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diff --git a/old/12745.txt b/old/12745.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6da7da3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12745.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11478 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. +by Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. + +Author: Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton + +Release Date: June 25, 2004 [EBook #12745] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREATEST BOOKS, VOL. XI. *** + + + + +Produced by John Hagerson, Kevin Handy and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS + +JOINT EDITORS + +ARTHUR MEE Editor and Founder of the Book of Knowledge + +J.A. HAMMERTON Editor of Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia + +VOL. XI + +ANCIENT HISTORY MEDIAEVAL HISTORY + + * * * * * + + + + +Table of Contents + + ANCIENT HISTORY + + EGYPT + + MASPERO, GASTON + Dawn of Civilization + Struggle of the Nations + Passing of the Empires + + JEWS + + JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS + Antiquities of the Jews + Wars of the Jews + + MILMAN, HENRY + History of the Jews + + GREECE + + HERODOTUS + History + + THUCYDIDES + Peloponnesian War + + XENOPHON + Anabasis + + GROTE, GEORGE + History of Greece + + SCHLIEMANN, HEINRICH + Troy and Its Remains + + ROME + + CAESAR, JULIUS + Commentaries on the Gallic War + + TACITUS, PUBLIUS CORNELIUS + Annals + + SALLUST, CATOS CRISPUS + Conspiracy of Catiline + + GIBBON, EDWARD + Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire + + MOMMSEN, THEODOR + History of Rome + + MEDIAEVAL HISTORY + + HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE + + GIBBON, EDWARD + The Holy Roman Empire + + EUROPE + + GUIZOT, F.P.G. + History of Civilization in Europe + + HALLAM, HENRY + View of the State of Europe During the Middle Ages + + EGYPT + + LANE-POOLE, STANLEY + Egypt in the Middle Ages + + ENGLAND + + HOLINSHED, RAPHAEL + Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland + + FREEMAN, E.A. + Norman Conquest of England + + FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY + History of England + +A Complete Index of THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS will be found at the end +of Volume XX. + + * * * * * + +Acknowledgment + + + Acknowledgment and thanks for permitting the use of the + following selections--"The Dawn of Civilisation," "The + Struggle of the Nations" and "The Passing of the Empires," by + Gaston Maspero--which appear in this volume, are hereby + tendered to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, of + London, England. + + * * * * * + + + + +Ancient History + + +GASTON MASPERO + + +The Dawn of Civilisation + + + Gaston Camille Charles Maspero, born on June 23, 1846, in + Paris, is one of the most renowned of European experts in + philology and Egyptology, having in great part studied his + special subjects on Oriental ground. After occupying for + several years the Chair of Egyptology in the Ecole des Hautes + Etudes at the Sorbonne in Paris, he became, in 1874, Professor + of Egyptian Philology and Archaeology at the College de + France. From 1881 to 1886 he acted in Egypt as director of the + Boulak Museum. It was under his superintendence that this + museum became enriched with its choicest antique treasures. + Dr. Maspero retired in 1886, but in 1899 again went to Egypt + as Director of Excavations. His works are of the utmost value, + his skill in marshalling facts and deducting legitimate + inferences being unrivalled. His masterpiece is an immense + work, with the general title of "History of the Ancient + Peoples of the Classic East," divided into three parts, each + complete in itself: (1) "The Dawn of Civilisation"; (2) "The + Struggle of the Nations"; (3) "The Passing of the Empires." + + +_I.--The Nile and Egypt_ + + +A long, low, level shore, scarcely rising above the sea, a chain of +vaguely defined and ever-shifting lakes and marshes, then the triangular +plain beyond, whose apex is thrust thirty leagues into the land--this, +the Delta of Egypt, has gradually been acquired from the sea, and is, as +it were, the gift of the Nile. Where the Delta ends, Egypt proper +begins. It is only a strip of vegetable mould stretching north and south +between regions of drought and desolation, a prolonged oasis on the +banks of the river, made by the Nile, and sustained by the Nile. The +whole length of the land is shut in by two ranges of hills, roughly +parallel at a mean distance of about twelve miles. + +During the earlier ages the river filled all this intermediate space; +and the sides of the hills, polished, worn, blackened to their very +summits, still bear unmistakable traces of its action. Wasted and +shrunken within the deeps of its own ancient bed, the stream now makes a +way through its own thick deposits of mud. The bulk of its waters keep +to the east, and constitutes the true Nile, the "Great River" of the +hieroglyphic inscriptions. At Khartoum the single channel in which the +river flowed divides, and two other streams are opened up in a southerly +direction, each of them apparently equal in volume to the main stream. + +Which is the true Nile? Is it the Blue Nile, which seems to come down +from the distant mountains? Or is it the White Nile, which has traversed +the immense plains of equatorial Africa? The old Egyptians never knew. +The river kept the secret of its source from them as obstinately as it +withheld it from us until a few years ago. Vainly did their victorious +armies follow the Nile for months together, as they pursued the tribes +who dwelt upon its banks, only to find it as wide, as full, as +irresistible in its progress as ever. It was a fresh-water sea--_iauma, +ioma_ was the name by which they called it. The Egyptians, therefore, +never sought its source. It was said to be of supernatural origin, to +rise in Paradise, to traverse burning regions inaccessible to man, and +afterwards to fall into a sea whence it made its way to Egypt. + +The sea mentioned in all the tales is, perhaps, a less extravagant +invention than we are at first inclined to think. A lake, nearly as +large as the Victoria Nyanza, once covered the marshy plain where the +Bahr-el-Abiad unites with the Sobat and with the Bahr-el-Ghazal. +Alluvial deposits have filled up all but its deepest depression, which +is known as Birket Nu; but in ages preceding our era it must still have +been vast enough to suggest to Egyptian soldiers and boatmen the idea of +an actual sea opening into the Indian Ocean. + +Everything is dependent upon the river--the soil, the produce of the +soil, the species of animals it bears, the birds which it feeds--and +hence it was the Egyptians placed the river among their gods. They +personified it as a man with regular features, and a vigorous but portly +body, such as befits the rich of high lineage. Sometimes water springs +from his breast; sometimes he presents a frog, or libation of vases, or +bears a tray full of offerings of flowers, corn, fish, or geese. The +inscriptions call him "Hapi, father of the gods, lord of sustenance, who +maketh food to be, and covereth the two lands of Egypt with his +products; who giveth life, banisheth want, and filleth the granaries to +overflowing." + +He is evolved into two personages, one being sometimes coloured red, the +other blue. The former, who wears a cluster of lotus-flowers on his +head, presides over Egypt of the south; the latter has a bunch of +papyrus for his headdress, and watches over the Delta. Two goddesses, +corresponding to the two Hapis--Mirit Qimait for the Upper, and +Mirit-Mihit for the Lower Egypt--personified the banks of the river. +They are represented with outstretched arms, as though begging for the +water that should make them fertile. + + + +_II.--The Gods of Egypt_ + + +The incredible number of religious scenes to be found represented on the +ancient monuments of Egypt is at first glance very striking. Nearly +every illustration in the works of Egyptologists shows us the figure of +some deity. One would think the country had been inhabited for the most +part by gods, with just enough men and animals to satisfy the +requirements of their worship. Each of these deities represented a +function, a moment in the life of man or of the universe. Thus, Naprit +was identified with the ripe ear of wheat; Maskhonit appeared by the +child's cradle at the very moment of its birth; and Raninit presided +over the naming and nurture of the newly born. + +In penetrating this mysterious world we are confronted by an actual +jumble of gods, many being of foreign origin; and these, with the +indigenous deities, made up nations of gods. This mixed pantheon had its +grades of noble princes and kings, each of its members representing one +of the forces constituting the world. Some appeared in human form; +others as animals; others as combinations of human and animal forms. + +The sky-gods, like the earth-gods, were separated into groups, the one +composed of women: Hathor of Denderah, or Nit of Sais; the other +composed of men identical with Horus, or derived from him: Anhuri-Shu of +Sebennytos and Thinis; Harmerati, or Horus, of the two eyes, at +Pharbaethos; Har-Sapedi, or Horus, of the zodiacal light, in the Wady +Tumilat; and, finally, Harhuditi at Edfu. Ra, the solar disc, was +enthroned at Heliopolis; and sun-gods were numerous among the home +deities. Horus the sun, and Ra the sun-god of Heliopolis, so permeated +each other that none could say where the one began and the other ended. + +Each of the feudal gods representing the sun cherished pretensions to +universal dominion. The goddesses shared in supreme power. Isis was +entitled lady and mistress of Buto, as Hathor was at Denderah, and as +Nit was at Sais. The animal-gods shared omnipotence with those in human +form. Each of the feudal divinities appropriated two companions and +formed a trinity; or, as it is generally called, a triad. Often the +local deity was content with one wife and one son, but often he was +united to two goddesses. The system of triads enhanced, rather than +lowered, the prestige of the feudal gods. The son in a divine triad had +of himself but limited authority. When Isis and Osiris were his parents, +he was generally an infant Horus, whose mother nursed him, offering him +her breast. The gods had body and soul, like men; they had bones, +muscles, flesh and blood; they hungered and thirsted, ate and drank; +they had our passions, griefs, joys and infirmities; and they were +subject to age, decrepitude and death, though they lived very far beyond +the term of life of men. + +The _sa_, a mysterious fluid, circulated through their members, and +carried with it divine vigour; and this they could impart to men, who +thus might become gods. Many of the Pharaohs became deities. The king +who wished to become impregnated with the divine _sa_ sat before the +statue of the god in order that this principle might be infused into +him. The gods were spared none of the anguish and none of the perils +which death so plentifully bestows on men. The gods died; each nome +possessed the mummy and the tomb of its dead deity. At Thinis there was +the mummy of Anhuri in its tomb, at Mendes the mummy of Osiris, at +Heliopolis that of Tumu. Usually, by dying, the god became another +deity. Ptah of Memphis became Sokaris; Uapuaitu, the jackal of Siut, was +changed into Anubis. Osiris first represented the wild and fickle Nile +of primitive times; but was soon transformed into a benefactor to +humanity, the supremely good being, Unnofriu, Onnophris. He was supposed +to assume the shapes not only of man, but of rams and bulls, or even of +water-birds, such as lapwings, herons, and cranes. His companion goddess +was Isis, the cow, or woman with cow's horns, who personified the earth, +and was mother of Horus. + +There were countless gods of the people: trees, serpents and family +fetishes. Fine single sycamores, flourishing as if by miracle amid the +sand, were counted divine, and worshipped by Egyptians of all ranks, who +made them offerings of figs, grapes, cucumbers, vegetables and water. +The most famous of them all, the Sycamore of the South, used to be +regarded as the living body of Hathor on earth. Each family possessed +gods and fetishes, which had been pointed out by some fortuitous meeting +with an animal or an object; perhaps by a dream and often by sudden +intuition. + + +_III.--Legendary History of Egypt_ + + +The legendary history of Egypt begins with the Heliopolitan Enneads, or +traditions of the divine dynasties of Ra, Shu, Osiris, Sit and Horus. +Great space is taken up with the fabulous history of Ra, the first king +of Egypt, who allows himself to be duped and robbed by Isis, destroys +rebellious men, and ascends to heaven. He dwelt in Heliopolis, where his +court was mainly composed of gods and goddesses. In the morning he went +forth in his barque, amid the acclamations of the crowd, made his +accustomed circuit of the world, and returned to his home at the end of +twelve hours after the journey. In his old age he became the subject of +the wiles of Isis, who poisoned him, and so secured his departure from +earth. He was succeeded by Shu and Sibu, between whom the empire of the +universe was divided. + +The fantastic legends concocted by the priests go on to relate how at +length Egypt was civilised by Osiris and Isis. By Osiris the people were +taught agriculture; Isis weaned them from cannibalism. Osiris was slain +by the red-haired and jealous demon, Sit-Typhon, and then Egypt was +divided between Horus and Sit as rivals; and so it consisted henceforth +of two kingdoms, of which one, that of the north, duly recognised Horus, +son of Isis, as its patron deity; the other, that of the south, placed +itself under the supreme protection of Sit-Nubiti, the god of Ombos. + +Elaborate and intricate and hopelessly confused are the fables relating +to the Osirian embalmment, and to the opening of the kingdom of Osiris +to the followers of Horus. Souls did not enter it without examination +and trial, as it is the aim of the famous Book of the Dead to show. +Before gaining access to this paradise each of them had to prove that it +had during earthly life belonged to a friend or to a vassal of Osiris, +and had served Horus in his exile, and had rallied to his banner from +the very beginning of the Typhonian wars. + +To Menes of Thinis tradition ascribes the honour of fusing the two +Egypts into one empire, and of inaugurating the reign of the human +dynasties. But all we know of this first of the Pharaohs, beyond his +existence, is practically nothing, and the stories related of him are +mere legends. The real history of the early centuries eludes our +researches. The history as we have it is divided into three periods: 1. +The Memphite period, which is usually called the "Ancient Empire," from +the First to the Tenth dynasty: kings of Memphite origin were rulers +over the whole of Egypt during the greater part of this epoch. 2. The +Theban period, from the Eleventh to the Twentieth dynasty. It is divided +into two parts by the invasion of the Shepherds (Sixteenth dynasty). 3. +Saite period, from the Twenty-first to the Thirtieth dynasty, divided +again into two parts by the Persian Conquest, the first Saite period, +from the Twenty-first to the Twenty-sixth dynasty; the second Saite +Period, from the Twenty-eighth to the Thirtieth dynasty. + + +_IV.--Political Constitution of Egypt_ + + +Between the Fayum and the apex of the Delta, the Libyan range expands +and forms a vast and slightly undulating table-land, which runs parallel +to the Nile for nearly thirty leagues. The great Sphinx Harmakhis has +mounted guard over its northern extremity ever since the time of the +followers of Horus. In later times, a chapel of alabaster and rose +granite was erected alongside the god; temples were built here and there +in the more accessible places, and round these were grouped the tombs of +the whole country. The bodies of the common people, usually naked and +uncoffined, were thrust into the sand at a depth of barely three feet +from the surface. Those of the better class rested in mean rectangular +chambers, hastily built of yellow bricks, without ornaments or +treasures; a few vessels, however, of coarse pottery contained the +provisions left to nourish the departed during the period of his +existence. Some of the wealthy class had their tombs cut out of the +mountain-side; but the great majority preferred an isolated tomb, a +"mastaba," comprised of a chapel above ground, a shaft, and some +subterranean vaults. + +During the course of centuries, the ever-increasing number of tombs +formed an almost uninterrupted chain, are rich in inscriptions, statues, +and in painted or sculptured scenes, and from the womb, as it were, of +these cemeteries, the Egypt of the Memphite dynasties gradually takes +new life and reappears in the full daylight of history. The king stands +out boldly in the foreground, and his tall figure towers over all else. +He is god to his subjects, who call him "the good-god," and "the +great-god," connecting him with Ra through the intervening kings. So the +Pharaohs are blood relations of the sun-god, the "divine double" being +infused into the royal infant at birth. + +The monuments throw full light on the supernatural character of the +Pharaohs in general, but tell us little of the individual disposition of +any king in particular, or of their everyday life. The royal family was +very numerous. At least one of the many women of the harem received the +title of "great spouse," or queen. Her union with the god-king rendered +her a goddess. Children swarmed in the palace, as in the houses of +private citizens, and they were constantly jealous of each other, having +no bond of union except common hatred of the son whom the chances of +birth had destined to be their ruler. + +Highly complex degrees of rank are revealed to us on the monuments of +the people who immediately surrounded the Pharaoh. His person was, as it +were, minutely subdivided into compartments, each requiring its +attendants and their appointed chiefs. His toilet alone gave employment +to a score of different trades. The guardianship of the crowns almost +approached the dignity of a priesthood, for was not the urseus, which +adorned each one, a living goddess? Troops of musicians, singers, +dancers, buffoons and dwarfs whiled away the tedious hours. Many were +the physicians, chaplains, soothsayers and magicians. But vast indeed +was the army of officials connected with the administration of public +affairs. The mainspring of all this machinery was the writer, or, as we +call him, the scribe, across whom we come in all grades of the staff. + +The title of scribe was of no particular value in itself, for everyone +was a scribe who knew how to read and write, was fairly proficient in +wording the administrative formulas, and could easily apply the +elementary rules of book-keeping. "One has only to be a scribe, for the +scribe takes the lead of all," said the wise man. Sometimes, however, a +talented scribe rose to a high position, like the Amten, whose tomb was +removed to Berlin by Lepsius, and who became a favourite of the king and +was ennobled. + + +_V.--The Memphite Empire_ + + +At that time "the Majesty of King Huni died, and the Majesty of King +Snofrui arose to be a sovereign benefactor over this whole earth." All +we know of him is contained in one sentence: he fought against the +nomads of Sinai, constructed fortresses to protect the eastern frontier +of the Delta, and made for himself a tomb in the form of a pyramid. +Snofrui called the pyramid "Kha," the Rising, the place where the dead +Pharaoh, identified with the sun, is raised above the world for ever. It +was built to indicate the place in which lies a prince, chief, or person +of rank in his tribe or province. The worship of Snofrui, the first +pyramid-builders, was perpetuated from century to century. His +popularity was probably great; but his fame has been eclipsed in our +eyes by that of the Pharaohs of the Memphite dynasty who immediately +followed him--Kheops, Khephren and Mykerinos. + +Khufui, the Kheops of the Greeks, was probably son of Snofrui. He +reigned twenty-three years, successfully defended the valuable mines of +copper, manganese and turquoise of the Sinaitic peninsula against the +Bedouin; restored the temple of Hathor at Dendera; embellished that of +Babastis; built a sanctuary to the Isis of the Sphinx; and consecrated +there gold, silver and bronze statues of Horus and many other gods. +Other Pharaohs had done as much or more; but the Egyptians of later +dynasties measured the magnificence of Kheops by the dimensions of his +pyramid at Ghizel. The Great Pyramid was called Khuit, the "Horizon," in +which Kheops had to be swallowed up, as his father, the sun, was +engulfed every evening in the horizon of the west. Of Dadufri, his +immediate successor, we can probably say that he reigned eight years; +but Khephren, the next son who succeeded to the throne, erected temples +and a gigantic pyramid, like his father. He placed it some 394 feet to +the south-west of that of Kheops, and called it Uiru the Great. It is +much smaller than its neighbour, but at a distance the difference in +height disappears. The pyramid of Mykerinos, son and successor of +Khephren, was considerably inferior in height, but was built with +scrupulous art and refined care. + +The Fifth dynasty manifested itself in every respect as the sequel and +complement of the Fourth. It reckons nine Pharaohs, who reigned for a +century and a half, and each of them built pyramids and founded cities, +and appear to have ruled gloriously. They maintained, and even +increased, the power and splendour of Egypt. But the history of the +Memphite Empire unfortunately loses itself in legend and fable, and +becomes a blank for several centuries. + + +_VI.--The First Theban Empire_ + + +The principality of the Oleander--Naru--comprised the territory lying +between the Nile and the Bahr Yusuf, a district known to the Greeks as +the island of Heracleopolis. It, moreover, included the whole basin of +the Fayum, on the west of the valley. Attracted by the fertility of the +soil, the Pharaohs of the older dynasties had from time to time taken up +their residence in Heracleopolis, the capital of the district of the +Oleander, and one of them, Snofrui, had built his pyramid at Medum, +close to the frontier of the nome. In proportion as the power of the +Memphites declined, so did the princes of the Oleander grow more +vigorous and enterprising; and When the Memphite kings passed away, +these princes succeeded their former masters and eventually sat "upon +the throne of Horus." + +The founder of the Ninth dynasty was perhaps Khiti I., who ruled over +all Egypt, and whose name has been found on rocks at the first cataract. +His successors seem to have reigned ingloriously for more than a +century. The history of this period seems to have been one of confused +struggle, the Pharaohs fighting constantly against their vassals, and +the nobles warring amongst themselves. During the Memphite and +Heracleopolitan dynasties Memphis, Elephantine, El-Kab and Koptos were +the principal cities of the country; and it was only towards the end of +the Eighth dynasty that Thebes began to realise its power. The revolt of +the Theban. princes put an end to the Ninth dynasty; and though +supported by the feudal powers of Central and Northern Egypt, the Tenth +dynasty did not succeed in bringing them back to their allegiance, and +after a struggle of nearly 200 years the Thebans triumphed and brought +the two divisions of Egypt under their rule. + +The few glimpses to be obtained of the early history of the first Theban +dynasty give the impression of an energetic and intelligent race. The +kings of the Eleventh dynasty were careful not to wander too far from +the valley of the Nile, concentrating their efforts not on conquest of +fresh territory, but on the remedy of the evils from which the country +had suffered for hundreds of years. The final overthrow of the +Heracleopolitan dynasty, and the union of the two kingdoms under the +rule of the Theban house, are supposed to have been the work of that +Monthotpu, whose name the Egyptians of Rameside times inscribed in the +royal lists as that of the founder and most illustrious representative +of the Eleventh dynasty. + +The leader of the Twelfth dynasty, Amenemhait I., was of another stamp, +showing himself to be a Pharaoh conscious of his own divinity and +determined to assert it. He inspected the whole land, restored what he +found in ruins, crushed crime, settled the bounds of towns, and +established for each its frontiers. Recognising that Thebes lay too far +south to be a suitable place of residence for the lord of all Egypt, +Amenemhait proceeded to establish himself in the heart of the country in +imitation of the glorious Pharaohs from whom he claimed descent. He took +up his abode a little to the south of Dashur, in the palace of Titoui. +Having restored peace to his country, the king in the twentieth year of +his reign, when he was growing old, raised his son Usirtasen, then very +young, to the co-regency with himself. + +When, ten years later, the old king died, his son was engaged in a war +against the Libyans. He reigned alone for thirty-two years. The Twelfth +dynasty lasted 213 years; and its history can be ascertained with +greater certainty and completeness than that of any other dynasty which +ruled Egypt, although we are far from having any adequate idea of its +great achievements, for unfortunately the biographies of its eight +sovereigns and the details of their interminable wars are very +imperfectly known. + +Uncertainty again shrouds the history of the country after the reign of +Sovkhoptu I. The Twentieth dynasty contained, so it is said, sixty +kings, who reigned for a period of over 453 years. The Nofirhoptus and +Sovkhoptus continued to all appearances both at home and abroad the work +so ably begun by the Amenemhaits and the Usirtasens. + +During the Thirteenth dynasty art and everything else in Egypt were +fairly prosperous, but wealth exercised an injurious effect on artistic +taste. During this dynasty we hear nothing of the inhabitants of the +Sinaitic Peninsula to the east, or of the Libyans to the west; it was in +the south, in Ethiopia, that the Pharaohs expended all their superfluous +energy. The middle basin of the Nile as far as Gebel-Barkal was soon +incorporated with Egypt, and the population became quickly assimilated. +Sovkhoptu III., who erected colossal statues of himself at Tanis, +Bubastis and Thebes, was undisputed master of the whole Nile valley, +from near the spot where it receives its last tributary to where it +empties itself into the sea. The making of Egypt was finally +accomplished in his time. The Fourteenth dynasty, however, consists of a +line of seventy-five kings, whose mutilated names appear on the Turin +Papyrus. These shadowy Pharaohs followed each other in rapid sequence, +some reigning only a few months, others for certainly not more than two +and three years. + +Meantime, during what appears to have been an era of rivalries between +pretenders, mutually jealous of and deposing one another, usurpers in +succession seizing the crown without strength to keep it, the feudal +lords displayed more than their old restlessness. The nomad tribes began +to show growing hostility on the frontier, and the peoples of the Tigris +and Euphrates were already pushing their vanguards into Central Syria. +While Egypt had been bringing the valley of the Nile and the eastern +corner of Africa into subjection, Chaldaea had imposed not only language +and habits, but also her laws upon the whole of that part of Eastern +Asia which separated her from Egypt. Thus the time was rapidly +approaching when these two great civilised powers of the ancient world +would meet each other face to face and come into fierce and terrible +collision. + + +_VII.--Ancient Chaldaea_ + + +The Chaldaean account of Genesis is contained on fragments of tablets +discovered and deciphered in 1875 by George Smith. These tell legends of +the time when "nothing which was called heaven existed above, and when +nothing below had as yet received the name of earth. Apsu, the Ocean, +who was their first father, and Chaos-Tiamat, who gave birth to them +all, mingled their waters in one, reeds which were not united, rushes +which bore no fruit. In the time when the gods were not created, Lakhmu +and Lakhamu were the first to appear and waxed great for ages." + +Then came Anu, the sunlit sky by day, the starlit firmament by night; +Inlil-Bel, the king of the earth; Ea, the sovereign of the waters and +the personification of wisdom. Each of them duplicated himself, Anu into +Anat, Bel into Belit, Ea into Damkina, and united himself to the spouse +whom he had produced from himself. Other divinities sprang from these +fruitful pairs, and, the impulse once given, the world was rapidly +peopled by their descendants. Sin, Samash and Ramman, who presided +respectively over the sun, moon and air, were all three of equal rank; +next came the lords of the planets, Ninib, Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, the +warrior-goddess, and Nebo; then a whole army of lesser deities who +ranged themselves around Anu as around a supreme master. + +Discord arose. The first great battle of the gods was between Tiamat and +Merodach. In this fearful conflict Tiamat was destroyed. Splitting her +body into halves, the conqueror hung up one on high, and this became the +heavens; the other he spread out under his feet to form the earth, and +made the universe as men have known it. Merodach regulated the movements +of the sun and divided the year into twelve months. + +The heavens having been put in order, he set about peopling the earth. +Many such fables concerning the cosmogony were current among the races +of the lower Euphrates, who seem to have belonged to three different +types. The most important were the Semites, who spoke a dialect akin to +Armenian, Hebrew and Phoenician. Side by side with these the monuments +give evidence of a race of ill-defined character, whom we provisionally +call Sumerians, who came, it is said, from some northern country, and +brought with them a curious system of writing which, adopted by ten +different nations, has preserved for us all that we know in regard to +the majority of the empires which rose and fell in Western Asia before +the Persian conquest. The cities of these Semites and Sumerians were +divided into two groups, one in the south, near the sea, the other more +to the north, where the Euphrates and the Tigris are separated by a +narrow strip of land. The southern group consisted of seven, Eridu lying +nearest the coast. Uru was the most important. Lagash was to the north +of Eridu. The northern group consisted of Nipur, "the incomparable," +Borsip, Babylon (gate of the god and residence of life, the only +metropolis of the Euphrates region of which posterity never lost +reminiscence), Kishu, Kuta, Agade, and, lastly, the two Sipparas, that +of Shamash, and that of Annuit. + +The earliest Chaldaean civilisation was confined almost to the banks of +the lower Euphrates; except at the northern boundary it did not reach +the Tigris and did not cross the river. Separated from the rest of the +world, on the east by the vast marshes bordering on the river, on the +north by the Mesopotamian table-land, on the west by the Arabian desert, +it was able to develop its civilisation as Egypt had done, in an +isolated area, and to follow out its destiny in peace. + +According to Ferossasi the first king was Aloros of Babylon. He was +chosen by the god Oannes, and reigned supernaturally for ten sari, or +36,000 years, each saros being 3,600 years. Nine kings follow, each in +this mythical record reigning an enormous period. Then took place the +great deluge, 691,000 years after the creation, in consequence of the +wickedness of men, who neglected the worship of the gods, and excited +their wrath. Shamashnapishtim, king at this time in Shurippak, was saved +miraculously in a great ship. Concerning him and his voyage strange +fables are recorded. After the deluge, 86 kings ruled during 34,080 +years. One of these was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of the Bible, who +appears as Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and is the hero of extraordinary +adventures. + +History proper begins with Sargon the Elder, king at the first in Agade, +who soon annexed Babylon, Sippara, Kishu, Uruk, Kuta and Nipur. His +brilliant career was like an anticipation of that of the still more +glorious life of Sargon of Nineveh. His son, Naramsin, succeeded him +about 3750 B.C. He conquered Elam and was a great builder. After him the +most famous king of that epoch was Gudea, of Lagash, the prince of whom +we possess the greatest number of monuments. But in these records we +have but the dust of history rather than history itself. The materials +are scanty in the extreme and the framework also is wanting. + + +_VIII.--The Temples and the Gods of Chaldaea_ + + +The cities of the Euphrates attract no attention, like those of Egypt, +by the magnificence of their ruins. They are merely heaps of rubbish in +which no architectural outline can be traced--mounds of stiff greyish +clay, containing the remains of the vast structures that were built of +bricks set in mortar or bitumen. Stone was not used as in Egypt. While +the Egyptian temple was spread superficially over a large area, the +Chaldaean temple strove to attain as high an elevation as possible. These +"ziggurats" were composed of several immense cubes piled up on one +another, and diminishing in size up to the small shrine by which they +were crowned, and wherein the god himself was supposed to dwell. + +The gods of the Euphrates, like those of the Nile, constituted a +countless multitude of visible and invisible beings, distributed into +tribes and empires throughout all the regions of the universe; but, +whereas in Egypt they were, on the whole, friendly to man, in Chaldaea +they for the most part pursued him with an implacable hatred, and only +seemed to exist in order to destroy him. Whether Semite or Sumerian, the +gods, like those of Egypt, were not abstract personages, but each +contained in himself one of the principal elements of which our universe +is composed--earth, air, sky, sun, moon and stars. The state religion, +which all the inhabitants of the same city were solemnly bound to +observe, included some dozen gods, but the private devotion of +individuals supplemented this cult by vast additions, each family +possessing its own household gods. + +Animals never became objects of worship as in Egypt; some of them, +however, as the bull and the lion, were closely allied to the gods. If +the idea of uniting all these gods into a single supreme one ever +crossed the mind of a Chaldaean theologian, it never spread to the people +as a whole. Among all the thousands of tablets or inscribed stones on +which we find recorded prayers, we have as yet discovered no document +containing the faintest allusion to a divine unity. The temples were +miniature reproductions of the arrangements of the universe. The +"ziggurat" represented in its form the mountain of the world, and the +halls ranged at its feet resembled approximately the accessory parts of +the world; the temple of Merodach at Babylon comprised them all up to +the chambers of fate, where the sun received every morning the tablets +of destiny. + +Every individual was placed, from the very moment of his birth, under +the protection of a god or goddess, of whom he was the servant, or +rather the son. These deities accompanied him by day and by night to +guard him from the evil genii ready to attack him on every side. The +Chaldaeans had not such clear ideas as to what awaited them in the other +world as the Egyptians possessed. + +The Chaldaean hades is a dark country surrounded by seven high walls, and +is approached by seven gates, each guarded by a pitiless warder. Two +deities rule within it--Nergal, "the lord of the great city," and +Peltis-Allat, "the lady of the great land," whither everything which has +breathed in this world descends after death. A legend relates that Allat +reigned alone in hades and was invited by the gods to a feast which they +had prepared in heaven. Owing to her hatred of the light she refused, +sending a message by her servant, Namtar, who acquitted himself, with +such a bad grace, that Anu and Ea were incensed against his mistress, +and commissioned Nergal to chastise her. He went, and finding the gates +of hell open, dragged the queen by her hair from the throne, and was +about to decapitate her, but she mollified him by her prayers and saved +her life by becoming his wife. + +The nature of Nergal fitted him well to play the part of a prince of the +departed; for he was the destroying sun of summer, and the genius of +pestilence and battle. His functions in heaven and earth took up so much +of his time that he had little leisure to visit his nether kingdom, and +he was consequently obliged to content himself with the role of +providing subjects for it by dispatching thither the thousands of +recruits which he gathered daily from the abodes of men or from the +field of battle. + + +_IX.--Chaldaean Civilisation_ + + +The Chaldaean kings, unlike their contemporaries, the Pharaohs, rarely +put forward any pretension to divinity. They contented themselves with +occupying an intermediate position between their subjects and the gods. +While the ordinary priest chose for himself a single deity as master, +the priest-king exercised universal sacerdotal functions. He officiated +for Merodach here below, and the scrupulously minute devotions daily +occupied many hours. On great days of festival or sacrifice they laid +aside all insignia of royalty and were clad as ordinary priests. + +Women do not seem to have been honoured in the Euphratean regions as in +Egypt, where the wives of the sovereign were invested with that +semi-sacred character that led the women to be associated with the +devotions of the man, and made them indispensable auxiliaries in all +religious ceremonies. Whereas the monuments on the banks of the Nile +reveal to us princesses sharing the throne of their husbands, whom they +embrace with a gesture of frank affection, in Chaldaea, the wives of the +prince, his mother, sisters, daughters and even his slaves, remain +absolutely invisible to posterity. The harem in which they were shut up +by force of custom rarely, if ever, opened its doors; the people seldom +caught sight of them; and we could count on our fingers the number of +these whom the inscriptions mention by name. + +Life was not so pleasant in Chaldaea as in Egypt. The innumerable +promissory notes, the receipted accounts, the contracts of sale and +purchase--these cunningly drawn-up deeds which have been deciphered by +the hundred, reveal to us a people greedy of gain, exacting, litigious, +and almost exclusively absorbed in material concerns. The climate, too, +variable and oppressive in summer and winter alike, imposed on the +Chaldaean painful exactions, and obliged him to work with an energy of +which the majority of Egyptians would not have felt themselves capable. +And the plague of usury raged with equal violence in city and country. + +In proportion, however, as we are able to bring this wonderful +civilisation to light we become more and more conscious that we have +indeed little or nothing in common with it. Its laws, customs, habits +and character, its methods of action and its modes of thought, are so +far apart from those of the present day that they seem to belong to a +humanity utterly different from our own. It thus happens that while we +understand to a shade the classical language of the Greeks and of the +Romans, and can read their works almost without effort, the great +primitive literatures of the world, the Egyptian and Chaldaean, have +nothing to offer us for the most part but a sequence of problems to +solve or of enigmas to unriddle with patience. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Struggle of the Nations + + + Maspero in this work gives us the second volume of his great + historical trilogy. He shows in parallel views the part played + in the history of the ancient world by the first Chaldaean + Empire, by Syria, by the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, of Egypt, + and by the first Cossaean kings who established the greatness + of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. The great Theban dynasty + is then exhibited in its romantic rise under the Pharaohs. + Maspero writes not as a mere chronicler or reciter of events, + but as a philosophical historian. He makes the reader + understand how fatally the chronic militarism of these + competing empires drained each of its manhood and brought + Babylon and Assyria simultaneously into a hopeless condition + of national anaemia. Equally pathetic is the picture drawn of + the gradual but sure decay of the grand empire of the + Pharaohs. Maspero, with masterly skill, passes a processional + of these despots before our eyes. + + +_I.--The Chaldaean Empire and the Hyksos_ + + +Some countries seem destined from their origin to become the +battlefields of the contending nations which environ them. Into such +regions neighbouring peoples come to settle their quarrels, and bit by +bit they appropriate it, so that at best the only course open to the +inhabitants is to join forces with one of the invaders. From remote +antiquity this was the experience of Syria, which was thus destined to +become subject to foreign rule. Chaldaea, Egypt, Assyria and Persia in +turn presided over its destinies. Semites dwelt in the south and the +centre, while colonies from beyond the Taurus occupied the north. The +influence of Egypt never penetrated beyond the provinces lying nearest +the Dead Sea. The remaining populations looked rather to Chaldaea, and +received the continuous impress of the kingdoms of the Euphrates. + +The lords of Babylon had, ordinarily, a twofold function, the priest at +first taking precedence of the soldier, but gradually yielding to the +latter as the city increased in power. Each ruler was obliged to go in +state to the temple of Bel Merodach within a year of his accession, +there to do homage to the divine statue. The long lists of early kings +contain semi-legendary names, including those of mythical heroes. +Towards the end of the twenty-fifth century, however, before the +Christian era, a dynasty arose of which all the members come within the +range of history. + +The first of these kings, Sumuabim, has left us some contracts bearing +the dates of one or other of the fifteen years of his reign. Of the ten +kings who followed during the period embraced between the years 2416 +B.C. and 2112 B.C., the one who ruled for the longest term was the. +famous and fortunate Khammurabi (son of Sinmuballit), who was on the +throne for fifty-five years. + +While thus the first Chaldean Empire was being established, Egypt, +separated from her confines only by a narrow isthmus, loomed on the +horizon, and appeared to beckon to her rival. But she had strangely +declined from her former greatness, and had been attacked and subdued by +invaders appearing like a cloud of locusts on the banks of the Nile, to +whom was applied the name Hiq Shausu, from which the Greeks derived the +term Hyksos for this people. Modern scholars have put forward many +conflicting hypotheses as to the identity of this race of conquerors. +The monuments represent them with the Mongoloid type of feature. The +problem remains unsolved, and the origin of the Hyksos is as mysterious +as ever. + +About this time took place that entrance into Egypt of the Beni-Israel, +or Israelites, which has since acquired a unique position in the world's +history. A comparatively ancient tradition relates that the Hebrews +arrived in Egypt during the reign of Aphobis, a Hyksos king, doubtless +one of the Apopi. The Hyksos were ousted by a hero named Ahmosis after a +war of five years. The XVIIIth Dynasty was inaugurated by the Pharaohs, +whose policy was so aggressive that Egypt, attacked by enemies from +various quarters, and roused, as it were, to warlike frenzy, hurled her +armies across all her frontiers simultaneously, and her sudden +appearance in the heart of Syria gave a new turn to human history. The +isolation of the kingdoms of the ancient world was at an end; and the +conflict of the nations was about to begin. + + +_II.--Beginning of the Egyptian Conquest_ + + +The Egyptians had no need to anticipate Chaldaean interference when, +forsaking their ancient traditions, they penetrated for the first time +into the heart of Syria. Babylonian rule ceased to exercise direct +control when the line of sovereigns who had introduced it disappeared. +When Ammisatana died, about the year 2099 B.C., the dynasty of +Khammurabi became extinct, and kings of the semi-barbarous Cossaean race +gained the throne which had been occupied since the days of Khammurabi +by Chaldaeans of the ancient stock. + +The Cossaean king who seized on Babylon was named Gandish. He and his +tribe came from the mountainous regions of Zagros, on the borders of +Media. The Cossaean rule over the countries of the Euphrates was +doubtless similar in its beginnings to that which the Hyksos exercised +at first over the nomes of Egypt. The Cossaean kings did not merely bring +with them their army, but their whole nation, who spread over the whole +land. As in the case of the Hyksos, the barbarian conquerors thus became +merged in the more civilised people which they had subdued. But the +successors of Gandish were unable permanently to retain their ascendancy +over all the districts and provinces, and several of these withdrew +their allegiance. Thus in Syria the authority of Babylon was no longer +supreme when the encroachments of Egypt began, and when Thutmosis +entered the region the native levies which he encountered were by no +means formidable. + +The whole country consisted of a collection of petty states, a complex +group of peoples and territories which the Egyptians themselves never +completely succeeded in disentangling. We are, however, able to +distinguish at the present time several of these groups, all belonging +to the same family, but possessing different characteristics--the +kinsfolk of the Hebrews, the children of Ishmael and Edom, the Moabites +and Ammonites, the Arameans, the Khati and the Canaanites. The +Canaanites were the most numerous, and had they been able to confederate +under a single king, it would have been impossible for the Egyptians to +have broken through the barrier thus raised between them and the rest of +Asia. + + +_III.--The Eighteenth Theban Dynasty_ + + +The account of the first expedition undertaken by Thutmosis I. in Asia, +a region at that time new to the Egyptians, would be interesting if we +could lay our hands on it. We know that this king succeeded in reaching +on his first campaign a limit which none of his successors was able to +surpass. The results of the campaign were of a decisive character, for +Southern Syria accepted its defeat, and Gaza was garrisoned as the +secure door of Asia for future invasions. Freed from anxiety in this +quarter, Pharaoh gave his whole time to the consolidation of his power +in Ethiopia, where rebellion had become rife. Subduing this southern +region and thus extending the supremacy of Egypt in the regions of the +upper Nile, Thutmosis was able to end his days in the enjoyment of +profound peace. Thutmosis II. did not long survive him. His chief wife, +Queen Hatshopsitu, reigned for many years with great ability while the +new Pharaoh, Thutmosis III., was still a youth. + +After the death of Hatshopsitu, the young Pharaoh set out with his army. +It was at the beginning of the twenty-fourth year of his reign that he +reached Gaza. Marching forward he reached the spurs of Mount Carmel and +won a decisive victory at Megiddo over the allied Syrian princes. The +inscriptions at Karnak contain long lists of the titles of the king's +Syrian subjects. The Pharaoh had now no inclination to lay down his +arms, and we have a record of twelve military expeditions of this king. +When the Syrian conquest had been effected, Egypt gave permanency to its +results by means of a series of international decrees, which established +the constitution of her empire, and brought about her concerted action +with the Asiatic powers. She had already occupied an important position +among them when Thutmosis III. died in the fifty-fifth year of his +reign. + +Of his successors the most prosperous was the renowned Amenothes III., +who is immortalised by the wonderful monumental relics of his long and +peaceful reign. Amenothes devoted immense energy to the building of +temples, palaces and shrines, and gave very little of his time to war. + + +_IV.--The Last Days of the Theban Empire_ + + +When the male line failed, there was no lack of princesses in Egypt, of +whom any one who happened to come to the throne might choose a consort +after her own heart, and thus become the founder of a new dynasty. By +such a chance alliance Harmhabi, himself a descendant of Thutmosis III., +was raised to the kingly office as first Pharaoh of the XIXth Dynasty. +He displayed great activity both within Egypt and beyond it, conducting +mighty building enterprises and also undertaking expeditions against +recalcitrant tribes along the Upper Nile. + +Rameses I., who succeeded Harmhabi, was already an old man at his +accession. He reigned only six or seven years, and associated his son, +Seti I., with himself in the government from his second year of power. +No sooner had Seti celebrated his father's obsequies than he set out for +war against Southern Syria, then in open revolt. He captured Hebron, +marched to Gaza, and then northward to Lebanon, where he received the +homage of the Phoenicians, and returned in triumph to Egypt, bringing +troops of captives. + +By Seti I. were built the most wonderful of the halls at Karaak and +Luxor, which render his name for ever illustrious. He associated with +him his son, still very young, who became renowned as Ramses II., one of +the greatest warriors and builders amongst all the rulers of Egypt The +monuments and temples erected by this king also are among the wonders of +the world. He married a Hittite princess when he was more than sixty. +This alliance secured a long period of peace and prosperity. Syria once +more breathed freely, her commerce being under the combined protection +of the two Powers who shared her territory. + +Ramses II. was, in his youth, the handsomest man of his time, and old +age and death did not succeed in marring his face sufficiently to +disfigure it, as may be seen in his mummy to-day. Ramses the Great, who +was thus the glory of the XIXth Dynasty, reigned sixty-eight years, and +lived to the age of 100, when he passed away peacefully at Thebes. Under +his successors, Minephtah, Seti II., Amenemis and Siphtah, the nation +became decadent, though there were transient gleams of prosperity, as +when Minephtah won a great victory over the Libyans. But after the death +of Siphtah, there were many claimants for the Crown, and anarchy +prevailed from one end of the Nile valley to the other. + + +_V.--The Rise of the Assyrian Empire_ + + +Ramses III., a descendant of Ramses II., was the founder of the last +dynasty which was able to retain the supremacy of Egypt over the +Oriental world. He took for his hero Ramses the Great, and endeavoured +to rival him in everything, and for a period the imperial power revived. +In the fifth year of his reign he was able to repulse the confederated +Libyans with complete success. Victories over other enemies followed, +and also peace and prosperity. + +The cessation of Egyptian authority over those countries in which it had +so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression it +had made on their constitution and customs. Syria and Phoenicia had +become, as it were, covered with an African veneer, both religion and +language being affected by Egyptian influence. But the Phoenicians +became absorbed in commercial pursuits, and failed to aspire to the +inheritance which the Egyptians were letting slip. Coeval with the +decline of the power of the latter was that of the Hittites. + +The Babylonian Empire likewise degenerated under the Cossaean kings, and +gave way to the ascendancy of Assyria, which came to regard Babylon with +deadly hatred. The capitals of the two countries were not more than 185 +miles apart. The line of demarcation followed one of the many canals +between the Tigris and Euphrates. It then crossed the Tigris and was +formed by one of the rivers draining the Iranian table-land--the Upper +Zab, the Radanu, or the Turnat. Each of the two states strove by every +means in its power to stretch its boundary to the farthest limits, and +the narrow area was the scene of continual war. + +Assyria was but a poor and insignificant country when compared with that +of her rival. She occupied, on each side of the middle course of the +Tigris, the territory lying between the 35th and 37th parallels of +latitude. This was a compact and healthy district, well watered by the +streams running from the Iranian plateau, which were regulated by a +network of canals and ditches for irrigation of the whole region. The +provinces thus supplied with water enjoyed a fertility which passed into +a proverb. Thus Assyria was favoured by nature, but she was not well +wooded. The most important of the cities were Assur, Arbeles, Kalakh and +Nineveh. + +Assur, dedicated to the deity from which it took its name, placed on the +very edge of the Mesopotamian desert, with the Tigris behind it, was, +during the struggle with the Chaldaean power, exposed to the attacks of +the Babylonian armies; while Nineveh, entrenched behind the Tigris and +the Zab, was secure from any sudden assault. Thus it became the custom +for the kings to pass at Nineveh the trying months of the year, though +Assur remained the official capital and chief sanctuary of the empire, +which began its aggrandisement under Assurballit, by his victory over +the Cossaean kings of Babylon. But the heroic age comes before us in the +career of Shalmaneser I., a powerful sovereign who in a few years +doubled the extent of his dominions. He beautified Assur, but removed +his court to Kalakh. His son, Tukulti-ninip I., made himself master of +Babylon, and was the first of his race who was able to assume the title +of King of Sumir and Akkad. + +This first conquest of Chaldaea did not produce lasting results, for the +sons of the hero fought each other for the Crown, and Assyria became the +scene of civil wars. The fortunes of Babylon rose again, but the +depression of Assyria did not last long. Nineveh had become the +metropolis. Confusion was increased in the whole of this vast region of +Asia by the invasion and partial triumph of the Elamites over Babylon. +But these were driven back when Nebuchadrezzar arose in Babylon. To +Merodach he prayed, and "his prayer was heard," and he invaded Elam, +taking its king by surprise and defeating him. + +Nebuchadrezzar no longer found any rival to oppose him save the king of +Assyria, whom he attacked; but now his aggression was checked, for +though his forces were successful at first, they were ultimately sent +flying across the frontiers with great loss, through the prowess of +Assurishishi, who became a mighty king in Nineveh. But his son, +Tiglath-pileser, is the first of the great warrior kings of Assyria to +stand out before us with any definite individuality. He immediately, on +his accession, began to employ in aggressive wars the well-equipped army +left by his father, and in three campaigns he regained all the +territories that Shalmaneser I. had lost, and also conquered various +regions of Asia Minor and Syria. In a rising of the Chaldaeans he met +with a severe defeat, which he did not long survive, dying about the +year 1100 B.C. + +There is only one gleam in the murky night of this period. A certain +Assurirba seems to have crossed Northern Syria, and, following in the +footsteps of his great ancestor, to have penetrated as far as the +Mediterranean; on the rocks of Mount Amanus, facing the sea, he left a +triumphal inscription in which he set forth the mighty deeds he had +accomplished. His good fortune soon forsook him. The Arameans wrested +from him the fortresses of Pitru and Mutkinu, which commanded both banks +of the Euphrates near Carchemish. + +What were the causes of this depression from which Babylon suffered at +almost regular intervals, as though stricken with some periodic malady? +The main reason soon becomes apparent if we consider the nature of the +country and the material conditions of its existence. Chaldaea was +neither extensive nor populous enough to afford a solid basis for the +ambition of her princes. Since nearly every man capable of bearing arms +was enrolled in the army, the Chaldaean kings had no difficulty in +raising, at a moment's notice, a force which could be employed to repel +an invasion, or to make a sudden attack on some distant territory; it +was in schemes that required prolonged and sustained effort that they +felt the drawbacks of their position. In that age of hand-to-hand +combats, the mortality in battle was very high; forced marches through +forests and across mountains entailed a heavy loss of men, and three or +four campaigns against a stubborn foe soon reduced the army to a +condition of weakness. + +When Nebuchadrezzar I. made war on Assurishishi, he was still weak from +the losses he had incurred during the campaign against Elam, and could +not conduct his attack with the same vigour as had gained him victory on +the banks of the Ulai. In the first year he only secured a few +indecisive advantages; in the second he succumbed. + +The same reasons which explain the decadence of Babylon show us the +causes of the periodic eclipses undergone by Assyria after each outburst +of her warlike spirit. The country was now forced to pay for the glories +of Assurishishi and of Tiglath-pileser by falling into an inglorious +state of languor and depression. And ere long newer races asserted +themselves which had gradually come to displace the nations over which +the dynasties of Thutmosis and Ramses had held sway as tributary to +them. The Hebrews on the east, and the Philistines on the southwest, +were about to undertake the conquest of Kharu, as the land which is +known to us as Canaan was styled by the Egyptians. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Passing of the Empires + + + Maspero, in the third volume of his great archaeological + trilogy, completing his "History of the Ancient Peoples of the + Classic East," deals with the passing in succession of the + supremacies of the Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldaean, + Medo-Persian and Iranian Empires. The period dealt with in + this graphic narrative covers fully five centuries, from 850 + B.C. to 330 B.C. M. Maspero in cinematographic style passes + before us the actors in many of the most thrilling of historic + dramas. One excellent feature of his method is his balancing + of evidences. Where Xenophon and Herodotus absolutely differ + he tells what each asserts. With consummate skill also he + arranges his recital like a series of dissolving views, + showing how epochs overlap, and how as Babylon is fading + Assyria is rising, and as the latter in turn is waning Media + is looming into sight. We are, in this third instalment of + Maspero's monumental work, brought to understand how the + decline of one mighty Asiatic empire after another, + culminating in the overthrow of the Persian dominion by + Alexander, prepared at length for the entry of Western nations + on the stage, and how Europe became the heir of the culture + and civilisation of the Orient. + + +_I.--The Assyrian Revival_ + + +Since the extinction of the race of Nebuchadrezzar I. Babylon had been a +prey to civil discord and foreign invasion. It was a period of calamity +and distress, during which the Arabs or the Arameans ravaged the +country, and an Elamite usurper overthrew the native dynasty and held +authority for seven years. This intruder having died about the year 1030 +B.C., a Babylonian of noble extraction expelled the Elamites and +succeeded in bringing the larger part of the dominion under his rule. +Five or six of his descendants passed away and another was feebly +reigning when war broke out afresh with Assyria, and the two armies +encountered each other again on their former battlefield between the +Lower Zab and the Turnat. The Assyrians were victorious under their +king, Tukulti-ninip II., who did not live long to enjoy his triumph. His +son, Assur-nazir-pal, inherited a kingdom which embraced scarcely any of +the countries that had paid tribute to former sovereign, for most of +these had gradually regained their liberty. + +Nearly the whole empire had to be re-conquered under much the same +conditions as in the first instance, but Assyria had recovered the +vitality and elasticity of its earlier days. Its army now possessed a +new element. This was the cavalry, properly so called, as an adjunct to +the chariotry. But it must be remembered that the strength and +discipline which the Assyrian troops possessed in such high degree were +common to the military forces of all the great states--Elam, Damascus, +Nairi, the Hittites and Chaldea. Thus, the armies of all these states +being, as a rule, both in strength and numbers much on a par, no single +power was able to inflict on any of the rest such a defeat as would be +its destruction. Twice at least in three centuries a king of Assyria had +entered Babylon, and twice the Babylonians had forced the intruder back. + +Profiting by the past, Assur-nazir-pal resolutely avoided those +conflicts in which so many of his predecessors had wasted their lives. +He was content to devote his attention to less dangerous enemies than +the people of Babylonia. Invading Nummi, he quickly captured its chief +cities, then subdued the Kirruri, attacked the fortress of Nishtu, and +pillaged many of the cities around. Bubu, the Chief of Nishtu, was +flayed alive. After a reign of twenty-five years he died in 860 B.C. + +A summary of the events in the reign of thirty-five years of his +successor, Shalmaneser III., is contained on the Black Obelisk of +Nimroud, discovered by Layard and preserved in the British Museum. He +conquered the whole country round Lake Van, ravaging the country "as a +savage bull ravages and tramples under his feet the fertile fields." An +attack on Damascus led to a terrible but indecisive battle, Benhadad, +King of Syria, proving himself fully a match for the invader. But a war +with Babylon, lasting for a period of two years, ended with victory for +Assyria, and Shalmaneser, entering the city, went direct to the temple +of E-shaggil, where he offered worship to the local gods. + +Memorable events followed, first in connection with Damascus, Ahab, King +of Israel, Benhadad's ally, and other confederates, had not been +faithful to his suzerainty. Ahab had by treaty agreed to surrender the +city of Ramoth-gilead to the Syrian monarch and had not fulfilled his +pledge. He and Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had concluded an alliance +against Benhadad, who seized the disputed fortress, and the two had +organised an expedition, which led to the death of Ahab in battle. +Israel lapsed once more into the position of a vassal to Benhadad, and +long remained in that subjection. + +The last days of Shalmaneser were embittered by the revolt of his son, +Assur-dain-pal, and his death occurred in 824 B.C. The kingdom was +shaken by the struggle that ensued between his sons. Samsi-ramman IV., +the brother of Assurdain-pal, reigned for twelve years; his son, +Ramman-nirari III., had married the Babylonian princess Sammuramat, and +so had secured peace. He was an energetic and capable ruler. To him at +length Damascus made submission and paid tribute. But Menuas, a bold and +able King of Urartu, proved himself a thorn in the side of the Assyrian +king, for he delivered from the yoke of Nineveh the tribes on the +borders of Lake Urmiah and all the adjacent regions. + +Everywhere along the Lower Zab, and on the frontier as far as the +Euphrates, the Assyrian outposts were driven back by Menuas, who also +overcame the Hittites and by his campaigns formed that kingdom of Van, +or Armenia, which was quite equal in size to Assyria. He died shortly +before the death of Ramman-nirari, in 784 B.C. His son, Argistis, spent +the first few years of his reign in completing his conquests in the +country north of the Araxes. He was attacked by Shalmaneser IV., son of +Ramman-nirari, but defeated the Assyrians. + +Misfortunes accumulated for the rulers and people who had exercised so +wide a sway, and the end of the Second Assyrian Empire was not far off. +Syria was lost under Assur-nirari III., who was also driven from Calah +by sedition in 746 B.C. He died some months later and the dynasty came +to an end, and in 745 a usurper, the leader of the revolt at Calah, +proclaimed himself king under the name of Tiglath-pileser III. The +Second Empire had lasted rather less than a century and a half. + + +_II.--To the Destruction of Babylon_ + + +Events proved that, at this period at any rate, the decadence of Assyria +was not due to any exhaustion of the race or impoverishment of the +country, but was owing Mainly to the incapacity of its kings and the +lack of energy displayed by their generals. The Assyrian troops had lost +none of their former valour, but their leaders had shown less foresight +and skill. As soon as Tiglath-pileser assumed leadership, the armies +regained their former prestige and supremacy. + +The empire still included the original patrimony of Assur and its +ancient colonies on the Upper Tigris, but the buffer provinces, +containing the tribes on the borders of Syria, Namri, Nairi, Melitene, +had thrown off the yoke, as had the Arameans, while Menuas of Armenia +and his son Argistis had by their invasions laid waste the Median +territory. Sharduris III., son of Argistis, succeeded to the throne of +Armenia about 760, and at once overran the district of Babilu, carrying +by storm three royal castles, 23 cities, and 60 villages. He also +captured the castles of the mountaineers of Melitene. Crossing Mount +Taurus about 756, he forced the Hittites to swear allegiance. + +It was in the middle of this eighth century B.C., in the days of +Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria, and Sharduris III. of Armenia, that +Israel, under Jehoash, and his son Jeroboam II.; inspired by the +exhortations of Elisha the prophet, was rehabilitated for a season, +winning victories over the Syrians and taking vengeance on Damascus, and +then attacking the Moabites. The sudden collapse of Damascus led to the +decline of Syria, but though Jeroboam II. seemed to be firmly seated as +king in Samaria, the downfall of Israel and Judah alike, as well as of +Tyre, Edom, Gaza, Moab, and Ammon, was foretold by the prophet Amos, +while from the midst of Ephraim the priest-seer, Hosea, was never weary +of reproaching the tribes with their ingratitude and of predicting their +coming desolation. + +Ere long, Tiglath-pileser began his campaigns against them by attacking +the Arameans, dwelling on the banks of the Tigris. He overthrew them at +the first encounter. Nabunazir, then king in Babylon, bowed before him +and swore fidelity to him, and he visited Sippar, Nipur, Babylon, +Borsippa, Kuta, Kishu, Dilbat and Uruk, Babylonian "cities without a +peer," and offered sacrifices to all their gods--to Bel Zirbanit, Nebo, +Tashmit, and Nir-gal. This settlement took place in 745 B.C. + +His next exploit was the rapid conquest of the mountainous and populous +regions on the shores of the Caspian. And now he ventured to try +conclusions with Armenia and to attack the famous kingdom of Urartu in +the difficult fastnesses round Lakes Van and Urumiah. Crossing the +Euphrates in the spring of 743 B.C., he captured Arpad, and soon +afterwards marched forth to meet the great army of Sharduris. The rout +of the latter was complete, and he fled, after losing 73,000 men. The +victor was covered with glory; yet the triumph cost him dear, for the +forces left him were not sufficient to finish the campaign, nor to +extort allegiance from the Syrian princes who had allied themselves with +Sharduris. + +After spending the winter in Nineveh, reorganising his troops, the +Assyrian inaugurated a campaign which ended in the subjugation of +Northern Syria and its incorporation in the empire. Only one difficulty +foiled Tiglath-pileser. He failed to capture the impregnable fortress of +Dhuspas, in which Sharduris had taken refuge. This capital of Urartu +held out against a long siege, and at length the Assyrian army withdrew. +Sharduris remained king as before, but he was utterly spent, and his +power had received a blow from which it never recovered. Since then, +Armenia has more than once challenged fortune, but always with the same +result; it fared no better under Tigranes in the Roman epoch than under +Sharduris in the time of the Assyrians. + +As for Egypt at this period, it was ruled over by what is known as the +Bubastite dynasty, so called from the city of Bubastis, in the Delta, +where the Pharaohs of the time, Osorkon I., his son Takeloti I., and his +grandson, Osorkon II., for an interval of fifty years chiefly resided, +abstaining from politics, so that the country enjoyed an interval of +profound peace. But the old cause brought about the fall of this dynasty +also. Military feudalism again developed and Egypt split up into many +petty states. The sceptre at length passed to another dynasty, this time +of Tanite origin. Petubastis was the first of the line, but the power +was really in the hands of the priests, one of whom, Auiti, actually +declared himself king, together with Pharaoh. + +Sensational events followed. The weakness of Egypt tempted an uprising +of the Ethiopians, who overran a great part of the country. And it was +at this period that Tiglath-pileser crushed the kingdom of Israel, King +Pekah being compelled to flee from Samaria into the mountains, while the +inhabitants of Naphtali and Gilead were carried into captivity. + +Nabonazir, King of Babylon, who had never swerved from the fidelity he +had sworn to his mighty ally after the events of 745, died in 734 B.C., +and was succeeded by his son Nabunadinziri, who at the end of two years +was assassinated in a popular rising, and one of his sons, Nabushumukin, +who was concerned in the rising, usurped the crown. He wore it for two +months and twelve days, and then abdicated in favour of a certain +Ukinzir, an Aramean chief. + +But Tiglath-pileser gave the new dynasty no time to settle itself firmly +on the throne. The year after his return from Syria he marched against +it. After two years of fighting Ukinzir was overcome and captured. +Tiglath-pileser entered Babylon as conqueror, and caused himself to be +proclaimed King of Sumir and Akkad within its walls. Many centuries had +passed since the two empires had been united under one ruler. His +Babylonian subjects seem to have taken a liking for him; but he did not +long survive his triumph, dying after having reigned eighteen years over +Assyria, and less than two years over Babylon and Chaldaea. + +The next great Assyrian name is that of Sargon II., whose origin is not +clear. And the incidents of the revolution which raised him to the +throne are also unknown. The first few years of his reign, which +commenced in 722 B.C., were harassed by revolts among many of the border +tribes, but these he resolutely faced at all points, inflicting +overwhelming defeats on the Medes and the Armenians. The Philistines +were cowed by the storming of Ashdod, and Sargon subdued Phoenicia, +carrying his arms to the sea. This great monarch, while wars raged round +him, found time for extensive works of a peaceful character, completing +the system of irrigation, and erecting buildings at Calah and Nineveh, +and raising a magnificent palace at Dur-Sharrukin. + +And here he intended in peace to build a great city, but he was, in 105 +B.C., assassinated by an alien soldier. Sennacherib, his son, fighting +on the frontier, was recalled and proclaimed immediately. He either +failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability. +Instead of conciliating the vanquished, he massacred entire tribes, and +failed to re-people these with captive exiles from other nations. So, +towards the end of his reign--which terminated in 681 B.C.--he found +himself ruling over a sparsely inhabited desert where his father had +left him flourishing and populous cities. Phoenicia and Judah formed an +alliance with each other and with Egypt. Sennacherib bestirred himself +and Tyre perished. The Assyrian invader then attacked Judah and besieged +Jerusalem, where Hezekiah was king and Isaiah was prophesying. Whatever +was the cause, half the army perished by pestilence, and Sennacherib led +back the remnants of his force to Nineveh. + +The disaster was terrible, but not irreparable, for another and an equal +host could be raised. And it was needed to quell a great Babylonian +revolt led by Merodachbaladan, who had given the signal of rebellion to +the mountain tribes also. After a series of terrible conflicts, Babylon +was taken. And now Sennacherib, who had shown leniency after two +previous revolts, displayed unbounded fury in his triumph. The massacre +lasted several days, none being spared of the citizens. Piles of corpses +filled the streets. The temples and palaces were pillaged, and finally +the city was burnt. + +In the midst of his costly and absorbing wars we may well wonder how +Sennacherib found time and means for building villas and temples; yet he +is, nevertheless, the Assyrian king who has left us the largest number +of monuments. + +His last years were embittered by the fierce rivalry of his sons. One of +these he nominated his successor, Esarhaddon, son of a Babylonian wife. +During his absence from Nineveh, on the 20th day of Teleth, 681, his +father, Sennacherib, when praying before the image of his god, was +assassinated by two other sons, Sharezer and Adrammelech. Esarhaddon, +hearing of this tragedy, gathered an army, and in a battle defeated +Sharezer and established himself on the throne. + + +_III.--The Crisis of the Assyrian Power_ + + +Esarhaddon was personally inclined for peace, for he delighted in +building; but unfortunate disturbances did not permit him to pursue his +favourite occupation without interruption, and, like his warlike +predecessors, he was constrained to pass most of his life on the +battlefield. He began his reign by quelling an insurrection of the +Cimmerians in the territories on the border of the Black Sea. Sidon +rebelled ungratefully, although his father had saved her from desolation +by Tyre. He stormed and burnt the city. The Scythian tribes came on the +field in 678 B.C., but they were diplomatically conciliated. + +Now followed a memorable event. Babylon was rebuilt. Esarhaddon used all +the available captives taken in war on the foundations and the +fabrication of bricks, erected walls, rebuilt all the temples, and +lavishly devoted gold, silver, costly stones, rare woods, and plates of +enamel to decoration. The canals were made good for the gardens, and the +people, who had been scattered in various provinces, were encouraged to +return to their homes. + +But fresh foreign complications arose through the support given +continually to recalcitrant states in the south of Egypt. Esarhaddon was +provoked to undertake the first actual invasion of Egypt in force by +Assyria for the purpose of subduing the country. Over a great +combination of the Egyptians and Ethiopians he won a crushing victory. +Memphis was taken and sacked. Henceforth, Esarhaddon, in his pride, +styled himself King of Egypt, and King of the Kings of Egypt, of the +Said, and of Ethiopia. But he was not very long permitted to enjoy the +glory of his triumph; a determined revolt of the conquered country +demanded a fresh campaign. He set out, but was in bad health, and, his +malady increasing, he died on the journey in the twelfth year of his +reign. + +Before starting on the expedition, he had realised the impossibility of +a permanent amalgamation of Assyria and Babylon, notwithstanding his +personal affection for Babylon. Accordingly, he designated as his +successors his two sons. Assurbanipal was to be King of Assyria, and +Shamash-shumukin King of Babylon, under the suzerainty of his brother. +As soon as Esarhaddon had passed away, the separation he had planned +took place automatically, the two sons proclaiming themselves +respectively kings of Assyria and Babylon. Thus Babylon regained half +its independence. But the Assyrian Empire was now at its zenith. Egypt +was quelled by the army of Esarhaddon, and to Assurbanipal submitted in +vassalage the nations of the Mediterranean coast. + +Now followed years of exhausting warfare and of victory after victory, +which fatally wasted the strength of Assyria. Never had the empire been +so respected; never had so many nations united under one sceptre. But +troubles accumulated. Mutiny in Egypt called for another expedition, +which led to the capture and sacking of Thebes. Next came a war with +Elam, ending in its subjection to Assyria, for the first time in +history. + +But with success. Assurbanipal grew arrogant in his attitude to his +brother, the King of Babylon, and a fratricidal war resulted in the +defeat and death of Shamash-shumukin and the capture of the rival +capital. But Assyria was now near one of its recurrent periods of +exhaustion, and foes were rising for a formidable attack. + + +_IV.