LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. iShelfB.913 — :\ ^ UNITED t^TATES OF AMERICA. (Vi OUTLINES OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY, WITH SPECIAL RELATION TO THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION AND THE PROGRESS OF MANKIND. PART I. -ANCIENT. l^hj For use in the Higher Classes in Public Schools, and in High Schools . Academies, Seminaries, etc. / By WILLIAM SWINTON, Author of Condensed History of the United States, Cam])aigns of the Army of the Potomac, Word- Analysis, Word- Book, etc. NEW YORK AND CHICAGO: IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR, AND COMPANY. THE LIBRARY or CONGjlESS WASHINGTON Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, BY IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR, & CO., in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Coivrieht, 1881, by Ivzson, Blakernan^ Taylor &= Co. PREFACE In preparing the following Outlines of the World's His- tory the author has assumed that the proper aim of such historical study as can be pursued in high schools and academies should be to give the learner a general view of human progress, — '■ to furnish, for example, brief but explicit answers to such questions as these : 1. What were the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Hebrews, Latins, Spaniards, English, etc. ? What did each of these nations contribute to the common stock of civilization ? 2. In ^\i2X forms did the mind of the race express itself: in religion, war, law-making, political organization, litera- ture, art ? 3. What was the actual life of the people themselves, — '■ their condition as regards political freedom, education, physical well-being, food, dress, trade, society, etc. ? What were their ways of thinking, and how did these show them- selves in the manners, customs, and social usages of the time ? 4. What have been the great steps in human progress^ — ^ the discoveries, social and political changes, advances in thought and skill, that have carried forward civilization and the " betterment of man's estate " (Bacon) ; and what ^ IV PREFACE. is the series of events that has brought the world up to its present standard of enlightenment and knowledge ? These are questions that we have learned to ask only in comparatively recent times. The asking of them and the answering of them have given us history in its modern sense ; that is to say, history as a showing forth of the life of nations, in place of history as the mere biography of kings, or the record of battles and sieges, of dynasties and courts. The theory of this book may be stated in a single sen- tence : it is, to bring to the treatment of history for elemen- tary instruction the same method that has proved fruitful and interesting in the larger classic works. Such treat- ment is in marked contrast with that of the compendiums in ordinary use, which consist mainly of catalogues of facts and of chronologic data. The author believes, however, that the judgment of progressive teachers will fully coincide with his own in this: that far more valuable and more lasting results can be secured by giving scholars a vivid general view of the institutions and civilization of the greater nations than by cramming the memory with ever so imposing an array of isolated facts and dates. This book has grown out of a great deal of experiment- ing with classes, — testing of 7iuhat pupils can take in and assimilate, of what becomes fruitful in their minds, and of what, on the other hand, is retained with difficulty or for- gotten with ease. Care has been taken to cast the para- graphs into such a form that the subject-matter of each may be easily grasped by the pupil and the same readily elicited by means of the marginal notes, — a device which seems to be better suited to a work of this grade than mere literal questions would be. PREFACE. In addition to these features there are two salient points to which notice is called: i. This manual is made from modern material, and presents the fruit of those researches that have so essentially modified and so greatly enlarged our views both of antiquity and of more recent times. 2. It is written in the spirit of the modern method, — that method which deals with the broad, vital facts, rather than with the pedantries of history. As, by the courses of study in our public schools, general history is not taken up until after several years' work on the history of our own country, it would have been quite superfluous to insert here an imperfect compendium of what has already been gone over in detail ; hence in this book the history of the United States is treated only in so far as it touches that of other nations. The author is deeply impressed with the conviction that history, studied in the right manner, is of fundamental im- portance in the growth of the mental and moral nature. And he believes that such study is of especial moment in our own country, as a preparation for citizenship in a free, self-governing nation : for how can we appreciate what we enjoy, unless we know how it came to be? In the sincere hope that this survey of the providential ordainment of human affairs may prove helpful, both to intellectual growth and the formation of character, it is commended to the judgment of the teaching profession. It is needless in a manual of this kind to acknowledge indebted- ness to those storehouses from which every compiler must draw ; and it may be added that in various passages of mere narrative a textual use has been made of authorities too well known to need the encumbering of a school-book by soecific mention of each. CONTENTS. »— _ PAGE. PREFACE „ iii SECTION I. THE ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Chapter I. Geographical Sketch 8 II. Egypt 12 1. Historical Outline 12 2. Egyptian Civilization ...... 20 III. The Assyrians and Babylonians .... 27 1. Introduction ........ 27 2. Early Babylonian, or Chaldasan, Kingdom . . 29 3. Assyria 32 4. Later Babylonian Kingdom 35 IV. The Hebrews 38 V. The Phoenicians 43 VI. The Hindoos 50 VII. The Persian Empire 55 1. Historical Outline 55 2. Persian Civilization 60 VIII. Commerce of the Ancients 64 SECTION II. history of GREECE. I. General Sketch 73; CONTENTS. vii II. History of the First Period : From the Dorian Migration to the beginning of the Persian Wars, 1100-500 B.C 81 1. Beginnings of Greek History . . . . 81 2. Growth of Sparta and Athens 85 III. History of the Second Period : From the beginning of the Persian War to the Victory of Philip of Macedon at Chseronea, B. C. 500-338 ... 91 1. The Persian Invasions 91 2. The Age of Pericles 98 3. The Peloponnesian War . . . . . 100 4. Period of Spartan and Theban Supremacy . . loi IV. History of the Third Period : From the Victory of Philip to the Absorption of Greece by the Romans . 103 1. Supremacy of Macedon. — Philip .... 103 2. Career of Alexander the Great . . . . 104 3. Alexander's Successors 108 4. Later History of Macedon and Greece . . . 109 V. Grecian Civilization 114 1. Political Ideas . . , . . - . 114 2. Religion . . 114 3. Grecian Festivals 117 4. Greek Literature and Philosophy . . . -119 5. Grecian Art 125 6. Greek Life, Manners, etc 128 SECTION III. HISTORY OF ROME. I. Geography and Races .130 II. Primeval Rome. — Period of the Kings . . 133 III. The Roman Republic 136 1. Epoch of the Struggle for Existence . . , 136 Great Names of Early Rome . . . .137 2. Epoch of the Roman Conquest of Italj ^ . 143 Vill CONTENTS. 3. Epoch of Foreign Conquest 147 4. Epoch of Civil Strife 159 IV. Rome as an Empire 182 1. Age of Augustus 182 2. Political History 191 3. Spread of Christianity 194 4. Roman Life, Manners, Customs, etc. . . . 201 5. Last Days of Rome 207 MAPS Pagb Ancient Oriental Monarchies. {Double page) ... 8 Historic Era at the Beginning of Records . . . 11 Egypt at the Time of Persian Conquest .... 13 Dominion of Solomon 39 Phcenicia and her Colonies 44 Persian Empire. {Double page.) 54 Routes of Ancient Commerce 65 Greece and her Colonies. {Double page.) .... 72 Greece before Dorian Migration 77 Greek Races after Dorian Migration . . . . 83 Persian Invasions of Greece 92 Vicinity of Marathon and Athens 93 THERMOPYLyE 96 Races of Ancient Italy 131 Latium, or Primeval Rome 133 The Punic Wars 148 Mithridatic Wars 161 Campaigns of Cesar 167 Roman Empire. {Double page.) 182 Plan of Ancient Rome. 186 OUTLINES OF HISTORY. INTRODUCTION. 1. History may be defined, in a general way, as the rec- ord of the Ufe of mankind. In a more special History de- view, it is the narrative of the rise and progress ^^^'^' of those famous peoples whose doings constitute the history of civilizaiiofi. 2. In this its proper and highest sense history presup- poses the races advanced beyond the natural its relation to or primitive state, and gathered in political "^^lons. communities, or natiofis ; and it confines itself to those nations whose achievements have influenced the general current of the world's affairs, and made the condition of the world what we now see it. 3. Respecting mankind outside cf nations, there is much interesting and valuable knowledge, supplied Aids to by various sciences. Among these are, — history. Ethnol'ogy, or the science of the several races, or types of mankind. ARCHiEOL'oGY, or the science of the ancient works of man. Philol'ogy, or the science of language. By the aid of these sciences much is now known regard- ing humanity in its lower stages of progress. In our own times a vast amount of inquiry has been made into the con- dition of the primeval races ; interesting studies have been made also on the customs, manners, arts, languages, and religions of savage tribes. OUTLINES OF GENERAL LIJSTORY. 4. These researches belong to Anthropol'ogy, which Difference be- deals with man in natural history, rather than po^iogy^and'^°" ^^ HiSTORY proper, which deals with nations, History. that is to Say, with man in civilization. 5. Viewing history as confined to the series of leading The real his- civilizcd nations, we observe that it has to do toric race. ^y^^h but onc grand division of the human fam- ily, namely, with the Caucasian, or white race. To this division belonged the people of all the elder nations, — the Egyptians, Assyr'ians and Babylo'nians, the Hebrews and the Phceni'cians, the Hin'doos, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Of course, the modern European na- tions, as also the states founded by European colonists, all belong to this ethnological division. Thus we see that his- tory proper concerns itself with but one highly developed type of mankind ; for though the great bulk of the popu- lation of the globe has, during the whole recorded period, belonged, and does still belong, to other types of mankind, yet the Caucasians form the only truly historical race. Hence we may say that civilization is the product of the brain of this race. Of the peoples outside of the Caucasian race that have made some figure in civiKzation, the Chinese, Mexicans, and Peruvians stand alone. But though those races rose considerably above the savage state, their civilization was stationary, and they had no marked influence on the general current of the world's progress. 6. Modern scholars divide this historical stock — the Its three di- Caucasian race — into three main branches : visions. J -pj^g A'ryan, or Indo-European branch; II. The Semit'ic branch j III. The Hamit'ic branch. This classification is a linguistic one, — that is to say, it is a division based on the nature of the languages spoken by the three families of nations, — but at the same time it represents three distinct civilizations. INTROD UCTION. 7. The Aryan branch is that division to which we our- selves belong: : it includes nearly all the pres- . . r -r- .Li /-I 1 The Aryans. ent and past nations of Europe, — the Greeks, Latins, Germans or Teu'tons, Celts, and Slavo'nians, — to- gether with two ancient Asiatic peoples, namely, the Hin- doos and the Persians. 8. The evidence of language shows that the Celtic, Ger- man, Slavonian, Greek, and Latin tongues all Their unity, bear a remarkable family likeness, and that ^"'^ proved, they share this likeness with the Sanscrit, which was the ancient language of India, and with the Zend, the ancient language of Persia. It is quite certain that the forefathers of the Persians and of the Hindoos and the forefathers of all the European nations were once one people, and lived together somewhere in Western Asia. This was at a time long before the beginning of recorded history (for we know nothing of the Greeks, Latins, Germans, Celts, etc., as such, until we find them in Europe) ; but still it is proved by the evidence of language that their original home and native seat was Asia. g. The Semitic branch includes the ancient inhabitants of Syria, Arabia, and the Tigris and Euphrates . countries. The leading historical representa- tives of the Semitic branch are the Hebrews, Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Arabs. 10. The Hamitic branch has but one prominent repre- sentative, — the Egyptians. It is probable, j^^^j^.^gg however, that the ancient Chaldae'ans also be- longed to this race. 11. The history of the civilized world is the history of the Aryan, Semitic, and Hamitic races. It is comparison of of interest to know that the race to which we *^^ '"^^^^" belong, the Aryan, has always played the leading part in the great drama of the world's progress. The Hamitic nations; the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, though they devel- OUTLINES OF GENERAL HISTORY. oped a peculiar type of civilization, yet grew up and re- mained in a great degree apart from the rest of the world, having no considerable influence on the main current of history. As to the Semites, there is one respect in which they have the greatest place in the story of mankind, namely, in religious development; for the three religions that have taught men that there is but one God — namely, the Jewish, the Christian, and the Mahom'etan — have all come from among them. But, aside from this, the Semites do not make nearly so important or so conspicuous a figure in history as do the Aryans, or Indo-Europeans. They have never been greatly progressive. They have generally shown a conservative disposition that has, in the main, kept them fixed to their native seat, in the small tract of country between the Tigris, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. Thus they have not, like the Aryans, been the planters of new nations ; and they have never attained a high intellectual development, or that progress in political freedom, in science, art, and literature, which is the glory of the Aryan nations. 12. If we trace back the present civilization of the ad- The Aryans in vanced nations of the world, — our own civil- history, ization, and that of England, Germany, France, Italy, etc., — we shall find that much of it is connected by direct and unbroken line with the Roman. The Romans, in turn, were heirs of the Greeks. Now, all this is Aryan ; and when we go back to the primitive age of the undivided Aryans in Asia, we see that this race must even then have been placed far above the condition of mere savages, and that they had made good beginnings in government, and social life, and religion, and the simple mechanical arts. Thus we are fully authorized to say that the Aryans are peculiarly the race of progress ; and a very large part of the history of the world must be taken up with an account of the contributions which the Aryan nations have made to the common stock of civilization. INTRODUCTION. 13. In these Outlines of the world's history we shall take up: Divisions of I. The groups of ancient Oriental nations, t^isbook. including, i. The Egyptians; 2. The Assyro-Babylonians ; 3. The Hebrews; 4. The Phoenicians; 5. The Hindoos; 6. The Persians. II. The history of Greece. III. The history of the Roman Dominion. IV. The history of the Middle Ages. V. The history of the modern European states and na- tions. 14. The entire historical period, commencing with the early Empires of the East, and coming down chronologic to our own times, is usually divided into dis- P^nods. tinct portions, sometimes two and sometimes three ; that is to say, some historians make a double division, into Ancient history and Modern history ; and others a triple division, into Ancient, Mediceval, and Modern history. In either case Ancient history ends with the breaking up of the Dominion of Rome, in the fifth century a. d. (fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 a. d.). Then, if we make the double division, Modern history will begin with the downfall of Rome; but if the triple division, the interval from the fifth to the fifteenth century will be regarded as a period by itself, called Medieval history, or the history of the Middle Ages ; while Modern history, according to this method, will be confined to the centuries between the fifteenth and the present time. 15. Such divisions of the historic period into portions are merely arbitrary, seeing that history forms Nature of the in reality an unbroken whole. We shall adopt divisions, the triple division for practical convenience, though per- haps the double division is the more philosophical ; for while we think of the ages as forming a continuous stream, the Roman Dominion may still be regarded as a reservoir 6 OUTLINES OF GENERAL HISTORY. into which all the currents of history from the anterior ages were gathered, and from which, in turn, the ampler currents of Modern history have flowed. It was out of the breaking up of the great Dominion of Rome in the fifth century a. d. (when the Western Roman Empire fell, under the attacks of the Gothic invaders, and of other new races loosely called "Northern barbarians") that the modern states of Europe — that is, Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, etc. — gradually took their rise. l6. In the largest sense, however, history is a unit: its . epochs form but acts in one grand Provi- History a unit. , . , , , i r , • i dential drama; one thread of progress bmds nation to nation ; and, looking at humanity as a whole, we see that Through the ages- one increasing purpose runs, ' And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns. Tennyson. ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. I. Definition of History. (^ i.) I how distinguished. (IT 4.) Anthropology, History proper, II, Aids to History. Ethnology, \ Archeology, S how defined. (IT 3.) Philology, ) III. Divisions of the Caucasian Race. " Hindoos, Aryan (Indo-European) Branch. (IT 7.) Persians, Greeks, Latins, Germans, Celts, L Slavonians. INTRODUCTION. IV. V= Semitic Branch. (IT 9.) Hamitic Branch. (IT 10.) Hebrews, Phcenicians, Assyrians, Arabs. Egyptians, CHALDiEANS. Divisions of History, (f 13.) 1. Oriental Nations. 2. Greeck 3. Rome. 4. The Middle Ages. 5. Modern History. Chronologic Periods. (T[ 14.) Ancient History, from the earliest period to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 A. D. Medieval History, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the close of the 15 th century. Modern History, from the close of the 15th century to the present time. 8 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. SECTION I. THE ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 1. The ancient Oriental civilizations to be treated of in Oriental na- this section Comprise the monarchies of Egypt, tions. Assyr'ia and Babylo'nia, Judae'a, Phceni'cia, India, and Persia. 2. With the single exception of Egypt, the seat of all the ancient Oriental nations was in Asia. And of this grand division of the globe it is to be observed that only a small part has any connection with history proper. Historical Asia is in reality Southwestern Asia. 3. All that part of Asia north of the Altai range is a com- paratively barren waste. It was almost wholly Northern Asia. ^ . -^ . . . -^ unknown m antiquity. 4. Central Asia, extending between the 50th and the 40th , ^ . parallels of north latitude, — known to ancient Central Asia. ^ . 07,. . writers as Scyth'ta, — is a region of vast pla- teaus. Being destitute of arable land, it is a mere country of pasture. It has always supported a great population, but a population of nomads without fixed habitations or cities, and with no other form of political association than patriarchal government. Accordingly, the races of this re- gion have played no part in history, except that the Mongo- lian or Tartar races, inhabiting the great steppes, have at times poured down upon and conquered the civilized coun- tries. 127 from TJlz-sTiint^j :HiS(ru(W.i^.y GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 5. The real theater of Asiatic history, namely, South- western Asia, may be subdivided into three Division of regions: T. that west of the Euphra'tes; 2. the Western Asia, valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris; 3. the region be- tween the Zagros Mountains and the In'dus basin inclusive. 6. West of the Euphrates we have : i. The peninsula of Asia Minor, the seat of several nationalities (of _. , . , , r -r !,• 1 • \ First region. which that of Lyd'ia was the most important) and of various Grecian colonies ; their history is, however, connected as much with Europe as with Asia. 2. Syr'ia, bordering on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and comprising three distinct parts : (i) Syria proper ; (2) Phoenicia, including the narrow strip of coast between Leb'anon and the sea ; (3) Palestine, south of Phoenicia. 3. The peninsula of Arabia, stretching southeastward. This last is of comparatively little importance in ancient history. 7. In the basins of the Tigris and the Euphrates were several distinct territorial divisions : i. Arme'- nia, or the highland region between Asia Minor and the Caspian Sea. 2. Assyria proper, which lay east of the Tigris River and west of the Zagros Mountains. 3. Babylonia, comprising the great alluvial plain between the lower course of the Tigris and of the Euphrates, and stretching westward to the Syrian Desert. 4. Chaldae'a, the country at the head of the Persian Gulf, stretching west- ward from the lower waters of the Euphrates to the Syrian Desert. 5. Mesopota'mia, or the district between the two great rivers. 6. Susia'na, including the country lying along the Tigris east of Babylonia. 8. It must not be supposed that these territories were severally the seat of distinct nations. We may Nations in say that three great monarchies ruled in the "^°"^ "^s^""* valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, down to the time when these territories were absorbed in Persia (6th century b. c). These were tlie Chaldaean, Babylonian, and Assyrian king- lO ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. doms, and of these the last, at the height of its power, held sway over nearly the entire region between the Zagros Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. 9. The table-land of ancient Iran (Persia) lay to the east Eastern di- of the Zagros chain of mountains, which sep- vision. arated it from the Tigris and Euphrates ba- sins. In the north, toward the Caspian Sea, was Media; to the south, and reaching to the Persian Gulf, was ancient Persia proper. Farther eastward, and stretching to the south, was the peninsula of India, forming the eastern limit of ancient Asiatic civilization. 10. The earliest nations recorded in history arose in the Civilization three alluvial plains of the Nile, of the Tigris and geography. ^^^ Euphrates, and of the Indus. This fact was wholly due to physical causes. In a primitive state of society, population can gather into nations only in regions where a fertile soil produces abundant food. Now the three alluvial basins just named are distinguished for their ex- traordinary fertility. Here nature spontaneously produces certain important articles of food, such as dates, rice, etc., which, being easily cultivated and yielding immense re- turns, made a large population possible. Accordingly, we find that in these countries men had adopted fixed habita- tions (a great advance on the pastoral or nomad state) and formed themselves into political associations at a time long antedating recorded history. 11. As the physical conditions that favor the formation of human society are, so far as the Old World goes, found only in the alluvial plains of Southwest Asia (taking in Cradle of na- Egypt), as the earliest nations appear in these tions. regions, and as philology proves that all the European races came from Western Asia, — we may safely consider that here was, if not the cradle of the human race, at least the cradle of civilization. 12. We shall begin with these earliest nations of civilized GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. II man. With the oripfin of the human race, its ^ . . 1 ,,,,..,,. 1 . , Origin of man. first seats and earnest distribution, history- proper does not undertake to deal. History commences when historical records commence. Hence we must leave to revelation and to science the consideration of primitive humanity, and take up our studies with those ancient Ori- ental nations that appear on the stage of human affairs when historic records begin. 13. When the curtain goes up on antiquity, — say in the 23d century b. c, — we have disclosed to view Earliest his- the venerable figures of t^vo civilizations : that *°"'^ theater, in the Nile Valley and that in Chaldaea. And beyond this narrow region the fore-world is to us shrouded in impene- trable darkness. 12 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. CHAPTER II. EGYPT I. HISTORICAL OUTLINE. The Great Pyramids. 14. Egypt is the country in which we first find a gov- Antiquity of cmment and poUtical institutions estabUshed. Egypt. Egypt itself may not have been the oldest naiion, but Egyptian history is certainly the oldest history. Its monuments, records, and literature surpass in antiquity those of Chaldcea and India, the two next oldest nations. 15. It is natural to suppose that the banks of the Nile must have been one of the primitive seats of human soci- ety, for the condition already mentioned as favoring the -„^ ,^ first formation of nations — namely, cheap Why old. 1,1 c ^ 1 . and abundant food — was here present m a remarkable degree. EGYPT. 13 16. Egypt itself has been called from the earliest antiq- uity "the Physical ge- Giftofthe og'-aphy. Nile." This mighty river, flowing from the highlands of Abyssinia and the great lakes of equatorial Africa, forms in Egypt a strip of fertility in the midst of the desert waste. In its annual overflow (due to the immense rainfalls in the Abys- sinian mountains), the Nile, by its mud de- posits, renews every year the soil of this strip, so that all the people had to do was to plant, and nature produced. 17. In Egypt the date-palm ^ ^ , ^ Food-plants. grew spon- taneously, and fur- nished the people with a cheap and abun- MAP STUDY. Ancient Egypt comprised three divisions, — Lower Egypt, or the Delta; Midd'.e Egypt, or the Heptanomis ; Upper Egypt, or the Thebais. I. In which division was Memphis ? 2. On which bank of the Nile was Memphis ? 3. In which division was Thebes ? 4. Near which city are the Great Pyramids ? 5. What seaport at the mouth of the eastern branch of the Nile ? 6. Where was the land of Goshen? 7. What sea north of Egypt? 8. What is the general course of the Nile? 9. What sea east of Egypt ? 10. What celebrated mountain in this vicinity ? 14 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. dant article of food. The fertility of the soil also yielded, with slight labor, large crops of cereals (especially dhourra, a sort of maize), and the " granaries of Egypt " were the storehouse whence all the peoples of the Mediterraneaa were wont to draw supplies in seasons of scarcity. 1 8. The cheapness of living in Egypt led to a great mul- Effect on the tipHcation of the population. A Greek writer, people. Diodo'rus Sic'ulus, who traveled there nineteen centuries ago, says that to bring up a child to manhood did not cost more than twenty drachmas (less than four dollars of our money), — and he notices this fact as a cause of the populousness of Egypt. 19. Information in regard to ancient Egypt was, until the Old sources of present century, derived chiefly from the nar- information. ratives of the Greek historians, and especially from that of Herod'otus,* who traveled in Egypt in the 5 th century b. c, and from some fragments of a history WTitten in Greek by Man'etho, an Egyptian priest, in the 3d century b. c. 20. But in modern times our knowledge of the ancient The new land has been greatly extended by the discov- sources. ^^^ q£ ^^ ^^^ ^f reading the inscriptions which the Egyptians of old with great lavishness carved on their buildings and monuments, especially their obelisks, painted on the frescoed interiors of their tombs, and indeed placed on almost every object of use or art. These writings were in the character called hieroglypIiHcs^ which is a Greek term meaning sacred carvings, or priestly writing. Now, the knowledge of the reading of these died out with the decline of Egypt, and "hieroglyphics" became a synonym for every- thing that is mysterious. 21. It was an interesting accident that led to the unveil- Deciphering of ing of this mystcry. During the expedition of t^ e lerog yp - ^^ French to Egypt, under Napoleon, at the * Herodotus, called the father of history, was born at Halicarnassus, a Greek colony in Caria (Asia Minor), B. c. 484. EGYPT. 15 close of the last century, an engineer in digging the foun- dation of a fort near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile found a stone tablet about three feet long, on which was an in- scription in three different characters. This was the famous " Rosetta stone." One of the three texts (the lower one) was Greek, and of course was readily translated ; the text at the head was in the mystic hieroglyphic character ; the interme- diate text was in a character since called detnotic (demos, the people), that is, the writing of the common people. This in- scription was copied and circulated among scholars, and after long and ingenious efforts the alphabet of the hieroglyphics was made out ; so that now these carvings are read with ease and certainty, and a new flood of light has been thrown on the history of ancient Egypt. Note on the Rosetta Stone. — The Greek text, when translated, showed that the inscription was an ordinance of the priests decreeing cer- tain honors to Ptol'emy Epiph'anes on the occasion of his coronation, 196 B. C, (Ptolemy Epiphanes was one of a line of Greek sovereigns who ruled over Egypt from the time of its conquest by Alexander, 4th century, to the 1st century B. c.) It contains a command that the de- cree shoukl be inscribed in the sacred letters (hieroglyphics), the letters of the country (demotic), and Greek letters, — and this for the conven- ience of the mixed population of Egypt under its Greek rulers. It was natural to conclude that the three texts were the same in substance, and accordingly earnest efforts were made to decipher the hieroglyphics by aid of the Greek. The first clew was obtained by noticing that certain groups of the hieroglyphic characters were inclosed in oval rings, and that these groups corresponded in relative position with certain proper names, such as Ptolemy, etc., in the Greek text. The following line presents a few of the characters with a group in the oval ring. (The words and groups of words are read from rii^ht to left.) I! (Ptolemy eternal beloved of Phtah) of Egypt king of statue raising 1 6 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. It was by comparison of the group judged on strong grounds to be the name Ptolemy, with another group (found on another stone) supposed to stand for the name Cleopatra, that the first great advance was made. The groups were as follows : — (gSH (SS^ Supposed to be Ptolemy. Supposed to be Cleopatra. In Greek Ptolemy is Ptolemaios, and Cleopatra is Kleopatm. If now the hieroglyphic characters were /c-^/i^r-signs, the characters I, 2, 3, 4, in Ptolemaios should correspond respectively with 5, 7, 4, 2, in Kleopatra {\ht first letter in Ptolemaios being ihe. fifth in Kleopatra, etc.). In this way several letters were discovered ; by means of other groups the whole alphabet was made out, and finally it was proved that by this phonetic alphabet the characters and groups could be resolved into the Coptic language of Egypt, which was already understood by scholars. It should not be forgotten that the great work of deciphering was mainly effected by the French savant, Champollion. 22. The Egyptians were not Africans^ as we understand that term. They belonged to the Caucasian Egyptian race. o^-n ^1 -^i a o race. Still, they were neither Aryans nor Sem- ites, and hence scholars call them by a special designation, namely, Ha7mtes, or Khamites.^ They bore a greater re- semblance to the ancient Chaldaeans than to any other Asiatic people ; both peoples showed a wonderful building instinct, and the Egyptian language seems to be a sort of primitive Semitic. Hence some scholars believe that the Egyptians were originally immigrants into the Nile Valley from the alluvial plain at the head of the Persian Gulf ; but if this was the case, the Egyptians must have left * Khame {literally the Black Land) was the native name of Egypt. EGYPT. \y Asia at a period before there was that sharp division of Semites and Aryans wliich we find in historical times. 23. I'he origin of Egyptian civilization is hidden in the darkness of antiquity : but by the aid of cer- 1 r 11-1 Beginning of tam ascertamed tacts v/e may establish at Egypt's his- least an approximate starting-point. Thus, it *°'^^' is known that Abraham visited Egypt in the 20th century B. c, and that he then found a flourishing monarchy exist- ing. Now at this remote period the Great Pyramids were standing, and modern scholars are agreed that these struc- tures were reared by kings of the fourth dynasty, — at a time not later than the middle of the 25 th century b. c. It is evident from the monuments that the civilization of Egypt at this early date was in many respects of an advanced order, and hence we must seek its origin still farther back. But how far back? According to the native historian Manetho, twenty-six dynasties of kings ruled the country from Me'nes, the first king of the first dynasty, down to the conquest of Eg3rpt by the Persians in the 6th century b. c. The accession of Menes is placed by some scholars (as Bunsen) at 3906 ; others bring it down as late as 2700. Later than that date we cannot bring it, and it would doubt- less be quite correct to say that Egypt was a civilized coun- try three thousand years before the Christian era. 24. The history of Egypt from the first dynasty (2700 b. c.) down to the destruction of Egyptian in- The three pe- dependence by the Persians (525 b. c.) maybe "°'^^- divided into three periods, namely : — I. First Period (or period of the old empire), from the earliest times (say 2700 b. c.) to 2080. II. Second Period (or period of the Hyk'sos rule), from 2080 to 1527. III. Third Period (or period of the new empire), from 1527 to 525. 25. The First Period begins with the first dynasty (2700 1 8 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. B. c), and lasts for 620 years ; but it cannot be said that First Period authentic Egyptian history commences until characterized, ^j^^ fourth dynasty, about the middle of the 25th century b. c. And indeed the epoch of the fourth dynasty is the most notable during the whole of this First Period ; for this was the era of the pyramid-builders. Man- etho ascribes the building of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh S^gee'zeKl near Mem'phis to Suphis (the Che'ops of Herodo- tus) ; and it is an interesting fact that in the interior of this structure has been found a hieroglyphic royal name which scholars agree in reading Shiifu* The center of the Egyp- tian power was then at Memphis, in Lower Egypt, where a centralized monarchy ruled the whole country; and it is apparent that at this epoch the Egyptians had made very considerable progress in the arts of life. Before the close of the First Period, however, Egypt was broken up into really separate kingdoms, the monarchy which ruled at Thebes in Upper Egypt being the most powerful. This left the country in so feeble a condition that it was invaded by a foreign enemy, namely the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings. And with their conquest of Egypt (2080 b. c.) closes the First Period, or Old Empire. 26. The Second Period is the era covered by the rule of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kin^s, and lasts for Second Period. ,^V .-/o \ rr^^ about live centuries (2080- 1525 B.C.). The Hyksos are believed to have been a nomadic race from either Syria or Arabia. Entering Lower Egypt, they de- stroyed the native monarchy at Memphis, and afterwards conquered the Theban Kingdom of Upper Egypt. The complete establishment of their dominion was about 1900 B. c, and after this follows the darkest period of Egyptian history, t * For a representation of the signet-ring of Cheops, or Shufu, see pic- ture of the Pyramids at the head of the chapter. + It was during the ^:le of one of the dynasties of Shepherd Kings EGYPT. 19 27. The revival of Eg}''ptian independence by the expul- sion of the " Shepherds " introduces us to the Third Period, or that of the New Empire. This continues for about one thousand years (1527-525 B. c.) ; but it should be divided into two ages, — the grand age and the age of decay. 28. The expulsion of the Hyksos was due to the valor of a Theban prince, who headed a great na- tional uprising, and who received as his reward ^ ^^^* the supreme authority over the whole country, — a right which was inherited by his successors. Egypt now became one great centralized power, with Thebes for its capital. The most splendid period of Egyptian history was from the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasties, — about three centuries (1525 - 1200 B. c.)."^ Egyptian art attained its highest per- fection, and the great temple-palaces of Thebes were built. The Egyptians even undertook foreign expeditions : Ethi- opia, Arabia, and Syria were invaded ; the Euphrates was crossed, and a portion of Mesopotamia was added to the Egyptian Empire. The chief of these warlike kings was Ram'eses IL, the Sesos'tris of the Greek writers. 29. From the twentieth dynasty onwards Egypt declined for six centuries, till finally it was conquered by the Persians under Camby'ses, 525 b. c. In 332 Egypt fell under the dominion of Alexander the Great, who founded on its shore the new capital and literary and commercial center called Alexandria. One of his gen- erals, named Ptolemy, received Egypt as his fragment of that Abraham visited Egypt, — said to be 1920 B. C, — and they were still reigning when Jacob and his sons settled in the country, 1706 K. C. * At the head of the eighteenth dynasty is supposed to have been that Pharaoh " who knew not Joseph." The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is believed to have taken place 1320 B. c, during the reign of Meneptha, the fourth king of the nineteenth dynasty, — the Pharaoh whose heart was hardened, and who was drowned in the Red Sea. 20 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHJES. the divided empire of Alexander, 323 b. c. Thenceforward for three centuries the Greek dynasty of the Ptolemies ruled on the banks of the Nile till Queen Cleopa'tra, the last of the line, being overcome by the Romans, died by her own hand; and the venerable land became a Roman province in B. c. 30. (See under the history of Rome, p. 178.) 2. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION. 30. In government, Egypt was a hereditary monarchy, but the kingly rule took a peculiar form, owing: to Government. , t r , . , , the extraordmary power of the priestly class. Unlike the sovereigns of the East, an Egyptian Pharaoh was far from being the unquestioned master of his own ac- tions : his public duties and his daily habits of life were pre- scribed by religious rule ; so that the priestly class formed the " power behind the throne." In another respect an Egyptian king differed from an Eastern despot : his power over the lives and property of his subjects was strictly lim- ited by law, and nothing left to caprice and passion. The right to enact new laws, however, resided with the sovereign. 31. The station in life of every man was fixed by an in- stitution named caste. By the system of caste, each individual, instead of being able to make his own place and fortune in the world, had his lot marked out by his birth : he had to be what his father was. Of these castes, or ranks, there were three broad divisions, — the priests, the soldiers, and the lower orders. 32. The priests were the richest, most powerful, and most influential order. It must not be supposed, however, that the modern word " priest " gives the true idea of this caste. Its members were not limited to religious offices ; they formed an order co7?iprising 7nany occupations and professions. They were distributed all over the country, possessing exclusively the means of reading EGYPT. 21 and writing, and the whole stock of medical and scientific knowledge. Their ascendency, both direct and indirect, over the minds of the people was immense, for they pre- scribed that minute religious ritual under which the life of every Egyptian, not excepting the king himself, was passed. 33. Next in importance to the sacerdotal or priestly or- der was the military caste, numbering about 400,000. To each man of this soldier-caste was assigned a portion of land (= 6\ acres) free from any tax; but he could not engage in any art or trade. The lands of the priests and soldiers were regarded as privileged property; while the rest of the soil was considered as the property of the king, who rented it to cultivators, receiving from them one fifth of the produce. 34. Widely separated from the priests and warriors were the various unprivileged castes. These were the husbandmen^ the at-tificers^ and the herdsmen^ each caste including many different crafts and occupations. The lowest caste was that of the herdsmen, and the low- est members of this caste were the swineherds, who were not permitted to enter the temples. All the castes below the priests and soldiers agreed, however, in this, that they had no political rights, and could not hold land. 35. The effect of the caste-system was evil. It was one of the main causes of the decline of the nation. It discouraged progress and improvement; it ^^^^* °^ '^^s*^- crushed out personal ambition ; it produced dull uniformity. 36. The population of ancient Egypt is known to have been at least five millions, and it may have been much more. As food was cheap and °^" ^tion. abundant, owing to its being easily obtained, the race in- creased very rapidly ; hence there was a large part of the people whose labor could be used in any way the rulers wished. This fact accounts for the ease with which great public works — works that, like the pyramids, were useless. 22 ANCIEIV7' ORIENTAL MONARCTIIES. but yet required the labor of hundreds of thousands of men for years — were constructed. 37. Herodotus relates that Egypt contained 20,000 in- habited towns. The two most famous cities were Memphis and Thebes. Memphis was about twelve miles above the kpex of the Delta. Scarcely a vestige of the place now remains ; but its great burial- place at Gizeh is still seen. Here are the great Pyramids, the colossal Sphinx, and miles on miles of rock-hewn tombs. Thebes was the metropolis of Upper Egypt, and the most splendid city of the Nile. The traveler who now views its ruins at Kar'nak and Lux'or beholds pillared temples and statues of a size so colossal as to seem like the work of giant hands. 38. In some branches of art, especially in architecture, . ,., , the Egyptians made srreat advances. The race Architecture. *V , . , , , , r , , ., , seems mdeed to have had a wonderful build- ing instinct. The dis- tinguishing feature of Egyptian architecture is its vastness and sub- limity. Avenues of colossal sphinxes and lines of obelisks led to stupendous palaces and temples, elaborate- ly sculptured, and con- taining halls of solemn and gloomy grandeur, in which our largest cathedrals might stand. 39. The pyramids were de- Pyramids. . , Signed as the sepulchers of kings. Rums OF Karnak. EGYPT. 23 The three great pyramids of Gizeh are the most celebrated ; but as many as seventy stand on the left bank of the Nile, just beyond the cultivated ground, in the vicinity of Mem- phis. The largest of the three great pyramids is 450 feet high; it has a square base of 764 feet, and it covers an area of more than 13 acres, — twice the extent of any other building in the world. The second pyramid is but little less j the third about half the size. In the construction of these works no degree of labor for any length of time seems to have intimidated the Egyptians. The huge blocks of stone, sometimes weighing 1600 tons each, were dragged for hundreds of miles on sledges ; in one case which is known, 2000 men were employed three years in bringing a single stone from the quarry to the structure in which it was to be placed. 40. In sculpture the Egyptian artists aimed at the colos- sal, and never attained the beautiful. A re- 111 1- • r X-. • 1 • Sculpture. markable peculiarity of Egyptian sculpture is, that, though the earliest monuments reveal a considerable degree of artistic skill, this skill never advanced. The ex- planation of this is found in the connection of Egyptian art with Egyptian religion. The artists were fettered by strict rules, and were forbidden to indulge their inventive genius. 41. Egyptian painting did not reach true excellence. The best specimens, as seen in the frescos in the . /• 1 ' 1- 1 1 -IT Painting. interiors of the sepulchers, display brilliancy of coloring, and frequently great spirit and vivacity; but the drawing is very inaccurate, displaying no observance of perspective or even the simplest laws of vision. It should be stated that in this branch of art, too, religion interfered to limit the taste and fancy of the painter, certain colors being positively prescribed in representing the bodies and draper- ies of the gods. 42. The art of writing was practiced more extensively by the Egyptians than by any contemporary nation. The 24 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. pyramids and monuments of even the earliest period bear inscriptions ; and it was the custom to mark Art of Writing. i • / j ^- i r every object and article of use or ornament. .For manuscripts an excellent writing material was made from the leaves of the pa-py'rus plant, — whence our word "paper." Fragments of manuscripts on papyrus exist of the earliest Theban dynasties, — 2000 b. c. 43. The translation of the sacred books of the Egyptians shows that their religion embodied some grand e igion. conceptions, — among others that of the immor- tality of the soul, and that of the existence of an invisible God, The several attributes and manifestations of the Deity were, however, represented in various forms, and, though by the priests and other learned men these were regarded as mere symbols, they became to the ignorant separate divinities and objects of worship. In this way the religious system of the Egyptians was very complicated, the number of gods being so great that every day of the year was consecrated to one. The v/orship of Osi'ris and I'sis was that most generally diffused. 44. One of the most striking peculiarities of the Egyp- Worship of tian religion was the honor paid to brutes. animals. ^j^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ -^j^^ ^^^ ^^ \i2.^\i Were held in reverence throughout the whole land, — other ani- mals were worshiped only in special nomes, or districts. The highest honors were paid to the bull Apis at Mem- phis, and to the calf MneVis at Heliop'olis. The sacred animals were kept in the temples, ministered to with the greatest care, and when they died they were embalmed. If a person killed an ibis or a hawk, whether intention- ally or unintentionally, he was immediately put to death. Animal worship received its extraordinary extension in Egypt owing to the overwhelming influence of the priestly caste. Ultimately it was a main cause of the mental de- basement of the people. EGYPT. 