. Digitized, by the Internet Archive j ^ ^ o •^ tn 2011 with funding from'/- ^-^"^^J^-^ ^0 o ^I^4:^h^'brary of Coriqress- * " ' V . ;^^^^ > >■/ h);tp:7/www:a1'GhTV-e.org/d6taiJs/brieff3istoryofanQ^tstee' ' ' - * » ■^ oo^ ^r / ;>■ /'. ^^g/rp^. O V ^' -^(\ x^^'^/^.- .^- \ <*: ^^'" ^x.'^:^^^^ o -^ .0 s o \"' '^^. ,0^ %^. -^ ~^.# 'O ^^■% .0 0, v^^: &' * I k A -.HI BARNES'S ONE-TEJi.M SERIES Brief H istory Ancient, Mediaeval, AND Modern Peoples, SOME ACCOUNT OF THEIR MONUMENTS, INSTITUTIONS, ARTS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS. A. S. BARNES & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. 1883. THB LIBRAftvl OPCONG«BtS WASHINGTOW BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORICAL SERIES. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, for the use of Schools. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF FRANCE, for the use of Schools and for private reading. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF ANCIENT PEOPLES, for the use of Schools and for private read- ing. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN PEOPLES, for the use ot Schools and for private reading. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF GENERAL HISTORY. THE ANCIENT, MEDIv^VAL, AND MODERN PEOPLES. Bound in one volume, i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND, for the use of Schools and for private reading. 12010. Illustrated, In prepay-ation. BARNES'S POPULAR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, for private reading, and for reference in Schools and Families. Royal 8vo. Beautifully illustrated. A. S. BARNES k CO., New York and Chicago. *** Ch'culars attci Descriptive Catalogue and any inforjnatioji con- cerning our publications^ will be sent to any address on application. Copyright, 1883. bv A. S. Rnrnei b' Co. KVA.- VAis ; >"• ra .■ 1y/i>>C ^5?^ a PREFACE ^ fe*l' THE plan of the Barnes's Brief History Series has been thoroughly tested in the books already issued — United States, and France — and their extended use and approval are evidence of its general excellence. In this work, the political history, which occupies most, if not all, of the ordinary school-text, is condensed to the salient and essential facts, in order to give room for some account of the literature, religion, architecture, character, and habits of the different nations. Surely, it is as important to know somethifig about Plato as all about Caesar; to learn how the ancients wrote their books as how they fought their battles ; and to study the virtues of the old Germans and the dawn of our own customs in English home-life, as to trace the petty squabbles of Alexander's suc- cessors or the intricacies of the Wars of the Roses. The Chapters on Manners and Customs and the Scenes in Real Life represent the people of history as men and women subject to the same wants, hopes, and fears as ourselves, and so bring the distant past near to us. The Scenes, which are intended only for reading, are the result of a careful study of the unequaled collections of monuments in the London, Paris, and Berlin Museums, of the ruins in Rome and Pompeii, and of the latest authorities on the domestic life of the peoples of other lands and times. Though intentionally written in a ^* were not only the two centers of early civilization, but they were rivals of each other. They were connected by roads fit for the passage of vast armies. Whenever there was an energetic ruler along the Nile or the Tigris- Euphrates, he at once, as if by an inevitable law, attempted the conquest of his com- petitor for the control of Western Asia. In fact, the history of ancient as well as modern Asia is little more than one continuous record of political straggles between •Egypt and Mesopotamia, ending only when Europe entered the lists, as in the tim? of Alexander the Great and the Crusaders," 14 ANCIENT HISTORY, to a. nomadic people to settle and commence a national life. Accordingly, amid the obscurity of antiquity, we catch sight of Memphis, Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon — the ear- liest cities of the world. The traveler of to-day, wandering among their ruins, looks upon the records of the infancy :.f man. EGYPT. 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. The Origin of the civilization which grew up on the banks of the Nile is uncertain. The earliest accounts repre- sent the country as divided into nomes, or provinces, and having a regular government. About 2700 B. c. Menes (me-neez), the half-mythical founder of the nation, is said to have conquered Lower Eg}^t and built Memphis, which he made his capital. Succeeding him, down to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians under Cambyses (527 B.C.), there were twenty-six dynasties of Pharaohs, or kings. The his- tory of this long period of over 2000 years is divided into that of the Old, Middle and New Empires. 1. The Old Empire (2700-2080 b. c.).*— During this Geof/rapkicai Quesfio/is.~Locate the capitals of the five early kingdoms of Egypt: This, Elephantine, Memphis, Heracleopolis, and Thebes. Where are the Pyramids of Gizeh ? Where were Lower, Middle and Upper Egypt ? Where is the first cataract of the Nile ? Describe the geographical appearance of -^Egypt. Ans. A flat valley, 2 to 10 miles wide, skirted. by low, rocky hills ; on the west, the desert ; on the east, a mountainous region rich in quarries, extending to the Red Sea. Through this narrow valley, for 600 miles, the Nile river rolls its muddy waters northward. About 100 miles from the Mediterranean the feills recede, the A-alley widens, and the Nile divides into two outlets— the Damietta and Rosetta. These branches diverge until they enter the sea, 80 miles apart. Anciently there were seven branches, and the triangular space they enclosed was called the Delta, from the Greek letter A. The Nile receiving no tributary for about 1350 miles of its course, becomes, unlike other rivers, smaller toward its mouth. * Previous to the discoveries of the last century, the chief sources of information on Egypt were (1) Herod'otus, a Greek historian who traveled along the Nile about 450 B.C., and based his accounts upon infoi-mation obtained from the' priests; (2) Diodo'rus Sic'ulus, anotlier Greek historian, who visited Egypt in the 1st century B. c, but whose stateinente are substantially those of Herodotus ; and (3) Man'etho, 16 EGYPT. epoch the principal interest clusters about the IVth or Pyramid dynasty, so-called because its chief monarchs l)uilt the three great pyra- mids at Gizeh (ghe- zeh). The best known of these kings was Khufn, termed Cheops (ke-ops) by Herodotus. In time, Egypt broke up into separate kingdoms, Me;iiphis gradually lost its pre-eminence, and Thebes became the favorite capital. 2. The Middle Empire (2080-1525 B. c). With the rise of Thebes to the sovereign power, be- gan a new epoch in an Egyptian priest (3d century b. c), who wrote in Greek a history of which only fragments now remain. Manetho professed to compile his accounts from archives preserved in tlic Egyptian teini)lcs, and lias been the main authority on chronology. He gives, however, a worthless list of gods, heroes, and kings whom he declares to have reigned for nearly 25,000 years before the accession of Menes. How many of the dynasties which follow Menes were contemporaneous is still a subject of dispute among Egyptologers, and there is thus a difference of over 2,:^ years in the extreme dates given for the time of Menes. The Egyptians themselves had no continuous chronology, but reckoned dates from the ascension of each king, so that the monu- ments furnish little help. Of the five recovered lists of kings, only one attempts to give the length of their respective reigns, and this inscription is in 164 fragments, most of the figures being illegible. All Egyptian data prior to the XXVIth dynasty are uncertain. In this book, what is called the Short Chronology has been followed, THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 17 Egyptian history. The Xllth dynasty, reigning in the '' lOO-gatecl city," was the first to claim all the district watered by the Nile, and under those great kings, the Sesor- tasens and Amenemhes, Ethiopia was conquered. To this dynasty belong the famous Lake Moeris and the Labyrinth (p. 39). The country being parceled into five kingdoms, its divided state invited attack, and the Shepherd (Hyksos) Kings, a rude and barbarous race that had already conquered Lower Egypt, finally overran the whole region (1900 B.C.). For about 400 years a darkness as of night rested on the land. At last the people rose under a Theban ruler and drove out their oppressors. 3. The New Empire (1525-527 b.c.).— The native kings having been restored to the throne, Egypt became a united people with Thebes for the capital. Then followed a true national life of 1000 years. The XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties exalted Egypt to the height of its glory. Thotmes I. (tot'-meez) began a system of great Asiatic expe- ditions. Tlwtmes III., who has been styled *^'^the Egyptian Alexander the G-reat," erected the magnificent temple-palace at Thebes. From his inscriptions, he is believed to have taken tribute from Nineveh and Babylon, while his fleet, manned by Phoenician sailors, gave him the supremacy of the Mediterranean. Amunoph TIL was a famous warrior and builder. Among his structures there remains the Vocal Memnon, which was said to sing when struck by the rays of the rising sun. Seti (Mineptah) completely subdued Meso- potamia, Assyria and Chaldea, and built the Great Hall of Karnak* At an early age his son Eameses II. was made * The Great Temple of Kamak (see Illustration, p. 9) was 1200 feer long by 360 feet wide, and had five or six smaller temples grouped around it. The Great Hall was 340 feet by 170, and contained 134 columns, some of which were 70 feet high and 12 f«et in diameter. " The mass of its central piers, illumined by a flood of light from above, and the smaller pillars of its wings, gradually fading into obscurity, are so arranged and lighted as to convey an idea of infinite space ; while the beauty 18 EGYPT. joint king with liim, and they reigned together until, accord- ing to Egyptian tradition, " Mineptah's soul, like a bird, suddenly liew up to heaven to exist forever in the bark of the sun." Rameses II., the Sesostris the Great of the Greek historians, carried his conquering arms far into Africa. Of all the Pharaohs, he was the greatest builder, and most of the ruins in Egypt bear his name, though they are much inferior in sculpture and architecture to the magnificent works of his father.* He founded a library inscribed "The Dispensary of the Soul," and gathered about him many men of genius, making his time the golden age of early art and literature. The Decline of Egypt began with the XXth djmasty, when it was no longer able to retain its vast conquests. The tributary peoples revolted, and the country was subdued in turn by the Ethiopians and the Assyrians (p. 49). After nearly a century of foreign rule, Psammetichus of the XXVIth dynasty threw off the Assyrian yoke and restored the Egyp- tian independence. This monarch, by employing Greek and massivenesis of the forms, and the brilliancy of their colored decorations, all combine to stamp this as the greatest of man's architectural works." {FergussorCs Hut. of Arch.). Two miles further south, at Luxor, was another temple over 800 feet long ; this was joined to Karnak by an a\ enue of sphinxes. Near Thebes were two other celebrated monuments of the XVlIIth and XlXth djoiasties, viz., the Memnonium, built by Amunoph III., and the Kamesseum, by Rameses II. * One of the first acts of Rameses after Seti's death was to complete the unfin- ished temple of Abydus, where his father was buried. A long inscription which he placed at the entrance, ostensibly in praise of the departed Seti, is a good example of his own boastfulness and habit of self-glorification. He says : " The most beauti- ful thing to behold, the best thing to rear, is a child with a thankful breast, whose heart beats for his father. Wherefore my heart urges me to do what is good for Mineptah. / will cause them to talk forever and eteymally of his son, who has awakened his name to life." " I was a little boy when I attained to the government ; then Seti gave over to me the country, and T gave my orders as the chief of the life- guards and of the fighters on chariots. My father showed me publicly to the people, and I was a boy on his lap, and he spake thus : ' I will cause him to be crowned as king, for I will behold his excellence while I am yet alive.' Thus was I like the sun- god Ra, the first of mortals." For a full translation of this inscription, see BnigscWs Egypt, Vol. II. The filial zeal of Rameses so declined in his later years that he even chiseled out his father's name and memorials in many places on the temple walls, eubstituting his own in their place^ THE CIVILIZATION. 19 troops, SO offended the native warriors that 200,000 of them mutinied and emigrated to Ethiopia. His successor Neclio (Pharaoh-Necho of the Scriptures) maintained a powerful fleet. Under his orders the Phoenician ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope.* The internal prosperity of Egy|3t still continued, as is shown by the magnificent monuments of this period, but the army was filled with mercenaries, and the last of the Pharaohs fell an easy prey to the fierce-fighting Persians under Cambyses. Egypt, like Babylon (p. 51), was now reduced to a Persian province governed by a satrap. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. Egyptian Society was divided into distinct classes, so that no man could rise higher than the station in which he was born.t The ])riestly and military classes, which included the king, princes and all men of rank, were far above the others. TliQ King received the most exalted titles, and his authority was supposed to come directly from the gods. The courtiers on approach- ing him fell prostrate,- rubbing the ground with their noses ; some- times, by his gracious consent, they were j^ermitted to touch his sacred knee.J That he might be kept pure, he was given from childhood only the choicest and most virtuous companions, and no * T\\'ice during th.is voyage, says Herodotus, the crews, fearing a want of food, landed, drew their ships on shore, sowed grain and waited for a harvest. The pupij wUl notice that all this occurred over 2000 years before the time of Yasco da Gama (Hist. U. S., p. 41), to whom is generally accorded the credit of first circumnavigating Africa. + There seems to have been an exception in favor of talented scribes. " Neither descent nor family hampered the rising career of the clever. Many a monument con- secrated to the memory of some nobleman who had held high rank at court has the simple but laudatory inscription, 'His ancestors were unknown people.' "' — Brugsch. X " When they had come before the king, their noses touched the ground, and their feet lay on the ground for joy ; they fell down to the ground and with their hands they prayed to the king. Thus they lay prostrate and touching the earth before the king, speaking thus : ' We are come before thee, the lord of heaven, lord of the earth, sun, life of the whole world, lord of time, creator of the harvest, dis- penser of breath to all men, animator of the gods, pillar of heaven, threshold of the earth, weigher of the balance of the two worlds,' " etc. [Inscription of Rameses U. at Abydns.] 20 EGYPT. hired servant was allowed to approach his person. His daily con- duct was governed by a code of rules laid down in the sacred books, which prescribed not only the hourly order and nature of his occu- pations, but limited even the kind and quantity of his food. He was never suffered to forget his obligations, and one of the offices of the High Priest at the daily sacrifice was to remind him of his duties, and by citing the good works of his ancestors to impress upon him the nobility of a well-ordered life. After death he was worshipped with the gods. The Priests were thj lichest, the most powerful, and the only learned body of the country. They were not limited to sacred offices, and in their caste comprised all the mathematicians, scientists, lawyers and physicians of the land. Those priests who " excelled in virtue and wis- dom " were initiated into the holy mys- teries^ a privilege which they shared only wnth the king and the prince-royal. Among the priesthood, as in the other classes, there were marked distinctions of rank. The High Priests held the most honorable station. Chief among them was the Prophet, who offered sacrifice and libation in the temple, wearing as his insignia a leopard skin over his rob;bs. The king himself often performed the duties of this office. The religious observances of the priests were rigid. They had long fasts, bathed twice a day and twice in the night, and every third day were shaven from head to foot ; the most devout using water which had been tasted by the sacred Ibis. Beans, pork, fish, onions, and various other articles of diet were forbidden to them, and on certain days when a religious ceremony compelled every Egyptian to eat a fried fish before his door, the priests burned theirs instead. Their dress w^^s of linen ; w^oolen might be used for an outer, but never for an inner garment, nor could it be worn into a temple. The influence of the priests was immense, since they not only ruled the living, but were supposed to have power to open and shut the gates of eternal bliss to tiie dead. They received an ample income from the state, and had one-third of the land free of tax, EGYPTIAN PROPHET. (From Monument at Thebes.) THE CIVILIZATION. 21 an inheritance which they claimed as a special gift from the god- dess Isis. The Military Glass also possessed one-third of the land, each soldier's share being about eight acres. The army, which numbered 410,000 men, was well disciplined and thoroughly organized. It comprised archers, spearmen, swordsmen, clubmen, and slingers. Each soldier furnished his own equipments, and held himself in constant readiness for duty. He wore a metal coat of mail and a metal or cloth helmet, and carried a large shield made of ox-hide drawn oyer a wooden frame. The chariots, of which great use was EGYPTIAN WAR CHARIOT (THEBES). made in war, were sometimes richly ornamented and inlaid with gold. The king led the army, and was often accompanied by a favorite lion. Lower Glasses. — All the free population not belonging to the priesthood or the military, was divided into three general classes, which we're again subdivided, each trade or occupation having its own rank and inhabiting a certain quarter of the town. The highest of these classes included the husbandmen or farmers, the huntsmen, Kile-boatmen and others ; next in rank were the artisans, trades- men, mechanics and public weighers ; while the lowest class was made up of herdsmen, fishermen, poulterers and common laborers. Swineherds were the most despised of all men, and were forbidden to enter the temples. As the entire land of Egypt was owned by 22 EGYPT. the king, the priests and the soldiers, the lower classes could hold no real estate ; but they had strongly-marked degrees of importance, depending upon the relative rank of the trade to which they were born, and their business success. No artisan could meddle in political affairs, hold any civil office, or engage in any other employ- ment than the one to which he had been brought up, under a severe penalty. Every man was obliged to have some regular means of subsistence, a written declarati(m of which was deposited period- ically with the magistrate ; a false account or an unlawful business was punished by death. Writing. — Hiercglyp/iics* (sacred sculptures). — The earliest Egyptian writing was a series of object pictures analogous to that still used by the North American Indians {Brief Hid. U. S., p. 13). Gradually this primitive system -^ m ^^ M, ..Jk (^^\ ^^'^^ altered and abbreviated into ^ Y ^ «k % ^ ^ ^Q^ (1) Meratic (priestly) writing, THE NAME OF EGVPT ,N H.EROGLvPH.cs. ^hc fomi in which most Egyp- tian literature is written, and which is read by first resolving it into the original hieroglyphs ; and (3) demotic (writing of the people), in which all traces of the original pictures are lost. During these changes many meanings became attached to one sign, so that the same hieroglyph might represent an idea, the symbol of an idea, or an abstract letter, syllable or word. An Egyptian scribe used various devices to explain his meaning. To a hieroglyphic word or syllable he would append one or more of its letters ; then, as the letter-signs had different meanings, he * So called by the Greeks, who thought them to be mystic religious symbols understood only by the priests. Neither the Greelvs nor Romans attempted to decipher them. The discovery of the Rosetta stone (1799) furnished the first clue to their reading. A French engineer, vvhih; digging intrenchments on the site of an old temple near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile {Brief Hid. of France, p. 229), unearthed a black basalt tablet inscribed in three languages : hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. It proved to be a decree made by the priests in the time of Ptolemy V. (196 B.C.), whom it styled the "god Epiphanes," increasing his divine honors and ordering that the command should be engraved in the three languages and placed in a;i tlie chief temples. By a comparison of the Greek and Egj'ptian texts a principle of interpretation was finally established. Hieroglyjjhics had hitherto been supposed to represent only ideas or symbols. Twenty-three years after the discovery of the Rosetta stone, the great French scholar Fran9ois Chanipolliou announced that they express both ideas and sounds. The Egyptians enclosed their royal names and titles in an oval ring or cartoucli. Out of the four cartouches, (Z^^^Wj Piolemaios. fen^VCJ Berenike, C^^R°V^VCl Kleopatra, and (^^^^J Alexandros, Champollion obtain;,'d a ])artial alphabet, which was completed by subsequent analyses. THE CIVILIZATION^. 23 would add a picture of some object that would suggest the intended idea. Thus, for the word bread "^ ^ he would write the syllable "^^ {AQ), then its complement ■*(§)/ and, finally, as a determinative, give the picture of a loaf (c^ ). One would suppose that the form of the loaf would itself have been sufficient, but even that had several interpretations. In like manner, the scrib.e appended the determinative J^ . not only to words sig- nifying actions of the mouth, as eating^ laughing y speaking ^ etc., but to those of the thought, as I'liowing, judging^ deciding. To under- stand hieroglyphics, a knowledge of the j^eculiar ideas of^the Egyp- tians is also necessary. It is easy to see that '^L means worship and "^^ crime ; but we should hardly interpret "Lk^ as son, or j| as mother, unless we knew that geese were believed to possess a warm filial nature, and all vultures to be females. Besides these and other complications in hieroglyphic writing, there was no uniform way of arranging sentences. They were written both hori- zontally and perpendicularly ; sometimes part of a sentence was placed one way and part the other ; sometimes the words read from right to left, sometimes from left to right, and sometimes they were scattered about within a given space without any apparent order. Papyrus. — Books were written and government records kept on papyrus* (hence, paper) rolls. These were generally about ten inches wide and often one hundred and fifty feet long. They were written upon with a frayed reed dipped into black or red ink. As the government had the monopoly of the papyrus, it was very costly. * The papyrus or papei--reed, which flourished in ancient times so luxuriantly that it formed jungles along the banks of the Nile, is no longer found in Egypt. (The paper-reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. — Isaiah xix. 7.) It had a large three-sided, tapering stem, two to three inches broad at the base. The reed was prepared for use by peeling off the smooth bark and cutting the inner mass of white pith lengthways into thin slices, which were laid side by side with their edges touching one another. A second layer having been placed transversely upon the first and the whole sprinkled with the muddy Nile water, a heavy press was applied which united them in one mass. It was then dried and cut into sheets of the required size. Papyrus was in use until the end of the 7th century a. d.^ when it was superseded by parchment— prepared skins. The latter was also used in Egypt at a veiy early period, and though it is generally supposed to have been invented by Eumenes, king of Pergamus, in the 2d century B.C., "records written upon skins and kept in the temple " are mentioned in the time of the XVIIIth dynasty, 1200 years before Eumenes (p. 156.) EGYPT. ^*ffl THE PAPYRUS REED. .A^ For common purposes, therefore, the people used bits of broken pottery, stones, boards, /^'/, the bark and leaves of trees, and the shoulder- bones of animals. Literature.— ^o'oZ; of the Dead.— The most cele brated Egyptian book is the " Book of the Manifestation to Light," often called the "Book of the Dead." It is a ritual for the use of the soul in its journeys* after death, and a copy more or less .. //Ijf * The soul was described as making long and perUous journeys in the under- world. Instructions were given by which it could vanquish the frightful monsters that constantly assailed it before reaching the firt^t gate of heaven. That passed, it entered upon a series of transformations, becoming successively a hawk, lotus- flower, heron, crane, serpent and crocodile, all being symbols of Deity. Meanwhile it retained a mysterious connection with its mummied body, and w as at liberty to come and go from the grave during the day time in any form it chose. At last the body, carefully preserved from decay, joined the soul in its travels and they went on together to new dangers and ordeals. The most dreaded of all encounters, was the trial in the Great Hall of Justice before Osiris and his forty-two assessors, where the heart was weighed in the infallible scales of Truth, and its fate irrevocably fixed. The accepted soul was identified with Osiris and set out on a series of ecstatic THECIYILIZATIOK-. 25 complete, acccrding to the fortune of the deceased, was enclosed in the mummy-case. This strange book contains some sublime pas- sages, and many of its chapters date from the earliest antiquity. As suggestive of Egyptian morals, it is interesting to find in the soul's defence before Osiris, such sentences as these : " I have not been idle ; I have not been intoxicated ; I have not told secrets ; I have not told falsehoods ; T have not defrauded ; I have not slandered ; I have not caused tears ; I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked." Phtah-lio'tep^s Boole. — (jOO(\ old Prince Phtah-hotep, son of a king of the Vtli dynasty, wrote a moral treatise full of excellent advice to the young people of 4000 years ago. This book, now i)re- served in Paris, is believed to be the oldest in the world. The fol- lowing extracts are noticeable : On Filial Obedience. "The obedient son shall grow old and obtain favor : thus have I, myself, become an old man on earth and have lived 110 years in favor with the king, and approved by my seniors." On Freedom from Arrogance. "If thou art become great, after thou hast been humble, and if thou hast amassed riches after poverty, being because of that the first in thy town ; if thou art known for thy wealth and art become a great lord, let not thy heart become proud because of thy riches, for it is God who is the author of them. Despise not another who is as thou wast ; be towards him as towards thy equal." On Cheerfulness. " Let thy. face be cheerful as long as thou livest ; has any one come out of the coffin after having once entered it ? " MUcellaneoiis Boohs. — Several treatises on medicine have been deciphered. They generally abound in charms and adjurations. Works on rhetoric and mathematics, and various legal and po- litical documents are extant. Epistolary correspondence is abun- dant. A letter addressed by a priest to one of the would-be poets of the time, contains this wholesome criticism : "It is very unimportant what flows over thy tongue, for thy compositions are very confused. Thou tearest the words to tatters, just as it comes into thy mind. Thou dost not take pains to find out their force for thyself. If thou rushest wildly forward thou wilt not succeed. I have struck out for thee the end of thy composi- tion, and I return to thee thy descriptions. It is a confused medley when one hears it ; an uneducated person could not understand it. It is Uke a man from the low- lands speaking with a man from Elephantine." A few works of fiction exist which belong to the Xlltli dynasty, and there are many beautiful hymns addressed to the different gods. A long and popular poem, the Epic of Pentaui\ which celebrated journeys in the boat of the Sun, the final glory being a blissful and eternal rest. The rejected soul was sent back to the earth in the form of a pig or some other unclean animal to sufi"er degradation and torture. 2 26 EGYPT. QUEEN AIDING KING IN TEMPLE SERVICE (THEBES). the deeds of Rameses II., won the prize in its time as a heroic song, and was eni;raved on tlie temple walls at Abydus, Luxor, Karnak and the Kainessi'um. It has sometimes been styled the Egyptian Iliad. Education was under the control of the priesthood, who schooled their own children in the science and literature of the day. Great attention was paid to mathe- matics and to writing, of which the Egyptians were especially fond. Geom- etry and mensuration w^ere important, as the yearly inundation of the Nile produced constant disputes concerning l)roperty boundaries. In music, only those songs appointed by law were taught, the children being carefully guarded from any of doubtful senti- ment. As women were treated with great dignity and respect in Egypt, reigning as queens and serving in the holiest offices of the temple, they probably shared in the advantages of schooling. Though a certain amount of learning was open to all classes, the common people had little education except what per- tained to their trade or calling. Reading and writing were so diffi- cult as to be considered great accomplishments. Monuments and Art. — Stupendous size and mysterious sym- bolism characterize all the monuments of this strange people. They built immense pyramids holding closely-hidden chambers; gigantic temples * whose massive entrances, guarded by great stone statues, were approached by long avenues of colossal sphinxes ; vast temple-courts, areas and halls in which w-ere forests of carved and gaily-painted colunms ; and lofty obelisks, towers and sitting statues,! * "Upon broad brick terraces raised high above the flat hanks of the stream, stood the Egyptian temple, a strictly isolated building. Huge sloping walls, crowned with the overshadowing concave cornice, surround its enclosure, and invest the whole with a solemn and mysterious character. No opening for windows, no colon- nades interruj)t the monotonous surface of the temple- wall, which is covered as with a L'iirantic tapestry, with hrilliantly-colored intaglio sculptures and hieroglyphics. The narrow, lofty entrance, facing the river-bank, is between two tower-like sloping Btructures, rising high above the rest of the building. In front of these pylons stood great masts which on festive occasions were surmounted by pendant flags."— iw^ii/fce'^ Eistory of Art. t In the Memnonium at Thebes, the sitting statue of Eameses n., made of Syenite granite, measured over 2-i feet across the shoulders aud is estimated to have •weighed 887 tons. It is now in fragments. THE CIVILIZATIOK. 27 which still endure, though desert winds and drifting sands have beaten upon them for thousands of years. Sculpture — Painting — Statuary. — Egyptian granite is so hard that it is cut with difficulty by the best steel tools of to-day ; yet the ancient sculptures are sometimes graven to the depth of several inches, and show an exquisite finish and accuracy of detail. Paint- ing was usually conibmed with sculpture, the natural hue of the objects represented being crudely imitated. Blue, red, green, black, yellow and white were the principal colors. Red, which typified the sun,* and blue, the color of the sky reflected in the Nile, were sacred tints. Tombs, which were cut in the solid rock, had no outer orna- mentation, but the interior was gaily painted with scenes from every- day life. Sarcophagi and the walls which en- closed temples were covered both inside and out- side with scenes or inscriptions. In temples, the subjects for painting were mostly from the Book of the Dead; in j^alaces w^ere pictured the royal hunts and conquests. The proportion, form, color and expression of every statue were fixed by laws prescribed by the priests, the efi*ect most sought being that of immovable repose. t A wooden statue found at Sakkarah and belonging to one of the earliest dynasties is remarkable for its fine expression and evident effort at por- traiture. Mode of Drawing — Perspective.— In drawing the human form, the entire body was traced, after which the drapery was added (see cut). Several artists were employed on one picture. The first drew squares of a definite size upon which he sketched in red an outline of the desired figure ; the next corrected and improved it in black; the sculptor then followed with his chisel and other tools ; and finally, the most important artist of all laid on the pre- scribed colors. The king was drawn on a much larger scale than his subjects ; his dignity being suggested by his colossal size. Gods and SON OF RAMESES III. (Thebes.) * Ked was also the color of Typhon, the evil god (p. 31). t All Egyptian statues, whether erect, seated or kneeling, have a stiff, rigid pose, and are generally fastened at the back to a pillar. During the reign of the Ptolemies (323-30 B. c.) the priests ordered the statues of the gods to be made with one foot in advance of the other. So great were the horror and fear of the masses at seeing their deities apparently ready to v.'alk, that they rushed from all sides with strong ropes and tied the divinities to their pedestals lest they should be tempted to roam abroad, &nd thus leave the country godless. 28 EGYPT. goddesses were frequently represented witli the head of an animal on « human form. There was no idea of perspective, and the general cllVct <^f an ELivptian painted scene was that of grotesque stiffness. Practical Arts and Inventions.— We have seen how the Euyptians excelled in cutting granite. Steel was in use as early as the IVth dynasty, and i)ictures on the Memphite tombs represent butchers sharpening their knives on a bar of that metal attached to their apron. Great skill was shown in alloying, casting and solder- in" metals. Some of their bronze implements, though buried for ages, and^ since exposed to the damp of European climates, are still smooth and bright. They possessed the art of imparting elasticity to bronze or brass; and of overlaying bronze with a rich green by means of acids. OlasB bottles are represented in the earliest sculptures, and the Egyptians had their own secrets in coloring which the best Venetian glass- makers of to-day are unable to discover. Their glass mosaics were so delicately ornamented that some of the feathers of birds and other details can be made out only with a lens, which would imply that this means of magnifying was used in Egypt. G^ms and precious stones were successfully imitated in glass, and Wilkinson says, "The mock pearls found by me in Thebes were so well counterfeited that even now it is difficult with a strong lens to detect the imposition." Oolfhmiths w^ashing and working gold are seen on monuments of the IVth dy- nasty; and gold and silver wire were woven into cloth and used in embroidery as early as the Xllth dynasty. Gold rings, brace- lets, armlets, necklaces, earrings, vases and statues were common in the same age, the cups being often beautifully engraved and studded with precious stones. Ob- jects of art were sometimes made of silver or bronze inlaid with gold, or of basei metals gilded so as to give the effect of solid gold. Veneering was extensively practiced, and in sculptures over 3300 years old workmen are seen with glue-pot- on the fire fastening the rare woods to the common sycamore and acacia. In cabinet work Egypt excelled, and house-furniture as- sumed graceful and elegant forms. EGYPTIAN EASY CHAIR. THE CIVILIZATION 29 Flax and Cotton were grown, and great perfection was reached in spinning and weaving. Specimens of linen liave been found in Mem- pbite tombs which are in touch comparalHe to silk and not infe- rior in texture to our finest cambric. Strength was combined with EGYPTIAN COUCH, PILLOW, AND STEPS. fineness, and the flax-strings used for fowling-nets were so delicate that " a man could carry nets enough to surround a whole wood." Mordants were employed in dyeing cloth, as in our own manufac- tories. Finally, wooden hoes, shovels, forks and ploughs, toothed sickles and drags /^ ) ^T^k. /S^ aided the farmer in his work ; the carpenter had axe, hammer, file, adze, handsaw, chisel, drill, plane, right-angle, ruler andiDlummet; the glass- worker and gem -cutter used emery powder and the lapidary's wheel ; the potter, too, had his wheel upon which he worked the clay after he had kneaded it with his feet ; the public weigher was furnished with stamped weights and measures, and delicate scales for balancing the gold and silver rings used as cur- rency ; the- musicians played on double and single pipes, harps, flutes, guitars, lyres, tambourines, and cymbals; while the drum and trumpet cheered the soldier in his march. EGYPTIAN MUSICIANS (tHE GUITAR, HARP AND DOUBLE PIPe). 30 EGYPT. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — The Egyptians were mild in disposition, polite in manners, reverential to their elders and superiors, extremely hiyal and patriotic, and intensely religious. Tliey have been called a gloomy people, but their sculptures reveal a keen sense of humor and love of caricature. They were especially fond of ceremonies and of festivals. Their religion formed a part of their every-day life, and was interwoven with all their customs. Religion. — The Egyptian priests believed in one invisible, over- rulinu", self-created God ; the immortality of the soul ; a judgment after death ; the final annihilation of the wicked ; and the ultimate absorption of the good into the eternal Deity. " God created His own members, which are the gods," they said; and so out of one great God grew a host of lesser ones, regarded by the priests as only His attributes and manifestations, but becoming to the people distinct and separate divinities. Natural objects and prin- ciples were thus deified — the soil, the sky, the East, the West, even the general idea of time and space. Each month and day had its own god. The Nile, as the source of the country's fertility, was especially revered, and the conflict of God with sin was seen in the life-giving river, and the barren, encroaching desert. The Sun, especially in later times, was the great exponent of Deity. His mysterious disappearance each night, and his return every morning to roll over the heavens with all the splendor of the pre- ceding day, were events full of symbolic meaning. The rising sun was the beautiful young god Horus ; in his midday glory, he was Ra ; as he neared the western horizon he became Tum ; and during the night he was Amun. Each of these gods, as well as the many others connected with the sun, had his own specific character. This complex sun-god was imagined to float through the sky in a boat accompanied by the souls of the Supremely Blest, and at night to pass into the regions of the dead. Triad of Orders. — There were three orders of gods. The first * * In Thebes, Amun-Ra, the "Concealed God" or "Absolute Spirit ''■ headed the deities of the first order. He was represented as having the head of a ram, the hieroglyphic of a ram signifying also concealment. In Memphis, Phtah, " Father of the Beginnings," the Creator, was chief ; his symbol was the scarabseus or beetle, an image of which was placed on the heart of every mummy. Phtah was father of Ra, the Run-gf)d. Ra was. in the mystic sense, that which is to-day, the existing present; the hawk was his emblem. Pnsht,\i\% sister, one of the personifications of the sun's strong rays, someritnes healthful, sometimes baneful, was both loved and feared. She was especially worshipped at Bubastis, but her statues, having the head THE MANIfERS AND CUSTOMS. 31 BRONZE FIGURE OF APIS. was for the priesthood and represented the ideal and spiritual part of the religion ; the second impersonated human faculties and powers ; and the third — the most popular of all among the people — was made up of forms and forces in Nature. Triads of Gods. — Each town or citv had its specially-honored triad of deities to whom its temples were dedicated. The triads often con- sisted of father, mother, and son ; but sometimes of two gods and a king. Osiris, who with Isis and Horns formed the most celebrated of the triads, was worshipped throughout the land. So popular were these deities that it has been said, " With the exception of Amun and Neph, they comprise all Egyptian mythology." * Animal Worship. — As early as the lid dynasty certain animals came to be regarded as em- blems or even incarnations of the gods. The bull Apis, whose tem- ple was at Memphis, was sup- posed to be inhabited by Osiris himself, and the sacred presence of the god to be attested by cer- tain marks on the body of the animal. Apis was consulted as an of a cat, are common all over Egypt. Neipli^ often confounded with Amun and, like him, wearing the ram's head, was the Divine Breath or Spirit pervading matter ; sheep were sacred to him. Thoth, son of Neph, was god of intelligence ; the ibis was his emblem. Sate, the wife of Neph and one of the forms of Isis, was the god- dess of vigilance ; she was the eastern sky waiting for the morning sun. Athor, goddess of love, was the beautiful western sky, wife of the evening sun, taking the wearied traveler to rest in her arms after each day's labor ; the cow was her emblem. Neith, wife of Phtah, was goddess of wisdom ; she was the night sky which induces reflection. Maut, the Mother Goddess and greatest of the sky divinities — which were all feminine— was the cool night sky tenderly brooding over the hot, exhausted earth ; the shrew mouse was sacred to her. Typhon was the common enemy of all the other gods ; his emblems were the pig, the ass. and the hippopotamus. * It was related that Osiris once went about the earth doing good ; that he was persecuted and slain by Set (Typhon) his brother ; that his wife Isis, hy her prayers and invocations, assisted in his resurrection; and that finally Horus, his son, avenged his wrongs and destroyed Set. In this myth Osiris represents the Divine Goodness : Isis is the Love of Goodness ; Set, the principle of Evil, and Horus. the Divine Triumph. Osiris had a multitude of characters. He was the Nile ; he was the sun ; he was the judge of the dead ; from him all souls emanated, and in him all justified souls were swallowed up at last. To know "The mysteries of Osiris" was the glory of the priesthood. Isis, too, appeared in many forms and was called by the Greeks " She of the ten-thousand names." Mystic legends made her the mother, wife, sister and daughter of Osiris ; while Horus was their son and brother, and was Osiris himself. 32 EGYPT. ornclp, and his breath was said to confer upon children the gift of l)ro{)hecy. When an Apis died, great was the mourning until the l)riests found his successor, after which the rejoicing was equally demonstrative. The cost of burying the Apis was so great as some- times to ruin the oflBcials who had him in charge.* The calf Mnevis at Ileliopolis and the white cow of Athor at Athribis were also rev- erenced as incarnations of Deity. Other animals were considered as only emblems. Of these, the hawk, ape, ibis, cat f and asp were every- where worshipped, but crocodiles, dogs, jackals, frogs, beetles and shrew mice, as well as certain plants and vegetables, were venerated in different sections of the country. Those sacred in one nome were often, in others, hated and hunted or used for food. Thus, at Thebes the crocodile and the sheep were worshipped, while the goat was eaten ; at Mendes the sheep was eaten and the goat worshipped ; and at Ajiollinopolis the crocodile was so abhorred as an emblem of the evil spirit, that the people set apart an especial day to hunt and kill as many crocodiles as possible, throwing the d^ad bodies before the temple of their own god. The crocodile was principally worshipped about Lake Moeris in the Fayoom. A chosen number of these animals was kept in the tem- ples, where they were given elegant apartments and treated to every luxury at public expense. Let us imagine "a crocodile, fresh from a warm, sumptuous bath, anointed with the most precious oint- ments and perfumed with fragrant odors ; its head and neck glittering with jeweled earrings and necklace, and its feet with bracelets, wal- lowing on I rich and costly carpet to receive the worship of intelligent human beings ! Its death was mourned as a public calamity ; its body, wrajjped in linen, was carried to the embalmers, attended by a train of people weeping and beating their breasts in grief ; then, having been expensively embalmed and bandaged in gaily-colored mummy-cloths, amid im])Osing ceremonies it was laid away in its rock -sepulchre. Embalming. — This art was a secret known only to those priests * Ancieot authorities declared that no Apis was allowed to live over twenty-five years ; if he attained that a','e he was drowned with great ceremony in the Nile. The following inscription upon a recently-discovered memorial stone erected to an A|)is of the XXITd dj-nasty, shows that at least one Apis exceeded that age : " This is the day on which the god was carried to his rest in the beautiful region of the west, and was laid in the grave, in his everlasting house and in his eternal abode." * * * " His glory was sought for in all places. After many months he was found in the temple of Phtah, beside his father, the Memphian god Phtah." * * * " The full age of this god was 26 years." t When a cat died in any private dwelling the inmates shaved their eyebrows ; when a dog died, they shaved their entire bodies. The killing of a cat, even acci- dentally, was reckoned a capital offence. All sacred animals were embalmed, and buried with impressive ceremonies. THE MAITNERS AND CUSTOMS 33 A MUMMY IN BANDS. who had it in charge. The mummy was more or less elaborately pre- pared, according to the wealth antl station of the deceased. In the most expensive process the brain and intestines were extracted, cleansed with palm- wine and aro- matic spices, and either returned to the body or deposited in vases which Avere placed in the tomb with the coffin.* The body was also cleansed and filled with a mixture of resin and aromatics, after which it was kept in nitre for forty days. It was then wrapped in bands of fine linen smeared on the inner side with gum. There were sometimes a thousand yards of bandages on one mummy. A thick papyrus case, fitted while damp to the exact shape of the bandaged body, next enclosed it. This case was richly painted and ornamented, the hair and features of the deceased being imitated, and eyes inlaid with brilliant enamel inserted. Sometimes the face was covered with heavy gold leaf. Often a network of colored beads was spread over the body, and a v/inged scarabeeus (p. 80) placed upon the breast. A long line of hieroglyphics extending down the front told the name and quality of the departed. The inner case was inclosed in three other AN EGYPTIAN SARCOPHAGUS. cases of the same form, all richly painted in different patterns. A wooden or carved stone sarcophagus was the final receptacle in the tomb.f * So careful were the Egyptians to show proper respect to all that belonged to the human body, that even the sawdust of the floor where they cleaneed it was tied up iu small linen bags, which, to the number of twenty or thirty, were deposited in vases and buried near the tomb. t In a less expensive mode of embalming, the internal parts were dissolved by oil of cedar, after which the body was salted with nitre as before. The ordinary ;]4 EGYPT. Burial.— Whon anv person died, all the women of the house left the body and ran out into the streets, wailing, and throwing dust upon their hJads. Their friends and relatives joined them as they went, and if the deceased was a person of quality, others accompanied them out of respect. Having thus advertised tlie death, they returned home and sent the body to the embalmers. During the entire period of its absence they ke[)t up an ostentatious show of grief, sitting unwashed and unshaven, in soiled and torn garments, singing dirges and making lamentation. After the body was restored to them, if they wished to delay its burial, they placed it in a movable wooden closet standing against the wall of the principal room in the house. Here, morning and evening, the members of the family came to weep over and embrace it, making offerings to the gods in its behalf. Occasionally it was brought out to join in festivities given in its honor (p. 42). The time having come to entomb it, an imposing procession was formed, in the midst of which the mummy was drawn upi'ight on a sledge to the sacred lake adjoining every large city. At this point forty-two chosen officials — emblem- atical of the forty -two judges in the court of Osiris (p. 24) — formed a semicircle around the mummy, and formal iniiuiries were made as to its past life and character. If no accusation was heard, an eulogium was ])ronounced and the body was passed over the lake. If, however, an evil life was proven, the lake could not be crossed, and the distressed friends were compelled to leave the body of their disgraced relative unburied, or to carry it home and wait till their gifts and devotions, united to the prayers of the priesthood, should pacify the gods. Every Iilgyptian, the king included, was sub- jected to the " trial of the dead," and to be refused interment was the greatest possible dishonor. The best security a creditor could have was a mortgage (m the mummies of his debtor's ancestors ; if the debt were not paid, the delinquent forfeited his own burial and that of his entire family. mummy-cloth was coarse, resemblinjj; our sacking. The bodies of the poor were simply cleansed and salted, or submerged in liquid pitch. These are the most numerous of all kinds, and are now found black, dry, heavy, and of disagreeable odor. It is a singular fact that few mummies of children have been discovered. The priests had the monopoly of everything connected with embalming and burial, and they not only resold tombs which had been occupied, but even trafficked iu second- hand mummy-cases. a woman embracing her husb.a.nd's mummy. (Thebes.) THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 35 The nmmmies of the poorer classes were deposited in pits in the plain or in recesses cut in the rock and then closed up with masonry ; those of the lowest orders were wrapped in coarse cloth, mats, or a bundle of palm sticks, and buried in the earth or huddled into the THE FL'XERAL OF A MUMMV (AFTER BRIDGEMAX). general repository. Various articles were placed in the tombs, espe- cially images of the deceased person and utensils connected with his profession or trade. Among the higher classes these objects were often of great value and included elegant vases, jewelry and important papyri. SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Scene I. — Pyramid Building (IVth dynasty).* — Let us imagine ourselves in Egypt about B.C. 2400. It is the middle of November. The Nile, which, after its yearly custom, began to rise in June, changing its color rapidly from a turbid red to a slimy green and then again to red, overflowed its banks in early August, and spreading its waters on either side made the country to look like an immense lake dotted with islands. For the last month it has been gradually creeping back to its winter banks, leaving everywhere behind it a fresh layer of rich brown slime. Already the farmers are out ^vith their light wooden * Sixty-seven Egyptian pyramids haA'c been discovered and explored, all situated on the edge of the desert, west of the Nile. The three great pyramids of Gizeh built by Khufa and his successors are the most celebrated. The great pyramid built in steps at Sakkarah and said to date from the 1st or lid dynasty is believed by many to be the oldest monument in Egypt, and with the exception of the ruins of the Tower of Babel, the most ancient in the world. 30 EGYPT. A MODERN SHADOOF. ploughs and hoes, or are harrowing with bushes the moist mud on which the seed has been thrown broadcast, and which is to be tram- pled down by the herds driven in for the purpose. The first crop of clover is nearing its harvest ; by proper care and a persistent use of the shadoof,^' three more crops will be gathered from the same ground. The crocodile and the hippopotamus haunt the river shores ; in the desert the wolf, jiickal and hyena prowl; but the greatest scourge and torment of the val- ley are the endless swarms of flies and gnats which rise from the mud of the subsiding Nile. King Kliufu of the iVth dynasty is now on the throne, and the (ireat Pyramid, his intended tomb, is in process of erection near Mem- I'liis, the city founded by Menes three liundred years ago. One hun- dred thousand dusky menf are toiling under a burning sun, now ([uarrying in tlie limestone rock of the Arabian hills, now tug-ging at creaking ropes and rollers, straining every nerve and muscle under the rods of hard overseers, as along the solid causeway and up the inclined ])lane they drag the gigantic stones they are to set in place. Occasion- ally a detachment is sent up the river in boats to Syene to bring fine red granite, which is to be polished for casings to the inner passages and chambers. Not a moment is lost from work save when they sit down in companies on the hot sand to eat their government rations of " radishes, onions and garlics," the aggregate cost of which is to be duly inscribed upon the pyramid itself. So exhausting is this forced and unpaid labor that four times a year a fresh levy is needed to take the ])lace of the worn-out toilers. When this pyramid is finished — and it will continue to grow as long as the king shall live:}: — it will stand * The pole and bucket with which water was raised from the Nile to irrigate the land. It is still in use in Egypt. t Ton years were consumed in building the causeway whereon the stone was broujrht from the west bank of the Nile to the base of the pyramid. The construc- tion of the pyramid required twenty years more. Herodotus thought the causeway as f,Teat a work as the pyramid itself, and described it as being built of polished stone and ornamented with carvings of animals. J As soon as a Pharaoh mounted his throne, he gave orders to some nobleman to plan the work and cut the stone for the royal tomb. The kernel of the future edi- THE MANXERS AND CUSTOMS. 37 480 feet high with a base covering 13 acres. Its sides, which exactly face the four cardinal points, will be cased with highly-polished stone fitted into the angles of the steps, the workmen beginning at the apex and working downward, leaving behind them a smooth, glassy sur- face which cannot be scaled. There will be two sepulchral chambers with passages leading thereto, and five smaller chambers,* built to relieve the pressure of so great a mass of stone. The king's chamber, which is situated in the center of the pyramid and is to hold the royal sarcophagus, will be ventilated by air shafts and defended by a suc- cession of granite portcullises. But Khufu will not rest here, for his oppression and alleged impiety have so angered the people that they will bury him elsewhere, leaving his magnificently-planned tomb with its empty sarcophagus to be wondered and speculated over thousands of years after his ambitious heart has ceased to beat. Meantime, other great public works are in progress.! Across the arm of the Red Sea on the peninsula of Sinai — not sacred Sinai yet, for there are centuries to come before Moses — are the king's copper and turquoise mines. Sculpture is far advanced, and images of gold, bronze, ivory and ebony are presented to the gods. The whole land fice was raised on the limestone soil of the desert in the form of a small pyramid built in steps, of which the well-constructed and finished interior formed the king's eternal dwelling, with the stone sarcophagus lying on the rocky floor. A second covering was added, stone by stone, on the outside of this kernel ; a third to this second ; and to this a fourth ; the mass growing greater the longer the king lived. Every pyramid had its own proper name ; that of Khufu bore a title of honor— " The Lights.''''— Brugsch's Egypt. * In one of these small chambers, Colonel Vyse, an English explorer who was the first to enter them, found the royal name scrawled in red ochre on the stones, as if done by some idle overseer in the quarry. The chambers mentioned in the text and a subterranean room excavated in the rock below the base of the pyramid are all that have been discovered, the builders having used every precaution to conceal and guard the entrances. It has been ingeniously calculated that this pyramid is large enough to contain thirty-seven hundred rooms the size of the king's chamber (34 x 17 feet) with partition walls between them as thick as the rooms themselves. It is a proof of the architectm-al skill of the early Egyptians that they could construct in such a mass of stone, chambers and passages which, with a weight of millions of tons pressing upon them, should preserve their original shape without crack or flaw for thousands of years. t Some Egyptologers believe that the Great Sphinx— which is a recumbent, human-headed lion 146 feet long, sculptured from the solid rock— dates from this time, some think that it existed before the IVth dynasty, and others attribute it to the XVIIIth dynasty. A tablet has been found which mentions Khufu in con- nection with "The Temple of the Sphinx," but the date of this inscription is itself disputed. A vast temple, however, was discovered by M. Mariette in 1866, buried in the sand of the desert near the Sphinx. It is constructed of enormous blocks of black or rose-colored granite and oriental alabaster, without sculpture or ornament. In a well not far distant were found fragments of splendid statues, claimed to be of Shafra, the successor of Khufu. as . EGYPT. swarms with a rapidly increasing population, but food is abundant,* niinu-nt little more than a name, and lodging free on the warm earth. Besides, the numbers are kept from too great increase by the royal j)i»licy which rears enormous monuments at the i)rice of flesh and blooil. The overwrought gangs constantly sink under their heavy burdens, and hasten on to crowd the common and repulsive mummy- j)its in the limestone hills. Scene II. — .-1 Lord of the IVth Dynasty has large estates managed by a host of trained servants. He is not only provided with baker, butk'r, barber and other household domestics, but with tailor, sail- nuiker, goldsmith, tile-glazer, potter and glass blower.f His musicians ^vith their harps, pipes and flutes, his acrobats, pet dogs and apes, amuse his leisure hours. He has his favorite games of chance or skill which, if he is too indolent to play himself, his slaves play in his l)resence. He is passionately fond of hunting, and of fishing in the numerous canals which intersect the country and are fed from the Nile. He has small papyrus canoes, and also large, square sailed, double-masted boats, in which he sometimes takes out his wife and children for a moonlight sail upon the river, his harpers sitting cross- legged at the end of the boat and playing the popular Egyptian airs. But he does not venture out into the Mediterranean with his boats. He has a horror of the sea, and to go into that impure region would be a religious defilement. On land, he rides in a seat strapped between two asses. He has never heard of horses or chariots, nor will they apjjcar in Egypt for a thousand years to come. He wears a white linen robe, a gold collar, bracelets and anklets, but no sandals. For his table he has wheaten or barley bread, beef, game, fruits and vegetables, beer, wine and milk. His scribes keep careful record of his flocks and herds, his tame antelopes, storks and geese, writing witli a reed pen on a papyrus scroll. He has his tomb cut in the rocks near the royal pyramid, where he sometimes goes to oversee the sculptors and painters who are ornamenting its walls with pictures of his dignities, his riches, his pleasures and manner of life. He does not forget to commemorate the fidelity of his beloved wife, whom he has painted opposite himself with her right hand placed over her heart, as they stand before a table spread with viands for the dead. Besides the one or two chambers thus fashionably beautified, there is a deep pit which stretches down perha[)S for seventy feet. Here, in * "The whole expense of a child from infancy to manhood."" says Diodorus, " is not more than twenty drachmae'" (about four dollars). t Such a household must have been a center of practical education ; and an enter- prising Egyptian boy, dearly as he loved his games of ball and wrestling, was likely to be well-versed in the processes of every trade. (See Bj-ief Hist. France, p. 33.) THE MAN^XERS AND CUSTOMS. 39 recesses cut in the sides and bottom * will finally be placed the mum- mies of this lord and his family. Meantime, he strives to be true to his gods, obedient to his king-, and affectionate to his household ; for thus he hopes to pass the rigid ordeals which follow death, and to rest at last in the Boat of the Sun. Scene 111.— Amenemhe III., the Lahyrinth, and Lake Maris (Xllth dynasty, about B.C. 2080-1900). — Over four centuries have passed since Khufu's Pyramid was finished, and now toward the southwest, on an oasis in the midst of the desert, we see rising a magnificent group of twenty-seven palaces, one for each Egyptian nome. In the center of this complicated structure is an immense square or rectangle, and here are twelve roofed courts, with gates exactly opposite one another, six looking north and six south. Every court is surrounded by a colon- nade built of white stones exquisitely fitted together. There are three thousand chambers, large and small, in this great palace, besides a very wilderness of elaborately-constructed passages and winding paths, courts and colonnades. The roof is of stone like the walls, which are covered with carvings. Half of the chambers are underground, and are to be the sepulchres of kings and of the sacred crocodiles attached to the temple of Sebak, the crocodile god. This marvellous labyrinth, where one "passes from courts into chambers, and from chambers into colonnades, from colonnades into fresh houses and from these into courts unseen before," is surrounded by a single wall and encloses three sides of the large, twelve-courted rectangle. On the fourth side stands a pyramid, engraven with large hieroglyphics, and entered by a subterranean passage. Amenemhe Illd does not leave his identity as the founder of this grand palace-tomb to the chance scrawls of a quarry workman, as did Khufu with his pyramid, but has his car- touch properly inscribed on the building-stones. Lake Mceris. — There have been some grievous famines f in Egypt produced by the variable inundations of the Nile, and Amenemhe * " Whose graves are set in the sides of the T^iV—Ezekiel xxxii. 23. t "All Egypt is the gift of the Nile," wrote Herodotus. The river, however, was Eot left to overflow its banks without restrictions. The whole country was more or less intersected with canals and protected by dykes, Menes himself, according to Herodotus, having constructed a dyke and turned aside the course of the Nile in order to found Memphis. The rise of the river was closely watched, and was measured by "Nilometers" in various parts of the country. The proper moment for cutting away the dams and opening the canals was awaited with anxiety and decided by auspicious omens. " A rise of fourteen cubits caused joy, fifteen security, sixteen delight." Twelve cubits foretold a famine. An excessive Nile was as dis- astrous as a deficient one. A " Good Nile " brought harvests so abundant a^ to make Egyptian storehouses the granary of the eastern world. It is supposed that the visit of Abram and Sarai to Egypt, caused by a famine in Canaan, occurred during the reign of the Xlth dynasty. 40 EGYPT. causes to be constructed not far from the Labyrinthine Palace a gigan- tic lake, with one canal leading to the great river, and another ter- minating in a natural lake still further to the west. He thus diverts the waters of an excessive Nile, and lioards those of a deficient one to be used at need on tlie neighboring lands. He stocks this lake with fish, and so provides for the future queens of Egypt an annual revenue of over $200,000 for pin money. The banks of Lake Mceris are adorned with orchards, vine- yards and gardens, won by its waters from the sur rounding desert. Toward the center of the lake, rising three hundred feet above its surface, stand two pyra- mids, and on the apex of each sits a majestic stone figure. But pyramid building is going out of style in Egypt, and the fashion of obelisks has come in. These are made of single blocks of beautiful red granite from Syene, and are covered with delicately-carved hiero- glyphs. Memphis is losing her precedence. Thebes is shining in her first glory, and the Temple of Kar- nak, which is to become the most splendid of all times and countries, has been commenced ; while, down the river, at Beni Hassan * the favorite princes have built tombs which, like cheerful homes, spread their pillared porches in the eastern rocky heights. Scene IV. — A TJieban Dinner Party (time of 1311-1245 B.C.). — The Labyrinth has stood for nearly seven centuries. During this time the Shepherd kings have had their sway and been expelled. The XVHIth dynasty, including the long and Kameses IL * The tombs of Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt are remarkable for their archi- tecture, the prototype of the Grecian Doric (p. 182). They are also noticeable for being east of the Nile— the other Egyptian tombs, with hardly an exception, being located in the west, toward the setting sun— and for not being concealed, as was the custom. A recent visitor to these tombs writes : "Having ascended the broad road w hich leads gradually up to the entrances, we found ourselves on a sort of platforiu cut in the clifT nearly half way to the top, and saw before us about thirty high and wide doorways, each leading into one chamber or more, excavated in the solid rock. The first we entered was a large square room, with an open pit at one end— the mummy pit ; and every inch of the walls was covered with pictures. Coming into this tomb was like getting hold of a very old picture-book, which said in the begin- ning, ' Oi)en me and I will tell you what people did a long lime ago.' Every group of figures told a separate story, and one could pass on from group to group till a whole life was unfolded. Whenever we could find a spot where the painted plaster had not been blackejud or roughened, we were surprised at the variety of the colors —delicate lilacs and vivid crimsons and many shades of green." Were it not for these pictures on the walls of the tombs we should never have learned the secrets of those homes along the Nile where people lived, loved, and died four thousand years ago. THE MAXXERS AND CUSTOMS. 41 brilliant reign of Thothmes III., lias passed away, leaving behind it temples, obelisks and tombs of marvelous magnificence. Thebes is at the height of that architectural triumph which is to make her the won- der of succeeding ages. Meantime, what of the people ? Let us invite ourselves to a dinner party in Theban high-life. The time is midday, and the guests are arriving on foot, in palanquins borne by servants, and in chariots. A high wall, painted in panels, surrounds the fashion- able villa, and on an obelisk near by is inscribed the name of the owner. We enter the grounds by a folding-gate flanked with lofty towers. At the end of a broad avenue bordered by rows of trees and spacious water-tanks stands a stuccoed brick * mansion, over the door of which we read in hieroglyphics, " The Good House." The building is made airy by corridors, and columns, and open courts shaded by awnings, all gaily painted and ornamented with banners. Its extensive grounds include flower-gardens, vineyards, date-orchards and sycamore groves. There are little summer houses, and artificial ponds from which rises the sweet, sleepy perfume of the lotus-blossom ; here the genial host sometimes amuses his guests by an excursion in a pleasure-boat towed by his servants. The stables and chariot-houses are in the center of the mansion, but the cattle-sheds and granaries are detached. We will accompany the guest whose chariot has just halted. The Egyptian grandee drives his owm horse, but is attended by a train of servants ; one of these runs forward to knock at the door, another takes the reins, another presents a stool to assist his master to alight, and others follow with various articles which he may desire during the visit. As the guest steps into the court, a servant receives his sandals and brings a foot-pan that he may wash his feet. He is then invited into the festive chamber, where side by side on a double chair, to which their favorite monkey is tied, sit his placid host and hostess, blandly smelling their lotus-flowers and beaming a welcome to each arrival. They are dressed like their guests. On his shaven head the Egyptian gentleman wears a wig with little top-curls, and long cues which hang behind. His beard is short — a long one is only for the king. His large-sleeved, fluted robe is of fine white linen, and he is adorned with necklace, bracelets, and a multitude of finger-rings. The lady by his side wears also a linen robe over one of richly -colored stuff. Her hair falls to her shoulders front and back, in scores of crisp and glossy braids. The brilliancy of her eyes is heightened by antimony ; and amulet beetles, f dragons, asps and strange symbolic eyes dangle from * The bricks were made of Nile mad mixed with chopped straw and dried in the sun. t The heetle was a favorite emblem for ornaments. No less than 180 kinds of scarabsei are preserved in the Turin Museum alone. It was also engraved on the precious stones used as currency between Egypt and neighboring countries. 4'^ EGYPT. her golden earrings, necklace, bracelets and anklets. Having saluted his entertainers, the new comer is seated on a low stool, where a ser- vant anoints his bewigged head with sweet-scented ointment, hands him a lotus-blossom, hangs garlands of flowers on his neck and head, and presents him with wine. The servant, as he receives back the emptied vase and offers a napkin, politely remarks, "May it benefit you." This completes the formal reception. Each lady is attended in the same manner by a female slave. While the guests are arriving, the musicians and dancers belonging to the household amuse the company, who sit on chairs in rows and chat, the Indies commenting on each others' jewelry, and, in compliment, ex changing lotus-flowers. The house is furnished with couches, arm- chairs, ottomans and footstools made of the native acacia or of ebony and other rare imported woods, inlaid with ivory, carved in animal forms, and cushioned or covered with leopard skins. The ceilings are stuccoed and ])ainted, and the panels of the walls adorned with colored designs. The tables are of various sizes and fanciful patterns. The floor is coven'd with a palm-leaf matting or wool carpet. In the bed- rooms are high couches reached by steps ; the pillows are made'of wood or alabaster (see cut, p. 29). There are many elegant toilet conveniences, such as polished bronze mirrors, fancy bottles for the ko7d with which the ladies stain their brows and eyelids, alabaster vases for sweet- scented ointments, and trinket-boxes shaped like a goose, a fish, or a human dwarf. Everywhere throughout the house is a profusion of flowers, hanging in festoons, clustered on stands, and crowning the wine-bowl. Not only the guests but the attendants are wreathed, and fresh blossoms are constantly brought in from the garden to replace those which are fading. And now the ox, kid, geese and ducks which, according to custom, have been hurried into the cooking-caldrons as soon as killed, are ready to be served. After hand-washing and saying of grace, the guests are seated on stools, chairs, or the floor, one or two at each little low, round table. The dishes, many of which are vegetables, are brought on in courses, and the guests, having neither knife nor fork, help themselves with their fingers. Meantime, a special corps of servants keep the wine and water cool by \igorously fanning the porous jars which contain them. During the repast, vv-hen the enjoy- ment is at its height, the Osiris — an image like a human mummy — is brought in and fonnally introduced to each visitor with the reminder that life is short, and all must die. This little episode does not in the least disturb the placidity of the happy guests. There is one, how- ever, to whom the injunction is not given, and who, though anointed and garlanded and duly installed at a table, does not partake of the delicacies set before him. This is a real mummy, a dear deceased SUM3IARY. 43 member of the family, whom tlie host is keeping some months before burial, being loth to part with liim. It is in his honor, indeed, that the relatives and friends aie assembled, and the presence of a beloved mummy, whose soul is journeying toward the Pools of Peace, is the culminating pleasure of an Egyptian dinner-party. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History. — Our earliest glimpse of Egypt is of a country already civilized. Menes, the first of the Pharaohs, changed the course of the Nile and founded Memphis. His successor was a physician and wrote books on anatomy. Khufu, Shafra.and Menkara of the IVth dynasty, built the three Great Pyramids at Gizeh. In their time there were already an organized civil and military service and an established religion. From the Vlth to the Xlth dynasty the monu- ments are few and history is silent. Thebes then became the center of power. The Xlltli dynasty produced Lake Moeris and the Laby- rinth, and waged war against the Ethiopians. Meanwhile the Hyksos invaded Lower Egypt and soon conquered the land. At last a Theban monarch drove out the barbarian strangers. The XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties raised Egypt to the height of her glory. Thothmes, Amunoi)h, Seti, and, chief of all, Eameses IL, covered the land with magnificent works of art, and carried the Egyptian arms in triumph to the depths of Asia. After the XXth dynasty Egypt began to decline. Her weak kings fell in turn before the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, and, finally, the Persians. The illustrious line of the Pharaohs was at length swal- lowed up in the Empire of Persia (see note, p. 46). 2. General Character of Egyptian Civilization.— In sum, ming up our general impressions of Egypt, we recall as characteristic features, her Pyramids, Obelisks, Sphinxes, Gigantic Stone Statues, Hieroglyphics, Sacred Animals and Mummies. We think of her wor- shipped kings, her all-powerful priests, and her Nile-watered land divided between king, priests, and soldiers. We remember that in her fondness for inscriptions, she overspread the walls of her palaces and the pillars of her temples with hieroglyphics, and erected monuments for seemingly no other purpose than to cover them with writing. We see her tombs cut in the solid rock of the hillside and carefully con- cealed from view, bearing on their inner walls painted pictures of home life. Her nobility are surrounded by refinement and luxuries which we are startled to find existing 4000 years ago ; and her com- mon people crowd a land where food is abundant, clothing little needed, and the sky a sufficient shelter. We have found her architecture of the true Hamite type, colossal. 44 EGYPT. massive and enduring]: ; her art stiff, constrained and lifeless ; her prifst-tuught schools giving special attention to writing and mathe- matics ; her literature chiefly religious, written on papyrus scrolls, and collected in libraries ; her arts and inventions numerous, including weaving, dyeing, mining and working precious metals, making glass and porcelain, enameling, engraving, tanning and embossing leather, working with potter's clay, and embalming the dead. Seeing her long valley inundated each year by the Nile, she made herself pro- ficient in mathematics and mensuration, erected dykes, established Nilometers, appointed public commissioners, and made a god of the river which, since it seldom rains in Egypt, gives the land its only fertility. Her relifjion, having many gods growing out of one, taught a judgment alter death, with immortality and transmigration of soul ; its characteristic form was a ceremonial worship of animals as (■mblems or incarnations of Deity. Finally, as a people, the Egyp- tians were in disposition mild, unwarlike, superstitiously religious , in habits cleanly, luxurious, and delighting in flowers ; in mind sub- tle, acute, self-poised ; in social life talkative, given to festivals, and loud in demonstrations of grief; having a high conception of morals, a respect for woman, a love of literature, and a domestic affection which extended to a peculiar fondling of their mummied dead. READING REFERENCES. Bn/g.iruy, Histoire Ancienne.— Records of the Pad (5 vols, of Egyptian Texts, Transla- tions of Inscriptions, etc ).— Handy Book of the British Mfiseum.— Egypt over 3300 Tears Ago {Illustrated Library of Wonders).— Keary' s The Dawn of History.— Liibke's History of Art.— Wesfropp's Handbook of Archceology.—Fergusson's History of Architecture.— Early Egyptian History for the Young {Macmillan, London).— ZerflVs Historical Development of Art.— George Ebers's An Egyptian Princess, The Sisters, and Uarda {valuable historical romances).— Rule's OHental Records. CHRONOLOGY. B. C. Menes founded Memphis about 2700 01(1 Empire 2700-2080 Hyksos invaded Lower Egypt, about 2080 Middle Empire 2080-1525 Hyksos Rule, about 1900-1525 New Empire 1525- 527 Persian Conquest 527 RU8SELU & STRUTHERS, ENG'b N.Y. BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. The Origin of the first nations which flourished in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates may have been as ancient as the Egyptian civilization ; but the historic records reveal nothing back of the 24th century. 1. Chaldea. — Amid a mixed population of Accadians — Hamites of the race of Cush (Gen. x.) — Turanians, Semites and others inhabiting the vast j)lain at the head of the Per- sian GuK, there arose a mighty hunter named Nimrod. He organized the separate tribes under a single strong govern- ment, and founded Babylon about 2300 B. c. Afterward, 2^erhaps to escape the Cushite rule, many of the Semitic Geof/raphicat Quesiiojts.—'Locdite Nineveh, Babylon, Tadmor, Damascus. Where were the four cities founded by Nimrod— Babylon, Erech or OrchQe, Accad and Calneh {' Ur of the Chaldees ") ? What was the direct distance from Memphis or Thebes to Babylon ? Describe the Euphrates river. The Tigris. State the location of Mesopotamia, Clialdea, Babylonia, Assyria and Susiana. Ans. Mesopotamia (between the rivers) comprised the great rolling plain lying between the Euphrates and the Tigris ; Babylonia, or Lower Mesopotamia, included the rich alluvial plain south of Assyria, bounded on the west by the Arabian desert and on the south by the Persian Gulf ; Chaldea was the southern portion of Babylonia ; Susiana lay southeast of Assyria and east of Babylonia. Describe the geographical appearance of Babylonia. Ans. This country did not, like Egypt, consist of a long, narrow valley shut in by hills, but of a vast, monotonous plain. This was the gift of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and these rivers were the characteristic feature of the landscape. The soil was an alluvium deposited by the streams in the shallow waters of the gulf, forming a tract of marvellous fertility. Wheat was native to the soil and grew so luxuriantly that its blade was the width of the palm, and to make the plant ear, the inhabitants were accustomed to mow it twice and then feed it off with cattle. 46 BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. [2000 B. C. inhabitanU emigrated northward (Gen. xi.); Abraham, with otlicrs, ascended the Euphrates (about 2000 B.C.), and, later still, the Assyrians went to the middle Tigris where they built great cities. The early history of Chaldea reveals little of interest or importance.* The country had no natural boundary or defence, and hence lay singularly open to attack. There were constant wars with the fast-rising power of Assyria, and in tlie 13th century B. c. the Chaldeans were con- fjuered ])y their northern rival. The period of their servi- tude lasted over six centuries, during which they became tlioruughly Assyrianized in language and customs. Being, however, a sturdy, fiery, impetuous, warlike race, they often revolted. At one time — known in history as the Era of Nabonassar (747 B.C.) — they achieved a temporary inde- pendence, and on the fall of Nineveh (625 b. c.) they at once rose to ]iower, founding the second Babylonian Empire. 2. Assyria, for about six centuries (1250-625 B.C.) — from tlie conquest of Babylon to the overthrow of Nineveh, its own capital — was the great empire f of soutliAvestern Asia. It attained its glory under Sargon and* his descend- ants — the Sargonida?. The Assyrian sway then reached to tlie Mediterranean Sea, and included Syria, Media, Baby- lonia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Palestine, and parts of Arabia and Egypt. These conquered nations retained their laws, ♦ Beroisu?. a Babylonian writer of Alexander^ time, wrote a history of his country largely from the records in the temple of Beliis. This work is lost, but fiom portions quoted in other books we learn that he stated the various dynasties which ruled in Chaldea as follows : 1. Chaldean Dynasty, 458 years, 2001-1543. 2. Arabian Dynasty, 245 years. 1543-1208. 3. Dynasty of 45 Assyrian kings, 526 years, 1298-772. 4. Reigu of Pul, 25 years, T72-747. t This was the first of the successive " World-Empires." Following it was the Persian under Cyrus. This was conquered by Alexander, who founded the Mace- donian ; and it in turn gave place to the grandest of all— the Roman. Out of its ruins grew up the Mahometan of Asia and Africa, and Charlemagne's in Europe. The former was shattered by the Turks, and the latter was broken up into several of the kingdoms of moderu Europe. 625 B. c] THE POLITICAL HISTORY 47 kings and religion, but, being required to pay tribute and furnish a military contingent to the royal army, they were always ripe for revolt. The history of Assyria is therefore the record of an empire constantly falling to pieces and as often restored through the genius of some warrior-king. ASSYRIAN HEADS (FROM NIMROUD). In 625 B. c. Nineveh was captured by the combined forces of the Babylonians and Medes ; and its effeminate king Sar'-a-cus, taking counsel of his despair, burned himself in his palace with all his treasures. The conquerors utterly destroyed the city, so that there remained only a heap of ruins.* The Names of the Assyrian Kings are tedious and the dates of their reigns uncertain. Authorities differ greatly even in the spelling of the names. Some of the monarch s are notable from their connection with Grecian or Jewish history. Tig' -lathi- nin (worship be to Nin, p. 62) is sup- posed to be the Greek Ninus ; on his signet-ring was in- scribed ^' The Conqueror of Babylon," which connects him with the overthrow of Chaldea, already mentioned. Tiglatli- pile'ser I. (1130 B.C.) may be called ''The Religious Con- queror." He built temples, palaces, and castles, introduced * Xenophon, during the famous retreat of the Ten Thousand, only two centuries after this catastrophe, passed the site of Nineveh, yet does not even mention the fact in his history, so perfectly had Nineveh disappeared, 48 BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA- [1130 B. C foreign cattle and vegetable products, and constructed canals. He multiplied the war-chariots, and carried the Assyrian arms to the Persian mountains on the east and northern Syria on tiie west ; * but he was defeated by the Babylonians, who bore off his idols to their capital, where they were kept for four hundred years. AssJntr-izir-pal (Sardanapalus I., 88G-858), a cruel but magnificent king, made many con- quests, but is to be chiefly remembered in connection with the arts, which he raised to a point never before attained. He lined his palace walls (Nimroud) with great alabaster slabs, whereon were sculptured in spirited bas-relief the various glories he had achieved. He was a hunter as well as a warrior and an art-patron, and kept a royal menagerie, where he gathered all the wild beasts he could procure from his own and foreign lands. Slialmaneser \ II. was contemporary with Ahab and Jehu, kings of Israel ; he personally conducted twenty-four mili- tary campaigns. VuUhish III. (810-781) married Sam- muramit, heiress of Babylon, and probably the original of * A lengthy document written by Tiglalh-pileser, narrating some events of his reign has been discovered. He writes : " The country of Kasiyara, a difficult region, I passed through. With their 20,000 men and their five kings I engaged. I defeated them. The ranks of their warriors in fighting the battle were beaten down as if by the tempest. Their carcasses covered the valleys and the tops of the mountains. I cut oft" their heads. Of the battlements of their cities I made heaps, like mounds of earth. Their movables, their wealth, and their valuables I plundered to a countless amount. Six thousand of their common soldiers I gave to my men as slaves.'' Having restored two ancient temples, he invokes the support of the gods, and adds : " The list of my victories and the catalogue of my triumphs over foreigners hostile to Asshur 1 have inscribed on my tablets and cylinders. Whoever shall abrade or injure my tablets and cylinders, or shall moisten them with water, or scorch them with fire, or expose them to the air, or in the holy place of God shall assign them to a place where they cannot be seen or understood, or shaU erase the writing and inscribe his own name, or shall divide the sculptures and break them off from my tablets, may Anu and Yul, the great gods, my lords, consign his name to per- dition 1 May they curse him with an irrevocable curse! May they pluck out the stability of the throne of his empire ! May not his off"spring survive him ! May his servants be broken ! May his troops be defeated ! May his name and his race perish ! " t In connection with Shalmaneser and the following kings, read carefully 2 Kings, xv-xix chapters. 810 b. C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 49 the mythical ^^Semiramis." According to the legend, this queen having conquered Egypt and part of Ethiopia, invaded India Avith an army of a million men, but was beaten back by elepliants ; she adorned Babylon with wonderful works, and at last took the form of a dove and flew away. Tiglath- pileser 11. (745-727) captured Damascus and conquered Ahaz, king of Judah. Shalmaneser IV. (727-721) laid siege to Samaria, which was taken by his successor, Sargon (721- 705), who carried off its inhabitants and supphed their place with captive Babylonians. Sargon founded the house of the Sargonidae, who were the most brilliant of the Assyrian kings, and who made all the neighboring nations feel the weight of their conquering arms. He, himself, so subdued the Egyptians that they were never afterward the powerful nation they had been ; he also reduced Syria, Babylonia, and a great part of Media and Susiana. His son, the proud, haughty and self-confi- dent Sennaclierib (Sen-nak'-e-rib, 705-680), captured the *^ fenced cities of Judah," but afterward lost 185,000 men, " smitten by the angel of the Lord " in a single night. The sculptures represent him as standing in his chariot per- sonally directing the forced labor of his workmen, who Avere war-captives, often loaded with fetters. Esarliaddon, Sar- gon's grandson, divided Egypt into petty states, took Ma- nasseh, king of Judah, prisoner to Babylon (2 Ghron. xxxiii. 11), and more fully settled Samaria with colonists from Babylonia, Persia, and Susiana. Af^shur-hani-pal (Sarda- napalus II, 667-647),* Sargon's gi-eat-grandson, was a famous warrior, builder and art-patron. He erected a magnificent palace at Nineveh, in which he founded a royal library. * As the Greeks confounded several Egyptian monarchs under the name of Sesostris the Great, so the Assyrian king whom they called Sardanapa'lus seems to have been a union of Asshurizirpal, Asshurbanipal and Asshuremedilin. The Greek i^eal Sardanapalus is celebrated in Byron's well-known play of th^t Uftine, 50 BABYLONIA AND ASSYKIA. [625 B. C. His son, Asshur-emed'ili7i, or Saracus, as he was called by some Greek writers (p. 47), was the last Assyrian king. 3. Later Babylonian Empire (625-538). — Nahopolasser, a favorite general under Saracus, obtained from his master the government of Babylon. Here he organized a revolt, and made an alliance with Cyaxares, king of the Medes ; in 625 B.C., their combined forces captured Nineveh. The conquerors divided the spoils between them, and to Nabo- BABYLONIAN WOMAN AND MEN (fROM THE SCULPTURES). polasser fell Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, Susiana, and the Euphrates valley. Babylon, after the ruin of its rival, became again the capital of the East. It held this position for nearly a century, when it was captured by Cyrus the Great (538 B.C.). The Names of two of its kings are familiar to every Bible reader. Nebuchadnezzar (604-561), the son of Nabo- polasser, gave the new empire its character and position. AV'ithout him Babylon would have had little, if any, history worth recording. A great warrior, he captured Jerusalem,* overran Egypt, and, after a thirteen-years siege, subdued Tyre. A great builder, he restored or repaired almost every temple and city in the country. By his marvelous energy Babylon became five or six times the present size of London ; * " Israel is a scattered sheep : first the king of Assyria hath devoured him ; and Jast this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones."— Jerewic/i 1. 17, 538 B.C.] THE CIVILIZATION. 6l and its walls and hanging gardens (p. 58) were among tlie Seven Wonders of the World (Appendix). Immense lakes were dng for retaining the water of tl;e Euphrates, whence a network of canals distributed it over the plain to irrigate the land ; wliile quays and breakwaters were constructed along the Persian Gulf for the encouragement of commerce.* Behhazzar held the throne jointly with his father, Nabona- dius, the last king of Babylon. Cyrus, ruler of the rising empire of the Medes and Persians, inyaded the country, defeated the army of ISiabonadius, and finally besieged Bel- shazzar in Babylon. One night when the Babylonians were celebrating a festival with drunken revelry, Cyrus, by means of canals which he had dug for this purpose, changed the course of the Euphrates, which ran through the city. The Persians rushed along the empty bed of the river, seized the unguarded gates and captured the place. From that time Babylon was a province of the Persian Empire and its glory faded. To-day the site is marked only by shapeless mounds^ scattered over a desolate plain. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. Society. — In Assyria there were no castes or hereditary aris- tocracy, as hi Egypt, but all subjects, foreign and native, had equal privileges, dependent upon the one absolute royal will. The King^ though not worshipped as a god, was considered " the earthly vicegerent of the gods," having undisputed authority over the souls as well as the bodies of his people. The chief courtiers were eunuchs, who directed the public affairs, leaving the king undisturbed to enjoy his sports and pleasures. They, however, held their offices at his caprice, and were liable at any moment to be removed. The people had the privilege of * Read the Scriptural account of Babylon and Its kings in Daniel ; Isaiah, chap- ters 10, 11, 13, 14, 21. 45, 46, 4T, and especially 19, 23 ; Jeremiah, chaps. 49, 50 and 51 ; 2 Kings, chaps. 24, 25 ; Ezra, chaps. 1-6. 53 BABYLONIA A N b A 8 S Y li I A . direct petition to the king in case of public wrong or P^ neglect.* "^ //i Babylonia^ where tliere was a mixed pojiulation, fc-j-T society was divided into castes, of which tlie highest, " the ancient Chaldean, was not unlike that of the Egyp- 1^ « tian priesthood. The Chaldeans read the warnings ^ of the stars, interpreted dreams and omens, gave instruc- ^^ C, ^ tions in the art of magic and incantation, and conducted y^^ t 5 the jjompous religious ceremonies. They also decided I 5 politics, commanded the armies, and held the chief state "^y E 1 offices. From them came all the royal rulers of Babylon. ^T~" = .^ The king was as desjDotic as in Assyria, and Baby- M. I ^ Ionian nobles at every slight offence trembled for their te^ 2 J heads. The whole Chaldean caste were once ordered to lii 2 i ^^^ exterminated because they could not expound the ^f^ ^ J dream of a king which he himself could not recall i ._' (Daniel ii. 12). "Sw \ -^ Merchants, artisans and husbandmen formed each a A ^ ^ caste. The fishermen of the marshes near the Persian ^y G I Gulf corresponded to the swine-herds in Egypt, as A JL ? < being lowest in the social scale. They lived on earth- fc^ 1^ S covered rafts, which they floated among the reeds, and I . ^ ^ subsisted on a species of cake made of dried fish. It 2 jj "Wviiin.^. — Cuneiform Letters (cuneus, a wedge). — ^ h S Clay Tablets, — The earliest form of this writing, in- ►X" E 1 vented by the Turanians, was, like the Eg'yptian, a col- ►^ ^ lection of rude pictures, with this peculiarity, that they h^ were all straight-lined and angular as if devised to be i^^ cut on stone with a chisel. The Chaldeans, having no ^— stone in their country, made of the clay in which it X abounded tiny pillow-shaped tablets, from one to five ►►^ inches long. Upon these soft, moist tablets they traced * A tablet in the British Museum thus exposes an official peculation in the time of Asshurbauipal ; "Salutation to the king, my lord, from his humble petitioner Zikar Nebo. To the kin<^, my lord, may Asshur, Shamash, Bel, Zarpanit, Nebo, Tashmit, Ishtar of Nineveh, Islitar of Arbela, the great gods, protectors of royalty, give a hundred years of life to the king, my lord, and slaves and wives in great number to the king, my lord. The gold that in the month Tashrit the minister of state and the controller of the palace should have given me— three talents of pure gold and four talents of alloyed gold— to make an image of the king and of the mother of the king, has not yet been given. May my lord, the king, srive orders to the minister of state and to the coutrollcr of the palace, to give the gold, to give it from this time, and do it exactly." THE CIVILIZATIOJ!^. 53 the outline of the original object-picture, in a series of distinct, wedge-like impressions made by the square or triangular point of a small bronze or iron tool. As in Egypt, the attempt to pre- serve the picture-outline was gradually abandoned, and the charac- ters, variously modified by the different- speaking races inhabiting Assyria, came to have a variety of meanings.* Cunei- form writing has been found even more difficult to interpret than Egyptian hieroglyphics. It has some of the pe- culiarities of that writing, but has no letter-signs ; the cuneiform-writing na- tions never advancing so far as to analyze the syllable into vowels and consonants. Nearly three hundred dif- ferent characters have been deciphered, and a large number remain yet un- known.! Other Writing Materials^ as Alabas- ter Slabs, Terra-coita Cylinders, Cylin- der Signets, etc. — The Assyrian clay- tablets were generally larger than the Chaldean, and for the royal records slabs of fine stone were preferred. ASSYRIAN CLAY TABLET. * Generally all trace of the original picture disappeared, but in a few cases, such as the outline is still visible. A curious example of the picto- rial origin of the letters is furnished by the character i>T3 which is the French une, the feminine of " one." This character may be traced back through several known forms to an original picture on a Koyunjik tablet 3 P where it appears as a double-toothed comb. As this was a toUet article peciuiar to women, it became the sign of the feminine gender, t The Behistun Insct^piion furnished the key to Assyrian literature as did the Rosetta stone to Egyptian. This inscription was carved by order of Darius Hys- tasp'es (p. 91) on the precipitous side of a high rock-mountain in Media, 300 feet above its base. It is in three languages, Persian, Median, and Assyrian. The Per- sian, which is the simplest of the cuneiform writings, having been mastered, it became, like the Greek on the Rosetta Stone, a lexicon to the other two languages. Honorably connected with the opening up of the Assyrian language in the present century, are the names of Sir Henry Rawlinson, who at great personal risk scaled the Behistttn mountain and made a copy of the inscription which he afterwards pub- lished ; and M. Oppert, who systematized the newly-discovered language, and founded an Assyrian grammar for the use of modern scholars. 54 BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. A TERRA-COTTA CYLINDER. These slabs were used as panels in palace walls, where they set forth the S . r,: ashes on their heads, but all the animals within the city walls were made to join in tlie penitential observance (see Jonah iii. o-i)). Image Worship. — The stone, clay, and metal images which adorned the temple shrines of Assyria and Babylonia were worshipped as real gods. So identitied was a divinity with its idol, that, in the inscrip- tions of kings where the great gods were invoked in turn, the images of the same deity placed in different temples were often separately addressed, as Ishtar of Babylon, Ishtar of Arbela, Islitar of Nineveh, etc. In worship, living sacrifices and offerings were made and oblations poured, the king taking the chief position, instead of the priest, as in Egypt. Curious Babylonish Customs. — If we are to believe Herodotus, the Babylonians Iniried their dead in honey and married their daughters by auction, the money brought by the handsome ones being given as a dowry to their less favored sisters. The marriage festival took place once a year, and no father could give his daughter at any other time or in any other way. Each bride received a clay model of an olive, on which was inscribed her name and that of her hus- band, with the date of the ceremony ; this was to be worn on her neck. Unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians had no regular physicians ; the sick and infirm were brought cut into the market - place, where the passers - by prescribed remedies which had proved effectual in their own experience or that of their friends ; it being against the law to pass by a sick person without inquiring into the nature of his disease, had a festival, called Sacees, when for five days they took command of theii- masters, one of them, clothed in a royal robe, receiving the honors of a king. ASSYRIAN LAMPS. Every summer the slaves SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Scene I. — ^-1 Chaldean Home. — Let us visit the home of an ancient Chaldean as we should have found it over 3500 years ago. Before us rises a high brick platform, supporting an irregular cross-shaped house built of burnt or sun-dried bricks cemented with mud or bitumen. The outside is gayly adorned with colored terra-cotta cones imbedded in mud or plaster. Entering, we find long, narrow rooms opening one 64 B A B Y I N I A AND ASSY P. I A . into another. If there are windows, they arc set high, near the roof or ceiling. Upon the plastered walls, which are often broken by little re- cesses, are cuneiform inscriptions, varied by red, black and white bands, or rude, bright-red tigures of men and birds * The chairs or stools, of soft, light date-wood, have legs modeled after those of an ox. The invaluable palm-tree, as useful in Chaldea as in Egypt, has not only supplied the table itself, but much of the food upon it. Its fresh or dried fruit appears as bread or sweetmeats; its sap, as wine, vin- egar and honey. The table-ware is clay or bronze. The vases which contain the wine are mostly of coar.se chiy mixed with *cliopi)ed straw ; but, here and there, one of a finer glaze shows the work of the potter's wheel and an idea of beauty. The master of the house wears a long linen robe, elaborately striped, tiounced and fringed, which, passing over one shoulder, leaves the other bare, and falls to his feet. His beard is long and straight, and his hair either gathered in a roll at the back of his head or worn in long curls. He does not despise jewelry on his own person, and his wife revels in armlets and bracelets, and in rings for the fingers and toes. Bronze and iron — which is so rare as to be a precious metal — are affected most by the Chaldean belle, but her ornaments are also of shell, agate, and sometimes of gold. For the common people, a short tunic tied around the waist and reaching to the knee is a per- petual fashion, suitable for a temperature which ranges from 100'' to 130^ F. in summer. In the severest winter season, where the ther- mometer falls to 30" above zero, the Chaldean hunter dons an extra wrap, which covers his shoulders and falls below his tunic ; then, barefooted and with a skull cap or a camel's-hair band on his head, he goes out. with his bronze arrow-head and bronze or flint knife, to shoot and dissect the wild boar. Our Chaldean gentleman makes out SIGNET CVLI.NDER OF URUCH.t 'The earliest Chaldean king, of whom many remains. lia\ been found. See p. 45.) Date, perhaps a ceotuvy after Nimroil. * This description is based upon the only two Chaldean residences which hare, as yet, been exhumed. They date from between b. c. 1800 and 1600. t Uruch probably lived at some time during the Pyramid dynasty (p. 16) of Egypt. From the above cylinder we learn that the Chaldeans at this early date dressed in delicate fabrics elaborately trimmed, and had tastefully-fashioned house- hold furniture. THE MANNERS A X D CUSTOMS. Co a deed or writes a letter with a small bronze or ivory tool suited to his minute, cuneiform script, on a bit of moist clay shaped like a tiny pillow (p. 52). He signs it by rolling across the face the little engraved jasper or chalcedony cylinder, which he wears at- tached by a string to his wrist. Having baked it, he encloses it in a thin clay-envelope, upon which lie repeats his message or contract, and bakes it again. When the Chaldean dies, his friends shroud him in fine linen and encase him in two large stone jars, so that the upper part of his body rests in one and the lower part in the other, after which they cement the two^rs together with mud or bitumen ; or they lay him upon a brick plat- form with a reed-matting beneath him, and j)lace over him a huge, burnt-clay cover — a marvel of pottery, formed of a smgle piece and shaped like a modern tureen cover ; or they put him on the mat in the family arched vault, pillowing his head on a sun-dried brick covered with a tapestry cushion. About him they arrange his ornaments and favorite implements ; vases of wine are within his reach, and in the palm of his left hand they rest a bronze or copper bowl filled with dates or other food to strengthen him in his mysterious journey through the silent land. Scene II. — A Morning in Nineveh. — "The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, exalted above all the trees of the field, so that all the trees that were in the garden of God envied him, and not one was like unto him in his beauty" [Ezek. xxxi.). Six centuries and a half have passed since Chaldea was humbled by her northern neighbor, and Assyria, not dreaming that her own fall is so near, is in the full- ness of her splendor and arrogance. It is about the year 650 B. c, and the proud Asshurbanipal is on the throne — Asshurbanipal, who has subdued the land of the Pyramids and the Labyrinth, and made Karnak and Luxor mere adjuncts to his glory. Nineveh, with her great walls one hundred feet in height, upon which three chariots can run abreast, lies before us. The bright spring sun of the Orient looks down upon a country luxuriant with a rich but short-lived verdure. Green myrtles and blossoming oleanders fringe the swollen streams, and the air is filled with the sweet odors of the citron trees. The morning fog has_ loaded the dwarf oak with manna, and the rains have crowded the land with flowers. The towers, two hundred feet high, which mark the various city-gates, throw long shadows over rows of windowless houses, topped with open domes or high, steep, cone-like roofs. Out from these houses come the people, dressed according to their several stations; l)areheaded and barefooted laborers, clothed in one garment, a plain, short-sleeved tunic reaching to the knee ; pros- perous folk in sandals and fringed tunics, and the wealthy, in kilts r,i; R A n Y L O X I A A X D ASS Y R T A . ^^z\ /^TT*. If' , %^ ^pm'^^r J \ "syv ^w^iki T 11 E :\1 A N X E K S A N D C U ST M S . (}']' and trousers. The higher order|;, priests, soklicrs and niusicians, are alone privileged to cover their heads with a cap or tiara, but all, even the meanest, glory in long, elaboratelA'-dressed hair. In the dwellin'.'S of the rich, we may see farniture of elegant design ; canopied beds and couches, and curtains of costly tapestry ; carved stools and tables with feet fashioned like gazelle-hoofs ; and, in the palace, luxurious chairs, an article sacred to gods and the king. In the west end of the city, abutting the swift-flow- ing Tigris, is a high platform covering one hundred acres, on which stands the magnifi- cent palace of Asshurbanipal. Near it is the still larger one built by Sennacherib, his grandfather, and about it are parks and hanging gardens. The palaces have immense portals guarded by colossal v.iuged and human-lieaded bulls and lions ; great court- yards paved with elegantly- patterned slabs ; and arched- doorways, elaborately sculp- tured and faced by eagle- headed deities. We miss the warm, glowing colors so generously lavished on Egyptian temples. There are traces of the painter, but his tints are more subdued and more sparingly used. It is the tri- umphant day of the sculptor and the enameler. Asshurbanipal sits on his carved chair, arrayed in his embroidered robe and mantle. On his breast rests a large, circular ornament wrought with sacred em- blems ; golden rosettes glitter on his red-and- white tiara, and rosettes and crescents adorn his shoes. He wears a sword and daggers, and holds a golden sceptre. Necklaces, armlets, bracelets and earrings add to his costume. Behind him is his parasol-bearer, grasping with both hands a tall, thick pole supporting a fringed and curtained shade. His Grand-Vizier^!^ whose dress approaches his own in magnificence — stands before him in an attitude of passive reverence to receive the royal orders ; the scribes are waiting to record the mandate, and ti host of attendants are at hand to perform it. Scene III. — A Royal Lion-Hunt. — To-day it is a lion-hunt. At the palace-gates, surrounded by a waiting retinue, stands the king's chariot, headed by three richly-caparisoned horses, champing bronze- bits and gayly tinkling the bells on their tasseled collars, while grooms hold other horses to be placed before the chariots of high officials, after COLOSSAL HUMAN-HEADED WINGED BULL, •>^' li A H Y I. () N I A A X I) A S S Y K r A . tlip moiiarcli sliall liave inonntc!. A^ tlm kin^ steps into the box like chariot, l)is two favorite eunuchs ailjust the well -stocked quivers, put in the long spears, and enter behind liim ; the charioteer loosens the reins, and the horses .start at full speed. At the park or "paradise," a large circuit is enclosed l)v a double rampart of spearmen and archers, and a row of hounds lield in leashes. Here the lions kept for the king's spurt wait in their cages. Having arrived at the park and received a ceremonious salute, the king gives the order to release the wild beasts. Cautiously creeping out from their cages, they seem at fir^to seek escape ; but the spearmen's large shields and' bristling wflloiis dazzle their eyes ; the fierce dogs, struggling in their leashes, howl in their ears ; and the king's well-aimed arrows quickly enrage them to combat. Swifter and swifter fly the darts. The desperate beasts spring at the chariot sides only to receive death thrusts from the spears of the attendants, while the excited king shoots rapidly on THE KOVAL LION-HUNT (fRO.M THE SCULPTURES). in front. Now one has seized the chariot-wheel with his huge paws and grinds it madly with his teeth ; but he, too, falls in convulsions to the ground. The sport fires the blood of the fierce Asshurbanipal. He jumps from his chariot, orders fresh lions to be released, grasps his long spear, selects the most ferocious for a hand-to-hand combat, furiously dispatches him, and, amid the deafening shouts of his ad'- miring courtiers, proclaims his royal content. The hunt is over ; the dead lions have been collected for the king's inspection, and are now borne on the shoulders of men in a grand procession to the palace, whither the king precedes them. The chief officers of the royal house- hold come out to welcome him ; the cup-bearer brings wine, and, while the king refreshes himself, busily plies his long fly- whisk about the royal head, the musicians meantime playing merrily upon their harps. It remains to offer the finest and bravest of the game to the god of the chase ,• and four of the largest lions are accordingly selected and arranged side by side before the altar. The king and his attendants. T H S M A X N E K S A X D U S T M S . 6'J all keeping time to ftjmial music, march in stately majesty to the shrine, where Asshurbauipal raises the sacred cup to his lips, and slowly pours the solemn libation. A new sculpture depicting the grand event of the day is ordered, and beneath it is inscribed : " I, Asshurbauipal, king of the nations, king of Assyria, in my great courage, fightiug on foot with a lion terrible lor its size, seized -him by the ear, and in the name of Asshur and of Ishtar, Goddess of War, with the spear that was in my hand I terminated his life." Scene IV. — AssJiurbanipal Going to War. — The king goes to war in his chariot, dressed in his most magnificent attire, and attended by a retinue of fan-bearers, parasol -bearers, bow, quiver and mace-bearers. About these gather his body-guard of foot-spearmen, each one bran- dishing a tall spear and protected by scale-armor, a pointed helmet, and a great metal shield. The detachment of horse-archers which follows, is also dressed in coats of mail, leather breeches, and jack- boots. Before and behind the royal cortege stretches the army— -a vast array of glancing helmets, spears, shields, and battle-axes ; war- riors in chariots, on horse, and on foot ; heavy-armed archers in helmet and armor, with the strung bow on the shoulders and the highly-decorated quiver filled with bronze or iron-headed arrows on the back ; light-armed archers with embroidered head bands and short tunics, and bare arms, limbs, and feet : spearmen who carry great wicker shields, which are made, in case of need, to join and furnish boats ; and troops of slingers, mace-bearers, and axe-bearers. The massive throne of the king is in the cavalcade ; upon this, when the battle or siege is ended, he will sit in great state to receive the prisoners and spoil. Here, too, are his drinking-cups and washing-bowls ; his low- wheeled pleasure-chair, his dressing-table, and other toilet luxu- ries. Battering-rams, scaling-ladders, baggage-carts and the usual paraphernalia of a great army make up the rear, where also in carefully- dosed arabas are the king's wives, who with the whole court follow him to war. The Nine vites come out in crowds to see the start ; the musicians — who, however, remain at home — play a brisk farewell on double-pipes, harps and drum; the women and children, standing in procession, clap their hands and sing ; and so, amid " the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the j umping chariots" {Nahum iii. 2), the Assyrian army sets off. Scene 'V.—A Royal Banquet. — After many days the host comes back victorious (the sculptures never record defeats), bringing great spoil of gold, silver, and fine furniture, countless oxen, sheep, horses and camels, prisoners of war, and captured foreign gods. Rejoicing and festivities abound. A royal feast is given in the most magnificent of the sculptured halls, where the tables glitter with gold and silver stands laden with dried locusts, pomegranates, grapes, and citrons. 70 1? A 15 V L () \ I A A X T) A S S Y l{ I A . Thert' are choice meats, luire and game-bjr7i'5 Anc. Mon. READING REFERENCES. Bawlinson's History of Ancient Monarchies.— Fergusson''s History of Architecture^ and Palaces of Xi/uveh and Persepolis Restored.— Layard' s Monuments of Nineveh., and Nineveh and its liemains.—VioUet Le Due's Habitations of Man in all Ages.— Records of the Past (6 roh: of A.m/rian texts). Sayce's Babylonian Literature — LenormanVs Ancient Chaldean Magic— Loftus's Chaldea and Svsiana.— Smith's Early History of A.% 1. 1 T T C A L HISTORY 89 came to despise the now elt'emiaate Medes. Arousing his warlike countrymen to revolt, he not only achieved their independence, but con- quered Media and estab- lished the Medo-Persian, the second great empire of western Asia. His reign was a succession of wars and conquests. He de- feated Croesus,'^ king of Lydia, thus adding to his dominions all Asia Minor west of the Halys. He captured Babylon (p. 51) and overthrew the Assyrian Empire. With the fall of Babylon the fabric of Semitic grandeur was shat- tered, the Great City be- came "an astonishment and a hissing" {Jeremiah li. 37), and Persia took the lead in all western Asia. When Cyrus died, his kingdom reached from the borders of Macedonia to the banks of the Indus. A BAS-RELIEF OF CYRUS. father dared not show any emotion (p. 92), and on the king asking him how he liked the meat he had eaten, cahnly repUed that •' what pleased his monarch pleased liim.'" But the day of revenge soon came. Harpagus roused Cyrus to revolt, and having in the first battle betrayed the Median army to the young prince, became henceforth his most devoted general. * Crcrsus was so rich that his name has become proverbial. He was now doomed to die. Mounting the funeral pile, he exclaimed, "Solon! Solon!" Cyrus, won- dering, inquired the reason. The captive replied, that the Greek philosopher (p. 122) had once visited him and made light of his riches, saying that "no man should be judged happy until the manner of his death was known." Cyi'us, struck by the reply, released Croe.sus and made him a confidential friend. 