his ex- \nquisite sense of the humorous he possessed a nature most \ndelicately sensitive to the finer emotions. Many of the cho- \nruses of his pieces are inexpressibly tender and beautiful. \n\n\n\nGREEK LITERATURE. 223 \n\nHistory and Historians. \nPoetry is the first form of literary expression among all peo- \nples. So we must not be sm-prised to find that it was not until \nseveral centuries after the composition of the Homeric poems \n\xe2\x80\x94 that is, about the sixth century b.c. \xe2\x80\x94 that prose-writing ap- \npeared among the Greeks. Historical composition was then \nfirst cultivated. We can speak briefly of only three historians \n\xe2\x80\x94 Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon \xe2\x80\x94 whose names were \ncherished among the ancients, and whose writings are highly \nvalued and carefully studied by ourselves. \n\nHerodotus. \xe2\x80\x94 Herodotus, born 484 c.c. at Halicarnassus, in \nAsia Minor, is called the " Father of History." He travelled \nover much of the then known world; visited Italy, Egypt, and \nBabylonia ; and describes as an eye-witness, with a never-fail- \ning vivacity and freshness, the wonders of the different lands \nhe had seen. Herodotus lived in a story-telling age, and he is \nhimself an inimitable story-teller. To him we are indebted for \na large part of the tales of antiquity \xe2\x80\x94 stories of men and events \nwhich we never tire of repeating. He was over - credulous, \nand was often imposed upon by his guides in Egypt and at \nBabylon ; but he describes with great care and accuracy what \nhe himself saw. He wrote a narrative of the Persian War, and \nin the pictures which he draws we see vividly contrasted, as in \nno other writings, the East and the West, Persian and Grecian \ncharacter and life. \n\nThucydides. \xe2\x80\x94 Thucydides, though not so popular, was a much \nmore philosophical historian than Herodotus. He was born \nnear Athens, 471 b.c. A pretty story is told of his youth, \nwhich must be repeated, though critics have pronounced it fab- \nulous. The tale is that Thucydides, when only fifteen, was \ntaken by his father to hear Herodotus recite his history at the \nOlympian games, and that the reading and the accompanying \n\n\n\n2 24 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\napplause caused the boy to shed tears and to resolve to be- \ncome an historian. \n\nThucydides was engaged in military service during the first \nyears of the Peloponnesian War ; but, on account of his being \nimfortunate in the conduct of affairs in Thrace, the Athenians \nvery unjustly sent him into an exile of twenty years. It is to \nthis circumstance that we are indebted for his invaluable " His- \ntory of the War between the Peloponnesians and the Atheni- \nans." He died before the task was completed. The work is \nconsidered a model of historical writing. In fairness, truthful- \nness, clearness, and philosophical insight, Thucydides has never \nbeen surpassed as a narrator and interpreter of events. De- \nmosthenes read and re-read his writings to improve his own \nstyle ; and the greatest orators and historians of modern times \nhave been equally diligent students of the works of the great \nAthenian. \n\nXenophon (445-355 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Xenophon was an Athenian, and \nis known both as a general and a writer. The works that ren- \nder his name so familiar are his "Anabasis," a simple yet \nthrilling narrative of the famous retreat of the Ten Thousand \nGreeks ; and his " Memorabilia," or Recollections of Socrates. \nThis work by his devoted yet by no means brilliant pupil is \nthe most faithful portraiture that we possess of that famous \nphilosopher. \n\nOrafory. \n\nInfluence of the Public Assembly. \xe2\x80\x94 The art of oratory among \nthe Greeks was fostered and developed by the democratic \ncharacter of their institutions. In the public assemblies all \nquestions that concerned the State were discussed and decided. \nThe debates, as we have seen, were open to all. The gift of \neloquence gained for its possessor a sure pre-eminence and \nconferred a certain leadership. Hence the attention bestowed \nupon public speaking, and the high degree of perfection at- \n\n\n\nGREEK LITERATURE. \n\n\n\n225 \n\n\n\ntained by the Greeks in the difficult art of persuasion. " It was \nthe prevalence of the habit of public speaking," says Grote, \n" that was one of the principal causes of the intellectual emi- \nnence of the nation generally." \n\nThemistocles and Pericles. \xe2\x80\x94 We have already become ac- \nquainted with Themistocles and Pericles as statesmen and \nleaders of Athenian affairs during the most stirring period of \nAthens\'s history. They both were also great orators, and to \nthat fact were largely, if not chiefly, indebted for their power \nand influence. Thucydides has preserved the oration delivered \nby Pericles in commemoration of those who fell in the first \nyear of the Peloponnesian War. This has been pronounced \none of the finest productions of antiquity. The language of the \naddress as we have it is the historian\'s, but the sentiments are \ndoubtless those of the great statesman. It was the habit of \nThucydides to put speeches into the mouths of his characters. \n\nDemosthenes and ^schines. \xe2\x80\x94 It has been the fortune of \nDemosthenes to have his name become throughout the world \nthe synonym of eloquence. The labors and struggles by which, \naccording to tradition, he achieved excellence in his art are \nheld up anew to each generation of youth as guides of the path \nto success. His first address before the public assembly was \na complete failure, owing to defects of voice and manner. \nWith indomitable will he set himself to the task of correcting \nthese. He shut himself up in a cave, and gave himself to the \ndiligent study of Thucydides. That he might not be tempted \nto spend his time in society, he rendered his appearance ridicu- \nlous by shaving one side of his head. To correct a stammer- \ning utterance, he spoke with pebbles in his mouth, and broke \nhimself of an ungainly habit of shrugging his shoulders by \nspeaking beneath a suspended sword. To accustom himself \nto the tumult and interruptions of the public assembly, he de- \nclaimed upon the noisiest sea-shore. \n\nII \n\n\n\n226 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThese are some of the many stories told of the world\'s great- \nest orator. There is doubtless this much truth in them at \nleast \xe2\x80\x94 that Demosthenes attained success, in spite of great \ndiscouragements, by persevering and laborious effort. More \nthan sixty of his orations have been preserved. " Of all hu- \nman productions," says Hume, "they present to us the models \nwhich approach the nearest to perfection." \n\nDemosthenes lived at just the time (he was born in the year \n385 B.C.) when Philip of Macedon was pursuing his crafty and \nambitious policy of aggression towards the Grecian states. \nRightly interpreting the designs of the king, Demosthenes \nstrove to awaken the Athenians to a sense of their danger. \nThe orations (called " Philippics ") which he delivered against \nPhilip are eminent specimens of hot and vehement invective. \n\nThe latter part of the life of Demosthenes is intertwined \nwith that of another and rival Athenian orator, ^schines. For \nhis services to the State, the Athenians proposed to award to \nDemosthenes a crown of gold, ^schines opposed this. All \nAthens and strangers from far and near gathered in the Agora, \nto hear the rival orators; for every matter at Athens was de- \ncided by a great debate. Demosthenes made the grandest \neffort of his life. His address, known as the " Oration on the \nCrown," has been declared to be " the most polished and pow- \nerful effort of human oratory." ^schines was completely \ncrushed, and was sent into exile, and became a teacher of ora- \ntory at Rhodes. \n\nHe is said to have once gathered his disciples about him, and \nto have read to them Demosthenes\'s oration that had proved \nso fatal to him. Carried away by the torrent of its eloquence, \nhis pupils, unable to restrain their enthusiasm, burst into ap- \nplause. " Ah !" said ^schines, who seemed to find solace in \nthe fact that his defeat had been at the hands of so worthy an \nantagonist, "what would you have said had you heard the \nwild beast himself roaring it out ?" \n\nAfter a time the enemies of Demosthenes came into power at \n\n\n\nGREEK LITERATURE. 227 \n\nAthens, and the orator and patriot was forced to flee from \nthe city. He took refuge upon an island just off the coast of \nPeloponnesus ; but being still haunted by the King of Mace- \ndon \xe2\x80\x94 for Macedonia\'s supremacy throughout Greece was at \nthis time complete \xe2\x80\x94 he put an end to his life by means of \npoison (322 B.C.). \n\n\n\n2 28 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII. \n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. \n\nRelation of Mythology to Philosophy. \xe2\x80\x94 Philosophy has been \nvery aptly defined as mythology grown old and wise. Grecian \nmythology did not become sufficiently wise to be called philos- \nophy until the sixth century B.C. About that time the Greeks \nbegan to think and to inquire in a philosophical manner re- \nspecting the phenomena and laws of the universe of mind and \nmatter. Having once entered upon this path, the Greek race \nreached, almost at a bound, the loftiest heights of philosophical \nspeculation. \n\nThe Seven Sages. \xe2\x80\x94 About the sixth century b.c. there lived \nand taught in different parts of Hellas many philosophers of \ngreat originality and influence. Among these were seven men, \ncalled the " Seven Sages," who held the place of pre-eminence. \nAs in the case of the Seven Wonders of the World, ancient \nwriters were not always agreed as to what names should be \naccorded the honor of enrollment in the sacred number. \nThales, Solon, Periander, Cleobulus, Chilo, Bias, and Pittacus \nare, however, usually reckoned as the Seven Wise Men. To \nthem belongs the distinction of having first aroused the Greek \nintellect to philosophical thought. The wise sayings attributed \nto them are beyond number. \n\nPythagoras. \xe2\x80\x94 This great philosopher was born on the island \nof Samos, some time during the sixth century b.c. Twenty-five \nyears of his early life were spent in Egypt, where, being ad- \nmitted, through the favor and influence of King Amasis, to \n\n\n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 229 \n\nthe sacred colleges of the priests, he became versed in all the \nmysteries of the Egyptians. He returned to Greece with a \ngreat reputation, and finally settled at Crotona, in Italy. Here \nhe gathered about him a renowned school, or society, composed \nof six hundred companions, all selected with special regard to \ntheir capacity to assimilate his peculiar doctrines. Like many \nanother ancient philosopher, Pythagoras sought to increase the \nreverence of his disciples for himself by peculiarities of dress \nand manners. His uncut hair and beard flowed down upon \nhis shoulders and over his breast. He never smiled. His \ndress was a white robe, with a golden crown. For the first \nyears of their novitiate, his pupils were not allowed to look \nupon their master. They listened to his lectures from behind \na curtain. Ipse dixit, "he himself said so," was the only argu- \nment they must employ in debate. It is to Pythagoras that we \nare indebted for the word philosopher. Being asked of what \nhe was master, he replied that he was simply a "philosopher;" \nthat is, a "lover of wisdom." \n\nPythagoras held views of the solar system that anticipated \nby 2000 years those of Copernicus and his school. He taught \nthat the earth is a sphere ; and that, like the other planets, \nit revolves about a central globe of fire. From him comes \nthe pretty conceit of the " music of the spheres." He imagined \nthat the planets in their swift motions through the ether set it \nin vibrations, which unite in a celestial melody. Music held \nan important place in his system of philosophy. \n\nHe taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, an \nidea he had doubtless brought from Egypt. Because of this \nbelief the Pythagoreans were strict vegetarians, abstaining \nreligiously from the use of all animal food. \n\n^sop. \xe2\x80\x94 The fables of ^sop have been for ages the common \nand prized property of the world. "The Wolf and the Lamb," \n" The Dog and the Shadow," " The Fox and the Raven," have \nbeen the delight of the nursery ever since the genius of ^sop \n\n\n\n230 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\n^ave them birth. Simple as they seem, they are inimitable, \nhaving a peculiar charm and flavor of their own. \n\nLittle or nothing is positively known of the life of the great \nfabulist. He is supposed to have been a contemporary of \nSolon. At first a slave, his talents secured him his freedom. \nTradition says that he was put to death by the Delphians for \nhaving exposed in a fable some of their faults, ^sop was \nhonored by the Athenians, who commissioned Lysippus to put \nhis statue in bronze, which was, with much significance, accord- \ned a place in front of the statues of the Seven Sages. \n\nSocrates. \xe2\x80\x94 Volumes would not contain what would be both \ninstructive and interesting respecting the lives and works of \nthe three great philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. \nWe can, however, accord to each only a few words. Of these \nthree famous teachers, Socrates (born 469 B.C.), though sur- \npassed in grasp and power of intellect by both Plato and Aris- \ntotle, has the firmest hold upon the affections of the world. \n\nNature, while generous to the philosopher in the gifts of soul, \nwas unkind to him in the matter of his person. He was in- \ncredibly homely in face, and had an awkward, shambling walk, \nso that he invited the shafts of the comic poets of his time. \nHis figure is said to have been the most ungainly, and there- \nfore the most familiar, of any upon the streets of Athens. He \nloved to gather a little circle about him in the Agora or in the \nstreets, and then to impart his instructions by a series of ingen- \nious questions. His method was so peculiar to himself that it \nhas received the designation of " Socratic dialogue." \n\nSocrates was unfortunate in his domestic relations. Xan- \nthippe, his wife, seems to have been of a practical turn of mind, \nand unable to sympathize with the abstracted ways of her \nhusband. " Sometimes she threw water on him ; but this only \nelicited from the mild philosopher the remark to those about \nhim, \' Did I not say that Xanthippe was thundering and would \nsoon rain ?\' " \n\n\n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 23 1 \n\nSocrates taught the purest system of morals that the world \nhad yet known, and which has been surpassed only by the pre- \ncepts of the Great Teacher. He believed in the immortality \nof the soul and in a Supreme Ruler of the universe, but some- \ntimes spoke slightingly of the temples and the popular deities. \nThis led to his prosecution on the double charge of blasphemy \nand of corrupting the Athenian youth. He was condemned to \ndrink the fatal hemlock. The night before his death he spent \nwith his disciples, discoursing, on the immortality of the soul. \n\nPlato. \xe2\x80\x94 Plato was a philosopher of noble birth, before whom \nin youth opened a brilliant career in the world of Greek affairs ; \nbut, coming under the influence of Socrates, he resolved to give \nup all his prospects in politics and devote himself to philoso- \nphy. Upon the condemnation and death of his master he \nwent into voluntary exile. In many lands he gathered knowl- \nedge and met with varied experiences. He visited Sicily, \nwhere he was so unfortunate as to call upon himself the resent- \nment of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, through having worsted \nhim in an argument, and also by an uncourtly plainness of \nspeech. The king caused him to be sold into slavery as a \nprisoner of war. Being ransomed by a friend, he found his \nway to his native Athens, and established a school of philoso- \nphy in the Academy. Here, amid the disciples that thronged \nto his lectures, he passed the greater part of his long life \xe2\x80\x94 he \ndied 348 B.C., at the age of eighty-one years \xe2\x80\x94 laboring inces- \nsantly upon the great works that bear his name. \n\nPlato imitated in his writings Socrates\'s method in conversa- \ntion. The discourse is carried on by questions and answers, \nhence the term " Dialogues " that attaches to his works. He \nattributes to his master, Socrates, much of the philosophy that \nhe teaches ; yet his " Dialogues " are all deeply tinged with his \nown genius and thought. The " Ph^do " is a record of the \nlast conversation of Socrates with his disciples \xe2\x80\x94 an immortal \nargument for the immortality of the soul. In the " Republic" \n\n\n\n232 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nPlato portrays his conception of an ideal state. He believed \nnot only in a future life (post-existence), but also in pre-exist- \nence; teaching that the ideas of reason, or our intuitions, are \nreminiscences of a past experience. Plato\'s doctrines have \nexerted a profound influence upon all schools of thought and \nphilosophies since his day.* \n\nAristotle. \xe2\x80\x94 As Socrates was surpassed by his pupil Plato, so \nin turn was Plato excelled by his disciple Aristotle. In him \nthe philosophical genius of the Hellenic intellect reached its \nculmination. It may be doubted whether all the ages since \nhis time have produced so profound and powerful an intellect \nas his. He was born in the Macedonian city of Stagira (384 \nB.C.), and hence is frequently called the Stagirite. As in the \ncase of Socrates, his personal appearance gave no promise of \nthe philosopher. He had a small and contemptible body, the \n\n* In the following lines from Wordsworth we catch a glimpse of Plato\'s \ndoctrine of pre-existence : \n\n" Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ; \nThe soul that rises with us, our life\'s star, \nHath had elsewhere its setting, \n\nAnd Cometh from afar : \nNot in entire forgetful ness, \nNor yet in utter nakedness. \nBut trailing clouds of glory, do we come \nFrom God, who is our home." \xe2\x80\x94 Ode on Immortality. \n\nAnd again : " And but for our surface and distracted lives \xe2\x80\x94 lived here for \nthe most part in the senses \xe2\x80\x94 we should have never lost the consciousness \nof our descent into immortality, nor have questioned our resurrection and \nlongevity. But as in descending all drink of oblivion \xe2\x80\x94 some more, some \nless \xe2\x80\x94 it happens that while all are conscious of life, by defect of memory \nour recollections are various concerning it ; those discerning most vividly \nwho have drunk least of oblivion, they more easily recalling the memory of \ntheir past existence. Ancient of days, we hardly are persuaded to believe \nthat our souls are no older than our bodies, and to date our nativity from \nour family registers, as if time and space could chronicle the periods of the \nimmortal mind by its advent into the flesh and decease out of it." \xe2\x80\x94 Alcott\'s \n" Tablets," p. 203. \n\n\n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 233 \n\ndefects of which were made more noticeable by his over-scru- \npulous care of his dress and finery. His teacher Plato, how- \never, recognized the genius of his pupil, and called him the \n" Mind of the school." When he missed him from the class \nhe would say, " Intellect is not here to-day." He also called \nhim " The Reader," because he devoured so eagerly the works \nof the masters. \n\nAfter studying for twenty years in the school of Plato, Aris- \ntotle became the preceptor of Alexander the Great. When \nPhilip invited him to become the tutor of his son, he gracefully \ncomplimented the philosopher by saying in his letter that he \nwas grateful to the gods that the prince was born in the same \nage with him. The royal pupil loved his great teacher with an \naffectionate devotion. He said," I owe great love to my father \nand to my teacher Aristotle; to one for living, and to the other \nfor living well." Alexander became the liberal patron of his \ntutor, and, besides giving him large sums of money, aided him \nin his scientific studies by sending him large collections of \nplants and animals, gathered on his distant expeditions. \n\nAt Athens the great philosopher delivered his lectures while \nwalking about beneath the trees and porticos of the Lyceum ; \nhence the term peripatetic (from the Greek peripateitt, to walk \nabout) applied to his philosophy. He died 322 B.C., the same \nyear that marks the death of Demosthenes. \n\nAmong the most important of the productions of his fertile \nintellect are works on rhetoric, logic, poetry, morals and poli- \ntics, physics and metaphysics. For centuries his works were \nstudied and copied and commented upon by both European \nand Asiatic scholars, in the schools of Athens and Rome, of \nAlexandria and Constantinople. Until the time of Bacon in \nEngland, for nearly 2000 years, Aristotle ruled over the realm \nof mind with a despotic sway. All teachers and philosophers \nacknowledged him as their guide and master. \n\nZeno and the Stoics. \xe2\x80\x94 We are now approaching the period \n\n\n\n234 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwhen the political life of Hellas was failing, and was being fast \novershadowed by the greatness of Rome. But the intellectual \nlife of the Greek race was by no means eclipsed by the calam- \nity that ended its political existence. For centuries after that \nevent the poets, scholars, and philosophers of this intellectual \npeople led a brilliant career in the schools and universities of \nthe Roman world. " From the third century before Christ to \nthe age of Constantine," says Eugene Lawrence, " the Greek \nphilosophers filled the world around the shores of the Mediter- \nranean with a ceaseless mental discord." \n\nFrom among all the philosophers of this long period we can \nselect for brief mention only two teachers, Zeno and Epicurus, \nwho are famous as founders of schools of philosophy that ex- \nerted a vast influence upon both the thought and conduct of \nmany centuries. \n\nZeno, founder of the celebrated school of the Stoics, lived in \nthe third century before our era (362-264). He taught at Ath- \nens in a public porch (in Greek stoa)^ from which circumstance \ncomes the name applied to his disciples. The Stoical philos- \nophy was the outgrowth of that of the Cynics, a sect of most \nrigid and austere morals. The typical representative of this \nsect is found in Diogenes, who lived, so the story goes, in a tub, \nand went about Athens in daylight with a lantern in search, as \nhe said, of a man. The Cynics were simply a race of pagan \nhermits : Diogenes was the Simon Stylites of the sect. Zeno \nadopted all that was good in the code of the Cynics, and, add- \ning to this everything that he found of value in the systems of \nother philosophers, he formed therefrom his new philosophy. \nIt became a favorite system of thought with certain classes of \nthe Romans, and under its teachings and doctrines were nour- \nished some of the purest and loftiest characters produced by \nthe pagan world. It numbered among its representatives, in \nlater times, the illustrious Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, \nand the scarcely less renowned and equally virtuous slave, \nEpictetus. \n\n\n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 235 \n\nThe Stoics inculcated virtue for the sake of itself. They be- \nlieved \xe2\x80\x94 and it would be very difficult to frame a better creed \xe2\x80\x94 \nthat "man\'s chief business here is to do his duty." Bodily \npain, they taught, was nothing; and they schooled themselves \nto bear with perfect composure any lot that destiny might ap- \npoint. Any sign of emotion on account of calamity was con- \nsidered unmanly and unphilosophical. Thus, when told of the \nsudden death of his son, the Stoic replied, "Well, I never \nimagined that I had given life to an immortal." \n\nEpicurus and the Epicureans.\xe2\x80\x94 Opposed to the Stoics in \nevery article of their faith were the Epicureans, the followers of \nEpicurus, who was a contemporary of Zeno. They denied the \ndoctrine of a future existence as taught by the Stoics, and \nallowed full indulgence to every wish and passion. Their \nwhole philosophy was compressed in the proverb, "Let us eat \nand drink, for to-morrow we die." \n\nEpicurus had many followers in Greece, and his doctrines \nwere eagerly embraced by many during the later corrupt and \nlicentious periods of the Roman Empire. No pure or exalted \nlife could be nourished in the unwholesome atmosphere of \nsuch a philosophy. Epicureanism never produced a single \ngreat character. But it is proper to say that the followers of \nEpicurus carried his doctrines to an excess that he himself \nwould have condemned. There is often more of good or of \nevil in a philosophy than its founder ever perceives. \n\nScience a?nong the Greeks. \n\nIn ancient times no single people or race excelled in all \ndepartments of knowledge or human endeavor. Having, then, \nseen the wonderful genius of the Greek race for art, literature, \nand philosophy, we are prepared to learn that they never evinced \ngreat aptitude for the more practical sciences. In art and \nliterature the Greeks are still our teachers ; in science we are \nimmeasurably their superiors. Still, while this is true, the con- \n\n\n\n236 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ntributions of the Hellenic mind to the physical sciences have \nlaid us under no small obligation to them. Especially did the \nlater Greeks do much good and lasting work in the mathe- \nmatical sciences. \n\nIt was not until about the beginning of the sixth century B.C. \nthat the Greeks began seriously to investigate the phenomena \nof the physical world. Some of those whom we have classed \nas philosophers were also careful students of nature, and might \nbe called scientists. Thales (600 B.C.) was the first to attempt \na rational study of the facts of the physical world. Anaxagoras \n(in the Periclean Age) taught that the sun was not a god, but a \nglowing rock, as large, probably, as Peloponnesus. But he \nsuffered the fate of Galileo in a later age : he was charged \nwith impiety, and imprisoned. The great philosopher Aristotle \nwrote some valuable works on anatomy and natural history. \nFrom his time onward the sciences were pursued with much \nzeal and success. \n\nEuclid. \xe2\x80\x94 Alexandria, in Egypt, became the seat of the most \ncelebrated school of mathematics of antiquity. Here, under \nPtolemy Lagus, flourished Euclid, the great geometer, whose \nwork forms the basis of the science of geometry as taught in \nour schools at the present time. Ptolemy himself was his pupil. \nThe royal student, however, seems to have disliked the severe \napplication required to master the problems of Euclid, and \nasked his teacher if there was not some easier way. Euclid \nreplied, "There is no royal road to geometry." \n\nArchimedes. \xe2\x80\x94 In the third century b.c, Syracuse, in Sicily, \nwas the home of Archimedes, the greatest mathematician that \nthe Grecian world produced. He had a marvellous genius for \nfigures, and investigated the abstrusest problems in geometry, \nmechanics, and the allied sciences. The range and productive- \nness of his genius are shown by the following titles to some of \nhis works: "On Bodies Floating in Fluids;" "On Centres of \nGravity;" "On the Sphere and the Cylinder." \n\n\n\nGREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 237 \n\nHis acquaintance with the first subject is illustrated by the \nfamihar story that is told of the manner in which he detected \nthe impurity of the gold in the crown of Hiero, King of Syra- \ncuse. The king, suspecting that the gold had been alloyed, \nsubmitted the article to Archimedes, who detected the fraud by \nmeans of the principle of specific gravities, which was suggested \nto him while bathing. Leaping from the bath, he ran through \nthe corridors, exclaiming, \'\'\'\'Eureka! Eureka P^ \xe2\x80\x94 "I have \nfound it ! I have found it !" \n\nHis knowledge of the second subject and of the laws of the \nlever is indicated by the oft -quoted boast that he made to \nHiero : "Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world." \nHis elucidation of the properties of the sphere and cylinder \nwere, even in his own estimation, so important that he request- \ned that a figure of these should be placed, as the fittest memo- \nrial of his life, upon his tomb. More than one hundred years \nafterwards Cicero discovered and identified the monument by \nmeans of these emblems. \n\nDuring the siege of Syracuse by the Romans, Archimedes \nrendered his native city valuable service by driving off or de- \nstroying the enemy\'s vessels by means of ingenious and power- \nful engines. The story of his setting fire to the Roman ships \nby means of mirrors is, after much discussion, allowed to be not \nonly possible, but probable. \n\nArchimedes perished in the capture of the city, but in what \nway he m^t his death is not known with certainty. The com- \nmon story, however, that is told of the event is quite in keep- \ning with the abstracted habit of the philosopher. It is related \nthat while the enemy were sacking the city he was engaged in \nsolving a mathematical problem. So absorbed was he in his \nwork that, when a Roman soldier, who chanced to come upon \nhim, commanded him to give himself up and accompany him, \nhe either gave no heed whatever to his captor or told him to \nwait till he got through with the problem, whereupon the soldier \nkilled him upon the spot. \n\n\n\n238 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nStrabo and Ptolemy. \xe2\x80\x94 Among ancient Greek geographers \ntwo names are famous \xe2\x80\x94 Strabo and Claudius Ptolemy. Strabo \nwas born about half a century before our era. He travelled \nover a large part of the world, and describes, as an eye-witness, \nthe scenery, the productions, and the peoples of all the coun- \ntries known to the ancients. \n\nClaudius Ptolemy lived in Egypt about the middle of the \nsecond century after Christ. His great reputation is due not \nso much to his superior genius as to the fortunate circumstance \nthat his vast works preserved and transmitted to later times \nalmost all the knowledge of the ancient world on astronomical \nand geographical subjects. In this way it has happened that \nhis name has become attached to various doctrines and views \nrespecting the universe, though these may not have been, and \nprobably were not, originated by him. The phrase " Ptolemaic \nsystem," however, links his name inseparably, whether the \nhonor be fairly his or not, with that conception of the solar \nsystem set forth in his works, which continued to be the re- \nceived theory from his time until Copernicus \xe2\x80\x94 fourteen centu- \nries later. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 239 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV. \n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. \n(753-509 E.G.) \n\nDivisions of Italy. \xe2\x80\x94 The peninsula of Italy, like that of \nGreece, divides itself into three parts \xe2\x80\x94 Northern, Central, and \nSouthern Italy. The first comprises the great basin of the Po, \nlying between the Alps and the Apennines. In ancient times \nthis part of Italy included three districts \xe2\x80\x94 Liguria, Gallia Cis- \nalpina, and Venetia. The first embraced the western and the \nlast the eastern part of Northern Italy. Gallia Cisalpina lay \nbetween these two districts, occupying the finest portion of the \nvalley of the Po. It received its name, which means " Gaul \nthis side the Alps," from the Gallic tribes that in the sixth \ncentury before our era found their way over the mountains and \nsettled upon these rich lands. \n\nThe countries of Central Italy were Etruria, Latium, and \nCampania, facing the Western or Tuscan Sea; Umbria and \nPicenum, looking out over the Eastern or Adriatic Sea ; and \nSamnium and the country of the Sabines, occupying the rough \nmountain districts of the Apennines. \n\nSouthern Italy comprised the countries of Apulia, Lucania, \nCalabria, and Bruttium. Calabria occupied the " heel," and \nBruttium formed the "toe," of the peninsula. This part of \nItaly was, in connection with the island of Sicily, also known \nas Magna Graecia, or " Great Greece," on account of the num- \nber and importance of the Greek cities that during the period \nof Hellenic supremacy were established in these regions. \n\nThe large island of Sicily, lying just off the mainland on the \nsouth, may be regarded simply as a detached fragment of Italy, \n\n\n\n240 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nSO intimately has its destiny been interwoven with that of the \npeninsula. In ancient times it was the meeting-place and bat- \ntle-ground of the Carthaginians, the Greeks, and the Romans. \n\nEarly Inhabitants of Italy. \xe2\x80\x94 There were, in early times, four \nraces in Italy \xe2\x80\x94 the Pelasgians, the Italians, the Etruscans, and \nthe Greeks. They all probably (uncertainty still attaches to \nthe ethnic relations of the Etruscans) belonged to the great \nIndo-European family of nations, and were near akin in speech, \ncustoms, and religion. \n\nThe Pelasgians were the first comers, and are thought to \nhave reached Italy by way of the sea, from the western coast \nof Greece. The Italians, the different tribes of which race \nseem to have entered the peninsula in successive waves from \nthe north, crowded the Pelasgians southward into Calabria, and \nthen, settling down, took possession of nearly all Central Italy. \nAfter them came the Rasennas, who, subjugating and blending \nwith the Italian tribes in Etruria, took the name of Etruscans. \nThey here formed a league of twelve cities, and before the rise \nof the Roman people were the most cultured of all the races \nin Italy. Numerous works of art \xe2\x80\x94 such as tombs, fragments \nof walls, massive dikes to keep back the sea, and long tunnels \npiercing the sides of hills to drain the lakes lying in the crater \nof extinct volcanoes \xe2\x80\x94 evidence the advance in civilization they \nhad made at a very remote date. They were a maritime peo- \nple, and carried on an early trade with Phoenicia and Egypt. \n\nSome six hundred years B.C. the Gauls came over the Alps, \npressed the Etrurians out of Northern Italy, into which quarter \nthey had extended their power, and settling in those regions, \nbecame the most formidable enemies of the infant republic of \nRome. Of the establishment of the Greek cities in Southern \nItaly, we have already learned in connection with Grecian \nhistory. \n\nThe Latins. \xe2\x80\x94 Most important of all the Italian peoples were \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 241 \n\nthe Latins, who dwelt in Latium, between the Tiber and the \nLiris. These people brought with them into Italy those same \ncustoms, manners, beliefs, and institutions \xe2\x80\x94 modified, of course, \nby the circumstances of their long wanderings and through \ncontact with other peoples \xe2\x80\x94 which we have seen to have been \nthe common possession of the various branches of the Aryan \nhousehold. The unit of their social system was the family ; \nthe families united, usually by the affinities of blood, to form \nclans, the households of which, clustering upon chosen spots, \nformed small villages; these again united to form cantons, \neach of which had a central stronghold, usually some rock or \neminence easily defended. Here "the markets were held, \ngames celebrated, justice administered, and religious rites ob- \nserved." There is said to have been in all Latium thirty can- \ntons, and these formed an alliance known as the Latin League. \nThe city which first assumed importance and leadership among \nthe cantons of this confederation was Alba Longa, the " Long \nWhite City," so called because its white buildings stretched for \na great distance along the summit of a ridge. \n\nThe Ramnes, or Romans.\xe2\x80\x94 Although Alba Longa at first held \nthe place of pre - eminence among the Latin towns, another \ncity soon acquired the position of leadership. This was Rome, \nthe stronghold of the Ramnes, or Romans, located upon a low \nhill on the south bank of the Tiber, about fifteen miles from \nthe sea. Rome was the Sparta of the Italian peninsula. The \nhistory of this famous city, whose story we are now to narrate, \nwas, in many ways, strikingly parallel to that of the Lacedse- \nmonian capital. The early Romans and Spartans were alike \nrenowned for their martial valor and their unrelenting cruelty ; \nboth quickly crushed and reduced to slavery, or to the condi- \ntion of subject allies, all the states about them ; both ever fa- \nvored government by the few as opposed to government by the \nmany \xe2\x80\x94 upheld aristocratical as opposed to democratical institu- \ntions ; Sparta crushed her rival Athens and levelled her walls. \n\n\n\n242 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nand Rome drove the ploughshare over the site of her rival Car- \nthage ; and, to complete the parallel, as warlike Sparta finally \nfell through the decay of the early virtues and patriotism of \nher citizens, so did Rome at last fall through the enfeebling \nand corrupting influences of a like career of conquest and rob- \nbery. \n\nThe Beginnings of Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 The traditions of the Romans \nplace the founding of their city in the year 753 B.C. As these \nsame legends relate much besides about the Trojan ^neas \nand Romulus and Remus which we know to be purely myth- \nical, we cannot be certain as to the date of the origin of the \ncity. We may believe, though, that it was founded at least as \nearly as the time assigned. Recent excavations have revealed \nthe foundations of the old walls and two of the ancient gates. \nWe thus learn that the city at first covered only the top of \nthe Palatine Hill, one of a cluster of low eminences on the left \nbank of the Tiber, which were finally embraced within the lim- \nits of the growing city, and became the famed "Seven Hills of \nRome." From the shape of its enclosing walls, the original city \nwas called Roi7ia Quadrata^ " Square Rome." \n\nRome\'s First Conquest. \xe2\x80\x94 The first accession to the strength \nof Rome was gained through an alliance with a Sabine city \nbuilt upon a neighboring hill called the Quirinal. These Sa- \nbines were near kinsmen of the Latin peoples, and the two \ncommunities readily blended. Rome was now strong enough \nto wage successful war with the other Latin towns for the posi- \ntion of leader among them. Alba Longa, at the end of a long \nwar, was captured, razed to the ground, and the inhabitants \ncarried in a body to Rome, and settled on the Ccelian Mount, \none of the Seven Hills. Rome was now without a rival among \nthe Latin cities. They looked to her as their guardian, and \nunder her leadership repelled the encroachments of the mari- \ntime powers of Carthage and Magna Graecia, and beat back \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 243 \n\nthe invasions of the Etruscans and Italian tribes that were \nconstantly pressing upon the frontiers of Latium, or carried \ntheir conquests into the territory of the surrounding peoples, \nand thus gradually enlarged the boundaries of the Latin \nstate. \n\nRome Becomes a Great City. \xe2\x80\x94 The position of supremacy \nassumed by Rome was naturally attended by the rapid growth \nin population and importance of the little Palatine city.* The \noriginal walls soon became too strait for the increasing multi- \ntudes ; new ramparts were built \xe2\x80\x94 tradition says under the di- \nrection of the king Servius TuUius \xe2\x80\x94 which, with a great circuit \nof seven miles, swept around the entire cluster of the Seven \nHills. A large tract of marshy ground between the Palatine \nand Capitoline hills was drained by means of the Cloaca Max- \nima, the "Great Sewer," which was so admirably constructed \nthat it has been preserved to the present day. It still dis- \ncharges its waters through a great arch into the Tiber. The \nland thus reclaimed became the Forum, the assembling-place \nof the people. At one angle of this public square, as we would \nterm it, was the Comitium, a large platform, where the assem- \nblies of the patricians were held. Standing upon this platform, \nso placed that the speaker could command with his voice both \nthe plebeians in the Forum and the patricians in the Comitium, \n\n* Several causes have been assigned to account for the early and rapid \ngrowth of the power of Rome. Its situation upon the Tiber was, without \ndoubt, favorable to its early development as a centre of trade and commerce; \nwhile its distance from the sea protected it from the depredations of the pi- \nrates which in early times swarmed in the Mediterranean and desolated the \ncoast cities. But most potent of all influences in shaping the fortunes and \ncharacter of the inhabitants of the little Palatine town was the necessity \nwhich they found themselves under to form some sort of social and political \nconnection with the neighboring communities that held possession of the \nhills immediately about them. The early circumstances of the national life \nwould thus seem to have given a certain legal and political bias to that Ro- \nman genius which was destined to give laws to the world. \n\n\n\n244 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwas the rostrum,* or desk, from which the Roman orators de- \nlivered their addresses. This assembling-place in later times \nwas enlarged and decorated with various monuments and sur- \nrounded with splendid buildings and porticos. Here more was \nsaid, resolved upon, and done than upon any other spot in the \nancient world. \n\nThe Senate-house occupied one side of the Forum ; and \nfacing this on the opposite side were the Temple of Vesta and \nthe palace of the king. Overlooking all from the summit of \nthe Capitoline was the famous sanctuary called the Capitol, or \nthe Capitoline temple, where beneath the same roof were the \nshrines of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, the three great national \ndeities. \n\nUpon the level ground between the Aventine and the Pala- \ntine was located the Circus Maximus, the " Great Circle," where \nwere celebrated the Roman games. The most famous of the \nstreets of Rome was the Via Sacra, or " Sacred Way," which \ntraversed the Forum and led up the Capitoline Hill to the Tem- \nple of Jupiter. This was the street along which passed the \ntriumphal processions of the Roman conquerors. \n\nClasses of Society. \xe2\x80\x94 The two important classes of the popu- \nlation of Rome during the latter part of the regal period were \nthe patricians and the plebeians. The former were the de- \nscendants of the ancient Ramnes, Sabines, and Albans, and at \nfirst alone possessed political rights. They were proud, ex- \nclusive, and tenacious of their inherited privileges. The latter \nwere made up chiefly of the inhabitants of subjected cities, and \nof refugees from various quarters that had sought an asylum at \nRome. They were free to acquire property, and enjoyed per- \nsonal freedom, but at first had no political rights whatever. \nThe greater number were petty land-owners, who held and cul- \n\n* " The name of rostrum was given it in the sixth century of the city, \nwhen it was adorned by Duillius with the brazen beaks, or rostra, of the \nCarthaginians." \xe2\x80\x94 Merivale. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 245 \n\ntivated the soil about the capital. A large part of the history \nof Rome for several centuries is simply the narration of the \nstruggles of this class to secure an equal share with the patri- \ncians in the management of the government. \n\nBesides these two principal orders, there were two other \nclasses \xe2\x80\x94 clients and slaves. The former were attached to the \nfamilies of the patricians, who became their patrons and pro- \ntectors. The relation of patron and client at Rome was some- \nthing like that existing between lord and vassal in the later \nfeudal system of Europe. The client must follow his patron to \nwar, aid in his ransom if taken prisoner, and contribute to the \ndefraying of his expenses when elected to public office. The \npatron, on his part, was bound to look after the interests of his \nclient and, when necessity arose, plead his cause in the courts. \nA large clientage was considered the crown and glory of a \npatrician house. \n\nThe slaves were largely captives in war, and w^ere in the \nhard and abject condition that characterizes that class every- \nwhere. Their number, small at first, gradually increased as the \nRomans extended their conquests, till they outnumbered all the \nother classes taken together, and more than once turned upon \ntheir oppressors in formidable revolts that threatened the very \nexistence of the Roman state. \n\nEarly Government : King, Senate, and Popular Assembly. \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nFor nearly two and a half centuries after the founding of \nRome (from 753 to 509 B.C.), the government was an elective \nmonarchy. The Roman nation, as we have already learned, \nwas formed by the union of three different, though nearly allied, \ncommunities \xe2\x80\x94 the Ramnes (the Romans proper, who gave \nname to the mixed people), the Sabines, and the Albans. \nThese constituted three tribes, called Ramnes, Titles, and Lu- \nceres. Each tribe was divided into ten wards, or ciiricz, and \neach ward was again divided into ten houses, or gentes. The \nnation was thus nominally composed of three hundred great \n\n\n\n246 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhouses. These divisions, as we shall see, formed the basis of \nthe political constitution. \n\nAt the head of the nation stood the King, who was at once \nruler of the people, commander of the army, judge and high- \npriest of the nation, with absolute power as to life and death. \n\nNext to the king stood the Senate, a body of three hundred \nmembers, the heads of the three hundred houses that made up \nthe Roman state. This body had no power to enact laws : the \nduty of its members was simply to advise with the king, who \nwas free to follow or disregard their suggestions. \n\nThe Popular Assembly {co77iitia curiatd) comprised the heads \nof all the families, or households, of the nation. It was this \nbody that enacted the laws of the state, determined upon peace \nor war, and also confirmed the election of the king ; for upon \nthe death of the monarch the power which had been delegated \nto him fell back into the hands of the people. \n\nThe Legendary Kings.\xe2\x80\x94 To span the two hundred and forty- \nfour years that mark the life of the Roman kingdom, the leg- \nends of the Romans tell of the reigns of seven kings \xe2\x80\x94 Romu- \nlus, the founder of Rome; Numa, the lawgiver; Tullius \nHostilius and Ancus Martius, conquerors both ; Tarquinius \nPriscus, the great builder; Servius Tullius, the reorganizer of \nthe government and second founder of the state; and Tar- \nquinius Superbus, the haughty tyrant, whose oppressions led to \nthe abolition by the people of the office of king. \n\nThe traditions of the doings of these monarchs and of what \nhappened to them so blend fact, fiction, and exaggeration that \nscholars have almost despaired of ever being able to separate \nthe mythical from the purely historical element that they con- \ntain. We cannot be quite sure even as to the names. Re- \nspecting the last two, however, some important things are \nrelated, the substantial historicalness of which we may rely \nupon with a fair degree of certainty; and these matters we \nshall notice in the following paragraphs. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 247 \n\nNew Constitution of Servius Tullius.\xe2\x80\x94 Before the close of \nthe regal period the plebeian class in Rome had become very \nnumerous, and were clamoring to be admitted to a share in the \ngovernment. Tarquinius, the predecessor of Servius Tullius, \nwas inclined to favor the plebeians in their demands, but, \nthrough the jealousy of the patricians, who guarded with the \ngreatest watchfulness the privileges of their class, was able to \nsecure only for the wealthy and most influential of the com- \nmons the right to seats in the Senate and participation in the \ngovernment. \n\nBut Servius Tullius effected a sweeping reform. He made \nproperty instead of birth the basis of the new constitution. The \nentire population was divided into five classes, the first of which \nincluded all citizens, whether patricians or plebeians, who \nowned tvjtnty J uger a (about twelve acres) of land ; the fifth and \nlowest embraced all that could show title to even two jugera. \nThe army was made up of the members of the five classes ; as \nit was thought right and proper that the public defence should \nbe the care of those who, on account of their possessions, were \nmost interested in the maintenance of order and in the protec- \ntion of the boundaries of the state. \n\nThe assembling-place of the military classes thus organized \nwas on a large plain just outside the city walls, called the \nCampus Martins, or "Field of Mars." The meeting of these \nmilitary orders was called the comitia centuriata^ or the "assem- \nbly of hundreds." \n\nThe reforms of Servius Tullius became the Magna Charta \nof the Roman constitution. Carrying on the contest for their \nrights under the sanction and protection of the Servian laws, \nthe plebeians were at last enabled to possess themselves of all \nthe privileges of the patricians, and to gain an equal share \nwith them in the administration of the government. \n\nThe Expulsion of the Kings.\xe2\x80\x94 The legends make Tarquin- \nius Superbus, or Tarquin the Proud, the last king of Rome. \n\n\n\n248 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nHe is represented as a monstrous tyrant, whose arbitrary acts \ncaused both patricians and plebeians to unite and drive him \nand all his house into exile. This event occurred in the year \n509 B.C., only one year later than the expulsion of the tyrants \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe Pisistratids \xe2\x80\x94 from Athens. \n\nSo bitterly did the people hate the tyranny they had abol- \nished that it is said they all, the nobles as well as the com- \nmons, bound themselves by most solemn oaths never again to \ntolerate a king, enacting that should any one so much as ex- \npress a wish for the restoration of the monarchy he should be \nconsidered a public enemy and be put to death. We shall \nhereafter see how well this vow was kept for nearly five hun- \ndred years. \n\nThe Roman Religion. \n\nInfluence upon Political Affairs. \xe2\x80\x94 To the early Romans the \ngods were very real. Hence religion had a great influence \nupon the course of public events at Rome during the first cen- \nturies of her existence. Later, when the learned had lost faith \nin and fear of the gods, religion was used corruptly for political \npurposes. Thus it happens that the political history of the \nRoman people becomes closely interwoven with their religion. \nTherefore, in order to understand the transactions of the period \nupon which we are about to enter, we must first acquaint our- \nselves with at least the prominent features of the religious in- \nstitutions and beliefs of the Romans. \n\nThe Chief Roman Deities. \xe2\x80\x94 The basis of the Roman religious \nsystem was the same as that of the Grecian : the germs of its \ninstitutions were brought from the same home in Central Asia. \nAt the head of the Pantheon stood Jupiter, identical in all \nessential attributes with the Hellenic Zeus. He was the spe- \ncial protector of the Roman people. To him, together with \nJuno and Minerva, was consecrated, as we have already noticed, \na magnificent temple upon the summit of the Capitoline Hill, \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 249 \n\noverlooking the Forum and the city. Mars, surnamed Quiri- \nnus, the god of war, standing next in rank, was the favorite \ndeity and the fabled father of the Roman race, who were fond \nof calling themselves the " children of Mars." They proved \nthemselves worthy offspring of the war-god. Martial games \nand festivals were celebrated in his honor during the first \nmonth of the Roman year, which bore, and still bears, in his \nhonor, the name of March. Janus was a double-faced deity, \n"the god of the beginning and the end of everything." He \nopened and shut the gates of the day and night. The month \nof January was sacred to him, as were also all gates and doors. \nThe gates of his temple were always kept open in time of war \nand shut in time of peace. \n\nThe Eternal Fires of Vesta. \xe2\x80\x94 The fire upon the household \nhearth was thought the symbol of the goddess Vesta. Her \nworship was a favorite one with the Romans. The nation, too, \nas a single great family, had a common national hearth in the \nTemple of Vesta, where the sacred fires were kept burning from \ngeneration to generation by six virgins, daughters of the Roman \nstate. The Lares and Penates were household gods. Their \nimages were set in the entrance of the dwelling. The Lares \nwere the spirits of ancestors, which were thought to linger \nabout the home as its guardians. \n\nOracles and Divination. \xe2\x80\x94 The Romans were very supersti- \ntious. They thought, with the Greeks, that the will of the gods \nwas communicated to men by means of oracles, and by strange \nsights, unusual events, or singular coincidences. There was \nbut one oracle at Rome. The Romans, therefore, often had \nrecourse to those in Magna Graecia, even sending for advice, \nin great emergencies, to the Delphian shrine. From Etruria \nwas introduced the art of the haruspices, which consisted in \ndiscovering the divine mind by the appearance of victims slain \n\nfor the sacrifices. \n\n12 \n\n\n\n250 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Sacred Colleges. \xe2\x80\x94 There were four sacred colleges \xe2\x80\x94 the \nKeepers of the Sibylline Books, the College of Augurs, the \nCollege of Pontiffs, and the College of the Heralds. \n\nA curious legend is told of the Sibylline Books. An old \nwoman came to Tarquin and offered to sell him, for an ex- \ntravagant price, nine volumes. As the king declined to pay \nthe sum demanded, the woman departed, destroyed three of the \nbooks, and then, returning, offered the remainder at the very \nsame sum as she had wanted for the complete number. The \nking still refused to purchase; so the sibyl went away and \ndestroyed three more of the volumes, and, bringing back the \nremaining three, asked the same price as before. Tarquin was \nby this time so curious respecting the contents of the mysteri- \nous books that he purchased the remaining volumes. It was \nfound upon examination that they were filled with prophecies \nrespecting the future of the Roman people. The books were \nplaced in a stone chest, which was kept in a vault beneath the \nCapitoline temple ; and two men were appointed to take charge \nof them and interpret them. The number of " keepers " was in \nlater times increased to sixty. The books were consulted only \nin times of the extremest danger. \n\nThe College of Augurs was composed at first of four, but at \nlast of sixteen, members. Their duty was to interpret the \nomens, or auspices, which were casual sights or appearances, \nby which means it was believed that Jupiter made known his \nwill. Great skill was required in the " taking of the auspices," \nas it was called. No business of importance, public or private, \nwas entered upon without first consulting the auspices, to as- \ncertain whether they were favorable. The public assembly, \nfor illustration, must not convene, to elect officers or to pass \nlaws, unless the auspices had been taken and found propitious. \nShould a peal of thunder occur while the people were holding \na meeting, that was considered an unfavorable omen, and the \nassembly must instantly disperse. \n\nIt is easy to see how the power of the augurs might be used \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN KINGDOM. 2$ I \n\ncorruptly for political ends. At first all the members of the \ncollege were patricians, and very frequently they would prevent \nthe plebeians from holding an assembly by giving out that the \nauspices were not favorable; and sometimes, when matters \nwere not taking such a course in the popular assembly as suited \nthe nobles, and some measure obnoxious to their order was on \nthe point of being carried, they would secure an announcement \nfrom the augurs that Jupiter was thundering, or manifesting his \ndispleasure in some other way ; and the people were obliged \nto break up their meeting on the instant. One of the privileges \ncontended for by the plebeians was admission to this college, \nthat they might assist in watching the omens, and thus this \nimportant matter not be left entirely in the hands of their \nenemies. \n\nThe College of Pontiffs was so called because one of the \nduties of its members was to keep in repair the bridges {pontes) \nover which the religious processions were accustomed to pass. \nThis was the most important of all the religious institutions oif \nthe Romans ; for to the pontitfs belonged the superintendence \nof all religious matters. In their keeping, too, was the calen- \ndar, and they could lengthen or shorten the year, which power \nthey sometimes used to extend the office of a favorite or to cut \nshort that of one who had incurred their displeasure. The \nhead of the college was called Pontifex Maximus, which title \nwas assumed by the Roman emperors, and after them by the \nChristian bishops of Rome ; and thus the name has come \ndown to our own times. \n\nThe College of Heralds had the care of all public matters \npertaining to foreign nations. If the Roman people had suf- \nfered any wrong from another state, it was the duty of the \nheralds to demand satisfaction. If this was denied, and war \ndetermined upon, then a herald proceeded to the frontier of \nthe enemy\'s country and hurled over the boundary a spear \ndipped in blood. This was a declaration of war. The Ro- \nmans were very careful in the observance of this ceremony. \n\n\n\n252 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n" In the war with Pyrrhus, as the spear could not be hurled into \nthe enemy\'s territory, to preserve the form a subject of Pyr- \nrhus, a prisoner of war at Rome, was compelled to purchase \na piece of land in the Flaminian Circus. This was declared \nto be hostile territory, and the pater patratus hurled here the \nhostile spear" (Leighton). \n\n\n\nLEGENDARY KINGS OF ROME. \n\nB.C. \n\nRomulus 753-716 \n\nNuma Pompilius , 715-672 \n\nTullus Hostilius 672-640 \n\nAncus Martius 640-616 \n\nTarquinius Priscus 616-578 \n\nServius Tullius 57^-534 \n\nTarquinius Superbus 534-509 \n\nNames mythical, or at least uncertain, and the dates conjectural. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC : THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 253 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV. \n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC I THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. \n(509-264 B.C.) \n\nThe First Consuls.\xe2\x80\x94 AVith the monarchy overthrown and the \nlast king and his house banished from Rome, the people set to \nwork to reorganize the government. In place of the king, there \nwere elected (by the comitia centuriafa, in which assembly the \nplebeians had a place) two magistrates, or presidents, called \nconsuls, who were chosen for one year, and were invested with \nall the powers, save some priestly functions, that had been held \nby the monarch during the regal period. It was necessary \nthat the consuls should agree as touching any matter : neither \ncould act without the consent of the other. \n\nLucius Junius Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus were the \nfirst consuls under the new constitution. But it is said that the \nvery name of Tarquinius was so intolerable to the people that \nhe was forced to resign the consulship, and that he and all his \nhouse were driven out of Rome. Another consul, Publius \nValerius, was chosen in his stead. \n\nFirst Secession of the Plebeians. \xe2\x80\x94 For two centuries after the \nexpulsion of the kings, the little Roman Republic was engaged \nin a constant struggle for existence. The Latin towns that \nhad been forced to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome, to- \ngether with the Etruscans, taking advantage of the disorders \nthat followed the political revolution, now rose in revolt ; and \nthe result was that Rome was stripped of almost all the con- \nquests she had made under the kings, and had now to com- \nmence anew the work of subjugating and reducing to vassalage \n\n\n\n254 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe tribes about her. In these early struggles of the infant re- \npublic, patricians and plebeians stood side by side. Although \nthe former had the chief management of the government, yet \nthe constitution was amended from time to time in favor of the \ncommon people ; the nobles assenting to these changes through \nfear that the plebeians, if rendered dissatisfied with their place \nin the new government, might side with the banished king, who \nhad joined the enemies of Rome, and aid in the restoration of \nthe royal party. \n\nBut upon the death of Tarquin affairs assumed a new aspect. \nThere was now no longer any fear of the re-establishment of \nthe monarch}^, and the patricians, by their haughty and dictato- \nrial bearing towards the plebeians, soon made it manifest that \ntheir former concessions were prompted rather by fear and pol- \nicy than by unselfish concern for the welfare of their humbler \npartners in the state. The patricians held all the offices of the \ngovernment. The poor plebeians, during the recent disorders \nand wars, had fallen in debt to the wealthy class \xe2\x80\x94 for the Ro- \nman soldier went to war at his own charges, equipping and \nfeeding himself \xe2\x80\x94 and payment was now exacted with heartless \nseverity. A debtor became the absolute property of his cred- \nitor, who might sell him as a slave to pay the debt, and in some \ncases even put him to death. All this was intolerable. The \nplebeians determined to secede from Rome and build a new \ncity for themselves on a neighboring eminence, called after- \nwards the Sacred Hill. They marched away in a body from \nRome to the chosen spot, and began making preparations for \nerecting new homes (494 B.C.). \n\nThe Covenant and the Tribunes.\xe2\x80\x94 The patricians saw clearly \nthat such a division must prove ruinous to the state, and that \nthe plebeians must be persuaded to give up their enterprise \nand come back to Rome. The consul Valerius was sent to \ntreat with the insurgents. The plebeians were at first obstinate, \nbut at last were persuaded to yield to the entreaties of the em- \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC : THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 255 \n\nbassy to return, being won to this mind, so it is said, by one of \nthe wise senators, Menenius, who made use of the famous fable \nof the Body and the Members. \n\nThe following covenant was entered into, and bound by the \nmost solemn oaths and vows before the gods: The debts of \nthe poor plebeians were to be cancelled and those held in slav- \nery set free; and two magistrates, called tribunes, whose duty \nit should be to watch over and protect the rights of the plebe- \nians, were to be chosen from the commons. The persons of \nthese officers were made sacred. Any one interrupting a tribune \nin the discharge of his duties, or doing him any violence, was \ndeclared an outlaw whom any one might kill. That the tribunes \nmight be always easily found, they were not allowed to go more \nthan one mile beyond the city walls. Their houses were to be \nopen night as well as day, that any plebeian unjustly dealt with \nmight flee thither for protection and refuge. \n\nWe cannot overestimate the importance of the change ef- \nfected in the Roman constitution by the creation of this office \nof the tribunate. Under the protection and leadership of the \ntribunes, they themselves protected by the gods and by oaths of \ninviolable sanctity, the plebeians now resumed their struggle \nfor a share in all the offices and dignities of the state \xe2\x80\x94 a strug- \ngle which never ceased until the Roman government, as yet \nonly republican in name, became in fact a real democracy, in \nwhich patrician and plebeian shared equally in all emoluments \nand privileges. \n\nCoriolanus. \xe2\x80\x94 The tradition of Coriolanus illustrates in what \nmanner the tribunes cared for the rights of the common peo- \nple and protected them from the oppression of the nobles. \nDuring a severe famine at Rome, Gelon, the King of Syracuse, \nsent large quantities of corn to the capital for distribution \namong the suffering poor. A certain patrician, Coriolanus, \nmade a proposal that none of the corn should be given to the \nplebeians save on condition that they give up their tribunes. \n\n\n\n256 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nHe was brought before the plebeian assembly on the charge \nof having broken the solemn covenant of the Sacred Mount, \nand so bitter viras the feeling against him that he was obliged \nto flee from Rome. \n\nHe now allied himself with the Volscians, enemies of Rome, \nand even led their armies against his native city. An embassy \nfrom the Senate was sent to him, to sue for peace. But the \nspirit of Coriolanus was bitter and revengeful, and he would \nlisten to none of their proposals. Nothing availed to move \nhim until his mother, at the head of a train of Roman matrons, \ncame to his tent, and with tears pleaded with him to spare the \ncity. Her entreaties and the "soft prayers" of his own wife \nand children prevailed, and with the words " Mother, thou hast \nsaved Rome, but lost thy son," he led away the Volscian army. \n\nThe traditions differ as to his fate. One says that he was \ncondemned to death by the Volscians; while another account \nrepresents him as living to an advanced age in lonely exile. \n\nCincinnatus made Dictator. \xe2\x80\x94 The enemies of Rome, taking \nadvantage of the dissensions of the nobles and commons, press- \ned upon the frontiers of the republic on all sides, ravaged La- \ntium, and even pitched their tents within sight of the walls of \nthe capital. In 458 B.C., the ^quians, while one of the consuls \nwas away fighting the Sabines, defeated the forces of the other, \nand shut them up in a narrow valley, whence escape seemed \nimpossible. There was great terror in Rome when news of \nthe situation of the army was brought to the city. \n\nThe Senate immediately appointed Cincinnatus, a noble pa- \ntrician, dictator. The ambassadors that carried to him the \nmessage from the Senate found him upon his little farm near \nthe Tiber, at work behind the plough. Accepting at once the \noffice, he hastily gathered an army, marched to the relief of the \nconsul, captured the entire army of the Volscians, and sent \nthem beneath the yoke. (This was formed of two spears thrust \nfirmly into the ground and crossed a few feet from the earth \nby a third. Prisoners of war were forced to pass beneath this \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC I THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 257 \n\nyoke as a symbol of submission.) Cincinnatus then led his \narmy back to Rome in triumph, laid down his office, and sought \nagain the retirement of his farm. \n\nThe Decemvirs and the Table of Laws. \xe2\x80\x94 Written laws are al- \nways a great safeguard against oppression. Until what shall \nconstitute a crime and what shall be its penalty are clearly \nwritten down and well known and understood by all, judges \nmay render unfair decisions, or inflict harsher punishment than \njust, and yet run little risk \xe2\x80\x94 unless they go altogether too far \n\xe2\x80\x94 of being called to an account; for no one but themselves \nknows what the law or the penalty really is. Hence in all \nstruggles of the people against the tyranny of the ruling class, \nthe demand for written laws is one of the first measures taken \nby the people for the protection of their persons and property. \nThus we have seen the people of Athens, early in their struggle \nwith the nobles, demanding and obtaining a code of written \nlaws. The same thing now took place at Rome. The plebe- \nians demanded that a code of laws be drawn up, in accordance \nwith which the consuls, who exercised judicial powers, should \nrender their decisions. The patricians offered a stubborn re- \nsistance to these wishes, but finally were forced to yield to the \npopular clamor. \n\nA commission was sent to the Greek cities of Southern Italy \nand to Athens to study the Grecian laws and customs. Upon \nthe return of this embassy, a commission of ten magistrates, \nwho were known as decemvirs, was appointed to frame a code \nof la-ws. These officers, while engaged in this work, were also \nto administer the entire government, and so were invested with \nthe supreme power of the state. The patricians gave up their \nconsuls and the plebeians their tribunes. At the end of the \nfirst year, the task of the board was quite far from being fin- \nished, so a new decemvirate was elected to complete the work. \nAppius Claudius was the only member of the old board that \nwas returned to the new. \n\n\n\n258 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe code was soon finished, and the laws were written on \ntwelve tablets of brass, which were fastened to the rostrum in \nthe Forum, where they might be seen and read by all. These \n"Laws of the Twelve Tables" were to Roman jurisprudence \nwhat the good laws of Solon were to the Athenian constitution. \nThey formed the basis of all new legislation for many centuries, \nand constituted a part of the education of the Roman youth \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x80\xa2 \nevery schoolboy being required to learn them by heart. \n\nMisrule and Overthrow of the Decemvirs. \xe2\x80\x94 The first de- \ncemvirs used the great power lodged in their hands with justice \nand prudence ; but the second board, under the leadership \nof Appius Claudius, instituted a most infamous and tyrannical \nrule. No man\'s life was safe, be he patrician or plebeian. An \nex-tribune daring to denounce the course of the decemvirs was \ncaused by them to be assassinated. Another act, even more \noutrageous than this, filled to the brim the cup of their iniqui- \nties. Virginia was the beautiful daughter of a plebeian, and \nAppius Claudius, desiring to gain possession of her, made use \nof his authority as a judge to pronounce her a slave. The \nfather of the maiden, preferring the death to the dishonor of his \ndaughter, killed her with his own hand. Then, drawing the \nweapon from her breast, he hastened to the army, which was \nresisting a united invasion of the Sabines and ^quians, and, \nexhibiting the bloody knife, told the story of the outrage. The \nsoldiers rose as a single man and hurried to the city. The ex- \ncitement resulted in a great body of the Romans, soldiers and \ncitizens, probably chiefly plebeians, seceding from the state, \nand marching away to the Sacred Hill. This procedure, \nwhich once before had proved so effectual in securing justice \nto the oppressed, had a similar issue now. The situation was \nso critical that the decemvirs were forced to resign. The con- \nsulate and the tribunate were restored. Eight of the decem- \nvirs were forced to go into exile ; Appius Claudius and one \nother, having been imprisoned, committed suicide. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC: THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 259 \n\nConsular or Military Tribunes. \xe2\x80\x94 The overthrow of the de- \ncemvirate was followed by a long struggle between the nobles \nand the commons, which was an effort on the part of the latter \nto gain admission to the consulship ; for up to this time only a \npatrician could hold that office. The contention resulted in a \ncompromise. It was agreed that, in place of the two consuls, \nthe people might elect from either order six (some ancient \nauthorities say three) magistrates, who should be known as \n"military tribunes with consular powers." These officers \ndiffered from consuls more in name than in functions or au- \nthority. In fact, the plebeians had gained the office, but not \nthe name. \n\nThe Censors.---No sooner had the plebeians virtually secured \nadmission to the consulship, than the jealous and exclusive \npatricians commenced scheming to rob them of the fruit of the \nvictory they had gained. They effected this by taking from the \nconsulate some of its most distinctive duties and powers, and \nconferring them upon two new patrician officers called censors. \nThe functions of these magistrates were many and important. \nThey took the census, and thus assigned to every man his \nposition in the different classes of the citizens ; they had power \nto fill all vacancies in the Senate, and to strike from its rolls \nsuch names az they deemed unworthy ; and they could, for im- \nmoralities or any improper conduct, not only degrade a man \nfrom his rank, but deprive him of his vote. It was their duty \nto watch the public morals and in case of necessity to adminis- \nter wholesome advice. Thus we are told of their reproving \nthe young Romans for wearing tunics with long sleeves \xe2\x80\x94 an \nOriental and effeminate custom \xe2\x80\x94 and for neglecting to marry \nupon arriving at a proper age. \n\nThe first censors were elected in the year 445 B.C.; about \none hundred years afterwards, in 351 B.C., the plebeians secured \nthe right of holding this office also. \n\n\n\n26o ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nSiege and Capture of Veil. \xe2\x80\x94 We must now turn to regard \nthe fortunes of Rome in war. Almost from the founding of the \ncity, we find its warhke citizens carrying on a fierce contest \nwith their powerful Etruscan neighbors on the north. Veil was \none of the largest and richest of the cities of Etruria. Around \nthis the war gathered. The Romans, like the Grecians at \nTroy, lay beneath its walls for ten years. The length of the \nsiege, and the necessity of maintaining a force permanently in \nthe field, led to the establishment of a paid standing army ; \nfor hitherto the soldier had not only equipped himself, but had \nserved without pay. Thus was laid the basis of that military \npower which was destined to effect the conquest of the world, \nand then, in the hands of ambitious and favorite generals, to \noverthrow the republic itself. \n\nThe capture of Veil by the dictator Camillus (396 B.C.) was \nfollowed by that of many other Etruscan towns. Rome was \nenriched by their spoils, and became the centre of a large and \nlucrative trade. The frontiers of the republic were pushed out \neven beyond the utmost limits of the kingdom before its over- \nthrow. All that was lost by the revolution had been now re- \ngained, and much besides had been won. At this moment \nthere broke upon the city a storm from the north, which all but \ncut short the story we are narrating. \n\nSack of Rome by the Gauls (390 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 We have already \ntold how, in very remote times, the tribes of Gaul, either pressed \nby new-comers from Asia or led by their wandering habits, \ncrossed the Alps and established themselves in Northern Italy. \nWhile the Romans were conquering the towns of Southern \nEtruria, and thus pushing northward the boundaries of the re- \npublic, these barbarian hordes were moving southward, and \noverrunning and devastating the countries of Central Italy. \n\nNews was borne to Rome that they were advancing upon \nthat city. A Roman army met them on the banks of the river \nAllia, eleven miles from the capital. The Romans were driven \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC: THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 26 1 \n\nin great panic from the field. It would be impossible to pict- \nure the consternation and despair that reigned at Rome when \nthe fugitives brought to the city intelligence of the telrrible dis- \naster. It was never forgotten, and the day of the battle of \nAllia was ever after a black day in the Roman calendar. The \nsacred vessels of the temples were buried ; the eternal fires of \nVesta were hurriedly borne by their virgin keepers to a place \nof safety in Etruria ; and a large part of the population fled in \ndismay across the Tiber. No attempt was made to defend \nany portion of the city save the citadel. \n\nWhen the Gauls entered the city they found everything \nabandoned to them. The aged senators, so the Romans after- \nwards proudly related, thinking it unworthy of their ofiice to \nseek safety in flight, resolved to meet death in a befitting way. \nArrayed in their robes of office, each with his ivory-headed \nwand in his hand, they seated themselves in the Forum, in their \nchairs of state, and there sat, "silent and motionless as stat- \nues," while the barbarians were carrying on their work of sack \nand pillage about them. The rude Gauls, arrested by the \nvenerable aspect of the white-haired senators, gazed in awe \nupon the strange assembly, and offered them no violence. \nBut, finally, one of the barbarians laid his hand upon the beard \nof the venerable Papirius, to stroke it under an impulse of \nchildlike reverence. The aged senator, interpreting the \nmovement as an insult, struck the Gaul with his sceptre. The \nspell was instantly broken. The enraged barbarians struck \nPapirius from his seat, and then falling upon the other sena- \ntors massacred them all. \n\nThe little garrison within the Capitol, under the command \nof the hero Manlius, for seven months resisted all the efforts \nof the Gauls to dislodge them. A tradition tells how, when the \nbarbarians, under cover of the darkness of night, had climbed \nthe steep rock and had almost effected an entrance to the \ncitadel, the defenders were awakened by the cackling of some \ngeese, which, because sacred to Juno, the piety of the soldiers \n\n\n\n262 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhad spared, notwithstanding they were sorely in need of \nfood. \n\nNews was now brought the Gauls that the Venetians were \noverrunning their possessions in Northern Italy. This led \nthem to open negotiations with the Romans. For one thou- \nsand pounds of gold they agreed to raise the siege of the cita- \ndel and retire from the city. The story is, that, while the gold \nwas being weighed out in the Forum, the Romans complained \nthat the weights were false, when Brennus, the Gallic leader, \nthrew his sword also into the scales, exclaiming, " /^^ vidisf" \n"Woe to the conquered." Just at this moment Camillus, a \nbrave patrician general, appeared upon the scene with a Ro- \nman army that had been gathered from the fugitives ; and, as \nhe scattered the barbarians with heavy blows, he exclaimed, \n" Rome is ransomed by steel and not by gold." According to \none account Brennus himself was taken prisoner ; but another \ntradition says that he escaped, carrying with him not only the \nransom, but a vast booty besides. \n\nThe Rebuilding of Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 When the fugitives returned to \nRome after the withdrawal of the Gauls, they found the city \na heap of ruins. Some of the poorer classes, shrinking from \nthe labor of rebuilding their old homes, proposed to abandon \nthe site and make Veii their new capital. But love for the old \nspot at last prevailed over all the persuasions of indolence, and \nthe people, with admirable courage, set themselves to the task \nof rebuilding their homes. It was a repetition of the scene at \nAthens after the retreat of the Persians. The city was speedily \nrestored, and was soon enjoying her old position of supremacy \namong the surrounding states. There were sonxe things, how- \never, which even Roman resolution and perseverance could \nnot restore. These w-ere the ancient records and documents, \nthrough whose irreparable loss the early history of Rome is \ninvolved in great obscurity and uncertainty. Some of the an- \ncient historians did not attempt to write the story of the city \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC: THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 263 \n\nbefore its destruction by the Gauls, but began their narratives \nwith its restoration after that terrible disaster. \n\n\n\nTreason and Death of Manlius. \xe2\x80\x94 The ravages of the Gauls \nleft the poor plebeians in a most pitiable condition. In order \nto rebuild their dwellings and restock their farms, they were \nobliged to borrow money of the rich patricians, and so soon \nbegan again to experience the insult and oppression that were \never incident to the condition of the debtor class at Rome. \n\nThe patrician Manlius, the hero of the brave defence of the \nCapitol, now came forward as the champion of the plebeians. \nIt seems evident that in thus undertaking the cause of the com- \nmons he had personal aims and ambitions. He sold the larger \npart of his estates, and devoted the proceeds to the relief of the \ndebtor class. The debts of some he paid outright. To over \nfour hundred persons in great distress he loaned money free of \ninterest. At the same time, he denounced, to the crowds that \ngathered about his house, the cruelty and oppression of the pa- \ntricians, and even went so far as to charge them with having \nenriched themselves with the money which had been con- \ntributed by all classes for replacing the utensils and ornaments \nof the temples that had been plundered by the Gauls. The \npatricians determined to crush him. He was imprisoned on \nthe charge of libel. The clamor of the people secured his re- \nlease. With a large band of his followers, he now intrenched \nhimself in his palace on the Capitoline Hill. He was finally \nseized, and brought to trial before the popular assembly, on the \ncharge of conspiring to restore the office of king. From the \nForum, where the people were gathered, the Capitol, which \nManlius had so bravely defended against the barbarians, was \nin full sight. Pointing to the temples he had saved, he ap- \npealed to the gods and to the gratitude of the Roman people. \nThe people responded to the appeal in a way altogether natu- \nral. They refused to condemn him. But brought to trial a \nsecond time, and now in a grove whence the citadel could not \n\n\n\n264 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbe seen, he was sentenced to death, and was thrown from the \nTarpeian Rock."* This event occurred 384 B.C. \n\nPlebeians Admitted to the Consulship. \xe2\x80\x94 For nearly half a \ncentury after the death of Manlius the most important events \nin the history of Rome centre about the struggle of the plebe- \nians for admission to those offices of the government whence \nthe jealousy of the patricians still excluded them. The Licinian \nI\'Jc^Sy besides relieving the poor of usurious interest, and effect- \ning a more just division of the public lands, also provided that \nthe consulship should be restored (we will recall that the con- \nsuls had been replaced by military tribunes with consular \npower), and that one of the consuls should be a plebeian. This \nlast provision opened to any one of the^lebeian class the high- \nest office in the state. The nobles, when they saw that it would \nbe impossible to resist the popular demand, had recourse to \nthe old device. They effected a compromise, whereby the \njudicial powers of the consuls were taken from that office and \nconferred upon two new magistrates called praetors. Only pa- \ntricians, of course, were to be eligible to this new office. They \nthen permitted the Licinian laws to pass (366 B.C.). \n\nDuring the latter half of the fourth century B.C. (between the \nyears 356-300) the plebeians gained admittance to the dicta- \ntorship, the censorship, the praetorship, and to the College of \nAugurs and the College of Pontiffs. With plebeians in all \nthese positions, the rights of the lower order were fairly se- \ncured against oppressive and partisan decisions on the part \nof the magistrates, and against party fraud in the taking of \nthe auspices and in the regulation of the calendar. There \n\n* The Tarpeian Rock was the name given to the cliff which the Capito- \nline Hill formed on the side towards the Tiber. It received its name from \nTarpeia, daughter of one of the legendary keepers of the citadel, who be- \ntrayed the fortress to the Sabines, and was afterwards slain by the Sabines \nthemselves for her treachery. State criminals were frequently executed by \nbeing thrown from this rock. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC : THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 265 \n\nwas now political equality between the nobility and the com- \nmonalty. \n\nWai\'sfor the Mastery of Italy. \n\nThe First Samnite War (343-341 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 The union of the \ntwo orders in the state now allowed the Romans to employ \ntheir undivided strength in subjugating the different states of \nthe peninsula. The most formidable competitors of the Ro- \nmans for supremacy in Italy were the Samnites, rough alid \nwarlike mountaineers who held the Apennines to the west of \nLatium. They were worthy rivals of the "children of Mars." \nThe successive struggles between these martial races are known \nas the First, Second, and Third Samnite wars. They extended \nover a period of half a century, and in their course involved \nalmost all the states of Italy. \n\nIn 343 B.C., the Campanians, who were descendants of the \nSamnites, but whom life on the plains and contact with Hellenic \ncivilization had transformed into a people very different from \ntheir kinsmen of the mountains, appealed to the Romans for \naid against their troublesome relatives ; for the Samnites of \nthe hills were constantly sweeping down from the mountains \nand ravaging the fields of the Campanians. The Romans \nwillingly extended the assistance asked, as they saw here an \nopportunity for the extension of their influence and authority. \nOf the first of the series of wars into which Rome was thus \nprecipitated we know but little, although Livy wrote a long, \nbut unfortunately very unreliable, narration of it. In the midst \nof the struggle, Rome was confronted by a dangerous revolt of \nher Latin allies, and, leaving the war unfinished, turned her \nforces upon the insurgents. \n\nRevolt of the Latin Cities (340-338 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The strife be- \ntween the Romans and their Latin allies was simply the old \ncontest within the walls of the capital between the patricians \nand plebeians transferred to a larger arena. As the nobles \n\n\n\n266 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhad oppressed the commons, so now both these orders united \nin the oppression of the Latins \xe2\x80\x94 the plebeians in their bettered \ncircumstances forgetting the lessons of adversity. The Latin \nallies demanded that the lands acquired by conquests should \nbe distributed among them as well as among Roman citizens. \nThis was but just; for it was their blood and toil, as they rep- \nresented, that had helped secure them. The Romans refused. \nAll Latium rose in revolt against the injustice and tyranny of \nthe oppressor. \n\nAt the foot of Mount Vesuvius the Romans, with the aid of \ntheir old enemies the Samnites, with whom they had negotiated \na hasty treaty, defeated the Latins and their allies. By 338 B.C., \nthe insurrection, that for a moment appeared so threatening to \nthe life of the republic, had been subdued and most of the \ntowns of Latium reconquered. They were treated with Roman \nseverity. With two or three exceptions, they were denied local \nself-government; Rome was made the market whither the in- \nhabitants of the different cities must come to buy and sell; a \ncitizen of one city was strictly forbidden to contract a marriage \nwith a woman living in another, or to have any dealings with \nthe inhabitants of a stranger town. Thus was the Latin Con- \nfederacy broken up, and the various tribes or cantons of Latium \nfrom the position of allies reduced to that of subject states, with \nimperious and selfish Rome as their suzerain. \n\nSecond Samnite War (326-304 b.c.).\xe2\x80\x94 In a few years after \nthe close of the Latin contest, Rome was at war again with her \nold rival, the Samnites. During this second struggle a Ro- \nman army, while marching through a narrow defile, known as \nthe Caudine Forks, fell into an ambuscade, was captured, and \nsent beneath the yoke. The Etruscans now came to the aid \nof the Samnites against their old enemy, but were defeated by \nthe Romans at the Vadimonian Lake (310 B.C.). Shortly after \nthis the capital of the Samnites, Bonianum, was captured, and \na treaty of peace was concluded which stripped the Samnites \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC I THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 267 \n\nof all the territory they had gained by conquest. Rome secured \nthe new lands she had won, by means of fortified camps and \ncolonies. \n\nTlie Third Samnite War (298-290 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 It was not long be- \nfore the Samnites were again in arms and engaged in their \nthird struggle with Rome. They had formed a powerful coali- \ntion which embraced all the states of Italy. The Lucanians, \nApulians, Greeks, and Samnites were joined in the south; \nwhile Umbrians, Etruscans, and Gauls threatened Rome from \nthe north. Roman courage rose with the danger. At Sentinum \nthe united armies of the league met with a most disastrous \ndefeat (295 B.C.), and the power of the coalition was broken. \nOne after another the states that had joined the alliance were \nchastised. \n\nThe Romans finally carried the war into Samnium. But \nthere they were fighting with men at bay ; and the consul \nTabius Gurges suffered a serious defeat. The Romans were \non the point of depriving the unfortunate consul of his com- \nmand, when his aged father, Fabius Maximus, offered to take \nthe field as his son\'s lieutenant. In another engagement vic- \ntory was won back to the side of the Romans. Gavius Pontius, \nthe brave Samnite general who had spared the Roman army at \nthe Caudine Forks, was taken prisoner, and, to the lasting dis- \ngrace of his captors, was thrust into the Mamertine Prison be- \nneath the Capitoline and there beheaded. The Samnites were \nnow soon reduced. In the treaty made with them they were \nallowed to retain Samnium and govern themselves, but Rome \nplanted new colonies and established strong fortresses to watch \ntheir frontiers. \n\nThe Gauls were next routed at the Vadimonian Lake; the \nEtruscan power was then broken, and several of the cities of \nEtruria razed to the ground ; in the south the Lucanians were \ncrushed and all the important Greek cities of Southern Italy, save \nTarentum, were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome. \n\n\n\n268 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nWar with Pyrrhus. \xe2\x80\x94 Tarentum was one of the most noted \nof the Hellenic cities of Magna Graecia. It was a seaport on \nthe Calabrian coast, and had grown opulent through the ex- \ntended trade of its merchants. The capture of some Roman \nvessels, and an insult offered to an envoy of the republic by \nthe Tarentines, led to a declaration of war against them by the \nRoman Senate. The Tarentines turned to Greece for aid. \nPyrrhus, King of Epirus, cousin of Alexander the Great, who \nhad an ambition to build up such an empire in the West as his \nfamous kinsman had established in the East, responded to \ntheir entreaties, and crossed over into Italy with a small army \nof Greek mercenaries and twenty war-elephants. He organized \nand drilled the effeminate Tarentines, and soon felt prepared \nto face the Romans. \n\nThe hostile armies met at Heraclea. It is said that when \nPyrrhus, who had underestimated his foe, observed the skill \nwhich the Romans evinced in forming their lines of battle, he \nexclaimed, in admiration, " In war, at least, th\'ese men are not \nbarbarians." The battle was won for Pyrrhus by his war-ele- \nphants, the sight of which, being new to the Romans, caused \nthem to flee from the field in dismay. But Pyrrhus had lost \nthousands of his bravest troops. Victories gained by such \nlosses in a country where he could not recruit his army, he saw \nclearl}^, meant final defeat. As he looked over the battle-field \nhe is said to have turned to his companions and remarked, \n"Another such victory and I must return to Epirus alone." \nHe noticed also, and not without appreciating its significance, \nthat the wounds of the Roman soldiers killed in the action \nwere all in front. " Had I such soldiers," said he, " I should \nsoon be master of the world." ^ \n\nThe prudence of the victorious Pyrrhus led him to send to \n\n* Beneath the spoils which he hung as an offering in the Temple of Jupi- \nter at Tarentum he placed this inscription : \n" Those that had never been vanquished yet, Great Father of Olympus, \n\nThose have I vanquished in the fight, and they have vanquished me." \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN REPUBLIC : THE CONQUEST OF ITALY. 269 \n\nthe Romans proposals of peace. The embassy was headed by \nhis chief minister, Cineas, whose eloquence, as Pyrrhus himself \noften said, had won him more victories than his own sword. \nWhen the Senate hesitated, its resolution was fixed by the elo- \nquence of the aged Appius : " Rome," exclaimed he, " shall \nnever treat with a victorious foe." The ambassadors were \nobliged to return to Pyrrhus unsuccessful in their mission. It \nwas at this time that Cineas, in answer to some inquiries of his \nmaster respecting the Romans, drew the celebrated parallels \nthat likened their Senate to an assembly of kings, and war \nagainst such a people to an attack upon another Plydra. \n\nPyrrhus, according to the Roman story-tellers, who most \nlavishly embellished this chapter of their history, was not more \nsuccessful in attempts at bribery than in the arts of negotia- \ntion. Attempting by large offers of gold to win Fabricius, who \nhad been intrusted by the Senate with an important embassy, \nthe sturdy old Roman replied, " Poverty, with an honest name, \nis more to be desired than wealth," \n\nAnother story relates how, when the physician of Pyrrhus \nwent to Fabricius and offered to poison his enemy, he instantly \nput him in chains, and sent him back to his master for punish- \nment. The sequel of this story is that Pyrrhus conceived such \nan exalted opinion of the Roman sense of honor that he per- \nmitted the prisoners in his hands to go to the capital to attend \na festival, with no other security for their return than their \nsimple promise, and that not a single man broke his word. \n\nAfter a second victory, as disastrous as his first, gained at \nAsculum, in Apulia, Pyrrhus crossed over into Sicily, to aid the \nGrecians there in their struggle with the Carthaginians. At \nfirst he was everywhere successful ; but finally fortune turned \nagainst him, and he was glad to escape from the island. Re- \ncrossing the straits into Italy, he once more engaged the Ro- \nmans ; but at the battle of Beneventum suffered a disastrous \nand final defeat at the hands of the consul Curius Dentatus \n(274 B.C.). Leaving a sufficient force to garrison Tarentum, \n\n\n\n270 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe baffled and disappointed king set sail for Epirus.* He \nhad scarcely embarked before Tarentum surrendered to the \nRomans (272 B.C.). This ended the struggles for the mastery \nof Italy. Home was now mistress of all the peninsula south \nof the Arnus and the Rubicon. It was now her care to con- \nsolidate these possessions, and to fasten her hold upon them, \nby means of a perfect network of coloniesf and military roads. \n\n* " The glory of his life was ended; the two or three years that remained \nof it were passed in hopeless enterprises. One day he was proclaimed King \nof Macedon, and the next he lost his kingdom. Then he attacked Sparta, \nand nearly took it. Lastly, he assaulted Argos, and was killed by a tile \nthrown by a woman from the roof of a house." \xe2\x80\x94 Liddell\'s " History of \nRome," p. 246. \n\nt " Colonies were not all of the same character. They must be distin- \nguished into two classes \xe2\x80\x94 the colonies of Roman citizens and the Latin col- \nonies. The colonies of Roman citizens consisted usually of three hundred \nmen of approved military experience, who went forth with their families to \noccupy conquered cities of no great magnitude, but which were important \nas military positions, being usually on the sea-coast. These three hundred \nfamilies formed a sort of patrician caste, while the old inhabitants sank into \nthe condition formerly occupied by the plebeians at Rome. The heads of \nthese families retained all their rights as Roman citizens, and might repair \nto Rome to vote in the popular assemblies. When in early Roman history \nwe hear of the revolt of a colony, the meaning seems to be that the natives \nrose against the colonists and expelled them. Hence it is that we hear of \ncolonists being sent more than once to the same place, as to Antium." \xe2\x80\x94 \nLiddell\'s " History of Rome," p. 255. \n\nThe Latin colonies, numbering thirty at the time of the Second Punic \nWar, were daughters of the different Latin towns of Latium. Many citizens \nof Rome joined these colonies, but all members of such were without any \npolitical rights at the capital. In a word, these Latin communities were \nsimply allies of Rome. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 27 1 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI. \n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. \n(264-241 B.C.) \n\nThe City of Carthage. \xe2\x80\x94 Foremost among the cities founded \nby the Phoenicians upon the different shores of the Mediterra- \nnean was Carthage, upon the northern coast of Africa. The \ncity is thought to have had its beginnings in a small trading \nfactory, estabhshed late in the ninth century b.c, about one \nhundred years before the founding of Rome. The ground \nupon which it stood was leased at first of the native tribes. The \nfavorable location of the colony, upon one of the best harbors of \nthe African coast, gave the city a vast and lucrative commerce. \nAt the period which we have now reached it had grown into an \nimperial city, covering, with its gardens and suburbs, a district \ntwenty-three miles in circuit. It could not have contained less \nthan 1,000,000 inhabitants. A commercial enterprise like that \nof the mother city. Tyre, and exactions from subject cities and \nstates \xe2\x80\x94 three hundred Libyan cities acknowledged the suze- \nrainty of Carthage and paid tribute into its treasury \xe2\x80\x94 had ren- \ndered it enormously wealthy. In the third century before our \nera it was probably the richest city in the world. \n\nThe Carthaginian Empire.\xe2\x80\x94 About the fifth century b.c, the \nCarthaginians not only ceased to pay ground-rent to the Lib- \nyans, but, subjugating the surrounding tribes, forced tribute \nfrom them. The other Phoenician factories and cities upon \nthe different shores of the Western Mediterranean gradually \nacknowledged the supremacy of Carthage. Pursuing almost \nexactly the policy of Rome, she secured all newly gained terri- \n\n\n\n272 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\ntory by the establishment of military colonies. But, while ex- \nhibiting the martial spirit of the Romans, the Carthaginians \ndisplayed also the Phoenician fondness for commercial enter- \nprise. Carthage was simply another Tyre. Her history up to \nthe beginning of her fatal struggle with Rome is but a repeti- \ntion of the story of the great Phoenician capital. She became \nmistress and queen of the Western Mediterranean. By the \nthird century B.C., through peaceful colonization or by force of \narms, she held sway over all the northern coast of Africa from \nthe Greater Syrtis to the Pillars of Hercules, and possessed \nthe larger part of Sicily, as well as Sardinia, Corsica, the Bale- \naric Isles, Southern Spain, and scores of little islands scattered \nhere and there in the neighboring seas. With all its shores \ndotted with her colonies and fortresses, and swept in every \ndirection by the Carthaginian war-galleys, the Western Medi- \nterranean had become a " Phoenician lake," in which, as the \nCarthaginians boasted, no one dared wash his hands without \ntheir permission. \n\nCarthaginian Government and Religion. \xe2\x80\x94 The government \nof Carthage, like that of Rome, was republican in form. Cor- \nresponding to the Roman consuls, two magistrates, called Suf- \nfetes, stood at the head of the State. The Senate was com- \nposed of the heads of the leading families : its duties and \npowers were very like those of the Roman Senate. So well- \nbalanced was the constitution, and so prudent was its ad- \nministration, that six hundred years of Carthaginian history \nexhibited not a single revolution. \n\nThe religion of the Carthaginians was the old Canaanitish \nworship of Baal, or the Sun. To Moloch \xe2\x80\x94 another name for \nthe fire-god \xe2\x80\x94 "who rejoiced in human victims and in parents\' \ntears," they offered human sacrifices. \n\nRome and Carthage Compared.\xe2\x80\x94 These two great republics, \nwhich for more than five centuries had been slowly extending \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 273 \n\ntheir limits and maturing their powers upon the opposite shores \nof the Mediterranean, were now about to begin one of the most \nmemorable struggles of all antiquity \xe2\x80\x94 a duel that was to last, \nwith every vicissitude of fortune, for nearly one hundred years. \nAs was the case in the contest between Athens and Sparta, so \nnow the two rival cities, with their allies and dependencies, \nwere very nearly matched in strength and resources. The Ro- \nmans, it is true, were almost destitute of a navy: while the \nCarthaginians had the largest and most splendidly equipped \nfleet that ever patrolled the waters of the Mediterranean. But \nalthough the Carthaginians were superior to the Romans in \nnaval warfare, they were greatly their inferiors in land en- \ncounters. The Carthaginian territory, moreover, was widely \nscattered, embracing extended coasts and isolated islands ; \nwhile the Roman possessions were compact, and confined to a \nsingle and easily defended peninsula. Again, the Carthagin- \nian armies were formed chiefly of mercenaries, while those of \nRome were recruited very largely from the ranks of the Roman \npeople. And then the subject states of Carthage were mostly \nof another race, language, and religion from their Phoenician \nconquerors, and v/ere ready, upon the first disaster to the rul- \ning city, to drop away from their allegiance ; while the Latin \nallies and Italian dependencies of Rome were close kindred \nto her in race and religion, and so, through natural impulse, for \nthe most part remained loyal to her during even the darkest \nperiods of her struggle with her rival. \n\nThe Beginning of the War.\xe2\x80\x94 Lying between Italy and the \ncoast of Africa is the large island of Sicily. It is in easy sight \nof the former, and its southernmost point is only ninety miles \nfrom the latter. At the commencement of the First Punic \nWar, the Carthaginians held possession of all the island save \na strip of the eastern coast which was under the sway of the \nGreek city of Syracuse. The Greeks and Carthaginians had \ncarried on an almost uninterrupted struggle through two cen- \n\n13 \n\n\n\n274 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nturies for the control of the island. The Romans had not yet \nset foot upon it. But it was destined to become the scene of \nthe most terrible encounters between the armaments of the two \nrivals. Pyrrhus had foreseen it all. As he withdrew from the \nisland, he said, " What a fine battle-field we are leaving for the \nRomans and Carthaginians." \n\nHostilities were brought about in the following way. Dur- \ning the war with Pyrrhus, some Campanians, who had been \nserving as mercenaries in the army of the King of Syracuse, \nwhile returning to Italy, conceived the project of seizing the \ntown of Messana, on the Sicilian Straits. They killed the citi- \nzens, intrenched themselves in the place, and commenced to \nannoy the surrounding country with their marauding bands. \nHiero, King of Syracuse, besieged the ruffians in their strong- \nhold. The Mamertines, or " Sons of Mars," for thus they \ntermed themselves, appealed to the Romans for aid, basing \ntheir claims to assistance upon the alleged fact of common \ndescent from the war-god. Now, the Romans had just pun- \nished a similar band of Campanian robbers who had seized \nRhegium, on the Italian side of the channel. To turn about \nnow and lend aid to the Sicilian band would be the greatest \ninconsistency. But in case they did not give the assistance \nasked, it was certain that the Mamertines would look to the \nCarthaginians for succor ; and so Messana would come into \nthe hands of their rivals. \n\nThe appeal of the Mamertines was laid before the Roman \nSenate. Shrinking from the responsibility of taking a step \nwhich it was easy to foresee must involve tremendous conse- \nquences, and commit Rome to a policy of conquests out of \nItaly, the Senate referred the matter to the popular assembly. \nInfluenced by ambitious leaders, eager for booty, and allured \nby promise of fresh lands for apportionment, the people voted \nfor war. An army was speedily gathered and placed under \nthe command of Appius Claudius, and was borne by ships, \nfurnished by the Greek cities, across the narrow straits to \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 275 \n\nMessana. The Romans had passed the Rubicon. That act \ncommitted them to a career of foreign conquest destined to \ncontinue until their armies had made the circuit of the Medi- \nterranean. \n\nMeanwhile, through the intervention of the Carthaginians, \nthe Syracusans and Mamertines had been induced to conclude \na treaty of peace, and the Carthaginians had been allowed to \nplace a garrison in Messana. With the matter thus composed, \nthere was now no reason why the Romans should give any \nfurther attention to it. But the consul and the army were \nboth bent on war. Claudius sent an embassy to Messana, \nto persuade the Mamertines to drive out the Carthaginians \nand come into an alliance with the Romans. This was done. \nThe Syracusans and Carthaginians, old enemies and rivals \nthough they had been, joined their forces against the insolent \nnew-comers. The allies were completely defeated in the first \nbattle, and the Roman army obtained a sure foothold upon the \nisland. \n\nIn the following year both consuls were placed at the head \nof formidable armies for the conquest of Sicily. A large por- \ntion of the island was quickly overrun, and many of the cities \nthrew off their allegiance to Syracuse and Carthage, and be- \ncame allies of Rome. Hiero, seeing that he was upon the los- \ning side, deserted the cause of the Carthaginians, and formed \nan alliance with the Romans, and ever after remained their \nfirm friend. The aid which he rendered the Romans on dif- \nferent occasions during their struggle with Carthage was timely \nand substantial. \n\nAfter the forming of this alliance the Romans laid siege to \nAgrigentum, one of the most important of the Sicilian cities yet \nremaining in the hands of the Carthaginians. This place was \ncaptured after a siege of seven months. The Carthaginians \nwere now shut up in the strongly fortified cities of Eryx and \nPanormus. \n\n\n\n276 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Romans Build their First Fleet\xe2\x80\x94 Their experience dur- \ning the past campaigns had shown the Romans that if they \nwere to cope successfully with the Carthaginians they must be \nable to meet them upon the sea as well as upon the land. Not \nonly did the Carthaginian ships annoy the Sicilian coast towns \nwhich were already in the hands of the Romans; but they even \nmade descents upon the shores of Italy, ravaged the fields and \nvillages, and sailed away with their booty before pursuit was \npossible. To guard their shores and ward off these attacks, \nthe Romans had no fleet; like the ancient Egyptians, they \nhated the sea. Their Greek and Etruscan allies were, indeed, \nmaritime peoples, and possessed considerable fleets, which were \nat the disposal of the Romans. But these vessels were merely \ntriremes, galleys with three banks of oars ; while the Cartha- \nginian ships were quinqueremes, or vessels with five rows of \noars. The former were worthless to cope with the latter, such \nan advantage did these have in their greater weight and height. \nSo the Romans determined to build a fleet of quinqueremes. \n\nNow it so happened that, a little while before, a Carthaginian \ngalley had been wrecked upon the shore of Southern Italy. \nThis served as a pattern. It is said that within the almost \nincredibly short space of sixty days a growing forest was con- \nverted into a fleet of one hundred and twenty war-galleys. \nWhile the ships were building, the Roman soldiers were be- \ning trained in the duties of sailors by practising in rowing, \nwhile sitting in lines on tiers of benches built on the land. \nWith the shore ringing with the sounds of the hurried work \nupon the galleys, and crowded with the groups of" make-believe \nrowers," the scene must have been a somewhat animated as \nwell as ludicrous one. Yet it all meant very serious business. \n\nThe First Sea-fight. \xe2\x80\x94 The consul Duillius was intrusted \nwith the command of the fleet. He met the Carthaginian \nsquadron near the city and promontory of Mylae, on the north- \nern coast of Sicily (260 B.C.). A single precaution gave the \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 277 \n\nvictory to the Romans. Distrusting their ability to match the \nskill of their enemies in manoeuvring their ships, they had pro- \nvided each with a drawbridge, over thirty feet in length, and \nwide enough for two persons to pass over it abreast. It was \nraised and lowered by means of pulleys attached to the mast. \nThe Carthaginian galleys bore down swiftly upon the Roman \nships, thinking to pierce and sink with their brazen beaks the \nclumsy-looking structures. The bridges alone saved the Ro- \nman fleet from destruction. As soon as a Carthaginian ship \ncame near enough to a Roman vessel, the gangway was allowed \nto fall upon the approaching galley ; and the long spike with \nwhich the end was armed, piercing the deck, instantly pinned \nthe vessels together. The Roman soldiers, rushing along the \nbridge, were soon engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with their \nenemies, in which species of encounter the former were sure of \nan easy victory. Fifty of the Carthaginian galleys were capt- \nured; the remainder \xe2\x80\x94 there were one hundred and thirty \nships in the fleet \xe2\x80\x94 wisely refusing to rush into the terrible and \nfatal embrace in which they had seen their companions locked \nand crushed, turned their prows in flight. \n\nThe Romans had gained their first naval victory. The joy \nat Rome was unbounded. It inspired, in the more sanguine, \nsplendid visions of maritime command and glory. The Medi- \nterranean should speedily become a Roman lake, in which no \nvessel might float without the consent of Rome. Duillius was \nhonored with a magnificent triumph, and the Senate ordained \nthat, in passing through the city to his home at night, he should \nalways be escorted with torches and music. In the Forum was \nraised a splendid memorial column, " adorned with the brazen \nbeaks of the vessels which his wise ignorance and his clumsy \nskill had enabled him to capture," \n\nNaval Battle of Ecnomus. \xe2\x80\x94 The results of the naval engage- \nment of Mylae encouraged the Romans to push the war with re- \ndoubled energy. Almost all Sicily was soon in their hands, \n\n\n\n278 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nand forces were landed in Sardinia and Corsica, to effect the \nsubjugation of those islands. The Roman fleet was increased \nby a large number of vessels, and placed under the command \nof the two consuls, Atillius Regulus and L. Manlius Vulso, who \nwere ordered to carry the war into Africa. They crept with \ntheir armament, embracing three hundred and thirty galleys, \nalong the southern shore of Sicily, to the headland of Ecnomus, \nwhere they encountered the squadrons of the enemy. The \nCarthaginians had drained every resource to gather a fleet that \nshould be able effectually to guard the passage to Africa, know- \ning well what the carrying of war into their African dependen- \ncies meant. Their armament numbered three hundred and \nfifty ships of war. It is estimated that the united fleets bore \n300,000 men, the largest number that ever fought together \nupon the sea. The Carthaginian fleet was almost annihilated \n(256 B.C.). \n\nRegulus. \xe2\x80\x94 Nothing now hindered the Romans from making \na descent upon the African coast. They disembarked near \nCarthage. The country, rich in gardens and villas, was ravaged \nfar and wide, and the capital itself was threatened. The towns \nfell an easy prey to the Romans, for the reason that the Car- \nthaginians, as a precaution against their revolt, had forbidden \nthem to erect defences. \n\nThe consul Manlius now received orders from the Senate \nto return to Rome with the prisoners and the booty already \ngathered. Regulus was left with scarcely 16,000 men to finish \nthe war. At first he was everywhere successful. The number \nof towns he captured is stated at two hundred. He sent word \nto Rome that he had " sealed up the gates of Carthage with \nterror." \n\nDesiring the credit of bringing the war to a close, Regulus \nhastened to enter into negotiations of peace with the Cartha- \nginians before his successor should come to assume command ; \nbut so insolent, ungenerous, and cruel were the terms he pro- \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 279 \n\nposed that the Carthaginians, indignantly refusing them, re- \nsolved to continue the war. They intrusted the command of \ntheir armies to an able Spartan general, named Xanthippus, \nwho, with a small but disciplined band of Lacedaemonians, had \ncome to offer aid to the Carthaginians and to seek fortune for \nhimself With the aid of the Carthaginian war-elephants he \ninflicted a crushing defeat upon Regulus, and made him a \nprisoner. A fleet which was sent to bear away the remnants \nof the shattered army was wrecked in a terrific storm off the \ncoast of Sicily, and the shores of the island were strewn with \nthe wrecks of between two and three hundred ships, and with \nthe bodies of 100,000 men. \n\nLoss of a Second Roman Fleet.\xe2\x80\x94 Undismayed by the terrible \ndisaster that had overtaken the transport fleet, the Romans set \nto work to build another. In the short space of three months \na squadron of two hundred and twenty ships was afloat and \nmanned. After capturing the strong fortress of Panormus, the \nfleet sailed for the coast of Africa, and, although it secured some \nbooty, yet it accomplished nothing of importance, and, after ex- \nperiencing great dangers in the unknown whirlpools of the \nSyrtis, turned back to Italy. When already in sight of the \npeninsula, off the headland of Palinurus, a terrible storm swept \ndown upon the sea, and one hundred and fifty of the galleys \nwere sunk or dashed to pieces upon the rocks. The visions \nof naval supremacy awakened among the Romans by the splen- \ndid victories of Mylae and Ecnomus were thus suddenly dis- \npelled by these two successive and appalling disasters that had \novertaken their armaments. \n\nThe Battle of JPanormus. \xe2\x80\x94 For a few years the Romans re- \nfrained from tempting again the hostile powers of the sea. \nSicily became the battle-ground where the war was continued, \nalthough with but little spirit on either side, until the arrival in \nthe island of the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal (251 e.g.). \n\n\n\n28o ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nHe brought with him one hundred and forty elephants trained \nin war. Of all the instruments of death which the Roman \nsoldiers were accustomed to face, none in the history of the \nlegionaries inspired them with such uncontrollable terror as \nthese " wild beasts," as they termed them. The furious rage \nwith which these monsters, themselves almost invulnerable to \nthe darts of the enemy, swept down the opposing ranks with \ntheir trunks, and tossed and trampled to pieces the bodies of \ntheir victims, was indeed well calculated to inspire a most ex- \naggerated dread. \n\nBeneath the walls of Panormus, the consul Metellus drew \nHasdrubal into an engagement. He checked the terrific charge \nof the war-elephants by discharges of arrows dipped in flaming \npitch, which caused the frightened animals to rush back upon \nand crush through the disordered ranks of the Carthaginians. \nThe result was a complete victory for the Romans. After the \nbattle the Romans induced the drivers of the elephants, which \nwere roaming over the field in a sort of panic, to capture and \nquiet the creatures. Once in captivity, they were floated across \nthe Sicilian Straits on huge rafts, and to the number of twenty \ngraced the triumphal procession of Metellus. After having \nbeen led through the Forum and along the Via Sacra, they \nwere conducted to the Circus, and there slain in the presence \nof the assembled multitudes. \n\nRegulus and the Carthaginian Embassy. \xe2\x80\x94 The result of the \nbattle of Panormus dispirited the Carthaginians. They sent \nan embassy to Rome, to negotiate for peace, or, if that could \nnot be reached, to effect an exchange of prisoners. Among \nthe commissioners was Regulus, who since his capture, five \nyears before, had been held a prisoner in Africa. Before set- \nting out from Carthage he had promised to return if the em- \nbassy were unsuccessful. For the sake of his own release, the \nCarthaginians supposed he would counsel peace, or at least \nurge an exchange of prisoners. But it is related that upon \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 28 1 \n\narrival at Rome he counselled war instead of peace, at the same \ntime revealing to the Senate the enfeebled condition of Car- \nthage. As to the exchange of prisoners he said, " Let those who \nhave surrendered when they ought to have died, die in the land \nwhich has witnessed their disgrace." Referring to himself, he \nadded, " I am old j and in the short period of life still remain- \ning to me can do my country little service, while the generals \nwho would be exchanged for me are still hale and vigorous." \n\nThe Roman Senate, following his counsel, rejected all the \nproposals of the embassy ; and Regulus, in spite of the tears \nand entreaties of his wife and friends, turned away from Rome, \nand set out for Carthage to bear such fate as he well knew the \nCarthaginians, in their disappointment and anger, would be \nsure to visit upon him. \n\nThe tradition goes on to tell how, upon his arrival at Car- \nthage, he was confined in a cask driven full of spikes, and then \nleft to die of starvation and pain. This part of the- tale has \nbeen doubted (by Niebuhr), and the finest touches of the other \nportions are supposed to have been added by the poets. " It \nis," says a competent critic, "an ideal picture of a brave man \nbearing up under a great misfortune, and striving as best he \ncould to wipe out disgrace ; and as an ideal picture we are \ncontent to let it pass." \n\nLoss of Two Roman Fleets.\xe2\x80\x94 After the failure of the Cartha- \nginian embassy, the war went on by land and by sea with vary- \ning vicissitudes. The Carthaginians still held two strong for- \ntresses in Sicily \xe2\x80\x94 Lilybseum and Drepana, both situated in the \nsouthwestern part of the island, very near to Africa. For ten \nyears the Romans pressed in vain the siege of the former place. \nDuring this period one of the consuls, Claudius, a most in- \ncompetent and arrogant man, resolved, against all prudent ad- \nvice, to make a naval attack upon Drepana. He there met \nwith an overwhelming defeat. Almost a hundred vessels were \nlost. The disaster caused the greatest alarm at Rome. Su- \n\n13* \n\n\n\n282 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nperstition increased the fears of the people. It was reported \nthat just before the battle, when the auspices were being taken, \nand the sacred chickens would not eat, Claudius had given \norders to have them thrown into the sea, irreverently remark- \ning, "At any rate, they shall drink." Imagination was free to \ndepict what further evils the offended gods might inflict upon \nthe Roman state. \n\nThe gloomiest forebodings might have found justification in \nsubsequent events. The other consul just now met with a \ngreat disaster. He was proceeding along the southern coast \nof Sicily with a squadron of eight hundred merchantmen and \nover one hundred war-galleys, the former loaded with grain \nfor the army before Lilybasum. The Carthaginian admiral, re- \nceiving information of the approach of the Roman consul, set \nhis fleet in motion, in order to intercept him. When the trans- \nports sighted the Carthaginian squadron, they sought refuge \nfrom the heavy war-ships by running in close to the shore. \nWhile they were in this position, a severe storm arose. The \nexperienced Phoenician sailors stood out to sea, and weathered \nthe tempest in safety; while the Roman vessels were beaten \nto pieces upon the rocks. Not a single ship escaped. The \ncoast for miles was strewn with broken planks and bodies, and \nheaped with vast windrows of corn cast up by the waves. \n\nClose of the First Punic War.\xe2\x80\x94 The war had now lasted for \nfifteen years. Four Roman fleets had been destroyed, three \nof which had been sunk or broken to pieces by storms. Of \nthe fourteen hundred vessels that had been lost, seven hundred \nwere war-galleys \xe2\x80\x94 all large and costly quinqueremes. Only \none hundred of these had fallen into the hands of the enemy; \nthe remainder were a sacrifice to the malign and hostile power \nof the waves. Such successive blows from an invisible hand \nwere enough to blanch the faces even of the sturdy Romans. \nNeptune manifestly denied to the " Children of Mars " the \nrealm of the sea. \n\n\n\nTHE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 283 \n\nIt was impossible, for the six years following the last disaster, \nto infuse any spirit into the struggle. In 247 B.C., Hamilcar \nBarcas, the father of the great Hannibal, assumed the command \nof the Carthaginian forces, and for several years conducted \nthe war with great ability on the island of Sicily, even making \nRome tremble for the safety of her Italian possessions. \n\nOnce more the Romans determined to commit their cause \nto the element that had been so unfriendly to them. A fleet \nof two hundred vessels was built and equipped, but entirely by \nprivate subscription; for the Senate feared that public senti- \nment would not sustain them in levying a tax for fitting up an- \nother costly armament as a sacrifice to the insatiable Neptune. \nThis people\'s squadron, as we may call it, was intrusted to the \ncommand of the consul Catulus. He met the Carthaginian \nfleet, under the command of the admiral Hanno, near the \n^gatian islands, and inflicted upon it a crushing defeat. \n\nThe Carthaginians now sued for peace. The terms proposed \nby the Romans were at first so harsh that Hamilcar rejected \nthem with just indignation. But finally a treaty was arranged, \nthe terms of which required that Carthage should give up the \nisland of Sicily, surrender all her prisoners, and pay an indem- \nnity of 3200 talents (about $4,000,000), one third of which was \nto be paid down, and the balance in ten yearly payments. \nThus ended (241 B.C.), after a continuance of twenty-four years, \nthe first great struggle between Carthage and Rome. \n\n\n\n284 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII. \n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. \n(218-201 B.C.) \n\nRome between the First and Second Pimic Wars. \n\nThe First Roman Province. \xe2\x80\x94 The First Punic War lasted \ntwenty-four years. During a period of almost exactly the same \nlength \xe2\x80\x94 that is, for the twenty-three years that followed the close \nof the first struggle \xe2\x80\x94 the two rivals strained every power and \ntaxed every resource in preparation for a renewal of the con- \ntest. \n\nThe Romans settled the affairs of Sicily, organizing it as a \nprovince of the republic. This island was the first territory \nbeyond the limits of Italy that Rome had conquered, and the \nSicilian the first of Roman provinces. But as the imperial \ncity extended her conquests, her provincial possessions in- \ncreased in number and size until they formed at last a perfect \ncordon about the Mediterranean. Each province was usually \ngoverned by an officer bearing the title of prsetor, sent out \nfrom the capital, and paid an annual tribute or tax to Rome. \n\nRome Acquires Sardinia and Corsica. \xe2\x80\x94 The first acquisition \nby the Romans of lands beyond the peninsula seems to have \ncreated in them an insatiable ambition for foreign conquests. \nThey soon found a pretext for seizing the island of Sardinia, \nthe most ancient and, after Sicily, the most prized of the pos- \nsessions of the Carthaginians. An insurrection breaking out \nupon the island, the Carthaginians were moving to suppress it, \nwhen the Romans insolently commanded them not only to de- \nsist from their military preparations (pretending that they be- \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 285 \n\nHeved them a threat against Rome), but to surrender Sardinia, \nand, moreover, to pay a fine of 1 200 talents ($1,500,000). Car- \nthage, exhausted as she was, could do nothing but comply. \nThe meanness and perfidy of the Romans in this matter made \nmore bitter and implacable, if that were possible, the Cartha- \nginian hatred of the Roman race. Sardinia, in connection \nwith Corsica, which was also seized, was formed into a Roman \nprovince. With her hands upon these islands, the authority of \nRome in the western or Tuscan Sea was supreme. \n\nThe Illyrian Corsairs are Punished. \xe2\x80\x94 In a more legitimate \nway the Romans extended their influence over the seas that \nwash the eastern shores of Italy. For a long time the Adriatic \nand Ionian waters had been infested with Illyrian pirates, who \nissued from the roadsteads of the northwestern coasts of the \nformer sea. These buccaneers not only scoured the seas for \nmerchantmen, but troubled the Hellenic towns along the shores \nof Greece, and were even so bold as to make descents upon \nthe Italian coasts. The Roman fleet chased these corsairs \nfrom the Adriatic, and captured several of their strongholds. \nRome now assumed a sort of protectorate over the Greek cities \nof the Adriatic coasts. This was her first step towards final \nsupremacy in Macedonia and Greece. \n\nWarwith the Gauls. \xe2\x80\x94 In the north, during this same period, \nRoman authority was extended from the Apennines and the \nRubicon to the foot of the Alps. Alarmed at the advance of \nthe Romans, who were pushing northward their great military \nroad, called the Flaminian Way, and also settling with dis- \ncharged soldiers and needy citizens the tracts of frontier land \nwrested some time before from the Gauls, the Boii, a tribe of \nthat race, stirred up all the Gallic peoples already in Italy, be- \nsides their kinsmen who were yet beyond the mountains, for an \nassault upon Rome. Intelligence of this movement among the \nnorthern tribes threw all Italy into a fever of excitement. At \n\n\n\n286 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nRome the terror was great ; for not yet had died out of memory \nwhat the city had once suffered at the hands of the ancestors \nof these same barbarians that were now again gathering their \nhordes for sack and pillage. An ancient prediction, found in \nthe Sibylline books, declared that a portion of Roman territory \nmust needs be occupied by Gauls. Hoping sufficiently to ful- \nfil the prophecy and satisfy Fate, the Roman Senate caused \ntwo Gauls to be buried alive in one of the public squares of \nthe capital. \n\nMeanwhile the barbarians had advanced into Etruria, ravag- \ning the country as they moved southward. After gathering a \nlarge amount of booty, they were carrying this back to a place \nof safety, when they were surrounded by the Roman armies at \nTelamon, and almost annihilated (225 B.C.). The Romans, \ntaking advantage of this victory, pushed on into the plains of \nthe Po, captured the city which is now known as Milan, and \nextended their authority to the foot-hills of the Alps. To guard \nthe new territory, two military colonies, Placentia and Cremona, \nwere established upon the opposite banks of the Po. \n\nCarthage between the First and Second Punic Wars. \n\nThe Truceless War. \xe2\x80\x94 Scarcely had peace been concluded \nwith Rome at the end of the First Punic War, before Carthage \nwas plunged into a still deadlier struggle, which for a time \nthreatened her very existence. The mercenary troops, upon \ntheir return from Sicily, revolted, on account of not receiving \ntheir pay. Their appeal to the native tribes of Africa was an- \nswered by a general uprising throughout the dependencies of \nCarthage. The extent of the revolt shows how hateful and \nhated was the rule of the great capital over her subject states. \n\nThe suppression of the insurrection was at first committed \nto Hanno, but so incompetent did he show himself that the \ncommand was transferred to his rival Hamilcar. It was a war \nbetween master and slave, and, as is always true of such strug- \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 287 \n\ngles, was unspeakably bitter and cruel. It is known in history \nas "The Truceless War." The barbarous Libyans mutilated \nin a terrible manner and by wholesale the prisoners in their \nhands ; and Hamilcar retaliated by giving his captives to the \nelephants to be trampled to death. At one time Carthage was \nthe only city remaining in the hands of the government. But \nthe genius of Hamilcar at last triumphed. The Libyans were \noverpowered and simply exterminated. Many were crucified, \nor put to death in other ways with every refinement of cruelty. \n\nHamilcar in Spain.\xe2\x80\x94 It was during the Truceless War that \nthe revolt broke out in Sardinia, with the outcome of which we \nare already familiar. Hamilcar Barcas determined to repair \nthe loss of Sicily and Sardinia by new conquests in Spain. He \ncrossed over into that country, and for nine years devoted his \ncommanding genius to organizing the different Iberian tribes \ninto a compact state, and in developing the rich gold and silver \nmines of the southern part of the peninsula. He fell in battle \n228 B.C. \n\nHamilcar Barcas was the greatest general that up to this \ntime the Carthaginian race^had produced. Genius is seldom \ntransmitted ; but in the Barcine family the rule was broken, \nand the rare genius of Hamilcar reappeared in his sons, whom \nhe himself, it is said, was fond of calling the "lion\'s brood." \nHannibal, the oldest, was only nineteen at the time of his \nfather\'s death, and being thus too young to assume command, \nHasdrubal,"* the son-in-law of Hamilcar, was chosen to succeed \nhim. He carried out the unfinished plans of Hamilcar, ex- \ntended and consolidated the Carthaginian power in Spain, and \nupon the western coast founded New Carthage as the centre \nand capital of the newly acquired territory. The native tribes \nwere conciliated rather than conquered. The Barcine family \nknew how to rule as well as how to fight. \n\n* Not to be confounded with Hannibal\'s own brother Hasdrubal. See \np. 297. \n\n\n\n288 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nHannibal\'s Vow. \xe2\x80\x94 Upon the death of Hasdrubal, which oc- \ncurred 221 B.C., Hannibal, now twenty-six years of age, was by \nthe unanimous voice of the army called to be their leader. \nWhen a child of nine years he had been led by his father to \nthe altar ; and there, with his hands upon the sacrifice, the \nlittle boy had sworn eternal hatred to the Roman race. He \nwas driven on to his gigantic undertakings and to his hard \nfate, not only by the restless fires of his warlike genius, but, as \nhe himself declared, by the sacred obligations of a vow that \ncould not be broken. \n\nHannibal Attacks Saguntum. \xe2\x80\x94 In two years Hannibal ex- \ntended the Carthaginian power to the Ebro. Saguntum, a \nGreek city upon the east coast of Spain, alone remained un- \nsubdued. The Romans, who were jealously watching affairs in \nthe peninsula, had entered into an alliance with this city, and \ntaken it, with other Greek cities in that quarter of the Mediter- \nranean, under their protection. Hannibal, although he well \nknew that an attack upon this place would precipitate hostili- \nties with Rome, laid siege to it in the spring of 219 B.C. He \nwas eager for the renewal of the old contest. The Roman \nSenate sent messengers to him forbidding his making war upon \na city which was a friend and ally of the Roman people. Di- \nrecting the envoys to bear their message to the Carthaginian \nSenate, he continued the siege, and, after an investment of \neight months, gained possession of the town. \n\nThe Romans now sent commissioners to Carthage to de- \nmand of the Senate that they should give up Hannibal to them, \nand by so doing repudiate the act of their general. The \nCarthaginians hesitated. Then Quintus Fabius, chief of the \nembassy, gathering up his toga, said: "I carry here peace and \nwar; choose, men of Carthage, which ye will have." " Give us \nwhichever ye will," was the reply. " War, then," said Fabius, \ndropping his toga. The "die was now cast; and the arena \nwas cleared for the foremost man of his race and his time. \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 289 \n\nperhaps the mightiest mih\'tary genius of any race and of any \ntime."