25 Embalming. 45. The practice of embalming dead bodies was con- nected with the peculiar religious ideas of the Egyptians. The original reason of embalming was the belief that at the day of judgment the soul would reunite with the body: hence the care taken to preserve the corpse from corruption, and hence also the great pains taken to ornament the interiors of their stone-hewn sepulchers, since, even while lying in the tomb, the body was be- lieved to be not wholly uncon- scious. 46. The Egyptians were adepts in the finer kinds of Arts and man- mechanical art In "f^^^tures. the polishing and engraving of precious stones, in glass manu- facture, porcelain-making, and in embalming and dyeing, they had attained great skill. They raised flax, out of which they made fine linen (linen being their usual article of dress) ; they worked in metals from the earliest recorded period ; their walls and ceilings they painted in beautiful patterns, which we still imitate ; and in the production of articles of use and ornament they had reached a perfection that modern art has not been able to surpass. 47. It is known that the Egyptians had some acquaint- ance with certain sciences, especially s^eome- „ . , , . ' ,^ .. r ^ ^ Science. try, arithmetic, asti-onomy, and medicine. But their knowledge can hardly be called science, in the modern sense : they knew truths more as matters of fact and obser- vation than as determined by law. For example, the Greek philosopher Pythag'oras learned from the Eg)rptian priests Egyptian Mummy. 26 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. the fact that " the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two other sides " ; but it was the Greek mathematician himself who discovered the de?7ionstra- tion of this principle. In accuracy of astronomical obser- vations the Egyptians were surpassed by the Chaldseans. Their geometiy was little more than land-surveying. 48. The great characteristic of Egyptian institutions was their imchangeabkness. This stationary char- Summing up. ' . . _, . •' , acter is seen m Egyptian government, society, religion, art, and learning. Egypt herself was a mummy. CH First Period, or Old Empire. Second Periodj or Middle Empire. Third Period, or New Empire. Later events. - RONOLOGIC SUMMARY. B. C. Beginning ©f Egyptian history with first dynasty of Manetho '. . . o . . . 2700 Fourth dynasty, or period of tlie Pyramid-rbuild- ers 2450 Close of the Old Empire by the Hyksos inva- . sion 2080 Hyksos conquest of Lower Eg^'pt . . . 2080 Complete subjugation of the whole -country o 1900 Abraham's visit to Egypt .... 1920 Settlement in Egypt of Jacob and his sons . 1706 Expulsion of the Hyksos .... 15^5 Revival of Egyptian independence under a The- ban dynasty 1525 Three most brilUant centuries of Egyptian his- tory 1500- 1200 Exodus of the Israelites .... I491 Egypt conquered by the Persians under Cam- byses 5^5 Egypt conquered by the Greeks imder Alex- ander 332 Beginning of the rule of the Ptolemies (or Greek kings of Egypt) after the partition of Alex- ander's Empire 323 Egypt becomes a Roman province after the death of Cleopatra 30 ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIAN 27 CHAPTER III. THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. I. INTRODUCTION. 49. To Egypt has been accorded the precedence of possessing- the earliest secular historic records. Antiquity of f , . . T n 1 1 1 Chaldsean civ- Dut an actual antiquity hardly later than that iiization. ^-^=^ .^--^^^ =^ of Egypt may be claimed for the civilization which arose in the Tigro - Eu- phrates basin. There is a posi- tive date in Chaldsean his- tory going back to the 23d cen- tury B. c. (2234 B. c. See "IT 57, p. 30), while authentic Egyp- tian history an- tedates this by only two centuries (epoch of the Pyramid-builders, fourth dynasty, B. c. 2450). MAP STUDY. See map of Ancient Oriental Monarchies, opposite p. 8. I . In what country do the Tigris and the Euphrates rise ? 2. "Where is Mount Ararat? 3. What mountain chain between the Tigro-Euphrates basin and the plateau of Media and Persia ? 4. Describe the course of the Tigris. 5. Of the Euphrates. 6. Where do they unite? 7. Into what gulf do they empty ? 8. Locate Nineveh ; Babylon ; Ur. Source of the Tigris. 28 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 50. If, however, leaving profane records we take the guid- The Scripture ance of the Hebrew Scriptures, this region will record. claim an even greater antiquity. The Bible places the commencement of the history of mankind in the Tigro-Euphrates basin. "And it came to pass," says the Book of Genesis, " as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shi'nar ; * and they dwelt there." There the Scriptures place the building of Babel, the first great city founded after the Deluge, and there occurred the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of races. It is an interesting fact that the record of this event is preserved in the Babylonian tradition, as well as in the Mosaic narra- tive. 51. Two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, take Sketch of geog- their rise in the highlands of Armenia, and raphy. unite near the head of the Persian Gulf, which receives their waters after the Euphrates has flowed about 1780 miles and the Tigris about 1150. The valleys of these streams interpose as a belt of fertility in the midst of the great desert zone that extends from the western coast of Africa almost to the northeastern shores of Asia. 52. The Tigro-Euphrates basin comprises a number of Geographical territorial and political divisions which it is divisions. ^^^ always easy to mark by definite lines. The region between the two great rivers was called by the Greeks Mesopotamia, and by the Hebrews Shinar. Chaldaea was the name applied to the region south of the lower course of the Euphrates, and to the head of the Persian Gulf. These we may call territorial divisions ; but Babylonia, on the other hand, was a political division which took in the alluvial plain between the lower waters of the Tigris and Euphra- tes (Southern Mesopotamia or Shinar), and also Chaldasa southward to the Arabian desert. Again, the territorial di- * Shinar, that is, Mesopotamia. See Map of Ancient Oriental Mon- archies, opposite p. 8. ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 29 vision of Assyria Proper lay east of the Tigris and west of the Zagros Mountains, and must not be confounded with Assyria as a poUtical power, that is, the Assyrian Empire, which varied in extent, and the name of which was often apphed to the whole territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the table-land of Media and Persia. Susiana lay along the Tigris, southeast of Assyria, and was a territorial, not a national, designation. 53. The Tigro-Euphrates basin was the seat of three successive kingdoms: — i. The early Babylo- The three na- nian, or Chaldsean, Kingdom ; 2. The Assyrian *'°"^* Empire; 3. The later Babylonian Kingdom. 54. As in the case of Egypt, our knowledge of the an- cient history of these countries Jias been very Modem re*- greatly enlarged through modern research. ^^^'^*=^- By the industry of explorers, beginning with Layard thirty years ago, Nineveh and Babylon and the buried cities of the plain have been unearthed ; their palaces and temples have been exposed to view; the mysterious inscriptions in the wedge-shaped or cu-ne'i-form character, which were found covering the slabs that lined the interiors of the palaces and temples, have, by a triumph of modern schol- arship, been translated ; and thus a flood of light has been cast on the darkness of the primeval world. 2. EARLY BABYLONIAN, OR CHALDEAN, KINGDOM. 55. The earliest of the three kingdoms Was the Chaldaean, or Early Babylonian, which arose in the lower Physical de- part of the rich alluvial plain lying above the scnption. Persian Gulf. Chaldiea by its natural fertility was calcu- lated to be one of the first seats of human society. It is the only country in which wheat is known to be indi- genous. Other cereals grew plentifully; groves of the magnificent date-palm fringed the banks of the rivers ; the 30 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. vine and other fruits abounded, while the rivers teemed with fish. 56. Authentic history in the Tigro-Euphrates basin, as Earliest his- in the Nile Valley, commences only with the ^°''y- formation in Chaldsea and Babylonia of one united kingdom, including previously disunited tribes under its authority. The Hebrew records name Nimrod, the son of Cush, as the founder of this kingdom ; and the Book of Genesis also reveals to us the existence of a Tetrapolis, or confederation of four cities, that ruled over the Empire established by Nimrod ; namely, i. Babylon; 2. E'rech; 3. Ac'cad ; 4. Cal'neh, — all of which places have been iden- tified in modern times. 57. The primitive Chaldaeans practiced the worship of the heavenly bodies. Their religion, combined with the facilities afforded by their climate and their level horizon, led them from the earliest times to the study of astronomy, in which they made very consider- able progress. When Alexander the Great took possession of Babylon, 331 b. c, he found a series of astronomical ob- servations taken by the Chaldaeans for an unbroken period of 1903 years. These observations would therefore date from 2234 B. c. (331 + 1903). 58. The Chaldaeans showed from the first an architect- ural tendency. The attempt to build a tower " which should reach to heaven," made here (Genesis xi. 4), was in accordance with the general spirit of the people. Out of such simple and rude material as brick and bitumen vast edifices, the ruins of v/hich have re- cently been found, were constructed, pyramidal in design, but built in steps or stages of considerable altitude. 59. Other arts also flourished. Letters in the cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, characters were in use ; and the baked bricks employed by the royal build- ers had commonly a legend stamped in their center. Gems ASSVJ^IANS AND BABYLONIANS. 31 were cut, polished, and engraved. Metals of many kinds were worked and fashioned into arms, ornaments, and im- l^^tfl^H^Wm^ tgTP^g^iii^-^ Babylonian Brick. plements. Delicate fabrics were manufactured by their looms. Commerce was carried on with other countries, and the " ships of Ur " traded along the shores of the Persian Gulf. 60. The site of Ur is believed to have been identified with certain mounds and ruins on the banks of Ur, the lower Euphrates. This place is interesting in connection with Abraham, who was born at " Ur of the Chaldees." The period of Abraham is usually put at about two thousand years before the Christian era. The belief is that Chaldsa contained at this time a Semitic population which professed a pure form of religion, in the midst of the idolatrous Chaldaeans ; and hence Abraham, who was a Semite, emigrated with his family and flocks and herds to the land of Canaan. 61. The Chaldaean monarchy continued for several cen- turies ; but about the 13th century b. c. it took Decline of a secondary position, and the newly arisen As- Chaidaea. Syrian nation became the dominant power of Mesopotamia. 32 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Early history. 3. ASSYRIA. 62. The Ass5Tians are believed to have been a Semitic population who originally lived in Chaldasa, but who at an early period removed to the upper course of the Tigris. Here there grew up a kingdom which at first was subject to the Chaldaean ruler at Babylon, but which finally, about 1250 B.C., became independent. As- syria advanced rapidly and completely overshadowed Baby- lonia; and for six centuries, down to the fall of Nineveh, 625 B. c, was the great imperial power of Western Asia. 63. The six centuries of Assyrian history may be divid- Two periods ed iuto two periods. The first period is from of Assyria. ^^ independence of Ass5n-ia (about 1250 B. c.) to the foundation of the New Assyrian Empire under Tig'lath-pi-le'ser II., 745 B. c. \ the second is from the ac- cession of Tiglath-pileser II. to the fall of Nineveh, 625 b. c. ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 33 64. Among the famous monarchs of the first period were Tiglath-pileser I. (1130 b. c), a conquering prince, and Asshur-idanni-pal (the original of Sardanapalus, but wholly unlike that mythic king), to whose time belong the winged bulls and lions and the sculptured palace-walls which have been dug from the ruins of Calah. Towards the end of this period Nabonas'sar, the ruler of Babylon, not only made himself independent, but gained a certain supremacy over Assyria. The date of this event, 747 B. c, is known as the " era of Nabonassar." In 745 b. c, however, the authority of Assyria was revived by Tiglath- pileser IL, with whose accession begins the second period of Assyrian history. This monarch was a great conqueror, as were also his successors, Sargon and Shalmaneser IV. ; but the most splendid reign during the second period was that of SennaclVerib (705-681 b. c), who made extensive con- quests, and was the builder of magnificent structures at Nine- veh. This second period was the golden age of Assyrian art. 65. The countries included within the limits of Assyria, at the height of its glory, were Babylonia (cov- Extent of the ering all the territory of the early Chaldaean Empire. Kingdom), Mesopotamia, Media, Syria, Phoenicia, a large part of Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt Under the Assyrian rule the subject states were generally allowed to retain their own government, but their kings were compelled to do hom- age and pay tribute to the Assyrian monarch as the " king of kings." 66. The vast empire of Assyria was never more than a loosely tied bundle of petty states. The rec- „ Cause of decay. ords of the kings, engraved on slabs and cylin- ders, reveal a constant succession of revolts, wars, subjuga- tions, and deportations of whole populations. Thus Assyria had no inherent strength, and after culminating in the 7th century it began rapidly to fall in pieces. 67. In the 7 th century Babylon made a successful rebel- 34 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Closing events. Nineveh de scribed. lion ; and when the Median conqueror Cyax'ares led a force from beyond the Zagros chain to attack As- syria, he was joined by the Babylonians linder Nabopolas'sar, the Assyrians were overthrown, Nineveh was captured, its splendid palaces and temples were given to the flames, and Assyria fell, never to rise again, 625 b. c. 68. Nineveh was rather an assemblage of fortified pal- aces and temples, interspersed with clusters of meaner dwellings built of sun-dried bricks, than what is now understood by a city. For about sixty miles mounds of ruins dot the banks of the Tigris : these doubtless formed part of Nineveh ; but the heart of the vanished city seems to be represented by the mounds that are opposite the modern town of Mosul. So complete was its demolition, that even in the 4th century b. c, — time of Alexander the Great, — almost every vestige of it had disappeared. 69. Summing up what the Assyrian people contributed Assyrian civi- to civilization, we find that their genius took lization. mainly the form of art and manufactures. In letters and in science _ _. -__ they were behind both the Chaldeans and the Egyptians. Architec- ture was their chief glory, and the palaces of Nineveh must have been of extraordinary splendor. Their sculp- ture, too, though never attaining Grecian purity Hnd perfection, was far in advance of Egyptian stiffness and conven- tionalism : it displays a wonderful grandeur, dignity, boldness, and strength. ^-^^ ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 35 70. In the useful and mechanical arts, they had reached great skill. They not only had transparent glass, but even lenses ; they were well ac- quainted with the principle of the arch, and constructed tunnels, aqueducts, and drains ; they knew the use of the pulley, the lever, and the roller ; they understood the arts of inlaying, enameling, and overlaying with metals ; they cut gems with the greatest skill and finish, and in the ordinary arts of life they were, twenty-five centuries ago, nearly on a par with the boasted achievements of the moderns. 4. LATER BABYLONIAN KINGDOM. .71. During the six centuries of Assyrian dominion, — I2e;o to 62"^ B.C., — Babylon had been par- Political situ- . , , ■.. 1 1 1 . ^111 ation of Baby- tially eclipsed ; but the ancient Cnaldaean or ion. Babylonian nation never entirely lost its spirit of indepen- dence. When Assyria was overthrown by the Medes, 625 B. c, Nabopolassar, who had aided the Medes, received as his share of the spoil the undisputed possession of Baby- lonia. 72. This later Babylonian Kingdom lasted for 87 years (625-538 B.C.), till overthrown by the new Extent of his- conquering power of Persia. ^^'■y- 73. Nabopolassar, the first monarch of the new Babylo- nian Kingdom, was succeeded by his son Nebu- Nebuchadnez- chadnez'zar, under whom the empire reached ^^^' its height of glory. Having in early life proved the sharp- ness of his sword upon Egypt, this king, during his long reign of forty-three years, undertook other wars, in which the siege of Tyre and the siege of Jerusalem stand out as conspicuous achievements. Besides his conquests, Nebu- chadnezzar distinguished himself by almost entirely rebuild- ing the city of Babylon. With his " unbounded command of naked human strength," he applied himself to those 36 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. works which afterwards called forth his celebrated boast: " Is not this Great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? " 74. Babylon was a square city at least five times as large as London, and traversed diasronally by Babylon. , ^"^ , ' „ « r , • , , the Euphrates. Its walls — 338 feet high and 85 feet thick — were studded with towers and pierced with brazen gates. Its palaces and its hanging gardens — a system of terraces in imitation of mountain scenery, formed to please Nebuchadnezzar's Median queen — were among the wonders of the world. 75. Nebuchadnezzar was followed by four kings, the last of whom was Nabona'dius. This mon- arch had made his son Belshaz'zar the partner of his throne, and it is the name of Belshazzar that appears in the Scriptures in connection with the capture of Babylon. 76. At this time a new power appeared from beyond the Persian con- Zagros Mountains. This power was the con- quest, quering army of the newly risen dominion of Persia. Under the command of the great Cyrus the Per- sians had gained ascendency over the Medes and begun a career of conquest. Appearing in Mesopotamia, they laid siege to Babylon, which was entered by diverting the course of the Euphrates, 538 b. c. Herodotus states that Babylon was taken " amid revelries," — thus confirming the account given in the Scriptures of the circumstances of the capture. The fearful handwriting on the palace wall, and the terrible denunciation of the prophet, form a scene too deeply impressed on our memories to need repetition here. 77. In the fall of Babylonia the last of the three Meso- potamian kingdoms disappears from the stage Later history. ^. , . ^ i , , -r^ • • f of history. Conquered by the Persians in the 6th century, Assyria and Babylonia became, two centuries ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. 37 later, a part of the vast possessions of Alexander the Great. Alexander designed Babylon to be the capital of his empire, and was preparing to restore its ancient splendor when he was prematurely cut off. Thenceforth its decay was rapid, and it is now a vast heap of ruins, tenanted only by the beasts and birds that love to haunt solitary places. 78. The Babylonians were a mixed race, partly Hamites and partly Semites, and in some of their traits Babylonian they differed from the Assyrians. Their " wis- *="^*"''^- dom and learning " are celebrated both by the Jewish writers and by the Greek historians. They were careful observers of astronomical phenomena, and they had made considerable advance in mathematics. In science the Greeks confessed themselves the disciples of Babylonian teachers. 79. They were eminently a commercial peoole : their land was a " land of traffic " and their city a " city of merchants." The looms of Babylon were famous for the production of textile fabrics, especially carpets and muslins ; and these were exchanged for the frankincense of Arabia, for the pearls and gems of India, for tin and copper from Phoenicia, and for the fine wool, lapis lazuli^ silk, gold, and ivory of the far East. CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. B.C. First authentic date in Chaldsan history 2234 Chaldaean subjection and Assyrian independence . . . 1250 Age of Tiglath-pileser 1 113° Era of Nabonassar , . . = 747 Assyrian revival under Tiglath-pileser II 745 Overthrow of Assyria by the Medes under Cyaxares . . 625 Later Babylonian kingdom established ..... 625 Accession of Nebuchadnezzar . 604 Capture of Babylon by Cyrus .....*. 538 38 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. CHAPTER IV. THE HEBREWS. 80. Jewish history is the subject of particular study in Sacred his- Connection with the Scriptures. Hence no *°^^* detailed account of this people is required in this work. All that need be done is to indicate the few general points of contact with the world's history. 81. The Hebrews were a pure Semitic race, and hence were kinsmen of the Phoenicians, Arabs, and The race. . . . ,. i r^ . , Assyrians. Accordmg to the Scriptures, the father of this people was Abraham, who in the 20th cen- tury B. c. removed from the plains of Mesopotamia to Ca- naan, the " promised land." 82. The history of Abraham, and of his sons and grand- Period of jew- sons, is simply the story of a nomad family; ish history. ^^^ j^ -g j^Q^ ^-jj ^j^g ^-^g q£ ^^^ departure of the children of Israel from Egypt that Jewish national his- tory begins. This event is supposed to have taken place in 1320. The interval between that event and the absorption of Judaea in the Roman Empire may be divided into four periods : — I. From the Exodus to the establishment of the mon- archy under Saul, 1320-1095 b. c. II. From the establishment of the monarchy to the sep- aration of the two kingdoms, 1095 -975 b. c. III. From the separation of the kingdoms to the Babylo- nian captivity, 975 - 586 b. c. IV. From the Babylonian captivity to the absorption of Judaea by Rome, 586-63 b. c. 83. During the first period the Hebrew government was a theocracy (or a government of God), the divine will being THE HEBREWS. 39 manifested through the high-priest. For the conduct of affairs there was a succession of rulers and " Judges " ; these were designated to their office by revela- First Period. tion from heav- en, and they were obeyed by common con- sent, but they claimed no hon- ors of royalty. The last of this line of rulers was the prophet Samuel. 84. The sec- ond period of Jewish history includes the era of the united monarchy, and it continues dur- ing three reigns. The first of the kings was Saul, who after a stormy reign of forty years was DOMINION OF Solomon ^n/^ J^A cen ic ia. What was its eastern boundary ? nicia with reference to Palestine ? MAP STUDY. I. What sea formed the western boundary of the Holv Land ? 2. 3. What was the situation of Phos- 4. Name the chief river in the Holy "Land. 5. Locate the Dead (or Salt) Sea. 6. In what part was the Kingdom of Judah ? 7. The Kingdom of Israel ? 8. Where was the seat of the Philistines ? 9. Name the seaports. 10. Locate Jerusalem ; Samaria; Tadmor. 40 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. succeeded by his son-in-law, David. This monarch, the greatest who ever ruled the nation, conquered Jerusalem from the Jeb'usites, and made it the seat both of the national government and religion. By his wars David ex- tended his dominion from the Red Sea to the Euphrates, and subdued the Philis'tines and other Syrian tribes. His son Solomon succeeded him in 1015 b. c. 85. Under Solomon (1015-975 B.C.), the Israelites be- Reign of Solo- Came the paramount race in Syria, and the «ion. Jewish state was a real imperial power. At this time it had relations both with Egypt and Phoenicia ; Solomon shared the profits of Syrian commerce, and mar- ried the daughter of a Pharaoh. 86. A third period, one of decline, set in immediately Period of de- after the reign of Solomon. The subject *^^^^^* states threw off the Jewish yoke; disunion took place among the Jews themselves, and the imperial power crumbled into two petty kingdoms, — that of Israel (capital at Samaria), composed of ten out of the twelve tribes, and that of Judah (capital at Jerusalem), made up of the other two. 87. The kingdom of Israel lasted for about 250 years. Israel and It was finally Overwhelmed by Sargon, king Judah. Qf Assyria, and the ten tribes were carried into captivity, 721 b. c. The kingdom of Judah con- tinued more than a centuiy afterwards ; but Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (586 B. c), the population of Judah were torn from their homes to pine in Babylon, and the history of the Jews ceased for seventy years. The triumph of Cjnns over Babylonia was followed by an edict by which the Jews were restored to their homes (536 b c). 88. The interval between the return from captivity to tlie conquest of the Romans forms the Fourth Period of Jewish history. During this time THE HEBREWS. 41 the nation underwent many vicissitudes. First it formed a satrapy or province of the Persian Empire ; then, in 332 B. c, it came under the sway of Alexander the Great, and for a hundred years after his death it was ruled by the Ptolemies of Egypt. The Greek language now became common in Judaea, and the Septuagint Version of the Penta- teuch was prepared in that language under the direction of Ptolemy Philadelphus. In the year 166 b. c. the Jews threw off the foreign yoke and secured their national independence ; but a century later, Jerusalem was captured by the Roman general Pompey (63 b. c), and Judaea became a part of the Roman prov- ince of Syria. The Jews were not obedient subjects, and drew down on themselves se- vere punish- ments. At length, in the year 70 a. d., Jerusalem was again taken after a long siege by Titus, the city was razed to the ground, and the nation became dispersed, as it now is, throughout every country of the world. 89. In summing up Hebrew history as a whole we notice : I. That, in geographical extent, the Jewish state was but a limited domain, — the whole country ""^™^^y- * This interesting coin was struck in A. D, 77. The face of the coin (the obverse), shown on the left-hand side, represents the laurel-crowned head of Titus, with the inscription T[itus] CAES[ar] IMP[erator] AUG[usti] F[ilius] TR[ibunicia] P[otestate] CO[n]S[uI] VI [i. e. sex- turn] CENSOR; that is, Titus Caesar, Imperator,son of Augustus [i. e. Vespasian], with tribunitial power, sixth time consul, censor. On the back of the coin (or reveise), at the right-hand side, is a female figure seated under a palm-tree, behind which are a standard, helmets, etc. ; and oh this side is the inscription IVDAEA CAPTA, i. e. Judcea taken. Coin of Titus.* 42 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. being only 150 miles long by about 50 miles wide ; 2. That, compared with the great Oriental empires, with Assyria and Babylonia, Egypt and Persia, its political importance was slight; 3. That the Jewish people contributed little to ancient civilization, so far as regards art, science, or politics. 90. The meaning and the mission of the Hebrew race Mission of the wcre not in these forms of activity: it was Jews. given that people to influence the world in an entirely different way, namely, through spiritual truths and moral ideas embodied in sublime forms by bards and sages. These works, reverenced by us as the body of Old Testa- ment literature, remain the permanent possession of the whole human family. CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. B. C. Migration of Abraham (about) 1920 The Exodus . 1320 Establishment of the monarchy under Saul 1095 Accession of Solomon 1015 Division of the kingdom . . . , . . , . 975 Captivity of the Israelites 721 Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonish captivity). 586 Return of the Jews 536 Subjugation of Judaea by Alexander 332 •Absorption by Rome . . 63 THE PHCENICIANS. 43 CHAPTER V. THE PHOENICIANS. 91. Phcenicia was one of the most important countries of the ancient world, and to us the Phoenicians interest of are one of the most interesting peoples of early *^^^^ history, history. The interest and importance of this nation do not arise from the extent of its territory, — for Phcenicia proper was all comprised in a mere strip of land between Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, — but from the fact that the Phoenicians hold a high place in the history of primitive civilization. 92. The Phoenicians were the earliest commercial and colonizing people on the shores of the Medi- Traders and terranean Sea. There they preceded the Greeks, Colonizers, who subsequently became their great rivals in trading and in planting settlements. It was not until about 1000 b. c. that the Greeks began to push off from the mainland and to oc- cupy the islands of the ^gsean Sea and the shores of Asia Minor, — and when they did commence to spread themselves from the mainland to the islands, they found the Phoenicians already settled there. 93. As early, probably, as the 9th century b. c. the enter- prising Phoenicians had founded on the north- „ , ■^ ° Carthage. ern coast of Africa the colony of Carthage, which became the most famous of the Phoenician colonies, and which, five or six hundred years after this, guided by the mihtary genius of Han'nibal, ventured to cope with the mighty power of the Roman Commonwealth. 94. The Phoenicians had gone even farther: they had made their way beyond what the Greeks called Extent of set- the " Pillars of Hercules," that is, the Strait of Elements. A4 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Gibraltar, and had sailed into the Atlantic Ocean. There they had founded the city of Ga'des (now Cadiz). Sailing over the Atlantic, their merchants sought the southern parts of the British Islands to procure tin from Cornwall. In the Eastern seas the Phoenicians had made es- tablishments on the Ara- bian and Persian Gulfs, whence they traded with India and Ceylon and the coasts of Africa. Thus we see that the Phoeni- cians were navigators, mer- chants, and planters of colonies several centuries before the Greeks rose to any note in the world. 95. The Phoenicians as Influence of planters of colonies. colonics had an important influence on the progress of civilization. from the Mediterranean Sea and of political freedom ; and MAP STUDY. I. Where was Phoenicia ? 2. What nation immediately south ? 3. In what respect was Phcenicia well situated for commerce ? 4. Name the five principal Phoenician cities. 5. Where was the territory of Carthage ? 6. The city of Carthage ? 7. Utica ? 8. What was the name of the Phoenician territory in southern Spain ? 9. Where was Gades ? 10. Name the large Mediterranean islands in which the Phoenicians had colonies. THE PHCENICIANS. 45 we must now try to understand how this was. Colonies are founded by trading nations for the purpose of securing a lucrative commerce, by establishing a market for the manu- factured produce of the parent state, and a carrying-trade for its merchants and seamen. This is the motive; and we see that it contrasts very noticeably with the cause that leads despotic states to form military establishments, — which is mere lust of conquest for conquest's sake. Colonies plant- ed by commercial states require to be flourishing in order that the mother country shall have profitable relations with them. The parent country, knowing this, leaves the colonies to the guidance of persons advanced in political knowledge, who know how to adapt the institutions of the home gov- ernment to the actual state of affairs in the new settlement : hence it has generally happened that civil libert}'- has devel- oped more rapidly in commercial colonies than in the par- ent country itself. 96. The ancient Phoenicians were the inventors of the first perfect alphabet. This is a very signifi- .... cant and interesting fact ; for, all things consid- ered, the art of alphabetical writing is probably the most important invention ever made by man. We have seen that the Egyptians developed the germ of the alphabet ; but the Egyptian writing was only in part phonetic : hence the hieroglyphic alphabet was very cumbersome, consisting of several hundred characters, no sound having one fixed and invariable character to represent it. The cuneiform, wedge- shaped, or arrow-headed characters of the Babylonians and Assyrians were not truly phonetic : they represented, as a general thing, syllables rather than sounds. It was reserved for the Phoenicians to adopt the apparently simple, yet in- genious and beautiful, device of determining the few ele- mentary sounds of language and appropriating one distinc- tiye character to represent each sound. The period of the invention is not definitely known. 46 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 97. The Greeks were directly indebted to the Phoeni- cians for the alphabet; the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet with some changes; the Roman alphabet is the basis of our modern alphabets. The Greeks themselves were ignorant of precisely how they obtained the alphabet from the Phoenicians. The account they gave is that " Cadmus brought sixteen letters from Phoenicia into Greece, to which Palame'des, in the time of the Trojan war, added four more, and Simon'ides afterwards added four." * Modern scholars have proved that Cadmus is a mere fabled name signifying "the East." However, it is quite certain that the Greeks did derive their alphabet from Phoenicia. The transition from the Phoenician to the Greek may be readily perceived by examining the table on the opposite page. 98. The origin of the Phoenician nation is lost in the Origin of the darkncss that shrouds primitive history. It Phoenicians. -g ^^own that, like the Hebrews, they were pure Semites. There is reason to believe that they were emigrants from Chaldaea, and as it is recorded in the He- brew Scriptures that Abraham came out of "Ur of the Chaldees," we may infer that Southern Mesopotamia was the native seat of the Semites. When the Phoenician branch of the Semites reached their new home on the shores of the Mediterranean, they found an aboriginal population of Ca'naanites, whom they subdued, just as the Jews did in Judaea. We also know that the Phoenician and Jewish rulers and peoples were connected by ties of friendship. Hiram, King of Tyre, was the friend both of David and of Solomon. 99. Phoenicia consisted of several independent states. Nature of the each city, in fact, being a separate state, under nation. j^g ^^^ j^'j^g . ^^^ ^^^ -j^ times of danger did they occasionally unite under the leadership of the most * Pliny. THE PHCENICIANS. 47 HEBREW. PHOENICIAN. ANCIENT GREEK. LATER GREEK. ENGLISH. i^ ^^ A/<;/lA A A A n ^ ^ /^ B B :3 ^'1 /\^/^C r G ^ A^ ^Z!.VP ^ D i\ ^ ^^/^/S^l^ EG E 1 1 A /^ F *? Z X 2 -zr Z Z n H H ^ H to <^ ©0 ^Q © Th *» ^v ^ ^ 1 1 I ^3 >1 >l ^ H K K K b < u AVJ^ A L D ^ ^•yAvA M M i t^ ^HnA N N D w $ ^ .^^ X )i o oo ♦ □ O ^ 1 n r n p i> r Q Q 1 ^fi 4^'?/^/'i£> P R m yf4fwv A/i^r>> XC S n T-TA -n f T T e^ X \ OMITTED NOT BEING IN GREEK tz 48 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. powerful. The chief cities of Phoenicia proper were Siddn and Tyre. Of these Sidon was the more ancient ; and pre- vious to about 1050 B. c, when Tyre became predominant, it was the most flourishing of all the Phoenician commu- nities. About 1050 there was a transfer of power to Tyre. 100. The commerce of Commerce of Tyre is dc- ^y'^- scribed as very extensive at this time. Her ships sailed to Tarshish (the south of Spain), and sought the gold of Ophir, along the east coast of Af- rica. Phoenicia grew rich also by exports, of which the chief were the embroidery and glass of Sidon and the Tyrian purple, a dye yielded by two shell-fish, which gave a high value to the stuffs woven in the Tyrian looms. The Phoenicians were also skillful in metallurgy; and their bronzes, their gold and silver ves- sels, and other works in metal, had a high repute. 101. Phoenicia was successively subject to Assyria, in the Revolution of 9th ccntury ; to the Babylonians, under Nebu- pohtics. chadnezzar, at the close of the 7th century; to the Persians, under Cambyses, towards the close of the 6th century ; and to tlie Greeks, under Alexander the Great, in the 4th century b. c. Still later it was absorbed in the universal dominion of Rome, 63 b. c. 102. The greatest period of Phoenician history was dur- Generai sur- ing the fivc hundred years from the i ith to the 6th century b. c. As Greece rose to power, and Tyre, and Phoenician Galley- vey. as Carthage increased in importance, the sea-trade of Phoe- nicia was to a considerable degree checked. However, she THE PHCENICIANS. 49 continued to preserve a great caravan-trade with the interior of Asia via Babylon. The foundation of Alexandria as a seaport must have damaged the commerce of Phoenicia. Still, it was not until the Middle Ages that her light went out, and she became a " place for the drying of nets." 103. The Phoenicians deserve to be commemorated in history by the side of the Greek and the Latin Part played by . •' -^ . , r 1 * • • , the Phoeni- nations, as the only one of the Asiatic peoples cians. that became a diffuser of civilization. We should note, how- ever, that their development was very one-sided. Thus their religious conceptions were rude and uncouth, and this is a remarkable fact, when we consider their kinship with the Plebrews. In learning and in artistic productions they were far behind the Babylonians ; so that in intellectual matters they appear to have been adaptors rather than originators. Again, unlike the Greeks and Latins, the Phoenicians seem to have been devoid of genuine political instinct : liberty had no charm for them, and they aspired not after dominion. " Careless they dwelt," says the Book of Judges, " after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure." 104. The Phoenicians were a race essentially material- istic and commercial. They were the earliest Their civiiiza- merchants, carriers, and colonizers. It is true *'°"* that, incidentally, they were the means of diffusing intel- lectual wares that were more valuable than all the products of the Sidonian shops or the fabrics of the Tyrian looms : they spread the alphabet, and they gave to the Aryan races on the shores of the Mediterranean ideas of learning, sci- ence, and art which they themselves had borrowed from the East; but these ideas were scattered by them "more after the fashion of a bird dropping grains than of the husbandman sowing his seed."* * Mommsen, History of Rome. 50 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. CHAPTER VI. THE HINDOOS. 105. The Oriental nations of which we have thus far learned have been either Semites or Hamites. * We are now to inquire into the history of the two Asiatic representatives of the great Aryan race, — the Hindoos and the Persians. 106. We have already seen that the forefathers of all the First seat of great European peoples came originally from the Aryans. Western Asia, where they dwelt side by side with the ancestors of the Persians and Hindoos. But the original seat of the undivided Aryan family was not Persia or India. The Persians were immigrants into Persia, and the Hindoos into India, just as the Greeks, Latins, Teutons, Celts, and Slavonians were immigrants into Europe. The original seat of the undivided Aryan stock is fixed by schol- ars to the northeast of Persia, in the region of the Oxus and Jax-ar'tes rivers. 107. The primitive Hindoos, leaving their native seat, Hindoo migra- first Settled in the northwestern part of India. *^°"" It seems to have been about the year 3000 B. c. * that they crossed the Indus and established them- selves between that river and the Jumna, since known among themselves as Ar'ya Var'ta. Some time afterwards we find them occupying all the country north of the Vindya range. 108. At this time the peninsula of India was occupied Amaigama- by native dark races. These were speedily *^°"* subdued by the fair-skinned Aryans, who eventually overspread the entire country. In process of * According to Sanscrit scholars, 3101 B. c. THE HINDOOS. 5 I time these lost much of their purity of blood by intermix- ing with the native tribes, many of whose customs and ideas they adopted, and in the end they almost wholly lost their identity. This fact explains much that is peculiar in the civilization of the Hindoos. The Aryans in general are a progressive and practical race ; but the Hindoos, after making considerable advances in literature and philoso- phy, became stationary, and had very little influence on the great current of the world's history. We shall see that their kinsmen the Persians, being left unmixed, developed far more of those characteristics that marked the Euro- pean members of the Aryan stock, — the Greeks, Latins, Teutons, etc. 109. The first historical notice that we have of India in relation with Europe is at that great epoch Alexander's in its history, its invasion by Alexander the "^^^^*- Great (326 b. c), in the course of his world-conquering expe- dition. The Macedonian leader merely looked into India, fought a few engagements with the native princes, and then returned ; but the historians who accompanied the expe- dition left a description of Indian society, — and it corre- sponds almost exactly with what may be seen at the present day. 110. At the time of Alexander Indian society was firmly fixed in castes, similar to the state of thinp:s . , . ' 11 Castes. we found in Egypt ; and the same system both prevails to the present day and has prevailed from time immemorial. The Hindoos made four divisions of society : i. The Brahmins, whose proper business was re- ligion and philosophy; 2. The Kshatriyas, who attended to war and government; 3. The Vaisyas, who were the mer- chants and farmers ; 4. The Sudras, or artisans and laborers. Below even the lowest of these classes were the Pa^riahs, or outcasts, who performed the meanest of all labors. As a general thing, every person was required to follow the pro- 52 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. fession of the caste to which he belonged, and the regula- tions about intermarriage were very rigidly prescribed. 111. The division into castes probably arose from the desire of the conquering Aryans to keep up a Origin of caste. ... . , ^ . ^ / i , . r distmction between themselves and the mfe- rior tribes about them ; and the Hindoo word for caste, varna, is said to mean color. 112. The language of the ancient Hindoos was the Saft- Sanscrit scrtt ; it is not now spoken, and is understood speech. only by the Brahmins and by scholars who have studied it. It was the opening up of this tongue to the knowledge of European scholars, at the close of the last century, that led to the grouping of all the languages of Europe along with the Sanscrit as the Indo-European (Aryan) family of tongues. It was found that Sanscrit, both in its words and grammar, bore a remarkable likeness to the Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, and Slavonic languages ; and though Sanscrit is not now regarded as ih^ parent of these dialects, it is looked upon as the language the nearest to the original speech of the undivided Aryans. 113. In this highly developed language the learned men Hindoo liter- of ancient Hindostan recorded a vast body of ature. literature, much of which has been preserved to the present day. Among the oldest of these writings are the Vedas, which are believed to be as old as 2000 b. c. They form part of the sacred books of the Brahminic re- ligion. 114. The Vedas distinctly set forth the doctrine that there is " one unknown true Being, all-present, all-powerful, the creator, preserver, and de- stroyer of the universe." This Supreme Being " is not con- ceivable by vision or by any other of the organs of sense." But the prevailing theology which runs through them is what is called pantheism, or that system which speaks of God as the soul of the universe, or as the universe itself. THE HINDOOS. 53 " In him the whole world is absorbed ; from him it issues ; he is entwined and interwoven with all creation." " All that exists is God ; whatever we smell, or taste, or see, or hear, or feel, is the Supreme Being." The Invisible Su- preme Being, according to the Hindoos, manifests himself in three forms, — as Brahma the creator, Vishnu the pre- server, and Siva the destroyer. 115. The central point of the Hindoo theology was the doctrine of transmigration of souls. Accord- Doctrine of ing to this doctrine the human soul is joined tion. to earthly bodies only for the purpose of punishment, and its aim and effort are to reunite itself with the Divine Spirit of the universe. The Hindoo, therefore, regards ex- istence in this world as a time of trial and punishment, to be abridged by prayer and sacrifice, by penance and purifi- cation. If a man neglects these, his soul after death will be joined to the body of an inferior animal, and will have to commence its wanderings afresh. 116. In addition to the Vedas, the Hindoos possess a very extensive literature, both prose and po- etical. A considerable number of these works ^ ' * have been translated by modem scholars. They are ex- ceedingly curious, and of the highest worth as illustrative of the mental state of this peculiar ancient representative of our own Aryan stock ; but the absence of artistic form prevents their being appreciated by general readers, and hence lessens their literary value. 117. There are in India copious remains of ancient art. Among the most remarkable of the monuments ■,■,-, , , Architecture. are the rock-hewn temples and grottos, espe- cially those found at Ello'ra, in the middle of Lower India, and at the Island of Elephan'ta, in the Bay of Bombay. These are elaborately sculptured and inscribed, and must have required the labor of thousands of hands for ages. 118. In the 6th century b. c. there arose in India a new 54 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Commerce. system of religion called Buddhism. Its founder was an Indian prince named Gautauma. It s^rew Buddhism. . ^ . , .... ^- r out of a social and religious reaction from the abuses of the old Brahminism ; and it was no doubt in many respects an important reform. It spread rapidly, and is still the religion of one third of the human race. 119. Though during the whole period of antiquity India remained shut out from what was then the civ- ilized world, it nevertheless had an important influence on ancient commerce. The abundance of the pro- ductions of nature and art — pearls, precious stones, ivory, spice, frankincense, and silks — made that region from an early period the center of a great maritime and caravan trade. The Phoenicians, as we have seen, were engaged in the car- rying-trade of India both by land and sea. The same busi- ness was inherited by the Italian republics during the Middle Ages ; and the " pearl and gold " of India found their way through Arabia and the Red Sea to the Mediter- ranean, till Vasco da Gama, in the time of Columbus, round- ed the Cape of Good Hope. Rock Temple of Injdia. from 80 \ p^-N 1 A , ^ O ^ -^.-v ,^/v, '057- *«""-"' «,.■>'■'"■ 'exander m . i ote " satrapies." or div isi ons. 127 froM Vianliina isrlli SiTuthrr THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 55 CHAPTER VII. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. I. HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 120. It will be convenient to connect the history of the Medes with that of the Persians for two rea- Connection of sons: I. The people of both countries be- Persia.^" longed to the same race ; 2. Although Media and Persia were for a time separate governments, yet very soon Media was absorbed in Persia. 121. On the plateau east of the chain of Zagros — the plain of ancient Iran — dwelt a hardy race, the origin of the Medes, and a kindred stock, the Persians, ^^'^^s- They were both pure Aryans. They were immigrants from the northeasterly native seat of the Aryan stock. By vari- ous successive movements, which were not completed till the 8th century b. c, they established themselves in the highlands of Media and Persia. 122. The Medes first come to notice in connection with the Assyrians. About b. c. 710 Sarsron, an A • , / ^;r 1- Early Medes. Assyrian monarch, conquered some Median territory, and planted it with colonies, in which he placed MAP STUDY. See map of the Persian Empire, opposite this page. I. What sea formed the western boundary of the Persian Empire ? 2. What countries to the east .? 3. What sea south } 4. What two gulfs south ? 5. What three seas to the north .? 6 What country in Africa was inclosed in the Persian Empire ? 7. What satrapies in the Tigro-Euphrates basin? 8. What is the situation of Persia Proper (Persis) ? 9. Into what river do the Oxus and Jaxartes empty? 10. What mountain chain to the east of the Tigro-Euphrates basin? ii. Where were Persepolis ; Susa ; the two Ecbatanas ; Maracanda ? 56 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. the Israelites from the cities of Samaria who had been led into captivity by thp Assyrians. 123. But the Assyrians could not hold in subjection the Medes, who grew in power and established a great Median monarchy under Cyaxares, 633 B. c. He was a conquering king: invading Assyria, he destroyed Nineveh in 625 b. c, and pushed the Median arms westward into Asia Minor. This king, the founder of the Median monarchy, was succeeded by his son Asty'- ages, under whom the brief dominion of Media gave place to the rule of Persia under Cyrus the Great. 124. During this early period of the Median monarchy, the Persians also had established a kingdom Early Persians. ,. ^ . . ^ ^ . \ t_ . -^ (m Persis, or ancient Persia proper) ; but it was in a measure subject to Media. While Astyages was king of the Medes Cambyses was king of the Persians, but Cambyses acknowledged Astyages as his suzerain, and paid him tribute. The daughter of the Median monarch Asty- ages was married to the Persian prince Cambyses, and to them a son was born named Cyrus. Cyrus lived as a sort of hostage at the court of his grandfather Astyages, and could not leave it without permission. 125. Thus much in the life of Cyrus is true history ; but Legend of when wc go much further, we are immediately Cyrus. plunged into fable. Both Herodotus and Xen'- ophon* exalted Cyrus to the rank of a hero of romance. The following is the current story of his early life. Asty- ages having dreamed that his daughter's son should con- quer all Asia, intrusted to a courtier, Har'pagus, the task of killing the little Cyrus. Harpagus gave the child to a herdsman, who promised to expose it on the mountains. * Xenophon, a Greek historian, was born about 444 b. c, and was a disciple and friend of Socrates. He wrote a work on Cyrus called Cyropcedia (literally, Education of Cyrus) ; but it is rather a political romance than an authentic history. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, 57 But the herdsman was led to substitute his own dead baby for the living prince, who grew up in a humble station. The secret was disclosed, when Cyrus began to lord it over his playfellows and beat them. A noble's son complained to the king, and the royal boy was recognized. Astyages took a barbarous revenge on Harpagus, by cooking the courtier's son and serving up the flesh for the father to partake of. Cyrus was sent to his father, and Harpagus bided his time for revenge. When the time was ripe, he sent a secret message to Cyrus, who invaded Media, was welcomed by crowds of deserting troops, and by their aid overturned the Median throne, 558 b. c. We need not at- tempt to discover what basis of truth, if any, there may be in this legend. One fact is certain, that under Cyrus the Persians became the ruling power. 126. Commencing his reign in 558 b. c, Cyrus first sub- dued all the northern and western provinces conquests of of the old Median kingdom. On the western ^y'^^s- frontier the most formidable enemy he encountered was Croesus, King of Lydia, in Asia Minor. Croesus, taking the offensive, led his army from Sardis, his capital, across the river Ha'lys (which formed the boundary between the Per- sian and the Lydian territory), and an indecisive action was fought near Sino'pe. But Cyrus followed up, and by the overthrow of Croesus and capture of Sardis added all Asia Minor west of the Halys to the dominion of Persia, 554 b. c* Next, most of the Greek cities and colonies on the coast of Asia Minor and the adjoining islands were subdued. The remote East now claimed the attention of Cyrus, and be- tween the years 553 -540 b. c. he was employed in the sub- jugation of the various tribes in the region between Persia and the Indus, — Parthia, Bactriana, Sogdiana, etc.t The * This is the date of the fall of Croesus, according to Rawlinson ; most other chronologers place it at 546 B. c. t See Map of Persian Empire, opposite p. 55. 58 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. greater glory of reducing the mighty power of Babylonia now remained : this was accomplished by the capture of Babylon (538 b. c), as already described. (See page 36.) 127. During his career of twenty-nine years, Cyrus ex- Extent of his tended the Persian dominion from the Indus to empire. ^^ Hellespont, from the Jaxartes to the Syrian shore ; and indeed he left to his successors only the com- pletion and consolidation of his work, for by his own efforts he had made Persia the great imperial power of Asia. 128. Of the whole line of Persian monarchs Cyrus was the greatest, and his character is far more worthy of re- spect than that of any of his successors. He was a great Character of conqucror without being a cruel ruler, and to Cyrus. remarkable ability as a soldier he added many noble traits as a man. 129. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses. To another son, named Smerdis, Cyrus had Hven Cambyses. , , . . ' . ' -^ ? the dommion over some important provmces. This arrangement cost Smerdis his life, by rousing the jeal- ousy of his brother, who very early in his reign caused him to be put to death secretly. The chief event of Cambyses's reign was his conquest of Egypt in 525 b. c. In Egypt Cambyses behaved with great wantonness and cruelty. He forced the Egyptian king Psammen'itus to drink poison ; he shocked the Egyptians by stabbing a calf which they regard- ed as sacred ; and on one occasion, when a courtier told him at his own request that popular rumor blamed him for drink- ing to excess, he proved the steadiness of his hand and eye by piercing the heart of that courtier's son with an arrow. 130. The absence of Cambyses brought about a revolution ^ at the Persian capital. A Masfian, named Go- Revolution. \ . 1,11 o mates, personated the murdered brother bmer- dis, and headed a conspiracy that raised him to the throne. When Cambyses heard the news, he hastened towards Per- sia, but while on the way he died, — some say by suicide, THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 59 others from an accidental wound from his own dagger, — 522 B. c, after having reigned less than eight years. The reign of the false Smerdis was brief. Dari'us, the son of Hystas'pes, governor of one of the Persian provinces, and himself belonging to the royal family, headed an insurrec- tion, and the impostor was slain after he had reigned eight months. 131. Darius I. (Darius Hystaspes), who ascended the throne 521 b. c, was, next to Cyrus, the great- Reign of Da- est of the Persian monarchs. He completed ""®" the work that Cyrus began. Cyrus by his o.orvo^^'sAs founded the empire ; Darius organized it. To him belongs the credit of having given to the Persian Empire that peculiar politi- cal system and arrangement that maintained it in a fairly flourishing condition for nearly two centuries. 132. Darius divided the whole empire into twenty " satra- pies," or provinces ; the native tributary kings Persian gov- being swept away, and each province governed ^^""^^"t. by a Persian official called a sai7'ap. A fixed rate of tribute took the place of arbitrary exactions. " Royal roads " were established, and a system of posts arranged, whereby the court received rapid intelligence of all that occurred in the provinces. The great centers of Persian power were fixed at Susa, the spring residence of the king; Ecbat'ana, his summer abode ; and Babylon, the winter-quarters. 133. The most interesting event in the reign of Darius is the commencement of the Persian invasions Relations with of Greece. Some of the Greek cities of Ionia ^''^^'^^^ in Asia Minor, which had been brought under Persian do- minion by Cyrus, revolted ; the Athenians encouraged them in this revolt, and this brought Persia and Greece into col- lision on the plains of Marathon, 490 b. c. [As nearly all that is striking in the after history of Persia interweaves itself with the affairs of Greece, the narrative will best be given in connection with Grecian history.] 60 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. 2. PERSIAN CIVILIZATION. 134. The Persians belonged to the same stock as the Persian char- Medes, but they seem to have been even more acter. purely Aryan, — and the term * Aryan* is itself a Persian word signifying noble. When we first meet them in history, they are a race of hardy mountaineers, brave in war, rude in manners, simple in their habits, abstaining from wine, and despising all the luxuries of food and dress. Though not highly intellectual, the Persians were keen- witted, vivacious, and fond of poetry and art. Indeed, they seem in many respects prototypes of the Greeks, whose kinsmen, through a common Aryan descent, they were. They afterwards lost their noblest traits of character and became a servile Asiatic race j but it was during their hardy, virtuous prime that all their conquests were made. 135. As builders and artists, the Persians were first pupils of the Assyrians and Babylonians. The magnificent temples and palaces of Nineveh and Babylon had been in existence many centuries before the race of Iran began to do anything in art, and it was not till they came in contact with the Assyrians and Babylo- nians that they commenced to erect noble structures. Then, however, they did more than merely imitate : they adapted^ so as to make a new architectural style of their own. This style may be said to stand midway between the solemn and heavy grandeur of Egyptian and Assyrian architecture and the perfect beauty of the Grecian. The great masterpieces, of Persian building consist of palaces and tombs^ — their outdoor and simple worship requiring no imposing temples. The most famous remains of Persian architecture are the ruins of the royal palaces at Persep'olis. The distinguish- ing features of these are the solid and handsome stone plat- forms, the noble staircases richly sculptured in bas-reliefs, and the profusion of light and elegant stone columns. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 6 1 136. The Persians did very little in the mechanical arts. It was their boast that they were soldiers and Arts had won by-their swords a position that gave them command of the products and wares of other nations. So long as the carpets and muslins of Babylon and Sardis, the shawls of Cashmere and India, the fine linen of Egypt, and the varied manufactures of the Phoenician towns poured continually into Persia, it was needless for the native popu- lation to engage in manufacturing industry. 137. The Persians had a much purer and nobler religion than the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, or Phoenicians. They were not idolaters. In- ^^^'^'°"- deed, in the primitive period the main feature of their re- ligion was the acknowledgment and the worship of a single supreme God, — " the Lord God of heaven." But this at an early date gave way to the doctrine of the perpetual conflict of two great First Principles, that of Light and that of Darkness, personified under the names of Aura- mazda, or Or'mazd, and Ahriman'. 138. The Persian religion was further corrupted by the intermixture of a system of worship of the elements, — a system which the Medes had ^^^ ^°*^^ ^^* learned from the Scythians, and which ultimately overlaid the purer doctrines of the Persians. The leading feature was fire-worship, or Magianism (from Magi, the name of the priests of this rite). On lofty mountain-spots fire- altars were erected, on which burned a perpetual flame, watched constantly lest it should expire, and believed to have been kindled from heaven. Here day -after day the Magi chanted their incantations, displayed their divining- rods, and practiced those arts called, after them, magic. 139. The government of Persia as ruler over many coun- tries was a great advance on the theory of government of the other Oriental empires. It was more than a mere loosely joined congeries of king- 62 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Literature. doms, — it was a real imperial dominion. The government was upon the whole singularly mild, and by far the noblest and the best of all the universal empires of antoquity. 140. There is no doubt that the Persians had a consid- erable literature, but very few fragments of it have survived. The oldest literary monu- ment of the Iranic race is the collection called the Zend- Avesta, which contains the sacred books of the Persians, and which was compiled by Zoroas'ter, the great religious legislator of the Persians. We can form some idea of an- cient Persian poetry from a poem called the Shah Nameh, an epic composed by Firdousi, the greatest poet of Persia, about the middle of the loth century a. d. Though writ- ten at a time long subsequent to the Persian greatness, it is yet valuable as based on ancient traditions and frag- ments of song and story. Judging the poetical faculty of the Persians by this epic, we should say that they were distinguished rather for lively fancy and arabesque con- ceits than for true creative imagination such as distinguished the Greeks, or for the grand inspiration that breathes through the productions of the Hebrew bards and prophets. The Tomb of Cyrus. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 63 CHRONOLOGIC SUMMARY. B. C. The Medes under Cyaxares overthrow Assyria and become the leading power in Asia 625 Accession of Cyrus and supremacy of Persia .... 558 Subjugation of Lydia 554 Capture of Babylon 538 Accession of Cambyses 529 Conquest of Egypt by Cambyses 525 Accession of Darius Hystaspes 521 Persian invasion of Greece 490 Note on Asia Minor, — Lydia. — The peninsula of Asia Minor was occupied from very early times by various nations ; but as these were of secondary importance, nothing need here be said of their history save in the case of Phrygia and Lydia. It is believed that the earliest dominant people of Asia Minor were the Phrygians, who at one time occupied the whole of the peninsula. The people were engaged in agriculture and commerce. Their capital was Gordium, and the kings were alternately Gor'dias and Mi'das ; but great obscurity rests on their history. Phrygia became a province of Lydia in 560 B. c. Lydia in the 7th century rose to be the ruling power in Asia Minor. The last and greatest king of this nation was Croesus, who is famous in history for his enormous wealth. When Cyrus on his career of con- quest carried the Persian arms into Western Asia, Croesus made an alliance with Sparta, Egypt, and Babylon to resist him ; but, as we have seen, Cyrus was victorious, Croesus was made prisoner, and Lydia was absorbed in Persia, 554 B. c. 64 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. CHAPTER VIII. COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. 141. The three most commercial nations of antiquity Ancient com- ^.nterior to the Greeks were the Babylonians,, merciai na- Phoenicians, and Carthas^inians. A brief sketch tions. ' ^ of the great routes of the trade of these na- tions, together with the leading articles of exchange, will be found of value in connection with the interesting map presented on the opposite page. 142. Babylonia, with its admirable situation, was one of Babylonian the leading emporiums of ancient commerce, trade. 'pj^-g Xx^Aq Consisted partly in the exchange of Babylonian manufactures, and partly in the purchase of products of the farther East. 143. Weaving of cotton, woolen stuffs, and carpets was Babylonian the principal manufacture established in Bab- manufactures. yj^jj^ Articles of luxury, such as perfumed waters, carved walking-canes, engraved stones and seals, were made in the city, and the art of cutting precious stones was carried to the utmost perfection. These articles were sought by all the civilized nations of antiquity. 144. The Babylonians had an extensive commerce east- Trade routes ward with Persia and Northern India, whence from Babylon. ^^^ obtained gold, precious stones, and rich dye-stuffs. From Can'dahar and Cashmere they procured fine wool, and from the desert of Bactria (the modern Gobi) emeralds, jaspers, and other precious stones. The trade by sea was between the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the western coasts of India and the Island of Ceylon. From these regions they imported timber of various kinds, sugar-cane, spices, cinnamon, and pearls. At a very early COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. GS 66 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. period the Babylonians formed commercial establishments on the Bahrein \bd-7'dn'\ Islands in the Persian Gulf, whence they obtained large quantities of the finest pearls. 145. The Phoenicians were the leading commercial peo- The Phoeni- ple of Asia. Though the textile fabrics of the cians. Sidonians and the purple cloths of the Tyrians were celebrated from the earliest antiquity, it seems prob- able that the commerce of the Phoenicians consisted more in the interchange of foreign commodities than in the ex- portation of their own goods. 146. The land trade of the Phoenicians may be divided into three great branches : the Arabian, which included the Egyptian and that with the Indian seas ; the Babylonian, to which is referred the commerce with Central Asia and North India ; and the Armenian, including the overland trade with Scythia and the Caucasian countries. 147. From Ye'men (Arabia Felix) caravans brought Arabia and the through the dcscrt frankinccnse, myrrh, cassia, Levant. gold, and precious stones, — the gold being probably obtained from the opposite shores of Africa. The greater part of the Phoenician trade with Egypt was overland. The first branch of the eastern Phoenician trade was with Judaea and Syria proper. The dependence of the Phoenicians on Palestine for grain fully explains the cause of their close alliance with the Jewish kingdom. 148. But the most important branch of Phoenician trade Eastern trade with the Orient was that through Babylon to of Phoenicia. ^^ interior of Asia. A considerable part of the route to Babylon lay through the Syrian desert, and to facilitate the passage of the caravans two of the most re- markable cities of the ancient world, Baal'bec and Palmy'ra, were founded. 149. The Scythian trade may be very fairly considered the same, in all important particulars, as that cy lan a e. ^j^-^j^ ^^^ exists between Southern Russia and COMMERCE OF THE ANCIENTS. 6/ Bokha'ra. It was connected with Europe by the Greek colonies on the Euxine (Black) Sea. But the most impor- tant branch of trade carried on through the Scythian terri- tories was the Indian, with which probably we may connect the Indo-Chinese. Bactra and Marcanda {Balkh and Samar- cand') have always been the depots of an active commerce. It is certain that a portion of this trade passed over the Caspian Sea ; but it is equally certain that the greater por- tion of it was conducted by caravans, which went round the north of the Caspian, and perhaps of the Sea of Aral. 150. The northern land trade of the Phoenicians is de- scribed by the Prophet Ezekiel : "Javan (i. e. Ionia and the Greek colonies), Tubal, and Meshech (i. e. the countries round the Black and the Cas- pian Seas), they were thy merchants : they traded the per- sons of men and vessels of brass in thy markets. They of the house of Togar'mah (i. e. Armenia and Cappadocia) traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules." * 151. The Mediterranean Sea was, however, the great high- road of Phoenician commerce. Spain was, in „. . . '^ ' PhcEnicians in respect to precious metals, the richest country the Mediter- r 1 • i-i 11 ^ • ^ ' ranean. or the ancient world ; and here this- pushing people early formed stations. " Tar'shish (i. e. Tartes'sus, or Southwestern Spain) was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy fairs." t From Spain the Phoenicians entered the Atlantic Ocean, and proceeded to the south of the British Isles, where they procured the tin of Cornwall, and probably to the coast of Prussia, for the greatly es- teemed amber. In the eastern seas they had establish- ments on the Arabian and the Persian Gulfs, whence they traded with the coasts of India and Africa and the Island of Ceylon. During the reign of Pharaoh Necho, King of * Ezekiel xxvii. 13, 14. t Ibid, 12. 6S ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Egypt, they discovered the passage round the Cape of Good Hope ; but this led to no important result, on ac- count of the calamities that Tyre endured from the con- quest by the Babylonians in the 6th century. 152. The commerce of Carthage was carried on both by land and sea. Her own manufactures included fine cloths, hardware, pottery, and leather harness. The principal land trade of the Cartha- ginians was by caravans with the barbarous tribes of Central Africa, the chief imports being negro-slaves and gold-dust. 153. In the western Mediterranean their chief trade was Western Med- with the Greek colonies in Sicily and the south iterranean. ^f j^^j^ (^^^^ which they obtained wine and oil in exchange for negro-slaves, precious stones, and gold, and for cotton cloths manufactured at Carthage), and also with Spain, the El Dorado of antiquity. In fact, the Car- thaginians possessed almost exclusively the carrying trade between the nations of Africa and those of Western Europe. Beyond the Strait of Gibraltar the Carthaginians succeeded the Phoenicians in the tin and amber trade with the British Isles and the shores of the Baltic. 154. On the west coast of Africa the Carthaginian colo- nies studded the shores of Morocco and Fez : African trade. , , . i -r i i r ^ / ^ but their great mart was the Island of Cer ne * (now Suana), the principal depot of merchandise, whence goods were transported in light barks to the opposite coast. Here the Carthaginian exports were trinkets, saddlery, cot- ton goods, pottery, and arms, for which they received hides and ivory. There is also every reason to believe that these enterprising merchants had some intercourse with the coast of Guinea, and that their navigators advanced beyond the mouths of the Sen'egal and Gambia. * Hanno in the year 570 b. c. conducted sixty ships, bearing 30,000 colonists, to the western shores of Africa, where he planted a chain of six colonies between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Island of Cerne. ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 69 ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. Nations treated of. « We have considered the history of the following ancient Oriental nations : — ' The Egyptians. The Assyrians and Babylonians. The Hebrews. The Phoenicians. The Hindoos. The Persians. Oriental Nations OF Antiquity. . . II. Classification of Races. These nations may be classed in three races, — the Aryan, or Indo-European, the Semitic, and the Hamitic, as follows : Aryan Race | Hindoos. [Persians. r Assyrians. Semitic Race J Phoenicians. L Hebrews, Hamitic Race. . . . | Egyptians. [Chaldeans (early Babylonians). III. Place in History. Summing up what we have learned respecting the part played by the several ancient Oriental nations, we may mark the follow- ing characteristics : — Leading representative of the Hamitic stock, — developed apart, — were not a conquering or aggres- sive race, — had a marvelous building instinct, — at- Egyptians • • • \ tained a considerable advancement in many of the mechanical arts, and had some knowledge of certain sciences, especially astronomy and geometry, — marked ^ by the stationary character of their civilization. r Seem to have been a Hamitic stock allied to the rTTATD-^TANS J Egyptians, — had building instincts similar to the * ' I Egyptians, — cultivated astronomy with much success, I — their civilization of a materialistic character. 70 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. Assyrians. Babylonians. [Later kingdom.'^ Hindoos Hebrews . Phcenicians Persians , Were probably almost pure Semites, — were a con- quering race, and became, previous to Persia, the great imperial power of Asia, ruling not only all the Meso- potamian countries, but also Media, Syria proper, Phoe- njftia, Palestine, part of Arabia, and nearly all Egypt, — in the fine arts excelled particularly in sculpture. As a political power ruled for only the brief period of eighty-seven years, from the destruction of the Assyrian power to the conquest by the Persians under Cyrus (625-538 B.C.), but were for many cen- turies, while under Assyrian rule, an important peo- ple, — made marked advances in commerce, manufac- tures, and the practical arts. A nation of pure Aryan stock, but remarkable as a thoroughly unworldly race, devoting themselves large- ly to contemplation and mystic speculations, — have left a rich and remarkable literature written in Sanscrit, the oldest, of the Indo-European tongues, — had but little influence on the political history of the world, and indeed can hardly be said to have a place in his- toric annals till the conquest of India by Alexander, 326 B. c. A "peculiar people," playing a peculiar part in his- tory, — had very little influence on the political his- tory of antiquity, but have affected all the world through religion (monotheism), — have left as their great legacy the Hebrew Scriptures, — not an artistic people, — were a pure Semitic race. Like the Hebrews, were Semites, — pre-eminently the traders and colonizers of antiquity, — the only Asiatic people that planted colonies on the Mediter- ranean shores of Europe and Africa, — left a price- less legacy in the Phoenician alphabet. Were pure Aryans, — made the nearest approach to European civilization of any Oriental nation, — had the best idea of political organization possessed by any Asiatic race, — were a conquering people, and be- came the great imperial power in Asia from the time of Cyrus to the conquest by Alexander (558-331 B.C.), — attained eminence in art, especially architecture ^ and sculpture. ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. 71 IV. Chronologic Summary. The following are the most important dates under each nation :•— 2450 525 747 625 538 r Beginning of authentic history in Dynasty of jTtjYPT J Pyramid-builders (Fourth), 25th century 1 Conquered by Persians, 6th century . I Conquered by Romans, ist century ... 30 Chald/ea J First authentic date, 23d century , . . 2234 L^ar6.^a4y/^«/«-]{ Absorption in Assyria . . . (about) 1250 Assyria i ^^comes a great power absorbing Babylon (about) 1250 [ Fall of Nineveh and overthrow of Assyria . 625 r Era of Nabonassar . . . . Babylonia J -^^^^^^^^ of independence under Nabopolassar . j Capture of Babylon by Cyrus, and overthrow of I Babylonian kingdom ' Immigration of Brahminic Aryans into the In- dus Valley (about) 3000 . Alexander's expedition into India . . 326 Migration of Abraham . . . (about) 1920 Exodus from Egypt 1320 Accession of Solomon 1015 Division of Solomon's Empire into the King- dom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah . Destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, and captivity of the Israelites Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar Return from the captivity ..... . Absorption by Rome India. Palestine . 975 721 586 536 63 Phcenicia. Persia. Tyre becomes leading city-state of Phoenicia . 1050 Phoenicia conquered by the Assyrians . (about) 870 Foundation of the colony of Carthage . . 850 Tyre captured by Alexander the Great . . 322 Phoenicia conquered by the Romans . . 63 Foundation of the Persian monarchy by Cyrus 558 Cambyses becomes king 529 Darius I. (Hystaspes), who organized the Per- sian Empire, becomes king . . . .521 Xerxes becomes king 486 Overthrow of Persian Empire by Alexander 331 72 ANCIENT ORIENTAL MONARCHIES. V. General Summary. The following may serve as a general summing up of the philoso- phy of Oriental history : — The great feature of all the Oriental nations was their unprogressive character. In Asia there came into being a number of vast empires, but as these were despotisms, as the social state of the people was fixed in castes, and as the people themselves were reduced to a low level by polygamy, the power of man could not find free play : hence, though the ancient Eastern nations reached a considerable advancement in civilization, their civilization was of a stationary character. Asia was the land of births and beginnings, and played indeed a wondrous part in the history of our race ; but when in the order of Divine Providence her appointed task was completed, it was given to other lands and other peoples to carry forward the great work of humanity; and we shall find that with the Aryan race on the free soil of Europe first comes true progress. ;|^ a s a n faleaPi' Txna.x*'^'' JCARPATH03 '^CASOS :EJ ?i e s 4. HHILILiAi OR ^^^ -^ AND HER Time of the PeZoponnesian War ^DLiANS colored Tdlow lONlANS ' ' Hed DORIANS » » Blue Russell 4; Struthers.N.Y. GENERAL SKETCH, 73 SECTION II. HISTORY OF GREECE CHAPTER I. GENERAL SKETCH. The Parthenon restored. I. We are now to begin the history of the two great European nations of antiquity, Greece and contrast of Rome, — the history "of the glory that was Eur^o"p?in hL Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome." *°''y- The story of these nations fills the whole period between about the year looo b. c. and the downfall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 a. d. Between the history of these na- tions and that of the ancient Oriental empires we shall find a marked contrast. The Orient presents to view a series of vast overshadowing despotisms under which the spirit 74 HISTORY OF GREECE. of individual freedom was completely crushed. That spirit first finds play in Europe, where we shall see the rights of man asserting themselves and taking embodiment in free, self-governing states. The history of the Orient is the his- tory of dynasties ; the history of Greece and Rome is the history of the people; and accordingly the latter is far more interesting, more instructive, and more valuable. 2. The Greeks were a branch of, the mighty Aryan, or Greek race Indo-European, stock, — the stock that includes all the historic races of Europe, together with the Persians and Hindoos of Asia. As Aryans, they were closely related to the Romans ; and, in fact, the forefa- thers of the Greeks and of the Italians formed originally one swarm, which at a very early period in prehistoric times (not later than 2000 b. c.) left the native hive of the Aryans, in Asia, and moved into Europe. The evidence of language shows that this stock must have kept together for a considerable period after they had parted company from the other members of the Aryan family, and before they settled, the one branch in the eastern and the other in the central of the three Mediterranean peninsulas, where they MAP STUDY. [See Map opposite p. 73.] I. What were the boundaries of Continental Greece ? 2. What sea between Greece and Italy? 3. What isthmus connects the Pelopon- nesus with the mainland? 4. What gulfs on opposite sides of this? 5. What is the situation of the Pindus range ? 6. They divided what states ? 7. Tell the situation of the CEta Mountains, of Olympus, of Parnassus. 8. What was the situation of Macedon, of Attica, of Laco- nia? 9. Where was the state of Boeotia? 10. Was Attica a seaboard or an inland state ? 11. Was Lacedaemon an inland or a seaboard state ? 12. What rivers are named on the map ? 13. What large island off the . east coast? 14. Where were the Cyclades and Sporades? 15. Where were the Chersonesus, Cyrenaica, Hellespont, Thrace, Asia Minor? 16. Where were Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Argos, Delphi, Corinth, Pla- taea, Marathon, Miletus, Sardis, the Pass of Thermopylae ? GENERAL SKETCH. /^ subsequently appeared in history, the first branch as Greeks, the second as Romans. 3. Greece was a name almost unknown by the people whom we call Greeks, and was never used by 1 M 1 • T r Hellas. them to describe their country. It was first adopted by the Romans, from whom it has descended to us. The name by which the Greeks always called their country is Hel'las. This term, however, included more than is now covered by the term Greece ; for it comprised not only the adjacent islands, but also numerous patches of settlement around the Mediterranean Sea. Hellas, in fact, denoted wherever the Helle'7ies^ or Greeks, were settled. 4. In the geography of Greece there are two important facts to be noticed : i. That Hellas is a land Physical fea- of islands and peninsulas, deeply perforated t""^^^- by bays and inlets of the Mediterranean. This fact is one of the main reasons why the Greeks were the earliest civil- ized people of Europe, since their situation on the sea-coast brought them into contact with those older civilizations whose seats were on the eastern shores of the Mediter- ranean, and especially with Egypt and Phoenicia. 2. That the surface of the country is ridged by numerous mountains, which divided Greece into a multitude of small, isolated regions. This fact favored the establishment of numerous separate and independent states or communities ; and it was in these little states that, for the first time in the history of the world, political freedom was attained by man. 5. Greece proper is a peninsula about 250 miles long and 180 miles across in its widest part. It Extent has an area about the same as that of the State of Maine. 6. The natural division of Greece is into Northern, Cen- tral, and Southern. Northern Greece extends ^. . . , 1,11- 1 • Divisions. from the north boundary line to the point where the eastern and western shores are respectively in- 76 HISTORY OF GREECE. dented by the Gulfs of Ma'lis and Ambra'cia, or Ac'tium. Central Greece reaches from this point to the Isthmus of Corinth. Southern Greece is identical with the Pelopon- ne'sus, called in modern geography the More'a. 7. Northern Greece contained in ancient times two prin- Northern di- cipal countrics, Tlics'saly and Epi'rus. To the vision. north of these was Macedo'nia, which, though ruled by kings of Hellenic blood, was never counted to be part of Greece till quite late times. 8. Central Greece contained eleven states.* The most important of these was Attica, which is the foreland or peninsula projecting from Boeotia to the southeast. Its length was 70 miles, its greatest width 30 miles. The general character of this region was moun- tainous and infertile. In Attica was Athens, the foremost city of all Greece. 9. Southern Greece, or the Peloponnesus, contained seven principal states.* The most important Peloponnesus. r i i t • • of the southern states was Laconia, sometnnes called Lacedae'mon, of which the capital and most im- portant city was Sparta. 10. The " isles of Greece " formed a very considerable ^, and noted part of ancient Hellas. The larsrest The isles. . , • , i t-> t / -i of the coast islands was ^.uboe'a, 100 miles long. Off the west coast was the important island of Cor- ey 'ra. Off the southern coast was Crete, 150 miles in length. The ^gae'an sea was studded with numerous islands, of which the two groups of the Cyc'lades and Spor'ades ex- tended in a continuous series, like a set of stepping-stones, across from Greece to Asia. 11. It is probable that various tribes of the Aryan stock had penetrated into the Greek peninsula as Pelasgi. _ ^ ^ T \^ .. . early as 2000 b. c. In the ante-Hellenic pe- * Name these states from the map, opposite page 72. GENERAL SKETCH. 77 riod, that is, in the prehistoric age, we hear of the Pelas'gi, who seem to have been an Aryan race. They were civiUzed enough to till the earth and to build walled cities. To them are attributed the remains of certain ancient monu- ments known as Pelasgic, or Cyclopean, remains. These consist of tombs and of walls composed of enormous rude masses of stone joined to one another without cement. 12. At a period long before the beginning of recorded history the Pelassfi were overwhelmed by an . r ■ J n Hellenes. invasion of a more vigorous and warlike race, the Hellenes, who, descending from Thessaly, entirely over- spread the peninsula and gave their name to the whole country. There were four chief divisions of the Hellenes, — the Do'rians, ^o'lians, Achae'ans, and lo'nians. y8 HISTORY OF GREECE. The ^olians were spread over Northern Greece and the western coast of the Peloponnesus ; the Achasans held the southern and eastern part of the Peloponnesus (the Arcadians, a remnant of the older Pelasgic race, occupying the center) ; the lonians were confined to a narrow strip of country along the northern coast of the Peloponnesus and eastward into Attica; the Dorians were to the north, and occupied the southern slope of Mount CEta. Such appears to have been the distribution of the races in the age represented by the Homeric poems. 13. The Greeks of this age have no history, in the proper sense of the word. The place of this they * supplied by a mass of beautiful legends, called by themselves myths. These recount the exploits of various heroes, and hence this period is called the Heroic Age. It is vain to attempt to separate the thread of historic truth which there may be in the body of Greek legends : to do so is only to " spoil a good poem without making a good his- tory." 14. The last and greatest enterprise of the heroic age was the Siep:e of Troy. This was immortalized Siege of Troy. Y . . by the genius of Homer in his Iliad (from Jliiwt, or Troy) ; and recent explorations on the site of Troy give reason to believe that the narrative of Homer rests on a basis of actual fact. The outline of the story is as follows : Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, abused the hospitality of Menela'us, king of Sparta, by carrying off his wife Helen, the most beautiful woman of the age. At the call of Mene- laus all the Grecian princes assembled in arms, elected his brother Agamem'non leader of the expedition, and sailed across the ^gaean to recover the faithless fair one. Nearly all Asia Minor was leagued with Troy, and the most valiant Trojan leader was Hector, son of Priam. It was not till the tenth year that Troy yielded, and it is with the events of this year that the Ihad deals. 15. Achiries, the bravest and most redoubtable of the ^^ ^ Greeks, offended by Agamemnon, abstains from the war ; and in his absence the Greeks GENERAL SKETCH. 79 are no match for Hector. The Trojans drive them back into their camp, and are already setting fire to their sliips when Achilles gives his armor to his friend Patro'clus, and allows him to charge at the head of the Myrmidons. Patro- clus repulses the Trojans from the ships, but the god Apollo is against him, and he falls under the spear of Hector. This causes Achilles to return into the Grecian camp, and he slays Hector in single combat ; but is himself killed by an arrow directed by Apollo. Finally, the noblest combatants on both sides having fallen, the city is taken by the Greeks, through the stratagem of a wooden horse, devised by the crafty Ulys'ses. Troy is delivered over to the sword, and its glory sinks in ashes."^' 16. The most faithful reflex of the springtime of the Hel- lenic world is preserved to us in the Homeric Homeric poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Among the Greece, noticeable features of society, as. there depicted, are : i. The universality of kingly government. 2. The predominance of the tribe or nation over the city, whereas in the historical period the city is the state. 3. The existence of a hereditary nobility, who form the king's council. 4. The existence of an assembly which is convened by the king to receive com- munications and witness trials, but not either to advise or judge. 5. The absence of polygamy, and the high regard in which women are held. 6. Slavery everywhere estab- lished and considered to be right. 7. Perpetual wars be- tween the various tribes and nations, and the preference of the military virtues over all others. 8. Strong religious feeling ; belief in polytheism and in fate ; respect for the priestly character ; peculiar sanctity of temples and festival seasons. 17. According to the traditions of the Greeks, some im- portant y^r^/^;/ elements were received into the Foreign influ- nation during this first period. It is said that ^""• See note, end of this chapter. 8o HISTORY OF GREECE. both Phoenician and Egyptian settlements were made in Greece. Scholars now doubt that any such settlements were made ; but it is quite certain that the early Greeks, when they began to spread over the Grecian isles, came in con- tact with the Phoenicians, who were at this period the most commercial and progressive nation inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean. From the Phoenicians the Greeks received the alphabet. It is probable, also, that the early Greeks drew from the fountains of antique Egyptian lore, and that they gained from the Egyptians their first knowl- edge of some of the arts and sciences j while the influence of the Egyptian religious system can be plainly traced in the Greek mythology. l8. But, on the whole, Hellenic civilization was of home Greek civiiiza- gfowth. Evcu what they took they stamped tion original. ^j^|^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ character. Hence the Greek people must be considered to have developed for themselves that form of civilization, and those ideas on the subject of art, politics, morals, and religion, that have given them their peculiar reputation. Note on Troy. — In the revolutions of time the city of Troy has so completely disappeared that many scholars have been disposed to doubt even the existence of such a place. But in recent times fresh light seems to have been thrown on the subject by the researches of Dr. Schliemann, a German savant, who in the years 1869-73 made a series of explorations in the Troad, or "plain of windy Troy." He identifies the city of IHum, or Troy, with the modern place called Hissarlik. Many interesting archaeologic remains were discovered by the explorer, who also states his belief that he could identify in the ruins the " house of Priam," the Scsean gate, and various other points mentioned by Homer. Many scholars are not prepared to accept all the conclusions of Dr. Schlie- mann ; but all agree that his discoveries are of great interest, and furnish new illustrations of the ** tale of Troy divine." BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. FROM THE DORIAN MIGRATION TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PERSIAN WARS, ijoo-soo B. C. I. BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. 19. Grecian history may be divided into three periods : 1. From the Dorian migration to the begin- Periods of ning of the Persian Wars (1100-500 B.C.). G^eek history. 2. From the beginning of the Persian Wars to the subju- gation of Greece by Pliihp of Macedon (500-338 b. c). 3. From the subjugation of Greece by PhiHp to the Roman conquest (338-146 b. c). 20. Leaving the dim twiUght of legendary Greece, we come to a period when there took place those Period of set- movements of tribes that finally resulted in element, settling the Hellenes in those parts of Hellas in which we find them during the times of authentic history. Thus there seems to be no doubt that about the year iioo b. c. the Dorians, who originally had been an unimportant tribe in the small patch of northern territory on the southern slope of Mount CEta, began to make a great figure in Greek affairs; for moving southward they conquered the Achaean kingdoms in the Peloponnesus, took possession of Laconia, or Lacedaemon, and gradually subdued most of the neigh- boring states. 21. Out of the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus re- sulted other great changes in the Hellenic other move- world. The Achaeans, expelled from the south ^^^^s. and east of the peninsula, fell back upon the northern coast, driving out the lonians. The latter found refuge with their brethren of the same race in Attica, and the lonians became 82 HISTORY OF GREECE. not only the dominant race in Central Greece, but also spread themselves over most of the Cyclades Islands in the ^gaean Sea. 22. The planting of Greek colonies in Asia Minor was Colonies in another important event of this early period, Asia Minor. connected with the general unsettlement result- ing from the Dorian conquest. These colonies were made by the three races, the ^Eolians, lonians, and Dorians. The Cohans established themselves along the coast of Mysia and in the Island of Les'bos, where they formed a confedera- tion of twelve cities (^^olis). The lonians established themselves on the shores of Lydia, and on the islands of Chi'os and Sa'mos (lo'nia), and grew into a very powerful confederation. The Dorian colonies were planted in the southwestern corner of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands (Do'ris) ; but they were of less importance than the yEolian, and especially the Ionian, settlements, which became of great note in Grecian history. 23. Other settlements were made by the Greeks, of which Other settle- the most notable were those on the coasts of ments. Thracc and Macedonia, on the islands west of Greece, in Sicily, in Lower Italy (hence called Mag'na Grae'cia, or Great Greece),"* and in the territory of Cyre'ne, or the Cyrena'ica, along the northern coast of Africa. Some outposts of Hellenic settlement were planted as far east as the shores of the Euxine Sea, and one colony arose in the extreme western part of the Mediterranean at Massilia, now Marseilles. 24. The establishment of so many colonies in countries Effect of coio- pre-eminently favored by nature in productions "^^^' and climate, and so situated as to prompt the inhabitants to navigation and commerce, gave a great im- pulse to the civilization of the Hellenic race, and may be regarded as the main cause of its rapid progress. * See map opposite page 72. BEGINNINGS OF GREEK HISTORY. 83 25. The accompanying map represents the distribution of the several representatives of the Hellenic race, at the time when the great movements of population just spoken of had been accomplished (say about 1000 B. c). DISTRIBUTION t OF RACES, '^, AFTER THEIR MIGRATION. 26. At this time the two leading races of Greece were the lonians and the Dorians. These were dis- r-. 