90 MEDIA AND PERSIA. [529-522 B. V. Cambyses (529 b. c), his son, succeeded to the throne. He conquered Egypt (p. 19) in a single battle, using, it is said, the stratagem of placing before his army cats, dogs, and othei- sacred animals which the Egyptians feared to harm. Af- ter this victory he CRCESUS ON THE FUNERAL PYRE (FROM AN ANCIENT VASE). invaded Ethiopia, but his army nearly perished in the burn- ing sands of the desert. Returning to Memphis, he acted the madman * till his death (522 B. c). * He had already secretly murdered his brother Smcrdis. He now attempted to marry his sister, and ended by killing her. One day Cambyses asked Prexaspes what the Persians thought of hiui. The nobleman replied, " They praise you greatly in all things except they think j'ou love wine." Whereupon the king, to prove the steadiness of his nerves, aimed an arrow at the nobleman's son, who was stai^diug in the vestibule, and pierced him through the heart. According to the Greek story, Cambyses, in a fit of passion slew the Apis, but a recently-discovered inscription 521-486 B. C] THE CI V I I. I Z A T I X . 91 Darius I. (521) * organized the vast kingdom which Cyrus had conquered. There were twenty-three provinces, all restless and eager to be free. Insurrections were there- fore frequent. Darius divided the empire into twenty great ^'satrapies/' each governed by a satrap. These officers were appointed by the king, and were amenable to him alone. The slightest suspicion of treachery was the signal for their instant death. To secure prompt communication between the monarch and distant portions of the empire, royal roads w^ere established with couriers to be relieved by one another at the end of each day's jou'.ney. Every satrapy paid a regular tribute but retained its native king, laws and reli- gion, f The capital of the empire ~ras fixed at Susa. The Later History of Persia pre-ents the usual charac- teristics of oriental despotisms. There were scenes of cruelty, treachery and fraud. Brothers murdered by brothers, queens slaying their rivals, and eunuchs bartering the throne, assas- sinating the soyereign, and in turn perishing by justice or treachery, were merely ordinary events. The only interest to us clusters about the point where Persian history touches that of Greece (p. 125), until at last the empire itself crum- bled before the triumphant advance of Alexander. shows that this Apis died in 524 B. c, and was buried under the auspices of the Great King Camhyf^es himself ! * During the absence of Cambyses in Egypt, the magi made one Gomates king, representing him to be Smerdis, the son of Cyrus (note, p. 90). Darius now con- spired with six other nobles, and slew the ''False Smerdis." The seven noblemen agreed to ride out at sunrise of the following day, and that he whose horse first neighed should become king. Darius secured the prize, Herodotus says, by a trick of his groom in placing, near where they were to pass, a horse well known to his master's horse. t The satraps rivalled the king himself in the magnificence of their courts. Each had several palaces with pleasure-gardens or "paradises," as they called them, attached. The income of the satrap of Babylon is said to have been four bushels of silver coin per day, while his stables contained 17,UC0 studs, and his numerous dogs required the tribute of four towns for their support MEDIA AND P E K S I A . 2. THE CIVILIZATION. "" Society. — The King^ as in Assyria and Babylonia, held at his disposal the lives, liberties and property of his people. He was bound by the national customs as closely as his meanest subject, but otherwise his will was absolute. His command, once given, could not be revoked even by himself; hence arose the phrase, " Un- c'liangeable as the laws of the Medes and Persians." His every caprice was acceiDted without question. If he chose, in pure wan- tonness, to shoot an innocent boy before the eyes of his father, the parent, so far from expressing horror at the crime, would praise his skillful archery ; and offenders, bastinadoed by royal order, declared themselves delighted that his majesty had condescended to notice them even with his displeasure. The king was the state. If he fell in battle, all was lost; if he were saved, it outweighed every calamity. The Seven Princes (Esther i. 14 ; Ezra vii. 14) were grandees next to the king. One was of the royal family ; the others were chiefs of the six great houses from which the king was legally bound to choose his legitimate wives. No one except the Seven Princes could approach the royal person unless introduced by a court usher. They sat beside the king at public festivals, entered his apartment at their pleasure, and gave him advice on public and private matters. The Court \w2iS principally composed of magi (p. 97), who judged all moral and civil offences. The People seem to have been divided into two general classes, those who lived in towns and cities and who generally cultivated the soil, and the roving or pastoral tribes. Social grades were strongly marked, and the court etiquette was aped among all classes, special modes of salutation being prescribed for a man's supenor, his equal, and his inferior. Trade and commerce were held in great contempt, and the rich boasted that they neither bought nor sold. Writing. — Cuneiform Letters. — The Persian characters were formed much more simply than the Assyrian. They were, so far as now known, less than forty in number, and were written from left to right. For public documents the rock and chisel were used ; for i)rivate, prepared skin and the pen. Clay-tablets seem never to have been employed, and papyrus brought from Egypt was too costly. As the cuneiform letters are illy adapted to writing on parchment, it is probable that some cursive characters were also in T H E C I Y I L I Z A T I O N . 93 use, though none have as yet been discovered. The Persian writing which has survived is almost entirely on stone, either upon the mountain side or on buildings, tablets, vases, and signet-cylinders. Science and Literature.— To science, the Persians contributed absolutely nothing. They had fancy, imagination, and a relish for poetry and art, but they were too averse to study to produce any- thing which required patient and laborious research. In this respect they furnish a striking contrast to the Babylonians. The Avesta or Sacred Text, written in Zend, the ancient idiom of Bactria, is all that remains to us of their literature. It is com- posed of eight distinct parts or books, compiled from various older works which have been lost, and purports to be a revelation made by Ormazd (p. 98) to Zoroaster,* the founder of the Persian religion. The principal books are the Vendidad and the Tac^na: the former contains a moral and ceremonial code somewhat corresponding tcf the Hebrew Pentateuch ; the latter consists of prayers, hymns, etc., for use during sacrifice. The contents of the Zend-Avesta date from various ages, and portions were probably handed down by oral tra- dition for hundreds of years before being committed to writing. Feom the Zend-Avesta. "Zoroaster asked Ahura Mazda : • Ahura Mazda, holiest spirit, creator of all exist- ent worlds, the truth loving ! What was, O Ahura Mazda, the word existing before the heaven, before the watei", before the earth, before the cow, before the tree, before the fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, before man the truthful, before the Devas and car- nivorous beasts, before the whole existing universe, before every good thing created by Ahura Mazda and springing from truth ? ' Then answered Ahura Mazda : ' It was the All of the creative word, most holy Zoroaster. I will teach it thee. Existing before the heaven, before the water, before the earth,' etc. (as before). ' Such is the AH of the Creative Word, most holy Zoroaster, that even when neither pronounced, nor recited, it is worth one hundred other proceeding prayers, * Zoroaster was a reformer who lived in Bactria, probably about 1500 b. c, possibly earlier. Little is known of his actual history. The legends ascribe to him a seclu- sion of twenty years in a mountain cave, where he received his doctrines direct from Ormazd. His tenets, though overlaid by superstition, were remarkably pure and noble, and of all the ancient creeds approach the nearest to the inspired Hebrew faith. Their mutual hatred of idolatry formed a bond of sympathy between the early Persians and the 'Jews, Ormazd and Jehovah being recognized as the same Lord God {Imiah xliv. 28 ; Ezra i. 2, -S). At the time of the Persian conquest by Alexander, the Zoroastrian books were said to number twenty-one volumes. During the five hundred years of foreign rule they were scattered and neglected. Under the Sassanian kings (226-651 a. d. ) the remaining fragments were carefully collected and translated, with explanatory notes, into the literary language of the day. This trans- lation was called Avesta-u-Zend (text and comments). By some mistake the word " Zend" was applied to the original language of the text, and is now generally used in that sense, hence '• Zend-Avesta." 94 MEDIA AND PERSIA. neither pronouuced, uor recited, nor chanted. And he, most holy Zoroaster, who in this existing world remembers the All of the Creative Word, utter? it when remem- bered, chants it when uttered, celebrates when chanted, his soul will 1 thrice lead across the bridge to a better world, a better existence, better truth, better days. 1 pronounced this speech containing the Word, and it accomplished the creation of Heaven, before the creation of the water, of the earth, of the tree, of the four-footed beast, before the birth of the truthful, two-legged man.' " A Hymn.—'' We worship Ahura Mazda, the pure, the master of purity. We praise all good thoughts, all good words, all good deeds which are or shall be ; and we likewise keep clean and pure all that is good. O Ahura Mazda, thou true, happy being ! W^ e strive to think, to speak, and to do only such actions as may be best fitted to promote the two lives " {i. e.. the life of the body and the life of the soul). We beseech tlie spirit of earth for the sake of these our best works (i. e., agricul- ture) to grant us beautiful and fertile fields, to the believer as well as to the unbe- liever, to him w^ho has riches as well as to him who has no possessions." Education.— "To ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth," were the great ends of Persian education. When a boy was five years old his training began. He was made to rise before dawn, and practice his exercises in running, slinging stones, and the use of the ))ow and javelin. He made long marches, exposed to all weathers, and sleeping in the open air. That he might learn to endure hunger, he was sometimes given but one meal in two days. When he was seven years old, he was taught to ride and hunt, in- cluding the ability to jump on and oflf his horse, to shoot the bow and to use the javelin, all with his steed at full gallop. At the age of fifteen, he became a soldier. Books and reading seem to have formed no jDart of an ordinary Persian education. The king himself was no exception. His scribes learned his wishes, and then wrote his letters, edicts, etc., affixing the royal seal without calling upon him even to sign his name.* Monuments and Art. — As the followers of Zoroaster wor- shipped in the 023en air, we need not look in Persia for temples, but must content ourselves with palaces and tombs. The palaces at Per- sepolisf were as magnificent as those at Nineveh and Babylon had been, though different in style and architecture. Like them they were built on a high platform, l^ut for the crude or burnt brick of Assyria * " Occasionally, to beguile weary hours, a monarch may have had the ' Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Persia and Media ' read before him ; but the kings themselves never opened a book or studied any branch of science or learning." — Rawliiison. t Remains of a large palace have been discovered at Susa, which is supposed to be the identical one described in the Book of Esther. On the bases of the pillars it is stated that the palace was erected by Darius and Xerxes, but repaired by Artaxerxea Memnon, who added the inscriptions. THE CI VILIZ Alio J^. 95 and Babylon were substituted enormous blocks of hewn stone,* fast- ened with iron clamps. The platform was terraced, and the broad, gently sloping, and elaborately-sculptured staircases, wide enough to allow ten horsemen to ride abreast, were exceedingly grand and im- posing. The subjects of sculpture were much like those in Assyria : the king in combat with mythical monsters, or seated on his throne surrounded by his attendants ; long processions of royal guards, or of captives bringing tribute ; and symbolical combats between bulls "I -f PERSIAN SUBJECTS BRINGING TRIBUTE TO THE KING. and lions. Colossal winged and human-headed bulls, also copied from Assyria, guarded the palace portals. For effect, the Persians seem to have depended upon elegance of form, richness of material, and splendor of coloring, rather than upon immense size, as did the Egyptians and Babylonians. The " Great Hall of Xerxes," however, was larger than the " Great Hall of Karnak," and in proportion and design far surpassed anything in Assyria. What enameled brick was to Babylon, and alabaster sculpture to Assyria, that the por- tico and pillar were to Persia. Forests of graceful columns, over sixty feet high, with elegantly-carved bases and capitals, rose in hall and colonnade, between which were magnificent hangings, Avhite, * An idea borrowed from the conquered Egyptians. 96 M E D I A AND PERSIA. TOMB OF CYKUS AT J'ASARGAD^E. •rrc'cn, and violet, " fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble." {Esther \. 7.) Pavements "of red, blue, white, and black marble," with carpets from Sardis spread for the king to walk ujDon ; walls covered with plates of gold and silver; the golden throne of the king, under an embroidered canopy, supported by j)! liars of gold inlaid with precious stones; a golden palm-tree ; gold and silver couches ; and over the royal bed a golden vine, each grape being a precious stone of enormous value, are all recorded as appurtenances to the royal palace. The Persian king, like the Egyptian, attended during his lifetime to the building of his hist resting-place, The most remarkable of the Persian tombs is that of Cyrus at Pasargadae, which has been called "a house ^ • '^--. upon a pedestal." Upon a pyra- _ 7 midal base made of huge blocks of ■' ".- 1 x^ beautiful white marble was erected a -; ^ _ 1^ house of the same material, crowned with a stone roof. Here, in a small chamber entered by a low and nar- row door, were deposited in a golden coffin the remains of the great con- queror. A colom-iade of twenty-four pillars, whose broken shafts are still seen, seems to have inclosed the sacred spot. With this ex- ception, all the royal sepulchres that remain are rock-tombs, similar in situation to those we noticed in Egypt. Unlike those, however, they were made conspicuous, as if intended to catch the eye of an observer who might glance high up the mountain-side. A spot difficult of approach having been cliosen, a chamber with one or more recesses was excavated in the solid rock, and marked by a porticoed and sculptured front some- what in the shape of a Greek cross. The sarcophagi were cut in the rock-floor of the recesses, and were covered by stone slabs. Perdan Architecture is distinguished for simplicity and regularity, in most buildings one-half being the exact duplicate of the other. Although many ideas were bor- rowed from the nations we have already ronsidered, Persian art, in its best features, such as the grand sculptured staircases and the vast groves of tall and slender lUE GREAT STAIRCASE AT PERSEPOLIS. T H £ JNl A ^' .\ E li S A X D (US T O Al S . "J V pillars,* with their peculiar oruanientation, was strikingly original. The Persian fancy seems to have run toward the grotesque and monstrous. When copying nature, the drawing of animals was much superior to that of the human form. Statuary was not attempted. The Practical Arts and. Inventions were almost entirely wanting. No enameling, no pottery, no metal castings, no wooden or ivory carvings were made. A few spear and arrow-heads, coins, and gem-cylinders are all the small objects which have been dis- covered among the ruins. Persia thus presents a marked contrast to the other nations Ave have been studying. It was, indeed, the boast of the Persians that they needed not to toil, since by their skill in arms they could command every foreign production. " The carpets of Babylon and Sardis, the shawls of Kashmir and India, the fine linen of Borsippa and Egypt, the ornamental metal-work of Greece, tlie coverlets'of Damascus, the muslins of Babylonia, and the multiform manufactures of the Phoenician towns " poured continu- ally into Persia as tributes, gifts, or merchandise, and left among the native population no ambition for home-industries. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — The Persian was keen-witted and ingeni- ous, generous, warm-hearted, hospitable, and courageous. He was bold and dashing in war ; sparkling, vivacious, and given to repartee in social life. Except in the presence of the king, where no sadness was allowed, he never checked the expression of his emotions, but childishly, regardless of all spectators, laughed and shouted when pleased, ^r wept and shrieked when in sorrow. In this he was very unlike the Babylonian gentleman, who studied calmness and repose of manner. He was self-indulgent and luxurious, but chary of debt. The early Persians were remarkable for truthfulness, lying being abhorred as the special characteristic of the evil spirit. Religion. — That of the Persians was Mazdeism, from Ahura Mazda (Ormazd), their great and good God ; it was also called Zoroas- trianism, after its founder (p. 93). That of the Medes was Magism, so named from the priests, who were of a caste called Magi. Mazdeism taught the existence of two great principles — one good, the other evil, which were in perpetual and eternal conflict. * In Assyria the pillar was almost unknown, while in Egypt it was twice as broa4 in proportion to its height a? in Persia, !)8 MEDIA AND PERSIA. Ormnzd was the " All-perfect, all-powerful, all-wise, all-beautiful, all-pure ; sole source of true knowledge, of real hapjaness ; him who hath created us, him who sustains us, the wisest of all intelligences." — ( J7/f/ja.) Having created the earth, he placed man thereon to pre- serve it. He was represented by the sun, tire, and light. SYMBOL OF ORMAZD. (Copied hy the Persians from that of the Assyrian god Asshnr.i Ahnman was the author of evil and death, causing sin in man and barrenness upon the earth. Hence the cultivation of the soil was con- sidered a religious duty, as promoting the interests of Onuazd and defeating the malice of his opposer. Those who yielded to the seduc- tions of Ahriman were unable to cross the terrible bridge to which all souls were conducted the third night after death ; they fell into the gulf below, where they were forced to live in utter darkness and feed on poisoned banquets. The good were assisted across the bridge by an angel, who led them to golden thrones in the eternal abode of hap- piness. Thus this religion, like the Egyptian, contained the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and of future reward and punishment. Ormazd and Ahriman had each his councillors and emissaries, but they were simply genii or spirits, and not independent gods, like the lesser deities of the Egyptians and Assyrians. Zjroastrian Worship consisted mainly in prayer and praises to Ormazd and his court, the recital of Gathas or hymns, and the per- formance of the Iloma ceremony. In the last, during the recitation of certain prayers, the priests extracted the juice of a plant called homa, formally presenting the liquid to the sacrificial fire, after which a small portion was drunk by one of the priests and the remainder by the worshippers. This ceremony was supposed by some mystic force to secure the favor of Heaven, and, by the curative power of the plant, directly to bless the participant. Magism taught not only the worship of Ormazd, but also that of Ahriman, who under another name Mas the serpent-god of the Tura- nians. In Media, Ahriman was the principal object of adoration, since a good god, so it was reasoned, would not hurt men, but an evil THE M A N ^- E K S A :N' 1) C U S T O M S . 99 one must be appeased by lionor and sacrifice. Sorcery and incanta- tions, which were expressly forbidden by Zoroaster, were the out- growth of the Median faith, IVie Magi apparently held their office by hereditary succession. In time, Mag-ism and Mazdeism became so assimilated that the Magi were accepted as the national priests of Persia. As we have seen the Egyp- tian religion characterized by animal and sun worship, and the Chal- deo-Assyrian by that of the sun, moon and planets, so we find the Persian distinguished by the tcorsMp of the elements. Tlie sun, fire, air, earth and water were all objects of adoration and sacrifice. On lofty heights, whence they could be seen from afar, stood the fire- altars, crowned by the sacred flame, believed to have been kindled from Heaven, and never suffered to expire. It was guarded by the Magi, who so jealously kept its purity that to blow upon it with the breath was a capital offence. By these holy fires, flickering on lonely mountain-tops, the Magi, clad in white robes and with half- concealed faces, chanted day after day their weird incantations, and, myste- riously waving before the awe-stricken spectators a bundle of tamarisk twigs (di\'iuing-rods), muttered their pretended prophecies. Sacrifice was not offered at the altar of the eternal flame, but on fires lighted from it. a horse being the favorite victim. A small part of the fat having been consumed by the fire, and the soul of the animal having been, according to the Magi, accepted by the god, the body was cut into joints, boiled and eaten, or sold by the worshippers. Sacri- fices to water were offered by the side of lakes, rivers and fountains, care being taken that not a drop of blood should touch the sacred element. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it even lawful to wash the hands in a stream. — The worship of these elements rendered 'the disposal of the dead a difficult matter. They could not be burnt, for that would pollute fire ; nor thrown into the river, for that would defile water ; nor buried in the ground, for that would corrupt earth. The Magi solved the problem by giving their own dead to be devoured by beasts of prey. The people revolted from this, and encased the lifeless bodies of their friends in a coating of wax ; having made this concession to the sacred earth, they ventured to buiy their dead in its bosom. Domestic Life. — The early Persians were noted for their simple diet. They ate but one meal a day and drank only water. With their successes their habits changed. They still ate only one meal each day, but it began early and lasted till night. Water gave place to wine, and each man prided himself on the quantity he could drink. Drunkenness, at last, became a sort of duty. Every serious family- council ended in a debauch, and once a year, at the feast of Mithras, part of the royal display was the intoxication of the king. Love of 100 MEDIA AND PERSIA ORDINARY PERSIAN COSTUME. dress incroased, and to the purple or flowered robes and tunics, em- broidered trousers, tiaras and shoes of their Median predecessors, the Persians now added the hitherto unwonted fineries of gloves and stockings. They wore massive gold collars and bracelets, and studded the golden sheaths and handles of their swords and daggers with gems. They not only drank wine from gold and silver cups as did their fallen neighbors, the Babylonians, but they plated and inlaid the tables themselves with the precious metals. Even the horses felt the growing extravagance and champed bits made of gold instead of bronze. Every rich man's house was crowded with servants, each confining himself to a single duty. Not the least of these were the "adorners," who applied cosmetics to their mas- ter's face and hands, colored his eyelids, curled his hair and beard and adjusted his wig. The perfume- bearer, who was an indispensable valet, took charge of the perfumes and scented ointments, a choice se- lection of which was a Persian gentleman's pride. Women were kept secluded in their own apartments, called the harem or seraglio, and were allowed no communication with the other sex.* So rigid w^as etiquette in this respect, that a Persian wife might not even see her own father or brother. When she rode, her litter was closely curtained, yet even then it was a capital offence for a man simply to pass a royal litter in the street.f 27ie King's Household numbered 15,000 per- sons. The titles of some of his servants reveal the despotism and dangers of the times. Such were his " Eyes " and " Ears," who were virtually spies and detectives; and his " Tasters ," who tried every dish set before him, to prove it were not poisoned. A monarch who held the life of his subjects so lightly as did the Persian kings, might well be on the alert for treachery and conspiracy against himself. Hence, the court customs and etiquette were extremely rigorous. Even to touch the king's carpet in crossing the ANCIENT PERSIAN SILVER COIN. * Even at the present clay it is considered a gross indecorum to ask a Persian after the health of his wife. t It is curious to notice that the same custom obtained in Eussia a few centuries ago. In 1674, two chamberlains were deprived of their offices for having accidentally met the carriage of the Tsaritsa Natalia. THE MANNERS AND C U S T O M S . 101 courts was a grave offence ; and to come into his chamber unan- nounced, unless the royal sceptre was extended in pardon, was instant death {Esther vii.)- Every courtier prostrated himself in the attitude of worship on entering the royal presence, and kept his hands hidden in his sleeve during the entire interview. Even tlie king was not exempt from rcstri<;tions of etiquette. He was required to live in seclusion ; never to go on foot beyond the palace walls; and never to revoke an order or draw back from a promise, liow^ever he might desire it. He took his meals alone, excepting occasionally, when he might have the queen and one or two of his children for company. When he gave a great banquet his guests were divided into two classes ; the lower were entertained in an outer court, and the higher, in a chamber next his own, where he could see them through the curtain which screened himself. Guests were assigned a certain amount of food; the greater the number of dishes, the higher the honor conferred ; what was left on their plates they were at liberty to take home to their families. Sometimes at a "Banquet of Wine," a select number were allowed to drink in the royal presence, but not of the same wine or on the same terms with the king ; he reclined on a golden-footed couch and sipped the costly wine of Helbon ; they were seated on the floor, and were served a cheaper beverage. The Persians in War. — Wea2J07is, etc. — The Persian footman fought with bow and arrows, a sword and spear, and occasionally with a battle-axe and sling. He defended himself with a wicker shield, similar to the Assyrian, and almost large enough to cover him. He wore a leather tunic and trousers, low boots, and a felt cap ; some- times he was protected by a coat of mail made of scale armor, or of quilted linen, like the Egyptian corselet. In the heavy cavalry, both horse and horsemen wore metal coats-of-mail, which made their move- ments slow and hesitating ; the light cavalry were less burdened, and were celebrated for quick and dextrous maneuvring. The special weapon of the horseman was a javelin — a short, strong spear, with a wooden shaft and an iron point. Sometimes he was armed with a long leather thong, which he used with deadly effect as a lasso. The war-chariots, which we have seen so popular in Egyptian and Assyrian armies, were regarded by the Persians with disfavor. Kings and princes, however, rode in them, both on the march and in action, and sometimes a chariot force was brought into the field. The wheels of the Persian chariot were armed with scythes, but this device does not seem to have caused the destruction intended, since, as it was drawn by from two to four horses, and always contained two or more occu- pants, it furnished so large a mark for the missiles of the enemy, that , a chariot advance was usually checked before reaching the opposing line of battle. Military engines seem rarely if ever used, and the ]U2 EDIA AND PERSIA siege-towers and battering-rams, so familiar in Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, are never mentioned in Persian inscriptions. Elephants were sometimes employed in battle ; and at Sardis, Cyrus gained his victory over Croesus by frightening the Lydian horses with an array of camels. Organization of the Army. — The Persians trusted for success mainly to numbers. The army was commanded personally by the king, or some one appointed by him. In the division of men under officers a decimal system prevailed, so that, grading upward, there were the cap- tains of tens, of hundreds, of thousands, and of tens-of-thousands. Sometimes a million men were brought into service."^ PERSIAN FOOT-SOI.UIERS. On the March. — The Persians, like the Assyrians, avoided fighting in winter, and led out their armies in early spring. They marched only by day, and as, before the time of Darius, there were neither roads nor bridges, their immense cavalcade made slow progress. The baggage-train, composed of a vast multitude of camels, horses, mules, * The troops wore drawn from the entire empire, and were marshalled in the field according to nations, each tribe accoutred in its own f^ishion. Here were seen the gilded breastplates and scarlet kilts of the Persians and Medes ; there the woolen shirt of the Arab, the leathern jerkin of the Berber, or the cotton dress of the native of Hindustan. Swart savage Ethiops from the Upper Nile, adorned with a war-paint of white and red, and scantily clad with the skins of leopards or lions, fought in one place with huge clubs, arrows tipped with stone, and spears terminating in the horn of an antelope. In another, Scyths. with their loose, spangled trousers and their tall pointed caps, dealt death around from their unerring blow^s ; while near them Assyrians, helmeted, and wearing corselets of quilted linen, wielded the tough spear or the still more formidable iron mace. Rude weapons, like cane bows, unfeathered arrows, and stakes hardened at one end in the fire, were seen side by side with keen swords and daggers of the best steel, the finished productions of the workshops of Phoenicia and Greece. Here the bronze helmet was surmounted with the ears and horns of an ox ; there it was superseded by a fox-skin, a leathern or wooden skull- cap, or a head-dress fashioned out of a horde's scalp. Besides horses and mules, elephants, camels, and wild asses diversified the scene, and rendered it still more strange and wonderful to the eye of a 'E.wroT^esiQ.—Rawlinson. s r M M A \l T . 103 oxen, etc., dragging heavy carts or bearing great packs, was sent on in advance, followed by about lialf the troops in a long, continuous column. Then, after a considerable break, came a picked guard of a thousand horse and a thousand foot, preceding the most precious treasures of the nation — its sacred emblems and its king. The former consisted of the holy horses and cars, and, perhaps, the silver altars on which darned the eternal lire. The monarch followed, riding on a car drawn by Xissean steeds. After him came a second guard of a thousand foot and a thousand horse ; then ten thousand picked foot — probably the f&nions '' Inunoi'tals" (p. 130), and ten thousand picked horsemen. Another break of nearly a quarter of a mile ensued, and then the remainder of the troops completed the array. The wives of the chief officers often accompanied the army, and were borne in luxurious litters amid a crowd of eunuchs and attendants. On enter- ing a hostile land the baggage-train was sent to the rear, horsemen were thrown out in front, and other effective changes made. In battle the troops were massed in deep ranks, the bravest in front. Chariots, if used, led the attack, followed by the infantry in the center and the cavalry on the wings. If the line of Ijattle were once broken, the army lost heart ; the commander usually set the example of flight, and a general stampede ensued. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History.— Late in the 7th century B. C. the hardy Medes threw off the Persian yoke and captured Nineveh. But the court of Astyages at Ecbatana became as luxurious as that of Asshur- banipal had been, and the warlike Persians pushed to the front. Under Cyrus they conquered Media, Lydia, Babylonia, and founded an empire reaching from India to the confines of Egypt. Cambyses, son of Cyrus, by the help of the Phoenicians subdued Egypt, but was after- ward smitten with madness. Meanwhile a Magian usurped the throne in the name of Smerdis, the murdered brother of Cambyses. Darius unseated the Pseudo- Smerdis, and organized the empire which Cyrus had conquered. He invaded India, Scj-thia, and finally Greece, but his hosts were overthrown on the field of Marathon (see p. 126). 2. Civilization.— Every Persian, even though one of the Seven Princes, held his life at the mercy of the king. Truthful and of simple tastes in his early national life, he grew in later days to be luxurious and effeminate. Keen-witted and impulsive, having little love for books or study, his education was with the bow, on the horse, and in the field. In architecture he delighted in broad, sculptured staircases, and tall, slender columns. He expressed some original taste and de- 104 MEDIA AND PERSIA. &lgu, but his iirt was largely borrowed from foreign nations, and his inventions were few or none. He wrote in cuneiform characters, using a pen and prepared skins for epistles and i)rivate documents ; his public records were chiseled in stone. He had little respect for woman, and kept his wife and daughters confined in the harem. He went to war witli a vast and motley cavalcade, armed by nations, and relied upon overwhelming numbers for success. He worshipped the elements, and the Magi— his priests — guarded a holy flame on mountain heights, -^ When he died his friends encased his body in wax and buried it, or exposed it to be destroyed by the vultures and wild beasts. READING REFERENCES. T?ie General Ancient Histories named on pp. Uk and 72.—Rawlinson''s Five Great Monarchies— Vaux's Nineveh and Persepolis.—Fergusson's Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored.— Loftus's Chaldea and Susiana.— Hang's Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsees.—Ebe?''s Egyptian Princess {p. kU) contains a vivid description of the times of Cambyses and the Pseudo-Smerdis.— Eaivlinson's Translation of Herodotiis.-Mullers Sacred Books of the East {Vols. IV and V). CHRONOLOGY. B.C. Cyaxares destroyed Nineveh 625 Cj rus subdued the Medes 55^ Cyrus defeated Croesus, and captured Sardis 554 Cyrus subdued the far East 553-540 Cyrus captured Babylon 538 Cambyses ascended the throne 529 Cambyses conquered Egypt • • ■ 52T Darius Hystaspes ascended the throne 521 Darius invaded Greece • • • 490 THE RUINS OF i-EKSEPOLIS. INDIA. The Hindoos, like the Persians, were Aryans. In aR respects, except color, they resemble the Europeans. They are thought to have emigrated from Iran (p. 12) earlier than 1500 B. c. They never materially influenced the steady flow of history, and are only incidentally mentioned when foreign- ers went thither for purposes of trade or conquest. The first authentic event recorded is that of the invasion of Darius (518 B. c), and the next that of Alexander (p. 152).* The Civilization, — The character of their civilization was stereotyped at an early day. By mixing with the dark races which inhabited the country the fair-skinned invaders lost the Aryan pro- gressiveness and energy. What the Greeks who followed Alexander found in India meets the traveler there to-day — a teeming poi3ula- tion, gentle and peaceable; fabulous riches; the arts and industries passing from generation to generation unchanged ; and a system of religion with rigorous rules and ceremonies regulating all the details of life. The x^roducts of the Indian looms were as eagerly sought by the ancients as the modems. The silks, pearls, precious stones, spices, gold, and ivory of India have in successive ages enriched Phoenicia, the Italian republics, and England. Society. — Castes were established by the early Aryans. (1.) The BraJimim or priests, who had the right of interpreting the sacred books, and possessed a monopoly of knowledge ; (2.) The Kshatriyas^ * Ttiere is little, if anything, in the Indian annals worth the name of history. The Hindoo mind, though acute and intelligent, is struck, not by the reasonableness or truth of a statement, but by its grandeur. Thus, in the Brahmin mythology we hear of Eahu, an exalted being, 76,800 miles high and 19,200 miles across the shoul- ders. While the Egyptian engraved on stone the most trivial incident of daily life, the Hindoo disregarded current events, and became absorbed in metaphysical subtle- ties.— ^^ac? Eawlinson and Muller in the Contemporary Review, April, 1870. 106 INDIA. or soldiers ; (3.) The Vauya, or traders and farmers ; and (4.) The iSudras, or laborers, who consisted of the conquered people, and were slaves. The Pariahs^ or outcasts, ranked below all the others, and were condemned to perform the most menial duties. Intermarriage between the castes was forbidden, and occupations descended rigidly from father to son. Literature. — The Sanscrit (perfected), the language of the conquerors, is preserved among the Hindoos, like the Latin with us, by means of grammars and dictionaries. Its literature is rich in fancy and exalted poetry, and embalms the precious remains of that language which was nearest the speech of our Aryan forefathers. Thousands of Sanscrit works are still in existence. No man's life is long enough to read them all. A certain Hindoo king is said to have had the contents of his libraiy condensed into 12,000 volumes ! A portion of the Vedas, the sacred books of Brahma, was com- piled 1200 B. c. The Rig- Veda contains 1028 hymns, invoking as gods the sun, moon, and other powers of nature. The following extract is a beautiful litany : 1. "Let me not yet, O Varuna (the god of water) enter into the house of clay. Have mercy, Almighty, have mercy ! 2. *' If I go along trembling, like a cloud driven by wind, have mercy, Almighty, have mercy ! 3. " Through want of strength, thou Strong One, ha\e I gone to the wrong shore. Have mercy, Almighty, have mercy ! 4. " Thirst came on the worshipper, in the midst of the waters. Have mercy Almighty, have mercy ! 5. "Wherever we men, O Varnna, commit an offence before the heavenly host ; wherever we break thy law through thoughtlessness, have mercy. Almighty, have mercy ! " Religion. — Brahmanism, the Hindoo faith, teaches pantheism ^^ a system which makes God the soul of the universe, so that " what- ever we taste, or see, or smell, or feel is God." There runs also through its theology the doctrine of the transmigration ^£ souls, i. e., that after death good spirits will be absorbed into the Supreme Being, but wicked ones will be sent back to occupy the bodies of animals to begin afresh the round of purification and elevation. The idea of l^rayer, meditation, sacrifice, and penance,t in order to secure this * The doctrine of the Hindoo Trinity, i. e., that God reveals himself in three forms- Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer— is now known to be a modern one. It grew out of an attempt to harmonize all the views that were hostile to Buddhism. t Travelers tell us how the Hindoo fanatics carry this Idea of penance to such an extent as to keep their hands clenched until the nails grow thi'ough the palms, and to hold their arms upright until they become paralyzed. THE C I \' I L I Z A T I N . 107 final absorption which is the highest good, constitutes the key to Brahmanism, and explains wh}- in its view the hermit and devotee are the truly wise. By acts of benevolence and sacrifice performed in different stages of trans- migration one may accu- mulate a vast stock of merit, so as finally to at- tain to a god-like intelli- gence. Several of these divine sages are believed to have arisen from time to time. BuddMsm. (500 b. c.) was an effort to reform Brahmanism by incul- cating a benevolent and humane code of morals. It teaches the necessity of a pure life, and holds that by the practice of six transcendent virtues — alms, morals, science, energy, patience, and charity — a person may hope to reach Nirvana or eternal repose. Buddha, the founder of this sys- tem, is said to have "previously existed in four hundred millions of worlds. During these successive transmigrations he was almost everj^ sort of fish, fly, animal, and man. He had acquired such a sanctity millions of centuries before as to permit him to enter Nir- vana, but he preferred to endure the curse of existence in order to benefit the race." Buddha is a historic character, and his life was marvelously pui'e and beautiful. His religion, however, was a ]3rac- tical atheism, and his teachings led to a belief in annihilation and not absorption in Brahma, or God, as the chief end of existence. The Buddhists were finally expelled from India. But they took refuge in Ceylon ; their missionaries carried their doctrines over a large part of the East, and Buddhism now constitutes the religion of one- quarter of the T)0]3ulation of the world. There are almost endless BUDDHIST PRIESTS. 108 INDIA modifications of both these faiths, and they abound in sentiments imaginative and subtle beyond conception. Mingled with this lofty ideality is the grossest idolatry, and most grotesque images are the general objects of the Hindoo worship. The Sacred Writings of the Hindoos contain much that is simple and beautiful, yet, like all such heathen literature, they are full of silly and repulsive statements. Thus the Institutes of Vishnu declare that "cows are auspicious purifiers"; that "drops of water falling from the horns of a cow have the power to expiate all sin "; and that "scratching the back of a cow destroys all guilt." The Brah- mins assert that prayer, even when ofiiered from the most unworthy motives, compels the gods to grant one's wishes. The Institutes of Gautama (Buddha) forbid the student to recite the text of the Veda "if the wind whirls up the dust in the day-time." Tlie Buddhists declare that all animals, even the vilest insects, as well as the seeds of plants, have souls. READING REFERENCES. 3fuller''s Sacred Books of the East, and History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature — Whitney's Oriental and Linguistic Studies.— Lenormanfs Manuel, etc.. Vol. III.— John- son'' s Oriental Religions, India.— Taylor'' s Students Manual of the History of India.— Bayard Taylor's India, Cfiina, and Japan.— Articles on India, etc., i7i AppletorC s^ and ZelVs Cyclopcedias. ^.-^s^-Nr A iikAH.MlN AT PKAYEK. CHINA. The Chinese were Turanians (p. 11). Their historical records have been claimed to reach far back of all known chronology, but these are now admitted to be largely myth- ical. Some authorities place the foundation of the empire at about 2800 B. c. Since tlien more than twenty dynasties of kings haye held sway. From early times the country has been disturbed by incursions of the Tartars (Huns or Mon- gols). The Emperor Ching-AYang expelled these wild bar- barians, and to keep them out built along the northern fron- tier the Great Wall of China (about 250 B. c). It is fifteen to thirty feet high, wide enough for six horsemen to ride abreast upon the top, and extends oyer mountains and yalleys a distance of twelye hundred miles. This emperor is now regarded by the Chinese as their national hero. In the 13 th century the great Asiatic conqueror Genghis Khan inyaded the empire, and payed the way for the estab- lishment of the first Mongol dynasty, which held the king- dom for nearly one hundred years. During this period the famous trayeler Marco Polo {Brief U. S., p. 20) yisited China, where he remained seyenteen years. On his return to Europe he gaye a glowing description of the magnificence of the Eastern monarch's court. Again, in the 17th century, the Tartars obtained the throne, and founded the dynasty wiiich now goyerns the empire. 110 C H I N A THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. The Civilization. — The Chinese have always kept themselves isolated from the other nations.* Consequently China has influenced history even less than has India. Law and tradition have done for the former what a false religion has for the latter. Everything came to a stand-still ages ago. The dress, the plan of the house, the mode of bowing, the minutest detail of life, are regulated by three thousand ceremonial laws of almost immemorial usage. No man presumes to introduce any improvement or change. The only hope is to become as wise as the forefathers by studying the national classics. 1 * Herodotus gives a characteristic account of their mode of dealing with foreign^ ers. He says that the Chinese were wont to deposit their bales of wool or silk in a certain place, and then go away. The merchants came up, laid beside the goods the sum of money they were M'illing to pay, and retired. The Chinese thereupon ven- tured out again, and if they were satisfied took the money and left the goods, other- wise they left the money and carried off the goods. t It is wonderful to notice the marked resemblance between the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese. There was hardly a peculiarity marking the former that is not to be found essentially in the latter. There is in both the same stereotyped character, the same exceptional mode of writing, the same unwillingness to mingle with sur- rounding nations, the same mode of reckoning time by dynasties, and the same en- joyment :n the contemplation of death.— Fergvsson's Arch., Vol. I, p. 93. THE CIVILIZATION". Ill Sucli is the esteem in which agriculture is held that once a year the emperor exhibits himself in public holding a plow. The ingenuity of the Chinese is proverbial. They anticipated by centuries many of the most important inventions of modern Europe — such as gun- powder, printing, paper, porcelain, and the use of the compass. A Chinese chart of the stars represents the heavens as seen in that country 2300 b. c, thus showing how early astronomy was cultivated by this exclusive people. The Literature is very exten- sive. The writings of Confucius are the chief books perused in the schools. All appointments to the civil service are based on examina- tions, which include the preparation of essays and poems, and the writing of classical selections. Three Religions, Buddhism, Taoism or Rationalism, and Confu- cianism, exist. Such is the liberty of faith that a man may believe in them all, while the mass of the people will pray in the temples of any one indiscriminately. All these faiths agree in the worship of one's ancestors. Buddhism was introduced from India (p. 108), and by its gor- geous ritual and its speculative doc- trines, powerfully appeals to the imagination of its devotees. Taoism is a religion of the supreme reason alone. Confucianism is named from its founder, who died about 478 B. c. (eight years before the birth of Socrates). He taught a series of elevated moral precepts, having reference, however, solely to man's present, and not his future state. Satings 07 CoNPUcros.— " He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star which keeps its place, and all the (other) stars turn towards it." " What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others." " I am not concerned that I have no place (office) ; I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am not concerned that I am not known ; I seek to be worthy to be known." " The wise will never intermit his labor : if another succeeds with one eflbrt, he will use a hundred. " "Slow in words and earnest in action. Act before speaking, and then speak ac- cording to your actions." TRADITIONAL LIKENESS OF CONFUCIUS. n2 CHINA Extract from the Classic op Filial Piett.-" The services of love and rev- ereuce to parents when alive, and those of grief and sorrow to them when dead :- these completely discharge the fundamental duty of living men."— MuUers Sacred Books of the East, Vol. Ill, p. 488. , A characteristic of the Chinese is their overweening national vanity. " The most popular terra by which they designate tlieir country is the 'Middle Kingdom,! from the notion that it is situated in the center of the world. The Chinese map of the globe is in the shape of a parallelogram, of the habitable part of which China occu- pies nine-tenths or more. Some foreign countries are represented by small spots in the oceans which surround China, and not far from its outside boundaries. A short extract from one of their most popular essayists will illustrate this extraordinary feature of the national character : 'I felicitate myself that I was born in China, and constantly think how very diflEerent it would have been with me if I had been born beyond the seas in some remote part of the earth, where the people, far removed from the converting maxims of the ancient kings and ignorant of the domestic rela- tions, are clothed with the leaves of plants, eat wood, and live in the holes of the earth.' ''—BoolUtle's Social Life of the Chinese. READING REFERENCES. Doolittle''s Social lAfe of the Chinese. — Loomis's Confucius and the Chinese Classics.— CoUie''s Four Books (a translation of Chinese classical works).— Thoimton^ s History of China.— Williams'' s Middle Kingdom.— Articles on China and Confucius in Appleton''s, and ZeWs Cijdopcedias.—Legge's Religions of China. E TE.MHLE. fiphacteria ijt HELLA GREEC: Scale of English miet TENEDos 1. ^Y I^ArVa ^ — "■•■ — V ■• j ^^^ ^< J.^'"^^'* '• v^^ '^^ '• tectum PuL'S^^^^^^ Adramytuum . Iresu * LESBOS ^V'NDROSr. . inztrfi/^l ^ _ >T?3 ^' PATM08 l.g^-a. " <\ y SERIPHOS I. V' c<^ pR^NAXOS I. -> ii\' the little army chose new captains, and decided to cut its way home again. All were ignorant alike of the route and the language of the peoj^le. Hostile troops swarmed on every side. Traitors misled them. Famine threatened them. Snows overwhelmed them. Yet they struggled on for months. When one day ascending a mountain, there broke from the van the joyful shout of " The Sea ! The Sea !" It was the Euxine, a branch of that sea whose waters washed the shores of their beloved Greece. About three-fourths of the original number survived to tell the story of that wonderful march. Such an exploit, while it honored the endurance of the Greek soldier, revealed the weakness of the Persian empire. LACED^MON AND THEBAN DOMINION. Lacedaemon Rule (405-371 b. c). — Tempted by the ghttering prospect of Eastern conquest Sparta sent Agesila'us into Asia. His success there made Artaxerxes tremble for his throne. Again Persian gold was thrown into the scale. The Athenians were helped to rebuild the Long Walls, and soon their flag floated once more on the ^'Egean. Conon, the Athenian admiral, defeated the Spartan fleet oil Cniclus, near Ehodes (394 B.C.). In Greece the Spartan rule, cmel and coarse, had already become unendurable. In every town, Sparta sought to establish an oligarchy of ten citizens favorable to herself, and a liarmost, or governor. Wherever popular liberty asserted itself, she endeavored to extinguish it by military force. But Corinth, Argos, Thebes, and Athens struck for freedom. Sparta was forced to recall Agesilaus. Strangely enough she now made friends with the Great King, who dictated the Peace of Antalcidas 887 B.C.] THK POLITICAL II I S T O K V . 1-47 (387 B.C.),* which ended the war, and gave up A>s'vd Minor to him. So low had Hellas fallen since the days of Salamis and Platiea ! Theban Rule (371-362 B.C.).— At the Tery height of Sparta's arrogance her humiliation came. The Boeotian League (p. 139) having been restored, and the oligarchical governments favorable to Sparta overthrown, a Spartan army invaded that state. At this juncture there arose in Thebes a great general, Epaminondas, who made the Theban army the best in the land. On 'the famous field of Leuctra (371b. c), by throwing heavy columns against the long lines of Spartan soldiers, lie beat them for the first time in then- kistory. \ The charm of Lacedaemonian invincibility was broken. The stream of Persian gold now turned into Thebes. The tyi-annical Spartan harmosts were expelled from all the cities. To curb the power of Sparta the inde- pendence of Messenia, after three centuries of slavery, was re-established (p. 120). Arcadia was united in a League, having as its head Magalopolis, a new city now founded. A wise, pure-hearted statesman, Epaminondas sought to com- bine Hellas, and not, like Athens or Sparta, selfishly to rule * This peace was an incident of mournful import in Grecian history. Its true character cannot be better described than by a brief remark and reply, cited in Plutarch : " Alas for Hellas," observed some one to Agesilaus, " when we see our Laconians Medizing ! " " Nay," replied the Spartan king, " say rather the Medes (Persians) Laconizing." t The Spartan lines were twelve files deep. Epaminondas (fighting en echelon) made his, at the point where he wished to break ttirough, fifty files deep. At his side always fought his intimate friend Pelopidas, who commanded the Sacred Band. This consisted of three hundred brothers-in-arms, men who had known one another from childhood, and were sworn to live and die together. In the crisis of the struggle, Epaminondas cheered his men with the words, " One step forward." While the by- standers after the battle were congratulating him over his victory, he replied that his greatest pleasurie was in thinking how it would gratify his father and mother. Soon after Epaminondas returned from the battle of Leuctra, his enemies secured his elec^^ion as public scavenger. The nobl^-spirited man immediately accepted the office, declaring that " the place did not confer dignity on the man. but the man on the place "; and executed the duties of this unworthy post so efliciently as to baffle the mahce of his foes. 14S GREECE. [362 b. C, it. Athens at first aided him, and then, jealous of his suc- cess, sided with Lacedasmon. At Mantinea (362 b. c), how- ever, Epaminondas fought his last battle, and died at the moment of victory * He alone made Thebes great, and she dropped back at once to her former level. Three states in succession — Athens, Sparta, and Thebes — had risen to take the lead in Greece. Each had failed. Hellas now lay a mass of quarreling, struggling states, waiting the strong hand of a conqueror to mold them in his grasp. MACEDONIAN" EMPIRE. • Rise of Macedonia. — The Macedonians were allied to the Greeks, and their kings took part in the Olympian games. They were, however, a very different people. In- stead of living in a multitude of free cities, as in Greece, they dwelt in the country, and were all governed by one king. The polite and refined Athenian looked upon the coarse Macedonian as almost a barbarian. But about the time of the fall of Athens these rude northerners were fast taking on the Greek civihzation. Philip (359-336 b. c). — When Philip came to the throne of Macedonia he determined to be recognized, not only as a Greek among Greeks, but as the head of all Greece. To this he bent every energy of his strong, crafty, and cruel mind. He enlarged the boundaries of his kingdom, and consolidated it into a compact empire. He thoroughly organized his army, and formed the famous Macedonian * He was pierced with a ja^■elin,all(l to extract the weapon would cause his death by bleeding. Being canied out of the batUe, like a true soldier he asked first about his shield, then waited to learn the issue of the contest. Hearing the cries of vic- tory, he drew out the shaft with his own hand, and died a few moments after. 359 B. c] THE P O L I T I (• A L II I S T O K Y 149 PORTRAIT OF PHILIP OF MACEDON. phalanx* that, for two centuries after, decided the day on eA^ery tield on which it appeared. He craftily mixed in Grecian affairs, and took such an active part in the Sacred War t (355-34:6 B.C.) that he was admitted to the Ampliictyonic Council (p. 115). Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator, seemed the only man clear-headed enough to detect Philip's scheme. His eloquent JPhilippics (p. 202) at last aroused his apathetic countrymen to a sense of their danger. The Second Sacred War, declared by the Amphictyons against the Locrians for alleged sacrilege, having been intrusted to Philip, that monarch marched through Thermopylae, and his designs against the liberties of Greece became but too evident. Thebes and Athens now took the field. But at Ckceronea (338 b. c.) the Macedonian phalanx annihilated their armies, the Sacred Band perishing to a man, Greece was prostrate at Philip's feet. In a congress of * The peculiar feature of this body was that the men were armed with huge lances, twenty-one feet long. The lines were placed so that the front rank, composed of the strongest and most experienced soldiers, was protected by a bristling mass of five rows of lance-points, their own extending fifteen feet before them, and the rest twelve, nine, six, and three feet respectively. Formed in a solid mass, usually six- teen files deep, shield touching shield, and marching with the precision of a machine, the phalanx charge was irresistible. The Spartans carrying spears only about half as long could not reach the Macedonians. t The pretext for the First Sacred War is said to have been that the Phocians had cultivated lands consecrated to Apollo. The Amphictyonic Council, led by Thebes, inflicted a heavy fine upon them. Thereupon they seized the Temple at Delphi, and finally, to furnish means for prolonging the struggle, sold the riches accumulated from the pious offerings of the men of a better day. The Grecians were first shocked and then demoralized by this impious act. The holiest objects circulated among the people and were put to common uses. All reverence for the gods and sacred things was lost. The ancient patriotism went with the religion, and Hellas had forever fallen from her high estate. Everywhere her sons were ready to sell their swords to the highest bidder. 150 a n K K (' K - [337-6 B. c. all the states except Sparta, he Avas appointed to lead their united forces against Persia. But while preparing to start he was assassinated at his daughter's marriage feast. A TETKADRACHM OF ALEXANDER THE GKEA Alexander,* Philip's son, succeeded to his throne and ambitious projects. Though only twenty years old he was * On the day of Alexander's birth, Philip received news of the defeat of the Illyrians, and that his horses had won in the Olympian chariot-races. Overwhelmed by such fortune the monarch exclaimed, '* Great Jupiter, send me only some slight reverse in return for so many blessings ! " That same day also the famous Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned by an incendiary. Alexander was wont to consider this an omen that he should himself kindle a flame in Asia. On his father's side he was said to be descended from Hercules, and on his mother's from Achilles. He became a pupil of Aristotle (p. 176), to whom Philip wrote announcing Alexander's birth, saying that he knew not which gave him the greater pleasure, that he had a sou or that Aristotle could be his son's teacher. The young prince at fourteen tamed the noble horse Bucephalus, which no one at the Macedonian court dared to mount; at sixteen, he saved his father in battle ; and at eighteen, defeated the Sacred Band upon the field at Chseronea. Before setting out upon his Persian expedition he con- sulted the oracle at Delphi. The priestess refused to go to the shrine, as it was an unlucky day. Alexander thereupon grasped her arm. " Ah, my son," exclaimed she, "thou art irresistible!" "Enough," shouted the delighted monarch, "I ask no other reply." He was equally happy of thought at Gordium. Here jie was shown the famous Gordian knot, which, it was said, no one could untie except the one des- tined to be the conqueror of Asia. He tried to unravel the cord, but failing, drew his sword and severed it at a blow. Alexander always retained a warm love for his mother, Olympias, She, however, was a violent woman. Antip'ater, who was left governor of Macedon during Alexander's absence, wrote complaining of her conduct. "Ah," said the king. " Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother will blot out ten thousand of his letters." Unfortunately, the hero who subdued the known world had never conquered himself. In a moment of drunken passion he slew Clitus, his dearest friend, who had saved his life in battle. He- shut himself up for days after this horrible deed, lamenting his crime, and refusing to eat or to transact any business. Yet in soberness and calmness he tortured and hanged Callisthenes, a Greek author, because he would not worship him as a god. Carried away by hia success, he finally sent to Greece ordering his name to be enrolled among the deities. Said the Spartans iu reply, " If Alexander will be a god, let him." 336 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 151 more than his father's equal in statesmanship and military skill. Thebes having revolted, he leveled the city to jthe ground, and sold its inhabitants as slaves, sparing only the house of Pindar the poet. This terrible example quieted all opposition. He was at once made captain-general of the Grecian forces to invade Persia, and soon after he set out upon that perilous expedition from which he never returned. Alexanders Marches and Conquests. — In 334 b. c. Alexander crossed the Hellespont with thirty thousand in- fantry and four thousand five hundred cavalry. He was the first to leap on the Asiatic shore.* Pressing eastward, he defeated the Persians in two great battles, one at the river Granicus, and the other at Issiis.\ Then he turned south and besieged Tyre. To reach the island on which the city stood, he built a stone pier two hundred feet wide and half a mile long, on which he rolled his ponderous machines, breached the wall, and carried the place by a desperate assault. Thence passing into Egypt, that country fell with- out a blow. Here he founded the famous city of Alexandria. Next he resumed his eastern march, and routed the Persian host, a million strong, on the field of ArMla. The Greeks entered Babylon in triumph. Persepolis was burned to avenge the destruction of Athens one hundred and fifty years before (p. 132). Darius was pursued so closely that, to prevent his falling into the conqueror's possession, he was slain by a noble. * Alexander was a great lover of Homer and always slept with a copy of the Iliad under his pillow. While his army was now landing he visited the site of Troy, offered a sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the temple, apd taking down one said to have belonged to a hero of the Trojan War, ordered it to be henceforth carried before him in battle. t Just before this engagement Alexander was attacked by a fever in consequence of bathing in the cold water of the Cydnus. WTiile sick he was informed that his physician Philip had been bribed by Darius to poison him. As Philip came into the room Alexander handed him the letter containing the warning, and then, before the doctor could speak, swallowed the medicine. His confidence was rewarded by a speedy recovery. Ib2 GREECE. [326 b. (. The mysterious East still alluring him on, Alexander exploring, conquering,* founding cities, at last reached the river Hyph'asis, where his army refused to proceed further in the unknown regions. Instead of going directly back, he built vessels, and descended the Indus ; thence the fleet cruised along the coast, wliile the troojis returned througli Gedrosia (Beloochistan) suffering fearful hardships in its inhospitable deserts.! When he reached Babylon, ten years had elapsed since he crossed the Hellespont. The next season, while just setting out from Babylon upon a new expedition into Arabia, he died (323 B. c). AVith him pcrislied his schemes and his empire. Alexander's plan was to mold the diverse nations which he had concjuered into one vast empire, with the capital at Babylon. Having been the Cyrus, he desired to be the Darius of tlie Persians. He sought to break down the distinctions between the Greek and the Persian. He married the Princess Roxana, the *^ Pearl of the East," and induced many of his army to take Persian wives. Ho enlisted tAventy thousand Persians into the Macedonian phalanx, and appointed natives to high ofiBce. He wore the Eastern dress, and adopted in his court Oriental ceremonies. He respected the religion and the government of the various countries, restrained the satraps, and ruled more beneficently tlian their own monarchs. The Results of the thirteen years of Alexander's reign have not yet disappeared. Great cities were founded by * Poms, an Indian prince, held the banks of the Hydaspes with three hundred war-chariots and two hundred elephants The Indians ])eing defeated, Porus was brought into Alexander's presence. When asked what he wished, Porus replied, " Nothing except to be treated like a king." Alexander, struck by the answer, gave him his liberty and enlarged his territoiy. t One day while Alexander was parched with thirst a drink of water was given him, but he threw it on the ground lest the sight of hie pleasure should aggravate the suffering of his men. 336-323 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 153 him, or his generals, that are still marts of trade. Com- merce received new life. G-reek culture and civilization spread over the Orient, and the Greek language became, if not the common speech, at least the medium of communi- cation among educated people from tlie Adriatic to the ludus. So it came about that when Greece had lost her national liberty she suddenly attained, through her con- querors, a world-wide emjiire over the minds of men. But while Asia became thus Hellenized, the East exerted a reflex influence upon Hellas. x\s Rawlinson well remarks: " The Oriental habits of servility and adulation superseded the old free-spoken independence and manliness ; patriotism and public spirit disappeared ; luxury increased : literature lost its vigor ; art deteriorated ; and the people sank into a nation of pedants, parasites, and adventurers." ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS. Alexander's principal generals, soon after his death, divided his empire among themselves. A mortal struggle of twenty-two years followed, during which these officers, released from the strong hand of their master, '^fought, quarreled, grasped, and wrangled like loosened tigers in an amphitheatre." The greed and jealousy of the generals, or kings as they were called, were equaled only by the treachery of their men. Finally, by the decisive battle of Ipsns (301 B. c), the conflict was ended, and the following distri- bution of the territory made : Ptolemy received Egypt, and conquered all of Pal- estine, Phoenicia, and Cyprus. Lysim'achns received Thrace and nearly all of Asia Minor. received Syria and the East, and he af- terward conquered Asia Minor, Lysim- achiis being slain. Cassander received Macedon and Greece. Ptolemy founded a flourishing G-reek kingdom in Egypt. The G-reeks, attracted by his benign rule, flocked thither in 154 UKKECK. [323 b. c. multitudes. The Egyptians were protected in their ancient religion, law.<, and customs, so that the stiff-necked rebels against the Persian rule quietly submitted to the Macedonian. The Jews* in large numbers found safety under his paternal government. This tlireefold population gave to the second civilization whicli grew up on the banks ol the Nile a pecu- liar and cosmopolitan character. The statues of the Greek gods were mingled with those of Qsiris aiul Isis ; the same hieroglyphic word was used to express a Greek and a lower Egyptian ; and even the Jews forgot the language of Palestine, and talked Greek. Alexandria became under the Ptolemies, what Memphis was under the Kameses — a center of commerce and civilization. The building of a commo- dious harbor and a superb light-house, and the opening of a canal to the Red Sea, gave a great impetus to the trade with Arabia and India. Grecian architects made Alexandria, with its temples, 'oljelisks, palaces, and theatres, the most beautiful city of the times. Its white marble Pharos w^as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. At the center of the city, where its two grand avenues crossed each other, in the midst of gardens and fountains, stood the Mausoleum, which contained the body of Alexander, embalmed in the Egyjitian manner. The Alexandrian Museum and Lihrary founded l^y Ptolemy I. (Sotor), Init greatly extended by Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), and enriched by Ptolemy III. (Euergetes), were the grandest monuments of this Greco-Egyptian kingdom. The Library comprised at one time, in all its collections, seven hundred thousand volumes. The Museum w^as a stately marble edifice surrounded by a portico, beneath which the philosophers walked and conversed. The pro- * They had a temple at Alexandria, similar to the one at Jernsalem, and for their Ui^e the Old Testament was translated into Greek (275-250 b. c). From the number of scholars engaged in this work it is termed the Septuagint version. 323-223 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HIST O K Y . 155 fessors and teachers Avere all kept at the public expense. There were connected with this institution a botanical and a zoological garden, an astronomical observatory, and a chemical laboratory. 'Vo this grand University resorted the scholars of the world. (See Steele's Astronomy, p. 19.) At one time in its history, there were in attendance as many as fourteen thousand persons. While wars shook Europe and Asia, Archimedes and Hero the philosophers, Apelles the painter, Hipparchus and Ptoleni}- the astronomers, Euclid the geometer, Eratosthenes and Strabo the geographers, Manetho the historian, Aristophanes the rhetorician, and Apollonius the poet, labored in quiet upon the peaceful banks of the Xile. Probably no other school of learning has ever exerted so wide an influence. When Caesar wished to revise the calendar, he sent for Sosigenes the Alexandrian. Even the early Christian church drew, from what the ancients loved to call '^the divine school at Alexandria,'' some of its most eminent Fathers, as Origen and Athanasius. Modern science itself dates its rise from the study of Xature that began under the shadow of the Pyramids. Last of the FtoIemies.^The first three Ptolemies were judicious monarchs. Then came ten weak-minded and often corrupt successors. The last Ptolemy married his sister, the famous Cleopatra (p. 254), and shared with her the throne. At her death Eg}^t became a province of Rome (30 B.C.). Seleucus wa^s a conqueror, and his kingdom at one time stretched from the .^Egean to India, comprising nearly all the former Persian empire. He was a famous founder of cities, nine of which were named for himself, and sixteen for his son Antiochus. One of the latter, Antioch in S}Tia {Acts xi. 26, etc.), became the capital instead of Babylon. The descendants of Seleucus (Seleucidte) were unable to 156 GREECE. [65 B. C retain his vast conquests, and one province after another dropped away until the wide empire finally shrank into Syria, which was grasped by the Romans (65 B. c). Several independent States arose in Asia during this eventful period. FerycDiim became an independent king- dom on the death of Seleucus I. (280 b. c), and, mainly through the favor of Eome, absorbed Lydia, Phrygia, and other j)rovinces. The city of Pergamus, with its school of literature and magnificent public buildings, rivaled the glories of Alexandria. The rapid growth of its library so aroused the jealousy of Ptolemy that he forbade the export of papyrus ; whereupon Eumenes, king of Pergamus, resorted to j)archment, which he used so extensively for* writing that this material took the name of pe/rgmnena. By the will of the last king of Pergamus, the kingdom fell to Rome (p. 237). Parthia arose about 255 b. c. It gradually spread until at one time it reached from the Indus to the Euphrates. Never absorbed into the Roman dominion, it remained through the jDalmy days of that empire its dreaded foe. The twenty-ninth of the Arsacidse, as its kings were called, was driven from the throne by Artaxerxes, a descendant of the ancient line of Persia, and, after an existence of about five centuries, the Parthian empire came to an end. It was succeeded by the new Persian monarchy or kingdom of the Sassanidae (226-652^. d.). Pontus, a rich kingdom of Asia Minor, became famous through the long wars its great king Mithridates V. carried on with Rome (p. 243). Greece and Macedonia, after Alexander's time, pre- sented little historic interest.* The chief feature was that nearly all the Grecian states, except Sparta, in order to make * In 279 B. c. there was a fearful irruption of the Gauls under Brennus, (See Brief Histoi-ij of France, p. 10.) Greece was ravaged by the barbarians. They were finally expelled, and a remnant founded a province in A^^ia Minor named Gallatia, to whof^e people in later times St. Paul directed one of his Epistles. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 157 head against Macedonia, formed leagues similar to that of our government during the Eevolution. The principal ones were the Achman and the ^tolian. But the old feuds and petty strifes continued until all were swallowed up in the world-wide dominion of Rome (p. ;^36). Athens under the Romans was prosperous. Other centers of learning arose — Alexandria, Marseilles, Ta^rsus ; but still scholars from all parts of the extended empire of Rome flocked to Athens to complete their education. True, war had laid waste the groyes of Plato and the garden in which Epicurus lived, yet the charm of old associations continued to linger around these sacred places, and the Four Schools of Philosophy (p. 175) maintained their hold on pubhc thought.* The Emperor Hadrian established a library, and built a pantheon and a gymnasium. The Antonines began a system of state endowments. So late as the close of the 4th century a writer describes the airs put on by those who thought themselves ^^ demigods, so proud are they of having looked on -the Academy and Lyceum, and the Porch where Zeno reasoned." With the fall of Paganism, however, and the growth of legal studies — so pecu- liar to the Roman character — Athens lost her importance, and her schools were closed by Justinian (529 a. d.). * It is strange to hear Cicero, in De Finibv.s, speak of these scenes as already in his time classic ground: "'After hearing Antiochus in The Ptolemffium, in the com- pany of Piso and my brotlier, and Pomponius and my cousin Lucius, for whom I had a brotlier's love, we agreed to take our evening walk in the Academy. So we all met at Piso's house, and, chatting as we went, walked the six stadia between tlie Gate Dipyhun and the Academy. When we reached the scenes so justly famous we found the quietude we craved. 'Is it a natural sentiment,' asked Piso, 'or a mere illusion, which makes us more affected when Ave see the spots frequented by men worth remembering than when we merely hear their deeds or read their works ? It is thus that I feel touched at present, for I think of Plato, who, as we are told, was wont to lecture here. Not only do those gardens of his, close by. remind me of him. but I seem to fancy him before my eyes. Here stood Speusippus, here Xenocrates, here his hearer PoU-mon....' 'Yes,' said Quiutus, 'what you say, Piso. is quite true, for as I was coming hitlier. Colonus. yonder, called my thoughts away, and made me fancy that I saw its inmate Sophocles, for whom you know my passionate admi- ration.' "And I. too,' said Pomponius, -whom you often attack for my devotion to Epicurus, spend much time in his garden, which we passed lately in our walk.' " 158 GREECE. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. " Athens' is the !?chool of Greece, and the Atheiiiau is best fitted, by diverhrity of gifts, for the graceful performance of all life's duties V—Pencles. Athens and Sparta. — Though the Greeks comprised inany distinct tribes, inhabiting separate cities, countries, and islands, havin* different hiws, dialects, manners, anPARTA with her two kings, pow^erful ephors, and landed aris- tocracy, presents a marked contrast to Athens. The two KiiKjs were supposed to have descended by different lines from tlie gods, and this belief preserved to them what little authority they retained under the supremacy of the ephors. They offered the monthly sacrifices to the gods, consulted the Delphian oracle— wliich always upheld their dignity — and had nominal com- mand of the army. On the other hand, Avar and its details were decided by the ephors, two of whom accompanied one king on the march. The kings were obliged monthly to bind themselves by an oath not to exceed the law^s, the ephors also swearing on that con- dition to uphold the royal authority. In case of default the kings were tried and severely fined, or had their houses burned. The population of Laconia, as we have seen, comprised Spartans, perioeki, and helots (p. 119). The Spartans lived in the city, and were the only persons eligible to public office. So long as they submitted to the prescribed disci])line and paid their quota to the public mess, they were Equals. Those who were unable to pay their assessment, lost their franchise, and were called Inferiors ; but by meeting their public obligation they could at any time regain their privileges. The Pericski were also freemen. They in- habited the hundred townships of Laconia, having more or less liberty of local manage- ment, but subject always to orders from Sparta, the ephors having power to inflict the death penalty upon them without form of trial. The Helot was a serf bound to the soil, and belonged not so much to the master as to the state. He was the pariah of the land. If he dared to wear a Spartan bonnet, or even to sing a Spartan song, he was put to death. The old Egyptian kings thinned the ranks of their surjjlus rabble by that merciless system of forced labor which GRECIAN PEASANT. THE c: I V I L r Z A T 1 ox. 1 (]] produced the pyramids ; the Spartans did not put the l)Iood of their helots to such useful account, but when they became too powerful used simply the knife and the dagger.* The helot served in war as a light-armed soldier, attached to a Spartan or perieekian hoplite.t Sometimes he was clothed in heavy armor, and was given freedom for superior bravery. A freed helot, however, was by no means equal to a perioekus, and his known courage made him more than ever a man to be watched. Literature. — In considering Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian literature we have had only fragments, possessing little value for the present age except as historical curiosities, or as a means of insight into the life and attainments of the people. Grecian literature, on the contrary, exists to-day as a model. From it poets continue to draw their highest inspiration ; its first great historian is still known as the '' Father of History "; its philosophy seems to touch every phase of thought and argument of which the human mind is capable ; and its oratory has never been surpassed. So vast a subject should be studied by itself, and in this book we can merely furnish a nucleus about which the pupil may gather in his future reading the rich stores which await his industry. For convenience we shall classify it under the several heads of Poetry, History, Ora- tory, and Philosophy. Poetry. — Epics (Narrative poems). — The earliest Grecian litera- ture of which we have any knowledge is in verse. In the dawn of Hellas, hymns of praise to the gods were performed in choral dances about shrines and altars, and heroic legends woven into ballads were musically chanted to the sound of a four-stringed lyre. With this rhythmical story-telling, the Rhapsodists {ode-stitchers) used to de- light the listening multitudes on festive occasions in princely halls, * The helots were once free Greeks like their masters, whom they hated so bitterly that there was a saying, " A helot coald eat a Spartan raw." They wore a sheepskin garment and dogskin cap as the contemptuous badge of their slavery. There was constant danger of revolt, and from time to time the bravest of them were secretly killed by a band of detectives appointed by the government for that purpose. Some- times a wholesale assassination was deemed necessary. During the Peloponnesian War the helots had shown so much gallantry in battle that the Spartan authorities were alarmed. A notice was issued that two thousand of the bravest— selected by their fellows— should be made free. There was great rejoicing among the deluded slaves, and the happy candidates, garlanded with flowers, were marched proudly through the streets and around the temples of the gods. Then they mysteriously disappeared and were never heard of more. At the same time seven hundred other helots were sent off to join the army, and the Spartans congratulated themselves on having done a wise and prudent deed. t A hoplite was a heavy-armed infantryman. At Plataea every Spartan had seven helots, and every perioekus one helot to attend him. l&< n R K E C E . at Amphictyonic gatherings, and at religious assemblies. Among this troup of wanderinu' minstrels there arose Horner'^ (about 1000 B.C.), _ . an Asiatic Greek, whose name has become immortal. The Iliad and the Odyssey are the grandest epics ever written. The first contains the story of the siege of Troy (p. Ho) ; the second narrates the wan- derings of Ulysses, king of Ithaca, on his return from the Trojan Conquest. Homer's style is simple, artistic, clear, and vivid. It abounds in sublime description, delicate pathos, pure domestic senti- ment, and noble conceptions of character. Ilis verse strangely stirred the Grecian heart. The rhapsodist Ion describes the emotion it produced : " When that which I recite is pathetic, my eyes fill with tears ; when it is awful or terrible, my hair stands on end and my heart leaps. The spectators also weep in sympathy, and look aghast with terror." Antiquity paid divine honors to Homer's name; the cities of Greece owned state copies of his works, which not even the treasures of kings could buy ; and his poems were then, as noAV, the stand- ard classics in a literary education (p. 179). * According to tradition Homer was a schoolmaster who, wearying of confine- ment, began to travel. Having become blind in the course of his wanderings he returned to his native town, where he composed his two great poems. Afterward he roamed from town to town, singing his lays, and adding to them as his inspiration came. Somewhere on the coast of the Levant he died and was buried. His birth- place is unknown, and, according to an old Greek epigram, " Seven rival towns contend for Homer dead, Through which the living Homer begged his bread." There are various other versions of his life and history, some making the Iliad tlie pro- iuction of his early manhood, and tlie Odyssey of his old age. Many learned writers have doubted whether a real Homer ever existed. The name is said to mean " com- l>iler." and the two great poems ascribed to him are regarded as a simple collection of heroic legends, recited by difterent bards at different times, and finally woven into a continuous tale. Some critics also assert that the story of the Siege of Troy is entirely allegorical, being only a repetition of the old Egyptian fancies. •' founded on the daily siege of the east by the solar powers that every evening are robbed of their brightest treasures in the west." Dr. Schliemann, a German explorer, who claims to have unearthed the Homeric Ilium, and to have even found among its ruins the orna- ments which once belonged to Priam, believes that his recent remarkable discoveries effectually refute all skepticism in regard to the historic reality of the Siege of ^Troy. THE CIVILIZATION", 163 Hesiod, who lired about the time of Homer, wrote two long poems, Wovlis and Days^ and Theogony. In the former he details his agricultural exijeriences, enriching them with fable, allegory, and moral reflections ; the latter gives an account of the origin and his- torj^ of the thirty thousand Grecian gods, and the creation of the world. He also prepared a calendar of lucky and unlucky days for the use of farmers and sailors. The Spartans, who detested agricul- ture, called Hesiod the ''poet of the helots," in contrast with Homer, "the delight of warriors." In Atliens, however, his genius was recognized, and his poems took their place with Homer's in the school education of the day. After Homer and Hesiod the poetic tire in Greece slumbered for over two hundred years. Then arose many lyric, elegiac, and epi- grammatic poets, whose works exist only in fragments. Tyj'tcEus, "the lame old schoolmaster," invented the trumpet, and gained the triumph for Sparta f in the Second Messenian War by his impassioned battle-songs. Archil' och 'I s\ was a satirical poet of great reputation among the ancients, his birthday being celebrated in one grand festival with that of Homer, and a single double-faced statue perpetuatino- their memory. He invented many rhythmical forms, and wrote with force and elegance. His satire was so caustic that he is said to have driven a whole family to suicide by his venomous pen, used in revenge for * The Works and Days was au earnest appeal to Hesiod's dissipated brother, whom he styles the •' simple, foolish, good-t'or-naiight Perses." It abounds with arguments for honest industry, gives numerous suggestions on the general conduct of society, and occasionally dilates on the vauiiy. frivolity, and gossip which the author imputes to womankind. t The story is that, in obedience to an oracle, the Spartans sent to Athens for a general who should ensure them success. The jealous Athenians ironically answered their demand with the deformed Tyrtteus. Contrary to their design, the cripple-poei proved to be just what was needed, and his wise advice and stirring war-hymns spurred the Spartans on to victory. X One of the greatest of soldier poets. Archilochus proved himself a coward on the battle-field, afterward proclaiming the fact in a kind of apologetic bravadO; thus : The foeman glories o'er my shield, I left it on the battle-field. I threw it down beside the wood, Unscathed by scars, unstained with blood. And let him glory ; since from death Escaped, I keep my forfeit breath. I soon may find at little cost As good a shield as that I lost." When he afterward visited Sparta, the authorities, taking a different view of shield- dropping, ordered him to leave the city in an hour. 1(;4 GHEECE. his rejection 1)y one of the daugliters. He likened himself to a por- cupine bristling with quills, and declared, " One grt-at thing I know, The man who wrong!* me to requite with woe." SappJio, " the Lesbian nightingale," who sang of love, was placed by Aristotle in the same rank with Homer and Archilochus. Plato called her the tenth muse, and it is asserted that Solon on hearing (me of her poems jjrayed the gods that he might not die till he had found time to learn it by heart. Sappho's style was intense, bril- liant, and full of beautiful imagery ; her language was said to have a "marvellous suavity."' She sought to elevate her countrywomen, and drew around her a circle of gifted poetesses whose fame spread with hers throughout Greece. Alaeus, an unsuccessful lover of Sappho, was a polished, passionate lyrist. His political and war poems gained him high repute, but, like Archilochus, he dropped his shield in battle and ran from danger. His convivial songs were favorites with the classic topers. One of his best poems is the familiar one, beginning, '• What constitutes a state '? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate." Anacreon was a '"society poet." Himself pleasure-loving and dissipated, his odes were devoted to " the muse, good humor, love, and wine." He lived to be eighty-five years old, and his memory was perpetuated on the Acropolis at Athens by a statue of a drunken old man. Simonides was remarkable for his terse epigrams and choral hymns. He was the author of the famous inscription upon the pillar at Thermopylae (p. 132), of which Christopher North says, " 'Tis but two lines, and all Greece for centuries had them by heart. She forgot them, and Greece was living Greece no more." PimJai\ the " Theban eagle," came from a long ancestiy of poets and musicians. His fame began when he was twenty years old, and for sixty years he was the glory and delight of his countrymen. As Homer was the poet^ and SajDj^ho the poetess, so Pindar was the lyrist of Greece. Of all his compositions there remain entire only forty-five Triumphal Odes celebrating victories gained at the national games. His bold and majestic style abounds in striking metaphors, abrupt transitions, and complicated rhythms. (See p. 151.) The Drama. — Rise of Tragedy and Comedy. — In early times the wine-god Dionysos (Bacchus) was worshipped with hymns and THE CIVILIZATIOK. 165 (lances around an open altar, a goat \mn{X the usual sacrifice* During the Bacchic festivities, bands ot" revellers went about witli their faces smeared with wine lees, shouting coarse and bantering songs to amuse the village-folk. Out of these rites and revels grew tragedy (goitt-song) and comedy (village-song). The themes of the Tragic Chorus were the crimes, woes, and vengeance of the " fate- driven " heroes and gods, the murderous deeds being commonly enacted behind a curtain, or narrated by messengers. The great Greek poets esteemed fame above everything else, and to write for money was considered a degradation of genius. The prizes for which they so eagerly contended were simple crowns of wild olives. ^Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the great tragic trio of antiquity, belong to the golden Age of Pericles. The first ex- celled in the sublime, the second in the beautiful, and the third in the pathetic.t ^schylxs (525-456 b. c.) belonged to a noble family in Eleusis, a village near Athens, celebrated for its secret rites of Demeter (p. 184). Here, under the shadow of the sacred mysteries, a proud, earnest boy, he drank in from childhood a love of the awful and sublime. A true soldier-poet, he did not, like Archilochus and Alcaeus, vent all his courage in words, but won a prize for his bravery at Marathon, and shared in the glory of Salaniis. In his old age he was publicly accused of sacrilege for haying disclosed on the stage some details * Grecian mythology represented Bacchus as a merry, rollicking god, whose attendants were fauns and satyrs— beings half goat and half man. The early Tragic Chorus dressed in goat-skins. Thespis, a strolling player, introduced an actor or story-teller between the hymns of his satyr-chcrus to fill up the pauses with a nar- rative, ^schylus added a second, and Sophocles a third actor ; more than that never appeared together on the Athenian stage. Women were not ahowed to act. A poet contesting for the prize generally offered three plays to be produced the same day in succession on the stage. This was called a trilogy ; a farce or satyr-drama often followed, closing the series. t " Oh, our ^schylus, the thunderous ! How he drove the bolted breath Through the cloud, to wedge it ponderous In the gnarled oak beneath. " Oh, our Sophocles, the royal, Who was born to monarch's place, And who made the whole world loyal Less by kingly power than grace. " Our Euripides, the human, With his droppings of warm tears, And his touches of things common Till they rose to touch the spheres." —Mrs. Browning in '•'■ Wine of Cyprus.'''' 166 GREECE of the Eleusinian mysteries. Becoming piqued at the rising success of Sophocles, who bore a prize away from him, he retired to Syra- cuse, where, at the court of Hiero, with Pindar, Simonides, and other literary friends, he passed his last years, ^schylus wrote over seventy tragedies, of which only seven are preserved. "the great tragic trio Prometheus Bound furnishes a tyi)ical illustratioii of this poet's style. According to the myth, Prometheus (whose name means forethought) had incurred the hatred of his fellow-gods by stealthily bringing some sparks of fire from heaven to give to mankind, whom he specially loved. For this crime Zeus (Jupiter) commanded him to be bound upon Mount Caucasus, where for thirty thousand years an eagle should feed upon his vitals. The brutal taunts and scoffs of the two savage sheriffs, '• Strength" and " Force," who drag him to the spot ; the reluctant riveting of his chains and bolts by the sympathizing Vulcan ; the graceful pity of the ocean-nymphs who come to condole with the fettered god in his agony ; the visit of the once-beau- tiful maiden lo, now changed by Juno's jealousy into a horned heifer, and forced to wander up and down the earth, incessantly tormented by a gadfly ; the threats and expostulations of Mercury, who is sent by Zeus to force from the fettered god a secret he is withholding ; the unflinching defiance of Prometheus, and the final opening of the dreadful abyss into which, amid fearful thunders, lightnings, and " gusts of all tierce winds," the rock and its sturdy prisoner drop suddenly and are swallowed up,— all these are portrayed in this drama with a fiery force, majesty, and passion which in the whole range of literature is scarcely equalled. From Prometheus 'Qovu'd.— (Prometheus to Mercury.) " Let the locks of the lightning, all bristling and whitening. Flash, coiling me round. While the ether goes surging 'neath thunder and scourging Of wild winds unbotind ! Let the blast of the firmament whirl from its place The earth rooted below, And the brine of the ocean, in rapid emotion, Be it driven in the face Of the stars up in heaven, as they walk to and fro I THE CI V ILIZ ATIOX. 167 Let him hurl me auon. into Tartarus— on— To the blackest degree, With Necessity's vortices strangliug me down ; Bat he cannot join death to a fale meant for me ! " —Mm. Browniiig''s Translation. Saphodes (495-405 b. c), the sweetness and purity of whose style gained for him the title of the Attic Bee, was only twentj'-'Seven years old when he won the prize away from ^schylus, then ap- proaching sixty. Athens was just entering upon the most brilliant period in her career, the magnificent interval of intellectual glory following Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Platsea, and continu- ing through the Peloponnesian war. ^schylus had been a gallant soldier ; Sophocles was a true gentleman. Less grand and imiDetu- ous, more graceful and artistic than his great competitor, he came like sunshine after storm. The tragedies with w^hich the elder poet had thrilled the Athenian heart were tinctured with the un- earthly mysteries of his Eleusinian home; the polished creations of Sophocles reflected the gentle charm of his own native Colo'nus. Sophocles improved the style of the tragic chorus, and attired his actors in " splendid robes, jewelled chaplets, and embroidered gir- dles.'' Of him, as of ^schylus, we have only seven tragedies remaining, though he is said to have composed over one hundred. OEdipus (he King was selected by Aristotle as the master-piece of tragedy. (Edipus. so runs the plot, was sou of Laius. king of Thebes. An oracle having fore- told that he should ■• slay his father and marry his mother," Jocasta, the queen, to avert this fate, exposes him to die in the forest. Here a shepherd finds and rescues him. He grows up to manhood, unconscious of his story, and journeys to Thebes. On the way he meets an old man, whose chariot jostles against him. A quarrel en- sues, and he slays the gray-haired stranger. Ai'rived at Thebes, he finds the whole city in commotion. A frightful monster, called the Sphinx, has propounded a riddle which no one can solve, and every failure costs a life. So terrible is the crisis that the hand of the widowed queen is offered to any one who wall unravel the enigma and save the state. (Edipus is the successful man, and he weds Jocasta, his mother. After many years come fearful plagues and pestilences. The oracle, again consulted, declares they shall continue until the murderer of Laius is found and punished. The unconscious (Edipus actively pushes the search, and at last is confronted with the revelation of his own unhappy destiny. Jocasta hangs herself in horror, and (Edipus. tearing a golden buckle from her dress, thrusts its sharp point into both his eyes and goes out to roam the earth. In (Edipiis at Colomis the subject is continued. Here the blind old man. attended by his faithful daughter, Antig'one, has w^andered to Colonus, where he unwittingly sits down to rest within the precincts of a grove sacred to the Gentle Goddesses. The indignant citizens come out, and, discovering who the old man is, command him to depart from their borders. Meantime, war is raging in Thebes between his two sons, and an oracle has declared that only his body will decide success. Every means is used to obtain it, but the gods have willed that his sons shall slay each other. (Edipus, always " driven by fate," follows the Queen of Night, upon whose borders he has trespassed. The last moment comes ; a sound of subterranean thunder is heard; his daughters, wailing and terrified, cling to him in wild embrace; a mys- terious voice calls from beneath, " CEdipus ! King (Edipus ! come hither ; thou art wanted ! " The earth opens, and the old man disappears forever. 1G8 GREECE. The following is from a famous chorus* in (Edipus at Colonun, clefcribiug ihe beautiei? of the surrounding scenery : " Hbi"e ever and aye, through the greenest vale, Gush the wailing notes of the nightingale, From her home where tlie dark-hued ivy weaves With the grove of the god a night of leaves ; And the vines blossom out from the lonely glade, And the suns of the summer are dim in the shade, And the storms of the winter have never a breeze That can shiver a leaf from the charmed trees. * * * * * * * And wandering there forever, the fountains are at play, And Cephissus feeds his river from their sweet urns, day by day ; The river knows no dearth ; Adown the vale the lapsing waters glide, Aiul the pure rain of that pellucid tide Calls the rife beauty from the heart of earth." —Bulwer's Trandation. Euripideii (480-406 B.C.), the Scenic Philosoplier, was bom in Salaniis on the day of tlie great sea-fight.t Twenty-live years after- ward—the year after ^schylus died — his first trilogy was put upon tlie stage. Athens had changed in the half-century since the l^oet of Eleusis came before the 2->ul)lic. A new element was steadily gaining ground. Doubts, reasonings, and disbeliefs in the marvellous stories told of the gods were creej^iug into society. Schools of rhetoric and philosophy were springing up, and alrwady '' to use dis- course of reason " was accounted more important than to recite the Iliad and Odyssey entire. To ^Eschylus and to most of his hearers the Fates and the Furies had been dread realities, and the gods upon Olympus as undoubted personages as Miltiades or Themistocles ; Sophocles, too, who avoided everything that might disturb tbe serenity of his art, accepted the Homeric deities as he found them ; * An interesting incident is connected with this chorus. Sophocles, then an old man. had been accused by a covetous son of being incapable of managing his prop- erty. The action was brought into court, whither the aged poet came and, as his only defence, recited some lines on Colonus which he had just written. The jury burst into applause, the case was liastily dismissed, and the white-haired Sophocles returned to his home to spend the remainder of his days in greater honor than before " We can imagine Sophocles in his old age recounting the historic names and scenes with which he had been so familiar ; how he had listened to the thunder of 'Olympian Pericles' ; how he had been startled by the chorus n. Furies in the jjlay of ^schylus : how he had talked with the garrulous and open-hearted Herodotus : how he had fol- lowed Anaxagoras, f'e s'reat Sceptic, in the cool of the day among a throng of his disciples ; how he naa walked with Phidias and supped with Aspasia."— Co/^i/is. t The three great tragic jjoets of Athens were singularly connected together by the battle of Salamis. ^schyius, in the hci-oic vigor of his life, fought there; Euripides, whose parents had fled from Athens on the approach of the Persians, was born near the scene, probably on the battle-day ; and Sophocles, a beautiful boy of fifteen, danced to the choral song of Simonides, celebr:iting the victory. THE CIVILIZATIOi^^. 169 but Euripides belonged to the party of " advanced tliinkers," and believed no more in the gods of the myths and legends than iu the prophets and soothsayers of his own time. Discarding the ideal heroes and heroines of Sophocles, he modeled his characters after real men and women, endowing them with human passions and affections.* Of his eighty or ninety plays, seventeen i-emain. Mede'a is his most celebrated tragedy. A Colcliiaii princess skilled in sorcery becomes the wife of Jason, the hero of the Golden Fleece. Being afterward thrust aside for a new love, she finds her revenge by sending the bride an enchanted robe and crown, in which she is no sooner clothed than tliey burst into flame and con- sume her. To complete her vengeance Medea murders her two young sons— so deeply wronged by their father, so tenderly loved by herself— and then, after hovei'ing over the palace long enough to mock and jeer at the anguish of the frantic Jason, she is whirled away with the dead bodies of her children in a dragon-borne car, the chariot of her grandsire, the sun. Fbom Medea.— (ilf(?c?ea io her sons.) " Why gaze you at me with your eyes, my children ? Why smile your last sweet smile ? Ah me ! ah me ! What shall I do ? My heart dissolves within me, Friends, when I see the glad eyes of my sons 1 Yet whence this weakness ? Do I wish to reap The scorn that springs from enemies unpunished ? Die they must ; this must be, and since it must, I. I myself will slay them, I who bore them. O my sons ! Give, give your mother your dear hands to kiss, O dearest hands, and mouths most dear to me, And forms and noble faces of my sons I O tender touch and sweet breath of my boys ! " —Symonds's Translation. Comedy. — When Aristo-phanes appeared with the first of his sharp satires, Euripides had been for a quarter of a century before the public, and the Peloponnesian war was near at hand. The new poet whose genius was so full of mockery and mirth was a rich aristocratic Athenian, the natural enemy of the ultra-democratic mob-orators of his day, whom he heartily hated and desj)ised. In the bold and brilliant satires which now electrified all Athens, '* Ai'istophanes ridiculed his scenic art, denounced his theology, and accused him of corrupting society by the falsehood and deceit shown by his characters. The line in one of bis plays, " Though the tongue swore, the heart remained unsworn," caused his arrest for seemir.g to justify perjury. When the people were violent in censure, Euripides would sometimes appear on the stage and beg them to sit the play through. On one occasion when their displeasure was extreme he tartly ex- claimed, •' Good people, it is my business to teach you and not to be taught by you." Tradition relates that he was torn to pieces by dogs, set upon him by two rival poets, while he was walking in the garden of the Macedon-ian king, at Pella. The Atiienians M-ere eager to honor him after his death, and erected a statue in the theatre where he had been so often hissed as well as applauded. 170 GREECE. even' prominent public man was liable to see his personal peculiar- ities paraded on the stage.* The facts and follies of the times were pictured so vividly that when Dionysius, the Tyrant of Syracuse, wrote to Plato for information as to affairs in Athens, the great philosopher sent for answer a copy of The Clouds. Aristophanes wrote over fifty plays, of which eleven, in part or all, remain. Of these, The Frogs aud the Woman's Festival were direct satires on Euripides. The Knights was written, so the author declared, to "cut up Cleon the Tanner into shoe-leather." t Tfie Clouds ridiculed the new-school philosophers ; $ and The Wasps, the Athenian passion for law-courts. FRonf THE Clouds.— (.b'ce/te / Socrates, absorbed in thought, swinging in a basket, surrounded by his students. Enter Strepsiades, a visitor. ) Str. Who hangs dangling in yonder basket ? Stud. HIMSELF. Str, And who's Himself ? Stud. Why, Socrates. Str. Ho, Socrates ! Sweet, darling Socrates ! Soc. Why callest thou me, poor creature of a day ? Str. First tell me, pray, what are you doing up there ? Soc. I walk in air and contemplate the sun ! Str. Oh, that's the way that you despise the gods— You get so near them on your perch there — eh ? Soc. I never could have found out things di\ iiie. Had I not hung my mind up thus, and mixed My subtle intellect with its kindred air. Had I regarded such things from below. I had learnt nothing. For the earth absorbs Into itself the moisture of the brain. It is the same with water-cresses. Str. Dear me ! So water-cresses grow by thinking ! The so-called Old Comedy., in which individuals were satirized, died with Aristophanes, and to it succeeded the New Comedy.^ por- traying general types of human nature, and dealing with domestic life and manners. Menander (342-291 b. c.j, founder of this new school, was a warm * Even the deities were burlesqued, and the devout Athenians, who denounced Euripides for venturing to doubt the gods and goddesses, were wild in applause when Aristophanes dragged them out as absurd cowards, or blustering braggarts, or as •' Baking peck-loaves and frying stacks of pancakes." + The masks of the actors in Greek comedy were made to caricature the features of the persons represented. Cleon was at this time so powerful that no artist dared to make a mask for his character in the play, nor could any man be found bold enough to act the part. Aristophanes therefore took it himself, smearing his face with wine lees, which he declared " well represented the purple and bloated \isage of the demagogue.'" X It is said that Socrates, who was burlesqued in this play, was present at its per- formance, which he heartily enjoyed ; and that he even mounted on a bench that every one might see the admirable resemblance between himself and his counterfeit upon the stage. THE C I V 1 L I Z A r I X in friend of Epicurus (p. 177), wliose philosophy he adopted. He ad- mired, ashearti!}' as AristoiDhanes had disliked, Euripides, and his style was manifestly influenced by that of the tragic poet. He ex- celled in delineation of character, and made his dramatic personages so real that a century afterward it was written of him, " O Life, and O Menander ! Speak and say Which copied which ? Or Nature, or the play ? " Of his works only snatches remain, many of which were household proverbs among the Greeks and Eomans. Such were: '* He is well cleansed that hath his con- science clean," "The workman is s^reater than his work," and the memorable one quoted by St. Paul, •' EvU communications corrupt good manners." >J/<:ii3^ THE GREAT HISTORIANS OF GREECE. History. — Here also we have an illustrious trio: Herodotus (484-420), Thucydides (471-400), -and Xenophon (about 431-355). Herodotus of Halicarnassus we recall as an old friend met in Egyptian history. Having rank, wealth, and a passion for travel, he roamed over Egypt, Phcenicia, Babylon, Judea, and Persia, studying their history, geography, and national customs. In Athens, where he spent several years, he was the intimate friend of Sophocles. His history was divided into nine books, named after the nine muses.* The principal subject is the Greek and Persian War; but, by way of episode, sketches of various nations are introduced. His style is artless, graphic, flowing, rich in description, and interspersed with * Leonidas of Tarentum, a favorite writer of epigrams, who lived two hundred years after Herodotus, thus accounted for their names : " The muses nine came one day to Herodotus and dined, And in return, their host to pay, left each a book behind." ] 72 GREECE. dialogue. He has been described as having " the head of a sage, the iieart of a mother, and the simplicity of a child." Thucydides is said to have been won to his vocation b}^ hearing the history of Herodotus read at Olympia, which charmed him to tears. Rich, noble, and educated, he was in the prime of his man- liood when, at the opening of the Peloponnesian War, he received command of a squadron. Having failed to arrive with his ships in time to save a certain town from surrender, Cleon caused his dis- grace, and he w^ent into exile to escape a death penalty. During the next twenty years he prepared his Hhtory of the Pclojxmnedan War. His style is terse, noble, and sj^irited ; as a historian he is accurate and impartial. " His book," says Macaulay, " is that of a man and a statesman, and in this respect presents a remarkable contrast to the delightful childishness of Herodotus." Xem/plioivs historical fame rests mostly on his A)iabasis* which relates the expedition of Cyrus and the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. He was one of the generals who conducted this memorable retreat, in which he displayed great firmness, courage, and military skill. A few years later the Athenians formed their alliance with Persia, and XenoiDhon, who still held command under his friend and patron, the Spartan king Agesilaus, was brought into the position of an enemy to his state. A decree of banishment having been passed against him in Athens, his Spartan friends furnished him with a beautiful country residence about two miles from OlymjDia, where he spent the best years of his long life. Next to the Anabasis ranks his Memorabilia (memoirs) of Socrates, t his friend and teacher. Xenophon was said by the ancients to be " the first man that ever took notes of conversation." The jVtemorabilia is a collec- tion of these, in which the character and doctrines of Socrates are discussed. Xenophon was the author of fifteen works, all of which are extant. His style, simple, clear, racy, refined, and noted for colloquial vigor, is considered the model of classical Greek prose. Oratory.— Eloquence was studied in Greece as an art. Pericles, * This word means the " march up," viz., from the sea to Babylon. A more ap- propriate name would be Katabasis (march down), as most of the book is occupied with the details of the return journey. t There is a story that Xenophon, when a boy, once met Socrates in a lane. The philosopher, barring the way with his cane, demanded, "^^^lere is food sold?" Xenophon having replied, Socrates asked, "And where are men made good and noble?" The lad hesita^^ed, whereupon Socrates answered himself bv saying, " Follow me and learn." Xenophon obeyed, and was henceforth his devour. I disciple. THE C I V r L r Z A T r O N , 173 DEMOSTHENES. though he spoke only upon great occasions, was liinied lor liis powers of arldress, but Demosthenes (;38o-322 B.C.) was tlie unrivaled orator of Greece, if not of the world. An awkward, sickly^, stam- mering boy, by his deter- mined energy and persever- ance he " placed himself at the head of all the mighty masters of speech — unap- proachable forever." — {Lord Brougham.) Kis first address before the public assembly was hissed and derided ; but he had resolved to be- come an orator, and nothing daunted him. He employed every means to overcome his natural defects,* and at last was rewarded by the palm of eloquence. In his style there was no efibrt at display, but every sentence wms made subservient to the great end of his argument. " We never think of his words," said Fenelon ; " we think only of the things he says." His oration JJiJon the Crown f is his master-piece. Philosophy and Science. — The Seven Sages (Ajjjjejidix) lived about 600 B. c. :j: They were celebrated for their moral, social, and political wisdom. One of them, named * That he might study without hindrance he shut himself up for months in a room undergicund, and, it is said, copied the history of Thucydides eight times that he might be infused with its concentrated thought and energy. Out on the seashore, with his mouth filled with pebbles, he exercised his voice until it sounded full and clear above the tumult of the waves ; while in the privacy of his own room, before a full-length mirror, he disciplined his awkward gestures till he had schooled them into grace and aptness. t It had been proposed that his public services should be rewarded by a golden crown— the custom being for an orator to wear a crown in token of his inviolability while speaking, ^schines, a fellow-orator, whom he had accused of favoring Philip, opposed the measure. The discussion lasted six years. When the two finally appeared before a vast and excited assembly for the closing argument, the impetuous eloquence of Demosthenes swept e\ erything before It. In after years, though his whole life liad proved him a zealous patriot, he was charged with having received bribes from Macedon. Exiled, and under sentence of death, he poisoned himself. :{: About this time lived JEJfiop, who, though born a slave, gained his freedom and the friendship of kings and wi-e men by his peculiar \\it. His fables, long preserved by oral tradition, were the delight of the Athenians, who read in them many a pithy 174 GREECE. Thales, who had studied in Egypt, founded a school of thinkers. He taught that all things were generated from water, into which they would all be ultimately resolved. During the next two centuries many jDhilosojihers arose, among whom the following are especially noted : Anaximanfler, the scientist, invented a sun-dial — an instrument which had long been used in Egypt and Babylonia — and wrote a geographical treatise, enriched with the first known map. Anaxagoras discovered the cause of eclipses, and the difference between the planets and fixed stars. He did not, like his predecessors, regard fire, air, or water as the origin of all things, but believed in a Supreme Intellect. He was accused of atheism,* tried, and condemned to death, Imt his friend Pericles succeeded in changing the sentence to exile. Contemporary with him was Hippocrates^ the father of physicians, who came from a family of priests devoted to ^s:;ulapius, the god of medicine. He wrote many works on physiology, and referred diseases to natural causes and not, as was the jjopular belief, to the disj)leasure of the gods. PytJiagorax^ the greatest of early ^philosophers, was the first to assert the movement of the earth in the heavens; he also made some important discoveries in geology and mathematics. At his school in Crotona, Italy, his disciples were initiated with secret rites ; one of the tests of fitness being the. power to keep silence under every circumstance. He based all creation upon the numerical rules of harmony, and asserted that the heavenly spheres roll in musical rhythm. Teaching the Egyptian doctrine of transmigration, he 2)rofessed to remember what had hai)pened to himself in a previous existence when he was a Trojan hero. His followers reverenced him as half-divine, and their unquestioning faith passed into the proverb. Ipse dixit (He has said it). Socrates (470-399 b. c). — During the entire thirty years of the Peloponnesian War a grotesque-featured, ungainly, shabbily-dressed, bare-footed man might have been seen wandering about the streets of Athens, in all weathers and at all hours, in the crowded market- place, among the workshops, wherever men were gathered, inces- santly asking and answering questions. This man was Socrates, a public lesson. His statue, the work of Ly.sippus (p. 183), was placed opposite to those of the Seven Sages in Athens. Socrates greatly admired ^sop's fables, and during hi?; last days in prison amused himself by versifying them. * The Greeks were especially angry because Anaxagoras taught that the sun is not a god. It is a curious fact that they condemned to death as an atheist the first man among them who advanced the idea of One Supreme Deity. THE civilizatio:n^. Ivo self-taught philosopher, who believed that he had a special mission from the gods, and was attended by a "' divine voice ' which coun- seled and directed him. The questions he discussed pertained to life and morality, and were especially j)ointed against the Sophists, wdio were the skeptics and qaibblers of the day. His earnest elo- quence attracted all classes,* and among his friends were Alcibiades, Euripides, and Aristophanes. A man who, by his irony and argu- ment, was continually ''driving men to their wits' end," naturally made enemies. One morning there apjieared in the portico where such notices were usually displayed the following indictment : '' Socrates is guilty of crime ; first, for not w^orshipping the gods whom the city worships, but introducing new divinities of his own ; secondly, for corrupting the youth. The penalty due is death." Having been tried and convicted, he was sentenced to drink a cup of the poison-hemlock, which he took in his prison chamber, sur- rounded by friends with whom he cheerfully conversed till the last. Socrates taught the unity of God, the immortality of the soul, the beauty and necessity of virtue, and the moral responsibility of man. He was a devout believer in oracles, which he frequently consulted. He left no writings, but his i)hilosophy has been preserved by his faithful followers, Xenophon and Plato. The Four Great Schools of Philosophy (4th century b.c). — The Academic school was founded by that devoted- disciple "of Socrates, Plato (439-347), who delivered his lectures in the Academic Gardens. Plato f is perhaps best known from his argu- * "Amidst the gay life, the beautifal forms, the brilliant colors of an Athenian multitude and an Athenian street, the repulsive features, the unwieldy figure, the naked feet, the rough threadbare attire of the philosopher, must have excited every sentiment of astonishment and ridicule which strong contrast can produce. It was (so his disciples described it) as if one of the marble satyrs, which sat in grotesque attitudes with pipe or flute in the sculptors' shops at Athens, had left his seat of stone, and walked into the plane=tree avenue, or the gymnastic colonnade. Gradually the crowd gathered round him. At first he spoke of the tanners, and the smiths, and the drovers, who v>-ere plying their trades about him ; and they shouted with laughter as he poured forth his homely jokes. But soon the magic charm of his voice made itself felt. The peculiar sweetness of its tone had an effect which even the thunder of Pericles failed to produce. The laughter ceased— the crowd thickened— the gay youth, whom nothing else could tame, stood transfixed and awe-struck in his pres- ence—there was a solemn thrill in his words, such as his hearers could compare to nothing but the mysterious sensation produced by the clash of drum and cymbal in the worship of the great mother of the gods— the head swam— the heart leaped at the sound— tears rushed from their eyes, and they felt that, unless they tore themselves away from that fascinated circle, they should sit down at his feet and grow old in listening to the marvelous music of this second Marsyas." t The Greeks had no family or clan names, a single appellation serving for an individual. To save confusion the father's name was frequently added. Attic wit 170 GREECE. nients in regard to the immortality of llio soul. He Ijelieved in one eternal God, without whose aid no man can attain wisdom or vir- tue, and in a iorevious as well as a future existence. All earthly knowledge, he averred, is but the recollection of ideas gained by the soul in its former disembodied state, and as the body is only a hin- drance to perfect communion with tiie " eternal essences," it follows that death is to be desired rather than feared. His works are written in dialogue, Socrates being represented as the princii3al siJeaker. The abstruse topics of which he treats are enlivened by wit, fancy, humor, and picturesque illustration. His style was considered so perfect that an ancient writer exclaimed, '' If Jupiter had spoken Greek, he would have-spoken it like Plato." The fashionables of Athens thronged to the Academic Gardens to listen to " the sweet speech of the master, melodious as the song of the cicadas in the trees above his head." Even the Atlienian women — shut out by custom from the intellectual groves — shared in the universal eager- ness, and, disguised in male attire, stole in to hear the famous Plato. 