* \n\n\n\nThe Second Punic War. \n\nHannibal Begins his March. \xe2\x80\x94 The Carthaginian empire was \nnow stirred with preparations for the impending struggle. \nHannibal was the life and soul of every movement. He \nplanned and executed. The Carthaginian Senate acquiesced \nin and tardily confirmed his acts. His bold plan was to cross \nthe Pyrenees and Alps and descend upon Rome from the \nnorth. He secured the provinces in Spain and Africa by \nplacing garrisons of Iberians in Africa and of Libyans in the \npeninsula. Ambassadors were sent among the Gallic tribes \non both sides of the Alps, to invite them to be ready to join \nthe army that would soon set out from Spain. \n\nWith these preparations completed, Hannibal left New Car- \nthage early in the spring of 218 B.C., with an army numbering \nabout 100,000 men, and including thirty-seven war elephants. \nA hostile country lay between him and the Pyrenees. Through \nthe warlike tribes that resisted his march he forced his way to \nthe foot of the mountains that guard the northern frontier of \nSpain. More than 20,000 of his soldiers were lost in this \npart of his march. \n\nPassage of the Pyrenees and the Rhone. \xe2\x80\x94 Leaving a strong \nforce to garrison the newly conquered lands, and discharging \n10,000 more of his men who had begun to murmur because \nof their hardships, he pushed on with the remainder across \nthe Pyrenees, and led them down into the Valley of the Rhone. \nThe Gauls attempted to dispute the passage of the river, but \nthey were routed, and the army was ferried across the stream \nin native boats and on rudely constructed rafts. \n\n* Smith\'s "Carthage and Rome," p. 114. \n\n\n\n290 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nPassage of the Alps. \xe2\x80\x94 Hannibal now followed up the course \n\nof the Rhone, and then one of its eastern tributaries, the Isere, \nuntil he reached the foot-hills of the Alps, just beneath the pass \nof the Little St. Bernard. Nature and man joined to op- \npose the passage. The season was already far advanced\xe2\x80\x94 it \nwas October\xe2\x80\x94and snow was falling upon the higher portions \nof the trail. Day after day the army toiled painfully up the \ndangerous path. In places the narrow way had to be cut wider \nfor the monstrous bodies of the elephants. Often avalanches \nof stone were hurled upon the trains by the hostile bands that \nheld possession of the heights above. At last the summit was \ngained, and the shivering army looked down into the warm \nhaze of the Italian plains. The sight alone was enough to \nrouse the drooping spirits of the soldiers; but Hannibal stirred \nthem to enthusiasm by addressing them with these words : \n"Ye are standing upon the Acropolis of Italy; yonder lies \nRome." The army-began its descent, and at length, after toils \nand losses equalled only by those of the ascent, its thinned bat- \ntalions issued from the defiles of the mountains upon the plains \nof the Po. Of the fifty thousand men and more with which \nHannibal had begun the passage, barely half that number had \nsurvived the march, and these " looked more like phantoms \nthan men." \n\nBattles of the Ticinus, the Trebia, and of Lake Trasimenus. \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nThe Romans had not the remotest idea of Hannibal\'s plans. \nWith war determined upon, the Senate had sent one of the \nconsuls, L. Sempronius Longus, with an army into Africa by \nthe way of Sicily; while the other, Publius Cornelius Scipio, \nthey had directed to lead another army into Spain. \n\nWhile the Senate were watching the movements of these ex- \npeditions, they were startled with the intelligence that Hanni- \nbal, instead of being in Spain, had crossed the Alps and was \namong the Gauls upon the Po. Sempronius was hastily re- \ncalled from his attempt upon Africa, to the defence of Italy. \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 29 1 \n\nScipio, on his way to Spain, had touched at Massilia, and there \nlearned of the movements of Hannibal. He turned back, \nhurried into Northern Italy, and took command of the levies \nthere. The cavalry of the two armies met upon the banks of \nthe Ticinus, a tributary of the Po. The Romans were driven \nfrom the field by the fierce onset of the Numidian horsemen. \nScipio now awaited the arrival of the other consular army, \nwhich was hurrying up through Italy by forced marches. \n\nIn the battle of the Trebia the united armies of the two \nconsuls were almost annihilated. The refugees that escaped \nfrom the field sought shelter behind the walls of Placentia. \nThe Gauls, who had been waiting to see to which side fortune \nwould incline, now flocked to the standard of Hannibal, and \nhailed him as their deliverer. \n\nThe spring following the victory at the Trebia, Hannibal led \nhis army, now recruited by many Gauls, across the Apennines, \nand moved southward. At Lake Trasimenus he entrapped the \nRomans under Flaminius in a mountain defile, where, bewil- \ndered by a fog that filled the valley, the greater part of the \narmy were slaughtered, and the consul himself was slain. \n\nHannibal\'s Policy. \xe2\x80\x94 The way to Rome was now open. Be- \nlieving that Hannibal would march directly upon the capital, \nthe Senate caused the bridges that spanned the Tiber to be \ndestroyed, and appointed Fabius Maximus dictator. But Han- \nnibal did not deem it wise to throw his troops against the walls \nof Rome. Crossing the Apennines, he touched the Adriatic at \nPicenum, whence he sent messages to Carthage of his wonder- \nful achievements. Here he rested his army after a march that \nhas few parallels in the annals of war. \n\nIn one respect only had events disappointed Hannibal\'s ex- \npectations. He had thought that all the states of Italy were, \nlike the Gauls, ready to revolt from Rome at the first oppor- \ntunity that might offer itself. But not a single city had thus \nfar proved unfaithful to Rome. The aid which Hannibal ex- \n\n\n\n292 " ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\npected from the Italians, and which he invited by the kindest \ntreatment of those who fell into his hands as prisoners, he was \ndestined never to receive. \n\nFabius the Delayer.\xe2\x80\x94 The dictator Fabius, at the head of \nfour new legions, started in pursuit of Hannibal, who was again \non the move. The fate of Rome was in the hands of Fabius. \nShould he risk a battle and lose it, the destiny of the capital \nwould be sealed. He determined to adopt a more prudent \npolicy\xe2\x80\x94 to follow and annoy the Carthaginian army, but to re- \nfuse all proffers of battle. Thus time might be gained for \nraising a new army and perfecting measures for the public de- \nfence. In every possible way Hannibal endeavored to draw \nhis enemy into an engagement. He ravaged the fields far and \nwide and fired the homesteads of the Italians, in order to force \nFabius to fight in their defence. The soldiers of the dictator \nbegan to murmur. They called him the Ctmctator, or " De- \nlayer." They even accused him of treachery to the cause of \nRome. But nothing moved him from the steady pursuit of the \npolicy which he clearly saw was the only prudent one to follow. \nHannibal marched through Samnium, desolating the country \nas he went, and then descended upon the rich plains of Cam- \npania. Fabius followed him closely, and from the mountains \nwhich he would not allow his soldiers to leave they were \nobliged to watch, with such calmness as they might command, \nthe devastations of the enemy going on beneath their very \neyes. They besought Fabius to lead them down upon the \nplain, where they might at least strike a blow in defence of their \nhomes. Fabius was unmoved by their clamor. He planned, \nhowever, to entrap Hannibal. Knowing that the enemy could \nnot support themselves in Campania through the approaching \nwinter, but must recross the mountains into Apulia, he placed \na strong guard in the pass by which they must retreat, and \nthen quietly awaited their movements. Hannibal resorted to \nstratagem to draw away the defenders of the mountain path. \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 293 \n\nTo the horns of two thousand oxen he caused burning torches \nto be fastened, and then these animals were driven one night \nup among the hills that overhung the pass. These creatures, \nfrantic with pain and fright, rushed along the ranges that bor- \ndered the pass, and led the watchers there to believe that the \nCarthaginians were forcing their way over the hills in a grand \nrush. Straightway the guardians of the pass left their posi- \ntion, to intercept the flying enemy. While they were pursuing \nthe cattle, Hannibal marched quietly with all his booty through \nthe unguarded defile, and escaped into Samnium. \n\nThe Policy of Fabius Vindicated. \xe2\x80\x94 The escape of the Car- \nthaginian army caused the smothered discontent with Fabius \nand his policy to break out into open opposition, both among \nthe citizens at the capital and the soldiers in the camp. Minu- \ncius, commander of the cavalry, disobeyed the orders of the \ndictator to refrain from any engagement with the enemy, and \nwas so fortunate as to gain a slight success. This brought \nmatters to a crisis. By a vote of the public assembly Minucius \nwas made co-dictator with Fabius. He now sought an engage- \nment with the Carthaginians. An opportunity soon presented \nitself. But fortune was against him ; and had it not been for \nthe timely assistance of Fabius, his forces would have been cut \nto pieces. Minucius at once acknowledged the rashness of his \npolicy, and took again his old position as a subordinate; while \nFabius, by universal acclamation, was declared the " Saviour \nof Rome." \n\nThe Battle of Cannae. \xe2\x80\x94 The time gained by Fabius had en- \nabled the Romans to raise and discipline an army that might \nhope to combat successfully the Carthaginian forces. Early \nin the summer of the year 216 B.C., these new levies, number- \ning 80,000 men, confronted the army of Hannibal, amounting \nto not more than half that number, at Cannae, in Apulia. It \nwas the largest army the Romans had ever gathered on any \n\n\n\n294 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nbattle-field. But it had been collected only to meet the most \noverwhelming defeat that ever befell the forces of the republic. \nThrough the skilful manoeuvres of Hannibal, the Romans were \ncompletely surrounded, and huddled together in a helpless \nmass upon the field, and then for eight hours were cut down by \nthe Numidian cavalry. From fifty to seventy thousand were \nslain ; a few thousand were taken prisoners ; only the merest \nhandful escaped, including one of the consuls, Varro. The \nconsul Paullus, Minucius, the two questors, twenty-one tribunes, \nseventy senators, and an innumerable body of titled nobles \nwere killed. " So many knights lay dead that, as the story \ngoes. Mayo, when sent some time afterwards by Hannibal to \nCarthage with the tidings of the victory, emptied on the floor \nof the Senate-house three bushels of golden rings taken from \nequestrian fingers."* \n\nEvents after the Battle of Cannae. \xe2\x80\x94 The awful news flew to \nRome. Consternation and despair seized the people. The \ncity would have been emptied of its population had not the \nSenate ordered the gates to be closed. Never did that body \ndisplay greater calmness, wisdom, prudence, and resolution. \nBy word and act they bade the people never despair of the re- \npublic. Little by little the panic was allayed. Measures were \nconcerted for the defence of the capital, as it was expected \nthat Hannibal would immediately march upon Rome. " Mes- \nsengers were sent along the southern military road to see, as \nLivy pathetically expressed it, \' if the gods, touched by one \npang of pity, had left aught remaining to the Roman name,\' and \nto bring the first tidings of the expected advance of Hannibal." \nThe leader of the Numidian cavalry, Maharbal, urged Hanni- \nbal to follow up closely his victory. " Let me advance with the \ncavalry," said he, "and in five days you shall dine in the capi- \ntal." But Hannibal refused to adopt the counsel of his im- \n\n* Smith\'s " Carthage and Rome," p. i6i. \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 295 \n\npetuous general. Maharbal turned away, and, with mingled \nreproach and impatience, exclaimed, " Alas ! thou knowest how \nto gain a victory, but not how to use one." The great com- \nmander, while he knew he was invincible in the open field, did \nnot think it prudent to fight the Romans behind their walls. \n\nHannibal now sent an embassy to Rome to offer terms of \npeace. The Senate, true to the Appian policy never to treat \nwith a victorious enemy, would not even permit the ambassa- \ndors to enter the gates. Not less disappointed was Hannibal \nin the temper of the Roman allies. For the most part they \nadhered to the cause of Rome with unshaken loyalty through \nall these trying times. Some tribes in the South of Italy, how- \never, among which were the Lucanians, the Apulians, and the \nBruttians, went over to the Carthaginians. Hannibal marched \ninto Campania and quartered his army for the winter in the \nluxurious city of Capua, which had opened its gates to him. \nHere he rested and sent urgent messages to Carthage for re- \ninforcements, while Rome exhausted every resource in raising \nand equipping new levies, to take the place of the legions lost \nat Cannae. For several years there was an ominous lull in the \nwar, while both parties were-gathering strength for a renewal \nof the struggle. \n\nThe Fall of Syracuse. \xe2\x80\x94 In the year 216 b.c, Hiero, King of \nSyracuse, who loved to call himself the friend and ally of the \nRoman people, died, and the government fell into the hands \nof a party unfriendly to the republic. An alliance was formed \nwith Carthage, and Sicily was carried over to the side of the \nenemies of Rome. The movement was aided by forces sent \nfrom Africa, and the tide of war again overflowed the island \nthat had been the theatre of the principal events of the first \nstruggle between the rival cities. The Roman general Mar- \ncellus was intrusted with the task of reconquering the island. \nAfter reducing many towns, he at last laid siege to Syracuse. \n\nThis noted capital was then one of the largest and richest \n\n\n\n296 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncities of the Grecian world. Its walls were strong, and en- \nclosed an area eighteen miles in circuit. For three years it \nheld out against the Roman forces. It is said that Archimedes, \nthe great mathematician, rendered great aid to the besieged \nwith curious and powerful engines contrived by his genius. \nBy means of cranes he lifted the Roman ships out of the water, \nand broke them to pieces ; and by the use of sun-glasses set \nfire to their galleys. But the city fell at last, and was given \nover to sack and pillage. Rome was adorned with the rare \nworks of Grecian art \xe2\x80\x94 paintings and sculptures \xe2\x80\x94 which for cen- \nturies had been accumulating in this the oldest and most \nrenowned of the colonies of ancient Hellas. Syracuse never \nrecovered from the blow inflicted upon her at this time by the \nrelentless Romans. The site of the city is to-day as desolate \nas that of Carthage. \n\nFall of Capua: Hannibal before Rome. \xe2\x80\x94 Capua must next be \npunished for opening her gates and extending her hospitalities \nto the enemies of Rome. A line of circumvallation was drawn \nabout the devoted city, and two Roman armies held it in close \nsiege. Hannibal, ever faithful to his allies and friends, hastened \nto the relief of the Capuans. Unable to break the enemy\'s \nlines, he marched directly upon Rome, as if to make an attack \nupon that city, hoping thus to draw off the legions about Capua \nto the defence of the capital. In pursuance of this plan, he \nmarched through Latium, sacking and burning the towns and \nvillas as he advanced, and encamped, finally, within three miles \nof Rome. Meanwhile, a small body of soldiers, withdrawn from \nthe army before Capua, were hurried over the Appian Way, \nand thrown into Rome, to strengthen the garrison. The Car- \nthaginian cavalry swept the country far and wide, burning what \ncould not be carried into camp as booty. The " dread Han- \nnibal " himself rode alongside the walls of the hated city, and, \ntradition says, even hurled a defiant spear over the defences. \nThe Romans certainly were trembling with fear ; yet Livy tells \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND PUNIC WAR. 297 \n\nhow they manifested their confidence in their affairs by selling \nat public auction the land upon which Hannibal was encamped. \nHe in turn, in the same manner, disposed of the stores front- \ning the Forum. The story is that there were eager purchasers \nin both cases. \n\nFailing to draw the legions from Capua as he had hoped, \nHannibal now retired from before Rome, and, retreating into \nthe southern part of Italy, abandoned Capua to its fate. It \nsoon fell, and paid the penalty that Rome never failed to in- \nflict upon an unfaithful ally. The chief men in the city were \nput to death, and a large part of the inhabitants sold as slaves. \nCapua had aspired to the first place among the cities of Italy: \nscarcely more than the name of the ambitious capital now re- \nmained. \n\nHasdruhal in Spain. \xe2\x80\x94 During all the years Hannibal was \nwaging war in Italy, his brother Hasdrubal was carrying on a \ndesperate struggle with the Romans in Spain. His plan was \nto gather and lead an army into Italy to the aid of his brother. \nThis the Romans made every effort to prevent. Hence, even \nwhile Hannibal was threatening Rome itself, we find the Sen- \nate sending its best legions and generals across the sea into \nSpain. But Hasdrubal possessed much of the martial genius \nof his brother, and proved more than a match for the Scipios \nwho commanded the Roman levies. Yet the fortunes of war \nwere more fickle here than in Italy. At one time the Car- \nthaginians were almost driven out of the peninsula; and then \nthe whole was regained by the genius of Hasdrubal, and the \ntwo Scipios were slain. Another army, under the command of \nP. Cornelius Scipio, was sent to regain it and keep Hasdrubal \nengaged. The war was renewed, but without decided results \non either side, and Hasdrubal determined to leave its conduct \nto others, and go to the relief of his brother, who was sadly in \nneed of aid ; for the calamities of war were constantly thinning \nhis ranks. Like Pyrrhus, he had been brought to realize that \n\n14 \n\n\n\n2^S ANCIKNT HlSrOKV. \n\neven constant victories won by ihc loss of soldiers that could \nnot be replaced meant tinal det\'eat. \n\nBattle of Metaurus. \xe2\x80\x94 Hasdrubal followed the same route as \nhad been taken by his brother Hannibal, and in the year 207 \nB.C. descended from the Alps upon the plains of Northern Italy. \nThence he advanced southward, while Hannibal moved north- \nward from Bruttium to meet him. Rome made a last effort to \nward off the double danger. One hundred and forty thousand \nmen were put into the held. One of the consuls, C. Claudius \nNero, was to obstruct Hannibal\'s march ; while the other, M. \nLivius, was to oppose Hasdrubal in the north. The great eftbrt \nof the Roman generals was to prevent the junction of the armies \nof the two brothers. Hasdrubal pressed on southward and \ncrossed the Metaurus. From here he sent a message to Han- \nnibal, appointing a meeting-place only two days\' march from \nRome, The messenger fell into the hands of the consul Nero. \nIn a moment Nero\'s plan was formed. With seven thousand \npicked soldiers he hastened northward, to join the other consul \nand, with their united forces, to crush Hasdrubal before his \nbrother should know of the movement. In a few days Nero \nreached the camp of his colleague Livius, in front of which lay \nthe Carthaginian army. As the soldiers of Nero entered the \ncamp of his associate in the night, Hasdrubal knew nothing \xe2\x80\xa2f \ntheir arrival until the next morning, when he observed that the \ntrumpet sounded twice from the enemy\'s camp. Fearing to \nrisk a battle, he attempted to f-ill back across the Metaurus. \nMisled by his guides, he was forced to turn and give battle to \nthe pursuing Romans. His army was entirely destroyed, and \nhe himself was slain (207 b,c.). \n\nNero now hurried back to face Hannibal, bearing with him \nthe head of Hasdrubal. This bloody trophy he caused to be \nhurled into the Carthaginian camp. Upon recognizing the \nfeatures of his brother, Hannibal exclaimed sadly, " Carthage, \n1 see thv fate.\'\' \n\n\n\nTHE SECOND I\'UNIC WAP.. 2(j\'j \n\nWar in Africa: Battle of Zama.\xe2\x80\x94 The defeat and death of \nHasdrubal gave a different aspect to the war. Hannibal now \ndrew back into the rocky peninsula of IJruttium, the southern- \nmost point of Italy. There he faced the Romans like a lion \nat bay. No one dared attack him. It was resolved to carry \nthe war into Africa, in hopes that the Carthaginians would be \nforced to call their great commander out of Italy to the defence \nof Carthage. Publius Cornelius Scipio, who after the departure \nof Hasdrubal from Spain had quickly brought the peninsula \nunder the power of Rome, led the army of invasion. He had \nnot been long in Africa before the Carthaginian Senate sent \nfor Hannibal to conduct the war. At Zama, not far from Car- \nthage, the hostile armies came face to face. Fortune had de- \nserted Hannibal ; he was fighting against Fate. He here met \nhis first and final defeat. His army, in which were many of \nthe veterans that had served through all the Italian campaigns, \nwas almost annihilated (202 B.C.). \n\nThe Close of the War. \xe2\x80\x94 Carthage was now completely ex- \nhausted, and sued for peace. Even Hannibal himself could \nno longer counsel war. The terms of the treaty were much \nseverer than those imposed upon the city at the end of the \nFirst Punic War. She was required to give up all claims to \nSpain and the islands of the Mediterranean ; to surrender her \nwar elephants, and all her ships of war save ten galleys ; to \npay an indemnity of five thousand talents at once, and two \nhundred and fifty talents annually for fifty years; and not to \nengage in any war without the consent of Rome. Five hun- \ndred of the costly Phoenician war-galleys were towed out of the \nharbor of Carthage and burned in the sight of the citizens. \n\nSuch was the end of the Second Punic, or Hannibalic, War, \nas called by the Romans, the most desperate struggle ever \nmaintained by rival powers for empire. Scipio was accorded a \nsplendid triumph at Rome, and given the surname Africanus \nin honor of his achievements. \n\n\n\n300 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII. \n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. \xe2\x80\xa2 \n(149-146 B.C.) \n\nEvents between the Second aJid Tliii\'d Punic Wars. \n\nThe terms imposed upon Carthage at the end of the Second \nPunic War left Rome mistress of the Western Mediterranean. \nDuring the fifty eventful years that elapsed between the close \nof that struggle and the breaking-out of the last Punic war, \nher authority became supreme also in the Eastern seas. In a \npreceding chapter, while narrating the fortunes of the most im- \nportant states into which the great empire of Alexander was \nbroken at his death, we followed them until one after another \nthey fell beneath the arms of Rome, and were successively ab- \nsorbed into her growing kingdom. We shall therefore speak \nof them here only in the briefest manner, simply indicating the \nconnection of their several histories with the series of events \nwhich mark the advance of Rome to universal empire. \n\nThe Battle of Cynoscephalse (197 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 During the Hanni- \nbalic War, Philip of Macedonia had aided the Carthaginians, or \nat least had entered into an alliance with them. He was now \ntroubling the Greek cities which were under the protection of \nRome. For these things the Roman Senate determined to \npunish him. An army under Flaminius was sent into Greece, \nand on the plains of Cynoscephalae, in Thessaly, the Roman \nlegion demonstrated its superiority over the unwieldy Mace- \ndonian phalanx by subjecting Philip to a most disastrous \ndefeat (197 B.C.). The king was forced to give up all his \nconquests, and Rome extended her protectorate over Greece. \n\n\n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. 3OI \n\nThe Battle of Magnesia (190 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Antiochus the Great \nof Syria had at this time not only overrun alt Asia Minor, but \nhad crossed the Hellespont into Europe, and was intent upon \nthe conquest of Thrace and Greece. Rome, who could not en- \ntertain the idea of a rival empire upon the southern shores of \nthe Mediterranean, could much less tolerate the establishment \nin the East of such a colossal kingdom as the ambition of An- \ntiochus proposed to itself. Just as soon as intelligence was \ncarried to Italy that the Syrian king was leading his army into \nGreece, the legions of the republic were set in motion. Some \nreverses caused Antiochus to retreat in haste across the Helles- \npont into Asia, whither he was followed by the Romans, led by \nScipio, brother of Africanus. \n\nAt Magnesia Antiochus was overthrown, and a large part of \nAsia Minor fell into the hands of the Romans. Not yet pre- \npared to maintain provinces so distant from the Tiber, the \nSenate conferred the new territory, with the exception of Lycia \nand Caria, which were given to the Rhodians, upon their friend \nand ally Eumenes, King of Pergamus. This " Kingdom of \nAsia," as it was called, was really nothing more than a depend- \nency of Rome, and its nominal ruler only a puppet-king in the \nhands of the Roman Senate. \n\nScipio enjoyed a magnificent triumph at Rome, and, in ac- \ncordance with a custom that had now become popular with suc- \ncessful generals, erected a memorial of his deeds in his name \nby assuming the title of Asiaticus. \n\nThe Battle of Pydna (168 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 In a few years Macedon, \nunder the leadership of Perseus, son of Philip, was again in \narms and offering defiance to Rome; but in the year 168 B.C. \nthe Roman consul yEmilius Paulus crushed the Macedonian \npower forever upon the famous field of Pydna. This was one \nof the decisive battles fought by the Romans in their struggle \nfor the dominion of the world. The last great power in the \nEast was here broken. The Roman Senate was henceforth \n\n\n\n302 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nrecognized by the whole civilized world as the source and \nfountain of supreme political wisdom and power. We shall \nhave yet to record many campaigns of the Roman legions j \nbut these were efforts to suppress revolt among dependent or \nsemi-vassal states, or were struggles with marauding tribes \nthat skirted the Roman dominions. \n\nThe Destruction of Corinth (146 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Barely twenty years \nhad passed after the destruction of the Macedonian monarchy \nbefore the cities and states that formed the Achaean League \nwere goaded to revolt by the injustice of their Roman protec- \ntors. In the year 146 B.C. the consul Mummius signalized the \nsuppression of the rebellion by the complete destruction of the \nbrilliant city of Corinth, the " eye of Hellas," as the ancient \npoets were fond of calling it. This fair capital, the most beau- \ntiful and renowned of all the cities of Greece after the fall of \nAthens, was sacked and razed to the ground. Much of the \nbooty was sold on the spot at public auction. Numerous \nworks of art \xe2\x80\x94 rare paintings and sculptures \xe2\x80\x94 with which the \ncity was crowded, were carried off to Italy. " Never before \nnor after," says Long, *\' was such a display of the wonders \nof Grecian art carried in triumphal procession through the \nstreets of Rome." \n\nThe Fate of Hannibal and Scipio. \xe2\x80\x94 Among the many events \nthat crowded the brief period we are reviewing, we must not \nfail to notice the fate of the two great actors in the Hannibalic \nWar. Soon after the battle of Zama, and the treaty between \nCarthage and Rome, Hannibal was chosen to the chief magis- \ntracy of the former city. In this position he introduced much- \nneeded reform into every department of the government, and \nsecured to the capital a period of prosperity and rapid growth. \nBut his measures stirred up not only enmity at home, but \njealousy at Rome. The Roman Senate, fearing Hannibal as \na statesman equally as much as they dreaded him as a general, \n\n\n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. _^ ^ 303 \n\ndemanded of the Carthaginians his surrender. While they \nwere deliberating whether to give up their great commander, \nHannibal fled across the seas to Ephesus, in Asia Minor. \nHere he was received by Antiochus with such marks of honor \nas became his deeds and genius. \n\nUpon the defeat of Antiochus at Magnesia, the Romans de- \nmanded that Hannibal should be given up to them. Again \nthe exile fled from his implacable foes, and at last found a \nrefuge with the prince of Bithynia, in the remotest corner of \nAsia Minor. Yet even thither Roman hatred pursued him. It \nseemed as though there were no spot in all the world whither \nthe arm of Rome did not reach. His new friend could not \nshield him; and, determined not to fall into the hands of \nhis foes, Hannibal took his own life by means of poison, and \ndied faithful to his vow of eternal hatred to the Roman \nrace (183 B.C.). \n\nAlmost equally bitter was the cup which the ungrateful \nRomans forced to the lips of the conqueror of Hannibal. \nAfter the battle of Zama, Scipio Africanus gave himself to poli- \ntics, but soon raised about himself a perfect storm of unmerited \nabuse and persecution. Leaving Rome, he went into a sort \nof voluntary exile at his country-seat near Liternum, in Cam- \npania. He died the same year that witnessed the death of \nHannibal. Upon his tomb was placed this inscription, which \nhe himself had dictated: "Ungrateful country, thou shalt not \npossess even my ashes." \n\nThe Third Punic War. \n\n"Carthage Must be Destroyed." \xe2\x80\x94 The same year that Rome \ndestroyed Corinth (146 B.C.), she also blotted her great rival \nCarthage from the face of the earth. It will be recalled that \none of the conditions imposed upon the last-named city at the \nclose of the Second Punic War was that she should, under no \ncircumstances, engage in any war without the permission of the \nRoman Senate. Taking advantage of the helpless condition \n\n\n\n304 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof Carthage, Masinissa, King of Numidia, began to make dep- \nredations upon her territories. She appealed to Rome for pro- \ntection. The envoys sent to Africa by the Senate to settle \nthe dispute unfairly adjudged every case in favor of the rob- \nber Masinissa. In this way Carthage vi^as deprived of her \nlands and towns. \n\nChief of one of the embassies sent out was Marcus Cato, the \nfamous censor. When he saw the prosperity of Carthage \xe2\x80\x94 \nher immense trade, which crowded her harbor with ships, and \nthe country for miles back of the city a beautiful landscape of \ngardens and villas \xe2\x80\x94 he was amazed at the growing power and \nwealth of the city, and returned home convinced that the safety \nof Rome demanded the destruction of her rival. Never after- \nwards did he address the Romans, no matter upon what sub- \nject, but he always ended with the words, " Carthage must \nbe destroyed." ^ \n\nRoman Perfidy. \xe2\x80\x94 A pretext for the accomplishment of the \nhateful work was not long wanting. In 150 B.C. the Cartha- \nginians, when Masinissa made another attack upon their terri- \ntory, instead of calling upon Rome, from which source the past \nhad convinced them they could hope for neither aid nor justice, \ngathered an army, and resolved to defend themselves. Their \nforces, however, were defeated by the Numidian, and sent be- \nneath the yoke. \n\nIn entering upon this war without the consent of Rome, \nCarthage had broken the conditions of the last treaty. The \nCarthaginian Senate, in great anxiety, now sent an embassy to \nItaly to offer any reparation the Romans might demand. They \nwere told that if they would give three hundred hostages, mem- \nbers of the noblest Carthaginian families, their city should be \nspared. They eagerly complied with this demand. But no \nsooner were these in the hands of the Romans than the consular \n\n* " Delenda est Carthago." \n\n\n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. 305 \n\narmies, numbering eigiity thousand men, secured against attack \nby the hostages so perfidiously drawn from the Carthaginians, \ncrossed from Sicily into Africa, and disembarked at Utica, \nonly ten miles from Carthage. \n\nThe Carthaginians were now commanded to give up all their \narms; still hoping to win their enemy to clemency, they com- \nplied with this demand also. Then the consuls made known \nthe final decree of the Roman Senate \xe2\x80\x94 "That Carthage must \nbe destroyed, but that the inhabitants might build a new city, \nprovided it were located ten miles from the coast." \n\nWhen this resolution of the Senate was announced to the \nCarthaginians, and they realized the baseness and perfidy of \ntheir enemy, a cry of indignation and despair burst from the \nbetrayed city. \n\nThe Carthaginians Prepare to Defend their City. \xe2\x80\x94 It was \nresolved to resist to the bitter end the execution of the cruel \ndecree. The gates of the city were closed. Men, women, and \nchildren set to work and labored day and night manufacturing \narms. The entire city was converted into one great workshop. \nThe utensils of the home and the sacred vessels of the tem- \nples, statues and vases, were melted down for weapons. Ma- \nterial was torn from the buildings of the city for the construc- \ntion of military engines. The women cut off their hair and \nbraided it into strings for the catapults. By such labor, and \nthrough such means, the city was soon put in a state to with- \nstand a siege. \n\nWhen the Romans advanced to take possession of the place, \nthey were astonished to find the people they had just treacher- \nously disarmed, with weapons in their hands, manning the walls \nof their capital, and ready to bid them defiance. \n\nThe Destruction of Carthage. \xe2\x80\x94 It is impossible for us here to \ngive the circumstances of the siege of Carthage. For four years \nthe city held out against the Roman army. At length the \n\n.4* \n\n\n\n3o6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nconsul Scipio ^milianus succeeded in taking it by storm. \nWhen resistance ceased, only 50,000 men, women, and chil- \ndren, out of a population of 700,000, remained to be made pris- \noners. The city was fired, and for seventeen days the space \nwithin the walls was a sea of flames. Every trace of building \nwhich the fire could not destroy was levelled, a plough was \ndriven over the site, and a dreadful curse invoked upon any \none who should dare attempt to rebuild the city. \n\nSuch was the hard fate of Carthage. So cruel a fortune were \nenough to move any heart, however steeled against sentiments \nof pity. We can easily believe that Polybius was only faith- \nfully narrating what he observed when he says that, as Scipio \ngazed upon the smouldering ruins, he seemed to read in them \nthe fate of Rome, and, bursting into tears, sadly repeated, half \nto himself, the lines of Homer : \n\n" The day shall come in which our sacred Troy, \nAnd Priam, and the people over whom \nSpear-bearing Priam rules, shall perish all." \n\nThe Carthaginian territory in Africa was made into a Ro- \nman province, with Utica as the leading city ; and Roman civ- \nilization was spread rapidly, by means of traders and settlers, \nthroughout the regions that lie between the range of the Atlas \nand the sea. \n\nWar ill Spain. \n\nSiege of Numantia. \xe2\x80\x94 It is fitting that the same chapter which \nnarrates the destruction of Corinth in Greece, and the blotting- \nout of Carthage in Africa, should tell the story of the destruc- \ntion of Numantia in Spain. \n\nThe expulsion of the Carthaginians from the Spanish penin- \nsula really gave Rome the control of only a small part of that \ncountry. The warlike native tribes \xe2\x80\x94 the Celtiberians and \nLusitanians \xe2\x80\x94 of the North and West were ready stubbornly \nto dispute with the new-comers the possession of the soil. The \ntreachery of the Roman generals inflamed the natives to a des- \n\n\n\nTHE THIRD PUNIC WAR. 307 \n\nperate revolt under Viriathus, a Lusitanian chief, who has \nbeen compared in his character and deeds to Wallace of Scot- \nland. Finally Scipio Africanus was given the chief command. \nHe" began by reforming the army, which had become shame- \nfully dissolute. The crowds of merchants were driven out of \nthe camp; the wagons in which the effeminate soldiers were \naccustomed to ride were sold, and once more the Roman le- \ngions marched, instead of riding, to battle. The legionaries \nwere further inured to the labors incident to a campaign by \nbeing set to the work of building up and tearing down walls, \njust for the exercise. \n\nWith the army in proper discipline for service, Scipio rein- \nvested Numantia, which had already withstood nine years of \nsiege. The brave defenders numbered barely 8000 men, while \nthe lines of circumvallation that hedged them in were kept by \n60,000 soldiers. Famine at last gave the place into the hands \nof Scipio, after almost all the inhabitants had met death, either \nin defence of the walls, or by deliberate suicide. The misera- \nble remnant which the ravages of battle, famine, pestilence, and \ndespair had left alive were sold into slavery, and the city was \nlevelled to the ground (133 B.C.). \n\nThe capture of Numantia was considered quite as great an \nachievement as the taking of Carthage. Scipio celebrated an- \nother triumph at Rome, and to his surname Africanus added \nthat of Numantinus. Spain became a favorite resort of Roman \nmerchants, and many colonies were established in different \nparts of the country. As a result of this great influx of Italians, \nthe laws, manners, customs, language, and religion of the con- \nquerors were introduced everywhere, and the peninsula became \nrapidly Romanized. \n\n\n\n308 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX. \n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. \n(133-31 B.C.) \n\nWe have now traced the growth of the power of republican \nRome, as through two centuries and more of conquest she has \nextended her authority, first throughout Italy, and then over all \nthe countries that border upon the Mediterranean. It must be \nour less pleasant task now to follow the declining fortunes of \nthe republic through the last century of its existence. We \nshall here learn that wars waged for spoils and dominion are \nat the last more ruinous, if possible, to the conqueror than to \nthe conquered. \n\nThe Servile War in Sicily (134-132 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 With the opening \nof this period we find a terrible struggle going on in Sicily be- \ntween masters and slaves\xe2\x80\x94 what is known as "The Servile \nWar." The condition of affairs in that island was the legiti- \nmate result of the Roman system of slavery. The captives \ntaken in war were usually sold into servitude. The great num- \nber of prisoners furnished by the numerous conquests of the \nRomans caused slaves to become a drug in the slave-markets \nof the Roman world. They were so cheap that masters found \nit more profitable to wear their slaves out by a few years of un- \nmercifully hard labor, and then to buy others, than to preserve \ntheir lives for a longer period by more humane treatment. In \ncase of sickness, they were left to die without attention, as the \nexpense of nursing exceeded the cost of new purchases. Some \nSicilian estates were worked by as many as 20,000 slaves. \nThat each owner might know his own, the poor creatures were \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 309 \n\nbranded like cattle. What makes all this the more revolting is \nthe fjict that many of these slaves were in every way the peers \nof their owners, and often were infinitely their superiors. The \nfortunes of war alone had made one servant and the other \nmaster. \n\nA considerable portion of the estates in Sicily were simply \ngrazing-farms, their proprietors finding the raising of wool for \nthe clothing of the Roman legions more profitable than the cul- \ntivation of grain. The slaves that tended the flocks on these \nfarms received from their masters neither pay, food, nor cloth- \ning. They were expected to supply their needs from the herds \nthey tended, and by robbing travellers on the highways and \nplundering the dwellings of the peasants. They were well \narmed, and were always accompanied by fierce dogs. The \nmagistrates dared not punish them for their misdeeds, through \nfear of their masters, who were all-powerful at Rome. \n\nThe wretched condition of these slaves and the cruelty of \ntheir masters finally drove them to revolt. They were headed \nby Eunus, a sort of Asiatic juggler \xe2\x80\x94 he was a Syrian by birth \xe2\x80\x94 \nwho secured the respect and admiration of his followers by \n"spouting flames from his mouth," and by other performances \nfamiliar to the profession of which he seems to have been mas- \nter. The insurrection spread throughout the island, until \n200,000 slaves were in arms, and in possession of many of the \nstrongholds of the country. They defeated four Roman armies \nsent against them, and for three years defied the power of \nRome. Finally, however, in the year 132 b.c, the revolt was \ncrushed by Publius Rupilius, and peace was restored to the \ndistracted island.* \n\nThe Public Lands. \xe2\x80\x94 In Italy itself affairs were in a scarcely \nless wretched condition than in Sicily. When the different \n\n* In the year 102 B.C. another insurrection of the slaves broke out in the \nisland, which it required three years to quell. This last revolt is known as \n"The Second Servile War." \n\n\n\n3IO \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nStates of the peninsula were subjugated, large portions of the \nconquered territory had become public land {ager piiblicus) ; \nfor upon the subjugation of a state Rome never left to the con- \nquered people more than two thirds of their lands, and often \nnot so much as this. The land appropriated was disposed of \nat public sale, leased at low rentals, allotted to discharged \nsoldiers, or allowed to lie unused. Much of this public domain, \nit will thus be seen, was under the control of the state as lessor, \nor remained in its absolute possession.* \n\nNow, it had happened that, in various ways, almost all these \npublic lands had fallen into the hands of the wealthy. They \nalone had the capital necessary to stock and work them to ad- \nvantage; hence the possessions of the small proprietors were \ngradually absorbed by the large landholders. Often the fami- \nlies of the poor were ejected from their little plots of land by \nfraud while the father was away in the army ; as Ahab had got \npossession of the garden of Naboth. Horace draws a pathetic \npicture of such an evicted family, " carrying with them the little \nimages their fathers venerated and their poor dirty children." t \n\nThese great proprietors, also, disregarding a law which for- \nbade any person to hold more than three hundred jugera of \nland, held many times that amount. Almost all the lands of \nItaly, about the beginning of the first century B.C., are said to \nhave been held by not more than two thousand persons ; for \nthe large proprietors, besides the lands they had secured by \npurchase from the government, or had wrested from the smaller \nfarmers, claimed enormous tracts to which they had only a \nsquatter\'s title. So long had they been left in undisturbed \npossession of these government lands that they had come to \nlook upon them as absolutely their own. In many cases, feel- \n\n* These land matters may be made plain by a reference to the public \nlands of the United States, and the management of them. The troubles in \nIreland between the land-owners and their tenants will also serve to illus- \ntrate the agrarian disturbances in ancient Rome. \n\nt Quoted by Long in " Decline of Roman Republic," p. 173. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 31I \n\ning secure through great lapse of time \xe2\x80\x94the lands having been \nhanded down through many generations \xe2\x80\x94 the owners had ex- \npended large sums in their improvement, and now resisted as \nvery unjust every effort to dispossess them of their hereditary \nestates. Money-lenders, too, had, in many instances, made \nloans upon these lands, and they naturally sided with the own- \ners in their opposition to all efforts to disturb the titles. \n\nThese wealthy " possessors " employed slave rather than \nfree labor, as they found it more profitable ; and so the poorer \nRomans, left without employment, crowded into the cities, es- \npecially congregating at Rome, where they lived in vicious in- \ndolence. The proprietors also found it to their interest to raise \nstock rather than to cultivate the soil. All Italy became a \ngreat sheep-walk. An old Roman writer says that the country \nfrom an agricultural state had slipped back into the pastoral. \n\nThus, largely through the workings of the public land system, \nthe Roman people had become divided into two great classes, \nwhich are variously designated as the Rich and the Poor, the \nPossessors and the Non-Possessors, the Optimates (the "Best ") \nand the Populares (the " People "). We hear nothing more of \npatricians and plebeians. As one expresses it, " Rome had \nbecome a commonwealth of millionaires and beggars." \n\nFor many years before and after the period at which we have \nnow arrived, a bitter struggle was carried on between these \ntwo classes; just such a contest as we have seen waged be- \ntween the nobility and commonalty in the earlier history of \nRome. The most instructive portion of the story of the Ro- \nman republic is found in the records of this later struggle. \nThe misery of the great masses naturally led to constant agi- \ntation at the capital. Popular leaders introduced bill after bill \ninto the Senate, and brought measure after measure before the \nassemblies of the people, all aiming at the redistribution of the \npublic lands and the correction of existing abuses. \n\nThe Reforms of the Gracchi.\xe2\x80\x94 The two most famous cham- \n\n\n\n312 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\npions of the cause of the poorer classes against the rich and \npowerful were Tiberius and Caius Gracchus. These reformers \nare reckoned among the most popular orators that Rome ever \nproduced. They eloquently voiced the wrongs of the people. \nSaid Tiberius, " You are called \' lords of the earth \' without \npossessing a single clod to call your own." The people made \nhim tribune; and in that position he secured the passage of \na law for the redistribution of the public lands, which gave \nsome relief. It took away from the Possessors all the land \nthey held over five hundred jugera, and forced them to employ \na certain number of Roman freemen in place of slaves. \n\nAt the end of his term of office, Tiberius stood a second time \nfor the tribunate. The nobles combined to defeat him. Ti- \nberius now resorted to unworthy means to excite the sympathy \nand passions of the people. He put on mourning, and asserted \nthat his and the people\'s enemies were plotting his death. \nGreat multitudes attended him wherever he went, escorting \nhim home at night with music and torches. Foreseeing that \nhe would fail to be re-elected, Tiberius resolved to use force \nupon the day of voting. His partisans were overpowered, \nand he and three hundred of his followers were killed in the \nForum, and their bodies thrown into the Tiber. This was the \nfirst time that the Roman Forum had witnessed such a scene \nof violence and crime. \n\nTiberius was in the wrong. His error was in supposing that \nthe end justified the instrument used. He sought " to advance \nthe best of causes by the most violent of means." His own \nbrother-in-law, Scipio Africanus, when the news of the tumult \nand of the death of Tiberius was carried to him at Numantia, \nexclaimed, "So perish all who do the like again." \n\nCaius Gracchus, the younger brother of Tiberius, now as- \nsumed the position made vacant by the death of Tiberius. It \nis related that Caius had a dream in which the spirit of his \nbrother seemed to address him thus : " Caius, why do you \nlinger? There is no escape: one life for both of us, and one \n\n\n\n, THE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 313 \n\ndeath in defence of the people, is our fate." The dream came \ntrue. Caius was chosen tribune in 123 B.C. He secured the \npassage of corn-laws which provided that corn should be sold \nto the poor from public granaries, at half its value or less. \nThis was a very unwise and pernicious measure. It was not \nlong before corn was distributed free to all applicants ; and a \nconsiderable portion of the population of the capital were liv- \ning in vicious indolence and feeding at the public crib. \n\nCaius proposed other measures in the interest of the people, \nwhich were bitterly opposed by the Optimates; and the two \norders at last came into collision. Caius sought death by a \nfriendly sword, and three thousand of his adherents were mas- \nsacred. The consul offered for the head of Caius its weight \nin gold. " This is the first instance in Roman history of head- \nmoney being offered and paid, but it was not the last " (Long). \n\nThe people ever regarded the Gracchi as martyrs to their \ncause, and their memory was preserved by statues in the pub- \nlic square. To Cornelia, their mother, a monument was \nerected, bearing the simple inscription, " The Mother of the \nGracchi." \n\nThe War with Jugurtha (111-106 e.c). \xe2\x80\x94 After the death of \nthe Gracchi there seemed no one left to resist the heartless op- \npressions and to denounce the scandalous extravagances of the \naristocratical party. Many of the laws of the Gracchi respect- \ning the public lands were annulled. Italy fell again into the \nhands of a few over-rich land-owners. The provinces were \nplundered by the Roman governors, who squandered their ill- \ngotten wealth at the capital. The votes of senators and the \ndecisions of judges, the offices at Rome and the places in the \nprovinces \xe2\x80\x94 everything pertaining to the government had its \nprice, and was boqght and sold like merchandise. Affairs in \nAfrica at this time illustrate how Roman virtue and integrity \nhad declined since Fabricius indignantly refused the gold of \nPyrrhus. \n\n\n\n314 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nJugurtha, king of Numidia, had seized all that country, hav- \ning put to death the rightful rulers of different provinces of the \nsame, who had been confirmed in their possessions by the Ro- \nmans at the close of the Punic wars. Commissioners sent \nfrom Rome to look into the matter were bribed by Jugurtha. \nFinally, the Numidian robber, in carrying out some of his high- \nhanded measures, put to death some Italian merchants. War \nwas immediately declared by the Roman Senate, and the con- \nsul Bestia was sent into Africa with an army, to punish the in- \nsolent usurper. Bestia sold himself to Jugurtha, and, instead \nof chastising him, confirmed him in his stolen possessions. \nWe should naturally suppose that the Senate would have ad- \nministered some wholesome correction to the mercenary consul \nupon his return. But the wily general had anticipated this, and \nhad taken with him the president of that body, and had divided \nwith him the spoils. \n\nThe indignation of the people, who had good reason to sus- \npect the real state of affairs, was great. They demanded that \nJugurtha, with the promise of immunity to himself, should be \ninvited to Rome, and encouraged to disclose the whole trans- \naction, in order that those who had betrayed the state for \nmoney might be punished. Jugurtha came; but the gold of \nthe consul and president bribed one of the tribunes to pro- \nhibit the king from giving his testimony. \n\nNow it so happened that there was in Rome at this time a \nrival claimant of the Numidian throne, who at this very mo- \nment was urging his claims before the Senate. Jugurtha \ncaused this rival to be assassinated. As he himself was under \na safe-conduct, the Senate could do nothing to punish the au- \ndacious deed and to resent the insult to the state, save by \nordering the king to depart from the city at once. As he \npassed the gates, it is said that he looked ^^ornfully back upon \nthe capital and exclaimed, " O venal city ! destined quickly to \nperish whenever a purchaser shall be found for thee." \n\nUpon the renewal of the war another Roman army was sent \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 315 \n\ninto Africa, but was defeated, and forced beneath the yoke. \nIn the year io6 B.C. the war was brought to a close by Caius \nMarius, a man who had risen to the consulship from the low- \nest ranks of the people. Under him fought a young nobleman \nnamed Sulla, of whom we shall hear much hereafter. Marius \ncelebrated a grand triumph at Rome. Jugurtha, after having \ngraced the triumphal procession, in which he walked with his \nhands bound with chains, was thrown into the Mamertine dun- \ngeon beneath the Capitoline, where he died of starvation. \n\nInvasion of the Cimbri and Teutones. \xe2\x80\x94 The war was not yet \nended in Africa before terrible tidings came to Rome from the \nnorth. Two mighty nations of "horrible barbarians," three \nhundred thousand strong in fighting-men, coming whence no \none could tell, had invaded, and were now desolating, the Ro- \nman provinces of Gaul, and might any moment cross the Alps \nand pour down into Italy. \n\nThe mysterious invaders proved to be two Germanic tribes, \nthe Teutones and Cimbri, the vanguard of that great German \nmigration which was destined to change the face and history \nof Europe. These intruders were seeking new homes, and \nwere driven on, it would almost seem, by a blind and in- \nstinctive impulse. They carried with them, in rude wagons, all \ntheir property, their wives, and their children. The Celtic \ntribes of Gaul were no match for the new-comers, and fled be- \nfore them as they advanced. Several Roman armies beyond \nthe Alps were cut to pieces. In one battle more than one \nhundred thousand Romans are said to have been slaughtered. \nThe terror at Rome was only equalled by that occasioned by \nthe invasion of the Gauls two centuries before. The Gauls \nwere terrible enough ; but now the conquerors of the Gauls \nwere coming. \n\nMarius, the conqueror of Jugurtha, was looked to by all as \nthe only man who could save the state in this crisis. He was \nre-elected to the consulship, and intrusted with the command \n\n\n\n2i6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof the armies. Accompanied by Sulla as one of his most skil- \nful lieutenants, Marius hastened into Northern Italy. The \nbarbarians had divided into two bands. The Cimbri were to \ncross the Eastern Alps, and join in the Valley of the Po the \nTeutones, who were to force the defiles of the Western or \nMaritime Alps. Marius determined to prevent the union of \nthe barbarians, and to crush each band separately. \n\nAnticipating the march of the Teutones, he hurried over the \nAlps into Gaul, and sat down in a fortified camp to watch their \nmovements. Unable to storm the Roman position, the bar- \nbarians resolved to leave their enemy in the rear and push on \ninto Italy. For six days and nights the endless train of men \nand wagons rolled past the camp of Marius. The barbarians \njeered at the Roman soldiers, and asked them if they had any \nmessages they wished to send to their wives; if so, they would \nbear them, as they would be in Rome shortly. Marius allowed \nthem to pass by, and then, breaking camp, followed closely after. \nFalling upon them at a favorable moment, he almost annihi- \nlated the entire host.* Two hundred thousand barbarians are \nsaid to have been slain. Marius heaped together and burned \nthe spoils of the battle-field. While engaged in this work, \nthe news was brought to him of his re-election as consul for \nthe fifth time. This was illegal ; but the people felt that Ma- \nrius must be kept in the field. \n\nMarius now recrossed the Alps, and, after visiting Rome, \nhastened to meet the Cimbri, who were entering the north- \neastern corner of Italy. He was not a day too soon. Already \nthe barbarians had defeated the Roman army under the pa- \ntrician Catulus, and were ravaging the rich plains of the Po. \nThe Cimbri, unconscious of the fate of the Teutones, now sent \nan embassy to Marius, to demand that they and their kinsmen \nshould be given lands in Italy. Marius sent back in reply, \n" The Teutones have got all the land they need on the other \n\n* In the battle of Aquae Sextiae, fought 102 B.C. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 317 \n\nside of the Alps." The devoted Cimbri were soon to have all \nthey needed on this side. \n\nA terrible battle almost immediately followed at Vercellae \n(loi B.C.). The barbarians were drawn up in an enormous \nhollow square, the men forming the outer ranks being fastened \ntogether with chains, to prevent the lines being broken. This \nproved their ruin. More than 100,000 were killed, and 60,000 \ntaken prisoners to be sold as slaves in the Roman markets. \nMarius was hailed as the " Saviour of his Country." \n\nThe fate of these two nations that were wandering over the \nface of the earth in search of homes is one of the most pathetic \ntales in all history. The almost innumerable host of wanderers, \nmen, women, and children, now "rested beneath the sod, or \ntoiled under the yoke of slavery : the forlorn-hope of the Ger- \nman migration had performed its duty; the homeless people \nof the Cimbri and their comrades were no more" (Mommsen). \nTheir kinsmen yet behind the Danube and the Rhine were \ndestined to exact a terrible revenge for their slaughter. \n\nThe Social or Marsic War (91-89 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 Scarcely was the \ndanger of the barbarian invasion past before Rome was threat- \nened by another and greater peril arising within her own bor- \nders. At this time all the free inhabitants of the Roman state \nwere divided into citizens and aliens. The former included \nthe inhabitants of the capital and of the various Roman colo- \nnies planted in different parts of the peninsula. The latter \nwere divided into three classes : the Latins, who were the in- \nhabitants of the old Latin towns and their colonies; the socii, \nwho included the different subjugated races of Italy; and the \nprovincials, the free inhabitants of the provinces. \n\nThe Social or Marsic War (as it is often called on account \nof the prominent part taken in the insurrection by the warlike \nMarsians) was a struggle made by the socii for the privileges of \nRoman citizenship. The policy of Rome throughout her long \ncareer of conquest had been based on the vicious maxim that \n\n\n\n3l8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n"to the victors belong the spoils." As the authority of the \ncity had been gradually extended over the various cities and \nstates of Italy, the thought of admitting the conquered peoples \nto the rights and immunities enjoyed by the citizens of the \ncapital never occurred to the selfish and exclusive Romans. \nIndeed, the world had not yet come to regard the conquered \nas haying any rights whatever. But these Italians were the \nsame in race, language, and religion as their conquerors ; and \nit was their valor and blood that had helped Rome secure the \ndominion of the Mediterranean world. They were in every \nessential respect the equals of the Romans, and in many re- \nspects their superiors. Yet invidious and hateful distinctions \nseparated them from the citizens of the capital. A Roman \nsoldier could not be scourged ; but an alien might be whipped \nto death, and often was, without comment being excited or re- \ndress being possible. Naturally the Italians complained bit- \nterly of being taxed for the maintenance of laws and institu- \ntions which they could have no voice in establishing, and un- \nder which they could find no protection. \n\nThe socii now demanded the Roman franchise and the immu- \nnities and privileges of citizens. The demand was stubbornly \nresisted by both the aristocratical and the popular party at \nRome. Some, however, recognized the justice of these claims \nof the Italians. Drusus championed their cause, but was mur- \ndered by an infuriated mob. The Italians now flew to arms. \nThey determined upon the establishment of a rival state. A \ntown called Corfinium, among the Apennines, was chosen as \nthe capital of the new republic, and its name changed to \nItalica. The government of the new state was modelled after \nthat at Rome. Two consuls were placed at the head of the \nrepublic, and a senate of five hundred members was formed. \nThus, in a single day, almost all Italy south of the Rubicon \nwas lost to Rome. The Etrurians, the Umbrians, the Cam- \npanians, the Latins, and some of the Greek cities were the only \nstates that remained faithful. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 319 \n\nThe greatness of the danger aroused all the old Roman \ncourage and patriotism. Aristocrats and democrats hushed \ntheir quarrels; Sulla and Marius forgot rising animosities, \nand fought bravely side by side for the endangered life of the \nrepublic. An army of 100,000 men was raised to face a force \nequal in number and discipline that had been gathered by the \nnew confederacy. The war lasted three years. Finally Rome \nprudently extended the right of the franchise to the Latins, \nEtruscans, and Umbrians, who had so far remained true to her, \nbut now began to show signs of wavering in their loyalty. \nShortly afterwards she offered the same to all Italians who \nshould lay down their arms within sixty days. This tardy con- \ncession to the just demands of the Italians virtually ended the \nwar. It had been extremely disastrous to the republic. Hun- \ndreds of thousands of lives had been lost, many towns had \nbeen depopulated, and vast tracts of the country made desolate \nby those ravages that never fail to characterize civil conten- \ntions. \n\nIn after-years, under the empire, the rights of Roman cit- \nizenship, which the Italians had now so hardly won, were \nextended to all the free inhabitants of the various provinces \nbeyond the confines of Italy. \n\nThe Civil War of Marius and Sulla.\xe2\x80\x94 The Social War was not \nyet ended when a formidable enemy appeared in the East. \nMithridates the Great, king of Pontus, taking advantage of \nthe distracted condition of the republic, had encroached upon \nthe Roman provinces in Asia Minor, and had caused a general \nmassacre of the Italian traders and residents in that country. \nThe number of victims of this wholesale slaughter has been \nvariously estimated at from 80,000 to 150,000. The Roman \nSenate instantly declared war. But the Marsic struggle had \ndrained the treasury. The money needed !br equipping an \narmy could only be raised by the sale of the vacant public \nground about the Capitol building. \n\n\n\n320 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nA contest straightway arose between Marius and Sulla for \nthe command of the forces. The former was now an old man \nof seventy years, while the latter was but forty-nine. Marius \ncould not endure the thought of being pushed aside by his \nformer lieutenant. The veteran general joined with the young \nmen in the games and exercises of the gymnasium, to show \nthat the strength and agility of youth had yet the control of \nhis frame. The Senate, however, conferred the command upon \nSulla. Marius was furious at the success of his rival, and by \nfraud and intimidation succeeded in getting the command \ntaken away from Sulla and given to himself Two tribunes \nwere sent to demand of Sulla, who was still in Italy, the trans- \nfer of the command of the legions to Marius ; but the messen- \ngers were killed by the soldiers, who were devotedly attached \nto their commander. Sulla now saw that the sword must settle \nthe dispute. He marched at the head of his legions upon \nRome, entered the gates, and "for the first time in the annals \nof the city a Roman army encamped within the walls." The \nparty of Marius was defeated, and he and ten of his compan- \nions were proscribed. Marius escaped and fled to Africa; \nSulla embarked with the legions to meet Mithridates in the \nEast (87 B.C.). \n\nThe Wanderings of Marius. \xe2\x80\x94 Leaving Sulla to carry on the \nMithridatic War, we must first follow the fortunes of the exiled \nMarius. The ship in which he fled to Italy was driven ashore \nat Circeii. Here Marius and the companions of his flight \nwandered about, sustained by the hope inspired by the good \nomen of the seven eaglets. As the story runs, Marius, when a \nboy, had captured an eagle\'s nest with seven young, and the \naugurs had said that this signified that he should be seven \ntimes consul. He had already held the office six times, and \nhe firmly believed that the prophecy would be fulfilled as to \nthe seventh. \n\nThe pursuers of Marius at last found him hiding in a marsh, \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 32 1 \n\nburied to his neck in mud and water. He was dragged before \nthe authorities of the town of Minturnce. The magistrates, in \nobedience to the commands that had been sent everywhere, \ndetermined to put him to death. A Cimbrian slave was sent \nto despatch him. The cell where Marius lay was dark, and the \neyes of the old soldier " seemed to flash fire." As the slave ad- \nvanced, Marius shouted, " Man, do you dare kill Caius Marius ?" \nThe frightened slave dropped his sword, and fled from the \nchamber, half dead with fear. \n\nA better feeling now took possession of the men of Minturnag, \nand they resolved that the blood of the "Saviour of Italy" \nshould not be upon their hands. They put him aboard a vessel, \nwhich bore him and his friends to an island just off the coast \nof Africa. When he attempted to set foot upon the mainland \nnear Carthage, Sextius, the Roman governor of the province, \nsent a messenger to forbid him to land. The legend says that \nthe old general, almost choking with indignation, only answered, \n" Go, tell your master, that you have seen Marius a fugitive sit- \nting amidst the ruins of Carthage." \n\nThe Return of Marius to Italy. \xe2\x80\x94 The exile at length found a \ntemporary refuge on the island of Cercina, ofl"the coast of Tunis. \nHere news was brought to him that his party, under the lead \nof Cinna, was in successful revolt against the Optimates, and \nthat he was needed. He immediately set sail for Italy, and, \nlanding in Etruria, joined Cinna. Together they hoped to \ncrush and exterminate the opposing faction. Rome was cut \noff from her food supplies, and starved into submission. \n\nMarius now took a terrible revenge upon his enemies. The \nconsul Octavius was assassinated, and his head set up in front \nof the Rostrum. Never before had such a thing been seen at \nRome \xe2\x80\x94 a consul\'s head exposed to the public gaze. The sena- \ntors, equestrians, and leaders of the Optimate party fled from \nthe capital. For five days and nights a merciless slaughter \nwas kept up. The life of every man in the capital was in the \n\n15 \n\n\n\n322 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nhands of the revengeful Marius. If he refused to return the \ngreeting of any citizen, that sealed his fate : he was instantly \ndespatched by the soldiers who awaited the dictator\'s nod. The \nbodies of the victims lay unburied in the streets. Sulla\'s house \nwas torn down, and he himself declared a public enemy. Dur- \ning the tumult the slaves had armed themselves, and, imitating \nthe example set before them, were rioting in murder and pil- \nlage. Marius, finding it impossible to restrain their maddened \nfury, turned his soldiers loose upon them, and they were massa- \ncred to a man. \n\nAs a fitting sequel to all this violence, Marius and Cinna \nwere, in an entirely illegal way, declared consuls. The prophecy \nof the eaglets was fulfilled: Marius was consul for the seventh \ntime. But rumors were now spread that Sulla, having over- \nthrown Mithridates, was about to set out on his return with his \nvictorious legions. He would surely exact speedy and terrible \nvengeance. Marius, now old and enfeebled by the hardships \nof many campaigns, seemed to shrink from facing again his \nhated rival. He plunged into dissipation to drown his remorse \nand gloomy forebodings, and died in his seventy-first year (86 \nB.C.), after having held his seventh consulship only thirteen \ndays. \n\nSulla and the Mithridatic War.\xe2\x80\x94 When Sulla left Italy with \nhis legions for the East, he knew very well that his enemies \nwould have their own way in Italy during his absence; but he \nalso knew that, if successful in his campaign against Mithri- \ndates, he could easily regain Italy, and wrest the government \nfrom the hands of the Marian party. \n\nWe can here take space to give simply the results of Sulla\'s \ncampaigns in the East. After driving the army of Mithridates \nout of Greece, Sulla crossed the Hellespont, and forced the \nking to sue for peace. He gave up his conquered territory, \nsurrendered his war-ships, and paid a large indemnity to cover \nthe expenses of the war. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 323 \n\nWith the Mithridatic War ended, Sulla wrote to the Senate, \nenumerating all his services to the state in the Jugurthine, \nCimbrian, Social, and Eastern wars. " In return, his adversa- \nries," he goes on to complain, "had declared him an enemy to \nthe Roman state ; they had demolished his home, murdered his \nfriends, and his wife and children had with difficulty escaped." \nHe was now coming to take vengeance upon the Marian party \n\xe2\x80\x94 his own and the republic\'s foes. \n\nThe terror and consternation produced at Rome by this \nletter were increased by the. accidental burning of the Capitol. \nThe Sibylline Books, which held the secrets of the fate of \nRome, were consumed. This accident awakened the most \ngloomy apprehensions. Such an event, it was believed, could \nonly foreshadow the most direful calamities to the state. \n\nThe Proscriptions of Sulla. \xe2\x80\x94 The returning army from the \nEast landed in Italy. The raw levies of the consuls Cinna \nand Carbo were easily cut to pieces by the veteran legions of \nSulla, who marched into Rome with all the powers of a dicta- \ntor. The leaders of the Marian party were proscribed, rewards \nwere offered for their heads, and their property was confiscated. \nThe body of Marius was dragged from its tomb and thrown \ninto the Anio. Sulla was implored to make out a list of those \nhe designed to put to death, that those he intended to spare \nmight be relieved of the terrible suspense in which all were \nnow held. He made out a list of eighty, which was attached \nto the Rostrum. The people murmured at the length of the \nroll. In a few days it was extended to over three hundred, \nand grew rapidly, until it included the names of thousands of \nthe best citizens of Italy. Hundreds were murdered, not for \nany offence, but because some favorites of Sulla coveted their \nestates. A wealthy noble coming into the Forum, and reading \nhis own name in the list of the proscribed, exclaimed, "Alas! \nmy villa has proved my ruin." The infamous Catiline, by hav- \ning the name of a brother placed upon the fatal roll, secured \n\n\n\n324 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nhis property. It was during this reign of terror that Crassus, \nat this time a young man, "laid the foundation of the wealth \nwhich earned him the renown of the richest of the Romans." \nJulius Caesar, now a mere boy of eighteen, was proscribed on \naccount of his relationship to Marius; but, upon the interces- \nsion of friends, Sulla spared him : as he did so, however, he \nsaid warningly, and, as the event proved, prophetically, " There \nis in that boy many a Marius." \n\nSenators, knights, and wealthy land-owners fell by hundreds \nand by thousands; but the poor Italians who had sided with \nthe Marian party were simply slaughtered by tens of thousands. \nThe inhabitants of entire cities and provinces were massacred \nto make room for the soldiers of Sulla, of whom more than \none hundred thousand were settled in different parts of Italy, \nupon lands and in homes thus emptied of their owners. The \nEtrurians and Samnites were almost annihilated. Nor did the \nprovinces escape. In Sicily, Spain, and Africa the enemies \nof the dictator were hunted and exterminated like noxious ani- \nmals. It is estimated that the civil war of Marius and Sulla \ncost the republic over one hundred and fifty thousand lives. \n\nThe Triumph and Death of Sulla. \xe2\x80\x94 When Sulla had sated \nhis revenge, he celebrated a splendid triumph at Rome; and \nthe Senate passed an act declaring all that he had done legal \nand right, and, moreover, caused to be erected in the Forum a \ngilded equestrian statue of the dictator, which bore the legend, \n" To Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Commander Beloved by \nFortune." \n\nThe Senate now formally conferred upon Sulla, what he al- \nready possessed, the powers of the dictatorship, securing to \nhim the supreme authority for life. He used his position and \ninfluence in recasting the constitution in the interest of the \naristocratical party. After enjoying the unlimited power of an \nAsiatic despot for three years, Sulla suddenly resigned the dic- \ntatorship, and retired to his villa at Puteoli, where he gave \n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 325 \n\nhimself up to the grossest dissipations. He died the year \nfollowing his abdication (78 B.C.). Just before his death, \nlearning that a Roman questor was delaying to render his ac- \ncounts in the hope that the expected event would give him \nan opportunity to evade his obligations, he caused the officer \nto be brought into his chamber and strangled before him. \n\nThe soldiers who had fought under the old general crowded \nto his funeral from all parts of Italy. The body was burned \nupon a huge funeral pyre raised in the Campus Martius. The \nmonument erected to his memory bore this inscription, which \nhe himself had composed : " None of my friends ever did me \na kindness, and none of my enemies ever did me a wrong, \nwithout being fully requited." \n\n\n\n326 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX. \n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC {cOUcludcd). \n(133-31 B.C.) \n\nPompey the Great in Spain. \xe2\x80\x94 The fires of the Civil War, \nthough quenched in Italy, were still smouldering in Spain. \nSertorius, an adherent of Marius, had there stirred up the mar- \ntial tribes of Lusitania, and incited a general revolt against the \npower of the aristocratical government at Rome. Cneius Pom- \npey, a rising young leader of the oligarchy, upon whom the \ntitle of Great had already been conferred as a reward for crush- \ning the Marian party in Sicily and Africa, was sent into Spain \nto perform a similar service there. \n\nFor several years the war was carried on with varying fort- \nunes. At times the power of Rome in the peninsula seemed \non the verge of utter extinction. Finally, the brave Sertorius \nwas assassinated, and then the whole of Spain was quickly re- \ngained. Pompey boasted of having forced the gates of more \nthan eight hundred cities of Spain and Southern Gaul. \nThroughout all the conquered regions he established military \ncolonies, and reorganized the local governments, putting in \npower those who would be, not only friends and allies of the \nRoman state, but also his own personal adherents. How he \nused these men as instruments of his ambition, we shall learn \na little later. \n\nSpartaciis: War of the Gladiators.\xe2\x80\x94 While Pompey was sub- \nduing the Marian faction in Spain, a new danger broke out in \nthe midst of Italy. Gladiatorial combats had become, at this \ntime, the favorite sport of the amphitheatre. At Capua was a \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 327 \n\nsort of training-school, from which skilled fighters were hired \nout for public or private entertainments. In this seminary was \na Thracian slave, known by the name of Spartacus, who incited \nhis companions to revolt. The insurgents fled to the crater \nof Vesuvius, and made that their stronghold. There they were \njoined by gladiators from other schools, and by slaves and dis- \ncontented men from every quarter. Some slight successes \nenabled them to arm themselves with the weapons of their \nenemies. Their number at length increased to one hundred \nthousand men. For three years they defied the power of \nRome, and even gained control of the larger part of Southern \nItaly. Four Roman armies sent against them were cut to \npieces. \n\nBut Spartacus, who was a man of real ability and discern- \nment, foresaw that a protracted contest with Rome must inevi- \ntably issue in the triumph of the government. He therefore \ncounselled his followers to fight their way over the Alps, and \nthen to disperse to their various homes in Gaul, Spain, and \nThrace. But, elated with the successes already achieved, they \nimagined that they could capture Rome, and have all Italy for \na spoil. Their camp was already filled with plunder, which \nthe insurgents sold to speculators. They took in exchange for \nthese spoils only brass and iron, which their forges quickly \nconverted into weapons. \n\nAt length M. Crassus succeeded in crowding the insurgents \ndown into Rhegium, where Hannibal had stood so long at bay. \nSpartacus now resolved to pass over into Sicily, and stir up the \nembers of the old Servile War upon that island. He bargained \nwith the pirates that infested the neighboring seas to convey \nhis forces across the straits ; but as soon as they had received \nthe stipulated price they treacherously sailed away, and left \nSpartacus and his followers to their fate. Crassus threw up a \nwall across the isthmus, to prevent the escape of the insur- \ngents; but Spartacus broke through the Roman line by night, \nand hastened northward with his army. Following in hot pur- \n\n\n\n328 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nsuit, Crassus overtook the fugitives at the Silarus, and there \nsubjected them to a decisive defeat. Spartacus himself was \nslain ; but five thousand of the insurgents escaped, and fled \ntowards the Alps. This flying band was met by Pompey, who \nwas returning from Spain, and it was simply annihilated. Pom- \npey at once sent a message to the Senate, in which, in a most \nungenerous manner, he sought to take away from Crassus, to \nwhom it really belonged, the credit of the overthrow of the \nrebellion. This contemptible message ran thus: "Crassus \nhas defeated the gladiators in open battle ; but I have plucked \nthe war up by the roots." \n\nThe rebellion was punished with Roman severity. The \nslaves that had taken part in the revolt were hunted through \nthe mountains and forests, and exterminated like dangerous \nbeasts. The Appian Way was lined with six thousand crosses, \nbearing aloft as many bodies \xe2\x80\x94 a terrible warning of the fate \nawaiting slaves that should dare strike for freedom. \n\nThe Abuses of Verres. \xe2\x80\x94 Terrible as was the state of society \nin Italy, still worse was the condition of affairs outside the \npeninsula. At first the rule of the Roman governors in the \nprovinces, though severe, was honest and prudent. But during \nthe period of profligacy and corruption upon which we have \nnow entered, the administration of these foreign possessions \nwas shamefully dishonest and incredibly cruel and rapacious. \nThe prosecution of Verres, the propraetor of Sicily, exposed \nthe scandalous rule of the oligarchy, into whose hands the gov- \nernment had fallen. For three years Verres plundered and \nravaged that island with impunity. He sold all the offices, \nand all his decisions as judge. He demanded of the farmers \nthe greater part of their crops, which he sold, to swell his al- \nready enormous fortune. Agriculture was thus ruined, and the \nfarms were abandoned. Verres had a taste for art, and when \non his tours through the island confiscated gems, vases, statues, \npaintings, and other things that struck his fancy, whether in \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, 329 \n\ntemples or private dwellings. He appropriated to his own \nuses the money which he was to employ in equipping ships to \nchastise the pirates that vexed the surrounding seas; and then \nfor the defeat which followed he struck off the heads of his ad- \nmirals. Ships entering the Sicilian harbors were seized and \ntheir cargoes sold. He even caused a Roman trader, for a \nslight offence, to be crucified, " the cross being set on the beach \nwithin sight of Italy, that he might address to his native shores \nthe ineffectual cry, \'I am a Roman citizen.\' " \n\nVerres could not be called to account while in office; and it \nwas doubtful whether, after the end of his term, he could be \nconvicted ; so corrupt and venal were become the members of \nthe Senate, before whom all such offenders must be tried. In- \ndeed, Verres himself openly boasted that he intended two \nthirds of his gains for his judges and lawyers, while the remain- \ning one third would satisfy himself \n\nFinally, after Sicily had come to look as though it had been \nravaged by barbarian conquerors, the infamous robber was \nimpeached. The prosecutor was Marcus Tullius Cicero, the \nbrilliant orator, who was at this time just rising into promi- \nnence at Rome. The storm of indignation raised by the de- \nvelopments of the trial caused Verres to flee into exile to Mas- \nsilia, whither he took with him much of his ill-gotten wealth. \n\nWar with the Mediterranean Pirates (66 b.c). \xe2\x80\x94 The Roman \nrepublic was now threatened by a new danger from the sea. \nThe Mediterranean was swarming with pirates. Roman con- \nquests in Africa, Spain, and especially in Greece and Asia \nMinor, had caused thousands of adventurous spirits from those \nmaritime countries to flee to their ships, and seek a livelihood\' \nby preying upon the commerce of the seas. The cruelty and \nextortions of the Roman governors had also driven large num- \nbers to the same course of life. These corsairs had banded \nthemselves into a sort of government, and held possession of \nnumerous strongholds \xe2\x80\x94 four hundred, it is said \xe2\x80\x94 in Cilicia, \n\n\'5* \n\n\n\n330 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCrete, and other countries. With a full thousand swift ships \nthey scoured the waters of the Mediterranean, so that no \nmerchantman could spread her sails in safety. They formed \na floating empire, which Michelet calls " a wandering Carthage, \nwhich no one knew where to seize, and which floated from \nSpain to Asia." \n\nThese buccaneers, the Vikings of the South, made descents \nupon the coast everywhere, plundered villas and temples, at- \ntacked and captured cities, and sold the inhabitants as slaves \nin the various slave-markets of the Roman world. They carried \noff merchants and magistrates from the Appian Way itself, and \nheld them for ransom. They made a jest of Roman citizen- \nship, and defied the authority of the Senate. At last the corn- \nships of Sicily and Africa were intercepted, and Rome was \nthreatened with the alternative of starvation or the paying of \nan enormous ransom. \n\nThe Romans now bestirred themselves. Pompey was in- \nvested with dictatorial power for three years over the Mediter- \nranean and all its coasts for fifty miles inland. An armament \nof five hundred ships and one hundred thousand men was in- \ntrusted to his command. The great general acted with his \ncharacteristic energy. Within forty days he had swept the \npirates from the Western Mediterranean, and in forty-nine \nmore hunted them from all the waters east of Italy, captured \ntheir strongholds in Cilicia, and settled the twenty thousand \nprisoners that fell into his hands in various colonies in Asia \nMinor and Greece. Pompey\'s vigorous and successful con- \nduct of this campaign against the pirates gained him great \nhonor and reputation. \n\nPompey and the Mithridatic War. \xe2\x80\x94 In the very year that \nPompey suppressed the pirates {66 B.C.), he was called to \nundertake a more difficult task. Mithridates the Great, led \non by his ambition and encouraged by the discontent created \nthroughout the Eastern provinces by Roman rapacity and mis- \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 33 1 \n\nrule, was again in arms against Rome. He had stirred almost \nall Asia Minor to revolt. The management of the war was at \nfirst intrusted to Lucullus, but he soon lost the confidence \nboth of the people at home and of the soldiers in the army ; \nso the command was taken from him and conferred upon Pom- \npey, whose successes in the war of the pirates had aroused un- \nbounded enthusiasm for him. \n\n, In the first engagement, which took place upon the Lycus, \nin ancient Assyria, Pompey almost annihilated the army of \nMithridates. The king fled from the field, and, after seeking \nin vain for a refuge in Asia Minor, sought an asylum at the \nfiirthest corner of the Euxine, beyond the Caucasus Moun- \ntains, whose bleak barriers interposed their friendly shield \nbetween him and his pursuers. Desisting from the pursuit, \nPompey turned south and conquered Syria, Phoenicia, and \nCoele-Syria, which countries he erected into a Roman province. \nStill pushing southward, the conqueror entered Palestine, \nand after a short siege captured Jerusalem (6;^ b.c). It was \nat this time that Pompey insisted, in spite of the protestations \nof the high-priest, upon entering the Holy of Holies of the \nHebrew temple. Pushing aside the curtain to the jealously \nguarded apartment, he was astonished to find nothing but a \ndarkened and vacant chamber, without even a statue of the \ngod .to whom the shrine was dedicated \xe2\x80\x94 nothing but a little \nchest containing some sacred relics. \n\nWhile Pompey was thus engaged, Mithridates was straining \nevery energy to raise an army among the Scythian tribes with \nwhich to carry out a most daring project. He proposed to \ncross Europe and fall upon Italy from the north. A revolt on \nthe part of his son Pharnaces ruined all his plans and hopes; \nand the disappointed monarch, to avoid falling into the hands \nof the Romans, took his own life (63 B.C.). His death removed \none of the most formidable enemies that Rome had ever en- \ncountered. Hamilcar, Hannibal, and Mithridates were the \nthree great names that the Romans always pronounced with \n\n\n\n332 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nrespect and dread. It is asserted that, when news of the death \nof Mithridates was carried to Italy, "the Romans rejoiced as \nthough ten thousand of their enemies had been slain." \n\nPompey\'s Triumph. \xe2\x80\x94 After regulating the affairs of the dif- \nferent states and provinces in the East, Pompey set out on his \nreturn to Rome. His journey through Asia Minor and Greece \nwas one continued ovation. At the capital, after some delay \ncaused by the jealousy of his enemies, he enjoyed such a tri- \numph as never before had been seen since Rome had become \na city. The spoils of all the East were borne in the procession ; \n322 princes walked as captives before the triumphal chariot of \nthe conqueror ; legends, upon the banners proclaimed that he \nhad conquered 21 kings, captured 1000 strongholds, 900 towns, \nand 800 ships, and subjugated more than 12,000,000 people; \nand that he had put in the treasury more than $25,000,000, \nbesides doubling the regular revenues of the state. He boast- \ned that three times he had triumphed, and each time for the \nconquest of a continent \xe2\x80\x94 first for Africa, then for Europe, and \nnow for Asia, which completed the conquest of the world. \n\nThe Conspiracy of Catiline. \xe2\x80\x94 While the legions were absent \nfrom Italy with Pompey in the East, a most daring conspiracy \nagainst the government was formed at Rome. Catiline, a \nruined spendthrift, had gathered a large company of profligate \nyoung nobles, weighed down with debt and desperate like him- \nself, and had deliberately planned to murder the consuls and \nthe chief men of the state, and to plunder and burn the capital. \nThe offices of the new government were to be divided among \nthe conspirators. They depended upon receiving aid from \nAfrica and Spain, and proposed to invite to their standard the \ngladiators in the various schools of Italy, as well as slaves and \ncriminals. The proscriptions of Marius and Sulla were to be \nrenewed, and all debts were to be cancelled. \n\nFortunately, all the plans of the conspirators were revealed \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 333 \n\nto the consul Cicero, the great orator. The Senate immedi- \nately clothed the consuls with dictatorial power with the usual \nformula, that they should take care that the republic received \nno harm. The gladiators were secured ; the city walls were \nmanned ; and at every point the capital and state were armed \nagainst the " invisible foe." Then in the Senate-chamber, with \nCatiline himself present, Cicero exposed the whole conspiracy \nin a famous philippic, known as "The First Oration against \nCatiline." The senators shrank from the conspirator, and left \nthe seats about him empty. After a feeble effort to reply to \nCicero, overwhelmed by a sense of his guilt, and the cries of \n"traitor" and "parricide" from the senators, he fled from the \nchamber, and hurried out of the city to the camp of his follow- \ners, in Etruria. His associates in crime in the city were ar- \nrested and executed. In a desperate battle fought near Pis- \ntoria, Catiline was slain with many of his followers. His head \nwas borne as a trophy to Rome. Cicero was hailed as the \n" Saviour of his Country." \n\nCaesar, Crassus, and Pompey. \xe2\x80\x94 Although the conspiracy of \nCatiline had failed, it was very easy to foresee that the down- \nfall of the Roman republic was near at hand. Indeed, from \nthis time on only the name remains. The basis of the institu- \ntions of the republic \xe2\x80\x94 the olden Roman virtue, integrity, patri- \notism, and faith in the gods \xe2\x80\x94 was gone, having been swept \naway by the tide of luxury, selfishness, and immorality pro- \nduced by the long series of foreign conquests and robberies in \nwhich the Roman people had been engaged. The days of \nliberty at Rome were over. From this time forward the govern- \nment was really in the hands of ambitious and popular leaders, \nor of corrupt combinations and rings. Events gather about a \nfew great names, and the annals of the republic become bio- \ngraphical rather than historical. \n\nThere were now in the state three men \xe2\x80\x94 Caesar, Crassus, and \nPompey \xe2\x80\x94 who were destined to shape affairs. Caius Julius \n\n\n\n334 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCaesar was born in the year loo B.C. Although descended \nfrom an old patrician family, still his sympathies, and an early \nmarriage to the daughter of Cinna, one of the adherents of \nMarius, led him early to identify himself with the Marian or \ndemocratic party. We have already noticed his escape from \nthe proscriptions of Sulla, and the prediction of the dictator \nthat in him would be found many Mariuses. In every way \nCaesar courted popular favor. He lavished enormous sums \nupon public games and tables. His debts are said to have \namounted to 25,000,000 sesterces ($1,250,000). His popularity \nw^as unbounded. A successful campaign in Spain had already \nmade known to himself, as well as to others, his genius as a \ncommander. \n\nCrassus belonged to the senatorial or aristocratical party. \nHe owed his influence to his enormous weaUh, being one of the \nrichest men in the Roman world. His property was estimated \nat 7100 talents (about $7,500,000).* \n\nWith Pompey and his achievements we are already familiar. \nHis influence throughout the Roman world was great ; for, in \nsettling and reorganizing the many countries he subdued, he \n\n* *\' The greatest part of this fortune, if we may declare the truth, to his \nextreme disgrace, was gleaned from war and from fires ; for he made a \ntraffic of the public calamities. When vSulla had taken Rome, and sold the \nestates of those whom he had put to death, which he both reputed and call- \ned the spoils of his enemies, he was desirous of involving all persons of \nconsequence in his crime, and he found in Crassus a man who refused no \nkind of gift or ]iurchase. Crassus observed also how liable the city was to \nfires, and how frequently houses fell down ; which misfortunes were owing \nto the weight of the buildings, and their standing so close together. In \nconsequence of this, he provided himself with slaves who were carpenters \nand masons, and went on collecting them till he had upwards of five hun- \ndred. Then he made it his business to buy houses that were on fire, and \nothers that joined upon them ; and he commonly had them at a low price \nby reason of the fire and distress the owners were in about the event. \n[Then the slaves would set to work and extinguish the fire, and Crassus at \na small cost would repair the damage.] Hence in time he became master \nof a great part of Rome." \xe2\x80\x94 Plutarch. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 335 \n\nhad always taken care to reconstruct them in his own interest, \nas well as in that of the republic. The offices, as we have seen, \nwere filled with his friends and adherents. This patronage had \nsecured for him incalculable authority in the provinces. His \nveteran legionaries, too, were naturally devoted to the general \nwho had led them to victory and glory. \n\nThe First Triumvirate. \xe2\x80\x94 What is known as the First Trium- \nvirate rested on the genius of Caesar, the wealth of Crassus, \nand the achievements of Pompey. It was a coalition or private \narrangement entered into by these three men for the purpose \nof securing to themselves the control of public affairs. Each \npledged himself to work for the interests of the others. Caesar \nwas the manager of the ring. He skilfully drew away Pompey \nfrom the aristocratical party, and effected a reconciliation be- \ntween him and Crassus, for they had been at enmity. It was \nagreed that Crassus and Pompey should aid Caesar in securing \nthe consulship. In return for this favor, Caesar was to secure \nfor Pompey a confirmation of his acts in the East, and allot- \nments of land for his veterans, which thus far had been jealously \nwithheld by the senatorial party. \n\nEverything fell out as the triumvirs had planned : Caesar got \nthe consulship, and Pompey received the lands for his soldiers. \nThe two ablest senatorial leaders, Cato and Cicero, whose in- \ncorruptible integrity threatened the plans of the triumvirs, were \ngot out of the way. Cato was given an appointment which \nsent him into honorable exile to the island of Cyprus; while \nCicero, on the charge of having denied Roman citizens the \nright of trial in the matter of the Catiline conspirators, was \nbanished from the capital, his mansion on the Palatine was \nrazed to the ground, and the remainder of his property con- \nfiscated. \n\nCaesar\'s Conquests in Gaul and Britain. \xe2\x80\x94 At the end of his \n\nconsulship, Caesar had assigned him the administration of the \n\n\n\n336 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nprovinces of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul. Already he was \nrevolving in his mind plans for seizing supreme power. Beyond \nthe Alps the Gallic and Germanic tribes were in restless move- \nment. He saw there a grand field for military exploits, which \nshould gain for him such glory and prestige as, in other fields, \nhad been won and were now enjoyed by Pompey. With this \nachieved, and with a veteran army devoted to his interests, he \nmight hope easily to attain that position at the head of affairs \ntowards which his ambition was urging him. \n\nIn the spring of 58 B.C. alarming intelligence from beyond \nthe Alps caused Caesar to hasten from Rome into Transalpine \nGaul. Now began a series of eight brilliant campaigns direct- \ned against the various tribes of Gaul, Germany, and Britain. \nIn his famous " Commentaries " C^sar himself has left us a \nfaithful and graphic account of all the memorable marches, \nbattles, and sieges that filled the years between 58 and 50 B.C. \n\nCaesar\'s first campaign after arriving in Gaul was directed \nagainst the Helvetians. These people, finding themselves too \nmuch crowded in their narrow territory, hemmed in as they \nwere between the Alps and the Jura ranges, had resolved to \nseek broader fields in the Roman provinces across the Rhone. \nDisregarding the commands of Caesar, the entire nation, num- \nbering, with their allies, 368,000 souls, left their old homes, \nand began their westward march. In a great battle Caesar com- \npletely defeated the barbarians, and forced them back into their \nold home between the mountains, now quite large enough for \nthe survivors, as barely a third of those that had set out returned. \n\nCaesar next defeated the Suevi, a German tribe that, under \nthe great chieftain Ariovistus, had crossed the Rhine, and were \nseeking settlements in Gaul. These people he forced back \nover the Rhine into their native forests. The two years follow- \ning this campaign were consumed in subjugating the different \ntribes in Northern and Western Gaul, and in composing the \naffairs of the country. In the war with the Veneti was fought \nthe first historic naval battle upon the waters of the Atlantic. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 337 \n\nThe year 55 B.C. marked two great achievements. Early in \nthe spring of this year Caesar constructed a bridge across the \nRhine, and led his legions against the Germans in their native \nwoods and swamps. In the autumn of the same year he cross- \ned, by means of hastily constructed ships, the channel that \nseparates the mainland from Britain, and after maintaining a \nfoothold upon that island for two weeks withdrew his legions \ninto Gaul for the winter. The following season he made an- \nother invasion of Britain ; but, after some encounters with the \nfierce barbarians, recrossed to the mainland, without having \nestablished any permanent garrisons in the island. Almost \none hundred years passed away before the natives of Britain \nwere again molested by the Romans. \n\nIn the year 52 B.C., while Caesar was absent in Italy, a general \nrevolt occurred among the Gallic tribes. It was a last desper- \nate struggle for the recovery of their lost independence. Ver- \ncingetorix, chief of the Arverni, was the leader of the insurrec- \ntion. For a time it seemed as though the Romans would be \ndriven from the country. But Caesar\'s despatch and genius \nsaved the province to the republic. Vercingetorix and 80,000 \nof his warriors were shut up in Alesia, and were finall}^ starved \ninto submission. AH Gaul was now quickly reconquered and \npacified. \n\nIn his campaigns in Gaul, C^sar had subjugated three hun- \ndred tribes, captured eight hundred cities, and slain one million \nbarbarians \xe2\x80\x94 one third of the entire population of the country. \nAnother third he had taken prisoners. Great enthusiasm was \naroused at Rome by these victories. " Let the Alps now sink," \nexclaimed Cicero : " the gods raised them to shelter Italy from \nthe barbarians; they are now no longer needed." \n\nResults of the Gallic Wars. \xe2\x80\x94 One result of the Gallic wars \nof Caesar was the Romanizing of Gaul. The country was \nopened to Roman traders and settlers, who carried with them \nthe language, customs, and arts of Italy. Honors were con- \n\n\n\n338 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nferred upon many of the Gallic chieftains, privileges were be- \nstowed upon cities, and the franchise even given to prominent \nand influential natives. As another result of the conquest of \nthe country, Mommsen gives prominence to the checking of \nmigratory movements of the German tribes, which gave "the \nnecessary interval for Italian civilization to becoma established \nin Gaul, on the Danube, in Africa, and in Spain.*\' \n\nCrassus in the East. \xe2\x80\x94 In the year 56 b.c, while Caesar was \nin the midst of his Gallic wars, he found time to meet Pompey, \nCrassus, and two hundred senators and magistrates who co- \noperated with the triumvirs, at Lucca, in Etruria, where, in a sort \nof convention, arrangements were made for another term of \nfive years. (A nomination by this league or ring of politicians \nand generals was equivalent to an election.) It was agreed \nthat Csesar\'s command in Gaul should be extended five years, \nand that Crassus and Pompey should be made consuls. All \nthese measures were carried into effect, the elections at Rome \nbeing secured by intimidation, and by the votes of soldiers of \nthe Gallic legions, to whom Caesar had granted furloughs for \nthis purpose. The government of the two Spains was given \nto Pompey, while that of Syria was assigned to Crassus. \n\nThe latter hurried to the East, hoping to rival there the brill- \niant conquests of Cassar in the West. At this time the great \nParthian empire occupied the immense reach of territory \nstretching from the Valley of the Euphrates to that of the \nIndus. Notwithstanding that the Parthians were at peace with \nthe Roman people, Crassus led his army across the Euphrates, \nand invaded their territory, intent upon a war of conquest and \nbooty. In the midst of the Mesopotamian desert he was \ntreacherously deserted by his guides ; and his army, sudden- \nly attacked by the Parthian cavalry, was almost annihilated. \nCrassus himself was slain, and his head, so it is said, was filled \nby his captors with molten gold, that he might be "sated" \nwith the metal which he had so coveted during life. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 339 \n\nIn the death of Crassus, Caisar lost his stanchest friend, \none who had never failed him, and whose wealth had been \nfreely used for his advancement. When Caesar, before his \nconsulship, had received a command in Spain, and the im- \nmense sums he owed at Rome were embarrassing him and \npreventing his departure, Crassus had come forward and gen- \nerously paid more than one million dollars of his friend\'s debts. \n\nCaesar Crosses the Rubicon.\xe2\x80\x94 After the death of Crassus, the \nworld belonged to Caesar and Pompey. That the insatiable \nambition of these two rivals should sooner or later bring them \ninto collision was inevitable. Their alliance in the triumvirate \nwas simply one of selfish convenience, not of friendship. \nWhile Caesar was carrying on his brilliant campaigns in Gaul, \nPompey was at Rome watching jealously the growing reputa- \ntion of his great rival. He strove, by a princely liberality, to \nwin the affections of the common people. On the Field of \nMars he erected an immense theatre with seats for forty thou- \nsand spectators. He gave magnificent games, and set public \ntables ; and when the interest of the people in the sports of the \nCircus flagged, he entertained them with gladiatorial combats. \nIn a similar manner Caesar strengthened himself with the people \nfor the struggle which he plainly foresaw. He sought in every \nway to ingratiate himself with the Gauls: he increased the pay \nof his soldiers, conferred the privileges of Roman citizenship \nupon the inhabitants of different cities, and sent to Rome \nenormous sums of gold to be expended in the erection of tem- \nples, theatres, and other public structures, and in the celebra- \ntion of games and shows that should rival in magnificence \nthose given by Pompey. \n\nThe terrible condition of affairs at the capital favored the \nambition of Pompey. So selfish and corrupt were the mem- \nbers of the Senate, so dead to all virtue and to every senti- \nment of patriotism were the people, that even such patriots \nas Cato and Cicero saw no hope for the maintenance of the re- \n\n\n\n340 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\npublic. The former favored the appointment of Pompey as sole \nconsul for one year, which was about the same thing as making \nhim dictator. "It is better," said Cato, "to choose a master \nthan to wait for the tyrant whom anarchy will impose upon us." \nThe "tyrant" in his and everybody\'s mind was Caisar. \n\nPompey now broke with Caesar, and attached himself again \nto the old aristocratical party, which he had deserted for the \nalliance and promises of the triumvirate. The death at this \ntime of his wife Julia, the daughter of Ctesar, severed the bonds \nof relationship at the same moment that those of ostensible \nfriendship were broken. \n\nCaesar nov/ demanded the consulship. He knew that his \nlife would not be safe in Rome from the jealousy and hatred \nof his enemies without the security from impeachment and \ntrial which that office would give. The Senate, under the \nmanipulation of these same enemies, issued a decree that he \nshould resign his office, and disband his Gallic legions by a \nstated day. The crisis had now come. Caesar ordered his \nlegions to hasten from Gaul into Italy. Without waiting for \ntheir arrival, at the head of a small body of veterans that he \nhad with him at Ravenna, he crossed the Rubicon, a small \nstream that marked the boundary of his province. This was \na declaration of war. As he plunged into the river, he ex- \nclaimed, "The die is cast." \n\nThe Civil War of Caesar and Pompey. \xe2\x80\x94 The bold movement \nof Caesar produced great consternation at Rome. Realizing \nthe danger of delay, Caesar, without waiting for the Gallic le- \ngions to join him, marched southward. One city after another \nthrew open its gates to him ; legion after legion went over to \nhis standard. Pompey and the Senate hastened from Rome \nto Brundisium, and thence, with about twenty -five thousand \nmen, fled across the Adriatic into Greece. The Senate reas- \nsembled at Thessalonica, in Macedonia. Within sixty days \nCaesar made himself undisputed master of all Italy. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 341 \n\nPompey and Caesar now controlled the Roman world. It \nwas large, but not large enough for both these ambitious men. \nAs to which was likely to become sole master, it were difficult \nfor one watching events at that time to foresee. Caesar held \nItaly, Illyricum, and Gaul, with the resources of his own genius \nand the idolatrous attachment of his soldiers; Pompey con- \ntrolled Spain, Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Greece, and the provinces \nof Asia, with the prestige of his great name and the indefinite \nresources of the East. \n\nCaesar\'s first care was to pacify Italy. His moderation and \nprudence won all classes to his side. Many had looked to \nsee the terrible scenes of the days of Marius and Sulla re- \nenacted. Ccesar, however, soon gave assurance that life and \nproperty should be held sacred. He needed money ; but, to \navoid laying a tax upon the people, he asked for the treasure \nkept beneath the Capitol. Legend declared that this gold was \nthe actual ransom-money which Brennus had demanded of the \nRomans, and which Camillus had saved by his timely appear- \nance. It was esteemed sacred, and was never to be used save \nin case of another Gallic invasion. When Caesar attempted \nto get possession of the treasure, the tribune Metellus prevent- \ned him; but Caesar impatiently brushed him aside, saying, \n" The fear of a Gallic invasion is over : I have subdued the \nGauls." \n\nWith order restored in Italy, Caesar\'s next movement was to \ngain control of the corn-fields of Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa. \nSo long as these granaries were in the hands of the Pompeians, \nRome was in constant danger of famine. A single legion \nbrought over Sardinia without resistance to the side of Caesar. \nCato, the lieutenant of Pompey, fled from before Curio out \nof Sicily. In Africa, however, the forces of Curio sustained a \nsevere defeat, and the Pompeians held their ground there un- \ntil the close of the war. Caesar, meanwhile, had subjugated \nSpain. In forty days the entire peninsula was brought under \nhis authority. Massilia had ventured to close her gates against \n\n\n\n342 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe conqueror; but a brief siege forced the city to capitulate. \nCaesar was now free to turn his forces against Pompey in the \n\nEast. \n\nThe Battle of Pharsalia. \xe2\x80\x94 From Brundisium Cassar em- \nbarked his legions for Epirus. The passage was an enterprise \nattended with great danger; for Bibulu-s, Pompey\'s admiral, \nswept the sea with his fleets. It was not without having sus- \ntained severe losses that Caesar effected a landing upon the \nshores of Greece. His legions mustered barely twenty thou- \nsand men. Pompey\'s forces were at least double this number. \nCaesar\'s attempt to capture the camp of his rival at Dyrrachi- \num having failed, he slowly retired into Thessaly, and drew up \nhis army upon the plains of Pharsalia. Hither he was followed \nby Pompey. The adherents of the latter were so confident of \nan easy victory that they were already disputing about the \noffices at Rome, and were renting the most eligible houses \nfronting the public squares of the capital. The battle was at \nlength joined. It proved Pompey\'s Waterloo. His army was \ncut to pieces. He himself fled from the field, and escaped to \nEgypt. Just as he was landing, he was stabbed by one of his \nformer lieutenants, now an officer at the Egyptian court. The \nreigning Ptolemy had ordered Pompey\'s assassination in hopes \nof pleasing Caesar. " If we receive him," said he, we shall make \nCaesar our enemy and Pompey our master." \n\nThe head of the great general was severed from his body ; \nand when Caesar, who was pressing after Pompey in hot pur- \nsuit, landed in Egypt, the bloody trophy was brought to him. \nHe turned from the sight with generous tears. It was no \nlonger the head of his rival, but of his old associate and son- \nin-law. He ordered his assassins to be executed, and directed \nthat fitting funeral obsequies should be performed over his body. \n\nClose of the Civil War.\xe2\x80\x94 Caesar was detained at Alexandria \nnine months in settling a dispute respecting the throne of \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 343 \n\nEgypt. After a severe contest he overthrew the reigning \nPtolemy, and secured the kingdom to the celebrated Cleopatra \nand a younger brother. Intelligence was now brought from \nAsia Minor that Pharnaces, son of Mithridates the Great, was \ninciting a revolt among the peoples of that region. Caesar met \nthe Pontic king at Zela, defeated him, and in five days put an \nend to the war. His laconic message to the Senate announc- \ning his victory is famous. It ran thus : Ve?2^ vidi^ vici\xe2\x80\x94\'\' I \ncame, I saw, I conquered." \n\nCssar now hurried back to Italy, and thence proceeded to \nAfrica, which the adherents of Pompey and the friends of the \nold republic had made their last rallying-place. At the great \nbattle of Thapsus (46 B.C.) the last hopes of the Pompeians \nwere crushed. Fifty thousand lay dead upon the field. Cato, \nwho had been the very life and soul of the army, refusing to \noutlive the republic, took his own life. \n\nCaesar\'s Triumph. \xe2\x80\x94 Cssar was now lord of the Roman world. \nAlthough he refrained from assuming the title of king, no \nEastern monarch was ever possessed of more absolute power, \nnor surrounded by more abject flatterers and sycophants. He \nwas invested with all the offices and dignities of the state. \nThe Senate made him perpetual dictator, and conferred upon \nhim the powers of censor, consul, and tribune, with the titles of \nPontifex Maximus and Imperator. " He was to sit in a golden \nchair in the Senate-house, his image was to be borne in the \nprocessions of the gods, and the seventh month of the year was \nchanged in his honor from Quintilis to Julius." \n\nHis triumph celebrating his many victories far eclipsed in \nmagnificence anything that Rome had before witnessed. In the \nprocession were led captive princes from all parts of the world. \nBeneath his standards marched soldiers \xe2\x80\x94 Gauls, Iberians, \nAfricans, and Asiatics \xe2\x80\x94 gathered out of almost every country \nbeneath the heavens. Seventy-five million dollars of treasure \nwere displayed. Splendid games and tables attested the liber- \n\n\n\n344 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nality of the conqueror. Sixty thousand couches were set for the \nmultitudes. The shows of the theatre and the combats of the \narena followed one another in an endless round. " Above the \ncombats of the amphitheatre floated for the first time the awn- \ning of silk, the immense velarium of a thousand colors, woven \nfrom the rarest and richest products of the East, to protect the \npeople from the sun " (Gibbon). \n\nCaesar as a Statesman.\xe2\x80\x94 ^Caesar was great as a general, yet \ngreater, if possible, as a statesman. The measures which he \ninstituted evince profound political sagacity and surprising \nbreadth of view. He sought to reverse the jealous and narrow \npolicy of Rome in the past, and to this end rebuilt both Car- \nthage and Corinth, and founded numerous colonies in all the \ndifferent provinces, in which he settled about 100,000 of the \npoorer citizens of the capital. Upon some of the provincials \nhe conferred Roman or Latin rights, and thus strove to blend \nthe varied peoples and races within the boundaries of the em- \npire in a real nationality, with community of interests and \nsympathies. He reformed the calendar (Caesar as pontiff was \nespecially interested in astronomy, and had written a work on \nthe subject) so as to bring the festivals once more in their \nproper seasons, and provided against further confusion by \nmaking the year consist of 365 days, with an added day for \nevery fourth or leap year. \n\nBesides these achievements, Caesar projected many vast un- \ndertakings, which the abrupt termination of his life prevented \nhis carrying into execution. He ordered a survey of the enor- \nmous domains of the state ; he proposed to make a code or \ndigest of the Roman laws \xe2\x80\x94 which work was left to be per- \nformed by the Emperor Justinian six centuries later; he also \nplanned many public works and improvements at Rome, among \nwhich were schemes for draining the Pontine Marshes and \nfor changing the course of the Tiber. He further proposed \nto cut a canal across the Isthmus of Corinth (a work that \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 345 \n\nmodern engineers are just attempting), to construct roads over \nthe Apennines, and to form a library to take the place of the \nfamous Alexandrian collection, 400,000 volumes of which had \nbeen destroyed during his campaign in Egypt. \n\nBut perhaps his plans of conquest in the East were his \ngrandest conception. He proposed, in revenge for the defeat \nand death of his friend Crassus, to break to pieces the Parthian \nempire; then, sweeping with an army around above the Euxine, \nto destroy the dreaded hordes of Scythia ; and then, falling upon \nthe German tribes in the rear, to crush their power forever, \nand thus relieve the Roman empire of their constant threat. \nHe was about to set out on the expedition against the Par- \nthians, when he w^as struck down by assassins. \n\nThe Death of Caesar. \xe2\x80\x94 Caesar had his bitter personal enemies, \nwho never ceased to plot his downfall. There were, too, sin- \ncere lovers of the old republic, who longed to see restored the \nliberty which the conqueror had overthrown. The impression \nbegan to prevail that Caesar was aiming to make himself king. \nA crown was several times offered him in public by Mark An- \ntony ; but, seeing the manifest displeasure of the people, he \neach time pushed it aside. Yet there is no doubt that secretly \nhe desired it. It was reported that he proposed to rebuild the \nwalls of Troy, whence the Roman race had sprung, and make \nthat ancient capital the seat of the new Roman empire. Others \nprofessed to believe that the arts and charms of the Egyptian \nCleopatra, who had borne him a son at Rome, would entice \nhim to make Alexandria the centre of the proposed kingdom. \nSo many, out of love for Rome and the old republic, were led \nto enter into a conspiracy against the life of Caesar with those \nwho sought to rid themselves of the dictator for other and per- \nsonal reasons. \n\nThe Ides (the 15th day) of March, 44 B.C., upon which day \nthe Senate convened, witnessed the assassination. Seventy or \neighty conspirators, headed by Cassius and Brutus, both of \n\n16 \n\n\n\n346 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nwhom had received special favors from the hands of Caesar, \nwere concerned in the plot. The augurs must have had some \nknowledge of the plans of the conspirators, for they had warned \nCaesar to "beware of the Ides of March." On his way to the \nSenate-house that day, a paper warning him of his danger was \nthrust into his hand ; but, not suspecting its urgent nature, he \ndid not open it. As he entered the assembly chamber he ob- \nserved the augur Spurinna, and remarked carelessly to him, \nreferring to his prediction, "The Ides of March are come." \n" Yes," replied the soothsayer, " but not gone." \n\nNo sooner had Caesar taken his seat than the conspirators \ncrowded about him as if to present a petition. Upon a signal \nfrom one of their number their daggers were drawn. For a \nmoment Caesar defended himself; but seeing Brutus,, upon \nwhom he had lavished gifts and favors, among the conspira- \ntors, he exclaimed reproachfully, Et tii, Brute! \xe2\x80\x94 "Thou, too, \nBrutus !" drew his mantle over his face, and received unresist- \ningly their further thrusts. Pierced with twenty-three wounds, \nhe sank dead at the foot of Pompey\'s statue. \n\nFuneral Oration by Mark Antony. \xe2\x80\x94 The conspirators, or \n"liberators," as they called themselves, had thought that the \nSenate would confirm, and the people applaud, their act. But \nboth people and senators, struck with consternation, were si- \nlent. Men\'s faces grew pale as they recalled the proscriptions \nof Sulla, and saw in the assassination of Caesar the first act \nin a similar Reign of Terror. As the conspirators issued from \nthe Senate- house, and entered the Forum, holding aloft their \nbloody daggers, instead of the expected acclamations they were \nmet by an ominous silence. The liberators hastened for safety \nto the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, going thither ostensibly \nfor the purpose of giving thanks for the death of the tyrant. \n\nUpon the day set for the funeral obsequies, Mark Antony, \nthe trusted friend and secretary of Ccesar, mounted the rostrum \nin the Forum to deliver the usual funeral oration. He recount- \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 347 \n\ned the great deeds of Caesar, the glory he had conferred upon \nthe Roman name, dwelt upon his liberality and his munificent \nbequests to the people \xe2\x80\x94 even to some who were now his \nmurderers; and, when he had wrought the feelings of the mul- \ntitude to the highest tension, he raised the robe of Caesar, and \nshowed the rents made by the daggers of the assassins. Caesar \nhad always been beloved by the people and idolized by his \nsoldiers. They were now driven almost to frenzy with grief and \nindignation. Seizing weapons and torches, they rushed through \nthe streets, vowing vengeance upon the conspirators. The \nliberators, however, escaped from the fury of the mob, and fled \nfrom Rome, Brutus and Cassias seeking refuge in Greece. \n\nThe Second Triumvirate.\xe2\x80\x94 Antony had gained possession of \nthe will and papers of Caesar, and now, under color of carrying \nout the testament of the dictator, according to a decree of the \nSenate, entered upon a course of high-handed usurpation. He \nwas aided in his designs by Lepidus, one of Caesar\'s old lieu- \ntenants. Very soon he was exercising all the powers of a real \ndictator. " The tyrant is dead," said Cicero, " but the tyranny \nlives." This was a bitter commentary upon the words of Bru- \ntus, who, as he drew his dagger from the body of Caesar, turned \nto Cicero and exclaimed, " Rejoice, O Father of your Country, \nfor Rome is free." Rome could not be free, the republic could \nnot be re-established, because the olden love for virtue and \nliberty had died out from among the people \xe2\x80\x94 had been over- \nwhelmed by the rising tide of vice, corruption, sensuality, and \nirreligion that had set in upon the capital. \n\nTo what length Antony would have gone in his career of \nusurpation it is difficult to say, had he not been opposed at this \npoint by Octavius, the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, and the \none whom he had named in his will as his heir and successor. \nAlthough only eighteen years of age, he now came boldly for- \nward and claimed the inheritance, assuming at the same time \nthe name Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He won Cicero to \n\n\n\n348 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhis support, and aroused the enthusiasm of the people by sell- \ning his own estates, in order to pay the bequests which his \nuncle had made in his will. Antony had already seized, and \nused for his own purposes, the treasures from which the dicta- \ntor had designed these legacies to be paid. \n\nUpon the Senate declaring in favor of Octavius, civil war im- \nmediately broke out between him and Antony and Lepidus. \nAfter several indecisive battles had been fought between the \nforces of the rival competitors, Octavius proposed to Antony \nand Lepidus a reconciliation. The three met on a small isl- \nand in the Rhenus, a little stream in Northern Italy, and there \nformed a league known as the Second Triumvirate. \n\nThe plans of the triumvirs were infamous. They first di- \nvided the world among themselves : Octavius was to have the \ngovernment of the West ; Antony, that of the East ; while to \nLepidus fell the control of Africa. A general proscription, \nsuch as had marked the coming to power of Marius and Cinna, \nwas then resolved upon. It was agreed that each should give \nup to the assassin such friends of his as had incurred the ill- \nwill of either of the other triumvirs. Under this arrangement \nOctavius gave up his friend Cicero \xe2\x80\x94 who had incurred the \nhatred of Antony by opposing his schemes \xe2\x80\x94 and allowed his \nname to be put at the head of the list of the proscribed. \n\nThe friends of the orator urged him to flee the countr}\'. \n"Let me die," said he, "in my fatherland, which I have so of- \nten saved !" His attendants were hurrying him, half unwilling, \ntowards the coast, when his pursuers came up and despatched \nhim in his litter. His head was carried to Rome and set up \nin front of the rostrum, "from which he had so often addressed \nthe people with his eloquent appeals for liberty." It is told \nthat Fulvia, the wife of Antony, ran her gold bodkin through \nthe tongue, in revenge for the bitter philippics it had uttered \nagainst her husband. The right hand of the victim \xe2\x80\x94 the hand \nthat had penned the eloquent orations \xe2\x80\x94 was nailed to the \nrostrum. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 349 \n\nCicero was but one victim among many hundreds. All the \ndreadful scenes of the days of Sulla were re-enacted. Three \nhundred senators and two thousand knights were murdered. \nThe estates of the wealthy were confiscated, and conferred by \nthe triumvirs upon their friends and favorites. \n\nLast Struggle of the Republic at Philippi. \xe2\x80\x94 The friends of \nthe old republic, and the enemies of the triumvirs, were mean- \nwhile rallying in the East. Brutus and Cassius were the ani- \nmating spirits. The Asiatic provinces were plundered to raise \nmoney for the soldiers of the liberators. Octavius and Antony, \nas soon as they had disposed of their enemies in Italy, crossed \nthe Adriatic into Greece, to disperse the forces of the republi- \ncans there. The liberators, advancing to meet them, passed \nover the Hellespont into Thrace. \n\nTradition tells how one night a spectre appeared to Brutus \nand seemed to say, " I am thy evil genius ; we will meet again \nat Philippi." At Philippi, in Thrace, the hostile armies met \n(42 B.C.). In two successive engagements the new levies of \nthe liberators were cut to pieces, and both Brutus and Cassius, \nbelieving the cause of the republic forever lost, committed sui- \ncide. It was, indeed, the last effort of the republic. The his- \ntory of the events that lie between the action at Philippi and \nthe establishment of the empire is simply a record of the strug- \ngles among the triumvirs for the possession of the prize of su- \npreme power. \n\nThe New Division of the Roman World. \xe2\x80\x94 After the victory \nat Philippi, Antony crossed the Hellespont to care for the \nAsiatic provinces, while Octavius returned to Italy to attend to \nthe distribution of lands among the soldiers. Jealousies arose \nalmost immediately between the conquerors, and civil war was \nimminent. But Antony and Octavius were brought together at \nBrundisium, where, through the mediation of friends, a recon- \nciliation was effected, and the Roman world was redistributed \n\n\n\n350 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\namong the triumvirs. To Antony were given, to settle and rule, \nall the provinces and tributary states east of the Adriatic ; to \nOctavius were assigned Italy and Spain ; and to Lepidus was \ngiven the province of Africa. The year following this arrange- \nment, Sextius Pompey, son of Pompey the Great, who with \na formidable fleet held the Mediterranean against the trium- \nvirs, and cut off the supply of corn from Rome, was admit- \nted to the league. He was assigned the principal islands* of \nthe Mediterranean, and also the province of Achaia, with the \nunderstanding that he should supply Italy with corn. \n\nThe league, based as it was entirely upon selfish and per- \nsonal considerations, was naturally soon broken. A slight \npretext led Octavius to make war upon Sextius Pompey, who, \nfleeing to Asia Minor, was there murdered. Lepidus then \nentered into a dispute with Octavius respecting Sicily, which \nresulted in the former\'s expulsion from the triumvirate. Again \nthe Roman world, as in the times of Caesar and Pompey, was \nin the hands of two masters \xe2\x80\x94 Antony in the East, and Oc- \ntavius in the West. \n\nAntony and Cleopatra. \xe2\x80\x94 When Antony, after the battle of \nPhilippi, went into Asia for the purpose of settling the affairs \nof the vassal states and provinces there, he summoned Cleo- \npatra, the fair queen of Egypt, to meet him at Tarsus, in Cili- \ncia, there to give account to him for the aid she had rendered \nthe liberators. She obeyed the summons, confident in the \npower of her charms to appease the wrath of the triumvir. \nShe ascended the Cydnus in a gilded barge, with oars of sil- \nver, and sails of purple silk. Beneath awnings wrought of the \nrichest manufactures of the East, the beautiful queen, attired to \npersonate Venus, reclined amidst lovely attendants dressed to \nrepresent cupids and nereids. Antony was completely fasci- \nnated, as had been the great Caesar before him, by the dazzling \nbeauty of the " Serpent of the Nile." Enslaved by her en- \nchantments, and charmed by her brilliant wit (for the fair queen \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 35 1 \n\npossessed not only personal beaut}\', but was gifted in song and \nlanguage), Antony, in the pleasures of her company, forgot all \nelse \xe2\x80\x94 ambition and honor and country. \n\nThe days and the nights were spent in one round of ban- \nquets, games, and revelries. It is said that the queen, at the \nclose of a banquet, in order to win a wager that she could \nconsume ten million sesterces at one meal, dissolved, in a cup \nof vinegar, a pearl of fabulous worth, and then carelessly swal- \nlowed the costly draught. In ingenious ways she amused the \nRoman voluptuary, arraying herself now as Venus and then as \nIsis, while he personated Bacchus and Osiris. Upon their fish- \ning excursions she employed divers to fasten enormous salt \nfishes to the hook of her lover. \n\nOnce, indeed, Antony did rouse himself and break away \nfrom his enslavement, to lead the Roman legions against the \nParthians. With an army of one hundred thousand men he \ncrossed the Euphrates and the Tigris, and with reckless dar- \ning plunged amidst the defiles and snowy passes of the moun- \ntains beyond. But the storms of approaching winter, and the \nincessant attacks of the Parthian cavalry, at length forced him \nto make a hurried and disastrous retreat. The loss, the suf- \nfering, and the disgrace attending this ill-fated expedition \nrivalled the calamities and dishonor of the memorable defeat \nof Crassus. Antony hastened back to Egypt, and sought to \nforget his shame and disappointment amidst the revels of the \nEgyptian court. \n\nThe Battle of Actium. \xe2\x80\x94 Affairs could not long continue in \ntheir present course. Antony had put away his faithful wife \nOctavia for the beautiful Cleopatra. It was whispered at Rome, \nand not without truth, that he proposed to make Alexandria \nthe capital of the Roman world, and announce C^sarion, son \nof Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, as heir of the empire. All \nRome was stirred. It was evident that a conflict was at hand \nin which the question for decision would be whether the West \n\n\n\n3^2 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nshould rule the East, or the East rule the West. All eyes were \ninstinctively turned to Octavius as the defender of Italy, and \nthe supporter of the sovereignty of the Eternal City. Both \nparties made the most gigantic preparations. Octavius met \nthe combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra just off the prom- \nontory of Actium, on the Grecian coast. While the fate of the \nbattle that there took place viras yet undecided, Cleopatra, \ncompletely unnerved with fear, turned her galley in flight. \nThe Egyptian ships, to the number of fifty, followed her ex- \nample. Antony, as soon as he perceived the withdrawal of \nCleopatra, forgot all else, and followed in her track with a \nswift galley. Overtaking the fleeing queen, the infatuated man \nwas received aboard her vessel, and became her partner in the \ndisgraceful flight. \n\nThe abandoned fleet and army surrendered to Octavius. \nThe conqueror was now sole master of the civilized world. \nFrom this decisive battle (31 B.C.) are usually dated the end of \nthe republic and the beginning of the empire. Some, how- \never, make the establishment of the empire date from the year \n28 B.C., as it was not until then that Octavius was formally in- \nvested with imperial powers. \n\nDeaths of Antony and Cleopatra. \xe2\x80\x94 Octavius pursued Antony \nto Egypt, where the latter, deserted by his army, and informed \nby a messenger from the false queen that she was dead, com- \nmitted suicide. This was exactly what Cleopatra anticipated \nhe would do, and hoped thus to rid herself of a now burden- \nsome lover. When, however, the dying Antony, in accordance \nwith his wish, was borne to her, the old love returned and he \nexpired in her arms. \n\nCleopatra then sought to enslave Octavius with her charms ; \nbut, failing in this, and becoming convinced that he proposed \nto take her to Rome that she might there grace his triumph, she \ntook her own life, being in the thirty-eighth year of her age. \nTradition says that she effected her purpose by applying a \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CENTURY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. . 353 \n\npoisonous asp to her arm. But it is really unknown in what \nway she killed herself. It is only certain that, when the \nchamber of the mausoleum in which she had shut herself up \nwas one day entered by the officers of Octavius, she was found \nlying dead among her attendants, with no mark of injury upon \nher body. \n\n16* ^ \n\n\n\n354 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS OF ROMAN REPUBLIC. \n\nB.C. \n\nRepublic established and first consuls elected 509 \n\nFirst secession of plebeians 494 \n\nCincinnatus made dictator 458 \n\nElection of first decemvirs 451 \n\nFirst censors elected 445 \n\nCapture of Veii 396 \n\nSack of Rome by Gauls under Brennus 390 \n\nSamnite wars 343-290 \n\nWar with Pyrrhus 280-274 \n\nFirst Punic War 264-241 \n\nSecond " 218-201 \n\nThird " 149-146 \n\nDestruction of Numantia 133 \n\nFirst Servile War 134-132 \n\nJugurthine War 1 1 1-104 \n\nMarius defeats Teutones and Cimbri 102-101 \n\nCivil wars of Marius and Sulla 88-78 \n\nPompey defeats Mediterranean pirates 66 \n\nConspiracy of Catiline 63-62 \n\nFirst triumvirate formed 60 \n\nConquests of Caesar in Gaul and Britain 58-50 \n\nBattle of Pharsalia ; Pompey flees to Egypt and is murdered 48 \n\nBattle of Thapsus ; Caesar becomes dictator of Roman world 46 \n\nMurder of Caesar 44 \n\nBattle of Philippi ; deaths of Brutus and Cassius 42 \n\nRepublic ends with battle of Actium between Octavius and Antony 31 \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 355 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI. \n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. \n(From 31 B.C. to a.d. iSo.) \n\nReign of Augustus Cassar (31 b.c. to a.d. 14). \xe2\x80\x94 The hundred \nyears of strife which ended with the battle of Actium left the \nRoman republic, exhausted and helpless, in the hands of one \nwise enough and strong enough to remould its crumbling frag- \nments in such a manner that the nation, which seemed ready \nto fall to pieces, might prolong its existence for another five \nhundred years. It was a great work thus to create anew, \nas it were, out of anarchy and chaos, a political fabric that \nshould exhibit such elements of perpetuity and strength. \n"The establishment of the Roman empire," says iMerivale, \n"was, after all, the greatest political work that any human be- \ning ever wrought. The achievements of Alexander, of Caesar, \nof Charlemagne, of Napoleon, are not to be compared with it \nfor a moment." \n\nThe government which Octavius established was a monarchy \nin fact, but a republic in form. Mindful of the fate of Julius \nCaesar, who fell because he gave the lovers of the Republic rea- \nson to think that he coveted the title of king, Octavius care- \nfully veiled his really absolute sovereignty under the forms \nof the old republican state. The Senate still existed ; but so \ncompletely subjected were its members to the influence of the \nconqueror that the only function it really exercised was the \nconferring of honors and titles and abject flatteries upon its \nmaster. All the republican offices remained ; but Octavius \nabsorbed and exercised all their powers and functions. He \nwas at once consul, tribune, censor, and pontifex maximus. All \n\n\n\n356 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe republican magistrates \xe2\x80\x94 the consuls, the tribunes, the prae- \ntors \xe2\x80\x94 were elected as usual ; but they were simply the nomi- \nnees and creatures of the emperor. They were the effigies and \nfigure-heads to delude the people into believing that the Re- \npublic still existed. Never did a people seem more content \nwith the shadow after the loss of the substance. \n\nThe Senate, acting under the inspiration of Octavius, with- \nheld from him the title of king, which ever since the expulsion \nof the Tarquins, five centuries before this time, had been in- \ntolerable to the people ; but they conferred upon him the titles \nof Imperator and Augustus, the latter having been hitherto \nsacred to the gods. The sixth month of the Roman year was \ncalled Augustus in his honor, an act in imitation of that by \nwhich the preceding month had been given the name of Julius \nin honor of Julius Caesar. \n\nThe domains over which Augustus held sway were imperial \nin magnitude. They stretched from the Atlantic to the Eu- \nphrates, and upon the north were hemmed by the forests of \nGermany and the bleak steppes of Scythia, and were bordered \non the south by the sands of the African desert and the dreary \nwastes of Arabia, which seemed the boundaries set by nature \nto dominion in those directions. Within these limits were \ncrowded more than 100,000,000 people, embracing every con- \nceivable condition and variety in race and culture, from the \nrough barbarians of Gaul to the pampered citizens of Rome, \nand from the fierce Numidian, careless of ease and luxury, to \nthe refined voluptuary of the East. \n\nThe policy of Augustus aimed at the fusion of the varied \nelements of the empire into a single national life. His wise \nand firm administration of the government did much towards \neffecting this worthy purpose. He made a tour through all \nthe Eastern provinces, founded colonies, granted privileges, \nbestowed honors, and by many generous and well-considered \nacts attached all classes to the new empire. He brought back \nwith him the long-lost eagles of Crassus, which he had de- \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 357 \n\nmanded and received of the Parthian king. Amidst the great- \nest rejoicing, they were placed in the Temple of Mars the Aven- \nger at Rome. \n\nThe reign of Augustus lasted forty-four years, from 31 B.C. \nto A.D. 14. It embraced the happiest period in the annals of \nRome. Under the patronage of the emperor, and that of his \nfavorite minister Maecenas, poets and writers flourished and \nmade this the "golden age" of Latin literature. During this \nreign Virgil composed his immortal epic of the "^neid," \nand Horace his famous odes ; while Livy wrote his inimi- \ntable history, and Ovid his " Metamorphoses." Many who la- \nmented the fall of the republic sought solace in the pursuit of \nletters ; and in this they were encouraged by Augustus, as it \ngave occupation to many restless spirits that would otherwise \nhave been engaged in political intrigues against his govern- \nment. \n\nAugustus was also a munificent patron of architecture and \nart. He adorned the capital with many splendid structures. \nSaid he proudly, " I found Rome a city of brick ; I left it a \ncity of marble." The population of the city at this time was \nprobably about one million. Two other cities of the empire, \nAntioch and Alexandria, are thought to have had each about \nthis same number of citizens. These cities, too, were made \nmagnificent with architectural and art embellishments. \n\nOctavius was the first to moderate the ambition of the Ro- \nmans, and to counsel them not to attempt to conquer any more \nof the world, but rather to devote their energies to the work of \nconsolidating the domains already acquired. He saw the dan- \ngers that would attend any further extension of the boundaries \nof the state. \n\nAlthough the principate of Augustus was disturbed by some \ntroubles upon the frontiers, still never before, perhaps, did the \nworld enjoy so long a period of general rest from the prepara- \ntion and turmoil of war. Three times during this auspicious \nreign the gates of the Temple of Janus at Rome, which were \n\n\n\n358 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nopen in time of war and closed in time of peace, were shut. \nOnly twice before during the entire history of the city had they \nbeen closed, so constantly had the Roman people been en- \ngaged in strife. It was in the midst of this happy reign, when \nprofound peace prevailed throughout the civilized world, that \nChrist was born in Bethlehem of Judea. The event was un- \nheralded at Rome ; yet it was filled with profound significance, \nnot only for the Roman Empire, but for the world. \n\nThe latter years of the life of Augustus were clouded both \nwith domestic bereavement and national disaster. His beloved \nnephew Marcellus, and his two grandsons Caius and Lucius, \nwhom he purposed making his heirs, were all removed by \ndeath; and then away beneath the German forest his general \nVarus, who had attempted to rule the freedom-loving Teutons \nas he had governed the abject Asiatics of the Eastern prov- \ninces, was surprised by the barbarians, led by their brave chief \nHermann \xe2\x80\x94 Arminius, as called by the Romans \xe2\x80\x94 and his army \ndestroyed almost to a man (a.d. 9). Forty thousand of the \nlegionaries lay dead and unburied in the tangled woods and \nmorasses of Germany. \n\nThe disaster caused great consternation at Rome ; for it was \nfeared that the German tribes would now cross the Rhine, \neffect an alliance with the Gauls, and then that these united \nhordes would pour over the Alps into Italy. Augustus, wearied \nand worn already with advancing age, the cares of empire, and \ndomestic affliction, was inconsolable. He paced his palace in \nagony, and kept exclaiming, " O Varus ! Varus ! give me back \nmy legions ; give me back my legions !" But Tiberius, whom \nAugustus, after the death of Caius and of Lucius, had appointed \nhis heir and successor, so carefully guarded the Rhine that the \nGermans did not attempt the passage, and Italy was saved \nfrom the threatened invasion. \n\nThe victory of Arminius over the Roman legions w^as an \nevent of the greatest significance in the history of European \ncivilization. Germany was almost overrun by the Roman army. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 359 \n\nThe Teutonic tribes were on the point of being completely \nsubjugated and IR^omanized, as had been the Celts of Gaul be- \nfore them. Had this occurred, the entire history of Europe \nwould have been changed; for the Germanic element is the \none that has given shape and color to the important events of \nthe last fifteen hundred years. Those barbarians, too, were \nour ancestors. Had Rome succeeded in exterminating or \nenslaving them, Britain, as Creasy says, would never have \nreceived the name of England, and the great English nation \nwould never have had an existence. \n\nIn the year a.d. 14, Augustus died, having reached the sev- \nenty-sixth year of his age. His last words to the friends gath- \nered about his bedside were : " If I have acted well my part in \nlife\'s drama, greet my departure with your applause.\'\' It was \nbelieved that the soul of Augustus ascended visibly amidst the \nflames of his funeral pyre. By decree of the Senate divine wor- \nship was accorded to him, and temples were erected in his \nhonor. \n\nOne of the most important of the acts of Augustus, in its in- \nfluence upon following events, was the formation of the Prae- \ntorian Guard, which was designed for a sort of body-guard to \nthe emperor. In the succeeding reign this body of soldiers, \nabout ten thousand in number, was given a permanent camp \nalongside the city walls. It soon became a formidable power \nin the state, and made and unmade emperors at will. \n\nReign of Tiberius (a.d. 14-37). \xe2\x80\x94 Tiberius succeeded to an \nunlimited sovereignty. The Senate conferred upon him all the \ntitles that had been worn by Augustus. One of the first acts \nof Tiberius gave the last blow to the ancient republican insti- \ntutions. He took away from the popular assembly the privilege \nof electing the consuls and praetors, and bestowed the same \nupon the Senate, which, however, must elect from candidates \npresented by the emperor. As the Senate was the creation of \nthe emperor, who as censor made up the list of its members, \n\n\n\n360 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof course he was now the source and fountain of all power and \npatronage. During the first years of his reign, Tiberius used \nhis practically unrestrained authority with moderation and jus- \ntice, being seemingly desirous of promoting the best interests \nof all classes in his vast empire. \n\nThe beginning of his reign was marked by revolts among \nthe legions, the most serious discontent manifesting itself \namong those guarding the Rhine, who wished to raise to the \nthrone their favorite general Germanicus, nephew of Tiberius. \nBut Germanicus sternly refused to take part in such an act of \ntreachery, reproved his soldiers, and then drew their attention \nfrom such thoughts of disloyalty by leading them across the \nRhine to recover the lost standards of Varus. He was so far \nsuccessful in this bold enterprise as to retake the lost eagles \nand capture the wife of Arminius. But at this moment, when \nGermanicus seemed upon the point of laying the Roman yoke \nupon the tribes of Germany, Tiberius, moved, it is conjectured, \nby jealousy, recalled him from the Rhenish frontier, and sent \nhim into the Eastern provinces, where he soon after died, \nhaving been poisoned, as was charged, by an agent of the \njealous emperor. \n\nDespotic power is a dangerous possession, likely to prove \nterribly harmful, alike to him who wields it as well as to those \nover whom it is exercised. Very few natures can withstand \nthe seductive temptations, the corrupting influences, of unre- \nstrained and irresponsible authority. Hence the long series \nof excesses and crimes which we shall now find making up a \nlarge part of the annals of the Roman emperors. \n\nTiberius, whatever may have been the intentions with which \nhe began his reign, soon yielded to the baser passions of his \nnature, plunged into the grossest sensuality, and perpetrated \nthe most infamous crimes against the lives and liberties of his \nsubjects. He caused to be revived an old law, known as the \nlaw of majestas^ which made it a capital offence for any one \nto speak a careless word, or even to entertain an unfriendly \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 36 1 \n\nthought, respecting the emperor. "It was dangerous to speak \nand equally dangerous to keep silent," says Leighton, " for \nsilence even might be construed into discontent." Rewards \nwere offered to informers, and hence sprang up a class of per- \nsons called " delators," who acted as spies upon society. Often \nfalse charges were preferred, to gratify personal enmity; and \nmany, especially of the wealthy class, were accused and put to \ndeath that their property might be confiscated. \n\nTiberius appointed, as his chief minister and commander of \nthe praetorians, one Sejanus, a man of the lowest and most cor- \nrupt life. This officer actually persuaded Tiberius to retire to \nthe little island of Capreas, in the Bay of Naples, and leave to \nhim the management of affairs at Rome. The emperor built \nseveral villas in different parts of the beautiful islet, and, hav- \ning gathered about him a company of congenial souls, plunged \ninto the most shameless debaucheries. The days were passed \nin high revels, and the nights in abominable orgies. One of \nhis companions, whose only qualification was that he had swal- \nlowed five flasks of wine in succession, was appointed to a \nhigh office. For five years the revelry went on. \n\nMeanwhile, Sejanus was ruling at Rome very much accord- \ning to his own will. No man\'s life was safe. He murdered \nthe most prominent citizens, and caused the heirs to the throne \nto be put out of the wa}\', in order that Tiberius might be free \nto name him as his successor. He even grew so bold as to \nplan the assassination of the emperor himself. His designs, \nhowever, became known to Tiberius; and the infamous and \ndisloyal minister was arrested and put to death. \n\nThe naturally cruel, suspicious, and misanthropic spirit of \nTiberius now became more morose and gloomy than before. \nSuch was his distrust of the people that, when he visited Rome \nafter the execution of his minister, he did not dare approach the \ncity by land, but was borne up the Tiber in a galley, the crowds \nbeing cleared from the banks as the barge advanced slowly up \nthe stream. Scarcely had he reached the confines of the city, \n\n\n\n362 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwhen, overcome probably by fear, he ordered the galley to be \nturned about; and his flight was never intermitted until he was \nagain upon the island of Caprea^. Here he plunged anew into \nhis unseemly indulgences, meanwhile keeping the streets of \nRome wet with the blood of his victims. Multitudes sought \nrefuge from his tyrannies in suicide. "I care not that the \npeople hate me," said he, " if only they obey me." \n\nFinally, in the year a.d. 37, death relieved the world of the \nmonster, in the twenty-third year of his reign and the seventy- \neighth of his age. His end was probably hastened by his at- \ntendants, who are believed to have smothered the wretch in his \nbed when in the last stages of a mortal illness. His name \nlives in history as the synonym of cruelty, tyranny, and scan- \ndalous debauchery. \n\nIt was in the midst of this disgraceful reign that, in a dis- \ntant province of the Roman Empire, the Saviour was crucified. \n\nUeign of Caligula (a.d. 37-41). \xe2\x80\x94 Caius Caesar, better known \nas Caligula, son of Germanicus, was only twenty-five years of \nage when the death of Tiberius called him to the throne. His \nsurname Caligula was given him by the German legions, be- \ncause, when a little bo}^, he was kept by his father in the camp, \nand to please the men dressed like a little soldier with military \nbuskins {caligce). \n\nHis career was very similar to that of Tiberius. At first he \nruled with mildness, but soon rivalled his predecessor in his \nexcesses and cruelties. He seemed transformed into a mad- \nman. Indeed, it is the charitable surmise of many that the \ntaint of insanity ran in the Claudian blood, and that the \nterrible malady was developed in the different members of \nthe family who wore the imperial purple, by the excitements \nand indulgences of their lives. \n\nAfter a few months spent in arduous application to the af- \nfairs of the empire, during which time his many acts of kind- \nness and piety won for him the affections of all classes, the \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EiMPIRE. 363 \n\nmind of the young emperor became unsettled. His rest was \nfeverish; and often he paced the halls of his palace the night \nthrough with wild and incoherent ravings. He soon gave \nhimself up to the most detestable dissipations. The cruel \nsports of the amphitheatre possessed for him a strange fasci- \nnation. When animals failed, he ordered spectators to be \nseized indiscriminately and thrown to the beasts. He even \nentered the lists himself, and fought as a gladiator upon the \narena. \n\nStories without number are told illustrating his insanities \nand extravagances. Upon the death of one of his sisters, he \ndecreed that " if any one dared mourn for her death he should \nbe punished, for she had become a goddess; if any one re- \njoiced at her deification, he should be punished also, for she \nwas dead." He is said to have caused persons to be tortured \nat his banquets, that their cries and groans might add to the \nenjoyment of the meal. He lamented that no great calamity \nmarked his reign, such as that which had occurred in the reign \nof Tiberius, when fifty thousand persons lost their lives in the \nfall of the great theatre at Fidence. In a sanguinary mood, he \nwished that " the people of Rome had but one neck." He \nbuilt a bridge from his palace on the Palatine to the temple on \nthe Capitoline, that he might be " next neighbor " to Jupiter. \nIn order to rival the Hellespontine bridges of Xerxes, he con- \nstructed a bridge over the bay at Baiae. The structure broke \nbeneath the triumphal procession on the day of dedication ; \nand Caligula, delighted with the spectacle of the struggling \nvictims, forbade any one to attempt to save the drowning. \n\nHe emulated the example of Cleopatra by dissolving costly \ngems and drinking them at a draught. A single dinner cost \nfour hundred thousand dollars. As an insult to his nobles he \ngave out that he proposed to make his favorite horse, Incitatus, \nconsul, and frequently invited the steed from his ivory stable to \neat gilded grain at the imperial board. Tiberius had left Calig- \nula a treasure of one hundred millions of dollars, all of which \n\n\n\n364 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhe spent in a single year. While it lasted, however, he en- \njoyed it to the utmost by " wading barefoot through his heaps \nof gold, or with insane delight rolling himself upon them like a \ndog." He personated in turn all the gods and goddesses, \narraying himself at one time as Hercules or Bacchus, and again \nas Juno or Venus. He declared himself divine, set up his \nstatues for worship, and even removed the head of Jupiter\'s \nstatues and put on his own. \n\nDuring his reign he set out on an expedition against Britain ; \nbut on reaching the sea he set his soldiers to work collecting \nshells along the beach, which " spoils of the ocean " he then \nsent back to Rome as the trophies of his enterprise. A cam- \npaign against the Germans ended at the Rhenish frontier with \nnot captives enough in his hands for a triumph ; accordingly, \nhe hired, so the story runs, a great number of Gauls to person- \nate German prisoners, and thus supplied the embarrassing de- \nficiency. \n\nAfter four years the insane career of Caligula was brought \nto a close by some of the officers of the praetorian guard whom \nhe had wantonly insulted. \n\nReign of Claudius (a.d. 41-54). \xe2\x80\x94 Caligula had named no \nsuccessor. The Senate began to debate whether the Republic \nshould not be restored ; but, while they were engaged in the \ndiscussion, the praetorians brought forward Claudius, the \nbrother of Germanicus, whom they had found concealed in \nthe palace, and declared him emperor. Claudius, now an old \nman, had been from a child feeble in body and mind ; yet now \nwhen he was placed, much to his own amazement and distress, \nat the head of the Roman state, he exhibited no inconsiderable \nability, and certainly displayed much zeal and assiduity in the \nadministration of affairs. \n\nThe reign of Claudius was signalized by the conquest of \nBritain. A century had now passed since the invasion of the \nisland by Julius Casar, who, as has been seen, simply made a \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 365 \n\nreconnoissance of the island and then withdrew. Meanwhile, \na large trade had grown up between the island and the main- \nland, where the arts and products of Roman civilization were \nbeing rapidly disseminated. This intercourse had given the \nRomans a considerable knowledge of Britain, and they coveted \nthe country. Claudius conquered all the southern portion of \nthe island, and founded many colonies, which in time became \nimportant centres of Roman trade and culture. The leader of \nthe Britons was Caractacus, chief of the Silures, a tribe which \nheld the mountains of Wales. He was taken captive and \ncarried to Rome. Gazing in astonishment upon the magnifi- \ncence of the imperial city, he exclaimed, "How can a people \npossessed of such splendor at home envy Caractacus his hum- \nble cottage in Britain?" \n\nClaudius distinguished his reign by the execution of many \nimportant works. At the mouth of the Tiber he constructed \na magnificent harbor, called the Portus Romanus. The Clau- \ndian Aqueduct, which he completed, was a stupendous work, \nbringing water to the city from a distance of forty-five miles. \n\nThe delight of the people in gladiatorial shows had at this \ntime become almost an insane frenzy. Claudius determined \nto give an entertainment that should render insignificant all \nsimilar efforts. Upon a large lake, whose sloping banks af- \nforded seats for the vast multitudes of spectators, he exhibited \na naval battle, in which two opposing fleets, bearing nineteen \nthousand gladiators, fought as though in real battle, till the \nwater was filled with thousands of bodies, and covered with the \nfragments of the broken ships. \n\nThroughout his life Claudius was ruled by intriguing favor- \nites and unworthy wives. His third consort, whom all the \nworld have concurred in calling the *\' infamous Messalina," \nengaged in such shameful intrigues against the honor and life \nof her husband that he at last ordered her to be executed. \nThose who wished to exaggerate the stolid imbecility of Clau- \ndius reported that the emperor, forgetting the incident, fre- \n\n\n\n366 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nqiiently inquired afterwards of his slaves why his wife was \nabsent from the table. For his fourth wife Claudius married \nthe " wicked Agrippina," who secured his death by means of \na dish of poisoned mushrooms, in order to make place for the \nsuccession of her son Nero. \n\nReign of Nero (a.d. 54-68). \xe2\x80\x94 Nero was fortunate in having \nfor his preceptor the great philosopher and moralist Seneca; \nbut never was teacher more unfortunate in his pupil. For five \nyears Nero, under the influence of Seneca and Burrhus, the \nlatter the commander of the praetorians, ruled with moderation \nand equity. But his own mother, Agrippina, intrigued against \nhim in favor of a younger son ; and Nero, after failing in an at- \ntempt to drown her while she was crossing the bay at Baiae, \nsecured her death by the hand of an assassin. He now broke \naway from the guidance of his tutor Seneca, and entered upon \na career filled with crimes of almost incredible enormity. The \ndagger and poison \xe2\x80\x94 the latter a means of murder the use of \nwhich at Rome had become a "fine art," and was in the hands \nof those who made it a regular profession \xe2\x80\x94 were employed \nalmost unceasingly, to remove persons that had incurred his \nhatred, or who possessed wealth that he coveted. Like Calig- \nula, he degraded the imperial purple by contending in the glad- \niatorial combats of the arena and in the games of the circus. \n\nIt was in the tenth year of his reign that the famous Great \nFire laid more than half of Rome in ashes. Temples, monu- \nments, and buildings of every description were swept away by \nthe flames, that surged like a sea through the valleys and about \nthe base of the hills occupied by the city. The people, in the \ndismay of the moment, were ready to catch up any rumor re- \nspecting the origin of the fire. It was reported that Nero had \nordered the conflagration to be lighted, and that from the roof \nof his palace he had enjoyed the spectacle, and amused him- \nself by singing a poem which he himself had written, entitled \nthe "Sack of Troy." \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 367 \n\nNero did everything in his power to discredit the rumor. \nHe went in person amidst the sufferers, and distributed money \nwith his own hand. To further turn attention from himself, he \naccused the Christians of having conspired to destroy the city, \nin order to help out their prophecies. The doctrine which was \ntaught by some of the new sect respecting the second coming \nof Christ, and the destruction of the world by fire, lent color \nto the charge. The persecution that followed was one of the \nmost cruel recorded in the history of the Church. Many vic- \ntims were covered with pitch and burned at night, to serve \nas torches in the imperial gardens. Tradition preserves the \nnames of the apostles Peter and Paul as victims of this Nero- \nnian persecution. \n\nAs to Rome, the conflagration was a blessing in disguise. \nRequisitions of money and material were made upon all the \nRoman world for the rebuilding of the burnt districts. The \ncity rose from its ashes as quickly as Athens from her ruins \nat the close of the Persian wars. The new buildings were \nmade fire-proof; and the narrow, crooked streets reappeared \nas broad and beautiful avenues. AVater was distributed from \nthe aqueducts through all the houses and grounds. A con- \nsiderable portion of the burnt region was appropriated by \nNero for the buildings and grounds of an immense palace, \ncalled the "Golden House." It covered so much space that \nthe people " maliciously hinted " that Nero had fired the old \ncity, in order to make room for it. \n\nThe emperor secured money for his enormous expenditures \nby new extortions, murders, and confiscations. No one of \nwealth knew but that his turn might come next. A conspiracy \nwas formed among the nobles to relieve the state of the mon- \nster. The plot was discovered, and again "the city was filled \nwith funerals." Lucan the poet, and Seneca, the old preceptor \nof Nero, both fell victims to the tyrant\'s rage. \n\nNero now made a tour through the East, and there plunged \ndeeper and deeper into every shame, sensuality, and crime. \n\n\n\n368 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe tyranny and the disgrace were no longer endurable. Al- \nmost at the same moment the legions in several of the prov- \ninces revolted. The Senate decreed that he was a public \nenemy, and condemned him to a disgraceful death by scourg- \ning, to avoid which he instructed a slave how to give him a \nfatal thrust. His last words were, "What a loss my death will \nbe to art !" \n\nNero was the sixth and last of the Julian line. The family \nof the Great Caesar was now extinct; but the name remained, \nand was adopted by all the succeeding emperors. \n\nGalba, Otho, and Vitellius (a.d. 68-69). \xe2\x80\x94 These three names \nare usually grouped together, as their reigns were all short and \nuneventful. The succession, upon the death of Nero and the \nextinction in him of the Julian line, was in dispute, and the \nlegions in different quarters supported the claims of their favor- \nite leaders. One after another the three aspirants named were \nkilled in bloody struggles for the imperial purple. The last, \nVitellius, was hurled from the throne by the soldiers of Vespa- \nsian, the old and beloved commander of the legions in Pales- \ntine, which were at this time engaged in war with the Jews. \n\nEeign of Vespasian (a.d. 69-79).\xe2\x80\x94 It was the happy fortune \nof Flavins Vespasian to have his reign mark the beginning of \na period, embracing three reigns, so free from tyranny and so \nprosperous that it is called, after him, " The Flavian Age." The \nreign of Vespasian was signalized both by famous mihtary \nachievements abroad and by stupendous works undertaken at \nRome. \n\nAfter one of the most harassing sieges recorded in history, \nJerusalem was taken by Titus, son of Vespasian. The Temple \nwas destroyed, and more than one million of Jews that were \ncrowded in the city are believed to have perished. Great \nmultitudes suffered death by crucifixion. The miserable rem- \nnants of the nation were scattered everywhere over the world. \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 369 \n\nJosephus, the great historian, accompanied the conqueror to \nRome. In imitation of Nebuchadnezzar, Titus robbed the \nTemple of its sacred utensils, and bore them away as trophies. \nUpon the triumphal arch at Rome that bears his name may be \nseen at the present day the sculptured representation of the \ngolden candlestick, which was one of the memorials of the war. \n\nIn the opposite corner of the empire a dangerous revolt of \nthe Gauls was suppressed, and in the island of Britain the Ro- \nman commander Agricola subdued or crowded back the native \ntribes until he had extended the frontiers of the empire into \nwhat is now Scotland. Then, as a protection against the in- \ncursions of the Caledonians, the ancestors of the Scottish \nHighlanders, he constructed a line of fortresses from the Frith \nof Forth to the Frith of Clyde. \n\nVespasian rebuilt the Capitoline temple, which had been \nburned during the struggle between his soldiers and the ad- \nherents of Vitellius; he constructed a new forum which bore \nhis own name; and also began the erection of the celebrated \nFlavian amphitheatre, which was completed by his successor. \nAfter a most prosperous reign of ten years, Vespasian died \nA.D. 79, the first emperor after Augustus that did not meet with \na violent death. At the last moment he requested his attend- \nants to raise him upon his feet that he might " die standing," \nas befitted a Roman emperor. \n\nReign of Titus (a.d. 79-81). \xe2\x80\x94 In a short reign of two years \nTitus won the title, the " Delight of Mankind." He was un- \nwearied in acts of benevolence and in bestowal of favors. It \nis of this prince that the story is related that, having let a day \nslip by without some act of kindness performed, he exclaimed, \nreproachfully, "I have lost a day." \n\nTitus completed and dedicated the great Flavian amphi- \ntheatre begun by his father, Vespasian. This vast structure, \nwhich accommodated more than eighty thousand spectators, \nis better known as the Colosseum \xe2\x80\x94 a name given it either \n\n17 \n\n\n\n370 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbecause of its gigantic proportions, or on account of a colossus \nof Nero which happened to stand near it. The dedicatory \ngames lasted one hundred days, and more than five thousand \nwild beasts were killed upon the arena. \n\nThe reign of Titus, though so short, was signalized by two \ngreat disasters. The first was a conflagration at Rome, which \nwas almost as calamitous as the Great Fire in the reign of \nNero. The second was the destruction, by an eruption of Ve- \nsuvius, of the Campanian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. \nThe Romans seem to have been ignorant of the volcanic char- \nacter of Vesuvius ; and these cities, with their beautiful homes, \ntemples, and gardens, nestled securely at the foot of the treach- \nerous mountain (Merivale). \n\nThe cities were buried beneath showers of ashes and streams \nof boiling mud and lava. Pliny the elder, the great naturalist, \nventuring too near the mountain to investigate the phenome- \nnon, lost his life. In the year 17 13, sixteen centuries after the \ndestruction of the cities, the ruins were discovered by some \npersons engaged in digging a well, and since then extensive \nexcavations have been made, which have uncovered a large \npart of Pompeii, and revealed to us the streets, homes, theatres, \nbaths, shops, temples, and various monuments of the ancient \ncity \xe2\x80\x94 all of which present to us a very real picture of Roman \nlife during the imperial period, two thousand years ago. \n\nDomitian\xe2\x80\x94 Last of the Twelve Caesars (a.d. 81-96). \xe2\x80\x94 Domi- \ntian, the brother of Titus, was the last of the line of emperors \nknown as "the Twelve Caesars." The title, however, was as- \nsumed, and is applied to all succeeding emperors ; the only \nreason that the first twelve princes are grouped together is be- \ncause the Roman biographer Suetonius completed the lives of \nthat number only. \n\nDomitian was capricious, effeminate, and cruel. His reign \nwas an exact contrast to that of his brother Titus. It was one \nsuccession of extravagances, tyrannies, confiscations, and mur- \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 37 1 \n\nders. Under this emperor took place what is known in Church \nhistory as "the second persecution of the Christians." This \nclass, as well as the Jews, were the special objects of Domi- \ntian\'s hatred, because they refused to worship the statues of \nhimself which he had set up. It is told in illustration of his \ncruel disposition that he occupied his leisure in putting flies to \ndeath by ingenious tortures. At last the empress, discovering \nthat her name headed a list of persons whom the caprice of \nher royal husband had devoted to slaughter, conspired with \nthe freedmen of the imperial family to assassinate the tyrant. \nThe plot was consummated ; and the last of the Twelve CiEsars \nperished in his own palace, and by the hands of members of \nhis own household. The Senate ordered his infamous name \nto be erased from the public monuments, and to be blotted \nfrom the records of the Roman State. \n\nReign of Nerva (a.d. 96-98). \xe2\x80\x94 The five emperors\xe2\x80\x94 Nerva, \nTrajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines \xe2\x80\x94 that succeeded \nDomitian were elected by the Senate, which during this period \nassumed something of its former weight and influence in the \naffairs of the empire. The wise and beneficent administration \nof the government by these rulers secured for them the envia- \nble distinction of being called " the five good emperors." Nerva \nwas an aged senator, who seemed to have preserved the virtues \nof the olden times. He was a native of Crete, and was the first \nruler chosen from the provincials. From this time on the wear- \ners of the purple were usually of other than Roman descent. \n\nIf Nerva had any fault, it was that he was too lenient. He \nwas himself conscious of his lack of sufficient firmness to con- \ntrol the turbulent praetorians and legionaries, and so, early in \nhis reign, associated with him in the government the able com- \nmander Trajan, who was at the head of the army on the Rhen- \nish frontier. Nerva died after a short reign of sixteen months, \nand the sceptre passed into the stronger hands of his chosen \nassociate. \n\n\n\n372 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nReign of Trajan (a.d. 98-117). \xe2\x80\x94 Trajan was a native of \nSpain, and a soldier by profession and talent. His ambition \nto achieve military renown led him to undertake distant and \nimportant conquests. It w^as the policy of Augustus \xe2\x80\x94 a policy \nadopted by most of his successors \xe2\x80\x94 to make the Danube in \nEurope and the Euphrate^in Asia the limits of the Roman \nempire in those respective quarters. But Trajan determined \nto push the frontiers of his dominions beyond both these rivers, \nscorning to permit Nature by these barriers to mark out the \nconfines of Roman sovereignty. \n\nHe crossed the Danube by means of a bridge the founda- \ntions of which may still be seen, and subjugated the bold and \nwarlike tribes lying behind that stream \xe2\x80\x94 tribes that had often \nthreatened the peace of the empire. After celebrating his \nvictories in a magnificent triumph at Rome, Trajan turned to \nthe East. He had scarcely set his foot upon land at Antioch, \nin Northern Syria, before a terrible earthquake shook that city \nto pieces (a.d. i 15). One of the consuls was killed, and Trajan \nhimself narrowly escaped with his life. With his army, thus \nstrangely shattered, reorganized, Trajan led his legions across \nthe Euphrates, reduced Armenia, and wrested from Chosroes, \nking of the Parthians, his great capital Ctesiphon, upon the \nTigris, and most of the territory lying in the basin of that river, \nand which anciently formed the heart of the Babylonian and \nAssyrian monarchies. \n\nIt was during this campaign that Trajan built upon the head- \nwaters of the Euphrates \xe2\x80\x94 which region at that time seems to \nhave been heavily wooded \xe2\x80\x94 a large fleet, with which he sailed \ndown that river to the Persian Gulf. There visions of the more \nextended expeditions of Alexander fired the ambition of the \nold chieftain, and he is said to have exclaimed, "Were I yet \nyoung, I would not stop, till I too had reached the limits of the \nMacedonian conquest." \n\nTo Trajan belongs the distinction of extending the bounda- \nries of the empire to the most distant points to which Roman \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 373 \n\nambition and prowess were ever able to push them. But Tra- \njan was something besides a soldier. He had a taste for Htera- \nture, and under his patronage wrote Juvenal, Plutarch, and the \nyounger Pliny ; and, moreover, as is true of almost all great \nconquerors, he had a perfect passion for building. He adorned \nnot only Rome, but many of the cities of the distant provinces, \nwith splendid temples, theatres, and various architectural mon- \numents. An ancient writer declares that "he built the world \nover ;" and by Constantine he was compared to " a wall-flower, \nbecause his name was so often seen inscribed upon the front \nof his innumerable buildings." \n\nAmong the great works wi;th which he embellished the capi- \ntal was the Trajan Forum. Here he erected the celebrated \nmarble shaft known as Trajan\'s Column. It is one hundred \nand forty-seven feet iiigh, and is wound from base to summit \nby a spiral band of sPuiptures, containing more than twenty- \nfive thousand human figures. The column is nearly as perfect \nto-day as when reared eighteen centuries ago. It was intend- \ned to commemorate the Dacian conquests of Trajan; and its \npictured sides aWthe best, and almost the only, record we now \npossess of those*Danubian campaigns. Trajan also enlarged \nthe Circus Maximus, drawing out its walls to such an immense \ncircuit that it could accommodate two or three hundred thou- \nsand spectators. \n\nTrajan died a.d. 117, after a reign of nineteen years, one of \nthe most prosperous and fortunate that had yet befallen the \nlot of the Roman people. The Senate early in his reign had \nconferred upon him the title of Optimus, the "Best." After \nhim it was thought a graceful compliment to pay an emperor \nto say that " he was more fortunate than Augustus and better \nthan Trajan." \n\nReign of Hadrian (a.d. i 17-138). \xe2\x80\x94 Hadrian, a kinsman of \nTrajan, succeeded him in the imperial office. He possessed \ngreat ability, and displayed admirable moderation and prudence \n\n\n\n374 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nin the administration of tlie government. He gave up the ter\xc2\xab \nritory conquered by Trajan, withdrawing the legions from the \ndistricts beyond the Danube and the Euphrates \xe2\x80\x94 breaking down \nthe bridge Trajan had built over the former \xe2\x80\x94 and making those \nstreams once more the boundaries of the empire. He saw \nclearly that the authority of Rome could be upheld in those \ndistant regions only by the constant and lavish expenditure of \nmen and treasure. Indeed, so active and threatening were the \nenemies of the empire in the East, and so daring and numer- \nous were now become its barbarian assailants of the North, \nthat there was reason for the greatest anxiety lest they should \neven break through the older and stronger lines, and pour their \ndevastating hordes over the provinces. \n\nMore than fifteen years of his reign were spent by Hadrian \nin making tours of inspection through all the different provinces \nof the empire. He visited Britain, and secured the Roman \npossessions there by drawing a continuous wall across the \nisland along the line of towers and fortified camps built by \nAgricola. Next he journeyed through Gaul and Spain, and \nthen visited in different tours all the remaining countries \nbordering upon the Mediterranean. He ascended the Nile \nand, traveller-like, carved his name upon the Vocal Memnon. \nThe cities which he visited he decorated with temples, theatres, \nand other monuments. Some places, however, including An- \ntioch, which received their emperor ungraciously, he neglected \nto make the recipients of his royal liberality. The atmosphere \nof Athens, with its schools and scholars, was especially con- \ngenial to his inquiring spirit; and upon that city he lavished \nlarge sums in art adornments until it almost seemed as though \nthe Periclean Age had returned to the Attic capital. \n\nIn the year 131, the Jews in Palestine, who had in a meas- \nure recovered from the blow Titus had given their nation, \nbroke out in desperate revolt because of the planting of a \nRoman colony upon the then almost desolate site of Jeru- \nsalem, and the placing of the statue of Jupiter in the Holy \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 375 \n\nTemple. More than half a million of Jews perished in the \nuseless struggle, and the survivors were driven into exile \xe2\x80\x94 the \nlast dispersion of the race. \n\nThe latter years of his reign Hadrian passed at Rome. It \nwas here that this princely builder erected his most splendid \nstructures. Among these were the Temple of Rome and Venus, \npronounced the most magnificent of Roman temples; and the \nMole, or Mausoleum, of Hadrian, an immense structure sur- \nmounted by a gilded dome, erected on the banks of the Tiber, \nand designed as a tomb for himself. After the Colosseum, the \nruins of this massive edifice (now known as the Castle of St. \nAngelo) are the most imposing remains of the monuments of \nancient Rome. \n\nWith all his virtues, Hadrian was foolishly vain of his accom- \nplishments, impatient of contradiction, and often most unrea- \nsonable and imperious. It is related that he put to death the \narchitect Apollodorus for venturing to criticise the royal taste \nin some architectural matter. Favorinus, the rhetorician, was \nevidently more judicious ; for when asked " why he suffered \nthe emperor to silence him in an argument on a point of gram- \nmar, he replied, \' It is ill disputing with the master of thirty \nlegions.\' " \n\nFirst Two of the Antonines (a.d. 13S-180). \xe2\x80\x94 Aurelius An- \ntoninus, surnamed Pius, the adopted son of Hadrian and his \nsuccessor, gave the Roman empire an administration singularly \npure and parental. Of him it has been said that "he was the \nfirst, and, saving his colleague and successor Aurelius, the only, \none of the emperors who devoted himself to the task of gov- \nernment with a single view to the happiness of his people." \nThroughout his long reign of twenty-three years, the empire \nwas in a state of profound peace. The attention of the his- \ntorian is attracted by no striking events, which, as many have \nnot failed to observe, illustrates admirably the oft -repeated \nmaxim, " Happy is that people whose annals are brief." \n\n\n\n376 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nAntoninus, early in his reign, associated with him in the \ngovernme his adopted son Marcus Aurelius, and upon the \ndeatii of ti rmer (a.d. i6i) the latter succeeded quietly to \nhis place and work. His studious habits won for him the title \nof "Philosoph-r." He belonged to the school of the Stoics, \nand was a most thoughtful writer. His " Meditations" breathe \nthe tenderest sentiments of devotion and benevolence, and \nmake the nearest approach to the spirit of Christianity of all \nthe writings of Pagan antiquity. He established an Institu- \ntion, or Home, for orphan girls; and, finding the poorer classes \nthroughout Italy burdened by their taxes and greatly in arrears \nin paying them, he caused all the tax-claims to be heaped in \nthe Forum and burned. \n\nAurelius\'s tastes and sympathies would have led him to de- \nsire a life passed in retirement and study at the capital; but \nhostile movements of the Parthians, and especially invasions \nof the barbarians along the Rhenish and Danubian frontiers, \ncalled him from his books, and forced him to spend most of \nthe latter years of his reign in the camp. The Parthians, who \nhad violated their treaty with Rome, were chastised by the \nlieutenants of the emperor, and Mesopotamia again fell under \nRoman authority. \n\nThis war drew after it a series of terrible calamities. The \nreturning soldiers brought with them the Asiatic plague, which \nswept off vast numbers, especially in Italy, where entire cities \nand districts were depopulated. In the general distress and \npanic, the superstitious people were led to believe that it was \nthe new sect of Christians that had called down upon the na- \ntion the anger of the gods. Aurelius permitted a fearful per- \nsecution to be instituted against them, during which the famous \nChristian fathers and bishops, Justin Martyr and Polycarp, \nsuffered death. \n\nBut pestilence and persecution were both forgotten amidst \nthe imperative calls for immediate help that now came from \nthe North. The barbarians were pushing in the Roman out- \n\n\n\nTHE ROMAN EMPIRE. 377 \n\nposts, and pouring impetuously over the frontiers. To the \npanic of the plague was added this new terrc ^ Aurelius \nplaced himself at the head of his legions, and K Ad. beyond \nthe Alps. For many years, amidst the snows of winter and \nthe heats of summer, he strove to beat back th^-\'assailants of \nthe empire. \n\nOnce his army was completely surrounded, and his soldiers \nwere dying of thirst, when a violent thunder-storm not only \nrelieved their sufferings, but also struck such terror into the \nbarbarians as to scatter them in flight. The Romans thought \nthat Jupiter Tonans had interfered in their behalf; but the \nChristians that made up the twelfth legion claimed that God \nhad sent the rain in answer to their prayers. The Christians \nreceived the title of the " Thundering Legion ;" while upon the \nColumn of Aurelius at Rome \xe2\x80\x94 where it may still be seen \xe2\x80\x94 was \ncarved the scene in which Olympian Jove the Thunderer is \nrepresented " raining and lightening out of heaven." \n\nThe efforts of the devoted Aurelius checked the inroads of \nthe barbarians ; but he could not subdue them, so weakened \nwas the empire by the ravages of the pestilence, and so ex- \nhausted was the treasury from the heavy and constant drains \nupon it. At last his weak body gave way beneath the hard- \nships of his numerous campaigns, and he died in his camp at \nVindobona (now Vienna), in the nineteenth year of his reign \nand the fifty-ninth of his age (a.d. i8o). \n\nThe united voice of the Senate and people pronounced him \na god, and divine worship was accorded to his statue. Never \nwas Monarchy so justified of her children as in the lives and \nworks of the first two Antonines. As Merivale, in dwelling \nupon their virtues, very justly remarks, " the blameless career \nof these illustrious princes has furnished the best excuse for \nCaesarism in all after-ages." \n\n17* \n\n\n\n378 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nROMAN EMPERORS FROM AUGUSTUS TO MARCUS \n\nAURELIUS. \n\n(From 31 B.C. to a.d. 180.) \n\nAugustus reigns 31 B.C. to a.d. 14 \n\nTiberius A.D. 14-37 \n\nCaligula 37-41 \n\nClaudius 41-54 \n\nNero 54-68 \n\nGalba 68-69 \n\nOtho 69 \n\nVitellius 69 \n\nVespasian 69-79 \n\nTitus 79-81 \n\nDomitian 81-96 \n\nNerva 96-98 \n\nTrajan 98-1 17 \n\nHadrian 1 1 7-13S \n\nAntoninus Pius 138-161 \n\n<\\ Marcus Aurelius 161-180 \n\n( Verus associated with Aurelius 161-169 \n\nThe first eleven, in connection with Julius Ceesar, are called the Twelve \nCaesars. The last five (excluding Verus) are known as the Five Good \nEmperors. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 379 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII. \n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. \n\n(a.d. 180-476.) \n\nReign of Commodus (a.d. 180-192). \xe2\x80\x94 Under the wise and \nable administration of " tlie five good emperors " \xe2\x80\x94 Nerva, Tra- \njan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines \xe2\x80\x94 the Roman Empire \nreached its culmination in power and prosperity ; and now, un- \nder the enfeebling influences of vice and corruption within, and \nthe heavy blows of the barbarians without, begins to decline \nrapidly to its fall. \n\nCommodus, son of Marcus Aurelius, and the last of the An- \ntonines, was a most unworthy successor of his illustrious father. \nFor three years, however, surrounded by the able generals and \nwise counsellors that the prudent administration of the pre- \nceding emperors had drawn to the head of affairs, Commodus \nruled with fairness and lenity, when an unsuccessful conspiracy \nagainst his life seemed suddenly to kindle all the slumbering \npassions of a Nero. An unfortunate word from the assailant, \nwho, as he struck an ill-aimed blow with his dagger, exclaimed, \n"The Senate sends you this," determined upon whom the rage \nof the tyrant should be spent. Remorseless murder and pro- \nscription of the most eminent of the senatorial body now fol- \nlowed. He secured the favor of the rabble with the shows of \nthe amphitheatre, and purchased the support of the praetorians \nwith bribes and flatteries. Thus he was enabled for ten years \nto retain the throne, while perpetrating all manner of cruelties, \nand staining the imperial purple with the most detestable de- \nbaucheries and crimes. \n\nCommodus had a passion for gladiatorial combats, and val- \n\n\n\n380 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\niantly slew antagonists who were armed only with worthless \nfoils of lead. He was thus enabled to descend into the arena \nseven hundred and thirty times. The Senate, so obsequiously \nservile had that body become, conferred upon him the title of \nthe Roman Hercules, and also voted him the additional sur- \nnames of Pius and Felix, and even proposed to change the \nname of Rome and call it Colonia Commodiana. \n\nIn imitation of the ancient demi-god of strength whose name \nhe now bore, the emperor, on one occasion, slew with a hun- \ndred arrows \xe2\x80\x94 shot from a secure eminence \xe2\x80\x94 a hundred lions \nturned loose in the arena ; while at another time, to exhibit his \nprowess, he caused himself, attired in a lion\'s skin and armed \nwith the club of Hercules, to be set upon by persons arrayed \nto represent mythological monsters, and armed with great \nsponges for rocks. He then boldly attacked these terrible \nassailants, and slew them with his club. He delighted in slay- \ning with his own hand the victims of the sacrifices. It is told \nthat he further " amused himself by cutting off the noses of \npersons he pretended to shave." He prudently refused to \nallow a razor to be applied to his own face, but singed off his \nbeard. \n\nThe empire was finally relieved of the insane tyrant by some \nmembers of the royal household, who anticipated his designs \nagainst themselves by putting him to death. \n\nThe Public Sale of the Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 Deep as was the degrada- \ntion into which the shameful conduct of Commodus had sunk \nthe empire, it was now to suffer a still deeper degradation at \nthe hands of the praetorians. Upon the death of Commodus, \nPertinax, a distinguished senator, was placed on the throne ; \nbut his efforts to enforce discipline among the praetorians \naroused their anger, and he was slain by them after a short \nreign of only three months. These soldiers then gave out \nnotice that they would sell the empire to the highest bidder. \nIt was, accordingly, set up for sale at the praetorian camp. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 38 1 \n\nand struck off to Didius Julianus, a wealthy senator, who \ngave $1000 to each of the 12,000 soldiers at this time com- \nposing the guard. So the price of the empire was about \n$12,000,000. \n\nBut these turbulent and insolent soldiers at the capital of \nthe empire were not to have things entirely their own way. \nAs soon as the news of the disgraceful transaction reached the \nlegions on the frontiers, they rose as a single man in indignant \nrevolt. Each of the three armies that held the Euphrates, the \nRhine, and the Danube proclaimed its favorite commander \nemperor. The leader of the Danubian troops was Septimius \nSeverus, a man of great energy and force of character. He \nknew that there were other competitors for the throne, and \nthat the prize would be his who first seized it. Instantly he \nset his veterans in motion and was soon at Rome. The prae- \ntorians were no match for the trained legionaries of the fron- \ntiers, and did not even attempt to defend their emperor, who \nwas taken prisoner and put to death after a reign of sixty-five \ndays. \n\nReign of Septimius Severus (a.d. 193-2 1 1). \xe2\x80\x94 One of the first \nacts of Severus was to organize a new body-guard of 50,000 \nlegionaries, to take the place of the unworthy praetorians, whom, \nas a punishment for the insult they had offered to the Roman \nstate, he disbanded, and banished from the capital, and for- \nbade to approach within a hundred miles of its walls. He \nnext proceeded to crush his two rival competitors. Moving \nfirst against Niger, in the East, he brushed his forces away \nfrom the Hellespont, where he attempted to dispute his pas- \nsage, and finally broke his legions to pieces on the old battle- \nfield of the Issus. Then, hastening back into Europe, he met \nthe remaining rival, Albinus, at Lyons, in Gaul, and there de- \nfeated him after a most desperate and sanguinary battle. \n\nSeverus was now undisputed master of the empire. He put \nto death forty senators for having favored his late rivals, and \n\n\n\n382 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncompletely destroyed the power of their body. Committing \nto the prefect of the new praetorian guard the management of \naffairs at the capital, Severus passed the greater part of his \nlong and prosperous reign upon the frontiers. At one time he \nwas chastising the Parthians beyond the Euphrates, and at \nanother pushing back the Caledonian tribes from the Hadrian \nwall in the opposite corner of his dominions. Finally, in Britain, \nin his camp at York, death overtook him. Just before he died \nhe requested that the funeral urn designed for his ashes should \nbe brought to him : " Little urn," he moralized, " thou shalt \nsoon hold all that will remain of him whom the world could \nnot contain." Like many another child of fortune, Severus \nhad lived long enough to discover the empty, unsubstantial \ncharacter of the objects of all human ambitions. \n\nReign of Caracalla (a.d. 21 1-2 17). \xe2\x80\x94 Severus conferred the \nempire upon his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who were with \nhim in Britain. Immediately upon the death of their father \nthey set out for Rome, travelling separate all the way, so bit- \nter were their quarrels. At the capital they lived apart. The \njoint reign ran on thus only a single year, when Caracalla \nstabbed his brother while their mother vainly strove to shield \nhim in her arms. He then ordered Papinian, the famous jurist, \nto make a public argument in vindication of the fratricide ; and \nwhen that great lawyer refused, saying that " it was easier to \ncommit such a crime than to justify it," he put him to death. \nThousands fell victims to his senseless rage. His countenance \nwas that of " a wild beast rather than a man." Driven by re- \nmorse and fear, he fled from the capital, and wandered about \nthe most distant provinces. At Alexandria, on account of some \nuncomplimentary remarks by the citizens upon his appearance, \nhe ordered a general massacre. Finally, after a reign of six \nyears, the monster was slain in a remote corner of Syria. \n\nCaracalla\'s sole political act of real importance was the \nbestowal of citizenship upon all the free inhabitants of the em^ \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 383 \n\npire ; and this he did, not to give them a just privilege, but that \nhe might collect from them certain special taxes levied by Au- \ngustus on persons receiving bequests or making sales of mer- \nchandise, which only Roman citizens had to pay. Before the \nreign of Caracalla it was only particular classes of subjects, or \nthe inhabitants of some particular city or province, that, as a \nmark of special favor, had, from time to time, been admitted to \nthe rights of citizenship. By this wholesale act of Caracalla, \nthe entire population of the empire was made Roman at least \nin name and nominal privilege. "The city had become the \nworld, or, viewed from the other side, the world had become the \ncity " (Merivale). \n\nReign of Elagabalus (a.d. 218-222). \xe2\x80\x94 Upon the death of \nCaracalla, the purple was assumed by Macrinus, the officer who \nhad instigated the murder of the emperor. He remained in the \nEast, where the severity of his discipline caused the soldiers \nwho had raised him to power to revolt. The garrison at Emesa \nset up as emperor Elagabalus, a beautiful boy who in that place \nofficiated as high-priest in the temple of the Syrian sun-god, \nand whom the soldiers w\'ere led to believe was the son of the \nmurdered Caracalla. The legions that adhered to Macrinus \nwere quickly crushed, and he himself was slain. \n\nSo un-Roman had the Romans become that this Oriental \npriest, thus thrust forward by the Syrian legions, was at once \nrecognized at Rome by both Senate and people as their em- \nperor. He carried to Italy all his Eastern notions and man- \nners, and there entered upon a short reign of four years, char- \nacterized by all those extravagances and cruel follies that are \nso apt to mark the rule of an Asiatic despot. The palace was \nthe scene of the most profligate dissipation. He created a \nsenate of women whose duty it was to attend to matters of \ndress, calls, amusements, and etiquette. He introduced at \nRome the worship of the sun, bearing thither from Syria the \nblack conical stone which, like the image of Diana at Ephesus, \n\n\n\n384 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nwas believed to have fallen from heaven. " In a solemn pro- \ncession through the streets of Rome, the way was strewn with \ngold-dust ; the black stone, set in precious gems, was placed on \na chariot drawn by milk-white steeds richly caparisoned. The \npious emperor held the reins, and, supported by his ministers, \nmoved slowly backwards, that he might perpetually enjoy the \nfelicity of the divine presence " (Gibbon). The stone was \ndeposited in a splendid temple on the Palatine. \n\nThe praetorians, at length tired of their priest-emperor, put \nhim to death, threw his body into the Tiber, and set up in his \nplace Alexander Severus, a kinsman of the murdered prince. \n\nReign of Alexander Severus (a.d. 222-235). \xe2\x80\x94 Severus re- \nstored the virtues of the Age of the Antonines. His adminis- \ntration was pure and energetic ; but he strove in vain to resist \nthe corrupt and downward tendencies of the times. He was \nassassinated, after a reign of fourteen years, by his seditious \nsoldiers, who were angered by his efforts to reduce them to dis- \ncipline. They conferred the imperial purple upon an obscure \nofficer named Maximin, a Thracian peasant, whose sole recom- \nmendation was his gigantic stature, and his great strength of \nlimbs. Rome had now sunk to the lowest possible degrada- \ntion. We may pass rapidly over the next fifty years of the \nempire. \n\nThe Thirty Tyrants (a.d. 251-268). \xe2\x80\x94 Maximin was followed \nswiftly by Gordian, Philip, and Decius, and then came what is \ncalled the "Age of the Thirty Tyrants." In every part of the \nkingdom sprang up competitors for the throne \xe2\x80\x94 several rivals \nfrequently appearing in the field at the same time. The bar- \nbarians pressed upon all the frontiers, and thrust themselves \ninto all the provinces. The empire seemed on the point of \nfalling to pieces. But a fortunate succession of five good em- \nperors \xe2\x80\x94 Claudius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, and Cams (a.d. \n268-284) \xe2\x80\x94 restored for a time the ancient boundaries, and \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 385 \n\nagain forced together into some sort of union the fragments \nof the shattered state. \n\n\n\nThe Fall of Palmyra. \xe2\x80\x94 The most noted of the usurpers of \nauthority in the provinces during the period of anarchy of \nwhich we have spoken was Odenatus, Prince of Pahnyra, a \ncity occupying an oasis in the midst of the Syrian Desert, mid- \nway between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. In grati- \ntude for the aid he had rendered the Romans against the \nParthians, the Senate had bestowed upon him titles and hon- \nors. When the empire began to show signs of weakness and \napproaching dissolution, Odenatus conceived the ambitious \nproject of erecting upon its ruins in the East a great Palmyr- \nian kingdom. Upon his death, his wife, Zenobia, succeeded \nto his authority and to his ambitions. This famous princess \nclaimed descent from Cleopatra, and it is certain that in the \ncharms of personal beauty she was the rival of the Egyptian \nqueen. Boldly assuming the title of "Queen of the East," she \nbade defiance to the emperors of Rome. Aurelian marched \nagainst her, and, defeating her armies in the open field, drove \nthem within the walls of Palmyra. After a long siege the city \nwas taken, and finally given to the flames. The adviser of \nthe queen, the celebrated rhetorician Longinus, was put to \ndeath ; but Zenobia was spared, and carried a captive to \nRome. After having been led in golden chains in the trium- \nphal procession of Aurelian, the queen was given a beautiful \nvilla in the vicinity of Tibur, where, surrounded by her children, \nshe passed the remainder of her checkered life. \n\nThe ruins of Palmyra are among the most interesting re- \nmains of Roman or Grecian civilization in the East. Eor a \nlong time the site even of the city was lost to the civilized \nworld. The Bedouins, however, knew the spot, and told \nstrange stories of a ruined city with splendid temples and long \ncolonnades far away in the Syrian Desert. Their accounts \nawakened an interest in the wonderful city, and towards the \n\n\n\n386 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nclose of the seventeenth century some explorers reached the \nspot. The sketches they brought back of the ruins of the \nlong-lost city produced almost as much astonishment as did \nthe discoveries afterwards of Botta and Layard at Nineveh. \nHadrian, the Antonines, and other Roman emperors aided the \nambitious Palmyrians in the architectural adornment of their \ncity. The principal features of the ruins are the remains of \nthe great temple of the Sun, and of the Colonnade, which was \nalmost a mile in length. Many of the marble columns that \nflanked this magnificent avenue are still erect, stretching in a \nlong line over the desert. \n\nReign of Diocletian (a.d. 284-305). \xe2\x80\x94 The reign of Diocletian \nmarks an important era in Roman history. Up to this time \nthe imperial government had been more or less carefully con- \ncealed under the forms and names of the old republic. The \ngovernment now became an unveiled and absolute monarchy. \nDiocletian\'s reforms, though radical, were salutary, and infused \nsuch fresh vitality into the frame of the dying state as to give \nit a new lease of life for another term of nearly two hundred \nyears. \n\nHe determined to divide the numerous and increasing cares \nof the distracted empire, so that it might be ruled from two \ncentres \xe2\x80\x94 one in the East and the other in the West. In pur- \nsuance of this plan, he chose as a colleague a companion \nsoldier, Maximian, upon whom he conferred the title of Au- \ngustus. After a few years, finding the cares of the co-sove- \nreignty still too heavy, each sovereign associated with himself \nan assistant, who took the title of Caesar, and was considered \nthe son and heir of the emperor. There were thus two Augusti \nand two Caesars. Milan, in Italy, became the capital and resi- \ndence of Maximian ; while Nicomedia, in Asia Minor, became \nthe seat of the court of Diocletian. The Augusti took charge \nof the countries near their respective capitals, while the younger \nand more active Caesars were assigned the government of the \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 387 \n\nmore distant and turbulent provinces. The vigorous adminis- \ntration of the government in every quarter of the empire was \nthus secured. The authority of each of the rulers was su- \npreme within the territory allotted him ; but all acknowledged \nDiocletian as "the father and head of the state." \n\nThe most serious drawback to the system of government \nthus instituted was the heavy expense incident to the mainte- \nnance of four courts with their trains of officers and dependants. \nThe subjects of the empire had reason to complain of the same \ngrievances that in more recent times led the American colonists \nto indict the government of their mother-country \xe2\x80\x94 the sending \namong them of " swarms of officers to harass the people and \neat out their substance." The taxes became unendurable, \nhusbandry ceased, and large masses of the population were \nreduced almost to starvation. \n\nWhile the changes made in the government have rendered \nthe name of Diocletian famous in the political history of the \nRoman state, the cruel persecutions which he ordered against \nthe Christians have made his name in an equal degree in- \nfamous in ecclesiastical annals ; for it was during this reign that \nthe tenth \xe2\x80\x94 the last and severest \xe2\x80\x94 of the persecutions of the \nChurch took place. By an imperial decree the churches of the \nChristians were ordered to be torn down, and they themselves \nwere outlawed. For ten years the fugitives were hunted in \nforest and cave. The victims were burned, were cast to the \nwild beasts in the amphitheatre \xe2\x80\x94 were put to death by every \ntorture and in every mode that ingenious cruelty could devise. \nBut nothing could shake the constancy of their faith. They \ncourted the death that secured them, as they firmly believed, \nimmediate entrance upon an existence of unending happiness. \nThe exhibition of devotion and constancy shown by the martyrs \nwon multitudes to the persecuted faith. \n\nIt was during this and the various other persecutions that \nvexed the Church in the second and third centuries that the \nChristians sought refuge in the Catacombs, those vast subter- \n\n\n\n388 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nranean galleries and chambers under the city of Rome formed \nby the mining of building material \xe2\x80\x94 the soft volcanic tufa used \nin making the famous Roman cement. Here the Christians \nlived and buried their dead, and on the walls of the chambers \nsketched rude symbols of their hope and faith. It was in the \ndarkness of these subterranean abodes that Christian art had \nits beginnings. \n\nUpon the twentieth anniversary of his investiture with the \nroyal purple, Diocletian celebrated a triumph at Rome in honor \nof his victories and his prosperous reign. Soon after, wearied \nwith the cares of state, he abdicated the throne, and forced or \ninduced his colleague Maximian also to lay down his authority \non the same day. Galerius and Constantius were, by this act, \nadvanced to the purple and made Augusti ; and two new asso- \nciates were appointed as Caesars. Diocletian, having enjoyed \nthe extreme satisfaction of seeing the imperial authority quietly \nand successfully transmitted by his system without the dictation \nof the insolent praetorians or the interference of the turbulent \nlegionaries, now retired to his country-seat at Salona, on the \neastern shore of the Adriatic, and there devoted himself to \nrural pursuits. It is related that, when Maximian wrote him \nurging him to endeavor, with him, to regain the power they had \nlaid aside, he replied : " Were you but to come to Salona and \nsee the vegetables which I raise in my garden with my own \nhands, you would no longer talk to me of empire." \n\nReign of Constantine the Great (a.d. 306-337). \xe2\x80\x94 Galerius \nand Constantius had reigned together only one year, when the \nlatter died at York, in Britain ; and his soldiers, disregarding \nthe rule of succession as determined by the system of Diocle- \ntian, proclaimed his son Constantine emperor. Six compet- \nitors for the throne arose in different quarters. For eighteen \nyears Constantine fought to gain supremacy. At the end of \nthat time every rival was crushed, and he was the sole ruler of \nthe Roman world. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 389 \n\nConstantine was the first Christian emperor. He was con- \nverted to the new religion\xe2\x80\x94 such is the legend\xe2\x80\x94 by seeing in \nthe heavens, during one of his campaigns against his rivals, \na luminous cross with this inscription: "With this you will \nconquer." He made the cross the royal standard ; and the \nRoman legions now for the first time marched beneath the \nemblem of Christianity. \n\nBy the famous decree issued from Milan a.d. 313, Christian- \nity was made in effect the state religion; but all other forms \nof worship were tolerated. With the view of harmonizing the \ndifferent sects that had sprung up among the Christians, and \nto settle the controversy between the Arians and Athanasians \nrespecting the nature of Christ\xe2\x80\x94 the former denied his equality \nwith God the Father\xe2\x80\x94 Constantine called the first (Ecumenical \nor General Council of the Church, at Nicaea, a town of Asia \nMinor, a.d. 325. Arianism was denounced, and a formula of \nChristian faith adopted, which is known as the Nicene Creed. \nAfter the recognition of Christianity, the most important act \nof Constantine was the selection of Byzantium, on the Bosporus, \nas the new capital of the empire. One reason which led the \nemperor to choose this site in preference to Rome was the un- \ngracious conduct towards him of the inhabitants of the latter \ncity, because he had abandoned the worship of the old national \ndeities. But there were political reasons for such a change. \nThrough the eastern conquests of Rome the centre of the popu- \nlation, wealth, and culture of the empire had shifted eastward. \nThe West\xe2\x80\x94 Gaul, Britain, Spain\xe2\x80\x94 was rude and barbarous ; the \nEast \xe2\x80\x94 Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor \xe2\x80\x94 was the abode of ancient \ncivilizations from which Rome was proud to trace her origin. \nConstantine was not the first to entertain the idea of seekmg m \nthe East a new centre for the Roman world. The Italians were \ninflamed against the first C^sar by the report that he mtended \nto restore Ilium, the cradle of the Roman race, and make that \nthe capital of the empire. \n\nConstantine laid out the new city on an imperial scale. He \n\n\n\n;90 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY, \n\n\n\nadorned the spot with many pubhc buildings of great magnifi- \ncence, and encouraged the members of his numerous court to \nerect about these their palatial residences. The splendid ca- \nthedral which he built, and consecrated to Sophia, the " Eter- \nnal Wisdom," was one of the most imposing architectural \nmonuments to be found in all the Roman world. Constantine \norganized a new Senate, while that at Rome sank to the ob- \nscure position of the council of a provincial municipality. \nMultitudes eagerly thronged to the new capital, and almost \nin a night the little colony of Byzantium grew into an impe- \nrial city. In honor of the emperor its name was changed \nto Constantinople, the "City of Constantine." Hereafter the \neyes of the world were directed towards the Bosporus instead \nof the Tiber. \n\nThe character of Constantine has been greatly eulogized by \nChristian writers, while pagan historians very naturally painted \nit in dark colors. It is probable that he embraced Christianity, \nnot entirely from conviction, but through political policy. If \nso, events certainly justified his forecast. It was the enthusi- \nasm of his Christian legions, wrought to an intense fervor by \nthe sight of the new emblem, that gave to Constantine his vic- \ntory over his last rival on the field of Adrianople. \n\nYet Constantine\'s religion was, in any event, a strange mixt- \nure of the old and the new faith: on his medals the Christian \ncross is held by the pagan deity Victory. In his domestic re- \nlations he was tyrannical and cruel. He put to death his son \nCrispus for no better reason, it is believed, than that he was \njealous of his rising fame ; his wife he ordered to be smothered \nin the bath; he killed his sister, and drove his mother to death \nwith grief and despair. He died in the thirty-first year of his \nreign, leaving his kingdom to his three sons, Constans, Con- \nstantius, and Constantine. \n\nReign of Julian the Apostate (a.d. 361-363). \xe2\x80\x94 The parcel- \nling- out of the empire by Constantine among his sons led to \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 39 1 \n\nStrifes and wars, which, at the end of sixteen years, left Con- \nstantius master of the whole. He reigned as sole emperor for \ntwenty-four years, engaged in ceaseless warfare with German \ntribes in the West and with the Persians* in the East. The \nmanagement of the war along the Rhenish line he intrusted \nto his cousin Julian, while he himself conducted the war upon \nthe Mesopotamian frontier. Becoming jealous of the growing \nreputation of his subordinate, the emperor ordered Julian to \nsend a large detachment of his troops to the East. The legions, \nunwilling to leave their beloved leader, proclaimed him em- \nperor, and demanded to be led against Constantius. Julian, \nacceding (not unwillingly, we may believe) to the clamor of \nhis soldiers, placed himself at their head, and moved directly \nacross Europe to Constantinople. Meanwhile, Constantius was \nadvancing through Asia Minor to meet him ; but at Tarsus he \nwas taken sick and died, and the impending disaster of civil \nwar was thus averted. Julian was everywhere gladly recog- \nnized as emperor (a.d. 361). \n\nHe now crossed the Bosporus, traversed Asia Minor, floated \nhis army down the Euphrates, and led them into the mountains \nof Persia, where he fell fatally wounded while pressing in pur- \nsuit of the troops of Sapor, King of the Persians (a.d. 36$). \n\nJulian is called the Apostate because he abandoned Chris- \ntianity and labored to restore the pagan faith. His brother \nhad been murdered by Constantine, and Julian was naturally \nrepelled from the religion which that sovereign so unworthily \nrepresented. He was a philosopher by taste and genius, and \nwas familiar with the teachings of the different schools of \nGreece and Rome. He was an able writer and a formidable \nantagonist in debate. He set himself to the task of uprooting \n\n* The great Parthian Empire, which had been such a formidable antago- \nnist of Rome, was, after an existence of five centuries, overthrown (a.d. 226) \nby a revolt of the Persians, and the New Persian or Sassanian monarchy \nestablished. This empire lasted till the country was overrun by the Sara- \ncens in the seventh century a.d. \n\n\n\n392 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nthe new religion. Not, however, by devoting the Christians \n" to the sword, the fire, and the lions ;" for, under the soften- \ning influences of the very faith he sought to extirpate, the \nRoman world had learned a gentleness and humanity that \nrendered impossible the renewal of the old Neronian and Dio- \ncletian persecutions. Julian\'s weapons were sophistry and rid- \nicule, in the use of which he was a master. To degrade the \nChristians, and place them at a disadvantage in controversy, \nhe excluded them from the schools of logic and rhetoric. \n\nFurthermore, to cast discredit upon the predictions of the \nScriptures, Julian determined to rebuild the Temple at Jeru- \nsalem, which, the Christians contended, could not be restored \nbecause of the prophecies against it. He actually began ex- \ncavations, but his workmen were driven in great panic from the \nspot by terrific explosions and bursts of flame. The Christians \nregarded the occurrence as miraculous ; and Julian himself, it \nis certain, was so dismayed by it that he desisted from the \nundertaking.* \n\nIt was in vain that the apostate emperor labored to uproot \nthe new faith; for the purity of its teachings, the universal and \neternal character of its moral precepts, had given it a name to \nlive. Equally in vain were his eflbrts to restore the worship \nof the old Grecian and Roman divinities. Polytheism was a \ntransitional form of religious belief which the world had now \noutgrown \xe2\x80\x94 Great Pan was dead. \n\nReign of Jovian (a.d. 363-4). \xe2\x80\x94 Jovian, the successor of Juli- \nan, need only be mentioned in order to connect his name with \nthe humiliating treaty which he concluded with Sapor, in which \n\n* The explosions which so terrified the workmen of Julian are supposed \nto have been caused by accumulations of gases \xe2\x80\x94 similar to those that so \nfrequently occasion accidents in mines. In the subterranean chambers be- \nneath the Temple foundations, the operations of the laborers liberating \nthese gases and commingling them with the outer air would account for the \nphenomenon. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 393 \n\nhe surrendered to the Persians almost everything beyond the \nEuphrates. He removed the disabiHties under which JuHan \nhad placed the Christians, and re-established their worship. \nJovian died while on his way from Syria to Constantinople, \nhaving worn the purple only seven months. \n\nValentinian and Valens.\xe2\x80\x94 A few days after the death of Jo- \nvian, Valentinian, the commander of the imperial guard, was \nelected emperor by a council of the generals of the army and \nthe ministers of the court. When he was presented to the \nsoldiers, they tumultuously ratified the choice of their officers. \nBut they also proceeded, with great clamor, to urge the new \nemperor to appoint at once a colleague to share with him the \ngovernment. After securing silence, he addressed the soldiers \nas follows : " The weight of the universe is undoubtedly too \ngreat for the hands of a feeble mortal. I am conscious of the \nlimits of my abilities and the uncertainties of life ; and, far \nfrom declining, I am anxious to solicit, the assistance of a \nworthy colleague. But, where discord may be fatal, the choice \nof a faithful friend requires mature and serious deliberation. \nThat deliberation shall be my care. Let your conduct be dig- \nnified and consistent. Retire to your quarters; refresh your \nminds and bodies ; and expect the accustomed donative on \nthe accession of a new emperor." \n\nThe result of the deliberations of Valentinian was the ap- \npointment, at the end of a month, of his brother Valens as his \nassociate in office. To him he assigned the Eastern provinces, \nwhile reserving for himself the Western. He set up his own \ncourt at Milan, while his brother established his residence at \nConstantinople. \n\nThe Movements of the Barbarians. \xe2\x80\x94 The reigns of Valen- \ntinian and Valens were signalized by threatening movements \nof the barbarian tribes that now, almost at the same moment, \nbegan to press with redoubled energy against all the barriers \n\n18 \n\n\n\n394 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nof the empire. The Alemanni crossed the Rhine \xe2\x80\x94 sometimes \nswarming over the river on the winter\'s ice \xe2\x80\x94 and, before pur- \nsuit could be made, escaped with their booty into the depths \nof the German forests. The Saxons, pirates of the northern \nseas, who issued from the mouth of the Elbe, ravaged the coasts \nof Gaul and Britain, even pushing their light skiffs far up the \nrivers and creeks of those countries, and carrying spoils from \nthe inland cities. In Britain, the Picts and Scots broke through \nthe Wall of Antoninus, and wrested almost the entire island \nfrom the hands of the Romans. In Africa, the Moorish and \nother tribes, issuing from the ravines of the Atlas Mountains \nand swarming from the deserts of the south, threatened to \nobliterate the last trace of Roman civilization occupying the \nnarrow belt of fertile territory skirting the sea. \n\nThe barbarian tide of invasion seemed thus on the point of \noverwhelming the empire in the West. For twelve years did \nValentinian struggle, with temporary success, to resist the fear- \nful inundation. He hurled the German tribes back into their \nnative woods and morasses, and then strengthened the defences \nof the frontier. The hither bank of the Rhine fairly bristled \nwith castles and towers. His able lieutenant Theodosius \n(father of Theodosius the Great) delivered the Britons from \nthe fierce Caledonians, and drove the intruders back beyond \nthe northern wall. He also, by a naval victory over the Saxons, \ngained in the northern seas, checked for a time their insolent \ndepredations. In Africa he suppressed the Moorish revolt, \nand restored the authority of the Roman name. \n\nBesides defending his own territories in the West with such \nsignal ability and energy, Valentinian aided, with arms and \ncounsel, his weaker brother Valens in the "East. He died in \nthe twelfth year of his reign, while leading an expedition against \nthe Quadi, who had provoked his anger by a raid across the \nUpper Danube. The immediate cause of his death was the \nbursting of a blood-vessel in a fit of anger, to which he gave \nway in the presence of some barbarian ambassadors. Gratian, \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 395 \n\nthe son of Valentlnian, succeeded to his authority in the West \n(a.d. 375). \n\nThe Goths Cross the Danube.\xe2\x80\x94 The year following the death \nof Valentinian, an event of the greatest importance transpired \nin the East. The Visigoths (Western Goths) dwelling north \nof the Lower Danube, who had often in hostile bands crossed \nthat river to war against the Roman emperors, now appeared \nas suppliants in vast multitudes upon its banks. They said \nthat a terrible race, whom they were powerless to withstand, \nhad invaded their territories, and spared neither their homes \nnor their lives. They begged permission of the Romans to \ncross the river and settle in Thrace, and promised, should this \nrequest be granted, ever to remain the grateful and firm allies \nof the Roman state. \n\nValens consented to grant their petition on condition that \nthey should surrender their arms, give up their children as \nhostages, and all be baptized in the Christian faith. Their \nterror and despair led them to assent to these conditions. So \nthe entire nation, numbering one million souls \xe2\x80\x94 counting men, \nwomen, and children \xe2\x80\x94 were allowed to cross the river. Several \ndays and nights were consumed in the transport of the vast \nmultitudes. The writers of the times liken the passage to that \nof the Hellespont by the hosts of Xerxes. \n\nThe enemy that had so terrified the Goths were the Huns, a \nmonstrous race of fierce nomadic horsemen, that two centuries \nand more before the Christian era were roving the deserts \nnorth of the Great Wall of China,* which immense rampart \n\n* This Great Wall is the most stupendous work of defence ever executed \nby man. Its construction was begun in the year 214 B.C. by the Chinese \nemperor Che-Hwang-to. It is about 1500 miles in length, with a varying \nheight of from 15 to 30 feet, and is wide enough to allow six horsemen to \nride upon it abreast. In places the defence is simply an earthen rampart, \nand then again it has a substantial base of solid stone masonry. Towers \n40 feet high are scattered along the wall at different intervals. \n\n\n\n396 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nhad been built to protect the Chinese territory from their sud- \nden incursions. Uprooted and driven from that region, they \nmoved slowly to the west, across the great steppes of Central \nAsia, and, after wandering several centuries, appeared in Eu- \nrope. They belonged to a different race (the Turanian) from \nall the other European tribes with which we have been so far \nconcerned. Their features were hideous, their noses being \nflattened, and their cheeks gashed, to render their appearance \nmore frightful, as well as to prevent the growth of a beard. \nThe barbarous Goths might well, as they did, call them "Bar- \nbarians." \n\nScarcely had the fugitive Visigoths been received within \nthe limits of the empire before their kinsmen the Ostrogoths \n(Eastern Goths), also driven from their homes by the same ter- \nrible Huns, crowded to the banks of the Danube, and pleaded \nthat they might be allowed, as their countrymen had been, to \nplace the river between themselves and their dreaded enemies. \nBut Valens, becoming alarmed at the presence of so many bar- \nbarians within his dominions, refused their request ; whereupon \nthey, dreading the fierce and implacable foe behind more than \nthe wrath of the Roman emperor in front, crossed the river \nwith arms in their hands. \n\nIt now came to light that the cupidity of the Roman officials \nhad prevented the carrying-out of the stipulations of the agree- \nment between the emperor and the Visigoths respecting the \nrelinquishment of their arms. The barbarians had bribed \nthose intrusted with the duty of transporting them across the \nriver, and purchased the privilege of retaining their w^eapons. \nThe persons, too, detailed to provide the multitude with food \ntill they could be assigned lands traded on the hunger of their \nwards, and doled out the vilest provisions at the most extor- \ntionate prices. (We seem here to be listening to a recital of \nthe unscrupulous conduct of Indian agents on our owm fron- \ntiers.) \n\nAs was natural, the injured nation rose in indignant revolt. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EiMPIRE IN THE WEST. 397 \n\nJoining their kinsmen that were just now forcing the passage \nof the Danube, they commenced, under the lead of the great \nFritigern, to overrun and ravage the Danubian provinces. Va- \nlens despatched swift messengers to Gratian in the West, ask- \ning for assistance against the foe he had so unfortunately- \nadmitted within the limits of the empire. Meanwhile, he ral- \nlied all his forces, and, without awaiting the arrival of the \nWestern legions, risked a battle with the barbarians near Adri- \nanople. The Roman army was almost annihilated. Valens him- \nself, being wounded, sought refuge in the cabin of a peasant ; \nbut the building was fired by the savages, and the emperor \nwas burned alive (a.d. 378). The Goths now rapidly over- \nran Thrace, Macedon, and Thessaly, ravaging the country to \nthe very walls of Constantinople. \n\nTheodosius the Great (a.d. 379-395). \xe2\x80\x94 Gratian was hurrying \nto the help of his colleague Valens, when news was brought to \nhim of the terrible disaster of Adrianople. Lacking confi- \ndence in his ability to manage alone the affairs of the belea- \nguered empire, he at once appointed as his associate Theodo- \nsius, surnamed afterwards the Great, and intrusted him with \nthe government of the Eastern provinces. Theodosius, by wise \nand vigorous measures, quickly reduced the Goths to submis- \nsion. Vast multitudes of the Visigoths were settled upon the \nwaste lands of Thrace, while the Ostrogoths were scattered in \nvarious colonies in different regions of Asia Minor. The Goths \nbecame allies of the Emperor of the East, and more than 40,000 \nof these warlike barbarians, who were destined to be the sub- \nverters of the empire, were enlisted in the imperial legions. \n\nWhile Theodosius was thus composing the East, the West, \nthrough the jealous rivalries of different competitors for the \ncontrol of the government, had fallen into great disorder, and \nthe imperial purple, after the murder of Gratian, was worn by \nthree aspirants in quick succession. Theodosius twice inter- \nfered to compose affairs, and finally, in a.d. 394, defeated Eu- \n\n\n\n398 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ngenius, who had usurped the throne, and then for four months \nruled as sole monarch of the empire. \n\nFinal Division of the Empire (a.d. 395). \xe2\x80\x94 The Roman world \nwas now united for the last time under a single master. Just \nbefore his death, Theodosius divided the empire between his \ntwo sons, Arcadius and Honorius, assigning the former, who \nwas only eighteen years of age, the government of the East, and \ngiving the latter, a mere child of eleven, the sovereignty of the \nWest. This was the final partition of the Roman Empire \xe2\x80\x94 the \nissue of that growing tendency which we have observed in its \nimmoderately extended dominions to break apart. The sepa- \nrate histories of the East and the West now begin. \n\nThe Eastern Empire. \xe2\x80\x94 The story of the fortunes of the Em- \npire of the East need not detain us long at this point of our \nhistory. This monarchy lasted almost exactly one full millen- \nnium \xe2\x80\x94 from the accession to power of Arcadius, a.d. 395, to the \ncapture of Constantinople by the Turks, a.d. 1453. It will \nthus be seen that the greater part of its history belongs to the \nmediaeval period. Up to the time of the overthrow of the \nWestern Empire, the sovereigns of the East were engaged al- \nmost incessantly in suppressing uprisings of their Gothic allies \nor mercenaries, or in repelling invasions of the Huns and Van- \ndals. Frequently during this period, in order to save their \nown territories, the Eastern emperors, by dishonorable induce- \nments, persuaded the barbarians to direct their ravaging expe- \nditions against the provinces of the West. \n\n\n\nLast Days of the Empire of the West. \n\nFirst Invasion of Italy by Alaric. \xe2\x80\x94 Only a few years had \nelapsed after the death of the great Theodosius, before the \nbarbarians were trooping in vast hordes through all the regions \nof the West. First, from Thrace and Moesia came the Goths, \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 399 \n\nled by the great Alaric. They poured through the Pass of \nThermopylae, and devastated almost the entire peninsula of \nGreece ; but, being driven from that country by Stilicho, the \nrenowned general of Honorius, they crossed the Julian Alps, \nand spread terror throughout all Italy. Stilicho followed the \nbarbarians cautiously, and, attacking them at a favorable mo- \nment, inflicted a terrible and double defeat upon them at Pol- \nlentia and Verona (a.d. 403), and captured their camp, which \nhe found filled with the spoils of Thebes, Corinth, and Sparta. \nGathering the remnants of his shattered army, Alaric forced \nhis way with difficulty through the defiles of the Alps, and es- \ncaped. \n\nLast Triumpli at Rome (a.d. 404).\xe2\x80\x94 A terrible danger had \nbeen averted. All Italy burst forth in expressions of gratitude \nand joy. The days of the Cimbri and Teutones were recalled, \nand the name of Stilicho was pronounced with that of Marius. \nA magnificent triumph at Rome celebrated the victory and the \ndeliverance. The youthful Honorius and his faithful general \nStilicho rode side by side in the imperial chariot. It was the \nlast triumph that Rome ever saw. For the last time the car \nof the conqueror was drawn over the Sacred Way. Three \nhundred times \xe2\x80\x94 such is asserted to be the number \xe2\x80\x94 the Impe- \nrial City had witnessed the triumphal procession of her victori- \nous generals, celebrating conquests in all quarters of the world. \n\nLast Gladiatorial Combat of the Amphitheatre. \xe2\x80\x94 The same \nyear that marks the last military triumph at Rome also signal- \nizes the last gladiatorial combat in the Roman amphitheatre. \nChristian bishops and priests had long been striving to secure \nthe abolition of this cruel amusement. This was finally brought \nabout by an incident of the games that closed the triumph of \nHonorius. Ii> the midst of the exhibition a Christian monk, \nnamed Telemachus, descending into the arena, rushed between \nthe combatants, but was instantly killed by a shower of stones \n\n\n\n400 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nthrown by the people, who were angered by this interruption \nof their sports. But the people soon repented of their act; \nand Honorius himself, who was present, was moved by the \nscene. Christianity had awakened the conscience and touched \nthe heart of Rome. The martyrdom of the monk led to an \nimperial edict "which abolished forever the human sacrifices \nof the amphitheatre." \n\nInvasion of Italy by the German Tribes. \xe2\x80\x94 While Italy was \ncelebrating her triumph over the Goths, another and more for- \nmidable invasion was preparing in the North. The tribes be- \nyond the Rhine \xe2\x80\x94 the Vandals, the Suevi, the Alani, and the \nBurgundians \xe2\x80\x94 driven from their seats near the Baltic by some \nunknown cause, poured in impetuous streams from the forests \nand morasses of Germany, and, bursting the barriers of the Alps,*" \noverspread the devoted plains of Italy. The alarm among the \nItalians was even greater than that inspired by the Gothic in- \nvasion ; for Alaric was a Christian, while Radagaisus, the lead- \ner of the new hordes, was a superstitious savage, who paid \nworship to gods that required the bloody sacrifice of captive \nenemies. \n\nBy such efforts as Rome put forth in the younger and more \nvigorous days of the republic, when Hannibal was at her \ngates, an army was now equipped and placed under the com- \nmand of Stilicho. Meanwhile the barbarians, marking their \npath by the signal of burning towns and villas, had advanced \nas far as Florence, and were now besieging that place. Stili- \ncho here surrounded the vast host \xe2\x80\x94 variously estimated from \n200,000 to 400,000 men \xe2\x80\x94 and starved them into a surrender. \nTheir chief, Radagaisus, was put to death, and great multitudes \nof the barbarians that the sword and famine had spared were \nsold as slaves (a.d. 406). \n\nThe Ransom of Rome (a.d. 409). \xe2\x80\x94 Shortly after the victory \nof Stilicho over the German barbarians, he fell under the sus- \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 40I \n\npicion of the weak and jealous Honoiius, and was executed. \nThus fell the great general whose sword and counsel had twice \nsaved Rome from the barbarians, and who might have again \naverted similar dangers that were now approaching. Listening \nfurther to the rash counsels of his unworthy advisers, Hono- \nrius, after the murder of his faithful general, caused a general \nmassacre of the wives and children of the barbarians who were \nheld as hostages in the different cities of Italy. This perfidi- \nous act provoked to instant revolt the 30,000 Gothic mercena- \nries in the Roman legions. Their kinsmen beyond the Alps \njoined with them, to avenge the slaughter. Alaric again crossed \nthe mountains, and, pillaging the cities in his way, led his hosts \nto the very gates of Rome. Not since the dread Hannibal \nhurled his spear in defiance over the city ramparts \xe2\x80\x94 more than \nsix hundred years before\xe2\x80\x94 had Rome been insulted by the \npresence of a foreign foe beneath her walls. \n\nThe barbarians by their vast number were enabled to com- \npletely surround the city, and thus cut it off from its supplies \nof food. Famine soon forced the Romans to sue for terms of \nsurrender. The ambassadors of the Senate, when they came \nbefore Alaric, began, in lofty and unbecoming language, to \nwarn him not to render the Romans desperate by hard or dis- \nhonorable terms : their fury when driven to despair, they rep- \nresented, was terrible, and their number enormous. "The \nthicker the hay, the easier to mow it," was Alaric\'s derisive re- \nply. The barbarian chieftain at length named the ransom that \nhe would accept and spare the city : "All the gold and silver \nin the city, whether it were the property of individuals or of \nthe state ; all the rich and precious movables ; and all the \nslaves that could prove their title to the name of barbarian." \nThe amazed commissioners, in deprecating tones, asked, \'If \nsuch, O king, are your demands, what do you intend to leave \nus ?" " Your lives," responded the conqueror. \n\nThe ransom was afterwards considerably modified and re- \nduced. It was fixed at "5000 pounds of gold, 30,000 of silver, \n\n18* \n\n\n\n402 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n4000 silken robes, 3000 pieces of scarlet cloth, and 3000 pounds \nof pepper." The last-named article was much used in Roman \ncookery, and was very expensive, being imported from India. \nMerivale, in contrasting the condition of Kome at this time \nwith her ancient wealth and grandeur, estimates that the gild- \ning of the roof of the Capitoline temple far exceeded the en- \ntire ransom, and that it was four hundred times less than that \n(five milliards of francs) demanded by the Prussians of Paris, \nin 187 1. Small as it comparatively was, the Romans were \nable to raise it only by the most extraordinary measures. The \nimages of the gods were first stripped of their ornaments of \ngold and precious stones, and finally the statues themselves \nwere melted down. "Among them," says the pagan writer \nZosimus, "was one of Courage \xe2\x80\x94 of Virtue, as the Romans call \nher; with her disappeared from Rome all that remained of \nhonor and valor." \n\nSack of Rome by Alaric (a.d. 410). \xe2\x80\x94 Upon retiring from \nRome, Alaric established his camp in Etruria. Here he was \njoined by great numbers of fugitive slaves, and by fresh acces- \nsions of barbarians from beyond the Alps. The Gallic king \ndemanded of Honorius, who, with his court, was safe among \nthe marshes of Ravenna, lands for his followers between the \nAdriatic and the Danube. He held his sword over Rome and \nthreatened its destruction if his demands were not granted. \nHonorius refused to treat ; so Alaric turned upon the capital, \ncut it off from the granaries at Ostia, and thus forced open its \ngates, and then set up Attains, the prefect of the city, as a \nrival emperor to Honorius. \n\nSoon afterwards he deposed his puppet-king, and renewed \nhis demands of Honorius, who treated all the proposals of the \nbarbarian with foolish insolence. Rome now paid the penalty. \nAlaric turned for the third and last time upon the devoted city, \ndetermined upon its sack and plunder. The treachery of some \nslaves opened to the barbarians the gates of the capital by \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 403 \n\nnight, "and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous \nsound of the Gothic trumpet." Precisely eight hundred years \nhad passed since its sack by Brennus and the Gauls. During \nthat time the Imperial City had carried its victorious standards \nover three continents, and had gathered within the temples of \nits gods and the palaces of its nobles the plunder of the world. \nNow it is given over for a spoil to the fierce tribes from beyond \nthe Danube. \n\nAlaric commanded his soldiers to respect the lives of the \npeople, and to leave untouched the treasures of the Christian \ntemples; but the wealth of the citizens he encouraged them to \nmake their own. For six days and nights the rough barbari- \nans trooped through the streets of the city on their mission of \npillage. Their wagons were heaped with the costly furniture, \nthe rich plate, and the silken garments stripped from the pal- \naces of the wealthy patricians and the temples of the gods. \nAmidst the license of the sack, the barbarian instincts of the \nrobbers broke loose from all restraint, and the city was every- \nwhere wet with blood, while the nights were lighted with burn- \ning buildings. \n\nEffects of the Disaster upon Paganism.\xe2\x80\x94 The overwhelming \ndisaster that had befallen the Imperial City produced a pro- \nfound impression upon both Pagans and Christians throughout \nthe Roman world. The former asserted that these unutterable \ncalamities had fallen upon the Roman state because of the \nabandonment by the people of the worship of the gods of their \nforefathers, under whose protection and favor Rome had be- \ncome the mistress of the world. The Christians, on the other \nhand, saw in the fall of the Eternal City the fulfilment of the \nprophecies against the Babylon of the Apocalypse. The lat- \nter interpretation of the appalling calamity gained credit amidst \nthe panic and despair of the times. The temples of the once \npopular deities were deserted by their worshippers, who had \nlost faith in gods that could neither save themselves nor pro- \n\n\n\n404 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ntect their shrines from spoliation. " Henceforth," says Meri- \nvale, "the power of paganism was entirely broken, and the \nindications which occasionally meet us of its continued exist- \nence are rare and trifling. Christianity stepped into its de- \nserted inheritance. The Christians occupied the temples, \ntransforming them into churches." \n\nThe Death of Alaric. \xe2\x80\x94 After withdrawing his warriors from \nRome, Alaric led them southward. As they moved slowly on, \nthey piled still higher the wagons of their long trains with the \nrich spoils of the cities and villas of Campania and other prov- \ninces of Southern Italy. In the villas of the Roman nobles \nthe rough barbarians spread rare banquets from the stores of \ntheir well-filled cellars, and drank from jewelled cups the famed \nFalernian wine. \n\nAlaric led his soldiers to the extreme southern point of \nItaly, intending to cross the Strait of Messina into Sicily, and, \nafter subduing that island, to carry his conquests into the prov- \ninces of Africa. His designs were frustrated by his death, \nwhich occurred a.d. 412. With religious care his followers se- \ncured the body of their hero against violation by his enemies. \nThe little river Busentinus, in Northern Bruttium, was turned \nfrom its course with great labor, and in the bed of the stream \nwas constructed a tomb, in which was placed the body of the \nking, with his jewels and trophies. The river was then restored \nto its old channel, and, that the exact spot might never be \nknown, the prisoners who had been forced to do the work were \nall put to death. \n\nThe Barbarians Seize the Western Provinces. \xe2\x80\x94 We must now \nturn our eyes from Rome and Italy to observe the movement \nof events in the provinces. In his efforts to defend Italy, Stil- \nicho had withdrawn the last legion from Britain, and had drained \nthe camps and fortresses of Gaul. The Wall of Antoninus was \nleft unmanned ; the passages of the Rhine were left unguarded ; \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 405 \n\nand the agitated multitudes of barbarians beyond these de- \nfences were free to pour their innumerable hosts into all the \nfair provinces of the empire. Hordes of Suevi, Alani, Vandals, \nand Burgundians overspread all the plains and valleys of Gaul. \nThe number of these intruders was swollen by the Goths, who, \nwith Italy pillaged, recrossed the Alps, and, turning westward, \nestablished their camps in the south of Gaul and the north of \nSpain, and set up in those regions what is known as the King- \ndom of the Visigoths. The Vandals pushed on into the south \nof the peninsula, and there occupied a large tract of country, \nwhich, in its present name of Andalusia, preserves the mem- \nory of its barbarian settlers. From these regions they crossed \nthe Strait of Gibraltar, overran the Roman provinces of North- \nern Africa, captured Carthage (a.d. 439), and made that city \nthe seat of the dread Empire of the Vandal s. _ \n\nIn Britain, upon the withdrawal of the Roman legions, the \nPicts and Scots, breaking over the Wall of Antoninus, descended \nupon and pillaged the cities of the south, which had grown rich \nthrough trade carried on under the protection of the Roman \ngovernors. The half-Romanized and effeminate provincials \xe2\x80\x94 \nno match for their hardy kinsmen who had never bowed their \nnecks to tfle yoke of Rome \xe2\x80\x94 were driven to despair by the rav- \nages of their relentless enemies, and, in their helplessness, in- \nvited to their aid the Angles and Saxons from the shores of \nthe Baltic. These peoples came in their rude skiffs, drove back \nthe invaders, and, being pleased with the soil and climate of \nthe island, took possession of the country for themselves, and \nbecame the ancestors of the English people. \n\nInvasion of the Huns: Battle of Chalons. \xe2\x80\x94 The barbarians \nthat were thus overrunning and parcelling out the inheritance \nof the dying empire were now, in turn, pressed upon and terri- \nfied by a foe more hideous and dreadful in their eyes than were \nthey in the sight of the peoples among whom they had thrust \nthemselves. \n\n\n\n4o6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nWe have already caught a glimpse of the non-Aryan Huns, \nthe monstrous Scythians, as they drove the panic-stricken \nGoths across the Danube. Since that time these Scythic war- \nriors had built up an immense barbarian empire stretching \nfrom the Volga in the east to the Rhine in the west, and from \nthe Baltic on the north to the Euxine on the south. Their \nkingdom embraced Turanian Huns, Tartars, and Finns, and \nAryan Slaves, Goths, and Teutons. They were far more ruth- \nless and implacable than the Gothic and Germanic barbarians \nwhose footsteps they were following. Their path was marked \neverywhere by flaming signals. Their king disdained to live \nin a palace. At this time the leader of the nation was Attila, \nwho declared himself to be a Descendant of the Great Nimrod, \nby the Grace of God King of the Huns, the Goths, the Danes, \nand the Medes, the Dread of the World. The affrighted in- \nhabitants of Europe called him in terror the " Scourge of God." \nIt was declared that the grass never grew again where once the \nhoof of Attila\'s horse had trod. \n\nAttila defeated the armies of the Eastern emperor, and ex- \nacted tribute from the court of Constantinople. The celerity \nof his movements was marvellous. Almost at the same moment \nhe was attacking the tribes in Northern Europe, chastising the \nTartars in Central Asia, and ravaging the fields of Thrace and \nIllyricum. Finally he turned westward, and, at the head of a \nhost numbering, it is asserted, 700,000 warriors, crossed the \nRhine into Gaul, purposing first to ravage that province, and \nthen to traverse Italy with fire and sword, in order to destroy \nthe last vestige of the Roman power. \n\nThe Romans and their Gothic conquerors laid aside their \nanimosities, and made common cause against the common en- \nemy. The Visigoths were rallied by their king, Theodoric; the \nItalians, the Franks, the Burgundians flocked to the standard \nof the Roman general ^tius. Attila drew up his mighty hosts \nupon the plain of Chalons, in the north of France, and there \nawaited the onset of the Romans and their allies. The con- \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 407 \n\nflict was long and terrible. Theodoric was slain ; but at last \nfortune turned against the barbarians. The loss of the Huns \nis variously estimated at from 100,000 to 300,000 warriors. \nAttila succeeded in escaping from the field, and retreated with \nhis shattered hosts across the Rhine (a.d. 451). \n\nThis great victory is placed among the significant events of \nhistory ; for it decided that the Christian Germanic races, and \nnot the pagan Scythic Huns, should inherit the dominions of \nthe expiring Roman Empire, and control the destinies of Eu- \nrope. \n\nThe Death of Attila. \xe2\x80\x94The year after his defeat at Chalons, \nAttila again crossed the Rhine with a large army, and, passing \nthe Alps, burned or plundered all the important cities of North- \nern Italy. The Veneti fled for safety to the morasses at the \nhead of the Adriatic (a.d. 452). Upon the islets where they \nbuilt their rude dwellings, there grew up in time the city of \nVenice, the " eldest daughter of the Roman Empire," the " Car- \nthage of the Mi\'ddle Ages." \n\nThe conqueror threatened Rome ; but Leo the Great, bishop \nof the capital, went with an embassy to the camp of Attila, and \npleaded for the c. iy. He recalled to the mind of Attila the fact \nthat death had overtaken the impious Alaric soon after he had \ngiven the Imperial City to be sacked, and warned him not to \ncall down upon himself the like judgment of Heaven. To these \nadmonitions of the Christian bishop was added the persuasion \nof a golden bribe from the Emperor Valentinian ; and Attila \nwas induced to spare Southern Italy, and to lead his warriors \nback beyond the Alps. Shortly after he had crossed the Dan- \nube, he died suddenly in his camp. His vast kingdom fell \nspeedily to pieces after his death ; and the Huns gradually \nwithdrew from Europe into the wilds of their native Scythia, \nor were absorbed by the nations they had conquered.* \n\n* There is much uncertainty respecting the part whicV the warriors of \n\n\n\n408 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nSack of Rome by the Vandals (a.d. 455). \xe2\x80\x94 Rome had been \nsaved a visitation from the spoiler of the North, but a new de- \nstruction was about to burst upon it by way of the sea from the \nSouth. Africa sends out another enemy whose greed for plun- \nder proves more fatal to Rome than the eternal hate of Han- \nnibal. The kings of the Vandal Empire in Northern Africa \nhad acquired as perfect a supremacy in the Western Mediter- \nranean as Carthage ever enjoyed in the days of her commercial \npride. Vandal corsairs swept the seas and harassed the coasts \nof Sicily and Italy, and even plundered the maritime towns of \nthe Eastern jDrovinces. In the year 455 a Vandal fleet, led \nby the dread Genseric, sailed up the Tiber. \n\nThese barbarians had been exhorted to come by the Ro- \nman empress Eudoxia, to avenge the murder of her husband \nValentinian, struck down by a senator named Maximus, who \nhad assumed the purple, and forced the widowed queen to ac- \ncept the hand stained with the blood of her own husband. \n\nPanic seized the people ; for the name of Vandal was pro- \nnounced with terror throughout the world. Maximus \xe2\x80\x94 the \nAchan who had brought this judgment upon the city \xe2\x80\x94 was \nstoned to death by an infuriated mob. Again the great Leo, \nwho had once before saved his flock from the fury of an Attila, \nwent forth, and hastened to throw himself before the "semi- \nChristian Genseric," and to intercede in the name of Christ for \n\nAttila may have taken in the formation of the later Hungarian state in Eu- \nrope. That appears to have owed its origin to another invading band of \nthe same people, that entered Europe several centuries later. " It is at least \ncertain," says Creasy, "that the Magyars of Arpad, who are the immediate \nancestors of the bulk of the modern Hungarians, and who conquered the \ncountry which bears the name of Hungary in A.D. 889, were of the same stock \nof mankind as the Huns of Attila, if they did not belong to the same sub- \ndivision of that stock. Nor is there any improbability in the tradition that \nafter Attila\'s death many of his warriors remained in Hungary, and that \ntheir descendants afterwards joined the Huns of Arpad in their career of \nconquest. It is certain that Attila made Hungary the seat of his empire."\xe2\x80\x94 \nCreasy\'s " Decisive Battles," p. 157. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 409 \n\nthe Imperial City. Genseric yielded to the pious bishop the \nlives of the citizens, but said that the plunder of the capital \nbelonged to his warriors. For fourteen days and nights the \ncity was given over to the ruthless barbarians. The ships of \nthe Vandals, which almost hid with their number the waters \nof the Tiber, were piled, as had been the wagons of the Goths \nbefore them, with the rich and weighty spoils of the capital. \nPalaces were stripped of their ornaments and furniture, and \nthe walls of the temples denuded of their statues and of the \ntrophies of a hundred Roman victories. From the Capitoline \nsanctuary were borne off the golden candlestick and other \nsacred articles that Titus had stolen from the Temple at Jeru- \nsalem. Even the roof of the building was stripped of its gilded \ntiles. \n\nFinally, the gre^d of the barbarians was sated, and they were \nready to withdraw. The Vandal fleet set sail for Carthage,* \nbearing, besides the plunder of the city, more than 30,000 of \ntbe inhabitants as slaves. Conflagration and slaughter had \nalso accompanied the work of pillage. Carthage, through her \nown barbarian conquerors, was at last avenged upon her hated \nrival. The mournful presentiment of Cato had fallen true. \nThe cruel fate of Carthage might have been read again in the \npillaged and smoking city that the Vandals left behind them. \n\nFall of the Roman Empire of the West (a.d. 476). \xe2\x80\x94 Only the \nshadow of the Western Empire now remained. All the prov- \ninces \xe2\x80\x94 Illyricum, Gaul, Britain, Spain, and Africa \xe2\x80\x94 were in the \nhands of the Goths, the Vandals, the Franks, the Burgundians, \nthe Angles, and the Saxons, and various other intruding tribes. \n\n* A storm overtaking the fleet, the vessel that bore the treasures taken \nfrom the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was lost. Not any others suffered. \n"The golden candlestick reached the African capital, was recovered a cen- \ntury later, and lodged in Constantinople by Justinian, and by him replaced, \nfrom superstitious motives, in Jerusalem. From that time its history is \nlost." \xe2\x80\x94 Merivale. \n\n\n\n4IO ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nItaly, as well as Rome herself, had become again and again \nthe spoil of the insatiable barbarians. The story of the twenty- \nfive years following the sack of the capital by Genseric affords \nonly a repetition of the events we have been narrating. Dur- \ning these years several puppet emperors were set up by the \ndifferent leaders of the invading tribes. A final seditious \nmovement placed upon the shadow-throne a child of six years, \nson of Orestes, the leading spirit of the new revolution. \n\nBy what has been called a freak of fortune, this boy-sover- \neign bore the name of Romulus Augustus, thus uniting in the \nname of the last Roman Emperor of the West the names of the \nfounder of Rome and of the establisher of the empire. Not \nso much on account of his youth as from contempt excited by \nthe imperial farce he was forced to play, this emperor became \nknown as Augustulus \xe2\x80\x94 "the little Augustus." He reigned only \none year, when Odoacer, the leader of the Heruli \xe2\x80\x94 a small but \nformidable German tribe, all of whom claimed royal descent \xe2\x80\x94 \nhaving demanded one third of the lands of Italy, to divide \namong his followers for services rendered the empire, and hav- \ning been refused, put Orestes to death, and dethroned the \nchild-emperor. His life was spared, and his friends were per- \nmitted to take him into retirement at the villa of Lucullus, in \nCampania. \n\nOdoacer abolished the title of emperor and styled himself \nKing of Italy. The Roman Senate sent an embassy to Con- \nstantinople, with the royal vestments and the insignia of the \nimperial office, to represent to the Emperor Zeno that the West \nwas willing to give up its claims to an emperor of its own, and \nto request that the German chief, with the title of " Patrician," \nmight rule Italy as his viceroy. This was granted ; and Italy \nnow became in effect a province of the Empire of the East \n(a.d. 476). The Roman Empire in the West had come to an \nend, after an existence from the founding of Rome of 1229 \nyears. \n\n\n\nDECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST. 4II \n\n\n\nROMAN EMPERORS FROM COMMODUS TO AUGUSTULUS. \n\n(A.D. 180-476.) \n\n\n\nA.D. \n\nCommodus 180-192 \n\nPertinax 193 \n\nDidius Julianus 193 \n\nSeptimius Severus 193-211 \n\n( Caracalla 211-217 \n\nI Geta 211-212 \n\nMacrinus 217-218 \n\nElagabalus 218-222 \n\nAlexander Severus |. 222-238 \n\nMaximin 238 \n\nGordian 238-244 \n\nPhilip 244-249 \n\nDecius 249-25 1 \n\nPeriod of the Thirty Tyrants. 251-268 \n\nClaudius 268-270 \n\nAurelian 2 70-275 \n\nTacitus 275-276 \n\nProbus 276-282 \n\nCams 282-283 \n\nj Carinas 283-284 \n\n1 Numerian 283-284 \n\n\n\nA.D. \n\nDiocletian 284-305 \n\nMaximian 286-305 \n\nConstantius 1 305-306 \n\nGalerius 305-3 1 1 \n\nConstantine the Great 306-337 \n\nReigns as sole ruler 323-337 \n\nConstantine II 337-340 \n\nConstans 1 337-350 \n\nConstantius II 337-3^1 \n\nReigns as sole ruler 350-361 \n\nJulian the Apostate 361-363 \n\nJovian 363-364 \n\nValentinian 1 364-375 \n\nValens (in the East) 364-378 \n\nGratian 375-383 \n\nMaximus 383-388 \n\nValentinian II 388-392 \n\nEugenius 392-394 \n\nTheodosius the Great 379-395 \n\nReigns as sole emperor. . 394-395 \n\n\n\nFINAL PARTITION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, A.D. 395. \n\n\n\nEMPERORS OF THE EASTERN \n\nEMPIRE. \n\n(From A.D. 395 to Fall of Rome.) \n\n\n\nEMPERORS OF THE WESTERN \nEMPIRE. \n\n\n\nHonorius 395-423 \n\nArcadius 395-4o8 ! Valentinian III 425-455 \n\nTheodosius II 408-450 | Maximus. \n\nMarcian 450-457 \n\nLeo 1 457-474 \n\nZeno 474-491 \n\n\n\n455 \n\nAvitus 455-456 \n\nCount Ricimer creates and \n\ndeposes emperors 456-472 \n\nRomulus Augustulus 475-47^ \n\n\n\n412 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII. \n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. \n\nIntroductory. \xe2\x80\x94 We propose in the present chapter to say \nsomething further respecting the great architectural works of \nthe ancient Romans, any extended description of which before \nthis time would have broken the continuity of our narrative. \nAn examination of these as they stood before time and violence \nlaid defacing hands upon them, and as they are now after the \ndecay and spoliation of many centuries, will tend to render \nmore real, and to impress more deeply upon our minds, the \nstory we have been following. In connection with the circus \nand amphitheatre, we shall introduce a few paragraphs upon \nthe public games and shows of the Romans. \n\nGreek Origin of Roman Architecture. \xe2\x80\x94 The architecture of \nthe Romans was in the main an imitation of Greek models. \nAll of the three orders which were originated, or rather per- \nfected, by the Greeks \xe2\x80\x94 the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian \n\xe2\x80\x94 were employed by the Roman artists. The Doric and the \nIonic both suffered deterioration in the hands of the Italian \nbuilders. The harmonious proportions and the graceful sweep \nof lines upon which the Grecian artists depended were neg- \nlected, while the same effects were sought to be secured by \nmassiveness of structure and profuseness of ornamentation. \nBut the Romans were not mere borrowers or servile imitators. \nIn their structures was introduced a principle of which the \nGreek architects seldom made use, but which the Roman \nbuilders employed so constantly and so prominently as to \nrender it the characterizing feature of Roman architecture. \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 413 \n\nWe refer, of course, to the arch, which was known to both \nthe Egyptians and the Chaldceans, as well as to the Greeks, \nlong before the foundations of Rome were laid, but the pos- \nsibilities of which it was reserved for the practical Romans \nto discover and utilize. By means of it they spanned the \nbroadest streams with bridges that have resisted all the assaults \nof time and flood until the present da}\', carried stupendous \naqueducts across tile deepest valleys, and vaulted the roofs of \nthe largest buildings. \n\nIn the very brief examination that we shall make of Roman \narchitecture, we shall notice, first, the sacred edifices \xe2\x80\x94 the tem- \nples; second, those structures designed for the exhibition of \ngames and shows \xe2\x80\x94 the circus, the theatre, and the amphithea- \ntre; third, works of utility \xe2\x80\x94 the military roads, aqueducts, and \nbaths; fourth, the villas of the wealthy; and, lastly, memorial \narchitecture \xe2\x80\x94 triumphal arches and columns, and monuments \nfor the dead, \n\nRoman Temples. \xe2\x80\x94 The most celebrated of the sacred edifices \nof the Romans was the Capitoline Temple, or Capitol, as often \ncalled, which crowned the summit of one of the Seven Hills \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe Capitoline \xe2\x80\x94 so that it overlooked at once the Tiber and the \nForum. The building, with its courts and porticos, covered \nan area of eight acres, a space much greater than the original \nlevel summit of the hill, which was therefore enlarged by im- \nmense substructions and fillings, as in the case of the founda- \ntions of the Temple at Jerusalem. The structure is said to \nhave been commenced by Tarquinius Priscus, 615 B.C.; but it \nwas not completed until the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, \nabout one hundred years later. The temple proper, which \nwas about two hundred feet square, contained three chambers, \nthe central and largest being sacred to Jupiter, while those on \neither side were consecrated one to Juno and the other to \nMinerva. The sanctuary was reached from the Forum by a \nmagnificent flight of one hundred marble steps. At the close \n\n\n\n414 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nof the Punic wars the entire roof of the central portion of the \nbuilding was covered with gilded tiles at an almost fabulous \nexpense \xe2\x80\x94 $20,000,000 according to some authorities. The \nbrazen doors of the temple were also adorned with solid plates \nof gold. The interior decorations were of marble and silver. \nThe walls were crowded with the rich trophies hung up by \nsuccessful commanders as memorials of their own prowess and \nthe favor of the gods. \n\nThe fortunes of the famous sanctuary were even more \nvaried than those of the Delphic shrine. Three times it was \nburned and as often rebuilt. The original structure stood \nfour hundred and thirteen years, when it was accidentally de- \nstroyed by fire during the civil war of Marius and Sulla (84 \nB.C.). It was restored by Sulla, but was again burned during \nthe conflict between the soldiers of Vespasian and Vitellius \n(a.d. 69). Vespasian rebuilt it, but again fire consumed it dur- \ning the reign of Titus. Domitian restored it for the third and \nlast time with great magnificence. We have already learned \nthe fate of the treasures of the sanctuary at the hands of the \nbarbarian Goths and Vandals, when the Roman arms had be- \ncome too weak to defend what they had wrested from a hun- \ndred nations. \n\nThe Capitoline was to Rome what the Acropolis was to \nAthens. It became the home of art and the centre of the \nreligious life and worship of the nation. Besides the Capitol \nmany other richly decorated temples were .erected upon the \nlevelled summit of the hill. There were sanctuaries dedi- \ncated to Venus, Fortune, Mars, Juno Moneta, and the adopted \nEgyptian deities Isis and Serapis. But although this Roman \nAcropolis was primarily set apart for the service of the gods, \nit was not given up entirely to sacred uses. It was the reposi- \ntory of the treasures of the state, as well as of its religious \nrelics. Thus adjoining the Temple of Juno Moneta was the \nRoman mint, from which circumstance stamped coin came to \nbe called moneta; hence our word money. In the Capitol \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 415 \n\nwas an important library, chambers for the records of the state, \nvaults for the Sibylline Books, lecture-rooms, and offices for the \nuse of the city magistrates. And hither ascended, by the clivus \ncapitolinus^ the fortunate conqueror, to return thanks to Jupiter \nfor victory, and to enrich his shrine with the spoils of war. \n\nThe fury of barbarian conquerors, and the vandalism of the \nMiddle Ages \xe2\x80\x94 during which period the material of the ancient \ntemples was appropriated for building purposes \xe2\x80\x94 succeeded \nin obliterating almost the last trace of building upon the hill. \nThe site of the Temple of Jupiter is now occupied by the Capi- \ntol of modern Rome. \n\nAfter the Capitoline Temple, the Pantheon is the next sacred \nedifice of the Romans most worthy of our attention, both be- \ncause of its peculiar architecture and of the wonderful state of \npreservation in which it has reached our own time. It is a \nvast circular structure i88 feet in diameter, with walls 19 feet \nthick \xe2\x80\x94 made thus thick and strong in order to bear the im- \nmense stone dome which springs its tremendous arch over the \nbuilding. This is one of the boldest pieces of masonry exe- \ncuted by the master builders of the world. At the top of the \ndome is an opening about thirty feet in diameter, designed to \nlight the building, so that every ray that enters the sanctuary \nfalls directly from the heavens. The temple is fronted by a \nsplendid portico, forming a thick grove of columns, through \nwhich entrance is given to the shrine. The doors were of \nbronze, and still remain in place. \n\nThe Pantheon was built about 25 B.C. by the consul M. \nAgrippa, son-in-law of Augustus. It was consecrated to Jupi- \nter the Avenger. The name Pantheon "^ was given the build- \ning, not because it contained statues of all the gods, for there \nwere niches for only six besides that of Jupiter, but from the \ngreat dome being conceived to represent the heavens, the \ndivine dwelling-place (Guhl). The statues of the ancient dei- \n\n* From two Greek words, /a;/, all, and t/ieion, divine. \n\n\n\n4l6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nties have disappeared from the niches of the shrine, and they \nare now filled with the figures of Christian saints ; and the \nsanctuary has been renamed, being now known as the Church \nof All the Saints. \n\nThere were a large number of circular vaulted temples in \nRome. This was a style of architecture peculiarly Italian. \nThere were no such structures to be found among the \nGreeks, if we except a few small and unimportant buildings, \nmostly of a subterranean character. \n\nIt was not the capital alone that was adorned with sacred \nedifices. The chief cities of Italy and of all the provinces \nwere filled with temples rivalling in richness and magnificence \nthose at the centre of the empire. Many of these were con- \nstructed by the magistrates of Rome, or by the emperors, in \norder to gain the good -will of the citizens of the places \nthus patronized. Nothing more excites our surprise, or tends \nmore to impress the imagination with a sense of the opulence \nand wide-spread power of the Roman state during its best days, \nthan the fact that a city so remote from Italy as Palmyra, \nsituated in the midst of a great desert, exposed to the attacks \nof the most formidable enemies, should have been adorned with \narchitectural structures second only to those of the capital it- \nself The Palmyrian Temple of the Sun was, next after the \nCapitoline sanctuary, the most magnificent shrine within the \nlimits of the empire. Kept from decay by the dry preserva- \ntive air of the desert, and secured from the spoliation of mod- \nern builders by its isolation, this desert fane is to-day the \nmost perfectly preserved of the great sacred edifices of the \nancient Romans. \n\nThe Circus. \xe2\x80\x94 The circuses of the Romans were what we \nshould call race-courses. There were several at Rome, the \nmost celebrated being the Circus Maximus, which was located \nin the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine. It was \nfirst laid out by Tarquinius Priscus, During succeeding cen- \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 417 \n\nturies it was enlarged as the population of the capital increased, \nuntil finally, at the time of Coilstantine, which emperor made \nthe last extension, it was capable of holding probably two or \nthree hundred thousand spectators.* It was oblong in shape, \nbeing about 1800 feet long and 600 feet wide. From the \ncourse, or track, the seats rose in tiers the same as in a thea- \ntre. From the uppermost row of seats rose high buildings \nwith several stories of balconies like the boxes overhanging the \nmodern stage. The sloping sides of the valley were taken \nadvantage of in the formation of the seats. The only remain- \ning trace of this stupendous structure is the terraced appear- \nance of the low encircling hills. \n\nThe Games of the Circus. \xe2\x80\x94 The circensian games had a re- \nligious origin. The belief that the gods delighted in the \nexhibition of feats of skill, strength, or endurance ; that their \nanger might be appeased by such spectacles; or that they \nmight be persuaded by the promise of games to lend aid to \nmortals in great emergencies, was what led to the institution \nof the shows of the circus. At the opening of the year it was \ncustomary for the Roman magistrate, in behalf of the people, \nto promise to the gods games and festivals, provided good \ncrops, protection from pestilence, and victory were granted the \nRomans during the year. So, too, a general in great straits in \nthe field might, in the name of the state, vow plays to the gods, \nand the people were sacredly bound by his act to fulfil the \npromise. Plays given in fulfilment of vows thus made were \ncalled votive games. To these were added many others to \ncommemorate important events, or to signalize the completion \nof some important work. Towards the close of the republic \nthey lost much of their religious character, and at last became \ndegraded into mere brutal shows given by ambitious leaders \nfor the purpose of winning popularity. \n\n* Authorities differ, ranging from 150,000 to 380,000. Pliny says 250,000. \n\n19 \n\n\n\n4l8 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe games consisted at first of chariot-racing, wrestling, foot- \nracing, and various athletic sports. Then dramatic represen- \ntations were added, and finally the gladiatorial combats ; but \nthe circus was ill adapted to these, and after a time theatres \nwere constructed for the exhibitions of the drama, and the am- \nphitheatre for the combats of men and animals. After the sup- \npression of the gladiatorial shows by the Christian emperors, \nthe circensian games were the principal entertainments left to \nthe people. They retained their popularity down to the over- \nthrow of the empire. \n\nTheatres. \xe2\x80\x94 The Romans borrowed the plan of their theatres \nfrom the Greeks. The form was that of a semicircle with ris- \ning tiers of seats. The Greeks, in the construction of their \ntheatres, usually took advantage of some hill-side. The first \ntheatre was simply the gentle slope of a curving valley, where \nthe rising ground formed the seats for the spectators, and the \nlevel space at the bottom of the hill the stage for the players. \nThose who desired better seats than the turf afforded were \nobliged to carry mats or chairs with them. Soon permanent \nseats were constructed, the native rock being not unfrequently \nhewn into steps to serve this purpose. This was the case at \nthe Greek city of Syracuse, where the rock-theatre, still very \nperfectly preserved, forms almost the only relic of that ill-fated \ncity. Sometimes only the lower portion of the structure was \ncut in the hill, while the upper part was constructed of wood. \n\nWhen the Romans, who usually seemed to scorn the idea of \nsaving labor, or of asking nature to lend aid in any work, felt \nthe need of some structure better adapted than the circus to \ndramatic representations, and set themselves to theatre-build- \ning, they erected the entire structure upon level ground, raising \na great supporting wall or framework in place of the hill with \nits favoring slopes. All of the theatres built at Rome previous \nto the year 55 B.C. were of wood. In that year Pompey the \nGreat returned from his campaigns in the East, where he had \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 419 \n\nseen the Greek theatre at Mitylene, and immediately set to \nwork to erect, in imitation of it, a stone theatre at Rome that \nshould seat 40,000 spectators. (This structure and two others, \none built by Augustus and the other by Cornelius Balbus,were \nthe only theatres at the capital.) Around the top of the cavea \nran a covered portico, beneath which the audience might retreat \nin case of storm. \n\nOf the theatrical entertainments themselves we shall speak \nin the following chapter, in connection with the literature of \nthe Romans. We need here simply observe that the plays with \nwhich the Romans were entertained were, in the main, transla- \ntions or very close imitations of Greek dramas. Comedy was \nmore popular than tragedy : the people saw too much real \ntragedy in the exhibitions of the amphitheatre to care much \nfor the make-believe tragedies of the stage. \n\nThe Amphitheatre.\xe2\x80\x94 The first amphitheatre seems to have \nbeen the outgrowth of the rivalry between Pompey and Caesar. \nThe liberality of the former in the erection of his stone the- \natre had so won for him the affections of the people that the \nlatter saw he must do something to surpass his rival, or see \nhimself entirely distanced in the race for popular favor. Caesar \nwas at this time away in Gaul, whence he sent immense sums of \nmoney, gained by his successful wars, to his friend Curio, then \ntribune at Rome, who was enjoined to erect, with the means \nthus put in his hands, a structure that should cast Pompey\'s \ninto the shade. Pliny tells us that Curio built two wooden \ntheatres side by side, in which two distinct audiences might be \nentertained at the same time. With things thus arranged, and \nwith the people in good-humor from the farcical representations \nthat had been given, all was ready for the master-stroke that \nwas to win the applause of the fickle multitude. At a given \nsignal, one of the theatres, which had been constructed so as \nto admit of isuch a movement, was swung around and brought \nface to face with the other, in such a way as to form a vast am- \n\n\n\n420 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nphitheatre, where, from a central space called the arena and \ndesigned for the exhibitions, the seats rose in receding tiers on \nevery side. \n\nThe first stone amphitheatre was erected during the reign of \nAugustus. But the one that pushed all other edifices of this \nkind far into the background, and in some respects surpassed \nany other monument ever reared by man, was the structure \ncommenced by Flavins Vespasian, and often called, after him, \nthe Flavian Amphitheatre, but better known as the Colosseum, \neither, as we have said elsewhere, on account of its enormous \nsize, or from a colossus of Nero which stood in front of it. \nThe edifice was 574 feet in its greatest diameter, and was capa- \nble of seating 87,000 spectators. The encircling wall rose in \nfour stories to the height of 156 feet. The several stories ex- \nhibited exteriorly the different orders of Grecian architecture : \nthe lower story was Doric, the second Ionic, and the third and \nfourth were Corinthian. Within, the seats rose from the arena \nin receding tiers to the magnificent portico that crowned the \nupper circle. The lower front seats were reserved for the \nimperial family, the senators, and the magistrates of Rome. \nThe first twenty seats back of these were for the knights, the \nnext sixteen for the citizens, and the uppermost for the women. \nAt either end of the longer diameter the unprivileged masses \nfound place to stand or sit. Beneath the arena and seats \nwere large chambers designed as dens for the wild animals \nneeded in the shows. Sockets in the upper stone-work held \npillars to which were fastened the ropes by means of which an \nimmense awning was stretched over the heads of the specta- \ntors to keep out the sun and rain. Fountain jets filled the air \nwith perfumed spray ; pieces of statuary, placed at advanta- \ngeous points, relieved the monotony of the endless circle of \nseats; and bright -colored silken decorations lent a festive \nappearance to the vast auditorium. \n\nThe enormous proportions of the Colosseum have enabled \nit to resist all the agencies of destruction which have been at \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 42 1 \n\nwork upon it through so many centuries. The crowning colon- \nnade was destroyed by fire; the immense walls were quarried \nby the builders of Rome for a thousand years, and from them \nwas taken material for the building of a multitude of castles, \ntowers, and palaces, erected in the capital during the Middle \nAges; and for seventeen hundred years the tooth of time has \nbeen busy upon every part of the gigantic structure. Yet, not- \nwithstanding all these concurring agencies of ruin, the Colos- \nseum still stands grand and impressive as at first, even more \nimpressive because of these marks that it bears of violence and \nof time. It rises before us as " the embodiment of the power and \nsplendor of the empire." The Venerable Bede of England, \nwriting in the early part of the eighth century, tells us of the \nimpression produced by the stupendous edifice upon the sim- \nple pilgrims from the then rude North. He quotes the follow- \ning saying, current among these visitors: "As long as the Col- \nosseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, \nRome will fall ; when Rome falls, the world will fall." ^ \n\nMany of the most important cities of Italy and of the prov- \ninces were provided with amphitheatres, similar in all essential \nrespects to the Colosseum at the capital, only much inferior in \nsize, save the one at Capua, which was nearly as large as the \nFlavian structure. \n\nThe Shows of the Amphitheatre. \xe2\x80\x94 Before the erection of am- \nphitheatral buildings, the shows that came to be exhibited in \nthem were performed, as we have already mentioned, in the \ncircus or forum, which, however, were ill adapted to such \npresentations. The shows that were transferred from these \nplaces to the amphitheatre were animal-baitings and gladia- \ntorial combats. \n\nThe beasts required for the baitings were secured in differ- \nent parts of the world, and transported to Rome and the other \n\n* Milman\'s Gibbon\'s " Rome," vol. vi. p. 533. \n\n\n\n42 2 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncities of the empire at an enormous expense. The wildernesses \nof Northern Europe furnished bears and wolves; Africa con- \ntributed lions, crocodiles, and leopards ; Asia elephants and ti- \ngers. These creatures were pitted against one another in every \nconceivable way. Often a promiscuous multitude would be \nturned loose in the arena at once. But even the terrific scene \nthat then ensued, as the frightened and enraged beasts flew at \none another in wild and aimless encounter, became at last too \ntame to stir the blood of the Roman populace. Hence a new \nspecies of show was introduced, and grew rapidly into favor \nwith the spectators of the amphitheatre. This was the glad- \niatorial combat. \n\nThe Gladiatorial Combats. \xe2\x80\x94 Gladiatorial games seem to have \nhad their origin in Etruria, whence they were brought to Rome. \nIt was a custom among the early Etruscans to slay prisoners \nover the warrior\'s grave, it being thought that the spirit of the \ndead delighted in the blood of such victims. In time the con- \ndemned prisoners were allowed to fight and kill one another, \nthis being deemed more humane than their cold-blooded slaugh- \nter. Thus it happened that sentiments of humanity gave rise \nto an institution which, afterwards perverted, became the most \ninhuman of any that ever existed among a civilized people. \n\nThe first gladiatorial spectacle at Rome was presented by \nMarcus and Decimus Brutus, as the closing part of the funeral \nceremonies of their father, in the year 264 B.C. This exhibition \nwas arranged in one of the forums, as there were at that time \nno amphitheatres in existence. From this time the public taste \nfor this species of entertainment grew rapidly, and by the be- \nginning of the imperial period had mounted into a perfect pas- \nsion. It was now no longer the manes of the dead, but the \nspirits of the living, that they were intended to appease. At first \nthe combatants were slaves, captives, or condemned criminals ; \nbut at last knights, senators, and even women descended into \nthe arena. Training-schools were established at Rome, Capua, \n\n\n\nGLADIATORIAL COMBATS. 