4. «• Character of tinguished from each other by striking charac- the two lead- teri sties, and the difference between them forms a chief feature of Grecian politics ; it runs through their entire history, and was the principal cause of the deep- rooted antagonism between Athens, the representative of the Ionian race, and Sparta, the leading Doric state. The lonians were- remarkable for their democratic spirit j they 84 HISTORY OF GREECE. were vivacious, fickle, given to commerce, fond of refined enjoyments, and devoted to the fine arts. The Dorian race was noted for the severe simpUcity of its manners ; it pre- ferred an aristocratic form of government, and maintained slavery in its worst form. 27. The authentic history of Greece commences with the Beginnings of epoch kuown as the First Olym'piad, b. c. 776. real history. ^j^jg ^^^ jg ^^ commencement of that consec- utive chronology, which the Greeks reckoned by the series of victors in the foot-race at the four-yearly festival of Olympian Jupiter near E'lis. The First Olympiad began in the midsummer of 776 b. c. ; the Second Olympiad in mid- summer of 772 B. c, etc., — the Olympiads recurring every four years. 28. Looking at Greece at this period, — say the middle of Political the 8th century b. c, — we find that an impor- change. ^^j^^ change in the nature of the government had taken place. During the heroic age, in that " youth of the world " which Homer paints, the various Grecian tribes were under kings ; but now the government had become republican, and we find the people gathered together in little free states. (Sparta was the only state that held to even the name of king.) Each city, in fact, formed an independent commonwealth v\^ith its own little territory; and there is no doubt that this parceling out of a small country was a main cause of the rapid development of political science in Greece. 29. Divided as the Greeks were politically, they were, ,^ „ . . nevertheless, united by a certain national feel- Hellenic unity. . ,_,, . , . , mg. The root of this was the consciousness that they were all Hellenes ; and this sentiment was fostered by the possession of a common language, literature, and re- ligion, and of rites, temples, and festivals that were equally open to all. Still, the first feeling of every Greek was for his city, and there was scarcely even the sentiment of patri- SPARTA AND ATHENS. 85 ctism for Greece as a land. We shall soon see how imper- fect was the union even against the pressing danger of subjugation by Persia, and what a long series of sectional contests was carried on between the leading states. The Greeks in the end discovered the great principle of Federal Union ; but this was not till near the close of their history, when it was too late. 2. GROWTH OF SPARTA AND ATHENS. 30. In this section we shall glance at the history of the two most important Grecian states, namely, subject Sparta and Athens ; and we shall trace their treated, history down to the period when all Greece united against the Persians, about 500 b. c. 31. At the commencement of authentic Grecian history we find the Spartans the dominant power in the Peloponnesus. They were a part of that great Dorian wave that about 11 00 b. c. had overflowed the southern peninsula of Greece : the Dorians established and settled three states, Argos, Messenia, and Laconia, or Lace- dsemon ; but in time the Spartans, that is, the people of Laconia, or Lacedaemon, gained supremacy over the other states. 32. The ascendency which Sparta acquired over the oth- er states of the Peloponnesus was mainly ow- 1 ,. . . . , . - •;. . Lycurgus. mg to her peculiar mstitutions, which tradition ascribes to a legislator named Lycur'gus. Of this person- age nothing is known whatever, and some have even denied his existence. It is probable, however, that Lycurgus did exist somewhere about 850 b. c, that is, about a century before the beginning of reliable history, and that he more clearly defined and fixed already existing usages and regulations. 33. But the peculiar constitution of the Spartans arose necessarily out of the circumstances in which they lived. HISTORY OF GREECE. In other parts of the Peloponnesus the Dorian conquerors gradually fused with the native Achaeans, but Cause of Spar- ? _ f , . . . , tan peculiar!- in Lacedaemon the separation was maintained. Such of the Achaeans as readily submitted were allowed to retain their personal freedom, though without any political rights ; but the greater part were reduced to servitude, and were known as Helots. The citizens of Sparta were thus a small class of lords (estimated at 9,000 in the time of Lycurgus) among a tenfold number of slaves and subjects ; and to keep these in subjection their whole training was military. 34. The chief object of the legislation that goes by the Object of Ly- name of Lycurgan was to create and maintain curgus's laws. ^ vigorous and uncorrupted race of men; hence it concerned itself less with political arrangements than with the regulation of private life and with physical education. 35. By this system weakly children were exposed to per- Spartanedu- ish, while of those who were allowed to live cation. ^i^g males were at the age of seven separated from their homes and trained by state educators. The whole time of the Spartans was spent in public. They took their frugal meals at public tables in messes or com- panies, to which each contributed so much from the prod- uce of his land. Great attention was devoted to gym- nastic exercises and military drill ; for the education of a Spartan, beginning with his seventh year, was not relaxed till his sixtieth. He was inured to hunger and thirst and to the extremes of heat and cold, and was taught to endure the keenest bodily torture without complaint. To teach him strategy and secrecy, there were licensed expeditions for thieving, and severe punishment was inflicted on him who allowed himself . to be detected in it. Every one has heard of the Spartan youth who hid the stolen fox under his coat, and allowed it to tear out his vitals rather than SPARTA AArn ATHENS. 8/ expose it to view. Girls were trained in athletic exercises nearly similar to those of the boys, but separately. This reared a race of vigorous women, the influence of whose pa- triotism in sustaining that of the men is matter of historic celebrity. " Return either with your shield or on it ! " was the exhortation of a Spartan mother to her son on his de- parture for the field of battle. 36. Spartan education produced warriors, but naught else : that people contributed nothinpf to the . Its results. literature and the arts for which the world is indebted to Greece. Oratory was held in special contempt, and philosophy was superseded by those " wise saws," the brevity of which we still describe as laconic. Commerce was forbidden to the Spartan citizens, and iron money alone was allowed for their few trading transactions. The fine arts were discouraged as leading to effeminacy. The labors of agriculture were carried on exclusively by the Helots. Thus the Spartans resided in the city, where they passed their lives according to the Lycurgan discipline, while all the ordinary pursuits of civilized life were left to their de- pendents. This discipline no doubt made them intrepid soldiers, but as a people they were stolid, ungenerous, and cruel, even for those cruel times. 37. The constitution of Sparta was peculiar. At the head of the state were two joint-kings, who constitution commanded the armies and performed the of Sparta, public sacrifices. But their power was often merely nom- inal, and was always restricted by the Senate and by the Assembly of all the Spartans. The Assembly annually elected five officers called Ephors, who as a general thing exercised all power ; so that Sparta was really an oligarchic Republic, under the guise of a monarchy. 38. Sparta under the Lycurgan system became an ag- gressive military state : she conquered the Mes- spartan con- senians (in two wars, 743-724 and 685-668 i^^^^^- 88 HISTORY OF GREECE. B. c), humbled her powerful rival, the Argives (547 b. c), and thus raised herself to the leadership of the Dorian Commonwealths. Having become the controlling power of the Peloponnesus, Sparta in the 6th century b. c. began to assume the right of interference in the internal affairs of the Grecian states beyond the Peloponnesus, and it is prob- able that she would have eventually brought all the states under her sway (for they were then in no condition to dis- pute her pre-eminence), had it not been that, at the time at which we have arrived, all the states were called upon to unite their arms against the aggressions of the Persians. 39. Parallel with the rise of Sparta was the growth of another state that was destined not only to push democratic freedom farther than any other Grecian state, but also to assert an intellectual supremacy over all Greece. This was Athens : — " Athens, the eye of Greece, m®ther of arts And eloquence, native to famous wits." 40. It is known that the Athenians belonged to the Ionian race, of which indeed they were the flower. The founding of Athens runs back into the mythic period. At first the Athenians, like the other Hellenes, were under kings, but by the time that reli- able Athenian history begins, we find that Athens had ceased to be under regal rule, Codrus being the last of the kings. 41. Athenian affairs, however, were not at this time Nature of the managed by all the people, but only by a government, privileged class of nobles. Thus, though a republic, Athens was not at this time a democracy. The kingly power had given place to the office of archon : this was at first limited to the royal family and held for life ; then it was held for ten years, and finally thrown open to the whole body of the nobles, the number of archons in- SPARTA AND ATHENS. creased to nine, and the period of office reduced to one 3^ear. There was also a Senate, afterwards called the Areopagus, but it was made up exclusively of the nobles. Thus we see that the great mass of the people had no share whatever in the government; and it happened at Athens, as generally happens where power is confined to one class, that the oligarchy abused their privileges. 42. The discontent of the people at length became so serious that a statesman named Dra'co was ap- , . ^ , . \ Laws of Draco. pomted in 624 b. c. to draw up a written code of laws. They were marked by extreme severity; for he affixed the penalty of death to all crimes alike, — to petty thefts no less than to sacrilege and murder. Hence Dra- co's laws were said to have been written, not in ink, but in blood ; and we are told that he justified this extreme hard- ship by saying "that small offenses deserved death, and that he knew no severer punishment for great ones." * 43. The legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevail- ing discontent, the overbearinsr conduct of the . , , , , , , , Revolution. aristocracy led to popular outbreaks, and there came a state of anarchy, from which, at the beginning of the 6th century b. c, Athens was rescued by Solon. Solon had been chosen one of the archons, and was commissioned to remodel the Constitution of Athens, 594 b. c. The success- ful manner in which he performed this work laid the founda- tion of the happiness of his native country. 44. The main object of the constitution of Solon was to abolish the oppressive aristocracy and to sub- , ,„ , - . 1 . T Laws of Solon. stitute for It a moderate government, which should admit all Athenian citizens to a share of power, but give a preponderating influence to the higher orders. Solon's legislation was marked by great political sagacity, and under it Athens made rapid progress in prosperity; * Smith's History of Greece. 90 HISTORY OF GREECE. but it was far from satisfying his contemporaries. Like most moderate politicians, he was accused by one side of going too far and by the other of not being radical enough. 45. The result was a struggle of parties, which ended in the seizure of power by a leader named Pisis^- Pisistratus. ^ ^ 1 / / n , , tratus, who (560 b. c.) assumed the position of Dictator, or, as the Greeks called it, Tyrant, — a term which, however, denoted merely one who usurped power, not necessarily one who ahcsed power. There is no reason to believe that the constitution of Solon was abolished under Pisistratus. Athens continued to enjoy its republican gov- ernment, though under a dictator. Pisistratus ruled mildly, encouraged the arts and edited Homer, and even succeeded in transmitting his power to his sons; but after half a century of this mild tyranny, the family of the Pisistrat'idae were banished, 510 b. c. 46. A noble named Clis'thenes now rose into power. He Reforms of espouscd the cause of the people, gave the ciisthenes. suffrage to all free inhabitants, and introduced into the constitution political reforms to which very much of Athenian greatness is attributable. Under the new con- stitution the state was a pure democracy, and the establish- ment of liberty and equality gave a great impulse to the spirit of patriotism. The result was that Athens soon rose to be the leading state of Central Greece. 47. At the period at which we have now arrived, — the The new beginning of the 5 th century b. c, — Greece epoch. had put on the shape which she was to wear during the greatest times of her history. At this time a new era in Hellenic history begins. The Greeks had to bear the trial of a great foreign invasion. Europe, em- bodied in Greece, was to meet old Asia, represented by Persia, and the sons of Hellas were to come out of the struggle strong and ennobled. PERSIAN INVASIONS. 91 CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THE SECOND PERIOD. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE PERSIAN WAR TO THE VICTOR Y OF PHILIP OF MACEDON AT CHyERONEA, B. C. soo-jjS. I. THE PERSIAN INVASIONS. 48. We have already seen how the great Eastern Mon- archy, founded by Cyrus and extended by Relations with Cambyses, was consoUdated by Darius, who ^^^^1^- became king of Persia in 521 b. c. Among the conquests of Cyrus was the kingdom of Lydia, in Asia Minor. Now, just before the Persian conquest of Lydia, the king of that country, Crcesus, had succeeded in reducing under his own dominion the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor; so that now they, too, became subject to Persia. 49. The Ionian cities did not submit without a struggle, and after a certain time there ensued a sreneral 1 r 1 • • mi « 1 • Ionian revolt. revolt of these cities, 500 b. c. The Athenians, to help their kinsfolk in Ionia, sent twenty ships with a small force. A landing was made on the coast of Asia Minor, and Sardis, the capital of Lydia, was captured and accidentally burnt, 499 b. c. 50. This sally had only the effect of drawing down the wrath of Darius on the Ionian cities, and the Effect on Da- revolt was soon quelled (494 b. c). The Per- ''^"^• sian monarch then resolved to chastise the Athenians. When the news of the burning of Sardis was brought to Darius, he called for his bow, and shot an arrow towards the sky, with a prayer to Auramazda for help to revenge himself on the Athenians. Then he bade one of his ser- vants repeat to him thrice daily, as he sat down to dinner, the words, " Master, remember the Athenians ! " 92 HISTORY OF GREECE. 51. In execution of his purpose, Darius instructed his First hostile son-in-law, Mardo'nius, to march an army movement. against the Athenians. The force advanced through Thrace into Macedonia, which was speedily subju- gated, but it was able to go no farther ; and a fleet which had been sent to co-operate was shattered by a great storm off the peninsula of Mount A'thos, so that Mardonius re- turned to Asia Minor in disgrace, 4.92 b. c. 52. This failure only added fury to the resolution of New prepara- Darius. While pushing forward his prepara- ^^°"^- tions for the invasion of Greece, he sent round heralds to the chief Grecian cities to demand the tribute of earth and water as signs of his being their rightful lord. The island states generally made their submission, as did INVASIONS ofGREKE. "^ ^ %^ COURscs or OA/fius' fL£:£r^_ f!OUT£ OF XSffXSS'A ffM V Courses or yr/?xrs' F'lre-r.^ ^ COU/!SES OF rffF G/fFFK FiEET.. PERSIAN INVASIONS. 93 also many of the continental states, and it seemed that the young civilization of the West was to be overwhelmed by Eastern despotism. But the genius of Hellas found noble champions in two of the states ; for Athens and Sparta indignantly rejected the demand, and their conjunction drew after them most of the lesser states in a defensive league. 53. It was time for Greece to be united, for in the spring of 490 B. c. the preparations of Darius were invasion of complete. A vast force, under a commander Greece, named Datis, sailed in 600 triremes from Samos across the ^gaean, reducing the Cyclades islands on the way, and after capturing Eretria in the island of Euboea, made a landing in the bay of Marathon, on the east coast of Attica. The Persians now prepared to advance on Athens. 54. But this was not to be without a struggle, and the plain of Marathon was the scene of the con- 7,. -. , . , Marathon. nict, one of the most important and momen- tous in history. There, be- tween the mountains and the sea, the little Athenian force of 10,000 men, unaided save by 600 men from Platse'a, but led by the genius of Mil- ti'ades and inspired by high patriotic daring, met a Per- sian army of ten times its number, and defeated it, — September, 490 b. c. 55. The Persian monarch was not able immediately to renew hostilities with the Greeks, for other affairs engaged his attention ; and when Darius finally found himself free to resume his purpose, he was cut off by death, 485 b. c. His son Xerxes succeeded to the throne, and promptly took up the task. The result was another and far more formidable invasion, made ten years after the battle of Marathon. MARATHON'V &ATHENSi: The sequel. 94 HISTORY OF GREECE. 56. During this interval of ten years the Athenians were Affairs at Ath not idle. At this time the leading men at Affairs at Atn- 1 a • ^v i ens. Athens were Themis'tocles and Aristi'des. Aristides was a pure patriot, but he was considered stub- born and impracticable. Themistocles, on the other hand, was a sagacious statesman: he urged that the Athenians should bend their energies to preparing against a renewal of the invasion by the Persians^ and especially that a navy should be created; Aristides opposed this policy. Be- tween these two leaders there was a long rivalry; but finally Aristides was ostracized.* Under the vigorous coun- sels of Themistocles, the Athenians bent their energies to preparing for the impending conflict, and especially to building a great fleet of triremes. Then, as the note of preparation for the invasion sounded throughout all Asia, a general congress of the Grecian states summoned by Athens and Sparta was held at the Isthmus of Corinth. Though several of the states stayed away through fear, yet this was a truly national meeting; and it was re- solved that Sparta should be the head of the league against Persia. * The institution of ostracisjn was a method which the Athenians had devised for the purpose of getting rid of obnoxious public men, and was in some respects a very good plan, as it stopped interminable quar- rels between rival politicians. It derived its name from the fact that the citizens, in voting for its infliction, wrote the name of the objection- able person on a shell {ostreon), and if there was a majority of votes for his banishment, he was exiled for ten years. The conflict between Aristides and Themistocles became at last so sharp that the Athenians finally voted to ostracize Aristides. Among those who voted were many, no doubt, whose hostility had been aroused by the stern prol)ity of Aris- tides, who was known as '' the Just." The story is true to nature, that when the vote of ostracism was being taken, an unlettered citizen, not knowing Aristides, asked him to write for him on the shell. " And what name shall I write ? " " Aristides." " And, pray, what wrong has Aristides done you ? " " O, none ; but I am tired of always hearing him called the Just." PERSIAN INVASIONS. 95 57. From every part of his wide dominion Xerxes collect- ed at Sardis an army such as had never been Beginning of seen before. For transporting it into Europe «ion. he caused a double bridge of boats to be built across the Hellespont, where it is a mile wide ; and in 480 b. c. the vast host (Herodotus puts it at 2,500,000 fighting men and ships' crews) crossed the bridge in two columns, taking seven days and nights to make the passage. A great fleet consisting of 1200 triremes (each manned by 200 rowers and 30 fighting men) and many smaller vessels pursued its course northward to the Hellespont, and then steered west- ward, keeping close to the coast so as to be in constant communication with the army. Meanwhile the prodigious array, having entered Europe, advanced westward through Thrace and Macedonia, and then turning southward through Thessaly, poured itself in a mighty deluge over the north- ern states of Greece and moved towards Attica. 58. The Greeks resolved to take their stand in a narrow mountain-gorsre lying between the precipitous . ' c rx-i ^ 1 r • .u Continuation. mountauis of CEta and a marsh formmg the edge of the Gulf of Mahs. [See large map, p. 73.] This is the celebrated Pass of Thermop'ylae.* It was, however, only a small force that was sent to the defense of Theniiopylae. When the arrival of Xerxes in Northern Greece became known, the Greeks were upon the point of celebrating one of their religious festivals, and not wishing to give up the solemnity, they resolved to send merely men enough to hold the pass till the festival was over, when they would be able to march in full force. The defense of the po- sition was intrusted to the Spartan king, Leonidas, with about 7,000 troops, the flower of which consisted of 300 Spartans. * Literally, gates of the hot springs: the pass contains several hot springs, and thepy/iz, or gates, are the two openings of the pass. 96 HISTORY OF GREECE. 59, When the Persian host reached Thermopylae and Battle of Ther- sought to force the pass, the Grecian guard mopyiffi. made a stout defense, and for two days kept the enemy at bay ; but on the third day a traitor pointed out to the Persian king how, by taking a mountain-path, the position of the Greeks might be "turned." When this movement became known, most of the Greek officers wished to withdraw, since the position was no longer tenable. But Leonidas refused to retreat. As a Spartan he was bound by the laws to conquer or to die in the post assigned to him. His three hundred Spartans were moved by the same feeling, and seven hundred Thespians resolved to share their fate. The rest of the allies were allowed to retire. This being done, Leonidas and his comrades determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible: so they advanced into the open space in front of the pass and charged the Persians with desperate valor. But this heroism was in vain ; for their spears were erelong broken, and the enemy, pouring in from front and rear, surrounded the Greeks on all sides. Leonidas fell, and the heroic band were killed to a man. The date of the battle was August, 480 b. c. 60. The Greek fleet, as we have seen, had taken position off the northern coast of the Island of Eubcea. Here a brisk naval action was fought, which, though indecisive, helped to raise the courage of the Greeks. It seemed, too, as though the gods were on their side, for in two great storms nearly half the Persian fleet was shattered. When, however, it became known to Themistocles, the com- mander of the Grecian fleet, that the Pass of Thermopylae had been carried and that the enemy was advancing on Naval affairs. PERSIAN INVASIONS. 9/ Athens, he withdrew the fleet southward to the Bay of Sal'amis, near Athens. 61. The news of the approach of Xerxes created great consternation at Athens ; but the oracle told Matters at the Athenians that they must seek safety in Athens, their "wooden walls." This was interpreted to mean their ships. Accordingly the whole population was removed from the city, and the Persians took possession of Athens and reduced it to ashes. 62. The fate of Greece was to be decided by a glorious naval combat. In the Bay of Salamis the Battle of Saia- Greeks had assembled their whole fleet of 366 °^^^- ships. Though the Persians had lost heavily by storm, they had still about 1000 vessels, and two months after the battle of Thermopylae the opposing fleets were arrayed for the fight. The Persian army was drawn up along the shore, and the Eastern monarch, anticipating a brilliant victory, took his seat on a lofty throne, on a promontory overlooking the scene. " A king sat on the rocky brow "Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis ; And ships by thousands lay below, And men in nations, — all were his. He counted them at break of day. And when the sun set, where were they ? '* 63. Salamis was a complete victory for the Greeks ; the Persians lost over 200 ships, and Xerxes, struck with cowardice, beat a retreat into his ^^^"^*- own dominions by the route on which he came, October, 480 B. c. 64. When Xerxes retired he left behind a force of 300,000 under one of his generals, named Mar- piatsea and donius. The following year a decisive combat, Mycaie. in which the Greeks were completely successful, was fought at Plataea between this force and a Greek army of 70,000 98 HISTORY OF GREECE. men under the Spartan leader Pausanias and the Athenian leader Aristides, September 25, 479. On the same day a battle at Myc'ale (in Asia Minor) effected the destruction of the remnant of the Persian fleet. 65. These three battles, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale, de- cided the war, and the Persians never again dared to invade Greece itself. The struggle, it is true, went on for several years longer before the Per- sians were dislodged from the various posts which they held north of the yEgaean ; but at last they were driven wholly out of Europe. Thus it was that the liberties of Greece were secured, and it must be remembered that the preser- vation of Grecian independence meant the preservation of the civilization of Europe. 2. THE AGE OF PERICLES. 66. The half-century following the battle of Salamis Period of Peri- (4^0 " 43° B- c.) forms the most brilliant period ^^^^- of Athenian history, and one of the most illus- trious eras in the history of the world. It is usually called the " age of Pericles," its duration nearly coinciding with the public life of that statesman who for forty years, though merely a private citizen, held a controlling influence over the politics of Athens. 67. The main cause of the ascendency which Athens now Policy of Ath- assumed was the brilliant part played by that ^"^- state in the Persian wars. To preserve the freedom of the now liberated Greek cities on the islands and coasts of the yEgsean, a league was formed of which Athens, from her naval power, became naturally the leader. The inland states meanwhile clung to Sparta. It soon came about that the maritime cities were brought into a sort of subjection to Athens ; the Athenians denied the right of the states to secede from the confederation, caused the separate AGE OF PERICLES. 99 treasury of the league to be merged in that of Athens, and employed the ships and money of the allies in prosecuting their own aggrandizement. If this was short-sighted pol- icy, it at least put the Athenians in an almost imperial po- sition for the time being, and carried forward the little democracy to a wonderful degree of power and splendor. 68. It was during this period, when the Athenian intel- lect was stimulated by a proud sense of na- sketch of the tional greatness, that Grecian genius put forth pe"od. its richest blossoms of literature and art. This was the age of grand dramatic composition, and of the greatest works of architecture and sculpture. Oratory, which is so power- ful an instrument in a free state, was now cultivated assidu- ously, and the Athenians became accustomed to hearing the purest lessons of patriotism put forth in the loftiest forms of eloquence. In fine, the Athenian commonwealth under the exertions of Pericles attained such an exalted state of cultivation that it is recorded that the citizens were almost all equally qualified to fill ofiices or discharge business ; so that the regulation, that the greater part of the public offices should be filled by lot, rarely resulted in the choice of any but able and well-qualified men. 69. It was in this age that, on the other hand, the seeds were sown of that terrible civil strife that rent Beginning of the glory of Greece ; for Pericles himself lived ^^"^^• to see the outbreak of that direful conflict known as the Peloponnesian War. 70. This great man, one of the very ablest statesmen that ever lived, fell a victim to a pestilence pgj.j^jg3 that raged in Athens in 429 b. c. His death- bed v/as surrounded by his friends and admirers, who recit- ed the many illustrious exploits of his glorious life. " You forget," said the dying patriot, — " you forget the only valua- ble part of my character : none of my fellow-citizens was ever compelled by any action of mine to assume a mourn- ing robe." 100 HISTORY OF GREECE. 3. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 71. The Peloponnesian war was a conflict between Duration of Athens and her alHes, on the one hand, and the war. Sparta and her aUies, on the other. It began in 43 1 B. c, lasted twenty-seven years, and ended in weak- ening Greece generally, and in completely destroying the Athenian ascendency. 72. This war was occasioned by the jealousy which the Cause of the g^at powcr of Athens stirred up among many war. other of the Greek cities ; but it had in reality a deeper cause : it was the outbreak of an " irrepressible conflict " between lonians and Dorians, between democracy and oligarchy, — Athens being the chief of the Ionian and democratic states, and Sparta the chief of the Dorian and aristocratic states. 73. The immediate occasion of the war was a conflict between Corinth and one of her colonies, en years, q^^^^i^^^ Siding witli the latter, Athens ex- cited the wrath of the Dorian Confederacy ; and a Spartan army invaded Attica, 43 1 b. c. During the first ten years of the war, down to 421, the two parties contended with nearly equal success, the Athenians being much the stronger by sea, and the Spartans and their allies by land. A peace was then concluded, called the " Peace of Nicias " (42 1 b. c), which was to last for fifty years; but as many of the confederates were dissatisfied with its terms, it was not likely to be of such long duration, and indeed hostilities were renewed almost immediately. 74. The renewal of the war was precipitated through the political influence of Alcibi'ades, a hand- Alcibiades. t i ,. . , , ' some, dissolute young disciple of Socrates: he possessed brilliant talent, but he was ambitious, and he was eager to renew the war, as affording him an opportunity of personal distinction. SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. lOI 75. Alcibiades brought forward a scheme of conquering Syracuse, a city in Sicily. It was a bold syracusan ex- scheme, and its successful execution would p^dition. have given a great preponderance to Athens over Sparta. The Athenians adopted the plan, and in b. c. 415 sent a fleet and force against the Syracusans. Sparta sent aid to the Syracusans, and thus the Peloponnesian war was renewed. In the midst of the enterprise Alcibiades was recalled to Athens on a charge of impiety ; but he managed to escape, and went over to Sparta. The Syracusan expe- dition proved a total failure (413 b. c), and greatly damaged the power of Athens. 76. During the last eight years the Peloponnesian war was carried on mainly at sea, off the coast of Asia. Sparta allied herself with Persia, and °^^"^ ^^^"' it was Persian gold that afforded Sparta the means to continue the contest against Athens. Athens, however, made a bold front, and under the lead of Alcibiades (who had meanwhile been recalled to the command) kept up the contest with wonderful vigor. But a fatal blow fell when the Spartan admiral, Lysander, surprised the beached galleys of the Athenians at ^gos Pot'amos in the Hellespont, b. c. 405. The siege and surrender of Athens in the following year brought the great Peloponnesian contest to an end. 77. The result of the Peloponnesian war left Sparta the greatest power of Greece. Athens sank into Result of the the background as a second-rate state ; still, ^^^• while she lost her poUtical supremacy, she became more and more the leader in literature, art, and philosophy. 4. PERIOD OF SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACY. 78. After the decline of Athens Sparta stood without a rival in Greece, and for thirty-four years (from spartan su- the victory at ^Egos Potamos to the defeat of premacy. I02 HISTORY OF GREECE. Leuctra, 405-371 B.C.) the Lacedsemonians exercised an undisputed sway in Greece. The Spartan dominion was extremely despotic, and the Greek states that at the begin- ning of the Peloponnesian war had sided with Sparta as a " hberator " from Athenian rule now found the Spartan yoke much more galling than the Athenian had been. 79. Meantime in Thebes a new power was arising Rise of Thebes ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ pride. The greatness of ' Thebes was the work of two men, — Epami- non'das and Pelop'idas, — who knew how to inspire their fellow-citizens with their own heroic spirit. To revenge themselves for the insults of Sparta, the Thebans, under these leaders, began a long and heroic struggle. The de- cisive combat of this war was fought at LeuCtra, where Epaminondas utterly defeated the Spartans, 371 b. c. In consequence of this defeat Sparta fell suddenly and forever from her high estate. 80. Thebes now rose to be the leading state of Greece, Theban su- 3.nd this position she held as long as her great premacy. chieftain, Epaminondas, lived. But in the bat- tle of Mantine'a (362 b. c), waged against the Spartans and Athenians, the Theban chieftain died in the arms of victory. With the fall of Epaminondas Thebes herself fell, for there was no one to take his place. 81. The struggle between Sparta and Thebes, following Effect of the ^s it did the great Peloponnesian war, — in ^^"- both of which nearly all the Hellenic states were engaged, — resulted in the general exhaustion of Greece. What strength remained was expended in mere intestine broils, and soon after this Greece fell an easy prey to Philip of Macedon, SUPREMACY OF MACEDON. IO3 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF THE THIRD PERIOD. FROM THE VICTORY OF PHILIP TO THE ABSORPTION OF GREECE BY THE ROMANS. I. SUPREMACY OF MACEDON. — PHILIP. 82. The Macedonians, though closely allied by race to the Greeks, had remained in obscurity while Early Mace- their southern kinsmen were pursuing their ^°"' stirring career. But in the middle of the 4th century b. c. they came under a bold and energetic chief. This was Philip, son of Amyntas II. 83. Philip assumed the government of Macedonia in -ii^Q B. c. He was well acquainted with Grecian ^%. , . ^ • 1 1 . Philip's plans. politics, having as a young man resided at Thebes in the character of a hostage, and when he became king he set on foot a plan for the elevation of Macedonia. This was not by any means to conquer Greece, but to have Macedonia recognized as a Greek state, and then to make it the leading state of Hellas, — just as Athens, Sparta, and Thebes had successively been. 84. Philip commenced by craftily mixing himself up with Greek aifairs ; and he managed with such skill Doings of that at last he was acknowledged as a member ^^i^^P- of the Amphic'tyonic Council, the great religious assembly of Hellas, : — a concession equivalent to the recognition of Macedon as a Greek state. Step by step his ambition grew, till he began to think of a grand scheme of conquest. 85. This plan the great Athenian orator Demosthenes clearly perceived, and he commenced utterins; , ,1 r 1- • • • 1 T Demosthenes. the thunder of his voice in warnings ; but the Athenians had lost much of their patriotic ardor, so they took these warnings but tardily. 104 HISTORY OF GREECE. 86. The direct aggressions of Philip on Athens com- Career of menced about 358 B. c, and for twenty years he P^^^^P- continued a mixed policy of war and intrigue, which at length made him master of Greece. In 338 b. c, at Chaerone'a (in Bceotia), he won a decisive victory over the Athenians and Thebans ; this crushed the liberty of Greece, and made it in reality a province of Macedonia. 87. The main causes of Philip's wonderful success were Causes of his twofold, — 1. His admirable military organiza- success. ^JQj^ . ^^ Macedonian phalanx, invincible until it came to be opposed to the Romans, was his creation. 2. His political finesse: taking advantage of the divided condition of Greece and of the general prevalence of cor- ruption, he played off state against state, politician against politician, promising, cajoling, bribing, threatening, so that he won even more by diplomacy than by force. 88. Philip now announced his intention of uniting all the forces of Hellas to make war on Persia, His after plans. i i i . • r ^ i and avenge the old invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes. This was a very skillful stroke of policy on the part of Philip ; it diverted the minds of the Greeks from the thought of the loss of their independence, by filling their imaginations with the glorious vision of a great na- tional enterprise of the Hellenes against the barbarians. 89. The design, however, was not executed ; for in the ^,. ^ , midst of the preparations Philip was assassi- Hi3 death. r , . -^ ' r < \ nated by one of his own subjects (336 b. c), at the age of forty-six, after a reign of twenty-three years. 2. CAREER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 90. Philip was succeeded by his son Alexander, known as Alexander the Great. At the age of twent}^ he became heir to his father's power, and of far more than his father's military genius. He was imme- ALEXANDER THE GREAT. IO5 diately acknowledged generalissimo of Greece against the Persians, as his father had been. In the year 334 he set out on his great expedition, and as he never returned to Macedonia or Greece, we must now turn our eyes away from Greek history proper, and follow the marvelous ca- reer of the youthful conqueror. 91. Alexander .crossed the Hellespont with a small army of 35,000 men, and advanced to the Grani'cus His first vic- (in Asia Minor). Here a Persian anny some- *°"^s- what larger than his own was met and defeated, b. c. 334. He then passed victoriously through the Persian provinces of Asia Minor, and entered Syria. At Issus^ near the borders of Cilicia and Syria, a vast Persian army under Darius Codoman'nus was met. The nature of the ground was such that the Persian superiority in numbers did not tell ; Alex- ander here won a signal victory (^^Z2i ^- C-)> ^.nd Darius fled, leaving his mother and his wife captives. 92. Alexander did not immediately follow up the Per- sians, but proceeded from Issus against Tyre, His next op- Gaza, and Egypt, at this time under the domin- oration. ion of Persia. Twenty months sufficed for the reduction of these places. The foundation of the great seaport Al- exandria, — an act of far-sighted policy on the part of Alex- ander, — was a result of his sojourn in Egypt. 93. Having possessed himself of all the maritime prov- inces of Persia, Alexander, in b. c. 331, pro- Battle of ceeded to seek his enemy in the heart of his Arbeia. empire. The final conflict took place at Arbe'la in Assyria."^ Here Darius had chosen his ground and arrayed the full force of his empire. But the Asiatic soldier was inferior to the European, and the invading force was led by a con- summate military genius. The result was the complete overthrow of a Persian force of a million men by less than * Though the action bears the name of Arbela, it was in reality fought at Gaugame'la, a village 20 miles distant. I06 HISTORY OF GREECE. 50,000 Greeks (b. c. 331). So decisive was the victory, that the three capitals of the empire, Babylon, Susa, and Per- sep'olis, surrendered almost without resistance ; and the Persian monarch became a fugitive, and was erelong assas- sinated. 94. Thus at the age of twenty-five Alexander saw him- Aiexander's sclf lord of Western Asia. But the most re- ambition. markable part of the conqueror's career was now to begin. Instead of settling down in the luxurious capital of the East, he was urged by an irresistible impulse to press on, so long as there were lands or men to conquer. 95. To the east of Persia lay a new and unknown Expedition to world, believed to be one of immense wealth, India. ^^^ j^g resolvcd to penetrate it. Half explor- ing, half conquering, he pushed his way into the mysterious Orient as far as the river Hyph'asis (the modern Sutlej) in Northern India (326 b. c.).* He subdued the princes that were found reigning here, and then desired to press east- ward and complete the subjugation of the continent, which was believed to terminate at no great distance. 96. His soldiers, however, refused to go any farther than the Hyphasis ; so he had to prepare to return home- wards. It is a proof of his inventive genius, that in place * See the route of Alexander on the map opposite page 55. From Persep'olis he went to Ecbat'ana, thence eastward through Media, Hyr- cania, Parthia, and Aria, founding in the latter a city of Alexandria (modem Herat) ; then southward through Drangia'na ; then (late in 330) northeastward through Aracho'sia, founding there Alexandrop'olis (mod- ern Candahar' ? ) ; then northward across the range of the Paropami'sus or Hindoo Koosh, across the Oxus River, and (early in 329) traversing Bactria'na and Sogdia'na to the capital of the latter, Maracanda (modern Samarcand) ; then northward to the Jaxartes River, where he founded Alexandria Eschate (i. e. the last ox farthest) ; then back again, scouring Sogdiana and Bactriana in various directions ; then, in 327, southeast- ward from Bactriana to the Indus, which he crossed at Tax'ila; then eastward to the Hydas'pes, founding Buceph'ala and Nicae'a, and finally to the Hyph'asis. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. IO7 of retracing his steps he went back by an entirely new path- He built a fleet to sail down the Hydas'pes Return from and the Indus, while the bulk of his army ^"^^^a- marched down their banks. Reaching the Indian Ocean, Alexander sent his admiral, Near'chus, with the fleet, round to the Euphrates ; he himself led his army overland through the desert region of Gedro'sia (Beloochistan) and Carma'nia into Persia. Though his army suffered terribly in the des- ert, yet Alexander brought back the greater part of his force to Persepolis (324 b. c), and began to prepare for new en- terprises. 97. The plans of Alexander were brought to an end by the sudden death of their projector, at Baby- , , r , . 1 /■ \ His death. Ion, at the age of thirty-three (b. c. '^2y). Thus cut off in the vigor of early manhood, he left no inheritor either of his power or of his projects. When asked on his death-bed to whom he left the empire, he said, "To the strongest." But there was none strong enough. Thus the vast dominion broke into fragments soon after his death. Coin of Alexander. ^^^ j^-^ ^^^r^^^ schemes of policy and conquest were buried in his grave. 98. Though the great empire of Alexander broke in pieces almost at once, yet the effects of his Result of his career have remained to all time.. One great conquests, result was the Hellenizing of the conquered lands, that is, their assimilation to Greek ideas and Greek civilization. "The Greek language became the tongue of all govern- ment and literature throughout many countries where the people were not Greek by birth. It was thus at the very moment that Greece began to lose her political freedom that she made, as it were, an intellectual conquest of a large part of the world." 108 HISTORY OF GREECE. 3. ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS. 99. The great empire of Alexander, as has been said, Division of fell to pieces after his death, and the generals the empire. ^j^q j-^^^j fought Under him contended fiercely during twenty years for the fragments. In the year 301 a decisive action took place at Ipsus in Phrygia, the result of which gave Syria and the East to Seleucus, Egypt to Ptol- emy, Thrace to Lysim'achus, and Macedonia to Cassander. Of the various kingdoms founded by these men, two are of special interest, — the kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt and the kingdom of the Seleu'cidae in the East. 100. Egypt fell to the lot of Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, known as Ptolemy Soter. He was an energetic monarch, and during a long reign (323-283 B.C.) ruled Egypt, on the whole, well. The Greeks and the Macedonians whom he carried with him or who emigrated to Eg)^t were the ruling race ; but the Egyp- tians were not oppressed, for many of the civil rulers were natives, and particular respect was paid to the old Egyptian religion. 101. Ptolemy I. was followed by a series of monarchs also called Ptolemies down to the time of The Ptolemies. ^ ^, , , r i i- r ■, Queen Cleopatra, the last of the Ime of the Ptolemies. On her death (30 b. c.) Egypt became a Roman province. 102. The history of Egypt during the three centuries of Alexandrine Ptolcmaic rulc is mainly the history of Alexan- civiiization. dria, wliich was made the capital, and which soon became a great and flourishing city. Literature, phi- losophy, and the arts were assiduously cultivated ; the great Alexandrian Library was swelled to 500,000 volumes, and a novel and peculiar culture and civilization — a mingling of Greek, Egyptian, and Jewish — arose on the Nile banks, under the paternal despotism of the Ptolemies. MACEDON AND GREECE. IO9 103. The kingdom of the Seleucidse was founded (312 B. c.) by Seleucus, another of Alexander's gen- Kingdom of erals. At first the kingdom consisted merely Seieucus. of Babylonia and the adjacent regions, Susiana, Media, and Persia ; but Seleucus afterwards made himself master of all the countries lying between the Indus and Euphrates on the one hand, and the Jaxartes and the Indian Ocean on the other. A still further addition was soon made in nearly all of Asia Minor. Seleucus now removed his capital from Babylonia to the newly founded Greek city of Antioch in Syria. 104. Seleucus, who died by assassination in 280, was fol- lowed by a succession of kinsfs known as the ^ .^ , . / , - , . Later history. Seleucidae, who for about two centuries ruled over the kingdom he had founded. This portion of history, however, is not specially instructive, and the kingdom of the Seleucidse was of no considerable importance in the history of civilization. The two centuries are filled with the stories of wars and revolts, in the midst of which the kingdom grad- ually lost its huge proportions ; its remnant was finally con- quered by Pompey and absorbed into the Roman Empire in the year 65 b. c. 4. LATER HISTORY OF MACEDON AND GREECE. 105. We now return to wfiat took place in Macedon and Greece subsequently to the death of Alexander Greece resists the Great in b. c. 323. On the death of Alex- Macedon. ander, the Greeks were inspired by high hopes of bursting the chains which bound Hellas to the footstool of the Macedonian kings. Athens, under Demosthenes and Hy- per'ides, took the lead : they formed a confederacy of the Greek states, and entered on what was called the " Lamian war "(323-321 B. c). But the confederates were unsuccessr ful, and the yoke of Macedonia was riveted on them more firmly than ever. no HISTORY OF GREECE. 106. The last days of Grecian history, before the coun- Later Greek try Came altogether under the power of the politics. Romans, are distinguished in several ways from the times which went before them. The chief powers of Greece now were Macedonia, Ach^a, ^tolia, and Sparta : Macedonia, for reasons that will readily be known ; Ach^ea and ^tolia, from a new fact in the politics of Greece^ namely, the formation of Federal Leagues of States. 