--Fall of Media and Chaldaea_ + + +At the very height of his apparent grandeur and prosperity Assurbanipal +was attacked by Phraortes, King of the Medes, who paid for his temerity +with his life, being left dead, with the greater part of his army, on +the field. But the sequel was unexpected, for Cyaxares, son of the slain +Mede, stubbornly continued the conflict, patiently reorganising his +army, until he won a great victory over the Assyrian generals, and shut +up the remnant of their forces in Nineveh. + +Assurbanipal, after a reign of forty-two years, died about 625 B.C., and +was succeeded by his son, Assuretililani. Against his brother and +successor, Sinsharishkin, the standard of rebellion was raised by +Nabopolassar, the governor of Babylon, who declared himself independent, +and assumed the title of king, but his reign not long after ended with +his death, in 605 B.C. Nebuchadrezzar was proclaimed king in Babylon. + +His reign was long and prosperous, and, on the whole, a peaceful one. +The most notable event in the career of Nebuchadrezzar II., was the +capture and destruction of Jerusalem, in consequence of a revolt of Tyre +and Judea. The unfortunate king, Zedekiah, saw his sons slain in his +presence, and then, his eyes having been put out, he was loaded with +chains, and sent to Babylon. + +Nebuchadrezzar died in 562 B.C. after a reign of fifty-five years. His +successors were weak rulers, and their reigns were brief and inglorious. +The army was suffered to dwindle, and the dynasty founded by +Nabopolassar came to an end in 555 B.C., when Labashi-marduk, the last +of the line, after reigning only nine months, was murdered by Nabonidus, +a native Babylonian. This usurper witnessed the rapid rise of the new +Iranian power which was to destroy him and Babylon. In 553 B.C., Cyrus, +a Persian general, revolted against Astyages, defeated him, and +destroyed the Median Empire at one blow. + +The only army that was a match for that of Cyrus was the Lydian host +under King Croesus. A conflict took place between the two, ending in the +defeat of the most powerful potentate of Asia Minor. But Cyrus treated +Croesus with consideration, and the Lydian king is said to have become +the friend of the mighty Persian. From that day neither Egypt nor +Chaldaea had any chance of victory on the battlefield. Nabonidus became a +mere vassal of Cyrus, and lived more or less inactively in his palace at +Tima, leaving the direction of power at Babylon in the hands of his son, +Bel-sharuzu. + +At length the Babylonians grew weary of their king. Nabonidus had never +been popular, and the discontent of the people at length called for the +intervention of the suzerain. In 538 Cyrus moved against Babylon, and +Nabonidus now retreated into the city with his troops, and prepared for +a siege. But Cyrus, taking advantage of the time of the year when the +waters were lowest, diverted the Tigris, so that his soldiers were able +to enter the city without striking a blow. Nabonidus surrendered, and +Belsharuzur was slain. With him perished the second Chaldaean Empire. + +The sagacious conqueror did not pillage the city, and treated the +citizens with clemency. Cyrus associated his son Cambyses with himself, +making him King of Babylon. Nothing in Babylon was changed, and she +remained what she had been since the fall of Assyria, the real capital +of the regions between the Mediterranean and the Zapcos. The Persian +dominion extended undisputed as far as the Isthmus of Suez. Under Cyrus +took place the first return of the Jews to Jerusalem. + +According to Xenophon, the great Persian, in 529 B.C., died peaceably on +his bed, surrounded by his children, and edifying them by his wisdom; +but Herodotus declares that he perished miserably in fighting with the +barbarian hosts of the Massagetae, on the steppes of Turkestan, beyond +the Arxes. He had believed that his destiny was to found an empire in +which all other ancient empires should be merged, and he all but +accomplished the stupendous task. When he passed away, Egypt alone +remained to be conquered. Cambyses succeeded, took up the enterprise +against Egypt; but after a series of successes met with reverses in +Ethiopia, which affected his mind, and he is said to have ended his own +life. Power fell into the hands of a chief of one of the seven great +clans, the famous Darius, son of Hystaspes, whose rival was +Nebuchadrezzar III., then King of Babylon. + +Once more, in his reign, Babylon was besieged and fell, Nebuchadrezzar +being executed. He was an impostor who had pretended to be the son of +the great Nebuchadrezzar. And now approached the last days of the +greatness of the Eastern world, for the eve of the Macedonian conquest +of the Near East had arrived. + + * * * * * + + + + +FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS + + +The Antiquities of the Jews + + + Josephus's "Antiquities of the Jews" traces the whole history + of the race down to the outbreak of the great war. He also + wrote an autobiography (see Lives and Letters) and a polemical + treatise, "Flavius Josephus against Apion." His style is so + classically elegant that critics have called him the Greek + Livy. The following summary of the "Antiquities of the Jews" + contains the substance of the really valuable sections, other + portions being little else than a paraphrase of the histories + embodied in the Old Testament. + + +_I.--From Alexander to Antiochus_ + + +After Philip, King of Macedon, had been treacherously slain by +Pausanias, he was succeeded by his son Alexander, who, passing over the +Hellespont, overcame the army of Darius, King of Persia, at Granicum. So +he marched over Lydia, subdued Ionia, overran Caria and Pamphylia, and +again defeated Darius at Issus. The Persian king fled into his own land, +and his mother, wife, and children were captured. Alexander besieged and +took first Tyre, and then Gaza, and next marched towards Jerusalem. + +At Sapha, in full view of the city, he was met by a procession of the +priests in fine linen, and a multitude of the citizens in white, the +high-priest, Jaddua, being at their head in his resplendent robes. +Graciously responding to the salutations of priests and people, +Alexander entered Jerusalem, worshipped and sacrificed in the Temple, +and then invited the people to ask what favours they pleased of him; +whereupon the high-priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of +their forefathers, and pay no tribute on the seventh year. All their +requests were granted, and Alexander led his army into the neighbouring +cities. + +Now, when Alexander was dead and his government had been divided among +many, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, by treachery seized Jerusalem, and took +away many captives to Egypt, and settled them there. His successor, +Ptolemy Philadelphus, restored to freedom 120,000 Jews who had been kept +in slavery at the instance of Aristeus, one of his most intimate +friends. He also dedicated many gifts to God, and showed great +friendship to the Jews in his dominions. + +Other kings in Asia followed the example of Philadelphus, conferring +honours on Jews who became their auxiliaries, and making them citizens +with privileges equal to those enjoyed by the Macedonians and Greeks. In +the reign of Antiochus the Great the Jews suffered greatly while he was +at war with Ptolemy Philopater, and with his son, called Epiphanes. When +Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy, he seized on Judea, but ultimately he made +a league with Ptolemy, gave him his daughter Cleopatra to wife, and +yielded up to him Celesyria, Samaria, Judea, and Phoenicia by way of +dowry. Onias, son of Simon the Just, was then high-priest. He greatly +provoked the king by neglecting to pay his taxes, so that Ptolemy +threatened to settle his soldiers in Jerusalem to live on the citizens. + +But Joseph, the nephew of Onias, by his wisdom brought all things right +again, and entered into friendship with the king, who lent him soldiers +and sent him to force the people in various cities to pay their taxes. +Many who refused were slain. Joseph not only thus gathered great wealth +for himself, but sent much to the king and to Cleopatra, and to powerful +men at the court of Egypt. He had a son named Hyrcanus, who became noted +for his ability, and crossed the Jordan with many followers; he made war +successfully on the Arabians, built a magnificent stone castle, and +ruled over all the region for seven years, even all the time that +Seleucus was king of Syria. But when Seleucus was dead, his brother +Antiochus Epiphanes took the kingdom, and Hyrcanus, seeing that +Antiochus had a great army, feared he should be taken and punished for +what he had done to the Arabians. So he took his own life, Antiochus +seizing his possessions. + + +_II.--To the Death of Judas_ + + +Antiochus, despising the son of Ptolemy as being but weak, and coveting +the possession of Egypt, conducted an expedition against that country +with a great force; but was compelled to withdraw by a declaration of +the Romans. On his way back from Alexandria he took the city of +Jerusalem, entering it without fighting in the 143d year of the kingdom +of the Seleucidae. He slew many of the citizens, plundered the city of +much money, and returned to Antioch. + +After two years he again came up against Jerusalem, and this time left +the Temple bare, taking away the golden altar and candlesticks, the +table of shewbread, and the altar of burnt offering, and all the secret +treasures. He slew some of the people, and carried off into captivity +about ten thousand, burnt the finest buildings, erected a citadel, and +therein placed a garrison of Macedonians. Building an idol altar in the +Temple, he offered swine on it, and he compelled many of the Jews to +raise idol altars in every town and village, and to offer swine on them +every day. But many disregarded him, and these underwent bitter +punishment. They were tortured or scourged or crucified. + +Now, at this time there dwelt at Modin a priest named Mattathias, a +citizen of Jerusalem. He had five sons, one of whom, Judas, was called +Maccabaeus. Mattathias and his sons not only refused to sacrifice as +Antiochus commanded, but, with his sons, attacked and slew an apostate +Jewish worshipper and Apelles, the king's general, and a few of his +soldiers. Then the priest and his five sons overthrew the idol altar, +and fled into the desert, followed by many of their followers with their +wives and children. About a thousand of these who had hidden in caves +were overtaken and destroyed; but many who escaped joined themselves to +Mattathias, and appointed him to be the ruler, who taught them to fight, +even on the Sabbath. Gathering a great army, he overthrew the idol +altars, and slew those who broke the laws. But after ruling one year, he +fell into a distemper, and committed to his sons the conduct of affairs. +He was buried at Modin, all the people making great lamentation. His son +Judas took upon himself the administration of affairs in the 146th year, +and with the help of his brothers and others, cast their enemies out of +the country and purified the land of its pollutions. Judas celebrated in +the Temple at Jerusalem the festival of the restoration of the +sacrifices for eight days. + +From that time we call the yearly celebration the Feast of Lights. Judas +also rebuilt the wall and reared towers of great height. When these +things were over he made excursions against adversaries on every side, +he and his brothers Simon and Jonathan subduing in turn Idumaea, Gilead, +Jazer, Tyre, and Ashdod. Antiochus died of a distemper which overtook +him as he was fleeing from Elymais, from which he was driven during an +attack upon its gates. Before he died he called his friends about him, +and confessed that his calamities had come upon him for the miseries he +had brought upon the Jewish nation. + +Antiochus was succeeded by his son, Antiochus Eupator, a boy of tender +age, whose guardians were Philip and Lysias. He reigned but two years, +being put to death, together with Lysias, by order of the usurper +Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, who fled from Rome, and, landing in +Syria, gathered an army, and was joyfully received by the people. +Against Jerusalem, Demetrius sent an expedition commanded by his +general, Bacchides. Judas Maccabaeus, fighting with great courage, but +having with him only 800 men, fell in the battle. His brothers Simon and +Jonathan, receiving his body by treaty from the enemy, carried it to the +village of Modin, and there buried him. He left behind him a glorious +reputation, by gaining freedom for his nation and delivering them from +slavery under the Macedonians. He died after filling the office of +high-priest for three years. + + +_III.--To the Roman Dominion_ + + +Jonathan and his brother Simon continued the war against Bacchides. They +were assisted by Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, who, in the +160th year, came up into Syria against Demetrius, and defeated and slew +him in a great battle near Ptolemais. But the son of Demetrius, named +after his father, in the 165th year, after Alexander had seated himself +on the throne and had gained in marriage Cleopatra, daughter of Ptolemy +Philometor, came from Crete with a great number of mercenary soldiers. +Jonathan and Simon, brothers of Judas Maccabaeus, entering into league +with Demetrius, who offered them very great advantages, defeated at +Ashdod the army sent by Alexander under Apollonius. + +A breach took place between Alexander and Ptolemy through the treachery +of Ammonius, a friend of the former, and the Egyptian king took away his +daughter Cleopatra from her husband, and immediately sent to Demetrius, +offering to make a league of mutual assistance and friendship with him, +to give him his daughter in marriage and to restore him to the +principality of his fathers. These overtures were joyfully accepted, and +Ptolemy came to Antioch and persuaded the people to receive Demetrius. +Alexander was beaten in a battle by the two allies and fled into Arabia, +where, however, his head was speedily cut off by Zabdiel, a prince of +the country, and sent to Ptolemy. But that king, through wounds caused +by falling from his horse, died a few days afterwards. + +Demetrius, being secure in power, disbanded a great part of his army, +but this action greatly irritated the soldiers. Furthermore, he was +hated, as his father had been, by the people of Syria. A revolt was +raised by an Apanemian named Trypho, who overcame Demetrius in a fight, +and took from him both his elephants and the city of Antioch. Demetrius +on this defeat retired into Cilicia, and Trypho delivered the kingdom to +Antiochus, the youthful son of Alexander, who quickly sent ambassadors +to Jonathan and made him his confederate and friend, confirming him in +the high-priesthood and yielding up to him four prefectures which had +been added to Judea. Accordingly, Jonathan promptly joined him in a war +against Demetrius, who was again defeated. + +Soon after Demetrius had been carried into captivity Trypho deserted +Antiochus, who had now reigned four years. He usurped power, which he +basely abused; and Antiochus Soter, brother of Demetrius, raised a force +against him and drove him away to Apamea, where he was put to death, his +term of power having lasted only three years. Antiochus Soter then +attacked Simon, who successfully resisted, established peace, and ruled +in all for eight years. His death also was the result of treachery, his +son-in-law Ptolemy playing him false. His son Hyrcanus became +high-priest, and speedily ejected the forces of Ptolemy from the land. +Subduing all factions, he ruled justly for thirty-one years, leaving +five sons. + +The eldest, Aristobulus, purposed to change the government into a +kingdom, and placed a diadem on his own head; but his mother, to whom +the supremacy had been entrusted, disputed his authority. He cast her +into prison, where she was starved to death; and next he compassed the +death of his brother Antigonus, but was soon attacked by a painful +disease. He reigned only one year. His widow, Alexandra, let his +brothers out of prison and made Alexander Janneus king. + +His reign was one of war and disorder. With savage cruelty he repressed +rebellion, condemning hundreds of Jews to crucifixion. While these were +yet living, their wives and children were slain before their eyes. His +life was ended by a sickness which lasted three years, and after his +death civil war broke out between his two sons, Aristobulus and +Hyrcanus, in which great barbarities were committed. The conflict was +terminated by the intervention of the Romans under Scarus. The two +brothers appealed to Pompey after he came to Damascus; but that Roman +general marched against Jerusalem and took it by force. Thus we lost our +liberty as a nation and became subject to the Romans. + + +_IV.--The Jews and the Romans_ + + +Crassus next came with Roman troops into Judea and pillaged the Temple, +and then marched into Parthia, where both he and his army perished. Then +Cassius obtained Syria, and checked the Parthians. He passed on to +Judea, fell on Tarichaea, and took it, and carried away 3,000 Jewish +captives. A wealthy Idumean named Antipater, who had been a great friend +of Hyrcanus, and had helped him against Aristobulus, was a very active +and seditious man. He had married Cypros, a lady of his own Idumean +race, by whom he had four sons, Phaselus, and Herod, who afterwards +became king, and Joseph, and Pheroras; and a daughter, Salome. He +cultivated friendship with other potentates, especially with the King of +Arabia, to whom he committed the care of his children while he fought +against Aristobulus. But when Caesar had taken Rome, and after Pompey and +the senate had fled beyond the Ionian Sea, Aristobulus was set free from +the bonds in which he had been laid. Caesar resolved to send him with two +legions into Syria to set matters right; but Aristobulus had no +enjoyment of this trust, for he was poisoned by Pompey's party. But +Scipio, sent by Pompey to slay Alexander, son of Aristobulus, cut off +his head at Antioch. And Ptolemy, son of Menneus, ruler of Chalcis, took +Alexander's brethren to him, and sent his son Philippion to Askelon to +Aristobulus's wife, and desired her to send back with him her son +Antigonus and her daughters; the one of whom, Alexandra, Philippion fell +in love with, and married her; though afterwards his father Ptolemy slew +him, and married Alexandra. + +Now, after Pompey was dead, and after the victory Caesar had gained over +him, Antipater, who had managed the Jewish affairs, became very useful +to Caesar when he made war against Egypt, and that by the order of +Hyrcanus. He brought over to the side of Caesar the principal men of the +Arabians, and also Jamblicus, the ruler of the Syrians, and Ptolemy, his +son, and Tholomy, the son of Sohemus, who dwelt at Mount Libanus, and +almost all the cities, and with 3,000 armed Jews he joined Mithradates +of Pergamus, who was marching with his auxiliaries to aid Caesar. +Antipater and Mithradates together won a pitched battle against the +Egyptians, and Caesar not only then commended Antipater, but used him +throughout that war in the most hazardous undertakings, and finally, at +the end of that campaign, made him procurator of Judea, at the same time +appointing Hyrcanus high-priest. Antipater, seeing that Hyrcanus was of +a slow and slothful temper, made his eldest son, Phaselus, governor of +Jerusalem; but committed Galilee to his next son, Herod, who was only +fifteen, but was a youth of great mind, and soon proved his courage, and +won the love of the Syrians by freeing their country of a nest of +robbers, and slaying the captain of these, one Hezekias. + +Thus Herod became known to Sextus Caesar, a relation of the great Caesar, +who was now president of Syria. Now, the growing reputation of Antipater +and his sons excited the envy of the principal men among the Jews, +especially as they saw that Herod was violent and bold, and was capable +of acting tyrannically. So they accused him before Hyrcanus of +encroaching on the government, and of transgressing the laws by putting +men to death without their condemnation by the sanhedrin. Protecting +Herod, whom he loved as his own son, from the sanhedrin when they would +have sentenced him to death, Hyrcanus aided him to flee to Damascus, +where he took refuge with Sextus Caesar. When Herod received the kingdom, +he slew all the members of that sanhedrin excepting Sameas, whom he +respected because he persuaded the people to admit Herod into the city, +and he even slew Hyrcanus also. + +Now, when Caesar was come to Rome, and was ready to sail into Africa to +fight against Scipio and Cato, Hyrcanus sent ambassadors to him, +desiring the ratification of the league of friendship between them. Not +only Caesar but the senate heaped honours on the ambassadors, and +confirmed the understanding that subsisted. But during the disorders +that arose after the death of Caesar, Cassius came into Syria and +disturbed Judea by exacting great sums of money. Antipater sought to +gather the great tax demanded from Judea, and was foully slain by a +collector named Malichus, on whom Herod quickly took vengeance for the +murder of his father. By his energy in obtaining the required tax, Herod +gained new favour with Cassius. + + +_V.--The Herodian Era_ + + +In order to secure his position, Herod made an obscure priest from +Babylon, named Ananelus, high-priest in place of Hyrcanus. This offended +Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus and wife of Alexander, son of +Aristobulus the king. She had ten children, among whom were Mariamne, +the beautiful wife of Herod, and Aristobulus. She sent an appeal to +Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, in order by her intercession to gain from +Antony the high-priesthood for this son. At the instance of Antony, +Herod took the office from Ananelus, and gave it to Aristobulus, but +took care that the youth should soon be murdered. Then, from causeless +jealousy, he put to death his uncle Joseph and threw Mariamne into +prison. Victory in a war with Arabia enhanced his power. Cruelly slaying +Hyrcanus, he hasted away to Octavian, who had beaten Antony at Actium, +and obtained also from him, the new Caesar, Augustus, the kingdom, thus +being confirmed in his position. + +Women of the palace who hated Mariamne for her beauty, her high birth, +and her pride, falsely accused her to Herod of gross unfaithfulness. He +loved her passionately, but, giving ear to these traducers, ordered her +to be tried. She was condemned to death, and showed great fortitude as +she went to the place of execution, even though her own mother, +Alexandra, in order to make herself safe from the wrath of the king, +basely, and publicly, and violently upbraided her, while the people, +pitying her, mourned at her fate. Herod was also attacked by a +tormenting distemper. He ordered the execution of Alexandra and of +several of his most intimate friends. + +By his persistent introduction of foreign customs, which corrupted the +constitution of the country, Herod incurred the deep hatred of very many +eminent citizens. He erected servile trophies to Caesar, and prepared +costly games in which men were condemned to fight with wild beasts. Ten +men who conspired against him were betrayed, and were tortured horribly, +and then slain. But the people seized the spy who had informed against +them, tore him limb from limb, and flung the body in pieces to the dogs. +By constant and relentless severity Herod still strengthened his rule. + +But now fearful disturbances arose in his family. His sister Salome and +his brother Pheroras displayed virulent hatred against Alexander and +Aristobulus, sons of the murdered Mariamne, and, on their part, the two +young men were incensed at the partiality shown by Herod to his eldest +son, Antipater. This prince was continually using cunning strategy +against his brethren, while feigning affection for them. He so worked on +the mind of the king by false accusations against Alexander that many of +the friends of this youth were tortured to death in the attempts made to +force disclosures from them. + +A traitor named Eurycles fanned the flame by additional accusations, all +utterly groundless, so that Herod wrote letters to Rome concerning the +treacherous designs of his sons against him, and asking permission of +Caesar to bring them to trial. This was granted, and they were accused +before an assembly of judges at Berytus and condemned. By their father's +command they were starved to death. For his share in bringing about this +tragedy Antipater was hated by the people. But the secret desire of this +eldest son was to see the end of his father, whom he deeply hated, +though he now governed jointly with him and was no other than a king +already. + +Herod by this time had nine wives and many children and grandchildren. +The latter he brought up with much care. Antipater was sent on a mission +to Rome, and during his absence his plots were discovered, and on his +return, Herod, amazed at his wickedness, condemned him to death. The +king now altered his testament, dividing the territory among several of +his sons. He died on the fifth day after the execution of Antipater, +having reigned thirty-four years after procuring the death of Antigonus. +Archelaus, his son, was appointed by Caesar, in confirmation of Herod's +will, governor of one-half of the country; but accusation of enemies led +to his banishment to Vienna, in Gaul. Cyrenaicus, a Roman senator and +magistrate, was sent by Caesar to make taxation in Syria and Judea, and +Caponius was made procurator of Judea. Philip, a son of Herod, built +cities in honour of Tiberius Caesar. When Pontius Pilate became +procurator he removed the army from Cassarea to Jerusalem, abolished +Jewish laws, and in the night introduced Caesar's effigies on ensigns. + +About this time Jesus, a wise man, a doer of wonderful works, drew over +to him many Jews and Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the +suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the +cross, those that loved him did not forsake him, for he appeared to them +again alive at the third day, as the prophets had foretold; and the +tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. +John, who was called the Baptist, was slain by Herod the tetrarch at his +castle at Machserus, by the Dead Sea. The destruction of his army by +Aretas, king of Arabia, was ascribed by the Jews to God's anger for this +crime. + +Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, became the most famous of his +descendants. On him Claudius Caesar bestowed all the dominions of his +grandfather with the title of king. But pride overcame him. Seated on a +throne at a great festival at Caesarea, arrayed in a magnificent robe, he +was stricken by a disease, and died. + +He was succeeded by his son Agrippa, during whose time Felix and Festus +were procurators in Judea, while Nero was Roman emperor. This Agrippa +finished the Temple by the work of 18,000 men. The war of the Jews and +Romans began through the oppression by Gessius Florus, who secured the +procuratorship by the friendship of his wife Cleopatra with Poppea, wife +of Nero. Florus filled Judea with intolerable cruelties, and the war +began in the second year of his rule and the twelfth of the reign of +Nero. What happened will be known by those who peruse the books I have +written about the Jewish war. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Wars of the Jews + + + Josephus, in his "Wars of the Jews," gives the only full and + reliable account of the tragic siege and destruction of + Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. Excepting in the opening, + he writes throughout in the third person, although he was + present in the Roman camp as a prisoner during the siege, and + before then had been, as governor of Galilee, the brave and + energetic antagonist of the Romans. Becoming the friend of + Titus, and despairing of the success of his compatriots, he + was employed in efforts to conciliate the leaders of the + rebellion during the siege, and he was for three years a + privileged captive in the camp of the besiegers. His recital + is one of the most thrilling samples of romantic realism in + the whole range of ancient literature, and its veracity and + honesty have never been impugned. In his autobiography, + Josephus tells how, after the war, he was invited by Titus to + sail with him to Rome, and how on his arrival there the + Emperor Vespasian entertained him in his own palace, bestowed + on him a pension, and conferred on him the honours of Roman + citizenship. The Emperors Titus and Domitian treated this + remarkable Jew with continued favour. + + +_I.--Beginning of the Great Conflict_ + + +Whereas the war which the Jews made against the Romans hath been the +greatest of all times, while some men who were not concerned themselves +have written vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and while those +that were there have given false accounts, I, Joseph, the son of +Matthias, by birth a Hebrew, and a priest also, and who at first fought +against the Romans myself, and was forced to be present at what was done +afterwards, am the author of this book. + +Now, the affairs of the Romans were in great disorder after the death of +Nero. At the decease of Herod Agrippa, his son, who bore the same name, +was seventeen years old. He was considered too young to bear the burden +of royalty, and Judea relapsed into a Roman province. Cuspius Fadus was +sent as governor, and administered his office with firmness, but found +civil war disturbing the district beyond Jordan. He cleared the country +of the robber bands; and his successor, Tiberius Alexander, during a +brief rule, put down disturbances which broke out in Judea. The province +was at peace till he was superseded by Cumanus, during whose government +the people and the Roman soldiery began to show mutual animosity. In a +terrible riot 20,000 people perished, and Jerusalem was given up to +wailing and lamentation. + +It was in Caesarea that the events took place which led to the final war. +This magnificent city was inhabited by two races--the Syrian Greeks, who +were heathens, and the Jews. The two parties violently contended for the +pre-eminence. The Jews were the more wealthy; but the Roman soldiery, +levied chiefly in Syria, took part with their countrymen. Tumults and +bloodshed disturbed the streets. At this time a procurator named Gessius +Florus was appointed, and he, by his barbarities, forced the Jews to +begin the war in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero and the +seventeenth of the reign of Agrippa. + +But the occasion of the war was by no means proportioned to those heavy +calamities that it brought upon us. The fatal flame finally broke out +from the old feud at Caesarea. The decree of Nero had assigned the +magistracy of that city to the Greeks. It happened that the Jews had a +synagogue, the ground around which belonged to a Greek. For this spot +the Jews offered a much higher price than it was worth. It was refused, +and to annoy them as much as possible, the owner set up some mean +buildings and shops upon it, and so made the approach to the synagogue +as narrow and difficult as possible. The more impetuous of the Jewish +youth interrupted the workmen. Then the men of greater wealth and +influence, and among them John, a publican, collected the large sum of +eight talents, and sent it as a bribe to Florus, that he might stop the +building. He received the money, made great promises, and at once +departed for Sebaste from Caesarea. His object was to leave full scope +for the riot. + +On the following day, while the Jews were crowding to the synagogue, a +citizen of Caesarea outraged them by oversetting an earthen vessel in the +way, over which he sacrificed birds, as done by the law in cleansing +lepers, and thus he implied that the Jews were a leprous people. The +more violent Jews, furious at the insult, attacked the Greeks, who were +already in arms. The Jews were worsted, took up the books of the law, +and fled to Narbata, about seven miles distant. John, the publican, and +twelve men of eminence went to Samaria to Florus, implored his aid, and +reminded him of the eight talents he had received. He threw them into +prison and demanded seventeen talents from the sacred treasury under +pretence of Caesar's necessities. This injustice and oppression caused +violent excitement in Jerusalem when the news reached that city. The +people assembled around the Temple with the loudest outcries; but it was +the purpose of Florus to drive the people to insurrection, and he gave +his soldiers orders to plunder the upper market and to put to death all +whom they met. Of men, women, and children there fell that day 3,600. + +When Agrippa attempted to persuade the people to obey Florus till Caesar +should send someone to succeed him, the more seditious cast reproaches +on him, and got the king excluded from the city; nay, some had the +impudence to fling stones at him. At the same time they excited the +people to go to war, and some laid siege to the Roman garrison in the +Antonio; others made an assault on a certain fortress called Masada. +They took it by treachery, and slew the Romans. One, Menahem, a +Galilean, became leader of the sedition, and went to Masada and broke +open Herod's armoury, and gave arms not only to his own people, but to +other robbers, also. These he made use of for a bodyguard, and returned +in state to Jerusalem, and gave orders to continue the siege of the +Antonio. + +The tower was undermined, and fell, and many soldiers were slain. Next +day the high-priest Ananias, and his brother Hezekiah, were slain by the +robbers. By these successes Menahem was puffed up and became barbarously +cruel; but he was slain, as were also the captains under him, in an +attack led on by Eleazar, a bold youth who was governor of the Temple. + + +_II.--The Gathering of Great Storms_ + + +And now great calamities and slaughters came on the Jews. On the very +same day two dreadful massacres happened. In Jerusalem the Jews fell on +Netilius and the band of Roman soldiers whom he commanded after they had +made terms and had surrendered, and all were killed except the commander +himself, who supplicated for mercy, and even agreed to submit to +circumcision. On that very day and hour, as though Providence had +ordained it, the Greeks in Caesarea rose, and in a single hour slew over +20,000 Jews, and so the city was emptied of its Jewish inhabitants. For +Florus caught those who escaped, and sent them to the galleys. By this +tragedy the whole nation was driven to madness. The Jews rose and laid +waste the villages all around many cities in Syria, and they descended +on Gadara, Hippo, and Gaulonitus, and burnt and destroyed many places. +Sebaste and Askelon they seized without resistance, and they razed +Anthedon and Gaza to the ground, pillaging the villages all around, with +great slaughter. + +When thus the disorder in all Syria had become terrible, Cestius Gallus, +the Roman commander at Antioch, marched with an army to Ptolemais and +overran all Galilee and invested Jerusalem, expecting that it would be +surrendered by means of a powerful party within the walls. But the plot +was discovered, and the conspirators were flung headlong from the walls, +and an attack by Cestius on the north side of the Temple was repulsed +with great loss. Seeing the whole country around in arms, and the Jews +swarming on all the heights, Cestius withdrew his army and retired in +the night, leaving 400 of his bravest men to mount guard in the camp and +to display their ensigns, that the Jews might be deceived. + +But at break of day it was discovered that the camp was deserted by the +army, and the Jews rushed to the assault and slew all the Roman band. +This happened in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero. + + +_III.--Judea in Rebellion Against Rome_ + + +Nero was at this time in Achaia. To him, as ambassador, Cestius, sent in +order to lay the blame on Florus, Costobar and Saul, two brothers of the +Herodian family, who, with Philip, the son of Jacimus, the general of +Agrippa, had escaped from Jerusalem. Meantime, a great massacre of the +Jews took place at Damascus. Then those in Jerusalem who had pursued +after Cestius called a general assembly in the Temple, and elected their +governors and commanders. Their choice fell on Joseph, the son of +Gorion, and Ananus, the chief priest, who were invested with absolute +authority in the city; but Eleazar was passed over, for he was suspected +of aiming at kingly power, as he went about attended by a bodyguard of +zealots. But as commanding within the Temple he had made himself master +of the public treasures, and in a short time the need of money and his +extreme subtlety won over the multitude, and all real authority fell +into his hands. To the other districts they sent the men most to be +trusted for courage and fidelity. + +Josephus was appointed to the command of Galilee, with particular charge +of the strong city of Gamala. He raised in that province in the north an +army of more than a hundred thousand young men, whom he armed and +exercised after the Roman manner; and he formed a council of seventy, +and appointed seven judges in each city. He sought to unite the people +and to win their goodwill. But great trouble arose from the treachery of +his enemy, John of Gischala, who surpassed all men in craft and deceit. +He gathered a force of 4,000 robbers and wasted Galilee, while he +inflamed the dissensions in the cities, and sent messengers to Jerusalem +accusing Josephus of tyranny. Tiberias and several cities revolted, but +Josephus suppressed the risings, severely punishing many of the leaders. +John retired to the robbers at Masada, and took to plundering Idumsea. + + +_IV.--Vespasian and Josephus_ + + +Nero, on learning from the messengers the state of affairs, at first +regarded the revolt lightly; but presently grew alarmed, and appointed +to the command of the armies in Syria, and the task of subduing the +Jews, Vespasian, who had pacified the West when it was disordered by the +Germans, and had also recovered Britain for the Romans. He came to +Antioch in the early spring, and was there joined by Agrippa and all his +forces. He marched to Ptolemais, where he was met by his son Titus, who +had, with expedition unusual in the winter season, sailed from Achaia to +Alexandria. So the Roman army now numbered 60,000 horsemen and footmen, +besides large numbers of camp followers who were also accustomed to +military service and could fight on occasion. + +The war was now opened. Josephus attempted no resistance in the open +field, and the people had been directed to fly to the fortified cities. +The strongest of all these was Jotapata, and here Josephus commanded in +person. Being very desirous of demolishing it, Vespasian besieged it +with his whole army. It was defended with the greatest vigour, but was, +after fierce conflicts, taken in the thirteenth year of the reign of +Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus (July). During this dreadful +siege, and at the capture, 40,000 men fell. The Romans sought in vain +for the body of Josephus, their stubborn enemy. He had leaped down the +shaft of a dry well leading to a long cavern. A woman betrayed the +hiding-place, and Josephus was taken and brought before the conqueror, +of whom he had demanded from his captors a private conference. To +Vespasian he announced that he and his son would speedily attain the +imperial dignity. Vespasian was conciliated by the speech of his +prisoner, whom he treated with kindness; for though he did not release +him from his bonds, he bestowed on him suits of clothes and other +precious gifts. + +Joppa, Tiberias, Taricheae, and Gamala were taken, both Romans and Jews +perishing in the conflicts. Soon afterwards, by the capture of Gischala, +all Galilee was subdued, John of Gischala fleeing to Jerusalem. + + +_V.--The Prelude to the Great Siege_ + + +While the cities of Galilee thus arrested the course of the Roman +eagles, Jotapata and Gamala setting the example of daring resistance, +the leaders of the nation in Jerusalem, instead of sending out armies to +the relief of the besieged cities, were engaged in the most dreadful +civil conflicts. + +The fame of John of Gishala had gone before him to Jerusalem, and the +multitude poured forth to do him honour. He falsely represented the +Roman forces as being very greatly weakened, and declared that their +engines had been worn out in the sieges in Galilee. He was a man of +enticing eloquence, to whom the young men eagerly gave heed. So the city +now began to be divided into hostile factions, and the whole of Judea +had before set to the people of Jerusalem the fatal example of discord. +For every city was torn to pieces by civil animosities. Not only the +public councils, but even numerous families were distracted by the peace +and war dispute. Through all Judea the youth were ardent for war, while +the elders vainly endeavoured to allay the frenzy. Bands of desperate +men began to spread over the land, plundering houses, while the Roman +garrisons in the towns, rather rejoicing in their hatred to the race +than wishing to protect the sufferers, afforded little help. + +Large numbers of these evil men stole into the city and grew into a +daring faction, who robbed houses openly, and many of the most eminent +citizens were murdered by these Zealots, as they were called, from their +pretence that they had discovered a conspiracy to betray the city to the +Romans. They dismissed many of the sanhedrin from office and appointed +men of the lowest degree, who would support them in their violence, till +the leaders of the people became slaves to their will. + +At length resistance was provoked, led by Ananus, oldest of the chief +priests, a man of great wisdom, and the robber Zealots took refuge in +the Temple and fortified it more strongly than before. They appointed as +high-priest one Phanias, a coarse and clownish rustic, utterly ignorant +of the sacerdotal duties, who when decked in the robes of office caused +great derision. This sport and pastime for the Zealots caused the more +religious people to shed tears of grief and shame; and the citizens, +unable to endure such insolence, rose in great numbers to avenge the +outrage on the sacred rites. Thus a fierce civil war broke out in which +very many were slain. + +Then John of Gischala with great treachery, outwardly siding with +Ananus, and secretly aiding the Zealots, sent messengers inviting the +Idumaeans to come to his help, of whom 20,000 broke into the city during +a stormy night, and slew 8,500 of the people. + + +_VI.