2. The Peripatetic school was founded by Aristotle (384-322), who delivered his lectures while walking up and down the shady porches of the Lyceum, surrounded by his pupils (hence called Peripatetics, walhers). An enthusiastic student under Plato, he remained at the academy until his master's death. A few years afterward he accepted the invitation of PhiiijJ of Macedon to become instructor to the young Alexander. Returning to Athens in 335 b.c. he brought the magnificent scientific collections given him by his royal patron, and opened his school in the Lyceum Gymnasium. Suspected of partisanship with Macedon and accused of imi3iety, to avoid the fate of Socrates he fled to Euboea, where he died. Aristotle, more than any other philosopher, originated ideas whose influence is still felt. He was the father of zoology and of logic, the principles which he laid down in the latter study having never been superseded. His books include works on metaphysics, psychol- ogy, ethics, poetics, rhetoric, and various other subjects. He taught that all reasoning should be based upon observation of facts. His style is intricate and abstruse. He differed much from Plato, and supplied abundant nicknames, suggested by some personal peculiarities or cir- cumstance. Thus this philosopher, whose real name was Aristocles, was called Plato because of his broad brow. He was descended on his father's side from Codrus, the last hero-king of Attica, and on his mother's from Solon ; but his ad- mirers, not content with even this distinguished lineage, made him a son of the god Apollo, and told how in his infancy the bees had settled on his lips as a prophecy of the honeyed words which were to fall from them. THE C I V I L I Z A T I X . Iv T though he recognized an infinite, iniQiaterial God, doubted the exist- ence of a future life. 3. The Epicureans were the followers oi' Ejncurun (340-270 b. c), who taught that the chief eud of life is enjoyment. Himself a man of the purest morals, he recommended virtue for the sake of its happy results, hut his doctrines were so perverted by his followers that the word '' Epicurean " has become a synonym for loose and luxurious living. — The Cynics {Jcunikos, dog-like) went to the other extreme, and, despising i^leasure, gloried in pam and j^i'ivation. They scoffed at the courtesies of society, and disregarded the ties of family or country. The sect was founded by Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates, but its principal representative was Diogenes, who, it is said, ate and slept in a tub which he carried about on his head. He was noted for his caustic wit, which he indulged without reference to persons,* and for his rude manners, the outgrowth of his creed. 4. The Stoics were headed by Zejio (355-260 b. c), and took their name from the painted portico (stoa) under which he gathered his IDupils, Pain and pleasure were equally despised by them, and in- difference to all external conditions was considered the highest tyi3e of virtue. For his example of integrity, Zeno was decreed a golden chaplet and a public tomb in the Ceramicus. Later Greek Writers. — Plutarch (50-120 a. d.) was the great- est of ancient biograjj^ers. His Parallel Lives of Greelcs and Romans still delights hosts of readers by its admirable portraiture of the most celebrated men of antiquity. Lucian (120-200 a. d.) wrote witty dialogues, in which he ridiculed the absurdities of Grecian mythology and the folKes of false j)hilosophers. His Sale of the Pltihsojjhej's humorously pictures the founders of the different schools as being put up at auction by Mercury. Libraries and Writing Materials. — Few collections of books were made before the Peloponnesian War, but in later times it became fashionable to have private libraries,! and after the days of the tragic * It is said that Alexander the Great once visited the surly philosopher, whom he found seated in his tub, baskins^ in the sun. "I am Alexander," said the monarch, astonished at the indifference with which he was received. '• And I am Diogenes," returned the cynic. " Have you no favor to ask of me ? " inquired the king. •' Yes," growled Diogenes, •' to get out of my sunliglit.''' This story, though perhaps apocry- phal, illustrates the character of the "snarling philosopher." He was vain of his disregard for the decencies of life. At a sumptuous banquet given by Plato he en- tered uninvited, and, rubbing his soiled feet on the rich carpets, cried out, "Thus I trample on your pride, O Plato ! " The polite host, who knew his visitor's weakness, aptly retorted, " But with still greater pride, O Diogenes ! " + Aristotle had an immense library, which was sold after his death. Large 178 GREECE poets Athens not only abounded in book-stalls, but a place in the Agora was formally assigned to book - auctioneering. The manu- script copies were rapidly multiplied by means of slave labor, and became a regular article of export to the colonies. The Ecryptian papyrus and, afterward, the fine but expensive parchment were used in copying books ; the papyrus being written on only one side, the parchment on both sides.* The reed pen was used as in Egypt, and double inkstands for black and red ink were invented, having a ring by which to fasten them to the girdle of the writer. Waxed tablets were era- ployed for letters, note-books, and other requirements of daily life. These were written upon with a metal or ivory pencil {stylan)^ pointed at one end and broadly flattened at the other, so that in case of mistake the writing could be smoothed out and the tablet made as good as new. A large bur- nisher was sometimes used for the latter 23urpose. Several tablets, joined together, formed a book. Education. — A Greek father held the lives of his young children at his will, and the casting out of infants to the chances of fate w^as authorized by law throughout Greece, except at Thebes. Girls were especially subject to this unnatural treatment. If a child was rescued, it became the property of its tinder. The Athenian hoy, when seven years old, was sent to school — the school-hours being from sunrise to sunset. Until sixteen years of age he was always attended in his walks by a pedagogue — usually A GREEK TABLET. libraries have been found in the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and some of the volumes, although nearly reduced to coal, have by great care been unrolled and published. * The width of the manuscript (varying from sis to fourteen inches) formed the length of the page, the size of the roll depending upon the number of pages in a book. When finished the roll was coiled around a stick, and a ticket containing the title was appended to it. Documents were sealed by tying a string around them and affixing to the knot a bit of clay or wax, which was afterward stamped with a seal. In libraries the books were arranged on shelves with the ends outward, or in pigeon- holes ; or several scrolls were put together in a cylindrical box with a cover. The reader unrolled the scroll as he advanced, rolling up the completed pages with his other hand. (See illustration, p. 2T9.) THE C I V I L I Z A T L O X . ITU some trusty and intelligent slave, too old for hard work — who, how- ever, never entered the study room, no visitors, except near relatives of the master, being allowed therein on penalty of death. The boy was first taught grannnar, arithmetic, and writing. His chief books were Hesiod and Homer, which he committed to memory. The moral lessons they contained were carefully enjoined, for, says Plato, " Greek parents are more careful about the manner and morals of the youth than about his letters and music." Discipline was enforced with the rod. All the great lyric poems were set to music, which was universally taught, the lyre and other stringed instruments having most favor. '' Here again," says Plato, " the teach- ers look carefully to virtuous habits ; and rhythms and harmonies are made familiar to the souls of the young that they may become more gentle, and better men in speech and action." Robust health and a symmetrical muscular development were considered so important that the young Athenian between sixteen and eighteen years of age spent most of his time in gymnastic exercises. This was a period of probation, and though the pedagogue was dismissed, the youth's behavior was carefully noted by his elders. At eighteen he- was solemnly enrolled in the list of citizens. Two years were now given to public service, after which he was free to follow his own inclinations. If he were scholarly-disposed, and had money, and leisure,* he might spend his whole life in learning. The little an Athenian girl was required to know was learned from her mother and nurses at home. The Spartan Icicl of seven years was placed under the control of the state. Henceforth he ate his coarse hard bread and black broth at the public table,! and slept in the public dormitory. Here he A GRECIAN YOUTH. * Our word scliool is derived from the Greek word for leisure. The education of men was obtained, not so much from books a:? from the philosophical lectures, the public assembly, the theatre, and the law courts, where the m.03t of their unoccupied time was spent, t The principal dish at the mess-table was a black broth, made from a traditional recipe. Wine mixed with water was dmnk, but toasts were never given, for the Spartans thought it a sin to use two words when one would do. Intoxication and the symposium (p. 197) were forbidden by law. Fat men were regarded with sus- picion. Small boys sat on low stools near their fathers at meals, and were given half rations, which they ate in silence. 180 GREECE. was tnuglit to disdain all lioine-aflFections as a weakness, and to think of himself as belonging only to Sparta. All the Persian devices for making hardy men were improved upon. He was brought up to despise, not only softness and luxury, but hunger, thirst, torture, and death. Always kept on small rations of food, he was sometimes allowed only what he could steal. If he escaped detection, his adroitness was applauded ; if he were caught in the act, he was severely flogged ; but though he were whipped to death, he must neither wince nor groan.* ^Ml^BlSMCTIIlltnilll t?lW6SIIM^BIH^Ill IL EAST END OF THE PARTHENON (aS RESTORED BY FERGUSSON). Monuments and Art. — The three styles of Grecian architecture — Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian — are distinguished by the shape of their colunms (see cut, p. 182). Of the Doric, which w^as originally borrowed from Egypt (p. 40), the Parthenon at Athens, and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, w^ere among the most celebrated. The Parthenon or House of the Virgin, situated on the Acropolis, * The Spartan lad had a model set before him. It was that of a boy who stole a fox and hid it under his shc/t cloak. He must have been somewhat awkward— no doubt the Spartan children were warned against this fault in his morals— for he was suspected, and ordered to be flogged till he confessed. While the lashos fell the fox struggled to escape. The boy, with his quivering back i-aw and bleeding, and his breast torn by savage claws and teeth, stood sturdily and flinched not. At last the desperate fox reached his heart, and he dropped dead— but a hero 1 THE ( ■ 1 V L L 1 Z A T I O X . IS 1 was sacred to Pallas Athena, the patron goddess of Attica. It was built throughout of tine marble from the quarry of Mt. Pentelicus, near Athens, its glistening wiiiteness Ixing here and there subdued by colors and gilding. The magnificent sculptures* which adorned it were designed by Phidias— that inimitable artist whom Pliny desig- nates as '* before all, Phidias the Athenian." The statue of the god- dess Avithin the temple was forty feet high ; her fac.\ neck, arms, hands and feet were ivory; her drapery was pure goM.f The Temple at Olympia was built of porous stone, the roof being tiled with Pentelic marble. It stood on the banks of the Alpheus, in a sacred grove (Altis) of plane and olive trees. The statue of the Deity, by Phidias, was so superstitiously venerated that not to have seen it was considered a real calamity.:}: The most celebrated Ionic temple was that of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesns, which was three times destroyed by fire, and as often re- built with increased magnificence. Corinthian architecture was not generally used in Greece before the age of Alexander the Great. § The most beautiful example is the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates (p. 18S) in Athens. * These sculptures, illustratiug events in the mythical life of the goddess, are among the finest in existence. Some of them were sent to England by Lord Elgin when he was British ambassador to Turkey, and are now in the British Museum, where, with various other sculptures from the Athenian Acropolis, all more or less muti- lated, they are known as the Elgin Marbles. + The Greeks accused Phidias of having purloined some of the gold provided him for this purpose ; but as, by the ad\ice of his shrewd friend Pericles, he had so at- tached the metal that it could be removed, he was able to disprove the charge. He was afterward accused of impiety for having placed the portraits of Pericles and him- self in the group upon Athena's shield. He died in prison. X The statue, sixty feefhigh, was seated on an elaborately-sculptured throne of cedar, inlaid with gold, ivory, ebony, and precious stones ; like the statue of Athena in the Parthenon, the face, feet, and body were of ivory ; the eyes were brilliant jewels, and the hair and beard pure gold. The drapery was beaten gold, enameled with flowers. One hand grasped a scepter, composed of precious metals, and sur- mounted by an eagle ; in the other, like Athena, he held a golden statue of Nike (the winged goddess of victory). The statue was so high, in proportion to the building, that the Greeks were wont to say that "■ if the god should attempt to rise he would burst open the roof" The effect of its great size, as Phidias had calculated, was to impress the beholder with the pent-up power and majesty of the greatest of gods. A copy of the head of this statue is in the Vatican. The statue itself, removed by the emperor Theodosius I. to Constantinople, was lost in the disastrous fire (a. d. 475) which destroyed the Library in that city. At the same time perished the Venus of Cnidos, by Praxiteles (p. 183), which the ancients ranked next to the Phidian Zeus and Athena. § The invention of the Corinthian capital is ascribed to Callimachus, who, seeing a small basket covered with a tile placed in the center of an acanthus plant which grew on the grave of a young lady of Corinth, was so struck with its beauty that he executed a capital in imitation of it.— Wedropjfa Hand-book of Architecture, 182 GREECE. The Propylea, wbicli formed the entrance to the Athenian Acropolis, was a magniticent structure, and opened ujiou a group of temples, altars, and statues which has never been equalled. All the splendor of Grecian art was concentrated on the state edifices, archi- tectural display on j^rivate residences being forbidden by law. After the Macedonian conquest, dwellings grew luxurious, and Demosthenes once severely rebuked certain citizens for living in houses whose ornamentation surpassed that of the public buildings. Corinthian. THREE ORDERS OF GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. (x^ shaft : -z, capital : ^^ architrave : i,. frieze : ^^ cornice. The entire part above the capital is the entablature. At the bottom of the shaft is the base., which rests upon the pedestal.) The Athenian Agora (market-place), which was the fashionable morning resort, was surrounded with porticoes, one of which was deco- rated with paintings commemorative of glorious Grecian achievements. Within the enclosure were grouped temples, altars, and statues. Paintings were usually on wood ; wall-painting was a separate and inferior art. The most celebrated painters were : ApoUodorus of Athens, sometimes called the Greek Rembrandt ; Zeuxis and Parrha- sius, who contended together for the prize — Parrhasius producing a picture representing a curtain, which his rival himself mistook for a real hanging, and Zeuxis offering a picture of graj^es, which de- ceived even the birds; Aj>elles, the most renow^ned of all Greek artists, who painted with four colors, which he blended with a THE MAN'KERS AND CUSTOMS. 183 varnish of his own invention; his friend Protorjenes^ the ('a refill painter, sciil^jtor, and writer on art ; Nicias, who having refused a sum equal to sevent}- thousand dollars from Ptolemy I. for his master- piece, bequeathed it to Athens; and Paudas^ who excelled in wall- painting, and in delineating children, animals, flowers, and ara- besques. The Greeks tinted the background and sometimes the b,as-reliefs of their sculptures, and even j^ainted their inimitably- carved statues, gilding the hair and inserting glass or silver eyes. In datuary^ both marble and bronze, and in graceful t)a8e- painting, the Greeks have never been sui-jjassed. Of arts and oruamentation in general, all those which we have seen in use among the previous nations were greatly improved by the Greeks, who added to other excellencies an exquisite sense of beauty and a power of ideal expression peculiar to themselves. Besides Phidias, whose statues were distinguished for grandeur and sublimity, eminent among sculptors were Praxiteles, who excelled in tender grace and finish ; Scojms, who delighted in marble allegory ; and lA/sippus, a w^orker in bronze, and the master of portraiture.'^ 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. Religion and .Mythology. — Xothiug marks more strongly the jDoetic imagination of the Greeks than the character of their religious worshii3. They learned their creed in a poem, and told it in marble sculpture. To them Nature overflowed with deities. Every grove had its presiding genius, every stream and fountain its protecting nymph. Earth and air were filled with invisible spirits, and the sky was crowded with translated heroes — their own half -divine ancestors. Their gods were intense personalities, endowed with human passions and instincts, and bound by domestic relations. Such deities appealed to the hearts of their worshippers, and the Greeks loved their favorite gods with the same fervor bestowed upon their earthly friends. On the summit of Mt. Olympus, beyond the impenetrable mists, accord- ing to their mythology, the twelve f great gods held council. * The master-pieces of Praxiteles were an undraped Venus sold to the people of Cnidos. and a satj-r or faun, of which the best antique copy is preserved in the Capitoline Museum, Kome. This statue suofgested Hawthorne's charming romance, The MarbJs Faun. The celebrated Niobe Group in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, is the ■work of either Praxiteles or Scopas. The latter was one of the artists employed on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus {Appendix). Lysippus and Apelles were favorites of Alexander the Great, who would allow only them to carve or paint his image. t They were called the Twelve Gods, but the lists vary, increasing the actual number. Roman mythology was founded on Greek, and as the Latin names are now in general use they have been interpolated to assist the pupil's association. ] 84 GREECE. Zeus (Jove or Jupiter) was snprcme. He ruled with the thunderbolts, and war king over god.s and men. His symboii* were the eagle and the lightning, both asso- ciated with great height. His two brothers, Poseirlon (Neptune) and Hades (Pluto) held sway respectively over the sea and the depths under ground. As god of the sea, Poseidon had the dolphin for his symbol ; as god over rivers, lakes, and springs, his symbols were the trident and the horse. Hades had a helmet which conferred invisibility upon the wearer. It was in much demand among the gods, and was his symbol. The shades of Hades, wherein the dead were received, were guarded by a three-headed dog, Cerberus, Hera (Juno), the haughty wife of Zeus, was Queen of the Skies. Her jealousy was the source of much discord in celestial circles. The stars were her eyes. Her symbols were the cuckoo and the peacock. Demeter (Ceres) was the bestower of bountiful harvests. Her worship was con- nected with the peculiarly-sacred Eleusinian mysteries, whose secret rites have never been disclosed. Some think that ideas of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul were kept alive and handed down by them. Demeter's symbols were ears of corn, the pomegranate, and a car drawn by winged serpents. Hestia (Vesta) was goddess of the domestic hearth. At her altar in every house were celebrated all important family events, even to the purchase of a new slave, or the undertaking of a short journey. The famOy slaves joined in this domestic worship, and Hestia's altar was an asylum whither they might flee to escape punish- ment, and where the stranger, even an enemy, could find protection. She was the personification of purity, and her symbol was an altar-flame. HephcEstos (Vulcan) was the god of volcanic fires and skilled metal-work. Being lame and deformed, his parents, Zeus and Hera, threw him out of Olympus, but his genius finally brought about a reconciliation. Mt. Etna was his forge, whence Pro- metheus stole the sacred fire to give to man. His brother, Ares (Mars) was god of war. His symbols were the dog and the vulture. Athena (Minerva) sprang full-armed from the imperial head of Zeus. She was the goddess of wisdom and of celestial wars, and the especial defender of citadels. Athena and Poseidon contested on the Athenian Acropolis for the supremacy over Attica. The one who gave the greatest boon to man was to win. Poseidon with his trident brought forth a spring of water from the barren rock ; but Athena produced an olive-tree, and was declared victor. As a war-goddess she was called Pallas Athene. Her symbol was the owl. Aphrodite (Venus) was goddess of love and beauty. She arose from the foam of the sea. In a contest of personal beauty between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, Paris decided for Aphrodite. She is often represented with a golden apple in her hand, the prize offered by Eris (strife), who originated the dispute. Her symbol was the dove. ApolJon (Apollo), the ideal of manly beauty, was the god of poetry and song. He led the muses, and in this character his symbol was a lyre ; as god of the fierce rays of the sun, which was his chariot, his symbol was a bow with arrows. Artemis (Diana), twin-sister to Apollo, was goddess of the chase, and protector of the water-nymphs. All young girls were under her care. The moon was her chariot, and her symbol was a deer, or a bow with arrows. Hermes (Mercury) was the god of cunning and eloquence. In the former capacity he was associated with mists, and accused of thieving. The winged-footed messen- ger of the gods, he was also the guide of souls to the realms of Hades, and of heroes in difficult expeditions. As god of persuasive speech and success in trade he was popular in Athens, where he was worshipped at the street crossings.* His symbol was a cock or a ram. * The "Hermes" placed at street comers were stone pillars, surmounted by a human head (p. 143). THE M A X X E R S A X D CUSTOMS. 185 Dionysos (Bacelius), god of wine, with his wife Ariaduo, ruled the fruit season. Hebe was a cup-bearer in Olympus. There was a host of minor deities and personifications, often appearing in a group of thre.% such as the Three Graces, — beautiful women, who represented the brightness, color, and perfume of summer; the Three Fates,— stern sisters, upon whose spindle was spun the thread of every human life ; the Three Hesperides,— daughters of Atlas (upon whose shoulders the sky rested), in whose western garden golden apples grew ; the Throe Harpies,— mischievous meddlers, who personated the effects of violent winds ; Three Gorgons, whose terrible faces turned to stone all wtto beheld them ; and Three Furies, whose mission was to pursue criminals. There were Nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory), who dwelt on Mt. Parnassus, and held all gifts of inspiration : Clio presided over History ; Melpomene, tragedy; Thalia, comedy; Calliope, epic poetry; Urania, astronomy; Euterpe, music ; Polyhymnia, song and oratory; Erato, love-songs ; and Terpsichore, flancincr. PRESExNTING OFFERINGS AT THE TEiMPLE OF DELPHI. Dkination of all kinds was universal. Upon signs, dreams, and portents depended all the weiglitv decisions of life. Birds, especially crows and ravens, were watched as direct messengers from the gods, and so much meaning was attached to their voices, habits, manner of flight and mode of alighting, that even in Homer's time the word Mrd was synonymous with cmcn. The omens obtained by sacrifices were still more anxiously regarded. Upon the motions of the flame, the appearance of the ashes, and, above all, the shape and aspect of the victim's liver, hung such momentous human interests that, as at Platsea, a great army was sometimes kept waiting for days till success should be assured through a sacrificial calf or chicken. Oracles. — The temples of Zeus at Dodona and of Apollo at Delphi were the oldest and most venerated prophetic shrines. At Dodona three priestesses presided, to whom the gods spoke in the rustling 186 • GREECE. leaves of a sacred oak, and the murmurs of a holy rill. But the favorite oracular god was Apollo, who, besides the Pythian temple at Delphi, had shrines in various j^arts of the land.* The Greeks had implicit faith in the Oracles, and consulted them for every important undertaking. Priests and Priestesses shared in the reverence paid to the gods. Their temple duties were mainly prayer and sacrifice. They were given the place of honor in the public festivities, and were supported by the temple revenues. Grecian religion included in its observances nearly the whole range of social pleasures. Worship consisted of songs and dances, proces- sions, libations, festivals, dramatic and athletic contests, and various sacrifices and purifications. The people generally were content with their gods and time-honored mythology, and left all difficult moral and religious problems to be settled by the philosophers and the serious- minded minority who followed them. Religious Games and Festirals. — The Olympian Games were held once in four years in honor of Zeus, at Ohinpia. Here the Greeks gathered from all parts of the country, protected by a safe transit through hostile Hellenic states. The commencement of the Festival month having been formally announced by heralds sent to every state, a solemn truce suppressed all quarrels until itii close. The comp(>titive exercises consisted of running, leaping, wrestling, boxing, and chariot- racing. The prize was a wreath from the sacred olive-tree in Olympia. The celebration, at first confined to one day, came in time to last five days. Booths were scattered about the Altis (p. 181), where a gay traflBc was carried on ; while in the spacious council-room the ardent Greeks crowded to hear the newest works of poets, philosophers, and historians. All this excitement and enthusiasm were heightened by the belief that the pleasure enjoyed was an act of true religious worship. The Pytliian Games, sacred to Apollo, occurred near Delphi, in the third year of each Olympiad, and in national dignity ranked next to the Olympic. The prize-wreath was laurel. The Nemean and the Isthmian Games, sacred respectively to Zeus and Poseidon, were held once in two years, and like the Pythian had prizes for music and poetry, as well as gymnastics, chariots, and horses. The Nemean * A volcanic site, having a fissure through which gas escaped, was usually selected. The Delphian priestess, having spent three days in fasting and bathing, seated herself on a tripod over the chasm, where, under the real or imaginary effect of the vapors, she uttered her prophecies. Her ravings were recorded by the attending prophet, and afterward turned into hexameter verse by poets hired for the purpose. The shrewd priests, through their secret agents, kept well posted on all matters likely to be urged, and when their knowledge failed, a^s in predictions for the future, made the responses so ambiguous or unintelligible that they would seem to be verified by any result. THE MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS. 187 < crown was of parsley, the Isthmian of pine. Sparta took interest only in the Olympic Games, with which she had been connected from their beginning, and which, it is curious to note, were the only ones having no intellectual competition. Otherwise, Sparta had her own festivals frojn which strangers were excluded. The Panatheiiaia,^ which took place once in four years at Athens, in honor of the patron goddess, consisted of similar exercises, termi- nating in a grand procession in which the whole x4.thenian population took part. Citizens in full military equipment ; the victorious con- testants with splendid chariots and horses ; priests and attendants leading the sacrificial victims ; dignified elders bearing olive-boughs ; young men with valuable, artistic plate ; and maidens, the purest and most beautiful in Athens, with baskets of holy utensils on their heads, — all contributed to the magnificent display. Matrons from the neighboring tribes carried oak-branches, while their daughters bore the chairs and sunshades of the Athenian maidens. In the center of the procession was a ship resting on wheels, having for a sail a richly- embroidered mantle or peplos, portraying the victories of Zeus and Athena, wrought and woven by Attic maidens. The procession having gone through all the principal streets round to the Acropolis, marched up through its magnificent Propylea, past the majestic Parthenon, and at last reached the Erechtheium, or Temple of Athena Polias (p. 194). Here all arms were laid aside, and, amid the blaze of barnt-offerings and the ringing paeans of praise, the votive gifts were placed in the sanctuary of the goddess. The Feast of Dionysos was celebrated twice during the spring season, the chief festival continuing for eight days. At this time those tragedies and comedies which had been selected by the archon — to whom all plays were first submitted — were brought out in the Dionysiac theatre f at Athens, in competition for prizes. * The Panathenaic Procession formed the subject of the sculpture on the frieze around the Parthenon Cella, in which stood the goddess sculptured by Phidias. Most of this frieze, much mutilated, is with the Elgin Marbles. t This theatre was built on the sloping side of the Acropolis, and consisted of a vast number of semicircular rows of seats cut out of the solid rock, accommodating thirty thousand persons. The front row, composed of white marble arm-chairs, was occupied by the priests, the judges, and the archons, each chair being engraved with the name of its occupant. Between the audience and the stage was the orchestra or place for the chorus, in the center of Avhich stood the altar of Dionysos. Movable stairs led from the orchestra up to the stage, as the course of the drama frequently required the conjunction of the chorus with the actors. The stage itself extended the whole width of the theatre, but was quite narrow, except at the center, where the representation took place. It was supported by a white marble wall, handsomely carved. There was a variety of machinery for change of scenes and for producing startling effects, such as the rolling of thunder, the descent of gods from heaven, the rising of ghosts and demons from below, etc. The theatre 188 GREECE. Each tribe furnished a chorus of dancers and musicians, and chose a cJioragus, whose business was not only to superintend the training and costumes of the performers, but also to bear all the expense of bringing out the play assigned to him. " The office was one of high dignity, and immense sums were spent by the choragi in their efforts to eclipse each other ; the one adjudged to have given the best enter- tainment received a tripod, which was formally consecrated in the temples and placed upon its own properly-inscribed monument in the Street of Tripods, near the theatre. The Actors, to increase their size and enable them the better to per- sonate the gods and heroes of Greek tragedy, wore high-soled shoes, padded garments, and great masks which completely enveloped their heads, leaving only small apertures for the mouth and eyes. As their stilts and stage-attire impeded any free movements, their acting con- sisted of little more than a series of tableaux and recitations, while the stately musical apostrophes and narrations of the chorus filled up the gaps and supplied those parts of the story not acted on the stage.* T/te performance began early in the morning and lasted all day, eating and drinking being allowed in the theatre. The price of seats varied according to location, but the poorer classes were supplied free tickets by the government, so that no one was shut out by poverty from enjoying this peculiar worship. f Each play generally occupied from one and a half to two hours. The audience was exceedingly demonstrative ; an unpopular actor could not deceive himself ; his voice was drowned in an uproar of whistling, clucking, and hissing, was open to the sky, but an awning might be drawn to shut out the direct rays of the sun, while little jets of perfumed water cooled and refreshed the air. To aid the vast assembly in hearing, brazen bell-shaped vases were placed in different parts of the theatre. * In comedy, the actors themselves often took the audience into their confidence, explaining the situation to them somewhat after the manner of the commenting " sisters, cousins and aunts," during Buttercup's confession in the Pinafore. t Tragedy, which dealt with the national gods and heroes, was to the Greeks a veritably religious exercise, strengthening their faith.and quickening their sympathies for the woes of their beloved and fate-driven deities. When, as in rare instances. a subject was taken from contemporaneous history, no representation which would pain the audience was allowed, and on one occasion a poet was heavily fined for presenting a play which touched upon a recent Athenian defeat. Some great public lesson was usually hidden in the comedies, where the fashionable follies were merci- lessly satirized, and many a useful hint took root in the hearts of the people when given from the stage, that would have fallen dead or unnoticed if put forth in the assembly. '• Quick of thought and utterance, of hearing and apprehension, living together in open public intercourse, reading would have been to the Athenians a slow process for the interchange of ideas. But the many thousands of auditors in the Greek theatre caught, as with an electric flash of intelligence, the noble thought, the withering sarcasm, the flash of wit, and the covert innuendo."— P/it/y; Smith. THE MANNERS AND t T S T M S 189 and he might esteem himself happy if he escaped from the boards without an actual beating. The favorite, whether on the stage or as a spectator, was as enthusiastically applauded.* In comedies, tumult was invited, and the people were urged to shout and laugh, the comic poet sometimes throwing nuts and figs to them, that their scrambling and screaming might add to the evidences of a complete success. GRECIAN FEMALE HEADS. Marriage. — Athenians could legally marry on\v among themselves. The ceremony did not require a priestly official, but was preceded by offerings to Zeus, Hera, Artemis, and other gods who presided over marriag.'.f Omens were carefully observed, and a bath in water from the sacred fountain, Kallirrhoe, was an indispensable ])reparation. On the evening of the wedding-day, after a merry dinner given at her * At the Olympian o-ames when Themistocles entered, it is related that the .whole assembly rose to honor him. + In Homer's time the groom !)aid to the lady's father a certain sum for his bride. Afterward this custom was re->ersed. and the amount of the wife's dowry greatly atiected her position as a married woman. At the formal betrothal preceding every marriage this important question was settled, and in case of separation the dowry was usually returned to the wife'> parents. 190 GREECE. father's house, the closelyveijed bride was seated in a chariot between her husband and his "best man," all dressed in festive robes and garlanded with flowers. Her mother kindled the nuptial torch at the domestic hearth, a procession of friends and attendants was formed, and, amid the joyful strains of the marriage-song, the whistling of flutes, and the blinking of torches, the happy pair were escorted to their future home. Here they were saluted with a shower of sweet- meats, after which followed the nuptial banquet. x\t this feast, by privilege, the women were allowed to be present, though they sat at a separate table, and the bride continued veiled. The third day after marriage the veil was cast aside, and wedding-presents were received. The parties most concerned in marriage were seldom consulted, and it was not uncommon for a widow to find herself bequeathed by her deceased husband's will to one of his friends or relatives. Death and Burial. — As a portal festooned with flowers an- nounced a wedding, so a vessel of water placed before a door gave notice of a death within.* As soon as a Greek died, an obolus was inserted in his mouth to pay his fare on the boat across the River Styx to Hades. His bo:ly was then washed, anointed, dressed in white, garlanded with flowers, and placed on a couch with the feet toward the outer door. A formal lament f followed, made by the female friends and relatives, assisted by hired mourners. On the third day the body was carried to the spot where it was to be buried or burned. It was preceded by a hired chorus of musicians and the male mourners, who, dressed in black or gray, had their hair closely cut.:j: The female mourners walked behind the bier. If the body was burned, sacrifices were offered ; then, after all was consumed, the fire was extinguished with wine, and the ashes, sprinkled with oil and wine, were collected in a clay or bronze cinerary. Various articles were stored with the dead, such as mirrors, trinkets, and elegantly-painted vases. The burial was followed by a feast, which was considered as given by the deceased (compare p. 42). Sacrifices of milk, honey, wine, olives, and * The water was always brought from some other dwelling and was used for the purification of visitors, as everything within the house of mourning was polluted by the presence of the dead. t Solon sought to restrain these ostentatious excesses by enacting that, except the nearest relatives, no women under sixty years of age should enter a house of mourning. In the heroic clays of Greece the lament lasted several days (that of Achilles continued seventeen), but in later times an early burial was thought pleasing to the dead. The funeral pomp, which afterward became a common custom, was originally reserved for heroes alone. In the earlier Attic burials the grave was dug by the nearest relatives, and afterward sown with corn that the body might be recom- pensed for its own decay. * When a great general died, the hair and manes of all the army horses were cropped. T H E .\I A X X E K tS A X !> C f ,^ T O M S U)l flowers were periodically offered at the grave, where slaves kept watch. Sometimes a regular banquet was served, and a blood-sacrifice offered by the side of the tomb. The dead person was supposed to be con- scious of all these attentions, and to be displeased when an enemy approached his ashes. Malefactors, traitors, and people struck by lightning* were denied burial, which in Greece, as in Egypt, was the highest possible dishonor. GRECIAN WARRIORS AND ATTENDANT. Weapons of War and Defence.— The Greeks fought \Adth long spears, swords, clubs, battle-axes, bows, and slings. In the heroic age, chariots were employed, and the warrior, standing by the side of the charioteer, was driven to the front, where he engaged in single combat. Afterward the chariot was used only in races. A soldier in full armor wore a leather or metal helmet, covering his head and face ; a cuirass made of iron plates, or a leather coat of mail over- laid with iron scales ; bronze greaves, reaching from above the knee * Such a death was supposed to be a direct punishment from the gods for some great offence or hidden depravity. 192 GREECE. down to tlie ankle ; and a shield * made of ox-hides, covered with metal, and sometimes extending from head to foot. Thus equipped they advanced slowly and steadily into action in a uniform phalanx of about eight spears deep, the warriors of each tribe arrayed together, so that individual or sectional bravery was easily distinguished. The light infantry wore no armor, but sometimes carried a shield of willow twigs, covered with leather. In Homer's time, bows, six feet long, were made of the horns of the antelope. Cavalry horses were pro- tected by armor, and the rider sat upon a saddle-cloth, a luxury not indulged in on ordinary occasions. Stirrups and horseshoes were un- known. The ships of Greece, like those of Phoenicia and Carthage, were flat-bottomed barges or galleys, mainly propelled by oars. The oarsmen sat in rows or banks, one above the other, the number of banks determining the name of the vessel. f Bows and arrows, jav- elins, ballistas, and catapults were the offensive weapons used at a distance, but the main tactics consisted in running the sharp iron prow of the attacking vessel against the enemy's broadside to sink it, or else, steering alongside, boarding the enemy and making a hand-to- hand fight. SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Retrospect. — We will suppose it to be about the close of the fifth century B. C, with the Peloponnesian War just ended. The world is two thousand years older than when we watched the building of the great pyramid at Gizeh, and fifteen centuries have pa^ised since the Labyrinth began to show its marljle colonnades. Those times are even now remote antiquities, and fifty years ago Herodotus delighted the wondering Greeks with his description of the ancient ruins in the Fayoom. It is nearly two hundred and fifty years since Asshur-bani- pal sat on the throne of tottering Nineveh, and one hundred and fifty since the fall of Babylon. Let us now visit Sparta. Scene I. — A Day in Sparta. — A hilly, unwalled city on a river bank, with mountains in the distance. A great square or forum (Agora) with a few modest temples, statues, and porticoes. On the highest hill (Acropolis), in the midst of a grove, more temples and * These shields were sometimes richly decorated with emblems and inscriptions. Thus ^schylus, in Tlie Seven Chiefs against Thebes, describes one warrior's shield as bearing a flaming torch, with the motto, "I will burn the city "; and another as havinor an armed man climbing a scaling-ladder, and for an inscription, "Not Mars himself shall beat me from the towers." t A ship with three banks of oars was called a trireme ; with four, a quadrireme, etc. In the times of the Ptolemies galleys of twelve, fifteen, twenty, and even forty banks of oars were built. The precise arrangement of the oarsmen in these large ships is not known, (See cut, p. 153.) THE MAKXERS AITD CUSTOMS. 193 statues, among them a brass statue of Zeus, the most ancient in Greece. In the suburbs the hippodrome, for foot and horse races, and the platanistce — a grove of beautiful palm-trees, partly enclosed by run- ning streams — where the Spartan youth gather for athletic sports. A scattered city, its small, mean houses grouped here and there ; its streets narrow and dirty. This is Sparta. If we wish to enter a house, we have simply to announce ourselves in a loud voice, and a slave will admit us. We sliaU hear no cry of puny infants within ; the little boys, none of them over seven years old (p. 179), are strong and sturdy, and the girls are few ; their weak or deformed brothers and surplus sisters have been cast out in their babyhood to perish, or to become the slaves of whoever should rescue them. The mother is here ; a brawny, strong-minded, strong-fisted woman, whose chief pride is that she can fell an enemy with one blow. Her dress consists of two garments, a chiton,'^ and over it a peplos or short cloak, which clasps above the shoulders, leaving the arms bare. She appears in public when she pleases, and may even give her opinion on matters of state. When her husband or sons go forth to battle she sheds no sentimental tears, but hands to each his shield, with the proud injunction, " Return with it, or upon it." No cowards, whatever their excuses, find favor with her. When the blind Eurytus was led by his slave into the foremost rank at Thermopylse, she thought of him as having simply performed his duty ; when Aristodemus made his blindness an excuse for staying away, she re- viled his cowardice ; and though he afterward died the most heroic of deaths at Plataea, it counted him nothing. She educates her daughters to the same unflinching defiance of womanly, tenderness. They are trained in the Palaestra or wrestling-school till they can run, wrestle, and fight as well as their brothers. They wear but one garment, a short sleeveless chiton, open upon one side, and often not reaching to the knee. The Spartan gentleman, who sees little of his family, is debarred by law from trade or agriculture, and, having no taste for art or literature, spends his time, when not in actual warfare, in daily military drill, and in governing his helots. He never appears in public without his attendant slaves, but prudence compels him to walk be- hind rather than before them. In the street his dress is a short, coarse cloak, with or without a chiton ; perhaps a pair of thong-strapped sandals, a cane, and a seal-ring. He usually goes bare-headed, but when traveling in the hot sun wears a broad-brimmed hat or bonnet. His ideal character is one of relentless energy and brute force, and his * The Doric chiton was a simple woolen shift, consisting of two short pieces of cloth, sewed or clasped together on one or hoth sides up to the breast ; the parts covering the breast and back were fastened over each shoulder, leaving the open spaces at the side for arm-holes. It was confined about the waist with a girdle. 194 GREECE. standard of excellence is a successful defiance of all pain, and an ability to conquer in every fight. Scene II. — A Day in Athens (4th century b. c.).— To see Athens is, t^rst of all, to admire the Acropolis. A high, steep, rocky, but broad-crested hill, sloping toward the city and the distant sea ; ascended by a marble road for chariots, and marble steps for pedestrians ; entered through a magnificent gateway (the Propylsea) ; and crowned on its spacious summit — one hundred and fifty feet above the level at its base — with a grove of stately temples, statues,* and altars. Standing on the Acropolis, on a bright morning about the year 300 B. c, a magnificent view opens on every side. Away to the southwest for four miles stretch the Long Walls, five hundred and fifty feet apart, leading to the Piraean harbor ; beyond them the sea, dotted with sails, glistens in the early sun. Between us and the harbors lie the porticoed and templed Agora, bustling with the morning commerce ; the Pnyx,f with its stone bema, from which Demosthenes sixty or more years ago essayed his first speech amid hisses and laughter ; the Areopagus, where from time immemorial the learned court of archons has held its sittings ; the hill of the Museum, crowned by a fortress ; the tem- ples of Hercules, Demeter, and Artemis ; the Gymnasium of Hermes ; an J, near the Pirsean gate, a little grove of statues, — among them one of Socrates, who drank the hemlock and went to sleep a hundred years ago. At our feet, circling about the hill, are amphitheatres for musical and dramatic festivals, elegant temples and colonnades, and the famous Street of Tripods, more beautiful than ever since the recent erection of the monument of the choragus Lysicrates. Turning toward the East we see the Lyceum, where Aristotle walked and talked within the last half century : and the Cynosarges, where Antisthenes, the father of the Cynics, had his school. Still further to the north rises the white top of Mt. Lycabettus, beyond which is the plain of Marathon ; and on the south the green and flowery ascent of Mt. Hymettus, swarming with be.^s, and equally famous for its honey and * Towering over all the other Ptatues was the bronze Athena Promachus, by Phidias, cast out of spoils won at Marathon. It was sixty feet high, and represented the goddess with her spear and shield in the attitude of a combatant. The remains of the Erechtheium, a beautiful and peculiar temple sacred to two deities, stood near the Parthenon. It had been burned during the invasion of Xerxes, but was in process of restoration when the Peloponnesian War broke out. Part of it was dedicated to Athena Polias, whose olive-wood statue within its walls was reputed to have fallen from heaven. It was also said to contain the sacred olive-tree brought forth by Athena, the spring of water which followed the stroke of Poseidon's trident, and even the impression of the trident itself ! t The two hills, the Pnyx and the Areopagus, were famous localities. Upon the former the assemblies of the people were held. The stone pulpit {bema), from which the orators declaimed, and traces of the leveled arena where the people gathered to listen, are still seen on the Pnyx. THE M A X K E K S A X D C U 8 T O 11 S 195 its marble. Through the city, to the southeast, flows the river Ilissus, sacred to the Muses. As we look about us we are struck by the ab- sence of spires or pinnacles. There are no hioh towers as in Babylon ; no lofty obelisks as on the banks of the Nile ; and, on the tiled roofs, all flat or slightly gabled, we detect many a favorite promenade. GRECIAN LADIES AND ATTENDANT. A Greek Home. — The Athenian gentleman usually arises at dawn, and after a slight repast of bread and wine goes out with his slaves * for a walk or ride, previous to his customary daily lounge in the market- place. While he is absent, if we are ladies we may visit the house- hold. We are quite sure to find the mistress at home, for, especially if she be young, she never ventures outside her dwelling without her husband's permission ; nor does she receive within it any but her lady- friends and nearest male relatives. The exterior of the house is very plain. Built of common stone, brick, or wood, and coated with plaster, it abuts so closely upon the street that if the door has been made to open outward (a tax is paid for the privilege) the comer-out is obliged to knock before opening it, in order to warn the passers-by. The dead- wall before us has no lower windows, but a strong door furnished with * No gentleman in Athens went out unless he was accompanied by his servants. To be unattended by at least one slave was a sign of extreme indigence, and no more to be thought of than to be seen without a cane, which was also indispensable. " A gentleman found going about without a walking-stick was presumed by the police to be disorderly, and was imprisoned for the night." 196 aREECE. knocker and handle, and beside it a Hermes (p. 144) or an altar to Apollo. Over the door, as in Egypt, is an inscription, here reading, "To the good genius," followed by the name of the owner. In re- sponse to our knock, the porter, who is always in attendance, opens the door. Carefully placing our right foot on the threshold — it would be an unlucky omen to touch it with the left — we pass through a long corridor to a large court open to the sky, and surrounded by arcades or porticoes. This is the peristyle of the andronitis, or. apartments be- longing to the master of the house. Around the peristyle lie the ban- queting, music, sitting and sleeping rooms, the picture galleries and libraries. A second corridor, opening opposite the first, leads to another porticoed court, with rooms about and behind it. This is the gynoe- coidtls, the domain of the mistress. Here the daughters and hand- maidens always remain, occupied with their wool carding, spinning, weaving, and embroidery, and hither the mother retires when her husband entertains guests in the andronitis. The floors are plastered and tastefully painted,* the walls are frescoed, and the cornices and ceilings are ornamented with stucco. The rooms are warmed from fire-places, or braziers of hot coke or charcoal ; they are lighted mostly from doors opening upon the porticoes. In the first court is an altar to Zeus, and in the second the never-forgotten one to Hestia. The furniture is simple, but remarkable for elegance of design. Along the walls are seats or sofas covered with AN ANCIENT BRAZIER. sMns or purple carpets, and heaped with cushions. There are also light folding-stools f and richly- carved armchairs, and scattered about the rooms are tripods, support- ing exquisitely-painted vases. In the bedrooms of this luxurious home are couches offtevery degree of magnificence, made of olive-wood inlaid with gold and ivory or veneered with tortoise-shell, or of ivory richly embossed, or even of solid silver. On these are laid mattresses of sponge, feathers, or plucked wool; and over them soft, gorgeously-colored blankets, or a coverlet made of peacock skins, dressed with the feathers on,:}: and perfumed with imported essences.' * In later times flagging and mosaics were used. Before the 4th century b. c. the plaster-walls were simply whitewashed. t The four-legged, hackless stool was called a diphros ; when an Athenian gentle- man walked out, one of his slaves generally carried a diphros for the convenience of his master when wearied. To the diphros a curved hack was sometimes added, and the legs made immovable. It was then called a Jclismos. A high, large chair, with straight back and low arms, was a thronos. The thronoi in the temples were for the gods ; those in dwellings, for the master and his guests. A footstool was indispens- able, and was sometimes attached to the front legs of the thronos. X " One of the greatest improvements introduced by the Greeks into the art of THE :Nr A X N" E E S AX D C U ci T M S . 197 The mistress of tlie house, who is superintending the domestic labor, is dressed in a long chiton, doubled over at the top so as to form a kind of cape which hangs down loosely, clasped on the shoulders, girdled at the waist, and falling in many folds to her feet. When she ventures abroad, as she occasionally docs to the funeral of a near relation, to the great religious festivals, and sometimes to hear a tragedy, she wears a cloak or Jiimation,^ The Athenian wife has not the privileges of the Spartan. The husband and father is the complete master of his household, and, so far from allowing his wife to transact any inde- pendent bargains, he may be legally absolved from any contract her request or counsel has induced him to make. — This is a busy moi'ning in the home, for the master has gone to the market-place to invite a few friends to an evening banquet. The foreign cooks, hired for the occasion, are already here, giving orders, and preparing choice dishes. At iioou, all business in the niarket-place having ceased, the Athenian gentleman returns to his home for his midday meal and his siesta, f As the cooler hours come on, he repairs to the crowded Gymnasium, where he may enjoy the pleasures of the bath, listen to the learned lectures of philosophers and rhetoricians, or join in the racing, mili- tary, and gymnastic exercises. X Toward sunset he again seeks his .home to await his invited guests. The Bduquet. — As each guest arrives, a slave § meets him in the court, and ushers him into the large triclinium or dining-room, where liiti host warmly greets him, and assigns to him a section of a couch. Before he reclines, \ however, a slave unlooses his sandals and washes sleeping w9.'^ the practice of undressing before going to bed— a thing unheard of until liit upon by their inventive gem.u?>,'"—Felton. * The dress of both sexes was nearly the same. The hlmation was a large, square piece of cloth, so wrapped about the form as to leave only the 'right arm free. Much skill was required to drape it artistically, and the taste and elegance of the wearer were decided by his manner of carrying it. The same hlmation often served for both husband and wife, and it is related as among the unamiable traits of Xantippe, the shrewish wife of Socrates, that she refused to go out in her husband's himation. A gentleman usually wore a chiton also, though he was considered fully dressed in the hlmation alone. The lower classes wore only the chiton, or were clothed in tanned skins. Raiment was cheap in Greece. In the time of Socrates a chiton cost about a dollar, and an ordinary himation, two dollars. t The poorer classes gathered together in groups along the porticoes for gossip or slumber, where indeed they not unfrequently spent their nights. % Ball-playing, which was a favorite game with the Greeks, was taught scien- tifically in the gymnasium. The balls were made of colored leather, stuffed with feathers, wool, or fig-seeds, or, if very large, were hollow. Cock-and-quail fighting was another exciting amusement, and, at Athens, took place annually by law, as an instructive exhibition of bravery. § A guest frequently brought his own slave to assist in personal attendance upon himself. U The mode of reclining, which was similar to that in Assyria, is shown in the ids G li E E (' E A GREEK SYMPOSIUM. his feet in perfumed wine. Tlie time having arrived for dinner, water is passed around for hand ablutions, and small, low tables are brought in, one being placed before each couch. There are no knives and forks, no table cloths or napkins. Some of the guests wear gloves to enable them to take the food quite hot, others have hardened their fingers by handling hot pokers, and one, a noted gourmand, has prepared him- self with metallic finger-guards. The slaves now hasten with the first course, which opens with sweetmeats, and includes manv delicacies, cut, the place of honor being next the host. The Greek wife and daughter never appeared at these banquets, and at their everj'-day meals the wife sat on the couch at the feet of her master. The sons were not permitted to recline till they were of age. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 199 such as tliruslies, hares, oysters, pungent herbs, and, best of all, Copaic eels, cooked crisp and brown, and wrapped in beet-leaves.* Bread is handed around in tiny baskets, woven of slips of ivory. Little talking is done, for it is good breeding to remain quiet until the sub- stantial viands are honored. From time to time the guests wipe their fingers upon bits of bread, throwing the fragments under the table. This course being finished, the well-trained slaves sponge or remove the tables, brush up the dough, bones, and other remnants from the floor, and pass again the jierfumed water for hand-washing. Garlands of myrtle and roses, gay ribbons, and sweet-scented ointments are distributed, a golden bowl of wine is brought, and the meal closes with a libation. The Syni'posium is introduced by a second libation, accompanied by hymns and the solemn notes of a flute. The party, hitherto silent, rapidly grow^ merry, w^hile the slaves bring in the dessert and the wine, w^hich now for the first time appears at the feast. The dessert con- sists of fresh fruits, olives well ripened on the tree, dried figs, imported dates, curdled cream, honey, cheese, and the salt-sprinkled cakes for w^hicli Athens is renowned. A large crater or wine-bowl, ornamented with groups of dancing bacchanals, is placed before one of the guests, who has been chosen archon. He is to decide upon the proper mixture of the wiue,f the nature of the forfeits in the games of the evening, and, in fact, is henceforth king of the feast. The sport be- gins with riddles. This is a favorite pastime ; every failure in guessing requires a forfeit, and the penalty is to drink a certain quantity of vdne. Music, charades, dancing and juggling performed by profes- sionals, and a variety of entertainments, help the hours to fly, and the Symposium ends at last by the whole party inviting them- selves to some other banqueting-place, where they spend the night in revel. X * The Greeks %vere extravagantly fond of fish. Pork, the abhorred of the Egyp- tians, was their favorite meat. Bread, more than anything else, was the "staff of life,'" all other food, except sweetmeats— even meat— being called relish. Sweetmeats were superstitiously regarded, and scattering them about the house was an invitation to good luck. t To drink wine clear was disreputable, and it was generally diluted with two- thirds water. X The fashionable Symposia were usually of the character described above, but sometimes they were more intellectual, affording an occasion for the brilliant display of Attic wit and learning. The drinking character of the party was always the same, and in Plato's Dialogue, The Symposium^ in which Aristophanes, Socrates, and other literary celebrities took part, the evening is broken in upon by two different bands of revelers, and daylight finds Socrates and Aristophanes still drinking with the host. "Parasites (a recognized class of people, who lived by sponging their dinners) and mountebanks always took the liberty to drop in wherever there was a feast, a fact which they ascertained by walking through the streets and snuflSng at the kitchens "—i^e^ton. 200 GREECE. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History. — The Pelasgians were the primitive in- habitants of Greece. In time the Hellenes descend from the north, and give their name to the land. It is the Heroic Age, the era of the sous of the gods — Hercules, Theseus, and Jason — of the Argonautic Expedition and the Siege of Troy. With the Dorian Migration ("Return of the Heraclidse") and their settlement in the Pelopon- nesus, the mythic stories end and real history begins. The kings disappear, and nearly all the cities become little republics. Hellenic colonies arise in Asia Minor, rivaling the glory of Greece itself. Ly- curgus now enacts his cruel laws (850 B. c). In the succeeding cen- turies the Spartans — pitiless, fearless, haughty warriors — conquer Messenia, become the head of the Peloponnesus, and threaten all Greece. Meanwhile Athens, spite of Draconian laws, the curse of the Alcmaeonidse, the factions of the men of the plain, the coast, and the mountain, and the tyranny of the Pisistratidae, by the wise measures of Solon and Cleisthenes becomes a powerful republic. Athens now sends help to the Greeks of Asia Minor against the Persians, and the Asiatic deluge is precipitated upon Greece. Miltiades defeats Darius on the field of Marathon (490 B. c). Ten years later Xerxes forces the pass of Thermopylae, slays Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans, and burns Athens ; but his fleet is put to flight at Salamis, the next year his army is routed by Themistocles at Plataea, and his remaining ships are destroyed at Mycale. Thus Europe is saved from Persian despotism. The Age of Pericles follows, and Athens, grown to be a great commercial city — its streets thronged with traders and its harbor with ships — is the head of Greece. Sparta is jealous, and the Peloponnesian War breaks out in 431 b. c. Its twenty-seven years of alternate vic- tories and defeats end in the fatal expedition to Syracuse, the defeat of ^gos Potamos and the fall of Athens. Sparia is now supreme ; but her cruel rule is broken by Epaminon- das on the field of Leuctra. Thebes comes to the front, but Greece, rent by rivalries, is overwhelmed by Philip of Macedon in the battle of Chaeronea. The conqueror dying soon after, his greater sou, Alexander, leads the armies of united Greece into Asia. The battles of Granicus, Issus, and Arbela subdue the Persian empire. Thence the conquering leader marches eastward to the Indus, and returns to Babylon only to die (323 b. c). His generals divide his empire among themselves ; while Greece, a prey to dissensions, at last drops into the all-absorbing Roman empire (146 b. c). SUMMARY. 201 2. Civilization.— Athens and Sparta differ widely in thought, habits, and taste, llic Spartans care little for art and literature, and glory only in war and patriotism. They are rigid in their self-dis cipline, and cruel to their slaves. They smother all tender home sen- timent, eat at the public mess, give their seven-years-old boys to the state, and train their girls in the rough sports of the palaestra. They distrust and exclude strangers, and make no effort to adorn their capital with art or architecture. The Athenians adore art, beauty, and intellect. Versatile and brilliant, they are fond of novelties and eager for discussions. Law courts abound, and the masses imbibe an education in the theatre, along the busy streets, and on the Pnyx. In their democratic city, filled with magnificent temples, statues, and colonnades, wit and talent are the keys that unlock the doors of every saloon. Athens becomes the center of the world's history in all that pertains to the fine arts. Poetry and philosophy flourish alike in her classic atmosphere, and all the provinces feel the pulse of her artistic heart. Grecian art and literature furnish models for all time. Infant Greece produces Homer and Hesiod, the patriarchs of epic poetry. Coming down the centuries she brings out in song, and hymn, and ode, Sappho, Simonides, and Pindar; in tragedy, ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes ; in comedy, Aristophanes and Menander ; in history, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon ; in oratory, Pericles and Demosthenes ; in philosophy, Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle ; in painting, Apelles ; in sculpture, Phidias, Praxiteles, and Lysippus. Greek mythology invests every stream, grove, and mountain with gods and goddesses, nymphs, and naiads. The beloved deities are worshipped with songs and dances, dramas and festivals, spirited contests and gorgeous processions. The Four Great National Games unite all Greece in a sacred bond. The Feasts of Dionysos give birth to the drama. The Four Great Schools of Philosophy flourish and decay, leaving their impress upon the generations to come. Finally, Grecian civilization is transported to the Tiber, and becomes blended with the national peculiarities of the conquering Romans. READING REFERENCES. Grote''s Eistory of Greece.— Arnold's History of Greece — Curtius''s Mstoi^y 9f Greece.— FeltorCs Ancient and Modern Greece.— History Primers ; Greece, and Greek Antiquities, edited by Green.— Smith'' s Student's Eistory of Greece.— Becker'' s Chari- des.—GiM and Koner''s Life of the Greeks and Romans.— Bryce''s History of Greece^ in Freeman's Series.— Freeman'' s General Sketch of European Eistory— Collie?"' s History of Greece. — Heeren\<: Eistorical Researches.— Putz's' Hand-book of Ancient Eistory.—Buhcer's Rise and Fall of Athens. -Williams's Life of Alexander the 202 GREECE, Gvtat.—ThirwaWs History of Greece.— Niehuhr'' s Lectures on Ancient History.— Xenophon's Anabasis, Memorabilia, and Ci/cropcedia.—St. John's The Hellenes; Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece— Fergusson' s History of Architecture.— StuarCs Antiquities of Athens.— Mahaffy's History of Greek Literature.— Quackenbos's Ancient Litei^ature. CHRONOLOGY. B.C. Dorian Migration, about 1100 Lycurgu^, about. , 850^ First Olympiad 7^6 [Tt is curious to notice hovv many important events cluster about this period, viz. : Rome was founded in 753 ; the Era of Nabonassar in Babylon began 747; andTiglath-pile.serll., the great military king of Assyria, ascended the throne, 745.] First Messenian War 743-724 Second Messenian War H8i-668 Draco 624 Solon ^ 594 Pisistratus -^60 Battle of Marathon 490 Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis 480 '* " Platsea and Mycale 479 Age of Pericles 479-429 Peloponnesian War 431-404 Retreat of the Ten Thousand 400 Battle of Leuctra 371 Demosthenes delivered his i^irsi! PMi7;/?k (Oration against Philip) 352 Battle of Chgeronea 338 Alexander the Great 336-323 Battle of the Granicus 334 " " Issus 333 " " Arbela 331 Oration of Demosthenes on The Crown 330 Battle of Ipsus... 301 BAS-RELIEF OF THE NINE MUSES, J.WELLS, DEL. ROM E . 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. While Greece was winning its freedom on the fields of Marathon and Plataea, and building up the best civilization the world had then seen ; while Alexander was carrying the Grecian arms and culture over the East ; while the Con- queror's successors were wrangling over the prize he had won ; wdiile the Ptolemies were transplanting Grecian thought, but not Grecian freedom, to Egy23tian soil;-- there was slowly growing up on the banks of the Tiber a city that was to found an empire wider than Alexander's, and molding Grecian civilization, art, and literature into new forms, preserve them long after Greece had fallen. Contrast between Greece and Italy. — Grecian history extended fi'om the First Olympiad (776 b. c.) to the Roman Conquest (146 b. c), a period of six centuries, while its real strength lasted only from Marathon to Chaeronea, less than a century and a half; Roman history reached from the founding of the city (754 B. c.) to its downfall (476 a. d.), Geof/raphical Qi(esh'on,s-.—^ee. maps, pp. 21(3 and 255. Describe the Tiber. Locate Rome. Ostia. Alba Longa. Veii (Veji). The Sabines. The Etruscans. Where was Carthage ? New Carthage ? Saguntum ? Syracuse ? Lake Trasimenus ? Capua? Cannae? Tarentum ? Cisalpine Gaul ? lapygia (.the "heel of Italy" reaching toward Greece). Bruttium (the " toe of Italy "). What were the limits of the empire at the time of its greatest extent ? Name the principal countries which it then in- cluded. Locate Alexandria. Antioch. Smyrna. Philippi. Byzantium. 20-1 R O ME. over twelve centuries. The coast of Italy was not, like that of Greece, indented with deep l)ays, and hence the people were not originally seamen nor colonists. Greece, cut up into small valleys, offered no unity ; it grew around many little centers, and no two leaves on i^s tree of liberty were exactly alike. But Italy exhibited the unbroken advance of one imperial city to universal dominion. In Greece, there were the fickleness and jealousies of petty states ; in Italy, the power and resources of a mighty nation. Greece lay open to the East ; she originally drew her inspiration thence, and in time returned thither the fruits of her civilization. Italy lay open in the opposite direction, and sent the strength of her civilization to regenerate barbarian Europe. The work of the Greek seems to have been to exhibit the triumphs of the mind, and to illustrate the princijoles of liberty ; that of Rome, to subdue by irresistible force, to manifest the power of law, and to bind the nations together for the com- ing of a new religion. When Greece fell from her high estate, she left nothing but her history, and the achievements of her artists and statesmen. When the Roman Empire broke to pieces, the great nations of Europe sprang from the ruins, and their languages, civilization, laws, and religion took their form from the Mistress of the World. The Early Inhabitants of Italy were mainly of the same Aryan swarm that settled Greece. But they had be- come very different from the Hellenes, and had split into various hostile tribes. Between the Arno and the Tiber lived the Etruscans or Tuscans — a league of twelve cities. These people were great builders, and skilled in the arts. In northern Italy Cisalpine Gaul was inhabited by Celts, akin to those upon the other side of the Alps. Southern Italy contained many prosperous Greek cities.. The Italians occupied central Italy. They were divided into the Latins THE POLITICAL HISTORY •ZOo and Oscans. The former coin])rised a league of thirty towns (note, p. 117) south of the Tiber ; the latter consisted of various tribes living eastward — Samnites, Sabines, etc.* Rome "was founded f (754 b.c.) by the Latins, perhaps * Some authorities group the Samnites, Sabine?, Umbrians, Oceans, Sabelhans, etc., as the Umbnans ; and others call them the Umbro Sabdlians. They were doubtless closely related. t Of the early histort of Rome there is no reliable account, as the records were burned when the city was destroyed by the Gauls (390 b. c), and it was five hundred years after the founding of the city (A. U. C, anno nrbu conditce) before the first rude attempt was made to write a continuous narrative of its origin. The names of the early monarchs are probably personifications, rather than the appellations of real persons. The word Rome itself means border^.and probably had no relation to the fjbled Romulus. The history which was accepted in later times by the Romans and has come down to us is a series of beautiful legends. In the text is given the real history as now received by the best criticj, o.a1 in the notes the mythical stories. ^XEAS, favored by the god Mercury and led by his mother Venus, cjime. after the destruc- tion of Troy, to Italy. There his son Ascanius built the Long Whire City (Alba Longa>. His descendants reigned in peace for three hundred years. When it came time, according to the de- cree of the gods, that Rome should be founded. RoMiTLUs AND Remus were born. Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was a priestess of the goddess Vesta, and their father, Mars, the god of war. Amulius, who had usurped the Alban throne from their grandfather Numitor. or- dered the babe- to be thrown into the Tiber. They were, how- ever, cast ashore at the foot of Mount Palatine. Here they were nursed by a wolf. One Faustulus passing near was struck by the sight, and carrying the children home brought them up as his own. Romulus and Remus on coming to age discovered their true rank, slew the usurper, and restored their grandfather Numitor to his throne. Founding of Rome.— The brothers then determined to found a city near the spot where they had been so wonderfully preserved, and agreed to watch the flight of birds in order to decide which should fix upon the site. Remus, on the Aventine hill, saw six vultures ; but Romuhi^, on the Palatine, saw twelve, and was declared victor He accordingly began to mark out the boundaries with a brazen plough, drawn by a bullock and a heifer. .\s the mud wall arose, Remus in scorn jumped ROMAN WOLF STATUE. 206 ROME. ji colony sent out from Alba Longa, as an outpost against the Etruscans, whom they greatly feared. At an early date it contained about one thousand miserable, thatched huts, surrounded by a wall. Most of the inhabitants were shep- lierds or farmers, who tilled the land iqjon the plain near by, but lived for protection within their fortifications on the Palatine Hill. It is probable that the hills afterward covered by liome were then occupied by Latins, and that the cities of Latiuni formed a confederacy, with Alba Longa at the head. over it. Whereui)on Romulus* slew him, exclaiming, '• So perish every one who may try to k'ap o\er these ramparts ! "' The new city he called Plome after his ov\ n name, and became its first kinji;. To secure inhabitants, he oi)ened an asylum for refugees and criminals. But lacking women, he resorted to a curious expedient. A great festival in honor of Neptune was appointed, and the neighboring people were invited to come with their families. In the midst of tlie games tiie young Romans rushed among the spectators, and each seizing a maiden, carried her off to be his wife. The indign.mt parents returned home, but only to come back in arms, and thirsting for vengeance. The Sabines laid sie^e to the citadel on thi- Capitoline hill. Tarpeia, the commandant'^ daughter, dazzled by the glitter of tlieir golden bracelets and rings, promised to betray the fortress if the Sabines would give her "' what they w ore on their left arms." As they passed in through the gate, which she opened for them in the night, they crushed her beneath their heavy shields. Henceforth that part of the hill was called the Tarpeian Rock, and down its precipice traitors were hurled to deatli. The next day after Tarpeia "s treachery, the battle raged in the valley between the Capi- toline and Palatine hills. In his distress, Romulus vowed a temple to Jupiter. The Ro- mans thereupon turned and drove back their foes. In the flight, Mcttius Curtius, the leader of the Sabines, sank with his horse into a marsh, and nearly perished. Ere the contest could be renewed, the Sabine women, with disheveled hair, suddenly rushed between their kindred and new-found husbands, and implored peace. Their entreaties prevailed, the two people united, and their kings reigned jointly. As the Sabines came from Cures, the united people were called Jiomanft and Quirites. THE TARPEIAN KOCK (FROM AN OLD PRINT^. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 307 The Grovernment was aristocratic. There were a priest- king, a senate, and an assembly. The priest-king offered sacrifices, and presided over the senate. The senate had the right to discuss, and vote ; the assembly, to discuss only. Each original family or house [yens) was represented in the senate by its head. This body was therefore composed of the fathers (patres), and was from the beginning the soul of the rising city ; while throughout its entire history the intelligence, experience, and wisdom gathered in the senate, determined the policy and shaped the public life Romulus, after the death of Tatius, became sole king. He divided the people into nobles and commons; the former he cedled patricians, and the latter jilebeian.';. The patricians were separated into three tribes — Eamnes, Tities, and Luceres. In each of these he made ten divisions or ciiji.ce. The tliirty curiae formed tlie assembly of tlie people. The plebeians being apportioned as tenants and dependents among the patricians, were called clients. One hundred of the patricians v/ere chosen for age and wisdom, and f^tjled fathers (patres). After Romulus had reigned thirty-seven years, and done all these things according to the will of the gods, one day, during a violent thunder-storm, he disappeared from sight, and w^as henceforth worshipped as a god. NuMA PoMPHiius, a pious Sabine, was the second king. Numa was wise from his youth, as a sign of which his hair was gray at birth. He was trained by Pythag- oras (p. 174) in all the knowledge of the Greeks ; and was wont, in a sacred grove near Rome, to meet the nymph Egeria, who taught him lessons of wisdom, and how men below should worship the gods above. By pouring wine into the spring whence Faunus and Picus, the gods of the wood, drank, he led them to tell him the secret charm to gain the will of Jupiter. Peace smiled on the land during his happy reign, and the doors of th ■ temple of Janus remained closed, TuLLTTS HosTiLTUS, the third king, loved war as Numa did peace. He soon got into a quarrel with Alba Longa. As the armies were about to fight, it was agreed to decide the contest by a combat between the Horatii— three brothers in the Roraan ranks, and the Curatii— three brothers in the Alban. They were cousins, and one of the Curatii was engaged to be married to a sister of one of the Horatii. In the fight, two of the Horacii were killed, when the third pretended to run. The Curatii, be- cause of their wounds, followed him slowly, and becoming separated, he turned about and slew them one by one. As the victor returned laden with the spoils, he met his sister, who. catching sight of the robe which she had embroideved for her lover, burst into tears. Horatius, unable to bear her reproaches, struck her dead, saying, " So perish any Roman woman who laments a foe ! " ■ The murderer was con- demned to die, but the people spared him because his valor had saved Rome. Alba submitted, but the inhabitants proving treacherous, the city was razed, and the peoi)le were taken to Rome and located on the Coelian hill. The Albans and the Romans TEMPLE OF JANUS. ^08 R O M E . ♦:liat. niade Rome the Mistress of the World. The assembly {coniitia curia/a) consisted of the males belonging to these ancient families. The members voted in ten bodies (curice), each containing the nobles of ten houses {gentes). Sabine Invasion and League. — The Sabines, coming down the vnlley of the Tiber, captured the Capitoline and Quirinal hills. There Avere frequent conflicts between these near neighbors, but they soon came into an alliance. Finally, the two tribes formed one city, and the people were there- after known as Romans and Quirites. Both had seats in now became one nation as the Sabines and the Romans had become in the days of Romulus. In his old age Tulkis sought to find out the will of Jupiter, using the spells of Numa, but angry Jove struck him with a thunderbolt. ANGUS Marcius, the grandson of Numa, conquered many Latin cities, and, bringing the inhabitants to Rome, gave them homes on the Aventine hill. He wrote Numa's laws on a white board in the Forum, built a bridge over the Tiber, and erected the Mamertine prison, the first in the city. Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king, was an Etruscan, who came to Rome during the reign of Ancus, As he approached the city, an eagle flew circling above his head, seized his cap, rose high in air. and then returning replaced it. His wife, Tanaquil, being learned in augury, foretold that he was coming to distinguished honor. Her prediction proved true, for he greatly pleased Ancus, who named him as his successor in place of his own children. The people ratified the choice, and the event proved its wisdom. Tarquiu built the famous Drain (cloaca), which still remains with scarce a stone dis- placed. He planned the Great Race-Course (Circus Maximns), and its games. He conquered Etruria, and the Etruscans sent him " a golden crown, a sceptre, an Ivor}' chair, a purple toga, an embroidered tunic, and an axe tied in a bundle of rods." So the Romans adopted these emblems of royal power as signs of their do- minion. Now there was a boy named Servius Tullius brought up in the palace, who was a favorite of the king. One day while the child was asleep lamlient flames were seen playing about his head. Tanaquil foresaw from this that he was destined to great things. He was hence- forth in high favor ; he married the king's daughter, and became his counsellor. The sons of Ancus fearing lest Servius should succeed to the throne, and being wroth with Tarquin because of the loss of their paternal inheritance, assassinated the king. But Tanaquil re- ported that Tarquiu was only wounded, and wished that Servius might govern until he recovered. W^hen the deception was found out, ROMAN FASCES. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 209 the senate, and the king was taken alternately from each. This was henceforth the mode of Rome's growth ; she ad- mitted her allies and conquered enemies to citizenship, thus adding their strength to her own, and making her victories their victories. Alba Longa, the chief town of the Latin league and the mother-city of Rome, was herself, after a time, destroyed, and the inhabitants were transferred to Rome. The Alban nobles, now perhaps called Luceres, with the Sabines (Tifies), already joined to the original Romans (Ramnes), made the Servius was firmly fixed in his seat. He made a league with the Latins, and, as a sign of the union, built to Diana a temple on the Aventine, where both peoples offered annual sacrifices for Rome and Latium. He enlarged Rome, enclosing the seven hills with a stone wall ; and di-\aded the city into four parts— called tribes, after the old division of the people as instituted by Romulus— and all the land about into twenty-six districts. The son of a bond-maid, Servius favored the common people. This was shown in his separation of all the Romans— patricians and plebeians— into five classes, according to their wealth. These classes were subdivided into centuries, and they were to assemble in this military order when the king wished to consult concerning peace or war, or laws. In the centuriate assembly the richest citizens had the chief influence, for they formed eighty centuries, and the knights (equites) eighteen centuries, each having a vote ; while fewer votes were given to the lower classes. But this arrangement was not unjust, since the wealthy were to provide themselves with heavy armor, and fight in the front rank ; while the poorest citizens, who formed but one century, were exempt from military service. The two daughters of Servius were married to the two sons of Tarquinius the Elder. The couples were illy-matched, in each case the good and gentle being mated with the cruel and haughty. Finally, Tullia murdered her husband, and Lucius killed his wife, and these two partners in crime and of like evil instincts, were mar- ried. Lucius now conspired with the nobles against the king. His plans being ripe, one day he went into the senate and sat down on the throne. Servius hearing the tumult which arose, hastened hither. Whereupon Lucius hurled the king headlong down the steps. As the old man was tottering homeward the usurper's attendants followed and murdered him. Tullia hastened to the senate to salute her husband as king. But he, somewhat less brutal than she, ordered her back. While returning, her driver came to the prostrate body of the king and was about to turn aside, when she fiercely bade him " Go forward ! " The blood of her father spattered her dress as the chariot rolled over his lifeless remains. The place took its name from this horrid deed, and was henceforth known as the Wicked Street. Lucius Tarquinius, who thus became the seventh and last king, was sumamed Superbus (the Proud). He erected massive edifices, compelling the workmen to re- ceive such pitiable wages that many in despair committed suicide. In digging the foundations of a temple to Jupiter, a bleeding hand (caput) was discovered. This the king took to be an omen that the city was to become the head of the world, and so gave the name Capitoline to the temple, and the hill on which it stood. In the vaults of this temple were deposited the Sibylline books, concerning which a singular story was told. One day a sibyl from Cumae came to the king, offering to sell him for a fabulous sum nine books of prophecies. Tarquin declined to buy. Whereupon she burned ftV§9EU(. * STRUTMERS, ENQ'S, ff.r. THE POLITICAL HIS T () H Y . 'l 1 1 number of tri))es tliree ; of curiae, thirty ; and of houses, (probably) three hundred. Etruscan Conquest. — The rising city was, in its turn, conquered by the Etruscans, who placed the Tarquins on the throne. This foreign dynasty were builders as well as warriors. They adorned Rome with elegant edifices of Erriiscan architecture. They added the adjacent heights to the growing capital, and extended around the '•seven-hilled city" a stone wall, which lasted eight centuries. Rome, within one hundred and fifty years after her founding, be- came the head of Latium. three of the book?:, and demanded the same price for the remaining six. Tarquin lauiihed, thinking her mad. But when she burned three more, and still asked the original amount for the other volumes, the king began to reflect, and finally bought the books. They were thereafter jealously guarded, and consulted in all great state emergencies. The Latin town of Gabii was taken by a stratagem. Sextus, the son of Tarquin, pretending to have fled from his father's ill-usage, took refuge in that city. Having secured the confidence of the people, he secretly sent to his father, asking advice. Tarquin merely took the messenger into his garden, and walking to and fro, knocked off" with his cane the tallest poppies. Sextus read his father's meaning, and managed to get rid of the cbief men of Gabii, when it was easy to give up the place to the Romans. Tarquin was greatly troubled by a strange omen, a serpent having eaten the sacri- fice on the royal altar. The two sons of the king were accordingly sent to consult the oracle at Delphi. They were accompanied by their cousin Junius, called Bruttis because of his silliness, which however was only assumed, through fear of the tyi-ant who had already killed his brother. The king's sons made the Delphic god costly presents ; Brutus brought only a simple staff, but, unknown to the rest, this was hollow and filled with gold. Having executed their commission, the young men asked the priestess which of them should be king. The reply was, •' The one who first kisses his mother." On reaching Italy, Brutus pretending to fall, kissed the ground, the common mother of us all. As the royal princes and Tarquinius Collatinus were one day feasting in the camp^ a dispute arose concerning the industry of their wives. To decide it they at once hastened homeward through the darkness. They found the king's daughters at a festival, while Lucretia. the wife of Collatinus, was in the midst of her slaves, distaff in hand. Collatinus was exultant ; but soon after Lucretia, stung by the insults she received from Sextus, killed herself, calling upon her friends to avenge her fate. Brutus, casting off the mask of madness, drew forth the dagger she tised, and vowed to kill Sextus and expel the detested race. The oath was repeated as the red blade passed from hand to hand. The people rose in indignation, and drove the Tarquins from the city. Henceforth the Romans hated the very name of king. Rome now became a free city after it had been governed bykings for two hundred and forty- five years. The people chose for rulers two consuls, elected yearly ; and to offer sacrifices in place of the king, they selected a priest who should have no power in the state. 213 ROME. The Tarquins were the friends of the common people {plehs), who already began to be illy-treated by the nobles. In order to help the plebs, Servius divided all the Eomans into five classes according to their j^roperty, and these again into one hundred and ninety-three centuries or companies. The people were directed to assemble by centuries (comitia centiiriaia), either to fight or to vote. This body, in fact, constituted an army, and was called together on the field of Mars by the blast of the trumpet. To the new centuriate assembly was given the right of selecting the king and enacting the laws. The king was deprived of his power as Brutus and Collatinus were the first consuls. Soon after this the two sons of Brutus plotted to bring Tarquin back. Their father was sitting on the judgment-seat when they were brought in for trial. The stern old Roman, true to duty, sentenced both to death as traitors. Tarquin now induced the Etruscans of the towns of Veil and Tarquinii to aid him, and they accordingly marched toward Rome. The Romans went forth to meet them. As the two armies drew near, Ariins, son of Tarquin, catching sight of Brutus, rushed forward, and the two enemies fell dead pierced by each other's spears. Night alone checked the terrible contest which ensued. During the darkness the voice of the god Silvaniis was heard in the woods, t^ayiug that Rome liad beaten since the Etruscans had lost one man more than the Romans. The Etruscans fled in dismay. The matrons of Rome mourned Brutus for a whole year because he had so bravely avenged the wrongs of Lucretia. Next came a powerful army of Etruscans under Porsenna, king of Clusium. He captured Janiculum (a hill just across the Tiber), and would have forced his way into the city with the fleeing Romans had not Horatius Codes, with two brave men, held the bridge while it was cut down behind them. As the timbers tottered, his com- panions rushed across. But he kept the enemy at bay until the shouts of the Romans told him the bridge was gone, when, with a prayer to father Tiber, he leaped into the stream, and, amid a shower of arrows, swam safely to the bank. The people never tired of praising this hero. They erected a statue in his honor, and gave him as much land as he could plow in a day. ' And still his name sounds stirring Unto the men of Rome, As the trumpet-blast that cries to them To charge the Volscian home. And wives still pray to Juno For boys with hearts as bold A 8 his who kept the bridge so well In the brave days of old." —Macanlay's Lays. Porsenna now laid siege to the city. Then Mucins, a young noble, went to the Etruscan camp to kill Porsenna. By mistake he slew the treasurer. Being dragged before the king and threatened with death if he did not confess his accomplices, he thrust his right hand into an altar-fire, and held it there until it was burned to a 509 B. C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 213 priest, this office being conferred on the chief pontiff. The higher classes, aggrieved by these changes, at hist combined with other Latin cities to expel their Etruscan rulers. Kings now came to an end at Eome. This was in 509 b. c. — a year after Hippias was driven out of Athens (p. 124). The Republic was then established. Two chief magis- trates, consuls (at first called praetors), were chosen, it being thought that if one turned out badly the other would check him. The constitution of Servius was adopted, and the senate, which had dwindled in size, was restored to its ideal number, three hundred, by the addition of one hundred and sixty-four life-members (conscripH) chosen from the richest of the knights (equites), several of these being plebeians. The Struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians was the characteristic of the first two hundred years of the republic. The patricians were the descendants of the first settlers. They were rich, proud, exclusive, and demanded all the offices of the government. Each of these nobles was supported by a powerful body of clients or dependants. The plebeians were the newer famihes. They were generally poor, forbidden the rights of citizens, crisp. Porsenna, amazed, at his fii-mnes><, gave him his liberty. Mucius thereupon told the king that three hundred Roman youths had sworn to accomplish his death. Porsenna, alarmed for his life, made peace with Rome. Among the hostages given by Rome was Clcelia, a noble maiden, who, escaping from the Etruscan camp, swam the Tiber. The Romans sent her back, but Porsenna, admiring her courage, set her free. Tarquin next secured a league of thirty Latin cities to aid in his restoration. In this emergency the Romans appointed a diet af or, who should possess absolute power for six months. A great battle was fought at Lake Hegillus. Like most ancient con- tests, it began with a series of single encounters. Fiist, Tarquin and the Roman dictator fought. Then, the Latin dictator and the Roman master of horse. Finally, the main armies came to blows. The Romans being worsted, their dictator vowed a temple to Castor and Pollux. Suddenly the Twin Brethren, taller and fairer than men, on snow-white horses and clad in rare armor, were seen fighting at his side. Everywhere the Latins broke and fled before them. Tarquin gave up his attempt in despair. That night two riders, their horses wet with foam and blood, rode up to a fountain before the temple of Vesta at Rome, and. as they washed off In the cool water the traces of the battle, told how a great victory had been won over the Latin host. (See Steele's Astronomy, p. 250.) 214 ROMfi. [494 B.C. and not allowed to intermarry with the patricians. Obliged to serve in the army without pay, during their absence their farms remained untitled, and were often ravaged by the enemy. Forced, when they returned from war, to borrow money of the patricians for seed, tools, and food, if they failed in their payments they could be sold as slaves, or cut in pieces for distribution among their creditors. The prisons connected with the houses of the great patricians were full of plebeian debtors. Secession to Mons Sacer. — Trib*unes (494 b. c). — The condition of the plebs became so unbearable that they finally marched off in a body and encamped on the Sacred Mount, where they determined to build a new city, and let the patricians have the old one for tliemselves. The patricians,* in alarm, settled the difficulty by the appoint- ment of tribunes of the people, whose persons were to be sacred, and whose houses, standing open day and night, were to be places of refuge. To these new officers was after- ward given the power of veto (I forbid) over any law passed by the senate and considered injurious to the plebs. Such was the exclusiveness of the senate, however, that the trib- unes could not enter the senate-house, but were obliged to remain outside, and shout the ^^veto" through the open door. There were now two distinct peoples in Rome, each with its own interests and officers. This is well illustrated in the fact that the agreement made on Mons Sacer was concluded in the form of an international treaty, with the usual oaths and sacrifices ; and that the magistrates of the plebs were * Old Menenius Agrippa produced a great effect upon the plebeians l)y telling thenri the following fable : Once ui)on a time the various organs of the body becoming tired of supporting the stomach in idleness, •• struck work," The legs stopped ; the hands would not carry : and the teeth would not chew. But after a little they all began to fail for lack of food, and then they found how much they depended on the stomach, in spite of its apparent laziness. 494 B.C.] THE P L I T I C A T. H T S T K Y . 215 declared to be inviolate, like the ambassador.^ of a foreio'R power. The three popular assemblies wliieli ex- isted ill Kome. with their peculiar organiza- tion and powers, mark- ed as man}^ stages of constitutional growth in the state. The assemhly of curies (comitia curiata). the oldest and long the only one, was based on koman plebeians. the patrician separation into tribes (Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres). Xo plebeian had a voice in this gathering, and it early lost its influence and became a relic of the past. The assemUy of centuries (comitia centuriata) came in with the Etruscan kings, and was essentially a military organization. Based on classes of the entire ^^opulation, it gave the plebeians their first voice, though a we^k one, in public affairs. The assemhly of the tribes (comitia tributa), introduced with the rising of the plebs, was based on the new separation into tribes, i. e., wards and districts. The patricians were here excluded as the plebeians had been at first ; and Eome, which began with a purely aristocratic assembly, had now a purely demo- cratic one. The original number of the local tribes was twenty in all — four city wards and sixteen country districts. With the growth of the republic and the acquisition of new territory, the number w^as increased to thirty-five (241 B. c). 2i.Q ROME. [486 B.C. The Koman citizens were then so numerous and so scattered that it was impossible for them to meet at Eome to elect officers and make laws ; but still the organization was kept up till the end of the republic. An Agrarian Lavr {ager, a field) was the next measure of relief granted to the common people. It was customary for the Romans when they conquered a territory to leave the owners a part of the land, and to take the rest for them- selyes. Though this became public property, the patricians used it as their own. The plebeians, who bore the brunt of the fighting, naturally thought they had the best claim to the spoils of war, and with the assertion of their civil rights came now a claim for the rights of property.* Spurius Cassius f (486 b. c), though himself a patrician, secured a law ordaining that part of the public lands should be divided among the poor plebeians, and the patricians should pay rent for the rest. But the patricians were so strong that they made the law a dead letter, and finally, on the charge of wishing to be king, put Spurius to death, and leveled his house to the ground. The agitation, how- ever, still continued. The Decemvirs (451 b. c). — The tribunes, through ignorance of the laws, which were jealously guarded as the exclusive property of the patricians, were often thwarted in their measures to aid the common people. The plebs of Rome, therefore, like the common people of Athens nearly two hundred years before (p. 121), demanded that the laws should be made public. After a long struggle the senate yielded. Ten men (decemvirs) were appointed * Property at that early date consisted almost entirely of land and cattle. The Latin word for money , pecunia (cattle), indicates this ancient identity. t Spurius was the author of the famous League of the Eomans, Latins, and Her- nlcans, by means of which the ^qnians and Volscians were lonfj held in check. The men of the Latin Leasrue fought side by side until after the Gallic invasion. 451b. C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 21"^ to revise and publish the laws. Meanwhile the regular gOYernment of consuls and tribunes was suspended. The decemvirs did their work well, and compiled ten tables of laws that were acceptable. Their year of office having expired, a second body of decemvirs was chosen to write the rest of the laws. The senate, finding them favorable to the plebeians, forced the decemvirs to resign ; introduced into the two remaining tables regulations obnoxious to the com- mon people; and then endeavored to restore the consular government without the tribuneshiiD. The plebs a second time seceded to the Sacred Mount, and the senate was forced to reinstate the tribunes.* The Laws of the Twelve Tables remained as the grand result of the decemviral legislation. They were engraved on blocks of wood or ivory, and hung u]) in the * Th? account; of this transaction giver, in Livi/s Histary is doubtless largely legendary. The story runs as follows -. Three ambassadors were appointed to visit Athens (.this was during the " Age of Pericles "), and examine the laws of Solon. On their return the decemvirs were chosen. They were to be supreme, and the consuls, tribunes, etc., resigned. The new rulers did admirably during one term, and com- pleted ten tables of excellent laws that were adopted by the assembly of centuries. Decemvirs were therefore chosen for a second term. Appius Claudius was the most popular of the first body of decemvirs, and the only one re-elected. Now, all was quickly changed ; the ten men became at once odious tyi-ants, and Appius Claudius chief of all. Each of the decemvirs was attended by twelve lictors, bearing the fasces with the axes wherever he went in public. Two new tables of oppressive laws, confirming the patricians in their hated privileges, were added to the former tables. When the year expired the decemvirs called no new election, and held their oflice in defiance of the senate and the people. No man's life was safe, and many leading persons fled from Rome. The crisis soon came. One day, seeing a beautiful maiden, the daughter of a plebeian named Virgiuius, crossing the Forum, Claudius resolved to make her his own. So he directed a client to seize her on the charge that she was the child of one of his slaves, and then to bring the case before the decemvirs for trial. Claudius, of course, decided in favor of his client. Thereitpon Virginius drew his daughter one side from the jndgment-.-;eat as if to bid her farewell. Suddenly catching up a butcher's knife from a block near by, he plunged it into his daughter's heart, crying, " Thus only can I make thee free ! " Then brandishing the red blade, he hastened to the camp and roused the soldiers, who marched to the city, breathing vengeance. As over the body of the injured Lucretia, so again over the corpse of the spotless Virginia the populace swore that Rome should be free. The plebeians flocked out once more to the Sacred Mount, The decemvirs were forced to resign. The tribunes and consuls were restored to power, Appius, in despair, committed suicide, (The version of this story given in the text above is that of Ihne, the great German critic, in his new work on Early Rome.) 10 218 ROME. [451 B.C. Forum, where all could read them. Henceforth they con- stituted the foundation of the written laAv of Rome, and every school-boy, as late as Cicero's time, learned them by heart. Continued Triumph of the Plebs.— Step by step the plebeians pushed their demand for equal privileges with the patricians. First, the Valerian and Horatian decrees (449 B. c), so called from the consuls who prejDared them, made the resolutions passed by the plebeians in the assembly of the tribes binding equally upon the patricians. Next, the Canuleian decree (445 B. c.) abolished the law against intermarriage. The patricians, finding that the i^lebeians were likely to get hold of the consulship, compromised by abol- ishing that office, and by choosing, through the assembly of centuries, from patricians and plebeians alike, three mllitarn tribimes with consular powers. But the patricians did not act in good faith, and by innumerable arts managed to cir- cumvent the plebs, so that during the next fifty years (until 400 B. c.) there were twenty elections of consuls instead of military tribunes, and when military tribunes were chosen they were always patricians. Meanwhile the patricians also secured the appointment of censors, who were to be chosen from their ranks exclusively, and who, besides taking the census, were to classify the people and exercise a general supervision over their morals. So vindictive was the struggle now going on, that the nobles did not shrink from murder to remove a promising plebeian candidate.* But the plebs * Thus the Fabii, a powerful patrician house (one of the consuls for seven succes- sive years was a Fahius), having taken the side of the plebs, and finding that they could not thereafter live in peace at Rome, left the city and founded an outpost on the Cremera, below Veii, where they could still serve tlieir country. This little body of three hundredand six soldiers— including the Fabii, their clients and dependants- sustained for two years the full l)runt of the Veientiue War. At length they were enticed into an ambuscade, and all were slain except one little boy, the ancestor of the Fabius afterward so famous. During the massacre the consular army was near by, but patrician hate would not permit a rescue. Again, during a severe famine at Rome (440 b. c), a rich plebeian, named Spuria- :j67b. C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 219 held tirm, and finally secured the famous Licinian Rogation (367 B.C.), which ordered, — "I. That, in case of debts on which intere;?t had been met, the sum of the interest paid should be deducted from the jM-incipal and the remainder become due in three successive years. Tlais bankrupt law was designed to aid the poor, now overwhelmed with debt, and so in the power of the rich creditor. n. That no citizen should hold more than five hundred jugera (about three hun- dred and twenty acres) of the public land, and should not feed on the public pastures more than a limited number of cattle, under penalty of fine. III. That henceforth consuls, not consular tribunes, should be elected, and that one of the two consuls must be plebeian. IV. That instead of two patricians being chosen to keep the Sibylline books, there should be ten men, taken from both orders." For years after its passage the i^atricians struggled to pre- vent the decree from going into effect. But the common people finally won. They never lost the ground they had gained, and secured, in rapid succession, the dictatorship, the censorship, the prgetorship, and (300 B. c.) the right to be pontiff and augur. Eome, at last, nearly two centuries after the republic began, possessed a democratic govern- ment. '^ Civil concord," says Weber, ^ Ho which a temple was dedicated at this time, brought with it a period of civic virtue and heroic greatness." Foreign Wars. — The fall of the monarchy left Rome in weakness. Her old supremacy over Latium was gone, and often, while the long and fierce struggle which we have just considered was going on within her walls, her armies were fighting without, sometimes for the very existence of the city. There was a constant succession of wars* with Mselius, sold grain to the poor at a veiy low rate. The patricians, finding that he was likely to be a successful candidate for office, accused him of wishing to be king, and as he refused to appear before his enemies for trial, Ahula, the master of horse, slew him in the Forum, with his own hand. * Various beautiful legends cluster around these eventful wars, and they have attained almost the dignity, though we cannot tell how much they contain of the truth, of history. CoRiOLANiis.