107. The nature of these leagues was similar to the Grecian federal union of the States of Switzerland and leagues. q£ ^^^ ^^^ Republic ; that is, there was an agreement on the part of several states to give up part of their power, and especially their control of questions of peace and war, to a general government in which all had a share. These leagues now came to be of special weight in Greek politics, since it was found that as long as the cities stood one by one they had no chance of keeping their free- dom against the Macedonian kings. The most important of these federal unions were the Achaean (formed in 280 B. c.) and the ^tolian Leagues. Besides these two great federations, there were smaller unions; so that, with the exception of Sparta at one end and Macedonia at the other, the greater part of Greece was parted out among the differ- ent leagues. 108. These confederations of the Greek States subserved a useful purpose, as they enabled them to pre- serve a front of independence against Mace- don. Under Ara'tus and Philopoe'men, — two patriots of the kind that Hellas had produced in her glorious times, — the States of the Achaean League rose to a considerable eminence (245-213 B.C.); but the jealous selfishness of Sparta once more led to discord and strife, and the Mace- donian king, being called in as umpire, was once more master. 109. But Macedon itself was about to be swallowed up by ANAL YTIC SYNOPSIS. 1 1 1 a yet greater power, — by Rome. It was at this time, as we shall presently see, that the Romans, having Macedon and broken the power of Carthage, turned their R°"ie. ambition eastward. After a long conflict (200-168 b. c.) the Macedonian kingdom was overthrown at the battle of Pydna, 168 b. c, and Perseus, the last of the Macedonian kings, adorned as a captive the triumph of a Roman general. 110. After this event the Greek republics were for a short time left independent ; but, quarreling Last days of once more among themselves, they were finally <^>^eece. (146 B. c.) reduced to a Roman province under the name of Achaia. 111. The intellectual history of later Greece was of a different character from that of its glorious Decline of period. There was more of scholarship, but ^^^^^s. less of creative genius. We have seen that the Oriental conquests of Alexander and the Greek rule in the new king- doms of the East tended to Hellenize Asia ; but there was a reflex influence of Asia on Hellas herself. The Oriental habits of servility and adulation superseded the old free- spoken independence and manliness ; patriotism and public spirit waned ; literature lost its vigor ; art deteriorated, and tlie people sank into a nation of pedants, parasites, and adventurers. " 'T was Greece, but living Greece no more ! " Three Periods of Greek history. ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. First Authentic Period,— from the Dorian migra- tions to the beginning of the Persian Wars, B. c. 1 100- 500. Second Period, — from the beginning of the Persian Wars to the victory of Philip of Macedon at Chaero- nea, b. c 500-338. Third Period, — from the victory of Philip to the absorption of Greece by the Romans, b. c. 338- 146, 112 HISTORY OF GREECE. General Summary. General Summary. First Period, B.C. 1100-500. The Heroic Age ended with a general migration of the tribes of Greece, the settlement of the Do- rians in the Peloponnesus, and the establishment of colonies on the shores of Asia Minor and else- where. In the succeeding three or four centuries the Spartans, under the form of government established by Lycurgus, became the leading state of the Pelopon- nesus, conquering the Messenians and others. Athens meantime had become an oligarchy. A more moderate government was estab- lished by Solon ; however, con- tentions were frequent, and Pi- sistratus seized power, which remained with his sons, till the Pisistratidas were expelled, and . Athens became a pure democracy. Second Period, B. C. 500 - 338. The Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor revolted from Persia, and Athens lent them aid. Accord- ingly Darius sent Mardonius against Greece ; but he advanced no farther than Macedonia, his fleet being destroyed by a storm. Then Darius sent a vast force under Datis, but it was defeated in the battle of Marathon. Da- rius having died, his son Xerxes moved on Greece with an im- mense army and fleet: he was successful at Thermopylae, and took Athens; but was defeated at Salamis, and the remaining force at Platsea and Mycale, — which ■\ caused the Persian scheme wholly LEADING DATES. Dorian migration iioo Colonies founded in Asia Minor (about) 1000 Period of Lycur- gus (about 850 Beginning of first Messenian war.. 743 Beginning of sec- ond 685 Solon's constitu- tion 594 Pisistratus be- came dictator... 560 Banishment of the Pisistratidae 510 Revolt of the Ioni- an Greeks against Persia 500 Expedition of Mar- donius 492 Battle of Mara- thon 490 Battle of Ther- mopylae 480 Battle of Salamis. 480 Battle of Plataea.. 479 Battle of Mycale.. 479 ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. II to fail. The half-century follow- ing the battle of Salamis was the most brilliant period of Athenian history (age of Pericles) ; but the greatness of Athens led to the Peloponnesian war. This was in- terrupted by the Peace of Nicias ; but, being renewed, the Athenians were beaten in various engage- ments, and finally defeated at T^gos Potamos : so the result of this war was the ascendency of Sparta. Sparta continued prom- inent till her defeat at Leuctra. Thebes now became for a while the leading state ; but Greece, rent by dissensions, was soon sub- jugated by Philip of Macedon, in the battle of Chaeronea. Beginning of Pelo- ponnesian War.. 431 Peace of Nicias. , . 421 Battle of ^gos Potamos 435 Battle of Leuctra. 371 Battle of Chsero- nea 338 General Summary. ' Third Period, B. C. 338 - 146. Philip of Macedon by war and intrigues made himself master of Greece, and was then appointed general-in-chief against Persia ; but he died, and his son Alexan- der took up the task. He marched against the Persians in Asia Mi- nor, defeating them at the Granicus and at Issus ; then into Egypt and Assyria, defeating them in the de- cisive battle of Arbela. He after- wards marched eastward to beyond the Indus, and thence returned to Babylon, where he died. After Alexander's death his generals disputed, and the empire was di- vided. Greece, meanwhile, fell into a state of intestine war, and at last became a Roman province. Death of Philip of Macedon 336 Battle of the Gran- icus 334 Battle of Issus... 333 Battle of Arbela.. 331 Death of Alexan- der 323 Greece made a Ro- man province... 146 114 HISTORY. OF GREECE. CHAPTER V. GRECIAN CIVILIZATION. I. POLITICAL IDEAS. 112. The history of Greece, though the history of but a small part of the world for a brief period (the Part played in * • t •. i , .1 , , ,,. history by grand age IS hmited to the century and a half '^^^^^' between the battle of Marathon, 490 b. c, and the triumph of Philip of Macedon, 338 b. c), is of permanent interest, for the reason that the Greeks were the first people to show the world what real freedom and real civilization are. It has been said that in the Grecian commonwealths "the political and intellectual life of the world began." 113. The great contribution given by Greece to the Political free- world's civilization was the practical example ^°'"- of free, self-governing states. In the Oriental nations the only government was despotism : there was an absolute lord, and there was a mass of subjects or slaves, but no people in a political sense. It was left for the Greek states to give an illustration of democracy, — " the govern- ment of the people, for the people, by the people." This was a great fact : it is only in an atmosphere of freedom that the human mind can expand and that progress is pos- sible, for political liberty means intellectual liberty; so that, without this, the germs of Hellenic genius would prob- ably never have borne their rich fruitage of literature and art. 2. RELIGION. 114. Though the Greeks never rose to the exalted He- brew conception of one God, yet their religion was much religion: 115 in advance of the dark and often cruel superstitions of most of the ancient nations. They were poly- ^ 1 1 Greek and theists, but, as they looked on the gods as other pagan- their personal friends, their paganism was a religion of love, whereas Asiatic paganism was a religion of fear. 115. The religion of the Greeks received its peculiar form from the beautiful fictions of the poets, its poetic especially of Homer and He'siod. Thus their character, mythology was an inexhaustible treasury of highly ideal con- ceptions which the chisel and the pen of artists and poets embodied in forms of immortal grandeur and loveliness. 116. In the Grecian theogony, or history of the gods, the earliest events that are described are the pro- Greek theog- ceedings of certain gigantic agents, — the col- °"y- lision of certain terrific forces, which were ultimately reduced under the more orderly government of Zeus, or Jupiter, with whom begins a new dynasty, and a different order of beings. 117. Zeus divided the sovereignty with his two brothers, — Posei'don (Neptune) and Ha des (Pluto). Dynasty of He retained for himself the ether and the at- ^^^^• mosphere, together with the general presiding function. Poseidon obtained the sea, while Hades ruled the world of shades. These deities, with their sisters and divine progeny, comprehended the gods worshiped by the early Greeks. Twelve were especially called the great Olympian gods, being supposed to dwell on the heights of Mount Olympus and to form the divine ag'ora, or council of the gods, which was held there. The student will here find the names and chief attributes of the Olym- pian divinities, together with the Latin names, by which they are more generally known I. Zeus, or Jupiter, the chief and father of the gods. He is always represented as seated on a throne with the thunderbolts in his right hand, and an eagle by his side. Il6 HISTORY OF GREECE. 2. Po-sei'don, or Neptune, the earth-shaker and ruler of the sea : his symbol is a trident. 3. A-pol'lon, or Apollo (called also Phoebus Apollo), the divinity of poetical inspiration, of song and music. He was figured as the beau z^/^/ of manly beauty. (Statue of Apollo Belvedere discovered in 1503.) 4. Ar'te-mis, or Diana, the huntress among the immortals, the divin- ity of flocks and of the chase. As twin-sister of Apollo, she was the divinity of the moon. 5. He-phais'tos, or Vulcatt, the god of terrestrial fire : he is repre- sented as a blacksmith. 6. Her'mes, or Mercury, the messenger of the gods ; the god of elo- quence, and the protector of trade : he is marked by his winged san- dals, and by his caduceus, or wand. 7. A'res, or Mars, the god of war, delighted in the din of battle, the slaughter of men, and the destruction of towns. 8. He'ra, or Jtmo, the wife of Jupiter, a beautiful but unamiable god- dess. 9. A-the'na, or Minerva (also Pallas), the goddess of wisdom and war. 10. Hes'tia, or Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. 11. De-me'ter, or Ce'res, the goddess of agriculture. 12. Aph-ro-di'te, or Vemis, the goddess of love and beauty, is gener- ally represented with her son E'ros, or Cupid. The legend runs that she rose from the sea-foam and landed on the island of Cyprus. The Odyssey represents her as the wife of Vulcan. Venus was of course a favorite subject with the Greek sculptors. The two finest remain- ing statues of this goddess are the Venus de Medici and the lovely but imperfect statue known as the Venus of Milo. 118. Besides the twelve dii majores, or greater gods of Other divini- Olympus, there was an indefinite number of *^®^- others, some of whom were little inferior in power and dignity. Such were He'lios, or Sol (the Sun) ; Bac- chus, whom the Greeks called Diony'sos, to whom the goat- herds and vine-dressers paid especial honor; the Muses; the Nere'ides, or sea-nymphs ; the Graces, etc. There were also monsters, — the progeny of the gods, — as the Harpies, the Gorgons, Cer'berus, the Centaurs, the Dragon of the Hesper'ides, etc. 119. By the Greeks all nature was imaged as moving and working through a number of personal agents ; and GRECIAN FESTIVALS. 11/ though many of the legends concerning these personages appear to us silly, and some quite shockinsr, : .u ^ f^ ^ T • . .1^ General view yet the early Greek religion was, to say the of Greek re- least, composed of many beautiful and poetic ^^^°"' conceptions. It was not until later that the Greeks adopted from Egypt, Asia Minor, and Thrace the grosser supersti- tions practiced in their orgies and Eleusinian mysteries. 120. The popular worship of the gods consisted princi- pally in sacrifices, which were either offerings of prayer and thanksgiving, or sin-offerings: °^^ ^^' these were celebrated by the priests either in the open air, on the tops of mountains, in forests and groves, or in tem- ples, especially on the occasion of the celebration of the great national festivals. The offerings were either animals — sometimes single, sometimes in great numbers (heca- tombs) — or inanimate objects, as fruits, wine, honey, milk, frankincense, etc. Other modes of honoring the gods were by short forms of prayer uttered standing and with out- stretched arms, by votive offerings, solemn processions, and religious dances. 121. The Greeks believed that they obtained revelations of the divine will from the oracles, of which ^ , 1 1 1 r r, -!->. Oracles. the most renowned were those of Zeus at Uo- do'na, and of Apollo at Delphi. 3. GRECIAN FESTIVALS. 122. One of the most striking features of Grecian life were the congresses of the people of all the The four fes- states and colonies at the four great national ^^^ais. festivals, — the Olympic, Pyth'ian, Isth'mian, and Ne'mean Games. The Olympic Festival was celebrated in honor of Jupiter in the plain of Olympia, in E'lis, every four years ; the Pythian was held in the third year of each Olympiad, near Delphi, in honor of Apollo j the Isthmian, in honor of Il8 HISTORY OF GREECE. Neptune, was so called from its being celebrated on the Isthmus of Corinth ; the Nemean, in honor of Nemean Ju- piter, at the town of Ne'mea in the Peloponnesus. 123. The great feature of all these festivals were those " Games," or, as the Greeks called them, " Con- Their nature. ,, . , . , . i i . .1 tests, m which prizes were awarded to the victors in athletic exercises, in foot and horse and chariot races, in music and poetry. The prizes were of no value by themselves, — a mere garland of olive, laurel, etc., placed on the victor's head. But this chaplet carried with it death- less fame. The name of the victor was proclaimed before assembled Hellas, his statue was erected in the sacred grove, and his praises were sung by poets. He returned in triumphal procession to his home, where distinguished honors and substantial rewards awaited him. 124. These festivals lasted for several days, and drew together an immense multitude from all parts ciai and liter- of Greece. They thus afforded the best pos- ^^^' sible means for commercial, social, and literary intercourse. " In the booths around the plain of Olympia, merchants exchanged the rude wares they had brought from the banks of the Tanais and the Rhone against the rich products of Asia and Africa ; the social and political condi- tion of the various states of the mother country, of her far- thest colonies, and of the barbarian nations around them, might be compared. Teachers of philosophy discussed the theories which sprang up in Athens and Italian Greece ; sculptors and painters took occasion to exhibit the finest productions of chisel and brush ; while poets and historians read aloud, in all their freshness, those immortal works which we only half admire for want of such a hearing. Such intercourse must have powerfully tended to maintain that intellectual sympathy v/hich, in the absence of any political union, was the strongest bond of nationality among the sons of Hellas." * * Philip Smith, History of the World. GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. II9 4. GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 125. Leaving aside the Sacred Scriptures, the literature of Greece is incomparably the most valuable of comparison of all the literatures of antiquity. It is far richer, literatures. grander, and more original than that of Rome, — and in- deed the Latins were avowedly imitators of the Greeks. Of the literature of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Phoeni- cians we have only fragments, and the seare far from show- ing a high tone of thought or sentiment. The ancient Persians have left us but one important work, the Zend- Avesta, and this is rude and primitive in its structure. The great body of Hindoo writings (the Vedas, etc.) is, from its lack of form, curious rather than valuable. With the Greeks, for the first time, came noble intellectual conceptions em- bodied in forms of literary art. 126. In Greek literature poetry precedes prose. The oldest Greek poems that remain to us are the ,, 1 . /• • \ 1 Homer. two immortal epics (1. e. narrative poems) that go by the name of Homer, — namely, the Iliad and the Odyssey. These are considered the finest epics ever writ- ten : they breathe the freshness and charm of the poetic springtime of the world. It is a noticeable fact that these earliest monuments of Grecian literature do not belong to continental but to colonial Hellas. It was in the Ionian and TEolian cities on the coast of Asia Minor that the lit- erature of Greece originated ; for whether the Iliad and the Odyssey are to be looked on as the work of one individual or of many bards, scholars are agreed that they must be regarded as the composition of Asiatic Greeks. 127. By the Greeks Homer Avas regarded as a real in- dividual ; Herod'otus places him four hundred Homer among years before himself, which would fix his pe- *^^ Greeks, riod at about 880 b. c. These poems were for centuries lodged only in the memory of bards, who sang or recited 120 HISTORY OF GREECE. them to assembled companies and at festivals. They were not committed to writing till the period of Pisistratus at Athens (b. c. 560). On the subject of the authorship of the Homeric poems, read Chap- ter XXI. of Grote's Greece, Vo]. II. The most celebrated English trans- lations of Homer are those of Chapman (time of Shakespeare), Pope and Cowper (last century), Lord Derby and our American poet, William Cullen Bryant. 128. The next development of epic poetry was in Boeo'- tia, in the works of Hesiod, who is thought to Hesiod. t t i • i o i , . , have lived ni the 8th century, that is, about a century after Homer. The two most famous books of He- siod are the Theogony and the Woi'ks and Days. These were looked up to by the Greeks as of great authority in theological and philosophical matters ; but they do not possess the same interest for us as the Homeric poems. 129. The epic was the only kind of poetry during the Epic and kingly period. The epics usually related the ^*^sy- exploits of the heroes of the mythical ages, and hence were very acceptable to princes who claimed descent from those heroes. When, however, regal rule gave place to democracy, poets arose who were stimulated to a freer expression of //z'^ feelings. The new style of poetry is called the Elegy ^ — but the word has a wider meaning than with us, and denoted all emotional poetry. One of the most famous writers of the elegy was Tyrtae'us (born in the latter part of the 8th century b. c). He is said to have been a lame schoolmaster at Athens, sent to Sparta in de- rision by the Athenians, to whom the Spartans had applied for a leader in the Messenian war: it is added that his stirring songs had««a great influence on the campaign. Simon'ides of Ceos, who belongs to the 5th century, is also named as a writer of noble elegies. 130. The next step in the progress of Greek poetical GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 1 21 literature was the growth of lyric poetry. The chief feature of this style was its connection with music, , „ . , T . Lyric poetry. vocal as well as instrumental. Lyric poems were sung, accompanied with music and often with the movements of the dance. The most famous names in Greek lyric poetry are Sappho, Alcs'us, Anac'reon, and Pin- dar. Sappho, who wrote in the 6th century b. c, was a Les- bian ; she sang of love, and Alcaeus, who also was a Lesbian and her contemporary, calls her the " violet-crowned, pure^, sweetly smiling Sappho." Pindar (born 522 b. c.) was a native of Boeotia ; he was the most celebrated of the Doric school of lyrists, and was thought by the Greeks the most sublime of their poets. 131. The highest form of Greek literature, the drama, arose in Athens in the age of Pericles, 5th cen- tury B. c. Tragedy attained its full develop- ment at the hands of ^s'chylus (born 525 b. c), Soph'ocles (born 495 B. c), and Eurip'ides (born 480 b. c). The fertil- ity and excellence of Greek dramatic poetry at the flood tide of national greatness were most remarkable. The festivals of Bacchus (Dionysos), celebrated at Athens every spring, were the principal occasions on which new pieces were brought out, and always in competition for the prize and under the direction of the chief magistrates. 132. Greek tragedy as exhibited in the masterpieces of ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides was very Comparison i-rr r ■, ■, . .-, r With Shake- dmerent irom our drama, and especially from speare. the plays of Shakespeare. The Shakespearian tragedy deals with human life and passion ; Greek tragedy with the gods and mythical heroes. In regard to treatment, the Greek dramatist was bound to obey the rules of " unity of time and place " j that is, the plot must be confined to one place and to an interval of time not much exceeding that which was occupied in the representation. All that could not be sup- posed to happen in the presence of the chorus, and within 122 HISTORY OF GREECE. the compass of a few hours, had to be narrated^ and could not be acted. Shakespeare wholly disregarded the limitations of time and space. Had such a subject as King Lear been treated by Sophocles, all that precedes the fifth act would have been narrated^ and the fifth alone acted, 133. Athenian comedy derived its origin from the revels and sdbes of the comus. or Bacchic procession. Comedy. ^ ^ * • 1 , /, Its greatest master was Aristoph'anes (born at Athens 444 b. c). Among the most famous of his comedies that have come down to us are The Clouds., The Wasps, The Birds, and The Frogs. They satirize Athenian society in a very pungent and amusing manner. 134. We now turn to prose literature. In history the first p^reat name is that of Herodotus, called Herodotus. , ,,%^ , r -r-r- ,, -n- T • the " Father of History. ' He was an Ionian Greek of Halicarnas'sus in Asia Minor, and was born in 484 B. c, between the first and second Persian wars. The subject chosen by Herodotus was the History of the Per- sian Wars ; but it took a wider scope, and was really a sort of universal history up to his time. He had traveled exten- sively in Egypt and in Asia, and presents us with a vivid and most interesting picture of society and life among the na- tions of antiquity at his time. The style of Herodotus is that of a charming story-teller, and his work is still read with pleasure. Many translations of Herodotus have been made. The best is that of Rawlinson, in four volumes. The notes and essays appended to the text of Herodotus in this admirable work contain the results of the latest scholarship regarding the history of each country treated. 135. The most philosophic historian produced by Greece is Thucyd'ides (born at Athens 471 b. c). The subject chosen by Thucydides was the Peloponnesian War. His history is distinguished for the GREEK LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY. 1 23 loftiness of its style, and for the profound insight it dis- plays into the actions and motives of men. It is the ear- liest example of the philosophy of history, and as such it is what Thucydides himself proudly called it, a " possession forever." 136. Among other historians may be named Xenophon, a contemporary of Thucydides, distinguished other histo- for his easy and graceful style of narrative ; Po- ^^^"s. lyb'ius, who belongs to the 2d century b. c. ; and Diodo'rus, who belongs to the ist century. Plutarch, whose Lives has been called the " Bible of heroisms," * lived in the 2d cen- tury A. D. 137. In connection with prose literature should be men- tioned eloquence, or oratory. It was first cul- ^- ^ 1 A 1 1 • 1 Oratory. tivated as an art at Athens durmg the great period of the democracy. Pericles himself was master of a style of oratory so sublime as to gain for him the epithet of " the Olympian." Political oratory was exhibited in its fullest development in the contest between ^s'chines (393 - 317 B. c), the advocate of Macedonian interests, and his greater adversary Demosthenes (385-332 B.C.), who, in exposing and opposing the plans of Philip, " shook the arsenal And fulmined over Greece." 138. Philosophy was first cultivated in the Grecian col- onies of Asia Minor and Lower Italy : in the Early phiios- former by Tha'les, who lived in the 6th century, op^ers. and was the founder of the Ionic school ; in the latter by Pythag'oras, who belonged to the same century, and was the head of the Pythagore'an school. Thales, Pythagoras, and the other early sages of Greece chiefly occupied themselves with natural philosophy ; but in the 5 th century they were, succeeded by the Sophists and Rhetors, who taught the arts * R. W. Emerson. 124 HISTORY OF GREECE. Socrates, of dialectics and rhetoric, and were the paid instructors of the Athenian youth. 139. Soc'rates, one of the wisest and greatest of the hu- man race, belongs to the epoch immediately succeeding the age of Pericles (469-399 b. c). He did not teach any positive system of philosophy ^ his special work was to break down prejudices, to show people their ignorance, to expose fallacies, and to assert the exist- ence of great necessary truths, — of the good, the true, and the beautiful, — and this he did by a meth- od of search- mg mquiry called, after him, the So- craiic. He Socrates. Plato. waS ungainly of person and ascetic in his habits ; he taught without pay in the porticoes, the market-place, and the street, addressing all who chose to listen, in a homely but most pointed and telling style. Notwithstanding his pure and noble life, and his efforts to promote the welfare of mankind, his doctrines made him many enemies : he was charged before the Athe- nian magistrates with not believing in the gods, and with being a corrupter of youth. Being condemned on these charges, he was sentenced to drink a cup of hemlock. He met his death calmly, surrounded by his beloved and weep- ing disciples, to whom in his last hours he discoursed on the Immortality of the Soul. 140. Plato (429 — 347 B. c), one of the disciples of Soc- rates, was the founder of the Academic school, so called from the groves of Acade'mus, near Athens, where the philosopher gave his lectures. The works of Plato remain in the form of his Dialogues, In these Plato. GRECIAN ART. 1 25 Socrates is represented as the principal speaker; but the philosophy of Plato was really his own. It is distinguished for its lofty ideal character. The Platonic doctrines have had a powerful influence on the human mind, and are the high-water mark of spirituality in the ancient world. 141. Aristot'le (384-322 b. c), the founder of the Peri- patetic school (at the Lyceum at Athens), was . the most logical and systematic of the philoso- phers and scientists of Greece. He first gave form to what is called the deductive system of reasoning. His philosophy predominated over the minds of men for two thousand years, — lasting, in fact, until it was displaced by the Induc- tive system, with which the name of Bacon is associated. Induction arrives at truth by reasoning up from facts to general laws ; deduction begins with abstract principles and seeks to arrive at truth by reasoning downwards, as in ge- ometry. Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great. 5. GRECIAN ART. 142. The four fine arts are architecture, sculpture, paint- ing, and music. The artistic instincts of the Forms of Greeks expressed themselves in the first two Greek art. forms (for painting and music belong properly to the Mid- dle Ages and to Christianity) ; and in these a degree of per- fection was attained that was never before seen and that has never since been surpassed. 143. The most important architectural works of Greece are the temples of the gods : in' these we find the development of the Grecian column in the three classic forms, — the Doric, the Ionic, and the Cor- inthian. It is probable that all the principal cities of Greece had temples commensurate with their dignity before the Persian wars ; but many were destroyed during that struggle, and in the grand period of national life that 126 HISTORY OF GREECE. followed the contest with Persia the people pulled down and rebuilt the old structures in a more magnificent style. The consequence is that nearly all the great temples now found in Greece were built in the forty or fift}^ years which succeeded the defeat of the Persians at Salamis. Ionic order. Doric Ionic. Corintiiian. Three Orders of Greek Architecture. 144. The graceful Ionic order of architecture had its origin in the Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor. The most celebrated example of this order was the temple of Diana at Ephesus, burnt on the birthnight of Alexander the Great (b. c. 356) by Heros'tratus, and rebuilt in still more splendid style in the Roman age. This temple was 425 feet long by 220 feet wide. Its whole foundation has been laid bare by English explorations. 145. The Corinthian was the highest and most richly Corinthian Ornamented of the Grecian orders. The an- cients employed it in temples dedicated to Venus, Flora, and the njmiphs of fountains, because the flowers and foliage with which it is adorned seemed well GRECIAN ART. 12/ adapted to the delicacy and elegance of such deities. It dates from the latter part of the 5th century b, c. 146. The most famous of the Doric temples of Greece is the Parthenon, — the " House of the Virgin," dedicated to Athena (Minerva) : it was built of pure white marble, and crowned the Acropolis at Athens. Of this structure a great authorit}^ says : " In its o^\ai class it is undoubtedly the most beautiful building in tlie world. It is true it has neither the dimensions nor die wondrous expression of power and eternity inherent in Eg}'ptian tem- ples, nor has it the variety and poetry of the Gothic cathe- dral ; but for intellectual beauty, for perfection of proportion, for beauty of detail, and for the exquisite perception of the highest and most recondite principles of art ever applied to architecture, it stands utterly and entirely alone and unri- valed, — the glory of Greece, and the shame of the rest of the world."* 147. It is acknowledged that in sculpture tlie Greeks attained absolute perfection. The finest speci- r r^ . , , . Sculpture. mens of Grecian sculpture that remain to us are the figures that adorned the pediments and friezes of the Parthenon. Most of these were taken by Lord Elgin from Athens to England, and are now in the British Mu- seum. Many of the figures are, unfortunately, in a mutilat- ed state, but they nevertheless embody the veiy perfection of loveliness, majesty, and power. These works were ex- ecuted by a school of artists under the direction of the illus- trious Phid'ias, who belonged to the grand period following the Persian wars. This was the heroic age of Grecian sculp- ture : later artists produced forms that the uninstructed re- gard as more beautiful^ but they lack tlie perfect purity and repose of these immortal works. * Ferguson's History of Architecture, Vol. I. p. 221. See cut of the Parthenon, p. 73 of the present book. 128 HISTORY OF GREECE. 6. GREEK LIFE, MANNERS, ETC. 148. The mode of life and the manners and customs of the Greeks, as gleaned from their writings and the relics they have left us, form a deeply interesting subject, — v.hich, however, can merely be touched on here. 149. The dress of the Greeks was simple, without un- necessary coverino^s or useless display of oma- Dress ^ o s: j ments. Betrveen the- sexes there was little difference of attire. The garments were commonly of wool, linen, and later of cotton. The women wore no head-cov- erings ; all the men, too, were hatless, except travelers and certain kinds of workmen. In-doors the Greeks used no foot-covering ; abroad tliey wore sandals, shoes, sometimes boots. 150. The Greeks ate three daily meals, reclining on couches, and using neitlier table-cloth nor nap- kins. In primitive fashion, they used their fin- gers for knives and forks ; but spoons were common. They washed the hands (no wonder !) before and after meals. Among the common people dried fish and barley bread, '^rith dates, were the staple food. Among the well-to-do all sorts of luxuries were of course indulged in. After dinner came the symposium^ when host and guests drained goblets of v.'ine mixed with hot or cold water, being governed by the " master of the feast," who was chosen by lot. This drinking-bout was enlivened by varied conversation, music, dancing, and all sorts of games and amusements. 151. Though the state did not support schools, yet daily school-sroinof was quite s^eneral: the bovs Education. , & fc> M fc> 3 . alone went to school, however. The whole education of a Greek youth was di\^ded into three parts, — grammar, music, and g}Tnnastics. The schoolmaster was called Xh.^grammatis'tes^ or grammarian j but ^ith the Greeks GREEK LIFE, MANNERSy ETC. 1 29 "grammar" included' most of the rudimentary branches of education, while under the term " music " came all intel- lectual accomplishments. The gymnasium, where the body was rendered supple and strong by wrestling, running, box- ing, and kindred pursuits, was part and parcel of Greek education, and was much frequented both for pastime and exercise. There the contestants trained for the celebrated Olympic Games. 152. Women seem in the Homeric age to have held a higher position in the household than in later Position of times. In the historic period, the husband woman, treated his wife as a faithful slave, " something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse." The principle on which the education of women rested was, that just so much mental culture was expedient for women as would enable them to manage the household, provide for the bodily wants of the children, and overlook the female slavey. Secluded in the gyfieccB'um, or female apartment, both before and after marriage, they led a secluded and narrow life j so that we must think of Greek society as destitute of the refining and ennobling influence of cultured mothers, sisters, and wives ; and this fact resulted in some distinctly traceable defects in the products of Grecian genius. We shall here- after see that it is to Christianity that we are indebted for the elevation of woman to her true place in society. 130 HISTORY OF ROME. SECTION III. HISTORY OF ROME CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY AND RACES. 1. The history of the Romans, the last and greatest . people of antiquity, is now to engage our at- tention. We shall see how this people comes first to notice as a village communit}^ in the 8th century B. c, — how it develops into a vigorous republic and sub- dues all the other races of the peninsula, — how it push- es its conquests beyond the bounds of Italy, — and how, finally, about the time of the birth of Christ, it stands forth a great imperial and world- ruling power. It is a won- derful and most instructive stor}'. 2. Italy is the central one of the three great peninsulas Geographical which project from the South of Europe into features. ^^ Mediterranean Sea. It has an extreme length of 700 miles, is bounded on the north by the chain of the Alps, and is surrounded on other sides by the sea. It may be divided into two parts, — the northern consisting of the great plain drained by the river Padus, or Po^ with its tributaries, and the southern being a long tongue of land -with the Apennines as a backbone traversing it from GEOGRAPHY AXD RACES. 131 north to south. It should be noticed, however, that, till the time of the Empire, the Romans never in- cluded the plain of the Po in Italy. To this sec- tion they gave the name of Gallia Cisalpi'na^ or Gaul on tliis (the Roman) the Alps. Both the northern and southern sections of It- aly comprised many distinct territorial di- visions, the names of which will best be learned from the map. 3. Italy was inhabited, at the earliest period to which our knowledge carries us back, by four principal races, the Gauls, Etruscans, lapyg'ians, and Italians proper ; but the first three are of minor importance compared with die fourth, the Italians proper. 4. The Gauls inhabited the greater part of Northern Italy (Gallia Cisalpina) ; they were a branch pirst three of the same race that inhabited Gaul to the ''^'^^s. north of the Alps (France), and hence were Ar}'ans. The Etruscans inhabited Etruria, a district bet^veen the Amo and the Tiber. Their origin is involved in great obscurit}', but it is believed that this people belonged to the Ar}'an stock. Certain it is that, long before Rome appears as a village on the Tiber, the Etruscans had developed a pe- culiar civilization ; they were great builders, and skilled in Races. 132 HISTORY OF ROME. many of the arts ; they delighted in auguries, and had a strange and gloomy religion. In Apulia and the heel of Italy dwelt the lapygians : this people seems to have been a primitive race, quite distinct from the Italians proper. In addition to these races, Tve should also notice the Greeks in Italy, for this people had early planted so many colonies on the southern coast that they gave to diat dis- trict the name of Mag?ia Grcccia, or Great Greece. 5. The fourth of the races of Italy is the one with which we shall be mainly concerned in Roman his- Italians. rx^i • • 1 7- ,- 1 • -i tor}'. Ims is the lialiati race proper, which occupied almost the whole of Central Italy. It was origi- nally a pure Ar}-an stock, nearly related to the Hellenic race, — a kinship which is strikingly attested by the agree- ment of Greek and Latin in many words that relate to agriculture and the primitive facts and phases of life. 6. The Italians proper were divided into t^vo branches, the Latins and the Umbro-Sabellians^ the latter Italians. including various tribes : — ( Latins, Italians. .< Lmbro- > c- i.- ) SabelUans. f^^^^^^' ^ V V. Sammtes, etc Xow it is v.-ith the first branch that we shall be specially concerned in the beginnings of Roman histor}', — namely, ■^-ith the Latin branch of the Italian race ; for it was by men of this stock that were laid the foundations of the might}' Roman state. 7. The seat of the Latins was Latium, a small district Seat of the o^ the wcstem coast of Central Italy, between Latins. ^jje Tiber and the Liris. Its limits are repre- sented in the map on the opposite page. PRIMEVAL ROME. CHAPTER II. Latium dominion of ^ primevalRome <^ SCALE OF Miles PRIMEVAL ROME. — PERIOD OF THE KINGS. 8. The early liistoiy of Rome is given in an unbroken narrative by the Roman writers, who detail Legends of the marv^els of Rome's descent from wide- ^^'^^^ Rome, famed Troy, the landing of ^ne'as in Latium, the love of the god Mars for the vestal Rhea, her bear- \J ^^"J, c } LT^ V4 ^ mg twins by the god, ^h^, ''V^^^^Vvv^Ap^^I^^C \ '" --^ their exposure in the Tiber, their being saved and suckled by a she- wolf and fed by a wood- pecker till found by the shepherd Faus'tulus, their finally restoring their grandfather to the throne of Alba Longa, and then their collect- ing their fellow-shep- herds and founding a town named Rome (from Romulus, the el- der of the t\vins), on the hill where they had been miraculously saved and educated. 9. These romantic legends were received by the Romans themselves with unquestioning simplicity ; but criticism on they can no longer be regarded as a narrative *^^^^- of real events. The records of the early days of Rome are known to have been destroyed when the city was burned by the Gauls (b. c. 390) ; and Livy, the earliest writer on 134 HISTORY OF ROME. Roman affairs whose works have come down to us, wrote about 750 years after the foundation of the city. 10. At a very early period the Latins in the district of Latium formed a confederacy of thirty cities, nings of at the head of which was the city of Alba °™^' Longa. Now it is believed that Rome was founded by a colony that went out from Alba Longa with the view of establishing there an outpost of defense against the Sabines and Etruscans, whose territory adjoined Latium at that point. iVnd, indeed, according to modern scholars, the very name Roma., in place of having any relation to the fabled " Romulus," means a march., or border. 11. The founding of Rome is placed in the year 753 b. c. Earliest his- And, Setting aside the impossible fables of the tory. Roman historians, we may say there is good reason to believe that as early as the middle of the 8th century before the Christian era there stood on a height on the Tiber, called the Palatine Mount, a little village named Roma, the center of a small township, consisting probably of 5000 or 6000 inhabitants, all of them husband- men or shepherds. A chain of events which history can- not now trace, but which is indicated in a poetic manner by a number of early Roman legends, led to the incorpora- tion of Rome with two neighboring towTis, — a small Etrus- can settlement on the Cselian Hill, supposed to have been called Lu'cerum, another a Sabine village on the Quirinal Hill, called Quirium. The Sabines were received on a foot- ing of equalit}^ but the Etruscans on a subordinate footing. The settlement thus consisted of three tribes^ — the Rajiines., or Romans, the Tities, or Sabines of Quirium, and the Lu- ceres^ or Etruscans of Lucerum. 12. Tradition hands down the names of seven kings v/ho ruled Rome during the regal period (753 - 509 B.C.); but great obscurity hangs around the greater part of this epoch. PRIMEVAL ROME. 13. The Roman citizens were from the earliest times di"^aded into two classes, — Patricians and Pie- organization beians, a distinction of great importance in °^ society. Roman historv-. To the Patricians belonged all magisterial offices, all the higher degrees of tiie priesthood, the owner- ship of the public lands, and the privilege of using a family name. In fact, during the early ages the Patricians alone constituted the Fopulus, or people, in a political sense; for not only was the senate chosen from their ranks, but the sole popular assembly was the assembly of Patricians, called the Comi'tia Curia' ia. The Plebeians at this time, though freemen and personally independent, were wholly destitute of political importance. 14. During the reign of the iifth king of Rome, Ser^^ius Tullius, called the '• King of the Commons,"' an change of important change was made in the constitution constitution, of the Roman state. Sen^ius gave the Plebeians a share in the government by establishing a new national assembly called the Comitia Ceniuria'ta, or Assembly of the Hundreds, in which both Plebeians and Patricians voted alike. It was so arranged that in the new national assembly the old families and tiie wealthy class should have most voice. However, notwithstanding these restrictions, the new con- stitution was a great concession to the people, as it virtu- ally admitted ever}' free individual within the Roman ter- ritory to a share in the government. 15. An attempt on the part of the seventh and last king, Tarquin'ius Super^bus, to undo these reforms End of the and to establish what the ancients called a ^'^s^- tyranny, led to the expulsion of him and his family, and to the abolition of the kingly form of government at Rome, 509 B. c. Ever after this the Romans hated the very name of king. 136 HISTORY OF ROME. CHAPTER III. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. I. EPOCH OF THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE (509-390 B. C). 16. The history of Rome as a republic covers a period Extent of his- of 482 years, — from the termination of kingly tory. rule, 509 B. c, to the termination of republican rule by the establishment of tlie empire under Augustus, 27 B. c. 17. This period naturally divides itself into four Epochs, Its four ., I- Epoch of the Struggle for Existence, be- epochs. ginning "uith the establishment of the repub- lic and ending with the Gaulish invasion of Italy, 509-390 B. C. II. Epoch of the Roman Conquest of Italy, from the Gaul- ish invasion to the complete subjugation of the peninsula, after the repulse of P}Trhus, 390-266 b. c. III. Epoch of Foreign Conquest, including the Punic and Macedonian wars down to the beginning of civil strife un- der the Gracchi, 266- 133 b. c. IV. Epoch, of Civil Strife, from the Gracchi to the estab- lishment of the Empire under Augustus, 133-27 b. c. 18. AMien, at the close of the 6th century (509 b. c), Nature of the Romc ceascd to be under kingly rule, it be- government. came a republic. Instead of a king, two mag- istrates called Consuls were elected even,- year. In other respects the constitution remained as before. The first consuls were Brutus and Collati'nus. 19. Rome had attained a high degree of power under Territory un- tier kings. By a treat}^ made in the second der the kings, yggj- Qf ^g republic with the Carthaginians (508 B. c), a treaty which has fortunately been preserved, it THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 1 37 appears that she was mistress of the whole coast from Ostia to Terracina, and traded with Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa. 20. The state of things under the republic was for a long time much less fortunate. The Romans wars of the became engaged in contests with their neigh- republic. bors, and soon after the change of government they lost a considerable part of their dominion. There were : r. Wars with the Etruscans ; 2. Wars with the Sabines, Volscians, and ^quians ; 3. Wars with the ^quians and Volscians ; 4. Wars with the ^quians and Veientines ; till finally, after over a century of strife, Rome was overwhelmed by the Gauls, 390 B. c. It is needless to enter into any account of these contests, and the more so, that almost the whole histor}' of this epoch is of a legendary character. 21, Leaving aside the details, however, we can readily see that this century or more of desperate character of struggle for existence was in many respects a *^^ period, great era, and behind the veil of legend we plainly descry grand human figures, — the figures of those stern old pa- triots who gave to the name Roman its lofty significance. The old Roman character was indeed a hard character, — it was stern, unfeeling, in many respects cruel ; for we must remember that Christianity had not yet come to humanize men by the consciousness of universal brotherhood. But at the same time it had some noble virtues ; it was of heroic mold, and, for the work then required, was doubt- less just what was needed. Below will be found brief sketches of a few of the great men of the first epoch. GREAT NAMES OF EARLY ROME. Brutus (Lucius Junius), known as the "Elder Brutus," was one of the first two consuls. During his term of office the Roman state was threatened both from without and within. The exiled king, Tarquin, had retired to Etruria, where he began to intrigue for a return to Rome. In this he was aided by a conspiracy of a number of the 138 HISTORY OF ROME. young nobilit}-, and among the conspirators -were found the two sons of Brutus himself. The plot being discovered, the consul would not pardon his guilty children, and ordered the lictors* to put them to death with the other traitors, — a memorable example of inflexible justice. Soon after, the Etruscans espoused the cause of Tarquin and marched against Rome. When Aruns, a son of Tarquin, saw Brutus at the head of the Roman cavalry, he spurred his horse to the charge, and both fell from their horses mortally womided. Horatius (Codes) is celebrated for his heroic "defense of the bridge." The circumstances are these. Porsena, lars or lord of Clusium in Etruria, had taken up the cause of the exiled Tarquin, and in 508 B. C. advanced with a large army to the Ivlount Janiculum, just across the Tiber from Rome, That city was now in the greatest danger, and the Etruscans could have entered it by the Sublician bridge, had not Horatius Codes, with two comrades, kept the whole Etruscan army at bay while the Romans broke down the bridge behind him. When it was giving way he sent back his two companions, and withstood alone the attacks of the foes till the cracking of the falling timbers told him that the bridge was destroyed. Then prapng, " O Father Tiber, take me into thy charge and bear me up ! " he plunged into the stream and swam across in safety amid the arrows of the enemy. The state raised a statue in liis honor, and allowed him as much land as he could plow round in one day. Few legends are more celebrated in Roman histon.