--The Siege and Fall of Jerusalem_ + + +Nero died after having reigned thirteen years and eight days, and +Vespasian, being informed of the event, waited for a whole year, holding +his army together instead of proceeding against Jerusalem. Galba was +made emperor, and slain, as was also Otho, his successor; and then, +after the defeat and death of the emperor Vitellius, Vespasian was +proclaimed by the East. He had preferred to leave the Jews to waste +their strength by their internal feuds while he sent his lieutenants +with forces to reduce various surrounding districts instead of attacking +Jerusalem. When he became emperor, he released Josephus from his bonds, +honouring him for his integrity. Hastening his journey to Rome, +Vespasian commanded Titus to subdue Judea. + +At Jerusalem were now three factions raging furiously. Eleazar, son of +Simon, who was the first cause of the war, by persuading the people to +reject the offerings of the emperors to the Temple, and had led the +Zealots and seized the Temple, pretended to cherish righteous wrath +against John of Gishala for the bloodshed he had occasioned. But he +deserted the Zealots and seized the inner court of the Temple, so that +there was war between him and Simon, son of Gioras. Thus Eleazar, John, +and Simon each led a band in constant fightings, and the Temple was +everywhere defiled by murders. + +Now, as Titus was on his march he chose out 600 select horsemen, and +went to take a view of the city, when suddenly an immense multitude +burst forth from the gate over against the monuments of Queen Helena and +intercepted him and a few others. He had on neither helmet nor +breastplate, yet though many darts were hurled at him, all missed him, +as if by some purpose of Providence, and, charging through the midst of +his foes, he escaped unhurt. Part of the army now advanced to Scopos, +within a mile of the city, while another occupied a station at the foot +of the Mount of Olives. + +Seeing this gathering of the Roman forces, the factions within Jerusalem +for the first time felt the necessity for concord, as Eleazar from the +summit of the Temple, John from the porticoes of the outer court, and +Simon from the heights of Sion watched the Roman camps forming thus so +near the walls. Making terms with each other, they agreed to make an +attack at the same moment. Their followers, rushing suddenly forth along +the valley of Jehoshaphat, fell with violence on the 10th legion, +encamped at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and working there unarmed +at the entrenchments. The soldiers fell back, many being killed. +Witnessing their peril, Titus, with picked troops, fell on the flank of +the Jews and drove them into the city with great loss. + +The Roman commander now carefully pushed forward his approaches, +leveling the whole plain of Scopos to the outward wall and destroying +all the beautiful gardens with their fountains and water-courses, and +the army took up a position all along the northern and the western wall, +the footmen being drawn up in seven lines, with the horsemen in three +lines behind, and the archers between. Jerusalem was fortified by three +walls. These were not one within the other, for each defended one of the +quarters into which the city was divided. + +The first, or outermost, encompassed Bezetha, the next protected the +citadel of the Antonia and the northern front of the Temple, and the +third, or old, and innermost wall was that of Sion. Many towers, 35 feet +high and 35 feet broad, each surmounted with lofty chambers and with +great tanks for rain water, guarded the whole circuit of the walls, 90 +being in the first wall, 14 in the second, and 60 in the third. The +whole circuit of the city was about 33 stadia (four miles). From their +pent-houses of wicker the Romans, with great toil day and night, +discharged arrows and stones, which slew many of the citizens. + +At three different places the battering rams began their thundering +work, and at length a corner tower came down, yet the walls stood firm, +for there was no breach. Suddenly the besieged sallied forth and set +fire to the engines. Titus came up with his horsemen and slew twelve +Jews with his own hands. One was taken prisoner and was crucified before +the walls as an example, being the first so executed during the siege. +The Jews now retreated to the second wall, abandoning the defence of +Bezetha, which the Romans entered. Titus instantly ordered the second +wall to be attacked, and for five days the conflict raged more fiercely +than ever. The Jews were entirely reckless of their own lives, +sacrificing themselves readily if they could kill their foes. On the +fifth day they retreated from the second wall, and Titus entered that +part of the lower city which was within it with I,000 picked men. + +But, being desirous of winning the people, he ordered that no houses +should be set on fire and no massacres should be committed. The +seditious, however, slew everyone who spoke of peace, and furiously +assailed the Romans. Some fought from the walls, others from the houses, +and such confusion prevailed that the Romans retired; then the Jews, +elated, manned the breach, making a wall of their own bodies. + +Thus the fight continued for three days, till Titus a second time +entered the wall. He threw down all the northern part and strongly +garrisoned the towers on the south. The strong heights of Sion, the +citadel of the Antonia, and the fortified Temple still held out Titus, +eager to save so magnificent a place, resolved to refrain for a few days +from the attack, in order that the minds of the besieged might be +affected by their woes, and that the slow results of famine might +operate. He reviewed his army in full armour, and they received their +pay in view of the city, the battlements being thronged by spectators +during this splendid defiling, who looked on in terror and dismay. Then +Titus sent Josephus to address them and to persuade them to yield, but +the Zealots reviled him and hurled darts at him; but many began to +desert, Titus permitted them to come in unmolested. John and Simon in +their anger watched every outlet and executed any whom they suspected of +designing to follow. + +The famine increased, and the misery of the weaker was aggravated by +seeing the stronger obtaining food. All natural affection was +extinguished, husbands and wives, parents and children snatching the +last morsel from each other. Many wretched men were caught by the Romans +prowling in the ravines by night to pick up food, and these were +scourged, tortured, and crucified. In the morning sometimes 500 of these +victims were seen on crosses before the walls. This was done to terrify +the rest, and it went on till there was not wood enough for crosses. +Terrible crimes were committed in the city. The aged high-priest, +Matthias, was accused of holding communication with the enemy. Three of +his sons were killed in his presence, and he was executed in sight of +the Romans, together with sixteen other members of the sanhedrin, and +the parents of Josephus were thrown into prison. The famine grew so +woeful that a woman devoured the body of her own child. At length, after +fierce fighting, the Antonia was scaled, and Titus ordered its +demolition. + +Titus now promised that the Temple should be spared if the defenders +would come forth and fight in any other place, but John and the Zealots +refused to surrender it. For several days the outer cloisters and outer +court were attacked with rams, but the immense and compact stones +resisted the blows. As many soldiers were slain in seeking to storm the +cloisters, Titus ordered the gates to be set on fire. A soldier flung a +blazing brand into a gilded door on the north side of the chambers. The +Jews, with cries of grief and rage, grasped their swords and rushed to +take revenge on their enemies or perish in the ruins. + +The slaughter was continued while the fire raged. Soon no part was left +but a small portion of the outer cloisters. Titus next spent eighteen +days in preparations for the attack on the upper city, which was then +speedily captured. And now the Romans were not disposed to display any +mercy, night alone putting an end to the carnage. During the whole of +this siege of Jerusalem, 1,100,000 were slain, and the prisoners +numbered 97,000. + + * * * * * + + + + +HENRY MILMAN, D.D. + + +History of the Jews + + + Henry Hart Milman, D.D., was born in London on February 10, + 1791, died on September 24, 1868, and was buried in St. Paul's + Cathedral, of which for the last nineteen years of his life he + was Dean. He was the youngest son of Sir Francis Milman, + physician to George III, and was educated at Greenwich, Eton + and Oxford. Although as a scholarly poet he had a considerable + reputation, his literary fame rests chiefly on his fine + historical works, of which fifteen volumes appeared, including + the "History of the Jews," the "History of Christianity to the + Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire," and the "History + of Latin Christianity to the Pontificate of Nicholas V." The + appearance of the "History of the Jews" in 1830 caused no + small consternation among the orthodox, but among the Jews + themselves it was exceptionally well received. Dean Milman + wrote several hymns, including "Ride on, ride on in majesty," + "When our heads are bowed in woe." Although this history + carries the Jewish race down to modern times, it is included + in the section of THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS treating of + ancient history, as it is the history of an ancient race, not + of a definite country. + + +_I.--Dissolution of the Jewish States_ + + +By the destruction of Jerusalem and of the fortified cities of Machaerus +and Masada, which had held out after it, the political existence of the +Jewish nation was annihilated; it was never again recognised as one of +the states or kingdoms of the world. We have now to trace a despised and +obscure race in almost every region of the world. We are called back, +indeed, for a short time to Palestine, to relate new scenes of revolt, +ruin, and persecution. Not long after the dissolution of the Jewish +state it revived again in appearance, under the form of two separate +communities--one under a sovereignty purely spiritual, the other partly +spiritual and partly temporal, but each, comprehending all the Jewish +families in the two great divisions of the world. At the head of the +Jews on this side of the Euphrates appeared the Patriarch of the West; +the chief of the Mesopotamian communities, assumed the striking but more +temporal title of Resch-Glutha, or Prince of the Captivity. + +That Judaism should have thus survived is one of the most marvellous of +historic phenomena. But, for the most part, the populous cities beyond +the Jordan, the dominions of Agrippa, and Samaria escaped the +devastation; and, according to tradition, the sanhedrin was spared in +the general wreck. + +After a brief interval of peace for the Jews scattered through the world +during the reign of Nerva, their settlements in Babylonia, Egypt, +Cyrene, and Judea broke out in rebellion against the intolerant +religious policy of the otherwise sagacious and upright Trajan. Great +atrocities were committed by revolting Jews in Egypt, and the +retaliation was terrible. It is said that 220,000 Jews fell before the +remorseless vengeance of their enemies. The flame spread to Cyprus, +where it was quenched by Hadrian, afterwards emperor. He expelled the +Jews from the island. When Hadrian ascended the throne, in 117 A.D., he +issued an edict which was tantamount to the total suppression of +Judaism, for it interdicted circumcision, the reading of the law, and +the observance of the Sabbath. + +At this momentous juncture, when universal dismay prevailed, it was +announced that the Messiah had appeared. He had come in power and glory. +His name fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam. Barcochab, the Son of the +Star, was that star which was to "arise out of Jacob." Wonders attended +on his person; he breathed flames from his mouth which, no doubt, would +burn up the strength of the proud oppressor, and wither the armies of +the tyrannical Hadrian. Above all, Akiba, the greatest of the rabbins, +the living oracle of divine truth, espoused the claims of the new +Messiah; he was called the standard-bearer of the Son of the Star. Of +him also wondrous stories were told. The first expedition of Barcochab +was to the ruins of Jerusalem, where a rude town had sprung up. Here he +openly assumed the title of king. But he and his followers avoided a +battle in the open field. On the arrival of the famous Julius Severus to +take command of the Roman forces, the rebel Jews were in possession of +fifty of the strongest castles and nearly a thousand villages. Severus +attacked the strongholds in detail, reducing them by famine, and +gradually brought the war to a close. + +Over half a million Jews perished during the struggle, and the whole of +Judea was a desert in which wolves and hyenas howled through the streets +of the desolate cities. Hadrian established a new city on the site of +Jerusalem, which he called AElia Capitolina, and peopled with a colony of +foreigners. An edict was issued prohibiting any Jew from entering the +new city on pain of death, and the more effectually to enforce the +edict, the image of a swine was placed over the gate leading to +Bethlehem. + + +_II.--Judaism and Christianity_ + + +For the fourth time the Jewish people seemed on the brink of +extermination. Nebuchadrezzar, Antiochus, Titus, and Hadrian had +successively exerted their utmost power to extinguish their existence as +a separate people. Yet in less than sixty years after the war under +Hadrian, before the close of the second century after Christ, the Jews +present the extraordinary spectacle of two separate and regularly +organised communities--one under the Patriarch of Tiberias, +comprehending all of Israelitish descent who inhabited the Roman Empire; +the other under the Prince of the Captivity, to whom all the eastern +Jews paid allegiance. By the mild temper of Antoninus Pius, the Jews +were restored to their ancient privileges. Though still forbidden to +enter Jerusalem, they were permitted to acquire the freedom of Rome, to +establish many settlements in Italy, and to enjoy municipal honours. + +This gentle treatment assuaged the stern temper of the race. Awakened +from their dream of prophecy and conquest, they assumed the behaviour of +peaceable and industrious subjects. The worship of the synagogue became +the great bond of racial union, and through centuries held the scattered +nation in the closest uniformity. + +The middle of the third century beheld all Israel incorporated into +their two communities, under their patriarch and their caliphate. The +Resch-Glutha, or Prince of the Captivity, lived in all the state and +splendour of an oriental potentate, far outshining in his pomp his rival +sovereign in Tiberias. The most celebrated of the rabbinical sovereigns +was Jehuda, sometimes called the nasi or patriarch. His life was of such +spotless purity that he was named the Holy. He was the author of a new +constitution for the Jewish people, for he embodied in the celebrated +Mischna all the authorised traditions of the schools and courts, and all +the authorised interpretations of the Mosaic law. Both in the East and +the West the Jews maintained their seclusion from the rest of the world. +The great work called the Talmud, formed of the Mischna and the Gemara +(or compilation of comments), was composed during a period of thirty +years of profound peace for the masters of the Babylonian schools, under +Persian rule. This remains a monumental token of learning and industry +of the eastern Jewish rabbins of the third and fourth centuries. + +The formal establishment of Christianity by Constantine the Great, in +the early part of the fourth century, might have led to Jewish +apprehension lest the Synagogue should be eclipsed by the splendour of +its triumphant rival, the Christian Church; but the Rabbinical authority +had raised an insurmountable barrier around the Synagogue. And, +unhappily, the Church had lost its most effective means of +conversion--its miraculous powers, its simple doctrine, and the +blameless lives of its believers. Constantine enacted severe laws +against the Jews, which seem in great part to have been occasioned by +their own fiery zeal. But, still earlier than these enactments, Spain +had given the signal for hostility towards the Jews. A decree was passed +at the Council of Elvira prohibiting Jewish and Christian farmers and +peasants from mingling together at harvest home and other festivals. + +In Egypt, during the reign of Constantius, who succeeded his father +Constantine, the hot-headed Jews of Alexandria provoked the enactment by +that emperor of yet severer laws, by mingling themselves in the factions +of Arians and Athanasians, which distracted that restless city. They +joined with the pagans on the side of the Arian bishop, and committed +frightful excesses. An insurrection in Judea, which terminated in the +destruction of Dio Caesarea, gave further pretext for exaction and +oppression. But the apostasy of the emperor for a time revived the hopes +of the race, especially when he issued his memorable edict decreeing the +rebuilding of the Temple on Mount Moriah, and the restoration of the +Jewish worship in its original splendour. + +The whole Jewish world was now in commotion. Julian entrusted the +execution of the project to his favourite, Alypius, while he advanced +with his ill-fated army to the East. The Jews crowded from the most +distant quarters to assist in the work. But terrible disappointment +ensued. Fire destroyed the work, and various catastrophes frustrated the +enterprise, and the death of Julian rendered it hopeless. + +The irruption of the Northern Barbarians during the latter half of the +fourth to about the end of the fifth century so completely disorganised +the whole frame of society that the condition of its humblest members +could not but be powerfully influenced thereby. The Jews were widely +dispersed in all those countries on which the storm fell--in Belgium, +the Rhine districts, Germany, where it was civilised, Gaul, Italy, and +Spain. Not only did the Jews in their scattered colonies engage actively +in mercantile pursuits, but one great branch of commerce fell chiefly +into their hands--the internal slave-trade of Europe. + +The Church beheld this evil with grief and indignation, and popes issued +rescripts and interdicts. Fierce hostility grew up between Church and +Synagogue. The Church had not then the power--it may be hoped it had not +the will--to persecute. It was fully occupied with the task of seeking +to impart to the fierce conquerors--the Vandals; Goths, and other +Barbarians--the humanising and civilising knowledge of Christianity. + +A great enemy arose in the person of the Emperor Justinian, who was +provoked by savage conflicts between the Jews and the Samaritans to +issue severe enactments against both, which led to the fall of the +patriarchate. In the East, under the rule during the same period of the +Persian king, Chosroes the Just, or Nushirvan, who began his reign in +531 A.D., the position was not more favourable for the Jews of +Babylonia. + + +_III.--The Golden Age of Judaism_ + + +During the conflict between Persian and Roman emperors a power was +rapidly growing up in the secret deserts of Arabia which was to erect +its throne on the ruins of both. The Jews were the first opponents and +the first victims of Mohammed. At least a hundred and twenty years +before Christ, Jewish settlers had built castles in Sabaea and +established an independent kingdom, known as Homeritis, which was +subdued by an Arab chieftain and came to an end. But the Jews were still +powerful in the Arabian peninsula. Mohammed designed to range all the +tribes under his banner; but his overtures were scorned, and he ordered +a massacre of all who refused to accept the Koran. + +On one day 700 Jews were slain in Medina while the Prophet looked on +without emotion. But the persecution of the Jews by the Mohammedans was +confined to Arabia, for under the empire of the caliphs they suffered no +further oppression than the payment of tribute. Spain had maintained its +odious distinction in the West, and it is not surprising that the +suffering Jews by active intrigue materially assisted the triumphant +invasion of the country by the Saracens. And in France the Jews became +numerous and wealthy, and traded with great success. + +We enter on a period which may be described as the Golden Age of the +modern Jews. The religious persecutions of this race by the Mohammedans +were confined within the borders of Arabia. The Prophet was content with +enforcing uniformity of worship within the sacred peninsula which gave +him birth. The holy cities of Medina and Mecca were not to be profaned +by the unclean footstep of the unbeliever. His immediate successors rose +from stern fanatics to ambitious conquerors. Whoever would submit to the +dominion of the caliph might easily evade the recognition of the +Prophet's title. The Jews had reason to rejoice in the change of +masters. An Islamite sovereign would not be more oppressive than a +Byzantine on the throne of Constantinople or a Persian on the throne of +Ctesiphon. In every respect the Jew rose in the social scale under his +Mohammedan rulers. Provided he demeaned himself peaceably, and paid his +tribute, he might go to the synagogue rather than to the mosque. + +In the time of Omar, the second caliph, the coinage, already a trust of +great importance, had been committed to the care of a Jew. And the Jews +acted as intermediate agents in the interworking of European +civilisation, its knowledge, arts, and sciences, into the oriental mind, +and in raising the barbarian conquerors from the chieftains of wild, +marauding tribes into magnificent and enlightened sovereigns. The caliph +readily acknowledged as his vassal the Prince of the Captivity, who +maintained his state as representative of the Jewish community. And in +the West, during the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne, the treatment of +Jews became much more liberal than before. Their superior intelligence +and education, in a period when nobles and kings, and even the clergy, +could not always write their names, pointed them out for offices of +trust. They were the physicians, the ministers of finance, to monarchs. +They even became ambassadors. The Golden Age of the Jews endured in +increasing prosperity during the reign of Louis the Debonnaire, or the +Pious, at whose court they were so powerful that their interest was +solicited by the presents of kings. In the reign of Charles the Bald, +the Jews maintained their high estate, but dark signs of the approaching +Age of Iron began to lower around. + + +_IV.--The Iron Age of Judaism_ + + +Our Iron Age commences in the East, where it witnessed the extinction of +the Princes of the Captivity by the ignominious death of the last +sovereign, the downfall of the schools, and the dispersion of the +community, which from that period remained an abject and degraded part +of the population. During the ninth and tenth centuries the Caliphate +fell into weakness and confusion, and split up into several kingdoms +under conflicting sovereigns, and at the same time Judaism in the East +was distracted by continual disputes between the Princes of the +Captivity and the masters of the schools. The tribunals of the civil and +temporal powers of the Eastern Jewish community were in perpetual +collision, so that this singular state was weakened internally by its +own dissensions. + +When a violent and rapacious caliph, Ahmed Kader, ascended the throne, +he cast a jealous look on the powers of his vassal sovereign, and, +without pretext, he seized Scherira, the prince of the community, now a +hundred years old, imprisoned him and his son Hai, and confiscated their +wealth. Hai escaped to resume his office and to transmit its honours and +its dangers to Hezekiah, who was elected chief of the community, but +after a reign of two years was arrested with all his family by order of +the caliph Abdallah Kaim ben Marillah (A.D. 1036). The schools were +closed. Many of the learned fled to Spain, where the revulsion under the +Almohades had not yet taken place; all were dispersed. Among the rest +two of the sons of the unfortunate Prince of the Captivity effected +their escape to Spain, while the last of the House of David who reigned +over the Jews of the Dispersion in Babylonia perished on the scaffold. + +The Jewish communities in Palestine suffered a slower but more complete +dissolution. Benjamin of Tudela in the compilation of his travels in the +twelfth century gives a humiliating account of the few brethren who +still clung, in dire poverty and meanness, to their native land. In Tyre +he found 400 Jews, mostly glass-blowers. There were in Jerusalem only +200, almost all dyers of wool. Ascalon contained 153 Jews; Tiberias, the +seat of learning, and of the kingly patriarchate, but fifty. In the +Byzantine Empire the number of Jews had greatly diminished. + +We pursue our dark progress to the West, where we find all orders +gradually arrayed in fierce and implacable animosity against the race of +Israel. Every passion was in arms against them. In that singular +structure, the feudal system, which rose like a pyramid from the +villeins, or slaves attached to the soil, to the monarch who crowned the +edifice, the, Jews alone found no proper place. In France and England +they were the actual property of the king, and there was nowhere any +tribunal to which they could appeal. + +The Jew, often acquiring wealth in commerce, might become valuable +property of some feudatory lord. He was granted away, he was named in a +marriage settlement, he was pawned, he was sold, he was stolen. Even +Churchmen of the highest rank did not disdain such lucrative property. +Louis, King of Provence, granted to the Archbishop of Aries all the +possessions which his predecessors have held of former kings, including +the Jews. Philip the Fair bought of his brother, Charles of Valois, all +the Jews of his dominions and lordships. + +The Jew, making money as he knew how to do by trade and industry, was a +valuable source of revenue, and was tolerated only as such, but he was a +valuable possession. Chivalry, the parent of so much good and evil, was +a source of unmitigated wretchedness to the Jew--for religious +fanaticism and chivalry were inseparable, the knight of the Middle Ages +being bound with his good sword to extirpate all the enemies of Christ +and His Virgin Mother. The power of the clergy tended greatly to +increase this general detestation against the unhappy Jew. And when +undisciplined fanatics of the lowest order, under the guidance of Peter +the Hermit and Walter the Penniless, were fired with the spirit of the +Crusades, fearful massacres of Jews were perpetrated in Treves, Metz, +Spiers, Worms, and Cologne. Everywhere the tracks of the Crusaders were +deeply marked with Jewish blood. + +Half a century after the shocking massacres of Jews during the First +Crusade, another storm gathered, as the monk Rodolph passed through +Germany preaching the duty of wreaking vengeance on all the enemies of +God. The terrible cry of "Hep!"--the signal for the massacre of +Israelites--ran through the cities of the Rhine. Countless atrocities +took place as the Crusaders passed on, as the Jews record with triumph, +to perish by plague, famine, and the sword. + + +_V.--The Jews in England_ + + +In the Dark Ages England was not advanced beyond the other nations of +Europe in the civil or religious wisdom of toleration. There were Jews +in England under the Saxons. And during the days of the Norman kings +they were established in Oxford and in London. They taught Hebrew to +Christian as well as to Jewish students. But they increased in both +wealth and unpopularity, false tales about atrocities committed by them +being bruited abroad. In many towns furious rabbles at different times +attacked the Jewish quarters, burnt the dwellings, and put the inmates +cruelly to death, as at York, where hundreds perished during a riot in +the reign of Richard I. King John by cruel measures extorted large sums +from wealthy Jews. + +The Church was also their implacable enemy, securing many repressive +enactments against them. Jewish history has a melancholy +sameness--perpetual exactions, the means of enforcing them differing +only in their cruelty. When parliament refused to maintain the +extravagant royal expenditure, nothing remained but still further to +drain Hebrew veins. In the reign of Henry III. a tale was spread of the +crucifixion of a Christian child, called Hugh of Lincoln. The story +refutes itself, but it created horror throughout the country. For this +crime eighteen of the richest Jews of Lincoln were hanged, and many more +flung into dungeons. + +The death of Henry brought no respite, for Edward acted with equal +harshness. At length he issued the famous irrevocable edict of total +expulsion from the realm. Their departure was fixed for October 10, +1290. All who delayed were to be hanged without mercy. The Jews were +pursued from, the kingdom with every mark of popular triumph in their +sufferings. In one day 16,511 were exiled; all their property, debts, +obligations, mortgages were escheated to the king. A like expulsion had +been effected in France; and Spain, where the Jews were of a far nobler +rank, was not to be outdone in bigotry. + +During the reign of John I., in 1388 A.D., a fierce popular preacher of +Seville, Ferdinand Martinez, Arch-deacon of Ecija, excited the populace +to excesses against the Jews. The streets of the noble city ran with +blood, and 4,000 victims perished. The cruel spirit spread through the +kingdom, and appalling massacres followed in many cities. A series of +intermittent persecutions followed both in Spain and Portugal, in reign +after reign. Jews and Protestants together went through awful ordeals at +the hands of the Inquisition. When her glory had declined, Spain, even +in her lowest decrepitude, indulged in what might seem the luxury of +persecution. + +It was in the reign of Charles II. that the Jews found opportunity to +steal insensibly back into England. Cromwell had felt very favourably +disposed towards them, but had not dared to permit the re-establishment +which they had openly sought. But the necessities of Charles and his +courtiers quietly accomplished the, change, and the race has ever since +maintained its footing, and no doubt contributed a fair share to the +national wealth. Russia throughout her history adhered to her hostility +to the Jews, but expulsion became impossible with such vast numbers. It +is estimated that Russia contains half the Jewish population of the +world, notwithstanding that Russia proper from ancient times has been +sternly inhospitable to the Jewish race, while Poland has ever been +hospitable. + +The most important measures of amelioration in the lot of the Jews in +England were passed in 1723, when they acquired the right to possess +land; in 1753, when parliament enacted the Naturalisation Bill; in 1830, +when they were admitted to civic corporations; in 1833, when they were +admitted to the profession of advocates; in 1845, when they were +rendered eligible for the office of alderman and lord mayor; and in +1858, when the last and crowning triumph of the principle was achieved +by the admission of Jews into parliament. + +In Asia, the Jews are still found in considerable numbers on the verge +of the continent; in China, they are now found in one city alone, and +possess only one synagogue. In Mesopotamia and Assyria the ancient seats +of the Babylonian Jews are still occupied by 5,270 families. But England +and Anglo-Saxon countries generally have been the most favourable to the +race. Perhaps the most remarkable fact in the history of modern Judaism +is the extension of the Jews in the United States. Writing in 1829, I +stated, on the best authority then attainable, their numbers at 6,000. +They are now [in 1863] reckoned at 75,000. + + * * * * * + + + + +HERODOTUS + + +History + + + The "Father of History," as Herodotus has been styled, was + born at Halicarnassus, the centre of a Greek colony in Asia + Minor, between the years 490 and 480 B.C., and lived probably + to sixty, dying about the year 425 B.C. A great part of his + life was occupied with travels and investigations in those + lands with which his history is mainly concerned. His work is + the earliest essay in history in a European language. It is a + record primarily of the causes and the course of the first + great contest between East and West; and is a storehouse of + curious and delightful traveller's gossip as well as a + faithful record of events. The canons of evidence in his day + were defective, for obvious reasons; a miscellaneous divine + interposition in human affairs was taken for granted, and + science had not yet reduced incredible marvels to ordinary + natural phenomena. Nevertheless, Herodotus was a shrewd and + careful critic, honest, and by no means remarkably credulous. + If he had not acquired the conception of history as an exact + science, he made it a particularly attractive form of + literature, to which his simplicity of style gives a slight + but pleasant archaic flavour. This epitome has been specially + prepared far THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS from the Greek text. + + +_I.--The Rise of Persian Power_ + + +I will not dispute whether those ancient tales be true, of Io and Helen, +and the like, which one or another have called the sources of the war +between the Hellenes and the barbarians of Asia; but I will begin with +those wrongs whereof I myself have knowledge. In the days of Sadyattes, +king of Lydia, and his son Alyattes, there was war between Lydia and +Miletus. And Croesus, the son of Alyattes, made himself master of the +lands which are bounded by the river Halys, and he waxed in power and +wealth, so that there was none like to him. To him came Solon, the +Athenian, but would not hail him as the happiest of all men, saying that +none may be called happy until his life's end. + +Thereafter trouble fell upon Croesus by the slaying of his son when he +was a-hunting. Then Cyrus the Persian rose up and made himself master of +the Medes and Persians, and Croesus, fearing his power, was fain to go +up against him, being deceived by an oracle; but first he sought to make +alliance with the chief of the states of Hellas. In those days, +Pisistratus was despot of Athens; but Sparta was mighty, by the laws of +Lycurgus. Therefore Croesus sent envoys to the Spartans to make alliance +with them, which was done very willingly. But when Croesus went up +against Cyrus, his army was put to flight, and Cyrus besieged him in the +city of Sardis, and took it, and made himself lord of Lydia. He would +have slain Croesus, but, finding him wise and pious, he made him his +counsellor. + +Now, this Cyrus had before overthrown the Median king, Astyages, whose +daughter was his own mother. For her father, fearing a dream, wedded her +to a Persian, and when she bore a child, he gave order for its slaying. +But the babe was taken away and brought up by a herdsman of the +hill-folk. But in course of time the truth became known to Astyages, and +to Harpagus, the officer who had been bidden to slay the babe, and to +Cyrus himself. Then Harpagus, fearing the wrath of Astyages, bade Cyrus +gather together the Persians--who in those days were a hardy people of +the mountains--and made himself king over the Medians; which things +Cyrus did, overthrowing his grandfather Astyages. And in this wise began +the dominion of the Persians. + +The Ionian cities of Asia were zealous to make alliance with Cyrus when +he had overthrown Croesus. But he held them of little account, and +threatened them, and the Lacedaemonians also, who sent him messengers +warning him to let the Ionians alone. And he sent Harpagus against the +cities of the Ionians, of whom certain Phocaeans and Teians sailed away +to Rhegium and Abdera rather than become the slaves of the barbarians; +but the rest, though they fought valiantly enough, were brought to +submission by Harpagus. + +While Harpagus was completing the subjugation of the West, Cyrus was +making conquest of Upper Asia, and overthrew the kingdom of Assyria, of +which the chief city was Babylon, a very wonderful city, wherein there +had ruled two famous queens, Semiramis and Nitocris. Now, this queen had +made the city wondrous strong by the craft of engineers, yet Cyrus took +it by a shrewd device, drawing off the water of the river so as to gain +a passage. Thus Babylon also fell under the sway of the Persian. But +when Cyrus would have made war upon Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, +who dwelt to the eastward, there was a very great battle, and Cyrus +himself was slain and the most part of his host. And Cambyses, his son, +reigned in his stead. + + +_II.