— While the Romans were besieging Corioli, the Volscians made a sally, but were defeated. In the eagerness of the pursuit. Gains Marcius followed the enemy inside the gates, which were closed upon him. But with his good sword he hewed his way back, and let in the Romans. So the city was taken, and the hero 220 HOME. [490 B. c. the Latins, ^quians, Volscians, Etruscans, Yeientes, and Samnites. The Gallic Invasion. — In the midst of these contests a horde of Gauls crossed the Apennines, and spread like a devastating flood over central Italy. Rome was taken, and nearly all the city burned (490 B.C.). The invaders con- received the name Coriolami?. Afterward there was a famine at Rome, and grain arriving from Sicily, Caius; would not sell any to the plebs unless they would submit to the patricians. Thereupon the tribunes sought to bring him to trial, but he fled and took refuge among the Volsci. Soon after, he returned at the head of a great army and laid siege to Rome. The city was in peril. As a final resort, his mother, wife, and children, with many of the chief women, clad in the deepest mourning, went forth and fell at his feet. Unable to resist their entreaties. Coriolanus ex- claimed, " Mother, thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son." Having given the order to retreat, he is i^aid to have been slain by the angry Volsci. CINCINNATUS RECEIVING THE DICTATORSHIP. CmciNNATUS. — One day news came that the ^quians had surrounded the consul Minucius and his army in a deep valley, whence they could not escape. There seemed no one in Rome fit to meet this emergency except Titus Qulnctius, surnamed Cincin- natas or the Curly-haired, who was now declared dictator. The officers who went to 490 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 221 sen ted to retire only on the payment of a heavy ransom. So deep an impression was made upon the Romans by the size, strength, courage, and enormous number of these bar- barians that they thenceforth called a war with the Gauls a tumult, and kept in the treasury- a special fund for such a catastroplie. The final effect of all these wars w^as beneficial to Eome. The plebeians, who formed the strength of her army, frequently carried their point against the patricians by refusing to fight until they got their rights. These long struggles, too, matured the Roman energy, and developed announce his appointment found him plowing on his little farm of four acres, which he tilled himself. He called for his toga, that he might receive the commands of the senate with due respect, when he was at once hailed dictator. Repairing to the city, he assembled fresh troops, bidding each man carry twelve wooden stakes. That very night he surrounded the ^quians, dug a ditch, and made a palisade about their camp. Minucius hearing the Roman war-cry, rushed up and fell upon the enemy with all his might. When day broke, the -^quians found themselves hemmed in, and were forced to surrender and to pass under the yoke. Cincinnatus, on his return, was awarded a golden crown. Having saved his country, he resigned his office and went back to his plow again, content with the quiet of his rustic home. The siege of Veu— the Troy of Roman legend— lasted ten years. Before that the Roman wars consisted mainly of mere forays into an enemy's country. Now the troops remained summer and winter, and, for the first time, received regular pay. In the seventh year of the siege, Lake Albanus, though in the heat of summer, over- flowed its banks. The Delphic oracle declared that Veil would not fall until the lake was dried up ; whereupon the Roman army cut a tunnel through the solid rock to convey the surplus water over the neighboring fields. Still the city did not yield. Camillus having been appointed dictator, dug a passage under the wall. One day the king of Veii was about to offer a sacrifice, when the soothsayer told him that the city should belong to him who slew the victim. The Romans, who were beneath, heard these words, and, forcing their way through, hastened to the shrine, and Camillus completed the sacrifice The gates were thrown open, and the Roman army rushing in, overpowered all opposition. The citt of Falbeh had aided the Veientes. When Camillus, beut on revenge, appeared before the place, a schoolmaster secretly brought into the Roman camp his pupils, the childreii of the chief men of Falerii. Camillus, scorning to receive the traitor, tied his hands behind his back, and giving whips to the boys, bade them floi^^ their mastei- back into the city. The Falerians, moved by such magnanimity, sur- rendered to the Romans. Camillus entered Rome in a chariot drawn by white horses, and having his face colored with vermilion, as was the custom when the gods were borne in procession. Unfortunately, he offended the plebs by ordering each man to restore one-tenth of his booty for an ofifering to Apollo. He was accused of pride, and of appropriating to his own use the bronze gates of Veii. Forced to leave the city, he went out praying that Rome might yet need his help. That time soon came. Five years after, the Gauls defeated the Romans at the RivEB Ajjixx. So great was the slaughter that the anniversary of the battle was 222 B M E . [490 B. c. the Roman character in all its stern, unfeeling, and yet heroic strength. After the Gallic invasion Rome was soon rebuilt. The surrounding nations having suffered still more severely from the northern barbarians, and the Gauls being now looked upon as the common enemy of Italy, Rome came to be con- sidered the common defender. The plebs, in rebuilding their ruined houses and buying tools, cattle, and seed, were reduced to greater straits than ever before (unless after the expulsion of the Etruscan kings) ; and to add to their bur- dens a double tribute was imj)osed by the government, in henceforth a black day in the Roman calendar. The wreck of the army took refuge in Veii. The people of Rome fled for their lives. The young patricians garrisoned the citadel ; and the gray-haired senators, devoting themselves as an oflEering to the gods, put on their robes, and, sitting in their ivory-chairs of magistracy, awaited death. The barbarians, hurrying through the deserted streets, at length came to the Forum. For a moment they stood amazed at the sight of those solemn figures. Then one of the Gauls put out his hand reverently to stroke the white beard of an aged senator, when the indignant Roman, revolting at the profanation, felled him with his staff. The spell was broken, and the senators were ruthlessly massacred. The siege of the Capitol lasted for months. One night a party of Gauls clambered up the steep ascent, and one of them reached the highest ledge of the rock. Just then some sacred geese in the temple of Juno began to cry and flap their wings. Marcus Manlius, aroused by the noise, rushed out, saw the peril, and dashed the foremost Gaul over the precipice. Other Romans rallied to his aid, and the imminent peril was arrested. The Gauls, becoming weary of the siege, oftered to accept a ran- som of a thousand i)ounds of gold. This sum was raised from the temple-treasure.: and the ornaments of the Roman women. As they were weighing the articles, the Ramans complained of the scales being false, when Brennus, the Gallic chief, threw in his heavy sword, insolently exclaiming, "Woe to the vanquished!" At that moment Camillus strode in at the head of an army, crying, " Rome is to be bought with iron, not gold ! ", drove out the enemy, and not a man escaped to tell how low the city had fallen on that eventful day. When the Romans returned to their devas- tated homes they were at first of a mind to leave Rome, and occupy the empty dwell- ings of Yeii. But a lucky omen prevailed on them to remain. Just as a senator was rising to speak, a centnrion relieving guard gave the command," Plant your colors ; tiiis is the best place to stay in." The senators rushed forth, shouting, " The gods Inve spoken ; we obey ! " The people caught the enthusiasm, and cried out, "Rome forever 1 " , Marcus Manlius, who saved the Capitol, befriended the people in the distress which followed the Gallic invasion. One day, seeing a soldier dragged off" to prison for debt, he paid the amount and released the man, at the same time swearing that while he had any property left, no Roman should be imprisoned for debt. The patri- cians, jealous of his influence among the plebs, accused him of wishing to become king. He was brought to trial in the Campus Martins ; but the hero pointed to the spoils of thirty warriors whom he had slain ; forty distinctions won in battle ; his innumerable scars ; and, above all, to the Capitol he had saved. His enemies finding 896 B. C] THE POLITICAL II 1 6 T O R Y . 223 order to rei3lace the sacred gold used to buy olf the Gauls. But this very misery soon led to the Liciniau Rogations, and so to the growth of liberty. Thus the plebs got a consul twenty-four years after the Gauls left, just as they got the tribunes fifteen years after the Etruscans left ; the succeed- ing ruin both times being followed by a triumph of democracy. The capture of Veii (396 B.C.) gave the Romans a foothold beyond the Tiber ; and, only three years after the Gallic in- yasion, four new tribes, carved out of the Yeientine land, were added to the republic. a conviction in that place impossible, adjourned to a grove where the Capitol could not be trec-n, and there the man who had saved Eome was sentenced to death, and at once hurled from the Tarpeian Rock. QuLXTUS CuRTirs.— Not long after the Licinian Rogations were passed. Rome was afflicted by a plague, in \\iiich Camillus died ; by an overflow of the Tiber ; and by an earthquake, which opened a great chasm in the Forum. The augurs de- clared that the gulf would not close until there were cast into it the most precious things. Whereupon Quintus Curtius momited his horse, and riding at full speed, leaped into the abyss, declaring that Rome's best riches were her brave men. The Battle of Mount Vesuvius (^340 b. c.) was the chief event of the Latin War. Prior to this engagement the consul Manlius ordered that no one should quit his post under pain of death. But his own son, provoked by the taunts of a Tusculan officer, left the ranks, slew his opponent in single combat, and brought the bloody spoils to his father. The stern parent ordered him to be at once beheaded by the lictor, in the presence of the army. During the battle which followed, the Romans were on the point of yielding, when Decius. the plebeian consul, who had promised, in case of defeat, to offer himself to the infernal gods, fulfilled his vow. Calling the pontifex maximus. he repeated the form devoting the foe and himself to death, and then wrapping his toga about him leaped upon his horse, and dashed into the thickest of the fight. His death inspired the Romans with fresh hope, and scarce one-fourth of the Latins escaped from that bloody field. Battle of the Caudine Forks.— During the second Samnite War there arose among the Samnites a famous captain named Caius Pontius. By a stratagem he en- ticed the Roman army into the Caudine Forks. High mountains here enclose a little plain, having at each end a passage through a narrow defile. When the Romans were fairly in the basin the Samnites suddenly appeared in both gorges, and forced the consuls to surrender with four legions. Pontius, having sent his prisoners under the yoke, furnished them with wagons for the wounded and food for their journey, and then released them on certain conditions of peace. The senate refused to ratify the terms, and ordered the consuls to be delivered up to the Samnites, but did not send back the soldiers. Pontius replied that if the senate would not make peace, then it should place the army back in the Caudine Forks. The Romans, who rarely scrupled at any conduct that promised their advantage, continued the war. But when, twenty-nine years later, Pontius wa- captured by Fabius Maximus. that brave Sam- nite leader was disgracefully put to death as the triumphal chariot of the victor ascended to the Capitol. 224 ROME. [337 B. c. The final result of the Latin War (340-338 B. c.) was, in place of the old Latin League,* to merge the cities of Latium, one by one, into the Koman state. The three Samnite Wars (343-290 b. c.) occupied half a century, save only brief intervals, and were most obstinately contested. The long-doubtful struggle culminated at the great battle of Sentinum. Samnium became a subject-ally. Eome 2vas now mistress of central Italy. She had fairly entered on her career of conquest- War with Pyrrhus (280-276 b. c.).— The rising city next came into conflict with the Greek colonies in southern Italy. The Romans had made a treaty with Tarentum, promising not to send ships of war past the Lacinian prom- ontory. But, having a garrison in the friendly city of Thurii, the senate ordered a fleet to that place ; so one day, while the people of Tarentum were seated in their theatre witnessing a play, they suddenly saw ten Roman galleys sailing upon the forbidden waters. The audience in a rage left their seats, rushed down to the shore, manned some ships, and pushing out sank four of the Roman squadron. The senate sent ambassadors to ask satisfaction. They reached Taren- tum, so says the legend, during a feast of Bacchus. Postu- mius, the leader of the envoys, made so many mistakes in talking Greek that the people laughed aloud, and, as he was leaving, a buffoon threw mud upon his white toga. The shouts only increased when Postumius, holding up his soiled robe, cried, '^ This shall be washed in torrents of your blood ! " War was now inevitable. Tarentum, f unable to * The Latin League (p. 216") was dissolved in the same year (338 b. c.) with the battle of Ch?eronea (p. 149). t The Greek colonists retained the pride, though they had lost the simplicity, of their ancestors. They were effeminate to the last degree. " At Tarentum there were not enough days in the calendar on which to hold the festivals, and at Sybaris they killed all the cocks lest they should disturb the inhabitants in their sleep." 280 B. C] T H K F O L 1 T I ( ' A L HISTORY. 226 K resist the " barbarians of the Tiber," appealed to the mother- countiy for help. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, came over with twentj-five thousand soldiers and twenty elephants. For the first time the Roman legion (p. 271) met the dreaded Macedonian phalanx. In vain the Roman soldiers sought to break through the bristling hedge, with their swords hewing olf the pikes, and with their hands bearing them to the ground. To complete their discomfiture, Pyrrhus launched his elephants upon their weakened ranks. At the sight of that '' new kind of oxen,'' the Roman cavalry fled in dismay. Pyrrhus won a second battle in the same way. He then crossed over into Sicily to help the Greeks against the Car- thaginians. When he returned, two years later, while at- tempting to surprise the Romans by a night attack, his troops lost their way, and the next morning, when weary with the march, they were assailed by the enemy. The once-dreaded elephants were frightened back by fire-brands, and driven through the Grecian lines. Pyrrhus was defeated, and, having lost nearly all his army, returned to Epirus.* The Greek colonies, deprived of his help, were subjugated in rapid succession. * Many romantic incidents are told of this war. As PjTrhu8 walked over the battle-field and saw the Romans lying all with wounds in front and their countenances stern in death, he cried out, •' With such soldiers I could conquer the world I "— Cineas, whom Pyrrhus sent to Rome as an ambassador, returned, saying, "the city was like a temple of the gods, and the senate an assembly of kings."— Fabricius, who came to Pyrrhus's camp on a similar mission, was a sturdy Roman, who worked his own farm, and loved integrity and honor more than aught else, save his country. The .Grecian leader was surprised to find in this haughty barbarian that same great-, ness of soul that had once made the Hellenic character so famous. He offered him " more gold than Rome had ever possessed " if he would enter his service, but Fabri- cius replied that " Poverty, with a good name, is better than wealth.'" Afterward the physician of Pyrrhus oifered to poison the king. But the indignant Roman sent back the traitor in irons. Pyrrhus, not to be outdone in generosity, set free all his captives, saying, that " it was easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius frpm the path of honor.'*— Dentatus, the consul who defeated Pyrrhus, was offered by the grateful senate a tract of land. He replied that he already had seven acres, and that was sufacient for any citizen. 226 ROME. [265 Bc. Rome toas noio Mistress of peninsular Italy. She was ready to begin her grand course of foreign conquest. The Roman Government in Italy was that of one city supreme over many cities. Rome retained the rights of de- claring war, making peace, and coining money, but permitted her subjects to manage their local affairs. All were required to furnish soldiers to fight under the eagles of Rome. There were three classes of inhabitants, Roman citizens, Latins, and Italians. The Roman citizens were those who occupied the territory of Rome proper, including others upon whom this franchise had been bestowed. They had the right to meet in the Forum to enact laws, elect consuls, etc. The Latins had only a few of the rights of citizenship, and the Italians or allies none. As the power of Rome grew, Roman citizenship acquired a might and a meaning {Acts xxii. 25 ; xxiii. 27 ; xxv. 11-21) which made it eagerly sought by every person and city ; it was constantly held out, as a reward for special service and devotion, that the Italian could be made a Latin, and the Latin a Roman. The Romans were famous road-builders, and the great national highways which they constructed throughout their territories did much to tie them together (p. 282). By their use Rome kept up constant communication with all parts of her possessions, and could quickly send her legions wherever wanted. A portion of the land in each conquered state was given to Roman colonists. They became the patricians in the new city, the old inhabitants counting only as plebs. Thus little Romes were built all (jver Itaty. The natives looked up to these settlers, and, hoping to obtain similar rights, quickly adopted their customs, institutions, and language. So the entire peninsula rapidly assumed a uniform national character. 264 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 227 THE PUJSriC* WAES. Carthage (p. 76) was now the great naval and colonizing power of the western Mediterranean. She had established some settlements in western Sicily, and these were almost constantly at war with the Greeks on the eastern coast. As Sicily lay between Carthage and Italy, it was natural that two such aggressive powers as the Carthaginians and the Ko- mans should come to blows on that island. First Punic War (26-l:-241 b. c). — Some pirates seized Messana, the nearest city to Italy, and, being threatened by the Carthaginians and the Syracusans, asked help of Rome, in order to retain their ill-gotten possessions. On this wretched pretext an army was sent into Sicily. The Car- thaginians were driven back, and Hiero, king of Syracuse, Avas forced to make a treaty with Rome. Agrigentum, an important naval depot belonging to Carthage, was then cap- tured, in spite of a large army of mercenary soldiers which the Carthaginians sent to its defence. Rome^s First Fleet (260 b. c.).f — The Roman senate, not content with this success, was bent on contesting with Car- thage the supremacy of the sea. One hundred and thirty vessels were accordingly built in sixty days, a stranded Phoenician galley being taken as a model. To compensate the lack of skilled seamen, the ships were provided with drawbridges, so that coming at once to close quarters tlieir disciplined soldiers could rush upon the enemies' deck, and decide the contest by a hand-to-hand fight. They thus beat * From punicus, an adjective derived from Poeui, the Latin form of the word Phoenicians. t The Romans began to construct a fleet as early as 338 b. c, and, in 267, we read of the questors of the navy, but the vessels were small, and Rome was a land-power until 260 B. c. Tf^L REGION OF THE WARS WITH MITHRIDATES Scale of English Miles scythi licupacuui Chersonesnsj 100 Ir ^] SfW M tr4j •^ ^ ^ xe* . •ontis^ "" " TrvV ?aP, \[A\agc •>^K»^ m ipamea ^, , : ,, 'V^;;"%«44 / RHODES JifAJij; IHTHRJi^V M M EDITEJiJtA Ni:ul N O M ^v^:^^^\o\^ i<^^ ygk 256 b. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 229 the Carthaginians in two great nav^al battles within four years. Romand Cross the Sea. — Under Eegulus the Romans then crossed the Mediterranean, and " carried the war into Africa." The natives, weary of the oppressive rule of the Carthaginians, welcomed their deliverers. Carthage seemed about to fall, when the presence of one man turned the tide. Xanthippus, a Spartan general, led the Carthaginians to victory, destroyed the Roman army, and captured Regulus.* After this the contest dragged on for several years ; but a signal victory near Pernor mus, in Sicily, gave the Romans the ascendency in that island, and finally a great naval defeat off the ^gusa Islands cost the Carthaginians the empire of the sea. Carthage was forced to give up Sicily, and pay three thousand two hundred talents of silver (about four million dollars) toward the expenses of the war. The temple of Janus was shut for the first time since the days of Numa. Rome's first province was Sicily. This was governed, like all the possessions which she afterward acquired outside of Italy, by magistrates sent each year from Rome. The people, being made not allies but subjects, were required to pay a«i annual tribute. * It is said that Regalus, while at the height of his success, asked permission to return home to his little farm, as a slave had run away with the tools, and his family was likely to suffer with want during his absence. After his capture, the Cartha- ginians sent him to Rome with proposals of peace, making him swear to return in case the conditions were not accepted. On his arrival, he refused to enter the city, saying that he was no longer a Roman citizen, but only a Carthaginian slave. Having stated the terms of the proposed peace, to the amazement of all, he urged their re- jection, as unworthy of the glory and honor of Rome. Then, without visiting his home, he turned away from weeping wife and children, and went back to his prison again. The enraged Carthaginians cut off his eyelids, and exposed him to the burn- ing rays of a tropic sun ; and then thrust him into a barrel studded with sharp nails. So perished this martyr to his word and his country.— Historic research throws doubt on the truth of this instance of Punic cruelty, and asserts that the story was invented to excuse the barbarity with which the wife of Regulus treated some Car- thaginian captives who fell into her hands ; but the name of Regulus lives as the per- soniflcation of sincerity and patriotic devotion. 230 KOME. ^ [218 B.C. Second Punic War (218-201 b.c). — During the ensuing peace of twenty-three years, Hamilcar (surnamed Barca, hghtning), the great statesman and general of Carthage, built up an empire in southern Spain, and trained an army for a new struggle with Rome. He hated that city with a perfect hatred. When he left home for Spain, he took with him his son Hannibal, a boy nine years old, having first made him swear at the altar of Baal always to be the enemy of the Romans. That chiklish oath was never forgotten, and Hannibal, like his father, had l3ut one purpose — to humble his country's rival. When twenty-six years of age, he was made commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army. Pushing the Punic power northward, he captured Sagiuitiun. As that city was her ally, Rome promptly declared war against Carthage.* On the receipt of this welcome news, Hannibal, w^ith the daring of genius, resolved to scale the Alps, and carry the contest into Italy. Invasion of Itahf. — In the spring of the year 218 b. c, he set out f from New Carthage. Through hostile tribes, over the swift Rhone, he pressed forward to the foot of the Alps. Here dangers multiplied. The mountaineers rolled down rocks upon his column, as it wearily toiled up the steep ascent. Snow blocked the way. At times the crack of a w^hip would bring down an avalanche from the impending heights. The men and horses slipped on the sloping ice-fields, and slid over the precipices into the awful crevasses. New roads had to be cut through the solid rock by hands benumbed with * An embassy came to Carthage demanding that Hannibal should be surrendered. This being refused, M. Fabius, folding up his toga as if it contained something, exclaimed, " I bring you peace or war; take which you will ! " The Carthaginians answered, " Give us which you wish ! " Shaking open his toga, the Roman haughtily replied, " I give you war 1 " " So let it be ! " shouted the assembly. t Before starting on this expedition, Hannibal went with his immediate attendants to Gades, and offered sacrifice in the temples for the success of the great work to which he had been dedicated eighteen years before, and to which he had been looking forward so long. 318 B. c. THE P (J L I T i C A H !>; T U K Y ;ioI cold and weakened with hunger. When at last he reached the smiling plains of Italy, only twenty-six thousand men were left of the one hundred and two thousand with whom he bopin the perilous march five months before. Battles of Trehia, Trasi7ne'nus,ancl Can- nce. — Arriving at the river Trehia in Decem- ber, Hannibal found the Romans, under Sempronius, ready to dispute his progress. One stormy morning, he sent the light Numidian cavalry over to :i33 ROME. [218 B.C. make a feigned attack on the enemy's camp. The Romans fell into the snare, and pursued the horsemen back across the river. When the legions, stiff with cold and faint with hunger, emerged from the icy waters, they found the Carthaginian army drawn up to receive them. Undismayed by the sight, they at once joined battle ; but, in the midst of the struggle, Hannibal's Ijrother Mago fell upon their rear with a body of men which had been hidden in a reedy ravine near by. The Romans, panic-stricken, broke and fled. The fierce Gauls now flocked to Hannibal's camp, and remained his active allies during the rest of the war. The next year Hannibal moved southward.* One day in June, the consul Flaminius was eagerly pursuing him along the banks of the Lake Trasimenus. Suddenly, through the mist, the Carthaginians poured down from the heights, and put the Romans to rout.f Fabius was now appointed dictator. Keeping on the heights where he could not be attacked, he followed Hanni- bal everywhere,}; cutting off his supplies, but never hazarding a battle. The Romans became impatient at seeing their country ravaged while their army remained inactive, and Varro, the consul, offered battle on the plain of Cannce. Hannibal drew up the Carthaginians in the shape of a half- moon having the convex side toward the enemy, and tipped * In the low flooded grounds along the Arno the army suffered fearfully. Hanni- bal himself lost an eye by inflammation, and, it was said, hi? life was saved by the last remaining elephant, which carried him out of the swamp. t So fierce was this struggle that none of the combatants noticed the shock of a severe earthquake which occurred in the midst of the battle. X While Hannibal was ravaging the rich plains of Campania, the wary Fabius seized the passes of the Apennines, through which Hannibal must recross into Sam- nium with his booty. The Carthaginian was apparently caught in the trap. But his mind was fertile in devices. He fastened torches to the horns of two thousand oxen, and sent men to drive them up the neighboring heights. The Romans at the defiles thinking the Carthaginians were trying to escape over the hills, ran to the defence, Hannibal quickly seized the passes, and marched through with his army. 216 B. C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 233 the horns of the crescent with his veteran cavahy. The massiye legions quickly broke through his weak center. But as they pressed forward in eager pursuit, his terrible horse- men fell upon their rear. Hemmed in on all sides, tlie Romans could neither fight nor flee. Twenty-one tribunes, eighty senators, and over seventy thousand men fell in that horrible massacre. After the battle, Hannibal sent to Car- thage a bushel of gold rings — the ornaments of Roman knights. At Rome all was dismay. *• One-fifth of the citizens able to bear arms had fallen within eighteen months, and h\ every house there was mourning.'' AW southern Italy, including Capua, the city next in importance to the capital, joined Hannibal. HannihaVs Reverses. — The tide of Hannibal's victories, however, ebbed from this time. The Roman spirit rose in the hour of peril, and, while struggling at home for exist- ence, the senate sent armies into Sicily, Greece, and Spain. The Latin cities remained true, not one revolting to the Car- thaginians. The Roman generals had learned not to figlit in the open field, where Hannibal's cavalry and genius were so fatal to them, but to keep behind walls, since Hannibal had no skill in sieges, and his army was too small to take their strongholds. HannibaFs brother Hasdrubal was busy fighting the Romans in Spain, and could send him no aid. The Carthaginians also were chary of Hannibal, and refused him help. For thirteen years longer Hannibal remained in Italy, but he was at last driven into Bruttium — the toe of the Italian boot. Never did his genius shine more brightly. He con- tinually sallied out to protect his allies, or to plunder and devastate. Once he went so near Rome that he hurled a javelfn over its walls. Nevertheless, and in spite of his efforts, Capua was retaken. Syi'acuse promised aid, but was 234 ROME. [212 B. c. captured b}^ the Roman army. * Hasdrubal finally managed to get out of Spain and cross the Alps, but at the Metaurus f (207 B. c.) was routed and slain. The first notice Hannibal had of his brother's approach was when Hasdrubal's head was thrown into the Carthaginian camp. At the sight of this ghastly memorial, Hannibal exclaimed : '^ Ah Carthage, I behold thy doom!" Haniiihal Recalled. — P. Scipio, who had already expelled the Carthaginians from Spain, now carried the war into Africa. Carthage was forced to summon her great general from Italy. He came to her defence, but met the first defeat of his life in the decisive battle of Zama. On that fatal field the veterans of the Italian wars fell, and Hannibal himself gave up the struggle. Peace was granted Carthage on her paying a crushing tribute, and agreeing not to go to war without the permission of Eome. Scipio received the name Africanus, in honor of his triumph. Fate of Hannibal. — On the return of peace, Hannibal, with singular Avisdom, began the reformation of his native city. But his enemies, by false representations at Rome, compelled him to quit Carthage, and take refuge at the court of Antiochus (p. 237). When at length his patron was at the feet of their common enemy, and no longer able to protect him, Hannibal fled to Bithynia, where, finding himself still pursued by the vindictive Romans, he ended his * The siege of Syracuse (214-212 b. c.) is famous for the genius displayed in its defence by the mathematician Archimedes. He is said to have fired the Roman fleet by means of immense burning-glasses, and to have contrived machines ihat reaching huge arms over the walls, sraspecl and overturned the galleys. The Romans became so timid that they would " flee at the sight of a stick thrnst out at them." When the city was finally taken by stnr ^i. Marcellus gave orders to spare Archimedes. But a soldier rushing into the philosopher's study found an old man, who, not noticing his drawn sword, bade hini "Noli furbare circulos meos." Enraged by hie indifference, the Roman slew him on the spot. + This engagement, which decided the issue of Hannibal's invasion of ftaly, is reckoned among the most important in the history of the veorld. See Creasy's Fif- teen Decisive Battles, p. 96. 183 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 235 days by taking poison, which he carried ^Yith him in a hollow ring Third Punic War (149-U6 b. c.).— Half a century passed, during which Carthage was slowly recovering her former prosperity. A strong party at Rome, however, was bent upon her destruction.* On a slight pretence war was again declared. The submission of the Carthaginians was abject. They gave up three hundred hostages, and surren- dered their arms and armor. But when bidden to leave the city that it might be razed, they were driven to desperation. Old and young toiled at the forges to make new weapons. Vases of gold and silver, even the statues of the gods, were melted. The women braided their long hair into bow-strings. The Eomans intrusted the siege to the younger Scipio.f He captured Carthage, after a desperate struggle. Days of con- flagration and plunder followed. The city, which had lasted over seven hundred years and numbered seven hundred thousand inhabitants, was utterly wasted. The Carthaginian territory was turned into the province of Africa. J; * Prominent amonof these was Cato the Censor. This rough, stem man, with hia red hair, projectiui^ teeth, and coarse robe, was the sworn foe to kixury, and the per- sonification of the old Roman character. Cruel toward his slaves and revengeful toward his foes, he v/as yet rigid in morals, devoted to his country, and fearless in punishing crime. In the discharge of his duty as censor, he criticised the income and expenses of all Eich furniture, jewels, and costly attire fell under his ban. He even removed, it is said, the cold-water pipes leading to the private houses. Jealous of any rival to Rome, he finished every speech with the words, " Delenda est Car- thago ! " In PlutarcWs Lives (p. 177), Cato is the counterpart of Aristides (p. 128). t (1.) Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (p. 234) was the conqueror of Hannibal. (2.) Publius Cornelius Scipio JEmilianus Africanus 3Iinor, the one spoken of in the text as the destroyer of Carthage, was the son of Lucius ^milius Paullus, the conqueror of Macedon (p. 236), and was adopted by P. Scipio. the son of Africanus Major. (3.) Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, who defeated Antiochus (p. 23T), and hence received the last title, was the brother of Africanus Major. X When Scipio beheld the ruin of Carthage, he is said to have burst into tears, and turning to Polybius the historian, quoted the lines of Homer: " The day will come when Troy shall sink in fire And Priam's people with himself expire." And, reflecting on the mutations of time, declared that Hector's words might yet prove true of Rome herself. 236 ROME. [146 B. c. Rome was at last victor over her great rival. It was de- cided that Europe was not to be given over to Punic civiliza- tion and the intellectual despotism of the East. Wars in Macedon and G-reece. — While Hannibal was hard-pressed in Italy he made a treaty with Philip, king of Macedon, and a descendant of Alexander. In the First War which ensued (214-207 B.C.), not much of importance oc- curred, but Rome had begun to mix in Grecian affairs, and that, according to her wont, meant conquest by and by. The Second War (200-197 b. c.) was brought about by Philip's attacking the Roman allies. The consul Flaminius now entered Greece, proclaiming himself the champion of Hellenic liberty. • Transported with this thought, nearly all Hellas ranged itself under the eagles of Rome. Philip was overthrown at the battle of Cynoscephalcs (197 B. c), and forced to accept a most degrading peace. After Philip's death, his son Perseus was indefatigable in his efforts to restore Macedon to its old-time glory. The Third War (171-168 B.C.) culminated in the battle of Pydna^ where the famous Roman general Paullus van- quished forever the cumbersome phalanx, and ended the Macedonian monarchy. One hundred and fifty-six years after Alexander's death, the last king of Macedon was led in triumph by a general belonging to a. nation of which, probably, the Conqueror had scarcely heard. The results of these wars were reaped within a brief period. The Federal Unions of Greece were dissolved. Macedon was divided into four commonwealths, and finally, under pre- tence of a rebellion, made a Roman province (148 B. c). In the same year that Carthage fell, Corinth,* the gi'eat seaport * Mummius, the consul who took Corinth, which Cicero termed " The eye of Hellas," sent its wealth of statues and pictures to Rome. It is said that, ignorant of the unique value of these works of art, he agreed with the captains of the vessels to furnish others in place of any they should lose on the voyage. One can but remem- THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 237 of the Eastern Mediterranean, was sacked, and Greece her- self, after being amused for a time with the semblance of freedom, was organized into the province of Achaia. Syrian War (192-190 b.c.).— ^'Macedon and Greece proved easy stepping-stones for Rome to meddle in the affairs of Asia." At this time Anti'ochus the Great governed the kingdom of the Seleucidge (p. 155), which extended from the ^gean, beyond the Tigris. His capital, Antioch on the Orontes, was the seat of Greek culture, and one of the chief cities of the world. He was not unwilling to measure swords with the Romans, and received Hannibal at his court with marked honor. During the interval between the second and third Macedonian wars the ^tolians, thinking themselves badly used by the Romans, invited Antiochus to come over to their help. He despised the wise counsel and military skill of Hannibal, and, appearing in Greece with only ten thousand men, was easily defeated by the Romans at Thermopylce. The next year, L. Scipio (note, p. 235) fol- lowed him into Asia, and overthrew his power on the field of 3£agnesia (190 b. c). The great empire of the Seleucidse now shrank to the kingdom of Syria. Though the Romans did not at present assume formal control of their conquest, yet, by a shrewd policy of weakening the powerful states, playing off small ones against one another, supporting one of the two rival fac- tions, and favoring their allies, they taught the Greek, cities in Asia Minor to look up to the great central power on the Tiber just as, by the same tortuous course, they had led Greece and Macedon to do. Thus the Romans aided Per- gamus, and enlarged its territories, because its king helped them against Antiochus. Finally, when Attains HI. died, ber, however, that this ignorant pleheian maintained his honesty, and kept none of the rich spoils for himself. 238 E O M E . [133 B. c, he left that country by will to the Romans. So Rome got her first Asiatic province (1-33 B.C.). War in Spain. — After the capture of Carthage and Corinth, Rome continued her efforts to subdue Spain. The rugged nature of the country, and the braverv of the inhab- itants, made the struggle a doubtful one. The town of Numantia held out long against the younger Scipio (note, p. 235). Finally, in despair, the people set fire to the place and threw themselves into the flames. When the Romans forced an entrance thi'ough the walls, they found silence and desolation within. Spain now became a Roman province — the same year of Attalus's bequest, and thirteen years after the fall of Carthage and Corinth. The Roman Empire (133 b. c.) included southern Europe from the Atlantic to the Bosporus, and a part of northern Africa ; while Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor were practically its dependencies. The Mediterranean Sea was a " Roman lake," and Rome ivas mistress of the civilized world. Henceforth her wars were principally Avitli barbarians. Effect of these Conquests. — Italy had formerly been covered with little farms of a few acres each, which the in- dustrious, frugal Romans cultivated with their own hands. When Hannibal swept the country with fire and sword, he destroyed these comfortable, rural homes throughout entire districts. The people, unable to get a living, flocked to Rome. There, humored, flattered, and fed by every dema- gogue who wished their votes, they sank into a mere mob. The Roman race itseK was fast becoming extinct.* It had * " At the time when all the kings of the earth paid homage to the Romans, this people \va> b.coming extinguished, consumed by the double action of eternal war, and of a devouring system of legislation ; it was disappearing from Italy. The Ro- man, pa.'j^^iusr his life in camps, beyond the seas, rarely returnei to visit his little field. He had in most cases, indeed, no land or shelter at all, nor any other domestic gods than the eagles of the legions. An exchange was becoming established between Italy and the provinces. Italy sent her children to die in distant land?, and received in THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 239 perished on its hundred battle-fields. Rome was inhabited by a motley population from all lands, who poorly filled the place of her ancient heroes. The captives in these various wars had been sold as slaves, and the nobles, who had secured most of the land, worked it by their unpaid labor. Everywhere in the fields were gangs of men, whose only crime was that they had fought for their homes, tied together with chains ; and, tending the flocks, were gaunt, shaggy wretches, carrying the goad in hands which had once wielded the sword. The riches of Syracuse, Carthage, Macedonia, Greece, and Asia poured into Rome. Men who went to foreign wars as poor soldiers came back with enormous riches — the spoils of sacked cities. The nobles were rich beyond every dream of republican Rome. But, meanwhile, the poor grew poorer yet, and the curse of poverty ate deeper into the state. A few wealthy families governed the senate and filled all the offices. Thus a new nobility, founded on money alone, had grown up and become all-powerful. It was customary for a candidate to amuse the people with costly games, and none but the rich could afford the expense. The consul, at the end of his year of office, was usually appointed governor of a province, where out of an oppressed people he could recompense himself for all his losses. To keep the Roman populace in good humor, he would send back gifts of grain, and, if any complaint was made of his injustice and robbery, he could easily bribe the judges and senators, who were anxious only for the same chance which he had. compensation millions of slaves. Thus a new people succeeded to the absent or destroyed Roman people. Slaves took the place of masters, proudly occupied the Forum, and in their fantastic saturnalia governed by their decrees the Latins and the Italians, who filled the legions. It was soon no longer a question where were the plebeians of Rome. They had left their bones on every shore. Camps, urnc, and immortal roads— these were all that remained of them.''''— Michelet. 240 ROME, In the early days of the republic, the soldier was a citizen who went forth to fight his country's battles, and, returning home, settled down again upon his little farm, contented and happy. Military life had now become a profession. Patriotism was almost a forgotten virtue, and the soldier fought for plunder and glory. In the wake of the army followed a crowd of venal traders, who bought up the booty; contractors, who "farmed" the revenues of the provinces; and usurers, who preyed on the necessities of all. These rich army-followers were known as knights (equites), since in the early days of Kome the richest men fought on horse- back. They rarely took part in any war, but only reaped its advantages. The presents of foreign kings were no longer refused at Kome ; her generals and statesmen demanded money wher- ever they went. Well might Scipio Africanus, instead of praying to the ROMAN SOLDIERS. THE Pt)LITICAL HISTOKY. 241 gods, as was the custom, to increase the state, beg them to 2) reserve it ! In this general decadence the fine moral fibre of the nation lost its vigor. First, tlie people left their own gods and took up foreign ones. As the ancients had no idea of a common god of all nations, such a desertion of their patron deities was full of significance. It ended in a general scepticism and neglect of rehgious rites and worship. In addition, the Komans became cruel and unjust. Nothing showed this more clearly than their refusal to grant the Roman franchise to the Latin cities, which stood by them so faithfully during Hannibal's invasion. Yet there were great men m Rome, and the ensuing centuries were the palmiest of her history. THE CIVIL WAES. Now began a century of civil strife, during which the old respect for laws became weak, and parties obtained their end by bribery and bloodshed. The Gracchi.— The tribune Tiberius Gracchus,* per- cei^-ing the peril of the state, secured a new agrarian law (p. 216), directing the public land to be assigned in small farms to the needy, so as to give every man a homestead ; and, in addition, he proposed to divide the treasures of Attains among those who received land, in order to enable them to build houses and buy cattle. But the oligarchs aroused a mob by which Gracchus was assassinated. Aflf'^'^l'^'JIl!? "'''^^' °^ ^^^"'^''■^ ^°^ ^^^^'^ Gracchus, was the daughter of Scipio Afncanus the Elder (note, p. 235). Left a wido^v, she was offered marriage with the Mng ot Ji.^pt, but preferred to devote herself to the education of her children. When a rich friend once exhibited to her a cabinet of rare eems, she called in her tvvo sons, saying, " These are my jewels." Her statue bore the inscription by which She wished to be known, " The mother of the Gracchi."-Tiberius was the grand'-on of the Conqueror of Hannibal, the son-in-law of Appius Claudias, and the brother-in- law of the Destroyer of Carthage. 242 ROME. # [123 B.C. About ten years later, his brother Caius tried to carry out the same reform, by distributing grain to the poor at a nominal price (the "Roman poor-law"), by choosing Juries from the knights instead of the senators, and by planting in conquered territories colonies of men who had no work at home. All went well until he sought to confer the Roman franchise upon the Latins. Then a riot was raised, and Caius was killed by a faithful slave to prevent his falling into the hands of his enemies. With the Gracchi perished the freedom of the republic ; henceforth the corrupt aristocracy was supreme. Jugurtha (118-104 B.C.) having usurped the throne of Numidia, long maintained his place by conferring lavish bribes upon the senators. His gold conquered every army sent against him, and he declared that Rome itself could be had for money. He was finally overpowered by the consul Caius Marius,* and, after adorning the victor's triumph at Rome, thrown into the Mamertine prison to perish, f The Cimbri and Teutones (113-101 b. c), the van- guard of those northern hosts that were yet to overrun the empire, were now moving south, half a million strong, spreading dismay and ruin in their track. Six different Roman armies tried in vain to stay their advance. At Orange alone eighty thousand Romans fell. In this emergency, the senate appealed to Marius, who, contrary to law, was again and again reinstated consul. He annihilated the Teutones at Aix, and, the next year, the Cimbri at VercellcB. In the latter engagement, the men composing the outer line of the * Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman questor (p. 243), captured Jugurtha by- treachery. Claiming that he was the real hero of this war, he had a ring engraved which represented Jugurtha's surrender to him. Marius and Sulla were henceforth bitter rivals. t This famous dungeon is still shown the traveler at Rome. It is an underground vault, built of rough stones. The only opening is by a hole at the top. As Jugurtha. accustomed to the heat of an African sun, was lowered into this dismal grave, he exclaimed, with chattering teeth, " Ah, what a cold bath they are giving me ! " 101 B. C.J THE PO L i T 1 (' A L HISTORY. 24;) barbarian army were fastened together with chains, the whole making a soHd mass three miles square. The Roman broad- sword mercilessly hewed its way through this struggling crowd. The Gallic women, in despair, strangled their children, and then threw themselves beneath the wheels of their wagons. The very dogs fought to the death. Rome was saved in her second great peril from barbarians. Marius was hailed as the "third founder of the city." Social War (90-88 b. c). — Drusus, a tribune, having proposed that the Italians should be granted the coveted citizenship, was murdered the very day a vote was to be taken upon the measure. On hearing this, many of the Italian cities, headed by the Marsians, took up arms. The veteran legions, which had conquered the world, now faced each other on the battle-field. The struggle cost three hun- dred thousand lives. Houses were burned and plantations wasted as in Hannibal's time. In the end, Rome was forced to allow the Italians to become citizens. First Mithridatic War (88-84 b. c.).— Just before the close of this bloody struggle, news came of the massacre of eighty thousand Romans and Italians residing in the towns of Asia Minor. Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, and a man of remarkable energy and genius, had pro- claimed himself the deliverer of Asia from the Roman yoke, and kindled the fires of insurrection as far westward as Greece. The war against the Pontic monarch was confided to Sulla, who stood at the head of the Roman aristocracy. But Marius, the favorite leader of the people, by unscrupu- lous means wrested the command from his rival. There- upon Sulla entered Rome at the head of the army. For the first time, civil war raged within the walls of the city. Marius was driven into exile.* Sulla then crossed into * Marius, after many romantic adventures, was thrown into prison at Min- 244 ROME. [87B.C, Greece. He carried on fiye campaigns, mainly at his private expense, and finally restored peace on the condition that Mithridates should give up his conquests and his fleet. Return of Marius. — Meanwhile Cinna, one of the two consuls at Rome, recalled Marius, and together they entered the city with a body of men composed of the very dregs of Italy. The nobles and the friends of Sulla trembled at this triumph of tlie democracy. Marius now took a fearful vengeance for all he had suffered. He closed the gates, and went about with a body of slaves, who slaughtered every man at whom he pointed his finger. The principal senators were slain. The high-priest of Jupiter was massacred at the altar. The consul Octavius was struck down in his curule- chair. The head of Antonius, the orator, being brought to Marius as he sat at supper, he received it with joy, and embraced the murderer. Finally, the monster had himself declared consul, now the seventh time. Eighteen days after, he died "drunk with blood and wine." (86 b. c.) Sulla's Proscriptions. — Three years passed, when the hero of the Mithridatic War returned to Italy with his vic- torious army. His progress was disputed by the remains of the Marian party and the Samnites, who had not laid down their arms after the Social War (p. 243). Sulla, however, swept aside their forces, and soon all Italy was prostrate before him. It was now the turn for the plebeians and the friends of Marius to fear. As Sulla met the senate, cries were heard in the neighboring circus. The senators sprang from their seats in alarm. Sulla bade them be quiet, remark- turaae. One day a Cimbrian slave entered his cell to put him to death. The old man turned upon him with flashing eye, and shouted," Barest thou kill Caius Marius ! " The Gaul, frightened at the voice of his nation's destroyer, dropped his sword and fled. Marius was soon set free by the sympathizing people, whereupon he crossed into Africa. Receiving there an order from the praetor to leave the province, he sent back the well-known reply, " Tell Sextilius that you have seen Caius Marius sitting in exile among the ruins of Carthage." 82 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 245 ing, "It is only some wretches undergoing the punishment they deserve." The "wretches" were six thousand of the Marian party, who were butchered in cold blood. " The porch of Sulla's house," says Collier, "Avas soon full of heads." Daily proscription- lists were made out of those doomed to die, and the assassins were rewarded from the property of their yictims. Wealth became a crime when murder was gain. "Alas," exclaimed one, "my villa is my destruction." In all the disaffected Italian cities the same bloody work went on. Whole districts were confiscated to make room for colonies of Sulla's legions. He had himself declared perpetual dictator — an office unused since the Punic Wars. He deprived the tribunes of the right of proposing laws, and sought to restore the good old times when the patricians held power, thus undoing the reforms of centuries. To the surprise of all, however, he suddenly retired to private life, and gave himself up to luxurious ease. The civil wars of Marius and Sulla had cost Italy the lives of one hundred and fifty thousand citizens. Sertorius, one of the Marian party, betook himself to Spain, gained the respect and confidence of the Lusitanians, established among them a miniature Roman republic, and for seven years defeated every army sent against him. Even Pompey the Great was held in check. Treachery at last freed Rome from its enemy, Sertorius being slain at a banquet. Gladiatorial War (73-71 b. c). — A party of gladiators under Spartacus, having escaped from a training-school at Capua, took refuge in the crater of Vesuvius. Thither flocked slaves, peasants, and pirates, until they were strong enough to defeat consular armies, and for two years to rav- age Italy from the Alps to the peninsula. Crassus finally killed the rebel leader in a desperate battle, and put his fol- 246 ROME. [71 B.C. lowers to flight. A body of five thousand, trying to escape into Gaul, fell in with Pompey the Great as he was returning from Spain, and were cut to pieces. Pirates in these troublous times infested the Mediter- ranean, so as to interfere with trade and stop the supply of provisions at. Eome. The whole coast of Italy was in con- tinual alarm. Parties of robbers landing dragged rich pro- prietors from their villas and seized high officials, to hold them for ransom. Pompey, in a brilliant campaign of ninety days, cleared the seas of these buccaneers, and restored order. Great Mithridatic "War (74-63 b. c.).— During Sulla's life the Eoman governor in Asia causelessly attacked Mithri- dates, but being defeated and Sulla peremptorily ordering him to desist, this Second Mithridatic War soon ceased. The Third or Great War broke out after the dictator's death. The king of Bithynia having bequeathed his pos- sessions to the Romans, Mithridates justly dreaded this ad- vance of his enemies toward his own boundaries, and took up arms to prevent it. The Eoman consul, Lucullus, de- feated the Pontic king, and drove him to the court of his son-in-law Tigranes, king of Armenia, who espoused his cause. Lucullus next overcame the allied monarchs. Mean- while this wise general sought to reconcile the Asiatics to the Roman government by legislative reforms, by a mild and just rule, and especially by checking the exactions of the farmers of the revenue. The soldiers of his own army, intent on plunder, and the equites at Eome deprived of their profits, were incensed against him, and secured his recall. Pompey was now granted the power of a dictator in the East.* He made an alliance with the king of Parthia, thus * Cicero advocated this measure in the familiar oration, Pro Lege Manilia. 65 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. HI tlireateiiing Mithridates by an enemy in the rear. Then, forcing the Pontic monarch into a battle, he defeated and, at last, drove him beyond the Caucasus. Pompey, returning, reduced Sjvm, Phoenicia, and Palestine. The spirit of Mithridates was unbroken, in spite of the loss of his kingdom. He was meditating a march around the Euxine, and an invasion of Italy from the northeast, when, alarmed at the treachery of his son, he took poison, and died a victim of ingratitude. By his genius and courage, he had maintained the struggle with the Eomans for twenty- five years.* On reaching Rome, Pompey received a two-days triumph. Before his chariot, walked three hundred and twenty-four captive princes ; and twenty thousand talents were deposited in the treasury as the spoils of conquest. Pompey was now at the height of his popularity, and might have usurped supreme power, but he lacked the energy and determination. Catiline's Conspiracy (63 B.C.). — During Pompey's ab- sence at the East, Catiline, an abandoned young nobleman, had formed a wide-spread plot to murder the consuls, fire the city, and overthrow the government. Cicero, the orator, exposed the conspiracy, f Whereupon, Catiline fled, and was soon after slain, fighting at the head of a band of desperadoes. The chief men of Rome now were Pompey, Crassus, * The armor which fitted the gigantic frame of Mithridates excited the wonder alike of Asiatic and Italian. As a* runner, he overtook the fleetest deer ; as a rider, he broke the wildest steed ; as a charioteer, he drove sixteen-in-hand ; and, as a hunter, he hit his game with his horse at full gallop. He kept Greek poets, historians, and philosophers at his court, and gave prizes, not only to the greatest eater and drinker, but to the merriest jester and the best singer. He ruled the twenty-two nations of his realm without the aid of an interpreter. He experimented on poisons and sought to harden his system to their effect. One day he disappeared from the palace and was absent for months. On his return, it appeared that he had wandered incognito through Asia Minor, studying the people and country. t The orations which Cicero pronounced at this time against Catiline are master- pieces of impassioned rhetoric, and are still studied by every Latin scholar. ROME. [60 B. c. CAIUS JULIUS C^SAR. islied, and Cato sent to Cyprus. Caesar,* Cicero, and Cato the Stoic — a great grand- son of the Censor. The first three formed a league, known as the Triumvirate (60 B. c). To cement this union, Pompey married JuUa, Caesar's only daugh- ter. The triumvirs had everything their own way. Csesar obtained the con- sulship, and, afterward, an appointment as governor of Gaul ; Cicero was ban- * Caesar was born 100 b, c. (according to Mommsen, 102 b, c). A patrician, he was yet a friend of the people. His aunt was married to Marius ; his wife Cornelia was the daughter of Ciiina. During Sulla's proscription, he refused to divorce his wife at the bidding of the dictator, and only the intercession of powerful friends saved his life. Siilla detected the character of this youth of eighteen years, and declared, " There is nu)re than one Marius hid in him." While on his way to Rhodes to study oratory, he was taken prisoner by pirates, but he acted more like their leader than captive, and' on being ransomed, headed a party which crucified them all. Having been elected pontiff during his absence at the East, he returned to Rome, He now became in succession quaestor, gedile, and pontifex maximus. His affable manners and boundless generosity won all hearts. As sedile, a part of his duty was to furnish amusement to the people, and he exhibited three hundred and twenty pairs of gladiators, clad in silver armor! His debts became enormous, the heaviest creditor being the rich Crassus, to whom half the senators are said to have owed money. Securing an appointment as praetor, at the termination of that office, according to the custom, he obtained a province.' Selecting Spain, he there recruited his wasted fortune, and gained some military prominence. He then came back to Rome, relinquishing a triumph in order to enter the city and stand for the consulship. This gained, his next step was to secure a field where he could train an army, by whose help he might become master of Rome. It is a strange sight, indeed, to witness this spendthrift, pale and worn with the excesses of the capital, fighting at the head of his legions, swimming rivers, plunging through morasses, and climbing mountains— the hardiest of the hardy and the bravest of the brave. But it is stranger still to think of this great general and statesman as a literary man. Even when riding in his litter or resting, he was still reading or writ- ing, and often at the same time dictating to from four to seven amanuenses. Besides his famous Commentaries, published in the very midst of his eventful career, he • composed works on rhetoric and grammar, as well as tragedies, lyrics, etc. His style is pure and natural, and the polished smoothness of his sentences gives no hint of the stormy scenes amid which they were formed. B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 249 Cjesar remained in Gaul about nine years. He re- duced the entire country, crossed the Rhine, carrying the Roman arms into Ger- many for the lirst time, and twice invaded Britain — an island until then un- known in Italy except by name. Not only were the three hundred tribes of TransalpineGaul thorough- ly subdued, but they were made content with C.iesar's rule. He became their civ- ilizer, building roads and introducing Roman laws, institutions, manners and customs. Moreover, he trained an army that knew no mind or will except that of its great general . Mean- while, Caesar's friends in Rome, with the Gallic spoils which he freely sent them, bribed and dazzled and in- trigued to sustain their master's power, and secure him the next consulship. Crassus was chosen joint-consul with Pompey (56 B. 0.) ; he secured the province of 8yria. Eager to obtain the boundless treasures of the East, he set out upon an expedition against Parthia. On the way, he plundered the tem- ple at Jerusalem. .While crossing the scorching plains beyond the Eu- phrates, not far from Char- Yx (the Haran of the Bible), he was suddenly surrounded by clouds of Parthian horsemen. Ro- man valor was of no avail in that ceaseless storm of arrows. During the retreat, Crassus was slain. His head was carried to the Parthian king, who, in de- rision, ordered it to be tilled with molten gold. The death of Crassus ended the Triumvirate. PoMfET, after a time, was elected joint-consul with Crassus, and, later,sole consul ; he obtained the province of Gaul, which he governed by legates. He now ruled Rome, but was bent on ruling the emjiire. The death of his wife had severed the link which bound him to the conqueror of Gaul. He accordingly joined with the nobles, who were also a.larmed by Caesar's brilliant victories, and the strength his suc- cess gave the popular party. A law was therefore passed ordering Ctesar to resign his office and disband his army before he appeared to sue for the consulship. The tribunes— Antony and Cassius— who supported Csesar, were driven from the senate. They fled to his camp, and demanded protection. Civil War between Csesar and Pompey (49 b. c). — Caesar at once marched upon Eome. Pompey had boasted that he had only to stamp his foot, and an army would spring from the ground ; but he now fled to G-reece with- out striking a blow. In sixty days, Caesar was master of Italy. The decisive struggle between the two rivals took place on the plain of Pliarsalia (48 B.C.). Pompey was beaten. He sought refuge in Egypt, where he was treach- erously slain. His head being brought to Caesar, the con- queror wept at the fate of his former friend. Caesar now placed the beautiful Cleopatra on the throne of the Ptolemies, and, marching into Syria, humbled Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, so quickly that he could write home this laconic despatch, Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered). Cato and other Pompeian 250 ROME. [46 B.C. leaders had assembled a great force in Africa, whereupon OaBsar hurried his conquering legions thither, and at Thapsus broke down all opposition (46 B. c). Cato, in despair of the republic, fell upon his sword. The sons of Pompey rallied an army in Spain, but, in the desperate conflict at Munda, Caesar blotted the broken remains of their party out of existence (45 B. c). Caesar returned to Roine before this final struggle in Spain. A four-days triumph reddened the sands of the arena with the blood of wild beasts and gladiators. Every citizen received a present, and the populace regaled them- selves at a banquet spread on twenty-two thousand tables. The joy was unalloyed by any proscription. The adulation of the senate surpassed all bounds. Csesar was created dic- tator for ten years and censor for three, and his statue was placed in the Capitol, opposite to that of Jupiter. Caesar's Government. — At Caesar's magic touch, order and justice sprang into new life. The provinces rejoiced in an honest administration. The Gauls obtained seats in the senate, and it was Caesar's design to have all the provinces represented in that body by their chief men. The calendar was revised.* The distress among the poor was relieved by sending eighty thousand colonists, to rebuild Corinth and Carthage. The number of claimants upon the public dis- tribution of grain was reduced over one-half. A plan was formed of digging a new channel for the Tiber and draining the Pontine marshes. Nothing was too vast or too small for the comprehensive mind of this mighty statesman. He could guard the boundaries of his vast empire along the Rhine, Danube, and Euphrates ; look after the paving of the * The Eoman year contained only three hundred and fifty-five days, and the mid- summer and the mid-winter months then came in the spring and the fall. Julius Csesar introduced the extra day of leap year, and July was named after him. See Fourteen Weeks in Astronomy, p. 295. 44 B. c] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 251 Eomaii streets ; and listen to the recitation of pieces for prizes at the theatres, bestowing the wreath upon the victor, with extempore verse. Caesar's Assassination (44 b. c.).— Caesar, now dictator for Hf e, was desirous of being king in name as in fact. While passing through the streets one day, he was hailed king ; as the crowd murmured, he cried out, ^^I am not king, but Csesar." Still, when Mark Antony, the consul and his inti- mate friend, at a festival, offered him a crown, Caesar seemed to thrust it aside reluctantly. The hatred of zealous republicans was excited, and, under the guise of a love of liberty and old Roman virtue, those who were jealous of Caesar or hated him, formed a consjDiracy for his assassination. Brutus and Cassius, the leaders, chose the fifteenth of the ensuing March for the execution of the deed. As the day approached, the air was thick with rumors of approaching disaster. A famous augur warned Caesar to beware of the Ides * of March. The night before, his wife Calpurnia was disturbed by an ominous dream. On the way to the senate-house he was handed a scroll containing the de- tails of the plot, but in the press he had no chance to read it. When the con- spirators crowded about him, no alarm was caused, , , 1 J THE ROMAN EMBLEM, as they were men who owed their lives to his leniency and their fortunes to his favor. * In the Roman calendar, the months were divided into three parts — Calends, Ides, and Nones. The Calends commenced on the first of each month, and were reckoned backward into the preceding month to the Ides. The Nones fell on the seventh of March, May, July, and October, and on the fifth of the other months. The Ides came on the thirteenth of all mouths except these four, when they were the fifteenth. 252 R 31 E . [44 B. c. Suddenly, swords gleamed on every hand. For a moment, the great soldier defended himself with the sharp point of his iron pen. Then, catching sight of the loved and trusted Brutus, he exclaimed, ''Et tu Brute !" (And thou, too, Brutus !) and, wrapping his mantle about liis face, sank dead at the foot of Pompey's statue. * The result was very different from what the assassins had expected. The senate rushed out horror-stricken at the deed. The reading of Caesar's will, in which he gave every citizen three hundred sesterces (over ten dollars), and threw open his splendid gardens across the Tiber as a public park, roused the popular fury. When Antony pronounced the funeral eulogy, and, finally, held up Caesar's rent and bloody toga, the mob broke through every restraint, and ran with torches to burn the houses of the murderers. Brutus and Cassius fled to save their lives. Second Triumvirate (43 b. c). — Antony was fast get- ting power into his hand, when there arrived at Rome, Octavius, Caesar's great-nephew and heir. He received the support of the senate and of Cicero, who denounced Antony in fiery orations. Antony was forced into exile, and then, twice defeated in battle, took refuge with * Ceesar's brief public life— for only five stirring years elapsed from his entrance into Italy to his assassination— was full of dramatic scenes. Before marching u[»on Rome, it is said (though research stamps it as doubif ill) that he stopped at the Rubicon, the boundary between his province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy, and hesitated long. To pass it, was to make war upon the republic. At last, he shouted, " The die is cast ! " and plunged into the stream —When he had crossed into Greece in pursuit of Pompey, he became impatient at Antony's delay in bringing over the rest of the army, and, disguising himself, attempted to retitrn across the Adriatic in a small boat. The sea ran high, and the crew determined to put back, when Ctesar shouted, " Go on boldly, fear nothing, thou bearest Caesar and his fortune ! "—At the battle of Phar- salia, he ordered his men to aim at the faces of Pompey's cavalry. The Roman knights, dismayed at this attack on their beauty, quickly fled ; after the victory, Cajsar rode over the field calling upon the men to spare the Roman citizens, and on reaching Pompey's tent put his letters in the fire unread.— When Caesar learned of the death of Cato, he lamented the tragic fate of such high integrity and virtue, and ex- claimed, " Cato, I envy thee thy death, since thou enviest me the glory of saving thy life I" 43 B C] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 253 Lepidus, governor of a part of Spain and Gaul. Octavius returned to Rome, won the favor of the people, and, though a youth of only nineteen, was chosen consul. A triumvi- rate, similar to the one seventeen years before, was now formed between Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus. The bar- gain was sealed by a proscription more horrible than that of Sulla. Lepidus sacrificed his brother, Antony his uncle, and Octavius his warm supporter, Cicero. The orator's head having been brought to Rome, Fulvia thrust her golden bodkin through the tongue that had pronounced the Philip- pics against her husband Antony. Battle of Philippi (42 b. c.).— Brutus and Cassius, who had gone to the East, raised an army to resist this new coalition. The triumvirs pursued them, and the issue was decided on the field of Philiijpi. Brutus* and Cassius were defeated, and, in despair, committed suicide. Octavius and Antony divided the empire between them, the former taking the West, and the latter the East. Lepidus received Africa, but was soon stripped of his share and sent back to Rome. Antony and Cleopatra. — Antony now went \o Tarsus, to look after his new possessions. Here, Cleopatra was summoned to answer for having supported Cassius against the triumvirs. She came, captivated Antony by her charms, f * Brutns, before this battle, was disheartened. The triumvirs had proved worse tyrants than he conld ever have feared Caesar would become. He and Cassius quar- reled bitterly. His wife, Portia, had died (according to some authorities) broken- hearted at the calamities which had befallen her country. One uight, as he was sit- ting alone in his tent, musing over the troubled state of affairs, he suddenly per- ceived a gigantic figure standing before him. He was startled, but exclaimed, " What art thou, and for what purpose art thou come ? " "I am thine evil genius," replied the phantom; " we shall meet again at Philippi ! " t Cleopatra ascended the Cydnus in a galley with purple sails. The oars, inlaid with silver, moved to the soft music of flute and pipe. She reclined under a gold- spangled canopy, attired as Venus, and attended by nymphs, cupids, and graces. The air was redolent with perfumes. As she approached Tarsus, the whole city flocked to witness the magnificent sight, leaving Antony sitting alone in the tribunal. 254 ROME. [41 B. c and carried him to Egypt. They passed the winter in the wildest extravagance. Breaking away, however, for a time from the silken chains of Cleopatra, Antony, upon the death of Fulvia, married the beautiful and noble Octavia, sister of Octavius. But, at the first opportunity, he went back again to Alexandria, where he laid aside the dignity of a Roman citizen and assumed the dress of an Egyptian monarch, * Cleopatra was presented with several provinces, and became the real ruler of the East. Civil War between Octavius and Antony (31 b.c). — The senate at last declared war against Cleopatra. There- upon, Antony divorced Octavia and prepared to invade Italy. The rival fleets met off the promontory of Ac'tium. Cleo- patra fled with her ships early in the day. Antony, basely deserting those who were dying for his cause, followed lier. When Octavius entered Egypt (32 B.C.), there was no resist- ance. Antony, in despair, stabbed himself. Cleopatra in vain tried her arts of fascination upon the conqueror. Finally, to avoid gracing his triumph at Rome, she put an end to her life, according to the common story, by the bite of an asp, brought in a basket of figs. Thus died the last of the Ptolemies. Result. — Egypt now became a province of Rome. With the battle of Actium, ended the Roman reimblic. Caesar Octavius was the undisputed master of the civilized world. After his return to Italy, he received the title of Augustus, by which name he is known in history. The Civil Wars were over. * The follies and wasteful extravagance of their mad revels at Alexandria almost surpass belief. One day, in Antony's kitchen, there are said to have been eight wild boars roasting whole, so arranged as to be ready at different times, that his dinner might be served in perfection whenever he should see fit to order it. On another occasion, he and the queen vied as to which could serve the more expensive banquet. Removing a magniticent pearl from her ear, she dissolved it in vinegar, and swal- lowed the priceless draught 31 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 255 IMPERIAL ROME. Establishment of the Empire. — After the clamor of a huudred years, a sweet silence seemed to fall upon the earth. The temple of Janus was closed for the second time since the pious Numa. Warned by the fate of Julius, Augustus did not take the name of king, nor startle the Roman prejudices by any sudden seizure of authority. He 256 N R O M E . [CI B c- kept up all the forms of the republic. Every ten years, he went through the farce of laying down his rank as chief of the army, or iniperator — a word since contracted to emperor. He professed himself the humble servant of the senate, while he really exercised absolute power. Gradually, all the offices of trust were centered in him. He became at once proconsul, consul, censor, tribune, and high priest.* Massacre of Varus (9 a. d.). — Germany, under the vigorous rule of Drusus and Tiberius, stepsons of Augustus, now seemed likely to become as thoroughly Romanized as Gaul had been. {Brief Hist. France, p. 11.) Varus, governor of the province, thinking the conquest complete, attempted to introduce the Latin language and laws. There- upon, Arminius, a noble, freedom-loving German, aroused his countrymen, and in the wilds of the Teutoburg Forest took a terrible revenge for the wrongs thej had suffered. Varus and his entire army perished. Dire was the dismay at Rome when news came of this disaster. For days, Augustus wandered through his palace, beating his head against the wall, and crying, '^ Varus, give me back my legions !" Six years later, the whitened bones of these hap- less warriors were buried by Germanicus (the son of Drusus, and step-son of Augustus), but with all his genius he could not restore the Roman authority in Germany, f The Augustan Age (31 b. c.-14 a. d.) was, however, one of general peace and prosperity. The emperor lived unos- * As consul, he became chief magistrate ; as censor, he could decide who were to be senators ; as tribune, he heard appeals, and his person was sacred ; as iniperator, he commanded the army ; and. as pontifex raaximus, or chief priest, he was the head of the national religion. These were powers originally belonging to the king, but which, during the repubUc, from a fear of centralization, had been distributed among different persons. Now the emperor gathered them up again. t Creasy reckons this among the twelve decisive battles of the world. " Had Arminius been defeated," says Arnold, " our German ancestors would have been en- slaved or exterminated, and the great English nation would have been struck out of existence." 14 A. D.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 257 tentatiously in his house, not in a palace, and his toga was woven by his wife Livia and her maidens. He revived the worship of the gods. His chosen friends were men of letters. He beautified Kome, so that he could truly boast that he ^' found the city of brick, and left it of marble." There was now no fear of pirates or hostile fleets, and grain came in plenty from Egypt. The people were amused and fed ; hence they were contented. The provinces were Avell governed,* and many gained Roman citizenship. A single language became a universal bond of intercourse, and Rome began her work of civilization and education. Wars having so nearly ceased, and interest in politics having diminished, men turned their thoughts more toward literature, art, and religion. The Birth of Christ, the central figure in all history, occurred during the wide-spread peace of this reign. The Empire was, in general, bounded by the Euphrates on the east, the Danube and the Rhine on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the deserts of Africa on the south. It comprised about a hundred millions of people, of perhaps a hundred different nations, each speaking its own language and worshipping its own gods. An army of three hundred and fifty thousand men held the provinces in check, while the Praetorian Guard of ten thousand protected the person of the emperor. The Mediterranean, which the Romans proudly called, " Our own sea," served as a natural highway between the widely-sundered parts of this vast region, while the Roman roads, straight as an eagle's flight, bound every portion of the empire to its center. Every- where, the emperor's will was law. His smile or frown was * One day when Aagustus was sailing in the Bay of Baise, a Greek ship was pass- ing. The sailors, perceiving the emperor, stopped their vessel, arrayed themselves in white robes, and going on board his yacht, offered sacrifice to him as a god, saying, *' you have given to us happiness. You have secured to us our lives and our goods," 258 K O M E . [1st cent. a. d. the fortune or ruin of a man, a city, or a province. His character determined the prosperity of the empire. Henceforth, the history of Rome is not that of the people, but of its emperors.* In the following pages, a brief account is given of the principal monarchs only ; a full list of the emperors may be found, however, on page 311. None of the early emperors was followed by his own son, but, accord- ing to the Roman law of adoption, they all counted as Caesars. Nero was the last of them at all connected with Augustus, even by adoption, though the emperors called themselves Caesar and Augustus to the last. After the death of Augustus, COIN OF TIBERIUS C^SAR. Tiberius (14 a. d.), his step-son, secured the empire by a decree of the senate. The army on the Rhine would have * " Of the sixty-two emperors from Cfesar to Constantine, forty-two were murdergd, three committed suicide, two abdicated or were forced to abdicate, one was killed in a rebellion, one was drowned, one died in war, one died it is not known how, and no more than eleven died in the way of nature. Between the death of Caesar and the accession of Constantine, three hundred and nineteen years elapsed, giving to each Caesar an average reign of five years and two months. Comparing this rate of im- perial mortality against the usual terms of royal lives, the waste appears most strik- ing. The thirty-five sovereigns of England (omitting Cromwell as not affecting the return) since the Conquest have ' lived in the purple ' seven hundred and eighty-seven years— an average of over twenty-two years and five months. The kings of France, from Clovis to Louis Philippe, reigned, on the average, twenty-two years and two months. The German emperors, from the accession of Arnulf to the accession of Francis Joseph, each reigned nineteen years and three months. Even the czars of Russia, from Fedor toNipholas, ruled for fourteen years and ten months each."— 4^^. 14 A. D.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 259 gladly given the tlirone to the noble Germanicus, but he declined the honor. Jealous of his kinsman, Tiberius, it is thought, afterward removed him by poison. The new emperor ruled for a time with much ability, yet soon proved to be a gloomy tyrant,* and finally retired to the island of Caprese, to practice in secret his infamous orgies. His favorite, the cruel and ambitious Sej'anus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard, remained at Rome as the real ruler, but, having conspired against his master, he was thrown into the Mamertine prison and there strangled. Many of the best citizens fell victims to the emperor's suspicious disposition, and all, even the surviving members of his own family, breathed easier when news came of his sudden death. The great event of this reign was the crucifixion of Christ f at Jerusalem, under Pilate, Eoman procurator of Judea. Caligula I (37 a. d.) inherited some of his father's virtues, but he was weak-minded, and his history records only a madman's freaks. He made his favorite horse a consul, and provided him a golden manger. Any one at whom the emperor nodded his head or pointed his finger was at once executed. '' Would," said he, "that all the people at Rome had but one neck, so I could cut it off at a single blow." Nero (54 a. d.) assassinated his mother and wife. In the midst of a gi'eat fire which destroyed a large part of Rome, he chanted a poem to the music of his lyre, while he watched the flames. To secure himself against the charge of having at least spread the fire, he ascribed the confla- * His chat-acter resembled that of Louis XI. See Bj^ief History of France, p. 94, t Over his cross was an inscription in three languages, significant of the three best developments then known of the human race — Koman law, Gbeek mind, and Hebeew faith. t Caius, son of GermanicusandAgrippina— grand-daughter of Augustus— received from the soldiers the nickname of Caligula, by which he is always known, because he wore little boots {caligulcB) while with his father in camp on the Rhine, 260 ROME. [1st cent. a.d. gration to the Christians. These were cruelly persecuted,* St. Paul and St. Peter, according to tradition, being mar- tyred at this time. In rebuilding the cit}^, Nero substi- tuted broad streets for the winding lanes in the hollow between the seven hills, and erected, in place of unsightly piles of brick and wood, handsome stone buildings, each block surrounded by a colonnade. COIN OF NERO. Vespasian (69 a.d.) was made emperor by his army in Judea. An old-fashioned Eoman, he sought to revive the ancient virtues of honesty and frugality. His son Titus, after the capture of Jerusalem (p. 85), shared the throne with his father, and finally succeeded to the empire. His generosity and kindness won him the name of the Delight of Mankind. He refused to sign a death-warrant, and pro- nounced any day lost in which he had not done some one a favor. During this happy period, the famous Colosseum at Rome was finished, and Agricola conquered nearly all Britain, making it a Roman province ; but Pompeii and * Some were crucified. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs. Some were thrown to the tigers and lions in the amphi- theatre. Gray-haired men were forced to fight with trained gladiators. Worst of all, one night Nero's gardens were lighted by Christians, who, their clothes having been smeared with pitch and ignited, were placed as blazing torches along the course on which the emperor, heedless of their agony, drove his chariot in the races. ^9a. JD.j THE t»OLiTicAL iiisToRY. 261 Herculaneuin were destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Domitian * (81 a. d.) was a second Nero or Caligula. His chief amusement was in spearing flies with a pin ; yet he styled himself " Lord and God," and received divine honors. He banished the philosophers, and renewed the persecution of the Christians. At this tinie, St. John was exiled to the isle of Patmos. The Five Good Emperors (96-180 a. d.) now brought in the palmiest days of Eome. Nerva, a quiet, honest old man, distributed lands among the plebs, and taught them to work for a living. Trajan, a great Spanish general, con- quered the Dacians and many Eastern peoples ; founded public libraries and schools in Italy ; and tried to restore freedom of speech and simplicity of life, f Hadrian traveled almost incessantly over his vast empire, overseeing the gov- ernment of the provinces, and erecting splendid buildings. A^itoninus Pius was a second Numa, by his love of justice and religion diffusing the blessings of peace and order over the civilized world. Aurelius X was a philosopher and loved quiet. But the time of peace had passed. The Germans, pressed by the Slaves who lived in Eussia, fled before them, and crossed the Roman frontiers as in the time of Marius. The emperor was forced to take the field in person, and died during the eighth winter-campaign. Decline of the Empire. — The most virtuous of men was succeeded by his son Comraodus, a weak, vicious boy. An era of military despotism ensued. Murder became * Domitian is said to have once called together the senate to decide how a fish should be cooked for his dinner. t Two centuries afterward, at the accession of each emperor, the senate wished that he might be " more fortunate than Augustus, more virtuous than Trajan." X M. Aurelius was the adopted son of Antoninus, and, after the death of his adoptive father, assumed his name, bo that this period is known as the Age of thd Anionines. 26^ HOME. [180 a.©. domesticated in the palace of the Caesars. The Praetorian Guards put up the iinperial power at auction, and sold it to the highest bidder. The armies in the provinces declared for their favorite officers, and the throne became the stake of battle. Few of the long list of emperors who succeeded to the throne are worthy of mention. Septimius Seve'rus (193 a. d.), a general in Germany, after defeating his rivals, ruled vigorously, though often cruelly. His triumphs in Parthia and Britain renewed the glory of the Roman arras. Car'acal'lus (211 a. d.) would be remembered only for his ferocity, but that he gave the right of Roman citizenship to all the provinces, in order to tax them for the benefit of his soldiers. This event marked an era in the history of the empire, knd greatly lessened the importance of Rome. Alexander Seve'rus (222 a. d.) delighted in the society of the wise and good. He favored the Christians, and over the door of his palace were inscribed the words, ^^Do unto others that which you would they should do unto you." He won victories against the Germans and Persians (Sassanidae, p. 156), but, attempting to establish discipline in the army, was slain by his mutinous troops while he was yet only in the bloom of youth. The Barbarian G-oths, Germans, and Persians, who had so long threatened the empire, invaded it on every side. The emperor Decius was killed in battle by the Goths. Galhfs bought peace by an annual tribute. Valerian was taken prisoner by the Persian king, who carried him about in chains, and used him as a footstool in mounting his horse. The temple at Ephesus was burned at this time by the Goths. During the general confusion, so many usurpers sprang up over the empire and established short-lived kingdoms, that this is known as the Era of the Thirty Tyrants. 268 A. D.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 263 The Illyrian Emperors (268-284 a. d.), however, rolled back the tide of invasion. Claudius vanquished the Goths in a contest which recalled the days of Marius and the Gauls. Aurelian drove the Germans into their native wilds, and de- feated Zenobia, the beautiful and heroic Queen of Palmyra, bringing her to Rome in chains of gold to grace his triumph. Frobus triumphed at the East and the West, and, turning to the arts of peace, introduced the vine into Germany, and taught the legions to work in vineyard and field. Diode' tian began a new method of government. To meet the swarm- ing enemies of the empire, he associated with himself his comrade-in-arms, Maximian ; each emperor took the title of Augustus, and appointed, under the name of Caesar, a brave general as his successor. War raged at once in Persia, Eg}73t, Britain, and Germany, but the four rulers vigilantly watched over their resjDCctive provinces, and the Roman eagles conquered every foe. In the year 303 A. d., the joint emperors celebrated the last triumph ever held at Rome. During the same year, also, began the last and most bitter persecution of the Christians,* so that this reign is called the Era of the Martyrs. Spread of Christianity. — The religion established in Judea by Christ, and preached during the 1st century by Paul and the other Apostles (see Acts of the Apostles), had now spread over the w^estern empire. It w^as largely, how- ever, confined to the cities, as is curiously shown in the fact that the word pagan originally meant only a countryman. While the Romans tolerated the religious belief of every nation which they conquered, they persecuted the Christians alone. This was because the latter opposed the national * In 305 A. D., both emperors resigned tlie purple. Diocletian amused himself by working in his garden, and when Maximian sought to draw him out of his retire- ment, he wrote : " If you could see the cabbages I have planted with my own hand, you would never ask me to remount the throne." 364 ROME. i4TH CEKT. A. D. religion of the empire, refused to offer sacrifice to its gods, and to worship its emperors. Moreover, the Christians absented themselves from the games and feasts, and were accustomed to hold their meetings at night, and often in secret. They were therefore looked upon as enemies of the state, and were persecuted by even the best rulers, as Trajan and Diocletian. This opposition, however, served only to strengthen the rising faith. The heroism of the martyrs extorted the admiration of their enemies. Thus, when Poly- carp was hurried before the tribunal and urged to curse Christ, he exclaimed "Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me nothing but good ; how could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour." And when the flames rose around him he thanked God that he was deemed worthy of such a death. With the decaying empire, heathenism grew weaker, while Christianity gained strength. As early as the reign of Septimius Severus, Tertullian declared that if the Christians were forced to emigrate, the empire would become a desert. Loss of Roman Prestige. — Men no longer looked to Rome for their citizenship. The army consisted principally of Gauls, Germans, and Britons, who were now as good Eo- mans as any. The emperors were of provincial birth. The wars kept them on the frontiers, and Diocletian, it is said, had never seen Rome until he came there in the twentieth year of his reign to celebrate his triumph. His gorgeous Asiatic court, with its pompous ceremonies and its king wearing the hated crown, was so ridiculed in Rome by song and lampoon that the monarch never returned. His headquarters were kept at Nicomedia (Bithynia) in Asia Minor, and Maximian's at Milan. Constantine, the Caesar in Britain, having been pro- claimed Augustus by his troops, overthrew five rivals who 324 A. D.J THE POLITICAL 11 i S T H 1' . 2G5 contested the throne, and became sole nilcr (324 A. d.). His reign marked an era in the world's history. It was charac- terized by three changes : 1. Christianity became, in a sense, the state-religion.* 2. The capital was removed to Byzantium, a Greek city, afterward known as Constantinople (Constantine's city). 3. The monarchy was made an abso- lute despotism, the army being remodeled so as to weaken its power, and a court established, with its titled nobility, who received their honors directly from the emperor, and took rank with, if not the place of, the former consul, senator, or patrician. The First General ((Ecumenical) Council of the church was held at Nice (325 A. d.), to consider the teachings of Arius, a priest of Alexandria, who denied the divinity of Christ. Christianity soon conquered the empire. The emperor Julicm, the Apostate, an excellent man though a pagan philosopher, sought to restore the old religion, but in vain. The best intellects, repelled from political discussion by the tyranny of the government, turned to the consideration of theological questions. This was especially true of the Eastern church, where the Greek mind, so fond of metaphysical subtleties, was predominant. Barbarian Invasions. — In the latter part of the 4th century, a host of savage Huns,f bursting into Europe, drove * According to the legend, when Constantine was marching against Maxentias, the rival Augustus at Rome, he saw in the sky at midday a flaming cross, and beneath it the words. In this conqueb ! Constantine accepted the new faith, and assumed the standard of the cross, which was henceforth borue by the Christian emperors. t The Huns were a Turanian race from Asia. They were short, thick-set, with flat noses, deep-sunk eyes, and a yellow complexion. Their faces were hideously scarred with slashes to prevent the growth of the beard. A historian of the time com- pared them in their ugliness to the grinning heads clumsily carved on the posts of bridges. They built no cities or houses, and never came under a roof except in superstitious dread. They were clad in skins, which were never changed until they rotted oflF. They lived on horseback, carrying their families and all their possessions in huge wagons. fiee ROME. [378 A. D. the Teutons in terror before them. The frightened Goths * obtained permission to cross the Danube for an asykim, and soon a million of these wild warriors stood sword in hand on the Roman territory. They were assigned lands in Thrace ; but the ill-treatment of the Roman officials drove them to arms. They defeated the emperor Valens in a terrible battle near Adrianople, the monarch himself being burned to death in a peasant's cottage, where he had been carried wounded. The victorious Goths pressed forward to the very gates of Constantinople. Theodosins the Great, a Spaniard, raised from a farm to the throne, stayed for a few years the inevitable progress of events. He pacified the Goths, and enlisted forty thousand of their warriors under the eagles of Rome. He forbade the worship of the old gods, and tried to put down the Arian heresy, so prevalent at Constantinople. At his death (395 A. D.), the empire was divided between his two sons. Henceforth, the histories of the Eastern or Byzantine and the Western Empire are separate. The former is to go on at Constantinople for one thousand- years, while Rome is soon to pass into the hands of the barbarians. The 5th Century is known as the Era of the Great Migration. During this period, Europe was turbulent with the movements of the restless Germans. Pressed by the Huns, the different tribes — the East and West Goths, Franks, Alans, Vandals, Burgundians, Longobards (Lombards), Al- lemanns. Angles, Saxons — poured south and west with irre- * The Goths were already somewhat advanced in civilization through their inter- course with the Romans, and we read of Gothic leaders who were "judges of Homer, and carried well-chosen books with them on their travels." Under the teachings of their good bishop Ul'philas, many accepted Christianity, and the Bible was translated into their language. They, however, became Arians, and so a new element of discord was introduced, as they hated the Catholic Christians of Rome. See Bii,ef History of France, p. 14. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 267 sistible furj, arms in hand, seeking new homes in the crumbling Roman empire. It was nearly two centuries before the turmoil subsided enough to note the changes which had taken place. Three Great Barbaric Leaders, Alaric the Goth, Attila the Hun, and Genseric the Vandal, were conspicuous in the grand catastrojjhe. 1. Alaric having been chosen prince of the Goths, after the death of Theodosins, passed the defile of Thermopylse, and devastated Greece, destroying the precious monuments of its former glory. Sparta and Athens, once so brave, made no defence. He was finally driven back by Stilicho, a Van- dal, but the only great Roman general. Alaric next moved upon Italy, but was repeatedly rej)nlsed by the watchful Stilicho. The Roman emperor Honorins, jealous of his successful general, ordered his execution. When Alaric came again, there was no one to oppose his progTCss. All the barbarian Germans, of every name, joined his*victorions arms. Rome * bought a brief respite with a ransom of " gold, silver, silk, scarlet cloth, and pepper"; but the Eternal City, which had not seen an enemy before its w^alls since the day when it defied Hannibal, soon fell without a blow (410 A. D.). Xo Horatius was there to hold the bridge in this hour of peril. The gates were thrown open, and at midnight the Gothic trumpet awoke the inhabitants. For six days the barbarians held high revel, and then their clumsy * " Eome, at this time, contained probably a million of inhabitants, and its wealth might well attract the cupidity of the barbarous invader. The palaces of the senators were filled with gold and silver ornaments — the prize of many a bloody campaign. The churches were rich with the contributions of pious worshippers. On the en- trance of the Goths, a fearful scene of pillage ensued. Houses were fired to light the streets. Great numbers of citizens were driven ofE to be sold as sla^•es ; while others fled to Africa, or the islands of the Mediterranean. Alaric being an Arian, tried to save the churches, as well as the city, from destruction. But now began that swift decay which soon reduced Eome to heaps of ruins, and rendered the title ' The Eternal City ' a sad mockery."— /Swi^^. ^6B kOM£. wagons, heaped high with priceless plunder, moved south along the Appian Way. Alaric died soon after.* His suc- cessor married the sister of the emperor, f and was styled an officer of Eome. Under his guidance, the Goths and Germans turned westward into Spain and southern Gaul. There they founded a powerful Visigothic kingdom, with Toulouse as its capital. 2. Attilay king of the hideous Huns, gathering a half million savages, set forth westward from his wooden palace in Hungary, vowing not to stop till he reached the sea. He called himself the Scourge of God, and boasted that where his horse set foot grass never grew again. On the field of Chalons (451 A. D.), ^'tius the Ro- man general in Gaul, and Theodoric king of the Goths, arrested this Tu- ranian horde, and saved ^Trrii^, Europe to Christianity and Aryan civilization. Burn- ing with revenge, Attila crossed the Alps and descended * The Goths, in order to hide his tomb, turned aside a stream, and, dig^ng a grave in its bed, placed therein the body, clad in richegt armor. They then let the water back, and slew the prisoners who had done the work. + During this disgraceful campaign, Honorius lay hidden in the inaccessible morasses of Bavenna, where he amused himself with his pet chickens. When some one told him Eome was lost, he replied, " That cannot be, for 1 fed her out of my hand a moment ago," alluding to a hen which he caDed Borne. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 269 into Italy. City after city was spoiled and burned.* Just as he was about to march upon Rome, Pope Leo came forth to meet him, and the barbarian, awed by his majestic mien and the glory which yet clung to that seat of empire, agreed to spare the city. Attila returned to the banks of the Danube, where he died shortly after, leaving behind him in history no mark save the ruin he had wrought. 3. Gen'seric, leading across into Africa the Vandals, who had already settled the province of Vandal\\^\?i in southern Spain, founded an empire at Carthage. Wishing to revive its former maritime greatness, he built a fleet and gained control of the Mediterranean. His ships cast anchor in the Tiber, and the intercessions of Leo were now fruitless to save Eome. For fourteen days, the pirates plundered the city of the Caesars. Works of art, bronzes, precious marbles, were ruthlessly destroyed, so that the word Vandal became synonymous with wanton devastation. Fall of the Roman Empire (476 a. d.). — The com- mander of the barbarian troops in the pay of Eome now set up at pleasure one puppet-emperor after another. The last of these phantom monarchs, Romulus August ulus, by a sin- gular coincidence, bore the names of the founder of the city, and of the empire. Finally, at the command of Odo'acer, German chief of the mercenaries, he laid down his useless sceptre. The senate sent the tiara and purple robe to Con- stantinople, and Zeno, the Eastern emperor, appointed Odoacer Patrician of Italy. So the Western empire passed away, and only this once proud title remained to recall its former glory. * The inhabitants of Aquileia and other cities, seeking a refuge in the islands of the Adriatic, founded the city of Yenice, fitly named The Eldest Daughter of the Empire, 270 KOME. ROMAN CONSUL AND LICTORS. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. Society. — The early Roman social and political organization was similar to the Athenian (p. 158). The true Roman people comprised only the patricians and their dienis. The patricians formed the ruling class, and, even in the time of the republic, gave to Roman history an aristocratic character. Several clients were attached to each patrician, serving his interests, and, in tuni, being protected by him. The three original tribes of patricians (Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres) were each divided into ten curice, and each cuj^ia theoreti- cally into ten gentes (houses, or clans). The members of a Roman curia, or ward, like those of an Athenian phrairy, possessed many interests in common, each curia having its own priest and lands. A gens comprised several families,* united usually by kinship and * Contrary to the custom in Greece, where family-names were seldom used, and a man was generally known by a single name having reference to some personal pecu- liarity or circumstance (p. 175), every Roman was given three names : the prcenomen or individual name, the nomen or clan-name, and the cognomen or family-name. Sometimes a fourth name was added to commemorate some exploit. Thus, in the case of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and his brother, Laelius Cornelius Scipio* Asiaticus (note, p. 235), we recognize all these titles, ' THE CIVILIZATION. 271 intermarriage, and bearing the same name. Besides this general organization, each family formed a little community by itself, governed by its "paterfamilias," who owned all the property and held the life of his cliildren at will. The sous dwelt under the patenial roof, often long after they were married, and cultivated the family estate in common. Magistrates. — The consuls commanded the army, and executed the decrees of the senate and the people. They were chosen annually. They wore a white robe with a purple border, and were attended by twelve lictors bearing the axe and rods, emblems of the consular power. At the api^roach of a consul, all heads w^ere uncovered, seatefl persons arose, and those on horseback dismounted. JSTo one was eligible to the consulship until he was forty-three years of age, and had held the offices of questor, sedile, and praetor. The questors received and paid out the moneys of the state. The cediles, two (and, afterward, four) in number, took charge of the public buildings, the cleaning and draining of the streets, and the superintendence of the police and the public games. The prcetor was a sort of judge. At first there was only one, but, finally, owing to the increase of Roman territory, there were sixteen of these officers. In the later days of the republic it became custom- ary for the consuls and the prsetors, after serving a year in the city, to take command of jorovinces, and to assume the title of proconsul or propraetor. The two censors were elected for five years. They took the cen- sus, not only of the names but of the property of the Roman citizens ; arranged the different classes (p. 213) ; corrected the lists of senators and equites, striking out those who were unworthy, and filling vacan- cies in the senate; punished extravagance and immorality; levied the taxes; and repaired and constructed public works, roads, etc. The Army. — Every citizen between the ages of seventeen and fifty was subject to military service, unless he was of the lowest class, oi had seiwed twenty campaigns in the infantry or ten in the cavalry. The drill was severe, and included running, jumping, swimming in full armor, and marching long distances at the rate of four miles pei hour. The order of battle, equipment, etc., varied at different times. Among the peculiarities were the four classes of foot-soldiers, viz.'. the velites, or light armed, who hovered in front ; the hastati, so-called because they anciently carried spears, and who foi'med the first line of battle ; the princlpes^ so-named because in early times they were put in front, and who formed the second line; and the triani, veterans who composed the third line. Each legion contained from 272 ROME three to six thousand men. The legions were divided and sub- divided into cohorts, companies (manipuli), and centuries. Arms and Mode of Warfare. — The national arm of the Romans was the pilum^ a heavy iron-pointed spear, six feet long, and weighing ten or eleven pounds. This was thrown at a distance of ten to fifteen paces, after whicli the legionary quickly came to. blows with his stout, short sword. The velites began the battle with their light javelins, and then retired behind the rest. The hastati, the principes, and the triarii, each, in turn, bore the brunt of the fight, and, if defeated, passed through intervals between the man- ipuli of the other lines, and rallied in the rear.* SIEGE OF A CITY. * Later in Roman history the soldier ceased to be a citizen, and remained con- stantly with the eagles until discharged. Marius arranged his troops in two lines, THE CIVILIZATION. 273 The Romans learned from the Greeks the use of military engines, anrl finally became experts in the art of sieges. Their principal machines were the halUda for throwing stones ; the catapult for hurl- ing- darts ; the battering ram (so-called from the shape of the inetal head) for breaching walls ; and the movable towei\ which could be pushed close to the fortifications and so overlook them. On the march each soldier had to carry, besides his arms, grain enough to last from seventeen to thirty days, one or more wooden stakes, and, often, intrenching tools. When the army halted, even for a single night, a ditch was dug about the site for the camp, and a stout palisade made of the Avooden stakes, to guard against a sudden attack. The exact size of the camp, and the location of every tent, street, etc. , were fixed by a regular plan common to all the armies. Literature. — For about five centuries after the founding of Rome, there was not a Latin author. When a regard for letters at last arose, the tide of imitation set irresistibly toward Greece. Over two centuries after ^schylus and Sophocles contended for the Athenian prize, Lhius Andronicus, a Grecian-bom slave (brought to Rome about 250 b. c), made the first Latin translation of Greek classics, and himself wrote and acted* plays whose inspiration was caught from the same source. His works soon became text-books in Roman schools, and were used till the time of Virgil. JVcevius^ a soldier-poet, " the last of the native minstrels,'' patterned after Euripides m tragedy, and Aristophanes in comedy. The Romans resented the exposure of their national and individual weaknesses on the stage, sent the bold satirist to prison, and finally banished him. Ennius, " the father of Latin song," who called himself the Roman '' Homer," and w^ho unblushingly borrowed from his great model, decried the native fashion of ballad-writing, introduced hexameter verse, and built up a new style of literature, closely and C&esar generally in three, but the terms hastati, principes, and triarii lost their significance. The place of the velites was taken by Cretan archers, Balearic sllngers, and Gallic and German mercenaries. In time, the army was filled with foreigners ; the heavy pilum and breastplate were thrown aside ; all trace of Koman equipment and discipline disappeared, and the legion became a thing of the past, * JPor a long time, he was the only performer in these dramas. He recited the dialogues and speeches, and sung the lyrics to the accompaniment of a flute. So favorably was the new entertainment received by Roman audiences, and so often was the successful actor encored, that he lost his voice, and was obliged to hire a boy, who. hidden behind a curtain, sung the canticas, whUe Livius, in front, made the appropriate gestures. This custom afterward became common on the Koman stage. 274 ROME. founded on the Grecian.* His Annals^ a poetical Roman history, was for two centuries the national poem of Rome. Eunius, unlike Naevius. flattered the ruling powers, and was rewarded by having his bust placed in the tomb of the Scipios. Plautus (254-184 b. c), who pictured with his coarse, vigorous, and brilliant wit the man- ners of his day, and Terence (195-159 b. c), a learned and graceful humorist, were the two great comic poets of Rome.f They were succeeded hy Lucilius (148-103 B.C.), a brave soldier and famous knight, whose shar^), fierce satire was poured relentlessly on Roman vice and folly. Among the early prose writers was Gato the Censor (234-149 b. c), son of a Sabine farmer, who became famous as lawyer, orator, soldier, and politician (p. 234). His hand-book on agriculture, De Be Rustica, is still studied l>y tiirmers, and over one hundred and fifty of his strong, rugged orations find a place among the classics. His chief work, The Origmes, a history of Rome, is lost. Varro (116-28 b. c), " the most learned of the Romans," first soldier, then farmer and author, wrote on theology, jDhilosophy, history, agriculture, etc. He founded large libraries and a museum of sculpture, cultivated the fine arts, and sought to awaken literary ' tastes among his countrymen. To the last century b. c. belong the illustrious names of Yirgil and Horace, Cicero, Livy, and Sallust. First in order of birth was Cicero,l orator, essayist, and delightful letter-writer. Most elo- * Enniiis claimed that the soul of the old Greek bard had in its transmigration entered his body from its preceding home in a peacock. He so impressed his intel- lectual personality upon the Romaus that they were sometimes called the "Ennian People." Cicero greatly admired his works, and Virgil borrowed as unscrupulously from Ennius, as Ennius had filched from Homer. t It is noticeable that of all the poets we have mentioned, not one was bom at Rome. Livius was a slave from Magna Grsecia ; Naevius was a native of Campania ; Ennius was a Calabrian, who came to Rome as a teacher of Greek ; Plautus (meaning flat-foot— his name being, like Plato, a sobriquet) was an Umbrian, the son of a slave, and served in various menial employments before he began play-writing: and Terence was the slave of a Roman senator. To be a Roman slave, however, was not incompatible with the possession of talents and education, since, by the pitiless rules of ancient warfare, the richest and most learned citizen of a captured town might become a drudge in a Roman household, or be sent to labor in the mines. :;: Marcus Tullins Cicero (106 43 B. c ), son of a book-loving, country gentleman, was educated at Rome, studied law and philosophy at Athens, traveled two y§ars in Asia Minor, and then settled in Rome as an advocate. Plunging into the politics of his time, he soon became fomous for his thrilling oratory, and was made, in succes- sion, questor, aedile, prgetor. and consul. For his detection of Catiline's conspiracy, he received the title of Pater Patriae. His subsequent banishment, recall, and tragic death are historical (p. 248). Cicero was accused of being vain, vacillating, unamiable, and extravagant. He had an elegant mansion on the Palatine HUl and THE ClVILIZATIOIf. 275 quent of all the Romans, bis genius was not exhausted in the rude contests of the forum and basilica, but his thoughtful political essays, and his gossipy letters, are esteemed as highly as his brilliant orations. He studied Greek models, and his four orations on the Conspiracy of Catiline rank not unfavorably with the Philippics of Demosthenes. His orations were used for lessons in Roman schools before he died, and, w4th his essays, De BepuUica, De Officiis, and Be Senectute^ are familiar Latin text-books of to-day. Sallust* a polished historian after the style of Thucydides, holds his literary renown by two short w^orks — The Conspiracy of Catiline and Hie Jugurthine War^ which are remarkable for their condensed \\gov and vivid portrayal of character. Virgil\ and Horace, poet-friends of the Augustan Age, are w^ell- known to us. Yirgil left ten Eclogues or Bucolics, in which he patterned after Theocritus, a celebrated Sicilian poet of the Alexandrian Age ; The Georgics, a work on Roman agriculture and stock-breeding, in confessed imitation of Hesiod's Works and Bays; and the ^neid, modeled upon the Homeric poems. His tender, numerous country villas, his favorite one at Tusculum being buUt on the plan of the Academy at Atliens. Hei-e he walked and talked with his friends in a pleasant imi- tation of Aristotle, and here he had a magnificent library of handsomely-bound volumes, to which he contmually added rare M'orks, copied by his skillful Greek slaves. Hi.=. favorite poet was Euripides, whose Medea, it is said, he was reading when he was overtaken by his assassinators. * Cahis Sallustius Crispus (86-34 b. c), who was expelled from the senate for immorality, served afterward in the civil war, and was made governor of Numidia by Julius Caesar. He grew enormously rich on his provincial plunderings, and returned to Rome to build a magnificent palace on the edge of the Campus Martius, where, in the midst of beautiful gardens, groves, and flowers, he devoted his remain- ing years to study and friendship. t The small paternal estate of Publius Virgilius- Maro (70-19 B.C.), which was confiscated after the fall of the republic, was restored to him by Augustus. The young country poet, who had been educated in Cremona, Milan, and Naples, ex- pressed his gratitude for the imperial favor in. a Bucolic (shepherd-poem), one of several addressed to various friends. Their merit and noveltj' — for they were the first Latin pastorals— attracted the notice of Maecenas, the confidential adviser of the em- peror; and, presently, "the tall, slouching, somewhat plebeian figure of Virgil was seen among the brilliant crowd of courtiers, statesmen, artists, poets, and historians who thronged the audience-chamber of the popular minister," in his sumptuous palace on the Esquiline Hill. Maecenas, whose wealth equaled his luxurious tastes, took great delight in encouraging men of letters, being himself well versed in Greek and Roman literature, the fine arts, and natural history. Acting upon his advice, Virgil wrote the Georgics, upon which he spent seven years. The JEneid was written to please Augustus, whose ancestiy it traces back to the " pious ^neas" of Troy, the hero of the poem. In his last illness, Virgil, who had not yet polished his great work to suit his fastidious tastes, would have destroyed it but for the entreaties of his friends. In accordance with his dying request, he was buried near Naples, where his tomb is still shown above the PosiUppo Grotto. 2?C ROME J^rilliant, graceful, musical lines are on the tongue of every Latin student. The j^neid became a text-book for the little Romans within fifty years after its author's death, and has never lost its place in th»i school-room. CICERO, VIRGIL, HORACE, AND SALLUST. Horace* in his early writings, imitated Archilochus and Lucilius, and himself says : " The shafts of my passion at random I flung, And, dashing headlong into petulant rhyme, I recked neither where nor how fiercely I stung." — <9rfel. 15. * Qidntus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 b. c), " the wit who never wounded, the poet who ever charmed, the friend who never failed," was the son of a freedman, who o^ave his hoy a thorough Roman education, and afterward sent him to Athens— still the school of the world. Here he joined the army of Brutus, but after the defeat at Phi] ippi— where his bravery resembled that of Archilochus and Alcaeus (p. 164)— he returned to Rome to find his father dead, and all his little fortune confiscated. Of this time, he afterward wrote : " Want stared me in the face ; so then and there I took to scribbling verse in sheer despair." The proceeds of his poems and the gifts of friends bought him a clerkship in the questor's department, and made him modestly independent. Virgil introduced him THE CIVILIZATION. 277 But his kind, genial nature soon tempered this '' petulant rliyme." His Satires are rambling, sometimes ironical, and always witty, dis- courses. Like Virgil, he loved to sing of country lite. He wrote laboriously, and carefully studied all his metaphors and phrases. His Odes have a consuumiate grace and finish. Licy,^ who outlived Horace by a quarter of a century, wrote one hundred and forty-two volumes of Roman Hidory, beginning wdth the fabulous landing of JEneas, and closing with the death of Drusus (8 B. c). Thirty-five volumes remain. His grace, enthusiasm, and eloquence make his pages delightful £o read, though he is no longer accepted as an accurate historian. The First Century a. d. produced the two Plinys, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Seneca. Pliny the Elder f is remembered for his Natural History^ a work of thirty-seven volumes, covering tlie whole range of the scientific knowledge of his time. Pliny the Younger^ the charming letter-writer, and Tacitus, the orator and historian, two rich, eloquent, and distinguished noble- men, were among the most famous mtellectual men of their time.