- than this gallant deed of Horatius, and Roman writers loved to tell " How well Horatius kept the bridge In the brave days of old." Coriolanus (488 e. c). Caius Marcius, surnamed Coriolanus, from his valor at the capture of the Latin town of Corioli, was a brave but haughty Patrician. He was hated by the Plebeians, who refused him the consulship. This inflamed him with anger, and accordingly when the city was suffering from famine, and a present of corn came from Sicily, Coriolanus advised the senate not to distribute it among the Plebeians, unless they gave up their tribunes. Such insolence enraged the Plebeians, who would have torn him to pieces on the spot had not the tribunes summoned him before the Comitia of the Tribes. Corio- lanus himself breathed nothing but defiance ; and his kinsmen and friends interceded for him in vain. He was condemned to exile. Ac- cordingly he went over to the Volscians, the enemies of his country- ♦ The Lictors were public ofncers who attended vr^n the Roman magistrate. Each coiisnl had twelve lictors. They carried upon their shoulders /a3f^.r, which were rods bound in the form of a btradle, and containing an ax in the middle. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 1 39 men and offered to head them against Rome. The king of the Volscians persuaded his people to appoint Coriolanus their general. Nothing could check his victorious progress : town after town fell before him ; and he advanced within five miles of the city, ravaging the lands of the Plebeians, but sparing those of the Patricians. The city was filled with despah". The ten head men in the senate were sent in hopes of moving his compassion ; but they were received with the utmost sternness, and told the city must submit to his absolute will. Next dav the pontiffs, augurs, flamens, and all the priests came in their robes of office and in vain prayed him to spare the city. All seemed lost, but Rome was saved by her women. Next morning the noblest matrons, headed by Veturia/ the aged mother of Coriolanus, and by his wife Volumnia, holding her little children by the hand, came to his tent. Their lamentations turned him from his purpose. " Mother," he said, bursting into tears, " thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son ! " He then led the Volscians home. Some say that he was put to death by the Volscians ; but others, that he lived among them to a great age, and was often heard to say that " none but an old man can feel how wretched it is to live in a foreign land." * Cincinnatus (Lucius Quintius, 458 b. c.) was one of the heroes of old Roman stor}-, with whose name is connected a well-known spirit- stirring legend. He was a noble, but had retired from popular tumult to his farm. On one occasion the ■Equians, who were bitter foes of the Romans, had surrounded a Roman camp on the Alban hills. In this emergency it became necessar}- to appoint a dictator, 7 and the senate chose Cincinnatus. The delegates who were sent to announce this to him, found the noble Roman engaged in plowing his own fields, clad only in his tunic, or shirt. They bade him clothe himself that he might hear the commands of the senate. He put on his toga, which his wife brought him. They then told him of the peril of the Roman army, and that he had been made dictator. Next morning before day- break he appeared in the Forum and levied a new army ; he then marched against the enemy, and succeeded in hemming in the .Equi- ans,who were blockading the Romans. He forced them to surrender, and made them pass under the yoke .J Cincinnatus entered Rome ♦ See Shakespeare's drama of Coriolanus. t The Dictator was an extraordinary magistrate appointed in seasons of great peril. He possessed absolute power for six months, unless he sooner gave it up : and from the time of the appointment of the dictator all the other magistrates, even the consuls, ceased to exercise any power. The first dictator was Titus Lartius, appointed in the year 49S b. c. X Suk jiigiiTtt {j7(g:(?n, a yoke), the origin of our word subjugate- The yoke was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, while a third was fastened across them. 40 HISTORY OF ROME. in triumph only twenty-four hours after he had quitted it, and volun- tarily laid do\NTi his dictatorial power after holding it but fourteen days, and returned to his farm. 22. In addition to troubles from without, the young re- public had to meet internal difficulties ; for a Social troubles. ^ ^ , ^i-j^ j- ^i_ quarter of a century had not passed since the expulsion of the kings, before a struggle of classes arose, — a struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians, the first of a long series of social contests that constitute the most important portion of the aiinals of the early commonwealth. 23. It appears that the Patricians had found an ingen- Oppression of io^s wav of Crippling the Plebeians by means of the Piebs. ^^ operation of the Roman law of debt. In primitive Rome, as in other ancient states, an insolvent debtor was liable to be seized by his creditor, and kept in chains or made to work as his slave. Now such had been the distress caused by the wars ever since the establishment of the republic, that multitudes of the Plebeians had been obliged to become debtors to the Patricians, who were the exclusive proprietors of the state lands. Hundreds had in consequence fallen into a condition of slaver}- ; so that the Plebs were thoroughly disheartened, and the Patricians practically possessed all power. 24. \Mien this state of things became unbearable, the Plebeians resolved upon quittins: Rome and Secession. i -i t 1 i 1 -n. • building beyond the Roman terntory a new town on the Mons Sacer (Sacred Mountain), about four miles from the city, 493 b. c. Thither accordingly they seceded ; but after considerable negotiation a compromise was made : debtors were relieved and slaves for debt were set free. 25. At the same time a still more important change was made, — two magistrates, chosen from the Plebeians, Office of and called Tribunes of the Plebs, were ap- tribune. pointed. These afteru-ards became ten in number. They held office for a year, during which time THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTEXCE. 141 their persons were sacred, and they could nulhfy any de- cree of the senate that they thought injurious to the Com- mons by the word Veto, I forbid if. No one could have foreseen how important tliis office would become. 26. The Plebeians had gained an important step in the appointment of tlie tribunes. But there were Laws of the still many grievances under which tliey suf- Twelve Tables, fered. And one of the most oppressive was that no regular code of laws existed. After many stormy debates it was at last decided (450 b. c.) that a Council of Ten, called from their number Decemvirs, should be appointed to make a code of laws, and it was agreed that in the mean time all the officers of the government (consuls, tribunes, etc.,) should give up their places, and let the decem\-irs control the state. The decemvirs appointed for the first year did their work well : they embodied the laws of Rome in written form, in the famous code of tlie Twelve Tables. 27. On the expiration of their year's office, all parties were so well pleased that it was resolved to conduct of the continue the same form of government for decemvirs, another year. But the new decemvirate acted ver\^ t}Tanni- cally, and when their time came to an end tliey continued to hold their power in defiance of the senate and of the people. Matters soon fell into so bad a state that the Plebeians se- ceded once more, retiring to the Sacred Mount. 28. This second secession extorted from the Patricians the second great charter of Plebeian rights. It what was was agreed that the tribunes should be re- &^^^^- stored, and that the authorit}^ of the assembly of tlie tribes {^Comitia Tributd) should be put on a level with that of the Centuries. Two consuls were elected in place of the de- cemvirs, 446 B. C. 29. The Plebeians were, however, still justly dissatisfied ; the choice of the chief executive, namely, the Dispute about consuls, was made exclusively from the Patri- consuls. 142 HISTORY OF ROME. cians. The Commons now began to claim a share in the consulate. This demand was resisted by the Patricians with their whole strength ; and when at last the Plebeians prevented the raising of levies for military service, the Patricians declared that they would rather have no more consuls than agree to the admission of the Plebeians to the office. 30. At length the Patricians proposed (444 b. c.) that a certain number (first three, afterwards six) of Alilitary Tribunes^ who might be chosen equally from Patricians and Plebeians, should exercise supreme power. In the follo^N^ng year t^'o new magistrates called Censors were appointed ; and as these were chosen exclu- sively from among the Patricians, it gave that order consid- erable additional weight, especially as the censors held the power of determining the rank of every citizen, of fixing his status in societ}'-, and valuing his taxable property. More- over, though in theory the militar}^ tribunes could be elected from eitlier order, yet in fact^ such was the ascendency of the Patricians that usually only men of their own class were chosen ; and it was not till 400 B. c, or about forty years after the remodeling of the government, that Plebeians were freely elected. 31. It was at this time that the progress of Rome re- Gauiish inva- ccived a great check by an invasion of the ®^°°' Gauls, who, under the leadership of Brennus, pressed southward, overran Etruria, and having defeated the Romans on the Allia, captured the city, and burnt almost the whole of it, except the Capitol, 390 b. c. The Capitol held out for seven months, until the Gauls, tired of the siege, agreed to go on receipt of a thousand pounds of gold. It is recorded that Brennus increased the stipulated amount by the weight of his sword, which he cast into the scale. Many stories told by the Roman historians, respecting tlie Gaulish capture of Rome, are plainly fictions; but of the fact itself there can be no doubt. ROMAX CONQUEST OF ITALY. 1 43 2. EPOCH OF THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY (390-266 B. CA 32. Scarcely had Rome been rebuilt with narrow and crooked streets and small dwelling-houses, Plebeian op- when the Patricians again asserted the whole P^ession. of their claims, and in particular revived the ancient laws of debtor and creditor in all their severit}-. The Gallic invasions left the Plebeians in a state of great poverty and distress, and now the severe measures of the Patricians threatened to reduce the whole common people to a state of practical slaver}-. The contest came to a crisis in 376 B. C 33. At this time two bold and able tribunes of the people, Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius, came forward Proposals for witli a plan to settle all die dimculties. They reform- said there were two evils to be remedied: i. Political in- equalit}' ; 2. Material want The new plan met tlie first e\il by restoring the consuls as the chief magistrates, and ap- pointing that one of the two consuls annually chosen should always be a Plebeian. The second evil, namely, the poverty of the Plebeians, the new plan proposed to mitigate by pro- \'iding, first, that the interest already paid on debts should be deducted from the capital, and the residue paid in three years ; secondly, that of the pubUc lands, hitherto practical- ly monopolized by the rich, no man should hold more than 500 jugcra^ while the remainder should be distributed in small portions among tlie Plebeians as their o\\-n property. 34. This new plan of a constitution, known as the Licinian Rogations, was resisted to the utmost victory of the by the Patricians ; but all their efforts proved ^^^^^• unavailing against the firmness of the tribunes, who pre- vented the election of officers and militar}'- Ie\ies. The plan became a law in 367 b. c, and the following year a * Kjugeriivi was rather more than half an acre. 144 HISTORY OF ROME. Plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected. xA.ll the other offices, dictatorship, censorship, prstorship, etc., were soon thrown open to the Commons, — so that at last, after the long struggle, perfect political equality was established. 35. For a century and a half since the expulsion of the kin^s, Rome had been a republic, but an Democracy. . . ... . ^ , aristocratic republic : it was now truly a government of the people. From this time begins the golden age of Roman politics. Civil concord, to which a temple w^as dedicated, brought with it a period of civic vktue and heroic greatness. 36. Up to the period at which we have now arrived, — smaiiness of the middle of the 4th century b. c, — the the nation. Romans were but a small nation : their terri- tOTj included but a few townships on the Tiber, and the whole number of adult Roman citizens at the close of the 5 th centur}' was under 300,000. In the mean time Rome was surrounded by pett}^ nationalities that girdled its strength ; and its wars thus far had been mainly a " struggle for existence."' 37. With the settlement of political difficulties in the Wars for do- middle of the 4th centur}-, we enter on a new minion. gj.^ ^f Roman liistor}'. The republic now began a series of wars for dominion. These wars were with (1) their immediate relatives the Latins ; with (2) their more distant relatives, the various other Italian nation- alities ; with (3) the Greek settlements in Southern Italy aided by P}Trhus, King of Epinis; v/ith (4) tlie Gauls in Northern Italy. 38. Histor}- has been too much occupied vAxh the record Meaning of of battles and sieges ; hence we shall not go these wars. Jj^^q ^j^g eudlcss and Complicated details of these operations. But we must understand in a general way that these Roman wars meant a great deal. Before Rome could play its grand part in the history of the world's civili- ROMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY. 1 45 zation it was necessary, first of all, that it should become a great Nation. A great nation needs an extensive stage on which to play its part. Now the wars by which the Romans put down the various small and obstructive nation- alities of Italy were the clearing of the stage, preliminary to the oncoming of that imperial figure, the Mistress of the World. 39. The series of wars against Etruscans, Latins, Sam- nites, and Gauls, sometimes singly and some- „ . %- ' . 1 . . . fi 1 . Samnite wars. times m combmation, is usually known m Roman history by the general designation of the "Latin wars " and the " Samnite wars." These wars filled the greater part of the half-century between 343 and 290 b. c. ; and the Samnites were the leaders in this onset of the na- tions on Rome, the issue of which was to determine whether Rome or Samnium should govern Italy. The Romans were completely successful ; and extricating themselves by their valor from this confused conflict of nations, the Ro- mans found themselves masters of Central Italy (290 b. c), — Samnites, Latins, etc., all their subjects. 40. The " Samnite wars " were succeeded by a short but brisk war, designated in Roman history war with "the war with Pyrrhus and the Greeks in Py"hus. Italy." Pyrrhus was an able and enterprising Greek prince whom the Greek towns of Southern Italy — fearful of being overwhelmed by what they called the " conquering barba- rians of the Tiber " — had invited over from his native country to help them as champion of a Greek city. 41. Pyrrhus came over with a force of 25,000 troops and 20 elephants. In the first battle (Pan- „ dosia, 280 B. c.) the Romans fought stoutly, until what they conceived to be gigantic gray oxen (the elephants) came thundering down upon them ; so that the victory remained with Pyrrhus. In tlie next contest also (Asculum, 279 b. c.) Pyrrhus was successful; but 7 J 146 HISTORY OF ROME. the Romans made him pay so dearly for his triumph that he is said to have exclaimed, " Another such victory and I am undone ! " Not having succeeded in his main object^ P}Trhus quitted Italy and went to Sicily ; but soon after he returned, renewed the contest with the Romans, and was utterly overthrown at Beneventum, in 275 b. c. 42. The subjugation of Southern Italy — of all that part called Great Greece — soon followed, and at the close of the year b. c. 266 Rome reigned supreme over the length and breadth of the peninsula of Italy, from tlie southern boundary of Cisalpine Gaul to the Sicilian Straits, and from the T}Trhenian, or Tuscan, Sea to tlie Adriatic. 43. We must now see how Rome consolidated the power Nature of the she had thus won, and try to realize what Roman state, manner of nation the Roman state now formed. The real governing power was the Roman people, — popidus Romanus^ — that is to say, the body of free inhabitants of the thirt}--three tribes or parishes north and south of the Tiber, which constituted the Roman territory proper, together with a considerable number of persons in other parts of Italy who, either from being colonists of Roman descent or from having had Roman citizenship conferred on them, had the privilege of going to Rome and voting at tlie Comitia, or Assembly. The possessors of the suffrage thus formed a comparatively small bod}^ of men, such as might be assembled witli ease in any public square or park, and tliese by their votes decided on the affairs of the commonwealth, controlling thus the destinies of the whole population of Italy, estimated at this time at above 5,000,000. 44. In addition to tiie popidus Romaniis there were two other classes, — the Italians and the Latins. Other classes. _, _ ,. , . , , . . Ihe Italians, or j-av/, were the mhabitants of t±ie allied and dependent Italian states tliat had submitted FOREIGN CONQUEST. 147 to Rome. These communities were almost all permitted to retain their own laws, judges, municipal arrangements, etc. ; but they did not possess the Roman franchise, and hence had no share in the political affairs of the republic. The Latins were those who belonged to cities having the " Latin franchise," as it was called, from its having first been given to the cities of Latium when conquered. This did not give full Roman citizenship, but made it easier to obtain it. 45. Rome wisely left self-government to all the depen- dent and allied states, while she secured her summary of sovereignty by three rights which she reser\'ed government, to herself: i. She alone made peace or declared war; 2. She alone might receive embassies ; 3. She alone might coin money. Altogether it was an admirable system, vastly superior to the loosely related Grecian states. It was a system that made possible for the first time in the world's history a great, as well as a free, nation. 46. Thus far we have been occupied wholly with the ex- ternal wars and the internal struggles of the General -sum- Romans, and this for the reason that their con- ^^^'^y- quests and their political organization were the main things that this remarkable people had yet accomplished. It is a striking fact that there was not yet even a dawning Roman Hterature ; in art, science, philosophy, Rome had done — absolutely nothing. But, in fact, it was in the art of govern- ing mankind that Roman genius w^as to appear ; and it was this that showed itself in these early years, — it was their valor, their probity, their patriotism, their political tact, and not speculation or literary culture, that distinguished them. 3. EPOCH OF FOREIGN CONQUEST (266-133 B.C.). 47. The epoch of Roman history on which we now enter covers 133 years, beginning in 266 b. c. and Extent of the ending in 133 b. c. This is the era of Rome's p^"°'^- 148 HISTORY OF ROME. first great foreign conquests, embracing the Punic and Mace- donian wars, and lasts down to tlie rise of the civil broils under the Gracchi. 48. In the middle of the 3d century b. c. the great maritime power of the Western Mediterranean Carthag^e. r-^ ^ r-i was Carthage. She was at the head of the other Phoenician cities in Africa, numbering about 300, with possessions in Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Spain. In government she was a republic ruled by an aristocracy. The Carthaginians were devoted to commerce, and had the good and the bad traits characteristic of a purely commer- cial people. The Romans, who were their rivals and ene- mies, represented them as wanting in integrity and honor ; hence the ironical phrase to denote treachery. Punka fides {Punka from Poz7ii, the Latin form of the name P/icB?tkians), or Punic faith. 49. It was hardly possible tliat tvvro such powers as Car- FOREIGX CONQUEST. 1 49 thage and Rome should not come into collision. And it was the more likely, as the island of Sicily lay between them, where the Carthaginians had large possessions, and where the Greek cities were closely connected with the Greek subjects of Rome in Southern Italy. 50. The pretext was not long wanting. The Mamer- tines. a body of Campanian mercenaries who origin of first had seized the town of Messa^na on the Sicil- P"°^= "^^r- ian Straits, being threatened with destruction by the com- bined Carthaginians and S}Tacusans, applied for help to Rome, and were readily received into her alliance. From this resulted the first Funk JJ\zr, which lasted for twent}*- three years (264-241 b. c). The independent Greek dry of S}Tacuse having very soon changed sides, tlie war was between 'the Romans and Syracusans on one side and the Carthaginians on the other. 51. The war was carried on chiefly in and about Sicily. The reduction of Agrigentimi (262 b. c.) was the first great exploit of tlie Romans. But the most remarkable feature of the contest was the wonderfully rapid development of a na\y by the Romans. At the be- ginning they had no fleet at all, and it is said that they took as their model a stranded Carthaginian galley: two years afterwards they were able to assemble so powerful a na\y that they defeated their enemy in a great sea-fight at Mylae, 260 b. c. 52. Their ^dctories by sea emboldened the Romans to send an army across to Africa, and to attack their enemy in his own country. But the Ro- ^"^ * man army under Reg'ulus was defeated at Tunis, and Regu- lus himself was made prisoner (255 b. c). The war was then confined to Sicily, where the Carthaginians suffered severe defeat at Panor^mus. In the mean time disasters at sea befell the Romans, who lost fleet after fleet, until a new 150 HISTORY OF ROME. navy raised by subscription took the sea, and by the victory at ^gu'sa reduced the Carthaginians to seek peace, b. c. 241. The treat}' compelled the Carthaginians to evacuate Sicily and tlie adjacent islands, to pay a heavy indemnity, and to recognize the independence of Hi'ero, king of Syra- cuse. 53. The island of Sicily, or that part of it which the Province of Carthaginians had possessed, was organized Sicily. j^-^^Q 3. province, and this fact is notable as being the commencement of that new feature in the Roman rule, namely, the institution of provincial goz'cr?iviefif, or that gov- ernment established by the Romans for their possessions outside of Italy. 54. Having thus triumphed over Carthage, the Romans Conquest of tumcd their eyes northward with the \dew of Cisalpine Gaul, carrying their' dominion to the Alps. The Gauls in the valley of tlie Po (Cisalpine Gaul) took the alaim, and began a movement towards Rome. They were, however, met by three armies, and w^ere so thoroughly pun- ished that in three years all Cisalpine Gaul submitted to Rome, 222 B. c. In tlie country were planted two Roman colonies. 55. The Carthaginians felt that they had been deeply Carthage pre- "^vrongcd by the Romans, and ever since the pares for war. ^losc of the War they had been stud3'ing how the injun' done them might be revenged. Among the advo- cates of war at Carthage was the powerful Barcine family, at tlie head of which was Hamil'car Barca, who had won fame in the latter part of the previous war. Under tliis able leader the Carthaginians first directed their attention to Spain (where they already had a strong foothold) as a fit " base of operations " against the Romans. Hamilcar's great object in subjugating Spain was to obtain the means of attacking the hated rival of his country. His implacable animosity against Rome is shown by the well-known tale, FOREIGN CONQUEST. 151 that when he crossed over to Spain in 235 b, c, taking with him his son Hannibal, then only nine years old, he made him swear at the altar eternal hostility to Rome. Hamilcar fell in battle, and was succeeded by his son-in-law Has'dru- bal, and when the latter was assassinated, the command of the army devolved upon Hannibal. 56. When, at the age of twenty-six, Hannibal was ap- pointed to the command of the Carthaginian Hannibal's army in Spain, he carried the Carthaginian campaign, line up to the Ebro and besieged Sagun'tum, an ally of Rome. The city fell, and Rome immediately declared hostilities. The result was the second Punic War, which began in the year 218 b. c. Before the Roman army was ready to take the field, Hannibal, who was one of the greatest military geniuses that ever lived, had crossed the Pyrenees on his way to Italy. He tlien proceeded to perform one of the most famous exploits on record : with his army he climbed over the Alps (218 b. c), losing aboye 30,000 men, burst into the plain of Italy, and defeated the Romans in four battles, the greatest of which was Cannce, fought in 216 b. c. 57. In Italy the career of Hannibal was most extraor- dinary: for fifteen years (217-202 b. c.) he operations m maintained himself in the peninsula, moving ^*^'y- hither and thither, keeping seven or eight Roman generals, and among them the wary Fa'bius and tlie bold Marcellus, continually employed, scattering the Romans like chaff wherever he appeared, exhausting the finances of the state, and detaching the Italian nationalities frotn their allegiance. 58. It is probable that Hannibal might have maintained himself in Italy for an indefinite time, and Roman strat- finally have shattered the commonwealth in ^^^' pieces, had it not been that the Romans assumed the offensive against Carthage. A vigorous young soldier, Pub'lius Scipio, was sent into Spain, which he reduced to the condition of a Roman province, thus closing the main 152 HISTORY OF ROME. avenue by which the Carthaginians could send reinforce- ments to Hannibal (^216-205 b. c). Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal, managed, indeed, to march from Spain across the Alps into Italy (207 b. c.) ; but his force was met and defeated, — and the first intimation Hannibal received of his brother's arrival in Italy was the sight of that brother's bloody head tossed contemptuously into his camp. 59. In spite of the cutting of his communications, Han- ciose of the nibal could readily have maintained himself in ^^^- Italy ; but now Scipio passed over into Africa, and ha\dng defeated the Carthaginians in several battles, so terrified the authorities at Carthage that they recalled Han- nibal from Italy. The final battle of the war was fought on the plain of Zama in Africa, in tlie year 202 b. c. The vic- tor}- was ^nth the Romans, and the Carthaginians in conse- quence were obliged to agree to a peace on very severe terms. Scipio — henceforvi'ard kno^Ti as Scipio Africanus — returned home and was honored with the most magnifi- cent triumph that had yet been exhibited in the Roman capital. 60. Several years after this time Hannibal had to flee Anecdote of from his countr}', and he spent the last years Hannibal. ^f |-^-g j'fg "j^ g^^-^ ^^^ Bithyn'ia. By a strange coincidence of fortune, his victor, Scipio, had also to go into exile, and resided for a while at Ephesus, where Hanni- bal was at the time. Many friendly conversations passed between them, and in one of these the Roman is said to have asked the Carthadnian " whom he thouo:ht the greatest general." Hannibal immediately replied, "Alexander; be- cause that, with a small body of men, he had defeated very numerous armies, and had overnm a great part of the world." " And who do you think desen^es the next place?" continued the Roman. " P}Trhus," replied the other ; " he first taught the method of forming a camp to the best advantage." " And whom do you place next to FOREIGN CONQUEST. 1 53 those ? " said Scipio. " Myself,'' said Hannibal ; at which Scipio asked, with a smile, " Where, then, would you have placed yourself if you had conquered me ? " " Above Al- exander," replied the Carthaginian, " above Pyrrhus, and above all other generals.*' 61. An interval of fift}" years separates tlie second from the third and last war with Cartilage, and sev- Third Punic eral important events that we shall have to re- ^^• late happened in the interim ; but it will give us a clearer view if we close here the whole histor}- of Rome's dealings with Carthage. 62. The third Punic war was, on the part of Rome, utterly causeless. The second had made Blame of the Carthage a dependent ally of Rome, but still ^^'■• left it free in its internal government. Now, a consid- erable part)^ at Rome were bent on reducing Cardiage to a position of complete subjugation. At tlie head of this part}^ was Porcius Cato, the censor, who then swayed the decisions of the Roman senate. So bitterly hostile was he to Carthage, that for years he closed eveiy speech he made — no matter on wdiat subject — with die words, Ddm'da est Carthago., " Carthage must be destroyed 1 " 63. The humbled Carthaginians made every submission, yielding up their arms, their ships, and dieir Roman harsh- munitions of war, and they even offered to °^^^- give up their own government and become subjects of Rome. When, however, Rome proposed to raze their sea- side cit}% and send them to live inland,'a wail of indigna- tion and despair went up from" Carthage, and the inhabitants determined to sacrifice their lives radier than submit to the savage mandate. 64. The third Punic War began in 149 b. c. The " Siege of Cartilage " which lasted four years, siege of Car- and was conducted on the part of the Romans *^^s^- by the younger Scipio, known as Scipio ^-Emilia'nus, was the 7* 154 HISTORY OF ROME. one event of this final struggle. Carthage was without ships, without allies, almost ^nthout arms ; yet she main- tained the contest with the courage of despair : the women gave their tresses to make bowstrings, and the men poured out their blood most lavishly. But it was all in vain. The city was taken, and, being set on fire, the flames continued to rage for seventeen days. Thus was Carthage with its walls and buildings, the habitations of 700,000 people, razed to its foundations. The Carthaginian territory' was then made into the Roman Province of Africa^ under a proconsul, and the seat of government was fixed at Utica (b. c. 146). 65. It is related that when Scipio beheld Carthage in Anecdote of flames his soul was softened by reflections on Scipio. ^g instabilit}' of fortune, and he could not help anticipating a time when Rome herself should expe- rience the same calamities as those which had befallen her unfortunate competitor. He vented his feelings by quoting from Homer the lines in which Hector predicts the fall of Troy : — " Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates ; • (How my heart trembles, while my tongue relates !) The day when thou, imperial Troy, must bend, And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end." 66. Meantime tlie Roman dominion had been enlarged Subjugation bv the annexation of Macedonia and Greece. of macedon and Greece. Wliilc the latc war was going on, the ruler of :Macedon, King Philip V., became embroiled mth Rome, owing to his haWng made a treaty with Hannibal. The Romans made a campaign against Philip, and in this con- test some of the Greek states sided with Macedon and some with Rome. The result was that in the battle of C\-nos- ceph'alae, in Thessaly, 197 b. c, the power of Macedon was broken and Philip had to become a dependent ally of Rome. A little later the Macedonians were completely crushed at Pydna (168 b. c), and came still more under the power of FOREIGN CONQUEST. 1 55 Rome. In the year 146 b. c. (same year as the destruc- tion of Carthage) Corinth was captured and burned. No further resistance was offered to the victorious Romans, and Greece was made into a Roman province under the name of Achaia. 67. At the commencement of the period of conquest (266 — 133 B. c), the Roman dominion was con- Review of ~ 1 1 -irTi -1 • Rome's con- fined to the pennisula of Italy ; at its close it quests. extended over the whole of Southern Europe 'from the shores of the Atlantic to the straits of Constantinople, over the chief IMediterranean islands, and over a portion of North Africa, while farther east, in Egypt, Asia Minor, and Syria, her influence was paramount. At tlie commencement of the period Rome was merely one of the " Great Powers " of the world as it then was, — that is, she ranked with Car- thage, Macedonia, and the kingdom of the Seleucidas ; at its close she was clearly the sole Great Power left. 68. The Roman dominion now became a duality, — it was " Italy and the Provinces." The politi- Rule of the cal state of Italy was that described in the last Provinces, section ; but the addition of the conquered countries result- ed in the new feature of Roman rule called Provincial gop- ernmejit. Retaining their native habits, religion, laws, etc.. the inhabitants of every province were governed by a mili- tary president, sent from Rome, with a staff of officials. The provincials were required to pay taxes in money and kind ; and these taxes were farmed out by the censors to Roman citizens, who, under the name o'f Publicans^ settled in the various districts of the provinces. Thus, like a net- work proceeding from a center, the political system of the Romans per^^aded the mass of millions of human beings in- habiting the shores of the Mediterranean ; and a vast popu- lation of various races and languages were all bound to- gether by the cohesive power of Roman rule. 69. The luster of the Roman power and the glory of the 156 HISTORY OF ROME. Roman name were now at their height. The eyes of all Grandeur of the world were now on Italy, the young re- ^°'"^- public of the West. Into Rome all talents, all riches, flowed. What a grand thing in those days to be a Roman citizen ; so that, wherever one walked, — in Spain, in Africa, even in once proud Athens, — he was followed, feasted, flattered ! W^hat a career was opened to those who wished for wealth or aspired to fame ! But in the very sun- burst of Rome's glory, the germs of decay were ripening. 70. On the Romans themselves the effect of their foreign Effect of con- conquests was both good and bad ; but per- quests. 1-j^pg ^i-^g gyjj outweighed the good. Let us glance at both sides of the shield. 71. The wealth poured into Rome by the conquest of Carthage, of Greece, and the East, and the con- Pubhc works. . , , , 1 • 1 r 1 siderable revenue derived from the permanent taxation of the provinces, enabled the Romans to carry out a great system of public works. Throughout Italy splendid militar}' roads which remain to this day were built, the pro\inces were traversed by imperial highways, and fine stone bridges were thrown across the Tiber. In Rome splendid public buildings were erected, the city was sewered, the streets were paved (174 b. c), two new aqueducts (the Marcian, built in 144 b. c, at a cost of $ 10,000,000) were constructed ; and it may be noted that the Consul P. Scipio Nasi'ca, in 159 b. c, set up in Rome a public dep'sydra, or water-clock, the citizens having for six centuries gone on without any accurate means of knowing the time by night as well as day. 72. The effect on Rome of the conquest of Greece and Influence of the Hcllenized East was very marked. Greek Greece. rhetoricians, scholars, tragedians, flute-players, and philosophers in large numbers took up their abode in Rome. The cit}- swarmed with Greek schoolmasters. Greek tutors and philosophers, who, even if they were not FOREIGN CONQUES: slaves, were as a nile accounted as sen-ants, were now per- manent inmates in the palaces of Rome ; people speculated in them, and tliere is a statement that the sum of 200,000 sesterces ($ 10,000) was paid for a Greek literan,- slave of the first class. 73. The stimulus of Greek literan,- culture led to native production, and in the 2d century b. c. we pirst litera- have the beginning of tliat Latin literature ^"'■^• which we still read. Though the great period of Roman letters did not come till a century after this time (^age of Augustus), 5-et there arose a number of writers of no ordi- nar}- power. Among these should be mentioned Ennius, the father of Roman poetr}^ ; Plautus, his contemporar}-, a man of rich poetic genius ; the elder Cato, the first prose writer of note ; and Terence, tlie most famous of the comic poets. 74. While the Romans were in some respects benefited bv contact with the superior thou2:h decavinof - .„ 11,-, " Evil effects. culture of Greece, they also learned a great deal that was debasing. They became effeminate, luxurious, and corrupt in morals ; marriage was not respected ; the old Roman faith waned, and it was said that t^'o augurs could not meet in the street witliout laughing in each other's face. 75. The political system of Rome now began to lead to a dreadful state of public corruption. The Political cor- Roman government was de\4sed for the rule of ^"P^ioi^- a city : all power was in the hands of the civic voters, and when there came to be great prizes, in the way of great offices at home and abroad, the voters began to find that their votes were won±i something, and unblushing briber}- and corruption became common. 76. The demands of the large planters and merchants led to a great extension of tlie slave-trade. Growth of All lands and all nations were laid under con- slavery. 158 HISTORY OF ROME. tribution for slaves, but the places where they were chiefly captured were Syria and the interior of Asia Minor. It is probable that at the period at which we have now arrived (middle of the 2d century b. c.) there were t\velve million slaves against five million free inhabitants in tlie Italian peninsula, — a most lamentable state of tilings ! 77. In addition to the slaves, Italy became filled up with Corruption of ^ motlcy parasitic population from Asia and ^^°°^- Africa and all the conquered lands, — and the result of this intermixture soon appeared in a marked degen- eracy in the Roman race itself. 78. The decay of old Roman virtue became at the same time apparent in a great increase of luxur)\ This displayed itself in houses, villas, pleasure- gardens, fish-ponds, dress, food, and drink. Extravagant prices — as much as 100,000 sesterces ($ 5000) — were paid for an exquisite cook. Costly foreign delicacies and wines were affected, and the Roraans in their banquets vied \vith one another in displaying their hosts of slaves ministering to luxur}', their bands of musicians, their dancing-girls, their purple hangings, their carpets glittering with gold or picto- rially embroidered, and their rich silver plate. 79. In the midst of the system there were not wanting some noble patterns of the old Roman tvTDC, Old Romans. ^ i i i i ^ ^ " \ among whom should be named Cato,* who kept up a constant protest all his life against the growing luxury of his countr}Tnen, and died declaring that they were a degenerate race. Such men were, however, rare exceptions ; and we shall hereafter see that the evil system already operative in the 2d century went on increasing, till finally, a centur}' aftersvards, it resulted in the total subversion of tlie republic. * Porcius Cato, frequently surnamed Cato the Censor, was born B. c. 234. He distinguished himself in the Punic wars and in various public services, but he was still more noted for his pure morality and strict virtue. He died in 149 b. c, at the age of eight}--five. CIVIL STRIFE. 159 4. EPOCH OF CIVIL STRIFE (133-27 B.C.;). 80. The picuire just given of the state of Roman societ}^ in the last half of the 2d centiirv' b. c. prepares Bad state of us for the period of ci^"il strife on which we now society, enter. A number of causes had resulted in the growth of an aristocracy founded purely on wealth ; the old division of societ}' into patricians and plebeians had ceased, and there arose a still worse division into classes, — the rich and the poor. The old peasant proprietors of Italy had become practically extinct, and their place was supphed by hordes of slaves. The cities, and especially Rome, were filled by vast masses of people, not living, as the traders, artisans, and laborers of our cities do, b}' honest industn^, but subsisting in noisy idleness upon the price of their votes. Roman society, in fact, had ceased to have any middle class, and was divided between two extremes, — grandees and paupers. 81. The cause of the poor against the rich vras taken up by a noble young tribune of the people named Tiberius Gracchus. Tiberius and his after- wards distinguished yoimger brother Caius (the two being known in history as the Gracchi) were sons of a noble Ro- man matron, Cornelia, daughter of the great Scipio -\fri- canus. 82. Tiberius Gracchus proposed a land-law (agrarian law), which was practicallv a re\-ival of the y. . . . , .,..,,^ . ,,. Agrariaxi law. Liaman Imv : it limited the amount of public land tliat could be held by any one individual to 500 jugera, and provided for the distribution of the rest in small home- steads. The aristocracy immediately raised a storm, and induced another tribune to veto the measure. Now, accord- ing to the Roman code, no proposal could become law unless all the tribimes were unanimous. Gracchus then secured a popular vote expelling his colleague from the l60 HISTORY OF ROME. tribuneship, and the land-law was passed by the people, B. c. 133. In the mean time, however, Gracchus's year of office expired, and he came up for re-election. The nobles resolved to prevent this by violence. 83. Gracchus, learning this, bade his friends arm them- selves with staves ; and when the people began to inquire the cause of this, he put his hand to his head, intimating that his life was in danger. Some of his enemies ran to the senate and reported that Tiberius openly demanded a crown. A body of the aristocrats with their clients and dependents then rushed among the unarmed crowd, and murdered Gracchus with 300 of his adherents, — 133 b. c. 84. Tiberius Gracchus was dead, but his work remained ; A^arian that is to sa)^, the measure which he had pro- struggie. posed was law, and the commissioners intrusted with the task of allotting the lands prosecuted their labors for tw^o or three years. The nobles, however, obstructed the work as much as possible, so tliat bet^-een them and the champions of the people there was a continuous struggle. 85. This struggle became still more fierce when Caius The younger Gracchus, ten years after the death of his Gracchus. brotlicr, claimed and obtained the tribuneship, and then took up that brotlier's work. The agitation for tlie agrarian law was renewed, an enactment was made for a monthly distribution of com to the city poor, and vari- ous other reforms were proposed by him. After holding the tribuneship for two years, however, he lost the office through the intrigues of his opponents. The nobles were determined to crush Gracchus ; accordingly, at one of the public assemblies they attacked the partisans of the popular leader, and there ensued a bloody combat (121 b. c.) in which 3000 of his adherents were slain. Gracchus himself fled into a wood across the Tiber ; but, being pursued, he chose to die by the hands of a faithful slave rather than fall into the power of his enemies. CIVIL STRIFE. l6l 86. The ill-will between the nobles and the people con- tinued just as bitter after the death of Grac- RiseofMarius chus j and matters finally shaped themselves in ^'^^ Suiia. such a way that the nobles, or senatorial party, came to be represented by a leader named Sulla, and the democracy, or Commons, by another called Marius. These men came to prominence in the course of two or three wars in which Rome was engaged for twenty-five or thirty years after the time of which we have been speaking ; and finally they ac- quired such power as to bring on a civil strife that deluged Italy with blood. 87. The wars just referred to were : the Jugur thine war (ill -106 B. c), the war against the Cimbri wars of the (113-101 B.C.), and the Social war (90-89 period. B. c), with the details of which we need not concern our- selves ; but the fourth contest was of more moment, and needs notice here. This was tlie Mithridatic war. To ILLUSTRATE THRADATIC WARS '^^^RAMEA17.13^ 1 62 HISTORY OF ROME. 88. Mithrida'tes, King of Pontus, a bold and able sol- Design of dier, formed tlie design of uniting the Asiatic Mithridates. states and Greece in a vast confederacy against the Roman dominion. He began by causing about 80,000 Romans who dwelt in the cities of Asia Minor to be massa- cred in one day (88 b. c). He then invaded Greece. 8^ The command in diis important war was eagerly Mithridatic souglit by botli Marius and Sulla. Sulla pre- ^^- vailed ; he was elected consul and put in com- mand. Marius, being chagrined at this, succeeded in ha\-ing the popular party set aside Sulla. But the aristo- cratic general marched to Rome and compelled Marius to flee into Africa. Sulla tlien set out for Greece, all of which submitted to liim, the army of ^Mithridates being defeated (86-84 B.C.). 90. During the absence of Sulla, Marius returned to Italy. Marian mas- Entering Rome in 86 b. c. he filled the entire sacres, ^^^. ^Axh. slaughter, and in particular he caused the murder of the leading senators that had supported liis rival. Marius then caused himself to be proclaimed con- sul without going through an election ; but a fortnight later he died. 91. Notwithstanding the death of Marius, the Marian Suii^-s mas- part}' still Continued in power. Sulla, hearing sacres. ^f '^^y^ succcsscs, hastily concludcd a peace with Mitiiridates, and hurried to Italy (83 b. c). .\fter a severe struggle, Sulla utterly overthrew the ^Marians. The blood of massacre then flowed a second time, — in a yet greater stream. Lists of proscribed persons, embracing all who belonged to the people's part}-, were published every day, and the porch of Sulla's house was full of heads. 92. Ha\*ing put down all his enemies, Sulla caused him- Suiia's career sclf to be proclaimed dictator for an unlimited and death. ^y^^. (^^ g_ (^ y jjg then proceeded to re-or- ganize the government wholly in the interest of die aristo- CIVIL STRIFE. 163 cratic part}'' ; but to the great surprise of ever}- one he three years afterwards resigned his power and retired to private life. Sulla died in 78 b. c. ; he was honored with a mag- nificent funeral, and a monument with the following epitaph ■«Titten b}' himself : " I am Sulla the Fortunate, who in the course of ray life have surpassed both friends and ene- mies ; the former by the good, the latter by the e\'il, I have done them." In the ci\il wars carried on bet\veen Marius and Sulla 150,000 Roman citizens, including 200 senators, perished. 