--Wars of Egypt and Persia_ + + +Cambyses set out to conquer Egypt, taking in his army certain of the +Greeks. But of all that I shall tell about that land, the most was told +to me by the priests whom I myself visited at Memphis and Thebes and +Heliopolis. They account themselves the most ancient of peoples. If the +Ionians are right, who reckon that Egypt is only the Nile Delta, this +could not be. But I reckon that the whole Egyptian territory is. Egypt, +from the cataracts and Elephantine down to the sea, parted into the +Asiatic part and the Libyan part by the Nile. + +For the causes of the rising and falling of the Nile, the reasons that +men give are of no account. And of the sources whence the river springs +are strange stories told of which I say not whether they be true or +false: but the course of it is known for four months' journey by land +and water, and in my opinion it is a river comparable to the Ister. + +The priests tell that the first ruler of Egypt was Menes, and after him +were three hundred and thirty kings, counting one queen, who was called +Nitocris. After them came Sesostris, who carried his conquest as far as +the Thracians and Scythians; and later was Rhampsinitus, who married his +daughter to the clever thief who robbed his treasure-house; and after +him Cheops, who built the pyramid, drawing the stones from the Arabian +mountain down to the Nile. Chephren also, and Mycerinus built pyramids, +and the Greeks have a story--which is not true--that another was built +by Rhodopis. And in the reign of Sethon, Egypt was invaded by +Sennacherib the Assyrian, whose army's bowstrings were eaten by +field-mice. + +A thing more wonderful than the pyramids is the labyrinth near Lake +Moeris, and still more wonderful is Lake Moeris itself, all which were +made by the twelve kings who ruled at once after Sethon. And after them, +Psammetichus made himself the monarch; and after him his great grandson +Apries prospered greatly, till he was overthrown by Amasis. And Amasis +also prospered, and showed favour to the Greeks. But for whatever +reason, in his day Cambyses made his expedition against Egypt, invading +it just when Amasis had died, and his son Psammenitus was reigning. + +Cambyses put the Egyptian army to rout in a great battle, and conquered +the country, making Psammenitus prisoner. Yet he would have set him up +as governor of the province, according to the Persian custom, but that +Psammenitus was stirred up to revolt, and, being discovered, was put to +death. Thereafter Cambyses would have made war upon Carthage, but that +the Phoenicians would not aid him; and against the Ethiopians, who are +called "long-lived," but his army could get no food; and against the +Ammonians, but the troops that went were seen no more. + +Now, madness came upon Cambyses, and he died, having committed many +crimes, among which was the slaying of his brother Smerdis. And there +rose up one among the Magi who pretended to be Smerdis, and was +proclaimed king. But this false Smerdis was one whose ears had been cut +off, and he was thus found out by one of his wives, the daughter of a +Persian nobleman, Otanes. Then seven nobles conspired together, since +they would not be ruled over by one of the Magi; and having determined +that it was best to have one man for ruler, rather than the rule of the +people or of the nobles, they slew Smerdis and made Darius, the son of +Hystaspes, their king. + +Then Darius divided the Persian empire into twenty satrapies, whereof +each one paid its own tribute, save Persia itself, and he was lord of +all Asia, and Egypt also. + +In the days of Cambyses, Polycrates was despot of Samos, being the first +who ever thought to make himself a ruler of the seas. And he had +prospered marvellously. But Oroetes, the satrap of Sardis, compassed his +death by foul treachery, and wrought many other crimes; whom Darius in +turn put to death by guile, fearing to make open war upon him. And not +long afterwards, he sent Otanes to make conquest of Samos. And during +the same days there was a revolt of the Babylonians; and Darius went up +against Babylon, yet for twenty months he could not take it. Howbeit, it +was taken by the act of Zopyrus, who, having mutilated himself, went to +the Babylonians and told them that Darius had thus evilly entreated him, +and so winning their trust, he made easy entry for the Persian army, and +so Babylon was taken the second time. + + +_III.--Persian Arms in Europe_ + + +Now, Darius was minded to make conquest of the Scythians--concerning +which people, and the lands beyond those which they inhabit, there are +many marvels told, as of a bald-headed folk called Argippaei; and the +Arimaspians or one-eyed people; and the Hyperborean land where the air +is full of feathers. Of these lands are legends only; nothing is known. +But concerning the earth's surface, this much is known, that Libya is +surrounded by water, certain Phoenicians having sailed round it. And of +the unknown regions of Asia much was searched out by order of Darius. + +The Scythians themselves have no cities; but there are great rivers in +Scythia, whereof the Ister is the greatest of all known streams, being +greater even than the Nile, if we reckon its tributaries. The great god +of the Scythians is Ares; and their war customs are savage exceedingly, +and all their ways barbarous. Against this folk Darius resolved to +march. + +His plan was to convey his army across the Bosphorus on a bridge of +boats, while the Ionian fleet should sail up to the Ister and bridge +that, and await him. So he crossed the Bosphorus and marched through +Thrace, subduing on his way the Getse, who believe that there is no true +death. But when he passed the Ister, he would have taken the Ionians +along with him; but by counsel of Coes of Mitylene, he resolved to leave +them in charge of the bridge, giving order that, after sixty days, they +might depart home, but no sooner. + +Then the Scythians, fearing that they could not match the great king's +army, summoned the other barbaric peoples to their aid; among whom were +the Sauromatians, who are fabled to be the offspring of the Amazons. And +some were willing, but others not. Therefore the Scythians retired +before Darius, first towards those peoples who would not come to their +help; and so enticed him into desert regions, yet would in no wise come +to battle with him. + +Now, at length, Darius found himself in so evil a plight that he began +to march back to the Ister. And certain Scythians came to the Ionians, +and counselled them to destroy the bridge, the sixty days being passed. +And this Miltiades, the Athenian despot of the Chersonese, would have +had them do, so that Darius might perish with all his army; but +Histiaeus of Miletus dissuaded them, because the rule of the despots was +upheld by Darius. And thus the Persian army was saved, Megabazus being +left in Europe to subdue the Hellespontines. When Megabazus had subdued +many of the Thracian peoples, who, indeed, lack only union with each +other to make them the mightiest of all nations, he sent an embassy to +Amyntas, the king of Macedon, to demand earth and water. But because +those envoys insulted the ladies of the court, Alexander, the son of +Amyntas, slew them all, and of them or all their train was never aught +heard more. + +Now Darius, with fair words, bade Histiseus of Miletus abide with him at +the royal town of Susa. Then Aristagoras, the brother of Histiaeus, +having failed in an attempt to subdue Naxos, and fearing both +Artaphernes, the satrap of Sardis, and the Persian general Megabazus, +with whom he had quarrelled, sought to stir up a revolt of the Ionian +cities; being incited thereto by secret messages from Histiseus. + +To this end, he sought alliance with the Lacedaemonians; but they would +have nothing to do with him, deeming the venture too remote. Then he +went to Athens, whence the sons of Pisistratus had been driven forth +just before. For Hipparchus had been slain by Harmodius and Aristogiton, +and afterwards Hippias would hardly have been expelled but that his +enemies captured his children and so could make with him what terms they +chose. But the Pisistratidse having been expelled, the city grew in +might, and changes were made in the government of it by Cleisthenes the +Alcmaeonid. But the party that was against Cleisthenes got aid from +Cleomenes of Sparta; yet the party of Cleisthenes won. + +Then, since they reckoned that there would be war with Sparta, the +Athenians had sought friendship with Artaphernes at Sardis; but since he +demanded earth and water they broke off. But because Athens was waxing +in strength, the Spartans bethought them of restoring the despotism of +the Pisistratidae. But Sosicles, the Corinthian, dissuaded the allies of +Sparta from taking part in so evil a deed. Then Hippias sought to stir +up against the Athenians the ill-will of Artaphernes, who bade them take +back the Pisistratidae, which they would not do. + +Therefore, when Aristagoras came thither, the Athenians were readily +persuaded to promise him aid. And he, having gathered the troops of the +Ionians, who were at one with him, marched with them and the Athenians +against Sardis and took the city, which by a chance was set on fire. But +after that the Athenians refused further help to the Ionians, who were +worsted by the Persians. But the ruin of the Ionians was at the +sea-fight of Lade, where the men of Chios fought stoutly; but they of +Samos and Lesbos deserting, there was a great rout. + + +_IV.--Marathon and Thermopylae_ + + +Thereafter King Darius, being very wroth with the Athenians for their +share in the burning of Sardis, sent a great army across the Hellespont +to march through Thrace against Athens, under his young kinsman +Mardonius. But disaster befell these at the hands of the Thracians, and +the fleet that was to aid them was shattered in a storm; so that they +returned to Asia without honour. Then Darius sent envoys to demand earth +and water from the Greek states; and of the islanders the most gave +them, and some also of the cities on the mainland; and among these were +the Aeginetans, who were at feud with Athens. + +But of those who would not give the earth and water were the Eretrians +of Eubcea. So Darius sent a great armament by sea against Eretria and +Athens, led by Datis and Artaphernes, which sailed first against +Eretria. The Athenians, indeed, sent aid; but when they found that the +counsels of the Eretrians were divided, so that no firm stand might be +made, they withdrew. Nevertheless, the Eretrians fought valiantly behind +their walls, till they were betrayed on the seventh day. But the +Persians, counselled by Hippias, sailed to the bay of Marathon. + +Then the Athenians sent the strong runner Pheidippides to call upon the +Spartans for aid; who promised it, yet for sacred reasons would not move +until the full moon. So the Athenian host had none to aid them save the +loyal Plataeans, valiant though few. Yet in the council of their generals +the word of Miltiades was given for battle, whereto the rest consented. +Then the Athenians and Plataeans, being drawn up in a long line, charged +across the plain nigh a mile, running upon the masses of the Persians; +and, breaking them upon the wings, turned and routed the centre also +after long fighting, and drove them down to the ships, slaying as they +went; and of the ships they took seven. And of the barbarians there fell +6,400 men, and of the Athenians, 192. But as for the story that the +Alcmaeonidae hoisted a friendly signal to the Persians, I credit it not +at all. + +Now, Darius was very wroth with the Greeks when he heard of these +things, and made preparation for a mighty armament to overthrow the +Greeks, and also the Egyptians, who revolted soon afterwards. But he +died before he was ready, and Xerxes, his son, reigned in his stead. +Then, having first crushed the Egyptians, he, being ruled by Mardonius, +gathered a council and declared his intent of marching against the +Hellenes; which resolution was commended by Mardonius, but Artabanus, +the king's uncle, spoke wise words of warning. Then Xerxes would have +changed his mind, but for a dream which came to him twice, and to +Artabanus also, threatening disaster if he ceased from his project; so +that Artabanus was won over to favour it. + +Then Xerxes made vast provision for his invasion for the building of a +bridge over the Hellespont, and the cutting of a canal through the +peninsula of Athos, where the fleet of Mardonius had been shattered. And +from all parts of his huge empire he mustered his hosts first in +Cappadocia, and marched thence by way of Sardis to the Hellespont. And +because, when the bridge was a building, a great storm wrecked it, he +bade flog the naughty waves of the sea. Then, the bridge being finished, +he passed over with his host, which took seven days to accomplish. + +And when they were come to Doriscus he numbered them, and found them to +be 1,700,000 men, besides his fleets. And in the fleet were 1,207 great +ships, manned chiefly by the Phoenicians and the Greeks of Asia, having +also Persian and Scythian fighting men on board. But when Demaratus, an +exiled king of Sparta, warned Xerxes of the valour of all the Greeks, +but chiefly of the Spartans, who would give battle, however few they +might be, against any foe, however many, his words seemed to Xerxes a +jest, seeing how huge his own army was. + +Now, Xerxes had sent to many of the Greek states heralds to demand earth +and water, which many had given; but to Athens and Sparta he had not +sent, because there the heralds of his father Darius had been evilly +entreated. And if it had not been for the resolution of the Athenians at +this time, all Hellas would have been forced to submit to the Great +King; for they, in despite of threatening oracles, held fast to their +defiance, being urged thereto by Themistocles, who showed them how those +oracles must mean that, although they would suffer evil things, they +would be victorious by means of wooden bulwarks, which is to say, ships; +and thus they were encouraged to rely upon building and manning a mighty +fleet. And all the other cities of Greece resolved to stand by them, +except the Argives, who would not submit to the leadership of the +Spartans. And in like manner Gelon, the despot of Syracuse in Sicily, +would not send aid unless he were accepted as leader. Nor were the men +of Thessaly willing to join, since the other Greeks could not help them +to guard Thessaly itself, as the pass of Tempe could be turned. + +Therefore the Greeks resolved to make their stand at Thermopylae on land, +and at the strait of Artemisium by sea. But at the strong pass of +Thermopylae only a small force was gathered to hold the barbarians in +check, there being of the Spartans themselves only 300, commanded by the +king Leonidas. And when the Persians had come thither and sought to +storm the pass, they were beaten back with ease, until a track was found +by which they might take the defenders in the rear. Then Leonidas bade +the rest of the army depart except his Spartans. But the Thespians also +would not go; and then those Spartans and Thespians went out into the +open and died gloriously. + + +_V.--Destruction of the Persian Hosts_ + + +During these same days the Greek fleet at Artemisium fought three +several engagements with the Persian fleet, in which neither side had +much the better. And thereafter the Greek fleet withdrew, but was +persuaded to remain undispersed in the bay of Salamis. The +Peloponnesians were no longer minded to attempt the defence of Attica, +but to fortify their isthmus, so that the Athenians had no choice but +either to submit or to evacuate Athens, removing their families and +their goods to Troezen or Aegina or Salamis. In the fleet, their +contingent was by far the largest and best, but the commanding admiral +was the Spartan Eurybiades. Then the Persians, passing through Boeotia, +but, being dispersed before Delphi by thunderbolts and other portents, +took possession of Athens, after a fierce fight with the garrison in the +Acropolis. + +Then the rest of the Greek fleet was fain to withdraw from Salamis, and +look to the safety of the Peloponnese only. But Themistocles warned them +that if they did so, the Athenians would leave them and sail to new +lands and make themselves a new Athens; and thus the fleet was persuaded +to hold together at Salamis. Yet he did not trust only to their +goodwill, but sent a messenger to the Persian fleet that the way of +retreat might be intercepted. For the Persian fleet had gathered at +Phalerum, and now looked to overwhelm the Grecian fleet altogether, +despite the council of Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus, who would have +had them not fight by sea at all. When Aristides, called the Just, the +great rival of Themistocles, came to the Greeks with the news that their +retreat by sea was cut off, then they were no longer divided, but +resolved to fight it out. + +In the battle, the Aeginetans and the Athenians did the best of all the +Greeks, and Themistocles best among the commanders; nor was ever any +fleet more utterly put to rout than that of the Persians, among whom +Queen Artemisia won praise unmerited. As for King Xerxes, panic seized +him when he saw the disaster to his fleet, and he made haste to flee. He +consented, however, to leave Mardonius behind with 300,000 troops in +Thessaly, he being still assured that he could crush the Greeks. And it +was well for him that Themistocles was over-ruled in his desire to +pursue and annihilate the fleet, then sail to the Hellespont and destroy +the bridge. + +When the winter and spring were passed, Mardonius marched from Thessaly +and again occupied Athens, which the Athenians had again evacuated, the +Spartans having failed to send succour. But when at length the +Lacedaemonians, fearing to lose the Athenian fleet, sent forth an army, +the Persians fell back to Boeotia. So the Greek hosts gathered near +Plataea to the number of 108,000 men, but the troops of Mardonius were +about 350,000. Yet, by reason of doubtful auguries, both armies held +back, till Mardonius resolved to attack, whereof warning was brought to +the Athenians by Alexander of Macedon. But when the Spartan Pausanias, +the general of the Greeks, heard of this, he did what caused no little +wonder, for he proposed that the Athenians instead of the Lacedaemonians +should face the picked troops of the Persians, as having fought them at +Marathon. But Mardonius, seeing them move, moved his picked troops also. +Then Mardonius sent some light horse against the Greeks by a fountain +whence flowed the water for the army; which, becoming choked, it was +needful to move to a new position. But the move being made by night, +most of the allies withdrew into the town. But the Spartans, and Tegeans +and Athenians, perceiving this, held each their ground till dawn. + +Now, in the morning the picked Persian troops fell on the Spartans, and +their Grecian allies attacked the Athenians. But, Mardonius being slain, +the Persians fled to their camp, which was stormed by the Spartans and +Tegeans, and the Athenians, who also had routed their foes; and there +the barbarians were slaughtered, so that of 300,000 men not 3,000 were +left alive. But Artabazus, who, before the battle, had withdrawn with +40,000 men, escaped by forced marches to the Hellespont. + +And on that same day was fought another fight by sea at Mycale in Ionia, +where also the barbarians were utterly routed, for the fleet had sailed +thither. And thence the Greeks sailed to Sestos, captured the place, and +so went home. + + * * * * * + + + + +THUCYDIDES + + +The Peloponnesian War + + + The Athenian historian, Thucydides, was born about 471 B.C., + within ten years of the great repulse of the Persian invasion. + Before he was thirty, the great political ascendancy of + Pericles was completely established at Athens, and the + ascendancy of Athens among the Greek states was unchallenged, + except by Sparta. He was forty at the beginning of the + Peloponnesian War. Thucydides was appointed to a military + command seven years later, but his failure in that office + caused his banishment. From that time he remained an exiled + spectator of events; the date of his death is uncertain. His + great work is the history of the Peloponnesian War to its + twentieth year, where his history is abruptly broken off. To + Herodotus, history presented itself as a drama; Thucydides + views it with the eyes of a philosophical statesman, but + writes it also with extraordinary descriptive power, not only + in pregnant sentences which have never been effectively + rendered in translation, but in passages of sustained + intensity, of which it would be vain to reproduce fragments. + The abridged translation given here has been made direct from + the Greek. + + +_I.--The Beginning of the War_ + + +I have written the account of the war between Athens and Sparta, since +it is the greatest and the most calamitous of all wars hitherto to the +Greeks. For the contest with the Medes was decided in four battles; but +this war was protracted over many years, and wrought infinite injury and +bloodshed. + +Of the immediate causes of the war the first is to be found in the +affairs of Epidamnus, Corcyra, and Corinth, of which Corcyra was a +colony. Of the Greek states, the most were joined either to the Athenian +or the Peloponnesian league, but Corcyra had joined neither. But having +a quarrel with Corinth about Epidamnus, she now formed an alliance with +Athens, whose intervention enraged the Corinthians. + +They then helped Potidaea, a Corinthian colony, but an Athenian +tributary, to revolt from Athens. Corinth next appealed to Sparta, as +the head of Hellas, to intervene ere it should be too late and check the +Athenian aggression, which threatened to make her the tyrant of all +Greece. At Sparta the war party prevailed, although King Archidamus +urged that sufficient pressure could be brought to bear without actual +hostilities. + +The great prosperity and development of Athens since the Persian war had +filled other states with fear and jealousy. She had rebuilt her city +walls and refortified the port of Piraeus after the Persian occupation; +Sparta had virtually allowed her to take the lead in the subsequent +stages of the war, as having the most effective naval force at command. +Hence she had founded the Delian league of the maritime states, to hold +the seas against Persia. At first these states provided fixed +contingents of ships and mariners; but Athens was willing enough to +accept treasure in substitution, so that she might herself supply the +ships and men. + +Thus the provision of forces by each state to act against Persia was +changed in effect into a tribute for the expansion of the Athenian +fleet. The continuous development of the power of Athens had been +checked only momentarily by her disastrous Egyptian expedition. Her +nominal allies found themselves actually her tributary dependencies, and +various attempts to break free from her yoke had made it only more +secure and more burdensome. + +Hence the warlike decision of Sparta was welcomed by others besides +Corinth. But diplomatic demands preceded hostilities. Sparta and Athens +sent to each other summons and counter-summons for the "expulsion of the +curse," that is of all persons connected with certain families which lay +under the curse of the gods. + +In the case of Athens, this amounted to requiring the banishment of her +greatest citizen and statesman, Pericles. To this the Spartans added the +demand that the Athenians should "restore the freedom of Hellas," and +should specifically remove certain trading disabilities imposed on the +people of Megara. + +At this crisis Pericles laid down the rules of policy on which Athens +ought to act--rules which required her to decline absolutely to submit +to any form of dictation from Sparta. When a principle was at stake, it +made no difference whether the occasion was trivial or serious. Athens +could face war with confidence. Her available wealth was far greater--a +matter of vital importance in a prolonged struggle. Her counsels were +not divided by the conflicting interests of allies all claiming to +direct military movements and policy. Her fleet gave her command of the +sea, and enabled her to strike when and where she chose. If +Peloponnesian invaders ravaged Attica, still no permanent injury would +be done comparable to that which the Athenians could inflict upon them. +The one necessity was to concentrate on the war, and attempt no +extension of dominion while it was in progress. + +War was not yet formally declared when the Thebans attempted to seize +Plataea, a town of Boeotia, which had long been closely allied to Athens. +The attempt failed, and the Thebans were put to death; but the Plataeans +appealed to Athens for protection against their powerful neighbour, and +when the Athenian garrison was sent to them, this was treated as a +_casus belli_. + +Preparations were urged on both sides; Sparta summoned her allies to +muster their contingents on the Isthmus for the invasion of Attica, +nearly all the mainland states joining the Peloponnesian league. The +islanders and the cities in Asia Minor, on the other hand, were nearly +all either actually subject to Athens or in alliance with her. + +As Pericles advised, the Athenians left the country open to the ravages +of the invading forces, and themselves retired within the city. In spite +of the resentment of those who saw their property being laid waste, +Pericles maintained his ascendency, and persuaded the people to devote +their energies to sending out an irresistible fleet, and to establishing +a great reserve both of ships and treasure, which were to be an annual +charge and brought into active use only in the case of dire emergency. +The fleet sailed round the Peloponnese, and the ravages it was able to +inflict, with the alarm it created, caused the withdrawal of the forces +in Attica. + +In that winter Pericles delivered a great funeral oration, or panegyric, +in memory of the Athenians who had so far fallen gloriously in defence +of their country, in which he painted the characteristic virtues of the +Athenian people in such a fashion as to rouse to the highest pitch the +patriotic pride of his countrymen, and their confidence in themselves, +in their future, and in their leader. + + +_II.--Early Successes of Athens_ + + +In the second year of the war, Athens suffered from a fearful visitation +of the plague, which, however, made no way in the Peloponnese. It broke +out also among the reinforcements dispatched to Potidaea; and it required +all the skill of Pericles to reconcile the Athenians to the continuation +of the war, after seeing their territories overrun for the second time +for six weeks. By dint of dwelling on the supreme importance of their +decisive command of the sea, and on the vast financial resources which +secured their staying power, he maintained his ascendency until his +death in the following year, though he had to submit to a fine. The +events which followed his death only confirmed the profundity of his +political judgment, and the accuracy with which he had gauged the +capacities of the state. In that winter Potidaea was forced to capitulate +to the Athenians. + +In the summer of the third year, the Lacedaemonians called on the +Plataeans to desert the Athenian alliance. On their refusal, Plataea was +besieged by the allied forces of the Peloponnesians. With splendid +resolution, the Plataeans defeated the attempt of the allies to force an +entry till they were able to complete and withdraw behind a second and +more easily tenable line of defence, when the Peloponnesians settled +down to a regular investment. The same year was marked by the brilliant +operations of the Athenian admiral Phormio in the neighbourhood of +Naupactus. + +On the other hand, a Peloponnesian squadron threatened the Piraeus, +caused some temporary panic, and awakened the Athenians to the necessity +of maintaining a look-out, but otherwise effected little. The year is +further noted for the invasion of Macedonia by the Thracian or Scythian +king Sitalces, who was, however, induced to retire. + +In the next year, Lesbos revolted against the Athenian supremacy. As a +result, an Athenian squadron blockaded Mitylene. The Lacedaaeonians were +well pleased to accept alliance with a sea-power which claimed to have +struck against Athens, not as being subject to her, but in anticipation +of attempted subjugation. The prompt equipment, however, of another +Athenian fleet chilled the naval enthusiasm of Sparta. + +During this winter the Plataeans began to feel in straits from shortage +of supplies, and it was resolved that a party of them should break +through the siege lines, and escape to Athens, a feat of arms which was +brilliantly and successfully accomplished. + +In the next--the fifth--summer, Mitylene capitulated; the fate of the +inhabitants was to be referred to Athens. Here Cleon had now become the +popular leader, and he persuaded the Athenians to order the whole of the +adult males to be put to death. The opposition, however, succeeded in +getting this bloodthirsty resolution rescinded. The second dispatch, +racing desperately after the first, did not succeed in overtaking it, +but was just in time to prevent the order for the massacre from being +carried out. Lesbos was divided among Athenian citizens, who left the +Lesbians in occupation as before, but drew a large rental from them. + +In the same summer the remaining garrison of Plataea surrendered to the +Lacedaemonians, on terms to be decided by Lacedaemonian commissioners. +Before them the Plataeans justified their resistance, but the +commissioners ignored the defence, and, on the pretext that the only +question was whether they had suffered any "wrong" at the hands of the +Plataeans, and that the answer to that was obvious, put the Plataeans to +death and razed the city to the ground. + +Meanwhile, at Corcyra, the popular and the oligarchical parties, who +favoured the Athenians and Peloponnesians respectively, had reached the +stage of murderous hostility to each other. The oligarchs captured the +government, and were then in turn attacked by the popular party; and +there was savage faction fighting. An attempt was made by the commander +of the Athenian squadron at Naupactus to act as moderator; the +appearance of a Peloponnesian squadron and a confused sea-fight, +somewhat in favour of the latter, brought the popular party to the verge +of a compromise. But the Peloponnesians retired on the reported approach +of a fresh Athenian fleet, and a democratic reign of terror followed. + +"The father slew the son, and the supplicants were torn from the temples +and slain near them." And thus was initiated the peculiar horror of this +war--the desperate civil strife in one city after another, oligarchs +hoping to triumph by Lacedaemonian and democrats by Athenian, support, +and either party, when uppermost, ruling by terror. It was at this time +also that the Ionian and Dorian cities of Sicily, headed by Leontini and +Syracuse respectively, went to war with each other, and an Athenian +squadron was first induced to participate in the struggle. + +Among the operations of the next, or sixth, summer was a campaign which +the Athenian commander Demosthenes conducted in AEtolia--successful at +the outset, but terminating in disaster, which made the general afraid +to return to Athens. He seized a chance, however, of recovering his +credit by foiling a Lacedaemonian expedition against Naupactus; and in +other ways he successfully established a high military reputation, so +that he was no longer afraid to reappear at Athens. + +Next year, the Athenians dispatched a larger fleet with Sicily for its +objective. Demosthenes, however, who had a project of his own in view, +was given an independent command. He was thus enabled to seize and +fortify Pylos, a position on the south-west of Peloponnese, with a +harbour sheltered by the isle of Sphacteria. The Spartans, in alarm, +withdrew their invading force from Attica, and attempted to recover +Pylos, landing over 400 of their best men on Sphacteria. The locality +now became the scene of a desperate struggle, which finally resulted in +the Spartans on Sphacteria being completely isolated. + +So seriously did the Lacedaemonians regard this blow that they invited +the Athenians to make peace virtually in terms of an equal alliance; but +the Athenians were now so confident of a triumphant issue that they +refused the terms--chiefly at the instigation of Cleon. Some supplies, +however, were got into Sphacteria, owing to the high rewards offered by +the Lacedaemonians for successful blockade-running. At this moment, +Cleon, the Athenian demagogue, having rashly declared that he could +easily capture Sphacteria, was taken at his word and sent to do it. He +had the wit, however, to choose Demosthenes for his colleague, and to +take precisely the kind of troops Demosthenes wanted; with the result +that within twenty days, as he had promised, the Spartans found +themselves with no other alternatives than annihilation or surrender. +Their choice of the latter was an overwhelming blow to Lacedaemonian +prestige. + + +_III.--Victories of Lacedaemon_ + + +The capture of the island of Cythera in the next summer gave the +Athenians a second strong station from which they could constantly +menace the Peloponnese. On the other hand, in this year the Sicilians +were awakening to the fact that Athens was not playing a disinterested +part on behalf of the Ionian states, but was dreaming of a Sicilian +empire. At a sort of peace congress, Hermocrates of Syracuse +successfully urged all Sicilians to compose their quarrels on the basis +of _uti possidetis,_ and thus deprive the Athenians of any excuse for +remaining. Thus for the time Athenian aspirations in that quarter were +checked. + +At Megara this year the dissensions of the oligarchical and popular +factions almost resulted in its capture by the Athenians. The +Lacedaemonian Brasidas, however--who had distinguished himself at +Pylos--effected an entry, so that the oligarchical and Peloponnesian +party became permanently established in power. The most important +operations were now in two fields. Brasidas made a dash through Thessaly +into Macedonia, in alliance with Perdiccas of Macedon, with the hope of +stirring the cities of Chalcidice to throw off the Athenian yoke; and +the democrats of Boeotia intrigued with Athens to assist in a general +revolution. Owing partly to misunderstandings and partly to treachery, +the Boeotian democrats failed to carry out their programme, the +Athenians were defeated at Delium, and Delium itself was captured by the +Boeotians. + +Meanwhile, Brasidas succeeded in persuading Acanthus to revolt, he +himself winning the highest of reputations for justice and moderation as +well as for military skill. Later in the year he suddenly turned his +forces against the Athenian colony of Amphipolis, which he induced to +surrender by offering very favourable terms before Thucydides, who was +in command of Thasos, arrived to relieve it. The further successes of +Brasidas during this winter made the Athenians ready to treat for peace, +and a truce was agreed upon for twelve months. Brasidas, however, +continued to render aid to the subject cities which revolted from +Athens--this being now the ninth year of the war--but he failed in an +attempt to capture Potidaea. + +The period of truce terminating without any definite peace being arrived +at, the summer of the tenth year is chiefly notable for the expedition +sent under Cleon to recover Amphipolis, and for a recrudescence of the +old quarrel in Sicily between Leontini and Syracuse. Before Amphipolis, +the incompetent Cleon was routed by the skill of Brasidas; but the +victor as well as the vanquished was slain, though he lived long enough +to know of the victory. Their deaths removed two of the most zealous +opponents of the peace for which both sides were now anxious. Hence at +the close of the tenth year a definite peace was concluded. + +The Lacedaemonians, however, were almost alone in being fully satisfied +by the terms, and the war was really continued by an anti-Laconian +confederation of the former Peloponnesian allies, who saw in the peace a +means to the excessive preponderance of Athens and Sparta. Argos was +brought into the new confederacy in the hope of establishing her nominal +equality with Sparta. For some years from this point the combinations of +the states were constantly changing, while Athens and Sparta remained +generally on terms of friendliness, the two prominent figures at Athens +being the conservative Nicias and the restless and ambitious young +intriguer Alcibiades. + +In the fourteenth year there were active hostilities between Argos, with +which by this time Athens was in alliance, and Lacedaemon, issuing in +the great battle of Mantinea, where there was an Athenian contingent +with the Argives. This was notable especially as completely restoring +the prestige of the Lacedaemonian arms, their victory being decisive. The +result was a new treaty between Sparta and Argos, and the dissolution of +the Argive-Athenian alliance; but this was once more reversed in the +following year, when the Argive oligarchy was attacked successfully by +the popular party. + +The next year is marked by the high-handed treatment of the island of +Melos by the Athenians. This was one of the very few islands which had +not been compelled to submit to Athens, but had endeavoured to remain +neutral. Thither the Athenians now sent an expedition, absolutely +without excuse, to compel their submission. + +The Melians, however, refused, and gave the Athenians a good deal of +trouble before they could be subdued, when the adult male population was +put to death, and the women and children enslaved. At this time the +Athenians resolved, under colour of an appeal for assistance from the +Sicilian city of Egesta, deliberately to set about the establishment of +their empire in Sicily. The aggressive policy was vehemently advocated +by Alcibiades, and opposed by Nicias. Nevertheless, he, with Alcibiades +and Lamachus, was appointed to command the expedition, which was +prepared on a scale of unparalleled magnificence. It was on the point of +starting, when the whole city was stirred to frenzy by the midnight +mutilation of the sacred images called Hermae, an act laid at the door of +Alcibiades, along with many other charges of profane outrages. Of set +purpose, however, the enemies of Alcibiades refused to bring him to +trial. The expedition sailed. The Syracusans were deaf to the warnings +of Hermocrates until the great fleet had actually arrived at Rhegium. + +Nicias was now anxious to find an excuse, in the evident falsity of +statements made by the Egestans, for the fleet to content itself with +making a demonstration and then returning home. The scheme of +Alcibiades, however, was adopted for gaining over the other Sicilian +states in order to crush Syracuse. But at this moment dispatches arrived +requiring the return of Alcibiades to stand trial. Athens was in a panic +over the Hermae affair, which was supposed to portend an attempt to +reestablish the despotism which had been ended a hundred years before by +the expulsion of the Pisistratidae. Alcibiades, however, made his escape, +and for years pursued a life of political intrigue against the Athenian +government. + +Nicias and Lamachus, left in joint command, drew off the Syracusan +forces by a ruse, and were thus enabled to occupy unchecked a strong +position before Syracuse. Although, however, they inflicted a defeat on +the returned Syracusan forces, they withdrew into winter quarters; the +Syracusans were roused by Hermocrates to improve their military +organisation; and both sides entered on a diplomatic contest for winning +over the other states of Sicily. Alcibiades, now an avowed enemy of +Athens, was received by the Lacedaemonians, whom he induced to send an +able Spartan officer, Gylippus, to Syracuse, and to determine on the +establishment of a military post corresponding to that of Pylos on Attic +soil at Decelea. + + +_IV.