423 \n\nRavenna, and other cities. Free citizens often sold themselves \nto the keepers of these seminaries ; and to them flocked des- \nperate men of all classes, and ruined spendthrifts of the no- \nblest patrician houses. Slaves and criminals were encouraged \nto become proficient in this art by the promise of freedom if \nthey survived the combats beyond a certain number of years. \n\nSometimes the gladiators fought in pairs ; again great com- \npanies engaged at once in the deadly fray. They fought in \nchariots, on horseback, on foot \xe2\x80\x94 in all the ways that soldiers \nwere accustomed to fight in actual battle. The contestants \nwere armed with lances, swords, daggers, tridents, and every \nmanner of weapon. Some were provided with nets and las- \nsos, with which they entangled their adversaries, and then slew \nthem. \n\nThe life of a wounded gladiator was in the hands of the au- \ndience. If in response to his appeal for mercy, which was \nmade by outstretching the forefinger, the spectators reached \nout their open hands, or waved their handkerchiefs, that indi- \ncated that his prayer had been heard ; but if they extended \nclenched fists, that was the signal for the victor to complete \nhis work upon his wounded foe. Sometimes the dying were \naroused and forced on to the fight by burning with a hot iron. \nThe dead bodies were dragged from the arena with hooks, like \nthe carcasses of animals, and the pools of blood soaked up \nwith dry sand. \n\nThese shows increased to such an extent that they entirely \novershadowed the entertainments of the circus and the theatre. \nAmbitious officials and commanders arranged such spectacles \nin order to curry favor with the masses; magistrates were ex- \npected to give them in connection with the public festivals ; \nthe head of aspiring families exhibited them "in order to ac- \nquire social position;" wealthy citizens prepared them as an \nindispensable feature of a fashionable banquet; the children \ncaught the spirit of their elders and imitated them in their \nplays. The demand for gladiators was met by the training- \n\n\n\n424 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nschools; the managers of these hired out bands of trained men, \nthat travelled through the country like opera troupes among \nus, and gave exhibitions in private houses or in the provincial \namphitheatres. \n\nThe rivalries between ambitious leaders during the later \nyears of the Republic tended greatly to increase the number \nof gladiatorial shows, as liberality in arranging these spectacles \nwas a sure passport to popular favor. It was reserved for the \nemperors, however, to exhibit them on a truly imperial scale. \nTitus, upon the dedication of the Flavian Amphitheatre, pro- \nvided games, mostly gladiatorial combats, that lasted one hun- \ndred days. Trajan celebrated his victories with shows that \ncontinued still longer, in the progress of which 10,000 gladia- \ntors fought upon the arena, and more than that number of \nwild beasts were slain. Claudius eclipsed all his predecessors \nby the naval battle he exhibited on the Fucine Lake, a.d. 52, \nin celebration of the completion of some engineering works in \nthat place, in which spectacle 19,000 gladiators were engaged, \nand fought as in a regular sea-fight. \n\nSuppression of the Gladiatorial Gaines. \xe2\x80\x94 The suppression of \nthe gladiatorial games has been declared to be the most im- \nportant reform in the moral history of the world.* There is \ncertainly no other moral achievement that may be compared \nwith it unless it be the abolition of slavery throughout the \ncivilized world, which grand reform the present century has \nseen accomplished. And it is to Christianity that the credit \nof the suppression of the inhuman exhibitions of the amphi- \ntheatre is entirely, or almost entirely, due. The pagan philoso- \nphers usually regarded them with indifference, often with favor. \nThus Pliny commends a friend for giving a gladiatorial enter- \ntainment at the funeral of his wife. And when the pagan \nmoralists do condemn the spectacles, it is rather for other rea- \n\n* Lecky\'s " History of European Morals," vol. ii. p. 34. \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 425 \n\nsons than that they regarded them as inhuman and absolutely \ncontrary to the rules of ethics. They were defended on the \nground that they fostered a martial spirit among the people \nand inured the soldier to the sights of the battle-field. Hence \ngladiatorial games were actually exhibited to the legions before \nthey set out on their campaigns. Indeed, all classes appear to \nhave viewed the matter in much the same light, and with ex- \nactly the same absence of moral disapprobation, as we our- \nselves regard the slaughter of animals for food. Augustus, it \nis true, ordered that not more than one hundred and twenty \ngladiators should fight together, and prohibited magistrates \nfrom giving more than a stated number of exhibitions durino- \nthe year ; but these measures aimed at checking extravagance \nrather than inculcating humanity. But the Christian fathers \ndenounced the combats as absolutely immoral, sinful, and sac- \nrilegious. They labored in every possible way to create a \npublic opinion against them. The members of their own body \nwho attended the spectacles were excommunicated. At last, \nin A.D. 325, the first imperial edict against them was issued by \nConstantine. This decree appears to have been very little re- \ngarded ; nevertheless, from this time forward the exhibitions \nwere under something of a ban, until the edict of Honorius \n(a.d. 404) effectually suppressed the inhuman spectacles.* \nEven before this decree they had come to an end in the East, \nwhere they never, especially in Greece, had been received with \nsuch favor as in the West. The inane bull-fight exhibited at \nthe present day in Spanish countries is the last remaining relic \nof the sanguinary human combats of the Roman amphitheatre. \n\nMilitary Roads. \xe2\x80\x94 Foremost among the works of utility exe- \ncuted by the Romans, and the most expressive of the spirit of \nthe people, were their military roads. Radiating from the capi- \ntal, they grew with the growing empire, until all the countries \n\n* See above, p. 399. \n19* \n\n\n\n42 6 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nabout the Mediterranean and beyond the Alps were united to \nRome and to one another by a perfect network of highways \nof such admirable construction that even now, in their ruined \nstate, they excite the wonder of modern engineers. \n\nThe most noted of all the Roman roads was the Via Appia, \ncalled by the ancients themselves the "Queen of Roads," \nwhich ran from Rome to Capua. It was built by Appius \nClaudius (312 B.C.), for whom it was named. Afterwards it \nwas continued in a southeasterly direction, and carried across \nthe peninsula to Brundisium, an important sea-port on the \ncoast of Apulia, wdience expeditions were embarked for opera- \ntions in the East. The Flaminian Way ran from the capital \nto Ariminum on the Adriatic, and thence was extended, under \nanother name, northward into the Valley of the Po. Several \nother roads, reaching out from Rome in different directions, \ncompleted the communication of the capital with the various \ncities and states of the peninsula. As the limits of the Roman \nauthority extended, new roads were built in the conquered \nprovinces \xe2\x80\x94 in Sicily, in Northern Africa, in Spain, over the \nAlps, along the Rhine and the Danube, throughout Gaul, Brit- \nain, Greece, and all the East. \n\nThese military roads, with characteristic Roman energy and \ndisregard of obstacles, were carried forward, as nearly as pos- \nsible, in straight lines and on a level, mountains being pierced \nwith tunnels, and valleys crossed by massive viaducts. Near \nNaples may be seen one of these old tunnels still in use, called \nthe Grotto of the Posilippo, which is over half a mile in length. \nIt led the old Appian Way through a hill that at this point \ncrossed its course. The usual width of the roadway was about \nthirteen feet ; the bed was formed of broken stone and cement, \nupon which was sometimes laid, as in the case of the Via Ap- \npia, a regular pavement formed of large blocks of the hardest \nstone. Foot-paths often ran along the sides of the main road- \nway ; mile-posts told the distance from the capital ; and upon \nthe best-appointed roads were found seats disposed at proper \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 427 \n\nintervals for the convenience of travellers. In the Forum at \nRome was a gilded post, the ideal centre of the empire, and so \nof course of the world, from which distances on all the radiat- \ning roads were measured. \n\nAqueducts. \xe2\x80\x94 To supply a great city with abundant and \nwholesome water is a matter of no less difficulty than impor- \ntance. All the great capitals of the world, ancient and modern, \nhave secured this boon only by the most lavish expenditure of \nlabor and money. The kings of Babylon expended immense \nlabor in the distribution of water through the gardens and resi- \ndences of their capital. Solomon\'s greatest work after the \nTemple was the cutting of reservoirs (still existing as Solo- \nmon\'s Pools) for the collecting of water, and the construction \nof conduits to lead the same, from a distance of several miles, \nwithin the walls of Jerusalem. But the aqueducts of ancient \nRome were the most stupendous constructions of this nature \never executed by the inhabitants of any city. That capital was \nbetter supplied with water than any other great city of ancient \nor modern times. The old writers compare to rivers the \nStreams that the aqueducts poured through its streets. \n\nThe water-system of Rome was commenced by Appius \nClaudius (about 313 B.C.), who secured the building of an aque- \nduct which led water into the city from the Sabine hills, through \na subterranean channel eleven miles in length. From the spoils \nobtained in the war with Pyrrhus was built the Anio Aqueduct, \nso named because it brought water from the Anio River. A \nsecond aqueduct running from the same stream, and called the \nAnio Nova, to distinguish it from the older conduit, was sixty- \ntwo Roman miles in length. It ran beneath the ground until \nwithin about six miles of the city, when it was taken up on \narches and thus carried over the low levels into the capital. In \nplaces this aqueduct was held up more than a hundred feet \nabove the plain. During the republic four aqueducts were \ncompleted; under the emperors the number was increased to \nnineteen. Of all these only four are now in use. \n\n\n\n428 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe Romans carried their aqueducts across depressions and \nvalleys on high arches of masonry, not because they were igno- \nrant of the principle that water seeks a level, but for the reason \nthat they found this method of construction more economical \nin the long-run than the use of pipes. In some instances the \nprinciple was put in practice, and pipes were laid down one \nside of a valley and up the opposite slope. But their liability \nto accident, as we have intimated, led to the adoption of the \nother method. The lofty arches of the ruined aqueducts that \nrun in long broken lines over the plains beyond the walls of \nRome are described by all visitors to the old capital as the \nmost striking feature of the desolate Campagna. \n\nThermae, or Baths. \xe2\x80\x94 The greatest demand upon the streams \nof waters poured into Rome by the aqueducts was made by \nthe Thermae, or baths.* Among the ancient Romans, bathing, \nregarded at first simply as a troublesome necessity, became in \ntime a luxurious art. During the Republic, bathing-houses were \nerected in considerable numbers, the use of which could be \npurchased by a small entrance-fee equivalent to about one \ncent of our money. Towards the end of the Republic, when \nbathing had already come to be regarded as a luxury, ambi- \ntious politicians, anxious to gain the favor of the masses, would \nsecure a free day for them at the baths. But it was during the \nimperial period that those magnificent structures, to which the \nname of Thermae properly attaches, were erected. Nero, Titus, \nTrajan, Commodus, Caracalla, Decius, Constantine, and Dio- \ncletian all erected splendid thermae, which, as they were in- \ntended to exhibit the liberality of their builders, were thrown \nopen to the public free of charge. These edifices were very \n\n\n\n* Vast quantities of water were also absorbed by the fountains, of which \nRome is said to have had a larger number than any other city of the world \nin any age. M. Agrippa, the builder of the Pantheon, is credited with hav- \ning set up 105, and his example found many imitators. \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 429 \n\ndifferent affairs from tlie bathing-houses of the republican era. \nThose raised by the emperors were among the most elaborate \nand expensive of the imperial works. They contained cham- \nbers for cold, tepid, hot, sudatory, and swimming baths ; dress- \ning-rooms and gymnasia ; museums and libraries ; covered col- \nonnades for loitering and conversation ; extensive grounds filled \nwith statues and traversed by pleasant walks; and every other \nadjunct that could add to the sense of luxury and relaxation. \nThe pavements were frequently set with the richest mosaics. \nThe Thermae of Diocletian contained over three thousand of \nthese stone pictures. Caracalla\'s Baths had over sixteen hun- \ndred marble seats; granite pillars from Egypt decorated the \ncolonnades; green marble panellings, cut in Numidia, lined \nmany of the chambers : the fixtures of the baths were plated, \nand in some of the rooms were of solid silver. Some concep- \ntion of the stupendous size of this structure may be gained \nfrom the fact that the entrance-hall, or rotunda, of the building \nwas almost as large as the celebrated Pantheon, which it re- \nsembled in form. \n\nIt was not the inhabitants of the capital alone that had con- \nverted the business of bathing into a luxury and an art. There \nwas no town of any considerable size anywhere within the lim- \nits of the empire that was not provided with its thermae. And \nwherever springs of medicinal qualities broke from the ground \nthere arose magnificent baths, and such spots became the fa- \nvorite watering-places of the Romans. Thus Baden-Baden was \na noted and luxurious resort of the wealthy Romans centuries \nbefore it became the great summer haunt of the Germans. \nBaias, near Naples, on account of its warm sulphur springs and \nthe beauty of its surroundings, became crowded with the pleas- \nure-seekers of the capital. These bathing-towns, as was almost \ninevitable, acquired unenviable reputations as hotbeds of vice \nand shameless indulgence. \n\nAll the Roman thermae, after suffering repeated spoliation \nat the hands of successive robbers, have sunk into great heaps \n\n\n\n430 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nof rubbish. Many of their beautiful marbles were carried off \nby different Greek emperors to Constantinople. Charlemagne \ndecorated his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle with columns torn from \nthese imperial structures, which were then falling into dilapida- \ntion at Rome. The popes built others into St. Peter\'s Cathe- \ndral. And the masons of Rome, like the brick-hunters of Baby- \nlon and Nineveh, for centuries mined amidst the vast heaps \nof the ruined structures for marble blocks and statues, to be \nburned into lime for making cement. Modern excavations have \nrecovered from the mounds of rubbish some of the most \nfamous of the sculptures that are to be found in the museums \nof Europe. \n\nPalaces and Villas. \xe2\x80\x94 The residences of the wealthy Romans \nwhen built within the city walls were called mansions or pal- \naces, but when located in the country were usually designated \nas villas. The Palatine was the aristocratic quarter of Rome, \nbeing occupied by the homes of the wealthy class. After the \nGreat Fire, Nero erected here his Golden House, whose various \nbuildings, courts, gardens, vineyards, fish-ponds, and other in- \nnumerable appendages, spread over much of the burnt district. \nThe central building upon the Palatine, shorn of its extensive \ngrounds and useless adjuncts, became the residence of most of \nthe emperors who held the throne after the death of Nero. \n\nAmong the villas frequently mentioned by the old writers are \nthose of Scipio, Metellus, LucuUus, Cicero, Hortensius, Pliny, \nHorace, Virgil, Hadrian, and Diocletian. But to attempt enu- \nmeration would be misleading. Every wealthy Roman pos- \nsessed his villa, and many affected to keep up several in differ- \nent parts of Italy. These country residences, while retaining \nthe elegance and all the conveniences of the city palace \xe2\x80\x94 baths, \nmuseums, and libraries \xe2\x80\x94 added to these such adjuncts as were \ndenied a place by the restricted room of the capital \xe2\x80\x94 extensive \ngardens, aviaries, fish-ponds, vineyards, olive -orchards, shaded \nwalks, and well-kept drives. \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 43 1 \n\nPerhaps the most noted of Roman villas was that of Hadrian \nat Tibur, now Tivoli. It was intended to be a miniature rep- \nresentation of the world \xe2\x80\x94 both the upper and the lower. There \nwere theatres, baths, and temples of rare workmanship. In one \npart of the grounds were reproduced the Thessalian Vale of \nTempe and other celebrated bits of scenery. Subterranean \nlabyrinths enabled the visitor to make an ^nean descent into \nHell, and a journey amidst the scenes of the dolorous region.* \n\nWithin the ruined enclosure of the villa of Diocletian \xe2\x80\x94 the \nemperor who gave up imperial cares to raise vegetables at \nSalona, on the Adriatic \xe2\x80\x94 are crowded the buildings of the little \nmodern village of Spalatro. \n\nTriumphal Columns and Arches.\xe2\x80\x94 Among all peoples, what- \never be their place in the scale of civilization, we find an in- \nstinct or sentiment which prompts them to endeavor to perpet- \nuate the memory of important events in their history by means \nof commemorative monuments. When Jacob, upon the spot \nwhere he had dreamed, set up a stone for a pillar and poured \noil upon the top of it, he simply obeyed that universal impulse \nwhich has given to the world the grand lettered obelisks of the \nPharaohs, destined, seemingly, to stand so long as the world \nshall endure, and the imposing sculptured columns of the Ro- \nmans, to some of which seems to have been granted the im- \nmortality of the Egyptian monuments. \n\nThe first historic column raised by the Romans was erected \nin the year 261 B.C., to commemorate their first naval victory, \ngained by Duillius over the Carthaginian fleet. It was deco- \nrated with the brazen prows of the broken and captured ships \nof the enemy. Trajan\'s Column, built to commemorate the Da- \ncian victories of that emperor, is a remarkable work. It is still \nstanding in an almost perfect state of preservation. It is over \none hundred feet in height, and is pictured from base to sum- \n\n* Guhl and Koner\'s "Life of the Greeks and Romans," p. 372. \n\n\n\n432 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nmit with representations of battles and various scenes illustra- \ntive of Trajan\'s Dacian campaigns. \n\nThe triumphal arches were modelled after the city gates, \nbeing constructed with single and with triple archways. Two \nof the most noted monuments of this character, and the most \ninteresting because of their historic connections, are the Arch \nof Titus and the Arch of Constantine, both of which are still \nstanding. Upon the former are represented the articles brought \nfrom Jerusalem by Titus as the spoils of the war against the Jews. \nAmong other figures may be seen the seven-branched candle- \nstick taken from the Hebrew Temple. An inscription declares \nthat the arch was erected " to the memory of Titus by the Sen- \nate and the Roman people." The Arch of Constantine was \nintended to commemorate the victory of that emperor over \nMaxentius, which event established Christianity as the imperial \nand favored religion of the empire. \n\nThe Roman Triumph. \xe2\x80\x94 The courage of the Roman soldier \nwas fostered, and his daring and intrepidity were incited, by \nmeans of various rewards conferred for acts of special valor. \nThus the soldier who first scaled the walls of the enemy\'s cities \nwas awarded the golden corona mm-alis ; he who first boarded \nan enemy\'s vessel was honored with the corona navalis; while \nthe commander who, by some deed of unusual daring, had res- \ncued his army from imminent peril, or turned seeming defeat \ninto victory, was crowned \xe2\x80\x94 provided there were no dissenting \nvoice \xe2\x80\x94 with the garland of grass, the most honorable crown \nthat could be placed upon the head of the warrior. Gold \nchains intended to be worn about the neck, and medals with \nvarious decorations for the breast, were still further means of \nrewarding distinguished merit. \n\nBut surpassing all other marks of honor was the military tri- \numph. During the later years of the Republic this signal honor \nwas accorded only to the successful general who had killed at \nleast 5000 enemies in a single battle. (In the imperial period \n\n\n\nROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 433 \n\nthe emperors arranged their own triumphs, sometimes without \nmuch regard to the results of their campaigns.) The expenses \nof the ceremonies were borne by the state. All the streets and \npublic buildings of Rome were decorated with great splendor \nfor the occasion. At one of the gates of the city, called the \n" Gate of Triumph," the fortunate commander was met by the \nmagistrates of the capital and bodies of the citizens, who led \nthe procession that was now formed. Following this escort \nwere the trains of wagons loaded with the heavier spoils of \nwar, while slaves carried in their hands the lighter trophies \xe2\x80\x94 \nvessels of gold and silver, statues, paintings, and every variety \nof art treasures ; still others bore banners with boastful legends, \nand with representations of battles, sieges, and captured cities \nand fortresses. Next came the captive nobles, princes, and \nkings, often led with golden chains. Following these was the \ntriumphal car bearing the conqueror, while the victorious le- \ngions closed the procession. It was not unusual for the tri- \numph to last several days. The games of the circus, the plays \nof the theatre, and the shows of the amphitheatre formed a fit- \nting termination to the ceremonies. \n\nSepulchral Monuments. \xe2\x80\x94 The Romans in the earliest times \nseem to have usually buried their dead; but towards the \nclose of the republican period cremation, or burning, became \ncommon. When Christianity took possession of the empire, the \ndoctrine of the resurrection of the dead which it taught caused \ninhumation, or burying, again to become the prevalent mode. \n\nThe favorite burying-place among the Romans was along \nthe highways; the Appian Way was lined with sepulchral mon- \numents for a distance of several miles from the gates of the \ncapital. Many of these are still standing. These memorial \nstructures were as varied in design as are the monuments in \nour modern cemeteries. Shafts, broken columns, altars, pyra- \nmids, and chapels were oft-recurring forms. \n\nTwo sepulchral edifices of the imperial era deserve special \n\n\n\n434 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nnotice. One of these was raised by Augustus as a tomb and \nmonument for himself and his successors. It stood close to \nthe banks of the Tiber, and consisted of an enormous circular \ntower raised upon a massive square substructure. A century \nlater, this sepulchre having become filled, Hadrian constructed \na similar monument, which was richer, however, in marbles and \nsculptures, upon the opposite bank of the Tiber. This struct- \nure was called, after the emperor, the Mole or Mausoleum of \nHadrian. It is now used as a military fortress under the name \nof the Castle of St. Angelo. The massive structure, battered \nby many sieges and assaults and decayed through lapse of \ntime, presents, next after the Colosseum, the most imposing \nappearance of any of the decayed monuments of the ancient \nRomans. \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 435 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV. \n\nLATIN LITERATURE. \n\nLiterature among. the Romans. \xe2\x80\x94 The literary or purely in- \ntellectual life of the Romans was in every way far inferior to \nthat of the Greeks. The old conquerors of the world were too \npractical a race \xe2\x80\x94 were too much absorbed in the business of \nwar and government \xe2\x80\x94 to find much time to pay devotion to the \nMuses of Poetry and Art, or to pursue with much earnestness, \nnot to say patience, those philosophical speculations which \nwere so consrenial to the Attic intellect. All the national \naims and pursuits of this martial race trained their ear to catch \nmore music in the tread of legions than in the sweetest ca- \ndences of the poet\'s verse. Their very amusements tended to \nthe same end as did their more serious employments. As we \nhave said in another place, the stern, real tragedies of the \namphitheatre rendered tame the mock tragedies of the stage. \nThe inspiration and encouragement of popular appreciation \nand applause, which raised the tragic drama to such lofty ex- \ncellence at Athens, were almost wholly wanting at Rome. \n\nTherefore, in the brief examination which we now propose to \nmake of Latin literature, we must not expect to discover such \nworth and genius as distinguish the intellectual productions \nof the Hellenic race ; still we shall find the literary memorials \nof the Roman people possessing so many eminent qualities \nand so much merit that we shall acknowledge they are justly \nassigned a prominent, though not the foremost, place among \nthe literary treasures of the world. \n\nThe Period of Literary Activity. \xe2\x80\x94 It was only the last two \n\n\n\n436 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\ncenturies of the Republic and the first of the Empire \xe2\x80\x94 only \nthree centuries in all \xe2\x80\x94 that were marked by the literary activity \nand productiveness of the Latin intellect. The first five cen- \nturies of Roman history are almost barren of literary monu- \nments. But in the third century B.C., under the fostering in- \nfluences of the Republic, literature began to spring up and to \nflourish, and by the time of the establishment of the Empire \nhad reached its fullest and richest development; then, with the \nfall of the institutions of the republican era, it quickly com- \nmenced to languish, and survived the death of freedom barely \na single century. By the beginning of the second century \nof the Empire, the productive period of Latin literature had \nclosed ; and the last four hundred years of the imperial era \nexhibit the name of scarcely a single writer of vigor and origi- \nnality. \n\nWe here learn how depressing and withering are the in- \nfluences of a capricious and irresponsible despotism, which \nforbids all freedom and truthfulness, upon the intellectual and \nliterary life of a people. Literature is a plant that thrives best \nin the free air of a republic. It is true, indeed, that some of \nthe choicest fruit of the Latin intellect ripened during the \nfirst years of the Empire ; but this had been long maturing \nunder the influences of the republican period, and should prop- \nerly be credited to that era. Besides, the evil tendencies of \nthe unlimited monarchy had not yet manifested themselves \nunder Augustus ; still, even during the reign of that emperor, \nOvid, one of the brightest minds of the period, was exiled, \nwithout any reason being assigned for the act, to the barbarous \nshores of the Euxine. But the conduct of the despot Nero will \nbetter illustrate what we have affirmed. Every one will recall \nhow that tyrant was on the point of burning every copy of \nthe " Iliad " and of the " ^neid," because, in the imperial \njudgment, Homer had no taste, and Virgil was without genius. \nWhat shall literature do under such censorship? \n\nThere was another cause besides the repressive tenden- \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 437 \n\ncies of the imperial government that must not be overlooked \nwhen we seek the reasons for the quick and early decay of \nLatin literature. It was an exotic ; that is, it was a borrowed \nliterature, being almost wholly a transplantation from Greece. \nAnd because it was something introduced from abroad, and \nwas not native to the Italian soil, it was necessarily short-lived. \n"The imitative productions of Ennius," says Dunlop, " may be \nlikened to those trees which are transplanted when far ad- \nvanced in growth. Much at first appears to have been gained ; \nbut it is certain that he who sets the seedling is more useful \nthan the transplanter, and that, while the trees removed from \ntheir native soil lose their original beauty and luxuriance with- \nout increase in magnitude, the seedling swells in its parent \nearth to immensity of size \xe2\x80\x94 fresh, blooming, and verdant in \nyouth, vigorous in maturity, and venerable in old-age."* \n\nIt is only those literatures that are the spontaneous out- \ngrowth and expression of a people\'s life and genius that can \nlong endure. The writers of one nation or race may, and in- \ndeed must, borrow from all others; but there must be suf- \nficient vitality in the parent stem to send fresh currents \nthrough the graft and make it a part of the stock into which \nit has been set. The literary spirit among the Romans was \nnever strong, virile enough to thoroughly reanimate and trans- \nform that which they appropriated. So, aside from the unfa- \nvoring influences of imperialism, Latin literature, because an \nexotic transplanted into an uncongenial soil, seemed predes- \ntined to a short life and an early decay. \n\nGreek Learning and Latin Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Notwithstanding \nthat Latin literature was almost wholly imitative or borrowed, \nthe service it performed in the cause of civilization has been \nlasting and eminent. It was the medium for the dissemination \nof the rich literary treasures of Greece throughout the world. \n\n* Dunlop\'s " History of Roman Literature," vol. i. p. 99. \n\n\n\n438 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nIn order to realize the greatness of its work and influence, \nwe must bear in mind that the spread of the Latin tongue \nwas coextensive with the conquests of Rome. The subju- \ngated nations, with the laws of their conquerors, received also \ntheir language. In those countries where the subjected peo- \nples were inferior in civilization to the Romans, the language \nof the conquerors came into general use. Such was the con- \ndition of all the nations in the West. Italy, Spain, Gaul, and \nNorthern Africa became so thoroughly Romanized before the \noverthrow of the empire that the Latin tongue, much corrupted \nof course from the classical forms of the capital, came into uni- \nversal use among all classes. It was somewhat different in \nthe East, where the Hellenic language and culture had been \nspread. The speech of Rome never succeeded in crowding \nout the Greek language as it pushed aside and displaced the \nvarious rude and barbarous dialects of the tribes of Western \nEurope. Yet throughout all the Eastern provinces the Roman \ntongue became the speech of the ruling class, and was under- \nstood and very generally employed by men of education and \nsocial position. \n\nWe see, then, how very extended was the audience addressed \nby the Roman writers. The works of the Latin poets and his- \ntorians were read everywhere within the limits of the Roman \nempire, and that is equivalent to saying that they circulated \nthroughout the civilized world. And wherever Latin litera- \nture found its way there were scattered broadcast the seeds \nof Grecian culture, science, and philosophy. The relation of \nRome to Greece was exactly the same as that of Phoenicia to \nEgypt, as expressed by Lenormant : Greece was the mother \nof modern civilization ; Rome was its missionary. \n\nPeriods of Latin Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 The periods of Roman litera- \nture may be designated as the Legendary Age, the Era of the \nDrama, the Golden Age, the Silver Age, and the Iron Age. \n\nThe Legendary Age embraces the obscure period, partly \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 439 \n\nregal and partly republican, when Rome was under Etruscan \ninfluence ; the Era of the Drama extends from 240 to 78 B.C., \nthe latter date being the year which marks the death of Sulla; \nthe Golden Age covers the period lying between the death of \nSulla and the death of Augustus, a.d. 14 (this epoch is divided \ninto the republican period and the Augustan era); the Silver \nAge extends from the close of the Golden Age to the death \nof Hadrian, A.D. 138 ; and the Iron Age embraces the remain- \ning centuries of the empire. The names of the periods are \nsufficiently expressive, without explanation, of the character \nof the literary productions of the different epochs they severally \ndesignate. \n\nIn the short review which we shall now proceed to give of \nthe writers of these several periods, we shall speak only of the \nmost noted authors \xe2\x80\x94 of those whose names have become inter- \nwoven with the threads of general history. We shall not even \nmention minor names, as they properly belong to the literary \nstudent, and do not in any special manner concern the his- \ntorian. But the great writers of a nation or race belong as \nmuch to its history proper as do its great commanders and \nstatesmen. \n\nAs we advance in our study we shall not fail to notice that \nthe different writers start forth in groups, as though evoked by \nthe influences of the respective ages in which they appear. \nThus we shall see that the Roman dramatists wrote at the \ntime when Hellenic influences, through the conquest of the \ncities of Magna Graecia, first became predominant at Rome; \nthat the famous orators of Rome lived under the Republic ; \nthat the greatest poets flourished just at the beginning of the \nimperial period \xe2\x80\x94 under the patronage of an Octavius and a \nMaecenas; and that the most noted of the satirists appeared \nduring, or followed closely upon, eras of extravagance and \ncorruption. \n\nLays and Ballads of the Legendary Age.\xe2\x80\x94 The period em- \n\n\n\n440 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbraced between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C. may prop- \nerly be called the Heroic Age of Rome. It corresponds ex- \nactly, in its literary products, to the similarly designated pe- \nriod in Grecian history. During this early age, throughout \nwhich Etruscan influence was predominant at Rome in all \nmatters of art and culture, there sprang up a great number of \nhymns, ballads, or lays, of which the merest fragments survived \nthe varying fortunes of the state, and were preserved in the \nworks of the later writers of the Republic. These compositions \nappear to have been written for recitation upon public occa- \nsions, at banquets or funerals, to gratify national or family \npride. So feeble was the historic sense among the Romans \nthat these metrical pieces were afterwards mistaken for history, \nand were gravely narrated by Livy and others as the trust- \nworthy annals of early Rome. "The fabulous birth of Romu- \nlus, the rape of the Sabine women, the most poetical combat of \nthe Horatii and Curiatii, the pride of Tarquin, the misfortunes \nand death of Lucretia, the establishment of liberty by the el- \nder Brutus, the wonderful war with Porsenna, the steadfastness \nof Scsevola, the banishment of Coriolanus, the war which he \nkindled against his country, the subsequent struggle of his \nfeelings, and the final triumph of his patriotism at the all- \npowerful intercession of his mother \xe2\x80\x94 these and the like cir- \ncumstances, if they be examined from the proper point of \nview, cannot fail to be considered as relics and fragments \nof the ancient heroic traditions and heroic poems of the Ro- \nmans."* \n\nThese stories must be placed along with the Grecian tales \nof Cadmus and Theseus, of the Argonautic Expedition and the \nTrojan War. They belong to the literary, and not to the his- \ntorical, annals of the Roman people. They may be made use \nof for historical purposes, but only in the same way that the \n\n\n\n* Schlegel, in " Lectures on Literature," as quoted by Dunlop in " His- \ntory of Roman Literature," vol. i. p. 41. \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 44 1 \n\npoems of Homer are used. The references and allusions they \ncontain throw light upon the manners, customs, and modes of \nthinking of the remote times in which they grew up. The few \nthreads of fact that may be drawn from them have been woven \ninto the picture which, in a previous chapter, we attempted to \nform of the early Roman state. \n\nThe Roman Dramatists. \xe2\x80\x94 From the earliest times Rome was \nunder the influence of Grecian civilization, as is shown in the \nmatter of the Twelve Tables; but the conquest of the Hellenic \ncities of Southern Italy as the outcome of the war with Pyr- \nrhus, and the acquisition of Sicily as the result of the First \nPunic War, brought the Romans into much closer relations \nthan had hitherto existed with the arts and culture of the \nGreeks. The Romans now began to study with much appre- \nciation, and not without profit, the rich stores of Greek litera- \nture opened to them. Among the leading families of Rome, it \nbecame the fashion to commit the education of children to \nGreek poets and scholars. Greek slaves were made tutors and \ntaught the Roman youth the language of Athens, often, it would \nseem, to the neglect of their native tongue; for we hear the \nCensor Cato complaining that the boys of his time spoke \nGr^ek before they could use their own language. The con- \nqueror bows at the feet of the conquered. The vanquished \ntriumphs over the victor. The intellectual sway of Athens over \nRome becomes not less complete and despotic than the politi- \ncal sway of Rome over Athens. The debt incurred by the \nRomans in all intellectual and literary matters to the Greeks \nhas been declared to be but faintly paralleled by that incurred \nby the English in theology, philosophy, and music to Germany.* \n"Their [the Romans\'] genius, I believe," says Dunlop, "would \nhave remained unproductive and cold half a century longer, \nhad it not been kindled by contact with a warm, polished, and \n\n* Cruttwell\'s " History of Roman Literature," p. 36. \n20 \n\n\n\n442 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nanimated nation, whose compositions could not be read without \nenthusiasm or imitated without advantage." * \n\nIt was the dramatic productions of the Greeks which were \nfirst copied and studied at Rome. Translations for the stage, \nparticularly those of a comic character, were received with \ngreat favor, and the theatre became the popular resort of all \nclasses. For nearly two centuries, from 240 B.C. to 78 B.C., \ndramatic literature was almost the only form of composition \ncultivated at Rome. During this epoch appeared all the great \ndramatists ever produced by the Latin-speaking race. Of these \nwe may name, for brief mention, Livius Andronicus, Naevius, \nEnnius, Plautus, and Terence. All of these writers were close \nimitators of Greek authors, and most of their works were sim- \nply adaptations or translations of the masterpieces of the \nGreek dramatists. \n\nLivius Andronicus, probably a Greek prisoner carried to \nRome from some city of Magna Graecia, who lived about the \nmiddle of the third century B.C., was the father of the Roman \ndrama. He transformed the mimic dances, which had been \nintroduced at Rome by Etruscan actors about a century before \nhis time (in 364 B.C.), into a real dramatic representation, by \nadding to the performance dialogues to be recited by the act- \nors. The plays, both tragedies and comedies, with which Liv- \nius entertained the Romans were, in great part, mere transla- \ntions from the Greek. He seems to have been popular among \nthe common people, for the house in which he exhibited his \nplays was upon the Aventine, the quarter of the lower classes, \nas the Palatine was the abode of the aristocracy. He was the \nperformer of his own pieces, and was so often recalled by his \nadmirers that he overtaxed and lost his voice. After this mis- \nfortune befell him, he employed a boy to declaim those parts \nof the dialogue which required to be rendered in a high tone, \nwhile he himself played the flute, recited the less declamatory \n\n* Dunlop\'s " History of Roman Literature," vol. i. p. 55. \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 443 \n\npassages, and accompanied the whole with the proper gesticu- \nlation. This mode of representation, which Livius had been \nconstrained to adopt through accident, afterwards became the \nfashion in the Roman theatres ; and the plays were usually \npresented by two persons, one reciting the words and the other \naccompanying them with the appropriate gestures. Time has \nspared to us little more than the titles of Livius\'s plays, yet \nfor more than two centuries his works were extremely popular \namong the Romans, and were studied as text-books by the \nyouth of the capital. Even the poets of the Augustan age \nwere large debtors to the genius and industry of Livius. \n\nNaevius, who wrote about the close of the third century B.C., \nwas the first native-born Roman poet of eminence. His works \nwere translations from various Greek dramatists. He imitated \nAristophanes ; and as the latter lashed the corrupt politicians \nof Athens, so did the former expose to ridicule and contempt \ndifferent members of the leading patrician families at Rome. \nHe did not escape with impunity; for he was once in prison, \nand finally died an exile at Utica or Carthage (about 204 B.C.). \nNaevius bore part as a soldier in the First Punic War, and he \nfound solace during the years of his exile in writing in epic \nverse the events of that stirring time. \n\nWhile Naevius was in exile in Africa, there arose at the capi- \ntal another aspirant for literary fame. This v/as Ennius, who \ncalled himself the Latin Homer (he was an epic as well as \ndramatic writer), and whom Cicero always referred to as "our \nown Ennius." He was honored too by the ancients with the \nappellation of " the learned Ennius," and by some modern \ncritics he has been compared to Shakespeare in the versatility \nand originality of his plays ; for though, like Shakespeare, he \nalways borrowed the plots of his plays, taking them from Greek \nsources, still he was not a mere copyist or imitator. He pru- \ndently avoided the course that had brought upon Naevius the \nwrath of th\'e leaders of the capital, and assiduously courted the \nfavor of the ruling class. He celebrated the patrician families \n\n\n\n444 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nin heroic verse, and thus gained their patronage. By his teach- \nings and writings he overcame the prejudice which up to his \ntime had existed against the introduction of a foreign literature. \nHe even won over to his side Cato, who during the first part \nof his life had bitterly opposed the advocates of Hellenic cult- \nure. In his later years the stern old Censor became a diligent \nstudent of Greek. \n\nThe greatest work from the prolific pen oi Ennius was the \n" Annals," an epic poem recounting in graceful and vigorous \nverse the story of Rome from the times of the kings to his own \nday. Had Virgil never lived, Ennius must always have been \nnamed as the greatest epic poet produced by the Roman race ; \nand the fragments of his " Annals " which still survive would \nbe carefully preserved as the remains of the Roman "Iliad."\' \nFor two centuries, until the advent of the Augustan poets, the \nworks of Ennius held almost supreme sway over the Roman \nmind. His verses were constantly rehearsed in the theatres ; \nthey were committed to memory by the Roman youth, were \nquoted by the orator, and borrowed by the poet. Virgil ac- \nknowledged Ennius as his master by becoming a diligent stu- \ndent of his works, and by transcribing word for word many of \nhis most beautiful passages. " All epic writers have borrowed \nfreely from their predecessors, and the chain of epic ideas \npasses back through Milton, Dante, Virgil, Ennius, until it ends \nat last in Homer " (Lawrence). \n\nPlautus (254-184 B.C.) and Terence (195-161 B.C.) were \nwriters of comedy, who won a fame that has not yet perished. \nPlautus adapted various Greek plays to the Roman stage, cor- \nrupting all the pieces he touched with low wit and drollery, in \norder to catch the ear of the lower classes that thronged the \ntheatres. His plays reproduced before the inhabitants of the \ncapital the corrupt life of the East, whose debasing influences \nwere at this time beginning to effect a lowering of the tone of \nsociety at Rome. Terence wrote more for the cultured classes, \nand did not stoop to employ those means by which Plautus \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 445 \n\nsecured the applause of his audiences. All of the six comedies \nwhich Terence wrote were either translations or adaptations \nfrom the Greek. Tradition records the death of the poet at \nsea while returning from Greece with one hundred and eight \nnew plays, translations from the poet Menander. As Plautus \nand Terence borrowed from the Greek stage, so have all mod- \nern writers of comedy \xe2\x80\x94 Italian, French, and English \xe2\x80\x94 drawn \nfreely from these their great Roman predecessors.* \n\nPoets of the Later Republican Era. \xe2\x80\x94 In the year 146 b.c, \nCorinth in Greece was destroyed, the treasures of its museums \nand the rolls of its libraries were carried to Italy, and Roman \nauthority became supreme throughout Greece. The impulse \nthat had been given to the study of Greek models by the con- \nquest of Magna Graecia more than one hundred years before \nwas now intensified and strengthened. But with the introduc- \ntion of the learning and refinement of the conquered states \ncame also the luxuries and vices of the East. Just at this \ntime, evoked, it would seem, by the shameless extravagances \nand corruptions that invited rebuke, appeared Lucilius (born \n\n* " * The earliest writers,\' as has justly been remarked, * took possession \nof the most striking objects for description, and the most probable occur- \nrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that followed but transcriptions of \nthe same events, and new combinations of the same images \' [" Rasselas "]. \nThe great author from whom these reflections are quoted had at one time \nactually projected a work to show how small a quantity of invention there \nis in the world, and that the same images and incidents, with little varia- \ntion, have served all the authors who have ever written. Had he prosecuted \nhis intention, he would have found the notion he entertained fully confirmed \nby the history both of dramatic and romantic fiction ; he would have per- \nceived the incapacity of the most active and fertile imagination greatly to \ndiversify the common characters and incidents of life, which, on a superfi- \ncial view, one might suppose to be susceptible of infinite combinations ; he \nwould have found that, while Plautus and Terence servilely copied from the \nGreek dramatists, even Ariosto scarcely diverged in his comedies from the \npaths of Plautus." \xe2\x80\x94 Dunlop\'s "History of Roman Literature," Preface, \np. xix. \n\n\n\n446 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n148 B.C.), one of the greatest of Roman satirists. The later \nsatirists of the corrupt imperial era were the imitators of the \nrepublican poet. \n\nBesides Lucilius, there appeared during the later republican \nera only two other poets of distinguished merit \xe2\x80\x94 Lucretius \nand Catullus. Both were born early in the last century before \nChrist. Lucretius studied at Athens, where he became deeply \nimbued with the doctrines of the Epicurean philosophy, which \nat that time was in the ascendant at the Attic capital. He left \nbehind him but a single work, entitled De Rerum Natura \xe2\x80\x94 \n"On the Nature of Things." This production is somewhat \ndoubtfully asserted to have been written during the lucid in- \ntervals which relieved the frequent fits of melancholy or \ninsanity that darkened his life. Lucretius was a thorough evo- \nlutionist, and in his great poem we find anticipated many of \nthe conclusions of modern scientists. He pictures Chaos with \nmore than MiUonic power ; tells how the worlds were formed \nby a "fortuitous concourse of atoms;" relates how the gen- \nerations of life were evolved by the teeming earth ; ridicules \nthe superstitions of his countrymen, declaring that the gods do \nnot trouble themselves with earthly affairs, but that storms, \nlightning, volcanoes, and pestilences are produced by natural \ncauses, and not by the anger of the celestials ; and finally \nreaches the conclusion that death ends all for the human soul. \nLucretius is studied more by modern scholars, whose discov- \neries and theories he so marvellously anticipated, than he was \nby the Romans of his own time, \n\nCatullus was a poet the beauty and sweetness of whose \nverses are winning to their study at the present day many ar- \ndent admirers. He was born 87 B.C., and died at the age of \nabout forty. He complains of poverty ; yet he kept two villas, \nand found means to indulge in all the expensive and licentious \npleasures of the capital. He has been called the Roman \nBurns, as well on account of the waywardness of his life as \nfrom the sweetness of his song. The name of Catullus closes \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 447 \n\nthe short list of the prominent poets of the republican period \nof the Golden Age. \n\nPoets of the Augustan Age. \xe2\x80\x94 Three names have cast an un- \nfading lustre over the period covered by the reign of Augustus \n\xe2\x80\x94 Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. So distinguished have these poets \nrendered the age in which they lived, that any period in a peo- \nple\'s literature signalized by exceptional literary taste and re- \nfinement is called, in allusion to the Roman era, an Augustan \nAge. After the terrific commotions that marked the decline \nand overthrow of the Republic, the long and firm and peaceful \nreign of Augustus brought welcome relief and rest to the Ro- \nman world, wearied with conquests and with contentions over \nthe spoils of war. In narrating the political history of this \nperiod, we spoke of the effect of the fall of the Republic upon \nthe development of Latin literature. Many who, if the republi- \ncan institutions had continued, would have been absorbed in \nthe affairs of the state were led, by the change of government, \nto seek solace for their disappointed hopes, and employment \nfor their enforced leisure, in the graceful labors of elegant com- \nposition. Augustus encouraged this disposition, thinking thus \nto turn the thoughts of ambitious minds from broodings over \nthe lost cause. By his princely patronage of letters he opened \na new and worthy field for the efforts and competitions of the \nactive and the aspiring. His minister Maecenas, in whose \nveins flowed royal Etruscan blood, vied with his master in the \nbestowal upon friends of munificent rewards, and in the exten- \nsion of a helpful and inspiring patronage to literary merit, and \nthus did much towards creating the enthusiasm for letters that \ndistinguishes this period. \n\nThe vastness of the audience they addressed also reacted \nupon the writers of this era, and encouraged the greatest pains- \ntaking in all their productions. Never before had literary men \nspoken to so extended an audience \xe2\x80\x94 to so much of the world. \nThe boundaries of the Roman Empire now touched everywhere \n\n\n\n448 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe limits of civilization. And throughout these ample domains \nthe Roman language had become more or less universally \nspread. In all the West, as we have seen, in Italy, in Gaul, in \nSpain, in the cities of Northern Africa, it was rapidly supplant- \ning the barbarous dialects of the conquered tribes ; while \nthroughout all the provinces and cities of the East it was the \nspeech of the court, of the aristocracy, of learning. The works \nof Virgil, of Horace, and of Ovid were read and admired in the \ncamps of Gaul and in the capitals of Greece and Syria. Po- \nlitical tranquillity, elegant leisure, imperial patronage, the in- \nspirations of Greek genius, the encouragement of appreciation \nand wide attention \xe2\x80\x94 everything conspired to create an epoch \nin the world of literature. \n\nAnd yet we must not look for vigor, strength, originality, \nnervous energy, in the productions of the writers of this period. \nThese qualities belong to times of great public excitement; to \nperiods of activity, change, revolution : to those eras that sig- \nnalize the crises and grand struggles of a people\'s life. They \nmark creative, Shakespearian epochs in literature. Elegance, \ngrace, refinement, polish, taste, beauty, are the characteristics \nof the Augustan writers. \n\nOf the three poets whom we have named as the representa- \ntives of the poetry of the Augustan period, Virgil doubtless \nhas been the most widely read and admired. He was born \n70 B.C. in the little village of Andes, not far from Mantua. In \ndiligent study at Naples, he formed the acquaintance of the \nmaster-minds of Grecian literature, and felt the inspirations of \nthe past life of Hellas. Upon his farm at Mantua he learned \nto love nature and the freedom of a country life. During the \ndisorders of the Second Triumvirate his villa was confiscated, \nalong with the whole Mantuan district, and given to friends of \nOctavius and Antony. It was afterwards restored to the poet \nby Augustus. Virgil was laboring upon his greatest work, the \n" ^neid," when death came to him, in the fifty-second year of \nhis age. There is a little memorial building in the suburbs of \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 449 \n\nNaples, which\' is at the present time pointed out to travellers \nas his tomb, and which is declared to have held for several \ncenturies the urn containing the ashes of the poet; but it must \nbe added that the identification is very doubtful. \n\nThe three great works of Virgil are his " Eclogues," the \n" Georgics," and the "^neid." The " Eclogues " are a series \nof pastorals, which are very close imitations of the poems of \ntlie Sicilian Theocritus. Virgil, however, never borrowed with- \nout adorning that which he appropriated by the inimitable \ntouches of his own graceful genius. It is the rare sweetness \nand melody of the versification, and the Arcadian simplicity \nof these pieces, that have won for them such a host of admirers. \n\nIn the poem of the " Georgics " Virgil extols and dignifies \nthe husbandman and his labor. This work has been pro- \nnounced the most finished poem in the entire range of Latin \nliterature. It was written at the suggestion of Maecenas, who \nhoped by means of the poet\'s verse to allure his countrymen \nback to that love for the art of husbandry which animated the \nfathers of the early Roman state. Throughout the work Virgil \nfollows very closely the " Works and Days " of Hesiod. The \npoet treats of all the labors and cares of the farm \xe2\x80\x94 gives \nvaluable precepts respecting the keeping of bees and cattle, \nthe sowing and tillage of crops, the dressing of vineyards \nand orchards, and embellishes the whole with innumerable \npassages containing beautiful descriptions of natural scenery, \nor inculcating some philosophical truth, or teaching some moral \nlesson. Without the " Georgics " we should never have had \nthe " Seasons " of Thomson ; for this work of the English poet \nis in a large measure a direct translation of the verses of Virgil. \n\nThe " ^neid " stands next to the " Iliad " of Homer as the \ngreatest epic poem of all literatures. It tells the story of \nthe wanderings of ^neas and his companions up and down \nthe Mediterranean after the downfall of Troy, his settle- \nment in Italy, and the struggles of his descendants with the \nnative inhabitants of the land. Through ^neas, the hero of \n\n20* \n\n\n\n450 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe poem, Virgil doubtless intends to represent and compli- \nment the character of his patron, Augustus. In this his great- \nest work Virgil was a close student of the "Iliad" and the \n" Odyssey," and to them he is indebted for very many of his \nfinest metaphors, similes, and descriptive passages, as well as \nfor the general plan and structure of the entire work. To En- \nnius also is he indebted for many a verse. Homer was Virgil\'s \nsuperior in energy and originality, and in the martial grand- \neur of his lines ; while the latter surpassed his master in the \ngrace, melody, elegance, and harmony of his versification. \n\nVirgil enjoyed for his work that reward which many another \nworthy poet has been denied \xe2\x80\x94 the appreciation of his genius \nduring his own lifetime. * The poet, in accordance with a cus- \ntom that in his day was common, read or recited his poems in \nthe presence of select friends and also in public. On one oc- \ncasion he repeated the sixth book of his " ^neid " before his \nimperial patron Augustus and his sister Octavia, who was then \nmourning the recent death of her son Marcellus, the special \nfavorite and adopted child of the emperor. In the part of the \npoem rehearsed by Virgil occurs the well-known passage that \nmourns with the tenderest pathos the too early death of the \nfavorite prince. The closing lines, which alone reveal the \nname of the subject of the lament, run thus : \n\n" Ah, dear lamented boy, canst thou but break \nThe stern decrees of fate, then wilt thou be \nOur own Marcellus ! \xe2\x80\x94 Give me lilies, brought \nIn heaping handfuls. Let me scatter here \nDead purple flowers ; these offerings at least \nTo my descendant\'s shade I fain would pay. \nThough now, alas! an unavailing rite."* \n\nIt is said that as Virgil read these verses Octavia was so car- \nried away by her feelings that she fainted, and that the poet \nwas afterwards presented with 10,000 sesterces (about $400) \nfor each of the twenty-five lines of the passage. \n\n* Virgil\'s ** vEneid," book vi. (Cranch\'s translation). \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 45^ \n\nHorace, the second great poet of the Augustan Age, was \nborn in the year 65 B.C., only five years later than Virgil, whom \nhe outlived by about a single decade. He studied at Athens, \nfought with the republicans at Philippi, gained no glory\xe2\x80\x94 for he \ntells us himself how he ran away from the field \xe2\x80\x94 but lost his \npaternal estate at Venusia, which was confiscated, and under \nthe imperial government commenced life anew as a clerk at \nRome. Through his friend Virgil he secured the favor of \nMaecenas, and gained an introduction to Augustus, and thence- \nforth led the life of a courtier, dividing his time between the \npleasures of the capital and the scenes of his pleasant farm \nnear the village of Tibur. The latter years of his life were \nshadowed by the deaths of his poet-fritnds Virgil and Tibullus, \nand that of his generous patron Maecenas, whom he survived \nonly a few weeks. Horace\'s " Odes," " Satires," and " Epis- \ntles" have all helped win for him his wide-spread fame; but \nthe first best exhibit his rare power and genius. " His odes, \nindeed, possess a delicacy of insight, a fineness of touch, and a \npower of minute finish which very few writers have ever ex- \nhibited, and which have rendered them models of construction, \nvaluable to poets of every school, having been no less carefully \nstudied by Wordsworth than by Pope." * \n\nOvid (42 B.c.-A.D. 18) is the third name in the triumvirate \nof poets that ruled the Augustan Age. He was the most \nlearned of the three, seeming indeed to be acquainted with the \nwhole round of Greek and Latin literature and speculation. \nFor some fault or misdemeanor, the precise nature of which \nremains a profound secret to this day, Augustus, his former \nfriend and patron, banished the poet to a small town away on \nthe frontiers of the empire \xe2\x80\x94 on the bleak shores of the Euxine. \nThere he spent the last years of his life, bewailing his hard lot \nin the mournful verses of his " Tristia." His most celebrated \nwork is his " Metamorphoses," the preservation of which we \n\n* Morris\'s "Classical Literature," p. 300. \n\n\n\n452 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nowe to the merest good-fortune. When the emperor\'s decree \nwas brought to him, he was at work revising the manuscript, \nwhich, in despair or anger, he flung into the fire. Fortunately \nsome friend had previously made a copy of the work, and thus \nthis literary treasure was saved to the world. The poem opens \nwith a sublime description of Chaos and the creation of the \nworld ; then tells of the production of monstrous life by the \nprolific earth, and of the changing races of men and giants; \nafter which the poet proceeds to describe, through fifteen \nlengthy books, between two and three hundred metamorphoses, \nor transformations \xe2\x80\x94 such as the change of the companions of \nUlysses into swine, of Cadmus into a serpent, and of Arethusa \ninto a fountain \xe2\x80\x94 suffered by various persons, gods, heroes, and \ngoddesses, as related in the innumerable fables of the Greek \nand Roman mythologies. \n\nWe have already alluded to Tibullus as the friend of Virgil \nand Horace. His graceful elegies entitle his name to a promi- \nnent place among the poets of the Augustan Age. Propertius, \ntoo, was another honored and beloved member of the brilliant \ncoterie of poets that have rendered the reign of Augustus ever \nmemorable in the literary history of the world. \n\nSatire and Satirists. \xe2\x80\x94 Satire thrives best in the reeking soil \nand tainted atmosphere of an age of selfishness, immorality, \nand vice. Such an age was that which followed the Augustan \nera at Rome. The throne was held by such imperial monsters \nas Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian. The profligacy of \nfashionable life at the capital and the various watering-places \nof the empire was open and shameless. The degradation of \nthe court ; the corrupt and dissolute life of the upper classes ; \nthe imbruted life of the masses, fed by largesses of corn \nand entertained with the bloody shows of the amphitheatre ; \nthe decay of the ancient religion, and the almost universal \nprevalence of unbelief and absolute atheism ; the utter loss of \nthe simplicity and virtue of the early Roman fathers, and the \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 453 \n\ncomplete decay and degradation of the intellect \xe2\x80\x94 all these gave \nvenom and point to the shafts of those who were goaded by \nthe spectacle into attacking the immoralities and vices which \nwere silently yet rapidly sapping the foundations of both society \nand state. Hence arose a succession of writers whose mastery \nof sharp and stinging satire has caused their productions to \nbecome the models of all subsequent attempts in the same \nspecies of literature. Three names stand out in special promi- \nnence \xe2\x80\x94 Persius, Juvenal, and Martial,* all of whom lived and \nwrote during the last half of the first and the beginning of the \nsecond century a.d., that is, during what we have called the \nSilver Age of Latin literature, of which period they are, indeed, \nthe most prominent poetical representatives.! Their writings \npossess an historical value and interest, as it is through them \nthat we gain such an insight as we could obtain in no other \nway into the venal and corrupt life of the capital during the \nearly portion of the imperial period. \n\nThe indignant protest of Persius, Juvenal, and Martial \nagainst the vice and degradation of their time is almost the \nlast utterance of the Latin Muse. From this time forward the \ndecay of the intellectual life of Rome was swift and certain. \nWhile the Greek intellect, as we have learned, survived by \nmany centuries the destruction of the political life of Greece, \nthe Latin intellect sank into decrepitude centuries before the \nfinal fall of the empire. The political fabric \xe2\x80\x94 so admirably \nconsolidated had it become through the growth and labors of \nmany centuries \xe2\x80\x94 remained standing, like an aged oak, long \nafter its heart had been eaten away. But it could put forth no \n\n* Martial was an epigrammatist, but almost all his epigrams were pressed \ninto the service of satire. \n\nt There are two other poets belonging to the Silver Age whose names \nmust not be passed unmentioned \xe2\x80\x94 Lucan (a.d. 38-65) and Statins (a.d. 61- \n95). Lucan\'s only extant work is his " Pharsalia," an epic poem on the \ncivil war between Cassar and Pompey. Statius wrote two epics, the \n"Thebaid" and the " Achillei\'d," the latter being left incomplete. \n\n\n\n454 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nnew shoots. After the death of Juvenal (about a.d. 120) the \nRoman world produced not a single poet of sufficient genius \nto merit our attention. \n\nOratory among the Romans. \xe2\x80\x94 " Public oratory," as has been \ntruly said, " is the child of political freedom, and cannot exist \nwithout it." We have seen this illustrated in the history of \nrepublican Athens. Equally well is the same truth exempli- \nfied by the records of the Roman state. All the great orators \nof Rome arose under the Republic. As during this period al- \nmost the. entire intellectual force of the nation was directed \ntowards legal and political studies, it was natural, and indeed \ninevitable, that the most famous orators of the era should ap- \npear as statesmen or advocates. Theology, science, and belles- \nlettres did not then, as they have come to do among our- \nselves, suggest inviting and popular themes for the best efforts \nof the public speaker. \n\nRoman oratory was senatorial, popular, or judicial. These \ndifferent styles of eloquence were represented by the grave \nand dignified debates of the Senate, the impassioned and often \nnoisy and inelegant harangues of the Forum, and the learned \npleadings or ingenious appeals of the courts. Junius Brutus, \nAppius Claudius Caecus, the two Scipios, Cato the Censor, \nCaius and Tiberius Gracchus, Lucius Licinius, Marcus Anto- \nnius, Crassus, Sulpicius, Hortensius, Julius Caesar, Mark An- \ntony,"^ and Cicero are some of the most prominent names that \nhave made the rostrum of the Roman Forum and the assem^ \nbly-chamber of the Roman Senate famous in the records of \noratory and eloquence. \n\nMost of these names are already familiar to us through our \nstudy of the political history of Rome. We have heard the \nindignant eloquence of Junius Brutus, which aroused the Ro- \nmans to the resistance and overthrow of the iniquitous decem- \n\n"* Grandson of Marcus Antonius. \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 455 \n\nvirate ; we have heard the aged patriot Appius Claudius \nforbidding his countrymen to treat with a victorious enemy j we \nhave listened to the rebukes of the Censor Cato, and seen the \nresults of that fatal peroration \xe2\x80\x94 " Carthage must be de- \nstroyed"; we have been persuaded by the calm and unimpas- \nsioned eloquence of Tiberius Gracchus as he pleaded the \ncause of the poor, and have been stirred by the fiery and im- \npetuous denunciations of his brother Caius as his hot and ve- \nhement eloquence hurried the masses along to the commission \nof indefensible violence against the ruling class; and we have \nfelt our indignation, in opposition to our calmer judgment, ris- \ning with that of the Romans as Antony discoursed over the \nbody of the dead Caesar. Passing now all these names, and \nmany others of scarcely less prominence, we shall stop to par- \nticularize only two, Hortensius and Cicero, who are easily first \namong the orators of ancient Rome. \n\nHortensius (born 114 B.C.) was a famous lawyer, whose name \nadorns the legal profession at the capital both as the learned \njurist and the eloquent advocate. Cicero bestows rare praise \nupon this great orator by declaring that the excellence of his \nspeeches was like a statue by Phidias, which only requires to \nbe seen in order to be admired. His forensic talent won for \nhim a lucrative law-practice, through which he gathered an im- \nmense fortune. Besides a mansion on the Palatine, he pos- \nsessed several villas, which were kept up with a most profuse \nexpenditure. The olive-trees in his gardens were sprinkled \nwith wine, to improve the flavor of the fruit. His fish-ponds \nwere stocked with an infinite variety of fresh and marine fish, \nthe food and health of which were matters of greater concern \nto their master than the food and health of his slaves. It is \ntold that he actually wept over the untimely death of a favorite \nlamprey. He surpassed the youthful Aristotle or Demosthenes \nin the care he bestowed upon his dress. Before presenting \nhimself to his audience, the folds of his mantle were carefully \nadjusted so as to produce the most appropriate and striking \n\n\n\n456 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\neffects, upon one occasion, as he was proceeding to the court, \na man carelessly jostled him and disarranged his toga, for \nwhich the orator in great wrath instituted a suit for damages. \nWe might overlook the idiosyncrasies and reckless expenditures \nof the eloquent advocate, but not so lightly can we pass the \nworse habit that he had of sometimes using his wealth to cor- \nrupt the courts before which he pleaded. \n\nBut the brightness of the fame of Hortensius is dimmed by \nthe lustre of the name of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 b-C.)