| to Maecenas, who took Mm into an almost romantic friendship, lasting through life. From this generous patron, he received the gift of the " Sahiue Farm,"' to which he retired, and which he has immortalized by his descriptions. He died a few months after his " dear knight Maecenas," to whom he had declared nearly a score of years before, " Ah, if untimely Fate should snatch thee hence, Thee, of my soul a part," " Think not that I have sworn a bootless oath, For we shall go, shall go. Hand linked in hand, where'er thou leadest, both The last sad road below." He was buried on the Esquiline Hill, by the side of his princely friend. * Titus Livius (59 B. c.-lT a. d.). Little is known of his private life except that he was the friend of the Caesars. So great was his renown in his own time that, ac- cording to legend, a Spaniard traveled from Cadiz to Eome to see him, looked upon him, and contentedly retraced his journey. t Of this Pliny's incessant research, his nephew (Pliny the Younger) writes : " From the twenty-third of August he began to study at midnight, and through the winter he rose at one or two in the morning. During his meals a book was read to him, he taking notes while it went on, for he read nothing without making extracts. In fact he thought all time lost which was not given to study." Besides his Natural History, Pliny the Elder wrote over sixty books on History, Ehetoric, Education, and Military Tactics ; he also left " one hundred and sixty volumes of Extracts, written on both sides of the leaf, and in the minutest hand." His eagerness to learn cost him his life, for he perished in approaching too near Vesuvius, in the great eruption which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum (79 a. d.). X Tacitus was sitting one day in the circus watching the games, when a stranger entered into a learned disquisition with him, and, after a whUe, inquired, " Are y©u 278 . HOME. They scanned and criticised each other's manuscript, and became by th'iir intimacy so linked with each other that they were jointly remembered in people's w^ills, legacies to friends being the fashion of the day. Of the writings of Tacitus, there remain a part of the Annals and the History of Home, a treatise on Germany, and a Life of Agricola. Of Pliny, we have only the Epistles and an Eulogium ujjon Trajan. The style of Tacitus was grave and stately, sometimes sarcastic or ironical ; that of Pliny was vivid, graceful, and circum- stantial. Seneca (7 b. C.-65 a. d.), student, poet, orator, and stoic philoso- pher, employed his restless intellect in brilliant ethical essays, trag- edies, and instructive letters written for the public eye.* His teach- ings were remarkable for their moral purity, and the Christian Fathers called him ''The Divine Pagan." Juvenal, the mocking, eloquent, cynical satirist, belongs to the close of the century. His writings are unsurpassed in scathing denunciations of vice.t Libraries and Writing Materials.— The Roman stationery differed little from the Grecian. The passion for collecting books was now so great that private libraries sometimes contained over sixty thousand volumes.| The scriboe and librarii, slaves who were attached to library service, were an important jDart of a Roman gen- tleman's household. Fifty or a hundred copies of a book were often made at the same time, one scribe reading while the others of Italy or from the provinces? " " You know me from your reading," replied the historian. " Then," rejoined the other, " you must be either Tacitus or Pliny." * Seneca was the tutor and guardian of the young Nero, and in later days carried his friendship so far as to write a defence of the murder of Agrippina. But Nero was poor and in debt ; Seneca was immensely rich. To charge him with conspiracy, sentence him to death, and seize his vast estates, was a policy characteristic of Nero. Seneca, then an old man, met his fate bravely and cheerfully. His young wife re- solved to die with him, and opened a vein in her arm with the same weapon with which he had punctured his own, but Nero ordered her wound to be ligatured. As Seneca suffered greatly in dying, his slaves, to shorten his pain, suffocated him in a vapor bath. t Juvenal's style is aptly characterized in his description of another noted satirist : " But when Lucilius, fired with virtuous rage. Waves his keen falchion o'er a guilty age, The conscious vUlain shudders at his sin. And burning blushes speak the pangs within ; Cold drops of sweat from every member roll, And growing terrors harrow up his soul." t Seneca ridiculed the fashionable pretensions of illiterate men who "adorn their rooms with thousands of books, the titles of which are the delight of the yawning owner." THE CIVILIZATIOIT 279 wrote* Papyrus, as it was less expensive than parchment, was the favorite writing material. The thick black ink used in writing was prepared from soot and gum ; red ink was employed for ruling the columns. The Egyptian reed-pen (calamm) was still in vogue. ROMAN LIBRARY. * A book was written upon separate strips of papyms. When the woik was completed, the strips were glued together; the last page was fastened to a hollow reed, over which the whole was wound ; the bases of the roll were carefully cut, smoothed, and dyed ; a small stick was passed through the reed, the ends of which were adorned with ivory, golden, or painted knobs {umbilici) ; the roll was wrapped in parchment, to protect it from the ravages of worms, and the title-label was affixed :— the book was then ready for the library shelf or circular case (scrinium). The portrait of the author usually appeared on the first page, and the title of the book was written both at the beginning and the end. Sheets of parchment were folded and sewed in different sizes, like modern books.— An author read the first manuscript of his new work before as large an audience as he could command, and judged from its recep- tion wheiher it would pay to publish. "If you want to recite," says Juvenal, " Maculonus will lend you his house, will range his freedmen on the furthest benches, and will put in the proper places his strong-lunged friends (these corresponded to our modern claqueurs or hired applauders) ; but he will not give what it costs to hire the benches, set up the galleries, and fill the stage with chairs." These readings often became a bore, and Pliny writes : "This year has brought us a great crop of poets. Audiences come slowly and reluctantly ; even then they do not srop, but go away before the end ; some indeed by stealth, others with perfect openness." 280 ROMi:. There were twenty-nine public libraries at Rome, of which the Ulpian, founded by Trajan, was the most important. . Education. — As early as 450 b. c. Rome had elementary schools, where boys and girls were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and music. The Roman boy mastered his aljihabet at home, as most children do now, by playing with lettered blocks. At school, he chanted the letters, syllables, and words in class, after the teacher's dictation. His arithmetical calculations were carried on by the aid of his fingers, or with stone counters and a tablet ruled in columns — the counters expressing certain values according to the columns on which they were placed. He learned to write on wax tablets (p. 178), his little fingers being guided by the firm hand of the master; afterv/ard he used pen and ink, and the blank side of second-hand slips of pajDyrus.* Boys of wealthy parents were accompanied to school by a slave, who carried their books, writing tablets, and count- ing boards, and also by a Greek pedagogue, who, in addition to other duties, jDractised them in his native language. Girls were attended to and from school by female slaves. Livius Andronicus opened a new era in school education. Ennius, Nsevius, and Plautus added to the text-books introduced by him, and the study of Greek became general. In later times, there were excellent higher schools where the master-pieces of Greek and Latin literature were carefully analyzed. National jurisprudence was not neglected, and every school-boy was expected to repeat the Twelve Tables from memory. Rhetoric and declamation were given great importance, and boys tw^elve years old delivered set harangues on the most solemn occasions.! As at Athens, the boy of sixteen years * The copies set for him were usually some moral maxim, and, doubtless, many a Roman school-boy labored over that trite proverb quoted from Menander by Paul, and which still graces many a writing-book : '"Evil communications corrupt good manners."— Roman schoolmasters were very severe in the use of the ferula. Plautus says that for missing a single letter in his reading, a boy was " striped like his nm-se's cloak" with the black and blue spots left by the rod. Horace, two centuries later, anathematized his teacher as Orbilius plagosus (Orbilius of the birch) ; and Martial, the witty epigrammatist and friend of Juvenal, declares that in his time " the morn- ing air resounded with the noise of floggings and the cries of suffering urchins." t Julius Caesar pronounced in his twelfth year the funeral oration of his aunt, and Augustus performed a similar feat. The technical rules of rhetoric and declamation were so minute, that, while they gave no play for genius, they took away the risk of failure. Not only the form, the turns of thought, the cadences, everything except the actual words, w(;re modeled to a pattern, but the manner, the movements, the ar- rangement of the dress, and the tones of the voice, were subject to rigid rules. The hair was to be sedulously coifed ; explicit directions governed the use of the hand- kerchief ; the orator's steps in advance or retreat, to right or to left, were all num- bered. He might rest only so many minutes on each foot, and place one only so THE CIVILIZATION^ 281 ROMAN TOGA. formally entered into manhood, tlie event being celebrated with certain ceremonies at home and in the Forum, and by the assumption of a new style of toga, or rol)e. He was now allowed to attend the instruction of any philoso- pher or rhetorician he chose, and to visit the Forum and Tribunals, being generally escorted by some man of note selected by his father. He finished his education by a course in Athens. Monuments and Art. — The early Italian Temples were copied from the Etruscans ; the later ones were modifi- cations of the Grecian. Round temples (Etruscan) were commonly, dedicated to Yesta or Diana; sometimes a dome* and portico were added, as in the Pantheon. The Basilica^ or Hall of Justice, was usually rectangular, and divided into three or five aisles by rows of columns, the middle aisle l)eing widest. At the extremity, was a semicircular, arched recess {apse) for the tribunal, in front of which was an altar — all important public business being preceded by sacrifice. Magnijicent Palaces were built by the Caesars, of which the Golden House of Nero, begun on the Palatine and extending by means of intermediate structures to the Esquiline, is a familiar examjDle.t At Tibur (the modem Tivoli), Hadrian had a variety of many inches before the other ; the elbow must not rise above a certain angle ; the fingers should be set off with rings, but not too many or tO(j large ; and, in raising the hand to exhibit them, care must be taken not to disturb the head-dress. Every emotion had its prescribed gesture, and the heartiest applause of the audience was for the perfection of the pantomime. To run smoothly in all these physical as well as mental grooves of fashion, required incessant p.ractice, and Augustus, it is said, "never allowed a day to pass without spending an hour in declamation, to keep his lungs in regular exercise and maintain the armory of dialectics furbished for ready VLsey—Merivale's Romans. * Vaulted domes and large porticoes are characteristic of Eoman architecture. The favorite column was the Corinthian, for which a new composite capital was in- vented. The foundation stone of a temple was laid on the day consecrated to the god to whom it was erected, and the building was made to face the point of the sun's rising on that morning. The finest specimens of Roman temple architecture are at Palmyra and Baalbec in Syria. t A court in front, surrounded by a triple colonnade a mile Ion.';, contained the :83 ROME. structures, imitating and named after the most celebrated buildings of different provinces, such as the temple of Serapis at Canopus in Egypt, and the Lyceum and Academy at Athens. Even the valley of TemiDe, and Hades itself, were here typified in a labyrinth of subterranean chambers. In Military Roads, Bridges, Aqueducts, and Harbors, the Romans displayed great genius. Even the splendors of Nero's golden house dwindles into nothing compared with the harbor of Ostia, the drainage works of the Fucinine Lake, and the two large aqueducts, Aqua Claudia and Anio Nova.* Military Roads. — Unlike the Greeks, who generally left their roads where chance or custom led, the Romans sent out their strong iiighways in straight lines from the capital, overcoming all natural difficulties as they went ; filling in hollows and marshes, or spanning them with viaducts ; tunneling rocks and mountains ; bridging streams and valleys ; sparing neither time, labor, nor money to make them perfect.t Along the principal ones were placed temples, emperor's statue, one hundred and twenty feet high. In other courts were gardens, vineyards, meadows, great artificial ponds with rows of houses on their banks, and woods inhabited by tame and ferocious animals. The walls of the rooms were covered with gold and jewels ; and the ivory with which the ceiling of the dining- halls was inlaid was made to slide back, so as to admit a rain of roses or fragrant waters on the heads of the carousers. Under Otho, this gigantic building was con- tinued at an expense of over $2,500,000, but only to be pulled down for the greater part by Vespasian. Tituserected his Baths on the Esquiline foundation of the Golden Palace, and the Colosseum covers the site of one of the ponds. * The Lacus Fucinus in the country of the Marsi was the cause of dangerous inun- dations. To prevent this, and to gain the bed of the lake for agricultural pursuits, a shaft was cut through the solid rock from the lake down to the River Liris, whence the water was discharged into the Mediterranean. The work occupied thirty thousand men for eleven j'ears. The Aqua Claudia was fed by two springs in the Sabine mountain, and was forty-five Roman miles in length ; the Anio Nova, fed from the River Anio, was sixty-two miles long. These aqueducts extended partly above and partly under ground, until about six miles from Rome, where they joined and were carried one above the other on a common structure of arches— in some places one hundred and nine feet high— into the city, t In building a road, the line of direction was first laid out, and the breadth, which was usually from thirteen to fifteen feet, marked by trenches. The loose earth be- tween the trenches having been excavated till a firm base was reached, the space was filled up to the proposed height of the road— which was sometimes twenty feet above the solid ground. First was placed a layer of small stones ; next, broken stones cemented with lime : then, a mixture of lime, clay, and beaten fragments of brick and pottery ; and finally, a mixture of pounded gravel and lime, or a pavement of hard, flat stones, cut into rectangular slabs or irregular polygons. All along the roads milestones were erected. Near the Arch of Septimius Sevcrus in the Roman Forum may still be seen the remains of the " Golden Milestone " (erected by Augus- tus)— a gilded marble pillar on which were recorded the names of the roads and their length from the metropolis. THE C I V I T. I ;^ A T I K . 283 triumphal arches, and sepulchral monuments. The Appian Way — called also Regina Viarum or Queen of Roads — was famous for the number, beauty, and richness of its tombs. Its foundations were laid 312 b. c. b}- the censor Appiiis Claudius, from whom it w^as named. BRIDGE OF ST. ANGELO, AND HADRIAN's TOMB (RESTORED). TTlie Roman Bridges and Viaducts are among the most remarkable monuments of antiquity. In Greece, where the streams were nar- row, little attention was paid to bridges, which were usually of wood, resting at each extremity upon stone piers. The Romans applied the arch^ of which the Greeks knew little or nothing, to the con- struction of massive stone bridges * crossing the wide rivers of their various provinces. In like manner, marshy places or valleys liable to inundation were spanned by viaducts resting on solid arches. Of these bridges, which may still be seen in nearly every corner of the old Roman Empire, one of the most interesting is the Pons * In early times, the bridges across the Tiber were regarded as sacred, and their care was confided to a special body of priests, called pontijlces (bridge-makers). The name of Pontifex Maximvs remained attached to the High Priest, and was worn by the Roman emperor. It is now given to the Pope. Bridges were sometimes made of wood-work and masonry combined. ^84 ' KOME. ^liiis, now called the Bridge of St. Angelo, built by Hadrian across the Tiber in Rome. Aqueducts were constructed on the most stupendous scale, and at one time no less than twenty stretched their long lines of arches * across the Campagna, bringing into the heart of the city as many streams of water from scores of miles away. In their stately Harljors the Romans showed the same defiance of natural difiiculties. The lack of bays and promontories was supplied by dams and walls built far out into the sea; and even artificial islands were constructed to protect the equally artificial harbor. Thus, at Ostia, three enormous pillars, made of chalk, mortar, and Pozzuolan clay, were j)laced upright on the deck of a colossal ship, which was then sunk ; the action of the salt water hardening the clay, rendered it indestructible, and formed an island foundation. Other islands were made by sinking flat vessels, loaded with huge blocks of stone. Less imposing, but no less useful were the cnnals and ditches^ by means of which swamps and .bogs were transformed into arable land ; and the subterranean sewers in Rome, which, built twenty-five hundred years ago, still serve their original purpose. Triumphal Arches^-f erected at the entrance of cities, and across streets, bridges, and public roads, in honor of victorious generals or emperors, or in commemoration of some great event, were peculiar to the Romans ; as were also the Amphitheatres^X of which the Flavian, better known as the Colos- seum, is the most famous. This structure was built mostly of blocks * Their remains, striking across the desolate Campagna in various directions and, covered with ivy, maiden-hair, wild flowers, and fig-trees, form one of the most \)\c- turesque features in the landscape about Rome. " Wherever you go, these arches are visible ; and toward nightfall, glowing in the spl-endor of a Roman sunset, and printing their lengthening sun-looped shadows upon the illuminated slopes, they look as if the hand of Midas had touched them, and changed their massive blocks of cork- like travertine into crusty courses of molten gold."— A^to/'^/'s Eoba di Roma. t Many of these arches still remain. The principal ones in Rome are those of Titus and Constantine, near the Colosseum, and that of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum. The Arch of Titus, built of white marble, commemorates the de- struction of Jerusalem. On the bas-reliefs of the interior are represented the golden table, the seven -branched candlestick, and other p-ecious spoils from the Jewish Temple, carried in triumphal procession by the victors. To this day, no Jew will walk under this Arch. X The Roman theatre differed little from the Grecian. The first amphitheatre, made in the time of Julius Cssar, consisted of two wooden theatres, so placed upon pivots that they could be wheeled around, spectators and all, and either set back to back, for two separate dramatic performances, or face to face, making a closed arena for gladiatorial shows. THE CIVILIZATION. 285 of travertine, clamped with iron and faced with marble ; it covered about five acres, and seated eio'hty thousand persons. At its dedication by Titus (a. d. 80), which lasted a hundred days, five thousand wild animals were thrown into the arena. It continued to be used for oladiatorial and wild-beast fights for nearly four hundred years. On various public occasions it was splendidly fitted up with gold, silver, or amber furniture. THE RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM. The Thermm (public baths, XaQraW-^ warm waters) were constructed on the grandest scale of refinement and luxury. The Baths of Caracalla, at Rome, contained sixteen hundred rooms, adorned with precious marbles. Here were painting and sculpture galleries, libraries and museums, porticoed halls, open groves, and an imperial palace. The arts of Painting^ Sculjjture, and Pottery were borrowed first from the Etruscans, and then from the Greeks ; * in mosaics^ the * "Roman art,'' says Zerffi, "is a misnomer; it is Etruscan, Greek, Assyrian, and Egyptian art, dressed in an eclectic Roman garb by foreign artists. The Pantlieon contained a Greek statue of Venus, wliich, it is said, bad in one ear the half of the pearl left by Cleopatra. To ornament a Greek marble statue representing a goddess with part of the earring of an Egyptian princess, is highly characteristic of Roman taste in matters of art." 286 ROME. Romans excelled.* In later times, Rome was filled witli the mag- nificent spoils taken from conquered provinces, especially Greece. Greek artists flooded the capital, bringing their native ideality to serve the ambitious desires of the more j^i'actical Romans, whose dwellings grew more and more luxurious, until exquisitely-frescoed walls, mosaic j)avements, rich paintings, and marble statues became common ornaments in hundreds of elegant villas. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — However much they might come in con- tact, the Roman and the Greek character never assimilated. We have seen the Athenian quick at intuition, polished in manner, art-loving, beauty-worshipping ; fond of long discussions and philosophical dis- courses, and listening all day to sublime tragedies. We find the Roman grave, steadfast, practical, stern, unsyrapathizing ; f too loyal and sedate to indulge in much discussion ; too unmetaphysical to relish philosophy ; and too unideal to enjoy tragedy. The Spartan deified endurance ; the Athenian worshipped beauty ; the Roman was em- bodied dignity. The Greeks were proud and exclusive, but not un- courteous to other nations ; the Romans had but one word (hostis) for strangers and enemies. Ambitious, determined, unflinching, they pushed their armies in every direction of the known world, and, appro- priating every valuable achievement of the peoples they conquered, * The mosaic floors, composed of bits of marble, glass, and valuable stones, were often of most elaborate designs. One discovered in the so-called House of the Faun, at Pompeii, is a remarkable battle scene, supposed to represent Alexander at Issus. It is preserved, somewhat mutilated, in the museum at Naples. t What we call sentiment was almost unknown to the Romans. The Greeks had a word to express affectionate family love ; the Romans had none. Cicero, whom his countrymen could not understand, was laughed at for his grief at the death of his daughter. The exposure of infants was sanctioned as in Greece— girls, espe- cially, suffering from this unnatural custom— and the power of the Roman father over the life of his children was paramount. Yet, Roman fathers took much pains with their boys, sharing in their games and pleasures, directing their habits, and taking them about town. Horace writes gratefully of his father, who remained with him at Rome during his school-days and w^as his constant attendant. (.S'cf^. I. 4.) It is \\^ strange, considering their indifference to their kindred, that the Romans were cruel and heartless to their slaves. In Greece, even the helot was granted some little consideration as a human being, but in Rome the unhappy captive— w^ho may have been a prince in his own land— was but a chattel. The lamprey eels in a certain nobleman's fish-pond were fattened on the flesh of his bondmen ; and, if a Roman died suspiciously, all his slaves — who sometimes were numbered by thousands — were put to the torture. The Avomen are accused of being more pitiless than the men, and the foces of the ladies' maids bore perpetual marks of the blows, scratches, and pin-stabs of their petulant mistresses. THE >IAKNERS AND CUSTOMS. 287 made all the borrowed arts tlieir own, lavishing "^ lie precious spoils upon their beloved Kome. Their pride in Roman citizenship amounted to a passion, and for the prosperity of their capital they were ready to renounce the dearest personal hope, and to cast aside all mercy or justice toward every other nation. Religion.— The Romans, like the Greeks, worshipped the powers of Nature. But the Grecian gods and goddesses were living, loving, hating, quarrelsome beings, with a history full of romantic incident and personal adventure ; the Roman deities were solemn abstractions mysteriously governing every human action, '••^ and requiring constant propitiation with vows, prayers, gifts, and sacrifices. A regular system of bargaining existed between the Roman worshipper and his gods. If he performed all the stipulated religious duties, the gods were bound to confer a reward ; if he failed in the least, the divine ven- geance was sure, xit the same time, if he could detect a flaw in the letter of the law, or shield himself behind some doubtful techni- cality, he might cheat the gods with impunity. f There was no room for faith, or hope, or love — only the binding nature of legal forms. Virtue, in our modern sense, was unknown, and piety consisted, as Cicero declares, in "justice toward the gods." In religion, as in everything else, the Romans were always ready to borrow from other nations. Their image worship came from the Etruscans ; their only sacred volumes:}: were the purchased " Sibylline Books "; they drew upon the gods of Greece, until, in time, they had transferred and adopted nearly the entire Greek Pantheon ; g Phoenicia * The farmer had to satisfy "the spirit of breaking up the land and the spirit of ploughing it crosswise, the spirit of farrowing and the spirit of harrowing, the spirit of weeding and the spirit of reaping, the spirit of carrying the grain to the barn and the spirit of bringing it ont again." The little child was attended by over forty gods. Yaticanus taught him to cry ; Fabulinus, to speak ; Edusa, to eat ; Potina, to drink ; Abeoua conducted him out of the house ; Interduca guided him on his way ; Domiduca led him home, and Adeona brought him in. So, also, there were deities controUmg health, society, love, anger, and all the passions and virtues of men. t " If a man offered wine to Father Jupiter, and did not mention very precisely that it was only the cup-full which he held in his hand, the god might claim the whole year's vintage. On the other hand, if the god required so many heads in sacrifice, by the letter of the bond he would be bound to accept garlic-heads ; if he claimed an animal, it might be made out of dough or wax:''—Wilkins's Bom. Antiq. X " Neither Eomans nor Greeks had any sacred books. They have left poetry of the highest order, but no psalms or hymns, litanies or prayers, as the Egyptians have so largely done."— ^e/wi//. § Jupiter (Zeus) and Vesta (Hestia) were derived by Greeks and Romans from their common ancestors. Among the other early Italian gods were Mars (afterward identified with the Greek Ares), Hercules (Herakles). Juno (Hera), Minerva (Athena), and Neptune (Poseidon). The union of the Palatine Eomans with the Quirinal Sabines was celebrated by the mutual worship of Quirinus, and a gate called the Janus was erected in the valley, afterward the site of the Forum. This gate was 288 ROME. and Phrygia lent their deities to swell the list ; and, finally, our old Egyptian friends, Isis, Osiris, and Serapis, became as much at home upon the Tiber as they had been for ages on the Nile. The original religious ideas of the Romans can only be inferred from a few peculiar rites which character- ized their worship. The Chaldeans had astrologers ; the Persians had magi ; the Greeks had sibyls and oracles ; the Romans had Augurs. Practical and unimaginative, the Latins would never have been content to learn the divine will through the ambiguous phrases of a human prophet ; they demanded a direct yes or no from the gods themselves. Augurs existed from the time of Romulus. Without their as- sistance no public act or ceremony could be performed. Lightning and the flight of birds were the principal signs by which the gods were supposed to make known their will ; * some birds of omen communicated by their cry, others by their manner of flight. The Haruspices, who also expounded lightnings and natural phe- nomena, made a specialty of divination by inspecting the internal organs of sacrificed animals, a custom we have seen in Greece (p. 185). ROMAN AUGUR. always open in time of war, and closed in time of peace. All gates and doors were sacred to the old Latin god Janus, whose key fitted every lock. He wore two faces, one before and one behind, and was the god of all beginnings and endings, all open- ings and shuttings.— With the adoption of the Greek gods, the Greek ideas of per- sonality and mythology were introduced, the Romans being too unimaginative to originate any myths for themselves. But, out of the hardness of their own character, they disfigured the original conception of every borrowed god, and made him more jealous, threatening, merciless, revengeful, and inexorable than before. " Among the thirty thousand deities with which they peopled the visible and invisible worlds, there was not one divinity of kindness, mercy, or comfort." * In taking the auspices, the augur stood in the center of a con- ■ secrated square, and divided the sky with his stafi" into quarters (cut); he then olfered his prayers and, turning to the south, scanned the heavens for a reply. Coming from the left, the signs were favorable ; from the right, unfavorable. If the first signs were not desirable, the augurs had only to wait until the right ones came. They thus compelled the gods to sanction their decisions, from which there was afterward no appeal. In the absence of an augur, the "Sacred Chickens," which were carried about in coops during campaigns, were consulted. If they ate their food greedily, especially if they scattered it, the omen was favorable ; if they refused to eat, or moped in the coop, evU was anticipated ! N THE MAKIsTERS AND CUSTOMS. 289 Their art was never much esteemed by the more enlightened classes, and Cato, who detested their hypocrisy, said that " one haruspex could not even look at another in the streets without laughing." The family icorskip of Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth, was more exclusive in Rome than in Greece, where slaves joined in the home devotions. A Roman father, himself the Priest at this ceremony, would have been shocked at allowing any but a kinsman to be present, for it included the worship of the Lares and Penates, the spirits of his ancestors and the guardians of his house. So, also, in the public service at the Temple of Yesta, the national hearth-stone, the patricians felt it a sacrilege for any but themselves to join. The worship of Vesta, Saturnus (the god of seed-sowing), and Opo (the harvest-god- dess), was under the direction of the College of Pontifices, of which, in regal times, the king was high- priest. Attached to this priestly college — the highest in Rome — were the Flamejis^ {flare, to blow the fire), who were Priests of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus ; and the Vestal Virgins, who watched the eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta.f The Salii, or "leaping priests," received their name from the war- like dance which, dressed in full armor, they performed every March before all the temples. They had the care of the Sacred Shields, which they carried about in their annual processions, beating them to the * The Flamen Dialis (Priest of Jupiter) was forbidden to take an oath, mount a horse, or glance at an army. His hand could touch nothing unclean, and he never approached a corpse or a tomb. As he must not look at a fetter, the ring on his finger was a broken one, and, as he could not wear a knot, his thick woolen toga, woven by his wife, was fastened with buckles. (In Egypt, we remember, priests were forbidden to wear woolen, p. 20.) If his head-dress (a sort of circular pillow, on the top of which an olive-branch was fastened by a white woolen thread) chanced to fall off, he was obhged to resign his office. In his belt he carried the sacrificial knife, and in his hand he held a rod to keep off the people on his way to sacrifice. As he might not look on any secular employment, he was preceded by a lictor, who com- pelled every one to lay down his work till the Flamen had passed. His duties were continuous, and he could not remain for a night away from his house on the Palatine. His wife was subject to an equally rigid code. She wore long woolen robes, and shoes made of the leather of sacrificed animals. Her hair was tied with a purple woolen ribbon, over which was a kerchief, fastened with the bough of a lucky tree. She also carried a sacrificial knife. t The Vestal always dressed in white, with a broad band, like a diadem, round her forehead. During sacrifice or in processions, she was covered with a white veil. She was chosen for the service when from six to ten years old, and her vows held for thirty years, after which time, if she chose, she was released and might marry. Any offence offered her was punished \\\th death. In public, every one, even the consul, made way for the lictor preceding the maiden, and she had the seat of honor at all public games and priestly banquets. If, however, she accidentally suffered the sacred fire to go out, she was liable to corporeal punishment by the pontifex maxi- mus ; if she broke her vows, she was carried on a bier to the Campus Sceleratus, beaten with rods, and buried alive. The number of vestal virgins never exceeded giz St any one time. 290 ROME. measure of an old-time song in praise of Janus, Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Mars. One of the shields was believed to have fallen from Heaven. To mislead a possible pillager of so precious a treasure, eleven more were made exactly like it, and twelve priests were ap- pointed to watch them all. The Fetiales had charge of the sacred rites accompanying declara- tions of war, or treaties of peace. War was declared by throwing a bloody spear across the enemy's frontier. A treaty was concluded by the killing of a pig with a sacred pebble. Altars were erected to the Emperors, where vows and prayers were daily offered.* In the times of Roman degeneracy, the city was flooded with quack Chaldean astrologers, Syrian seers, and Jewish fortune-tellers. The women, esi)ecially, were ruled by these corrupt impostors, whom they consulted in secret and by night, and on whom they squandered immense sums. Under these debasing influences, profligacies and enormities of every kind grew and multiplied. The old Roman law which commanded that the parricide should be " sewn up in a sack with a viper, an ape, a dog, and a cock, and then cast into the sea," was not likely to be rigidly enforced when a parri- cide sat on the throne, and poisonings were common in the palace. That the pure principles of Christianity, which were introduced at this time, should meet with contempt, and its disciples with bitter persecution, was inevitable. Games and Festivals. — The Roman public games were a degraded imitation of the Grecian, and, like them, connected with religion. When a divine favor was desired, a vow of certain games was made, and, as the gods regarded promises with suspicion, the expenses were at once raised. Each of the great gods had his own festival -month and day. The Saturnalia, which occurred in December, and which, in later times, lasted seven days, was the most remarkable. It was a time of general mirth and feasting ; schools were closed ; the senate adjourned ; presents were made ; wars were forgotten ; criminals had certain privileges ; and the slaves, whose lives were ordinarily at the mercy of their masters, were permitted to jest with them, and were even waited upon by them at table ; — all this in memory of the free and golden rule of ancient Saturn. The gymnastic and musical exercises of the Greeks never found much favor in Rome ; tragedies were tolerated only for the splendor of the costumes and the scenic wonders ; and even comedies failed to * " Not even the E.hratries, gentes, and hearths, so in Rome the three original patrician tri])es branched into curiae, gentes, and families, the l^aterfamilias owning all the property, and holding the life of his children at will. The cwil magistrates comprised consuls, questors, aediles, and praetors. The army was organized in legions, cohorts, companies, and cen- turies, with four classes of ft^ot-soldiers. who fought with the pilum and the javelin, protected themselves with heavy breastplates, and carried on sieges by the aid of ballistas, battering-rams, catapults, and movable towers. In later times, the ranks were filled by foreigners and mercenaries. Roman literature, child of the Grecian, is rich with memorable names. Ushered in by Livius Andronicus, a Greek slave, it grew with Naevius, Ennius, Plautus, Terence, Cato, and Lucilius. The learned 310 ROME. Varro, tlie florid Cicero, the sweet strained Virgil, the genial Horace, the eloquent Livy, and the polished Sallust, graced the last century before Christ. The next hundred years produced the studious Pliny the Elder, the two inseparable friends — Pliny the Younger and Taci- tus, the sarcastic Juvenal, and the wise Seneca. The monumentH of the Romans comprise splendid aqueducts, triumphal arches, military roads, bridges, harbors, and tombs. Their magnificent palaces and luxurious thermae were fitted up with reckless extravagance and dazzling display. All the spoils of conquered nations enriched their capital, and all the foreign arts and inventions were impressed into their service. The proud, dignified, ambitious Roman had no love or tenderness for aught but his national supremacy. Seldom indulging in sentiment toward family or kindred, he recognized no law of humanity toward his slaves. His religion was a commercial bargain with the gods, in which each was at liberty to outwit the other. His worship was mostly confined to the public ceremonies at the shrine of Vesta, and the con- stant household offerings to the Lares and Penates. Wis, puUic games were a degraded imitation of the Grecian, and he took his chief delight in bloody gladiatorial shows and wild-beast fights. A race of borroicers, the Romans assimilated into their nationality most of the excellences as well as many of the vices of other peoples, for centuries stamping the whole civilized world with their character, and dominating it by their successes. '• As to Rome all ancient history converges, so from Rome all modern history begins." Finally, as a central point in the history of all time, in the midst of the brilliancy of the Augustan Age, while Cicero, Sallust, Virgil, and Horace were fresh in the memory of their still living friends, with Seneca in his childhood and Livy in his prime, the empire at its best, and Rome radiant in its growing transformation from brick to marble under the guiding rule of the greatest of the Csesars, there was born in an obscure Roman province the humble Babe whose name far out- ranks all these, and from whose nativity are dated all the centuries which have succeeded. READING REFERENCES. MerivaWs History of the Romans.— Ihne's History of Rome, and Early Rome.— Histonj Primers; Rome, and Roman Antiquities, edited by Gi^een.— Arnold's His- tory of Rome.—Niebuhrs History of Rome.— Smith's smaller History of Rom£.— Gibbon'' s Decline and Fall of the Roman Emjnre.—Guhl and Koner's Life of the Greeks and Romans.— Knight's Social Life of the Romans— Pliitai'ch' s Lives.— Mil- man's History of Christianity .—Mommseii' s History of Rome.— Froude' s Life of Caesar. —Becker's Charicles, and GaMus.—Macavlay's Lays of Ancient Rome.—Shakspere''s CHROXOLOGY 3]1 Julius CoRsar^ Coriolamis, and Antony and Cleopatra.— ForsyW 8 Life of Cicero.^ Napoleon's {III.) Life of Ccesar.—Canina's Edifices of Ancient Rome.—Fergusson'B History of Architecture.— Bui iver' s Last Days of Pompeii, and Rienzi The Last of the Tribunes.— Michelet's Roman Republic— Heeren'^s Historical Researches.— Putz's Hand-book of Ancient History.— Hare's Walks in Rome.— Kin gsley's Hypatia— Lord's Old Roman World.— Mann's Ancient and Mediceval Republics.— Lawrence' s Piimer of Roman Literature.— Collins' s Ancient Classics for English Readers (a series giving sinking passages from the Greek aiid Roman clas.Hcs, with excellent explana- tory notes, lives of the authors, etc.).— Dyer's Pompeii.— Herbetmann's Business Life in Ancient Rome.— Quackenbos's Ancient Literature (a useful remme). CHRONOLOGY. B.C. Rome founded 753 Republic established 509 The Decemvirs 451 Rome taken by Gauls 390 First Samnite War 343-341 Great Latin War 340-338 Second Samnite War b26-3C4 Third " '' 298-290 Wars with Pyrrhus 280-276 First Panic War 264-241 Second '' " 218-201 Battle of the Trebia 218 *' " Lake Trasimenus 217 '' " Cannae 216 Siege of Capua 214-211 Battle of the Metanrus 207 " " Zama 202 Second Macedonian War 200-197 Battle of Magnesia 190 Death of Hannibal and Scipio Afri- canus 1&3 Third Macedonian War 171-168 Battle of Pydna 168 Third Punic War 149-146 Fall of Carthage and Corinth 146 Death of Tiberius Gracchus 133 Jugurthine War 111-104 Marius defeated Teutones at Aquae Sextise (Aix) 102 Marius defeated Cimbri . 101 Social War 90-88 First Mithridatic War 88-84 Massacre by Marius 87 Second Mithridatic War . . 83-81 Sulla's Proscriptions 83 Third Mithridatic War 74-63 War of Spartacus. 73-71 Mediterranean Pirates ; 67 Conspiracy of Catiline 63 First Triumvirate Caesar in Gaul " invades Britain " crosses the Rubicon Battle of Pharsalia— death of Pom- pey Suicide of Cato Caesar murdered Second Triumvirate, death of Cicero Battle of Philippi, death of Brutus and Cassius Battle of Actium ~ r Augustus B.C. 60 58-49 55 31 31 A. D. 14 Tiberius Caligula 37 Claudius 41 Nero 54 Galba 68 Otho 69 ViteUius 69 Vespasian 69 Titus 79 Domitian 81 Nerva 96 Trajan 98 Hadrian 117 Antoninus Pius 138 M. Aurelius Antoninus 161-180 L. Verus 161-169 Commodus 180 Pertrnax 193 Didius Julianus • 193 Septimius Severus 193 Caracallus 211-217 Geta 211-212 Macrinus 217 Elagabalus (the sun-priest) 218 Alexander Severus 222 312 ROME, ian I. j iau II. J A.D. Maximinus. Gordian Gordia Pupienus Maximus | . . 238 Balbinus f Gordian III 238-244 Philip the Arabian 244 Decius 249 Gallus 251 ^milian 253 Valerian 253 Gallienus 260 Claudius II 268 Aurelian 270 Tacitus 275 Florian 276 Probus 276 Carus 282 Carinus? and Niinierian 283 Diocletian, with Maximian 284 Constantius, with Galerius. 305 Constantine T. (the Great), with Ga- lerius, Severus, and Maxeutius ... 306 A.D. Constantine, with Licinius 307 Constantine, with Maximinus 308 Constantine, alone 323 Constantine II., Constantius n., Constans T 337 Julian the Apostate 361 Jovian 363 Valentinian 1 364 Gratian and Valentinian II 375 Valentinian n 383 Theodosius (East and West ) 392 Honorius 395 Theodosius U. (East and West) 423 Valentinian III 425 Petronius Maximus 455 Avitus 455 Majorian 457 Libius Severus 461 Anthemius 467 Olybrius 472 Glycerins 473 Julius Nepos 474 Romulus August ulus 475-476 TOMBS ALONG THE APPIAN WAV. Medieval Peoples BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS m o w < > 1. Introduction. ■ 2. Rise of the Saracens. 3. Rise of the Prankish Empire, 4. Rise of Mod- ern Nations. 1. Cetief Events of Middle Ages. Characteristics. 2. General Divisions. 3. The Teutonic Settlements. 4. The Character of the Teutonic Conquest. 5. The Eastern Empire. 6. The Papacy. 7. Early German Civilization. 1. Mohammed. 2. The Caliphs. 3. Saracens in Europe. Extent op Empirb. 4. Saracen Divisions. 5. Saracen Civilization. 1. Clovis and the Franks. Merovingian Dynasty. 2. Pepin the Short. Carlovingian Dynasty. 3. Charlemagne. f 1. His Conquests. 2. Ci Crowned Emperor. Government. Charlemagne and his Court. a. Roman. 1. Enoland. 2. France. 1. The Four Conquests. Growth of Consti- tutional liberty. Anglo-Saxon. Danuh. Norman. Runnymede and Magna Charta. The House of Commons. 3. Conquest of Ireland. 4. Conquest of Wales. 5. Conquest of Scotland. 6. Wars of the Roses. 7. Early Eng;lish Civilization. 1. Rollb and the Norsemen, 2. Capet. The Capetiaa Dynasty. 3. Weakness of the Monarchy. [" a. Philip Augustus. Growth of the Monarchy under b. Louis IX. c. Philip IV. d. Louis XL — Triumph of Ab- solutism. 3. Germany . 4. Switzerland 5. Italy in the Middle Ages. 6. The Crusades. 7. The Moors in Spain. . , 8. Asia in the Middle Ages.l 2. I 2 9. Mediaeval Civilization. 5. House of Valois. 6. The Hundred-Years War. 7. The Kingdom of Burgundy. 8. Consolidation of French Monarchy. 9. Early French Civilization. 1. Comparison with France. 2. The Saxon Dynasty. 3. The Francouian Dynasty. 4. The Hohenstaufen Line. 5. Great Interregnum. 6. The Hapsburgs. 1. Origin. 2. Three Great Battles. 3. Growth of the Confederacy. 1. Papal Power. f 1. Venice. ^ ITALIAN Cm.s.^ I ^^]^-f nee. t 4. Rome. 1-8. The Eight Crusades. 9. Effects of the Crusades. The Monguls. The Turks. [\NTien writing upon the Feudalism. blackboard, the pupil can fill 2. The Castle. out the subdivisions from the 3. Chivalry. headings of the paragraphs in 4. The Knight. the test.] 5. The Tournament. 6. Education and Literature. 7. Manners and Customs. IN SIGHT OF ROiMJti. migrations events were the (p. 266) ; the invasion of The Middle Ages extend from the Fall of Rome (476) to the capture of Constantino- ple (1453)— about 1000 years. During this period the chief of the northern barbarians the Saracens ; the establish- Geoff7-cf2)hica2 Questions.— Thane queries are intended to test the pupil's knowledge, to make him familiar with the maps of the Middle Ages and prepare him to locate the history he is about to study. See list of maps, p. xii. Bound Syria, Arabia, Gaul, Britain, Spain, Noi-way, Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, 316 MEDIJEVAL PEOPLES. ment of the Frankish kingdom, inclnding the empire of Charlemagne ; the rise of the modern nations ; the Cru- sades ; the Hundred- Years War ; and the Wars of the Roses. The era was, in general, characterized by the decline of letters and art, the rise of Feudalism or the rule of the nobles, and the supremacy of the Papal Power. Two Divisions. — Six of the ten centuries composing this period are called the Dark Ages — a long night following the brilliant day of Roman civilization. The last four centuries constitute the dawn of the Modern Era. Wandering tribes then became settled nations ; learning revived ; and order and civilization began to resume their sway. A ne"W era of the world began in the 5th century. The gods of Greece and Rome had passed away, and a better religion was taking their place. The old actors had vanished from the stage, and strange names appeared. Europe pre- sented a scene of chaos. The institutions of centuries had crumbled. Everywhere among the ruins barbarian hordes were struggling for the mastery. Amid this confusion we are to trace the gradual outgrowth of the modern nation- Poland, Russia.— Locate Carthage, Jerusalem, Mecca, Damascus, Bagdad, Alex- andria, Acre, Tunis, Moscow, Delhi, Constantinople. Locate Tours, Eheims, Fontenay, Verdun, Crecy, Poitiers, Azincourt, Limoges, Calais, Eouen, Orleans, Metz, Avignon, Bordeaux.— Locate Cordova, Seville, Gra- nada, Castile, Aragon, Leon. Locate Lombardy, Sicily, Pisa, Genoa, Rome, Florence, MUan, Naples, Venice, Salerno, Legnano, Padua, Bologna, Savoy. Locate London, Hastings, Oxford, Runnymede, Lewes, Bosworth, Dover, Bau- nockburn.— Locate the Netherlands (Low Countries), Flanders, Bouvines, Courtrai, Ghent, Bruges, Rosebecque, Aix-la-Chapelle.— Describe the Indus, Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Seine, Loire.— Point out Bavaria, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, Basle, Prague, Worms, Waiblingeu. Point out the French provinces ; Normandy, Provence, Aquitaine, Brittany, Bur- gundy, Champaigne, Maine, Anjou, Toulouse, Valois, Navarre, Gascony, Lorraine, Ajmagnac, Alsace, Fraache Comte.— Locate Granson, Morat, Nancy, Morgarten, Sempach, Geneva. Syria . ^ %jz^ H ^f} O 02 ^ — ^ s '^ OJ J^ ^, « - r. ^^§ • O ^ ^\ H 318 MEDIJEYAL PEOPLES. alities.* Heretofore the history of one great nation has been that of the civilized world, changing its name only as power passed, from time to time, into the liands of a different people. Henceforth there are to be not one but many cen- ters of civilization. Teutonic Settlements.— The Teutons or Germans (p. 322) were the chief heirs of Rome. By the 6th century the Vandals had established a province in northern Africa • the Visigoths had set up a Gothic kingdom in Spain and in southern Gaul (p. 268); the Franks, under Clovis, had firmly planted themselves in northern Gaul ; the Bur- gundians had occupied south-eastern Gaul; and the A^iglo- Saxons had crossed the channel and coiKiuci-ed a large part of Britain. The Ostrogoths, under Theodoric (489), climbed the Alps and overthrew Odoacer, the king of Italy (page 269). Theodoric established his government at Ravenna, under a nominal commission from the Emperor of Constantinople. The Visigoths accepted him as chief, and his kingdom ulti- mately extended from the heart of Spain to the Danube. An Arian, he yet favored the Catholics ; and, though unable to read or write, encouraged learning. "The fair-haired Goths," says Collier, ^' still wearing their furs and brogues, carried the sword ; while the Romans, wrapped in the flow- ing toga, held the pen and filled the schools." Character of the Teutonic Conquest, f— In Italy, * The thoughtful student of history sees in the Middle Ages a time not of decay but of preparation ; a period during which the seeds of a better growth were germi- nating in the soil. Amid feudal chaos, the nations were being molded, language was forming, thought taking shape, and social forces were gathering that were to bear mankind to a higher civilization than the world had ever seen. t While the Teutonic conquest, in the end, brought into Medifeval civilization a new force, a sense of personal liberty, and domestic virtues unknown to the Ro- mans, yet, at the time. It seemed an undoing of the best work of anes. During the merciless massacre that lasted for centuries upon the island of Britain, the prie^^ts were slain at the altar, the churches burned, and the inhabitants nearly annihilated • INTRODUCTION-. 319 Gaul, and Spain, the various Teutonic tribes did not expel, but absorbed, the native population. The two races gradually blended. Out of the mingling of the German and the Roman speech, there grew up in time the Ro- mance languages — Spanish, Italian, and French. Latin, however, was for centuries used in writing. Thus the Roman names and forms remained after the empire had fallen. The invaders adopted the laivs, civilization, and Christian religion of the conquered. The old clergy retained their places, and their influence was greatly increased ; the churches became a common refuge, and the bishops the only protectors of the poor and weak. On the contrary, the Anglo-Saxons, who conquered Britain, enslaved or drove back the few natives who sur- vived the horrors of the invasion. Not having been, while in Germany, brought in contact with the Roman power, these Teutons had no respect for its superior civilization. They did not, therefore, adopt either the Roman language or religion. Christianity came at a later day ; while the Eng- lish speech is still in its essence the same that our forefathers brought over from the wilds of Germany. The Eastern, Greek, or Byzantine Empire, as it is variously called, was governed by effeminate princes until the time of Justinian (527), who won back a large part of while the Roman and Christian civilization was blotted out, and a barbaric rule set up in its place. The cruel yandals in Spain (p. 269) found fertile, populous Roman provinces ; they left behind them a desert. The Burgundians were the mildest of the Teutonic conquerors, yet where they settled they compelled the in- habitants to give up two-thirds of the land, one-half of the houses, gardens, groves, etc.. and one-third of the slaves. Italy, under the ravages of the terrible Lombards and other northern hordes, became a " wilderness overgrown with brushwood and black with stagnant marshes." Its once cultivated fields were barren ; a few miser- able people wandered in fear among the ruins of the churches— their hiding-places- while the land was covered with the bones of the slain. Rome became almost as desolate as Babylon. " Th^ baths and temples had been spared by the barbarians, and the water still poured through the mighty aqueducts, but at one time there were not five hundred persons dwelUng among the magnificent ruins." 320 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. the lost empire. His famous general Belisarius captured Carthage,* and overwhelmed the Vandal power in Africa. He next invaded Italy and took Rome, but being recalled by Justinian, who was envious of the popularity of his great general, the eunuch Narses was sent thither, and, under his skillful management, the very race and name of the Ostro- goths perished. Italy was now united to the Eastern Empire, and governed by rulers called the Exarchs of Ravenna. So Justinian reigned over both Old and New Rome. The Roman laios, at this time, consisted of the decrees, and often the chance expressions of the three-score emperors from Hadrian to Justinian. They filled thousands of vol- umes, and were frequently contradictory. Tribonian, a celebrated lawyer, was employed to bring order out of this chaos. He condensed the laws into a code that is still the basis of the civil law of Europe. During this reign, two Persian monks, who had gone to China as Christian missionaries, brought back to Justinian the eggs of the silk- worm concealed in a hollow cane. Silk manufacture was thus introduced into Europe. The Lombards (568), a fierce German tribe, after Jus- tinian's death poured into Italy and overran the fruitful plain that still bears their name. For about 200 years the Lombard kings shared Italy with the Exarchs of Ravenna. The Papacy. — During these centuries of change, confu- sion, and ruin, the Christian Church had alone retained its * Among the treasures of Carthage were the sacred vessels of the temple at Jeru- salem taken b.v Titus to Rome, and thence carried to Carthage by Genseric. As these relics were thought to presage ruin to the city which kept them, they were now returned to the Cathedral at Jerusalem, and their subsequent fate is unknown. According to the legend, contradicted by many historians but eagerly seized by poets and painters, Belisarius in his old age was falsely accused of treason, degraded from his honors, and deprived of his sight : often thereafter the blind old man was to be seen standing at the Cathedral door, begging " a penny for Belisarius, the general." INTRODUCTION. 321 organization. The barbarians, even the Lombards — the most cruel of all — were in time converted to Christianity. The people who, until the overthrow of the emperor, had been accustomed to depend upon Rome for political guid- ance, naturally continued to look thither for spiritual con- trol, and the Bishop of Rome insensibly became the head of the Catholic Church. Thus for centuries the Papacy (Lat. Pcqm, a bishop) kept gaining strength, the Christian fathers Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, and a host of other active intellects, shaping its doctrines and disci- pline. Finally "a new Rome rose from the ashes of the old, far mightier than the vanished empire, for it claimed dominion over the spirits of men." The Patriarch of Constantinople also asserted the pre- eminence of his See, and, on account of the opposition he met from Rome, the Eastern, or Greek, church gradually separated from the Western, or Roman, in interest, disci- plincj and doctrine. /'^^ THE PAPAL INSIGNIA. 322 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES EARLY GERMAN CIVILIZATION. Two thousand years ago, in the dense forests and gloomy marshes of a rude, bleak land, dwelt a gigantic, white-skinned, blue-eyed, yel- low-haired race — our German ancestors. The Men, fierce and powerful, wore over their huge bodies a short girdled cloak, or the skin of some wild beast, whose head, with pro- truding tusks or horns, formed a hideous setting for their bearded faces and cold, cruel eyes. Brave, hospitable, restless, ferocious, they wor- shipped freedom, and were ready to fight to the death for their personal independence. They cared much less for agriculture than for hunting, and delighted in war. Their chief vices were gambling and drimken- ness ; their conspicuous virtues were truthfulness and respect for woman. The Women — massive like the men, and wooed with a marriage gift of war-horse, shield, and weapons — spun and wove, cared for the household, tilled the ground, and went with their lords to battle, where their shouts rang above the clash of the spear and the thud of the war- axe. They held religious festivals, at which no man was allowed to be present, and they were believed to possess a special gift of foresight ; yet, for all that, the Teuton wife was bought from her kindred and was subject to her spouse. As priestesses, they cut the throats of war- captives and read portents in the flowing blood ; and after a lost battle they killed themselves beside their slaughtered husbands. The Home — when there was one — was a hut made of logs filled in with platted withes, straw, and lime, and covered by a thatched roof, which also sheltered the cattle. Here the children were reared, hard- ened from their babyhood with ice-cold baths, given weapons for play- things, and for bed a bear's hide laid on the ground. Many tribes were such lawless wanderers that they knew not the meaning of home, and all hated the confinement of walled towns or cities, which they likened to prisons. Civil Institutions and Government.— Every tribe had its nobles, freemen, freedmen, and slaves. When there was a king, he was elected from a royal family — the traditional descendants of the divine Woden. All freemen had equal rights and a personal voice in the government ; the freedman or peasant was allowed to bear arms, but not to vote ; the slave was classed with the beast as the absolute property of his owner. 27ie Land belonging to a tribe was divided into districts, hun- dreds, and marks. The inhabitants of a mark were usually kindred, who dwelt on scattered homesteads and held its unoccupied lands in IN^TRODUCTIO^'. 323 common. Tlie mark and the hundred, as well as the district, had each its own stated open air assembly, where were settled tJie petty local dis- putes ; its members sat together in the tribal assembly, and fought side by side in battle. (Compare with Greeks, p. 193.) The General Assembly of the tribe was also held in the open air, near some sacred tree, at new or full moon. Hither flocked all the freemen in full. armor. The night was spent in noisy discussion and festive carousal. As the great ox-horns of ale or mead were passed from hand to hand, measures of gravest importance were adopted by a ringing clash of weapons or rejected with cries and groans, till the whole forest resounded with the tumult. When the din became intolerable, silence was proclaimed in the name of the gods. The next day the few who were still sober reconsidered the night's debate and gave a final decision. The Family Avas the unit of German society. Every household was a little republic, its head being responsible to the community for its acts. The person and the home were sacred, and no law could seize a man in his own house ; in extreme cases, his well might be choked up and his dwelling fired or unroofed, but no one presumed to break open his door. As each family redressed its own wrongs, a slain kinsman was an appeal to every member for vengeance. The bloody complications to which this system led were, in later times, mitigated by the loeregeld, a legal tariff of compensations by which even a mur- derer (if not wilful) might " stop the feud" by paying a prescribed sum to the injured family, (p. 348.) Fellowship in Arms.— The stubbornness with which the Ger- man resisted personal coercion was equaled by his zeal as a voluntary follower. From him came the idea of giving service for reward, which afterward expanded into Feudalism (p. 408), and influenced European society for hundreds of years. In time of war, young freemen were wont to bind themselves together under a chosen leader, whom they hoisted on a shield and thus, amid the clash of arms and smoke of sacrifice, formally adopted as their chief. Henceforth they rendered him an unswerving devotion. On the field they were his body-guard, and in peace they lived upon his bounty, sharing in the rewards of victory. For a warrior to return alive from a battle in which his leader was slain was a life-long disgrace. — These voluntary unions formed the strength of the army. The renown of a successful chief spread to other tribes ; presents and embassies were sent to him ; his followers multi- plied and his conquests extended until, at last — as in the Saxon inva- sions of England — he won for himself a kingdom and made princes of his bravest liegemen. The Germans fought with clubs, lances, axes, arrows, and spears. They roused themselves to action with a boisterous war-song, 324 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. ELEVATING ON THE SHIELD. increasing the frightful clamor by placing their hollow shields before their faces. Metal armor and helmets were scarce, and their shields were made of wood or platted twigs.* Yefc when Julius Caesar crossed the Rhine, even his iron-clad legions failed to daunt these sturdy war- riors, who boasted that they upheld the heavens with their lances, and had not slept under a roof for years. They fiercely resisted the encroach- ments of their southern invaders, and when, at the close of the second century a. d. the Emperor Commodus bought viith gold the peace he could not win with the sword, he found that one tribe alone had taken fifty thousand, and another one hundred thousand Roman prisoners. The Teutonic Religion encouraged bravery and even reckless- ness in battle, for it taught that only those who fell by the sword could enter Walhalla, the palace of the great god Woden, whither they * What they lacked in armor they made up in pluck and endurance. When the Cimbri invaded Italy by way of the Tyrol (102 b. c), they stripped their huge bodies and plunged into the frozen snow, or, sitting on their gaudy shields, coasted down the dangerous descents with shouts of savage laughter, while the Romans in the passes below looked on in wondering dismay. IH"TEODTJCTION. 325 mounted on the rainbow, and where they fought and feasted forever. Those who died of illness or old age went to a land of ice and fogs. The gods — including the sun, moon, and other powers of nature — were worshiped in sacred groves, on heaths and holy mountains, or under single, gigantic trees. Human sacrifices were sometimes offered, but the favorite victim, as in ancient Persia, was a horse, the flesh of which was cooked and eaten by the worshipers. In later times, the eating of horseflesh became a mark of distinction between heathen and Christian. Our week-days perpetuate the names under which some of the chief Teutonic gods were known. Thus we have the Su7i,-daij, the Moon-dsLj, Tui's day, Wode?i's day, Tlior's day, Freya-daj, and Sceter-dsij. Agriculture, Arts, and Letters.— Among the forests and marshes of Germany, the Romans found cultivated fields and rich pas- tures. There were neither roads nor bridges, but for months in thie year the great rivers were frozen so deeply that an army could pass on the ice. From the iron in the mountains the men made domestic, farming, and war utensils, and from the flax in the field the women spun and wove garments. There were rude plows for the farm, chariots for religious rites, and cars for the war-march ; but beyond these few simple arts, the Germans were little better than savages. — The time of Christ was near. Over four centuries had passed since the brilliant Age of Pericles in Athens, and three centuries since the founding of the Alexandrian library ; Virgil and Horace had laid down their pens, and Livy was still at work on his closely- written parchments ; Rome, rich in the splendor of the Augustan Age, was founding libraries, es- tablishing museums, and bringing forth poets, orators, and statesmen ; yet the great nation, whose descendants were to include Goethe, Shakspere, and Mendelssohn, had not a native book, knew nothing of writing, and shouted its savage war-song to the uproar of rude drums and great blasts on the painted horns of a wild bull. The Germans in Later Times.— Before even the era of the Great Migration (p. 206), the fifty scattered tribes had become united in vast confederations, chief among which were the Saxons, Allemanni, Burgundians, Ooths, Franks, Vandals, and Longobards (Lombards). Led sometimes by their hard forest fare, sometimes by the love of ad- venture, they constantly sent forth their surplus population to attack and pillage foreign lands. For centuries, Germany was like a hive whence ever and anon swarmed vast hordes of hardy warriors, who set out with their families and goods to find a new home. Legions of German soldiers were constantly enlisted to fight under the Roman eagles. The veterans returned home with new habits of thought and life. Their stories of the magnificence and grandeur of the Mistress of the World excited the imagination and kindled the ardor of their lis- teners. Gradually the Roman civilization and the glory of the Roman 3->6 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. name accomplished what the sword had failed to effect. Around the forts along the Rhine, cities grew up, such as Mayence, Worms, Baden, Cologne, and Strasburg. The frontier provinces slowly took on the habits of luxurious Rome. Merchants came thither with the rich fabrics and ornaments of the south and east, and took thence amber, fur, and human hair, — for now that so many Germans had acquired fame and power in the Imperial army, yellow wigs had become the Roman fashion. Commerce thus steadily filtered down through the northern forests, until at last it reached the Baltic Sea. GROUP OF ANCIENT ARMS. RISE OF THE SARACENS OR ARABS. Mohammed. — Now for the first time since the over- throw of Carthage by Scipio (p. 235), a Semitic people comes to the front in history. Early in the 7th century there arose in Arabia a reformer named Mohammed,* who * Mohammed, or Mahomet, was bom at Mecca about 570 a. d. Left an orphan at an earlj' age, he became a camel-driver, and finally entered the service of a rich widow named Khadijah. She was so pleased with his fidelity, that she offered him her hand, although she was forty and he but twenty-five years old. He was now free to indulge his taste for meditation, and often retired to the desert, spending whole nights in revery. At the age of forty— a mystic number in the East— he de- clared that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him in a vision, commissioning him to preach a new faith. Khadijah was his first convert. After a time, he publicly re- nounced idol-worship, and proclaimed himself a prophet. Persecution waxed hot, and he was forced to flee for his life. This era is known among the Moslems as the Hegira. Mohammed now took refuge in a cave. His enemies came to the mouth, but seeing a spider's web across the entrance, passed on in pursuit. The fugitive secured an asylum in Medina, where the new faith spread rapidly, and Mo- hammed soon found himself at the head of an army. Full of courage and enthusiasm, he aroused his followers to a fanatical devotion. Thus, in the battle of Muta, Jaafer, 633.] RISE OF THE SARACENS 327 taught a new religion. Its substance was, ^^ There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Converts were made by force of arms. '^ Paradise/' said Mohammed, " will be found in the shadow of the crossing of swords." The only choice given the vanquished was the Koran, tribute, or death. Before the close of his stormy life (632), the green- robed warrior-prophet had subdued the scattered tribes of Arabia, destroyed their idols, and united the people in one nation. The Caliphs, or successors of Mohammed, rapidly fol- lowed up the triumphs of the new faith. Syria and Palestine were conquered. When Jerusalem opened its gates, Omar, the second caliph, austere and ascetic, rode thither from Medina upon a red-haired camel, carrying a bag of rice, one of dates, and a leathern bottle of water. The mosque bear- when his right hand was struck off, seized the banner in his left, and, when the left was severed, he still embraced the flag with the bleeding stumps, and fell only when pierced by fifty wounds.— Mohammed made known his doctrines in fragments, which his followers wrote upon sheep-bones and palm-leaves. His successor, Abou Beker, collected these pretended revelations into the Koran— the sacred book of the Moham- medans. 328 MEDI.^VAL PEOPLES. [668. ing his name still stands on the site of the ancient Temple. Persia was subdued, and the religion of Zoroaster nearly extinguished. Forty-six years after Mohammed's flight from Mecca, the scimiters of the Saracens were seen from the walls of Constantinople. During one siege of seven years (6G8-G75), and another of thirteen months, nothing saved New Rome but the torrents of Greek fire* that poured from its battlements. Meanwhile, Egypt fell, and, after the capture of Alexandria, the flames of its four thou- sand baths t were fed for six months with the priceless man- uscripts from the library of the Ptolemies. Still westward through Northern Africa the Arabs made their way, until at last their leader spurred his horse into the waves of the Atlantic, exclaiming, " Be my witness, God of Mohammed, that earth is wanting to my courage, rather than my zeal in thy service ! " Saracens Invade Europe. — In 711 the turbaned Mos- lems crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain was quickly overrun, and a Moorish J kingdom finally established that lasted until the year of the discovery of America (p. 405). The Mohammedan leader boasted that he would yet enter Rome and preach in the Vatican, capture Constantinople, and then, having overthrown the Roman Empire and Chris- tianity, he would return to Damascus and lay his vic- torious sword at the feet of the caliph. Soon the fearless riders of the desert poured through the passes of the Pyrenees and devastated southern Gaul. But on the plain of Tours * This consisted of naphtha, sulphur, and pitch. It was often hurled in red-hot, hollow balls of iron, or blown through copper tubes fancifully shaped in imitation of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit forth a stream of liquid fire. t Gibbon rejects this story ; but the current statement is that Omar declared, " If the manuscripts agree with the Koran, they are useless , if they disagree, they should be destroyed." X The Saracens in Spain are usually called Moors— a term originally applied to the dark-colored natives of northern Africa. 732.] RISE OF THE SAKACEJS^S 329 CHARLES MARTEL AT THE BATTLE OF TOURS. (732) the Saracen host met the Franks (p. 331). On the seventh day of the struggle the Cross triumphed over the Crescent, and Europe was saved. Charles, the leader of the Franks, received henceforth the name of Martel (the ham- mer) for the valor with which he pounded the Infidels on that memorable field. The Moslems never ventured north- ward again, and ultimately retired behind the barriers of the Pyrenees. Extent of the Arab Dominion. — Exactly a century had now elapsed since the death of Mohammed, and the Saracen rule reached from the Indus to the Pyrenees. No empire of antiquity had such an extent. Only Greek fire on the East and German valor on the West had prevented the Moslem power from girdling the Mediterranean. Saracen Divisions. — For a time this vast empire held 330 MEDIAEVAL PEOPLES. [800. together, and one caliph was obeyed alike in Spain and in Sinde. But disputes arose concerning the succession, and the empire was divided between the Ommiades — descendants of Omar — who reigned at Cordova, :ind the Ahbassides — descendants of the prophet's uncle — who located their capital at Bagdad. The year 800, when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor at Eome (p. 333), saw two rival emperors among the Chris- tians and two rival caliphs among the Mohammedans. As the Germans had before this pressed into the Roman Empire, so now the Turks invaded the Arab Empire. The caliph of Bagdad formed his body-guard of Turks — a policy that proved as fatal as enlisting the Goths into the legions of Rome, for the Turks eventually stripped the caliphs of their possessions in Asia and Africa. As the Teutons took the religion of the Romans, so also the Turks accepted the faith of the Arabs ; and as the Franks ultimately became the valiant supporters of Christianity, so the Turks became the ardent apostles of the Koran. Saracen Civilization. — The furious fanaticism of the Arabs early changed into a love for the arts of peace. Omar with his leathern bottle and bag of dates was followed by men who reigned in palaces decorated with arabesques and adorned with flower-gardens and foun- tains. The caliphs at Cordova and Bagdad became rivals in luxury and learning, as well as in politics and religion. Under the fostering care of Haroun al Raschid, the hero of the "Arabian Nights" and cou- temporaiy of Charlemagne, Bagdad became the home of poets and scholars. The Moors in Spain erected structures whose magnificence and grandeur are yet attested by the ruins of the mosque of Cordova and the palace of the Alhambra. The streets of the cities were paved and lighted. The houses were frescoed and carpeted, warmed in winter by furnaces, and cooled in summer by perfumed air. Amid the ignorance which enveloped Europe during the Dark Ages, the Saracen Empire was dotted over with schools, to which students resorted from all parts of the world. There were colleges in Mongolia, Tartary, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Morocco, Fez, and Spain, Th^ tltSE OF THE FRAKKISH EMPIRE. 331 \rizier of a sultan consecrated 200,000 pieces of gold to found a college at Bagdad. A physician refused to go to Bokhara, at the invitation of the Sultan, on the plea that his private library would make four hundred camel-loads. Great public libraries were collected — one at Cairo being said to number 100,000 volumes, and the one of the Spanish caUphs, 600,000. In science, the Arabs adopted the inductive method of Aristotle (see page 176), and pushed their experiments into almost every line of study. They originated chemistry, discovering alcohol and nitric and sulphuric acids. They understood the lavv^s of falling bodies, of specific gravity, of the mechanical jiowers, and the general principles of light. They applied the pendulum to the reckoning of time ; ascer- tained the size of the earth by measuring a degree of latitude ; made catalogues of the stars ; introduced the game of chess ; employed in mathematics the Indian method of numeration ; gave to algebra and trigonometry their modern forms ; brought into Europe cotton manu- facture ; invented the printing of calico with wooden blocks ; and forged the Damascus and Toledo scimiters, whose temper is still the wonder of the world. RISE OF THE FRANKISH KINGDOM. The Franks, a German race, laid the foundation of France and Germany, and during nearly four centuries their history is that of both these countries. The conversion to Chris- tianity of their chieftain Glovis was the turning-point in their career. In the midst of a great battle, he invoked the God of Clotilda, his wife, and vowed, if victorious, to em- brace her faith. The tide of disaster turned, and the grate- ful king, with three thousand of his bravest warriors, was soon after baptized at Rheims (496). The whole power of the Church was now enlisted in his cause, and he rapidly pushed his triumphal arms to the Pyrenees. He fixed his capital at Paris and established the Merovingian, or first Prankish dynasty (Brief Hist. France, p. 13). The Descendants of Clovis were at first wicked, then weak, until finally all power fell into the hands of the prime minister, or Mayor of the Palace. We have already heard 332 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [732. of one of these Mayors, Charles Martel, on the field of Tours. His son, the famous Pepin the Short, after his accession to office, wrote to the Pope, asking whether he who had the authority of king ought not to have the name. Receiving an affirmative reply, Pepin sent Childeric — the last of the "do-nothing'' monarchs — shorn of his long, yellow, royal locks, into a monastery, and was himself lifted on a shield, and declared king. Thus the Carlovingian, or second Prankish dynasty, was established (752). At the request of the Pope, then hai*d pressed by the Lombards, Pepin crossed the Alps and conquered the province of Ravenna, which he gave to the Holy See. This donation was the origin of the temporal power of the Pope. With Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Pepin's son, began a new era in the history of Europe. His plan was to unite the fragments of the old Roman Empire. To effect this, he used two powerful sentiments — patriotism and re- ligion. Thus, while he cherished the institutions which the Teutons loved, he protected the Church and carried the cross at the head of his army. He undertook fifty- three expeditions against twelve different nations. Gauls, Saxons, Danes, Saracens * — all felt the prowess of his arms. Entering Italy, he defeated the Lombards, and placed upon his own head their famous iron crown. After thirty-three years of bloody war, his sceptre was acknowledged from the German Ocean to the Adriatic, and from the Channel to the Lower Danube. His renown reached the far East, and Haroun al Raschid sought his friendship, sending him an * While Charlemagne's army, on its return from Spain, was passing through the narrow pass of Roncesvalles, the rear-guard was attacked by the Basques. The famous Paludin, Roland, long refused to blow his horn for aid, but with his dying breath he signaled Charlemagne, who returned too late to save his gallant comrades. Centuries have passed since that fatal day, but " the Basque peasant still sings of Roland and Charlemagne, and still the traveler seems to see the long line of white turbans and swarthy faces winding slowly through the woods, and Arab spear-heada glittering in the sun." 800.] UISE OF THE PRAKKISM EMPIHE. 333 Boundary of Umpire of Charlemagne Division of < < < < Boundaries of the S even kingdoms ++ + MAP OF THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE. elephant (an animal never before seen by the Franks), and a clock which struck the hours. Charlemagne Crowned Emperor. — On Christmas day, 800, as Charlemagne was bending in prayer before the high altar of St. Peter's at Eome, Pope Leo unexpectedly placed on his head the crown of the Caesars. The Western Empire was thus restored ; the old empire was finally divided ; there Avere two emperors — one at Eome, and one at Constantino- ple ; and from this time the Eoman emperors were " Kings of the Franks." They lived very little at Eome, however, 334 MEDIEVAL tEOt>L£S, [768-814 and spoke German, Latin being the language only of religion and government. CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED. Government. — Charlemagne sought to organize by law the various peoples he had conquered by the sword. His vast empire was divided into districts governed by counts. Royal delegates visited each district four times a year, to redress grievances and administer justice. Diets took the place of the old German armed assemblies. A series of capitularies was issued, containing the laws and the advice of the Emperor. But the work of Charlemagne's life per- ished with him. A Division of the Frankish Empire.— His feeble son Louis quickly dissipated this vast inheritance among his children. They quarreled over their respective shares, and, after Louis's death, fought out their dispute on the field of Fontenay. This dreadful '^ Battle of the Brothers " was fol- 843.] RISE OF THE PRANKISH EMPIRE, 335 lowed by the Treaty of Verdun (843), which divided the empire among them. Beginnings of France and Germany.— Lothaire's kingdom was called after him Lotharingia, and a part of it is still known as Lorraine. Louis's kingdom was termed East Frankland, but the word Deutsch (German) soon came into use, and Germany in 1843 celebrated its 1000th anniversary, dating fi'om the treaty of Verdun. Charles's kingdom was styled West Frankland (Lat. Francia, whence the word France) ; its monarch still clung to his Teutonic dress and manners, but the separation from Germany was fairly accomplished ; the two countries spoke different lan- guages, and Charles the Bald is ranked as the first king of France. Thus, during the 9th century, the map of Europe began to take on something of its present appearance, and, for the first time, we may venture to use the geographical divisions now familiar to us, though they were still far from having their present meaning. Charlemagne and his Court. — In person, dress, speech, and tone of mind, Charlemagne was a true German. Large, erect, muscular, with a clear eye and dignified but gracious manner, his shrill voice and short neck were forgotten in the general grandeur of his presence. Keen to de- tect, apt to understand, pro- found to grasp, and quick to decide, he impressed all who knew him with a sense of his power. Like his rude ancestors of centuries be- fore, he was hardy in his CHARLEMAGNE. 336 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. habits and uuconcerned about his dress ; but, unlike them, he was strictly temperate in food and drink. Drunkenness he abhorred. In the industrial schools which he established, his own daughters were taught to work, and the garments he commonly wore were woven by their hands. He discouraged useless extravagance in his courtiers, and once when hunting — he in his simple Frankish dress and sheepskin cloak, they in silk and tinsel-embroidered robes — he led them through mire and brambles in the midst of a furious storm of wind and sleet, and afterward obliged them to dine in their torn and bedraggled fineries. Twice in his life he wore a foreign dress, and that was at Rome, where he assumed a robe of purple and gold, encircled his brow with jewels and decorated even his sandals with precious stones. His greatest pride was in his sword, Joyeuse, the handle of which bore his signet, and he was wont to say, " With my sword I maintain all to which I affix my seal." Generous to his friends, indulgent to his children, and usually placable to his enemies, his only acts of cruelty were perpe- trated on the Saxons, who, true to the Teutonic passion for independ- ence, for thirty -three years fought and struggled against him. Even when by his orders forty-five hundred were beheaded in one day, these doughty warriors continued to rebel till hopelessly subdued. The Imperial Palaces were magnificent, and the one at Ais-la- Chapelle was so luxurious that people called it "Little Rome." It contained extensive halls, galleries, and baths for swimming — an art in which Charlemagne excelled, mosaic pavements and porphyry pillars from Ravenna, and a college, library, and theatre. There were gold and silver tables, sculptured drinking-cups, and elaborately carved wainscotmg, while the courtiers, dressed in gay and richly-wrought robes, added to the sumptuousness of the surroundings. This brilliant emperor gave personal attention to his difierent estates ; he prescribed what trees and flowers should grow in his gardens, what meat and vegetables should be kept in store, and even how the stock and poultry should be fed and housed. The College at Aix-la-ChajDelle was presided over by Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon monk whom Charlemagne had invited to his court — for he surrounded himself with scholars rather than warriors. With his learned favorites and royal household the Great King devoted himself to science, belles-letters, music, and the languages, and became, next to Alcuin, the best-educated man of the age. It was an arousing of literature from a sleep of centuries, and while Alcuin explained the theories of Pythagoras, Aristotle, and Plato, or quoted Homer, Virgil, and Pliny, the delighted listeners were fired with a passion for learning. In their enthusiasm they took the names of their classical favorites, and Homer, Pindar, Virgil, Horace, and Calliope, sat down together in the Frankish court, the king himself appearing as the royal • RISE OF MODERN N A T I X S— E N G L A N D . 83? Hebrew, David. Besides this court school, Charleraagne organized at Paris the first European university, established academies tlirougbout the Empire, and required that every monastery which he loiindod or endowed shoukl support a school. He encouraged the copying of ancient manuscripts and corrected the text of the Greek gospels. Like PJiuy, he had books read to him at meals — St. Augustine being his favorite author— and, like Pisistratus, he collected the scattered frag- ments of the ancient national poetry. He even began a German gram- mar, an experiment which was not repeated for hundreds of years. Yet, though he mastered Latin, read Greek and some oriental lan- guages, delighted in astronomy, attemptad poetry, and was learned in rhetoric and logic, this great king stumbled on the simple art of writ- ing ; and tliough he kept his tablets under his pillow that he might press every waking moment into service, the hand that could so easily wield the ponderous iron lance was conquered by the pen. Wonderful indeed was the electricity of this powerful nature, the like of which had not been seen since the day of Julius Caesar and was not to reappear until the day of Charles V. But no one man can make a civilization. "In vain," says Duruy, "did Charlemagne kindle the flame ; it was only a passing torch in the midst of a profound night. In vain did he strive to create commerce and trace with his own hand the plan of a canal to connect the Danube and the Rhine ; the ages of commerce and industry were yet far distant. In vain did he unite Germany into one vast empire ; even while he lived he felt it breaking in his hands. And this vast and wise organism, this revived civiliza- tion, all disappeared with him who called it forth." RISE OF MODERN NATIONS. We will next sketch the early political history of the prin- cipal European nations, and see how, amid the darkness of the Middle Ages, the foundations of the modern states were slowly laid. I. ENGLAND. The Four Conquests of England. — (1.) Roman Con- quest. — About a century after Caesar's invasion, Agricola reduced Britain to a Roman province (see p. 249). Walls were built to keep back the Highland Celts; paved roads were constructed ; fortified towns sprang up in the 338 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [^10. tTRUTMtRS, THE FOUR CONQUESTS OF ENGLAND. track of the legions ; and the young natives learned to talk Latin, wear the toga, and frequent the bath. (2.) Anglo-Saxon Conquest. — While Alaric was thunder- ing at the gates of Rome (p. 267), the veteran legions were recalled to Italy. The wild Celts of the north now swarmed over the deserted walls, and ravaged the country. The Britons, in their extremity, appealed to Horsa and Hen- gist, two German adventurers then cruising off their coast. These drove back the Celts, rewarding themselves by seizing the land they had delivered. Fresh bands of Teutons — chiefly Angles (English) and Saxons — followed, driving the remaining Britons into Wales. The petty pagan kingdoms 827.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 330 which the Germans established (known as tlic Saxon Hep- tarchy) were continually at war, but Christianity was intro- duced by St. Augustine,* and they were finally united in one nation (8.27) by King Egbert, a contemporary and friend of Charlemagne. (3.) Danish Conquest. — During the 9th century, England, like France (p. 354) and Germany, was ravaged by hordes of northern pirates. In their Hght boats they ascended the rivers and, landing, seized horses and scoured the country, to plunder and slay. Mercy seemed to them a crime, and they destroyed all they could not remove. The Danish invaders w^ere finally beaten back by Egbert's grandson,! Alfred the Great (871-901), and order was restored so that, according to the old chroniclers, a bracelet of gold could be left hang- ing by the roadside without any one daring to touch it. A century later, the Northmen came in greater numbers, bent on conquering the country, and the Danish king Canute (Knut) X won the English crown (1017). (4.) Norman Co7iquest. — The English soon tired of the reckless rule of Canute's sons, and called to the throne Edward the Confessor (1042), who belonged to the old * Gregory, when a deacon, was once attracted by the beaiTty of some light-haired boys in the Roman slave-market. Being told that they were Angles, he replied, '•Not Angles, but angels." When he became Pope, he remembered the fair cap- tives, and sent a band of monks under St. Augustine, as missionaries to England. They landed on the same spot where Hengist had nearly 150 years before. + The early chronicles abound in romantic stories of this " best of England's kings." While a fugitive from the Danes, he took refuge in the hut of a swineherd. One day the housewife had him turn some cakes that were baking upon the hearth. Absorbed in thought the young king forgot his task. When the good woman returned, finding the cakes burned, she roundly scolded him for his carelessness. + Many beautiful legends illustrate the character of this wonderful man. One day his courtiers told him that his power was so great that even the sea obeyed him. To rebuke this foolish flattery, the king seated himself by the shore, and ordered the waves to retire. But the tide rose higher and higher, until, finally, the surf dashed over his person. Turning to his flatterers, he said, " Ye see now how weak is the power of kings and of all men. Honor then God only and serve Him. for Him do all things obey." On going back to Winchester, he hung his crown over the crucifix on the high altar, and never wore it again. 340 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [1066. Saxon line. On his death, Harold was chosen king. But William, duke of Normandy (p. 356), claimed that Edward had promised him the succession, and his cousin, Harold, had ratified the pledge. A powerful Norman army accord- ingly invaded England. Harold was slain in the battle of Hastings^ and on Christmas day, 1066, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey as king of England. The following table contains the names of the English kings from the time of the conquest to the end of the Middle Ages. The limits of this history forbid a description of their separate reigns, and permit only a consideration of the events that, during this period of four cen- turies, were conspicuous in the " Making of England." M mo Kg William the Conqueror (1066-'87). William Kupus (1087-1100). Henry Beauclerc. (1100-'35). Adela, m. Stephen, of Blois. Stephen (1135-'54). Matilda, m. Geoffrey Plantagenet, of Anjou. Henry II. (1154-': I Richard Cobtjr de Lion (1189-" John (1199-1216). Henry III. (1216-72). Edward I. (1272-1307). Edward II. (1307-'27). Edward HI. (1327-'77). Edward the Black Prince. Richard n. (1377-'99). Lionel, Duke of Clarence. (Third son of Edward in.). DAe o7L?n?a^[er. 1^°^^ ">- "f Edward IH. Henry IV. (1399-1413). Henry V. (1413-'22). Henry VI. (1422-'61). Edward IV. (1461-'83). Descendant of Lionel, third son of Edward IH. Edward V. (1483). With his brother Richard murdered in the Tower. Richard III. (1483-'5). Youngest brother of Edward IV. FeU at Bosworth. RISE OF MODERif KATIOXS — ENGLAND. 341 Results of the Norman Conquest — William took ad- vantage of repeated revolts of the English to conquer the nation thoroughly, to establish the Feudal system* in Eng- land, and to confiscate most of the large domains and confer them upon^is follow- ers. Soon every office in church and state was filled by the Nor- mans. Castles were erected, where the new nobles lived and lorded it over their poor Saxon dependants. Crowds of Norman workmen and traders flocked across the channel. Thus there were two peoples living in Eng- land, side by side. But the Normans were kinsfolk of the English, being Teutons with only a French veneer, and the work of union began speedily. Henry I., the Conqueror's son, married the niece of Edgar Atheling — the last of the Saxon princes ; while, from the reign of Henry II., ties of kindred and trade fast made Normans and Englishmen undistinguishable. Finally, in Edward I., England got a king who was English at heart. At first there were two languages spoken — ^the Norman being the fashionable tongue, and the Saxon the common WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. * The pupil should here carefolly read the sections on Feudalism, etc., p. 408, in order to understand the various feudal terms used in the text. 342 MEDL^VAL PEOPLES. speech ; but slowly, as the two peoples combined, the two languages coalesced. From time to time, many of the English took to the woods and lived as outlaws, like the famous Eobin Hood in the days of Richard I. But the sturdy Saxou independence and the Norman skill and learning gradually blended, giving to the English race new life and enterprise, a firmer government, more systematic laws, and more permanent institutions. The Saxon w^eapon was the battle-axe ; the Norman gen- tleman fought on horseback with the spear, and the footman with bow and arrow. Less than three centuries found the English yeoman on the field of Crecy(p. 361), under Edward III. and the Black Prince, overwhelming the French with shafts from their long-bows, and the English knight armed cap-a-pie, Avith helmet on head and lance in hand. William, though king of England, still held Normandy, and hence remained a vassal of the king of France. This complication of English and French interests became a fruitful source of strife. The successors of Hugh Capet (p. 356) were forced to fight a vassal more powerful than themselves, while the English sovereigns sought to dismember and finally to conquer France. Long and bloody wars were waged. Nearly five centuries elapsed before the English monarchs gave up their last stronghold in that country, and were content to be merely British kings. Growth of Constitutional Liberty. — 1. Runnymede and Magna Chart a. — Wilham the Conqueror easily curbed the powerful English vassals whom he created. But, during the disturbances of succeeding reigns, the barons acquired great power, and their castles became mere robbers' nests, whence they plundered the common people without mercy. The masses now sided with the crown for protection. Henry II. established order, reformed the law courts, organ- 1315.] RISE OF MODERIT NATIONS — ENGLAND. 343 ized ciu army, destroyed many of the castles of the tyraDnical nobles, and created new barons, who, being English, were ready to make common cause with the nation. Unfortu- nately, Henry alienated the affections of his people by his long quarrel with Thomas ^ Becket, who, as a loyal English priest, stood up for the rights of the church — through the Middle Ages the refuge of the masses — and opposed to the death the increasing power of the Norman king. Henry's son, John, brought matters to a crisis, by his brutality and exactions. He imposed taxes at pleasure, wronged the poor, and plundered the rich.* At last, the patience of peasant and noble alike was exhausted, and the whole nation rose up in insurrection. The barons marched with their forces against the king, and at Runnymede (1215) compelled him to grant the famous Great Charter. Henceforth the king had no right to demand money when he pleased, nor to imprison and punish whom he pleased. He was to take money only when the barons granted the privilege for public purposes, and no freeman was to be pun- ished except when his countrymen judged him guilty of crime. The courts were to be open to all, and justice was not to be ''sold, refused or delayed. '' The serf, or villein, was to have his plough free from seizure. The church was secured against the interference of the king. No class was neglected, but each obtained some cherished right. Magna Charta ever since has been the foundation of Eng- lish liberty, and, as the kings were always trying to break it, they have been compelled, during succeeding reigns, to con- firm its provisions thirty-six times. 2. House of Commons. — Henry III., foolishly fond of for- eign favorites, yielded to their advice and lavished upon * At one time, it is said, he threw into prison a wealthy Jew, who refused to give him an enormous sum of money, and pulled out a tooth every day until he paid th^ required amount 344 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [13tH CENT. them large sums of money. Once more the barons rose in arms and, under the lead of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester — a Frenchman by birth but an Englishman in feeling — defeated the king at Leives. Earl Simon thereupon called together the Parliament, summoning, besides the barons, two knights from each county, and two citizens from each city or borough, to represent the freeholders (1265). From this beginning, the English Parliament soon took on the form it has since retained, of two assemblies — the House of Lords and the House of Commons. By de- grees it was established that the Commons should have the right of petition for redress of grievances, and sole power of voting taxes. The loth cenfiiry is thus memorable in English History for the granting of Magna Charta and the forming of the House of Commons. Conquest of Ireland begun.— Henry II., having ob- tained permission from the Pope to invade Ireland, author- ized an army of adventurers to overrun that island. In 1171 he visited Ireland, and his sovereignty was generally acknowledged. Henceforth the country was under English rule, but it remained in disorder, the battle-ground of Irish chiefs, and Norman-descended lords who became as savage and lawless as those whom they had conquered. Conquest of Wales (1283).— The Celts had long pre- served their liberty among the mountains of Wales and Scotland. Edward I.'s ambition was to rule over the whole of the island. When Llewellyn, the Welsh chieftain, refused to 3rield him the usual homage, he invaded the country and annexed it to England. To propitiate the Welsh, he prom- ised them a native-born king who could not speak a word of English, and thereupon presented them his son, born a few days before in the Welsh castle of Caernarvon. The young 1283.] RISE OF MODERN iq-ATIONS — ENGLAND. 345 Edward was afterward styled the Prince of Wales— a title since borne by the sovereign's oldest son. Conquest of Scotland. — Edward L, having been chosen umpn-e between two claimants for the Scottish throne — Robert Bruce and John Baliol, decided in favor of the latter, on condition of his doing homage to the English monarch as his feudal lord. The Scots, impatient of their vassalage, revolted, whereupon Edward took possession of the country as a forfeited fief (1.296). Again the Scots rose under the patriot William Wallace, but he was defeated, taken to London and hanged. They next found a leader in Robert Bruce. Edward marched against him, but died in sight of Scotland. The English soldiers, however, harried the land, and drove Bruce from one hiding-place to another. Almost in despair, the patriot lay one day sleepless on his bed, where he watched a spider jumping to attach its thread to a wall. Six times it failed, but succeeded on the seventh. Bruce, encouraged by this simple incident, resolved to try again. Success came. Castle after castle fell into his hands, until only Stirling remained. Edward XL, going to its relief, mel Bruce at Bannockburn (1314). The Scottish army was defended by pits, having sharp stakes at the bot- tom, and covered at the top with sticks and turf. The English knights, galloping to the attack, plunged into these hidden holes. In the midst of the confusion, a body of sut- lers appeared on a distant hill, and the dispirited English, mistaking them for a new army, fled in dismay. Scottish Independence was acknowledged (1328).* After * It is noticeable that there existed a constant alliance of Scotland and France. Whenever, during the 14th and 15th centuries, war broke out between France and England, the Scots made a diversion by attacking England, and their soldiers often took service in the French armies on the continent. So, if we learn that, at any time during this long period, France and England were fighting, it is pretty safe to conclude that, along the borders of England and Scotland, there were plundericg-raids and skirmishes. 346 MEDI^. VAL PEOPLES. [14th CENT. this, many wars arose between Scotland and England, but Scotland was never in danger of being conquered. The Hundred- Years War with France was the event of the 14 th and the first half of the loth century (p. 360). - Wars of the Roses (1455-85). — About the middle of the 15th century a struggle concerning the succession to the English throne arose between the Houses of York and Lan- caster, the former being descended from the third, and the latter from the fourth son of Edward III. (p. 340). A Civil War ensued, known as the Wars of the Roses, since the adherents of the House of York wore, as a badge, a white rose, and those of Lancaster, a red one. The contest lasted thirty years and twelve i3itched battles were fought. During this war the House of York seated three kings upon tlie throne. But the last of these, Eichard III., a brutal tyrant whom prose and poetry * have combined to condemn, was ^lain on the field of Bosivorth, and the red rose jDlaced the crown on the head of its representative, Henry VII. Thus ended the Plantagenet Line, which had ruled England for three centuries ; the new house was called the Tudor Line, from Henry's family name. The result of this Civil War was the triumph of the kingly power over that of the aristocracy. It was a war of the nobles and their military retainers. Except in the immediate march of the armies, the masses pursued their industries as usual. Men plowed and sowed, bought and sold, as though it were a time of peace. Both sides pro- tected the neutral citizens, but were bent on exterminating each other. No quarter was asked or given, f During the war, eighty princes of the blood and two hundred nobles * Read Shakspere's play, Richard III. t When Edward IV. galloped over the field of battle after a victory, he would Phont, " Spare the soldiers, but slay the gentlemen," 1485.] BISE OF MODERN N A TI O N S — E X G L A ND. 347 fell by the sword, and lialf the families of distinction were destroyed. The method of holding land was changed, and, for the former relation of lord and vassal, was substituted that of landlord and tenant. The power of the great barons gone, the king had little check, and the succeeding monarchs ruled with an authority never before dreamed of in English history. Constitutional liberty, which had been steadily growing since the day of Runnymede, now gave place to Tudor despotism. The field of Bosworth, moreover, marked the downfall of Feudalism ; with its disappearance the Middle Ages came to an end. EARLY ENGLISH CIVILIZATION. The Anglo-Saxons. — The German invaders took with them to England their old-time traits and customs, in which traces of their former paganism lingered long after Christianity was formally adopted. Coming in separate bands, each fighting and conquering for itself, the most successful chieftains founded kingdoms. The royal power gradu- ally increased, though always subject to the decisions of the Witan, which was composed of the earls, the prelates, and the leading thanes and clergy. The Witenagemot (Assembly of Wise Men), a modifica- tion of the ancient German Assembly, was held at the great Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide festivals. This body not only elected but could depose the king, who was chosen from the royal family * The earls or dukes represented the old German nobility ; below them were the tlianes or gentry, attached to the king and nobles ; and the ceorls or yeomen, freemen in name, but often semi-servile in obliga- tions. Lowest of all, and not even counted in the population, was a host of thralls, hapless slaves who lay at their master's mercy and were sold with the land and cattle — one slave equalling four oxen in value. A ceorl who had acquired " fully five hides f of land, church and kitchen, bell -house and burh-gate-seat, and special duty in the king's hall," or a * Every tribe had its royal family supposed to be descended from Woden. The house of Cerdic, the founder of the West-Saxon dynasty, survived the others, and to him is traced the pedigree of Queen Victoria. t The dimensions of a hide are not known. Some think it was about thirty acres. The burh was the home-yard and buildings, entered through a gate in the earth-wall enclosure. 348 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. merchant who had thrice crossed the seas on his own account, might become a thane ; and in certain cases a slave might earn his freedom. Shires, Hundreds, and Tithings. — Ten Anglo-Saxon families made a tithing, and by a system of mutual police or frank-pledge, each one became bail for the good conduct of the other nine. Ten tithings made a hundred, names which soon came to stand for the soil on which they lived. The land conferred in individual estates was called bokland (book-land) ; that reserved for the public use w&s folkland. The weregeld (life-money) and wihtgeld (crime-money) continued in force and covered nearly every possible crime, from the murder of a king to a bruise on a comrade's finger-nail. As part of the crime-money went to the crown, it was a goodly source of royal income. The amount due increased with the rank of the injured party ; thus, the weregeld of the West-Saxon king was six times that of the thane, and the thane's was four times that of the ceorl. The weregeld also settled the value of an oath in tlie law-courts : " A thane could outswear half-a-dozen ceorls , an earl could outswear a whole township." The word of the king was ordered to be taken without an oath. Some crimes, such as premeditated murder or perjury after theft, were inexpiable. The Ordeals were used in cases of doubtful guilt. Sometimes a cauldron of boiling water or a red-hot iron was brought before the court. The man of general good character was made to plunge his hand in the water or to carry the iron nine paces, but he of ill-repute immersed his arm to the elbow and was given an iron of treble weight. After three days he was declared guilty or innocent, according to the signs of perfect healing. Sometimes the accused was made to walk blindfolded and barefooted over red-hot ploughshares ; and sometimes he was bound hand and foot and thrown into a pond, to establish his inno- cence or guilt according as he sank or floated. Ordeals were formally abolished by the Church in the 13th century. The Duel, in which the disputants or their champions fought, was transplanted from Normandy about the time of the Conquest ; and the Grand Assize, the first establishment in regular legal form of trial by jury, was introduced by Henry II. Comnierce was governed by strict protective laws, and every pur- chase, even of food, had to be made before witnesses. If a man went to a distance to buy any article, he must first declare his intention to his neighbors ; if he chanced to buy while absent, he must publish the fact on his return. Nothing could be legally bought or sold for three miles outside a city's walls, and the holder of wares whose purchase in open market could not be proved, not only forfeited the goods, but was obliged to establish his character for honesty before the legal inspector of sales. Judging from the laws, theft and smuggling, though punished with great severity, were prevalent crimes. RISE OF MODERjq- K AT IONS — EKGLAN^D. 349 Solitary travelers were regarded with suspicion, and an early law declared that " if a man come from afar or a stranger go out of the highway, and he then neither shout nor blow a horn, he is to be ac- counted a thief, cither to be slain or to be redeemed." THE SCRIPTORIUM OF A MONASTERY. — A MONK ILLUMINATING A MANUSCRIPT. Literature and. the Arts flourished only in convents, where the patient monks wrought in gold, silver and jewels, and produced exquisitely illuminated manuscripts. The name of " The Venerable Bede" (673-735), the most distinguished of Anglo-Saxon writers, is familiar to all readers of English history, and we recognize Alcuin (735-804) as the preceptor of Charlemagne. Alfred the Great, whom popular tradition invested vdth nearly every virtue, was a tireless student and writer. Truthfulness, Respect for Woman, and Hospitality were the old wholesome German traits. The doors of the Anglo-Saxon hall were closed to none — known or unknown — who appeared worthy of entrance. The stranger was welcomed with the customary offer of water to wash his hands and feet, after which he gave up his arms and took his place at the family board. For two nights no questions were asked ; after that his host was responsible for his character. In later times, a strange-comer who was neither armed nor rich nor a clerk was obliged to enter and leave his host's house by daylight, nor was he allowed to remain out of his own tithing more than one night at a time. 350 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. HOUSE OF A NOBLEMAN (TWELFTH CENTURY). mmm The Home of a prosperous Anglo-Saxon consisted generally of a large wooden building — the hall — surrounded by several de- tached cabins, the bowers, situ- ated in a large yard enclosed by an earthwork and a ditch, with a strong gate (the hurh-gate) for entrance. The hall was the general resort of the numerous household. It was hung with cloth or embroidered tapestries, and had hooks for arms, armor, musical instruments, etc. The floor was of clay or, in palaces, of tile mosaic. Its chief furniture was benches, which served as seats by day and for beds at night. A sack of straw and a straw pillow, with sheet, coverlet, and goatskin, laid on a bench or on the floor, furnished a euflacient couch for even a royal Saxon. A stool or chair covered with a rug or cushion marked the master's place. The tabic was a long board placed upon tressels and laid aside when not in use. A hole in the roof gave outlet to the clouds of smoke from tlie open fire on the floor. The bowers furnished private sit- ting and bed rooms for the ladies of the house, the master, and distin- guished guests. Here the Anglo-Saxon dames carded, spun, and wove, and wrought the gold embroideries that made their needlework famous throughout Europe. The straw bed lay on a bench in a curtained recess, and the furniture was scanty, for in those times nothing which could not be easily hidden was safe from plunderers. The little windows (called eye-holes) were closed by a wooden lattice, thin horn, or linen, for glass windows were as yet scarcely known. A rude candle stuck upon a spike was used at night. — The women were fond of flowers and gardens. At the great feasts they passed the ale and mead, and dis- tributed gifts — the spoils of victory — to the warrior-guests.* They * The master was called the hlaf-ord (loaf owner), and the mistress hlaf-dig (loaf "lliliiliiillliliillil EARLY ENGLISH BENCH OR BED. RISE OF MODERN NATIOKS — ENGLAKD. 351 were as hard mistresses as the old Roman matrons, and their slaves were sometimes scourored to death by their orders. Dress.— The men usually went bareheaded, with flowing beard, and long hair parted in the middle. A girdled tunic, loose short trousers, and wooden or leather shoes completed the costume. The rich wore ornamented silk cloaks. A girl's hair hung flowing or braided ; after marriage it was cut short or bound around the head, as a mark of sub- jection. It was a fashion to dye the hair Uue, but a lady's head-dress left only her face exposed ; her brilliantly-dyed robes and palla were, in form, not mil ike those of Roman times. Hunting and Hawking were the favorite outdoor sports ; the in-door were singing — for even a laboring man was disgraced if he could not sing to his own accompaniment — harp-playing, story-telling, and, above all, the old German habits, feasting and drinking. A DINNER PARTY. Scene in Anglo-Saxon lAfQ.—TJie Noon- Meat. —khont three o'clock the chief, his guests, and all his household meet in the hall. While the hungry crowd, fresh from woodland and furrow, lounge near the fire or hang up their weapons, the slaves drag in the heavy board, spreading rn its upper half a handsome cloth. The tableware consists of wooden platters and bread-baskets, bowls for the universal broth, drinking-horns and cups, a few steel knives shaped like our modern razors, and some spoons, but no forks. As soon as the board is laid, the benches are drawn up, and the work of demolition begins. Great round cakes of bread, huge junks of boiled bacon, vast rolls of broiled eel, cups of milk, horns of ale, wedges of cheese, lumps of salt butter, and smoking piles of cabbage and beans all disappear like magic. Kneeling slaves ofler to the lord and his honored guests long skewers or spits on which steaks of beef or venison smoke and sputter. distributer) ; hence the modem words lord and lady. were called loaf-eaters. The domestics and retainers 353 MEDIEVAL 1>E0I>L£S. ready for the hacking blade. Poultry, game, and geese are on the upper board ; but, except the bare bones, the crowd of loaf-eaters see little of these dainties. Fragments and bones strew the floor, where they are eagerly snapped up by hungry hounds, or lie till the close of the meal. Meantime, a clamorous mob of beggars and cripples hano- round the door, squabbling over the broken meat and mingling their miceasing whine with the many noises of the feast.