--The Disaster of Syracuse_ + + +In the spring the Athenians succeeded in establishing themselves on the +heights called Epipolae, overlooking Syracuse, began raising a wall of +circumvallation, and carried by a surprise the counter-stockade which +the Syracusans were raising. In one of the skirmishes, while the +building of the wall was in progress, Lamachus was killed; otherwise +matters went well for the Athenians and ill for the Syracusans, till +Gylippus was allowed to land at Himera, force his way into Syracuse, and +give new life. Nicias was guilty of the blunder of allowing Gylippus to +land at Himera, to aid the defence, at the moment when it was on the +point of capitulation. A long contest followed, the Athenians +endeavouring to complete the investing lines, the Syracusans to pierce +them with counterworks. Nicias sent to Athens for reinforcements, while +the Syracusans were energetically fitting out a fleet and appealing for +air in the Peloponnese. Nicias, in fact, was extremely despondent and +anxious to resign; the Athenians, however, answered his dispatches by +preparing a great reinforcement under the command of Demosthenes, +without accepting the resignation of Nicias. The Lacedaemonians, however, +also sent some reinforcements; at the same time they formally declared +war, and carried out the plan of occupying and fortifying Decelea, which +completely commanded the Athenian territory and was the cause of untold +loss and suffering. + +Now, at Syracuse the besieged took the offensive both by sea and land, +and were worsted on the water, but captured some of the Athenian forts, +commanding the entry to the besiegers' lines--a serious disaster. By the +time that Demosthenes with his reinforcements reached Sicily nearly the +whole island had come over to the side of Syracuse. Before this, the +Syracusans had again challenged an engagement both by sea and land, with +results indecisive on the first day but distinctly in their favour on +the second. At this juncture, Demosthenes arrived, and, seeing the +necessity for immediate action, made a night attack on the Syracusan +lines; but, his men falling into confusion after a first success, the +attempt was disastrously repulsed. + +Demosthenes was quick to realise that the whole situation was hopeless; +but Nicias lacked nerve to accept the responsibility of retiring, and +also had some idea that affairs within Syracuse were favourable. His +obstinacy gave Demosthenes and his colleague Eurymedon the impression +that he was guided by secret information. And now it became the primary +object of Gylippus and the Syracusans to keep the Athenians from +retiring. Another naval defeat reduced the Athenians to despair; they +resolved that they must cut their way out. + +The desperate attempt was made, but by almost hopeless men against an +enemy now full of confidence. To the excited, almost agonised, watchers +on shore, it seemed for a brief space that the ships might force a +passage; the fight was a frenzied scuffle; but presently the terrible +truth was realised--the Athenian ships were being driven ashore. The +last hope of escape by sea was gone, for, though there were still ships +enough, the sailors were too utterly demoralised to make the attempt. + +Hermocrates and Gylippus, sure that a retreat by land would not be +tried, succeeded by a trick in detaining the Athenians till they had +themselves sent out detachments to hold the roads. On the third day the +Athenians began their retreat in unspeakable misery, amid the +lamentations of the sick and wounded, whom they were forced to leave +behind. For three days they struggled on, short of food and perpetually +harassed, cut off from all communications. On the third day their +passage was barred in a pass, and they found themselves in a trap. On +the third night they attempted to break away by a different route, but +the van and the rear lost touch. Overtaken by the Syracusans, +Demosthenes attempted to fight a rearguard action, but in vain, and he +was forced to surrender at discretion with his whole force. Next day, +Nicias with the van was overtaken, and, after a ghastly scene of +confusion and slaughter, the remnants of the vanguard were forced to +surrender also. Nicias and Demosthenes were put to death; great numbers +were seized as private spoil by their captors, the rest of the +prisoners--more than 7,000--were confined for weeks under the most +noisome conditions in the quarries, and finally the survivors were sold +as slaves. So pitiably ended that once magnificent enterprise in the +nineteenth year of the war. + +The terrific disaster filled every enemy of Athens with confident +expectation of her immediate and utter ruin. Lacedaemonians anticipated +an unqualified supremacy. At Athens there was a stubborn determination +to prepare for a desperate stand; but half the islanders were intriguing +for Lacedaemonian or Persian aid in breaking free, while Alcibiades +became extremely busy. + +The first Peloponnesian squadron which attempted to move was promptly +driven into Piraeus by an Athenian fleet and blockaded. On the open +revolt of some of the states, the Athenians for the first time brought +into play their reserve fund and reserve navy--the emergency had arisen. +While one after another of the subject cities revolted, the Athenians +struck hard at Chios, and especially Miletus, and obtained marked +successes. Meanwhile, a revolution in Samos had expelled the oligarchy +and re-established the democracy, to which the Athenians accorded +freedom, thereby securing an ally. In Lesbos also they recovered their +challenged supremacy. + +Phrynicus now came into prominence as a shrewd commander and a crafty +politician, while the intricate intrigues of Alcibiades, whose great +object was to recover his position at Athens, created perpetual +confusion. These events took place in the twentieth year of the war, and +to them must be added a Lacedaemonian treaty with Persia through the +satrap Tissaphernes. All the leading men, however, were engaged in +playing fast and loose, each of them having his personal ambitions in +view. Of this labyrinth of plots and counter-plots, the startling +outcome was the sudden abrogation of the constitution at Athens and the +capture of the government by a committee of five with a council of four +hundred and a supplementary assembly of five thousand--in place of the +whole body of citizens as formerly. The Five and the Four Hundred in +effect were the Government, and established a reign of terror. + +At Athens, the administration thus formed was effective; but the army +and fleet at Satnos repudiated the revolution and swore loyalty to the +democracy, claiming to be the true representatives of the Athenian +state. Moreover, they allied themselves with Alcibiades, expecting +through him to receive Persian support; and, happily for Athens, he +succeeded in restraining the fleet--which was still more than a match +for all adversaries--from sailing back to the Piraeus to subvert the rule +of the Four Hundred. The more patriotic of the oligarchs saw, in fact, +that the best hopes for the state lay in the establishment of a limited +democracy; with the result that the extreme oligarchs, who would have +joined hands with the enemy, were overthrown, and the rule of the Five +Thousand replaced that of the Four Hundred, providing Athens with the +best administration it had ever known. A great naval victory was won by +the Athenian fleet, under the command of Thrasybulus, over a slightly +larger Peloponnesian fleet at Cynossema. + + * * * * * + + + + +XENOPHON + + +Anabasis + + + Xenophon was born at Athens about B.C. 430, and died probably + in 355. He was an Athenian gentleman who in his early-manhood + was an intimate member of the Socratic circle. In 401 he + joined the expedition of Cyrus, recorded in the "Anabasis," + and did not again take up his residence in Athens. The + "Anabasis" must be introduced by an historical note. In the + year 404 B.C. the Peloponnesian war was brought to a close by + a peace establishing the Lacedaemonian supremacy consequent + upon the crowning disaster to the Athenians at Aegos Potami. + In the same year the Persian king Darius Nothus died, and was + succeeded on the throne by his son Artaxerxes. His younger + son, Cyrus, determined to make a bid for the throne. He had + personal knowledge of the immense superiority of the Greek + soldiery and the Greek discipline over those of the Eastern + nations. Accordingly, he planned to obtain the services of a + large contingent of Greek mercenaries, who had become the more + readily available since the internecine struggle between the + two leading states of Hellas had been brought to an end. The + term "Anabasis," or "going up," applies properly to the + advance into the interior; the retreat, with which the work is + mainly concerned, is the "Katabasis." The author writes his + record in the third person. This epitome has been specially + adapted for THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS from the Greek text. + + +_I.--The Going-up of Cyrus_ + + +Cyrus, the younger brother of Artaxerxes the king, began his +preparations for revolt by gradually gathering and equipping an army on +the pretext of hostile relations between himself and another of the +western satraps, Tissaphernes. Notably, he secretly furnished Clearchus, +a Lacedaemonian, with means to equip a Greek force in Thrace; another +like force was ready to move from Thessaly under Aristippus; while a +Boeotian, Proxenus, and two others friends were commissioned to collect +more mercenaries to aid in the war with Tissaphernes. + +Next, an excuse for marching up-country, at the head of all these +forces, was found in the need of suppressing the Pisidians. He advanced +from Sardis into Phrygia, where his musters were completed at Celaenae. A +review was held at Tyriaeum, where the Cilician queen, who had supplied +funds, was badly frightened by a mock charge of the Greek contingent. +When the advance had reached Tarsus, there was almost a mutiny among the +Greeks, who were suspicious of the intentions of Cyrus. The diplomacy, +however, of their principal general, Clearchus, the Lacedaemonian, +coupled with promises of increased pay, prevailed, though it had long +been obvious that Pisidia was not the objective of the expedition. + +Further reinforcements were received at Issus, the eastern seaport of +Cilicia; Cyrus then marched through the Cilician gate into Syria. At +Myriandrus two Greek commanders, probably through jealousy of Clearchus, +deserted. Cyrus won popularity by refusing to presume thereon; and the +whole force now struck inland to Thapsacus, on the Euphrates. + +At Thapsacus, Cyrus announced his purpose. The Greek soldiers were angry +with their generals for having, as they supposed, wilfully misled them, +but were mollified by promise of large rewards. One of the commanders, +Menon, won the approval of Cyrus by being the first to lead his own +contingent across the Euphrates on his own initiative. The advance was +now conducted by forced marches through a painfully sterile country. In +the course of this, the troops of Clearchus and Menon very nearly came +to blows; the intervention of Proxenus only made matters worse; and +order was restored by the arrival of Cyrus, who pointed out that the +whole expedition must be ruined if the Greeks fell out among themselves. + +By this time, Artaxerxes had realised that the repeated warnings of +Tissaphernes and others were justified; and as the expedition neared +Babylonia, signs of the enemy became apparent in the deliberate +devastation of the country. Here Orontes, one of the principal Persian +officers of Cyrus, was convicted of treason and put to death. + +The army was again reviewed, the whole force amounting to some 100,000 +barbarians and nearly 14,000 Greeks; the enemy were reputed to number +over 1,000,000, though not so many took part in the engagement. Cyrus +now advanced, expecting battle immediately at an entrenched pass; but, +finding this unoccupied, he did not maintain battle order; which was +hurriedly taken up on news of the approach of the royal forces. The +Greeks, under Clearchus, occupied the right wing, Cyrus being in the +centre, and Ariaeus on the left. The king's army was so large that its +centre extended beyond the left of Cyrus. + +The Greeks advanced on the royalist left, which broke and fled almost +without a blow. Thinking that the Greeks might be intercepted and cut +off, Cyrus charged the centre in person with his bodyguard, and routed +the opposing troops; but dashing forward in the hope of capturing +Artaxerxes, was himself pierced by a javelin, and fell dead on the +field. So ended the career of the most brilliant Persian since Cyrus the +Great had established the Persian Empire; brave, accomplished, the +mirror of honour, just himself and the rewarder of justice in others, +generous and most loyal to his friends. + + +_II.--The Homeward March_ + + +When Cyrus fell, the left wing, under Ariaeus, broke and fled. The Greeks +had meantime poured on in pursuit of the royalist left, while the main +body of the royalists were in possession of the rebel camp, though a +Greek guard, which had been left there, held the Greek quarter. +Artaxerxes, however, had no mind to give battle to the returning Greek +column. + +It was not till next day that Clearchus and his colleagues learned by +messengers from Ariaeus that Cyrus was slain, and that Ariaeus had fallen +back to the last halting-place, where he proposed to wait twenty-four +hours, and no more, before starting in his retreat westward. Clearchus +replied, that the Greeks, for their part, had been victorious, and that +if Ariaeus would rejoin them they would win the Persian crown for him, +since Cyrus was dead. The next message was from Artaxerxes inviting the +Greeks to give up their arms; to which they replied that he might come +and take them if he could, but if he meant to treat them as friends, +they would be no use to him without their arms, if as enemies, they +would keep them to defend themselves. + +Though no formal appointment was made, the Greeks recognised Clearchus +as their leader. They fell back to join Ariaeus, who declined the +proposal to seat him on the Persian throne; and it was agreed to follow +a new route in retreat to Ionia, the way by which the force had advanced +being now impracticable. + +Now, however, Artaxerxes began to negotiate through Tissaphernes, the +Greeks maintaining a bold and even contemptuous front, warranted by the +king's obvious fear of risking an engagement. + +Finally, an offer came to conduct the Greeks back to Grecian territory, +providing them, at their own cost, with necessaries. Prolonged delays, +however, aroused suspicions of treachery among the Greeks, who +distrusted Tissaphernes and Ariaeus alike; but Clearchus held it better +not to break openly with the Persians. The march at last began along a +northerly route towards the Black Sea, the Greeks keeping rigidly apart +from the Persian forces which accompanied them, in readiness for an +attack. + +At the crossing of the Tigris suspicion was particularly active, the +conduct of Ariaeus being especially dubious; but still no overt +hostilities were attempted until the river Zabatus was reached, after +three weeks of marching. Here Clearchus endeavoured to end the extremely +strained relations between the Greeks and the barbarian commanders by an +interview with Tissaphernes. Both men carefully repudiated any idea of +hostile intentions, and the Persian invited Clearchus and the Greek +officers generally to attend a conference. Not all, but a considerable +number--five generals, including Clearchus, Proxenus, and Menon, with +twenty more officers and nearly two hundred others--attended. At a given +signal all were treacherously massacred; but a fugitive reached the +Greek camp, where the men sprang to arms. Ariaeus, approaching with an +escort, declared that Clearchus had been proved guilty of treason, but +was received with fierce indignation, and withdrew. + +Of the murdered generals, Clearchus was a man of high military capacity, +but a harsh disciplinarian, feared and respected, but very unpopular; +Proxenus, a particular friend of Xenophon, was an amiable but not a +strong man; Menon, the Thessalian, was a crafty and hypocritical +time-server, of whom no good can be spoken. + +The ten thousand Greeks were now in an ugly predicament; they were a +thousand miles from home, while between them and the Black Sea lay the +mountains of Armenia. They were surrounded by hostile hordes, and were +without cavalry. They had no recognised chief, and their most trusted +leaders were gone. The whole company seemed paralysed under a universal +despondency. It was at this juncture that Xenophon, an Athenian +gentleman-volunteer, was stirred to action by a dream. He rose and +roused the officers of the contingent of Proxenus, to which he was +attached. Heartened by an address, in which he pointed out that, on the +one hand they had to depend on their own courage, skill, and +resourcefulness, and, on the other, were released from all obligation to +the Persians, they unanimously chose him their leader, and at his +instigation roused the senior officers of all the other contingents to +assemble for deliberation. + +The council thus summoned, inspired again by the words of Xenophon, +vigorously backed up by other leaders, appointed new generals, among +them Xenophon himself, and set about actively to organise a retreat to +the sea. The contagion of resolute determination spread through the +ranks of the whole force. Cheirisophus the Lacedaemonian was given the +chief command, the two youngest generals, Xenophon and Timerion, were +placed in charge of the rear-guard. A troop of slingers was organised; +all horses with the arroy were sequestrated to form a cavalry squadron. +The army started on its march through the unknown, formed in a hollow +square, which was shortly so organised that the columns could be +broadened or narrowed according to the ground without creating +confusion. + +They soon found themselves able to repulse without difficulty even +attacks in force by the troops of Tissaphernes, the enemy being entirely +outmatched in hand-to-hand fighting. The slingers and archers, however, +proved troublesome, and hostile forces, though keeping out of reach, +were never far off. At last Tissaphernes and Ariaeus drew off altogether, +and the Greek generals having as alternative courses the march east upon +Susa, north upon Babylon, and west towards Ionia, decided to revert to +the course northwards to the Black Sea. + + +_III.--The Sea! The Sea!_ + + +This route led at first through the country of the Carduchi, a very +warlike folk who had never been subjugated. Here there was a good deal +of hard fighting, the Carduchi being adepts in hill warfare, and +particularly expert archers. Such was the length and weight of their +arrows that Greeks collected them, and used them as javelins. Seven days +of this brought the retreating force to the river Centrites, which parts +the Carduchian mountains from the province of Armenia. With a barely +fordable river, troops in evidence on the other side, and the Carduchi +hanging on their rear, the passage offered great difficulties, solved by +the discovery of a much shallower ford. A feint at one point by the +rearguard drew off the enemy on the opposite bank, while the main body +crossed at the shallows, which the rearguard also managed to pass by a +successful ruse which misled the Carduchi. + +The Persian governor of Western Armenia, Tiribazus, offered safe passage +through his province, but scouts brought information that large forces +were collecting, and would dispute the passage of a defile through which +the army must pass. This point, however, was reached by a forced march, +and the enemy was put to rout. + +For some days after this the marching was very severe; the men had to +struggle forward on very nearly empty stomachs, through blizzards, +suffering terribly from frostbite and the blinding effect of the snow on +their eyes, so that at times nothing short of actual threats from the +officers could induce the exhausted men to toil forward; and all the +time the enemy's skirmishers were harassing the troops and cutting off +stragglers. These, however, were finally dispersed by a sudden onslaught +of the rearguard, and after this a more populous district was reached, +where food and wine abounded, and the Greeks, who were not ill-received, +made some days' halt to recuperate. + +Here a guide was obtained for the next stages; but on the third night he +deserted, because Cheirisophus had lost his temper and struck him. This +incident was the only occasion of a serious difference between Xenophon +and the elder commander. On the seventh day after this the river Phasis +was crossed; but two days later, on approaching a mountain pass, it was +seen to be occupied in force. A council of war was held, at which some +jesting passed, Xenophon remarking on the reputation of the +Lacedaemonians as adepts in thieving, a jibe which Cheirisophus retorted +on the Athenians; as the business in hand was to "steal a match" on the +enemy, each encouraged the other to act up to the national reputation. +In the night, a detachment of volunteers captured the ridge above the +pass; the enemy facing the main body beat a hasty retreat when they +found their position turned. + +Another five days brought the army into the country of the Taochi, where +the Greeks had to rush a somewhat dangerous position in order to capture +supplies. A space of some twenty yards was open to such a storm of +missiles from above that it could only be passed by drawing the enemy's +fire and making a dash before fresh missiles were accumulated. When this +was accomplished, however, the foe offered no practical resistance, but +flung themselves over the cliffs. + +Eighteen days later the Greeks reached a town called Gymnise, where they +obtained a guide. Their course lay through tribes towards whom the +governor was hostile, and the Greeks had no objection to gratifying him +by spoiling and burning on their way. On the fifth day after leaving +Gymnise, a mountain pass was reached. + +When the van cleared the top of the mountain, there arose a great +shouting. And when Xenophon heard it, and they of the rear-guard, they +supposed that other enemies were ranged against them, for the men of the +land which had been ravaged were following behind; but when the clamour +grew louder and nearer, and the new arrivals doubled forward to where +the shouting was, so that it became greater and greater with the added +numbers, Xenophon thought this must be something of moment. Therefore, +taking Lycias and the horsemen, he rode forward at speed to give aid; +and then suddenly they were aware of the soldiers' shout, the word that +rang through the lines--"The sea! the sea!" Then every man raced, +rear-guard and all, urging horses and the very baggage-mules to the top +of their speed, and when they came to the top, they fell on each other's +necks, and the generals, and officers, too, with tears of delight. And +in a moment, whoever it was that passed the word, the men were gathering +stones, and there they reared a mighty column. + +And as for the lucky guide, he betook himself home laden with presents. + +Of what befell between this point and the actual arrival of the army on +the coast of the Black Sea at the Grecian colony of Trapezus [Trebizond] +the most curious incident was that of the soldiers lighting upon great +quantities of honey, which not only made them violently ill, but had an +intoxicating effect, attributed to the herbs frequented by the bees in +that district. This necessitated a halt of some days. The second day's +march thence brought them to Trapezus, where they made sacrificial +thank-offerings to the gods, and further celebrated the occasion by +holding athletic games. + + +_IV.--The End of the Expedition_ + + +But Trapezus was not Greece, and the problem of transport was serious. +The men, sick of marching, were eager to accomplish the rest of their +journey by sea. Cheirisophus the general, as being a personal friend of +the Lacedaemonian admiral stationed at Byzantium, was commissioned to +obtain ships from him to take the Greeks home. + +Cheirisophus departed. The army, which still numbered over ten thousand +persons, was willing enough to maintain its military organisation for +foraging and for self-defence; also to make such arrangements as were +practicable for collecting ships in case Cheirisophus should fail them; +but the men flatly refused to consider any further movement except by +water. + +So they stayed where they were, maintaining their supplies by raids on +the natives; but time passed, and there were no tidings of Cheirisophus. +At last, they saw nothing for it but to put the sick and other +non-combatants aboard of the vessels which had been secured, send them +on by sea, and themselves march by the coast to Cerasus, another Greek +colony. Thence they continued their westward progress, in which they met +with considerable resistance from the natives, who were barbarians of a +primitive type, until they came to Cotyora. + +This was another settlement from Sinope; but it received the Greeks very +inhospitably, so that the latter continued their practice of ravaging +the neighbouring territories. It was now eight months since the +expedition had started on its homeward march. Here a deputation arrived +from Sinope to protest against their proceedings; but Xenophon pointed +out that while they were perfectly willing to buy what they needed and +behave as friends, if they were not allowed to buy, self-preservation +compelled them to take by force. Ultimately, the deputation promised to +send ships from Sinope to convey them thither. + +During the time of waiting there was some risk of the force breaking +itself up, and some inclination to make attacks on the officers, +including Xenophon. The formulation of charges, however, enabled him +amply to justify the acts complained of, and order generally was +restored. At last, however, a sufficient number of ships were collected +to convey the force to Sinope, where also Cheirisophus put in his +long-delayed appearance. + +Cheirisophus came practically without ships and with nothing but vague +promises from the admiral at Byzantium. At this point it occurred to the +army that it would be better to have a single commander for the whole +than a committee of generals each in control of his own division. Hence +Xenophon was invited to accept the position. On consulting the omens he +declined, recommending that, since Cheirisophus was a Lacedaemonian, it +would be the proper thing to offer him the command, which was +accordingly done. + +The force now sailed from Sinope as far as Heraclea. Here the +contingents from Arcadia and Archaea--more than half the force--insisted +on requisitioning large supplies of money from Heraclea. Cheirisophus, +supported by Xenophon, refused assent; the Arcadians and Achaeans +consequently refused to serve under their command any more, and +appointed captains for themselves. The other half of the army was also +parted in two divisions, commanded by Cheirisophus and Xenophon +respectively. + +From Calpe the Arcadians and Archaeans made an expedition into the +interior, which fared so ill that Xenophon, hearing by accident of what +had happened, was obliged to march to their relief. To his satisfaction, +however, it was found that the enemy had already dispersed, and the +Greek column was overtaken on the way back to Calpe. The general effect +of the episode was to impress upon the Arcadians and Archaeans that it +was commonsense for the whole force to remain united. + +The usual operations were carried on for obtaining supplies, report +having arrived that Cleander, the Lacedaemonian governor of Byzantium, +was coming, which he presently did, with a couple of galleys but no +transports. From information received, Cleander was inclined to regard +the army as little better than a band of brigands; but this idea was +successfully dissipated by Xenophon. Cleander went back to Byzantium, +and the Greeks marched from Calpe to Chrysopolis, which faces Byzantium. + +Here the whole force was at last carried over to the opposite shore, and +once more found itself on European soil, having received promises of pay +from the admiral Anaxibius. Suspicions of his real intentions were +aroused, and Xenophon had no little difficulty in preventing his +soldiery from breaking loose and sacking Byzantium itself. + +Ultimately, the greater part of the force took service with the Thracian +king Seuthes. Seuthes, however, failed to carry out his promises as to +payments and rewards. But now the Lacedaemonians were engaged in a +quarrel with the western satraps, Tissaphernes and Artabazus; six +thousand veterans so experienced as those who had followed this famous +march into the heart of the Persian empire, had fought their way from +Cunaxa to Trapezus, and had supported themselves mainly by their +military prowess in getting from Trapezus to Europe, were a force by no +means to be neglected, and the bulk of the troops were not unwilling to +be incorporated in the Lacedaemonian armies. And so ends the story of the +Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks. + + * * * * * + + + + +GEORGE GROTE + + +History of Greece + + + George Grote, born at Beckenham, England, Nov. 17, 1794, + entered the bank founded by his grandfather, from which he + withdrew in 1843. He joined the group of "philosophic + Radicals," among whom James Mill was a leader, and was a keen + politician and reformer, and an ardent advocate of the ballot. + His determination to write a sound "History of Greece" was + ensured, if it was not inspired, by Mitford's history, a work + full of anti-democratic fervour and very antagonistic to the + great Greek democratic state of Athens. In some respects his + work is a defence of the Athenian democracy, at least as + contrasted with Sparta; it appeared in twelve volumes between + 1846 and 1856, and covered Greek history from the earliest + times "till the close of the generation contemporary with + Alexander the Great." It at once occupied, and still holds, + the field as the classic work on the subject as a whole, + though later research has modified many of his conclusions. + His methods were pre-eminently thorough, dispassionate, and + judicial; but he suffers from a lack of sympathetic + imagination. He died on June 18, 1871, and was buried in + Westminster Abbey. + + +_I.--Early History_ + + +The divine myths constitute the earliest matter of Greek history. These +may be divided into those which belong to the gods and to the heroes +respectively; but most of them, in point of fact, present gods, heroes, +and men in juxtaposition. Every community sought to trace its origin to +some common divine, or semi-divine, progenitor; the establishment of a +pedigree was a necessity; and each pedigree contains at some, point +figures corresponding to some actual historical character, before whom +the pedigree is imaginary, but after whom, in the main, actual. The +precise point where the legend fades into the mythical, or consolidates +into the historical, is not usually ascertainable. + +The legendary period culminates in the tale of Troy, which belongs to a +period prior to the Dorian conquest presented in the Herakleid legend; +the tale of Troy itself remaining the common heritage of the Greek +peoples, and having an actual basis in historical fact. The events, +however, are of less importance than the picture of an actual +historical, political, and social system, corresponding, not to the +supposed date of the Trojan war, but to the date of the composition of +the Homeric poems. Later ages regarded the myths themselves with a good +deal of scepticism, and were often disposed to rationalise them, or to +find for them an allegorical interpretation. The myths of other European +peoples have undergone a somewhat similar treatment. + +Greece proper, that is, the European territory occupied by the Hellenic +peoples, has a very extensive coast-line, covers the islands of the +AEgean, and is so mountainous on the mainland that communication between +one point and another is not easy. This facilitated the system which +isolated communities, compelling each one to develop and perfect its own +separate organisation; so that Greece became, not a state, but a +congerie of single separate city states--small territories centering in +the city, although in some cases the village system was not centralised +into the city system. On the other hand, the Hellenes very definitely +recognised their common affinity, looked on themselves as a distinct +aggregate, and very emphatically differentiated that entire aggregate +from the non-Hellenes, whom they designated as "barbarians." + +Of these states, the first to come into view--post-Homerically--is +Sparta, the head of the Dorian communities, governed under the laws and +discipline attributed to Lycurgus, with its special peculiarity of the +dual kingship designed to make a pure despotism impossible. The +government lay and remained in the hands of the conquering Spartan +race--as for a time with the Normans in England--which formed a close +oligarchy, while within the oligarchical body the organisation was +democratic and communistic. For Sparta, the eighth and seventh centuries +B.C. were characterised by the two Messenian wars; and we note that +while the Hellenes generally recognised her headship, Argos claimed a +titular right to that position. As a general rule, the primitive +monarchical system portrayed in the Homeric poems was displaced in the +Greek cities by an oligarchical government, which in turn was overthrown +by an irregular despotism called _tyrannis_, primarily established by a +professed popular leader, who maintained his supremacy by mercenary +troops. One after another these usurping dynasties were again ejected in +favour either of a restored oligarchy or of a democracy. Sparta, where +the power of the dual kingship was extremely limited, was the only state +where the legitimate kingship survived. Corinth attained her highest +power Under the despot Periander, son of Cypselus. Of the Ionian section +of Greek states, the supreme type is Athens. Her early history is +obscure. The kingship seems to have ended by being, so to speak, placed +in commission, the royal functions being discharged by an elected body +of Archons. Dissensions among the groups of citizens issued in the +democratic Solonian constitution, which remained the basis of Athenian +government, except during the despotism of the house of Pisistratus in +the latter half of the sixth century B.C. But outside of Greece proper +were the numerous Dorian and Ionian colonies, really independent cities, +planted in the coast districts of Asia Minor, at Cyrene and Barka in +Mediterranean Africa, in Epirus (Albania), Southern Italy, Sicily, and +even at Massilia in Gaul, and in Thrace beyond the proper Hellenic area. +These colonies brought the Greek world in touch with Lydia and its king, +Croesus, with the one sea-going Semitic power, the Phoenicians, with the +Egyptians, and more remotely with the wholly Oriental empires of Assyria +and Babylon, as well as with the outer barbarians of Scythia. + +Between 560 and 510 B.C., Athens was generally under the rule of the +despot Pisistratus and his son Hippias. In 510, the Pisistratidae were +expelled, and Athens became a pure democracy. Meanwhile, the Persian +Cyrus had seized the Median monarchy and overthrown every other +potentate in Western Asia; Egypt was added to the vast Persian dominion +by his son Cambyses. A new dynasty was established by Darius, the son of +Hystaspes, who organized the empire, but failed to extend it by an +incursion into European Scythia. + +The revolt of the Ionic cities in Asia Minor against the governments +established by the "great king" brought him in contact with the +Athenians, who sent help to Ionia. Demands for "earth and water," +_i.e.,_ the formal recognition of Persian sovereignty, sent to the +apparently insignificant Greek states were insolently rejected. Darius +sent an expedition to punish Athens in particular, and the Athenians +drove his army into the sea at the battle of Marathon. + +Xerxes, son of Darius, organised an overwhelming force by land and sea +to eat up the Greeks. The invaders were met but hardly checked at +Thermopylae, where Leonidas and the immortal three hundred fell; all +Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth was in their hands, including +Athens. But their fleet was shattered to pieces, chiefly by the +Athenians under Themistocles and Aristides at Salamis, and the +destruction of their land forces was completed by the united Greeks at +Plataea. A further disaster was inflicted on the same day at Mycale. + + +_II.--The Struggles of Athens and Sparta_ + + +Meanwhile, the Sicilian Greeks, led by Gelo of Syracuse, successfully +resisted and overthrew the aggression of Carthage, the issue being +decided at the battle of Himera. The part played by Athens under the +guidance of Themistocles in the repulse of Persia gave her a new +position among the Greek states and an indisputable naval leadership. As +the maritime head of Hellas she was chief of the naval Delian League, +now formed ostensibly to carry on the war against Persia. But the +leaguers, who first contributed a quota of ships, soon began to +substitute money to provide ships, which in effect swelled the Athenian +navy, and turned the contributors into tributaries. Thus, almost +automatically, the Delian League converted itself into an Athenian +empire. In Athens itself an unparalleled personal ascendancy was +acquired by Pericles, who made the form of government and administration +more democratic than before. But this growing supremacy of Athens +aroused the jealous alarm of other Greek states. Sparta saw her own +titular hegemony threatened; the subject cities grew restive under the +Athenian yoke. Sparta came forward professedly as champion of the +liberties of Hellas; Athens, guided by Pericles, refused to submit to +Spartan dictation, and accepted the challenge which plunged Greece into +the Peloponnesian war. + +The Athenians concentrated on the expansion of their naval armaments, +left the open country undefended and gathered within the city walls, and +landed forces at will on the Peloponnese. Platsea, almost their sole +ally on land, held out valiantly for some time, but was forced to +surrender; and Athens herself suffered frightfully from a visitation of +the plague. After the death of Pericles, Cleon became the most prominent +leader of the aggressive and democratic party, Nicias, of the +anti-democratic peace party. Over most of Greece in each state the +oligarchic faction favoured the Peloponnesian league, the democratic, +Athens. The general Demosthenes at Pylos effected the surrender of a +Lacedaemonian force, which temporarily shattered Sparta's military +prestige, a blow in some degree counteracted by the brilliant operations +of Brasidas in the north, where, however, both he and Cleon were killed. + +Meanwhile, Athens was awakening to the possibilities of a great +sea-empire, in consequence of her intervention having been invited in +disputes among the Sicilian states. As the outcome, incited by the +brilliant young Alcibiades, she resolved on the fatal Sicilian +expedition. The expedition, planned under command of Alcibiades and +Nicias, was dispatched in spite of the startling mutilation of the +Hermae, a sacrilegious performance attributed to Alcibiades. It had +hardly reached Sicily when he was recalled, but made his escape and +spent some years mainly in intriguing against Athens. The siege of +Syracuse was progressing favourably, when the Spartan Gylippus was +allowed to enter and put new life into the defence. Disaster followed on +disaster both by sea and land; finally, the whole Athenian force was +either cut to pieces or surrendered at discretion, to become the slaves +of the Syracusans, both Nicias and Demosthenes being put to death. + +Meanwhile, the truce between Athens and Sparta had been ended, and war +again declared. Sparta occupied permanently a post of the Attic +territory, Deceleia, with merciless effect. The Sicilian disaster moved +the islanders, notably Chios, to revolt, by Spartan help, against +Athens. She, however, renovated her navy with unexpected vigour. But, +with her fleets away, Alcibiades inspired oligarchical intrigues in the +city; a _coup d'etat_ gave the government to the leaders of a group of +400. The navy stood by the democratic constitution, the 400 were +overthrown, and an assembly, nominally of 5,000, assumed the government. +A great Athenian triumph at Arginusae was followed later by a still more +overwhelming disaster at AEgos Potami. + +The Spartan commander Lysander blockaded Athens; starvation forced her +to surrender. Lysander established the government known as that of the +Thirty Tyrants, who were headed by Kritias. Lysander's ascendancy +created in Sparta a party in opposition to him; in the outcome, the +Spartan king Pausanias helped in the overthrow of the Thirty at Athens +by Thrasybulus, and the restoration of the Athenian democracy. +Throughout, the conduct of the democratic party, at its best and its +worst, contrasted favourably with that of the oligarchical faction. + +These eighty years were the great period of Athenian literature and art: +of the Parthenon and Phidias; of AEschylus, the soldier of Marathon; then +Sophocles and Euripides and Aristophanes; finally, of Socrates, not +himself an author, but the inspirer of Plato, and the founder of ethical +science; according to popular ideas, the typical Sophist, but in fact +differing from the Sophists fundamentally. + + +_III.