> \nthe untiring student, the constant patriot, the polished orator. \nHe has been called " the Edward Everett of antiquity." He \nenjoyed every advantage that wealth and parental ambition \ncould confer or suggest. His teachers were the poet Archias \nand the orator Crassus. Like many others of the Roman pa- \ntrician youth of his time, he was sent to Greece to finish his \neducation in the schools of Athens. His mind once awakened, \nit ranged with ceaseless activity the wide domains of Grecian \nphilosophy and science. Returning to Italy, he soon assumed \na position of commanding influence at the Roman capital. His \nprosecution of Verres shows his hatred of the official corrup- \ntion and venality that disgraced his times ; his orations against \nCatiline illustrate his patriotism ; his essays exhibit the wide \nrange of his thoughts and the depth of his philosophical reflec- \ntions. All his productions evince the most scrupulous care in \ntheir preparation. He was a purist in language, and is said to \nhave sojnetimes spent several days hunting for a proper word \nor phrase. His greatest fault was his overweening vanity, \nwhich appears in all he ever wrote, as well as in every act of \nhis life. But the times in which Cicero lived rather than the \norator himself are responsible for this. The ancient Romans \npossessed scarcely a trace of that sense of propriety which has \ngrown up among us, and which forbids a person\'s celebrating \nhis own virtues. Self-laudation, when not too fulsome, did not \ngrate the ears of Cicero\'s auditors. \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 45 7 \n\nLatin Historians. \xe2\x80\x94 Ancient Rome produced four writers of \nhistory whose works have won for them a permanent fame \xe2\x80\x94 \nCaesar, Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus. Suetonius may also be men- \ntioned in this place, although his writings were rather biograph- \nical than historical.* \n\nOf Caesar and his " Commentaries on the Gallic War," we \nhave learned in a previous chapter. This work and his " Me- \nmoirs on the Civil War" are the productions on which his \nfame as a writer depends. He also prepared a Latin grammar, \na book on divination, a treatise on astronomy, and, besides, com- \nposed some poems that are not without merit. But Caesar was \na man of affairs rather than a man of letters. Yet his " Com- \nmentaries " will always be mentioned along with the " Anaba- \nsis " of Xenophon, as a model of the narrative style of writing. \n\nSallust (86-34 B.C.) was the contemporary and friend of \nCaesar. He was praetor of one of the African provinces; and, \nfollowing the example of the Roman officials of his time, he \namassed by harsh if not unjust exactions an immense fortune, \nand erected at Rome a palatial residence with extensive and \nbeautiful gardens, which became one of the most famous re- \nsorts of the literary characters of the capital. Sallust wrote \nwith great pains in a style that was at once clear, forcible, and \npicturesque. All of his periods were carefully rounded and \nmodelled after the most approved specimens of Greek writing. \nThe two works upon which his fame rests are the " Conspiracy \nof Catiline" and the "Jugurthine War." Both of these pro- \nductions are reckoned among the best specimens of prose \nwriting in the entire range of Latin literature, and are found in \n\n* A fuller list of Roman historical authors would have to admit the name \nof Fabius Pictor, who lived in the age of Naevius, and was the first historian \nof the Latin-speaking race ; that of Cato the Censor, of whose \'* Antiqui- \nties" we possess the merest fragments; and that of Cornelius Nepos, who \nwrote in the first century B.C. An admirable work entitled " The Lives of \nEminent Generals " is somewhat doubtfully ascribed to the last-named au- \nthor. \n\n\n\n458 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nthe hands of every classical student in the universities of Eu- \nrope and America. \n\nLivy (59 B.c.-A.D. 17) was one of the brightest ornaments of \nthe Augustan Age. In popular esteem he holds the first place \namong the Latin historical authors. Herodotus among the \nancient, and Macaulay among the modern, writers of historical \nnarrative are the names with which his is most frequently com- \npared. His greatest work is his " Annals," a history of Rome \nfrom the earliest times to the year 9 B.C. Unfortunately, all \nsave thirty-five of the books of this admirable production \xe2\x80\x94 the \nwork filled one hundred and forty-two volumes \xe2\x80\x94 perished dur- \ning the disturbed period that followed the overthrow of the \nempire. Many have been the laments over " the lost books \nof Livy." The fragments which remain have been universally \nread and admired for the inimitable grace and ease of the flow- \ning narrative. Livy loved a story equally well with Herodotus. \nLike the Greek historian, he was over-credulous, and relates \nwith charming ingenuousness, without the least questioning of \ntheir credibility, all the early legends, myths, and ballads that \nwere extant in his day, respecting the early affairs of Rome. \nModern critics, among whom are Niebuhr, Arnold, and Momm- \nsen, have shown that all the first portion of his history is en- \ntirely unreliable as a chronicle of actual events. However, it \nis a most entertaining account of what the Romans themselves \nthought and believed respecting the origin of their race, the \nfounding of their city and state, and the deeds and virtues of \ntheir forefathers. \n\nA little incident of the circus will pleasantly introduce to us \nthe next historian, Tacitus, the " Roman Thucydides," of whom \nwe wish to speak. The story is told by Pliny the Younger in one \nof his letters as follows : " At one of the circensian games," runs \nthe epistle, " he [Tacitus] sat next to a stranger, who, after much \ndiscourse on various topics of learning, asked him if he was an \nItalian or a provincial. Tacitus replied, \' Your acquaintance \nwith literature must have informed you who I am.\' * Ah,\' said \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. \n\n\n\n459 \n\n\n\nthe man, *pray, then, is it Tacitus or Pliny I am talking with ?\' " \nThis passage assures us that the works of the historian had won \nfor him an enviable fame before his death. The esteem of his \nown age has been succeeded by the no less ardent admiration \nof the present time. Tacitus was wealthy, virtuous, and elo- \nquent. He pleaded at the bar of the Roman courts, became \nthe son-in-law of the commander Agricola, enjoyed the life of \nan honored courtier, travelled widely in both the West and the \nEast, held important offices in the provinces, received the favor \nof Vespasian and Titus, witnessed the degradation of Rome \nunder the monster Domitian, lived to see the brighter age of \nNerva and Trajan, and probably died soon after the close of \nthe long and prosperous reign of the latter. \n\nThe works of Tacitus are his "Germania," a treatise on the \nmanners and customs of the Germans ; the " Life of Agricola," \nhis "History," and his "Annals." All of these are most ad- \nmirable productions, polished and graceful narratives, full of \nentertainment and instruction. His " Germania," written, it is \nthought by some, out of the fulness of knowledge derived from \npersonal observation through service or residence on the Rhen- \nish frontier, gives us the fullest information that we possess re- \nspecting the manners, beliefs, and social arrangements of our \nbarbarian ancestors while they were yet living beneath their \nnative forests. Tacitus dwells with delight upon the simple \nlife of the uncivilized Germans, and sets their virtues in strong \ncontrast with the immoralities of the refined and cultured Ro- \nmans. The treatise on the life and campaigns of Agricola, \nhis father-in-law, is pronounced one of the most admirable bi- \nographies in the entire round of literature. It is a work of love, \nappreciative, and perhaps partial \xe2\x80\x94 its only fault. It gives a \nmost vivid and picturesque portrayal of the conquest of Brit- \nain and the establishment of Roman authority in that remote \nisland. The " History " and the " Annals " cover the reigns of \nsome of the best and some of the worst of the rulers of the \nearly empire. The hot indignation of the virtuous and patri- \n\n\n\n460 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nOtic historian, poured out in scathing invective against a Nero \nand a Domitian, has caused his name to be frequently placed \nwith those of Persius, Juvenal, and the other Roman satirists. \n\nSuetonius (a.d. 75-160) was the biographer of the Twelve \nCaesars. It is to him that we are indebted for very many of \nthe details of the lives of these early emperors. The picture \nwhich he draws is painted in dark colors, yet it is doubtless \nin the main a fairly reliable portraiture of some of the most \ndetestable tyrants that ever disgraced a throne. \n\nScience, Ethics, and Philosophy. \xe2\x80\x94 Under this head may be \ngrouped the names of Varro, Seneca, Pliny the Elder and Pliny \nthe Younger, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Quintilian, and Phae- \ndrus. \n\nVarro (116-26 B.C.) belongs to the later years of the republic. \nHis almost universal knowledge has earned for him the title \nof "the most learned of the Romans." He witnessed the ter- \nrific scenes of the days of Sulla and Marius, of Pompey and \nCassar, of Octavius and Antony. He himself was among the \nproscribed in the lists of the cruel Antony, and his magnificent \nvillas \xe2\x80\x94 for he had immense wealth \xe2\x80\x94 were confiscated. Augus- \ntus gave him back his farms, but could not restore his library, \nwhich had perished in the sack of his villas. Like many an- \nother in those turbulent times, when he saw the hopeless ruin \nof the republic and the establishment of despotism in its place, \nhe sought solace in the pursuit of literature. Almost the en- \ntire circle of letters was adorned by his versatile pen : he is \nsaid to have written five hundred books. He composed trea- \ntises on grammar, rhetoric, and satire, and wrote learned vol- \numes on matters dramatic, historical, theological, and philoso- \nphical. His most valuable production, however, was his work \non agriculture, a sort of hand-book for the Italian farmer. In \nthe preface to the work he himself thus speaks of the under- \ntaking and its purpose : " If I had leisure, I might write these \nthings more conveniently, which I will now explain as I am \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 4^1 \n\nable, thinking that I must make haste; because, if a man be a \nbubble of air, much more so is an old man, for now my eightieth \nyear admonishes me to get my baggage together before I leave \nthe world. Wherefore, as you have bought a farm, which you \nare desirous to render profitable by tillage, and as you ask me \nto take this task upon me, I will try to advise you what must \nbe done, not only during my stay here, but after my departure." \n\nSeneca (about a.d. 1-65), moralist and philosopher, has al- \nready come to our notice as the tutor of Nero. The act of his \nlife which has been most severely condemned was the defence \nwhich he made of his master before the Senate for the tyrant\'s \nmurder of his mother, Agrippina. Nero requited but poorly \nthe infamous service. Seneca possessed an enormous fortune \nestimated at 300,000,000 sesterces, which the ever-needy em- \nperor coveted ; he accordingly accused him of taking part in \na conspiracy against his life, ordered his death, and confiscated \nhis estates. The philosopher met his fate calmly. Upon re- \nceiving the decree of his master, he opened the veins of his \nbody, and died in his bath, whither he had retired in order that \nthe flow of the blood might be accelerated, for it had become \nsluggish from age. \n\nAs a philosopher Seneca belonged to the school of the \nStoics. He wrote many essays and letters, the latter intended \nfor publication, containing lofty maxims of wisdom and virtue, \nwhich he certainly did not always follow in the conduct of his \nown life. He was a disbeliever in the popular religion of his \ncountrymen, and entertained conceptions of God and his moral \ngovernment not very different from the doctrines of Socrates. \nSo admirable are his ethical teachings that it has been claimed \nthe philosopher came under the influences of Christianity ; and \nseveral letters addressed to the apostle Paul, which are still \nextant, were formerly referred to as proof of this fact; but these \nhave been shown to be spurious. Besides his ethical and phil- \nosophical writings, Seneca composed ten tragedies, designed \nrather for reading than for the stage. Seneca\'s name will ever \n\n\n\n462 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nbe noted as that of a great teacher of virtue and morality to a \ncorrupt age, whose influences upon himself all his philosophy \ncould not wholly resist. \n\nPliny the Elder (a.d. 23-79) is almost the only Roman who \nwon renown as an investigator of the phenomena of nature. \nHis life was a marvellously busy one, every moment being filled \nwith public services, with observations, study, and writing. He \nseldom walked, but rode or was carried, that he might not lose \na moment from his studies. At his meals and toilet he had a \nslave read to him. He once reproved a friend for interrupting \nthe reader, and having him go back to correct a mispronun- \nciation. " Did you not understand the word ?" asked Pliny. \n" Yes," replied the friend. " That was sufficient, then," re- \nsponded the philosopher. " Why take up time to repeat it ^ \nWe have lost ten lines by the interruption." \n\nPliny lost his life in an over-zealous pursuit of science. He \nwas in command of the Roman fleet at Misenum when oc- \ncurred the eruption of Vesuvius which resulted in the de- \nstruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Subduing the fears of \nhis officers, who wished to flee from the scene, Pliny employed \nthe ships of his fleet in rescuing the inhabitants of the coast. \nHis vessels, while engaged in this work, were covered with the \nhot ashes that thickened the air and fell incessantly in heavy \nshowers. In order to gain a better view of the mountain, the \nphilosopher ordered his sailors to put him ashore ; but unfort- \nunately he ventured too near the volcano, and was overcome \nand suffocated by the sulphurous exhalations. \n\nThe only work of Pliny, that has been spared to us is his "Nat- \nural History," embracing thirty-seven volumes. It is a mon- \nument of untiring industry and extensive research. It contains \n20,000 citations from more than two thousand volumes of vari- \nous authors. It was the Roman Encyclopaedia, containing all \nthat the world then knew respecting astronomy, geography, \nbotany, zoology, medicine, and the arts of painting and statu- \nary. In this work he defends the theory of the sphericity of \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 463 \n\nthe earth, and declares that it is a globe hanging, by what \nmeans supported he knows not, in vacant space. \n\nIn connection with the name of Pliny the Elder must be \nmentioned that of his nephew, Pliny the Younger. He suc- \nceeded to the estate, and to somewhat of the fame, of his cele- \nbrated uncle. He was a man of letters, being a graceful writer \nand orator, yet was not a naturalist like the first Pliny. He \nwas a servile courtier, and wrote a eulogy upon the character \nof the Emperor Trajan which is filled with the most fulsome \npraise. The large number of his epistles, poems, histories, and \ntragedies indicate his industry and untiring devotion to letters. \n\nIn the year a.d. 103, Pliny was appointed propraetor of Pon- \ntus, in Asia Minor, and while he was in that office took place \nthe famous correspondence between him and Trajan respecting \nthe Christians in that distant province, and the best method of \ndealing with the new sect. The letter of Pliny to the emperor \nis of historical interest because of the information it contains \nin regard to the rapid spread of Christianity during the first \ncentury of its existence, and respecting the charapter of the \nearly professors of the new faith, and the light in which they \nwere viewed by the rulers of the Roman world. Pliny speaks \nof the matter as a " contagious superstition, that had seized not \ncities only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country." \nYet he could find no fault in the converts to the new doctrines. \nNotwithstanding, because they steadily refused to sacrifice to \nthe Roman gods, he ordered many to be put to death for their \n"inflexible obstinacy." \n\nMarcus Aurelius the emperor and Epictetus the slave hold \nthe first places among the ethical teachers of Rome. The for- \nmer wrote his "Meditations"; but the latter, like Socrates, com- \nmitted nothing to writing, so that we know of the character of \nhis teachings only through one of his pupils, Arrian by name. \nEpictetus was for many years a slave at the capital, but, secur- \ning in some way his freedom, he became a teacher of philoso- \nphy. Domitian having ordered all philosophers to leave Rome, \n\n\n\n464 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nEpictetus fled to Epirus, where he established a school in which \nhe taught the doctrines of Stoicism. His name is inseparably \nlinked with that of Marcus Aurelius as a teacher of the purest \nsystem of ethics that is found outside of Christianity. Epicte- \ntus and Aurelius were the last eminent representatives and ex- \npositors of the philosophy of Zeno. They were the last of the \nStoics. In them Stoicism bore its consummate flower and fruit. \nThe doctrines of the Galilean were even then fast taking pos- \nsession of the Roman world ; for, giving more place to the affec- \ntions and all the natural instincts, they readily won the hearts \nof men from the cold, unsympathetic abstractions of the Gre- \ncian sage. \n\nQuintilian (a.d. 40-118) was the one great grammarian and \nrhetorician that the Roman race produced. For about a quar- \nter of a century he was the most noted lecturer at Rome on \neducational and literary subjects. One of the booksellers of \nthe capital, after much persuasion, finally prevailed upon the \nteacher to publish his lectures. They were received with great \nfavor, and Quintilian\'s "Institutes" have never ceased to be stud- \nied and copied by all succeeding writers on education and \nrhecoiic. Not only does the work contain excellent lessons \nand precepts for writers, speakers, and teachers, but also a \nmost valuable and appreciative criticism and comparison of \nthe literatures of Greece and Rome. From the day of the fort- \nunate publication of his lectures, their graces of style and per- \nsuasions of thought and argument have never failed to inspire \nin all readers of them a real love for true literary excellence, \nand to encourage thousands in the earnest pursuit of learning \nand letters.* \n\n*The allusions which we have made to the publishing trade suggest a \nword respecting ancient publishers and books. There were in Rome several \npublishing houses, which, in their day, enjoyed a wide reputation, and con- \nducted a very extended business. " Indeed, the antique book-trade," says \nGuhl, "was carried on on a scale hardly surpassed by modern times. . . . The \nplace of the press in our literature was taken by the slaves." Through \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 465 \n\nDuring the reign of Tiberius, Phgedrus, the Roman ^sop, \nwrote his fables, which were, for the most part, translations or \nimitations of the productions of his Grecian master. A little \nlater^ in the reign of Titus, Frontinus wrote a valuable work \non the Roman system of engineering, and a still more inter- \nesting book on the Roman aqueducts. This latter work gives \nus much interesting information respecting those stupendous \nstructures. \n\nWriters of the Early Latin Church. \xe2\x80\x94 The Christian authors \nof the first three centuries, like the writers of the New Testa- \nment, employed the Greek, that being the language of learning \nand culture. Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Jus- \ntin, Origen, Eusebius, Chrysostom, and Basil are a few of the \ncelebrated fathers of the early Church who used in their works \nthe language of Athens. Of these Chrysostom ( " golden- \nmouthed "), so called on account of his persuasive oratory, \nwas perhaps the most renowned. \n\nBut, though the Greek language was first chosen as the me- \ndium for the dissemination of Christian doctrines, as the Latin \ntongue gradually came into more general use throughout" the \nextended provinces of the Roman Empire the Christian au- \nthors naturally began to use the same in the composition of \ntheir works. Hence almost all the writings of the fathers of \nthe Church produced during the last centuries of the empire \nwere composed in Latin. From among the many names that \n\npractice they gained surprising facility as copyists, and books were multi- \nplied with great rapidity. And, as to the books themselves, we must bear \nin mind that a book in the ancient sense was simply a roll of manuscript or \nparchment, and contained nothing like the amount of matter held by an or- \ndinary modern volume. Thus Caesar\'s " Gallic Wars," which makes a single \nvolume of moderate size with us, inade eight Roman books. Most of the \nhouses of the wealthy Romans contained libraries. The collection of Sam- \nmanicus Serenus, tutor of Gordian, numbered 62,000 books. There were \ntwenty-nine public libraries in Rome established by the emperors. \n\n21 \n\n\n\n466 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nadorn the Church literature of this period, we shall select only \ntwo for special mention \xe2\x80\x94 St. Jerome and St. Augustine. \n\nJerome (a.d. 342-420) was a native of Pannonia. He stud- \nied at Rome and at Constantinople, and travelled through all the \nprovinces of the empire, from Britain to Palestine. For many \nyears he led a monastic life at Bethlehem. His praises have \never been in all the churches, on account of his eminent ser- \nvices in translating the Scriptures into Latin. The present \nVulgate is based upon the ancient version by Jerome. \n\nAurelius Augustine (a.d. 354-430) was born near Carthage, \nin Africa. He was the most eminent writer of the Christian \nChurch during the later Roman period. His numerous works \n\xe2\x80\x94 sermons, commentaries, and epistles \xe2\x80\x94 form a perfect library \nof themselves ; but his fame rests chiefly on his " Confessions " \nand his " City of God," two of the most remarkable productions \nof all Christian writings. The larger part of the " Confessions " \nis a touching narrative of the struggles of soul that resulted in \nhis conversion. This work is a classic in Christian literature, \nand has been translated into almost every language in which the \nBible is read. The " City of God " is a truly wonderful work. \nThe author writes with the fervor of an Isaiah, with the pro- \nphetic vision of the exile of Patmos. The book was written \njust when the Goths and Vandals were taking possession of \nthe empire, when Rome was becoming the spoil of the barba- \nrians. It was designed to answer the charge of the Pagans \nthat Christianity, turning the hearts of the people away from \nthe worship of the ancient gods, was the cause of the calami- \nties that were befalling the Roman state. It symbolizes Rome \nas the city of the world, which only presumptuously can call it- \nself the "Eternal City"; while under the figure of the City of \nGod is portrayed the enduring nature of the Christian Church, \nthe New Jerusalem, the truly " Eternal City." \n\nRoman Law and Law Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 Although the Latin writ- \ners in all the departments of literary effort which we have so \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 467 \n\nfar reviewed, did much valuable work, yet, as we have had oc- \ncasion to repeat frequently, the Roman intellect in all these \ndirections was under Greek guidance ; its work was imitative, \nand throughout all its course unmarked by any great originality, \nboldness, or creative energy. But in another department it was \ndifferent. We mean, of course, the field of legal and political \nscience. Here the Romans ceased to be pupils and became \nteachers. Here they are no longer the servile imitators of the \nexcellences of others \xe2\x80\x94 although they do not refuse helpful in- \nstruction \xe2\x80\x94 but they become creators and masters. Nations, \nlike men, have their mission. Rome\'s mission was to give laws \nto the world. \n\nOur knowledge of the law -system of the Romans begins \nwith the legislation of the Twelve Tables, about 450 B.C. The \nlaws engrossed upon these tablets must be regarded as being \nin the main a systemized collection of the rules and regula- \ntions that had grown up during many preceding centuries. \nThroughout all the republican period the laws of the state \nwere growing less harsh and cruel, less invidious in their dis- \ntinctions between the higher and lower classes of the commu- \nnity, and were gradually effacing the marks of their barbarous \norigin and becoming more liberal and scientific. From 100 \nB.C. to A.D. 250 lived and wrote the most famous of the Roman \njurists and law-writers, who created the most remarkable law \nliterature ever produced by any people. The great unvarying \nprinciples that underlie and regulate all social and political \nrelations were examined, illustrated, and clearly enunciated. \nGains, Ulpian,Paulus, Papinian, and Pomponius are among the \nmost renowned writers who, during the period just indicated, \nenriched by their writings and decisions this branch of Latin \nliterature. \n\nIn the year a.d. 527 Justinian became emperor of the East- \nern Roman Empire. He almost immediately entered upon the \nwork of collecting and arranging in a systematic manner the \nimmense mass of Roman laws and the writings of the jurists. \n\n\n\n468 ANCIENT HISTORY. \n\nThe undertaking was like the labor of the Twelve Tables, only \ninfinitely greater. Since those were set up in the Forum one \nthousand years had passed. During these centuries the limits \nof Latium had expanded until they embraced three continents ; \nand over all these regions, with their motley populations, Rome \nhad extended her authority and her laws. There was no pos- \nsible relation of life that was not recognized and dealt with \nby the Roman government. Men\'s relations to the family, to \nthe city, to the state, to the gods, were clearly defined and \nlegislated upon and decreed about by senate, emperors, and \nmunicipal magistrates. During all these centuries, too, the \nbest intellects of the nation had been busy annotating and \ncommenting upon all this growing mass of legislation, and \nproducing whole libraries of learned works respecting the \nscience of jurisprudence and government in general. Bearing \nthese things in mind, we can form some fiiint conception of the \nenormous amount of material of a legal character that had been \ncreated by the time of the subversion of the empire of the \nWest. \n\nJustinian committed the task of collating, revising, condens- \ning, and harmonizing all this matter to the celebrated lawyer \nTribonian, with whom were associated during the course of the \nwork fourteen assistants. This commission began its labors \nin the year a.d. 528, and in five years the task was completed, \nand given to the world in the form of the "Corpus Juris Ci- \nvilis," or "Body of the Civil Law." This consisted of three \nparts: the "Code," the "Pandects," and the "Institutes." \nThe " Code " was a revised and compressed collection of all \nthe laws, instructions to judicial officers, and opinions on legal \nsubjects, promulgated by the different emperors since the time \nof Hadrian j the "Pandects" (all-containing) were a digest \nor abridgment of the writings, opinions, and decisions of the \nmost eminent of the old Roman jurists and lawyers. Two \nthousand books of thirty-nine diiferent authors, all of whom \nlived between B.C. 100 and A.h. 250, were collected, and from \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 469 \n\nthis enormous mass of manuscript were culled nine thousand \nextracts, which contained the sum and substance of all that \nthree centuries and more of law -scholars had thought and \nwritten. These excerpts were arranged under their proper \ntitles, and filled fifty books. This part of the " Corpus Juris " \nis by far the most important and interesting, as it deals with \nthe principles of legal science, and has to do with private law, \nwhich touches the transactions of every-day life, while the \n" Code " is mainly concerned with public law. The " In- \nstitutes" were a condensed edition of the " Pandects," and \nwere intended to form an elementary text-book for the use of \nstudents. \n\nWhen the great work was completed, copies were furnished \nto all the law-schools of Constantinople, Rome, Alexandria, \nBerytus, Ccesarea, and other cities of the empire. It was the \nsole text-book of the youth engaged in the study of the law. \nThat the work might not become corrupted by glosses and \nadditions, Justinian ordered that no abbreviations should be \nused in copying the books, and that no commentaries should \nbe written upon them, although translations might be made \ninto the Greek, but these " must be close and literal versions." \n\nThe Body of the Roman Law thus preserved and trans- \nmitted was the great contribution of the Latin intellect to civili- \nzation. It has exerted a profound influence upon all the legal \nsystems of modern Europe. During the Dark Ages its study \nabated ; but early in the twelfth century there was a great re- \nvival of interest in it in all the law-schools of Italy, especially \nat Bologna. As a result of this fresh examination of the ad- \nmirable system of jurisprudence of ancient Rome, the Justinian \nCode became the groundwork of the present law-system of \nItaly, of Southern France, and of Germany. It also became \nauxiliary law in Northern France and in Spain, while in Eng- \nland the laws of our Teutonic ancestors have been by it \ngreatly influenced and modified.* Thus has Rome given laws \n* Hadley\'s " Introduction to Roman Law," p. 25 et seq. \n\n\n\n470 \n\n\n\nANCIENT HISTORY. \n\n\n\nto all civilized peoples \xe2\x80\x94 thus does the once little Palatine city \nof the Tiber still rule the world. The religion of Judea, the \narts of Greece, and the laws of Rome are three very real and \npotent elements in modern civilization. \n\nClose of Latin Literature. \xe2\x80\x94 About the time that the Emperor \nJustinian at Constantinople was collecting and publishing the \nbody of the Roman law, there appeared in Italy, under Theod- \noric the Ostrogoth, a writer whose name may be considered \nas marking the close of Latin literature. This was Boethius \n(a.d. 470-526), often spoken of as "the last of the Romans." \nThat the old Roman pride of family was not yet dead is shown \nby the name the philosopher bore \xe2\x80\x94 Anicius Manlius Torquatus \nSeverinus Boethius. Theodoric was for a time his friend and \npatron, and made him his adviser and chief minister; but, be- \ning led to believe that Boethius was concerned in a conspiracy \nfor the expulsion of the Goths from Italy and the re-establish- \nment of the Roman power, he caused him to be put to death. \nIt was while in prison awaiting his fate that Boethius wrote his \nfamous work entitled " De Consolatione Philosophise " (" On the \nConsolation Afforded by Philosophy "). This work possessed \na peculiar fascination for the scholars of succeeding centuries, \nespecially for persons whose experience had taught them the \ninstability of human affairs. King Alfred of England trans- \nlated it into Anglo-Saxon for the use of his subjects, and Eliza- \nbeth, while in prison in Mary\'s reign, found solace for her lonely \nhours by turning it into English. And its popularity is again \nillustrated by the fact that, out of the thirty-one books which \ncomposed the entire library of Charles V. in his retirement at \nYusta, there were three copies of the " Consolation " in as \nmany different languages. \n\nThe " Consolation of Philosophy " is the last lament of the \ndying Roman world. The proud race that had conquered so \nmuch of the earth, and had impressed its language, its laws, its \ncustoms, and its arts upon so many peoples, was now become \n\n\n\nLATIN LITERATURE. 47 I \n\nthoroughly enfeebled through luxury, despotism, and vice. \nAll the last centuries of the empire had been marked by a sure \nand steady decline in the vigor and productiveness of the \nLatin intellect. With the fifth century came the barbarians \nfrom beyond all the frontiers of the empire. They trooped \nthrough all its provinces, and established themselves at last \nin every portion of France and Spain and Italy, of Britain \nand Africa. But the settlement of the conquering tribes was \nnot at once effected. Throughout the fifth and sixth centuries \nthe barbarians were on the move. All the provinces were \ntraversed and retraversed by their savage bands. Everywhere \nthe country was laid waste. Cities were sacked and burned. \nVillas were despoiled of their patrician furniture. Temples, \nchurches, and public buildings of every kind were stripped of \ntheir treasures. The masterpieces of Grecian and Roman art \nwere broken in pieces. The invaluable records and rolls of \nthe museums and libraries, public and private, were scattered \nand lost. So complete was the destruction of the contents of \nthe old libraries that scarcely a single manuscript of the Ro- \nman period has been preserved in an unmutilated condition. \nAs we have seen, it is only fragments that we now possess of \nmany of the productions of the most eminent of the Latin \nwriters. At last, when the fury of the invasion was over, and \nthe rough intruders began to settle down and establish them- \nselves amidst the smouldering ruins of the empire they had \ndestroyed, it seemed as though art and literature and culture \nhad disappeared forever from the face of the earth. But out \nof the chaos a new creation was to be formed, fairer than the \none that had been destroyed. Conqueror and conquered soon \nbegin to blend. Throughout the sixth, seventh, and eighth \ncenturies the process of intermingling and assimilation goes \non. Roman and barbarian alike disappear from view; and \nat last, in the ninth century, there appear new peoples and \ntongues \xe2\x80\x94 the nations and languages of modern Europe. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nAbraham, 6, 87. \nAcademy at Athens, 167. \nAc\'ar-na\'ni-a, 126. \nA-chae\'an League, 193. \nA-chae\'ans, 130. \nA-cha\'i-a, (a-ka\'ya), 126. \nA-crop\'o-Iis, Athenian, 211. \nAc\'ti-um, battle of, 351. \nA\'dri-an-o\'ple, battle of, 397. \n^-ga\'tian Islands, naval battle near, \n\n283. \niE\'gos Pot\'a-mos, battle of, 173. \n^\'mil-i-a\'nus, Scipio, 305. \n^-o\'li-ans, 130, 135. \n^\'qui-ans, 256. \n^s\'chi-nes, 225. \n^s\'chy-lus, 221. \n^\'sop, 229. \n\n<^\'ti-us, Roman general, 406. \n-^-to\'Ii-a, 126. \n^-to\'li-an League, 193. \nAg\'a-mem\'non, 132, 134. \nA-ges\'i-la\'us, 174, 175. \nA-gric\'o-la, 369. \nAgriculture, state of, in Italy, 309, \n\n312; in Sicily, 309. \nAg\'ri-gen\'tum, 275. \nAg\'rip-pi\'na, 366. \nAh\'ri-man, 122. \nA-la\'ni, 400, 405. \nAl\'a-ric, 398, 399, 401-404. \nAlba Longa, 241, 242. \nAl-bi\'nus, 384. \nAl-cae\'us, 221. \nAl\'ci-bi\'a-des, 172. \n\n\n\nAl\'e-man\'ni, 394. \n\nA-le\'si-a, 337. \n\nAlexander the Great, 180-185. \n\nAlexandria, founded by Alexander, \n\n181 ; museum and library at, 191 ; \n\nPharos, 191 ; population of, 357. \nAl\'li-a, battle of, 260. \nAlphabets of Phoenician origin, 105, \n\n106. \nAlps, Hannibal\'s passage of, 290. \nA-ma\'sis, king of Egypt, 25. \nAm\'mon, oasis of, 182. \nA-mo\'sis, king of Egypt, 19. \nAm\'u-noph III., 20, 37. \nAm-phic\'ty-on\'ic Council, 204. \nAmphitheatres, Roman, 419-421; \n\nshows of, 421. \nAm\'y-tis, 76, S;^. \nA-na\'cre-on, 221. \nAn\'ax-ag\'o-ras, 236. \nAn\'dro-ni\'cus, L., 442. \nAnimal-worship, 29, 31. \nAn-tal\'ci-das, peace of, 175. \nAntioch, city of, 189, 357, 372. \nAn-ti\'o-chus IV. of Syria, 190. \nAn-ti\'o-chus the Great, 301. \nAntiquity of man, i. \nAn\'to-ni\'nus Pi\'us, Roman emperor, \n\n375- \n\nAntony, Mark, his oration at Caesar\'s \nfuneral, 346 ; usurpations of, 347 ; \nshares the empire with Octavius, \n349,350; revels with Cleopatra, \n350; flees from Actium, 351 ; his \ndeath, 352. \n\nA-pel\'les, 216. \n\n\n\n474 \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nA\'pis, 30, III. \n\nA-poc\'ry-pha, 99. \n\nAp\'pi-us Clau\'di-us Cas\'cus, 269. \n\nAp\'pi-us Clau\'di-us the decemvir, 257, \n\n258. \nA-pu\'li-a, 239. \n\nA\'quae Sex\'ti-se, battle of, 316. \nAqueducts, Roman, 427, 428. \nArabian tribes, 6. \nAr-be\'la, battle of, 182. \nAr-ca\'di-a, 126. \nAr-ca\'di-us, Eastern Roman emperor, \n\n398. \nAr\'chi-me\'des, 236, 296. \nArchitecture, Assyrian, 66-69. \n\nBabylonian, 81-85. \n\nChaldaean, 50, 51. \n\nGrecian, 208-212. \n\nPelasgian, 208. \n\nPersian, 124. \n\nRoman, 412-434. \nArchons at Athens, 145. \nA\'re-op\'a-gus, Council of the, 147. \nAr\'go-lis, 126. \n\nAr\'go-naut\'ic Expedition, 4, 131. \nAr\'is-ti\'des the Just, 164, 165. \nAr\'is-toph\'a-nes, 222. \nAr\'is-tot\'le, 232. \nAr-min\'i-us, 358. \nAr\'ta-pher\'nes, 115, 150. \nAr\'tax-erx\'es I., n6; II., 116; III., \n\n117. \nAr\'te-mis\'i-a, 212. \nAr-ver\'ni, 337. \nAr\'y-ans, 6-9. \nAs\'shur-ba\'ni-pal, 61, 70. \nAs\'shur-i\'zer-pal, 58. \nAssyria, geology of, 45. \nAssyrian libraries, 69. \nAssyrian monarchy, 56-63 ; nature \nof the government, 64 ; cruel dis- \nposition of kings, 65 ; royal sports, \n65 ; capital cities, 66 ; palaces, 67 ; \nchronology of, 86. \nAs-ty\'a-ges, 108. \nAthenian constitution, 147. \nAthens, founding of, 144 ; kings of, \n\n\n\n144 ; archons, 145 ; expulsion of \ntyrants from, 149 ; burned by the \nPersians, 157; walls rebuilt, 160; \nLong Walls of, n. 163 ; Periclean \nAge at, 168 ; becomes an imperial \ncity, 169; pestilence at, 171 ; walls \nlevelled by Spartans, 172; estab- \nlishment of oligarchy, 173. \n\nAt\'ta-lus III., 192. \n\nAt\'ti-ca, 126. \n\nAt\'ti-la, 406, 407. \n\nAugurs, college of, at Rome, 250. \n\nAu\'gus-tine, Au-re\'li-us, 466. \n\nAu-gus\'tu-lus, last Roman emperor \nin the West, 410. \n\nAu-re\'li-an, Roman emperor, 384, 385. \n\nAu-re\'li-us, Marcus, Roman emperor, \n376, 377. 463. \n\nB. \n\nBabylon, great edifices of, 81 ; walls \nof, 84, n. 85 ; fall of, 78-80 ; recent \nexcavations at, n. 83. \n\nBabylonia, productions of, 45 ; geol- \nogy of, 45, 74. \n\nBabylonian chronology, 86. \n\nBabylonian monarchy, 74-81. \n\nBasques (basks), 4. \n\nBe\'his-tun, rock of, 113. \n\nBel-shaz\'zar, 78, 79, 80. \n\nBen\'e-ven\'tum, battle of, 269. \n\nBes\'ti-a, consul, 314. \n\nBib\'u-lus, 342. \n\nBoe-o\'tia, 126. \n\nBo-e\'thi-us,470, 471. \n\nBor-sip\'pa, 79-81. \n\nBren\'nus, 262. \n\nBritain invaded by Csesar, 337; con- \nquered by Claudius, 364. \n\nBrun-di\'si-um, 340. \n\nBrut\'ti-um, 239. \n\nBrutus, L. Junius, 253. \n\nBrutus, the liberator, 346, 347, 349. \n\nBur-gun\'di-ans, 400, 405. \n\nBur\'rhus, 366. \n\nBu\'sen-ti\'nus, river, 404. \n\nBy-zan\'ti-um, 389. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\n475 \n\n\n\nCad\'mus, 130. \n\nCaesar Augustus (see Octavius). \n\nCaesar Caius (see Caligula). \n\nCaesar, Julius, proscribed by Sulla, \n324; early life, 333; debts, 334; \nforms the First Triumvirate, 335 ; \nhis campaigns in Gaul and Britain, \n335 ; crosses the Rubicon, 339 ; be- \ncomes master of Italy, 340; de- \nfeats Pompey at Pharsalia, 342 ; in \nEgypt, 342 ; defeats Pharnaces, \n343 ; crushes Pompeians at Thap- \nsus, 343 ; bis triumph, 343 ; his \ngenius as a statesman, 344 ; his \ndeath, 345 ; literary works, 457. \n\nCae-sa\'ri-on, 351. \n\nCa-la\'bri-a, 239. \n\nCa\'lah, 58. \n\nCaledonians, 369. \n\nCa-lig\'u-la, 362-364. \n\nCamburian mountains, 127. \n\nCam-by\'ses, 24, no, 1 1 1. \n\nCa-mil\'lus, 260, 262. \n\nCam-pa\'ni-a, 239. \n\nCanaanites, 5, 91, loi, 104. \n\nCan\'nae, battle of, 293. \n\nCapitol, Roman, 244, 413-415. \n\nCa\'pre-ae, island of, 361. \n\nCap\'u-a, 295, 296. \n\nCar\'a-cal\'la, Roman emperor, 382, \n\n383- \n\nCa-rac\'ta-cus, 365. \n\nCar\'che-mish, 20, 24. \n\nCarthage, 271 ; empire of, 271 ; com- \npared with Rome, 272 ; destroyed \nby Romans, 305 ; rebuilt by Julius \nCaesar, 344; made capital of Van- \ndal empire, 405. \n\nCarthage, New, in Spain, 287. \n\nCas-san\'der, 188. \n\nCas\'si-us, the liberator, 345, 346, 349. \n\nCatacombs, Roman, 387. \n\nCat\'i-line, 322, 332, 333. \n\nCato, M. P. Uticensis, 343. \n\nCato, the Censor, 304. \n\nCa-tul\'lus, 446. \n\n\n\nCau\'dine Forks, 266. \nCe\'crops, 130. \nCel\'ti-be\'ri-ans, 306. \nCelts, migrations of, 8. \nCensors, Roman, 259. \nCer-ci\'na, island of, 321. \nChaer\'o-ne\'a, battle of, 179. \n"Ghaldaean monarchy, 45-49 ; chro- \nnology of, 86. \n-Ghaldseans, 5 ; ethnic relations, 6, \n46, n. 74 ; religion of, 50 ; burial- \nmounds of, 51 ; their writing, 52; \nliterature among, 54 ; science, 55 ; \npioneers of civilization, 55 ; tem- \nples of, 69. \nChalon (sha\'lon\'), battle of, 405. \n\xe2\x96\xa0Gha\'res, 215. \n\xe2\x96\xa0Ghed\'or-la\'o-mer, 48. \nChe\'ops, 17,35- \nChinese Wall, n. 395. \nChi\'os, island of, 127. \n\xe2\x82\xachos\'ro-es, 372. \nChronology, Assyrian, 86. \n\nBabylonian, 86. \nChaldasan, 86. \nEgyptian, 15,25. \nGrecian, 187. \nHebrew, lOO. \nPersian, 119. \nof the Ptolemies, 196. \nof the Seleuddae, 196. \nRoman, 252, 354, 378, \n411. \n\xe2\x82\xachrys\'os-tom, 465. \nCicero, Marcus Tullius, 329, 333, 335, \n\n348, 456. \nCim\'bri, 315,316. \nCi\'mon, 166, 167. \nCin\'cin-na\'tus, 256. \nCin\'e-as, 269. \nCin\'na, 321. \n\nCir-cen\'sian games, 417. \nCir\'cus Max\'i-mus, 244, 373, 416. \nCir\'rha, 205. \n\nCivil war, between Caesar and Pom- \npey, 340 ; between Marius and Sul- \nla, 319-322. \n\n\n\n476 \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nClaudian aqueduct, 365. \n\nClaudius, Roman emperor, 364-366. \n\nCle\'on, 172. \n\nCle\'o-pa\'tra, 192, 350, 353, \n\nCli\'tus, 183. \n\nClyt\'em-nes\'tra, 134- \n\nCo\'drus, 144. \n\nCol\'chis, 103, 132. \n\nCol\'la-ti\'nus, Tar-quin\'i-us, 253. \n\nCol\'os-se\'um, 369,420, 421. \n\nCo-los\'sus at Rhodes, 215, \n\nCom\'mo-dus, Roman emperor, 379, \n\n380. \nConstantine II., 390. \nConstantine the Great, 388-390. \nConstantinople, city of, 389, 390. \nCon-stan\'ti-us I., 388 ; II., 390, 391, \nConsuls, Roman, first, 253. \nCor-cy\'ra, island of, 127- \nCor-fin\'i-um, 318. \nCorinth, 194, 302, 334. \nCorinthian War, 175, \nCo\'ri-o-la\'nus, 255. \nCor-ne\'li-a, mother of the Gracchi, \n\n3]3\' \nCor\'pus Ju\'ris Ci-vi\'lis, 468, 469. \nCor\'si-ca, 284. \n\nCouncil, first, of Church, 389. \nCras\'sus, M., 324, 327, 333, n. 334, 535, \n\n338. \nCre-mo\'na, 286. \nCrete, island of, 128. \nCroe\'sus, king of Lydia, 79, 109, 143. \nCryp\'ti-a, 141. \nCtes\'i-phon, 372. \nCu\'mae, oracle of, 135. \nCu-nax\'a, battle of, 174. \nCuneiform writing, 52, n. 71. \nCu\'ri-o, 341. \nCushites, 5. \nCy-ax\'a-res, 62, 108. \nCyc\'la-des, 127. \nCy\'clo-pe\'an architecture, 208. \nCy\'lon, 146. \nCynics, 234. \n\nCyn\'os-ceph\'a-lae, battle of, 300. \nCy-re\'ne, 135. \n\n\n\nCyrus the Great, 79, 109, no; the \n\nYounger, 173. \nCythera (si-thee\'ra), island of, 128. \n\nD. \n\nDaniel, 80. \n\nDa-ri\'us I., 112, 114, 150; II., 116; \n\nIII., 117. \nDa\'tis, 115, 150. \nDavid, king of Hebrews, 94. \nDeb\'o-rah, 92. \nDecemvirs, first board, 257 ; second, \n\n258. \nDe\'ci-us, Roman emperor, 384. \nDe\'los, island of, 127, 165. \nDelphi, oracle of, 126, 157, 201, 210. \nDe-mos\'the-nes, 179, 225. \nDi-a\'na, Temple of, at Ephesus, 209. \nDi\'o-cle\'ti-an, Roman emperor, 386- \n\n388. \nDi-og\'e-nes, 234. \nDo-do\'na, oracle of, 126, 200. \nDo-mi\'ti-an, Roman emperor, 370, \n\n371- \nDorians, 130, 135. \nDra\'co, 145. \n\nDrep\'a-na, defeat of Romans at, 281. \nDu-il\'li-us, 276. \nDyr-ra\'chi-um, 342. \n\n\n\nEastern Roman Empire, 398. \n\nEc-bat\'a-na, 109. \n\nEc-no\'mus, naval battle of, 277. \n\nEgypt, geology of, 13 ; climate and \nproductions, 14 ; capitals of, 16. \n\nEgyptians, 5 ; ethnic character of, 6 ; \nchronology of, 15, 25 ; classes of, \n26 ; priesthood, 26 ; the warrior \nclass, 27 ; religious doctrines, 28 ; \nanimal - worship among, 29 ; ex- \nplanation of animal - worship, 31 ; \njudgment of the dead, 32 ; tombs, \n33; palaces and temples,35; sculpt- \n"I\'e, 37 ; glass - manufacture, 39 ; \nwriting, 40; science; influence of \ninstitutions upon history, 43. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\n477 \n\n\n\nEra-gab\'a-lus,383,384. \n\nE\'la-mites, 48. \n\nElephantine, island of, 15. \n\nElijah the prophet, 97. \n\nElisha the prophet, 97. \n\nEmbalming among Egyptians, 43. \n\nEn\'ni-us, 443. \n\nE-pam\'i-non\'das, 176. \n\nEp\'ic-te\'tus, 463. \n\nEp\'i-cu\'re-ans, 235. \n\nEp\'i-cu\'rus, 235. \n\nE-pi\'rus, 126. \n\nE-re\'tri-a captured by Persians, 151. \n\nE-sar-had\'don, 61. \n\nEsthonians, 4. \n\nEthiopians, 5, iii. \n\nE-tru\'ri-a, 239. \n\nE-trus\'cans, 240. \n\nEu-boe\'a, island of, 127, 151. \n\nEuclid, 236. \n\nEu\'me-nes IT,, 192. \n\nEu\'nus, 309. \n\nEuphrates, basin of, 45. \n\nEu-rip\'i-des, 221. \n\nE\'vil-me-ro\'dach, 78. \n\n\n\nFa\'bi-us Quintus, 288. \n\nFa\'bi-us the delayer, 292, 393. \n\nFa-bric\'i-us, 269- \n\nFinns, 4. \n\nFleet, first Roman, 276. \n\nForum, Roman, 243. \n\nFron-ti\'nus, 465. \n\nG- \n\nGa\'des, 105, \n\nGalba, Roman emperor, 368. \n\nGa-le\'ri-us, Roman emperor, 388- \n\nGal\'li-a Cis\'al-pi\'na, 239. \n\nGallic wars, 335. \n\nGames of Greeks, 202-204. \n\nGauls, settle in Italy, 240; sack Rome, \n\n260 ; war with, 285 ; conquered by \n\nCaesar, 335. \nGe-dro\'si-a, 184. \n\nGen\'ser-ic, king of the Vandals, 408. \nGerman tribes, emigrations of, 8. \n\n\n\nGer-man\'i-cus, 360. \n\nGe\'ta, Roman emperor, 382. \n\nGladiatorial combats, 399, 422-424 ; \n\nsuppression of, 424, 425. \nGladiators, war of the, 326. \nGolden house of Nero, 367. \nGor\'dian, Roman emperor, 384. \nGordian knot, 180. \nGo\'shen, land of, 88. \nGoths, 395-397- \nGrac\'chi, reforms of, 311. \nGracchus, Gains, 312, 313. \n\nTiberius, 312. \nGraeco-Persian wars, 150-159. \nGra-ni\'cus, battle of, 180. \nGra\'ti-an, Roman emperor, 394, 397. \nGreat fire at Rome, 366. \nGrecian migrations and settlements, \n\n133-135- \n\nGreece, divisions of, 126; influence \nof country upon inhabitants, 128. \n\nGreek art, origin of, 72. \n\nGreeks, cosmography of, 197 ; relig- \nion of, 197-206; mythology of, 198, \n199 ; notions of the future, 202 ; \nsacred games, 202 ; hospitality \namong, 206 ; humanity of, 207 ; \ntemples, 208; sculpture and paint- \ning, 212; literature, 219-227; sci- \nence, 235. \n\nH. \n\nHa\'dri-an, Roman emperor, 373-375. \n\nHal\'i-car-nas\'sus, mausoleum at, 212. \n\nHa-mil\'car, 283, 286, 287. \n\nHamites, 4, 46. \n\nHanging gardens, S^. \n\nHan\'ni-bal, his vow, 2S8 ; attacks \nSaguntum, 288 ; crosses the Pyr- \nenees, 289 ; crosses the Alps, 291 ; \nhis policy in Italy, 291 ; before \nRome, 296 ; defeated at Za\'ma, \n299 ; his death, 302. \n\nHan\'no, Carthaginian admiral, 283, \n286. \n\nHa-rus\'pi-ces, art of the, 249. \n\nHas\'dru-bal, Hannibal\'s brother, 297, \n298. \n\n\n\n478 \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nHas\'dru-bal, son-in-law of Hamilcar, \n287. \n\nHebrews, in Egypt, 21, 88; patri- \narchal age, 87, 88 ; exodus, 90, 91 ; \nconquest of Palestine, 91 ; the \njudges, 92 ; monarchy founded, 93 ; \ndivision of kingdom, 96 ; close of \nthe political life of, 98 ; religion \nand literature, 98, 99 ; chronology \nof judges and kings, 100. \n\nHel\'las, the name, 128. \n\nriel-le\'nes, 130, 134. \n\nHel\'les-pont, 153, 154. \n\nHe\'lots, 137, 167, 172. \n\nHelve\'tians, 336. \n\nHer\'a-cle\'a, battle of, 268. \n\nHeralds, college of, at Rome, 251. \n\nHer\'cu-la\'ne-um, 370. \n\nHer\'cu-les, 130. \n\nHer\'mann (see Arminius). \n\nHe-rod\'o-tus, 223. \n\nHeroes, Grecian, 130. \n\nHeroic Age in Greece, 131. \n\nHer\'u-li, 410. \n\nHe\'si-od, 220. \n\nHez\'e-ki\'ah, 61, 75. \n\nHi\'e-ro, king of Syracuse, 274, 275, \n\n295- \nHi\'e-ro-glyph\'ics, Egyptian, 40, 41. \nHindus, ancestors of, 7. \nHip-par\'chus, 149. \nHip\'pi-as, 149, 150. \nHip\'po, 105. \n\nHi\'ram, king of Tyre, 95, 102, 107. \nHistory, definition of, i ; divisions \n\nof, I. \nHit\'tites, 18. \nHomer, 219. \nHo-no\'ri-us, Roman emperor, 398, \n\n400, 401, 402. \nHorace, 451. \nHor-ten\'si-us, 455. \nHo\'rus, 28. \n\nHun-ga\'ri-ans, 4, n. 407. \nHuns, 4,395,405, n. 407. \nHyk\'sos, 18. \nHy-met\'tus, 127. \n\n\n\nI. \n\nI-be\'ri-ans, 4. \n\nIl\'i-ad, 219. \n\nIl\'i-os (see Troy). \n\nIl-lyr\'i-an corsairs, 285. \n\nIonian cities in Asia Minor, 114, 150. \n\nIonian islands, 127. \n\nlonians, 130, 135. \n\nIp-sam-bul\', 36. \n\nI\'sis, 28. \n\nIsrael, captivity of, 60, 97 ; kingdom \nof, 96 ; chronology of, 100. \n\nIsraelites (see Hebrews). \n\nIs\'sus, battle of, 181. \n\nItalians, 240. \n\nItaly, divisions of, 239 ; early inhab- \nitants of, 240. \n\nIth\'a-ca, island of, 128. \n\nJ. \n\nJa\'nus, Temple of, 357. \n\nJericho, 91. \n\nJer\'o-bo\'am, 96. \n\nJerome, 466. \n\nJerusalem, -j^, 94, 368, 374. \n\nJoseph, 88. \n\nJosephus, the historian, 99. \n\nJovian, Roman emperor, 392. \n\nJudah, captivity of, 77, 97 ; kingdom \n\nof, 97 ; chronology of kings, 100. \nJudges of Israel, 92. \nJu-gur\'tha, war with, 313-315. \nJulian the Apostate, 390-392. \nJu-li-a\'nus, Did\'i-us, 381. \nJus-tin\'i-an, emperor, 467, 468, 469. \nJustin Martyr, 376. \nJu\'ve-nal, 453. \n\nK. \n\nKar\'nak, Temple of, 20, 36. \nKor-sa-bad\', 60, 69. \nKo-yun\'jik, 67. \nKu\'dur-na-khun\'ta, 48. \n\n\n\nLa\'bas-so-ra\'cus, 78. \nLac\'e-dae\'mon, 126. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\n479 \n\n\n\nLac\'e-dae-mo\'ni-ans (see Spartans). \nLa-co\'ni-a, 126. \nLa-oc\'o-on group, 216. \nLapps, 4. \n\nLatin cities, revolt of, 265. \ncolonies, n. 270. \nlanguage, spread of, 438 ; used \nby early Christian \\vriters,465. \nLatins, 240, 241. \nLa\'ti-um, 239, 241. \nLayard, excavations by, 69. \nLebanon, cedars of, 102. \nLenormant (leh\'-nor\'-mdn\'), views of, \n\non alphabetical writing, 106. \nLe-on\'i-das, 156. \nLep\'i-dus, 347, 350.- \' \nLes\'bos, island of, 127. \nLeuc\'tra, battle of, 176. \nLib\'y-ans, 287. \nLi-gu\'ri-a, 239. \nLil\'y-bce\'um, 281, 282. \nLiterature, Assyrian, 69, 70. \n\nChaldasan, 54. \n\nEgyptian, 41. \n\nGrecian, 219-238. \n\nHebrew, 98, 99. \n\nPersian, 121. \n\nRoman, 435-471. \nLiv\'i-us, M., consul, 298. \nLivy, the historian, 458. \nLon-gi\'nus, 3S5. \nLongus, L. Senipronius, 290. \nLu\'can, 367, n. 453. \nLu-ca\'-ni-a, 239, \nLuc\'ca, 338. \nLu-cil\'i-us, 445. \nLu-cre\'ti-us, 446. \nLu-cul\'lus, the consul, 331. \nLu\'-si-ta\'ni-ans, 306, 326. \nLy-cur\'gus, 137, 138. \nLy\'cus, battle of, 331. \nLy-san\'der, 173. \nLy-sim\'a-chus, 188. \nLy-sip\'pus, 215. \n\nM. \n\nMac-ca-bae\'us, Judas, 190. \n\n\n\nMacedonia, 178, 189. \nMacedonian empire, states formed \nfrom, 188. \nphalanx, 178. \nMa-cri\'nus, Roman emperor, 383. \nMagi, 122, \nMa\'gi-an-ism, 123. \nMagna Grcecia, 135, 239. \nMag-ne\'si-a, 301. \nMa-har\'bal, 294. \nMam\'er-tines, 274. \nMan\'e-tho, 15. \nManlius, 263. \nMan-ti-ne\'a, battle of, 176. \nMar\'a-thon, battle of, 151, 152. \nMar-cel\'lus, 295. \n\nMar-cel\'lus, nephew of Augustus, 358. \nMar-do\'nius, 115, 150, 158. \nMariette (ma-re\'-et), 31. \nMa\'ri-us, Ca\'i-us (ka\'yus), 315, 320- \n\n322. \nMarsic War, 317. \nMartial, 453. \n\nMas\'i-nis\'sa, king of Numidia, 304. \nMas-sil\'i-a, 135, 341. \nMat\'ta-thi\'as, 190. \nMau-so\'lus, 212. \n\nMax-im\'i-an, emperor, 386, 388. \nMax\'i-min, 384. \nMedes, 108. \nMemnon, Vocal, 20. \nMemphis, 17. \nMe\'nes, 16. \n\nMe-ro\'dach-Bal\'a-dan, 75. \nMes\'sa-li\'na, 365. \nMes-se\'ni-a, 126. \nMes-se\'ni-an wars, 142. \nMes-si\'na, founding of, 143. \nMe-tau\'rus, battle of, 298. \nMilitary roads, Roman, 425-427. \nMil-ti\'a-des, 115, 151, \nMi-nu\'ci-us, co-dictator with Fabius, \n\n293- \nMith\'ri-da\'tes the Great, 193, 319, \n\n330.331- \nMit\'y-le-ne\'ans, 171. \nMoses, 89-91. \n\n\n\n48o \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nMyc\'a-le, battle of, 158. \n\nN. \nNab-o-na\'di-us, 78-80. \nNab-o-nas\'sar, 75. \nNab-o-po-las\'sar, 62, 75, 76. \nNse\'vi-us, 443. \n\nNeb\'u-chad-nez\'zar, 76, 77, 78, 83. \nNe\'cho IL, 23. \nNe\'pos, Cornelius, n. 457. \nNer-e-glis\'sar, 78. \nNero, C. Claudius, consul, 298. \nNero, Roman emperor, 366-368. \nNerva, Roman emperor, 371. \nNi-9ae\'a, 389. \nNi\'ger, 381. \nNile, deposits of, 13 ; delta of, 13 ; \n\nvalley of, n. 13 ; inundation of, 14 ; \n\ncataracts of, 15. \nNimrod, 47. \nNineveh, 60, 62, 67, 69. \nNu-man\'ti-a, 306. \n\nO. \n\nOc-ta\'vi-us, 347 ; enters Second Tri- \numvirate, 348 ; divides the world \nwith Antony, 349 ; defeats Anto- \nny at battle of Actium, 352 ; reign \n\nof, 355-359- \nOd\'s-na\'tus, 385. \nOd\'o-a\'cer, 410. \nOlympian Council, 199. \ngames, 203. \nJove, statue of, 214. \nOlympus, Mount, 126, 127. \nOp\'ti- mates, 311. \nOracles, 200, 201, 249. \nO-res\'tes, 410. \nOr\'mazd, 121, 122. \nO-si\'ris, 28, n. 29. \nOs\'sa, Mount, 126, 127. \nOs\'tra-cism, 149; of Aristides, 164; \n\nof Themistocles, 164 ; of Cimon, \n\n167. \nOs\'tro-goths, 396, 397. \nO\'tho, Roman emperor, 368. \nOv\'id, 451. \n\n\n\nPainting, Grecian, 216-218. \nPalace-mounds of Assyrians, 67 ; of \n\nBabylonians, 83 ; of Persians, 124. \nPal\'i-nu\'rus, loss of Roman fleet off \n\npromontory of, 279. \nPalmyra, 95, 385. \nPandects, 468. \nPa\'nor-mus, battle of, 279. \nPan\'the-on, 415,416. \nPa-pin\'i-an, 382, 467. \nPa-py\'rus paper, 40. \nPar-nas\'sus, 127. \n\nPar-rha\'si-us (par-ra-shi-us), 2 18. \nPar\'the-non, 211. \nParthians, 3/6, n. 391. \nPatricians, 244. \n\nPau-sa\'ni-as, king of Sparta, 165. \nPe-las\'gi-ans, 129 ; architecture of, \n\n208 ; in Italy, 240. \nPe\'Ii-on, Mount, 127. \nPe-lop\'i-das, 176. \nPel\'o-pon-ne\'sian (-zhan) War, 170- \n\n173- \nPel\'o-pon-ne\'sus, divisions of, 126. \nPe\'lops, 130. \n\nPen-tel\'i-cus, Mount, 127. \nPer\'ga-mus, 188, 192, 301. \nPer\'i-cles, 168, 171, 225. \nPer-sep\'o-lis, 80, 124, 125. \nPer\'seus, king of Macedonia, 301. \nPersian Empire, founded by Cyrus, \n\n109; decline of, 116, 117 ; table of \n\nkings, 119; nature of government, \n\n120. \nPersians, ancestors of, 7 ; literature \n\nand religion, 121-123 ; architecture \n\nof, 124. \nPer\'ti-nax, Roman emperor, 380. \nPhae\'drus, 465. \nPharaoh-Necho, 76, 107. \nPharaohs (fa\'rSz), last of, 24. \nPhar\'na-ces, 331, 343. \nPhar-sa\'li-a, battle of, 342. \nPhid\'i-as, 213. \nPhi\'lae, island of, 15. \nPhilip, Roman emperor, 384. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\n481 \n\n\n\nPhilip of Macedon, 178, 179. \n\nPhi-lip\'pi, battle of, 349. \n\nPhi\'lo, 99. \n\nPho\'cis, 126. \n\nPhoe-nic\'i-a, loi ; products of, 102 ; \ncities of, 102 ; influence of country \nupon inhabitants, 103. \n\nPhoenicians, early migrations of, 5, \nloi ; ethnic character of, 6, loi ; \ncommerce of, 103 ; their colonies, \n104; their routes of trade, 105; \ndisseminators of alphabet, 105 ; \nenterprises aided by, 107. \n\nPicts, 405. \n\nPirates, defeated by Pompey, 329. \n\nPi-sis\'tra-tus, 148. \n\nPla-cen\'ti-a, 286. \n\nPla-tae\'a, battle of, 158. \n\nPlataeans, 151, 172. \n\nPlato, 231. \n\nPlau\'tus, 444. \n\nPlebeians (ple-be\'yans), 244 ; first se- \ncession of, 253 ; admitted to the \nconsulship, 264. \n\nPliny the Elder, 462; the Younger, \n\n463. \n\nPlu\'tarch, 373. \n\nPoles, 8. \n\nPd\'y-carp, 376. \n\nPol\'yg-no\'tus, 217. \n\nPompeii (pom-pe\'yi), 370. \n\nPompey, Sextius, 350. \n\nPompey the Great in Spain, 326; \ndefeats gladiators, 328 ; defeats pi- \nrates, 329; conducts the Mithri- \ndatic war, 330; conquers Syria, 33 1 ; \nhis triumph, 332 ; mode of organ- I \nizing provinces, 334 ; enters the | \ntriumvirate, 335 ; receives the gov- \nernment of Spain, 338 ; seeks pop- \nularity, 339 ; flees before Caesar \ninto Greece, 340 ; defeated at Phar- \nsalia, 342 ; his death, 342. \n\nPom-po\'ni-us, Roman jurist, 467. \n\nPontiffs, college of, at Rome, 251. \n\nPon\'tine marshes, 344. \n\nPon\'ti-us, Ga\'vi-us, 267. \n\n\n\nPontus, 188, 193. \nPor\'tus Ro-ma\'nus, 365. \nPo\'rus, Indian prince, 181. \nPrae-to\'ri-an guard, formation of, 359 ; \n\ndisbanded by Severus, 381. \nPrax-it\'e-les, 214. \nPro-tog\'e-nes, 217, \nProvince, first Roman, 284. \nPsam-men\'i-tus, 24, \nPsam\'me-tik I., 21, 23. \nPseu\'do-Smer\'dis, 112. \nPtol\'e-my Claudius, the astronomer, \n238. \nI,, Soter, 190. \nII., Philadelphus, 191. \nIll,, Eu-er\'ge-tes, 192. \nPublic lands in Italy, 309, 312. \nPunic War, first, 273-283. \n\nsecond, 2S9-299. \nthird, 303-306. \nPyd\'na, battle of, 301. \nPyramid Kings, 17. \nPyramids, 17, 34. \nPyr\'rhus, 268, 269, n. 270. \nPy-thag\'o-ras, 228. \n\n\n\nQuin-til\'i-an, the rhetorician, 464. \n\nR. \n\nRaces of mankind, 2, 3 ; table of, \n\nshowing families, 12. \nRad-a-gai\'sus, 400. \nRa-me\'ses II., 20, 36, 37. \nRam-es-se\'um, 37. \nRam\'nes, 241. \nReg\'u-lus, 278, 280. \nRe-ho-bo\'am, king of Judah, 96. \nReligion, Aryan, 10. \n\nAssyrian, 65. \n\nChaldaean, 50. \n\nEgyptian, 28-34. \n\nGrecian, 197-207. \n\nHebrew, 98, 99. \n\nPersian, 1 21-124. \n\nRoman, 248, 252. \nRhe\'nus, river, 348. \n\n\n\n482 \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nRhodes, island of, 127; colossus at, \n215 ; schools of, 216. \n\nRoman Empire, extent of, under Au- \ngustus, 356 ; sale of, 380 ; final di- \nvision of, 398 ; Eastern, 398 ; clos- \ning history of Western, 398-410 ; \nmilitary roads of, 425. \n\nRome, location of, 241 ; history com- \npared with that of Sparta, 241 ; \nfounding of, 242 ; hills of, 242 ; \nfirst conquest by, 242; becomes \nleading city of Latium, 242, 243 ; \ncauses of rapid growth, n. 2^ ; \nclasses of society during regal pe- \nriod, 244 ; early government, 245 ; \nkings of, 246-248 ; religion, 248- \n252 ; sacked by the Gauls, 260 ; \npublic lands of, 309-312; popula- \ntion of, 357 ; last triumph at, 399 ; \nransom of, 400-402 ; sack of, by \nAlaric, 402, 403 ; sack of, by the \nVandals, 408. \n\nRos\'trum, Roman, n. 244. \n\nRox-a\'na,wife of Alexander the Great, \n\n183. \nRu\'bi-con, Caesar crosses, 339. \nRu-pil\'i-us, Pub\'li-us, 309. \nRussians, ethnic relations, 8. \n\nS. \n\nSabines, 242. \nSa-gun\'tum, 288. \nSal\'a-mis, battle of, 116, 158. \nSal\'lust, 457. \nSamaritans, origin of, 97. \nSamnite War, first, 265. \n\nsecond, 266. \n\nthird, 267. \nSam\'ni-um, 239. \nSapor, king of Persia, 391. \nSap\'pho (saf\'fo), 221. \nSar\'a-cus, 62. \nSar-din\'i-a, 284. \nSar\'dis, 114. \nSar\'gon, 60. \nSa\'traps, Persian, 120. \nSaul, king of Hebrews, 193. \n\n\n\nSaxons, 394. \n\nScar-a-bie\'us, 30. \n\nScipio Africanus Minor, 307. \nAsiaticus, 301. \n\nPublius Cornelius (Africanus \nMajor), 290, 297, 299, 302. \n\nScone, stone of, n. 10. \n\nSculpture, Assyrian, 68, 69, 72. \nEgyptian, 37. \nGrecian, 212-216. \nPersian, 125, \n\nSe-ja\'nus, 361. \n\nSel\'eu-ci\'a, city of, 189. \n\nSe-leu\'ci-das, kingdom of the, 189. \n\nSe-leu\'cus, Ni-ca\'tor, i8g. \n\nSe-mir\'a-mis, 59. \n\nSemitic nations, 5, 6. \n\nSen\'e-ca, 366, 461. \n\nSen-nach\'e-rib, 60, 68, 69. \n\nSer-to\'ri-us, 326. \n\nServians, 8. \n\nServile Wars in Sicil}^ 308, n. 309. \n\nSer\'vi-us Tul\'li-us, 247. \n\nSe-sos\'tris the Great, 20. \n\nSeven Sages, 228. \n\nSe-ve\'rus, Alexander, 384. \n\nSep-tim\'i-us, 381-382. \n\nShal-ma-ne\'ser II., 59. \n\nShe\'ba, Queen of, 95. \n\nShepherd Kings, 18, 19, loi. \n\nSicily, island of, 239, 273 ; Servile \nWars in, 308,309. \n\nSi\'don, 102. \n\nSil\'a-rus, defeat of gladiators at, 32S. \n\nSi-lu\'res, 365. \n\nSlavery, Roman, 308, 309. \n\nSlavonians, migrations of, 8. \n\nSocial War in Italy, 317. \n\nSo\'ci-i, relations to Roman govern- \nment, 317, 318. \n\nSocrates, 173,230. \n\nSog\'di-an Rock, 183. \n\nSog\'di-a\'na, 183. \n\nSolomon, king of Hebrews, 94. \n\nSo\'lon, laws of, 146. \n\nSoph\'o-clcs, 221. \n\nSo\'phi\'a, St., Church of, 390. \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\n483 \n\n\n\nSpain, civil war in, 326. \n\nSparta, 126 ; early history of, 136 ; \nSenate, 138 ; leader among Gre- \ncian states, 173. \n\nSpar\'ta-cus, 326. \n\nSpartans, situation as conquerors in \nLacedaemon, 136; laws of, 138-141. \n\nSphinx, Egyptian, 17, 38. \n\nSpor\'a-des, 127. \n\nSta\'ti-us, n. 453. \n\nStil\'i-cho, 399-401. \n\nStoics, doctrines of the, 234. \n\nStra\'bo, 238. \n\nSue-to\'ni-us, 460. \n\nSue\'vi, 336,400, 405. \n\nSulla, fights under Marius in Africa, \n315 ; secures command of Mithri- \ndatic expedition, 320 ; brings war \nto a close, 322 ; return to Rome, \n323 ; his proscriptions, 323 ; his \ndeath, 324. \n\nSu\'phis I., king of Egypt, 17. \n\nSu\'sa, 48. \n\nSyr\'a-cuse, 295. \n\nT. \n\nTable of Races, 12 ; of Hebrew \njudges and kings, 100 ; of Assyr- \nian kings, 86 ; of Babylonian rulers, \n86; of Chaldaean kings, 86; of \nkings of Egypt, 25 ; of kings of \nMedia and Persia, 119; of the \nPtolemies, 196 ; of the Roman \nkings and emperors, 252, 354, 378 ; \nof the Seleucidae, 196. \n\nTablets, Assyrian, 53 ; Babylonian, \nn. 84 ; Chaldaean, 53. \n\nTac\'i-tus, the historian, 458, 459. \n\nTad\'mor (see Palmyra). \n\nTalmud, 99. \n\nTa-ren\'tum, 268, 270. \n\nTar-pe\'i-an Rock, 264. \n\nTel\'a-mon, battle near, 286. \n\nTem\'pe, Vale of, 126. \n\nTen Thousand, expedition of the, \n\n173- \nTer\'ence, 444. \n\n\n\nTeu\'to-nes, defeated by Marius, 315, \n316. \n\nThap\'sus, battle of, 343. \n\nTheatres, Roman, 418. \n\nThe\'ba-id, 15. \n\nThebes, Egyptian, 20, 25. \nGrecian, 104, 176. \n\nThe-mis\'to-cles, 158, 161. \n\nThe-od\'o-ric the Ostrogoth, 470. \n\nThe\'o-do\'si-us the Great, 397, 398. \n\nTher\'mae, Roman, 428-430. \n\nTher-mop\'y-lai, Pass of, 156; battle \nof, 156. \n\nThe\'seus, 144, 167. \n\nThes\'sa-lo-ni\'ca, 340. \n\nThes\'sa-ly, 126. \n\nThirty Tyrants, Age of the, 384. \n\nThoth\'mes III., 20. \n\nThrace, 188. \n\nThu-cyd\'i-des (thu-sidi-dez), 223. \n\nTi-be\'ri-us, Roman emperor, 358, \n359-362. \n\nTi-bul\'lus, 452. \n\nTi-ci\'nus, battle of the, 290. \n\nTig\'lath-i-Nin\', 46, 75. \n\nTig\'lath-pi-le\'ser I., 56. \n\nTigris, basin of the, 45. \n\nTitus, captures Jerusalem, 368, 369 ; \n\nreign of, 369, 370 ; Arch of, 432. \nTrajan, Roman emperor, 372, 373. \nTras-i-me\'nus, Lake, battle of, 290. \nTre\'bi-a, battle of, 290. \nTri-bo\'ni-an, Roman jurist, 468. \nTribunes, Roman, 254, 259. \nTriumph, the Roman, 432, 433. \nTri-um\'vi-rate, First, 335 ; renewed, \n\n338 ; Second, 347. \nTrojan War, 132, 133. \nTroy, 132. \n\nTruceless War, 286. \nTuranians, 3, 4. \nTurks, 4. \n\nTwelve tables of Roman law,257,467. \nTy\'phon, 29. \nTyre, 77, 102, 103, 181. \nTyrian purple, 102. \nTyr-tae\'us, 142. \n\n\n\nb^ P \n\n\n\n484 \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\n\n\nU. \n\n\n\nUm\'bri-a, 239. \n\nUrukh, king of Chaldaea, 48. \n\nUtica, 105, 305, 306. \n\nf^\'- V. \n\nVad i-mo\'ni-an Lake, defeat of Etrus- \ncans at, 266. \nVa\'lens, Roman emperor, 393, 395- \n\n397- \nVal\'en-tin\'i-an, Roman emperor, 393- \n\n395- \nVa-le\'ri-us, Pub\'li-us, 253. \nVandals, 400, 405, 408. \nVar\'ro, 460. \n\nVa\'rus, defeated by Hermann, 358. \nVe\'i-i (ve\'yi), siege of, 260. \nVen\'di-dad, 121. \nVen\'e-ti, 336, 407. \nVe-ne\'ti-a, 239. \nVer-cel\'lae, battle of, 317. \nVer\'cin-get\'o-rix, 337. \nVer\'res, abuses of, 328. \nVespasian ( ves-pa\'zhi-an ), Roman \n\nemperor, 368, 369. \nVes\'ta, fires of, 249. \nVe-su\'vi-us, battle of, 266. \nVesuvius, Mount, 370. \nVillas, Roman, 430. \nVin\'do-bo\'na, 377. \nVirgil, 448-450. \n\n\n\nVir\'i-a\'thus, 307. \nVis\'i-goths, 395-397\xc2\xbb 405. \nVi-tel\'li-us, Roman emperor, 368. \nVocal Memnon, 20, 38. \nVolscians, 256. \nVul-Lush III., 59. \nVul\'so, L. Man\'li-us, 278. \n\nW. \n\nWelsh, of Celtic origin, 8, n. 11. \nWriting, Assyrian, 70. \n\nChaldaean, 52. \n\nEgyptian,40. \n\nPhcenician, 105, io6. \n\nX. \n\nXan-thip\'pus, 279. \nXen\'o-phon, 174, 224. \nXerxes (zerks\'ez) I., king of Persia, \n115, 152-158; II., 116. \n\n\n\nZa\'ma, battle of, 299. \nZed\'e-ki\'ah, 77. \nZe\'la, battle of, 343. \nZend\'a-ves\'ta, 121. \nZe\'no, 233. \n\nZeuxis (zuks\'iss), 218. \nZe-no\'bi-a, 385. \nZo-ro-as\'ter, 7. \nZoroastrianism, 121-123. \n\n\n\niBAg\'OS \n\n\n\n'