* PRIMITIVE METHOD OF COOKING (.FROM 14TH CENTURY MS.) After the banquet comes the revel. The drinking-^lasses— with rounded bottoms, so that they cannot stand on the table,! but must be emptied at a draught— are now laid aside for gold and silver goblets, which are constantly filled and refilled with mead and — in grand houses — with wine. Gleemen sing, and twang the violin or harp (called glee- wood), or blow great blasts from trumpets, horns, and pipes, or act the bufToon with dance and j ugglery. Amid it all rises the gradually increas- ing clamor of the guests, who, fired by incessant drinking, change their shouted riddles into braggart boasts, then into taunts and threats, and often end the night with bloodshed. (Condensed from Collier.) The Norman introduced new modes of thought and of life. More cleanly and delicate in personal habits, more elaborate in tastes, more courtly and ceremonious in manner, fresh from a province where learning had just revived and which was noted for its artistic architec- ture, and coming to a land that for a century had been nearly barren of literature and whose buildings had little grace or beauty, the Nor- man added culture and refinement to the Anglo Saxon strength and sturdiness. Daring and resolute in attack, steady in discipline, skilful * In Norman times the beggars grew so insolent that ushers armed with rods were posted outside the hall door to keep them from snatching the food from the dishes as the cooks carried it to the table. t This characteristic of the old drinking-cups is said to have given rise to the modem name of Lumbkr. fllSE OF MODERJSr K ATI N S — E :N^ G L A N D. 353 in exacting submission, fond of outside splendor, proud of military power, and appreciative of thought and learning, it was to him, says Pearson, that " England owes the builder, the knight, the schoolman, the stiitesman." But it was still only the refinement of a brutal age. The Norman soon drifted into the gluttonous habits he had at first ridiculed, and the conquest was enforced so pitilessly that "it was impossible to walk the streets of any great city without meeting men whose eyes had been torn out and whose feet or hands, or both, had been lopped off." PREPARING A CANDIDATE FOR KNIGHTHOOD. (From a Manuscript, Tweiftli Century.) 354 MEDIAEVAL PEOPLES, [892. II. FRANCE. NORMAN SHIP (FROM THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY). The Norsemen — Scandinavians, like the Danish invad- ers of England— began to ravage the coast of France during the days of Charlemagne. Under his weak successors, they came thick and fast, ascending the rivers in their boats, and burning and plundering far and near. At last, in sheer desperation, Charles the Simple gave Kollo— the boldest of the vikings— a province since known as Normandy. Eollo took the required oath of feudal service, but delegated the ceremony of doing homage to one of his followers, who lifted the monarch's foot to his mouth so suddenly as to upset king and throne. Soon, a wonderful change occurred. The Normans, as they were henceforth called, showed as much vigor in culti- vating their new estates as they had formerly in devastating 911.] RISE OF MODERN N A TI N S — F R A NCE. 355 tliem. They adopted the language, religion, and customs of the French, and, though they invented nothing, they devel- oped and gave new life to all they touched. Ere long Normandy became the fairest province, and these wild Norsemen, the bravest knights, the most astute statesmen, and the grandest builders of France. TABLE OF FRENCH MEDI/EVAL KINGS. Hugh Capet EOBEET Henrt T. PniLrp I. I (987-'96). (996-1031). (1031-60). (lOGO-1103). (1108-'37). Louis VI., the Fat Louis VII., the Yonng (1137-'80). PnrLiP 11., Augustus (1180-1223). Louis VIII. I (1223-'26). Louis IX., Saint a226-'70). Charles, Count of Anjou and Provence, founder of bouse of Naples. Philip IH., the Hardy (1270-'i Egbert, Count of Clermont, founder of House of Bourbon. Philip IV., the Fair (1285-1314). Charles, Count of Valois, founder of House of Valois (p. 360). Louis X. (1314). I Philip V. (1316). Charles IV. (1322). Charles, Count of Valois, son of Philip III. Phtt.tp VI. (1328-^50). JoHX, the Good (1350-64)= Charles V., the Wise (1364-'80). Isabella, m. Edward II. of England. Edward III. (p. 360). Charles ^^E., the Well-beloved (18S0-1422). Charles VIL, the Victorious (1422-61). Louis XI. (1461-'&3). I Charles VUI. (1483-'98). Louis, Duke of Orleans, founder of House of Valois-Orleans. 356 MEDIEVAL p-^OPLtS. i84a-d87. The Later Carlovingian Kings * proved as power- less to defend and govern, as they had to preserve, the inheritance of their great ancestors. During the terror of the Norseman invasion, the people naturally turned for pro- tection to the neighboring lords, whose castles were their only refuge. Feudalism, consequently, grew apace. In the 10th century France existed only in name. Normandy, Burgundy, Aquitaine, Champagne, Toulouse, were the true states, each with its independent government, and its own life and history. The Capetian Klings. — As Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace, gained power during the last days of the do- nothing, Merovingian kings, and his son established a new dynasty, so, in the decadence of the Carlo vingians, Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, gained control, and his son, Hugh Capet, was crowned at Rheims (987). Thus was founded the third, or Capetian Line. France had now a native French king, and its capital was Paris. Weakness of the Monarchy. — The Eoyal Domain (see map), however, was only a small territory along the Seine and Loire. Even there the king scarcely ruled his nobles, while the great vassals of the crown paid him scant respect. The early Capets made little progress toward strengthening their authority. When William, duke of Normandy, won the English crown, there began a long rivalry that retarded the growth of France for centuries; and when Eleanor, the divorced wife of Louis VII., was married to Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou — so carry- ing her magnificent inheritance of Poitou and Aquitaine to * Tt is a significant fact that they have come down to us with the nicknames of the Good-natured, the Bald, the Stammerer, the Pat, the Simple, and the Idle (Brief Hist, of France, App., p. 25). RISE OF MODERJ^- NATIONS — FRANCE. 357 PARAMOUNT FEUDATORIES at the time of the accession of HUGH CAPET TUk i S«., N. T. SEA him who soon after became Henry II. of England, — the French crown was completely overshadowed. Growth of the Monarchy. — The history of France during the 13th, 14th, and loth centuries shows how, in spite of foreign foes, she absorbed the great fiefs, one by one ; how royalty triumphed over feudalism, and finally all became consolidated into one great monarchy. Philip Augustus (1180-1223) was the ablest monarch France had seen since Charlemagne. When a mere boy he 358 ^lEDIiEVAL PEOPLES. [13th cent. FHlUl' AUGUSTUS. gained the counties of Vermandois, Amiens, and Valois ; while by his marriage he se- cured L'Artois. King John of Eng- land being accused of having murdered his nephew Arthur— the heir of Brittan}^ — Phil- ip summoned him, as his vassal, to answer for the crime before the peers of France. On his non-appearance, John was adjudged to have forfeited his fiefs. War ensued, during which Philip captured not only Normandy, which gave him control of the mouth of the Seine, but also Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, upon the Loire. Certain cities were granted royal charters conferring spe- cial privileges ; under these, the citizens formed associations (communes) for mutual defence, elected magistrates, and organized militia. When Phihp invaded Flanders, the troops from sixteen of the communes fought at his side and helped him win the battle of Bouvmes (1214) over the Flem- ings, Germans, and English. It was the first great French victory, and gave to the crown authority, and to the people a thirst for military glory. The Albigejises— so called from the city of Albi — professed doctrines at variance with the Church of Eome. Pope In- nocent III. accordingly preached a crusade against them and their chief defender. Count Eaymond of Toulouse. It was led by Simon de Montfort, father of the earl famous in 1^26.] RISE OF MODiiliK KATiOXS — FRANCE. 369 English history. Euthless adventurers flocked to his stand- ard from all sides, and for years this beautiful land was ravaged with fire and sword. Helpless Toulouse at last lapsed to the crown, and so France acquired the Mediterra- nean coast. Instead of being shut up to the lands about Paris, the kingdom now touched three seas. Louis IX. (1220-70) is best known by his title of Saint, and history loves to describe him as sitting beneath the spreading oak at Vincennes, and dispensing justice among his people. By his integrity, goodness, and strength of mind he made all classes respect his rule. He firmly re- pressed the warring barons, and established the Parliament of Paris — a court of justice to enforce equal laws through- out the realm. During this beneficent reign, royalty and the country made such progress that France assumed the first rank among the European na- tions. Philip IV. (1285-1314) was called the Fair — a title which ap- plied to his complexion rather than his character, for he was crafty and cruel. In order to repress the nobles, he encouraged the com- munes and elevated the bourgeoisie, or middle classes. His reign is memorable for the long and bitter contest which he carried on with the Pope, Boniface YIII. To strengthen himself, the king sum- moned for the first time in French history (1302) the States- General, or deputies of the Three Estates of the Realm — the nobles, the clergy, a soldier (fourteenth century). 360 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES, [14th cent. and the commons (tiers Stat). The j^eople thus obtained representation. The papal court was finally removed to Avignon, and the new Pope, Clement V., became in effect a vassal of France. The order of Templars (p. 399), by its wealth and pride, excited Philip's greed and jealousy. He accordingly seized the knights, and confiscated their treasures. The members were accused of frightful crimes, which they con- fessed under torture, and many were burned at the stake. House of Valois. — Philip's three sons came to the throne in succession, but died leaving no male heir. The question then arose whether the crown could descend to a female. It was decided that, according to the old Salic law of the Franks, the kingdom could not "fall to the distaff." During the short reign of Philip's sons, their uncle Charles, Count of Valois, secured almost royal power, and — the third instance of the kind in French history — his son obtained the crown, which thus went to the Valois branch of the Capet family. This succession was disputed by Edward III. of England, as son of the daughter of Philip IV. So began the contest called The Hundred-Years War (1328-1453).— Like the Peloponnesian War of ancient Greece, this long struggle was not one of continuous fighting, but was broken by occasional truces, or breathing-spells, caused by the sheer exhaustion of the contestants. Throughout the progress of this contest the fortunes of France and England were so linked that the KNIGHT TEMPLAR. 1328.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — FRANCE. 361 same events often form the principal features in the history of both, while there were many striking coincidences and contrasts in the condition of the two countries. FRANCE. Philip of Valois (IS^S-'SO) came to the throne at nearly the same time as his Enghsh rival, though France had three kinj,'s (Philip, John, and Charles) during Edward ///.'s reign of fifty years. The storm of war was long gathering, Philip, coveting Aquitaine, excited hostilities upon its borders ; gathered a fleet, and destroyed Southampton and Plymouth ; interrupted the English trade with the great manufacturing cities of Ghent and Bruges ; and aided the revolt of Robert Bruce in Scotland. A war of succession having arisen in Brittany, and. the rival kings supporting opposite fections, Phihp, daring a truce, invited a party of Breton noblemen to a tournament, and beheaded them without trial. ENGLAND. Edward III.'s (1327-'77) reign vpit- nessed England's most brilliant achieve- ments in war. At first Edward did bom- age for his lands in France; but after- ward, exasperated by Philip's hostility, he asserted his claim to the French throne ; made allies o f Flanders and Germany ; quartered the lilies of France with the lions of England ; assembled a fleet, and defeated the French off 8luys (1340), thus winning the first great Eng- lish naval victory; and finally, upon Philip's perfidy in slaying the Breton knights, invaded Normandy, and ravaged the country to the very walls of Paris. On his retreat, he was overtaken by an overwhelming French army near Crecy. Battle of Crecy (13-16).— The English yeomanry had learnt the use of the long bow, and now formed Edward's main reliance. The French army was a motley feudal array, the knights despising all who fought on foot. The advance was led by a body of Genoese cross-bow men, who recoiled before the piti- less storm of English arrows. The French knights, instantly charging forward, trampled the helpless Italians under foot. In the midst of the confusion, the English poured down on their struggling ranks. Philip himself barely escaped, and reached Amiens with only five attendants. The result of this victory was the capture of Calais. Ed- ward, driving out the inhabitants, made it an English settle- ment. Henceforth, for two hundred years, this city afforded the English an open door into the heart of France. Crecy was a triumph of the churl over the knight, and it inspired England with a love of conquest. 362 MEDI^\'AL PEOPLES. [14th cent. The Black Death (1347-50), a terrible plague from the East, now swept over Europe. Half the population of England perished. Travelers in Germany found cities and villages without a living inhabitant. At sea, ships were dis- covered adrift, their crews having all died of the pestilence. The mad passions of men were stayed in the presence of this fearful scourge. Just as it abated_, Philip died, leaving the crown to his son. KING JOHN AND HIS SON AT POITIERS. John the Good (1350-'64) was brave and chivah-ous, but his rashness and gayety were in marked contra:;! with Ed- ward's stem common sense. His char- acter was written all over with Crecys. Charles the Bad, the turbulent king of Navarre, was constantly rousing opposi- tion : John seized him at a supper given by the Dauphin (the eldest son of the French king), and threw him into prison. Charles's friends appealed to Edward, and did homage to him for their domains. While Edward was absent, the Scots, as usual in alliance with France (p. 345), invaded England ; but, in the same year with Crecy, Edward's queen, Philippa, defeated them at NevilTs Cross. The French war smoldered on, with fitful truce and plundering raid, until Edward espoused Charles's cause, when the con- test broke out anew. The Prince of Wales— called the Black Prince, from the color of his armor— carried fixe and sword to the heart of France. Battle of Poitiers (1356). — John having assembled sixty 1356] RISE OF MODEKX NATIONS — FRAXCE. 3(33 thousand men, the flower of French chivalry, intercepted the prince returning with his booty. It was ten years since Crecy, and the king hoped to retrieve its disgrace, but he only doubled it. The Prince's little army of eight thousand was posted on a hill, the sole approach being by a lane bor- ENGLISH LONG-BOW iME dered with hedges, behind which the English archers were concealed. The French knights, galloping up this road, were smitten by the shafts of the bowmen. Thrown into disorder, they fell back on the main body below, when the Black Prince in turn charged down the hill. John sprang from his horse, and fought till he and his young son, Philip, were left almost alone. This brave boy stood at his father's 364 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [1356. side, crying out, " Guard the left ! Guard the right ! " until, pressed on every hand, the king was forced to surrender. The Black Prince treated his prisoner with the courtesy befitting a gallant knight. He stood behind his chair at dinner, and, according to the fashion of the age, waited upon him like a servant. When they entered London, the captive king was mounted on a splendidly-caparisoned white charger, while the conqueror rode at his side on a black pony. John was afterward set free by the Treaty of Bretig7iy, agreeing to give up Acpiitaine and pay three million crowns. One of his sons, however, who had been left at Calais as a hostage, escaped. Thereupon John, feeling bound in honor, went back to his splendid captivity. The Condition of France was now pitiable indeed. The French army, dis- solved into companies called Free Lances, roamed the country, plundering friend and foe. Even the Pope at Avignon had to redeem himself with forty thousand crowns. The land in the track of the English armies lay waste ; the plough rusted in the furrow, and the houses were "blackened ruins. The ransoms of the re- leased nobles were squeezed from Jacques Bonhomme— as the lords nicknamed the peasant. Beaten and tortured to reveal their little hoards, the serfs fled to the woods, or dug pits in which to hide from their tormentors. Brutalized by centu- ries of tyranny, they at last rose as by a common impulse of despair and hate. Snatching any weapon at hand, they rushed to the nearest chateau, and piti- lessly burned and massacred. The Eng- lish joined with the French gentry in crushing this rebellion ("The Jacque- rie"). Meanwhile the bourgeoisie in Paris, sjnnpathizing with the peasants, rose to check the license of the nobles and the tyranny of the crown. The States-General made a stand for liberty, refusing the Dauphin money and men for the war, except with guarantees. But the Dauphin marched on Paris ; Marcel, the liberal leader, was slain, and this at- The Black Prince was entrusted with the government of Aquitaine. Here he took the part of Don Pedro the Cruel— a dethroned king of Castile— and won him back his kingdom. But the thankless Pedro refused to pay the cost, and the Black Prince returned, ill, cross, and penniless. The haughty English were little liked in Aquitaine, and, when the Prince levied a house-tax to replenish his treasury, they turned to the Dauphin— now Charles V. — who summoned the Prince to answer for his exactions. On his refusal, Charles declared the English possessions in France forfeited. The Prince rallied his ebbing strength, and, borne in a litter, took the field. He cap- tured Limoges, but sullied his fair fame by a massacre of the inhabitants, and was carried to England to die. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his hel- met, shield, gauntlets, and snrcoat— em- broidered with the arms of France and England— still hang above his tomb. Defeat of the English.— Englajid had lost the warriors who won Crecy and Poitiers ; moreover, Du Guesclin fought no pitched battles, but waged a far more dangerous guerilla warfare. "Never," said Edward, "was there a French king who wore so little armor, yet never was there one who gave me so much to do." 1364.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — FRAISTCE. 365 PRINCE EDWARD S TOiMB AT CANTERBURY, tempt of the people to win their rights was stamped out in blood. Charles V. (136i-'80), the Wise, merited the epithet. Callinc^ to his side a brave Breton knight, Du Guesclin, he relieved France by sending; the Free Lances to light against Don Pedro. When the Aquitainans asked for help, Charles saw his opportunity. For the dreaded Black Prince was sick, and Ed- ward was growing old. So he renewed the contest. He did not, like his father, rush headlong into battle, but committed his army to Du Guesclin— now Constable of France— with orders to let famine, rather than fighting, do the work. One by one he got back the lost provinces, and the people gladly returned to their natural ruler. The Constable died while besieging a castle in Auvergne, and the governor, who had agreed to surrender on a certain day, laid the keys of the stronghold upon the hero's coffin. Charles survived his great general only a few months, but he had regained nearly all his father and grandfather had lost. Charles VI. (1380-1422), a beautiful boy of twelve years, became king. He ascended the throne three years after Richard, and his reign coincided with those of three English kings (Richard II., And now Edward closed his long reign. Scarcely was the great warrior laid in his grave, ere the English coast was ravaged by the French fleet. This, too, only twenty years from Poitiers. Domestic affairs were not more pros- perous. True, foreign war had served to diminish race hatred. Norman knight, Sason bowman, and Welsh lancer had shared a common danger and a common glory at Crecy and Poitiers. But the old enmity now took the form of a struggle between the rich and the poor. The yoke of villeinage, which obliged the bondsmen to till their lord's land, harvest his crops, etc., bore heavily. During the Black Death, many laborers died, and consequently wages rose. The landlords refused to pay the increase, and Parlia- ment passed a law punishing any one asking a higher price for his work. This enraged the peasants. One John Ball went about denouncing all landlords, and often quoting the lines, " When Adam delved and Eve span Who was then the gentleman ? " Richard II. (IS^T-'GO), a beautiful boy of eleven years, became king. Heavy taxation having still further incensed the disaffected peasants, thousands rose .in arms, and marched upon London (138i). 366 MEDIiEVAL PEOPLES. [14th cent. Henry IV., and V.)— the reverse of the peign of Edward III. Both countries were now governed by minors, who were under the influence of ambitious uncles, anxious for their own personal power. Charles's j/wart^ians assembled a great fleet at Sluys, and for a time frightened England by the fear of invasion. Next, they led an army into Flanders, and at liOsebecque (1382) the French knights, with iheir mailed horses and long lances, trampled down the Flemings by thou- sands. This was a triumph of feudalism and the aristocracy over popular liberty ; and the French cities which had revolted against the tyranny of the court were punished with terrible severity. Charles dismissed his guardians a year earlier than Richard, and, more fortunate than he, called to the head of affairs Du Clis- Bon, friend and successor of Du Guesclin. The Eing\ ' .' OF SYRIA, TIME OF THE ^ . ^ua.^. CRUSADES , Cairo J^i\ah; 402 EDI^VAL PEOPLES. [13th cent. monuments. A Latin empire was now -established at Con- stantinople. This lasted half a century, and there seemed a hope of reuniting the Eastern and the Western church ; but the Greeks recovered the Byzantine capital (1361).* The Fifth Crusade (1218), led by the King of Hungary, was finally directed to Egypt, as it was thought that the conquest of that ^ country would be a step toward the recovery of Palestine. It ended in defeat. ST. LOUIS LANDING IN EGYPT. The Sixth Crusade (1228) was a pacific one. The Ger- man emperor Frederick II., although under an interdict * The Children's Crusade (1212) well illustrates the wild folly of the times. Thirty- thousand French hoys, led by a peasant youth named Stephen, started to do what so many armies had failed to accomplish. After innumerable hardships they reached Marseilles. Here they were induced by unscrupulous traders to take ship. Instead. of going to Palestine, they landed in Africa, and large numbers of these unhappy children were sold as slaves in the Saracen markets. 13th cent.] t h e c r u s a d e s . 403 from the pope, went to Palestine, by a treaty with the sul- tan freed Jerusalem and Bethlehem from the infidels, and, entering tlie Holy City, crowned himself king. A few years later, a horde of Asiatic Turks, fleeing before the Mongols under Genghis Khan (p. 405), overwhelmed the country. The Seventh and Eighth Crusades (1249, 1270) were conducted by Saint Louis. In the first expedition, lie landed in Egypt, but was taken pi-isoner, and his release secured only by a heavy ransom ; in the second, he went to Tunis, with tlie wild hope of baptizing its Mohammedan king. Instead of a proselj^te, he found a grave. With the death of Saint Louis, the spirit of the Crusades expired. Soon after, the Mohammedans captured Acre — the last Christian strong- hold in Palestine. Efifects of the Crusades. — Though these vast military expe- ditions had failed of their direct object, they had produced marked results. By staying the tide of Mohammedan conquest, they doubtless saved Europe from the horrors of Saracenic invasion. Commerce had received a great impulse, and a profitable trade had sprung up between the East and the West. The Italian cities had grown rich and power- ful ; while the European states, coming into contact with the more polished nations of the East, had gained refinement and culture. Many a haughty and despotic baron had been forced to grant munici- pal rights to some city, or sell land to some rich merchant, to procure funds for his outfit ; thus there slowly grew up, between the lord and the peasant, a strong middle class. As the popes led in the Crusades, their influence increased immensely during this period. The departing crusaders received special privi- leges from the church, while their person and property were under its immediate protection. Many knights willed their estates to a neighbor- ing monastery, and, as few returned from the East, the church thus acquired vast wealth. 404 MEDIJEVAL PEOPLES. THE MOORS IN SPAIN. After the Moorish Conquest, the wreck of the Visi- goths found refuge among the mountains of Asturias. Gradually they gained strength, and began to win back the land of their fathers. Nowhere was the Crusade against the Saracen waged more gallantly. Early in the 13th century there were firmly established in the peninsula four Christian kingdoms — Portugal, Aragon, Castile, and Navarre — while the Moorish power had shrunk to the single province of Granada. The free constitutions of Aragon and Castile guaranteed the liberties of the people, and in the Cortes, or national assemblies of these kingdoms, the third estate se- cured a place long before representation was granted the commons of any other European country. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile (1469), laid 1492.] ASIA IN" THE MIDDLE AGES. 405 the foundation of the Spanish power. These illustrious sovereigns resolved to expel the infidels from their last stronghold. Town after town was taken. The old Moorish castles and towers, impregnable to battering-ram or cata- pult, crumbled before the cannon of the Spanish engineers. Finall}', the time came, as Ferdinand said, "" to pick out the last seed of the Moorish pomegranate." * The city of Granada was invested. After an eight-months siege. King Abdallah gave up the keys of the Alhambra. f It was now 1492, the year of the discovery of America. ASIA IN THE MIDDLE AG-ES. The principal Asiatic nations which influenced history during this period were the Mongols, and the Turks. These were Tartar races having their home on the vast plateau of mid-xA.sia. The Mongols came into prominence in the 13th cen- tury, under Genghis Khan. This chief of a mere petty horde subdued the neighboring tribes, and then organized and disciplined the whole Tartar manhood into one enor- mous army of horsemen. The result was appalling. The world had not seen since the time of Alexander such expedi- tions as this incomparable cavalry now made. If Attila was in Europe the ^^ Scourge of God," much more did Genghis in Asia deserve that epithet. Fifty thousand cities, with their treasures of art, and five million human lives, were sac- rificed to his thirst for plunder and power. The sons and grandsons of Genghis followed up his conquests, until the Mongul Empire finally reached from the Pacific Ocean to the banks of the Vistula in Poland. * Granada is the Spanish word for pomegranate. t The fallen monarch, riding away, paused upon a rock, still known as the " Last sigh of the Moor," to take a final view of the beautiful country and the " pearl of palaces" which he had lost. As he burst into tears, his mother exclaimed, " It befits you to bewail like a woman what you could not defend like a man." 406 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [1403. This mighty empire fell in pieces during the next century ; but about 1369 there arose a descendant of Genghis named Timour, or Tamerlane, who sought to reunite the Mongul conquests. He conquered Great Tartary and Persia, and invaded India — crossing the Indus where Alexander did. Turning thence into Asia Minor, he defeated the sultan of the Ottoman Turks, Bajazet (lightning), upon the plains of A7igora (1402) ; but afterward, marching to invade China, he died en route. His armies and empire quickly melted away. The track of the ferocious conqueror in his devas- tating path across Asia was marked by the pyramids of human heads he erected as monuments of his victories. Bader — a descendant of Tamerlane — followed up the con- quest of India, and established his capital at Delhi. There the "Great Moguls" long ruled in magnificence, erecting mosques and tombs that are yet the admiration of the trav- eler. The last of the Mogul emperors died almost in our own day, being still prayed for in every mosque in India, though confined to his palace by the English army, and liv- ing upon an English pension. The Turks. — (1) The Seljuhian Turks, about the time of the Norman Conquest, captured Bagdad, and their chief received from the caHph the high-sounding title of Com- mander of the Faithful. In 1076 they seized Jerusalem, where their brutal treatment of the pilgrims caused, as we have seen, the Crusades. The fragments of this first Turk- ish empire were absorbed in the dominions of Genghis Khan. (2) The Ottoman Turks were so named from Othman (1299-1326), the founder of their empire. His son Orchan created the famous force of Janizaries* (new troops), and a * The stoutest and handsomest of the captive youth were annually selected for service in the army. Educated in the religion of their masters, and trained to arms, they formed, like the Praetorian Guard of Rome, a powerful body-guard that was the terror of Europe. 15th cent.] fall of CONSTANTINOPLE. 407 body of liis warriors, crossing the Hellespont, gained a foot- ing on European soil — the first in Turkish history (1356) ; his grandson Amurath captured Adrianople ; his great- grandson Bajazot, in the battle of NicopoUs (1396), routed the chivalry of Hungary and Fi'ance, ravaged Greece, and was finally checked only by a stronger Asiatic conqueror, the dreaded Tamerlane. Half a century passed, when Mohammed IL, with an army of over two hundred and fifty thousand Turks, sat down be- fore Constantinople. Artillery of unwonted size and power battered its walls for fifty-three days. The Janizaries at length burst through. The emperor Constantine, the last of the Caesars, was slain, sword in hand, in the breach, and the Byzantine empire that had lasted one thousand and fifty-eight years, fell to rise no more. The crescent replaced the cross on the dome of St. Sophia. It was the closing event of the Middle Ages (1453).* * The pupil will notice that while the fall of Constantinople is taken by historians as the event which marked the close of the Middle Ages, there was really a transition period from the Middle Ages to Modern History, the length and date of which varied among ihe different nations. Each people had its own dawn and sunrise, and for itself entered into the day of modern civilization and progress. MOHAMMEDAN EMBLEMS. 408 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION. Rise of Feudalism. — The Roman government had sometimes granted lands on condition of military service ; the Franks followed a chief as their personal lord. Out of these two old-time customs there grew up a new system which was destined to influence society and politics throughout Europe for centuries. This was The Feudal System. — We have seen how the brave freemen who followed the Teuton Chief shared in the land acquired by con- quest, each man's portion being called his Allod (from od, an estate) and becoming his personal property. But in those troublous times SERFS OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. (From MS. of the Time.) men had to fight to retain what they had won. So it came to pass that a king, instead of keeping a great standing army to guard his scattered possessions or to prosecute foreign wars, granted a part of his estates as fiefs or feuds to his nobles. In this transaction he, as their suzerain, promised to them justice and protection, and they, as his vassals, agreed not only to serve him in person, but to furnish upon his call a certain number of armed men ready and equipped for active military service. In like manner the vassals of the crown granted estates to their followers ; and, in time, most of the allodial owners were glad to swear fealty to some great lord in order to secure his protection. Pow- erful nobles became vassals of kings, and kings themselves were vassals of other kings, — as was William the Conqueror, who, as Duke of Normandy, owed homage to the dissolute Philip I. of France. Not laymen alone but bishops and monastic bodies held their lands by jnilitary service, and were bound to furnish their quota of soldiers, MEDIJ=1VAL CIVILIZATION. 409 These different bands of armed men, collected together, fonned the feudal army of the kingdom. Thus, in place of the solid, highly or- ganized, Roman legion, there was a motley array furnished and com- manded by the great nobles of the realm, each of whom was followed by an enormous retinue of knights, esquires, and lesser nobles, leading the military contingent of their respective manors or estates. Ill France, by the 11th century, feudalism was full grown and its evils were at their height. The country was covered by a complete net- work of fiefs, and even the most simple privileges, such as the right to cross a certain ford, or to fish in some small creek, were held by feudal tenure. In this way one lord was frequently both suzerain and vassal to his neighbor lord. As the royal power had become almost paralyzed, the French dukes and counts ruled their compact domains like independent kings. Sheltered in their castles and surrounded by their followers, they made war, formed alliances, and levied taxes at their pleasure. In Englwid, the Norman Conqueror, knowing well the French mis- rule, prevented a like result by making all landholders, great and small, owe direct fealty to himself, and by widely scattering the estates of each tenant-in-chief.* Feudal CQYQicaom.es,— Homage, Fealty, Investiture. — When a vassal received a fief, he did homage therefor on bended knee, ungirt and bareheaded, placing his joined hands in those of his lord, and promising to become " his man " from that day forth. The vassal was bound, among his other obligations, always to defend his lord's good name, to give him his horse if dismounted in battle, to be his hostage if he were taken prisoner, and to pay him specified sums of money (aids) on particular occasions — such as the marriage of the lord's eldest daughter, or the knighting of the lord's eldest son. Fealty did not include the obligation to become the lord's man, nor to pledge everything for his ransom ; it was sworn by tenants for life, while Homage was restricted to those who could bequeath their estates. Investiture was the placing in possession, of an estate, either actually or symbolically, as by delivering a stone, turf, or branch. The Castle has been called the symbol of feudalism. A strong, stone fortress, crowning some high, jagged cliff or beetling promontory, enclosed by massive, parapeted walls, girdled by moats and bristling with towers, it may well be likened to a haughty feudal lord. Bold and stout-hearted must have been the foe that ventured its assault. * Compare with the policy of Cleisthenes, in Athens, p. 124.— The distinction between feudal obligations in these two countries may be illustrated thus : Let A be the sovereign, B the tenant-in-chief, and C the under-tenant. In France, if B warred with A, C was bound to aid, not A, but B ; while in England, C was required to aid A against B. 410 MEDIEVAL PEOPLi:^. There were sometimes, as at Montlheri in France, five enclosures to pass before the donjon keep was reached. Over this great tower floated the banner of its lord, and within its stone-walls, often ten feet thick, were stored his choicest treasures. Its entrance door, set high up in the wall, was guarded by a solid, narrow, outer stair- case, a drawbridge, and a portcullis; its near approach was protected by mounted battlements and a machicolated parapet. Intrenched in one of these grim strongholds a baron could, and often did, defy the king A MEDIAEVAL CASTLE. himself. The Crusades broke the strength of early Feudalism and created Chivalry, which, as an institution, attained its height in the 14th century. In it were combined the old Germanic pride in prowess and re- spect for woman ; the recent religious fervor ; a growing love for splen- dor, poetry, and music ; an exclusive, aristocratic spirit ; and a hitherto disregarded sentiment of duty toward the weak and the oppressed. Its chief exponent was The Knight, who, at his best, was the embodiment of valor, honor, gallantry, and munificence. Brave, truthful and generous in character; high-bred and courteous in manner; strong, athletic, and MEDIiEYAL CIVILIZATIOif, 411 graceful in person ; now glittering in polished steel and fiercely batter- ing tlie walls of Jerusalem ; now clad in silken jupon and tilting with ribboned lance at the gorgeous tournament; always associated with the sound of martial music, the jingle of armor and the clashing of swords, or with the rustle of quaintly-robed ladies in castle halls— the ideal chevalier rides through the middle ages, the central hero of all its romance. We see him first, a lad of seven years, joining a group of high-born pages and damsels who cluster about a fair lady in a stately castle. Here lie studies music, chess, and knightly courtesies, and commits to memory his Latin Code of Manners. He carries hia lady's messages, sends and re- calls her falcon in the chase, and imitates the gallantry he sees about him. When a pil- grim-harper with fresh tidings from the Holy Land knocks at the castle gate, and sits down by the blazing fire in the great pillared hall, hung with ar- mor, banners, and emblazoned standards, or is summoned to a cushion on the floor of my lady's chamber, the little page's heart swells with emulous de-* sire as he hears of the marvel- lous exploits of the Knights of the Holy Grail, or listens to the stirring Song of Roland, At fourteen he is rha.de squire, and assigned to some oflace about the castle — the most menial duty being an honor in the knightly apprenticeship. His physical, moral, and military education becomes more rigid. Seated on his horse, he learns to manage arms, scale walls, and leap ditches. He leads the war-steed of his lord to battle or the tournament, and "rivets with a sigh the armor he is for- bidden to wear." At twenty-one his probation is ended. Fasting, ablution, confession, communion, and a night in prayer at the altar, precede the final ceremony. He takes the vow to defend the faith, to protect the weak, to honor womankind ; his belt is slung around him ; his golden spurs are buckled on ; he kneels ; receives the accolade,* COSTUME (fourteenth AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES.) * Ttiis was a blow on the neck of the candidate with the flat of a sword, given by the conferring prince, who, at the same time, pronounced the words : "I dub thee knight, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." 413 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. and rises a chevalier. His horse is led to the church door, and, amid the shouts of the crowd and the peal of trumpets, he rides away into the wide world to seek the glory he hopes to win, — Not many knights, it is true, were like Godfrey and Bayard. The very virtues of chivalry often degenerated into vices ; but any approach to courtesy in this vio- lent age was a great advance upon its general lawlessness.* The Tournament was to the mediaeval knight what public games had been to the Greek and the gladiatorial contest to the Roman. Every device was used to produce a gorgeous spectacle. The painted and gilded lists were hung with tapestries, and were overlooked by towers and galleries, decorated %vith hangings, pennants, shields, and banners. Here, dressed in their richest robes, were gathered kings, queens, princes, knights, and ladies. Kings-at-arms, heralds, and pour- suivants-at-arms — the reporters of the occasion — stood within or just without the arena ; musicians were posted in separate stands ; and valets and sergeants were stationed everywhere, to keep order, to pick up and replace broken weapons, and to raise unhorsed knights. At the sound of the clarions the competing chevaliers, arrayed in full armor and seated on magnificently-caparisoned horses, with great plumes nodding above their helmets and ladies' ribbons floating from their lances, rode slowly and solemnly into the lists, followed by their several esquires, all gaily dressed and mounted. Sometimes the combatants were preceded by their chosen ladies, who led them in by gold or silver chains. When all was ready the herald^ cried, " Laissez-ies aller" (let them go), the trumpets pealed, and from the opposite ends of the arena the knights dashed at full speed to meet with a clash in the center. Shouts of cheer from tlie heralds, loud flourishes from the musicians, and bursts of applause from thousands of lookers on, rewarded every brilliant feat of arms or horsemanship. And when the conquering knight bent to receive the prize from the hand of some fair lady, the whole air trembled with the cries of " honor to the brave," and "glory to the victor." But tournaments were not all joyous play. Almost always, some were carried dead or dying from the lists, and in a single German tourney sixty knights were killed. Arms, Armor, and Military Engines. — Mail armor was composed of metal rings sewed upon cloth or linked together in the shape of garments. Afterward, metal plates and caps were intermixed * The knight who had been accused and convicted of cowardice and falsehood, incurred a fearful degradation. Placed astride a beam, on a public scaffold, under the eyes of assembled knijrhts and ladies, he was stripped of his armor, which was broken to pieces before his eyes and thrown at his feet. His spurs were cast into the filth, his shield was fastened to the croup of a cart-horse and dragged in the dust, and his charger's tail was cut otf. He was then carried on a litter to the church, the burial service was read over him, and he was published to the world as a dead coward and traitor. MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATIOK. 413 with it, and in the loth century a complete suit of plate armor was worn. This consisted of several pieces of highly-tempered and polished steel, so fitted, jointed and ov^erlapped as to protect the whole body. It was fastened on to the kniglit with hammer and pincers, so lie could neither get in nor out of it alone, and it was so cumbrous and unwieldy that, once down, he could not rise again. Thus he was " a castle of steel on his war-horse, a helpless log when overthrown." Boiled leather was sometimes used in place of metal. Common soldiers wore leather or quilted jackets, and an iron scull-cap. The long-how was to the middle ages what the rifle is to our day. The English excelled in its use, and their enemies sometimes left their walls unmanned because, as was said, " no one could peep but he would have an arrow in his eye before he could shut it." The Genoese were famous cross-bow men. ,The bolts of brass and iron sent from their huge cross-bows would pass through the head-piece of a man-at-arms and pierce his brain. Many of the military arts and defences used from the earliest times were still in vogue, and so remained until gunpowder was invented. Indeed, a mediaeval picture of a siege does not strikingly differ from Ninevite sculptures or Theban paintings, either in the nature of its war-engines or in the perspective art of the drawing itself. Education and Liter attire. —During the 11th and 12th cen- turies, schools and seminaries of learning were multiplied and began to expand into universities, that of Paris, the " City of Letters," taking the lead. Now, also, arose the Scholai^tic PMlosopJiy, which applied the logic of Aristotle to intricate problems in theology. The Schoolmen began with Peter Lombard (d. 1160), a professor in the University of Paris, where he had studied under the brilliant Abelard — an eloquent lecturer, now remembered chiefly as the lover of Heloise. Lombard has been styled the " Eaclid of Scholasticism." Another noted school- man was Albertus Magnus, a German of immense learning, whose scientiflc researches brought upon him the reputation of a sorcerer. The doctrines of Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican Monk, and of Duns Scotus, a Franciscan, divided the schools, and the reasonings and counter- reasonings of Thomists and Scotists filled countless pages with logical subtleties. The vast tomes of Scholastic theology left by the 13th cen- tury schoolmen " amaze and appal the mind with the enormous accu- mulation of intellectual industry, ingenuity, and toil, of which the sole result to posterity is this barren amazement." Roger Bacon was at this time startling the age by his wonderful discoveries in science. Ac- cused, like Albert the Great, of dealing with magic, he paid the pen- alty of his advanced views by ten years in prison. While in monastery and university the schoolmen racked their brains with subtle and profound distinctions, the gay French Tronhadours, equipped with their ribboned guitars, were flitting from castle to castle. 414 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. where the gates were always open to them and their flattering rhymes. The Trouveres supplied the age with allegories, comic tales, and long romances, while the German Minnesanger (love-singers) numbered kings and princes among their poets. In Scandinavia, the mythological poems or sagns of the 8th — 10th centuries were collected into what is called the older Edda (11th or 12th cent.); and afterward ap- peared the younger Edda — whose legends linked the Norse race with the Trojan heroes (p. 115). The German Nihelungen- lied (12th cent.) was a collection of the same ancestral legends woven into a grand epic by an unknown poet. ^ To the 13th and 14th centuries, respec- tively, belong the great poets Dante and Chaucer. About this time a strong desire for learning was felt among the common people, it being for them the only road to distinction. The children of burghers and artisans, whose education began in the little public school attached to the parish- church, rose to be lawyers, priests, and statesmen. The nobility, generally, cared little for scholarship. A gentleman could always employ a secretary, and the glory won in a crusade or a successful tilt in a tournament was worth more to a mediaeval knight than the book lore of ages. Every monastery had a "writing-room," where the younger monks were employed in tran- scribing manuscripts. After awhile, copy- ing became a trade, the average price being about four cents a leaf for prose, and two for verse — the page containing thirty lines. Adding price of paper, a book of prose cost not far from fifty cents a leaf. Arts and Architecture.— As learn- STYLUS.* (Thirteenth & Four Uenth Centuries.) * The style, or stylus, was the chief instrument of writing during the Middle Ages. With the pointed end the letters were cut on the waxen tablet, while the rounded head was used in making erasures. If the writing was to be preserved, it was after- wJfrd copied by a scribe on parchment or vellum, with a rude reed pen, which was dipped in a colored liquid. The style was sometimes made of bone or ivory, some- times of glass or iron, while those used by persons of rank were made of gold or sUver, and were often ornamented with curious figures. MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATIOIC. 415 ing was conjfined mostly to the church, art naturally found its chief expression in cathedral building. Toward the close of the 12th cen- tury, the round-arched, Romanesque style gave place to the pointed- arched, spired, and buttressed edifice. The use of painted glass for windows crowned the glory of the Gothic cathedral."^' Religious ideas were expressed in designs and carvings. Thus the great size and lofti- ness of the interior symbolized the Divine Majesty; the high and pointed towers represented faith and hope ; and, as the rose was made to signify human life, everywhere on windows, doors, arches, and columns, the cross sprang out of a rose. So, too, the altar was placed at the East, whence the Saviour came, and was raised three steps, to indicate the Trinity. These mighty structures were the work often of FAC-SIMILE OF FRENCH WRITING OF THE 15TH CENTURY. centuries. The Cologne Cathedral was begun in 1248 ; its chancel was finished in 1320 ; but the lofty spire was not completed till our own day. The Guilds and Corporations of the Middle Ages were a great powder, rivalling the influence of the nobles and frequently controlling the municipal government. Manners and Customs.— Mictravagance in dress, equipage, and table marked all high life. Only the finest cloths, linens, silks and velvets, adorned with gold, pearls, and embroidery, satisfied the tastes of the nobility." f In the midst of the Hundred- Years War England * The Italians relied more on brilliant frescoes and Mosaics for interior effect ; the French and English cathedrals excelled in painted glass. " Nothing which pre- ceded this invention," says Fergusson, " can compare with the parti-colored glories of the windows of a perfect Gothic Cathedral, where the whole history of the Bible is written in the hues of the rainbow by the earnest hand of faith 1 " + Men took the lead in fashion, and indulged in the most grotesque absurdities. At one time peaked "shoes were in vogue, the points, two feet long, being shaped like a scorpion's tail or twisted like a corkscrew ; at another time the toes became so broad that the law finally limited the width to six inches. A fop of the 14th century is thus described by an old writer: "He wore long -pointed shoes, fastened to his knees by gold and silver chains ; hose of one color on one leg and of another on the other ; short breeches which did not reach to the knee ; a coat one-half white, the 416 MEDIEVAL PEOPLE and France carried on a rivalry of splendor and expense. Delicacies from Constantinople, Palestine, Phoenicia, Alexandria, and Babylon, were served at royal entertainments. The tables blazed with gold and silver plate, yet had not the refinement of a fork, and fingers were thrust into the rich dishes or tore the greasy meats into bits. A knight and his lady often ate from the same plate, and soaked their crusts of bread in the same cup of soup. Men and women sat at table with their hats on, although it was the height of bad manners to keep on gloves during a visit, and a personal insult to take the hand of a friend in the street without first unglov- iug. Great households were kept up, and kings enter- tained as many as 10,000 per- sons daily at the royal board. The lower orders aped the higher, and Sumptuary Laws wexQ made to protect the privileges of the nobility, not only in dress but also in food. MALE COSTUME. (Eleventh and Twelfth Cen- turies.) FEMALE COSTUME. (Eleventh and Twelfth Gen- Inries.) MOVABLE IRON CAGE. (Fifteenth Century.) Other blue or black ; a lon^ beard ; a silk hood buttoned under his chin, embroidered with quaint figures of animals and ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones," READING EEFERENCES. 417 Punishments were barbarous and severe. The gallows and the rack were ever at work. Chopping off of liands, putting out of eyes, and cutting off of ears, were common affairs. Tlie most ingenious tor- tures were devised, and hanging was the mildest death allowed to criminals. Summary (see p. 315).— The Vth and Vlth centuries were charac- terized by the settlements of the Teutons in Roman territory. The Vllth century was marked by the rise of Mohammed and the spread of the Saracen empire. The Vlllth century saw the growth of the Frankish power, culminating in the empire of Charlemagne. The IXth century witnessed the welding of the Saxon sovereignties into England ; the breaking up of Charlemagne's empire into France, Ger- many, and Italy ; and the founding of Russia by the Normans. The Xth century brought Rollo into Normandy and Capet into his kingdom. The Xlth century was made memorable by the Norman Conquest of England ; the overthrow of the Greek-Saracen rule in Southern Italy ; and the War of the Investiture in Germany. The Xllth century saw the Crusades at their height, and the Italian republics in their glory. The Xllltli century was marked by feeble Crusades, and the granting of Magna Charta in England. The XlVth century witnessed the 100- Years War. The XVth century is memorable for the deliverance of France ; the Wars of the Roses ; the Conquest of Granada, with the rise of Spain ; the fall of Constantinople, and the discovery of America. READING REFERENCES. Genebal Htstoet. — Hallarri's Waddle Ages. — Futz and Arnold's MedicBval IRS' tory.—Schmitz^s Middle Ages.— Freeman's General Sketch of European EXstoiry. — Finlay^s History of the Byzantine Empire.— Milman's W story of Latin Christianity. — Drapefs Intellect^ial Development of Europe.— Creasy'' s Fifteen Decisive Battles.— GuizoCs History of Civilization.- Menzies's History of Middle Ages.— The Beginning of the Middle Ages (Epochs of History Series).— Duruy's Histoire du Moyen Age.— Freeman^ s Histoi^ai Geography of Europe (irivaluable in tracing obscure geograph- ical changes).— Bobertson^s Charles V. (Introduction on Middle Ages).— Sullivan'' s His- torical Causes and Effects.— Dunham'' s Middle Ages.— Adams's Manual of Historical Literature {an ercellent bibliographical guide).— Lacroix' s Manners and Customs. Science and Literature., and Military and Eeligiovs Life^ of the Middle Ages.— Macleafs AposUes of Medieval Europe.— WHghfs Homes of the Middle Ages, and Womankind in Western Europe.— Eingsley's Soman and Teuton.— Baring- Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. — Cox and Jones''s Romances of the Middle Ages.— OdphanCs Francis of Assisi.— George Eliot's Romola. The Cbitsades and Chtvalrt.— Cox's Crusades.— MichaurVs History of the Cru- sades.— Mackay^s Popular Delusions, art. The Crusades. — Addison's History of the Knights Templar.— Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (poetry).— Chronicles of the Crusades (Bohn's Library).— Bell s Studies of Feudalism.— Chronicles of Froissart (unrivalled pictures of chivalry).— Scott" s Ivanhoe. Talisman, and Anne of Geierstein.—Bulfinch's Age of Chivalry. England.— 5«7ne'5, Knighfs. GreerCs, Lingard''s, Greasy's, Keightley''8, CoUier^s, and GQrdinefs Histories of England.— Pearson's History of England, Early and Mi4- 418 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. die Ages.— Freeman's History of the Norman Conquest.— ThompsmCs History of Eng- land (Freeman' s Historical Course).— Thierry's History of the Norman Conquest— Palgrave's Normandy and England.— Cobb's History of the Norman kings of Eng- land.— Chreen's Making of England.— Freeman'' s Old English Histoi^.— The Norman Kings and Feudal System; the Early Plantagenets ; Edward III. ; Houses of Lancas- ter and York {Epochs of History Series).— Smith's History of English Institutions {Histoiical Hand-book Series). — Burton's History of Scotland {the standard authority). —Strickland's Liies of the Queens of England.— Careen's Lives of the Princesses of England. — St. John''s Four Conquests of England.— Shakspere' s King John (Ar- thw); also Henry IV., F., VI., and Richard III.—Bulwer'' s Last of the Barons.— Kingsley's Hereward, the Last of the Saxons.— The " Babee's Book.'" Y-RAHCE.— Godwin's {Vol. I), White's, Smith's, SismondVs, MicheleVs, Bonne- chose's, Markham's, Crowe's, Kitchin's, Yonge's, and Edwards's Histories of France. —Barnes's Brief Histo7^ of France.— Thierry's History of the Gauls.— Guizot's Pop- ular History of France— Martijts Histoire de France.— Duruy's Histoire de France.— Byron's Childe Harold {Morat). —Jaynes's Philip Augustus, Mary of Burgundy, and Jacquerie {fiction).- Southey's Joan of Arc {poetry).— Harriet Parr's Joan of Arc- Scott'-^ Quentin Durward {fiction).— Jamison's Bertrand du Guesclin,— Kirk's Life of Charles the Bold.— Memoirs of Philippe de Coinines.—Bulwer Lyttons translation, of the Poem of Hon {Roll6).—Bulfinch's Legends of Charlemagne.— James's Life of Charlemagne.— Scott s Jlarmion, Canto 6, Stanza S3 {Poland). Gb-bm ANY. - Tayloj^'s, Lewis's, Menzel's, and Kohlrausch's Histories of Germany.— Bryce's Holy Roman Emjnre. — Sime's History of Germany {Freeman's Course). — Coxe's House of Austria. — Raumer's History of the Hohenstauf en. —Kington's Life of Frederick Il.—Peuke's History of the German Emi^erors.- Abbotts Empire of Aus- tria.— Schiller's Drama of Willia7n Tell— Scott s BaUad of the Battle of Sempach. Si>AiN, Italy, Turkey, Etc.— Hunts Italy {Freeman's Course).— Irving' s Ma- h&met and his Successors, and C(mquest of Granada.— Sismondi's History of Italian Republics. -Campbelts Life of Petrarch.— Longfellow's Dante. -Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de' Medici.— Prescotts History of Ferdinand and Isabella.— ViUaH's Life of Savonarola.- Gr'imm's Life of Michad Angela.— Ockley's History of the Saracens.— Symonds's Renaissance in Italy.— Taine's Art in Italy.— Creasy' s History of the Otto- man Turks.— Freeman's History and Conquests of the Saracens.— Lytton's Siege of OrarMda {fiction). CH RONOLOGY FIFTH CENTURY (Concluded). (See Anc. Peo., p. 312.) A. D. Attila defeated in battle of Chaions. 451 Clovis wins battle of Soissons 486 Theodorlc with the Ostrogoths con- quers Italy 489-493 Clovis becomes a Christian 496 SIXTH CENTURY. Paris, Clovis's capital 510 Arthur in Britain (conjectured) 515 Time of Justinian 527-65 Belisarius in Africa, 533 ; in Italy. .536-9 Silk Manufacture brought to Europe 551 End of Ostrogoth Kingdom in Italy. 553 Lombards conquer Italy 568 A. X>. Birth of Mohammed 570 St. Augustine introduces Christian- ity into Britain 596 SEVENTH CENTURY. The Hegira 622 Mohammed's Death 632 Omar captures Jerusalem 637 Sixth General Council, at Constan- tinople 680 EIGHTH CENTURY. Saracens invade Spain 711 Martel overthrows Saracens at Tours 732 CHRONOLOGY, 419 A. D. Pepin the Short becomes king. — Carlo viugian Dynasty founded. . . 752 Gift of Exarchate to Pope 754 Emirate of Cordova founded 755 Charlemagne becomes sole king of the Franks 771 Battle of Eoucesvalles 778 Ilaroun al Raschid caliph 786 Seventh General Council, at Nice, . 787 Danes first land in Britain, about . . . 789 Charlemagne crowned at Rome — 800 NINTH CENTURY. Death of Charlemagne 814 Egbert, first king of England 827 Battle of Fontenay 841 Treaty of Verdun 843 Russia founded by Ruric 862 Alfred king of England 871-901 TENTH CENTURY. Alfred's Death 901 Rollo the Norseman founds Nor- mandy 911 Otto the Great, Emperor of Ger- many 936-73 Hugh Capet crowned ; founds Cape- tian Dynasty 987 ELEVENTH CENTURY. Canute (Knut) king of England. . .1017-35 Normans conquer South Italy 1040 Edward the Confessor restores Sax- on Line in England 1042 Guelf and Ghibelline Feud begins. . 1061 Normans conquer England 1066 Turl:s capture Jerusalem 1076 First Crusade 1096 TWELFTH CENTURY. Guiscard of Normandy, king of Naples 1102 Kniglits Templar founded 1118 Second Crusade 1147 Plantagenet Line founded 1154 Henry II. invades Ireland 1171 Third Crusade 1189 THIRTEENTH CENTURY. Fourth Crusade 1202 War agamst Albigenses 1208 I A. D. I Battle of Runnymede.— John grants i Magna Charta 1215 I Fifth Crusade 1218 Sixth Crusade 1228 Genghis Khan.— Gregory IX. estab- lishes Inquisition 1233 Seventh Crusade 1249 Monguls sack Bagdad 1258 Eighth Crusade 1270 Hapsburg Line founded 1273 Teutonic Order conquers Prussia. . . 1281 Edward I. conquers Wales 1283 Turks capture Acre.— End of Cru- sades 1291 Edward conquers Scotland 1296 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Pope removes to Avignon ... 1305 Wallace executed 1305 Battle of Bannockburn 1314 Battle of Morgarten 1315 Hundred-Years War 1328-1453 Battle of Crecy 1346 Calais surrendered 1347 Rienzi, tribune of Rome 1347 Battle of Poitiers 1356 Pope returns to Rome 1377 Wat Tyler's Insurrection 1381 Battle of Sempach 1386 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. John Huss burned 1415 Battle of Azincourt 1415 Jeanne Dare at Orleans 1428 Charles YII. crowned at Rheiras. . . 1429 Jeanne Dare burned 1431 Capture of Constantinople 1453 Wars of the Roses 1455-85 Gutenberg prints the first book 1456 Battles of Granson, Morat, and Nan- cy (Death of Charles the Bold). . .1476-7 Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence 1478 Union of Castile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella 1479 Battle of Bosworth.— Tudor Line founded 1485 Fall of Granada 1492 Columbus discovers America 1492 Charles VIII. invades Italy 1494 Vasco da Gama doubles Cape of Good Hope 1497 Savonarola burned 1498 420 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES, CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. ENGLAND. William 1 1066 William II 1087 Henry 1 1100 Stephen 1135 Henry II 1154 Richard 1 1189 John 1199 Hemym 1216 Edward 1 1272 Edward II 1307 Edward in 1327 Richard n Henry IV 1377 ... laoQ Henry V Henry VI Edward IV .... 1413 .... 1422 1461 Edward V Richard III Henry VII .... 1483 .... 1483 . . . . 1485 FRANCE, Louis VI Louis VII Philip II .... 1108 .... 1137 .... 1180 Louis V 111 Louis IX Philip III .... 1223 .... 1226 .... 1270 Philip IV .... 1285 Louis X Philip V Charles IV Philip VI .... 1314 .... 1316 .... 1322 .... 1328 . .. 1350 Charles V . . . 1364 Charles VI .... 1380 Charles Vn Louis XI Charles Vm. . . . Louis XII .... 1422 .... 1461 . .. 1483 .... 1498 GERMANY. Henry IV 1056 Henry V HOG Lothaire II 1125 Conrad III 1138 Frederick Barbarossa 1152 Henry VI 1190 Philip 1197 Otto IV 1209 Frederick II 1215 Conrad IV 1250 Rudolf 1273 Adolphus 1292 Albert 1 1298 Henry VH 1308 Lewis IV 1314 Frederick the Fair.. . 1314 Charles IV... 1347 Wenceslaus 1378 Rupert 1400 Sigismund 1410 Albert H 1438 Frederick m 1440 Maximilian 1 1493 QOht) FLORIN, LOUIS IX. Modern Peoples, BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS. Introduction, r 1. The 15th Century The French in Italy. 2. The Age or Charles V. 3. The Rise of the Dutch Re- public. The French Wars. Citil-Religious Charles VIII. Louis XII. Francis I. Ttie Rivalry of Charles and Francis. The Reformation. The Netherlands. 2. The Reformation. 3. The Duke of Alva. 4. The Forty-Years War. 1. The Reformation in France. 2. Francis II. 3. Charles IX. 4. Henry HI. L 5. Henry IV. ' 1. Henry VII. 5. England under the Tudors. The 17th ■{ Century. 1. The Thirty-Years War. Henry VIII. Edward VI. Mary. Elizabeth. Causes. Opening of the War. Imperial Triumph. r a. Tilly. \ 2. The 18th Centurv. h. Leipsic. Gustavus J c. Wallenstebi. Adolphus. I d. Liitzen. e. Death of Gustavus. 5. Remainder of War. 6. Peace of Westphalia. ( 1. Age of Richelieu. j 2. Age of Louis XIV. f 1. James I. 2. Charles I. 3. The Civil War. I 4. The Commonwealth. f -i 5. The Restoration. Charles II. . James 11. . Revolution of 1688. William and Mary. . Anne. Peter the Great and Charles~ XII. Rise of Prussia: Age op Frederick the Great. 1. George I. The Absolute Monarchy in France. England under the Stuarts Period of the Civil War England under the House of Hanover. The 19th Century. 4. The French Revolution. ■ 1. Fbanob. 2. England. 3. Germany. 4. Italy. 5. Turkey. 6. Greece. 7. The Netherlands. 8. Japan. 2. George II. 3. George III. 4. See 19th Century. 1. Louis XV. 2. Louis XVI. f a. Abolition of 3. French | Monarchy. Rev- J b. B'^gn of Terror. olu- I c. Directory. tion. d. Consulate. { (. e. Empire. \ —(See Analysis of 18th Cent.) 1. The Restoration, -j 2. The Second Republic. 3. The Second Empire. L 4. The Third Republic. [The subdivisions of these general topics may be filled in • from the titles of the para- graphs in the text, as the stu- dent proceeds.] MODERN PEOPLES. GLOBE ILLUSTRATING THE GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. INTRODUCTION. The end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century formed the springtime of a new era. It was an epoch of important events: In 1491, Charles VTII. married Anne of Brittany, which united to the French crown the last of the great feudal provinces ; in 1492, Granada fell into the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella, a conquest which estabhshed the Spanish monarchy ; in the same year, Columbus discov- 424 MODEEN PEOPLES. [15th CENT. ered America, which began a great commercial revolution ; in 1494, the Italian Wars commenced, and with them the battles and rivalries of the chief European nations; in 1508, Eaphael and Michael Angelo were painting in the Vatican at Eome, which marked a revolution in art; in 1517, Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenberg cathedral door, and so inaugurated the Reformation ; in 1521, Magellan circum- navigated the glo'be, thus giving correct geographical ideas ; finally, about 1530, Copernicus finished his theory of the solar system, which was the beginning of a new epoch in science. The causes of this wonderful change were numerous. The Crusades kindled a spirit of trade, adventure, and con- quest. Travel at the East enlarged the general knowledge of the earth. The use of the mariner's compass emboldened sailors to undertake long voyages. Large cities had risen to be centers of freedom, commerce, manufactures, and wealth. The Revival of Learning in Italy stirred men's thoughts in every land. The fall of Constantinople scattered the ti:eas- ures of Greek literature over the West; learned men, di'iven from the East, settled in Europe ; the philosophy and arts of Athens and Rome were studied with zest ; each nation felt, in turn, the impulse of the Renaissance in art; and a succes- sion of painters, sculptors, poets, and historians arose such as Christendom had never seen. There were now nearly forty universities in Europe, and students traveling to and fro among them distributed the new ideas, which gradually trickled down into the minds of the masses. Above all else, two inventions revolutionized Europe. Gunpowder * pierced the heaviest armor, and shattered the * Gunpowder seems to have been known to the Chinese at an early day, though Rofier Bacon, an English monk of the 13th century, is called its inventor. Its appli- cation to war is ascribed to a German named Schwartz (1830), but, long before that, the Moors used artillery in the defence of Cordova. The English at Crecy had three small cannon. The French under Louis XI. invented trunnions, a light carriage, and 15th cent.] IN^TRODUCTIOK. 425 strongest wall. The foot-soldier with his musket could put to flight the knight-errant with his lance. Standing armies of infantry and artillery took the place of the feudal levy. This changed the whole art of war. The king was now stronger than the noble. THE INVENTION Printing by means of mo Arable types was invented by Gru'tenberg of Mentz, who issued in 1456 a Latin Bible. Books, which had hitherto been laboriously copied on parch- ment, were now rapidly multiplied, and the cost was greatly reduced. Cheaper books made new readers. Knowledge became more widely diffused. The political condition of Europe was that of gi-eat cast-iron shot, thus equipping a weapon serviceable in the field. Charles "Viii. owed his rapid conquest of Italy to his park of light artillery that was in striking contrast to the cumbersome Italian bombards dragged about with great difficulty by oxen and firing stone balls. 436 M0DERKl>EOPLEg. [16th CENT. monarchies, each ready to turn its forces against the others. The so-called "States-System" now arose. Its object was the preservation of the Balance of Power, i. e., the preventing any state from getting a superiority over the rest. Thence came alliances and counter-alliances among the different nations, and various schemes of diplomacy that often bewil- der the student of modern history. Maritime Discoveries.^Up to this time, the known world comprised only Europe, southwestern Asia, and a strip of northern Africa. The rich products of the East were still brought to the West by way of Alexandria and Venice. Cape Non, on the coast of Africa, by its very name declared the belief that there was nothing attainable beyond. The sea at the equator was thought to be boiling hot, and the maps represented the Occident as bristling with monsters. The Porkiguese sailors, under the auspices of Prince John, and King John II., ventured each voyage further southward, crossed the dreaded equator, and, sailing under the brighter stars of a new hemisphere, step by step explored the African coast, until finally Diaz (1487) doubled the con- tinent. The southern point he well named the Cape of Storms ; but King John, seeing now a way to reach India by sea, rechristened it the Cape of Good Hope. Eleven years later, Vasco da Gama realized this sanguine expectation. He rounded the cape, sailed across the Indian Ocean, landed on the Malabar coast, and returned home with a cargo of Indian products. The old routes across the Mediterranean, through Egypt and the Levant, were now nearly abandoned. The Portuguese soon made a settlement on the Malabar coast. Their commercial establishments, shipping by sea directly to Europe, quickly gathered up the Eastern trade. Lisbon, instead of Venice, became the great depot of Indian pro- ducts. 1498.] IKT ROD UC TICK. 427 A SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. (From a drawing attributed to Columbus.) Colli ml) US, meanwhile, in- spired by the same hope of ^fi^^Mr^ finding a sea-route to India, and believing the earth to be round, sailed westward. He reached, not India, as he sup- posed, but a new world. On his third voyage, the very year that Da Gama solved the problem, Columbus first saw the coast of South America. Adventurers of many na- tions eagerly flocked through the door Columbus had thrown open. The names of Vespucci, Balboa, Cartier, Ponce De Leon, and De Soto are familiar to every student of American history. The Cabots, sailing under the English flag, explored the coast of the new world from Labrador to Chesapeake Bay. Cabral, a Portuguese navigator, in 1500, took possession of Brazil in the name of his king. Finally, Magellan passed through the strait' still known by his name, and crossed the Pacific to the Philippine Islands; there he was killed by the savage natives, but one of his ships, con- tinuing the voyage, circumnavigated the globe (1521). Mexico, when discovered by the Spaniards, had reached, under the Montezumas — its Aztec rulers, a considerable degree of civilization. Its laws were written in hiero- glyphics ; its judges were chosen for life ; its army was fur- nished with music, hospitals, and surgeons ; its calendar was more accurate than the Spanish ; its people were skilled in agriculture and the arts; and its capital, Mexico, was sup- plied with aqueducts, and adorned with palaces and temples. 428 MODERJT PEOPLES. [1519-'21. The Aztecs, however, were idolaters and cannibals ; and their civilization was ignorant of horse, ox, plough, printing, and gunpowder. Cortes, with a little army of 600 Spaniards, fearlessly invaded this powerful empire. His cannon and cavalry car- ried terror to the simple-minded natives. A war of three years, crowded with romance as with cruelty, completed the conquest. Mexico remained a province of Spain until 1821. Peru, under the Incas, was perhaps richer and more power- ful than Mexico. Two great military roads extended the entire length of the empire, and along them the public couriers carried the news 200 miles per day. A vast system of water-works, more extensive than that of Egypt, irrigated the rainless regions, and agriculture had attained a high degree of perfection. The government was paternal, the land being owned by the Inca, and a portion assigned to each person to cultivate. Royal officers directed the indus- try of this great family in tillage, weaving, etc., and, though no one could rise above his station, it was the boast of the country that every one had work, and enjoyed the comforts of life. Pizarro, an unprincipled Spanish adventurer, overthrew this rich empire (1533), and imprisoned the Inca. The unfortunate captive offered, for his ransom, to fill his cell with gold vessels, as high as he could reach ; but, after he had collected over $15,000,000 worth, he was strangled by his perfidious jailers. The Spanish Colonies rarely prospered. In Mexico, Cortes sought to rule wisely. He sent home for priests and learned men ; founded schools and colleges ; and introduced European plants and animals. But, on his return to Spain, he became, like Columbus, a victim of ingratitude, though he had given to the Emperor Charles V. "more states than Charles had inherited cities." In general, the Spanish governors destroyed the native civilization. INTRODUCTION^. 429 without introducing the European. The thirst for gold was the princi- pal motive that drew men to the new world. The natives were portioned among the conquerors, and doomed to work in the mines. It is said that four-fifths of the Peruvians perished in this cruel bondage. The kind-hearted Las Casas, the apostle of the Indians, spent his life in vainly seeking to alleviate their miseries, convert them to Christianity, and obtain for them governmental protection. To supply the fearful waste of the population, negroes were brought from Africa, and so slavery and the slave-trade were established. The Spaniards turned to agriculture only when gold-hunting ceased to pay ; and, not being a trading people, their colonial commerce fell chiefly into the hands of foreigners. For a time, however, the Spanish coffers were running over with Americixn gold and silver. R EADING REFERENCES. Heeren's Manual. —Dyer's Histoid of Modern Europe.— Heeren's Historical Trea- tises. — Yonge^s Three Ctnturies of Modern Ilutory. - Ai-nold's Lectures on Modern History.— Thalheimer^s Manual of Modern History. — Michelefs Modern History.— Duruy's Histoire des Temps Moder)ies.— Irving' s Life of Columbus.— FarJcman's Pio^ neers of France.— Help' s Spanish Conquest of Ame7'ica.—PrescotVs Ferdinand and Isabella {Columbus).— WaUace" s Fair God {fiction^.— Barnes's Brief Hist, of the U. S. —Barnes's Popular Hist, of t/ie U. S. — Squier's Ancient Peru, Harper's Mag., Vol. 7. — Abbott's Cortez., Harper's Mag., Vol. 12. — Abbott's Columbus, Harper's Mag., Vol. 38. —Higginson's Spanish Discoveries, Harper's Mag. Vol. 65.—Eggleston's Beginning of a Nation, Centuy-y Magazine, Vol. 25.— Fitzgerald's Kings of Europe and their families {excellent for genealogy). TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA. 430 3^HE SiXTEE]S"TH CENTURf. THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. I. THE FRENCH IN ITALY. The Invasion of Italy (1494) by the French may be con- sidered the opening event of modern history. Its progress, by the many leagues that were formed, illustrates the growth of the new States-System. Charles VIII. (1483-'98), filled with dreams of rivaling Alexander and Charlemagne, resolved to assert the claim of his house to the kingdom of Naples.* Milan, Florence, and Rome opened their gates to his powerful army. He entered Naples amid the acclamations of the populace. This bril- liant success turned the head of the weak king, and he gave himself up to feasts and tournaments. Meanwhile, the first extended league in modern history was formed by Milan, Venice, the pope, Maximilian of Germany, and Ferdinand of Spain, to expel the invader. Charles retreated as hastily as he had come, and by the victory of For nova secured his escape into France. Louis XII. (1498-1515), inheriting the schemes of Charles Geographical Quesiions .—Locdtie Naples. Milan. Fornova. Venice. Pavia. Marignano. Genoa. Vienna. Wittenberg. Augsburg. Smalcald. Nuremburg. Innspruck. Passau. Trent. Guinegate. Calais. Toul. Verdun. Kouen. Crespy. Passy. Ivry. Nantes. Antwerp. Leyden. Amsterdam. Harlem. Ghent. Edin- burgh. Flodden. Plymouth. Point out the ten provinces of the Southern or Spanish Netherlands ; the seven of Northern or United Netherlands ; the limits of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. * The dukes of Anjou, a branch of the house of France (page 355), having been expelled from Italy, became established in the petty principality of Provence. After the death of Rene, who, according to Shakspere, bore " The style of king of Naples, Of both the Sicilies and Jerusalem, Yet not 80 wealthy as an English yeoman," the province and the claim of the house fell to Louis XI. (Brief France, p. 106.) 1494.] THE F R E X C H IX ITALY 43 L VIII. and also a claim to Milan, led the second expedition across the Alps. Milan quickly fell into his hands. An arrangement was then made with Ferdinand to divide Naples between them ; but the conquerors quarreled over the spoil, and the French army, in spite of the heroism of the Chevalier Bayard, was beaten back from Naples by the Spanish infantry under the ''Great Captain" Gonsalvo. 432 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1508. Three Leagues. — Louis next joined the League of Oambrai (Ferdinand, Maximilian, and Pope Julius 11.) against Venice. Just as the fall of that republic seemed at hand, jealousies arose among the confederates. Pope Julius suddenly turned the scale by forming the Holy League (Ferdinand, Maxi- milian, Venice, and the Swiss), which drove the French out of Italy. But Louis, now allied with Venice, again descended upon Milan. The League ofMalines (Ferdinand, Maximilian, Henry VIII., and Leo X. ) stayed his steps anew. Henry VIIL invaded France, and at Guinegate the French cavalry fled so fast before him that the victory is known as the Battle of the Spurs. Louis, beaten on all sides, was glad to make peace. Francis I. (1515-47), also lured by the deceitful lustre of Italian conquest, be- gan his reign by pour- ing his troops over the Alps, through paths known only to the chamois-hunter. The Swiss mercenaries guarding the passes were taken by surprise, and finally beaten in the bloody battle of Marignano (1515). The French were in- toxicated with joy. Francis was dubbed a knight on the field by the Chevalier Bayard. Milan fell without a blow. The Swiss made with France a treaty known as the Perpetual Peace, since it lasted as long as the old French monarchy. FRANCIS 1. — (AFTER TITIAN.) THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 433 II. THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 1. THE RIVALRY OF CHARLES AND FRANCIS. Spain was now the leading power in Europe. Ferdinand ruled Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, and vast regions in the New World — the gift of Columbus to the Castilian crown ; while his daughter Joanna was married to Philip, son of Maximilian of Austria and of Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold. When Charles, son of Philip, on the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand, succeeded to the crown of Spain, he added the Low Countries to its pos- sessions ; and, on the death of his other grandfather, Maxi- milian, he inherited the sovereignty of Austria, and was elected Emperor of Germany (1519). It was the grandest empire Europe had seen since the days of Augustus, uniting, as it did, under one sceptre, the infantry of Spain, the looms of Flanders, and the gold of Peru. Charles's Rivalry with Francis. — Francis I. had been a candidate for the imperial crown, and his vanity was sorely hurt by Charles's success. Henceforth these two monarch s were bitter enemies. Their rivalry deluged Europe in blood. Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520).— Ere beginning hos- tilities, both kings sought to win the friendship of Henry VIII. Francis met that monarch near Calais. The mag- nificence displayed gave to the field its name. The two kings feasted and played together like school-boys.* Henry swore not to cnt his beard until he should again visit his '^good brother ;^^ Francis made a like vow, and long beards became the latest French fashion. But Charles negotiated more quietly, and, while he flat- tered the bluff and good-natured Henry, won his all-power- * The three mightiest sovereigns of Europe in the first half of the 16th century- Henry Vin. of England, Charles V". of Spain, and Francis I. of France— all assumed their crowns before reaching their majority. 434 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1520. FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD. ful minister, Cardinal Wolsey, by hopes of the papacy. A league was soon after formed of the pope, the emperor, and the king of England against Francis. Battle of Pavia (1525). — Italy was again the principal battlefield. Francis, anxious to renew the glories of Marig- nano, led a magnificent army across the Alps, andtiesieged Pavia. There he was attacked by the imperialists under Bourbon.* At first, the French artillery swept all before it. * The duke of Bourbon was Constable of France. But having been neglected by the king and wronged by the queen-mother, he fled to the enemy for revenge, drove the French out of Italy, and invaded Provence. Francis forced the imperialists back, and followed them across the Alps, thus beginning the fatal campaign of Pavia. Dur- ing the French retreat, Chevalier Bayard was struck by a ball (1524). Bourbon coming up off"ered him words of cheer. The dying hero replied, " Think rather of yourself in arms against your king, your country, and your oath! " The universal horror felt in France at Bourbon's treacheiy shows the increased sanctity of the royal authority over feudal times, and the influence of the recent revival of classic literature which taught treason to one's country to be a crime of the blackest dye. The nobles who joined in the " League of the Public Good" with Charles the Bold against Louis XL were not considered traitors, yet that was little over half a century before. (Brief Prance, p. 115.) 1525.] THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 435 Francis, thinking the enemy about to flee, charged with his knights, but, coming before his guns, checked their fire. Thereupon the imperialists ralHed, and a terrible hand- to-hand conflict ensued. The flower of the French nobles was cut down. The Swiss, forgetting their ancient valor, fled. Francis himself, hemmed in on all sides, wounded, unhorsed, and covered with blood and dust, at last yielded his sword. Treaty of Madrid. — The royal prisoner was carried to Madrid, and confined in the gloomy tower of the Alcazar. There, pining in captivity, he fell sick. The crafty emperor, fearing to lose the ransom, released him, on his agreeing to surrender Burgundy and his Italian claims, and give up his two sons as hostages. On the way home, Francis vapored much about Regulus, but quickly broke his promise, and signed a treaty with the pope, Henry, and the Venetians, to drive the imperialists out of Italy. Sack of Rome. — Charles now sent Bourbon into Italy. His men being unpaid and eager for plunder, he led them to Eome as the richest prize. Bourbon was shot as he was placing a ladder, but the infuriated soldiery quickly scaled the walls. Never had the Eternal City suffered fi-om Goth or Vandal as she now did from the subjects of a Christian emperor.* The sack lasted for months. Finally, a plague carried off conquerors as well as inhabitants, and, of all Bourbon's host, scarcely 500 men survived to evacuate the city, on the approach of the French army of relief. Ladies' Peace (1529). — Ere long, however, the French met with their usual defeat in Italy; Andrea Doria, the famous Genoese patriot, going over to Charles, became admi- * When Charles learned that the pope was a prisoner he ordered his court into mourning and, with strange hypocrisy, directed prayers to be said for the release which he could have effected hy a word. 436 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1529. ral of the Spanish fleet; and so Francis, anxious to recover his sons from the emperor, concluded a treaty. As it was negotiated by the king's mother and the emperor's aunt, it is known in history as the Ladies' Peace. The Turks. — Meanwhile, Charles had found a new foe, and Francis, a singular ally. The Turks, under sultan Soly- mau the Magnificent, using the cannon that breached the walls of Constantinople, had driven the Knights of St. John out of the isle of Rhodes ; * subdued Egypt ; devastated Hungary ; f and even appeared under the walls of Vienna (1529). Menaced thus, Charles, notwithstanding his Italian triumphs, was very willing to listen to the ladies when, as we have seen, they talked of peace. Soon after, however, Soly- man having made an alliance with Francis, who cared less for differences of faith than for revenge upon the emperor, raised a vast army, and, again wasting Hungary, threatened Vienna. The flower and strength of Germany rallied under Charles's banners and forced the infidel to an inglorious retreat. The emperor next sought to cripple the Turkish power by sea. Crossing the Mediterranean, he attacked Tunis which Barbarossa, the Algerine pirate in command of Solyman's fleet, had seized. In the midst of the desperate struggle that ensued, ten thousand Christian slaves, confined iu the * The knights made a gallant defence, a single man with his arquebuse being said to have shot five hundred Turks. Thirty-two Turkish mines were destroyed, but finally one burst, throwing down a part of the city wall. The Grand Master, L'Isle Adam, rushed from the church where he was at prayer, only to find the Crescent already planted in the opening. He instantly dashed into the midst of the Turks, tore down the standard, and, with his brave knights, drove them back. For thirty- four nights he slept in the breach. At last, sorely against his will, the Hospitallers agreed to surrender their stronghold. L'Isle Adam sailed away with the survivors. Charles gave hira the rocky island of Malta. There he established a well-nigh im- pregnable fortress for the benefit of distressed seamen of every nation. t The Hungarian king having been slain in the battle of Mohacs (1526), the crown ultimately fell to his brother-in-law, Ferdinand of Austria, afterward emperor. It has ever since been held by the archdukes of Austria (p. 385). 1538.] THE AGE OP CHARLES V. 437 castle, broke their fetters, and turned its guns upon their masters. The city was carried by assault. The released cap- tives were sent home, to the joy of all Christendom. The pope finally mediated a truce between the rivals. Charles, while eii route to Flanders, visited Paris. Francis in an ecstasy of hospitality exclaimed to his late enemy: '' Here Ave are united, my brother and I. We must have the same foes and the' same friends. We will equip a fleet against the Turks, and Andrea Doria shall be the com- mander." Brave words all, but soon forgotten. The emperor, thmking to blunt the edge of the Turkish sabre by a second expedition against the African pirates, sailed to Algiers ; but his ships were destroyed by a storm, and his troops by a famine. Francis seized the opportunity and raised five great armies to attack Charles's wide-spread empire. Solyman invaded Hungary, and Barbarossa ravaged the coasts of Spain and Italy. Europe was amazed to see the lilies of France and the crescent of Mohammed appear before Nice, and Christian captives sold by the corsairs in the mar- ket of Marseilles. It seemed as .if the days of Martel had returned, and there was again peril of a Mohammedan empire girding the Mediterranean ; only the infidels were now brutal Turks instead of refined Saracens. Treaty of Crespy (1544). — But this was not to be. Henry renewed his alliance with Charles, and they invaded France from opposite sides. Charles was beaten at Cerisolles, but Henry pushed to within two-days march of Paris. Already its citizens, panic-struck, had begun to move their valuables to Eouen, when Francis sued for peace. The Treaty of Crespy ended the wars of these monarchs that for nearly twenty-five years had been so fruitful of wrong and misery. 438 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 2. THE REFORMATION. The Reformation in Germany was the great event of the 16th century. Nowhere else had the Eevival of Learning caused such a general stir of thought. The abuses of the church had long been a source of sorrow to every sincere Christian. The bishops, little different from secular princes, were fond of show, and neglectful of their duties ; many of the clergy were idle, ignorant, and corrupt ; while the cleri- cal fees and tithes were exacted with the greatest strictness. The Councils of Constance and Bale had, in vain, attempted a reform. The revolt of the Albigenses so long before ; the old-time feuds between pope and emperor; the teachings of Wycliffe, Huss, Jerome, and Savonarola ; the sarcastic writ- ings of Erasmus ; and now the reading of the Bible itself, — all conspired to lead men to doubt the authority of the church, and to demand freedom of thought. A little inci- dent brought every cause of difficulty to a focus. Luther's Attack on Indulgences. — In 1517, there came into Saxony one Tetzel, a Dominican friar, selling indul- gences. The wickedness and impudence of this man, who was better fitted to receive than dispense pardon for sin, aroused general indignation. This feeling found vent when Martin Luther,* a professor in the University at Wittenberg, * Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, 1483 ; died, 1546. *' My father," said the reformer, *' was a poor wood-cutter, and my mother has often carried wood on her back to get means for raising her children." Martin was brought up very strictly ; once at school he was flogged fifteen times during a single forenoon. At fifteen, he became a " wandering scholar " in Eisenach, earning his bread, after the custom of the day, by singing in the streets. His diligence and studiousness, as weil as his sweet voice, won him friends, and, finally, his father becoming able to aid him, Martin fin- ished his education at the University of Erfurt. The reading of a Bible, then a rare book and hence chained to the desk in the library, awakened his thought, and, against his father's wish, he entered an Augustine monastery. In 1508, he was appointed professor in the University at Wittenberg, just founded by the Elector Frederick ; in 1510, going to Rome on business for his order, he saw so much of the wickedness of the priesthood in that time of deep spiritual darkness that he returned home bent upon reform. Toward the town where this zealous, flaming preacher was crying to crowds 1517.] THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 439 nailed on the cathedral door, after the manner of scholars of the time, 95 propositions which he stood ready to defend. These asserted that absolution could be pronounced only after repentance, and that the sale of indulgences being contrary to Scripture and the true Catholic faith must be unknown to the pope. Luther Burns the Papal Bull (1520).— At first Leo paid httie attention to the controversy which now ensued, esteeming it merely a quarrel between the Augustine and the Dominican fi-iars. Finally, the thunder of the Vatican broke. The daring preacher was excommunicated. Luther replied by publicly burning the papal bull. Friends gathered about the fiery monk. The elector of Saxony refused to give up his popular professor. Ulric von Hutten, a scholar- knight, poised his poet's pen in Luther's defence; while Philip Melanchthon, a gentle young man deep in Greek and Hebrew, stood bravely by his side. Luther at Worms (1521). — The emperor Charles held his first diet at Worms. Thither Luther was summoned to answer for his heresy. To his friends who, remembering the fate of Huss, dissuaded him from complying, he replied, "Were there as many devils in Worms as tiles on the roof, yet would I go." Standing alone in the august presence of the emperor and in the midst of the brilliant assembly of cardinals, bishops, and courtiers, the pale monk refused to recant. "It is neither safe nor wise," he exclaimed, "to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. God help me !" Having the emperor's safe-conduct,* Luther was allowed to depart ; but he was denounced as a heretic, and his supporters were put under the ban of the empire. of eager listeners, " The just shall live by faith," came Tetzel, The result could have been easily foreseen. * Charles was urged ^o break his word, and not let Luther go home under his safe- conduct ; but he nobly replied, " No ! I do not mean to blush like Sigismund " (p. 386). 440 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY [1020. LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET OF WORMS. After the diet, Charles left Germany, and, absorbed in his great struggle with Francis, did not return for nine years. Luther's Patmos. — By order of the Elector of Saxony, who determined to conceal Luther until the storm blew over, the reformer was carried, by knights in disguise, to the lonely castle of the Wartburg. In this quiet retreat, which he called his Patmos, he staid nearly a year, engaged in translating the Bible into German.* * This book was not finished until 1534, though Luther was aided by Melanchthon, and other scholars Up to this time, there was no language accepted throughout the empire. The learned wrote in Latin ; the minnesingers, in Swabian ; and many used the dialects— Saxon, Franconian. etc. Luther, passing by the diction of the theologi- cal school? and the courts, sought the expressive phrases employed by the people. For this purpose, he visited the market-place and social gatherings, often spending days over a single phrase. No sentence was admitted into the translation until it had crystallized into pure, idiomatic German. Thus Luther did more than he dreamed. The Bible soon became the model of style ; and its mgh-GJ^rman, the standard of cultivated conversation and polite literature. 1522.] THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 441 Progress of the Reformation. — When Luther returned to his old pulpit, the Eeformation went on apace. Several powerful princes adopted the Lutheran doctrines. In their provinces, convents were suppressed; church lands confis- cated ; services held in the language of the people ; and monks permitted to marry, Luther setting the example by wedding Catharine von Bora, a nun. The new doctrines rapidly spread* into northern Ger- many, France, Switzerland,! England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Teutonic nations, with a few exceptions, finally adopted them in some form, while the Latin nations remained fiiithful to the church of Rome. Lutherans called Protestants (1529). — Archduke Fer- dinand, alarmed by the progress of the reformers under Luther and of the Turks under Solyman, called a diet at Spires. The Catholics, being in the majority, passed a decree forbidding any further change in religion. The Lutheran princes and cities formally protested against this action — whence they were called Protestants. The Ladies' Peace now giving Charles leisure, he revisited Germany, and held a diet at Augsburg. J A statement of the * Princes and cities, vexed at the money drained from their people hy the Roman pontiff, and quite willing to secure the vast possessions of the church, saw their inter- ests lyiii? along the line of the new faith. So " policy was more Lutheran than relig- ious reform," and they eagerly seized upon this opportunity to emancipate themselves at once from emperor and pope. Thus the Reformation gradually became a struggle for political power quite as much as for religious freedom. t Switzerland had its own reformation. Zwingle, the leader, was more radical than Luther. He wished to purily state as well as church. After his death in battle, the people of Geneva invited thither the great French reformer, Calvin. Ecclesiasti- cal courts were established, and a rigid discipline was enforced that reached to the minutest detail of life. Under this despotic rule Geneva became the most moral city in Europe, and the home of letters and orthodoxy. Calvin's doctrines, more than those of any other reformer, molded men's minds. The Huguenots, the Dutch Wal- loons, the Scotch Presbyterians, and the New England Puritans, all were stamped with his type of thought. X Charles was entertained at the splendid mansion of Anthony Fugger, a famous merchant-prince of Augsburg. At the close of the visit, the host invited the emperor into his study and there threw upon a fire of cinnamon— then a very costly spice— the bonds which Charles had given him for loans to carry on his wars with Francis. 442 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1530. Protestant doctrine was here read which afterward became famous as the Augsburg Confession — the creed of the Ger- man reformers. Instead of one poor monk, as at Worms, Charles had now to deal with half of Germany. But he again denounced the heresy, and put all who held it under the ban of the empire. Smalcaldic League (1531). — The Protestant princes organized at Smalcald for mutual protection. But Soly- man having once more marched upon Vienna, Charles, in the face of this peril, granted the reformers liberty of con- science. Forthwith, the Protestants and Catholics gathered under the imperial banner, and the Turks hastily retreated. Charles now left Germany for another nine-years absence. Smalcaldic War (1546-'7). — The treaty of Crespy free- ing Charles from further fear of Francis, he determined to crush the Reformation. The Council of Trent (1545-'63) was called, but the Protestants, taking no part in the deliber- ations, rejected its decrees. Meanwhile, civil war broke out. The Protestant leaders were irresolute. Prince Maurice of Saxony abjured the reformed religion, joined Charles, and overran the territory of his cousin, the Elector Frederick. The league fell to pieces. Only Frederick and Philip, the landgrave of Hesse, remained in the field. Charles, bold and wary as ever, defeated and captured the former, while Maurice persuaded the latter, his father-in-law, to surrender. Charles's Triumph now seemed complete. The boldest Protestant leaders were in prison. The sword of Francis and the pen of Luther were both rusting in the grave. Germany was, at last, prostrate before her Spanish lord. A proud and haughty conqueror,* he brought Spanish infantry * History, however, records a brighter trait in Charles's character. Visiting Luther's grave, one of his attendants urged that the body of the reformer should be dug up and burned. The emperor nobly replied, " No 1 I make war on the living, not on the dead." 1548.] THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 443 to overawe tlie disaffected; forced upon the unwilling people the Interim — a compromise between the two religions, which was hateful to both Catholics and Protestants ; and sought to have the succession taken from his brother Ferdinand, and given to his son — the cold and gloomy Philip. Maurice Revolts. — At this juncture, the man who won Charles the victory, undid his work. Maurice, impatient of the name ^* traitor'' and indignant because his father-in-law was kept in prison, organized a revolt, and made an alliance with Henry II. of France. Protestant Triumph. — Suddenly, the confederates took the field. Henry seized Toul, Verdun, and the strong fortress of Metz, without striking a blow. To escape from Maurice, the emperor at Innspruck fled through the stormy night along the mountain-paths of the Tyrol.* The Council of Trent broke up in dread. Charles was forced to bend, and, by the Treaty of Passau (1552), to grant toleration to the Protestants. Charles's Abdication (1556). — Imperial disasters now followed fast. Charles tried to recover Metz, but was defeated by the Duke of Guise — a French leader then new to fame. The Turkish fleet ravaged the coast of Italy. The pope, offended by the toleration granted the Protestants, made an alliance with Henry of France. Charles, sad, dis- appointed, and baffled, laid down the crown. f His son * Maurice, if he had deemed it politic, could have prevented the escape, but, as the emperor himself once said, " Some birds are too big for any cage "—a truth that Charles well learned after the battle of Pavia. + He thus followed the famous example of Diocletian (p. 263). After his retire- ment Charles v/ent to the monastery of St. Juct in Spain. Though only fifty-six, hav- ing been bom in the same year with his century, he was prematurely old— the victim of oluttony. Now, shut in by groves of oak and chestnut, and under the shadow of the lofty mountains, the late emperor joined the monks in their religious exercises, or amused himself by various mechanical contrivances— the making of watches and curious little puppets. Unable, however, to absorb himself in his new life, he eagerly watched the tidings of the busy world he had left behind. One day the morbid fancy 444 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1556- Philip II., husband of Mary, queen of England, received Spain, the Netherlands, and the Two Sicilies ; while Fer- dinand of Austria was chosen emperor. End of the War. — Philip for a time continued the strug- gle with France, and won the battle of St. Qiientin (1557) ; * but Guise's capture of Calais from the English, who had held it over two centuries, consoled the French. The Treaty of Cdteau-Cmnhresis (1559) closed the long contest, and empha- sized the division of Europe into Catholic and "Protestant nations. The Condition of Germany during the remainder of the 16th century was that of mutual fear and suspicion. The Calvinists were excl uded from the Treaty of Passau, and the feeling between them and the Lutherans was as bitter as between both and the Catholics. The different parties watched one another with growing dislike and doubt, every rustling leaf awakening fresh suspicion. Minor divisions arose among the Protestants. Each petty court had its own school of theo- logians, and the inspiration of the early reformers degenerated into wrangles about petty doctrines and dogmas. No true national life could exist in such an atmosphere. Ferdinand I. and his successor, Maximilian IL, managed to hold the unsteady balance between the conflicting parties; but under Rudolph IL, Catholic and Protestant leagues were formed Matthias got his cousin Ferdinand chosen king of Hungary and Bohemia ; on the death of Matthias, Ferdinand IL was elected emperor (1619). He was a bitter foe of the Reformlation, and the closing of two Protestant churches (1618) in bis territory proved the signal for the Thirty- Years War (p. 480). seized him to have his funeral services performed. He took part in the solemn pageant, standing by the side of his empty coffin, holding a torch, and chanting a dirge. The dread reality followed within three weeks (1558). * When Charles, in his retirement, heard of this victory, he exclaimed : " Is not my son now in Paris? " Philip, however, derived no advantage from it, except the glory of the day and the plan of the huge palace of the Escurial, which is built in paral- lel rows like the bars of a gridiron, in memory of St. Lawrence, on whose day the bat- tle was fought and whose martyrdom consisted in being broiled over a slow fire. RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 445 III. RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Netherlands, now Holland and Belgium, by the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian, fell to the House of Hapsburg. When her grandson resigned these provinces to Philip, they formed the richest possession of the Spanish crown. The looms of Flanders were world- renowned. The manufiictories of G-hent had one hundred thousand artisans. In the Scheldt at Antwerp twenty-five hundred ships were often to be seen waiting their turn to come to the wharfs, while five thousand merchants daily thronged the city exchange. SACKING A CATHEDRAL. The Reformation made great progress among this liberty- loving people. Philip, declaring that he would rather be no king than to reign over heretics, soon sought to crush the 446 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1567. new doctrines by the terrors of the Inquisition.* Tumults arose. Many beautiful cathedrals with their treasures of art were sacked by the mob. The Duke of Alva was now sent thither with an army of Spanish veterans (1567). This remorseless tyrant, and his dreaded Council of Blood, within six years put to death eighteen thousand persons, and passed sentence of death upon the entire population ! Thousands of woi'kmen, fleeing in terror, carried to England the manufacturing skill of Bruges and Ghent. Meanwhile, William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, known in history as the Silent, took the field in defence of his per- secuted countrymen. Then began their Forty- Years War (1568-1609) for freedom. This long struggle is memorable in history on account of the heroic defence the cities made against the Spanish armies, f The * A deputation of nobles to protest against this measure was styled by a scomful courtier, a "Pack of Beggars." This being reported to the nobles at a banquet, one of them hung about his neck a beggar's wallet, and taking up a wooden bowl of wine— all merrily drank to the toast, " Long live the beggars." The name became thenceforth their proud title. + Harlem was besieged by Don Frederick, Alva's son, in 1572. Having breached the defences, he ordered an assault. Forthwith the church bells rang the alarm. Men and women flocked to the walls. Thence they showered upon the besieg- ers stones and boiling oil, and dexterously threw down over their necks hoops dripping with burning pitch. Spanish courage and ferocity shrunk back appalled at such a determined resistance by an entire population. Don Frederick then betook to mining ; the citizens countermined. Spaniard and Netherlander met in deadly conflict within passages dimly lighted by lanterns, and so narrow that the dagger only could be used. At times, showers of mingled stones, earth, and human bodies, phot high into the air, as if from some concealed volcano. The Prince made several futile attempts to relieve the city. In one of these, John Haring sprung upon a narrow dike, and alone held in check one thousand of the enemy until his friends made good their escape, when, Horatius-like, he leaped into the sea, and swam off unharmed. Hope of rescue finally failed the besieged, and then famine added to their horrors. Dogs, cats, and mice were devoured ; shoe-leather was soaked and eaten ; while gaunt spectres wandered to and fro. eagerly seizing the scattered spires of grass and weeds, to allay the torment of hunger. In the last extremity, the soldiers proposed to form a hollow square, put the women and children in the centre, fire the city, and then cut their way out. The seven-months siege had taught the Spaniards the issue of such a struggle of despair, and they off"ered terms of surrender. But when Alva's legions were inside the walls, he forgot all save revenge, butchered garrison and citi- (TRUTXeU, SCKVOSS t CO , (NCt., II,T, 448 ■ THE SIXTEENTH CEJS^TURY. [1576. Silent One, with his devotion to duty, constancy in adversity, and marvelous statesmanship, is the central figure of the contest. In 1576 (two centuries before our '76) he united the provinces in a league called the Pacification of Ghent. But the northern and the southern provinces were unlike in race and religion. The former were Teutonic, and mostly Protestant ; the latter, Celtic and largely Catholic. Jealousies arose. The league fell in pieces. William then formed the seven northern provinces into the Union of Utrecht — the foundation of the Dutch Republic. The Prince was chosen first stadtholder. Philip, the gloomy tyrant of tlie Escurial, having set a price upon William's head, this patriot leader was assassin- ated (1584). When the sad news flew through Holland, even the little children wept in the streets. Maurice of Nassau, the Prince's second son, was chosen in his father's place. Though only in his seventeenth year, he proved to be a rare general; while, at his side, stood the zens alike, anrl, when the executioners were weary, tied three hinidied wretches together, two by two, back to back, and hurled them into the lake. Leyden was besienjed by Valdez in 1574. A chain of sixty-two forts cut off all commuuicatiun. except by means of carrier pigeons, which, flying high in air, bore tidings between the Prince and the city. (The stuff. d skins of these faithful messengers are still preserved in the town hall.') Soon famine came, more bitter even, if possible, than that at Harlem. The starving crowd wa.- at last driven to the burgomaster, demanding food or a surrender. " I have sworn not to yield," was the heroic reply ; "but take my sword, plunge it into my breast, and divide my flesh among you." These words raised their courage anew, and, clambering upon the walls, they took their places a^ain, calling out to the enemy in defiance, '' Before we give up, we will eat our left arms to give strength to our right." The Prince had no army to send to their relief; but the Sea Beggars were outside pacing the decks of their ships, and chafing at the delay. For, though the patriots, crying out that "a drowned land is better than a lost land," had cut the dikes to let in the ocean upon their fertile fields, the water was too shallow to float the fleet. One night the tempest came. The waters of the North Sea were piled high on the Holland coast. The waves, driven by a west wind, swept irresistibly over the land. The ships, loaded with food, were borne to the very walls of the city. The Spaniards, dismayed by the incoming ocean, fled in terror. The happy people flocked with their deliverers to the cathedral, to poui out their thanksgiving to God. Prayer was offered, and then a hymn begun ; but the tide of emotion rose too high, and, checking the song, the vast audience wept together tears of joy and gratitude. Read Motley's account in the " Rise of the Dutch Republic." 1584.] RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 449 skillful diplomat and devoted patriot, John of Barneveld. In time, both France and England became allies of the states, and took part in the struggle, (pp. 453, 464). The Dutch sailors early won great renown. Their light, active ships beat the clumsy Spanish galleons, ahke in trade and war. A Dutch Indiaman would sail to the Antipodes and back while a Portuguese or a Spaniard was making the outward voyage. The East India Company, founded in 1602, conquered islands and kingdoms in Asia, and carried on a lucrative trade with China and Japan. Spain and Portugal, pioneers in the East, now bought spices, silks, and gems, of Holland merchants. Result of the War. — The King of Spain, then Philip III., was finally forced to grant a truce, in which he treated with the seven United Provinces as if free ; though he refused formally to acknowledge their independence until the Treaty of Westphalia (p. 485). The southern, or Belgian provinces, remained in the possession of Spain. Free Holland now took her place among the nations. Her, fields bloomed like a garden ; her shops rang with the notes of industry; and her harbors bristled with masts. In the seventeenth century she was a power in the European States-System, and her alliance was eagerly courted ; while Spain fell so rapidly that foreign princes arranged for a division of her territory without consulting her sovereign. * * By the expulsion of the remaining Moors, Philip HI. drove out of Spain six hundred thousand of her most industrious and thrifty citizens, transferred to other countries five-sixths of her commerce and manufactures, and reduced the revenue over one-half. The nation never recovered from this impolitic and unjust act. It should be remembered, however, that persecution was the spirit of the age. Even the mild Isabella consented to expel the Jews, to the number of one hundred and sixty thousand, and though this edict caused untold misery, yet at the time it was lauded as a signal instance of piety. Toleration was not understood, even by the reformers of Germany or England, and all parties believed that it was right to punish or, if necessary, to burn a man's body, in order to save his soul. 450 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. IV. CIVIL-RELIGIOUS WARS OF FRANCE. The Reformation took deep root in Fraoce, especially among the nobility. Though Francis I. and Henry 11. aided the German reformers in order to weaken Charles V., to schism at home they showed no mercy. By the treaties of Crespy and Cateau-Cambresis they were pledged to stamp out the new religion. Francis relentlessly persecuted the Vaudois, a simple moun- tain folk of the Pied- mont ; Henry celebrated the coronation of his wife Catharine de' Medici, with a bonfire of heretics, and sought to establish the Inquisition in France, as had been done in the Netherlands. In spite of persecution, however, Calvinist prayers and hymns were heard even CATHARINE De' MEDICI. ^^ ^J^g j.^y^| pakCC. TllC Huguenots— as the Protestants were called— began to claim the same rights that their German brethren had secured at Passau. Denied these, they organized a revolt. During the reigns of Henry II. 's three sons, Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III., who successively came to the throne, France was convulsed by the horrors of civil war. The Leaders.— The Catholic leaders were Catharine, the Constable Montmorenci, and the two Guises—Francis the Duke, and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. They were supported by the Church and Spain. 1559.] CIVIL-RELIGIOUS WARS OF FRANCE. 451 ADMIRAL COLIGNY. At the head of the Huguenots stood the King of Navarre, and the Prince of Conde — both Bourbons claim-, ing descent from St. Louis — and Admiral Coligny, nephew of Montmorenci. The}^ were befriended by the reformers of Germany, England, and the Neth- erlands. The Situation. — The remaining kings of the Valois line were young, weak, and unfit to contend with the i3rofound questions and violent men of the time. The Bourbons hated the Guises, and each plotted the other's ruin. Catharine, a wily, heartless Italian, moving between the factions like a spirit of evil, schemed for power. Her maxim was, '' Divide and govern." She cared little for religion, but opposed the Huguenots because their aristocratic leaders sought to strengthen the nobles at the expense of the king. Thus political mingled with religious motives, and the struggle was quite as much for the triumph of rival chiefs as for that of any form of faith. Francis 11.^1669-60), a sickly boy of sixteen, fascinated by the charms of his girl-wife, the beautiful Mary Queen of Scots, was ruled, through her, by her uncles, the Guises. The Bourbons planned to remove the king from their influ- ence. The Guises detected the plot, and took a ferocious revenge. Conde himself escaped only by the king's sudden death. Mary returned to Scotland to work out her sad destiny, (p. 463). 452 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, [1560. Charles IX. (1560-'74), a child-king of ten, was now pushed to the front. Catharine, as regent,* tried to hold the balance between the two parties. But the Catholics, be- coming exasperated, resented every concession to the Hugue- nots ; while the Huguenots, growing exultant, often inter- rupted the worship and broke the images in the Catholic churches. One Sunday (1 562) the Duke of Guise was riding through P as- sy as a Huguenot con- gregation were gathering for worship. His attend- ants, sword in hand, fell upon the Protestants. This massacre was the opening scene in A Series of Eight Civil Wars, which, interrupted by seven short and un- steady treaties of peace, lasted in all over thirtj; years. Plots, murders, treacheries, thickened fast. Guise was assassinated ; Conde was shot in cold blood. Navarre and Montmorenci, more fortunate, fell in battle. Guise was succeeded by his brother Henry, while Navarre's place was taken by his gallant son, afterward Henry IV. The treaty of St. Germain, the third lull of hostilities in this bloody series, gave promise of permanence. Charles ULKE OF GUIbE. * It is noticeable that about this time a large part of Europe was governed by women. England, by Elizabeth : Spain, by Juana. princess regent : the Netherlands, by Margaret of Parma, acting as regent for Philip ; Navarre, by Queen Jane ; Scot- land, by Mary ; and Portugal, by the regent-mother, Catharine of Austria, sister of Charles V. 1572.] CIVIL-RELIGIOUS WARS OF FRANCE. 