--The Blotting Out of Hellas_ + + +The triumph of Sparta has established her empire among the Greeks; she +used her power with a tyranny infinitely more galling than the sway of +Athens. The Spartan character had become greatly demoralised. Agesilaus, +who succeeded to the kingship, set on foot ambitious projects for a +Greek conquest of Asia; but Greece began to revolt against the Spartan +dominion. Thebes and other cities rose, and called for help from Athens, +their former foe. In the first stages of the ensuing war, of which the +most notable battle was Coronea, Sparta maintained her supremacy within +the Peloponnesus, but not beyond. Athens obtained the countenance of +Persia, and the counter-diplomacy of Sparta produced the peace known by +the name of the Spartan Antalcidas, establishing generally the autonomy +of Greek cities. But this in effect meant the restoration of Spartan +domination. + +In course of time, however, this brought about the defiance of Spartan +dictation by Thebes and the tremendous check to her power inflicted at +the battle of Leuctra, by Epaminondas the Theban, whose military skill +and tactical originality there overthrew the Spartan military prestige. +As a consequence, half the Peloponnese itself broke away from Sparta; a +force under Epaminondas aided the Arcadians, and the Arcadian federation +was established. + +Hellenic Sicily during these years was having a history of her own of +some importance. Syracuse, after her triumph over the Athenian forces, +continued the contest with her neighbours, which had been the ostensible +cause of the Athenian expedition. But this was closed by the advent of +fresh invaders, the Carthaginians, who renewed the attack repulsed at +Himera. Owing to the disaster to Athens, her fleets were no longer to be +feared by Carthage as a protection to the Hellenic world; and for two +centuries to come, her interventions in Sicily were incessant. Now, the +presence of a foreign foe in Sicily gave intriguers for power at +Syracuse their opportunity, of which the outcome was the subversion of +the democracy and the establishment of Dionysius as despot. + +His son, Dionysius II., succeeded, and was finally ejected by the +Corinthian Timoleon, who, after a brilliant career of victories as +Syracusan general against Carthage, acted as general liberator of +Sicilian cities from despotisms, laid down his powers, and was content +with the position, not of despot, but of counsellor, to the great +prosperity of Sicily as a whole. + +Going back to the north of Greece, the semi-Hellenic Macedon with a +Hellenic dynasty was growing powerful. Philip--father of Alexander the +Great--was now king, and was resolved to make himself the head of the +Greek world. His great opponent is found in the person of the Athenian +orator Demosthenes, who saw that Philip was aiming at ascendancy, but +generally failed to persuade the Athenians to recognise the danger in +which they stood. Philip gradually achieved his immediate end of being +recognised as the captain-general of the Hellenes, and their leader in a +new Persian war, when his life was cut short by an assassin, and he was +succeeded by his youthful son Alexander. + +The Greek states, awakening to their practical subjection, would have +thrown off the new yoke, but the young king with swift and overwhelming +energy swept down from Thrace upon Thebes, the centre of resistance, and +stamped it out. He had already conceived, in part at least, his vast +schemes of Asiatic conquest; while he lived, Greece had practically no +distinguishable history. She is merely an appendage to Macedon. +Everything is absorbed in the Macedon conqueror. With an army incredibly +small for the task before him, he entered Asia Minor, and routed the +Persian forces on the river Granicus. The Greek Memnon, the one able +leader for the Persians, would have organised against him a destructive +naval power; but death removed him. + +Alexander dispersed the armies of the Persian king Darius at the Issus, +captured Tyre after a remarkable siege, and took easy possession of +Egypt, where he founded Alexandria. Having organised the administration +of the conquered territories, he marched to the Euphrates, but did not +engage the enormous Persian hosts till he found and shattered them at +the battle of Gaugamela, also called Arbela. Darius fled, and Alexander +swept on to Babylon, to Susa, to Persepolis, assuming the functions of +the "Great King." The fugitive Darius was assassinated. Alexander +henceforth assumed a new and oriental demeanour; but he continued his +conquests, crossing the Hindoo Koosh to Bactria, and then bursting into +the Punjab. But his ambitions were ended by his death, and their +fulfilment, not at all according to his designs, was left to the +"Diadochi," the generals among whom the conquered dominions were parted. +Athens led the revolt against Macedonian supremacy, but in vain. +Demosthenes, condemned by the conquering Antipater, took poison. The +remainder of the history is that of the blotting out of Hellas and of +Hellenism. + + * * * * * + + + + +HEINRICH SCHLIEMANN + + +Troy and Its Remains + + + Heinrich Schliemann was born at Kalkhorst, a village in + Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on January 6, 1822, and died on December + 27, 1890. During his early childhood an old scholar, who had + fallen upon evil days, delighted him with stories of the great + deeds of Homeric heroes. At the age of fourteen he was + apprenticed in a warehouse, but never lost his love for + antiquity, and unceasingly prayed to God that he might yet + have the happiness to learn Greek. An accident released him + from his low position, and he went to Holland and found a + situation in an office. He now began to study languages, + suffering extraordinary denials so as to be able to afford + money for his studies. In 1846 he was sent by his firm to + Russia, learning Swedish and Polish, and next acquired Greek. + Later, he travelled in Europe and the East, making a voyage + round the world. At last he realised the dream of his life. + Inaugurating a series of explorations in Greece and Asia + Minor, Dr. Schliemann gained fame by his discoveries at + Tiryus, Mycenae, and Troy, largely solving the problems of + antiquity and archaeology associated with these localities. + "Troy and Its Remains" is published here in order that, having + read in the classical histories, we may see how the ancient + world is reconstructed for modern readers, by the records of + one of the most famous of archaeologists. + + +_I.--Searching for the Site of Troy_ + + +_Hissarlik, Plain of Troy, October_ 18, 1871. In my work, "Ithaca, the +Peloponnesus, and Troy," published in 1869, I endeavored to prove, both +by my own excavations and by the statement of the Iliad, that the +Homeric Troy cannot possibly have been situated on the heights of +Bunarbashi, to which place most archaeologists assign it. At the same +time I endeavoured to explain that the site of Troy must necessarily be +identical with the site of that town which, throughout all antiquity and +down to its Complete destruction at the end of the eighth or beginning +of the ninth century A.D., was called Ilium, and not until 1,000 years, +after its disappearance--that is, in 1788 A.D.--was christened Ilium +Novum by Lechevalier, who, as his work proves, can never have visited +his Ilium Novum. + +The site of Ilium is on a plateau 80 feet above the plain. Its +north-western corner is formed by a hill about 26 feet higher still, +which is about 705 feet in breadth and about 984 feet in length, and +from its imposing situation and natural fortifications, this hill of +Hissarlik seems specially suited to the acropolis of the town. Ever +since my first visit I never doubted that I should find the Pergamus of +Priam in the depths of this hill. + +On October 10, 1871, I started with my wife from the Dardanelles for the +Plain of Troy, a journey of eight hours, and next day commenced my +excavations where I had, a year previously, made some preliminary +explorations, and had found, among other things, at a depth of 16 feet, +walls about 6-1/2 feet thick, which belong to a bastion of the time of +Lysimachus. + +Hissarlik, the Turkish name of this imposing hill at the north-western +end of the site of Ilium, means "fortress," or "acropolis," and seems to +prove that this is the Pergamus of Priam; that here Xerxes in 480 B.C. +offered up 1,000 oxen to the Ilian Athena; that here Alexander the Great +hung up his armour in the temple of the goddess, and took away in its +stead some of the weapons therein dedicated, belonging to the time of +the Trojan war. + +I conjectured that this temple, the pride of the Ilians, must have stood +on the highest point of the hill, and I therefore decided to excavate +this locality down to the native soil, and I made an immense cutting on +the face of the steep northern slope, about 66 feet from my last year's +work. Notwithstanding the difficulties due to coming on immense blocks +of stone, the work advances rapidly. My dear wife, an Athenian lady, who +is an enthusiastic admirer of Homer, and knows almost the whole of the +Iliad by heart, is present at the excavations from morning to night. All +of my workmen are Greeks from the neighbouring village of Renkoi; only +on Sunday, a day on which the Greeks do not work, I employ Turks. + +_Hissarlik, October_ 26, 1871. Since my report of the 18th I have +continued the excavations with the utmost energy, with, on the average, +80 workmen, and I have to-day reached an average depth of 13 feet. I +found an immense number of round articles of terra-cotta, red, yellow, +grey, and black, with two holes, without inscriptions, but frequently +with a kind of potter's stamp upon them. I cannot find any trace of +their having been used for domestic purposes, and therefore I presume +they have served as _ex votos_ for hanging up in the temples. + +I found at a depth of about five feet three marble slabs with +inscriptions. One of these must, I think, from the character of the +writing, be assigned to the third century, the two others to the first +century B.C. A king spoken of in the third century writing must have +been one of the kings of Pergamus. + +The view from the hill of Hissarlik is magnificent. Before me lies the +glorious Plain of Troy, traversed from the south-east to the north-west +by the Scamander, which has changed its bed since ancient times. + +_Hissarlik, November_ 18, 1871. I have now reached a depth of 33 feet. +During these operations I was for a time deceived by the enormous mass +of stone implements which were dug up, and by the absence of any trace +of metal, and supposed that I had come upon the Stone Age. But since the +sixth of this month there have appeared many nails, knives, lances, and +battle-axes of copper of such elegant workmanship that they can have +been made only by a civilised people. I cannot even admit that I have +reached the Bronze Period, for the implements and weapons which I find +are too well finished. + +I must, however, observe that the deeper I dig the greater are the +indications of a higher civilisation. And as I thus find ever more and +more traces of civilisation the deeper I dig, I am now perfectly +convinced that I have not yet penetrated to the period of the Trojan +war, and hence I am more hopeful than ever of finding the site of Troy +by further excavations; for if ever there was a Troy--and my belief in +this is firm--it can only have been here, on the site of Ilium. + + +_II.--Trojan Life and Civilisation_ + + +_Hissarlik, April 5, 1872._ On the first of this month I resumed the +excavations which were discontinued at the end of November. + +In the ruins of houses I find, amongst other things, a great number of +small idols of very fine marble, with or without the symbols of the +owl's head and woman's girdle. Many Trojan articles found in the ruins +have stamped on them crosses of various descriptions, which are of the +highest importance to archaeology. Such symbols were already regarded, +thousands of years before Christ, as religious tokens of the very +greatest importance. The figure of the cross represents two pieces of +wood which were laid crosswise upon one another before the sacrificial +altars in order to produce holy fire. The fire was produced by the +friction of one piece of wood against another. + +At all depths we find a number of flat idols of very fine marble; upon +many of them is the owl's face, and a female girdle with dots. I am +firmly convinced that all of the helmeted owls' heads represent a +goddess, and the important question now presents itself, what goddess is +it who is here found so repeatedly, and is, moreover, the only one to be +found upon the idols, drinking-cups, and vases? The answer is, she must +necessarily be the tutelary goddess of Troy; she must be the Ilian +Athena, and this indeed perfectly agrees with the statement of Homer, +who continually calls her _thea glaukopis Athene,_ "the goddess with the +owl's face." + +_Hissarlik, June 18, 1872._ I had scarcely begun to extend a third +cutting into the hill when I found a block of triglyphs of Parian +marble, containing a sculpture in high relief which represents Phoebus +Apollo, who, in a long woman's robe with a girdle, is riding on the four +immortal horses which pursue their career through the universe. Nothing +is to be seen of a chariot. Above the head of the god is seen about +two-thirds of the sun's disc with twenty rays. The face of the god is +very expressive, and the folds of his robe are exquisitely sculptured; +but my admiration is specially excited by the four horses, which, +snorting and looking wildly forward, career through the universe with +infinite power. Their anatomy is so masterly that I confess I have never +seen so masterly a work. + +It is especially remarkable to find the sun-god here, for Homer knows +nothing of a temple to the sun in Troy, and later history says not a +word about the existence of such a temple. However, the image of Phoebus +Apollo does not prove that the sculpture must have belonged to a temple +of the sun; in my opinion it may just as well have served as an ornament +to any other temple. + +I venture to express the opinion that the image of the sun, which I find +represented here thousands and thousands of times upon the whorls of +terra-cotta, must be regarded as the name or emblem of the town--that +is, Ilios. In like manner, this sun-god shone in the form of a woman +upon the propylaea of the temple of the Ilian Athena as a symbol of the +sun-city. + +This head of the sun-god appears to me to have so much of the +Alexandrian style that I must adhere to history, and believe that this +work of art belongs to the time of Lysimachus, who, according to Strabo, +after the time of Alexander the Great, built here the new temple of the +Ilian Athena, which Alexander had promised to the town of Ilium after +the subjugation of the Persian Empire. + +Were it not for the splendid terra-cottas which I find exclusively on +the primary soil and as far as 6-1/2 feet above it, I could swear that +at a depth of from 26 to 33 feet, I am among the ruins of the Homeric +Troy. [The reader should bear in mind that Dr. Schliemann finally came +back to this opinion.] For at this depth I have found a thousand +wonderful objects; whereas I find little in the lowest stratum, the +removal of which gives immense trouble. We daily find some of the whorls +of very fine terra-cotta, and it is curious that those which have no +decorations at all are always of the ordinary shape, and of the size of +small tops, or like the craters of volcanoes, while almost all those +possessing decorations are flat, and in the form of a wheel. + +Metals, at least gold, silver, and copper, were known to the Trojans, +for I found a copper knife highly gilded, a silver hairpin, and a number +of copper nails at a depth of forty-six feet. I found many small +instruments for use as pins; also a number of ivory needles, and some +curious pieces of ivory, one in the form of a paper-knife, the other in +the shape of an exceedingly neat dagger. We discovered one-edged or +double-edged knives of white silex in the form of saws in quantities, +each about two inches long; also many hand millstones of lava, and some +beautiful red vases, cups, vessels, jugs, and hand plates. In these +depths we likewise find many bones of animals; boars' tusks, small +shells, horns of the buffalo, ram, and stag, as well as the vertebrae of +the shark. + +The houses and palaces in which the splendid terra-cottas were used were +large and spacious, for to them belong all the mighty heaps of stone, +hewn and unhewn, which cover them to the height of from 13 to 20 feet. +These buildings were easily destroyed, for the stones were only joined +with earth, and when the walls fell everything in the houses was crushed +to pieces by the immense blocks of stone. The primitive Trojan people +disappeared simultaneously with the destruction of their town. [Here, as +well as in what goes before, Dr. Schliemann writes on the supposition, +which he afterwards abandoned, that the remains in the lowest stratum +are those of the Trojans of the Iliad.] + +Upon the site of the destroyed city new settlers, of a different +civilisation, manners, and customs, built a new town; but only the +foundation of their houses consisted of stones joined with clay; all the +house-walls were built of unburnt bricks. I must draw attention to the +fact that I have found twice on fragments of pottery the curious symbol +of the _suastika_, or crossed angles, which proves that the primitive +Trojans belonged to the Aryan race. This is further proved by the +symbols on the round terra-cottas. The existence of the nation which +preceded the Trojans was likewise of long duration, for all the layers +of _debris_ at the depth of from 33 to 23 feet belong to it. They also +were of Aryan descent, for they possessed innumerable Aryan religious +symbols. Several of the symbols belonged to the time when Germans, +Pelasgians, Hindoos, Persians, Celts, and Greeks still formed one +nation. + +I found no trace of a double cup among this people, but instead of it +those curious cups which have a coronet below in place of a handle; then +those brilliant, fanciful goblets, in the form of immense champagne +glasses, and with two mighty handles on the sides; they are round below, +so that they can only stand on their mouths. Further, all those splendid +vessels of burnt earthenware, as, for instance, funeral, wine, or water +urns, five feet high; likewise, all of those vessels with a beak-shaped +mouth, bent back, and either short or long. + +I have met with many very curious vases in the shape of animals with +three feet. The mouth of the vessel is in the tail, which is upright and +very thick, and is connected with the back by a handle. In these strata +we also meet with an immense number of those round terra-cottas--the +whorls--embellished with beautiful and ingenious symbolical signs, +amongst which the sun-god always occupies the most prominent position. +But the fire-machine of our primeval ancestors, the holy sacrificial +altar with blazing flames, the holy soma-tree, or tree of life, and the +_rosa mystica_, are also very frequently met with here. + +This mystic rose, which occurs very often in the Byzantine sculptures, +and the name of which, as is well known, is employed to designate the +Holy Virgin in the Roman Catholic liturgies, is a very ancient Aryan +symbol, as yet, unfortunately, unexplained. It is very ancient, because +I find it at a depth of from 23 to 33 feet, in the strata of the +successors to the Trojans, which must belong to a period about 1,200 +years before Christ. + +At a depth of 30-1/2 feet, among the yellow ashes of a house destroyed +by fire, I found silver-ware ornaments and also a very pretty gold +ear-ring, which has three lows of stars on both sides; then two bunches +of earrings of various forms, most of which are of silver and terminate +in five leaves. + +I now come to the strata of _debris_ at a depth of from 23 to 13 feet, +which are evidently also the remains of a people of the Aryan race, who +took possession of the town built on the ruins of Troy, and who +destroyed it and extirpated the inhabitants; for in these strata of ten +feet thick I find no trace of metal, and the structure of the houses is +entirely different. All the house-walls consist of small stones joined +with clay. In these strata--at a depth of from 23 to 13 feet--not only +are all the stone implements much rougher, but all the terra-cottas are +of a coarser quality. Still, they possess a certain elegance. + +A new epoch in the history of Ilium commenced when the accumulation of +_debris_ on this hill had reached a height of 13 feet below its present +surface; for the town was again destroyed, and the inhabitants killed or +driven out by a wretched tribe, which certainly must likewise have +belonged to the Aryan race, for upon the round terra-cottas I still very +frequently find the tree of life, and the simple cross and double cross +with the four nails. In these depths, however, the forms of the whorls +degenerate. Of pottery, however, much less is found, and all of it is +considerably less artistic than that which I have found in the preceding +strata. With the people to whom these strata belonged--from 13 to 6-1/2 +feet below the surface--the pre-Hellenic ages end, for henceforth we see +many ruined walls of Greek buildings, of beautifully hewn stones laid +together without cement, and the painted and unpainted terra-cottas +leave no doubt that a Greek colony took possession of Ilium when the +surface of this hill was much lower than it is now. + +It is impossible to determine when this new colonisation took place, but +it must have been much earlier than the visit of Xerxes reported by +Herodotus, which took place 480 years before Christ. The event may have +taken place 700 B.C. + + +_III.--Homeric Legends Verified_ + + +_Pergamus of Troy, August_ 4, 1872. On the south side of the hill where +I made my great trench I discovered a great tower, 40 feet thick, which +obstructs my path and appears to extend to a great length. I have +uncovered it on the north and south sides along the whole breadth of my +trench, and have convinced myself that it is built on the rock at a +depth of 46-1/2 feet. + +This tower is now only 20 feet high, but must have been much higher. For +its preservation we have to thank the ruins of Troy, which entirely +covered it as it now stands. Its situation would be most interesting and +imposing, for its top would command not only a view of the whole plain +of Troy, but of the sea, with the islands of Tenedos, Imbros, and +Samothrace. There is not a more sublime situation in the whole area of +the plain of Troy than this. + +In the ashes of a house at the depth of 42-1/2 feet I found a tolerably +well preserved skeleton of a woman. The colour of the bones shows that +the lady, whose gold ornaments were near by, was overtaken by fire and +burnt alive. With the exception of the skeleton of an infant found in a +vase, this is the only skeleton of a human being I have ever met with in +the pre-Hellenic remains on this hill. As we know from Homer, all +corpses were burnt and the ashes placed in urns, of which I have found +great numbers. The bones were always burnt to ashes. + +_Pergamus of Troy, August 14, 1872._ In stopping the excavations for +this year, and in looking back on the dangers to which we have been +exposed between the gigantic layers of ruins, I cannot but fervently +thank God for his great mercy, not only that no life has been lost, but +that none of us has been seriously hurt. + +As regards the result of my excavations, everyone must admit that I have +solved a great historical problem, and that I have solved it by the +discovery of a high civilisation and immense buildings upon the primary +soil, in the depths of an ancient town, which throughout antiquity was +called Ilium and declared itself to be the successor of Troy, the site +of which was regarded as identical with the site of the Homeric Ilium by +the whole world of that time. The situation of this town not only +corresponds perfectly with all the statements of the Iliad, but also +with all the traditions handed down to us by later authorities. + +_Pergamus of Troy, March 22, 1873. _During this last week, with splendid +weather, and with 150 men on the average, I have got through a good +piece of work. On the north side of the excavation on the site of the +Temple of Athena I have already reached a depth of 26 feet, and have +laid bare the tower in several places. + +The most remarkable of the objects found this week is a large knob of +the purest and finest crystal, belonging to a stick, in the form of a +beautifully wrought lion's head. It seems probable that in remote +antiquity lions existed in this region. Homer could not so excellently +have described them had he not had the opportunities of watching them. + +_Pergamus of Troy, May 10, 1873._ Although the Pergamus, whose depths I +have been ransacking, borders directly on the marshes formed by the +Simois, in which there are always hundreds of storks, yet none of them +ever settle down here. Though there are sometimes a dozen storks' nests +on one roof in the neighbouring Turkish villages, yet no one will settle +on mine, even though I have two comfortable nests made for them. It is +probably too cold and stormy for the little storks on _Ilios anemoessa_. + +My most recent excavations have far surpassed my expectations, for I +have unearthed two large gates, standing 20 feet apart, in a splendid +street which proceeds from the chief building in the Pergamus. I venture +to assert that this great double gate must be the Homeric Scaean Gate. It +is in an excellent state of preservation. + +Here, therefore, by the side of the double gate, at Ilium's Great Tower, +sat Priam, the seven elders of the city, and Helen. From this spot the +company surveyed the whole plain, and saw at the foot of the Pergamus +the Trojan and Achaean armies face to face about to settle their +agreement to let the war be decided by a single combat between Paris and +Menelaus. + +I now positively retract my former opinion that Ilium was inhabited up +to the ninth century after Christ, and I must distinctly maintain that +its site has been desolate and uninhabited since the end of the fourth +century. But Troy was not large. I am extremely disappointed at being +obliged to give so small a plan of the city; nay, I had wished to be +able to make it a thousand times larger, but I value truth above +everything, and I rejoice that my three years' excavations have laid +open the Homeric Troy, even though on a diminished scale, and that I +have proved the Iliad based upon real facts. + +Homer is an epic poet, and not an historian; so it is quite natural that +he should have exaggerated everything with poetic licence. Moreover, the +events he describes are so marvellous that many scholars have long +doubted the very existence of Troy, and have considered the city to be a +mere invention of the poet's fancy. I venture to hope that the civilised +world will not only not be disappointed that the city of Priam has shown +itself to be scarcely a twentieth part as large as was to be expected +from the statements of the Iliad, but that, on the contrary, it will +accept with delight and enthusiasm the certainty that Ilium did really +exist, that a large portion of it has now been brought to light, and +that Homer, even though he exaggerates, nevertheless sings of events +that actually happened. + +Homer can never have seen Ilium's Great Tower, the surrounding wall of +Poseidon and Apollo, the Scaean Gate of the palace of King Priam, for all +these monuments lay buried deep in heaps of rubbish, and he could have +made no excavations to bring them to light. He knew of these monuments +only from hearsay and tradition, for the tragic fate of ancient Troy was +then still in fresh remembrance, and had already been for centuries in +the mouth of all minstrels. + + * * * * * + + + + +JULIUS CAESAR + + +Commentaries on the Gallic War + + + Caius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C., of a noble + Roman family. His career was decided when he threw in his lot + with the democratic section against the republican oligarchy. + Marrying Cornelia, daughter of Lucius Cinna, the chief + opponent of the tyrant dictator Sulla, he incurred the + implacable hatred of the latter, and was obliged to quit Rome. + For a season he studied rhetoric at Rhodes. Settling in Rome + after Sulla's death, Caesar attached himself to the illustrious + Pompey, whose policy was then democratic. In B.C. 68 he + obtained a quaestorship in Spain, and on returning next year + reconciled the two most powerful men in Rome, Pompey and + Crassus. With them he formed what became known as the First + Triumvirate. Being appointed to govern Gaul for five years, + Caesar there developed his genius for war; but his brilliant + success excited the fears of the senate and the envy even of + Pompey. Civil war broke out. The conflict ended in the fall of + Pompey, who was defeated in the fateful battle of Pharsalia, + and was afterwards murdered in Egypt. Julius Caesar now + possessed supreme power. He lavished vast sums on games and + public buildings, won splendid victories in Gaul, Egypt, + Pontus, and Africa, and was the idol of the common people. But + the jealousy of many of the aristocrats led to the formation + of a plot, and on March 15, 44 B.C., Caesar was assassinated in + the Senate House. This summary relates to the commentaries + known to be by Caesar himself, certain other books having been + added by other Latin writers. It will be noticed that he + writes in the third person. This epitome is prepared from the + Latin text. + + +_I.--Subduing Celtic Gaul_ + + +Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit; the +Aquitani another; those who in their own language are called Celts, in +ours Gauls, the third. All these differ from each other in language, +customs, and laws. Among the Gauls the Helvetii surpass the rest in +valour, as they constantly contend in battle with the Germans. When +Messala and Piso were consuls, Orgetorix, the most distinguished of the +Helvetii, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, persuading them that, +since they excelled all in valour, it would be very easy to acquire the +supremacy of the whole of Gaul. They made great preparations for the +expedition, but suddenly Orgetorix died, nor was suspicion lacking that +he committed suicide. + +After his death, the Helvetii nevertheless attempted the exodus from +their territories. When it was reported to Caesar that they were +attempting to make their route through our province, he gathered as +great a force as possible, and by forced marches arrived at Geneva. + +The Helvetii now sent ambassadors to Caesar, requesting permission to +pass through the province, which he refused, inasmuch as he remembered +that Lucius Cassius, the consul, had been slain and his army routed, and +made to pass under the yoke by the Helvetii. Disappointed in their hope, +the Helvetii attempted to force a passage across the Rhone, but, being +resisted by the soldier, desisted. + +After the war with the Helvetii was concluded, ambassadors from almost +all parts of Gaul assembled to congratulate Caesar, and to declare that +his victory had happened no less to the benefit of the land of Gaul than +of the Roman people, because the Helvetii had quitted their country with +the design of subduing the whole of Gaul. + +When the assembly was dismissed, the chiefs' of the AEdui and of the +Sequani waited upon Caesar to complain that Ariovistus, the king of the +Germans, had seized a third of their land, which was the best in Gaul, +and was now ordering them to depart from another third part. + +To ambassadors sent by Caesar, demanding an appointment of some spot for +a conference, Ariovistus gave an insolent reply, which was repeated on a +second overture. Hearing that the king of the Germans was threatening to +seize Vesontio, the capital of the Sequani, Caesar, by a forced march, +arrived there and took possession of the city. Apprised of this event, +Ariovistus changed his attitude, and sent messengers intimating that he +agreed to meet Caesar, as they were now nearer to each other, and could +meet without danger. + +The conference took place, but it led to no successful result, for +Ariovistus demanded that the Romans should withdraw from Gaul and his +conduct became afterwards so hostile that it led to war. A battle took +place about fifty miles from the Rhine. The Germans were routed and fled +to the river, across which many escaped, the rest being slain in +pursuit. Caesar, having concluded two very important wars in one +campaign, conducted his army into winter quarters. + + +_II.--Taming the Rebellious Belgae_ + + +While Caesar was in winter quarters in Hither Gaul frequent reports were +brought to him that all the Belgae were entering into a confederacy +against the Roman people, because they feared that, after all Celtic +Gaul was subdued, our army would be led against them. Caesar, alarmed, +levied two new legions in Hither Gaul, and proceeded to the territory of +the Belgae. As he arrived there unexpectedly, and sooner than anyone +anticipated, the Remi, who are the nearest of the Belgae to Celtic Gaul, +sent messages of submission and gave Caesar full information about the +other Belgae. + +Caesar next learned that the Nervii, a savage and very brave people, +whose territories bordered those just conquered, had upbraided the rest +of the Belgae who had surrendered themselves to the Roman people, and had +declared that they themselves would neither send ambassadors nor accept +any condition of peace. He was informed concerning them that they +allowed no access of any merchants, and that they suffered no wine and +other things tending to luxury to be imported, because they thought that +by their use the mind is enervated and the courage impaired. + +After he had made three days' march into their territory, Caesar +discovered that all the Nervii had stationed themselves on the other +side of the River Sambre, not more than ten miles from his camp, and +that they had persuaded the Atrebates and the Veromandui to join with +them, and that likewise the Aduatuci were expected by them, and were on +the march. The Roman army proceeded to encamp in front of the river, on +a site sloping towards it. Here they were fiercely attacked by the +Nervii, the assault being so sudden that Caesar had to do all things at +one time. The standard as the sign to run to arms had to be displayed, +the soldiers were to be called from the works on the rampart, the order +of battle was to be formed, and a great part of these arrangements was +prevented by the shortness of time and the sudden charge of the enemy. + +Time was lacking even for putting on helmets and uncovering shields. In +such an unfavorable state of affairs, various events of fortune +followed. The soldiers of the ninth and tenth legions speedily drove +back the Atrebates, who were breathless with running and fatigue. Many +of them were slain. In like manner the Veromandui were routed by the +eighth and eleventh legions; but as part of the camp was very exposed, +the Nervii hastened in a very close body, under Boduagnatus, their +leader, to rush against that quarter. Our horsemen and light-armed +infantry were by the first assault routed, and the enemy, rushing into +our camp in great numbers, pressed hard on the legions. But Caesar, +seizing a shield and encouraging the soldiers, many of whose centurions +had been slain, ordering them to extend their companies that they might +more freely use their swords. + +So great a change was soon effected that, though the enemy displayed +great courage, the battle was ended so disastrously for them that the +Nervii were almost annihilated. Scarcely five hundred were left who +could bear arms. Their old men sent ambassadors to Caesar by the consent +of all who remained, surrendering themselves. The Aduatuci, before +mentioned, who were coming to the help of the Nervii, returned home when +they heard of this battle. + +All Gaul being now subdued, so high an opinion of this war was spread +among the barbarians that ambassadors were sent to Caesar by those +nations that dwelt beyond the Rhine, to promise that they would give +hostages and execute his commands. He ordered these embassies to return +to him at the beginning of the following summer, because he was +hastening into Italy and Illyricum. Having led his legions into winter +quarters among the Carnutes, the Andes, and the Turones, which states +were close to those in which he had waged war, he set out for Italy, and +a public thanksgiving of fifteen days was decreed for these +achievements, an honour which before that time had been conferred on +none. + + +_III.