93. We have now arrived at a period in Roman history when all the interest centers in the struggles of struggle of a few ambitious men for supreme power. The factions, grand days of the republic were over, and a war of factions had begun. This could end only in anarchy, and when a republic falls into anarchy, a supreme ruler is soon wel- comed as a deUverer from its horrors. The only question now was who in Rome w^as to be that ruler. 94. After the death of Sulla, the most prominent figure among all the men of the aristocratic part}- Rise of Pom- was Cneius Pompe}-, who had distinguished p^^- himself as a lieutenant of Sulla, and afterwards won renown by his management of several important matters in which Rome was engaged, — especially in the suppression of a formidable revolution in Spain under a very able leader named Sertorius (77-72 b. c), and in stamping out a fire of revolt kindled by Spar'tacus, the leader of a band of gladiators, who, joined by a large force of discontented spirits, kept Italy in alarm for two or three years (73-71 E. c). These exploits made Pompey a popular favorite, and in the year 70 b. c. he was rewarded by being made consul along -^ith a rich senator named Crassus. 95. At the expiration of his year of office he retired to private life, but was soon called upon to His doings ia suppress a formidable combination of pirates *^® ^^^** 1 64 HISTORY OF ROME. who infested the Mediterranean Sea and had their head- quarters in Cilicia (in Asia Minorj. This task he accom- pHshed in three months. These triumphs, aided by his pohtical influence, enabled Pompey to procure the command in the war against JMithridates, who had renewed his scheme of conquering the Eastern Roman pro\*inces. He was given powers such as never had been delegated to any Roman general. This war lasted for two years (66-64 B. c), and was marked by a series of brilliant triumphs for Pompey. He utterly crushed Mithridates (who died by self-administered poison), as well as his son-in-law Tigra'nes, subdued Phoenicia, made S)Tia a Roman province, and took Jerusalem. Thus with the glory of having subjugated and settled the East he returned to Rome (62 b. c), where a magnificent triumph awaited him. He was in a position to make himself military sovereign of the Roman world, if he chose to avail liimself of his opportunity. We must now see what had been passing in Rome in the mean while. 96. There seem to have grown up, after the death of The four fac- Sulla, four factions in Rome : the " oligarchi- tions. (.^1 faction," consisting of the small number of families the chiefs of which directed the senate, and in fact governed the republic ; the " aristocratic faction," com- prising the mass of the senators anxious to obtain the power usurped by a few of their colleagues ; the " Marian part}%" including all those whose families had been prosecuted by Sulla, and who now began to rally, and aspire to power ; -the "militan- faction," embracing a crowd of old officers of Sulla, who, ha\'ing squandered the fortunes they had gained under him, were eager for some revolution that might give them the opportunity to improve their condition. 97. At the head of the oligarchical faction was Pom- Leader of the P^y i t)ut during his absence in Asia its rep- oiigarchy. resentative was Marcus Tul'lius Cicero (bom 106 B. c), who had established his reputation as the first CIVIL STRIFE. 165 orator in Rome. He had risen through various offices to the praetorship, and at the time Pompey left for the East aspired to be consul. He did not himself belong to a noble family, but still he made himself the champion of the oligarchy. Though vain and boastful, he was a virtuous and patriotic man. 98. The leader of the aristocratic faction was Crassus, formerly the colleague of Pompey in the con- of the aris- sulship, now his . personal rival. He was a tocracy. man of no great abilit}', but his position and his immense wealth made him influential. (After prodigious expendi- tures, he died worth $ io,oco,ooo.) 99. The leader of the third, or ^larian part}-, was a man six years voun^er than Pompev or Cicero, who, ,. •: . ' , .® , . .t ' ,. - ' Julius C^sar. distniguished m youth for his accomplishments and his extravagance, rose in the year 65 b. c. to the office of edile. This was Caius Julius Caesar, — a man of pre- eminent abilit}', one of the greatest that ever lived. He was tlie nephew of Marius, and now stood forward as the leader of the IMarian part}-. He was of an old patrician family, and took up the cause of the people to seiwe his own ends, 100. The leader of the militar}" faction was Catiline, who had been one of the ablest and most ferocious conspiracy of of Sulla's officers. ' He had a large following Catiime. of debauched young patricians and ruined militar}- men, who thought they would better their fortunes by making Catiline consul. Cicero was his rival, 'and, receiving the support of tlie senators, was elected. Enraged at his defeat, Catiline formed a conspiracy of which the murder of Cicero and the burning of Rome were parts. A woman betrayed the plot to Cicero, who denounced Catiline with such fier}- eloquence that he had to flee from Rome. With a band of confederates he attempted to reach Gaul ; but he was overtaken in Etruria and slain, 62 b. c. 1 66 HISTORY OF ROME. 101. If Pompey had been really a great and clear-sighted man, he could, on his return from the East, have easily put Position of himself at the head of affairs. But he was Pompey. ^q^- j-gally such. He was, in fact, rather a lucky general than a great statesman. The oligarchic part}^ began to distrust liim, and as the senate under the lead of Cato refused to ratify his measures in Asia, he threw himself into opposition and went over to the popular part\'. This brought him into close connection witli Csesar. 102. Caesar and Pompey, finding that they agreed in First trium- many of their views, resolved to unite their virate. forces. To Cement their union more closely, Caesar gave his only daughter Julia in marriage to Pompey. For various reasons it v%-as found desirable to admit Crassus to their political partnership, and thus was formed (60 b. c.) that famous coalition known in Roman history as the " First Triumvirate." The object of Cssar and Pompey was to thwart the senatorial party in every way, and \\deld all power themselves. 103. The formation of the trium\drate was followed by Elevation of the election of Caesar to the consulship (59 b. c.) ; Caesar. ^^^ whcu his year of office expired he ob- tained for himself the government of Gaul for five years, and then for another five. This was probably the great ob- ject of Caesar's desires. No doubt he was already brooding over the design of making himself master of Rome ; and for this purpose he would need an army. 104. During the years 5S-50 b. c. Caesar made eight His Gallic campaigns in Gaul, forming the remarkable campaigns. series of Operations which he afterwards de- scribed "u-ith such pointed st}'le in his Commentaries. The prominent points in these campaigns are : He arrests the emi- gration of the Helvetii ; expels the Germans under Ariovistus (58 B. c.) ; completes the conquest of Gaul b}- subduing the Belgae (57 b. c), and the Aquita'ni (56 B. c.) ; invades Britain twice (in 55 and 54 B.C.); CIVIL STRIFE. 1 68 HISTORY OF ROME. penetrates into Germany ; overthrows the Gauls, who revolt repeatedly; conquers Vercingetorix, and entirely subdues the country (53-51 B. c). 105. The result of his eight years' campaigning was that, Position of i^^ ^^e Spring of 50 b. c, Csesar was able to Cffisar. X2^i^ up his residence in Cisalpine Gaul, leav- ing the 300 tribes beyond the Alps, which he had conquered by such bloody means, not only pacified, but even attached to himself personally. His army, which included many Gauls and Germans, was so devoted to him that it would have marched to the end of the world in his sen-ice. 106. Let us now inquire as to the other two members Pompey and of the triumvirate. During Caesar's absence, Crassus. Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls for the year 55 b. c. ; and when their own year of office had ex- pired both obtained important commands : Pompey received the government of Spain, as proconsul, for five years, and Crassus a similar appointment over the East Soon after this, Crassus was murdered in Parthia ; so that the tri- umvirate became a duumvirate, or league of tiuo men, — Caesar and Pompey. 107. Now bet^'een these two men there had for some Rivalry of time been a ^ro-^ing coldness. It was said Caesar and , ^ 1 1 1 i 1 Pompey. that CaEsar was a man who could brook no equal, and Pompey a man who could sutler no superior. A feeling of rivalr}- having once arisen, naturally grew till Caesar and Pompey became the bitterest enemies. Pompey went over to the aristocratic party to which he had origi- nally belonged, and ha\'ing been made sole consul for the year 52 b. c, he began to exert his great influence against Caesar. In this he was supported by the nobles, who dreaded Caesar's immense power. 108. As the period of Caesar's command would expire in New compii- the year 49 e. c, he had determined to obtain cations. |-]^g consulship for the year 48 b. c, since other- wise he would become a private citizen. Accordingly he CIVIL STRIFE. 1 6a demanded, though absent, to be permitted to put hhnself in the lists for tlie consulate. But it was proposed, through the influence of Pompey, that Caesar should lay down his command by the 13 th of November, 50 b. c. This was an unreasonable demand ; for his term of government over Gaul had another year to run, and if he had gone to Rome as a private man to sue for tlie consulship, tliere can be no doubt that his life would have been sacrificed. Caesar, still anxious to keep tlie peace, offered, at the be- ginning of the year 49 b. c, to lay down his command if Pompey would do the same ; but tliis the senate refused to accede to, and a motion was passed tliat Ccesar should disband his army by a certain day, and that if he did not do so, he should be regarded as an enemy of the state. 109. Ccesar promptly took his resolve : he would appeal to the arbitrament of arms. He had the en- tlmsiastic devotion of his soldiers, tlie great mass of whom, being provincials or foreigners, cared very little for the country whose name they bore. Accordingly, in Januar}^, 49 b. c, he advanced from his headquarters at Ravenna to the little stream, the Ru'bicon, which separated his own province and command from Italy. The crossing of this river was in realit}^ a declaration of war against the republic ; and it is related that, upon arriving at the Ru- bicon, Csesar long hesitated whether he should take this irrevocable step. After pondering many hours he at lengtli exclaimed, " The die is cast ! " and plunged into the river. 110. Pompey concluded not to attempt to defend Italy, but to retire upon the East, where he would Retreat of gather a great anny and then return to over- Po^P^y- whelm the "usuiper." Accordingly he retreated to Greece. 111. In sixty days Caesar made himself master of all Ital}^ Then marching to Rome he had him- csesar master self appointed dictator and consul for the year °^ Italy. 48 B. c. He showed masterly statesmanship, and soon I/O HISTORY OF ROME. brought tlie general current of opinion completely over to his side. 112. Meantime, Pompey had gathered a powerful army Battle of i^ Thessaly, and thither Caesar with his legions Pharsaiia. proceeded against him. The decisive battle between the two mighty rivals was fought at Pharsa'lia, in 48 B. c. It resulted in the utter defeat of Pompey ; and as it left CcEsar the foremost man in the Roman world, it must be regarded as one of the great decisive battles of history. 113. Pompey, after liis defeat, sought refuge in Egypt; Fate of ^^^ ^^ "^^'^s assassinated by the orders of Ptol- Pompey. ^m^, when seeking to land on the coast of that country. Caesar, who followed in pursuit, did not hear of his death until his arrival in Alexandria, where messengers from Ptolemy brought him Pompey's head. Caesar, who was both a generous man and a compassionate foe, turned with horror from the spectacle, and with tears in his eyes gave orders that the head should be consumed with the costliest spices. 114. At Alexandria Csesar became bewitched by Cleopa- Caesar in the tra, the young, beautiful, and fascinating queen East. Qf Eg}-pt. He even mixed himself up Avith a quarrel that was going on between her and her younger brother Ptolemy, to whom, according to the custom of the country^ she was married, and with whom she shared the throne. Tliis intermeddling led Caesar, who had but a small force with him, into conflict with the troops of the king. A fierce battle was fought in the city. Caesar suc- ceeded in firing the EgA^ptian fleet ; but unfortimately the flames extended to the celebrated Librar}- of the city of Alexandria, and the greater part of the magnificent collec- tion of manuscripts was burnt Caesar was finally success- ful : Ptolemy was killed, and Cleopatra was made queen of Egjpt From Alexandria Gfisar marched into Pontus to attack Phama'ces, son of Mithridates, whom he subdued so CIVIL STRIFE. 171 quickly that he described the campaign in the most laconic despatch ever penned: Veni^ vidi, via, — "I came, I saw, I conquered." 115. The Pompeian forces that escaped from Pharsalia had established themselves in the Roman caesar's final province of Africa. They were commanded victory. by Scipio and Cato. Caesar having settled matters in the East now proceeded against this force, which he utterly destroyed at Thapsus, early in the year 46 b. c. Scipio and Cato killed themselves. One more rally the Pompeians made in Spain, but they were defeated by Cassar in the decisive battle of Munda (March, 45 b. c). 116. Caesar returned to Rome after the battle of Thapsus, the master of the Roman dominion. The csesar and republic went out when Cato fell upon his ^^^ state, sword at Utica ; the monarchy came in with the triumphal entry of Caesar into Rome in the summer of 46 b. c. It is true Caesar was not king (rex) in fiame, but he was so in sub- stance. His position as chief of the state was this : he was in- vested with the dictatorship for ten years, — an arrangement changed soon aftenvards to perpetual dictator, — and was hailed with the title of Imperator for life. The latter title, Imperator (meaning Com7nander), was one which belonged under the republic to the victorious general ; but it was a temporary title, always laid aside with the surrender of mili- tary command. Caesar was allowed to use it in a special way and permanently, and in his case it had much the mean- ing of the term Efnperor^ — a word which is simply I?fiperator cut short. 117. Julius Cssar was a strong, clear-sighted man, who plainly perceived that the old political system His views and of Rome had hopelessly broken down. He character, believed that peace and prosperity could come only under the firm and just rule of one man. He obtained power by overriding the laws, but he designed to 2isc this power to the 1/2 HISTORY OF ROME. best ends. " I will not," he said in one of his speeches, " renew the massacres of Sulla and Marius, the very remem- brance of which is shocking to me. Now that my enemies are subdued, I will lay aside the sword, and endeavor sole- ly by my good offices to gain over tliose who continue to hate me." 118. Faithful to this promise, he pardoned all who had The work he bornc arms against him, and, by making no ^^^- distinction of parties, labored, and with suc- cess, to bring about an " era of good feeling." He instituted a vigorous and honest administration of the provinces ; he encouraged trade and agriculture ; embellished Rome with temples, theaters, and public places ; undertook to drain the Pontine marshes and to dig a new bed for the Tiber; refoniied the calendar; and projected a gigantic series of designs for improving and extending the empire he had acquired. Considering that from the time of his return to Rome down to his death there was but a brief interval of t^vo years, it is wonderful what he accomplished. 119. There can be no doubt that the Romans were well Feelings of the Satisfied to be under the rule of CjEsar. The Romans. republic was a mere name, for liberty had ex- pired when the Gracchi were murdered, and subsequent dissensions were merely contests for power between differ- ent factions. Hence the Roman people, weary of revolu- tion, were quite content to find peace under the just though absolute rule of one master. 120. It is important to recognize this as the real state Real cause of of public feeling, because we shall now have Caesar's assas- ^ , r^ t ^^ • ^- ^ • *• sination. to scc that Cffisar fell a victim to assassination, and it might be thought that his overthrow was the people's revolt from monarchical rule. But in truth it was the act of a small knot of conspirators who, with the cry of " Liberty and the Republic " in their mouths, did away with the Im- perator to serve their own ends. CIVIL STRIFE, 173 121. The chiefs of the conspiracy were Caius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus. Both had received The conspir- great favors from Casar ; but they thought they ^'^'^' had not been honored enough, and they were intensely jealous of the dictator's greatness. These were joined by other malcontents, and tlie plotters swelled their ranks by representing that Caesar designed to assume the diadem and the title of king; so tliat the conspiracy finally in- cluded about sixt}' senators. 122. It is not certainly known whether or not Caesar thought of taking the name of king. It is csesar's am- known, however, that the consul, Mark An- ^^^1°°- tony, at the feast of the Luperca^lia in the year 45 b. c, offered a regal cro^Ti to the dictator : he refused it, — it is said because he saw the people showed displeasure, — and Antony had it entered in the public acts, "that by the command of the people, he, as consul, had offered the name of king to Caesar, perpetual dictator ; and that C^sar would not accept of it." 123. The plot ripened into a determination to assassinate Caesar, and the conspirators fixed on the Ides His assassi- (i. e. 15th) of March as the time of putting the nation, design into execution. Rumors of the plot got abroad, and Caesar was strongly urged not to attend the senate. But he disregarded the warnings which were given him. As soon as Caesar had taken his place, he was surrounded by the senatorial conspirators, one of whom, pretending to urge some request, seized his toga with both hands and pulled it violently over his arms. Then Casca, who was behind, drew a weapon and grazed his shoulder with an ill-directed stroke. Caesar disengaged one hand and snatched at the hilt, exclaiming, " Cursed Casca^ what means this ^ " " Help ! " cried Casca, and at the same moment the conspirators aimed each his dagger at the victim. Caesar for an instant defended himself ; but when he perceived the steel flashing 174 HISTORY OF ROME. in the hand of Brutus (Marcus Junius), he exclaimed, " What! ihou too J Brutus!''^ {Ei tu, Bru'te f) and drawing his robe over his face he made no further resistance. The assassins stabbed him through and through ; and, pierced with twenty-three wounds, Caesar fell dead at the foot of the statue of iis great rival, Pom- pey. 124. Julius Csesar was in his Person of fif t}-sixth year, whcn, c^^ar. Caesar. q^ ^^iQ 15th of March, B. c. 44, he was stricken down. His personal appearance was noble and command- ing; he was tall in stature, of a fair complexion, and with black eyes full of expression. He never wore a beard; in the latter part of his life liis head was bald ; but being quite mindful of his personal appearance, he was in the habit of covering the defect with a laurel chaplet. 125. Intellectually he was distinguished by the most ex- traordinary genius in the most diversified pur- suits. He was at once a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, an orator, a historian, a mathematician, and an architect, — and as he was pre-eminent in all, he would seem truly to deser^-e the name which Shakespeare gives him, — " The foremost man of all the world." 126. Caesar was upwards of fort}^ years of age before he Review of his became prominent in public affairs. In the career. j^^^^ fourteen years he subdued Gaul, with its swarms of warlike nations ; carried the Roman eagles into Britain and beyond the Rhine ; twice conquered Spain ; marched through Italy at the head of the legions he had trained ; overthrew the armies of Pompey ; reduced Egypt to obedience ; conquered Pharnaces ; and won his final CIVIL STRIFE. 175 triumph at Thapsus and Munda, — a series of campaigns that comprised fiftv' battles, and in which over one milUon of men fell. 127. Yet his wariike career was but preliminary to his career as a statesman, when, ceasing to de- , , TT- • Kis plans. stroy, he began to create. His aim was vast and beneficent, — no tiling less than the political, social, in- tellectual, and moral regeneration of the decayed Roman nation. He accomplished only a small part of his plan, 3'et the work he did still lives after wellnigh two thousand years, and what of it was wise and good remains a part of the per- manent possession of civilization. 128. It is said that "revolutions never go backwards." Brutus and his fellow-conspirators struck down Effect of cse- Caesar in the name of libert}' ; but the blow ^^""'^ death, that leveled the master of Rome did not bring back the republic, — it only insured the appearance of new claimants for supreme power, and consequently new civil wars. 129. On the occasion of Caesar's funeral the consul, Mark Antony, delivered an oration over the dicta- tor's body, and to such a height did the feeling ° °°^' of the Romans against the plotters rise, that Brutus and Cas- sius were obliged to escape forthwith from the cit}^ to avoid destruction. 130. The condition of affairs left Mark Antony in some respect the representative of Cesarean princi- ^ , , ,. , . 1 Octavius. pies ; but a more direct claimant to the suc- cession appeared in Caesar's great-nephew, Caius Octavius, then a youth nineteen years old. The dictator had adopt- ed Octavius as his son ; so his name became Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus. Octavius had all the old soldiers on his side, and raised the standard of Caesar's vengeance. 131. At first Antony and Octavius were at strife j but finally they became reconciled, and associating- second trium- with them Lep'idus, the " master of the horse," Pirate. 176 HISTORY OF ROME. the three formed the Second Triimi\'irate (43 b. c), and con- certed a plan to divide among themselves the supreme authorit}'. In order to do this it was necessary utterly to crush both their personal enemies and the forces of the republic. 132. To accomplish the first object, they began a system Their proscrip- of proscription more ruthless and bloody than ^'°°- that of Marius and Sulla. It is recorded that 300 senators, 2000 knights, and many thousands of citizens were sacrificed. The most illustrious of the victims was the famous orator Cicero, whose severe invectives against Antony had procured him the relentless hatred of the tri- um\ir. The aged patriot, while escaping from Rome in a litter, was assassinated. 133. The second object was the destruction of the re- Battle of Phi- publican forces. Now Brutus and Cassius, lippi- finding their position in Italy to be desperate, had retired to the East, where in Thrace they gathered an army of about 100,000 men. Antony and Octavius pursued them with a still larger force, and the two armies met at Philippi. The republican army was totally defeated (No- vember, 42 B. c.) ; both Brutus and Cassius killed them- selves. 134. The victors now di\*ided the Roman world among Quarrels of themsclves, — Antouy taking the East, Octa- the three. ^.-^^g ^^ West, and Lepidus the pro\-ince of Africa. But the Roman world was scarcely theirs before they began to quarrel over it The feeble Lepidus never possessed much influence, and was soon robbed of his share. --Vfter this it was quite certain that a contest between An- tony and Octa\-ius could not long be delayed, and each be- gan to intrigue against tlie other. 135. Antony made the headquarters of his half of the Conduct of Roman dominion at Alexandria, Here he Antony. came under tlie fascinations of Cleopatra, and CIVIL STRIFE. 177 he lost all regard to his character or his interests in her company. He even went so far as to divorce his wife Oc- tavia, the sister of Octavius, and, having married the volup- tuous Egyptian queen, he bestowed Roman provinces on her. 136. This conduct was treasonable, and furnished Octa- vius with a decent pretext for declaring war. Battle of The young Caesar had been gaining great pop- ■^«^ti^"»- ularity in Italy ; he had consolidated his power and had his legions in fine training. The fleets and armies of the rivals assembled at the opposite sides of the Gulf of Ambracia. After considerable delay, Antony, instigated by Cleopatra, who was present with her Egyptian fleet, determined to de- cide the contest by a naval battle. The contest took place off the promontory of Ac'tium (on the west coast of Greece), while the hostile armies, drawn up on the shore, were sim- ple spectators. In the midst of the conflict Cleopatra tacked about, and with the Egyptian squadron of sixty sail drew out of the fight. Antony, regardless of his honor, followed after her, and the pair fled to Alexandria. Both the fleet and the force of Antony surrendered to Octavius, 31 B. c. 137. Some months afterwards Octavius advanced to be- siege Alexandria. Antony attempted to de- End of An- fend it ; but he was abandoned by his troops, ^^^y- Cleopatra retired to a monument she had erected, and caused a report to be spread of her death. Upon this news Antony attempted to commit suicide, and inflicted on himself a mortal wound : hearing, however, in the midst of his ago- nies, that Cleopatra still lived, he caused himself to be carried to her monument, and expired in her presence (30 B. C). 138. The end of Cleopatra was even more tragic. The Egyptian queen seems at first to have thought that she would be able to bewitch the young ^°^ Caesar; but having in vain essayed her arts on the cold, 178 HISTORY OF ROME. calculating Octavius, she, sooner than be led in chains to adorn the triumph of the victor, and glut the eyes of the populace of Rome with the sight of the daughter and last of the Ptolemies preceding the chariot of the adopted son of him who had done homage to her charms, gave herself voluntary death by the bite of an asp, or the scratch of a poisoned needle. Eg}'pt now became a Roman province (30 B. c). 139. There was now no one left to withstand Octavius Triumph of Cassar, w^ho tlius remained sole master of the Octavius. great dominion which the mighty Julius had prepared for him. The senate, in fact, was ready to concede to hirn tlie entire authority. He indeed went through the farce, soon after his return to Rome, of resigning the im- peratorship ; but he was prevailed on to resume it for ten years, and every ten years after to re-resume it. Gradually all the great offices were united in his person, and he be- came in fact Emperor of the Roman world. We may count the Roman Empire as beginning with the year b. c. 27, when Octavius was saluted with the new and peculiar tide of Augustus. ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS FOR REVIEW. I. Rome under the kings. Rome is believed to have been founded as a frontier post by the Latins of Alba Longa ; but it. was from the first almost independent, then wholly so, and finally ac- General j quired an ascendency over all Statement. the other Latin cities. The num- ber of kings is said to have been seven ; but their history is almost wholly fabulous. Regal rule was ended by the banishment of Tar- quin. LEADING DATES. Founding of Rome 753 End of kingly rule 509 ANALYTIC SYNOF6IS. 179 First Epoch, Roman Republic (509-390). General Statement. The first epoch of 119 years from the establishment of the re- public was a period of struggle external and internal. The Ro- mans had to contend, for their mere existence, with the various neighboring states, and during this epoch they went rather back- wards than forwards, as regards the extent of their territory. There was also a struggle of classes, owing to the oppression of the Plebeians by the Patri- cians ; but finally the Plebs were allowed to elect magistrates called tribunes. Soon after, the unwritten Roman law was em- bodied in the Twelve Tables. Various changes were made in the administration of the govern- ment, decemvirs taking the place of consuls, and military tribunes the place of decemvirs. In this unsettled state of affairs Rome fell a prey to the Gauls, who burned the city. Establishment of the Republic 509 Secession of the Plebeians 493 Laws of the Twelve Tables.. 451 Military tribunes appointed Rome captured by the Gauls 390 Licinian passed. Second Epoch, Roman Republic (390-266). The Plebeians were again griev- ously oppressed by the Patricians, and troubles ensued, but a set- tlement was made by the Licin- ian constitution, which remedied abuses With the cessation of internal troubles the Romans be- gan a career of conquest. First, there were the " Samnite " wars and the "Latin" wars These General wars ended in the complete sub- Statement. \ jugation of these nations and the laws 367 Beginning of Sam- nite wars 343 Beginning of Latin wars 340 End of Samnite wars ago i8o HISTORY OF ROME. mastery of Rome over all Cen- tral Italy. The Romans now turned their attention to Southern or Grecian Italy, where they had to meet Pyrrhus in several bat- tles. At first defeated, they were finally successful ; Pyrrhus was compelled to abandon his project, and the southern part of Italy was conquered, thus giving the Romans mastery over the whole Italian peninsula. Battle of Pandosia Battle of Asculum Battle of Beneven- tum Romans masters of all Italy 280 279 275 266 General Statement. Third Epoch, Roman Republic (266-133). The era of foreign conquest lasted 133 years (266- 133). First the Romans attacked the Cartha- ginians, their great rivals. This mighty contest ran through three wars known as the three Punic wars. In the first, lasting 23 years, the Carthaginians were unsuccessful. The Romans after this conquered Cisalpine Gaul. Hamilcar now became general-in- chief of the Carthaginians, and on his death his greater son Hannibal came into command. Hannibal took the aggressive in Spain, and thus began the second Punic War. He won brilliant victories, and maintained himself fifteen years in Italy ; but finally was recalled to Carthage and was defeated by the Romans at Zama. Soon after the second Punic War the Romans conquered Macedon and Greece, and made them Roman provinces. The third Punic War was marked by the siege of Car- thage, and resulted in the utter annihilation of the Carthaginian power. Beginning of first Punic War 264 End of first Punic War 241 Conquest of Cisal- pine Gaul 223 Beginning of sec- ond Punic War. 218 Battle of Zama, and end of second Punic War 202 Battle of Pydna... Greece made a Ro- man province Burning of Car- thage, and end of Punic wars... 168 146 146 ANALYTIC SYNOPSIS. i8i Agrarian law brought for- ward by T. Gracchus 133 Death of C. Grac- chus 121 Outbreak of first Mithridatic war 86 86 Massacres by Ma- rius ' Sulla's proscrip- tions 83 Fourth Epoch, Roman Republic (^133-27). The long civil strife which fol- | lowed Rome's .foreign wars re- sulted from the desperate poverty of the Plebeian class. This class found two champions in the Grac- chi, but both were victims to the rage of the aristocracy. The first Mithridatic war now ensued, but was successfully ended by Sulla. Then came the bloody days of Marius and Sulla. Subsequently Pompey rose to power. He had been the leader of the aristocracy, but went over to the people's party, he, Julius Csesar, and Cras- sus forming the First Triumvi- rate. Caesar went into Gaul, where he prosecuted his cam- paigns for eight 5'ears ; but Pom- pey intrigued against him ; so he General ^ crossed the Rubicon and made himself master of Italy. The de- cisive battle between Csesar and Pompey was fought at Pharsalia, Caesar being successful ; the remnant of the Pompeian forces was crushed at Thapsus. Cae- sar was now master ; but a con- spiracy was formed against him, and he was assassinated. After the death of Cssar his nephew Octavius formed with Antony and' Lepidus the Second Triumvirate. Octavius led his forces against Brutus and Cassius, defeating them at Philippi. Antony and Octavius now quarreled, but the dispute was settled in favor of the latter by the battle of Actium, and soon after Octavius assumed the title of Augustus Caesar. Statement. First Triumvirate 60 Caesar's Gallic campaign 58-50 Crossing of the Rubicon 49 Battle salia. Battle sus.. of Phar- of Thap- 48 46 Assassination Csesar of Second rate . . Triumvi- 43 Battle of Philippi. 42 Battle of Actium.. 31 Octavius (Augus- tus) becomes Emperor 27 1 82 HISTORY OF ROME. CHAPTER IV. ROME AS AN EMPIRE. I. AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 140. When Augustus Cssar at the age of thirty-six Nature of the became master of the Roman world, there was imperial rule, j^q open estabUshment of a monarchical gov- ernment. On the contrar}^, most of the old republican forms were kept up ; but they were inere forms. The senate still sat, but it did little more than vote what Augus- tus -udshed ; the people still met in their assemblies and elected consuls and magistrates, but only such persons were elected as had been proposed or recommended by the Emperor. Augustus, however, assumed nothing of the out- ward pomp of a monarch : he was satisfied with the siih- starice of supreme rule. The almost uninterrupted festi\d- ties, games, and distributions of corn and the like kept the people out of politics ; and, what through degeneracy, and what through despair, they ^vere luiU'mg to be out of politics ! 141. The boundaries of the Roman Empire as estab- Extent of the lishcd by Augustus may be stated in a general Empire. ^y^y ^s follows : On the north, the British Channel, the North Sea (Mare German'icum), the Rhine, the Danube (Ister), and the Black Sea (Pontus Euxi'nus) ; on the east, the Euphrates and the Desert of Syria ; on the south, the Sahara of Africa ; and on the west, the Atlantic Ocean. It extended from east to west a distance of fifty degrees, or about 2700 miles, and had an average breadth of about fifteen degrees, or above 1000 miles. 142. The Roman Empire took in the modern countries of Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Western Holland, ..^-ii -^ AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 83 Rhenish Prussia, parts of Baden and Wurtemberg, most of Bavaria, Switzerland, Italy, the Tyrol, Austria countries in- Proper, Western Hungary, Croa'tia, Slavo'nia, eluded. Servia, Turkey in Europe, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Idumae'a, Egypt, the Cyrena'ica, Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and most of Morocco. 143. The entire Empire, exclusive of Italy, was divided into 27 "Provinces," which may be con- veniently grouped under tliree heads : i. The Western, or European ; 2. The Eastern, or Asiatic ; 3. The Southern, or African. The Western provinces numbered 14; the Eastern, 8; the Southern, 5.* 144. Within the circuit of the Roman dominion there were what we may call three civilizations : The three civ- the Latin, the Greek, and the Oriental. Latin iii^ations. civilization took in the countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic; Greek civilization, from the Adriatic to Mount Taurus ; Oriental civilization, the lands beyond to the Euphrates. 145. The area of Latin civilization embraced the penin- sula of Italy (its native seat) and all Western . Europe, -where the Romans appeared not only as a conquering but also as a civilizing people. Thus in the three provinces of Spain (Hispania), in the four prov- inces of Transalpine Gaul (corresponding nearly with the modern France), as well as in the North African provinces, especially Carthage (which was restored by Caesar as a Roman colony), the Latin language took firm root, and the manners and customs, and indeed the whole civilization, of those lands became Roman. 146. Greek civilization was spread over Greece and all those parts of Europe and Asia that had been ^. ^ j^ Hellenized by Grecian colonists or by the * Name these from the map opposite p. 182. 1 84 HIS TORY OF ROME. [Macedonian conquerors. In manners, customs, language, and culture these lands remained Greek, while politually they were Roman. 147. Oriental civilization was diffused over the East- Orientai ^"^ proWnces, especially EgA'pt and S}Tia. These countries had, under the rule of Alexan- der's successors, become to some degree Hellenized ; but this influence was on the whole superficial. The peoples of those Oriental lands had never given up their own languages or religious ideas or ways of thinking. Now these peoples, it should be said, did not become Laiinize^i either, — they did not adopt the language and ci\-ihzatioa of Rome. 148. Within the limits of the Roman Empire under Au2:ustus there mav have been in all one Government. •- HUNDRED MILLION'S of human beings. Not less tlian one half were in a condition of slavery ; and of the rest, only that small proportion who, under the envied name of Roman citizen {civis Ro7nanus\, inhabited Italy, enjoyed political independence, or had the smallest share in the government The various lands and peoples were under Roman legates (half of these appointed by Augustus and the other half by the Senate), who held supreme mili- tary- command. To the pro\-inces were left, however, their independent municipal constitutions and officers. In Rome and Italy the public peace was presen-ed b}^ the prdorian cohons. — bodies of soldiers of tried valor, to whom Augus- tus gave double pay. Throughout the pro\-inces the people were kept in check by the regular troops, — numbering 350,000 men. 149. Of this vast Empire Rome was the metropolis, now a cits- of innumerable streets and buildings, and containing, it is calculated, a population of about two millions and a half. It was in this period that Rome became truly a splendid cit}-. Augustus was able to boast tiiat *' he found the city- brick and left it marble," AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 185 150. In the days of its greatest prosperity the circumfer- ence of Rome enclosed by walls was about ^^^ extent twenty miles ; but there were also very exten- sive suburbs. The walls were pierced by thirty gates. The most remarkable objects were the Coliseum, the Capitol with its temples, the Senate-House, and the Forum. 151. The great circus, or Circus Maximus, a place reserved for public games, races and shows, was one circus and of the most magnificent structures of Rome. It Coliseum, was capable of containing 200,000 spectators. The Flavian Amphitheater, whose massive ruins are known as the Coli- seum, could seat from 80,000 to 100,000 persons. In the arena were exhibited the fights of gladiators, in which the Romans took such savage delight, together with races, com- bats of wild beasts, etc. Theaters, public baths, etc., were The Coliseum. erected by the emperors, who seemed anxious to compen- sate the people for their loss of liberty by the magnificence of their public shows and entertainments. iS6 HISTORY OF ROME. 152. In the valley between the Palatine and Cap itoline hills was the Fon/m, or place of public assem- bly, and the great market. It was surrounded with temples, halls for the administration of justice (called basil'ic(2), and public offices ; it was also adorned ^ith statues erected in honor of eminent warriors and statesmen, and with various trophies from conquered nations. 153. In the Forum was the celebrated Temple of Janus, Temple of buiit entirely of bronze and dating back to the Janus. early kingly period. From some early circxmi- stance the custom was established of closing the gates of this temple during peace ; but so incessant were the wars of the Romans, that during eight centuries the gates of the Temple of Janus were closed only three times. ACE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 8/ 154. The elections of magistrates, reviews of troops, and the census or registration of citizens, were campus Mar- held in the Campus Martius, which was also ^*"^* the favorite exercise-ground of the young nobles. It was surrounded by several splendid edifices ; ornamental trees and shrubs were planted in different parts, and porticoes erected under which the citizens might continue their exercise in rainy weather. Hard by was the celebrated Pantheon, or Temple of All the Gods (erected in the reign of Augustus), the most perfect and splendid monument of ancient Rome that has survived the ravages of time. 155. The aqueducts were among the most remarkable Roman structures. Pure streams were sought at a great distance, and conveyed in these artificial channels, supported by arches, many of which were more than a hundred feet high. Under the emperors, not fewer than twenty of these stupendous and useful structures were raised ; and they brought such an abundant supply of water to the metropolis, that rivers seemed to flow through the streets and sewers. 156. Rome was inferior to Athens in architectural beauty, but it far surpassed the Grecian city in General de- works of public utility. To enumerate all the scription. notable edifices would be impossible here ; but we may sum up the matter by saying that the " Eternal City " in the zenith of its glory contained four hundred and twenty temples, five regular theaters, two amphitheaters, and seven circuses of vast extent. There were sixteen public baths built of marble, and furnished with every convenience that could be desired. From the aqueducts a prodigious num- ber of fountains was supplied, many of which were remark- able for their architectural beauty. The palaces, public halls, columns, porticoes, and obelisks were without num- ber, and to these must be added the triumphal arches erected by the later emperors. HISTORY OF ROME. 157* As the peace of the Roman world was maintained by the strong: hand of power, it was at this time Literature. / ° . i 1 , • that many of those arts that grow best durmg seasons of national order and prosperit}^ made their greatest progress. Thus many of the best-known Latin writers lived at this time. Augustus himself was a great patron of literary men and artists, and so was his minister, Caius Cilnius Maece'nas. They honored and rewarded eminent writers ; and though we must not forget that many of the distin- guished men whose AMitings add luster to the " Augustan age " had grown up under the republic, still Augustus de- serves credit for fostering letters. Nothing will make up for the loss of political freedom ; but it is something that in Rome, when libert}' was lost, literature at least flourished. 158. Among the distinguished writers of this age or the times immediately preceding it are : — Virgil, the author of the epic poem the yEiie'id, a graceful, if not a:i original, ^^Titer. Horace, author of many poems, odes, satires, and epistles ; a witty, good-humored, and most vivacious song-writer. Sallust, the historian of the Jugurthine War and the Conspiracy of Catiline ; a very spirited writer. Lucre'tius, a writer of didactic poetry, containing passages of noble eloquence and philosophy, along with much that is characteristic of the low tone of thought prevalent in the pagan world. Catul'lus, author of lyrics that are among the sweetest and most truly poetic things in the Latin language. 159, These are the most distinguished names in the Auo^ustan aere, and they are among: the most Later writers. distinguished in all Roman literature. And as we shall have no further occasion to recur to Roman literature, we may simply note here among subsequent writers, — Li\'y, the great historian of Rome ; Ovid, the poet ; Martial, the UTiter of epigrams ; Pliny, the writer od natural history (killed 79 a. d. by the great eruption from Vesuvius, which buried the cities of Pompeii and Hercula- AGE OF AUGUSTUS. 1 89 neum) ; Ju'venal, the bitter satirist ; and Tacitiis, the philo- sophic historian of the dechning glories of Rome. 160. The reign of x\iigustus is rendered memorable by the birth of Christ at the little village of Birth of Bethlehem, in Judsa, — the most momentous ^^"st. event in the spiritual history of the ^^•o^ld. Reckoned in our common era, this event took place in die year 4 b. c* 161. Augustus died in 14 a. d. ; so that, counting from his formal accession to title, 27 b. c, he ruled Reign of over the Roman dominion for forty-one years. Augustus. 162. Augustus was succeeded by his step-son, Tibe'rius Clau'dius Nero. It must be remembered that ^,. His successor. the Roman government was not legally a monarchy ; hence Augustus's heir was not necessarily the heir of liis power. But the Emperor had adopted Tiberius as his own son, and the subser^dent senate voted him all the honors Augustus had held. 163. In the note below f the scholar will find a reference * Our method of counting time was not introduced rill the year 532 A. D. The calculation was erroneous, and it was found ten centuries afterward to be deficient four years of the true period ; but as the alter- ation of a system that had then been adopted by nearly all Europe would have made great confusion in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, the error was, bv general consent, allowed to remain, and we conrinue to reckon from this era (A. D., anno domini, that is, "in the year of our Lord"), which, however, lacks four years and six days of the real Christian epoch- t The following table gives a list of the Roman Emperors, with the dates of their reigns : A. D. A. D. A. D. A. D. Augustus 14 Tiberius. 14- 37 Caligula 37- 41 Domitian 81 - 96 Nerva 96- 98 Trajan 98-117 Claudius 41 - 54 | Hadrian 117-13S Nero 54-68 Galba 68- 69 Otho 69-69 Vitellius 69 - 69 Antoninus Pius 138- 161 M.Aurelius 161 -iSo L. Verus 161 -169 Commodus 180- 192 Vespasian 69- 79 Pertinax 193 - 193 Titus 79- Si i Julianus 193- 193 190 HISTORY OF ROME. table of the Roman emperors, from Augustus to Augustu- Reference ^^s, 476 A. D. It >s not the plan of tliis book *^^^^- to make Roman history turn on the personal fortunes of the emperors or the intrigues of tlieir courts, — insignificant details with which histon.' has been entirely too much taken up. Hence it will be enough to refer to the table from time to time as we take up under separate heads the great events of the Roman world. Septimius Severus 193- ( Caracalla 211- \ Geta 211- Macrinus 217- Elagabalus 218- AJexander Severus 222 - Maximinus 235 - j Gordianus I. ( ^^q \ Gordianus II. J ^^ ( Pupieniis Maximus 1 Balbinus Gordianus III 238 Philippus 244 Decius 249 Trebonianus Gall us 251 ./Emilianus 253 ( Valerian 253 ( Gallienus 253 Claudius 11 268- Aurelian 270' Tacitus 275 • Florianus 276 Probus 276 Cams 282 ( Carinus ) ^g, \ Numerianus ) " "^ ( Diocletian 284 < Maximian 286 ( Constantius 1 305 211 217 212 218 222 235^ 238, 238^ 24^ 249 251 -254 -2531 -260 ' -26S, -270 ' -275; -276 ! 276 ' 282 283 2S4 305 305 306 c Galerius 305- \ Constantinel.theGreat 306- ( Licinius 307 - ( Constantine II 337- < Constantius II 337- C Constans 1 337- Juiian 361 - Jovian 363- Yalentinian 1 364- Gratian 375 - Valentinian II 383 - Theodosius 1 392- (Emperor of the West as well as of the East.) Honorius 395 - Theodosius II 423 - Valentinian III 425- Petronius Maximus . 455 - A%'itus 455 - Majorian 457 - Libius Sevenos 461 - Anthemius 467 - Olybrius 472 - Glycerius 473 - Julius Nepos 474- Romulus Augustulus. . . 475 - (Last Emperor of the West.) in 323 340 361 350 363 ■364 ■375 •383 •392 395 •423 425 455 455 456 461 465 472 472 474 475 476 POLITICAL HISTORY. 