453 offered his sister Margaret in marriage to Henry of Navarre. The principal Huguenots flocked to Paris, to witness the wedding festivities. Coligny won the confidence of the king, and an army was sent to aid the reformers in the Netherlands. Catharine, seeing her power waning, resolved to assassinate Coligny. The attempt failed ; the Huguenots swore revenge. In alarm, Catharine with her friends decided to crush the Huguenot party at one horrible blow. With difficulty, Charles was persuaded to consent to The Massacre of St. Bartholometv (August 24, 1572). Before daybreak the impatient Catharine gave the signal. Instantly lights gleamed from the windows. Bands of murderers thronged the streets. Guise himself hurried to Coligny's house; his attendants rashed in, found the old man at prayer, stabbed him to death, and threw his body from the window that Gruise might feast his eyes upon his fallen enemy. Everywhere echoed the cry, "Kill! kill!" The slaughter went on for days. In Paris alone ten thousand persons perished; while in the provinces each city had its own St. Bartholomew. Result. — The Huguenots, dazed for a moment, flew to arms with the desperation of despair. Many moderate Catholics joined them. Charles, unable to banish from his eyes the horrible scenes of that fatal night, died at last a victim of remorse. Henry III. (1574-'89) next ascended the throne. Frivo- lous and vicious, he met with contempt on every side. The violent Catholics formed a "League to extirpate Heresy." Its leader was the Duke of Guise, who now threatened to become another Pepin to a second Childeric. The king had this dangerous rival assassinated in the royal cabinet. Paris rose in a frenzy at the death of its idol. Henry fled for protection to the Huguenot camp. A fanatic, instigated by 454 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY [1589. Guise's sister, entered his tent and stabbed the monarch to the heart. Thus ended the Valois line.* Henry of Navarre (1589-1610) now became king as Henry IV., the first of the Bourbon House (p. 355). To crush the League, however, took five years more of war. The crisis came at Ivry, where the Huguenots followed Henry's white plume to. a signal victory. Finally, in order to end the struggle, he abjured the Protestant religion. The next year he was crowned at Paris (1594). ^ Henrifs Administration brought to France a sweet calm after the turmoil of war. By the Edict of Nantes (1^98), he granted toleration to the Huguenots." With his fa- mous minister. Sully, he re- stored the finances, erected public edifices, built ships, en- couraged silk manufacture, and endowed schools and libraries. The common j^eo- ple found in him a friend, and he often declared that he should not be content until '^^the poorest peasant in his realm had a fowl for SULLY. his pot every Sunday." This prosperous reign was cut short by the dagger of the assassin Ravaillac (1610). * It is a house distinguished for misfortunes. Every monarch save one (Charles V.) left a record of loss or shame. Philip VI. was defeated at Sluys and Crecy and lost Calais. John, beaten at Poitiers, died a prisoner in England. Charles VI., conquered at Azincourt, was forced to acknowledge the English monarch heir of his kingdom. Charles VII. owed his crown to a peasant girl, and finally starved himself for fear of poisoning by his son. Louis XL, taken prisoner by Burgundy, was for days in danger of execution ; he died hated by all. Charles VIII. and Louis XII. met reverses in Italy. Francis I. was taken prisoner at Pavia. Henry II. suffered the sting of the defeat at St. Quentin, and was slain in a tilting match. Francis II. fortunately died young. Charles IX. perished with the memory of St. Bartholomew resting upon him ; and Henry III. was murdered. ENGLAND UNDER THE TUDOKS. 455 V. ENGLAND UNDER THE TUDORS (1485-1603). The Tudor Rule covered, in general, tlie sixteenth century. Its monarchs were despots. Then began the era of absohitism, such as Louis XI. had introduced into France, but which was curbed in England by the Charter, Parliament, and the free spirit of the people. The characteristic features of the period were the rise of Protestantism, of commerce, and of literature. TABLE OF THE TUDOR LINE. Henry VII. (1485-1509) m. Elizabeth op York. I Margaret. Henry VHI. (1509-'47). i I I III James V. op Scotland. Edward VI. (1547). Mary (1553). Elizabeth (1558). I Mary Queen op Scots. James "VT^. op Scotland and I. op England. Stuart Line. 1. Henry VII. (1485-1509), hailed king on the field of Bosworth, by his marriage with Elizabeth of York blended the roses. The ground-swell of the civil war, however, still agitated the country. Two impostors claimed the throne. Both were put down after much bloodshed. Avarice was Henry^s ruling trait. Promising to invade France, he secured supplies from Parliament, extorted from wealthy persons gifts — curiously termed ^^benevolences,"* crossed the channel, made peace (secretly negotiated from the first) with Charles VIII. for £149,000, and returned home enriched at the expense of friend and foe. He punished the nobles with fines on every pretext, and his lawyers revived musty edicts and forgotten tenures in order to fill the royal coffers under the guise of law. * His favorite minister, Morton, devised a dilemma known as "Morton's fork," since a rich man was sure to be caught on one tine or the other. A frugal person was asked for money because he must have saved much, and an extravagant one, be- cause he had much to spend. 456 THE SIXTEENTH CEI^TURY. [1503. Henry's tyranny, however, reached only the great. He gave the people rest. He favored the middle classes, and, by permitting the poorer nobles to sell their lands regard- less of the "entail," enabled prosperous merchants to buy estates. He also encouraged commerce, and under his patronage the Cabots explored the coast of America. In 1502 Henry's daughter Margaret was married to James IV. of Scotland. This wedding of the rose and the thistle paved the way to the union of the two kingdoms under the Stuarts, a century later. 2. Henry VIII. (1509-'47) at eighteen succeeded to the throne, and his father's wealth. For the first time since Kichard II., the king had a clear title to the crown. Gray, generous, handsome, witty, intelligent, fond of sport, and skillful in arms, Bluff King Hal, as he was affectionately called, was long the most popular in English history. Foreign Relations. — While Henry was winning the Battle of the Spurs (p. 432), Scotland as usual sided with France. James IV., though Henry's brother-in-law, invaded England. But, on Flodden Field (1513), he was slain with the flower of the Scots. Soon England came, as we have seen, to hold the balance of power between Charles V. and Francis I. Lest either should grow too strong, Henry always took the part of the one who happened at the time to be the weaker. Such wars brought no good to any one. Thomas Wolsey, who, from a priest and the son of a butcher, rose to be Archbishop of York, Lord Chancellor of England, Cardinal, and Papal Legate, was Henry's minister. He lived with almost royal splendor. His household com- prised 500 nobles, and he was attended everywhere by a train of the first barons of the land. The direction of foreign and domestic affairs rested with him. As Chancellor, he administered justice ; as legate, he controlled the Church. 1533.] ENGLAND UNDEll THE TUDOKS. 457 Catltarine's Divorce. — For nearly twenty years, Henry lived happily with his wife, Catharine of Aragon, aunt of Charles \. But of their children, Mary, a sickly girl, alone survived. Should Henry leave no son, the succession to the throne w^ould he imperilled, as no woman had yet reigned in Eng- land. The re- memhrance of the recent civil war emphasized this dread. Henry be- gan to have a superstitious fear lest the death of his children were a judgment upon him for marrying his brother's wid- ow. His scruples were quickened^ perhaps even sug- PORTRAITS OF HENRY VIII. AND CARDINAL WOLSEY. gested, by the charms of Anne Boleyn, a beautiful maid of honor. Henry accordingly applied to Pope Clement VII. for a divorce. The pope, not willing to offend Henry, and not daring to offend Charles, hesitated. So the affair dragged on for years. The universities and learned men at home and abroad were consulted. At last, Henry privately married Anne. Thomas Cranmer,* who had been appointed Archbishop of * It is curious that the four most remarkable men of Henry's administration— Wolsey, Cranmer, Cromwell, and More, all had the safne given name, Thomas, and all were executed, except Wolsey, who escaped the scaffold only by death. 458 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1533. Canterbury on account of his zeal in the king's cause, then pronounced Catharine's marriage illegal (1533). The for- saken wife died three years later. But more than the fate of queen or maid of honor was concerned in this royal whim. Wolsey^s Fall (1530). — Wolsey, as legate, had hesitated to declare a divorce without the papal sanction. Henry, brook- ing no opposition, determined on his minister's disgrace. Stripped of place and power, the old man was banished from the court. Soon after, he was arrested for treason ; while on his way to prison he died, broken-hearted at his fall.* Breach luith Rome. — Henry had no sympathy with the Keformation. Indeed, he had written a book against Luther's doctrines, for which he received, as a reward from the grateful pope, the title of the Defender of the Faith. But Cromwell, who, after Wolsey's fall, became Henry's chief minister, advised the king, instead of troubling himself about the papal decision, to deny the pope's su]3remacy. Link by link, the chain that had so long bound England to Rome was broken. Parliament declared Anne's marriage legal; forbade appeals or payments to the pope ; and acknowledged the king as supreme head of the English Church, f All who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy were proclaimed guilty of high treason. J The monasteries were suppressed, * His last words, as given almost literally by Shakspere, have become famous : " O, Cromwell, Cromwell, Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king. He would not in my age Have left me naked to mine enemies."— Henry VIH., Act IIl.^ Seem 2. t This position gave Henry an almost sacred character. Parliament directed that, within certain limits, his proclamations should have the force of law ; and, at the simple mention of his name, that body rose and bowed to his vacant throne. X The heads of the noblest in England now rolled upon the scaffold. Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor for a time after Wolsey's fall, was sentenced to death. As he ascended the stairs to his execution, he remarked to his attendant, with a touch of his old humor, " See me safe up ; as for my coming down, T can shift for myself." When he laid his head upon the block, he begged a moment's delay in order to move aside his beard, saying, " Pity that should be cut that has not committed treason." 1539.] E N^ G L A N D i: X D E R THE T U D O II S . 459 and their vast estates confiscated. A part of their revenues was spent in founding schools, but the larger share was lavished upon the king's favorites. THE CHAINED BIBLE. (Scene in a Church Porch, Sixteenth Century.) Church Reform. — A copy of the Bible, as translated by Tyndale and revised by Coverdale, was ordered to be chained to a pillar or desk in every church. Crowds of the common people flocked around, to hear its truths read to them in their mother-tongue. Henry drew up the famous Six Arti- cles of religion for the Church of England.* But, with his usual fickleness, he afterward published in succession two books, each giving to the nation a different creed, and * Fox wittily termed this statute, " The whip with six strings." 460 THE SIXTEEI^TH CENTURY. [1536. finally restricted to merchants and gentlemen the royal per- mission to read the Bible. Both Protestants and Catholics were persecuted with great impartiality ; the former for rejecting Henry's doctrines, and the latter for denying his supremacy. Henry's Six Wives. — Anne Boleyn wore her coveted crown only three years. A charge of unfaithfulness brouglit her to the scaffold within less than five months from the death of the discarded Catharine (1536). The very day after Anne's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, a maid of honor whose pretty face had caught his changeful fancy ; she died the following year. The fourth wife was Anne of Cleves, a Protestant princess. Her plain looks disappointed the king, who had married her by proxy, and he soon obtained a divorce by act of Parliament. Cromwell had arranged this match, and the result cost him his head. Henry next married Catharine Howard, but her bad con- duct was punished by death. The last of the series was Catharine Parr, a widow, who, to the surprise of all, man- aged to keep her head upon her shoulders until the king died in 1547. 3. Edward VI. (1547-53), son of Jane Seymour, ascended the throne in his tenth year. The Duke of Somerset became regent. The Reformation, which began in Henry's time by the sev- erance from Rome, now proceeded apace. Archbishop Cran- mer, seconded by Bishops Ridley and Latimer, was foremost in shaping the changes in ceremony and doctrine that gave the English church a Protestant form. The Latin mass was abolished. The pictures and statues in the churches were destroyed. The inimitable Book of Common Prayer was compiled, and the faith of the English Protestants summed up in the Eorty-two (now Thirty-nine) Articles of Religion. 1553.] EKGLAKD UKDER THE TUDORS. 461 The Duke of Northumberland, having brought Somerset to the scaffold, for a time ruled England. He persuaded Edward to set aside his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and leave the crown to his cousin, Lad}' Jane Grey, wife of Lord Dudley — Northumberland's son. Soon after, the gen- tle and studious Edward died. 4. Mary (1553-'8), however, was the people's choice, and she became the first queen-regnant of England. Lady Jane, a charming girl of sixteen, who found her greatest delight in reading Plato in the window-corner of a quiet library, though proclaimed by her father against her wish, was sent to the Tower ; a year afterward, on the rising of her friends, she and her husband w^ere beheaded. As an ardent Catholic, Mary sought to reconcile England to the pope. The laws favoring the Protestants were repealed, and nearly three hundred persons burned as heretics. Among these were Cranmer, Latimer, and Eidley. The queen was married to her cousin, afterward Philip JI. of Spain. The Spanish alli- ance was hateful to the English ; while Philip soon tired of his haggard, sickly wife, whom he had chosen merely to gra^fy his father. She, however, idolized her husband, and, to please him, joined in the war against France. As the result she lost Calais. The humbled queen died soon after, declaring that the name of this stronghold would be found written on her heart. 5. Elizabeth (1558-1603), ''Good Queen Bess," daughter of Anne Boleyn, next ascended the throne. Frank, jovial, and hearty, she won and kept the love of her people.'* Self- poised, courageous, and determined, like all the Tudors, she thoroughly understood the temper of the nation ; knew when to command and when to yield ; and was more than a match * A Puritan, named Stubbe, whose right hand was struck off by her order, waved his hat in his left while he cried, ''Long live Queen Elizabeth! " 4G2 THE SIXTEENTH CEXTURY. [1558. for any politician at home or abroad. She brought about her wise statesmen like William Cecil (Lord Burleigh) and Francis Wal- singham. She re- stored the Protest- ant religion, and gave the Church of England its present form. She declined marriage to Philip II., say- ing that she was wedded to her realm, and would never bring in a foreign master. Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity were passed by her first Parliament. The former act compelled every clergyman and office-holder to take an oath acknowledging Elizabetii as head of the Church of England, and to abjure every foreign prince and prelate; the latter forbade attendance upon the ministry of any clergyman except of the established religion, and inflicted a fine on all who did not go to service. Both the Catholics and the Puritans * opposed these measures, but for some years met with the Church of England for worship. * These were extreme Protestants who desired a purer form of worship than the cue adopted for the Church of England, i. e., one further removed from that of Kome. Mary of the ceremonies retained by Elizabeth, such as the surplice, sign of the cross in baptism, etc., gave them great offence. As they refused to accept the Act of Uni- formity they were known as Nonconformists, and when they afterward came to form separate congregations, as Separatists and Independents, (Hist. U. S., p. 53.) PORTRAITS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 1556,1570.] ENGLAND UXDEH THE TUDOKS. 4tj;j Afterward, tliey begau to withdraw and each to hold its own services in private houses. The Act of Uniformity was, how- ever, rigidly enforced. Many Catholics were executed. The Puritans were punished by fine, imprisonment, and exile, but their dauntless love of liberty and firm resistance to royal authority gave the party great strength. Mary Queen of Scots, grandniece of Henry VIII., was the next heir to the Enghsh throne. At the French court she had assumed the title of queen of England; and the Catholics, consideriug the marriage with Anne Boleyn void, looked upon her iis their legitimate sovereign. After the death of Francis II. she returned to Scotland. The Refor- mation, nnder the preachiug of John Knox, had there made great progress. Mary's Catholicism aroused the hostility of her Protestant subjects, and her amusements shocked the rigid Scotch reformers as much as their austerity displeased the gay and fascinating queen. She was soon married to her cousin Lord Darnley. His weakness and vice quickly for- feited her love. One day, with some of his companions, he dragged her secretary, Rizzio, from her supper-table, and murdered him almost at her feet. Mary never forgave this brutal crime. A few months later, the lonely house in which Darnley was lying sick was blown up, and he was killed. Mary's marriage, soon after, with the Earl of Both well, the suspected murderer, aroused deep indignation. She was forced to resign the crown to her infant son, James VI. Finally, she fled to England, where Elizabeth threw her into prison. For over eighteen years the beautiful captive was the center of innumerable conspiracies. The discovery of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and put her rival on the throne, brought Mary to the block (1587).* * A scaffold covered with black cloth was built in the hall of Fotheringay Castle. In the gray light of a February morning, Mary appeared attired in black, her radiant 464 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [1588. The InvincihU Armada. — As Elizabeth aided the Protes- tants in the Netherlands,* and her daring cruisers greatly annoyed the Spanish commerce, Philip resolved to conquer Eng- land. For three years, Spain rang with the din of preparation. The danger united England, and Catholics and Protestants alike rallied around their queen. The command of the fleet was given to Lord Howard — a Catho- lic nobleman — while under him served Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher. One day in July, 1588, the Armada was descried off Plymouth, one hundred and forty ships sailing in a crescent form, seven miles in lengtli. Beacons flashed the alarm from every hill along the coast, and the English ships hurried to the attack. Light, swift, and manned by the boldest seamen, they hung on the rear of the advancing squadron ; poured shot into the unwieldy, slow- sailing, Spanish galleons ; clustered like angry wasps about PHILIP II. OF SPAIN. beauty dimmed by her lono: imprisonment, but her courage unshaken. Throwing off her outer robe, beneath which Avas a crimson dress, she stood forth against the black background blood-red from head to foot. With two blows the executioner did his work, and Mary's stormy life was ended. Her right to the English crown she bequeathed to Philip, setting aside her son as a Protestant. * Elizabeth's favorite, the worthless Earl of Leicester, conducted an expedition to Holland (p. 449), but it effected nothing. The engagement before Zutphen, how- ever, is famous for the death of Philip Sidney—" the Flower of Chivalrie." In his dying agony, he begged for a drink of water. Just as he lifted the cup to his hps, he caught the wistful glance of a wounded soldier near by, and exclaimed, " Give it to him. His need is greater than mine." 1588.] ENGLAND T N I) K R THE T U I) R S . 465 their big antagonists; and, darting to and fi-o, prolonged the fight, off and on, for a week. The Spaniards then took refuge in the roads of Calais. Here the Duke of Parma was to join them with seventeen thousand veterans; but, in the dead of niglit, Howard sent into the port blazing fire-ships, and the Spaniards, panic-struck, stood to sea. With daylight, the English started in keen pursuit. The Spanish admiral, thinking no longer of victory but only of escape, attempted to return home by sailing around Scotland. But fearful storms arose. Ship after ship, crippled in spar and hull, went down before the fury of the northern blasts. Scarcely one-third of the fleet escaped to tell the fearful tale of the loss of the Spanish Armada. The effect of this victory was to make England Mistress of the Sea, to ensure the independence of Holland, to encourage the Huguenots in France, and to weaken Spanish influence in European affairs. From this shipwreck dates the decay of Spain. Commerce was encouraged by Elizabeth, and her reign was an era of maritime adventure. The old Viking spirit blazed forth anew. English sailors— many of whom were, by turns, explorers, pirates, and Protestant knight-errant s — traversed every sea. Frobisher, daring Arctic icebergs, sought the northwest passage. Drake sailed round the world, capturing en route many a galleon laden with the gold and silver of the new world. Hawkins traced the coast of Guinea. Sir Walter Ealeigh attempted to plant a colony in Virginia, so named, by this courtier's tact, after the Virgin Queen. In 1600 the East India Company was formed, and from this sprung the English empire in India. ElizabeWs Favorites cast a gleam of romance over her reign. Notwithstanding her real strength and ability, she was capricious, jealous, petulant, deceitful, and vain as any 466 THE SiXTEEKTS CEKTURY. [15S6. coquette. With waning beauty, she became the greedier of compliments. Her youthful courtiers, humoring this weakness, would, while approaching the throne, shade their eyes with their hands, as if dazzled by her radiance. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and son of Northumber- land (p. 461), was her earhest favorite.* After Leicester's death, the Earl of Essex succeeded to the royal regard. Once, during a heated discussion, Essex turned his back upon Elizabeth, whereupon she boxed his ears. The favorite, forgetting his position, laid his hand upon his sword. But the queen forgave the insult, and sent him to Ireland, then in revolt. Essex met with little suc- cess, and, against Eliza- beth's orders, returned, and rushed into her presence unannounced. Though forgiven again, he was restive under the restrictions imposed, and made a wild attempt to raise a revolt in Lon- don. For this he was tried and beheaded. Even at the last, his life would have been spared, if Elizabeth had received a ring which, in a moment of tenderness, she had given him to send her whenever he needed her help. TOMB OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. ♦ Of the magnificent entertainment given to Elizabeth in his castle ; of the story of the ill-fated Amy Robsart ; and of the queen's infatuation with this arrogant, vicious man, Scott has told in his inimitable tale of Kenilworth. 1603.] THE CIVILIZATIOK. 467 Two years later, the Countess of Nottingliam on her death- bed revealed the secret. Essex had intrusted her with the ring, but she withlield it from the ([ueen. Elizabeth in her rage shook the expiring woman, exclaiming, "God may for- give you, but I never can." From tliis time, the queen, sighing, weeping, and refusing food and medicine, rapidly declined to her death (1603). THE CIVILIZATION. The Progress of Civilization during the first modern century was rapid. Tiie revival of learning that swept over Europe heralding the dawn of the new era, the outburst of maritime adventure that fol- lowed the discovery of America, the spread of the "New Learning" by means of books, schools, and travel, and the establishment of strong, centralized governments, — all produced striking results. Commerce. — The wonderful development of commerce we have already traced in connection with the history of Spain, Portugal, Hol- land, England, etc. The colonies of these nations now formed a promi- nent part of their wealth. The navies of Europe were already formid- able. Sovereign and people alike saw, in foreign trade and in distant discoveries and conquests, new sources of gain and glory. Art. — Italy had now become the instructress of the nations. She gave to the world Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Correggio, Michael Angelo, Titian, Paul Veronese, Andrea del Sarto, Guido Reni, Ben- venuto Cellini, — masters of art, whose works have been the models for all succeeding ages. Painting, sculpture, and architecture felt the magic touch of their genius. The intercourse with Italy caused by the Italian wars did much to naturalize in France that love of art for which she has since been so renowned. Francis I. brought home with him sculptors and painters, and a new style of architecture — ^known as the French Renaissance, arose. Literature. — England bore the choicest fruit of the Revival of Learning. All the Tudors, except Henry VII., were scholars. Henry VIII. spoke four languages ; and Elizabeth, after she became queen, " read more Greek in a day," as her tutor, old Roger Ascham, used to say, "than many a clergyman read of Latin in a week." During the brilliant era following the defeat of the Armada, the English language took on its modern form. Poetry, that had been silent since the days of Chaucer, broke forth anew. Never did there shine a more splendid galaxy of writers than when, toward the end of the sixteenth century, 468 THE SIXTEENTH CEKTURY, THH GLORY OF THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. there were in London, Sliakspere, Bacon, Spenser, Chapman , Drayton, Raleigh, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, and Sir Philip Sidney. Sliakspere per- fected the drama ; Bacon developed a new philosophy ; Hooker shaped the strength of prose, and Spenser, tiie harmony of poetry. Modern Science already began to manifest glimpses of the new metliods of thought. The fullness of its time was not to come until our own day. Copernicus taugfht that the sun is the center of the solar system. Vesalius, by means of dissection, laid the foundation of anatomy. Galileo, in the cathedral at Pisa, caught the secret of the pendulum. Kepler was now watching the planets. Gilbert, Eliza- beth's physician, was making a few electrical experiments. Gesner and Caesalpinus were finding out how to classify animals and plants. And Palissy, the potter, declared his belief that fossil shells were once real shells. MERRIE ENGLANDE" UNDER "GOOD QUEEN BESS." Home-Life. — 3fajisions.— The gloomy walls and serried battle- ments of the feudal fortress now gave place to the pomp and grace of the Elizabethan hall. A mixed and florid architecture, the transition from Gothic to Classical, marked the dawn of the Renaissance. Tall, moulded and twisted chimneys, grouped in stacks ; crocketed and gilded turrets ; fanciful weather-vanes ; gabled and fretted fronts ; great oriel THE CIYILIZATION^. 469 windows ; and the stately terraces and broad flights of steps wliicli led to a formal garden, — marked the exterior of an Elizabethan mansion. In the interior, were spacious apartments approached by grand stair- cases ; immense mullioned and transomed windows ; huge carved oak or marble chimney-pieces, reaching up to gilded and heavily ornamented ceilings ; and wainscoted walls, covered with pictorial tapestries so loosely hung as to furnish a favorite hiding-place-. Chimneys and large glass windows were the especial " modern improvements." The houses, which three centuries before were lighted only by loop-holes, now reveled in a broad glare of sunlight ; and the newly found " chimney- corner " brought increased domestic pleasure. Manor-houses were built in the form of the letter E (in honor of the Queen's initial), having two projecting wings, and a porch in the middle. A flower-garden was essential, and a surrounding moat was still common. Town-houses, constructed of an oak frame filled in with brick or with lath-and- plaster, had each successive story projecting over the next lower ; so that in the narrow streets the inmates on the upper floor could almost shake hands with their neighbors across the way. Furniture, even in noble mansions, was still rude and defective ; and though the lofty halls and banqueting-rooms were hang Avith costly arras and glittered with pLite, — to possess less than a value of £100 in silver plate being a confession of poverty — the rooms in daily use were often bare enough. Henry VlII's bed-chamber contained only the bed, two Flemish court-cupboards, a joined stool, a steel mirror, and the andirons, firepan, tongs, and fire-forks belonging to the hearth. It was an age of ornamental ironwork, and the 16th-century hearth and house- hold utensils were models of elegant design. The chief furniture of a mansion consisted of grotesquely carved dressers or cupboards ; round, folding tables ; a few chests and presses ; sometimes a household clock — which was, as yet, a rarity; a day-bed or sofa — considered an excess of luxury; carpets for couches and floors; stifl*, high-backed chairs; and some " forms," or benches, with movable cushions. The bed was still the choicest piece of furniture. It was canopied and festooned like a throne; the mattress was of the softest down ; the sheets were Holland linen ; and over the blankets was laid a coverlet embroidered in silk and gold with the arms of its owner. There were often several of these cum bersome four-posters in one chamber. A portable bed was carried about in a leathern case, whenever the lord traveled ; for he was no longer content, like his ancestors, with the floor or a hard bench. The poorer classes of Elizabeth's time had also improved in condi- tion. Many still lived in hovels made of clay-plastered wattles, hav- ing a hole in the roof for chimney, and a clay floor strewed with rushes, *' under which," said Erasmus, " lies unmolested an ancient collection of beer, grease, fragments, bones, and everything nasty." These were the people whose uncleanly habits fed the terrible plagues that period- 470 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY ically raged in England. But houses of brick and stone as well as of oak were now abundant among the yeomanry. The wooden ladle and trencher had already given way to the pewter spoon and platter ; and the feather bed and pillow were fast displacing the sack of straw and the log bolster. Sea-coal (mineral coal) began to be used in the better houses, as the destruction of forests had reduced the supply of firewood. The dirt and sulphurous odor of the coal prejudiced many against its use, and it was forbidden to be burnt in London during the sitting of Parliament, lest the health of the country members should suffer. A GROUP OF COURTIERS IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH. Dress. — The fashionable man now wore a large starched ruff ; a pad- ded, long-waisted doublet; "trunk-hose" distended with wool, hair, bran, or feathers, — a fashion dating from Henry VIII, whose flattering courtiers stuffed their clothes as the king grew fat ; richly ornamented nether stocks, confined with jeweled and embroidered garters ; gemmed and rosetted shoes; and, dangling at dangerous angles over all, a long Toledo blade. The courtiers glistened with precious stones, and even the immortal Shakspere wore rings in his ears ! The ladies appeared in caps, hats, and hoods of every shape, one of the prettiest being that now known as the Mary Queen of Scots cap The hair was dyed, curled, frizzed and crimped, in a variety of forms and colors. Elizabeth, who, it is said, had eighty wigs, was seen sometimes in black hair, sometimes in red : the Queen of Scots wore successively black, yellow, and auburn hair. But yellow was most in favor ; and many a little street blonde was decoyed aside and shorn of her locks, to furnish a periwig for some fine lady. The linen ruff, worn in triple folds about the neck, was of " pre- THE CIVILIZATION. 471 posteroiis amplitude and terrible stiffness."* The long, rigid bodice, descending almost to the knees, was crossed and recrossed with lacers ; and about and below it stretched the farthingale, standing out like a large balloon. Knitted and clocked black-silk stockings — a new im- portation from France — were worn with high-heeled shoes, or with white, green, or yellow slippers. Perfumed and embroidered gloves ; a gold-handled fan, finished with ostrich or peacock feathers ; a small looking-glass hanging from the girdle ; a black-velvet mask ; and long loops of pearls about the neck, — completed the belle's costume. At Table, all wore their hats, as they did also in church or at the theatre. The noon dinner was the formal meal of the day, and was characterized by stately decorum. It was "served to the Virgin Queen as if it were an act of worship, amid kneeling pages, guards, and ladies, and to the sound of trumpets and kettledrums." The nobles followed the royal example and kept up princely style. The old ceremonious custom of washing hands was still observed; perfumed water was used, and the ewer, basin, and hand-towel were ostentatiously employed. The guests were ushered into the hall, and seated at the long table accord- ing to their rank ; the conspicuous salt-cellar — an article which super- stition decreed should always be the first one placed on the table — still separated the honored from the inferior guests. The favorite dishes were a boar's head wreathed with rosemary, and sucking-pigs which had been fed on dates and muscadine. Fruit-jellies and preserves were delicacies recently introduced. Etiquette pervaded everything, even to the important display of plate on the dresser : thus, a prince of royal blood had five steps or shelves to his cupboard; a duke, four; a lesser noble, three ; a knight-banneret, two ; and a simple gentleman, one. Forks were still unknown, but they were brought from Italy early in the 17th century. Bread and meats were presented on the point of a knife, the food being conveyed to the mouth by the left hand. After dinner, the guests retired to the withdra wing-room, or to the garden- house, for the banquet. Here choice wines, pastry, and sweetmeats were served, and a "marchpane" (a little sugar-and-almond castle) was merrily battered to pieces with sugar plums. Music, mummery, and masquerading enlivened the feast. With common people, ale, spiced and prepared in various forms, was the popular drink ; and the ale-houses of the day, which were frequented too often by women, were centers of vice and dissipation. Tea and coffee were yet unknown, and were not introduced till the next century.f * Starch was then new in England, and is mentioned by Philip Stubbe (p. 461) as " the devil's liquor with which the women smeare and starche their neckerchiefs." The inventress of this much offending yeUow-starch fixially perished on the scaffold, wearing one of her own stiff collars, after which they went out of fashion. t The Portuguese imported some tea from China in the 16th century, but it was over sixty years after the death of Elizabeth before the munificent gift of two pounds 472 THE SIXTEENTH CEi^TURY. Domestic Manners were stern and formal. Sons, even in mature life, stood silent and uncovered in their father's presence, and daugh- ters knelt on a cushion until their mother had retired. The yard-long fan-handles served for whipping rods, and discipline was enforced so promptly and severely that grown-up men and women often trembled at the sight of their parents. Lady Jane Grey confided to Roger Ascham that her parents used " so sharply to taunt her, and to give her such pinches, nips a.ndbobs " at the slightest offence, that she was in con- stant terror before them. At school, the same principles prevailed, and the 16th century school-boy could well appreciate the classically- recorded woes of the little Ancient Roman. (See p. 280.) Street Life. — The Elizabethan City-Madam beguiled the hours of her husband's absence at the mart, or exchange, by sitting with her daughters outside th'e street door, under the successive projections of her tall, half-timber house, and gazing upon the sights of the dirty, nar- row, crooked, unpaved, London highway. Here, while they regaled themselves with sweetmeats, or smoked the newly- imported Ind'.an weed, they watched the full- toileted gallant in his morn- ing lounge toward St. Paul's churchyard and the neigh- boring book-stalls, or his after-dinner stroll toward the Blackfriars Theatre, where, at three o'clock or at the floating of the play-house flag, was to be acted the newest comedy of a rising young play- writer,— one Wil- liam Shakspere. Occasion- ally, a roystering party of roughs, armed with wooden spears and shields, would be sHAKSPHKiz. o v^i^wor. in£.A,iKc. seeu hurrylug to the Thamcs for a boat-joust, bawling the while to one another their braggart threats of a good wetting in the coming clash of boats ; or one of the new-fashioned, carved, canopied, and curtained wagons, called coaches, would go jolting along, having neither springs nor windows, but with wide-open sides which offered unobstructed \dew of the painted and bewigged court-ladies who filled it ; or smiles, and bows, and the throwing of kisses, would mark the of tea, from the English East India Company to Catharine, queen of Charles n., heralded in England a new national beverage. Tea was soon afterwards sold at from six to ten guineas per pound. The first coffee-house was opened in 1651. THE CIVILIZATIOK. 473 passing of a friend with lier retinue of flat-capped, blue-gowned, white stockinged 'prentices — a comparatively new class, whose street clabs were destined thenceforth to figure in nearly every London riot, and who were finally to be the conquerors at Marston Moor and Naseby ; ot a group of high-born ladies, out for a frolic, would cross the distant bridge on their way to Southwark bear-garden, where for threepence they could enjoy the roars and flounderings of a chained and blinded bear worried by English bull-dogs. Now, her ears caught the sound of angry voices from the neighboring ale-house, >^_y// ""^"^ ///' where a party of worn- ^ '^ " ' en were drinking and gambling ; and now, a poor old withered dame rushed swiftly by, hotly pursued by a shouting crowd, armed with long pins to prick " the witch " and see if blood would follow, or grasping at her hair to tear out a handful to bum for a counter- charm. Anon, a poor fellow, with the blood flowing from his freshly-cropped ears, came stag- gering home from a public flogging, — it was his second punishment for vagrancy, and lucky he to escape being branded with a V, and sold as a slave to his informer. There was, indeed, no end of *' rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars," * singly or in crowds, who passed and repassed from morning till night ; and many a bloody brawl, robbery, and even murder, this 16th-century Londoner could witness from her own street-door. At night, the narrow city-lanes swarmed with thieves, who skilfully dodged the rays of the flaring cresset borne by the marching watch. Fortunately, early hours were fashionable, and nine o'clock saw the bulk of society-folk within their own homes. Along the wretched country roads, most travel was on horseback, the ladies riding on a pillion behind a servant. There was no regular stage communication. On the great road to Scotland were some royal post stations, but ordinary letters were sent by chance merchants or by a special courier. Holiday-Life. — Sunday was the great day for all diversions, from THE RACK. (A Mode of Punislimeiit in the Sixteentli Century.) * It is cnrions to find included under this head the scholars of Oxford and Cam- bridge Universities, who were expressly " forbidden to beg except they had. the authority of the chancellor." (Compare A German Traveling Student, p. 4T6.) 474 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. cock-fighting to theatre-go- ing. The numerous church festivals gave every working- man a round of relaxation. Christmas-time, especially, was one continued saturnalia, from All-hallow eve to the Feast of the Purification. What mummerings and mas- qneradings, what pipings and drummings, what jingling of hells and shouting of songs, what flaunting of plumes and mad whirling of ker- cliiefs around all England I Through every borough and village, a motley, grotesque- ly-masked troop of revelers, armed with bells, drums, and squeaking fifes, and mounted on hobby-horses or great pasteboard dragons, followed its chosen "Lord of Misrule" wherever his riotous humor led; even into the churches, where the service was abruptly dropped, and the congrega- tion clambered upon the high backed seats, to see the wild pranks of the liceused merry-crew ; even into the churchyards, where, among the clustering graves, they broached and drank barrels of strong, coarse ale. There was gentler but no less hearty cheer by the home firesides, where the huge yule-log on Christmas eve, and the rosemary-garnished boar's head at Christmas dinher, were each brought in with joyous ceremonies. Servants and children joined in the season's universal license ; every house resounded with romping games, and every street re-echoed Christmas carols. And who could resist May-day ? The tall, garlanded May-pole, drawn in by flower-wreathed oxen ; the jollity of the ceaseless dance about its fluttering ribands; the by-play of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck ; the jingling Morris-dancers ; the trippings of the milk-maids with their crowns of silver tankards ; and the ubiquitous, rollicking hobby-horse and dragon, — made the live-long day one burst of happy frolic. LONDON WATCHME;- (Sixteenth Century.) SCENES IN GERMAN LIFE. Scene I.— The Home of the Land-junJcer, or country knight, is a gloomy, dirty, and comfortless castle. Placed on a barren height, ex- posed to winter blast and summer sun ; destitute of pure water, though THE CIVILIZATION^. 475 gutroanded by stagnant ditches ; lighted by dim panes in tiny windows ; crowded with inmates — the junker's younger brothers and cousins, with their families, numberless servants, men-at-arms, and laborers ; pestered in summer by noisome smells and insect hordes, that rise from steaming pools and filth-heaps in the foul courtyard ; cold and dreary in winter, despite the huge tiled stoves fed by forest logs so broad that beds are sometimes made upon them ; scantily furnished, but always well stocked with weapons kept bright by constant use against the raids of roving marauders and quarrelsome neighbors, — the junker's dwelling is still more a fortress than a home. It has its prisons, and they are not unused. In this one, perhaps, pines and frets a burgher- merchant, waylaid and robbed upon the road and now held for his ransom, who wearily eats bis dole of black bread while the lady of the castle, singing cheerfully, makes coats and mantles of the fine cloth stolen from his pack ; in that one, sulks a peasant, sore with the stripes received for crossing the path of the master's chase, and in imagination sharpening his next arrow for the master's heart. Jostling one another over the open kitchen fire, the servants of the various households push, and crowd, and wrangle ; while from the courtyard comes the sound of playing children, barking dogs and cackling geese. The junker's frau is general housekeeper, head-cook, and family doctor ; and she has learned by frequent experience how to manage a tipsy husband and his rude guests, who amuse themselves in her presence by making coarse jokes and by blackening the faces of her domestics. She is proud of her family brocades and gold heirlooms, and looks wrathfully on the costly furs, velvets, and pearls worn without right — as she thinks — by the upstart wives of rich city burgesses. The junker's sons grow up with horses, dogs, and servants. They study a little Latin at the village school, watch the poultry for their mother, and scour the woods for wild pears and mushrooms to be dried for winter use. Occasionally, a boy goes through the course at the university ; but it is oftener the son of a shoemaker or a village pastor, than of a nobleman, who rises to distinction. Now and then, a strolling ballad-singer delights the junker's ear with a choice bit of scandal that he has been hired to propagate far and wide in satirical verse : or an itinerant pedlar brings the little irregularly-published news-sheet, with its startling accounts of maidens possessed with demons, the latest astrological prediction, and the strange doings of Dr. Martin Luther. Otherwise, the master hunts, quarrels, feasts, and carouses. Euined estates, heavy debts, and prolonged lawsuits dis- turb his few sober hours. He strives to bolster up his fortunes by building toll-bridges (even where there is no river), and by keeping such wretched roads that the traveling merchant's wagons unavoidably upset, when he, as lord of the manor, claims the scattered goods. 476 THE sixtee:nts CEKTURY. Scene II. — The Home of the Rich Patrician is luxurious. He is the money-owner of the realm. A merchant-prince, he traffics with Italy and the Levant, buys a whole year's harvest from the King of Portugal, has invoices from both the Indies, and takes personal journeys to Cal- cutta. He is statesman, soldier, and art-patron. For him are painted Albert Diirer's most elaborate pictures, and in his valuable library are found the choicest books, fresh from the new art of printing. He educates his sons in Italy, and inspires his daughters with a love for learning. He shapes the German policy of imperial cities, and sup- plies emperor and princes with gold from his strong-banded coffers. When, in 1575, Herr Marcus Fugger entertains at dinner a wandering Silesian prince, that potentate's chamberlain is bewildered by the costly display, which he thus notes down in his journal : " Such a banquet I never beheld. The repast was spread in a hall with more gold than color ; the marble floor was smooth as ice ; the sideboard, placed the whole length of the hall, was set out with drinking vessels and rare Venetian glasses ; there was the value of more than a ton of gold. Herr Fugger gave to His Princely Highness for a drinking-cup an artistically-formed ship of the most beautiful Venetian glass. He took his Princely Highness through the prodigious great house to a turret, where he showed him a treasure of chains, jewels, and precious stones, besides curious coins, and pieces of gold as large as my head. After- wards he opened a chest full of ducats and crowns up to the brim. The turret itself was paved halfway down from the top with gold thalers." — {Diary of Hans Von Schicei niche n.) Scene 111.— A German Travelijtg Student (16th century).— The Ger- man boy who wished to become a scholar had often a weary road to plod. As Sch'utz, or younger student, he was always the fag of some haccJiant, or older comrade, for whom he was forced to perform the most menial offices — his only consolation being that the bacchant, should he ever enter a university, would be equally humiliated by the students whose circle he would join. Thousands of bacchanten and schiitzen wandered over Germany, sipping like bees, first at one school, then at another ; everywhere begging their way under an organized system, which protected the older resident students from the greedy zeal of new arrivals. The autobiography of Thomas Platter, who began life as a Swiss shepherd-boy and ended it as a famous Bale schoolmaster, gives us some curious details of this scholastic vagrancy. At nine years of age, he was sent to the village priest of whom he "learned to sing a little of the salve and to beg for eggs, besides being cruelly beaten and ofttimes dragged by the ears out of the house." He soon joined his wandering cousin, Paulus, who proved even a harder master than the priest. " There were eight of us traveling together, three of whom were schiitzen, I being the youngest. When I could not keep up well, THE CIVILIZATION. 477 Paulus came behind me with a rod aud switched me on my bare legs, for I had no stockings and bad shoes." The little schlitzen had to beg or steal enough to support their seniors, though they were never allowed to sit at table with them, and were often sent supperless to their bed of foul straw in the stable, while the bacchanten dined aud slept in the inn. The party stopped at Nuremberg, then at Dresden, and thence journeyed to Breslau, " suffering much from hunger on the road, eating nothmg for days but raw onions aud salt, or roasted acorns and crabs. We slept in the open air, for no one would take us in, and often they set the dogs upon us." At Breslau there were seven parishes, each with its separate school supported by alms, no schiitzen being allowed to beg outside of his own parish. Here also was a hospital for the students, r.n:l a specified sum provided by the town for the sick. At the schools, the bacchanten had small rooms with straw beds, but the schiitzen lay on the hearth in winter, aud in summer slept on heaps of grass in the churchyard. " When it rained we ran into the school, and if there was a storr.i we chanted the responsoria and other thiugs almost all night with the succentor." There was such " excellent begging " at Breslau that the party fell ill from over-eating. The little ones were sometimes " treated at the beer-houses to strong Polish peasant beer, and got so drunk we could not find our way home." " In the school, nine bachelors always read together at the same hour in one room, for there were no printed Greek books in the country at that time. The preceptor alone had a printed Terence : what was read, therefore, had first to be dictated, then parsed aud construed, and lastly explained ; so that the bacchanten, when they went away, carried with them large sheets of writing." As to the schiitzen, the begging absorbed most of their time. Soon, the wandering fever came on again, and the party tramped back to Dresden and then to Ulm, falling meantime into great want. " Often I was so hungry that I drove the dogs in the streets away from their bones and gnawed them." The bacchanten now became so cruel and despotic that Thomas ran away, weeping bitterly that no one cared for him. *' It was cold, and I had neither cap nor shoes, only torn stockings and a scanty jacket." Paulus, having no thought of giving up so good a provider, followed him hither and thither to the great fright and distress of the poor little schiitz, who had many a narrow escape from the vengeance of his pursuer. At last he reached his beloved Switzerland, which, he pathetically records, "made me so happy I thought I was in heaven." At Zurich, he offered his begging services to some bacchanten in return for their teaching, but "learned no more with them than with the others." At Strasburg he had no better success, but at Schlettstadt he found " the first school in which things went on well." It was the year of the Diet of Worms, and Thomas was now eighteen years old. He }jad been a nominal pupil for nine years, but could not yet read. His 478 THE SIXTEENTH CENTUKY. hard life had left its trace, and though, after the custom of the time, his name was formally Latinized into Platterus, his preceptor con- temptuously added : " Poof! what a measly schiitz to have such a fine name!" Scholars soon so increased in this town that there was not support for all, and Thomas tried another village, " where there was a tolerably good school and more food ; but we were obliged to be so con- stantly in church that we lost all our time." At last he returned to Zurich, and placed himself under " a good and learned but severe school- master. I sat down in a corner near his chair and said to myself : * In this corner will I study or die.' I got on well with Father Myconius ; he read Terence to us, and we had to conjugate and decline every word of a play. It often happened that my jacket was wet and my eyes almost blind with fear, and yet he never gave me a blow, save once on my cheek." Thomas's trials and struggles continued for some years longer. He learned rope-making as a means of support, and used to fasten the separate sheets of his Greek Plautus (a precious gift from a Bale printer) to the rope, that he might read while working. He studied much at night, and, in time, rose to be a corrector of the press, then citizen and printer, and, finally. Rector of the Latin School at Bale. SUMMARY. The sixteenth was the century of the Reformation — ^the century of Charles V,, Francis I., Henry VIII., Pope Leo X., Luther, Calvin, Philip II., William the Silent, Catharine de' Medici, Henry IV., Queen Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, Shakspere, Michael Angelo, Raphael, and Co- pernicus. It saw the battle of Pavia ; the conquest of Mex-ico and Peru ; the Reformation in Germany ; the founding of the order of Jesuits ; the abdication of Charles V. ; the battle of Lepanto ; the Massacre of St. Bartholomew ; the Union of Utrecht ; the triumph of the Beg- gars ; the death of Mary Stuart ; the defeat of the Spanish Armada ; the battle of Ivry, and the Edict of Nantes. R EADI NG REFER ENCES. The General Modem Histories on p. U^d, and Special Histories of England, France, Germany, etc., on p. U18.—D'Avbigne's Beformaf ion. —Bankers History of the Popes. —Robertson's Life of Charles V.— Motley's Rise of the Butch Republic, United Nether- lands, and John of Barneveld.— Spalding's History of the Protestant Reformation {Catholic view).—Pressens€''s Early Tears of Christianity.— Seebohni's Era of Protest- ant Revolution (Epochs of History Series).— Fisher's Reformation.— Hdusser's Period of the Reformation.— Hiibner's Life of Sixtus V.—Audin's Life of Luther {Catholic view).—Froude''s Short Studies {E?'asmus and Luther).— Smiles'' s The Huguenots. — Hanna's Wars of the Huguenots.— Freef s Histories of Henry III., and Maria de' Medici— Lingard's History of England (Era of the Reformation, Catholic view).— Macaulay''slvry {poem).— James's H^nry of Guise, and Huguenots (Jiction).— Dumas'' 8 CONTEMPORAKY SOVEREIGNS. 479 Fortv-iive Guard.^men {fdionV-Ebers's Burgomaster's Wife {Siege of Leyden)- Mi^sYongt\^ Unktwwn to History {Romance iUustrating Mary Stuart s ttmes).-Mrs. Charles's ScMnierg- Votta Family. CHRONOLOGY A. D. Henry VIII., Kiiis of England. . 1309-"4T Francis I. , King of France 1515-"47 Luther publishes his these? 1517 Charles V., Emperor of Germany, 1520-56 Cortez takes Mexico 15-21 Battle of Pavia l-J-5 Eoiu-bon sacks Rome 152T Reformers called Protestants 1529 Pizarro conquer* Peru 1533 Order of Jesuits founded by Loyola. 1534 Council of Trent 1545 Treaty of Passau ^55-2 AbJicatiou of Charles V 1550 Elizabeth, Queen of England.. . 1558-1003 Battle of Lepanto 15'1 Massacre of St. Bartholomew 1572 Siege of Leyden 1574 Mary Queen of Scots, beheaded 1.'87 Defeat of the Spanish Armada 1588 Henry IV., King of France 1589 Battle of Ivry 1^90 Edict of Nantes 1598 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS ENGLAND. Henry YTll.. 1509 Edward VI... 1547 Mary 1553 Elizabeth.... 1558 FRANCE. GERMANY. SPAIN, Loui^XII 1498 ' Maximilian I. 1493 | Ferdinand & Francis I K15 Charles V . . . . 1520 Isabella .... 1479 Charles 1 1516 Henry U 154' Francis II Charles IX. Henry III . . Henry IV . 1559 1560 1574 1.58:) Ferdinand I.. 1556 Maxim ilianll. 1564 Rudolph II... 1576 Philip II 1556 Philip in.... 1598 BRINGING IN THE YULE LOG AT CHRISTMAS. 480 THE SEVEKTEENTH CEN^TURY. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. I. THE THIRTY-YEARS WAR. The Causes of this war were mainly : 1. The smoldering religious hatred of half a century, kindled afresh by the Bohemian troubles ; 2. The church lands which the Protes- tants had seized and the Catholic princes sought to reclaim; 3. The emperor Ferdinand's determination, backed by Spain, to subjugate Germany to his faith and house. Opening of the War. — The Bohemians, exasperated by Ferdinand's intolerance (p. 444), revolted, threw two of the royal councillors out of a window of the palace at Prague, and chose as king the elector-palatine Frederick, son-in-law of James I. of England. War ensued — the old Hussite strug- gle over again. But Frederick's army was defeated near Prague, in its first battle, and the *^ Winter King," as he was called, for he reigned only one winter, instead of gaining a kingdom, in the end lost his Palatinate, and died in poverty and exile.* Meanwhile, Ferdinand was chosen emperor. Spread of the War. — As the seat of the war passed from Bohemia into the Palatinate, the other German states, in spite of their singular indifference and jealousy, became involved in the struggle. Finally, Christian IV. of Denmark, who, as duke of Holstein, was a prince of the empire, Geographical Quegiions. — Locate Prague. Magdeburg. Leipsic. Lfltzen. Rocroi. Freiburg. Nordlingen. Lens. Rastadt, Strasburg.— Point out Bohemia. Westphalia. Saxony. Pomerania. The Palatinate. Brandenburg. Alsace. Brus- sels. Luxemburg. Nimeguen. Fleurus. Steinkirk. Neerwinden. Blenheim. Ramillies. Oudenarde. Malplaquet. Dunkirk, Rochelle. Nantes. Utrecht.— Dover. Marston Moor. Naseby. Dunbar. Worcester. * Little did his wife Elizabeth dream, as she wandered among foreign courts beg- ging shelter for herself and children, that her grandson would sit on the Englislj throne. 1627.] THE THIRTY-YEARS WAR. 481 A V« • ' / M F C k 1 F A. ~ .'.■ • ' /m ^ .-v"7 ^ Paclerlioru (Cott re ^ \ . 6 ....Bruns'wiiTv ; Swttiii' Eerlin" t^\ .^ ^^&Eisle^)eu» ••..L.Leiiisic *\ "^ ^^^xf , / "x_ ^ fpni«' spires" -< ,•*■• • — ■ Baireutb-' ^ '; /■ o ; 9- __j Kur'euilie'rg Slfaj ■xi'^^(> C Korcllingeii "; """■Ratii^on J^-

Qe after province in India, has followed the old Roman plan (p. 237), 1760.] EI^GLA^S'D — THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. 535 GEORGE in. George III. (1760-1820) was a •' born Englishman," and those people who had so long been grumbling about their foreign kings now transferred their al- legiance from the Stuarts to the reigning sovereign. The Tories got control of the govern- ment. Pitt retired from the ministry. The purity and piety of George's private character gave to the English court a beautiful home-life. But, though a good man, this " Best of the Georges " did not prove a good king. He was dull, illy-educated, prejudiced, obstinate, and bent upon getting power for himself. Jealous of great men, he brought about him incompetent ministers like Bute, Grenville, and ^orth — mouth-pieces of his stupid will and blind courage. In such an administration, one easily finds the causes that cost England her American colonies. This was the longest reign in English history, and reached far into the 1 9th century. Late in his life (p. 583), the king became insane* and the Prince of Wales ruled as regent. The sixty years saw England involved in the War of the American Revolution, the French Kevolution, and the War of 1812-14. The wars in our own country we have already studied in the history of the United States ; and the French Revolution will be treated under France. * History presents no sadder figure than that of the old man, blind and deprived of reason, wandering through the rooms of his palace, addressing imaginary parlia- ments, reviewing fancied troops, and holding ghostly courts. * * * Some lucid r>o- ments lie had, in one of which the queen, desiring to see him, entered the room, and found him singing a h}'mn and accompanying himself at the harpsicord. When he had finished, he knelt down, and prayed aloud for her, for his famUy, and then for the nation. He concluded with a prayer for himself that it might please God to avert his calamity from him, but, if not, to give him resignation to submit. Upon that hQ Ijurst into tears and again his reason fled. (Thackeray's Four QeoTgea.) 536 THE EIGHTEE^-TH CENTURY. [1783-1801. Fox and Pitt the Younger were, after the American Revo- lution, the great statesmen of the day. The former led the Whigs ; the latter (second son of the great Commoner), the Tories. Fox possessed eloquence and ability, but he was a gambler and a boon-companion of the erring Prince of Wales. Pitt,* Fox's rival and his equal as an orator and statesman, became prime-minister at twenty-four years of age; his policy controlled the government for eighteen years (1783-1801). IV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Louis XV. (1715-74) was only five years old at the death of his great grandfather, the Grand Monarch. The regency N.® /J^ ^ > V Cent tivres Totmwu. L /^V/ A BANQ.UE promet payer aa Porteur a viic Cent livres Toumois en Elpeces d'Argent, valeur refciie. A Paris le premier Janner mil BcurgeoiS' Dur^fi>\^ FAC-SIMILE OF LAW'S PAPER MONEY. fell to the Duke of Orleans — a man without honor or prin- ciple. The public debt was enormous, and the government had no credit. To meet the emergency, Orleans adopted the project of John Law, an adventurer, who issued a vast amount of paper-money upon the security of imaginary * Pitt's character was unimpeachable. Thus, while his own income was bat £300 per year, a sinecure post with £3000 per annum became vacant, and, as he had the power of filling it, every one supposed he would appoint himself to the place. In- stead, he gave it to Col. Barre, who was old and blind. When Pitt retired frQm the ministry he was poor. (Compare Aristides, p. 135). 1720.] THE FRENCH KE VOLUTION. 637 LOUIS XVI. ARIE ANTOINETTE, AND THE DAUPHIN. mines in Louisiana. But the Mississippi Bubble, like the South Sea Scheme (the same year) iu England, burst in overwhelming ruin. A7i Era of Shame. — Louis early plunged into vice. The real rulers of France were his favorites, Madame de Pompa- dour, and later, the Comtesse du Barri. The world had not seen such a profligate court since the days of the Roman emperors. The War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven-Years War had de- prived France of vast posses- sions and added hundreds of millions to the already hopeless debt. Louis foresaw the coming storm, and, with Pompa- dour, repeated, " After me the deluge ; " yet he sanctioned the most iniquitous schemes to raise money for his vices, and silenced all opposition by the dungeons of the Bastile. Louis XVI. (1774-'93), a good, well-meaning young man, but shy and wofully ig- norant of public affairs, succeeded to this heritage of extravagance, folly, and crime, — a bankrupt treasury and a starving people. His wife, Marie Antoinette, daughter of Maria Theresa, though beautiful and innocent, was of the hated House of Austria, and her gay PORTRAIT OF TURCOT. 538 THE EIGHtEENTH CEKTURY. [m4-m PORTRAIT OF NECKER. thoughtlessness added to the general discontent. Louis desired to redress the wrongs of the country, but he did not know how.* Minister succeeded minis- ter, like the shifting figures of a kaleidoscope. Turgot, Necker, Calonne, Brienne, Necker again, each tried in vain to solve the problem. As a last resort, the States- General — which had not met for one hundred and seventy-five years — was assembled, May 5th, 1789. It was the first day of the Eevolution. The Condition of France at this time reveals many causes of the Revolution. The people were overwhelmed by taxation, while the nobility and clergy, who owned two-thirds of the land, were nearly exempt. The taxes were "farmed out," i. e. leased, to persons who retained all they could collect over the specified amount. The unhappy tax-payers were treated with relentless severity, to swell the profits of these farmers-general. Each family was compelled to buy a certain amount of salt, whether needed or not. The laws were enacted by those who considered the common people born for the use of the higher class. Justice could be secured only by bribery or political influence. Men were sent to prison, without trial or charges, and kept there till death. When the royal treasury needed replenishing, a restriction of trade was imposed, and licenses were issued for even the commonest callings. The peasants were obliged to labor on roads, bridges, etc., without pay. In some districts, every farmer had thus been ruined. Large tracts of land were declared game-preserves, where wild boars and deer roamed at pleasure. The power given to the noble over the peasants living on his estate was absolute. Lest the young game might be disturbed or its flavor impaired, the starving peasant could neither weed his little plot of ground nor suitably enrich it. He must grind his corn at the lord's mill, bake his bread in the lord's oven, and * A princess of the royal family being told that the people had no bread, ex- claimed in all simplicity, " Then, why not give them cake 1" THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". 539 FRENCH FAGOT-VE.NDER. (Eighteenth Century.) press liis grapes at the lord's -wine-press, paying whatever price tlie lord miglit cLarge. Wlien the wife of the seigneur was ill, the peasants were ex- pected to beat the neighboring marshes all night, to prevent the frogs from croaking, and so dis- turbing the lady's rest. French agriculture had not advanced be- yond that of the 10th century, and the plow in use might liave belonged to Virgil's time. To complete the picture of rural wretchedness, one hundred and fifty thousand serfs were bought and sold with the land on whicli they were born. The strife between classes had awakened an intense hatred. The nobles not only placed tlieir haughty feet on the necks of the peasants, but also spoke contemptuously of the opulent merchants, and artisans. In turn, the wealthy merchants hated and despised the spend- thrift, dissolute, arrogant hangers-on at court, whose ill-gotten revenues were far below their own incomes from business. A boastful skepticism prevailed, and all that is amiable in religion or elevating in morals was made a subject of ridicule. The writings of Eousseau, Voltaire, Hel- vetius, Diderot, and other infidels, with their brilliant and fascinating theories of liberty, weakened long- cherished truths, mocked at virtue, and made men restive under any restraint, human or divine. Democratic ideas were rife. The despot- ism of the king was unendurable to men who had imbibed the intoxicating prin- ciples of liberty then current, and espe- cially to those who had just helped the United States to win its freedom (Hist. U. S., p. 127). Louis XVI. might have delayed, but could not have averted, the impending catastrophe. The Eevolution was not a sudden and unexpected event. It was the blos- soming of a seed planted long before, and of a plant whose s.ow and sure growth thoughtful men had watched for years. FEMALE HEAD-DRESS. (Eighteenth Century.) 540 THE EIOHTEEKTH CEKTtJRY. [1780. 1. ABOLITION OP THE MONARCHY. The National Assembly. — The tiers etat, proving to be the most powerful body in the States-General, invited the nobles and clergy to join it, and declared itself the National Assembly.* Louis closed the hall; whereupon the members repaired to a Tennis court near by, and swore not to sepa- rate until they had given France a constitution. Soon, the weak king yielded, and, at his request, the coronets and mitres met with the commons. The court decided to overawe the refractory Assembly, and collected thirty thousand soldiers about Versailles. The Paris Mob, excited by this menace to the people's representatives, rose in arms, stormed the grim old Bastile, and razed its dungeons to the ground. The insur- rection swept over the country like wild -fire. As in the days of the Jacquerie, chateaux were burned, and tax- gatherers tortured to death. Finally, a mad- dened crowd, crying Bread ! Bread ! surged out to Versailles, sacked the palace, and, in savage glee, brought the royal family to Paris. Various political clubs began to get control. Chief of these were the Jacobin and the Cordelier (Hist. France, p. 206), whose leaders — Robespierre, Marat, and Danton, preached sedition and organized the revolution. HE BASriLE * This step is said to have been taken by the advice of Thomas Jefferson, our minister plenipotentiary to France. 1789.] THE FRENCH REVOLUTIOIS" 541 SCENE IN PARIS AFTER THE STORMING OF THE BASTILE, Reforms (1789-'91).*— The Assembly, in a furor of patriotism, extinguished feudal privileges, abolished serfdom, and equalized taxation. The law of primogeniture was abro- gated ; titles were annulled ; liberty of conscience and of the press was proclaimed, and France was divided into eighty- three departments instead of the old provinces. * " It was plain that the First Estate must bow its proud head before tlie dve-and- twenty savage millions, make restitution, speak well, smile fairly— or die. The memorable 4th of August came, when the nobles did this, making ample confession of their weakness. The Yiscomte de Noailles proposed to reform the taxation by- subjecting to it every order and rank ; by regulating it according to the fortune of the individual ; and by abolishing personal servitude and every remaining vestige of the feudal system. An enthusiasm, which was half fear and half reckless excite- ment, spread throughout the Assembly. The aristocrats rose in their places and publicy renounced their seignorial dues, privileges, and immunities. The clergy abolished tithes and tributes. The representative bodies resigned their municipal rights. All this availed little ; it should have been done months before to have weighed with the impatient commons. The people scorned a generosity which relinquished only that which was untenable, and cared not for the recognition of a political equality that had already been established with the pike." (Miss Edwards's History of France.) 542 THE EIGHTEENTH CEKTURY. [1791. The estates of the clergy were confiscated, and, upon this security, notes (assign ats) were issued to meet the expenses of the government. Haying adopted a constitution, the Assembly adjourned, and a new body was chosen, called The Legislative Assembly (1791). — The mass of its members were ignorant and brutal. The most respectable were the Girondists, who professed the simplicity and exalted virtue of the old Roman republic. The Jacobins, Cordeliers, and other violent demagogues were fused, by a common hatred of the king, into one bitter, opposing party.* Attack upon the Tuileries. — Austria and Prussia now took up arms in behalf of Louis and invaded France. This sealed the fate of monarch and monarchy. Louis was known to be in correspondence with the princes and the French nobles who had joined the enemy. The approach of the allies, and especially the threats of the Prussian general, kindled the fury of the Parisian masses. The Girondists made common cause with the Jacobins in stirring up the rabble to dethrone the king. The Marseillaise was heard for the first time in the streets of Paris. The palace of the Tuileries was sacked ; the Swiss guards, faithful to the last, were slain ; and Louis was sent to prison. The Jacobins were henceforth supreme. They arrested all who opposed their revolutionary projects. The prisons becoming filled, hired assassins went from one to another for four days of that terrible September, massacring the unhappy inmates. A thirst for blood had seized the popu- lace, and women eagerly occupied the seats placed where they could witness this carnival of murder. Battle of Valmy (1792).— In the midst of these terrible * It was called the Mountain, because its members occupied the highest seats in the hall ; the name Jacobin, however, was commonly applied, that being the most powerful organization. 1792.] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 543 events, the Prussian army was checked at Valmy, and, soon after, it recrossed the frontier. The victory of Jcmmapes over the Austrians followed, and Belgium was proclaimed a republic. Tlie effect of these successes was electrical. The leaders of the revolution were elated, and the nation was encouraged to enter upon a career of conquest that ultimately led it to the Kremlin. The National Convention. — The next Assembly estab- lished a republic in France. '^ Louis Capet," as they insisted upon styling the king, was arraigned, and, in spite of the timid opposition of the Girondists, was condemned and guillotined. The bleeding head of the gentle monarch fell amid savage shouts of Vive la Republique 1 2. THE RETGN OF TERROR (1793-'4). Jacobin Rule. — ]N"early all Europe leagued to avenge Louis's death. England was the soul of this Coalition, and freely gave to it her gold and arms. The royalists held Marseilles, Bordeaux, Lyons, and Toulon. An insurrection burst out in the province of La Vendee. But the terrible energy of the Convention broke down all opposition. A Committee of Public Safety was appointed which knew neither fear nor pity. Revolutionary tribunals were set up, before which were dragged those suspected of moderation or of sympathy with the "aristocrats." Every morning the tumbrils carried to the place of execution the victims of the day. Marie Antoinette, prematurely gray, mounted the same scaffold on which her husband had perished. The Girondists were overwhelmed in the ruin they had aided in creating. At Lyons, the work of the guillotine proved too tedious, and the victims were mowed down by grape-shot ; at Nantes, boat-loads were rowed out and sunk in the Loire. 544 THE EIGHTEENTH CEKTtJRY. [1703. GIRONDISTS ON THE WAY TO EXECUTION. In the midst of the carnage a new calendar was instituted, to date from September 22, 1792, which was to be the first day of the year 1, the epoch of the foundation of the republic. New names were given to the months and days ; Sunday was abolished, and every tenth day appointed for rest and amusement. Worship was prohibited. Churches and convents were desecrated, plundered, and burned. Mar- riage was declared to be only a civil contract, w^hich might be broken at pleasure. Notre Dame was converted into a Temple of Reason, and a gaudily-dressed woman, wearing a red cap of liberty, was enthroned as goddess. Over the entrance to the cemeteries were inscribed the words : Death is an eternal sleep. Fate of the Terrorists. — Marat had already perished —stabbed by Charlotte Corday, a young girl who gladly gave up her life to rid her country of this monster. Danton now showing signs of relenting, his ruthless associates sent him to the scaffold. For nearly four dreadful months Robespierre ruled supreme. He aimed to destroy all the other leaders. The axe plied faster than ever as he went 1794.] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 545 KOBESPIEKRE. on "purging society" by mur- der. The accused were forbid- den defence, luid tried en masse* At last, impelled by a common fear, friends and foes combined to overthrow the tyrant. A fu- rious struggle ensued. When Robespierre's head fell (July 28, 1794), the Reign of Terror ended. A Reaction now set in. The revolutionary clubs were abolished ; the prison doors were flung wide ; the churches were opened ; the surviving Girondists were recalled, and the emigrant priests and nobles invited to return. Triumph of the French Arms (1794-'95).— While the Terrorists were sending long lines of victims to the scaffold, the defenders of the new republic were pouring toward the threatened frontiers. During the pauses of the guillotine, all Paris accompanied the troops outside the city gates, shouting the Marseillaise. Pichegru, Hoche, Jourdan, and Moreau led the republican armies to continued success. La Vendee was pacified, Belgium overrun, and the Rhine held from Worms to Nimeguen. Even winter did not stop the prog- ress of the French arms. Pichegru led his troops across the Meuse upon the ice, and, conquering Holland without a bat- tle, organized the Batavian RepuUic. Peace was made with Prussia and Spain, but England and Austria continued the war. * In the national archives of Paris, the author has seen an order of execution which was signed in blank and afterward filled up with the names of twenty-seven persons, one of them a boy of sixteen. 546 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUKY. [1795. Establishment of the Directory. — It had become apparent that the union in one legis- lative house of the three orders in the States-General was a mistake. It was, therefore, decided to have a Council of Five Hundred to propose laws, and a Council of the A71- cients to pass or to reject them. The executive power was lodged in a Directory of five persons. The Day of the Sections (October 5, 1795). — The Con- vention, in order to secure its work, decreed that two-tliirds of each Council should be appointed from its own number. Thereupon, the royalists excited the Sections (as the munici- pal divisions of Paris were called) to rise in arms. General Barras (ra), who was in command of the defence, called to his aid Napoleon Buonaparte.* This young officer skilfully COSTUMES * Napoleon Buonaparte was bom at Ajaccio, Corsica, August 15, 1769, two months after the conquest of that island by the French. (It is claimed, however, that, not wish- ing to be foreign-bom, he changed the date of his birth. ) His father Charles Buona parte, was a law- yer of straitened means. We read that, when the ture soldier was child, his favorite plaything was small brass can- non, and that he loved to drill the children of the neighborhood to battle with stones and wooden sabres. At ten, he was sent to the Q-oom, ne cnang< aw- ^^ ned yf\ ead // / '" //o rite / C-/ iMMe^OAyt^ FAC-SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURE OF NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE, MUSEE DES ARCHIVES NATIONALES, PARIS. 1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 547 posted his troops about the Tuileries, aud planted cannon to rake the approaches. His pitiless guns put the insurgents to flight, leaving five hundred of tlieir number on the pave- ment. It was the last insurrection of the people. Their master had come, and street tumults were at an end. 3. DIRECTORY. The Glory of the Directory lay in the achievements of its sol- diers. Napoleon Buona- parte, though only twenty-six years old, was put at the head of the army which was to in- vade Italy, then defended by the Austrian and Pied- montese armies. Hence- forth, for nearly twenty years, his life is the his- tory of France, almost that of Europe. Italian Campaign (1796-'7). — Buonaparte found, at Nice, the French army of thirt3'-eight thousand men destitute of military school at Briecne. Resolute, quarrelsome, gloomy, not much liked by his companions, he lived apart ; but he was popular with his teachers, and became the head scholar in mathematics. At sixteen, he went to Paris to complete his studies. Poor and proud, discontented with his lot. tormented by the first stirrings of genius, he became a misanthrope. He entered the army as lieutenant, and first distinguished himself during the siege of Toulon. By skilfully planting his batteries, he drove off the English fleet and forced the surrender of that city. A few days after the disarming of the Sections, Eiigi-ne Beauhamais, a boy of ten years, came to Buonaparte to claim the sword of his father, who had fallen on the scaffold during the revolation. Touched by his tears, Buonaparte ordered the sword to be given him. This led to a call from Madame de Beauhamais. The beauty, wit, and grace of the Creole widow won the heart of the Corsican general. Their mutual friend, Barras, promised them, as a marriage gift, Buonaparte's appointment to the com- mand of the army of Italy. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE. 548 THE EIGHTEENTH CHXTURT. [1796. everything,, while in front was a well-equipjDed force of sixty thousand. But he did not hesitate. Issuing one of those electrical proclamations for which he was afterward so famous, he suddenly forced the passes of Montenotte, and pierced the center of the enemy's line. He had now placed himself between the Piedmontese and the Austrians, and could foUoAV either. He pursued the former to within ten leagues of Turin, when the king of Sardinia, trembling for his crown and capital, stopped tlie conqueror by an armistice, which was soon converted into a peace, giving up to France his strongholds and the passes of the Alps. Battle q/" XotZi.— Delivered from one foe, Buonaparte turned upon the other. At Lodi, he found the Austrians strongly intrenched upon the opposite bank of the Adda. Charging at the head of his grenadiers, amid a tempest of shot and ball, he crossed the bridge and bayoneted the can- noneers at their guns. The Austrians fled for refuge into the Tyrol mountains. Authorized Pillage. — Then commenced a system of spoliation unknown to modern warfare. Not only was war to support war, but also to enrich the victor. Contributions were levied upon the vanquished states. A body of savants was sent into Italy to select the treasures of art from each conquered city. The Pope was forced to give twenty-one millions of francs, one hundred pictures, and five hundred manuscripts. The wants of the army were supplied, and milhons of money forwarded to Paris. The officers and commissioners seized provisions, horses, etc., without pay. A swarm of jobbers, contractors, and speculators hovered about the army, and gorged themselves to repletion. The Italians, weary of the Austrian yoke, at first welcomed the French, but soon found that their new masters, who came as brothers, plundered them like robbers. i9G.] THE FREKCII REVOLUTION. 549 BUONAPARTE AT THE BRIDGE OF ARCOLE. Battles of Castiglione and Bassano. — Sixty thousand Aus- trians, under Wurmser, were now marching in separate divi- sions on opposite sides of Lake Garda, in order to envelop the French in their superior numbers. Buonaparte, throw- ing all his strength first to the left, checked the force on the western bank ; then turning to the right, routed the main body at Castiglione. Wurmser fell back into the Tyrol. Eeinforced, he made a new essay. But ere he could debouch from the passes, Buonaparte plunged into the gorges of the mountains, and defeated him again at Bassano. Battle of Ar cole. — Two Austrian armies had disappeared ; a third now arrived under Alvinzi. Leaving Verona with 550 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUKT. [1796. only fourteen thousand men, Buonaparte took the road for Milan. It was the route to France. Suddenly turning to the north, he descended the Adige, crossed the river, and placed his army in the midst of a marsh, traversed only by two causeways. Fighting on these narrow roads, numbers were of no account. At the bridge of Arcole, Buonaparte, seeing his gi'enadiers hesitate, seized a banner, and exclaim- ing, "Follow your general," rushed forward. Borne back in the arms of his soldiers, during the melee he fell into the marsh, and was with difficulty rescued. A ford was finally found and the bridge was turned. A fearful struggle of three days ensued, when the Austrians, half destroyed, were put to flight. Battle of Rivoli. — Alvinzi, reinforced, again descended into Italy. The principal army advanced in two columns, the infantry in one and the cavalry and artillery in the other. Buonaparte saw that the only point where they could unite was on the plateau of Rivoli. As they debouched, he launched upon them Joubert, and then Massena.* Both of the enemy's columns recoiled in inextricable confusion. Having vanquished three imperial armies in Italy, Buona- parte next crossed the Alps, and advanced upon Vienna. The Austrian government, in consternation, asked for a sus- pension of arms. The Treaty of Ca7npo Formio (1797) closed this famous campaign. Belgium was ceded to France, with the long- coveted boundary of the Rhine. Austria was allowed to take Venice and its dependencies. Neighboring Republics. — The Directory endeavored to control the neighboring states as if they were French * Massena's division fought at Verona on the 13th of January, marched all that night to help Joubert who was exhausted by forty-eight-hours fighting, was in the battle of Eivoli the. 14th, and marched that night and the 15th to reach Mantua on the 16th. Marches, which with ordinary generals were merely the movements of troops, with Buonaparte meant battles, and often decided the fate of a campaign. 1798.J THE FREITCH REVOLUTION. 551 provinces; to cluinge their form of government; and to '^ exact enormous contributions. At the close of 1798, the Directory found itself at the head of no less than six repub- lics, including Holland, Switzerland, and Italy. THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT. An Expedition to Egypt (1798-9) having been pro- posed by Buonaparte, the plan was gladly accepted by the Directory, already jealous of his rising fame. The conqueror of Italy set sail with thirty-six thousand men — the heroes of Eivoli and Arcole. Narrowly escaping the English cruisers under Nelson, the army safely landed near Alexandria.* Buonaparte at once pushed on to Cairo, defeating the Mame- lukes under the shadow of the Pyramids.! ^^^» soon after, Nelson annihilated the French fleet in the Bay of Aboukir. Cut off thus from Europe, Buonaparte, dreaming of found- ing an empire in the East and overthrowing the British rule in India, turned into Syria. The walls of Acre, however, manned by English sailors under Sidney Smith, checked his progress ; and, after defeating the Turks with terrible * During this occupation of Egypt a French engineer discovered the Rosetta stone— the key to reading the Egyptian hieroglyphics. (See p. 22.) t "Soldiers," exclaimed Buonaparte, "from yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you." 552 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [1798. sLuighter at the foot of Mount Tabor, he retreated across the desert to Egypt. There he secretly abandoned his army, and returned to France. At Paris he was gladly welcomed. ^^ Their Five Majes- ties of the Luxemburg," as the Directors were styled, had twice resorted to a coup iV'Uat^' to preserve their authority in the Coun- cils. Foreign disgrace had been added to do- BUONAPARTE BEFORE THE COUNCIL OF FIVE HUNDRED. mestic anarchy. A Second Coalition (composed of England, Austria, Russia, etc.) having been formed against France, the fruits of Campo Formio had been quickly lost. The French armies, forced back upon the frontier, were in want. A panic of fear seized the people. The hero of Italy offered the only hope. A new coup d'etat was planned. Buona- * This is a word for which as yet, happily, we have no English equivalent. It is literally, "a stroke-of-state." 1799.] THE CIVILIZATION. 553 parte's grenadiers drove the members of the Council of Five Hundred from their chamber, as CromwelPs soldiers had driven the Long Parliament a century and a half before. The roll of the drums drowned the last cry of Viue la R'^piiUiqve. A new Constitution was now adopted. The government was to consist of a Council of State, a Tribune, a Legisla- ture, a Senate, and three Consuls — Buonaparte and two others named by him. In February, 1800, the First Consul took up his residence in the Tuileries. The revolution had culminated in a despot. THE CIVILIZATION. The Progress of Letters.— Queen Anne's reign was the Augustan Age of English Literature. Questions of party politics, society, life, and character were discussed ; and wit, ridicule, and satire were employed as never before. The affluence of the old school of authors gave way to correctness of form and taste. Pope's Essay on Man, and Essay on Criticism, with their " sonorous couplets brilliant with antithesis," are yet admired. Swift's Gulliver's Travels satirized the manners and customs of the time. Addison and Steele in their periodi- cals — the Tattlerand the Spectator — popularized literature, and " brought philosophy," as Steele expressed it, " oat of libraries, schools, and col- leges, to dwell in clubs, at tea-tables, and in coffee-houses." The style of Addison was long considered a model of graceful, elegant prose. De Foe's Robinson Crusoe still charms the heart of every boy. Samuel Johnson, with his ponderous periods, is to us the principal figure of English literature from about the middle of the 18th century. In his English Dictionary, he was the first author who appealed for sup- port directly to the public and not to some great man. He established a republic of letters, and long held in London a sort of court in which he ruled as undisputed king. Literature had begun to take its present form ; newspapers commenced to play a part ; a new class of men arose — the journalists ; and authorship assumed fresh impulses on every hand. Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett laid the foundation of the modern novel. Thompson's Seasons; Cray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard; Goldsmith's Traveller, and The Deserted Village ; Cowper's Task; and Burns's The Cotter's Saturday Night, were familiar stepping-stones in the progress of poetry into a new world, that of Nature. Burke, by his 554 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY sounding sentences and superb rhetoric, made the power of letters felt by every class in society. Hume wrote the History of England ; and Robertson, that of Charles V. — the first literary histories in our language. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire elevated historical study to the accuracy of a scientific treatise. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations founded the science of Political Economy. In France, the 18th century was pre-eminently an age of infidelity and skepticism. Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, as well as Diderot, D'Alembert, and the other liberal thinkers who wrote upon the En- cyclopedia, while they urged the doctrines of freedom and the natural rights of man, recklessly assaulted time-honored creeds and institutions. In Oermany, the efforts of Lessing, Winckelmann, Klopstock, and other patriots, had created a reaction against French influence. The "Twin Sons of Jove," as their countrymen liked to call them — Schiller, with his impassioned lyrics, and Goethe, one of the profoundest poets of any age or country — elevated German literature to a classical per- fection. The philosophical spirit gathered strength from this triumph, and gave birth to those four great teachers — Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling — who afterward laid the foundation of Gemian metaphysics. Both the French and the German writers exerted a powerful effect upon England, and, from the dawn of the French Revolution far into the 19th century, produced a remarkable outburst of literature. The THE CIVILIZATION". 555 pliilosopliic mind finds congenial employment in tracing their respec- tive influence upon the writings of Scott, Wordswortli, Coleridge, Southej, Moore, Shelley, and Byron, — all of vvliom burned to redress the wrongs of man, and dreamed of a golden ago of human perfection. Science now spread so rapidly on every side that one strains his eyes in vain to trace the expanding stream. ChemUtry took on its pres- ent form. Black discovered carbonic acid gas ; Cavendish, hydrogen gas; Priestly and Scheele, oxygen gas ; and Rutherford, the pi'operties of nitrogen gas. Lavoissier proved that respiration and combustion are merely forms of oxidation, and he was thus able to create an orderly nomenclature for the science. Physics was enriched by Black's dis- covery of the latent heat of melting ice. Franklin, experimenting with his kite, imprisoned the thunderbolt. Galvani, seeing the twitching of some frogs' legs that were hanging from iron hooks, found out the mys- terious galvanism. Volta invented a way of producing electricity by chemical action, and of carrying the current through a wire both endsot which were connected "with the battery. Dollond invented the achro- matic lens that gives the value to our telescope and microscope. Fah- renheit. Reaumur, and Celsius first marked ofE the degrees upon the thermometer (see Steele's Physics, p. 186), and so gave science an instru- ment of precision. In Astronomy, Lagrange proved the self-regulating, and, therefore, permanent nature of the orbits of the planets ; Laplace, in his Mecanique Celeste, pushed still further Newton's theory of gravi- tation and explained the anomalies In its application ; and, finally, Herschel, with his wonderful telescope, detected a planet (Uranus, see Steele's Astronomy, p. 189) called for by this law, and in the cloudy nebulae found the workings of this same universal force. Natural History was popularized by Buffon, who gathered many new facts, and detected the influence of climate and geography upon the distribution of animals. Lamarck began to lay the foundation of the theory of evolution. Cuvier found out the relation of the difierent parts of an animal, so that from a single bone he could restore the entire structure. Hutton taught how by watching the changes now going on in the earth's crust we are to detect nature's mode of making the world, or the science of Geology. Linnaeus, by the system still called from his name, gave to Botany its first orderly arrangement. Progress of Invention. — In 1705, Newcomen and Cawley patented in England the first steam-engine worth the name ; and James Watt in 1765 invented the condenser that, with other improvements, rendered this machine commercially successful. The application of steam-power to machinery wrought a revolution in commerce, manufac- tures, arts, and social life, and immensely aided in the progress of civil- ization. The difference between the mechanical workmanship of the 18th and 19th centuries may be seen in the almost incredible fact that Watt, in making his first engine, found his greatest difliculty from the 556 THE EiGHTEEKTH CEKtURT. impossibility of boring, with the imperfect tools then in use, a cylinder that was steam-tight. Before the end of the century, several trial steam- boats were made, both in Europe and in America, and, ere long, as every school-boy knows, Fulton navigated the Hudson regularly. Until the 16th century, spinning was done by the distaff, as it had been from Homer's time. '1 he spinning-wheel of our ancestors was the first improvement. Hargreaves about 1767 combined a number of spindles in the spinning-jenny (so named after his wife). ♦Arkwri^ht soon after patented the spinning-mill driven by water; and in 1779 Crompton completed the mule, or carriage for winding and spinning. In 1787, Cartwright invented the power-loom. Eli Whitneyj six years later, made the cotton-gin. Such was the impetus given to cotton rais- ing and manufacture by these inventions that, while in 1784 an invoice of eight bags of cotton was confiscated at Liverpool on the ground that cotton was not a product of the United States, fifty years afterward we sent to England 220,000,000 pounds of cotton. ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. The law recognized two hundred and twenty-three capital crimes. For stealing to the value of five shillings, for shooting at rabbits, or for cutting down young trees, the penalty was death. Traitors were cut in pieces by the executioner, and their heads exposed on Temple Bar to the derision of passers-by. Prisoners were forced to buy from the jailer (who had no salary) their food and even the straw upon which to lie at night. They were allowed to stand, chained by the ankle, outside the jail, to sell articles of their own manufacture. Thus, John Bunyan sold cotton lace in front of Bedford prison. The grated windows were crowded by miserable wretches begging for alms. Many innocent per- sons were confined for years because they could not pay their jail fees. In 1773, Howard began his philanthropic labors in behalf of prison reform, but years elapsed before the evils he revealed were corrected. On the continent, torture was still practised ; the prisons of Hanover, for example, had machines for tearing off the hair of the convict. A general coarseness and brutality existed in society. Mas- ters beat their servants and husbands their wives.daily. Swearing was common with ladies as well as gentlemen. Lawyers swore at the bar ; judges, on the bench ; women, in their letters ; and the king, on his throne. No entertainment was complete unless the guests became stupidly drunk. Children of five years of age were habitually put to labor, and often driven to their work by blows. In mines, women and children, crawling on their hands and feet in the darkness, dragged wagons of coal fastened to their waists by a chain. Military and naval discipline was maintained by the lash, and, in the streets of every sea- port, the press-gang seized and carried off by force whom it pleased, to be sailors on the men-of-war. THE CIVILIZATIOK. 557 London streets were lighted only in winter and until midnight, by dim oil-lamps. The services of a link-boy with his bla/ing torch ■were needed to light one home after dark ; since footpads lurked at tlie lonely corners, and, worst of all, bands of aristocratic young men (known as Mohocks, from the Mohawk Indians) sauntered to and fro, overturn- ing coaches, pricking men with their swords, rolling women down-hill in a barrel, and sometimes brutally maiming their victims for life. In the country, the roads were so bad that winter traveling was well-nigh impossible. The stage-coach (with its armed guards to pro- tect it from highwaymen) rattling along in good weather at four miles per hour, was considered a wonderful instance of the jjrogress of the times. Lord Campbell accomplished the journey from Edinburgh to London in three days ; but his friends warned him of the dangers of such an attempt, and gravely told him of persons venturing it who had died from the very rapidity of the motion. Each town dwelt apart, following its own customs and knowing little of the great world outside. There were villages so secluded that a stranger was considered an ene- my, and the inhabitants set their dogs upon him. Each householder in the country grew his own wool or flax, which his wife and daughters colored with dyes of their own gathering, and spun, wove, and made into garments themselves. Education. — In all England there were only about three thousand schools, public and private, and, so late as 1818, half of the children grew up destitute of education. The usual instruction of a gentleman was very superficial, consisting of a little Latin, less Greek, and a good deal of dancing. Female education was even more deplorable, and, at fourteen years of age, the young lady was taken out of school and plunged into the dissipations of fashionable society. Newspapers were taxed fourpence each copy, mainly to render them too costly for the poor, and so restrain what was considered their evil influence upon the SUMMARY. The 18th was the century of Marlborough, Peter the Great, Charles XII., Maria Theresa, William Pitt, the Georges, Louis XVI., Marie An- toinette, Robespierre, Buonaxjarte, Addison, Steele, Swift, Pope, Samuel Johnson, Gibbon, Burns, Burke, Voltaire, Goethe, Schiller, Kant, Ca- nova, Handel, Mozart, Cuvier, Franklin, Laplace, Lavoissier, Galvani, Herschel, Arkwright, Watt, and Whitney. It saw the Wars of the Span- ish, and of the Austrian Succession ; the Seven-Years War ; the rise of Russia, and of Prussia ; the American Revolution ; the Partition of Poland ; and the opening of the French Revolution— including the exe- cution of Louis XVI., the Reign of Terror, and Buonaparte's Italian and Egyptian Campaigns. 558 THE EIGHTEEKTH CENTFRY. READING REFERENCES. The General Modern Histories named on p. U29, and the Special Histories of Eng- land, France, Germany, etc., on p. klS.—Lec1cy''s England in the 18th Century.— Alli- son's History of Europe {Tory standpoint).— Voltaire's Peter the Great, and Charles XII.— Schuyler's Peter the Great {Scribner''s Magazine, Vol. XXL).—Carlyle's Frederick the Great.— Longman's Frederick the Great and the Seven-Tears War.— Southey's Battle of Blenheim {poem).—Lacretelle's History of France during the 18th Century.— De Tocgueville's France before the Revolution.— The French Revolution {Epochs of History Series. The Appendix of this book contains an excellent resume of reading on this subject, by President White, which every student should examine)^ -Lamartine's History of the Girondists.— CarlyUs, MigneVs, Macfarlane's, Bead- head's, MicheleVs, Thiers's, and Von SybeVs Histories of the French Revolution.— Lanfrey's History of Napoleon {the authority upon his life).— Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution.— Lewis's Life of Robespierre.— Adams's Democracy and Monarchy in France {excellent and discriminating).— Dickens's Tale of Two Cities {fiction). — Tfiiers's Consulate and Empire.— Memoirs of Madame Campan, and of Madame Roland. — Erkmann-Chatrian's Blockade, Conscript, Waterloo, etc. {fiction). —Abbott's, Hazlitt's, Scott's, and Jomini's Life of Napoleon.— RusseVs Essay on the Cause of the French Revolution.— Mackintosh' s Defence of the French Revolution.— Napier's Peninsular War.—Kavanagh's Woman in France.— Davies' s Recollections of Society in France.— ChaXlice's Ilhistrious Women of France.— Citoyenne Jacque- line or a Woman's Lot in the French Revolution.— Madame Junot's {the Duchesse D'Abrantes) Memoirs of Napoleon, his Court and Family.— Correspondence of Tal- leyrand and Louis XV III.— Thackeray's The Four Georges.— Madame de RemusaVs Letters {Napoleon's character).— Memmrs of Prince Mettemich {1773-1829). CHRONOLOGY. A. D. Battles of Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet 1704-'9 Union of England aud Scotland. . . 1707 Battle of Pultowa 1709 Treaty of Utrecht 1713 Guelpha ascend English throne 1714 Charles XII. killed at Fredericshall 171S Frederick the Great, Age of 1740-'86 Seven-Years War 1756-'63 First Partition of Poland 1772 A. D. American Kevolution 1775-'83 Meeting of States -General 1789 Attack on Tuileries, Aug. 10 1792 Battle of Jemmapes 1792 Louis XVI. guillotined, Jan. 21 ... . 1793 Reign of Terror 1793-'4 Third Partition of Poland 1795 Napoleon's Campaign in Italy 1796 Battle of the Nile 1798 Buonaparte First Consul 1799 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. ENGLAND. FRANCE . GERMANY. PRUSSIA. William and Louis XIV.... 1643 Leopold I.... 1658 Mary 1689 Anne 1702 Joseph 1 1705 Frederick L.. 1701 George 1 1714 Louis XV.... 1715 Charles VI... 1711 William 1 1713 George II... 1727 George III... 1760 Charles Vn.. 1742 Francis 1 1745 Frederick II.. 1740 Louis XVI... 1774 Joseph II.... 1765 Leopold II... 1790 William IL... 1786 Republic 1793 Francis II.... 1792 William in.. 179T THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". 559 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. I. FRANCE. FRENCH REVOLUTION (Continued).*— i. THE CONSULATE (1800-1804). Austrian War (1800).— England, regarding Buonaparte as an iisuri^er, refused to make peace, and hostilities soon began. The First Consul was eager to renew the glories of his Italian campaign. Pouring his army over the Alps, he descended upon Lombardy like an avalanche. The Aus- trians, however, quickly rallied from their surprise, and, unexpectedly attacking him upon the plain of 3Iaren(jo, swept all before them. At this juncture, Desaix, who, with his division, had hastened thither at the sound of cannon, dashed upon the advancing column, but fell in the charge. Just then, Kellerman, seeing the opportunity, hurled his terrible dragoons upon the flank of the column, and the Austrians broke and fled. Effect.— Thi^ single battle restored northern Italy to its conqueror. Meantime, General Moreau had driven back the Austrian army in Germany, step by step, and now, gaining a victory in the gloomy forest of Holienlinden, he pressed for- ward to the gates of Vienna. The frightened monarch consented to The Treaty of Luneville, which was nearly like that of Campo Formio. England did not make peace until the next year, when Pitt's retirement from office paved the Avay to the Treaty of Amiens (1802). Government. — '^ I shall now give myself to the adminis- tration of France," said Buonaparte. The opportunity for reorganization was a rare one. Feudal shackles had been * The pupil will bear in mind that the French Revolution, which began in 1789 (p. 230), lasted until the Restoration op the Bourbons in 1814-1815, thus being the opening event of the present century. 1802-'6.] THE FUEN^CH REVOLUTIOK. 5G1 thrown off, land had been set free, and the nation luid jjcr- fect confidence in its brilliant leader. Commerce, agricul- ture, manufactures, education, rehgion, arts, and sciences, — each received his careful tliought. He restored the Catholic Cburch m accord- ance with the cele- ^ brated Concordat f (1801), whereby tlie Poj^e re- nounced all claim to the lands con- fiscated by the revolution, and the government agreed to provide for the mainte- nance of the clergy. He established a uniform system of weights and measures, known as the Metric System (1801). He fused the conflicting laws into what is still called the Napoleonic Code. He abolished the fantastic republican calendar (1806). He erected magnificent bridges across the Seine. He created the Legion of Honor, to reward distinguished merit. He repaired the roads and built new ones, among which was the magnificent route over the Simplon Pass into Italy, even now the wonder of travelers. THE TEMPLE OF GLORY. FEENCH REVOLUTION {Continued).-^. THE EMPIRE (1804-'14). Buonaparte becomes Emperor. — So general was the confidence inspired in France by Buonaparte's administra- tion, and so fascinated was the nation by his military achieve- ments, that, though he recklessly violated the liberties of the people and the rights of neighboring countries, when the senate proclaimed him Emperor Napoleon I., the popular 562 THE KINETEEKTH CENTUEY. [1804. vote i-atifying it showed only twenty-five hundred noes. At the coronation, Pius VII. poured on the head of the kneehng sovereign the mystic oil ; but, when he lifted the crown. Napoleon took it from his hands, placed it on his own head, and afterward crowned Josephine, Emj)ress. As the hymn was sung which Charlemagne heard when saluted Em- peror of the Eomans, the shouts within the walls of Notre Dame reached the crowd with- out, and all Paris rung with acclamation. Cross- ing the Alps, the new emperor took, at Milan, the iron crown of the Lombards, and his step- son, Eugene Beauharnais, received the title, Viceroy of Italy. The empire of Charlemagne seemed to be revived, with its seat at Paris instead of Aix-la-Chapelle. Campaign of Austerlitz. — A Third Coalition (consist- ing of England, Austria, and Eussia) was formed to resist the ambitious projects of '' The soldier of fortune." Napo- leon had already collected at Boulogne an admirably-dis- ciplined army and a vast fleet, threatening to invade Eng- land. Learning that Austria had taken the field, he suddenly threw two hundred thousand men across the Khine, surprised and captured the Austrian army at Ulm, and entered Vienna in triumph. Thence pressing forward, he met the Austro- Eussian force, under the emperors Francis and Alexander, at the heights of EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 1805.] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 5(j3 Austerlifz (1805).— Witli ill-concealed joy, in which liis soldiers shared, he watched the allies marching their troops past the front of the French position in order to turn his right flank. Waiting until this ruinous movement was past recall, he suddenly launched his eager veterans upon the weakened center of the enemies' line, seized the plateau of winir, ft' Pratzen — the key of tlieir position, isolated their left and then cut up their entire army in detail. *^The Sun of Austerlitz " saw the coalition go down in crushing defeat.* Treaty of Presburg. — After the ^'Battle of the three emperors,'' Francis came a suppliant into the conqueror's tent. He secured peace at such a cost of territory that he surrendered the title of German emperor for that of Emperor of Austria (1806). Thus ended the Holy Roman Empire which had lasted over a thousand years (p. 375). Battle of Trafalgar. — The day after the thunderstroke at Ulm, Nelson, with the English squadron, off Cape Tra- falgar, annihilated the combined fleet of France and Spain. Henceforth, Napoleon never "contested with England the supremacy of the sea. Royal Vassals. — On land, however, after Austerlitz, no one dared to resist his will. To strengthen his power, he surrounded France with fiefs, after the manner of the Mid- dle Ages. Seventeen states of Germany were united in the Confederation of the Rhine, in close alliance with him. His brother Louis received the kingdom of Holland; Jerome, that of Westphalia ; and Joseph, that of Naples. His brother- in-law Murat was assigned the grandduchy of Berg ; Marshal Berthier, the province of Neuchdtel ; and* Talleyrand, that of Benevento. Bernadotte was given Ponte-Corvo, but afterward * When Pitt received the news of Austerlitz, he exclaimed, "Roll up the map of Europe : it will not be wanted these ten years." Then, falling into a dying stupor, ^e ^woke only to murmur, " AJas, my country," 664 THE I^IKETEEJS^TH CEKTUEY. [1806. he was allowed to accept the crown of Sweden. In all, over twenty princi- ^lalities were dis- tributed among his relatives and friends, who were henceforth expected to obey him as suzerain. War with Prus- sia (1806).— Prus- sia's humiliation was to come next. A Fourth Coalition (Prussia, Russia, England, etc.) had now been formed against France, but the Grand Army was still in Germany, and, before the Prussians could prepare for war, Napoleon burst upon them. In one day he annihilated their army at Jena and AuerstdcU, and thus, by a single dreadful blow, laid the country prostrate at his feet. Amid the NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE AT ST. CLOUD. 1806.] THE FEEKCH REVOLUTION. 565 tears of the people, he entered Berlin, levied enormous contributions,* plundered the museums, and even rifled the tomb of Frederick the Great. Berlin Decrees (180G). — Unable to meet England on the ocean, Napoleon determined to destroy her commerce, and issued at Berlin the famous decrees prohibiting British trade, f The Continental System, as it was called, was, however, a failure. Napoleon had no rravy to enforce it. English goods were smuggled wherever a British vessel could float. It is said that Manchester prints were worn even in the Tuileries. War with Russia (1807). — Napoleon next hastened into Poland to meet the Kussian army. The bloody battle of Eylau, fought amid blinding snow, was indecisive, but the victory of Friedland forced Alexander to sue for peace. The two emperors met upon a raft in the river Niemen. By the Treaty of Tilsit, they agreed to support each other in their ambitious schemes. Peninsular War. — Napoleon sought, also, to make Spain and Portugal subject to France. On the plea of enforcing the Continental System, Junot was sent into Portugal, where- upon the royal family fled to Brazil. The imbecile king of * To raise the amount, the v/omen gave up their ornaments, and wore rings of Berlin iron — since then noted in the patriotic annals of Prussia. " This country fur- nishes a curious and perhaps unique example of a despotic monarchy forced by a despotism stronger than itself to seek defence in secret association. When Prussia lay crushed under the merciless tyranny of Napoleon, Baron Stein, the prime minis- ter, bethought him how he could rouse the German spirit and unite the country against the invader. He devised the Tugendbund, or League of Virtue (1807), which spread rapidly over the country, and soon numbered in its ranks the flower of the people, including the very highest rank. Its organization and discipline were per- fect, and its authority was unbounded, although the source was veiled in the deepest secrecy. One of the motives by which Stein kindled to white-heat the enthusiasm of the people was the hope of representative institutions and a free press ; but the king did not hesitate to violate his royal promise when its purpose was served. The Tu^endbund contributed powerfully to the resurrection of German national life in 1813, and to the overthrow of Napoleon." t They made smuggling a capital offence. A man was shot at Hamburg merely for having a little sugar in his house. 56Q . THE NIN^ETEEN^TH CENTURY. [1808. Spain being induced to abdicate, the Spanish crown was placed upon the head of Napoleon's brother Joseph, while Naples was transferred to Murat. But Spain rebelled against the hated intruder. The entire kingdom blazed with fanatic devotion. More Frenchmen perished by the knife of the assassin than by the bullet of the soldier. Joseph kept his ill-gotten throne only eight days. The English, who now for the first time fought Napoleon on land, crossed into Portugal, and Sir Arthur Wellesley quickly expelled the French. Napoleon was forced to come to the rescue with the Grand Army. By three great battles he reached Madrid and replaced Joseph upon the throne, while Marshal Soult pursued the English army to the sea, where it took ship for home.* War with Austria (1809).— A Fifth CoaliMon (England, Austria, Spain, and Portugal) having been organized to stay the progress of France, Austria took advantage of the absence of the Grand Army in Spain, and opened a new campaign. Napoleon hurried across the Rhine, and in five days captured sixty thousand prisoners, and drove the Austrians over the Danube. Battles of Aspern and Wagram. — But, while the French were crossing the river in pursuit, the Austrian army fell upon them with terrible desperation. During the struggle, the village of Aspern was taken and retaken fourteen times. Napoleon was forced to retreat. He at once summoned reinforcements from all parts of his vast dominions, and, recrossing the stream in the midst of a fearful thunderstorm, * The gallant Sir John Moore, then in command, was mortally wounded just before the embarkation. His body, wrapped in his military cloak, was hastily buried on the ramparts, " By the struggling moonbeam's misty light. And the lantern dimly burning."— Wo^eV Ode. 1809.] THE FRENCH K E V L U TI U N . 5G7 THE BATTLE OF WAGRAM. defeated the Anstrians on the plain of Wagi^am, and imposed the humiliating Peace of Vienna. — It exacted a large territory, a money- indemnity, adherence to the Continental System, and the blowing up of the walls of Vienna— the favorite promenade of its citizens. The treaty was cemented by marriage. Napoleon divorced Josephine and married Maria Louisa, daughter of Francis. But this alliance of. the Soldier of the Revolution with the proud house of Hapsburg was distasteful to the other crowned heads of Europe and un^^opular in France. "War in Spain (1809-12). — During the campaign in Aus- tria, over three hundred thousand French soldiers were in 568 THE ]SriNETEEKTH CEKTURY. [1809-12. Spain, but Napoleon was not there. Jealousies and the dif- ficulties of a guerilla warfare prevented success. Wellesley crossed the Duoro in the face of Marshal Soult, and at last drove him out of the country.* Joining the Spaniards, Wel- lesley then defeated Joseph in the great battle of Talavera ; but Soult, Ney, and Mortier having come up, he retreated into Portugal. The next year, he fell back before the superior forces of Massena into the fortified lines of Torres Vedras. Massena remained in front of this impregnable position until starva- tion forced him to retire into Spain. His watchful antagonist instantly followed him, and it was only by consummate skill that the French caj)tain escaped with the wreck of his army. The victories o^ Alhuera and Salamanca, and the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz cost the French the peninsula south of Madrid. Joseph's throne was held up on the point of French bayonets. Russian Campaign (1812). — As the emperor Alexander refused to carry out the Continental System, Napoleon in- vaded that country with a vast army of seven hundred thou- sand men. But, as he advanced, the Russians retired, de- stroying the crops and burning the villages. No longer could he make war support war. By incredible exertions, however, he pushed forward, won the bloody battle of Borodino, and finally entered Moscow. But the inhabitants had deserted the city. The next night, the Russians fired it in a thousand places. The blackened ruins furnished no shelter from the northern winter then fast approaching. Famine was already making * Napoleon was accustomed to mass his men in a tremendous column of attack that crushed down all opposition. Wellesley (now better known as Lord Welling- ton) believed that the English troops in thin line-of-battle could resist this fearful onset. In the end, as we shall see (p. 572,) Wellington's tactics proved superior to those of Napoleon, 1812.J THE FKENCH REVOLUTION 569 sad havoc in the invader's ranks. The Czar refused peace. Napoleon had no alternative but to Retreat from Moscoiu.—Hha mercury suddenly sank to zero. The soldiers, unused to the rigors of the climate, COSSACKS HARASSING THE RETREATING ARMY. died as they walked; they perished if they stojiped to rest. Hundreds lay down by the fires at night, and never rose in the morn- ing. Wild Cossack troopers hovered about the rear, and, hidden by the gusts of snow, dashed down upon the blinded column, and with their long lances pierced far into the line; then, ere the French with their stiffened fingers could raise a musket, the Tartars, dropping at full length on the backs of their ponies, vanished in the falhng sleet. Napoleon finally gave up the command to Murat, and set off for Paris, All idea 570 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. [1812. of discipline was now lost. The array rapidly dissolved into a mass of straggling fugitives. Uprising of Europe (1813). — ''The flames of Moscow were the funeral pyre of the empire." The yoke of the arro- gant usurper was thrown off on every hand when Europe saw a hope of deliverance. A Sixth Confederation (Russia, Prussia, England, and Sweden) against French domination was quickly formed. Napoleon raised a new army of conscripts which defeated the allies at Liitzeii,* Bautzen, and Dresden. But where he was absent was failure ; while Wellington, flushed with vic- tory in Spain, crossed the Bidassoa, and set foot on French soil. And now Napoleon himself, in the terrible ''Battle of the nations," was routed under the walls of Leipsic. Flee- ing back to Paris, he collected a handful of men for the final struggle. Invasion of France (1814). — Nearly a million of foes swarmed into France on all sides. Never did Napoleon dis- play such genius, such profound combinations, such fertility of resource. Striking, now here, and now there, he held them back for a time; but making a false move to the rear of the Austrian army, the allies ventured forward and cap- tured Paris. The fickle Parisians received them with delight. The people were weary of this hopeless butchery. Abdication of Napoleon. — Meanwhile, Napoleon was breathlessly hastening to the defence of his capital. When only ten miles off, he received the fatal news. There was no hope of resistance, and he agreed to abdicate his throne. In the court of the palace at Fontainebleau, he bade the veter- ans of the Old Guard an affecting adieu, and then set out for the Island of Elba, which had been assigned as his residence. * .A IjsttJe-field already famed for the de^tl; of Gustavas A-dolphus (p. 483), 1814.] FRANCE — THE RESTORATION sn ^ AFOLEON S PARTING WITH THE OLD GUARD AT i 1. THE RESTORATION (1814). Louis XVIII., brother of Lonis XYL, was placed upon the throne. France resumed very nearly the boundaries of 1792. The Bourbons, however, had "learned nothing, forgotten nothing." The nobles talked of reclaiming then- feudal rights, and looked with insolent contempt upon the upstarts who had followed the fortunes of the Corsican adventurer. No wonder that people's thoughts again turned toward Na- poleon. Soon, men spoke mysteriously of a certain Corporal Violet who would come with the flowers of spring; and vio- lets bloomed significantly on ladies' hats. The Hundred Days (March 20-June 22, 1815).— Sud- denly the mystery was explained. Napoleon returned to France and hastened toward Paris. At Grenoble, he met a body of troops drawn up to bar his advance. Wearing his 572 THE KINETEEKTH CEKTFEY. [1815. familiar gray coat and cocked hat. Napoleon advanced alone in front of the line and exclaimed, "Soldiers, if there be one among you who would kill his emperor, here he is." The men dropped their arms and shouted, " Vive V Empereiir! " * Ney promised " to bring back the Corsican to Paris in an iron cage. " But, when he saw the colors under which he had fought and heard the shouts of the men he had so often led to battle, he forgot all else and threw himself into the arms of Napoleon. Louis XVIII. fled incontinently. The restored govern- ment of the Bourbons melted into thin air. Commissioners were at Vienna arranging a general peace when they heard of the return of Napoleon. The former coalition was at once renewed, and the allied troops again took the field. Battle of Waterloo (1815). — Napoleon quickly assembled an army and hastened into Belgium, hoping to defeat the English and Prussian armies before the others arrived. De- taching Grouchy with 34,000 men to hold Bliicher and the Prussians in check, he turned to attack the English. Near Brussels he met Wellington. Each general had about seventy- five thousand men. Napoleon opened the battle with a feigned but fierce attack on the chdteau of Hougoumont on the British right. Then, under cover of a tremendous artil- lery-fire, he massed a heavy column against the center. La Haye Sainte — a farm-house in front of Wellington's line — was taken, and the cavalry streamed up the heights beyond. The English threw themselves into squares, upon which the French cuirasseurs dashed with the utmost fury. For five hours they charged up to the very muzzles of the British * When Colonel Labedoydre joined him with his regiment, each soldier took from the bottom of his knapsack the tricolored cockade, which he had carefully hidden for ten months. 1815.] FRAKCE— THE RESTORATION-. 573 guns. English tenacity struggled with French enthusiasm. Wellington, momentarily consulting his watch, longed for night or Bliicher. Napoleon hurried messenger after mes- senger to recall Grouchy to his help. Just at evening, Ney with the Old and the Young Guard made a last effort. These veterans, whose presence had decided so many battles, swept to the top of the slope. The British Guards who were lying down behind the crest rose and poured in a deadly fire. The English converged from all sides. Suddenly, cannon- ading was heard on the extreme French right. '^ It is Grou- chy," cried the soldiers. It was Bliicher's masses carrying all before them. The terrible '^ sauve qui peut^^ arose. Whole ranks of the French melted away. ^^All is lost," shouted Napoleon, and, putting spurs to his horse, he fled from the field. Second AMication. — Having abdicated the throne a second time, Napoleon went on board the British ship Bellerophon and surrendered. In order to prevent him from again troubling the peace, England imprisoned him upon the Island of St. Helena. The long wars of the French Revo- lution which had convulsed Europe since 1792 were at length ended. Napoleon's Pate. — The Corsican Adventurer dragged out the remainder of his life in recalling the glories of his past and complain- ing of the annoyances of the present. On the evening of May 5, 1831, there was a fearful storm of wind and rain, in the midst of which, as in the case of Cromwell, the soul of the warrior went to its final ac- count. The howling of the tempest seemed to recall to his wandering mind the roar of battle, and his last words were, " Tete d'armee." He was buried near his favorite resort— a fountain shaded by a few weeping ^villows. In his will was a request that his " body might repose on the banks of the Seine, among the people he had loved so well." During the reign of Louis Philippe, his remains were carried to Paris, and laid beneath a magnificent mausoleum connected with the Hotel des Invalides. " The body had been so skilfully embalmed that nineteen years of death had not effaced the expression of the 574 THE KIXETEENTH CENTrRY. [1815. TOMB OF NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. well-remembered features. Men looked once more with reverence and pity upon the almost un- changed countenance of him who had been the glory and the scourge of his age." Napoleon's Oppor- tunity was a rare one, but he ingloriously missed it. If he had been wise, he might have seen, at several stages in his career — probably after Marengo, at all events after Austerlitz — that it was within his reach to found one of the most powerful and com- pact kingdoms in the world. He might have been Emperor of a France bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Rhine, with by far the greatest military strength in Europe. Within this splendid ter- ritory, he might have established a moral and intellectual power even more formidable and durable than his military power. But his double- dealing; his over-reaching project of parceling out Europe among his relations and dependants ; and the folly of the Austrian marriage, the Spanish War, and the Russian campaign, — all illustrated his lack of wisdom and wrecked his throne. " Napoleon's Mission," says Bryce, "was to break up in Germany and Italy the abominable system of petty states, to reawaken the spirit of the people, to sweep away the relics of an effete feudalism, and leave the ground clear for the growth of newer and better forms of political life." The Child of the Revolution, he conquered only to destroy: still, the very necessities of his position required him to defer to democratic influences at home and to spread them abroad. He was as despotic as the kings whom he unseated. He inflicted upon Europe the most appalling miseries, during nineteen years of almost constant war. Yet out of the fearful e\dls of his life came the ultimate good of humanity. Even the hatred evoked by his despotism, and the patriotic eflbrts demanded to overthrow his power, taught the nations to know their strength. To the Napoleonic rule, Germany and Italy date back the first glimpses and possibilities of united national life. Second Restoration. — Louis XVIII. now reoccupied his throne. France, in her turn, was forced to submit to 1815. J FKAXCE — THE K E S T O R A T I O :^^. 575 a humiliating peace. The Congress of Vienna imposed an indemnity of seven hundred miUion francs ; a loss of terri- tory having a population of twenty-five hundred thousand persons ; and the occnpation of the French frontier by n foreign army for five years.* Louis now resisted the ultra- royalists, and prudently sought to establish a limited mon- archy, with a chamber of peers and one of deputies, based upon a restricted suffrage. But his brother, who succeeded to the crown as Charles X. (1824-'30), was bent on restoring the Bourbon despotism. His flagrant usurpations of power ended in the ''Revolution of the Three Days of July, 1830." Once more the pavements of Paris were torn up for barricades. La Fayette again appeared on the scene, waving the tri colored flag. The palace of the Tuileries was sacked. Charles was forced to flee. The Chambers elected his cousin, the Duke of Or- leans, as "King of the French," thus finally repudiating the doctrine of the " Divine right of kings." The House of Orleans. — Louis Philippe (1830-48), the " Citizen King," who now received the crown, at first won the good-will of the nation by his charming family-life, and his earnest efforts to rule as a constitutional monarch. But * The allies returned to their o^Tiers the treasures of art Napoleon had pillaged. " The bronze horses from Corinth resumed their old place on the portico of the Church of St. Mark in Venice ; the Transfiguration was restored to the Vatican ; the Apollo Belvidere and the LaocoOn ajjain adorned St. Peter's; the Venus de' Medici was enshrined with new beauty at Florence ; and the Descent from the Cross was replaced in the Cathedral of Antwerp."— Lord's Modem Europe. COLUMN OF JULY. 576 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. [1830. there were many conflicting parties — the BourhonistSy who sustained the grandson of Charles X. (Oomte de Chambord, or " Henry V.") ; the Bo7iapartists, who remembered Napo- leon's successes, and not the misery he had caused; the LANCERS CLEARING THE BOULEVARDS OF PARIS. Orleanists, who supported the constitutional monarchy ; the RepuMicans, who wished for a republic ; and the Red or Radical RejniUicans, who had adopted socialistic doctrines. The favorite motto w^as, *' Liberty, Equality, and Frater- nity." Political clubs fomented disorder. Amid these complications, the king's popularity waned. His policy of "Peace at any price," and his selfish ambition in seeking donations and royal alliances for his family, aroused general contempt. Finally, a popular demand for an extension of the franchise found expression in certain ''Eeform Ban- quets." An attempt to suppress one of these meetings at Paris precipitated 1848.] FRANCE — THE SECOND REPFBLTC. 577 PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC. The Revolution of 1848. — Barricades sprung up as by magic. The red flag was unfurled. The National Guards fraternized with the rabble. Louis Philippe lost heart, and, assuming the name of Smith, fled to England. A republic 578 THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY. [1848. was again proclaimed. France, as usual, followed the lead of Paris.* 2. THE SECOND REPUBLIC (1848-'52). The Paris Mob, though it had established a republic, really wanted equality of money rather than of rights. The Socialists taught that government should provide work and wages for every one. To meet the demand, national work- shops were established ; but, when these proved an evil and were closed, the Reds organized an outbreak. For three days, a fearful fight raged in the streets of Paris. Order was at last, restored at a cost of five thousand lives. Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon I, was then chosen president of the new republic. Before his four-years term of office had expired, he plotted, by the help of the army, a coup d'etat (1851). His very audacity won the day. The Chamber of Deputies was dissolved; his opponents were imprisoned ; and he was elected president for ten years. As, fifty years before, the Consulate gave place to the Empire, so now the Second Republic was soon merged in the Second Empire. In 1852, the president assumed the title of emperor. Again the popular vote approved the over- throw of the republic and Napoleon's violation of the consti- tution he had sworn to support. 3. THE SECOND EMPIRE (1852-'70). Napoleon III. modeled his domestic policy after that of Napoleon I. He relied on the army for support, and cen- tralized all authority. He improved Paris by widening its streets and removing old buildings. He reorganized the army and navy ; extended railroads ; encouraged agricul- * At this time, the provinces complained that they " had to receive their revolu- tions by mail from Paris." In our day, Paris is no longer France ; and the rural population has become a ruling power in politics. 1852.] FRANCE — THE SECOND EMPIRE. 579 ture ; and dazzled men's eyes by the glitter of a brilliant court. In 1867, a World's Fair was held in Paris. Visitors were impressed by the evidences of a wonderful material prosperity. ^ At his ascension, Napoleon announced his policy in the words, "The Empire is peace." Yet four great wars charac- terized his reign — the Crimean (p. 586), the Italian (p. 594), the Mexican (Hisfc. U. S., p. 248), and the German. The last is of the greatest interest, as it revealed the inherent weakness of the JSTapoleonic administration, and caused the emperor's downfall. Seven-Months War with Germany (1870-'l).— The time-honored policy of France was to perpetuate German divisions in order to weaken that nation. Of late, there had 580 THE NINETEENTH CEKTtTBY. [l870. been an especial jealousy between France and Prussia. The former was distrustful of Prussia's growing power, and the latter was eager to avenge Jena and recover the Ehine. A proposal of the Spaniards to bestow their crown upon a rela- *tion of the king of Prussia was resented by France as an undue extension of Prussian influence, and out of it finally grew an excuse to declare war. Invasion of France. — The French troops left Paris to the cry of "On to Berlin," but they never crossed the Ehine. The soldiers had no resi^ect for their commanders, and lacked discipline and confidence. The generals were ignorant of the country aud the position of the enemy. The Prussian trooper knew more of the French roads than many an Im- perial officer. The German armies, by their superior dis- cipline and overwhelming numbers, crushed all opposition. Victories followed fast, at Weissenhurg , Worth, Courcelles, Vionville, and GraveloUe. Napoleon himself surrendered at Sedan with eighty thousand men, and Marshal Bazaine at Metz with one hundred and eighty thousand. When the news of the disaster of Sedan reached Paris, the people turned their wrath upon Napoleon and his family. The empress Eugenie was forced to flee, and the empire was at an end. The conquerors now closed in upon Paris, and, after a siege of one hundred and thirty-one days, that city surrendered. 4. THE THIRD REPUBLIC (1871 to the present time). The Republic— The Germans having granted a three- weeks truce that the French might vote for a new govern- ment, an Assembly was chosen by the people. Thiers was elected president of the new republic. But peace was pur- chased only by the cession of Alsace and part of Lorraine, and the payment of five billion francs. Thus Strasburg, taken by Louis XIV., and Metz, by Henry II., were lost, 1871.] FRANCE — TJIE THIRD R I- P L' B L I C . 581 and France itself, whieli in 18U had been conquered only by all Europe, lay at the mercy of one nation. Jena and the cruel indignities which Napoleon had inflicted on Ger- many were sadly expiated. The Commune (1871).— While a German army was yet at hand, the indemnity unpaid, and the country devastated by war, the Parisian rab- ble inaugurated a second reign of terror. Barricades were thrown up, the red flag — symbol of anarchy — was unfurled, and a Com- mune was established at the Hotel de Ville. The Assembly met at Versailles and collected troops. Then ensued a second siege of Paris more disastrous than the first. The Communists, defeated at all points, laid trains of petroleum, and destroyed the Tuileries, the Hotel de Yille, and many of the finest public buildiugs. This fearful ruin was as useless as it was vindictive. The Assembly, having triumphed, assumed the diflficult task of government. The administration of Thiers was sin- gularly successful, and the rapid payment of the war penalty to Germany excited the wonder of the world. The French felt that they had been beaten by the German public school, and so primary education became one of the most engrossing cares of the young republic. The army was also remodeled after the German plan ; it is said that in an emergency twenty- four hundred thousand men could now be put in the field. .I k''^ ll ^^M M w liiV Ijfl ™ i^^^p EXECUTION OF A FEMALE COMMUNIST IN PARIS. 58^ THE NINETEENTH CENTtJRY fl87l. BARRICADING THE STREETS OF PARIS. On Tliiers's resignation in 1873, Marshal McMahon was chosen as his successor ; Grevy succeeded to the presidency in 1879. 1820.] Ei^ GLAND — THE HOUSE OF HAXOVKH. 58^ II. ENGLAND UNDER THE HOUSE OF HANOVER {Continued). The English Monarchs of the present century are as follows : George IV. (1820-30), owing to the insanity of his father, ruled for nine years as regent. Though styled the '' First Gentleman of Europe " for his courtly manners and exquisite dress, he was seltish as Charles I. and profligate as Charles 11. William IV. (1830-'7), brother of George IV., having seen service in the navy, was known as the " Sailor King." His warm heart, open hand, and common sense won the love of England. Victoria (1837- — ), niece of William IV.., ascended the throne at the age of eighteen.* Her reign has proved a blessing to the world. All England has felt the benediction of her pure life and her Christian example, as queen, wife, and mother. State of the Country. — The long wars of the French Eevolution left England burdened with a debt of four billion dollars. The condition of the common people was miserable. Wages were low, and the Corn Laws, imposing a heavy duty on foreign grain, made the price of food very high. Suffrage was limited ; there was no system of public education ; and the laws were unequal. Thousands of disbanded soldiers and sailors vainly sought for work. Bands of discharged laborers roamed through the country, breaking the stock- ing and lace frames which had taken from them their employment. Incendiary fires lighted the evening sky. Everywhere, men's minds were astir with a sense of injustice and a need of political privileges.' It is noticeable that while in France improvement came only by revolution, in England wrongs were righted by peaceable reform. Reforms. — The Test Act was repealed in 1828, and the next year Catholics were granted, w^ith a few exceptions, * Hanover was then Bevered from the British Empire by the Salic law. 584 THE KliTETEEKTH CEKTURY. [1832. equal rights with their Protestant fellow-citizens. The First Reform Bill (1832), proposed by Lord John Russell, extended the franchise, abolished many rotten boroughs,* and empowered the large towns to send members to Parlia- ment. The Negro Emancipation Bill (1833), passed chiefly through the philanthropic efforts of William Wilberforce, suppressed slavery throughout the British Empire. The Chartists, principally workingmen, were so called from a document termed the People's Charter, in which they demanded six changes in the constitution, viz. : 1. Universal suffrage ; 2. Vote by ballot ; 3. Annual Parliaments ; 4. Pay- ment of members of Parliament; 5. Abolition of property qualification for a seat in the House ; and 6. Equal electoral districts. In 1848 — that year of revolution over the conti- * Cities, like Manchester and Leeds, then sent no members to Parliament, while some little villages had two members apiece. The great landowners dictated to their tenants the proper candidate. There were many " pocket or rotten boroughs " hav- ing seats in Parliament, yet without house or inhabitant. One of these was a ruined wall in a gentleman's park ; another \\as under the sea. " So utterly were the people excluded from any part in politics that for twenty years there had not been in Edin- burgh any public meeting of a political character." "During the eighteenth century, the Irish Parliament, composed of Protestants of an exceedingly bitter type, had heaped upon the unhappy Catholics of Ireland an accumulation of the most wicked laws which have ever been expressed in the English tongue. A Catholic could not sit in Parliament, could not hold any office under the crown, could not vote at an election, could not be a solicitor, or a physician, or a sheriff, or a gamekeeper. If his son became a Protestant, he was withdrawn from paternal custody and intrusted to Protestant relatives, with a suitable provision by the father for his maintenance. A Catholic was not permitted to own a horse of greater value than five pounds. If he used a more reputable animal, he was bound to sell it for that sum to any Protestant who was disposed to buy. If a younger brother turned Protestant, he supplanted the elder in his birthright. A Catholic could not inherit from an intestate relative, however near. A Protestant solicitor who married a Catholic was disqualified from following his profession. Marriages of Protestants and Catholics, if performed by a priest, were annulled, and the priest was liable to be hanged. Eewards, varying according to the rank of the victim, were offered for the discovery of Catholic clergymen. In the early part of the century, a Catholic who was so daring as to enter the gallery of the House of Commons was liable to arrest." (Mackenzie's Nineteenth Century.) This cruel legislation extended even to the dis- couraging of the woolen manufacture in Ireland, in order to prevent competition and the injury of the English mill-owners. Many of these pitiable laws were abolished in the century that gave them birth; others would have been annulled at an early date after the Union in 1801 had it not been for the violent opposition of George IV., supported by Mr. Peel and the Duke of Wellington. The agitation by O'Connell roused the country and aided much in inaugurating the era of reform. 1848.] EKGLAKD — THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. 685 nent* — the Chartists mustered on Kennington Common, mteudiug to march through London to the House of Com- mons, to preseixt a monster petition (said to contain five million signatures), and compel that body to yield to their demands. The government thereupon called out two hun- dred and fifty thousand special constables, and this remai-k- able demonstration of public opinion quelled the movement. Though the organization disbanded, the agitation bore fruit, and most of the reforms have since been granted. This was a contest for pohtical power, but with it came one for cheap bread. An Anti-Corn-Law League was formed in Manches- ter (1839), having branches throughout the kingdom. At the head of this agitation were Richard Cobden and John Bright. They held the doctrine of free trade — that every man should be free to buy in the cheapest market and to sell in the dearest, without any restriction. On the other hand, the Protectionists claimed that high duties, by keep- ing up the price of grain, manufactures, etc., defended home industries against foreign competition. In the midst of the discussion, the potato crop of Ireland failed, and the famine in that country (1846) forced Robert Peel, the leader of the Conservatives in Parliament, to introduce a bill abolishing duties upon grain, cattle, etc. This repeal came into opera- tion in 1849. The First Locomotive. — The year 1830 is memorable for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, upon which passenger-cars were drawn by a locomotive- engine — the invention of George Stephenson. * " Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven ! O times In which the meagi-e, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a country romance ! Not favored spots alone, but the whole earth The beauty wore of promise."— Wordsworth. 586 THE KIXETEEiJTH CEKTURY. [1837. Cheap Postage. — A young man named Kowland Hill brought forward the idea of penny postage. The scheme was laughed at, but it became a law in 1840.* The First World's Fair (1851) was held at London in the Crystal Palace — then a novel structure of iron and glass, covering about nineteen acres of ground. Prince Albert, the royal consort, fostered this exhibition, which resulted most favorably, especially in its influence upon English art indus- tries. Crimean War (1854). — The Emperor Nicholas of Russia, anxious to seize the spoil of the "sick man," as the Sultan of Turkey was called, took possession of some provinces on the Danube, under the pretext of supporting the claims of the Greek Christians to certain holy places in Jerusalem. England and France united to aid the Sultan. An allied army, seventy thousand strong, was landed in the Crimea. The victory of the Alma enabled the troops to advance upon Sebastopol, a formidable fortress which gave the Czar the command of the Black Sea, and in whose harbor lay the fleet which menaced Constantinople and the Bosporus. The siege lasted nearly a year. Innumerable combats, two desperate battles — Balahlai'a\ and Inkerman, incessant watchfulness by day and night, the fatiguing labor of the trenches, and the unhealthiness of the climate, tried the valor of the French and the constancy of the English. Finally, the French stormed the Malakoff, and the Russians evacuated the city. When the conquerors entered, they found such ruin, flame, and devastation as greeted Napoleon in the streets of Moscow. By the Treaty of Paris (1856), the Czar agreed to abandon * Walter Scott tells us that in his day the mail from Edinburgh to London often contained only a single letter — the postage being thirty-two cents. t This battle is famous for the charge of the Six Hundred so graphically described in Tennyson's popular poem : " Stormed at with shot and shell." 1856.] ENGLAND — THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. 587 his protectorate over the Danubian provinces ; the luiviga- tion of the Danube was made free; and the Russians w^re forbidden to have vessels of war on the Bhick Sea. Indian Mutiny (1857).— The sepoys, or native soldiers in the English service in India, revolted because their car- tridges were said to be greased with tallow or lard.* The white residents at Delhi, Cawnpore, and other points, were massacred with horrible barbarit}^ The Europeans at Luck- now held out against Nana Sahib until reinforced by General Havelock, who defended the city while Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde) and his Highlanders came to the rescue. The rebellion was finally crushed, and the East India Company (1859) transferred the government of India to the Queen, who in 1876 was made Empress of India. Cotton Famine. — Our Civil War cut off the supply of cotton, so that, in the Lancashire mills alone, one hundred and fifty thousand ojDeratives were thrown out of employment, and one hundred and twenty thousand worked only half- time. The workingmen, wiio were generally Liberals, sym- pathized with the War for the Union, and patiently bore hunger and want, in devotion to their principles. Recent Reforms.— In 1867, a Eeform Bill, carried by the Conservatives, under the leadership of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli, granted a franchise which amounts very nearly to household suffrage. In 1869, under Mr. Gladstone's ad- ministration, a bill was carried for the disestablishment and disendowment of the Established Church in Ireland, where the Catholics are the majority of the population ; in 1872, voting by ballot was introduced ; in 1870, and again in 1881, bills were adopted regulating tenant-rights in Ireland ; in 1871, all religious tests for admission to ofifice or degrees in * Tliey regarded this as an insult to their religion ; since a Hindoo may not touch cow's fat ; or a Mohammedan, lard. 588 THE NIKETEENTH CENTUKY. [1870. the universities were abolished ; in 1870, an Educational Bill provided for the establishment of school boards in every district and the support of schools by taxation. III. GERMANY. Germanic Confederation. — The Holy Eoman Empire came to an end in 1806 — 1006 years after Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne at Eome. Upon Napoleon's downfall, it was hoped that the ancient empire would be restored. The patri- otic struggle for liberty had welded the petty nationalities, and the people did not wish their restoration. But, instead, the Congress of Vienna formed a German Confederation of thirty-nine states. A permanent diet was to sit at Frank- fort-on-Main, Austria having the presidency. Prussia, through the liberality of the Congress of Vienna, received back all the territory she had lost by the con- fiscations of Napoleon, and, in addition, Swedish Pomera- nia, the Ehinelands, and a part of Saxony. She was once more a great power, with an area of one hundred thousand square miles and a population of ten million people. The Holy Alliance (1815). — The sovereigns of Kussia, Austria, and Prussia, after their triumph in 1815, formed a compact, agreeing ^' to regulate their conduct by the precepts of the Gospel," and also, as is generally believed from their subsequent conduct, to aid one another in suppressing the principles of liberty aroused by the French Eevolution. The Demand for Freedom and Unity. — The princes in the Confederation promised to grant their people con- stitutions, but most of them forgot the agreement (p. 565). They generally opposed uniou and sought to crush its rising spirit in the universities. The questions of liberty and union were so blended, however, that in many minds the only thought was which should first be secured. Quite a step was 1838.J GERMANY 589 THE ROYAL PALACE AT BERLIN. taken by Prussia's gradually becoming, after 1828^, the center of the ZoUverem, a commercial union between the German states which agreed to levy customs at a common frontier. The Revolution of '48 in France roused the German people anew to demand ''^freedom of speech, liberty of the press, and a constitutional government." The Teutonic love of freedom blazed forth in all the great cities. Various im- portant reforms had been instituted in Prussia, but a conflict now broke out in the streets of Berlin, and several persons were killed; whereupon, Frederick William IV. (Table, p. 526) put himself forward as the leader of the movement for Ger- man unity ; the army stood firm for the crown ; finally, a new constitution with a limited suffrage was granted the people, and order was re-established. In Austria, on the contrary, repression and arbitrary measures had been adopted, through the influence of Phnce Metternich — the avowed friend of despotism. At Vienna, 590 THE KIN ETEENTH CENTURY. [1848. an uprising, headed by the students, drove Metternich into exile, and such was the confusion that the emperor Ferdinand sought safety in flight. * The excesses of the revolutionists, however, destroyed all hope of success. Ferdinand now abdi- cated in favor of his neiDhew, Francis Joseph. In Hungary, the insurrection was more serious. Kossuth was the soul of the rev- olution. Austria was finally obliged to call in the Eussians. An Aus- tro-Russian army of four hundred thousand, un- der the infamous Hay- nau (known in history as the "Hangman'^), entered Hungary and wreaked its vengeance on the hapless patriots. The surrender of the traitor Gorgey, with his entire army, ended the fruitless struggle. Kos- suth gave himself up to the Turks; he lay in prison until 1851, when he was set free by the intervention of the United States and England. War with Denmark (1864). — Bismarck, the Prussian minister, induced Austria to join Prussia in wresting from Denmark the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The division of the plunder so easily acquired caused renewed bitterness between the two rival countries. PORTRAIT OF COUNT BISMARCK. * "T want obedient subjects," said the emperor to the students at Laybach, "and not men of learning." 1866.] GERMANY. ;9i Seven-Weeks War (180G).— Tlie jealousy between Prussia and Austria for the leadership in Germany, thus ag- gravated, continued, and Bismarck openly declar- ed that it could be settled only by " blood and iron." Excuses were easily found, and, in 1866, Prussia and Italy de- clared war against Aus- tria. In Italy, the Aus- trians were successful, but the Prussians — armed with the needle- gun, a new breech-load- ing rifle — routed the Austrians at Saclowa,^ and conquered the Peace of Prague. Austria was forever shut out of Ger- many, besides paying a large indemnity for the expenses of the war. The North German Confederation was now organized. The Northern states were thus joined under the pr(5sidency of Prussia, with a common constitution and assembly. The South German states — Baden, Bavaria, and Wiirtemberg — remained independent. Union of Germany. — When the French war broke out, the South German states joined Prussia, and the Crown Prince commanded their united army of over a million men. PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM, KING OF PRUSSIA. * When the king and the crown prince met on the field aftor the battle, the army struck up the same old choral hymn, " Now let all hearts thank God," that the troops of Frederick the Great sung after the victory of Lenthen (p, 530). 692 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. [1871. The enthusiasm of the struggle developed the national senti- ment. With victory, came a fresh desire for union. Finally, during the siege of Paris, in the hall of Louis XIV., in the Palace of Versailles, King William was proclaimed Emperor of Germany (Jan. 18, 1871). The word Germany at last meant something more than "a mere geographical expression." Austria, after the Seven-Weeks War, granted the long- needed reforms. Hungary was given a constitution; in 1867, Francis Joseph was crowned king ; and Hungary has thenceforth been distinct, though united under the Austro- Hungarian monarchy. IV. ITALY. 1815 to 1848. — The history of Italy during this period is one of chronic insurrection. The Congress of Vienna left the people enslaved and divided. The dream of a restored nationality, nearly realized under Napoleon, was rudely dis- pelled; the old separations were renewed; the old tyrants were reseated. Once more, Austrian despotism hung like a mill- stone about the neck of the nation. The Carbonari (char- coal-burners), a secret society formed to resist Bourbon op- pression, numbered in Italy over a half -million members, with branches in other countries. An organization, known as Young Italy, was formed by Mazzini, an Italian refugee, who first advanced the idea of a united, free Italy. Besides open revolts, there were secret plots, while assassinations were only too frequently perpetrated in the name of liberty. But Aus- tria was strong enough, not only to hold her own possessions of Lombardy and Venice, but also to keep her creatures upon their thrones in the small states, and to crush the republican movement throughout the peninsula. There was one hope- ful sign. In the kingdom of Sardinia, where Charles Albert began to reign in 1831, a spirit of nationality prevailed. 1848.] ITALY. m Revolution of '48.— The example of the French and (he German patriots roused the Italians to a new struggle. Mi- lan and Venice rose in arms. Charles Albert raised the ban- ner against Austria. For a time, nearly all Northern Italy was relieved from the Hapsburg yoke. But the patriot triumph was short. The Austrians gained so decisive a vic- tory at Mvara (1849) that the broken-hearted Sardinian king resigned his crown to his son Victor Emmanuel II. Pope Pius IX. was the friend of the liberals, and had gi-anted many rights to the people, but their demands in- creased during this re- publican year, and he finally fled from Rome. That city was then de- clared a republic, and Mazzini was elected chief of the Triumvirs, or mag- istrates. But, strangely enough, the French Re- public espoused the cause of the Austrians and, though Garibaldi — the *^Hero of the red shirt," bravely defended Rome, it was carried by storm. The pope came back as an absolute ruler, and a French garrison was placed m the city. By the close of 1849, the insurrection had been crushed out everywhere, and tyranny seemed triumphant. But, in Sar- dinia, Victor Emmanuel maintained a constitutional govern- ment, and, more and more, men began to look to him as the champion of Italian freedom. He kept his word to his people, who called him the " Honest King." In 1853, PORTRAIT OF GARIBALDI. 594 THE NINETEEITTH CEKTURY, [1859. Count Cavour, an ardent and wise friend of Italian unity, became his prime minister. He induced Emmanuel to win the good-will of France and England by helping them in the Crimean war. Accordingly, the alhed powers remonstrated with Ferdinand for his cruel rule in Italy, and, finally, France and Sardinia joined in a War against Austria (1859). — Napoleon himself took the field. The combined French and Sardinian forces won the brilliant victories of Magenta and 8olferino. Napoleon had promised *^to make Italy free from the Ticino to the Adriatic," and he seemed about to keep his word. But Prus- sia threatened to take the part of Austria, and Napoleon, without consulting Emmanuel, concluded the Peace ofVilla- franca. Lombardy was ceded to Sardinia. Soon after, Nice and Savoy were annexed to France. Tuscany, Modena, Par- ma, and Romagua, by a popular vote, became subject to Sardinia. Thus, by the help of France, nine million people were added to this kingdom — the hope of Italy. Freedom of Sicily and Naples.— And now events moved on rapid- ly. The people of Na- ples and Sicily groaned under the cruel Bour- bon rule. Garibaldi, is- PORTRAIT OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. suing from his rocky re- treat of Caprera, landed at Marsala in Sicily, proclaiming himself dictator for Emmanuel. Palermo and Messina [1860. ITALY. 595 quickly fell into his hands, and, crossing to the mainland, he entered Naples in triumpli. The people of Naples and Sicily now joined themselves to Sardinia. THE FRENCH ARMY OCCUPYING THE CASTLE OF ST. /u^GiiLU. United Italy. — EmmanueFs control was thus extended over all Italy, excej^t the Austrian province of Venctia and the city of Eome, which the French held for the pope. The first Italian parliament met at Tunn in 18G1, and there Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed king of Italy. Count Ca- Tour died shortly after, but his policy of brtnging his coun- try into European politics quickly bore fruit. As the result of Italy's joining the war between Austria and Prussia (1860), she got back Venice and Verona. Finally, during the struggle between France and Germany (1870), Napoleon called home the French troops from Piome, and Victor Emmanuel took possession of the Eternal City. The pope ceased to be a temporal prince, though he retained his spiritual power. 596 THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY. V. TURKEY. The Progress of the Turks continued after the fall of Constantinople. Mohammed II. overthrew Greece and threatened Italy. Bosnia and Albania were annexed. The Crimea was wrested from the Genoese. Hungary was re- peatedly invaded. Twice, Vienna itself was besieged. All south-eastern Europe was finally conquered, save where the Montenegrins held their mountain fastnesses. Selim I., Mohammed II. 's grandson, extended his dominion over Mesopotamia, Assyria, Syria, and Egypt. The reign of Solyman, his son, marked the acme of the Turkish power (p. 436). The battle of Lepanto (1571), in which the combined fleets of Spain, Venice, Genoa, and the Pope, under Don John of Austria, destroyed the Turkish fleet, was the turning-point in the Ottoman progress. From that time, Poland, Hun- gary, and Austria, steadily drove back the hated infidel. Finally, the rise of Russia in the 18th century gave the Turk a new enemy. Peter the Great dreamed of making the Black Sea a Russian lake, and, ever since, the avowed determi- nation of Russiar has been the conquest of the effete nation that alone shuts off the mighty northern empire from the Mediterranean. The integrity of Turkey, however, has been, of late, a cardinal principle in European diplomacy. England especially, through jealousy of Russia's power in India, has supported the Sultan. Were it not for English interference, the remaining four millions of people upon whom there fell, at the beginning of Modern history, the calamity of Turkish conquest,* would ere this have achieved * " The system of organized robbery which is known in Europe by the name of the Turkish government has changed into a wilderness one of the fairest regions of the world. Population, in spite of the amazing wealth of the soil, is steadily declin- ing, and has already sunk to less than one-third of its numbers under the Romans. GREECE. 597 their freedom, and the unwelcome, barbarous Moslem in- truders into Europe would have been finally expelled. It is a hopeful sign that, after the last war between Turkey and Eussia, the Berlin Treaty (1878), negotiated by the Great Powers, forced the Porte to give up vast provinces and grant religious toleration. VI. GREECE. Greece endured the hateful Turkish bondage for nearly four hundred years. Every rising for freedom was crushed with terrible cruelty. In the year 1821, however, the spirit of liberty flamed into inextinguishable revolt. Many Eng- lishmen — among whom Lord Byron, the poet, is most re- nowned — took sides with this heroic people. The beautiful island of Scio was laid waste by the Ottomans (1822) ; and, the next year, the Suliote patriot, Marco Bozzaris, during a night attack upon the enemy's camp, fell in the moment of victory. In this desperate contest of years, one-half of the population is said to have perished, and large tracts of land were reduced to a desert. The Turks now called the Egyp- tians to their help, and Greece seemed likely to be over- whelmed. Finally, England, Russia, and France formed a league to So powerfully does the increasing depolation affect the mind, that recent travelers have expressed the apprehension that the human race must become extinct in the Ottoman dominions. Enormous tracts, which formerly supported in comfort a numerous population, are now abandoned. The once populous land is covered with ruins, often hid from view by the rank vegetation of the fertile wilderness. Between Angora and Constantinople, forty or fifty villages have become extinct during the present century. Toward Smyrna, two hundred villages have been forsaken since the middle of last century. Smyrna itself has declined in thirty years from eighty thousand inhabitants to forty-one thousand. During the present century, Candia has sunk from fifty thousand inhabitants to ten thousand. A traveler in the north- em portions of the empire found, in a ride of seventy miles through what he re- garded as an earthly paradise, not so much as a single inhabitant. Approaching Constantinople from the north, one rides almost to the gates of the city without any trace of a road through wild grass which reaches to the horse's girths. Nine-tenths of Mesopotamia lie unused by man. In the rich provinces of Moldavia and Walla- chia only one-twentieth of the soil is cultivated. Never has the goodness of Provi- dence been so utterly frustrated, during long centuries, by the vileness of man." 598 THE NIJ^ETEENTH CENTUEY. aid the Hellenes in this unequal struggle. Their combined fleets destroyed the Turkish and Egyptian fleets in the bay of Navarino — the old Pylos (1827). The French troops drove the Egyptians out of the Peloponnesus. So, at last, the land of Plato and Pericles was free again. VII. THE NETHERLANDS. The Netherlands, after Louis abdicated the throne, was annexed by Napoleon to France. In 1813, the people threw off the French yoke and recalled the House of Orange to the government. The Congress of Vienna united the northern and the southern provinces. The Belgians, however, disliked the Hollanders, and a spark from the French Revolution of 1830, falling among this restive people, kindled the flame of insurrection. The independence of Belgium was declared, and Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was called to the throne. VIII. JAPAN. The Ruling Dynasty of Japan boasts of an unbroken succession during twenty-five centuries. Its founder, their chronicles assert, was Jimmu, from whom the present Mikado, , or emperor, is the one hundred and twenty-third in direct descent. The assumed date of Jimmu's ascension (660 B. c.) is styled the year 1 of the Japanese era.* In the sixth century A.D., Buddhism was introduced (through Corea) from China ; •with it came the Asiatic civilization. A stream of skilled V -artisans, scholars, teachers, and missionaries, poured into \ the country, and, thenceforth, the Japanese character was molded by the same forces that gave to the Celestial em- • pire its peculiar features. The Shogun, or Tycoon, the commander-in-chief of the * This chronology would make Jimmu a contemporary of the Assyrian monarch Asshur-bani-pal (p. 49), JAPAN". 599 army, acquired in 1192 the entire control of political allairs, the Mikado retaining only the religious supremacy and the symbols of royalty. Under this dual form of government, there grew up a feudal system, the military leaders, or daimios, securing land in fief, erecting castles, and supi)ort- ing a host of retainers. This relic of the Middle Ages lasted until 18G8, when a revolution restored the Mikado to su])rome power, destroyed the Shogun's rule, and abolislied the feudal titles and tenures. At the command of the Mikado, two hun- dred and fifty vassal nobles, resigning their princely incomes, lands, and retinues, retired to private life. The Portuguese, during the era of maritime adventure in the sixteenth century, came to Japan. The missionary quickly followed the sailor. Francis Xavier, the apostle to the Indies, introduced Christianity (15-49), and, in time, six hundred thousand converts were made. This second influx of foreign civilization was stopped by the expulsion of the Portuguese and a violent persecution of the Christian Japan- ese. The history of the church in Europe presents no more devoted faith or heroic constancy than were shown by the martyrs of this bloody period. The Dutch alone were allowed a residence upon an island in the harbor of Nagasaki, and to exchange a single ship-load of merchandise per year. Commodore Perry, with a squadron of United States vessels, entered the harbor of Yokahama (1854). He made a treaty with Japan and secured the opening of certain ports to our trade. Since then, the third foreign wave has swept over the Sun-land. Successive commercial treaties have been made. The former exclusiveness has been broken down, old ideas have been uprooted, and the nation has been thrust into the path of modern civilization. In 1875, the Mikado established a senate ; in 1878, he inaugurated provincial and depart- mental assemblies; and, in 1881, he promised to convoke in ^00 THE NINETEEl^^TH CEKTURT. 1890 a national congress. Thus, in Japan, a single genera- tion will witness governmental changes that required in Europe centuries to perfect. READING REFERENCES. For vmTcs on the French Revolution, seep. 558.—Muller's History of Recent Times, translated by Peters {commended to all as an excellent resume of General History from 1816-'81).— McCarthy's Epoch of Reform {Epochs of History Series).- GHffith's The Mikado's EmrAre. -McCarthy's History of Our Own Times. -Einglake's Invasion of the Crimea.— Hunt's History of Italy {Freeman's Historical Course).— May's Con- stitxdional History of England {especially valuable in its account of reforms).— Mac- kenzie's The Nineteenth Century. -Wnghtson's History of Modern Italy, 1815-'50.- Felion's Ancient and Modem Greece. THE FOUR CLASSES OF JAPANESE SOCIETY— MILITARY, AGRICULTURAL, LABORING, AND MERCANTILE. (From a Drawing by a Native Artist.) APPENDIX ^^HE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, as reckoned by the X Greeks, were The Egyptian Pyramids, The Temple, Walls and Hanging-garden of Babylon, The Greek Statue of Jupiter at Olympia, The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, The Pharos at Alexandria, and The Colossus of Rhodes. All but the last three have already been described. The Maicsoleiim was a monument erected by Artemisia, Queen of Caria (b. c. 353), to her deceased husband Mausolus. It was built of the most precious marbles, and decorated in the highest style of Grecian art. Its cost was so immense that the philosopher Anaxagoras on seeing it, exclaimed " How much money is changed into stone !" Not a vestige of it now remains. The Pharos was a light-house built by the first two Ptolemies on the isle of Pharos. The wrought stone of which it was constructed was adorned with columns, balustrades, etc., of the finest marble. The tower, protected by a sea-wall, stood four hundred and fifty feet high, and its light could be seen for one hundred miles. The Colossus of Rhodes was a brazen statue of Apollo, one hundred and five feet high, standing with extended feet on the two moles form- ing the Rhodian harbor. It was overthrown by an earthquake (224 B.C.). The Delphic oracle having forbade its re-erection, it lay in ruins for nine centuries, when it was sold by the Saracens to a Jew, who loaded nine hundred camels with the metal. The Seven Wise Men were variously named even in Greece. The following translation of a Grecian doggerel gives one version : " I'll tell the names and sayings and the places of their birth Of the Seven great ancient Sages, so renowned on Grecian earth. The Lindian Cleobulus said, ' The man was still the best '; The Spartan Chilo^ ' Know thyself,' a heaven-born phrase confessed ; Corinthian Periander taught ' Our anger to command '; 'Too much of nothing,' Pittacus^ from Mitylene's strand : Athenian Solon this advised, ' Look to the end of life '; And Bias from Pnene showed ' Bad men are the most rife '; Milesian Thales urged that ' None should e'er a surety be '; Few were these words, but, if you look, you'll much in little see." — Collins' s A ncient Classics. HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. ANCIENT PEOPLES. 1. How did a workman's scribble, made thousands of years ago, preserve a royal name and link it to a monument ? 2. What king ordered the sea to be whipped because the waves had injured his bridges? . f. Who among the Ancients were the greatest sailors ? Who had a religious horror of the sea? 4. What kings took a pet lion when they went to war? Who once took cats and dogs ? Who used elephants in battle? Camels? Scythed chariots? 5. What is the oldest book in the world ? 6. Compare the character of an Egyptian and an Assyrian. An Egyptian and a Chinaman. A Babylonian and a Persian. 7. What king was so overwhelmed by his successes that he prayed for a reverse ? 8. What Roman emperor gave up his throne to enjoy his cabbage- garden ? g. What emperor once convened the senate to decide how to cook a fish? 10. Who gained a kingdom by the neighing of a horse ? 11. Who is the oldest literary critic on record ? 12. What was the " Dispensary of the Soul "? y,, 13. Who was the "Egyptian Alexander the Great"? WftrArA>^--Wr^ 14. What statue was reported to sing at sunrise ? • Diaaa^^/V.i5. Which of the earliest races is noted for intellectual vigor? For \4^ji religious fervor ? • For massive architecture ? 16. What is the "Book of the Dead"? The Zend Avesta ? The Epic of Pentaur? The Rig-Veda? 17. Who had a palace at Nimroud ? At Koyunjik ? At Khorsabad ? At Persepolis? At Luxor? At Karnak ? At Susa ? 18. Compare the character of a Spartan and an Athenian. A Roman and a Greek. 19. What people made the intoxication of their king an annual display ? 20. What city was called the " Daughter of Sidon and the Mother of Carthage"? What was the "School of Greece"? The "Eye of Greece"? The "Seven-hilled City"? 21. What king had a servant remind him three times a day of a proposed vengeance ? ' / jJi 22. Who fought and who won the battle of Marathon? Plataea? Thermopylae? Salamis? Himera? Mycale? 23. Who were the Cyclops ? HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. iii 24. Where and when were iron rings used as currency? Gold and silver rings ? Engraved gems ? 25. Who was Asshurbanipal ? Tiglath-Pilcser ? Khufu? Seti? Asshur-izir-pal? Sennacherib? Cyrus? Cambyses ? 26. Which, do you think, was the most religious nation? The most warlike ? The most patient ? The most intellectual ? The most artistic ? 27, Where were animals worshipped? The sun? The planets ? The elements? Vegetables? The Evil Spirit ? 28. Who built the Great Wall of China? The Great Pyramid? The Labyrinth ? 29. How were women treated in Egypt? In Assyria? In Persia? In Athens? In Sparta? In Rome? 30. Who was Buddha? Sebak ? Pasht? Thoth ? Bel? Ishtar? Moloch? Asshur? Ormazd ? Nin? Nergal ? Baal? 31. How many Assyrian and Babylonian kings can you mention who bore the names of gods ? 32. How did a Babylonian gentleman compliment the gods? 33. What does the word Pharaoh or Phrah mean? Ans. According to some authorities it means the sun, from the Egyptian " ph-Ra"; by others it is derived from " pe-raa," ^ra//^ hoicse, a title corresponding to our "Sublime Porte." 34. Who was the Religious Conqueror? 35. What were the Pools of Peace? The realms of Hades? 36. Who was Ching Wang? Nebuchadnezzar? Darius? The Last of the Ptolemies? 37. Who was the "False Smerdis"? 38. What besieged king burned himself with his palace? 39. What city was captured by changing the course of a river ?i^4^'J**^* 40. What nations believed in the transmigration of souls? 41. When was the Eraof Nabonassar? The First Olympiad ? The Age of Pericles? 42. What famous story is related of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi ? 43. Mention the ornaments worn by gentlemen in ancient times. 44. Who was the real Sardanapalus? Sesostris? 45. What religion teaches that the vilest insects and even the seeds of plants have souls? 46. What poem is called the Egyptian Iliad ? 47. What Roman emperor resembled Louis XI of France in character ? 48. Who was Herodotus? Manetho? Thucydides ? Livy? Xeno- phon? Tacitus? Sallust ? Caesar? 49. What is meant by " Seceding to the Sacred Mount "? iv HISTORICAL RECREATIOKS. 50. What great war was begun through helping some pirates? 51. What nation considered theft a virtue? 52. What Greek was called by Solon " A bad imitation of Ulysses "' 53. What was the original meaning oi slave? Oi tyrant? 54. Who sculptured the famous Niobe Group? 55. What are the " Elgin Marbles"? 56. Who were the " Lost Tribes "? 57. A great king married the " Pearl of the East." Who was he ? Who was she? Why did he marry her? 58. Who were the Perioeki? The Helots? The Spartans? The Dorians? The lonians? The Hellenes? 59. What is meant by " Taking Egerean Counsel "? 60. What was the Amphictyonic Council ? The Council of the Elders? The Court of Areopagus? 61. Name the principal battles of the Persian Wars. The Punic Wars. 62. Who engaged in the Messenian Wars ? 63. What were the Seven Wonders of the World ? 64. Name the Seven Wise Men with their mottoes. 65. What Roman emperor amused himself by spearing flies? 66. Who were the " Five Good Emperors" of Rome? 67. Name the most important Egyptian kings. What can you tell about them ? 68. Describe the ceremonies of the Magi. 6g. What priest wore a leopard skin as a badge of office? 70. What is the Rosetta Stone ? The Behistun Inscription ? 71. Describe the Homa ceremony. 72. What was the Apis? " The Lights"? 73. Tell what you can of the Memnonium. The Colosseum. The Ramesseum. The Colossus of Rhodes. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. 74. Who was the greatest builder among the Pharaohs? 75. What country forbade its priests to wear woolen undergarments? 76. Compare the dress and ceremonies of an Egyptian priest and a Roman flamen. 77. Where was the Parthenon ? The Palace of the Csesars ? The Erechtheium? The "Temple of the Sphinx"? 78. What people had no sacred books? 79. Who were the greatest borrowers among the Ancients? 80. What is the difference between hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing? What peoples used them ? 81. What people used to write on the shoulder-bones of animals? 82. Mention all the writing implements you can remember and the peoples who used them. HISTORICAL RECREATION'S. V 83. Who was Pindar ? Simonides ? Horace? Sap[)lio ? Hesiod ? Anacreon ? 84. When was an army driven with whips to an assault? 85. Who was " Little Boot"? 86. Give the origin of the word Vandal. 87. How did a ray from the setting sun once save a city? 88. What king sat on a marble throne while reviewing his army? 89. What emperor once lighted his grounds with burning Chris- tians ? 90. What people wore a golden grasshopper as a head-ornament ? What did it signify ? 91. Describe the Alexandrian Museum and Library. 92. What was the Athenian Lyceum ? The Academy ? 93. What Greek philosopher kept a drug-store in Athens ? 94. Describe the building of a pyramid. , 95. What is the oldest account of the Creation and Fall of Man ? The oldest story of the Deluge ? 96. How many great men can you name who died in prison ? Who were assassinated ? Who voluntarily committed suicide ? Who were sentenced by law to kill themselves ? 97. In what country was the eating of a fried fish a religious cere- mony? 98. What king began his reign by glorifying his father, and ended it by erasing his father's name from the temple walls and substituting his own ? 99. Mention the twelve great Grecian gods with their attributes. 100. What was the kinship of Isis, Osiris, and Horus, according to Egyptian mythology ? loi. Where did people ride on a seat strapped between two donkeys ? 102. What great Greek philosopher was an oil speculator ? 103. Who were the Cynics ? 104. Describe a Chaldean home. 105. What people buried their dead in stone jars ? Who embalmed their dead ? Who buried them in honey ? Who exposed them to wild beasts ? Who burned them ? Who covered them with wax before burial ? Who made feasts for them ? 106. Describe the education of an Egyptian boy. A Persian boy. 107. Who were the •' Ten-Thousand Immortals "? 108. Describe a Persian military march. 109. Who invented the alphabet ? no. What happened in an Egyptian house when a cat died ? A dog? III. Describe an Assyrian lion-hunt. VI HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. 112. What nation excelled in sculptured bas-relief? In brick- enameling ? In bronze and marble statuary ? In gem-cutting ? 113. Compare Egyptian and Assyrian art. Religion. Literature. 114. Describe an Assyrian royal banquet. A Persian banquet of wine. 115. What national architecture was distinguished by pyramids and obelisks? By tall, slender pillars and elaborate staircases? 116. What nations built their houses on high platforms ? T17. Describe the education of a Spartan boy. An Athenian. A Roman. 118. How did the Assyrians go to war? 119. Who was called the " Third Founder of Rome"? 120. How many times in Roman history was the Temple of Janus closed ? Ans. Eight* 121. What city was entitled " The Eldest Daughter of the Empire "? 122. Who boasted that grass never grew where his horse had trodden ? 123. What did Europe gain by the battle of Chalons ? 124. Describe a Macedonian phalanx. 125. Who were the " Tragic Trio " of Greece ? The Historical Trio ? 126. What people covered the mouth of their dead with gold-leaf? Who provided their dead with money to pay their fare across the River Styx ? Who furnished them with dates for refreshment in the Spirit- world ? 127. Describe the stationery of the Egyptians. The Assyrians and Babylonians. The Persians. The Greeks and Romans. 128. Who made the first discovery of an Assyrian monument? 129. What people used second-hand coffins ? 130. What nation cased the beams of their palaces with bronze ? Who overlaid them with silver and gold ? 131. What modern archaeologist claims to have discovered the remains of Ancient Troy? Where were Cesnola's discoveries made? 132. How did Rameses II and Asshurbanipal resemble each other ? 13^. Describe the contents and one of the regulations of Asshur- banipal's library. 134. Who is your favorite Greek ? Your favorite Roman ? 135. What people loaded the roofs of their houses with earth as a protection from sun and rain ? Who had roof-gardens ? [In Italy and in the East roof-gardens are still common.] 136. When and where were bronze and iron used for jewelry? 137. In what country was it considered disreputable for a gentleman to walk the streets without a cane ? 138. In what country did gentlemen wear cylinders on their wrists ? For what did they use them ? HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. Vii 139. How did the views of the Greeks and the Persians differ in regard to fire and cremation ? 140. Describe an Egyptian funeral. A Greek. A Roman. 141. Who sowed corn over newly-made graves? 142. Describe an Egyptian nobleman's home. 143. Compare ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. 144. Who was Aristophanes? Menander? Plautus ? Terence? Lucian ? 145. What people entertained a mummy as a guest at parties? 146. Who were the Sargonidx? Sassanidae? Seleucidae ? Alc- maeonidae ? Heraclidae ? 147. Name the great men of the Age of Pericles. Of the Augustan Age. 148. Describe a Theban dinner-party. A Greek symposium. A Roman banquet. 149. How did an Egyptian fight? An Assyrian ? A Babylonian? A Persian ? A Greek ? A Roman ? 150. Name the principal battles before the time of Christ. 151. Describe a Spartan home. An Athenian, A Roman, 152. What Eg)^ptian king changed the course of a river in order to found a city ? 153. Describe the Magian rites. 154. Tell what you can of a Roman Vestal. 155. Who were the Three Graces? Three Fates? Three Hes- perides ? Three Harpies? Three Gorgons ? Three Furies? 156. Describe the Nine Muses. 157. For what was the Pnyx celebrated ? The Areopagus ? 158. In what country was it considered unamiable for a wife to refuse to wear her husband's clothes ? 159. What philosopher is said to have lived in a tub ? 160. What kind of table-napkins did the Greeks use ? 161. Who was the "Blind Bard"? The "Poet of the Helots"? The " Lame, old Schoolmaster "? The " Lesbian Nightingale "? The *' Theban Eagle "? The " Attic Bee "? The " Mantuan Bard "? 162. Who was called the " Light of Mankind "? 163. What poets dropped their shield in battle and ran from danger? 164. How many Greek poets can you name ? Latin poets ? 165. What were the " Four Great Schools of Philosophy"? 166. A great philosopher, when burlesqued in a famous play, mounted a bench that the audience might compare him with his ridic- ulous counterpart. Who was he ? Who wrote the play ? Were they friends ? 167. In what city was cock-and-quail fighting enjoined by law as an instructive exhibition ? Vlll HIS-TORICAL RECREATIONS. .. . i68. What Greek poet likened himself to a porcupine? 169. Who was Confucius? Lycurgus? Draco? -^sop? Solon? 170. Describe the peculiar tactics that decided the battle of Mara- thon. Leuctra. Chseronea. Cannae. 171. What were the Philippics ? 172. What great poets were linked with the battle of Salamis ? 173. Where, and as a reward for what, was a wreath of olive con- ferred ? Of parsley ? Of laurel ? Of pine ? 174. What great orator was given a golden crown for his public services 175. What were the Eleusinian mysteries? What great poet is connected with them ? 176. What was a Greek trilogy? 177. Who wrote a history named after the Nine Muses? 178. Who was Phidippides ? Cleisthenes? Leonidas ? Pausanias? 179. Compare the style of Xenophon and of Thucydides. 180. Who was the first authenticated " reporter"? 181. What philosopher was tried for atheism because he believed in One great God ? 182. Tell what you can of Pythagoras. Socrates. Plato. Aristotle. Zeno. 183. Who was Cimon ? Pericles ? Aristides ? Themistocles ? 184. Who was Mardonius ? Xerxes ? Miltiades ? 185. Describe a Babylonian wedding. A Greek wedding. A Roman wedding. 186. Describe the Panathenaia. The Feast of Dionysos. 187. Compare the Babylonian Sacees and the Roman Saturnalia. 188. Who were Hippias and Hipparchus ? Who was Pisistratus? 189. Who was Cleopatra ? Mark Antony ? Brutus ? Pompey ? 190. What great philosopher was born the year that Pericles died ? 191. What great historian died in the year of the " Retreat of the Ten Thousand "? 192. Who formed the " First Triumvirate "? The Second ? 193. In what siege did the women braid their long hair into bow- strings ? 194. Who were the Seven Sages ? 195. How did Hannibal lose an eye ? 196. On what field did the Macedonian phalanx fight its last battle ? 197. What was the characteristic of the first two centuries of the Roman republic ? 198. How did the phrase " Romans and Quirites" arise? 199. Describe a triumphal entrance into Rome. 200. What were the Laws of the Twelve Tables ? 201. Tell the story of the " Rape of the Sabines." HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. IX 202. Who refused a gift of land because he already possessed seven acres ? 203. How did Hannibal once outwit Fabius? 204. Tell the story of the capture of Rome by the Gauls. 205. In what battle was a bushel of gold rings a part of the spoils ? 206. In what year did Nineveh fall ? Babylon ? 207. During what battle did an earthquake occur without being noticed by the combatants ? 20S. What province was left to the Romans by will ? 209. What mathematician was killed in the midst of a problem ? 210. Who was Pliny the Younger's dearest friend ? 211. What famous general sat amid the ruins of a great city and quoted Homer? 212. What warriors trimmed their hair on the eve of a battle? 213. Distinguish between the different Scipios. The two Catos. The two Plinys. 214. What poet was commemorated by the statue of a drunken old man ? 215. What general declared that the greatest joy he had in a victory was the pleasure his success would give to his parents ? 216. What emperor boasted that he found his capital of brick and left it of marble ? 217. What emperor wore a toga woven by his wife and daughters? 218. Who were Alexander's favorite artists ? Who was his tutor? 219. What was the Roman Poor Law ? 220. How many Roman emperors were murdered? How many committed suicide ? How many died a natural death ? 221. In what country were fat men suspected ? 222. What battle ended the Roman republic ? 223. What great philosopher died the same year with Demosthenes ? Which was the elder ? 224. Describe " A Day in Rome." A Roman home. 225. Describe the different modes of publishing books in ancient times. 226. When was the Era of Martyrs ? Of the Thirty Tyrants ? 227. What king had the title "Conqueror of Babylon" inscribed upon his signet-ring ? 228. Describe a morning in Nineveh. 229. Tell something connected with Mt. Olympus. Mt. Parnassus. Mt. Hymettus. Mt. Sinai. Mt. Pentelicus. 230. How did his Roman citizenship help St. Paul ? 231. When did elephants win a battle ? 232. When did the Grecians fight in Italy? 233. Who were the road-builders of antiquity? X HISTORICAL RECREATION'S. 234. Show how the struggle of each petty Grecian state for autonomy prevented the unity and prosperity of Greece. 235. Compare the personal rights of man among the ancients with those that he enjoys among the Christian nations of to-day. 236. Describe the mode of Rome's growth as a nation. 237. What was the character of Rome's government over her provinces ? 238. Under what emperor did all the provincials acquire Roman citizenship ? 239. Explain the expression : Chaeronea was the coffin, as Marathon was the cradle, of Hellenic liberty. 240. What was the origin of the word Politics? Pagan? 241. Who first used the expression, " Delenda est Carthago "? 242. Narrate the circumstances of the death of Archimedes. 243. Describe the three popular assemblies of Rome. 244. How did the R'omans procure a model for the ships of their first fleet? 245. What hostile general once threw a javelin over the walls of Rome? 246. Who said, "It is easier t6 turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from the path of honor "? 247. Tell the story of Lucretia. Virginia. Horatius Codes. Mucins. Romulus and Remus. Coriolanus. Cincinnatus. Camillus. Marcus Manlius. Quintus Curtius. Decius. Caius Pontius. 248. Name the twelve Caesars. 249. For what is the date 146 B. c. noted ? 250. Describe the funeral of a Roman emperor. HISTORICAL RECREATIOi^S. XI HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. MEDIEVAL, AND MODERN PEOPLES. 1. On a monument of Canova's in St. Peter's is inscribed the fol- lowing names of British sovereigns — James III., Charles III., and Henr}- IX. Who were they ? 2. Who was the " Snow King"' The " Winter King " ? 3. We read, in the history of France, of the " Constitution of the Year III."; the "Constitution of the Year VIII."; the " Revolution of the iSth Brumaire"; the " Revolution of the iSth Fructidor," etc. Explain. 4. A historian says, " Morgarten was the Marathon of Switzer- land." Explain. 5. What great war was waging in Europe during our War of 1812? 6. Vv^ho %vas said to be the " First man in Europe and the second in France "? 7. In what great emergency did the Dutch propose to imitate the Athenians? 8. Compare Cardinals Wolsey and Richelieu. 9. It is said the " Duke of Guise under Henry III. threatened to be another Pepin to a second Childeric." Explain. 10. Who were the " Sea Beggars"? 11. Who was the " Nephew of his uncle "? 12. Name the revolutions in France since 1789. 13. What names of kings are common to England, France, and Germany ? 14. What name is confined to England ? France ? Germany ? Russia? 15. Which was the most illustrious Henry of England? France? Germany ? 16. What woman was the prime-mover in the massacre of St. Bar- tholomew ? 17. What English king had six wives? 18. What English king assumed the title of King of France? 19. Compare the Charleses of England with those of France. 20. How many kings ruled in England during the reign of Louis XIV.? 21. What was the difference between the titles " King of the Ro- mans " and ''Emperor of Germany"? 22. What German king kept an English king in prison until ran- somed ? Xii HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. 23. Name the German emperors who led an army into Italy. 24. Who was the *' First Gentleman in Europe"? 25. Who was the " Little man in red stockings "? 26. When did Russia first meddle in the affairs of western Europe? 27. Which is the oldest nation in Europe? The youngest? 28. Who was the " Last of the Tribunes"? 2g. Who was the " Madman of the North "? 30. What Stuart sovereign did not meet a tragical end ? 31. What high office did Wolsey hope to secure ? 32. Who was the " Silent One "? 33. What was the Babylonish Captivity? 34. Who was the " First of the Stuarts "? 35. Name the different World's Fairs, 36. What were the so-called Reform Banquets ? 37. Who was the " Conqueror of Crecy "? 38. Describe the Revolutions of 1848 in the different countries of Europe. 39. What three English kings, each the third of his name, reigned over fifty years ? 40. When did France have a crazy king? England ? 41. Who was the first of the Norman Kings to die in England ? 42. Who was the " Merry Monarch"? 43. State the time, the cause, and the result upon Prussia, of the Seven- Years War. The Seven-Months War, The Seven-Weeks War, 44. Who was the " Conqueror of Blenheim "? 45. The Scots termed the Pretender, "James VIIL" Explain. 46. What corresponding financial bubbles were blown in England and in France early in the i8th century ? 47. Who was the " Great Commoner "? 48. Explain the sentence in Macaulay's History: "Hundreds of thousands whom the Popish Plot had scared into Whiggism, had been scared back by the Rye House Plot into Toryism." 49. Who was called the " Best of the Georges "? 50. Who was Louis XVH. of France ? 51. Who was " King Hal "? 52. Who was Napoleon H. of France? 53. A historian remarks, " In 1806, the 120th of the Caesars became only Francis II. of Austria," Explain. 54. Who was the " Citizen King "? 55. Whom did Carlyle style the " Great Prussian Drill Sergeant "? 56. Who was the " Conqueror of Azincourt"? 57. How many republics have been established in France? 58. Name the principal battles of Conde. 59. A historian remarking upon the reign of Louis XVI, of France, HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. X jH sa)^s, " There was now no Mayor of the Puhico, no Count of Paris, no Henry IV., to found a new dynasty." Exphiin. 60. Who was "Queen Bess"? 61. What was the cause of the long hostility between England and France ? 62. What is the European States-System ? 63. Who was the " Iron Duke "? 64. Who was the " Greatest of the Plantagenets "? 65. State the origin of the Methodists. Tlic Friends. 66. When was the last States-General in France convened ? 67. Who was the first Prince of Wales ? 68. Who was the " King of Bourges"? 69. Describe the effect of the Norman Conquest of England. 70. When Charles XII. invaded Russia, Peter said: " My brother Charles affects to play the part of Alexander; but I think he will not find in me a Darius." Explain. 71. Who was the " Old Pretender"? The " Young Pretender"? 72. What prime-minister governed the English Parliament by briber}' ? 73. Who was "Good Queen Anne"? 74. Contrast the conduct of the spectators at the execution of Charles I. and of Louis XVI. 75. Who was the " Napoleon of Peace "? 76. Who was the first king of England ? 77. Compare the fate and the character of Richard II. and Ed- ward II. of England. 78. Who was styled the " King of the French "? 79. Why did the Normans finally blend so easily with the Anglo- Saxons in England "? 80. What were the causes of the French Revolution? 81. What is meant by the Balance of Power? 82. In what respect did the conquest by the Turks resemble that by the Germans ? 83. When did the tiers ^tat get its first representation in France ? 84. Who were Wesley and Whitefield ? 85. Compare the close of the Carlovingian dynasty in France with that of the Merovingian. 86. Tell what the Normans did in Europe. 87. Who was the " Prisoner of Ham "? (Napoleon III.) 88. What was the Pragmatic Sanction ? 89. Why are there so many French artisans in England ? go. Who was Henry V. of France? 91. What kings had titles referring to physical qualities? To men- tal qualities ? Xiv HISTOKICAL RECREATIOKS. 92. What was the Treaty of Paris? Vienna? Presburg? Lune- ville? Amiens? Campo Formio ? Passau? Tilsit? Utrecht? Aix- la-Chapelle ? Nimeguen ? Ryswick ? 93. State the causes, effects, principal battles, and prominent gen- erals of the Hundred-Years War. 94. Bound France at the ascension of Capet. 95. What event in English history did Napoleon's dispersion of the Five Hundred resemble? 96. Who was the " Grand Monarch "? 97. Who were the most despotic kings named in history? 98. Who is the " Count of Chambord "? 99. Who fought the battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet ? 100. When and where were the reformers called Protestants ? loi. Who were the Whigs? The Tories? What was the origin of these names ? 102. What was the Fronde ? 103. For what is Sully famous ? 104. Quote some noted historical passages from Shakspere. 105. When did the Germans first invade France ? 106. Who were the " Do-nothing kings"? 107. In how many great battles were the Austrians defeated by Na- poleon ? 108. What French king made the first invasion of Italy? The last ? 109. Who was the " Hero of Rocroi "? no. Who fought the battles of Fontenoy, Raucaux, and Lawfelt? 111. Who was the "Sailor King"? 112. For what is Francis I. noted in history? Louis XIV.? Louis XV.? Henry IV. of France? Henry IV. of Germany? 113. What was the Edict of Nantes? 114. Who was the last king of France? 115. What two great generals died during a tempest ? 116. State what was decided by the Peace of Westphalia. 117. Who was " Corporal Violet "? 118. Who fought the battles of Rocroi, Freiburg, Nordlingen, and Lens? 119. What French kings reigned during the time of the Crusades? 120. For what is Colbert noted ? Louvois ? T2I. Who were the Huguenots ? 122. State the principal events in the life of Luther. 123. Who were the Nonconformists ? 124. Name the chief kings of the fourteenth century. The eighteenth. 125. Who was king of France in 1066? 1572? 1648 ? 1776 ? 126. For what was Tetzel noted ? HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. XV 127. What important event occurred at the Diet of Worms? 128. Who was the great rival of Charles V. ? 129. What was Napoleon's first great victory? His last? 130. What was the Confession of Augsburg? 131. Who were the Puritans? The Separatists? The Independents? 132. Explain the following sentence used by a historian : " Pope Gregory XIII. saw in Henry III. a second Louis V., and in Henry Duke of Guise, a new Hugh Capet." 133. Tell the story of the Spanish Armada. 134. Describe the English Revolution of 1688. 135. Whose motto was, "Divide and Govern"? 136. Describe the pomp, power, and fate of Wallenstein. 137. How many great battles did Napoleon lose ? 138. Name the causes, effects, duration, principal battles, and prom- inent generals of the War of the Spanish Succession. 139. What was the object of the Council of Trent? 140. Describe the events by which the Church of Englana was separated from Rome. 141. Tell the story of Essex and the ring. 142. What was the life-purpose of William, Prince of Orange ? 143. Who was the "Little Corporal"? 144. What was the Tennis-court oath ? 145. What was the cause of the downfall of Napoleon I.? Napo- leon III.? 146. What English monarch was the contemporary of Charles V. and Luther ? 147. What was the fate of Archbishop Cranmer? 148. Name and distinguish the three famous princes of Orange. 149. Describe the sack of Magdeburg. 150. What French kings reigned during the time of the Hundred- Years War ? 151. Was Henry VIII. favorable to Luther? 152. What effect did the Massacre of St. Bartholomew have upon the civil war in France ? 153. What marriage laid the foundation of the rivalry between the houses of Austria and France ? 154. Who prepared the Book of Common Prayer? 155, Who was John Cal vm 156. Name the best kings in the Capetian line. The Carlovingian line. The Tudor line. The Stuart line. The Bourbon line. The Plan- tagenet line. 157. What was the character of Catharine de' Medici ? 158. Describe the last days of Charles V. 159. What was the object of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes ? XVi HISTOKICAL EECEEATIOKS. i6o. What peculiar tactics did Napoleon adopt at AuSterlitz ? i6i. What was the effect of the battle of Naseby ? 162. What were Richelieu's aims ? 163. What was the peculiarity of the reign of Charles II. of England ? 164. What French king married Mary, afterward Queen of Scots ? 165. What was meant by Ship money? 166. What was the Long Parliament ? 167. What queens of France were divorced ? 168. What is meant by the " Sun of Austerlitz"? 169. What was the duration of the so-called Hundred- Years War? 170. What was the Gunpowder Plot? 171. Tell something about the character of Marlborough. 172. What was "Pride's Purge"? 173. What was the Battle of the Nations? 174. What was the Day of the Sections? 175. What was the Seven-Years War called in America? 176. Who was the " Hero of Marston Moor"? 177. For what is the elder Pitt noted? 178. How many Henrys were among the kings of France? 179. How many French kings have surrendered to the enemy? 180. Describe the glory of Cromwell's Protectorate. 181. What king learned the ship-builder's trade? 182. What great capitals of Europe did Napoleon enter in triumph? 183. Sketch the life of Charles XII. of Sweden. 184. What does the change of name from Northmen to Normans in- dicate? 185. What infant in his cradle received the title of the " King of Rome "? (See Brief Hist, France.) 186. In what battle were spurs of more service than swords? 187. Who were the Leaguers? 188. What was Walpole's policy ? 189. Who were the Schoolmen ? 190. Who were the Ironsides ? 191. Name the great battles fought between the French and the English. 192. What was the Rump Parliament? 193. Who is sometimes styled Napoleon IV. ? 194. Why was Cromwell's rule distasteful to the English? 195. How many coalitions leading to war have been made against France ? 196. How many years have the descendants of Capet occupied the throne of France? 197. What was the Declaration of Rights ? 198. Who was John Law? HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. xvii 199. What was the Black Hole? The Black Death? 200. Which was the first victory of the French Republic? Its cflfect? 201. Should Louis XVI. be blamed for the Revolution? 202. How many times did Napoleon enter Vienna as a conqueror? 203. When did Kossuth appear in history? 204. Describe the Reign of Terror. 205. How many years has the government of France been a repub- lic ? An empire ? 206. Name the principal actors in the Jacobin rule during the French Revolution. 207. Who were the Carbonari ? 208 Where are the keys of the Bastile . 209. What were the assi gnats ? 210. What was the Test Act ? 211. What great poet helped Greece achieve its freedom? 212. Who was the Black Prince? 213. What great events occurred in the time of Philip L? 214. What was the Renaissance ? 215. Illustrate how often, in histor}', a strong king has been followed by a weak one. 216. What was the first English Reform Bill? 217. What great war was marked by the capture of a king and a pope, and the sack of Rome? 218. What great political crime was perpetrated soon after the Seven- Years War? 219. To what line of kings did Charles V. of France belong? Henr}' IV. of France ? Henry IV. of England ? Henry IV. of Germany ? Louis XV. ? Charles the Simple of France ? 220. Who was " Father Fritz "? 221. What was the German Confederation ? When was it formed ? ^ 222. On the public buildings in Paris are inscribed the words — " Liberte, Egalite, Equalite." When did this motto take its rise? 223. Why was not the art of printing discovered earlier than the 15th century? (This question is designed to bring up the general relation of supply and demand.) 224. Who was the " Corsican Adventurer"? 225. Name the great victories of Luxemburg. 226. How did Marlborough's fall affect continental affairs? 227. What memorable event occurred at the siege of Leyden in 1574 ? 228. In what battle did Gustavus Adolphus fall ? 229. What victories did the Prince of Orange win over the French? 230. What was the South Sea Bubble ? 231. How is the history of Maria Theresa linked with that of Fred- erick the Great ? xyiii HISTORICAL RECREATIONS. 232. What monarch wore high-heeled shoes to increase his stature ? 233. What is meant by the elder and the younger branch of the Bourbons? 234. Name some standard Life of Frederick the Great. Louis XIV. Charles XIL Peter the Great. Napoleon. Charles V. 235. What was the Mississippi scheme? How did it affect this country? 236. Whence did the French derive their love of a strong, centralized government? 237. Name the standard Histories of England, and state their pecu- liarities and the periods they cover. 238. When and by whom was St. Petersburg founded ? 239. How many Johns have reigned in France? In England? 240. Sketch the character of the " Four Georges." 241. When and how did France lose Canada? 242. What kings were assassinated ? 243. What ruler occupied a different bed every night ? 244. Illustrate the love of his soldiers for Napoleon I. 245. What was the Golden Bull? 246. What was the Aulic Council ? 247. Who were the Girondists ? 248. Who were the Roundheads? The Cavaliers? 249. How did the character of George III. affect this country? 250. Name the great men who clustered about Louis XIV. 251. What women have exerted a great influence on French history? 252. What was the fate of Marat? Danton ? Robespierre? 253. What great victories did Nelson achieve? Effect? 254. When, where, and between whom was the battle of Guinegate fought? Steinkirk ? Lens? Blenheim? Jena? Pavia? Waterloo? Wagram ? Oudenarde ? 255. What influence did our Revolutionary War have upon France? 256. What great battle finally checked the Turkish advance in Europe? 257. Describe the Retreat from Moscow. 258. Sketch the Growth of the Papacy after the Fall of Rome. 259. What was Queen Anne's War called in Europe ? 260. What monarch persecuted the Protestants in France, and pro- tected them in Germany? 261. With what European nations was England engaged in war dur- ing our Revolution? 262. What modern nation, imitating ancient Rome, has been gov- erned by a consul ? 263. In what century was the Age of Louis XIV.? The Age of Elizabeth ? The Age of Richelieu ? HISTORICAL RECEEATIONS. xix 264. Who suppressed the Templars? 265. What was our King William's War called in Europe? 266. What great battles have been fought on the plains of Leipsic? 267. What was the point of difTerence between the Calvinists and the Lutherans? 268. Name the principal battles of Napoleon I. 269. Give an account of Napoleon at the Bridge of Lodi. 270. What were the Berlin decrees? 271. What is meant in French history by the terms, The Revolution? The Hundred Days? The Restoration? 272. For what achievement is Sobieski noted? 273. Who were the Janissaries? 274. Sketch Wellington's career. 275. Who was the "Exile of St. Helena"? 276. Duruy says, " Napoleon HI. was not a royal do-nothing." Ex- plain the allusion. 277. What was the cause of the long hatred between England and France ? 278. What great statesman died on hearing of the battle of Austerlitz? 279. When was the temporal power of the Pope founded ? 280. " The dream of Charlemagne and Charles V. was Napoleon's also." Explain. 281. What was the ZoUverein? 282. What were the causes of the French Revolution of 1830? 1848? 1871? 283. For what is the year 800 noted ? 1000? 1066? 1346? 1415 ? 1492? 1494? 1517? 1525? 1558? 1571? 1572? 1588? 1598? 1630? 1648? 1666? 1704? 1707? 1756? 1775? 1789? 284. Sketch Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. 285. What was the object of the Anti-Corn-Law League? 286. Who were the Chartists ? 287. Name some Italians who have attained prominence in French politics. 288. What was the effect upon European history of the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian ? 289. What is the Code Napoleon ? 290. What was the kingdom of Burgundy? 291. What curious story is told of Rollo's doing homage for his fief? 292. How did Charlotte Corday's dagger precipitate the Reign of Terror ? 293. Name some incident of the battle of Ivry. (Br. Hist. France.) 294. What was Cavour's policy? 295 What was Luther's object in posting the ninety-five theses on the cathedral door? XX HISTOEICAL RECREATIONS. 296. What child-kings iiave occupied the dirone of France? Of England ? 297. Who is the " Sick Man "? 298. What became of Josephine after the Fall of Napoleon? Maria Louisa? (See Brief Hist. France. 299. Where did the Charge of the Six Hundred occur? 300. Name the causes and eflFects, the duration, the principal battles, and the prominent generals of the Seven-Years War. 301. What French king had the longest reign ? The shortest ? 302. What was the effect of the Battle of Morgarten ? Nancy? Wa- terloo? Jena? Jemmapes? Runnymede? Pavia? 303. Describe the state of the church when Luther appeared. 304. What three great European monarchs were contemporaneous in the i6th century ? 305. How many French kings have been dethroned ? 306. What will be the probable effect upon Italy of the Suez canal ? 307. What caused the hostility between Zwingle and Luther ? 308. Who was the " Golden-footed Dame "? 309. When did a charge of a small body of cavalry decide a great battle? 310. How many times have foreign armies taken Paris? 311. What was the Holy Alliance? 312. What is meant by the Three days of July? 313. What folly did Prince Rupert commit at the battle of Naseby? 314. Why did Francis L form an alliance with the Turks? 315. What three kings in succession led great armies into Italy? 316. Who was the chevalier " without fear and without reproach "? 317. What king sent his own sons to prison in order to release him- self? 318. Relate some anecdote, or state some interesting fact concerning Cromwell. Napoleon. Louis XIV. Peter the Great. Charles XII. Charlemagne. Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth. 319. What was the Smalcaldic War ? 320. Explain the coup d'etat of December 2. 321. What was the League of Cambrai ? 322. State the causes of the Guelph and Ghibelline feud. 323. Name the great events that marked the beginning of the Modern Era. 324. What was the War of the Investiture ? 325. When and where was gunpowder first used in battle ? 326. What was the needle-gun ? 327. What was an Interdict? 328. What curious connection is there between St. Peter's at Rome and the Reformation ? HISTORICAL IlECREATIONS. xxi 329. Tell the sad story of Lady Jane Grey. 330. Distinguish between the two Maurices named in history 331. Name the leaders in the French Civil-Religious War. 332. Who was the First Bourbon king? 333. What were Mary Stuart's claims to the English throne? 334. What was the Conquest of Granada? llow is that event con- nected with our histor}^ ? 335. What was Magna Charta ? 336. What were the causes of the Revival of Learning? 337. Who was Tilly ? 338. What is the tricolored flag ? 339. Who was the "Horace of France"? 340. Describe Charles IL's alliance with Louis XIV. 341. In what respect did Charles I. resemble his father? 342. What great battles were won with the long-bo .v ? 343. Compare the influence of the discovery of gunpowder with that of printing. 344. What points of contrast were there between the first Stuart king of England and the Tudors? 345. What is meant by the " Divine right of kings"? 346. What was the Triple Alliance? 347. Name two instances in which a spider has changed the fate of a great man. 348. Describe the Saracenic civilization in Spain. 349. What event caused Wolsey's fall ? 350. Show how the doctrines and forms of the English Church were shaped under Edward VI. 351. What were the greatest events of the 15th century? i6th? 17th? i8th? 352. What effect did the Crusades have upon Europe? 353. What was the Congress of Vienna? 354. Sketch the steps by which Prussia became the head of Ger- many. 355. With what generals are the battles of Fleurus, Steinkirk, and Neerwinden connected ? 356. In what great campaign was the bayonet first used ? 357. How did Richelieu capture Rochelle ? 358. Who was the " Upholsterer of Notre Dame "? 359. W^hat is meant by the Devastation of the Palatinate? 360. Who were the Moors of Spain? 361. What was the Ladies' Peace ? 362. Who were the Knights of St. John ? 363. State the " pivotal point," or the tactics, or some marked inci- dent that decided the issue of the following battles and by which they XXll HISTORICAL R E C R E ATIO If S. can be remembered : Pavia, Leipsic, Lech. Liitzen. Freiburg. Marston Moor. Naseby. Battle of the Boyne. Plains of Abraham. Lodi. Arcole. Rivoli. Austerlitz. Waterloo. 364. What king wrote an essay against the use of tobacco ? 365. What was the Petition of Right ? 366. What was " Thorough "? 367. Who were the Covenanters ? 368. What was the effect of Luther's translating the Bible ? 369. Describe the extent and power of the Spanish Empire under Charles V. and Philip IL 370. Who were the Jacobites ? 371. Describe the amusements of three noted kings reigning in the early part of the i8th century. 372. Quote Johnson's verses upon Charles XIL 373. What event marked the opening of the 18th century? 374. Name the last battle in which an English king fought in person. 375. What monarch said that he "treated as a prince and not as a merchant "? 376. When did a death save a great king? 377. Tell the story of the famous Wind-mill, still shown at Potsdam. 378. State the steps of the Unification of Italy. 379. Who was the " Hero of the red shirt "? 380. What effect did the Franco-German War of '71 have upon Italy? 381. What war was brought on by the closing of two churches ? By the massacre of a congregation ? 382. How did Italy become a province of the Eastern Empire ? 383. What remarkable man was born in Arabia in the 6th century ? 384. Explain why the Crusaders encountered in Palestine both Turks and Saracens. 385. What tales describe Arabian manners and customs in the 8th century ? 386. What complaint was made against the earliest Hanoverian kings of England ? 387. During how many years was England a republic ? 388. Which one of Napoleon's generals did the Congress of Vienna allow to retain his throne ? 389. Who was the author of the Inductive method of reasoning? 390. Mention some of Mohammed's doctrines. 391. What was the Continental System ? 392. Why did the Puritans emigrate to America? 393. What literature was diffused by the Fall of Constantinople? 394. Describe the Expulsion of the Moors from Spain by Philip III. 395. Shpw how the trade to India has enriched Europe. H 1 8 T K I C A L K i: C U E A T I O N S . xxiii 396. What was tlie greatest extent of the Saiaccn empire? 397. How many queens have ruled England ? 398. Name the " Four Conquests of England." 399. Which is the longest war named in European History? 400. Sketch the principal steps in the growth of Constitutional Libert}- in England. 401. Do the Turks belong in Europe? 402. State the cause, duration, decisive battle, and eflfect of the War of the Roses. 403. What English reign coincided with three French reigns and. vice versa, what French reign coincided with three English ones? 404. Sketch the principal features of Feudalism. 405. Who was the " Monk of Cluny "? 406. Who was the " Great Captain "? 407. What remarkable men lived during the last decade of the 15th century ? 408. What famous king died in a pool of water by the road-side? 409. What Treaty was negotiated upon a raft in the river? 410 How long was Hanover joined to England ? 411. What solitary act of courage did Richard H. show? 412. Who was Henry the Fowler? 413. Contrast early German with early French history. 414. Is there a sharp division between any two ages in history? 415. What Dutch admiral tied a broom to his masthead ? 416. How long after the battle of Hastings did the Great Fire at London occur ? 417. Repeat the epigram upon Charles L 418. What daughter helped expel her father from his throne? 419. Who was Peter Zimmermann ? 420. Who was the Great Elector ? 421. What king had a body-guard of giants? 422. When did the Battle of the Three Emperors occur ? 423. When did the Pope come to Paris, to crown a French king? 424. When did the birth of an heir cost an English king his crown? 425. Tell the story of Maria Theresa before the Hungarian Diet. 426. Was Cromwell justified in executing Charles L? 427. What was the New Model ? 428. What two great men had the power, but dare not take the title, of king? 429. Sketch the general characteristics of the Stuarts. The Tudors. 430. What was the Praise-God Barebone's Parliament? 431. What was the longest gap between two successive English par- liaments? Two French States-Generals? 432. Who said " Better a drowned land than a lost land "? xxiv HISTORICAL RECREATION^S. 433. What was " Morton's fork "? 434. " Francis I. on his way to Paris from Madrid vapored much of Regulus "? Explain. 435. Charles V. once said, " I do not intend to blush like Sigis- mund." Explain. 436. What English kings were authors ? 437. What was the Revolt of the Beggars ? 438. Who said " Some birds are too big for any cage "? 439. Who was the " Tyrant of the Escurial "? 440. Why did not Pope Clement VII. dare to offend Charles V. ? 441. What English minister lost his head for getting his king a homely wife ? 442. Who was the first queen-regnant of England ? 443. Who was styled the " Flower of Chivalrie "? 444. What kings have expelled from their dominions large classes of their subjects ? 445. Contrast the general characteristics of the Middle Ages with those of the Modern Era. 446. Who was the " King maker"? 447. What was the Holy Roman Empire ? 448. Name sev^eral instances of the genera] persecuting spirit o." former times. 44g. What English author defends the character and conduct of Henry VIII.? 450. Describe the growth and influence of free cities in the Middle Ages. 451. Mr. Bagehot writes " The slavish parliament of Henry VIII. grew into the murmuring parliament of Queen Elizabeth, the mutinous parliament of James I., and the rebellious parliament of Charles I." Explain. 452. What great events occurred in 1689? 453 Was Napoleon I.'s reign a permanent benefit to France? What was its general effect upon Europe? 454. When did a beggar's grandson become a king? 455. Who said, " I am the state"? 456. Who was the "Last of the knights"? 457. What peasant girl became a queen? 458. Has Germany or France ever had a queen-regnant? 459. To what historical event is allusion made in the poem, begin- ning : " On Linden, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow." 460. Name the fifteen most decisive battles and sieges of modern times, and state the reasons for the selection. INDEX Ab bass'i des, 330. Ab dal'lah, 405. Ab'e lard, 413. Aboukir (all boo keer'), Battle of, 551. A'bra ham, 39, 46, 80. A chae'an League, 157. A chil'les, no. A'cre, 551. Ac'ti um. Battle of, 254. Addison. 553. ^■Ed'i pus, 167. JE'gos Pot'a mus, 145. JE iie'as, 117. 205. -^s'chi nes, 173. ^s'cliy lus, 165. -^sop, 173. JE to li an League, 157. Ag'a mem'non, 116. Agrarian Law. 216. Ag'ri gen'tum, 227. A grip'pa. 214. Aix. Battle ot, 242. Aix-la-Cha pelle. Treaty of, 490, 529. Al'a ric, 267. Albert L of Austria, 384. - n. •• " 384. " Prince. 586. Al bi gen'ses. 358. Ai bu e'ra, Battle of, 568. Al ci bi'a des, 141, 143. Ale m3e on'i dse, 123. Al'cu in. 336, 349. Alexander. 150. Alexander of Russia, 565, 568. Alexander Se ve'rus. The Emperor, 162. Al ex an'dri a, 151. Alexandrian Museum and Library, 154. Al Ion 'so ot Aragon, 395. Allred the Great, 339. Al'lia, Battle of. 221. Al'ma, Batile of, 586. Alphabet. 77- Al va, Duke of, 446. Amenembe, 17, 39. Am i ens, Treaty of. 559. Am phic ty on'ic Council, 115. A nab'a sis. The, 172. A na'cre on, 164. An ax ag'o ras, 174 A nax'i man'der, 174. An'ge lo, Michael, 395. 424, 467. Angles, 338. Anglo-Saxons, 318, 347. An go'ra. Battle of, 406. Anne Boleyn (bool'in). 457. Anne. Ouc'en, 512. An tal'ci das, Peace of, 146. An ti o chus the Great, 234, 237. An to'ni us Mar'cus (Marc Antony), 353. An to ni'nus, .M. Au re'li us. commonly called Mar'cus An.oninus, 261. An to ni'nus, T. Au re'li us, commonly called Antoninus Pi'us, 261. Apollo, 184. Ar be'la. Battle of, 151. Arc, Joan of. See Jeanne Dare. Ar chil'o clius, 163. Ar chi me'des. Death of, 234 Architecture, Gothic, 415. Ar co'le, Battle of, 549. A re op'a gus. 122. Argonauts, Tlie, 11 = A'ri ans. The, 266. Ar is ti'des, 128, 132. 135. Ar is toph'a nes. 169. Ar is tot'le, 176. Arkwright, 556. Armada, Defeat of', 464. Armagnacs (ar man yaks), 366. Armor, 412. Arnold of VVinkelried, 389. Ar'te mis, 184. As ca'ni us, 235. As'pern, Battle of, 566. Assembly of centuries, 215. "■ '■ curies, 215, " " tribes, 215. " The Legislative, 542. As'shur-bani-pal, 49. I As'shur-emed'-ilin, 50. 1 As'shur-izir-pal, 48. I Assyria, 46. ' Assyrian Civilization, 51. As tar'te, Ash'ta roth, 79. As ty'a ges. 88. A the'na. 184. Athens, 121. Athens vs. Sparta, 15S. At'ta lus, 237. ^ At'ti la, 268. Au'erstlidt, Battle of, 56.,. Augs'burg, Confession of, 443. " Diet at, 441. Augustine, St., 339. XXVI t N IJ E X . Augustus Caesar, 255. Au gus'tu lus, Rom'u lus, 269. Au'lic Council, The, 387. Au re'li an. The Emperor, 263. Au re'li us, The Emperor, 261. Aus'ter litz, Battle of, 563. Austria, 374. Austrian succession, War of, 527. Az'in court. Battle of, 366. Az'tecs, 427. Ba'al, 78. Habylon, 58. Babylonish Captivity, The, 392. Baby lo'nia, 45. Bac'chus, 185. Bacon, Lord, 468, 513. *• Roger, 413, 424. Bac'tria, 10. Baj'a zet, 407. Bal'a kla'va, Battle of, 586. Balance of l^ower, 426. B.le. Council of, 392. Ba'ii ol, John, 345. Ban'nock burn, Battle of, 345. Banquets, Reform, 576. Bar ba ros'sa, of Germany, 380. Bar ba ros'sa, Turkish Admiral, 436. Bar'ca. See Hamilcar Bar'ne veld, J. van Old'en, 449. Bartholemew's Day, Massacre of, 453. Bastile (teel'), Capture of, 540. Baut'zen, Battle of, 570. Bayard, Chevalier, 431, 432, 434. Beck'et, Thomas a. 343. Bede, The Venerable, 349. Bedford, Duke of, 367. Beggars, The, 446. Belshaz'zar, 51. Ber lin' Decrees, 565. " Treaty of; 597. Bible, Translations of, 440, 459, 494. Bis'marck, 590. Black Death, 362. " Hole, 534. " Prince, 362, 364. Blen'heim. Battle of, 493. Blii'cher, Marshal, 572. Book of the Dead, 24. Bo ro di'no. Battle of, 568. Bour'bon, Constable de, 434. Bour ^eoi'sie, 359. Bou vines'. Battle of, 358. Boyne, Battle of, 511. Brah mins, 105. Brandenburg, 526. Bren'nus. 156. Bre tig'ny. Peace of, 364. Bruce, Robert, 345. Bru'tus, Lu'cius ju'ni us, 211. " Mar'cus Ju'ni us, 253. Bud'dha, 107. Bun yan, John, 513. Buonaparte, 546. Burghers, 374. Bur'gun dy, Duke of. 366. Burial in Egypt, 34. " in Greece, 190. " in Rome, 294. Bums, Robert, 553. By zan'ti um. See Constantinople. Cade's Insurrection, 368. Cse'sar, Cai'us Ju'li us, 248. Cal'ends, Ides, etc., 251. Ca lig'u la, 259. Cal'li ope. See Muses. Calvin, John, 441. Cam brai. League of, 432. Cam by'ses, 15, 90. Ca mil'lus, 221. Cam po For mi o. Treaty of, 550. Can'nae, Battle of, 232. Cannon, Use of, 424. Ca nu'lei an Decree, 218. Ca nute', 339. Cap'i lol. Siege of Roman, 222. Ca'pet, Hugh, 356. Ca ra cal'la (properly Caracallus), 262. Car bo na'ri, 592. Car lo vin'gian Line, 332. Carthage, 73, 76. Cas'si us Spu'ri us, 216. Castiglione (kas teel yo'na). Battle of, 549. Castles, 409. Ca teau'-Cam bre sis'. Treaty of, 44,4. Catharine de' Med'i ci. See Medici. Catharine the Great, 525. Cat'i line, 247. Ca'to, Censor, 235. " Mar'cus, 248. Cau'dine Forks, Battle of, 223. Cavaliers, The, 500. Ca vour'. Count, 594. Ce'cil, William, 462. Ce'res, 184. Chae ro ne'a. Battle of, 149, Chal de'a, 45. Chariots, War, 21. Charge magne, 332. Charles I. of England, 497. II. '• 506. " III. (the Simple) of France, 354. " V. of France, 365. VI. '^ 365. VII. " 367. " VII [. " 423, 430. " IX. " 452. " X. " 575. '' IV. of Germany, 385. V. " 433. XII. of Sweden, 523. Charles Edward Stuart, 510. Charles Mar tel'. 329. Charles the Bold, 369. Charles of Valois (val wa'), 355, 360. Chartists, The, 584. Chatham. See Pitt. Che'ops (Khufu), 16, 36. China, 109. Chivalry, 410. Christian Religion, 263. Cic'e ro, 274. Ci'mon, 135. Cin'cin na'tus, 220. Cin'na, 244. Cities, Growth of. 383. Clau'di us Ap'pi us, 217, 283. Cleis'the nes, 124, 129. Cle'on, 141, 170. INDEX XXVll Cle'o pa'tra. 249. Clients, 213. 270. 298. Cli'o. See Muses. CloMs. See Franks. Co'cles, Ho ra'ti us. 212. Col bert'. 489. Co lig'ny. Admiral de, 451. Co lum'bus. 427. Co ini'ti a Cu ri a'ta. 20S. Com'mo dus, The Emperor, 261, Commune, The, 581. Communes. 358. Con d '. Prince of, 488. Con fu'ci us, III. Conrad 11., 375, 376. III., 379. 400. IV.. 381- Constance, Council of, 385. Con'stan tine I.. 264. Cons'.antinople, Siege of, 407, Continental System. 565. Co per'ni cus, 424. 46S. Cor day', Charlotte. 544. Cor de'li ers. The, 540. Co ri o la'nus, Cai'us Mar'ci us, 219. 220. Cor ne'li a, 241. Corn Laws. 583. Cor'tes, The. 404 Cor'tes, Her nan'do, 428. Cranmer. Archbishop, 457. Cras'sus, M. Li ci'ni us, 245. Cr.-'cy, Battle of, 361. Cres'p5', Peace of, 437. Crimean War, The, 586. Croe'sus. 89. Cromwell, Oliver, 500. •' Richard. 506. '• Thomas, 458. Crusades, The. 397. Cu nax'a, 145. Cy ax'a res, 50, 88. Cynics, The, 177. Cyn'os ceph'a Ise, Battle of. 236. Cyprus, Discoveries in, 77. Cyrus the Great, 51, 84, 88. " the Younger, 145 D.\XES OR Northmen, 339, 354. Dan'te. 414. Dan'ton, 540. Da ri'us the Great, 91. Dark Ages, The, 316. Darnley. Lord, 463. Dau'ph'in, The. 362. De cemVirs, 216. De'ci us. The Emperor, 262. Delphic Oracle, 115, 185. De'los. Confederation, 134. De mos'the nes, 149, 173. Det'tin gen. Battle of, 529. Di a'na. 184. Di'az, Bartholemew. 426. Di o cle'ti an. The Emperor. 263. • Di og'e nes, 177. Di o'ny'sos. 185. Feast of, 187. Directorv. The. 546. Do mi'ti an. The Emperor, 261. Do'ri ans, T17, 118, 119. Dover, Treaty of, 508. Dra'co, 121. Dresden. Battle of, 570. Drvden, 513. Dudley, Lord, 461. Dudley, Robert, 466. Dun bar'. Battle of, 503. Dutch Republic, 445. East India.\ Company, 449, 465, Edward 1. of England, 341, 344. HI. " 360, 361. :: i,^- :: 340. V. 340. " VI. " 460. Edward the Black Prince. 362. Edward the Confessor, 339. Egbert of England, 339. E ge'ri a. The nymph, 207. Egypt, 15. Egypt. Campaign in, 551. Egyptian Civilization, 19, Eleanor, Queen, 356, 400. Electors. The Seven, 382, 385. E leu sin'i an Mysteries. See Ceres. Elizabeth, Queen, 461. Elgin Marbles, 181. Embalming, 32. England, History of, in i6th century, 455. " " in 17th " 494. " " in i8th " 53g. " '• in 19th " 583. " Rise of, 337. E pam'i non'das. 147. Eph'e sus, 117, i8i. E pi cu'rus, 177. Eq'ui tes, 213, 240. Er'ecth thei'um, 194. Esar had'don, 49. Essex. Earl of, 466. E trus'cans. 204. Etruscan Conquest of Rome, 211. Eugene, Prince, 493. Eu rip'i des. 168. Eu ter'pc, 185. See Muses. Ey'lau, Battle of. 565. Fa'bii, 218. Fa'bi us Max'i mus Cunc ta'tor, 232. Fa bric'i us, 225. Fates, The, 185. Feme. The, 383. Ferdinand I. of Aragon, 404. Ferdinand I. of Germany. 444. " II. '■ 444, 480. III. " 485. Feudalism, 408. Field o! Cloth of Gold, 433. Fire, Great, of London, 507. Fla min'i us, 236. Fleu rus, Battle of 492. Flodden Field, Battle of, 456. Florence. 392. Fon te nay'. Battle of 334. Fon le noy'. Battle of, 529. For no'va', Battle of 430. France, History of. in rfith century, 450. •' in 17th " 486. '- •■ in 18th " 536. ill 19th •' 559. Francis I. of F"rance 432. XXVill INDEX. Francis II. of France, 451. Fran co'nia, House of, 375. Franks. The, 318, 331. •' Kingdom of, 331. Frederick I., Barbarossa, 380, 400. Frederick II. of Germany, 381, 395. " Count of HohenzoUern, 386. " Elector-palatine. 480. I. of Prussia, 526. '' II., the Great, of Prussia, 527. '• William, of Prussia, 527. Freiierick William, the Great Elector, 526. Frei'burg, Hatile of, 485. French Revolution, The, 536. Fried'land, Battle of, 565. Fronde, The, 489. Fugger, 441, 476. Furies, The. 185. Gal I le'o, 468. Gal la'tia, 156. Galleys, 192. Gal'lus, The Emperor, 262. Gar i bal'di, 593. Gauls, Invasion of, 220. Gauls, The, 371. Gau ta'ma ( Buddha), 107-8. Gen'ghis Khan, 405. Gen'o a, 392. @ens (plu. gentes), 207. Gen'se ric, 269. Georges, The, 532, 583. Ger man'i cus, 256. Germans, The, 322. Germany, History of, in i6th century, 433. " *' in 17th " 480. in i8th " 526. '• in 19th •' 588. Rise of, 373. Ghent. Pacification of, 448. Ghib'el lines, The, 379. Gi rond'ists, The, 542. Gladiatorial War, 245. " Shows. See Roman Games. Godfrey of Bouillon, 398. Golden Bull, The, 335- Gon sal'vo de Cor do'va, 431. Gorgons, The, 185. Grac'chi, The. 241. Graces, The Three, 185. Gra na'da. Conquest of, 404. Granson, Battle of, 370. Grav e lotte'. Battle of, 580. Grecian Civilization, 158. Greece, 113, 597. Greek Empire, The, 319. Greek Fire, 328. Gregory VII.. Pope. 339. Grevy (gra ve'), 582. Grey. Lady Jane, 461. Guelfs and Ghibellines, 379. Gues clin', Ber trand' du, 365. -terians, The, 501 Pretenders. The, 510. Printing, 425. Pro'bus, The Emperor, 263. Ptol'e my 1. (Sotor), 1^3. II. (Philadelphus), 154. "■ III. (Euer'ge tes), 154. Prussia, 526. Pul to'%va, Battle of, 524. Pu'nic Wars, 227. Puritans, The, 462. Pyd'na, Battle of, 236. Pym, John, 500, Pyramids, Battle of, 551. Pyrenees, Peace of, 489. Pyr'rhus, 224. Py thag'o ras, 174. Pyth'i an Games, 186. Quakers, The, 505. Duin'tus Cur'ti us, 223. Qui ri'tes, 208. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 465, 468. Ram'e ses II.. 17, 19, 80. Ram'il lies, Battle of, 493. Raph'a el, 395, 424, 467. Ras'tadt, Peace of, 493. Raucaux, Battle of, 529. Reformation, The, 438. Reform Banquets, 576. Re gil'lus (Lake), Battle of, 213. Reg'u lus, 229 Renaissance, 395, 424. Restoration. The English, 506. Restoration, The French, 571. Revival of Learning, 424, 438. Revolution of 1688, 510. " of 1848, 577. Richaxd I. of England, 40Q. Richard II. ol England, 365. *' HI. •' 346,369- Rich'e lieu. Cardinal de, 487. Ki en'zi. 396. Rights, Bill of. sio. Riv'o ii. Battle of, 550. Roads, Roman, 226, 282. Ro bes Pierre', 540. Ro chelle'. Siege of, 487. Ro croi'. Battle of, 485. Roland, The Paladm, 332. Rolf, Rollo or Roe, 354. Roman (Civilization, 270. Romans, The King of the, 381. Rome, 203. Rom'u lus, 205. Roses, Wars of, 346, 369. Ro set'ta Stone, 22. Rossbach, Battle of, 530. Roundheads, The, 500. Ru'dolph II. of Austria. 444. " of Hapsburg, 382. 387. Run'ny mede, 342. Ru'pert, Prince, 500. Russell, Lord William, 509. Lord John, 584. Russia, 520. Rye House Plot, 509. Rys'wick, Treaty ot, 493. Sa'bines, Rape of, 206. Sacred War, 149. Sadowa, Battle of, 591. Sa gun'tum. Siege of, 230. Sal'a din, Caliph, 400. Sal'a mis. Battle of, 132. Sallust, 275. Sam'nite wars, 224. Sap'pho. 164. Sar'a cens, The, 326. Sar'gon, Sar gon'i dae, 49. Saxons, The Anglo-, 338, 347. Schism, The Great, 385. Schles'wig-Hol'stein, 590. Schlie'mann. Dr., 162. Schools of Philosophy, 175. Scip'i OS. The, 235. Sedan, Battle of, 580. Se leu'cus I., 153, 155. Se mir'a mis, 49. Sem'pach. Battle of, 388. Sem pro'ni us, 231. Sen'e ca, 278. Sen nach'e rib, 49. Ser'vi us Tulli us. 209. Se sos'tris, 18. Seven-Months War, 579. Seven- Weeks War, 591. Seven Wise Men. (Appendix.) " Wonders. Seven- Years War, 529, 533. Se ve'rus, The Emperor, 262. Sex'tus Tar quin'i us, 211. Shakspere, 468, 472. Sicily, 395. Sidney, Algernon, 509. Sir Philip, 464, 468. Sig'is mund, 385, 386. Sluys, Battle of, 361. Smal'cald ic League, 44?. XXXll III^DE X Social War, The, 243. Soc'ra tes, 170, 174. So'lon, 122. Sol'y man, 436. Sopn'o cles, 167. South-Sea Scheme, 532. Spain, 433. Spanish Succession, War of, 493. Spar'ta, 119. Spar'ta cus, 245. St. Bartholomew, Massacre of, 453. j6t. Ger main', Treaty of, 452. St. Quentin, 444. Star Chamber, The, 499. Steinkirk, Battle of, 492. Stoics, The. 177. Strafford, Earl of, 498. Stuarts, The, 494- Student, The Traveling, 476. Sul'la, L. Cornelius, 242-5. Sully, 454. Switzerland, 388. Syracuse, 118. " Expedition, 143. " Siege of, 234. Syria, 237. Tac'i tus, the Historian, 277. Talbot. 369. Tancred, 398. Tar quin'i us, L. Pris'cus, 208. " Su per'bus, 2P9, 213. Tartars, 109. Tell, William, 388. Templars, 360, 399. Ten Thousand, The, 145. Test Act, 508. Tet'zel, 438. Tha'les, 174. Thap'sus, Battle of, 250. Thebes, 17, 147. The mis'to cles, 128. 135. The o do'si us I., the Great, 266. Ther mop'v Ise, Battle of, 129, 237. Thes'pis, 165. Thirty Tyrants. 145. Thirty-Years War, 480. Thoth'mes III., 17. Thu cyd'i des, 172. Ti be'ri us, The Emperor, 258. Tiers etat, 360, 540. Tig'lath-pi le'ser I., 47 Tilly. Count. 482. g^ j_. Til'sit, Peace of, 565. H V ft Titus. The Emperor, 260. V' * O Tor'gau. Battle of. 530. Tories. 500. 509. Tours, Battle of. 328. Traf'al gar', Battle of, 563. Tra'jan, 261. Tras'i me'nus. Battle of, 232. Treb i a. Battle of. 231. Trent, Council of, 442. Triple Alliance, 490. Tri um'virs. The, 248, 252. Troy, Excavations at, 162. '• Sie2:e of, 116. Troves, Treaty of, 367. Truce of God, 376. Tudors, 455. Tulli us Hos til'i us, 207. Tu ra'ni ans, The. 10. Turks, the, 330, 406, 436. Tu renne', 488. Tyler, Wat, 366. Tyre, 73, 151. Tyr tae'us, 163. Ut'recht, Treaty of. 493- Va'lens, The Emperor, 266. Va le'ri an and Ho ra'ti an laws, 218. Val'my, Battle of, 543. Vandals, The, 269, 318. Va'rus, Battle of, 256. Vau ban', 489. Ve'i i, Siege of, 221. Venice, 392. Venus, 184. Ver cel'lae. Battle of, 242. Ver dun'. Treaty of. 335. Ves pas'i.an. The Emperor, 260. Ve su'vi us, Battle of, 223. Victoria, Queen, 583. Vienna, Congress of, 572, 588. " Siege of, 436. 562. Vi on ville'. Battle of, 580. Virgil, 275. Vir gin'i a, 217. Vis'i goths, The, 318. Wa'gram, Battle of, 567. Wales, Conquest of, 344. " Prince of, 345. Wallace, William, 345. Wal'len stein. Count, 481, 483. Walpole. Robert. 533. Walter the Penniless, 398. Walton, Isaac, 513. Warwick, Earl of, 369. Waterloo. Battle of. 572. Watt, James, 555. Weins'burg, 379. Weis'sen burg, Battle -of, 580. Wel'les ley. See Wellington. Wellington. Lord, 566. Wesley, John, 534. West pha'li a, Peace of, 389, 485. Whigs, The, 500, 509. William I. of England, 340, 356. " HI. '• 491. 510. " the Silent. 446. Worth, Battle of. 580. Wolsey, Cardinal, 434, 456, ' \«orcester. Battle of. 503. Wodd's Fair, 579. 586. Worms, Concordat of. 379. Diet at, 386, 439- Xan thip'pus. Spartan General. 229. Xen'o phon, 47, 172 Xer'xes, 129. York, House of, 340, 346, 369. Za'ma, Battle of, 234. Ze'no. 177. Zeux'is, 182. Zorn'dorf, Battle of. 530. Zo'ro as'ter. 93. Zwin'gle, Ulrich, 441. x'k^ / ^-s^-^^ -V , \ I fi ^ * .A ■>>. o* '.^ ^^.. 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