19I 2. POLITICAL HISTORY. 164. During nearly three centuries after the death of Augustus, the empire remained, as far as Kind of gov- political arrangements were concerned, prett}^ ernment. nearly as he had left it. Though tlie senate still continued to sit, and consuls to be elected, yet the Roman world soon became thoroughly accustomed to the rule of one man. At first, the empire was inherited as a birtliright by those who could claim descent from Augustus, or who had been adopted into the family. Xero was in reality the last emperor of the family of Augustus, though all who suc- ceeded to the empire still went on calling themsek'es Ccesar and Augustus to the last. 165. It soon came about that the real power behind the tlirone was the soldier}\ The troops, and pretorian especially tlie " Pretorian Guard,"' took it ^"^^• upon themselves to dispose of the sovereignt}' as it pleased them, and it was rare that the senate ventured to refuse to res^ister the decree of the soldiers. To raise favorite o:en- erals to the purple, and then to murder them for the sake of the largesses which it was customar)- to receive in case of a new accession, was the favorite pastime of the troops ; and it sometimes happened that there were several em- perors at the same time, different armies throughout the empire having each appointed one. 166. Augustus bequeathed as a valuable legacy to his successors the advice of confining die empire Growth of the within those limits which nature seemed to ^^pi^e. have placed as its permanent boundaries : on the west, the Atlantic Ocean ; the Rhine and the Danube on the north ; the Euphrates on the east ; and on the south the deserts of Africa and Arabia. The only accession which the Roman Empire received during the first century of the Christian era was the province of Britain. "After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the most stupid [Claudius], maintained 192 HISTORY OF ROME. by the most dissolute [Nero], and terminated by the most timid [Domi'tian] of all the emperors, the greater part of the island of Britain submitted to the Roman yoke."* The next addition to the Roman territoiy was made by Trajan in the early part of the 2d century. This consisted of the province of Dacia, which was bounded by the Dnei'ster, the Theiss, the Lower Danube, and the Euxine Sea. 167. It has already been seen that the Roman Empire Roman citizen- Consisted of Italy and the Provixces, and tliat ^^P- in point of government the two divisions were on a very different footing. The inhabitants of Italy were Roman citizens, whereas the provincials were under the military rule of Roman officials, — legates and proconsuls. But the same salutary maxims of government which had se- cured the peace and obedience of Italy were little by little extended to tlie countries outside of Italy. A nation of Romans was gradually formed in the provinces by the double expedient of introducing colonies and of admitting the most faithful and deser\dng of the provincials to the freedom of Rome. Finally, in tlie time of Caracal'la, in the early part of the 3d century a. d. (211 -217), the old distinction bet^^een Romans and provincials was wholly abolished. Roman citizenship was given to all the free in- habitants of the empire. 168. By this time the Latinizing of the Western provinces Latinizing of was Completely effected ; that is to say, in lan- the provinces, guage, manners, and ideas, tlie inhabitants of Gaul, Spain, Northern Africa, and Illyria had become thor- ough Romans. A very interesting proof of this is furnished by the fact that many of the best and bravest of the later emperors were provincials, or barbarians^ as they would be- fore this have been called. 169. When there ceased to be any distinction bet^veen Italy and the rest of the Roman Empire, the importance * Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. POLITICAL HISTORY. I93 of Rome as the center of the imperial dominion was very much diminished. This change is marked by Rome loses its the fact that, in later times, Rome was quite importance, forsaken by the emperors, who found it better to Uve near the frontiers, whence they could keep watch against outside foes ; and it is still more emphatically marked by a new order of things, which was begun by the Emperor Diocle'tian. 170. Diocletian (283 - 305 a. d.) was one of a series of able IlhTians that rose to the purple. Finding Division of the unwieldy mass too great for the adminis- P°w^r. tration of a single indi\ddual, he took a general named Max- im'ian as his colleague : he di\-ided the imperial power be- rvveen himself and Maximian, Diocletian retaining the East, while ^laximian ruled over the ^'\'estem, or Latin-speaking, peoples. Not content with this division, Diocletian took an assistant and made his colleague do the same. These sub-rulers were called Ccesars, and it was intended that they should afterwards succeed to the imperial power. This ar- rangement did not last long, and. after various struggles, the whole empire was reunited under Constantine the Great, in A. D. 323. 171. Constantine made a change which had a great effect upon the later history- of the Roman world. ^ ^ - - . . Constantine. He removed the capital of the empire to the old Greek cit}- of Byzan tium, on the Bosphorus, which he greatly enlarged and called Xe-tv Romt\ but which has been better known ever since as Constantino'ple (Greek polis^ a cit}-, — the city of Canstantini). Even before this, Rome had, as we have seen, ceased to be the usual dwelling-place of the emperors, who commonly lived at Milan, Xicome dia (Bith}Ti'ia), and elsewhere : but the transfer of the capital to a Greek cit}- is a proof of how completely the Empire had come to overshadow Rotne and Italy. 172. Theodosius I. was the last Emperor ^^ , . , , _ _ . -^ ^ Theodosius, who reigned over the whole Roman Empire. On 9 ^ 194 HISTORY OF ROME. his death, in a d. 395, the vast dominion was di^'ided be- tween his two sons, — Hono'rius ruling in the West, and Arca'dius in the East, 173. From that date the histon- of Rome di\-ides itself Division of the i^to two distinct histories, — that of the West- empire, gj-^ Qj. Larin Empire, and that of the Eastern, Greek, or Byzan'dne Empire. As to the Eastern Empire, we shall have to follow its histor}- do^vn through the Z^Iiddle Ages, till its destruction by the Turks in the 15 th centur}% But for the present, it is with tiie Western Empire alone that we are concerned, for with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ancient histor}' ends. This downfall took place in the year 476 a, d. ; but we shall defer to a subse- quent section the narrative of the last days of Rome. 3. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 174. \Miile the political events about which we have just The new learned, and which tilled up the five centuries power. q£ imperial Rome, were taking place, a change far more momentous than any political revolution was coming over the minds of men. This was the mighty moral transformation effected by Christianit}*. 175. In the time of Augustus the different peoples and State of the nations under the Roman swav had a sjeat worla at the . .... , ,,.,', . birth of Christ, vanct}* of rcligions, but all, with the exception of the Jews, were pagans and poh-theists. 'While Augustus was ruling over a hundred millions of fellow-pohlheists, there took place in an obscure comer of the Roman dominion an event the importance of which the wisest Roman could not have foreseen. This was the birth of Christ, the founder of a religion which was to overspread the pohtheistic na- tions, dissolve the ancient creeds and philosophies, and renovate the faith, the thoughts, the whole life of the ci\-il- ized world. Now the diffusion of Christianit}^ was power- SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 95 fully aided by \h&factoi the Roman Empire, — by the unity of government under the empire ; hence it has been truly said that " the Roman empire may be defined as a compul- sory assemblage of polytheistic nations in order diat Chris- tianit}' might operate over a large surface at once of tliat polytheism which it was to supersede and destroy." 176. Jesus Christ was crucified in the nineteenth year of the reign of Tiberius. At Antioch, in S}Tia, pirst spread of where Barnabas and Saul taught the faith, the Christianity, disciples were first called " Christians.'' And then began those journeys by which St Paul carried the gospel through Asia Minor and Greece, until he was himself carried a prisoner to Rome, to die there in the reign of Nero. The Christian religion silently but surely spread itself ; first among the Jews, then among tlie Greeks, or eastern, and lastly, among the Latin, or western, Gentiles. 177. The existence of Christianity in the Roman Empire is first signalized by the persecutions to which Nero's perse- the Christians were subjected. In the reign ^utions. of the brutal Nero the first persecution took place, but it was confined to the cit}^ of Rome. A great fire, which con- sumed a large part of the cit}% took place. ^len said that the emperor's own hand had kindled the flame, out of mere madness, and that, while the burning continued, he sat calmly looking on, singing verses to the music of his l}Te. To divert suspicion from himself, Nero resolved to direct it upon the Cliristians. We shall tell the sequel in the lan- guage of Tacitus, the great Roman historian, who was bom during the reign of Nero. The passage which we quote is of great interest, because it contains the earliest mention, by any profane WTiter, of the name of Christ. "With this %dew [that is, to divert suspicion], Nero inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those men who, under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already branded with deser\-ed infamy. They derived their name and origin from one Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had 196 HISTORY OF ROME. suffered death by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate. For a while this dire superstition was checked, but it again burst forth ; and not only spread itself over Judaea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. The confessions of those who were seized discovered a great multitude of their accom- phces, and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting fixe to the city, as for their hatred of human kind. Some were nailed on crosses, others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the fury of dogs ; others, again, smeared over with combustible materials, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night The gar- dens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied with a horse-race, and honored with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of the Christians deserved indeed the most ex- emplar}' punishment, but the public abhorrence was changed into com- miseration, from the opinion that those unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant "* 178. A question here arises : Why was it that many of Real causes of tlie cmperors who saw without concern a tions. thousand forms of rehgion subsisting in peace beneath their sway, singled out the sect of the Christians to make them the sole objects of persecution ? The answer to this question is found in several facts. And first, in the proselvting ardor of tlie Christians. The empire was tol- erant of all faiths ; but it was not tolerant of a faith which taught that the gods of Rome and of all other nations were alike false, and which strove to ^-in over all mankind to that belief. Then the Roman mind, while it looked with respect on all national faiths, viewed with suspicion and dis- gust a creed that was not sanctioned by the belief of any nation, but was held only by a sect. Moreover, the eariy Christians were in the habit of holding their meetings secredy and at night ; this was regarded as illegal in prin- ciple, and as possibly dangerous in results. Summing up the several facts, we may say that the persecutions of the * Tacitus, Annals, XV. 44. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 97 Christians were owing to political reasons rather than to religious intolerance. 179. A striking proof of this is found in the fact that the Christians suffered most under good and re- forming princes like Trajan and ^Marcus Au- relius, men of pure and humane character, while under the infamous emperors they were generally let alone. 180. In spite of persecution the Church constantly ad- vanced and made converts, and in the first Growth of half of the 3d centur}^, wdiich was a period of Christianity, calm, the Christians were permitted to erect and consecrate convenient edifices for the purpose of religious worship ; to purchase lands, even at Rome itself, for the use of the com- munity ; and to conduct the elections of their ecclesiastical ministers in a public manner. Not^vithstanding severe per- secutions under Decius and Vale'rian, the doctrines of Chris- tianity continued to spread among all classes of people ever)n;\^here. Indeed, it almost seemed that these persecu- tions were needed for the sifting of the Church ; the gold was tested and refined in a fiery furnace, and, like a sturdy young oak, Christianity, amid all these great and frequent Storms, only struck its roots the deeper into the soil. 181. At last it became plain that a deadly struggle be- tween the old faith and the new was inevitable, Diocletian's and this came in the reign of Diocletian and persecutions. Maximian, at the commencement of tlie 4th century a. d. Gale'rius, tlie son-in-law of Diocletian, and the CcEsar under him, was a special enemy of the Christians, and he per- suaded the emperor to issue an edict (February 24, a. d. 303) commanding all Christian churches to be pulled down, all Bibles to be flung into the fire, and all Christians to be de- graded from rank and honor. Scarcely was tlie proclamation posted up, w^hen a Christian of noble rank tore it to pieces. For this he was roasted to death. A fire which broke out in the palace twice within a fortnight was made a pretext HISTORY OF ROME. for very violent dealings with the Christians. Those v/ho refused to bum incense to idols were tortured or slain. Over all the empire the persecution raged, except in Gaul, Britain, and Spain, where Constan'tius Chlo^rus ruled as Caesar under Diocletian's colleague, Maximian. "\Mien Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and Galerius held supreme rule in the East, he indulged all his fur}- against the Christians. Says a historian : " With little rest for eight years, the whip and the rack, the tigers, the hooks of steel, and the red-hot beds continued to do their deadly work. And then, in a. d. 311, w^hen life was fading from his d}-ing eye, Galerius pubUshed an edict permitting Chris- tians to worship God in their own way." 182. Tliis was the turning-point in the great struggle: it was plain that the most violent efforts ' of despotism were unable to crush that which was by its ver}' nature divine and deathless. 183. We come now to a remarkable epoch in the history of Christianir^-, namelv, the reim of a Roman Constantine. ^ ' ■, • 1/ r i ^i • • • emperor who himself professed Chnstiamty. Con'stantine was the son of Constantius Chlorus. On the death of his father in Britain Constantine was at once pro- claimed emperor by the soldiers there. He had immedi- ately to enter on a contest with no fewer than five rivals, and the circumstance attending his conversion is associated with an event that took place during this period of warfare. 184. In A. D. 312, while on the march to attack one of His conver- ^^is rivals (Maxen'tius), near Rome, Constan- ®*°°' tine is reported to have seen with his o\\ti eyes the luminous trophy of the cross in the sky, placed above the meridian sun, and inscribed ^vith the follo\ving words : By THIS CONQUER [in Greek, En iouto nika ; in Latin, In hoc vince]. In the battle that followed Maxentius was complete- ly overthrown. It is said that this decided Constantine to be a Christian. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY 199 The Labarum, 185. The early church historians also add that the fol- lowing night Christ appeared to Constantine in a dream and commanded him to frame a similar standard, and under it to march witli an assurance of victor}' against all his ene- mies. This is the origin of the celebrated Lab'arurn, or standard of the cross, displa3-ed by the Christian emperors in all their military- expeditions. The top of the Labarum was adorned with a mvstic X, reDresentins: at once the cross and the initial of the Greek word for Christ. 186. The first fruit of Constantine's con- version appeared in a famous Christianity decree called the Edict of Milan, liglo^n^ A. D. 313 : this restored peace to the Christian church. The establishment of Christianity The LAB.\Ktm. ^s the religion of tlie state took place in 324, when the defeat of die last of his rivals made Constantine sole master of the Roman world. 187. He immediately, by circular letters, exhorted all his subjects to imitate the example of their constantine's sovereign by embracing the divine trudi of poi'^y- Christianit}-. It is calculated that in Constantine's time about a twentieth part of the whole population of the empire were professed Christians. The emperor did not forbid paganism, but chose ratiier to work by ridicule and neglect. With public money he repaired tiie old churches and built new ones, so that in ever}' great cit}' the Pagan temples were faced by Christian churches of rich and beautiful architecture. The Christian clerg}' were freed from taxes. Sunday w-as proclaimed a day of rest. And, to crown all, Constantine removed the seat of government to a new capital, — Constantinople, — which was essentially a Christian city. 200 HISTORY OF ROME. 1 88. Julian, known as Julian the Apostate, who became Paganism for- emperor in A. D. 361, made a strong effort to bidden. restoic the fallen gods ; but this effort w^as in vain, and tlie ruin of paganism was completed at the close of the 4th centuR-. By this time the Christians were the great majority in most parts of ihe empire ; and Theodosius gave the final blow to the heathen faith by prohibiting under severe penalties the worship of the old gods. 189. In closing our review of the first spread of Cliris- inteiiectuai tianit}', we must note that the new faith, in influence. addition to its direct effect on the belief, the lives, and the conduct of men, had also important inielkdual results. It gave the mind of the age great subjects to grapple witli ; and as the despotism of the imperial govern- ment crushed out all political speculation, the intellect and the enthusiasm of the nations freely turned to the grand problems of tlie ''' Cit}' of God.'' 190. There thus arose a series of theological wTiters ^^ ^ ^ both in Greek and Latin, who are knowTi col- The Fathers. ... lectively as the Christian Fathers, among whom the following are the most famous : — Tertul'lian. Bom at Carthage in a. D. 160, — first of the Latin writers of the Church, — chief work, his "Apology for Christians," written about A. D. 19S. Or'igen. Born in Eg^-pt a d. 1S5 or 1S6, — editor and commentator of tlie Scriptures, — wrote in Greek. Cyp'rian. Archbishop of Carthage in the middle of the 3d centur)^, — chief work, "Unity of the Church,*' — mart}Ted under Valerian. Am'brose. Bom about a. d. 340 in Gaul, — Archbishop of Milan, — chief work, De OfHciis, — vindicated the authority' of the priesthood over even emperors and kings, by condemning Theodosius I. to a long and wear}- penance for his massacre of the Thessalonians. A thana'sius. Born in Alexandria, end of the 3d centun,-, — Patriarch of Alexandria, — the great champion of Trinitarianism against Anus. Greg'ory Nazian'zen. Born early in the 4th centurj- in Cappadocia — for a while Patriarch of Constantinople, — noted as a writer of the- ology aiid religious poetry-. ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 201 Chrys'ostom. (Gold-mouth, from bis eloquence.) Born at Antioch, A. D. 354, — Patriarch of Constantinople, — his works are in Greek. Jerome. Born in a. d. 340 in Dalma'tia, — especially learned in He- brew, — founder of Monasticism, — chief work, a translation of the Bible into Latin (known as the Vulgate, a version for the common people, — vulgus) . Augus'tine. Born in Numid'ia, in Africa, a. d. 354, — Bishop of Hip- po (in Africa), — is known as the Father of Latin Theology, — i man of powerful intellect and eloquence, — chief works, " On the. Grace of Christ," "Original Sin," the "City of God," and his "Con- fessions " (an autobiography). 4. ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC.* 191. The most remarkable gannent of the Romans was the toga., made of pure white wool, and in shape resembling a segment of a circle ; nar- row at first, it was folded so that one arm rest- ed as in a sling j but in late daj^s it was draped in broad, flo\^dng folds round the breast and left arm, leaving the right nearly bare. Though its use j in the streets was \ in later times ex- changed for a mantle of warm- colored cloth, called the pallium or lacema, yet it ^^^ Costumes. Dress. Abridged from Collier's ** Domestic Life in Imperial Rome.'* 202 HISTORY OF ROME. continued to be the Roman full dress ; and in the theater, when the emperor was present, all were expected to wear it. The Romans always kept the head uncovered, except on a journey, or when they wished to escape notice. Then they wore a dark-colored hood, which was fastened to the lacenia. In the house sokes, were strapped to the bare feet ; but abroad the calceus, nearly resembling our shoe, was commonly worn. On tlie ring-finger, the fourth of the left hand, every Roman of rank had a massive signet-ring. There were fops who loaded every finger with jewels ; and we are told of one poor fellow who was so far gone in foppery as to have a set of lighter rings for summer wear, when his delicate frame could not bear the weight of his winter jewels. 192. The dress of Roman ladies consisted of three parts, — an inner funic, the siola, and the palla. The stola, which was the distinctive dress of Roman matrons, was a tunic wath short sleeves, girt round the waist, and ending in a deep flounce w^hich swept the instep. The palla, a gay-colored mantle, was worn out of doors. It was often sky-blue, sprinkled with golden stars. The brightest colors were chosen ; so that an assembly of Roman belles, in full dress, was a brilliant scene, sparkling with scarlet and yellow, purple and pale green. The hair, encircled with a garland of roses, was fastened with a gold pin, while pearls and gold adorned the neck and arms. 193. The early Romans lived chiefly on bread and pot- herbs ; but when wealth was introduced by their conquests, luxury' seized all ranks, and, as we have already seen, the imitation of Oriental customs completely sap^i^ed the abstemious virtues of the old Romans. To many, in the degenerate ages of Rome, the great ends of life were to eat the most delicious food, and to eat as much of it as possible. Roman meals were three, — jentaculum^ prandiutn^ and coiJia. Jentaculum, taken soon after rising, ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 203 consisted of bread, dried grapes or olives, cheese, and per- haps milk and eggs. At prandium, the midday meal, the Romans partook of fish, eggs, and dishes cold, or wanned up from the last night's supper. Then, too, some wine wiis drunk. But coena was the principal meal, taken about the ninth hour, and on the whole corresponding to our dinner. It began with eggs, fish, and light vegetables, such as rad- ishes and lettuces, served up with tast}' sauces, all being intended merely to whet the appetite for the more substan- tial dishes to follow. Then came the courses {fercula), of which, in all their wonderful variet}', no just idea can be given here. Among fish, turbot, sUirgeon, and red mullet were greatly prized; among birds, the peacock, pheasant, woodcock, thrush, and fig-pecker. The favorite flesh-meat was young pork; but venison was also in great demand. The courses were followed by a dessert of pastry and fruit 194. ^^^lile eating, the Romans reclined upon low couch- es, which were arransred in the form fridinium. ^ ^, ', . , -J £ T-r Table usage. makmg three sides of a square. The open space was left for the slaves to place or remove the dishes. The place of honor was on the middle bench. In later times round tables became common, and then semicircular couches were used. There were no table-cloths; but the guests wore over the breast a linen napkin {niappa\, which they brought \\-ith them. Instead of knives and forks two spoons were used, — one, cochlear, small and pointed at the end of the handle ; the other, lingula, larger and of uncertain shape. The splendor of a Roman feast was greatly marred by the oil-lamps, the only light then used. The lamps them- selves were exquisite in shape and material, as were all the table utensils ; but the dripping oil soaked the table, while the thick smoke blackened the walls and ceiling, and rested in flakes of soot upon the dresses of the guests. 195. At feasts, instead of the toga, short dresses of red or other bright colors were worn. Before the drinking 204 HISTORY OF ROME. began, chaplets were handed round. For these roses, m\Ttle, ^-iolets, ivy, and even parsley were used. Before they were put on, slaves anointed the hair with nard and other sweet unguents. Wine was almost the only drink used. Before being brought to table it was sometimes strained through a metal sieve or linen bag filled with snow, and was called black and white according to its color, just as we talk of red and white -wines. The tamous Falemian, celebrated by Horace, was of a bright amber tint. Besides pure -^ine they drank mulsmn, a mix- ture of new wine with honey, and calda^ made of warm water, wine, and spice. 196. The Romans spent much time in their splendid baths. The cold plunge in the Tiber, which had braced the iron muscles of their ancestors, gave place, under the empire, to a most luxurious and elab- orate system of tepid and vapor bathing, often repeated seven or eight times a da3^ At tlie baths the gossip of the day was exchanged. 197. The theater, T\-ith its tragedies and comedies, the circus, and the amphitheater supplied the Ro- Amnsements. .... . T - ... mans -with tneir chief public amusements. At the circus they betted on tlieir favorite horses or charioteers ; at the amphitheater they reveled in the bloody combats of gladiators, — the most brutal of all the Roman pastimes. At the trumpet's sound tlirongs of -\\Tetched men — captives, slaves, or convicted criminals — closed in deadly strife. The trodden sand soon grew red ; yet on they fought with parched lips and leaping hearts, for they knew that a brave fight might "win for them their freedom. Erelong, hacked and bleeding limbs began to fail, and dim eyes turned to seek for mercy along the crowded seats. There were times when the dumb prayer was answered, and the down-turned thimibs of the spectators gave the signal for sparing life; but too often mercy was sought in vain, and the sword com- ROMAN LIFE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 20^ pleted its work. Combats of gladiators with jvild beasts often took place. \Miole armies sometimes thronged the scene. \Mien Trajan celebrated his triumph, after his \4ctories in Dacia, 10,000 gladiators were exhibited at once. 198. Roman books were rolls of papyrus-bark, or parch- ment, written upon with a reed pen, dipped in lamp-black or sepia. The back of the sheet was often stained with saffron, and its edges were rubbed smooth and blackened, while the ends of the stick on which it was rolled (^whence our word volu?fit\ "a roll ") were adorned with knobs of ivor}^ or gilt wood. Letters were etched with a sharp iron instmment {stylus, whence our word style) upon thin wooden tablets coated wdth wax. These were then tied up witli linen thread, the knot being sealed with wax and stamped with a ring. 199. The Romans had three forms of marriage, of which the highest was called confarreatw. The bride, 1 • 1 • 1-1 1 r • 1 Mamage. dressed m a white robe with purple innge, and covered with a bright yellow veil, was escorted by torch- light to her future home. A cake {far) was carried before her, and she bore a distaff and spindle ^^itli wool. Arrived at the flower-WTeathed portal, she was lifted over the tlireshold lest — omen of e^41 — her foot might stumble upon it. Her husband then brought fire and water, which she touched ; and, seated on a sheepskin, she received the keys of the house. A marriage supper closed the ceremony. 200. The household work was done by slaves of various classes. In earlier times a few sufficed : but ^, Slaves. in the days of the empire it was thought a dis- grace not to have a slave for every separate kind of work. And so, besides those who managed the purse, the cellar, the bedrooms, and tlie kitchen, there w^ere slaves to carry the Utter, or to attend as their masters walked abroad. Some, of higher pretensions, were readers, secretaries, and physicians. Then, for amusement, there were musicians, 2o6 HISTORY OF ROME. dancers, buffoons, and even idiots. But all may be ranked under t^o heads, — bought slaves and born slaves. There was a slave-market, in which the common sort were sold like cattle ; but the more beautiful or valuable were dis- posed of by private bargain in the taverns. Prices ranged from $ 20 to $ 4000. 201. The disinterment of the town of Pompeii, which was over^vhelmed by an eruption of lava from Houses. _ _ ^_ . . , , Mount Vesuvms m A. D. 79, enables us to form a ver}^ correct idea of what a first-class Roman house was. The principal apartments were on the ground- floor. Passing through the unroofed vestibule, often between rows of graceful statues, the visitor entered the house through a doorway ornamented with ivor}', tortoise-shell, and gold. On tlie threshold, worked in mosaic marble, was the kind word Sal've (welcome). Then came the atrium, or great central reception-room, separated from its wings by lines of pillars. Here w^ere placed the ancestral images ; and here, too, was the focus, or family fireplace dedicated to tlie La'res. Fardier in lay a large saloon called ^^per'istyle. The floor was generally a mosaic of colored marble, tiles, or glass ; the walls were car\^ed and painted \ gilt and colored stucco-work adorned the ceilings ; while the window-frames were filled with talc or glass. On the roofs were bright gardens. In houses like these might be found ivor}- bedsteads, ^dth quilts of purple and gold ; tables of precious wood \ sideboards of gold and silver, loaded with plate, amber vases, beakers of Corinthian bronze, and glass vessels from Alexandria, whose tints rivaled the opal and the ruby. 202. Of course the scholar will understand that these descriptions apply exclusively to the wealthy. The common people lived as best they could, and we know ver)'- well that the richest were without a great many comforts and conveniences which even the pcor now command. LAST DA YS OF ROME. 20/ 5. LAST DAYS OF ROME. 203. In the section on the political history of Rome we brought the story of the great empire down to . the time of its final dismemberment, in 476 a. d. We did not, however, narrate the circumstances attending the catastrophe ; accordingly we shall now briefly refer to these. 204. In the 5 th century of our era many things por- tended the fall of Rome. Chief of these was the fact that the Romans had really ceased to exist as a nation. The empire had absorbed the nation. We have already seen that the Roman race, w^hich conquered the world, was finally swallowed up by the world which it conquered. The blood itself was corrupted by alien admix- ture ; luxury further demoralized the people ; and the very fact that they were "willing for the five hundred years of the empire to sit under an imperial despotism, shows that they were unfit to be free. 205. The removal of the capital by Constantine from Rome to Byzantium was a signal proof of the change of cap- fact that Italy had ceased to be the center of ^^^^• the Roman world. From this it was an easy step to the division of the empire, which took place under the sons of Theodosius, the last emperor who ruled over the whole of. the Roman dominion. Thencefor^vard we may regard the Roman Empire as confined to Italy with the Western prov- inces, or Gaul, Spain, etc., while the Eastern empire, com- prising what we have called the Greek and the Oriental civilizations, pursued a career of its own. 206. In this state of facts the Western empire fell a prey to the new and vio:orous Teutonic, or German, „^ ^ . , 1 . 1 1 • -1 , The Teutons. tribes that for centuries had inhabited the forests of the North. Ever since the time of Augustus the different German tribes had been most dangerous enemies 20S HISTORY OF ROME. of Rome, and many of the most valiant emperors had had much ado to defend tlie empire against them. One im- portant result of the contact of the " northern barbarians " with die Romans was that the Teutonic tribes became acquainted with Roman civilization and with Christianit}- ; so that most of them became Christians before tliey setded in the empire, or ver}^ soon afterwards. 207. The first great lodgement of die Teutons within the First settle- limits of the Roman Empire took place bv per- ment of Goths, mission of die Roman Emperor Valens, in die last half of die 4th centur}*. The great Germanic family of tlie Godis at that time formed an extensive kingdom in the lands nordi of the Danube, — the lands we now call ^NIol- da\ia and Wallacliia. This region had been Trajan's prov- ince of Dacia, but the Romans had wididrawn from it under Aurelian. The Goths were gradually becoming Christians of the Arian sect under tiie teacliing of a bishop named ULfilas, whose translation of die Scriptures into the Gothic tongue is the oldest Teutonic writing that we have. 208. Now, in the latter half of the 4th centur}- the Goths Manner of set- found tlicmselves prcsscd upon by an invasion tiement. ^^ Huus, — Tartars, or Kalmucks, who had been driven out of Eastern Asia, and were at this time making their way into Europe. In their despair the Godis asked the Emperor ^'alens (who ruled over the East, while Valentinian was emperor of the West) to allow them to cross to the south side of the Danube, and thus put that stream between them and tiieir hideous foes. Leave was granted, on condition that they should give up dieir children and their arms. The bargain was struck at once. Roman boats were provided, and for many days and nights die broad river was torn into foam by the ceaseless splash of oars. The fugitives, surrendering their children with little concern, gladly paid away all they had as bribes to the Roman officers for leave to keep their arms. In this way LAST DA YS OF ROME. 209 an immense body of fierce warriors (men, women, and slaves numbered nearly a million souls) settled, sword in hand, within one of the great natural frontiers of the empire, 376 A. D. 209. The Goths had humbly vowed that they would for- ever make it their grateful dut}' to guard the Their behav- Roman borders. In spite of this they had *°'"- hardly been allowed to settle south of the Danube when they turned their arms against Valens. It must be said, however, that for this they were not wholly without excuse ; the offi- cers of the emperor treated tliem in the most scandalous manner, and left them to stance. In this plight they resolved to help themselves ; they accordingly advanced towards Con- stantinople. The imperial army met them near Hadriano'ple, where a battle took place that was most disastrous to the Romans, and in which Valens lost his life, a. d. 378. The Goths, having now nothing to fear, spread themselves over the fertile country westward to the confines of Italy and the Adriatic Sea. 210. Under Theodosius the Great, who became emperor of the East in a. d. 379, the Goths were brou2:ht Alaric to capitulate, and settle down quietly, and large numbers took service in the Roman armies ; but this course was only preparing the inevitable result. When the two feeble sons of Theodosius divided between them the Roman world, the Visigoths (i. e. Western Goths) revolted, and, hoisting their chief, Alaric, upon their shields, according to their national mode of electing a king, precipitated them- selves upon Italy. Rome was captured and sacked (a. d. 410), and all Southern Italy was overrun. 211. And now the great Western empire was fast dissolv- ing. In the early part of the 5th century three signs of dis- fragments broke off from the decaying trunk, solution. The province of Britain was evacuated by the Romans and was soon overrun by the German tribes called Angles and 2IO HISTORY OF ROME. Saxons. The various Teutonic tribes were pressing into Gaul, and from Gaul into Spain. Spain was conquered by Vandals, Sueves, and other German races ; while Gaul was tilled vAih Franks and Burgundians and Goths, — all of whom belonged to the great Teutonic family. The pro^dnce of Africa, too, was lost ; for a band of Vandals under Gen'- seric passed over from Spain to Carthage, which was con- quered in A. D. 439. 212. Meanwhile At'tila the Hun had gone forth from his lo2:-house on the plain of Hunsfan*, at the head of half a milUon savages, to conquer the world. Crossing the Rhine, he pierced to the center of Gaul ; but at Chalons he was defeated by the united power of the Ro- mans, Goths, and Franks, a. d. 451. In this memorable battle, Ar)-an ci\-ilization and Tartar despotism met in a life-and-death struggle, and the nobler triumphed. Being defeated in Gaul. Attila climbed the Alps and overran Italy, pillaging and destroying up to the ven.- gates of Rome. It is a strange fact that it was tlirough the persuasion of the Christian bishop, Leo, that Attila was induced to return to Hungar}'. Here he soon afterwards broke a blood-vessel. So died one whose savage boast it was that grass never grew on a spot where his horse had trodden. His great empire immediately fell to pieces. 213. No sooner had Attila departed than Genseric, the Vandal chief of Africa, crossed over from Car- thage and anchored his sliips at the mouth of the Tiber. This time the persuasion of Leo could not save the cit}\ Rome was captured (a. d. 455), and for fourteen days Vandals and !Moors wrecked and pillaged without mercy. Shiploads of treasure and crowds of captives were carried over the sea to Carthage. 214. During these events there were still emperors of Downfall of the Wcst, and their names \^-ill be found in the Rome. YisX. But tliey were mere nonentities, for the LAST DA YS OF ROME. 2 1 1 real power was in the hands of the barbarians. At last the Roman senate voted that one emperor w^as enough, and that the Eastern emperor, Zeno, should reign over the whole empire ; but at the same time Zeno was made to trust the government of Italy to Odoa^cer, chief of the German Herulians, who took the title of Patrician of Italy. The last of the Western Roman emperors was Romulus Augustulus, a handsome but feeble youth. Him they pensioned oli in A. D. 476. Then, "when Odoacer was proclaimed king of Italy, the phantom assembly that still called itself the Ro- man senate sent back to Constantinople tlie tiara and purple robe, in sign that the Western empire had passed away."* * White's '•' Eighteen Christian Centuries." INDEX Abr.\ha.m, 31, 38. Abu-Beker, 229. Achaia, province of, iii, 155. Actium. battle of, 177. -L^os Potamos, battle of, loi. -cEneas. 133. ^schines, 123. ^schylus, 121. Alba Longa, 134. Alcceus, 121. Alcibiades, 100, loi. Alexander the Great, career of, 104. 105 ; his successors, loS. Alphabet, the Phoenician, 45, 46, 47. Ambrose, 200 Amusements, Roman, 204. Ancient History-, end of, 5. Antony, Mark, 173, 175, 176, 177. Aqueducts, Roman, 187. Arbela. battle of, 105. Archseology, definition of, i. Architecture, EgA-ptian. 22 ; Chaldaean, 30 ; Hindoo, 53 ; Persian, 60 ; Greek, orders of, 125, 126. Archons, Athenian, 89. Aristides, 94. Aristophanes, 122. Aristotle, 125. Art, Greek, 125. Arts, Ass^-rian, 35 ; Babylonian, 37 ; Per- sian, 61. Aryans, 3 ; proof of the unity of, 3 ; in- fluence of, in history, 4; first seat of, 50. Asia, geographical divisions of, 8, 9, 10. Assyria, Empire of, 32-35. Astronomv, Chaldaean, 30. Athanasius, 200. Athens, early history of, S8. Attila, 210, Augustine, 201. Augustan Age, iSS. Augustus ^see also Octavius), 182-189. Babylon, de.scription of, 36. Baths, Roman, 204. Books, Roman, 205. Britain, conquest of, by Romans, 191 ; abandonment of. by Romans, 209. Brutus, Lucius Junius, 137; Marcus Jun- ius, 173. 174, 176. Buddhism, 54. Cadmus, 46. Caesar, Julius, 165-175. Cambyses, 56 ; son of Cyrus, 58. Cannae, battle of, 151. Carthage, founding of. 43 : Roman period, 4S, 14S ; 154- Cassius. Caius, 173, 176. Castes, EgA-ptian, 20, 21 ; origin of, 52. Catiline, 165. Cato the Censor, 153,158 iiote ; the Young- er, 171. Catullus. 188. Caucasian race, its historic representa- tives. 2. Chseronea. battle of, 104. Chaldaea. the kingdom of, 29-31. Cheops. 18. Christ, birth of. 189. Christianity, spread of, 194-201. Christians, first pagan mention of, 195, 196. Chrysostom, 201. Cicero, 164, 165. Cincinnatus. 139. Citizenship, Roman, extension of, 192. position of, in ; siege of, 153, Indian, 51 ISDEX. 2\lb Civilizaiion, connection of, with geogra- phy, lo ; Ass\Tian, 34 ; Phoenician, 49 ; Alexandrian, 108 ; Grecian, 114- 129 ; t\-pes of, in Roman Empire, 155. Cleopatra, 170, 176, 177. 178. Coliseum, 185. Colonies, Phoenician, 44, 45 ; Greek, in Asia Minor. 82. Commerce, Babylonian, 64; Phoenician, 66; Carthaginian, 68. Constantine, 19S, 199. Constantinople, 193. Coriolanus, 138. Crassus, 163, 165, 168. Croesus, overthrow of, 57. Cuneiform, nature of characters, 30, 31, 45- Cyaxares, 56. Cyprian, zcxx Cyrus, legends of, 56, 57 ; his conquests, 57, 58. Darius I., 59, 91-93, Darius Codoman- nus, 105, 106. Decemvirs, the Roman, 141. Democracy, contribution of Greeks to, 114. Demosthenes, 103, 123. Dictator, origin of Roman, 139. Diocletian, 197. Dorians, character o£^ 84- Draco, laws of, 89. Drama, Grecian, 121, 122. Dress, Grecian, 128 ; Roman, 201, 202; Education among Greeks, 12S. Egvi5t, 12-26 ; antiquity of, 12 ; its geog- raphy, 13 ; populousness of. 14 : hie- roglyphics, 14-16 ; chronology, 1 7 ; castes, 20, 21 ; architecture. 22 ; sculp- ture, 23 ; religion. 24 ; manutectures, 25- Elegy, rise of, among the Greeks. 120. Embalming, practice of, among Egyp- tians, 25. Emperors, the Roman, 1S9, 190. Epaminondas, 102. Era, the Christian, true beginning of, 189 note. Ethnology, defiaition of, i. Etruscans, the, 131. Euripides, 121. Exodus, the, 19 nvte. Fathers, the Christian, 200. Federations, Greek, no. Food, Roman, 202. Franchise, the Latin, 147. Gades, 44. Gallia Cisalpina, 131. Games, the four Grecian, 117, 118. Gauls, seat of, in Italy, 131 ; burning of Rome by, 133 ; capture of Rome by, 142. Genseric, 210. Gracchus, Tiberius. 159, 160; Caius, i6a Granicus. battle of, 105. Greece, history of, 73-129 ; race, 74 ; geography of, 75 ; states of, 76 : le- gends of. 78. 79 ; movements of races, 81, 82 ; colonies, S2 ; earliest history, 84 ; growth of Sparta and Athens, 85-09 ; Persian invasions of, 91-9S ; age of Pericles, 9S, 09 ; Peloponne- sian war. 100. loi : Spartan and The- ban supremacy. loi. 102: supremacy of Macedonia, 103. 104 ; later history, 109-111 ; civilization of, 114-129. Greek society-. 129. Gregory Nazianzen, 200. HAXflLCAK, 150. Hamites, their representative, 3. Hannibal. 151-153. Hanno, 68 >wte. Hebrew^s. the. 38-42. HeUas, 75, Herodotus, 14 note, 122. Hesiod. 120. Hieroglyphics, Egyptian, 14-16. Hindoos, the, 50-54. History, definition of, i ; a unit, 6 ; ear- liest theater of. 11. Homer, 78, 79, 90, 119, 120. Horace, 1S8. Horatius Cocles. 138. Houses, description of Roman, 206. Hyksos, iS, 19. Imperator, meaning of, 171. India, Alexander's expedition to. 106. Ionia, revolt of cities of, 91. lonians, character of, 83, 84. 2II< INDEX. Ipsus, battle of, io8. Israel, kingdom of, 40. Issus, battle of, 105. Janl-s, temple of, 186. Jerome, 201. Jerusalem, destruction of. by Titus, 41 ; capture of. by Crusaders, 260. Jews, their place in history, 42. Judah, kingdom of, 40. Jugerum. 143 ticie. Julian the Apostate, 200. Juvenal, 1S9. L.\BARr>i, the, 199. Lamian war, the, 109. Latins, the race of the, 132. League, the Achaean, no. Leonidas, <^-., 06. Lepidus. 175. Leuctra. battle of, 102. Library, the Alexandrian, 108, T70. Licinian law. the. 143. Lictors. the Roman, 13S note. Literature, Hindoo. 52, 53 ; Persian, 62 ; early Roman. 157 ; Roman, 188. Livy, 133, 134, iSS. Lucretius, i33- Luxury, Roman, 15S. Lydia, 63 ruite. Macedonia imder Philip, 103, 104 ; sub- jugation of, by Rome. 154. Magianism, 61. Magna Gr3ecia,i^2 ; subdued bv Romans, 146. Manetho, 14. Manufactures, Babylonian, 64. Marathon, ba^ttle of, 93. Mardonius. invasion of Greece by, 92. Marius. i6t. 162. Marriage, Roman, 205. Martial, 188. Mary I. (of England^ 340 : 11. (of Eng- land\ 362 ; Queen of Scots, 340-342 . Massilia, 82. Medes, the, 55. s^- Messenians, wars of Sparta with, 87. Miltiades, 93. Mithridates, 162. Mycale, battle of. 9S. Mythology. Greek. 115-117. X.\BOXASSAR, era of, 33. NabopK>lassar, 35. Xebuchadnezzar, 35, 36, Nero, 1S9. Xicias, Peace of, 100. Xineveh, description of, 34 ; its fell, 34. OcTA-nus, 175, 178. Olympiad, the first, 84. Oracles, 117. Origen, 200. Ostracism, 94. Ovid, 188. Parthexox, the, 127 , cot of, 73. Patricians, the Roman, 135 Pelasgi, 76, 77. Pelopidas, 102. Pericles, 98, 90 ; as an orator. 123. Persecutions of earlv Christians, 105- 198. Persia, Empire of, 55-62. Phamaces. 170. 171. Pharsalia, battle of. 170. Philip, King of Macedon, 103, 104. Phoenicians, the, 43-49. Phrygia, 6^ note. Pindar, 121. Pisistratus, 90, Plataea, battle of, 97. Plato, 124, 125. Plebeians, early oppression of Romans, 135. 1405 143- Pliny. 188. Plutarch, 123. Pompeii, 188, 206. Pomi>ey, 163. 166, 168-170. Populus Romanus, meaning of term, 146. Pretorian Guard, the. 191. Priests, influence of, in Egypt, 20. Ptolemies, the, 108. Ptolemy Soter, loS. Punic wars, 148-154- Pydna, battle of, iii. Pythagoras, 123. Rack, the Italian. 132. I Races, the historical, compared, 4, 5 ; I Italian. 131. Regulus, 149. I Religion, Egyptian, 24 ; Hindoo. 52 : I Greek, 115. INDEX. 2\\d Republic, duration of Roman, 136. Roman Empire, boundaries of, 182, 183 ; division of, 194 ; dow-nfall of, 211. Rome, history of, 130-2 n ; its geography. 130; races, 131,132; early histor_v, 134 ; earl5' struggles, 136-142 ; Punic wars, 148-154 ; civil struggle, 159-178; the Empire, 1S2-211 ; city of, 184, 185, 193- Romulus, 133, 144. Rosetta stone, 15. Sai_\mis, battle of, 97. Sallust, 188. Sanscrit, 52. Sappho, 121; Satraps, the Persian, 59. Science. Eg},-ptian, 25. Scipio. Publius. 151. Sculpture, Egyptian, 23 ; Assyrian, 34 ; Greek, 127. Seleucidce, kingdom of the. 109. Seleucus. 109. Semites.their historical representatives,3. Sennacherib, 33. Sesostris. 19. Sicily. Roman province of, 150. Simonides, 120. Slavery. Roman, 157, 158. Slaves, price of Roman, 206. Smerdis, 58. Socrates, 12.^. Solomon, reign of, 40. Solon, 89. Sophists among the Greeks, 123, 124. Sophocles, 121. Sparta, gro^-th of, 85 ; education in, 86, 87 ; constitution of, 87. Sulla, 161-163. TAcrrus. 189. Tarquinius Superbus, 135. TertuUian, 200. Teutons, the, 207, 208, 210. Thales, 123. Thapsus. battle of, 171, Thebes (^Greek state), supremacy of, 102. Themistocles, 94. Theodosius. 103. Thermopylae, battle of. 96. Thucydides. 122. 123. Tigris, the river, description of, 28. Tin, Phoenician trade in, 6-]. Tribunes, establishment of Roman, 140, 141 ; military, 142. Triumvirate, the second, 176. Troy, siege of, 78 ; site of. 80 note. Twelve Tables, laws of the, 141. Tyre, commerce of, 48. Tyrtaeus, 120. Uk, 31. Utica, 171. Vandals, 210. Vedas, the, 52. Virgil, 188. War. the Jugurthine, 161. Wines, Roman, 204. Woman, position of, among the Greeks, 129, Xexophon, 56, 56 note, 123. Xerxes, invasion of Greece by, 95, 97. II II III II I III I ill II III I L 018 487 394 1 ^