--War by Land and Sea in Gaul_ + + +When Caesar was setting out for Italy, he sent Servius Galba with the +twelfth legion and part of the cavalry against the Nantuates, the +Veragri, and the Seduni, who extend from the territories of the +Allobroges and the Lake of Geneva and the River Rhone to the top of the +Alps. The reason for sending him was that he desired that the pass along +the Alps, through which the Roman merchants had been accustomed to +travel with great danger, should be opened. + +Galba fought several successful battles, stormed some of their forts, +and concluded a peace. He then determined to winter in a village of the +Veragri, which is called Octodurus. But before the winter camp could be +completed the tops of the mountains were seen to be crowded with armed +men, and soon these rushed down from all parts and discharged stones and +darts on the ramparts. + +The fierce battle that followed lasted for more than six hours. During +the fight more than a third part of the army of 30,000 men of the Seduni +and the Veragri were slain, and the rest were put to flight, +panic-stricken. Then Galba, unwilling to tempt fortune again, after +having burned all the buildings in that village, hastened to return into +the province, urged chiefly by the want of corn and provision. As no +enemy opposed his march, he brought his forces safely into the country +of the Allobroges, and there wintered. + +These things being achieved, Caesar, who was visiting Illyricum to gain a +knowledge of that country, had every reason to suppose that Gaul was +reduced to a state of tranquillity. For the Belgae had been overcome, the +Germans had been expelled, and the Seduni and the Veragri among the Alps +defeated. But a sudden war sprang up in Gaul. + +The occasion of that war was this. P. Crassus, a young man, had taken up +his winter quarters with the seventh legion among the Andes, who border +on the Atlantic Ocean. As corn was scarce, he sent out officers among +the neighbouring states for the purpose of procuring supplies. The most +considerable of these states was the Veneti, who have a very great +number of ships with which they have been accustomed to sail into +Britain, and thus they excel the rest of the states in nautical affairs. +With them arose the beginning of the revolt. + +The Veneti detained Silius and Velanius, who had been sent among them, +for they thought they should recover by their means the hostages which +they had given Crassus. The neighbouring people, the Essui and the +Curiosolitae, led on by the influence of the Veneti (as the measures of +the Gauls are sudden and hasty) detained other officers for the same +motive. All the sea-coast being quickly brought over to the sentiments +of these states, they sent a common embassy to P. Crassus to say "If he +wished to receive back his officers, let him send back to them their +hostages." + +Caesar, being informed of these things, since he was himself so far +distant, ordered ships of war to be built on the River Loire; rowers to +be raised from the province; sailors and pilots to be provided. These +matters being quickly executed, he hastened to the army as soon as the +season of the year admitted. + +Caesar at once ordered his army, divided into several detachments, to +attack the towns of the enemy in different districts. Many were stormed, +yet much of the warfare was vain and much labour was lost, because the +Veneti, having numerous ships specially adapted for such a purpose, +their keels being flatter than those of our ships, could easily navigate +the shallows and estuaries, and thus their flight hither and thither +could not be prevented. + +At length, in a naval fight, our fleet, being fully assembled, gained a +victory so signal that, by that one battle, the war with the Veneti and +the whole sea-coast was finished. Caesar thought that severe punishment +should be inflicted, in order that for the future the rights of +ambassadors should be respected by barbarians; he therefore put to death +all their senate, and sold the rest for slaves. + +About the same time P. Crassus arrived in Aquitania, which, as was +already said, is, both from its extent and its number of population, a +third part of Gaul. Here, a few years before, L. Valerius Praeconius, the +lieutenant, had been killed and his army routed, so that Crassus +understood no ordinary care must be used. On his arrival being known, +the Sotiates assembled great forces, and the battle that followed was +long and vigorously contested. The Sotiates being routed, they retired +to their principal stronghold, but it was stormed, and they submitted. +Crassus then marched into the territories of the Vocates and the +Tarusites, who raised a great host of men to carry on the war, but +suffered total defeat, after which the greater part of Aquitania of its +own accord surrendered to the Romans, sending hostages of their own +accord from different tribes. A few only--and those remote +nations--relying on the time of year, neglected to do this. + + +_IV.--The First Landing in Britain_ + + +The following winter, this being the year in which Cn. Pompey and M. +Crassus were consuls [this was the year 699 after the building of Rome, +55 before Christ; it was the fourth year of the Gallic war] the Germans, +called the Usipetes, and likewise the Tenchtheri, with a great number of +men, crossed the Rhine, not far from the place at which that river falls +into the sea. The motive was to escape from the Suevi, the largest and +strongest nation in Germany, by whom they had been for several years +harassed and hindered from agricultural pursuits. + +The Suevi are said to possess a hundred cantons, from each of which they +send forth for war a thousand armed men yearly, the others remaining at +home, and going forth in their turn in other years. + +Caesar, hearing that various messages had been sent to them by the Gauls +(whose fickle disposition he knew) asking them to come forward from the +Rhine, and promising them all that they needed, set forward for the army +earlier in the year than usual. When he had arrived in the region, he +discovered that those things which he had suspected would occur, had +taken place, and that, allured by the hopes held out to them, the +Germans were then making excursions to greater distances, and had +advanced to the territories of the Euburones and the Condrusi, who are +under the protection of the Treviri. After summoning the chiefs of Gaul, +Caesar thought proper to pretend ignorance of the things which he had +discovered, and, having conciliated and confirmed their minds, and +ordered some cavalry to be raised, resolved to make war against the +Germans. + +When he had advanced some distance, the Germans sent ambassadors, +begging him not to advance further, as they had come hither reluctantly, +having been expelled from their country. But Caesar, knowing that they +wished for delay only to make further secret preparations, refused the +overtures. Marshalling his army in three lines, and marching eight +miles, he took them by surprise, and the Romans rushed their camp. Many +of the enemy were slain, the rest being either scattered or drowned in +attempting to escape by crossing the Meuse in the flight. + +The conflict with the Germans being finished, Caesar thought it expedient +to cross the Rhine. Since the Germans were so easily urged to go into +Gaul, he desired they should have fears for their own territories. +Therefore, notwithstanding the difficulty of constructing a bridge, +owing to the breadth, rapidity, and depth of the river, he devised and +built one of timber and of great strength, piles being first driven in +on which to erect it. + +The army was led over into Germany, advanced some distance, and burnt +some villages of the hostile Sigambri, who had concealed themselves in +the woods after conveying away all their possessions. Then Caesar, having +done enough to strike fear into the Germans and to serve both honour and +interest, after a stay of eighteen days across the Rhine, returned into +Gaul and cut down the bridge. + +During the short part of the summer which remained he resolved to +proceed into Britain, because succours had been constantly furnished to +the Gauls from that country. He thought it expedient, if he only entered +the island, to see into the character of the people, and to gain +knowledge of their localities, harbours, and landing-places. Having +collected about eighty transport ships, he set sail with two legions in +fair weather, and the soldiers were attacked instantly on landing by the +cavalry and charioteers of the barbarians. The enemy were vanquished, +but could not be pursued, because the Roman horse had not been able to +maintain their course at sea and to reach the island. This alone was +wanting to Caesar's accustomed success. + + +_V.--Caesar on the Thames_ + + +During the winter Caesar commanded as many ships as possible to be +constructed, and the old repaired. About six hundred transports and +twenty ships of war were built, and, after settling some disputes in +Gaul among the chiefs, Caesar went to Port Itius with the legions. He +took with him several of the leading chiefs of the Gauls, determined to +retain them as hostages and to keep them with him during his next +expedition to Britain, lest a commotion should arise in Gaul during his +absence. + +Caesar, having crossed to the shore of Britain and disembarked his army +at a convenient spot advanced about twelve miles and repelled all +attacks of the cavalry and charioteers of the enemy. Then he led his +forces into the territories of Cassivellaunus to the River Thames, which +river can be forded in one place only. Here an engagement took place +which resulted in the flight of the Britons. But Cassivellaunus had sent +messengers to the four kings who reigned over Kent and the districts by +the sea, Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taximaquilus, and Segonax, commanding +them to collect all their forces and assail the naval camp. + +In the battle which ensued the Romans were victorious, and when +Cassivellaunus heard of this disaster he sent ambassadors to Caesar to +treat about a surrender. Caesar, since he had resolved to pass the winter +on the continent, on account of sudden revolts in Gaul, demanded +hostages and prescribed what tribute Britain should pay each year to the +Roman people. + +Caesar, expecting for many reasons greater commotion in Gaul, levied +additional forces. He saw that war was being prepared on all sides, that +the Nervii, Aduatuci, and Menapii, with the addition of all the Germans +on this side of the Rhine, were under arms; that the Senones did not +assemble according to his command, and were concerting measures with +Carnutes and the neighbouring states; and that the Germans were +importuned by the Treviri in frequent embassies. Therefore he thought +that he ought to take prompt measures for the war. + +Accordingly, before the winter was ended, he marched with four legions +unexpectedly into the territories of the Nervii, captured many men and +much cattle, wasted their lands, and forced them to surrender and give +hostages. He followed up his success by worsting the Senones, Carnutes, +and Menapii, while Labienus defeated the Treviri. + +Gaul being tranquil, Caesar, as he had determined, set out for Italy to +hold the provincial assizes. There he was informed of the decree of the +senate that all the youth of Italy should take the military oath, and he +determined to hold a levy throughout the entire province. The Gauls, +animated by the opportunity afforded through his absence, and indignant +that they were reduced beneath the dominion of Rome, began to organise +their plans for war openly. + +Many of the nations confederated and selected as their commander +Vercingetorix, a young Avernian. On hearing what had happened, Caesar set +out from Italy for Transalpine Gaul, and began the campaign by marching +into the country of the Helvii, although it was the severest time of the +year, and the country was covered with deep snow. + +The armies met, and Vercingetorix sustained a series of losses at +Vellaunodunum, Genabum, and Noviodunum. The Gauls then threw a strong +garrison into Avaricum, which Caesar besieged, and at length Caesar's +soldiers took it by storm. All the Gauls, with few exceptions, joined in +the revolt; and the united forces, under Vercingetorix, attacked the +Roman army while it was marching into the country of the Sequani, but +they suffered complete defeat. After struggling vainly to continue the +war, Vercingetorix surrendered, and the Gallic chieftains laid down +their arms. Caesar demanded a great number of hostages, sent his +lieutenants with various legions to different stations in Gaul, and +determined himself to winter at Bibracte. A supplication of twenty days +was decreed at Rome by the senate on hearing of these successes. + + * * * * * + + + + +TACITUS + + +Annals + + + Publius Cornelius Tacitus was born perhaps at Rome, shortly + before the accession of the Emperor Nero in 54 A.D. He married + the daughter of Agricola, famous in the history of Britain, + and died probably about the time of Hadrian's accession to the + empire, 117 A.D. He attained distinction as a pleader at the + bar, and in public life; but his fame rests on his historical + works. A man of strong prepossessions and prejudices, he + allowed them to colour his narratives, and particularly his + portraits; but he cannot be charged with dishonesty. The + portraits themselves are singularly powerful; his narrative is + picturesque, vivid, dramatic; but the condensed character of + his style and the pregnancy of his phrases make his work + occasionally obscure, and particularly difficult to render in + translation. His "Germania" is a most valuable record of the + early institutions of the Teutonic peoples. His "Histories" of + the empire from Galba to Domitian are valuable as dealing with + events of which he was an eye-witness. His "Annals," covering + practically the reigns from Tiberius to Nero, open only some + forty years before his own birth. Of the original sixteen + books, four are lost, and four are incomplete. The following + epitome has been specially prepared from the Latin text. + + +_I.--Emperor and Nephew_ + + +Tiberius, adopted son and actual stepson of Augustus, was summoned from +Illyria by his mother Livia to the bedside of the dying emperor at Nola. +Augustus left a granddaughter, Agrippina, who was married to Germanicus, +the nephew of Tiberius; and a grandson, Agrippa Postumus, a youth of +evil reputation. The succession of Tiberius was not in doubt; but his +first act was to have Agrippa Postumus put to death--according to his +own statement, by the order of Augustus. At Rome, consuls, senators, and +knights hurried to embrace their servitude. The nobler the name that +each man bore, the more zealous was he in his hypocrisy. The grave +pretence of Tiberius that he laid no claim to imperial honours was met +by the grave pretence that the needs of the state forbade his refusal of +them, however reluctant he might be. His mother, Livia Augusta, was the +object of a like sycophancy. But the world was not deceived by the +solemn farce. + +The death of Augustus, however, was the signal for mutinous outbreaks +among the legions on the European frontiers of the empire; first in +Pannonia, then in Germany. In Pannonia, the ostensible motive was +jealousy of the higher pay and easier terms of service of the Praetorian +guard. So violent were the men, and so completely did the officers lose +control, that Drusus, the son of Tiberius, was sent to make terms with +the mutineers, and only owed his success to the reaction caused by the +superstitious alarm of the soldiery at an eclipse of the moon. +Germanicus, who was in command in Germany, was absent in Gaul. Here the +mutiny of the Lower Army, under Caecina, was very serious, because it was +clearly organised, the men working systematically and not haphazard. + +News of the outbreak brought their popular general, Germanicus, to the +spot. The mutineers at once offered to make him emperor, a proposal +which he indignantly repudiated. The position, in a hostile country, +made some concession necessary; but fresh disturbances broke out when it +was suspected that the arrival of a commission from the senate meant +that the concessions would be cancelled. Here the reaction which broke +down the mutiny was caused by the shame of the soldiers themselves, when +Germanicus sent his wife and child away from a camp where their lives +were in danger. Of their own accord, the best of the soldiers turned on +their former ringleaders, and slew them. And the legions under Caecina +took similar steps to recover their lost credit. Germanicus, however, +saw that the true remedy for the disaffection would be found in an +active campaign. The desired effect was attained by an expedition +against the Marsi, conducted with a success which Tiberius, at Rome, +regarded with mixed feelings. + +The German tribe named the Cherusci favoured Arminius, the determined +enemy of Rome, in preference to Segestes, who was conspicuous for +"loyalty" to Rome. Germanicus advanced to support the latter, and +Arminius was enraged by the news that his wife, the daughter of +Segestes, was a prisoner. His call to arms, his declamations in the name +of liberty, roused the Cherusci, the people who had annihilated the +legions of Varus a few years before. A column commanded by Caecina was +enticed by Arminius into a swampy position, where it was in extreme +danger, and a severe engagement took place. The scheme of Arminius was +to attack the Romans on the march; fortunately, the rasher counsels of +his uncle, Inguiomerus, prevailed; an attempt was made to storm the +camp, and the Romans were thus enabled to inflict a decisive defeat on +the foe. + +It was at this time that the disastrous practice was instituted of +informers bringing charges of treason against prominent citizens on +grounds which Tiberius himself condemned as frivolous. The emperor began +to make a practice of attending trials, which indeed prevented corrupt +awards, but ruined freedom. + +Now arose disturbances in the east. The Parthians expelled their king, +Vonones, a former favourite of Augustus. Armenia became involved, and +these things were the source of serious complications later. Tiberius +was already meditating the transfer of Germanicus to these regions. That +general, however, was planning a fresh German campaign from the North +Sea coast. A great fleet carried the army to the mouth of the Ems; +thence Germanicus marched to the Weser and crossed it. Germanicus was +gratified to find that his troops were eager for the impending fray. A +tremendous defeat was inflicted on the Cherusci, with little loss to the +Romans. Arminius, who had headed a charge which all but broke the Roman +line, escaped only with the utmost difficulty. + +Nevertheless, the Germans rallied their forces, and a second furious +engagement took place, in which the foe fought again with desperate +valour, and were routed mainly through the superiority of the Roman +armour and discipline. The triumph was marred only by a disaster which +befel the legions which were withdrawn by sea. A terrific storm wrecked +almost the entire fleet, and it was with great difficulty that the few +survivors were rescued. The consequent revival of German hopes made it +necessary for two large armies to advance against the Marsi and the +Catti respectively, complete success again attending the Roman arms. + +Jealousy of his nephew's popularity and success now caused Tiberius to +insist on his recall. At this time informers charged with treason a +young man of distinguished family, Libo Drusus, mainly on the ground of +his foolish consultation of astrologers, with the result that Drusus +committed suicide. This story will serve as one among many which +exemplify the prevalent demoralisation. In the same year occurred the +audacious insurrection of a slave who impersonated the dead Agrippa +Postumus; and also the deposition of the king of Cappadocia, whose +kingdom was annexed as a province of the empire. + +A contest took place between the Suevi and the Cherusci, in which Rome +declined to intervene. Maroboduus, of the Suevi, was disliked because he +took the title of king, which was alien to the German ideas, being in +this respect contrasted with Arminius. The Cherusci had the better of +the encounter. + + +_II.--The Development of Despotism_ + + +Germanicus on his recall was in danger, while in Rome, of being made the +head of a faction in antagonism to Drusus, the son of Tiberius. He was +dispatched, however, with extraordinary powers, to take control of the +East, where Piso, the governor of Syria, believed that he held his own +appointment precisely that he might be a thorn in the side of +Germanicus. The latter made a progress through Greece, settled affairs +in Armenia and Parthia, and continued his journey to Egypt. + +Piso's machinations, encouraged by the reports which reached him of the +emperor's displeasure at the conduct of Germanicus, caused the gravest +friction. Finally, on the return from Egypt through Syria, Germanicus +became desperately ill. He declared his own belief that Piso and his +wife had poisoned him; and, on his death, the rumour met general +credence, though it was unsupported by evidence. Agrippina returned to +Rome, bent on vengeance, and the object of universal sympathy. Piso +attempted to make himself master of Syria, but failed to win over the +legions, and then resolved to return to Rome and defy his accusers. + +About this time Arminius was killed in attempting to make himself king. +Shortly before, Tiberius had rejected with becoming dignity a rival +chief's offer to poison the national hero of German independence. + +On the arrival in Italy of Agrippina with the ashes of Germanicus, the +popular and official expressions of grief and sympathy were almost +unprecedented. This public display was not at all encouraged by Tiberius +himself. Drusus was instructed to emphasize the fact that Piso must not +be held either guilty or innocent, till the case had been sifted. +Tiberius insisted that not he, but the senate, must be the judge; the +case must be decided on its merits, not out of consideration for his own +outraged feelings. Piso was charged with having corrupted the soldiery, +levied war on the province of Syria, and poisoned Germanicus. All except +the last charge were proved up to the hilt; for that alone there was no +evidence. Piso, however, despaired, fearing less the ebullitions of +popular wrath than the emotionless implacability of the emperor. He was +found dead in his room; but whether by his own act or that of Tiberius, +was generally doubted. The penalties imposed on his wife and son were +mitigated by the emperor himself. + +A number of notorious scandals at this period emphasise the degradation +of morals and the disregard for the sanctity of the marriage tie in a +society where children were regarded as a burden, in spite of official +encouragement of the birth-rate. There was an instructive debate on a +proposal that magistrates appointed to provinces should not take their +wives with them. + +Risings in Gaul of the Treveri and Aedui created much alarm in Rome; the +composure of Tiberius was justified by their decisive suppression. + +In Africa, Blaems successfully suppressed, though he did not finally +curb, the brigand chief Tacfarinas, who had been building up a nomad +empire of his own. It was under Dolabella, the successor of Blaems, that +Tacfarinas was completely overthrown and slain. + +Hitherto the rule of Tiberius had been, on the whole, prosperous. But +the ninth year marks the establishment of the ascendancy of AElius +Sejanus over the mind of the emperor, whereby his sway was transformed +into a foul tyranny. Not of noble birth, Sejanus had neglected no means, +however base, to secure his own favour with Tiberius and with the +Praetorian Guard, of which he held the command. He was now determined to +get rid of Drusus, the son of Tiberius, as the most dangerous obstacle +to his ambitions. He accomplished his purpose by administering a poison, +of which the operation was unsuspected till the facts were revealed many +years later by an accomplice. Then the young sons of Germanicus became +the accepted representatives of the imperial line, for the infant sons +of Drusus died very shortly afterwards. Accordingly, Sejanus now +directed his attacks against the more powerful persons who might be +regarded as partisans of the house of Germanicus. + +Despite the multiplications of prosecutions, it is to be noted that it +was still possible for a shrewd and tactful person, as exemplified by +the career of Marcus Lepidus, to uphold the principles of justice and +liberty without losing the favour of the emperor. Among other +prosecutions, that of Cremutius, whose crime was that of praising the +memory of Brutus and Cassius, demands attention, as the first of the +kind. + +The ambitions of Sejanus received a check when he had the presumption to +request Tiberius to grant him the hand of the widow of Drusus in +marriage. In order the more surely to bring disgrace on the house of +Germanicus, he now implanted in the mind of Agrippina a conviction that +Tiberius intended to poison her. That such suspicions were mere +commonplaces of that terrible time is well illustrated by the story. +Incapable of hiding her feelings, the persistent gloom of her face and +voice, and her refusal of proffered dishes as she sat near Tiberius at +dinner, attracted his attention; to test her, he personally commended +and pressed on her some apples; this only intensified her suspicions, +and she gave them to the attendants untasted. Tiberius made no open +comment, but observed to his mother that it would hardly be surprising +should he contemplate harsh measures towards one who obviously took him +for a poisoner. + + +_III.--Morbid Tyrant and Dotard_ + + +It was at this time that Tiberius withdrew himself from the capital, and +took up his residence at a country seat where hardly anyone had access +to him except Sejanus; whether at the favourite's suggestion or not is +uncertain. The retreat finally selected was the island of Caprae. + +The monstrous lengths to which men of the highest rank were now prepared +to go to curry favour with Tiberius and Sejanus was exemplified in the +ruin of Sabinus, a loyal friend of the house of Germanicus. The +unfortunate man was tricked into speaking bitterly of Sejanus and +Tiberius. Three senators were actually hidden above the ceiling of the +room where he was entrapped into uttering unguarded phrases, and on this +evidence he was condemned. + +The death of the aged Livia Augusta removed the last check on the +influence of Sejanus. + +[The account of his two years of unqualified supremacy, and of his +sudden and utter overthrow has been lost, two books of the "Annals" +being missing here.] + +From this time, the life of Tiberius at Caprae was one of morbid and +nameless debauchery. The condition of his mind may be inferred from the +opening words of one of his letters to the senate. "If I know what to +write, how to write it, what not to write, may the gods and goddesses +destroy me with a worse misery than the death I feel myself dying +daily." The end came when Macro, the prefect of the Praetorians, who, to +save his own life and secure the succession of Gaius Caesar Caligula, the +surviving son of Germanicus, caused the old emperor to be smothered. + +[The record of the next ten years--the reign of Caligula, and the first +years of Claudius--is lost. When the story is taken up again, the wife +of Claudius, the infamous Messalina, was at the zenith of her evil +career.] + +While the doting pedant Claudius was adding new letters to the alphabet, +Messalina was parading with utter shamelessness her last and fatal +passion for Silius, and went so far as publicly to marry her paramour. +It was the freedman Narcissus who made the outrageous truth known to +Claudius, and practically terrorised him into striking. Half measures +were impossible; a swarm of Messalina's accomplices in vice were put to +death. To her, Claudius showed signs of relenting; but Narcissus gave +the orders for her death without his knowledge. When they told Claudius +that she was dead, he displayed no emotion, but went on with his dinner, +and apparently forgot the whole matter. + +A new wife had to be provided; Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, +niece of Claudius himself, and mother of the boy Domitius, who was to +become the emperor Nero, was the choice of the freedman Pallas, and +proved the successful candidate. Shortly after, her new husband adopted +Nero formally as his son. It was not long before she had assumed an air +of equality with her husband; and all men saw that she intended him to +be succeeded not by his own son Britannicus, but by hers, Nero. + +Meanwhile, there had been a great revolt in Britain against the +propraetor Ostorius. First the Iceni took up arms, then the Brigantes; +then--a still more serious matter--the Silures, led by the most +brilliant of British warriors, Caractacus. Even his skill and courage, +however, were of no avail against the superior armament of the Roman +legions; his forces were broken up, and he himself, escaping to the +Brigantes, was by them betrayed to the Romans. The famous warrior was +carried to Rome, where by his dignified demeanour he won pardon and +liberty. In the Far East, Mithridates was overthrown by his nephew +Rhadamistus, and Parthia and Armenia remained in wild confusion. The +reign of Claudius was brought to an end by poison--the notorious Locusta +was employed by Agrippina for the purpose--and he was succeeded by Nero, +to whom his mother's artifices gave the priority over Britannicus. + + +_IV.--The Infamies of Nero_ + + +At the outset the young emperor was guided by Seneca and Burrus; his +first speech--put into his mouth by Seneca, for he was no orator--was +full of promise. But he was encouraged in a passion for Acte, a +freed-woman, by way of counterpoise to the influence of his mother, +Agrippina. The latter, enraged at the dismissal of Pallas, threatened +her son with the legitimate claims of Britannicus, son of Claudius; Nero +had the boy poisoned. In terror now of his mother, he would have +murdered her, but was checked by Burrus. Nero's private excesses and +debaucheries developed, while the horrible system of delation +flourished, and prosecutions for treason abounded. + +About this time the emperor's passion for Poppaea Sabina, the wife of +Otho, became the source of later disaster. Beautiful, brilliant, utterly +immoral, but complete mistress of her passions, she had married Nero's +boon companion. Otho was dispatched to Lusitania, and Poppaea remained at +Rome. Poppaea was bent on the imperial crown for herself, and urged Nero +against his mother. A mock reconciliation took place, but it was only +the preliminary to a treacherous plot for murdering the former empress. +The plot failed; her barge was sunk, but she escaped to shore. Nero, +however, with the shameful assent of Burrus and Seneca, dispatched +assassins to carry out the work, and Agrippina was slaughtered. + +For a moment remorse seized Nero, but it was soon soothed; Burrus headed +the cringing congratulations of Roman society, to which Thrasea Paetus +was alone in refusing to be a party. The emperor forthwith began to +plunge into the wild extravagances on which his mother's life had been +some check. He took cover for his passion for chariot-driving and +singing by inducing men of noble birth to exhibit themselves in the +arena; high-born ladies acted in disreputable plays; the emperor himself +posed as a mime, and pretended to be a patron of poetry and philosophy. +The wildest licence prevailed, and there were those who ventured even to +defend it. + +About this time the Roman governor in Britain, Suetonius, crossed the +Menai Strait and conquered the island of Anglesea. But outrages +committed against Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, stirred that tribe to +fierce revolt. Being joined by the Trinobantes, they fell upon the +Romans at Camulodunum and massacred them. Suetonius, returning hastily +from the west, found the Roman population in panic. The troops, however, +inspired by the general's resolution, won a decisive victory, in which +it is said that no fewer than 80,000 Britons, men and women, were +slaughtered. + +Not long after, Burrus died--in common belief, if not in actual fact, of +poison; and Seneca found himself driven into retirement, while +Tigellinus became Nero's favourite and confidant. Nero then capped his +matricide by suborning the same scoundrel who had murdered Agrippina to +bring foul and false charges against his innocent wife, Octavia; who was +thus done to death when not yet twenty, that her husband might be free +to marry Poppaea. As a matter of course, the crime was duly celebrated by +a public thanksgiving. + +The dispatch of an incompetent general into Asia resulted in a most +inglorious Parthian campaign. Nero, however, was more interested first +in extravagant rejoicings at the birth of a daughter to Poppaea, and then +in equally extravagant mourning over the infant's death. It was well +that Corbulo, marching from Syria, restored the Roman prestige in the +Far East. + +These events were followed by the famous fire which devastated Rome; +whether or no it was actually Nero's own work, rumour declared that he +appeared on a private stage while the conflagration was raging, and +chanted appropriately of the fall of Troy. He planned rebuilding on a +magnificent scale, and sought popularity by throwing the blame of the +fire--and putting to the most exquisite tortures--a class hated for +their abominations, called Christians, from their first leader, +Christus, who had suffered the extreme penalty under Pontius Pilate, +procurator of Judaea, in the reign of Tiberius. + +A very widespread conspiracy was now formed against Nero, in favour of +one Gaius Calpurnius Piso; Faenius Rufus, an officer of the Praetorians, +who had been subordinated to Tigellinus, being one of the leaders. The +plot, however, was betrayed by a freedman of one of the conspirators. + + * * * * * + + + + +SALLUST + + +The Conspiracy of Catiline + + + The Roman historian Caius Crispus Sallust, who was born at + Amiternum in 86 B.C., and died in 34 B.C., lived throughout + the active career of Julius Caesar, and died while Anthony and + Octavian were still rivals for the supreme power. It might be + supposed from his works that he was a person of eminent + virtue, but this was merely a literary pose. He was probably + driven into private life, in the first place, on account of + the scandals with which he was associated. He became a + partisan of Caesar in the struggle with Pompey, and to this he + owed the pro-consulship of Numidia, on the proceeds of which + he retired into leisured ease. Sallust aspired with very + limited success to assume the mantle of Thucydides, and the + role of a philosophic historian. He displays considerable + political acumen on occasion, but his assumption of stern + impartiality is hardly less a pose than his pretense of + elevated morality. His "Conspiracy of Catiline"--the first of + his historical essays--was probably written, in part at least, + with the object of dissociating Caesar from it; the lurid + colors in which he paints the conspirator are probably + exaggerated. But whether true or false, the picture presented + is a vivid one. This epitome is adapted specially from the + Latin text. + + +_I.--The Plotting_ + + +I esteem the intellectual above the physical qualities of man; and the +task of the historian has attracted me because it taxes the writer's +abilities to the utmost Personal ambition had at first drawn me into +public life, but the political atmosphere, full of degradation and +corruption, was so uncongenial that I resolved to retire and devote +myself to the production of a series of historical studies, for which I +felt myself to be the better fitted by my freedom from the influences +which bias the political partisan. For the first of these studies I have +selected the conspiracy of Catiline. + +Lucius Catilina [commonly called Catiline] was of high birth, richly +endowed both in mind and body, but of extreme depravity; with +extraordinary powers of endurance, reckless, crafty, and versatile, a +master in the arts of deception, at once grasping and lavish, unbridled +in his passions, ready of speech, but with little true insight Of +insatiable and inordinate ambitions, he was possessed, after Sulla's +supremacy, with a craving to grasp the control of the state, utterly +careless of the means, so the end were attained. Naturally headstrong, +he was urged forward by his want of money, the consciousness of his +crimes, and the degradation of morals in a society where luxury and +greed ruled side by side. + +The wildest, the most reckless, the most prodigal, the most criminal, +were readily drawn into the circle of Catiline's associates; in such a +circle those who were not already utterly depraved very soon became so +under the sinister and seductive influence of their leader. This man, +who in the pursuit of his own vices had done his own son to death, did +not hesitate to encourage his pupils in every species of crime; and with +such allies, and the aid of the disbanded Sullan soldiery swarming in +Italy, he dreamed of subverting the Roman state while her armies, under +Gnaeus Pompeius, were far away. + +The first step was to secure his own election as consul. One plot of his +had already failed, because Catiline himself had attempted to move +prematurely; but the conspirators remained scatheless. Those who were +now with Catiline included members of the oldest families and of +equestrian rank. Crassus himself was suspected of complicity, owing to +his rivalry with Pompeius. The assembled conspirators were addressed by +Catiline in a speech of the most virulent character. He urged these +social outcasts to rise against a bloated plutocracy battening on the +ill-gotten wealth to which his audience had just as good a title. He +promised the cancellation of all debts, the proscription of the wealthy, +and the general application of the rule of "the spoils to the victors." +He had friends at the head of the armies in Spain and Mauritania, if +Gaius Antonius were the other successful candidate for the consulship, +his co-operation, too, could be secured. Such was the purport of his +speech; but I do not credit the popular fiction that the conspirators +were solemnly pledged in a bowl of mingled wine and blood. + +Rumours of the plot, however, began to leak out through a certain +Fulvia, mistress of Quintus Curio, a man who had been expelled from the +senatorial body on account of his iniquities; and this probably caused +many of the nobility to support, for the consulship, Cicero, whom, as a +"new man," they would otherwise have religiously opposed. The result was +that Catiline's candidature failed, and Cicero was elected with Gaius +Antonius for his colleague. + +At length Cicero, seeing that the ferment was everywhere increasing to +an extent with which the ordinary law could not cope, obtained from the +senate the exceptional powers for dealing with a national emergency +which they had constitutional authority to grant. Thus, when news came +that a Catilinarian, Gaius Manlius, had risen in Etruria at the head of +an armed force, prompt administrative measures were taken to dispatch +adequate military forces to various parts of the country. Catiline +himself had taken no overt action; he now presented himself in the +senate, was openly assailed by Cicero, responded with insults which were +interrupted by cries of indignation, and flung from the house with the +words "Since I am beset by enemies and driven out, the fire you have +kindled about me shall be crushed out by the ruin of yourselves." + +Seeing that delay would be fatal, he started at once for the camp of +Manlius, leaving Cethegus and Lentulus to keep up the ferment in Rome. +To several persons of position he sent letters announcing that he was +retiring to Marseilles; but, with misplaced confidence, he sent one of a +different and extremely compromising tenor to Quintus Catullus, which +the recipient read to the senate. It was next reported that he had +assumed the consular attributes and joined Manlius; whereupon he was +proclaimed a public enemy, a general levy was decreed, Antonius was +appointed to take the field, while Cicero was to remain in the capital. + + +_II.--The Downfall_ + + +Meanwhile, Lentulus at Rome, among his various plots, intrigued to +obtain the support of the Allobroges, a tribe of Gauls from whom there +was at the time an embassy in Rome. The envoys, however, took the advice +of Quintus Fabius Sanga, and while he kept Cicero supplied with +information, themselves pretended to be at one with the conspirators. + +Risings were now taking place all over Italy, though they were +ill-concerted. At Rome, the plan was that when Catiline's army was at +Faesulae, the tribune Lucius Bestia should publicly accuse Cicero of +having caused the war; and this was to be the signal for an organised +massacre, while the city itself was to be fired at twelve points +simultaneously. The insurgents were then to march out and join Catiline +at Faesulae. + +The Allobroges were now departing, carrying with them letters from +Lentulus to Catiline; but according to a concerted plan, they were +arrested. This provided Cicero with evidence which warranted the arrest +of Lentulus and other ringleaders in Rome; and its publication created a +popular revulsion--the lower classes were not averse from plunder, but +saw no benefit to themselves in a general conflagration of Rome. + +A certain Lucius Tarquinius was now captured, who gave information +tallying with what was already published, but further incriminated +Crassus. Crassus, however, was so wealthy, and had so many of the senate +in his power, that even those who believed the charge to be true, +thought it politic to pronounce it a gross fabrication. The danger of an +attempted rescue of Lentulus brought on a debate as to what should be +done with the prisoners. Caesar, from whatever motive, spoke forcibly +against any unconstitutional action which, however justified by the +enormity of the prisoners' guilt, might become a dangerous precedent. In +his opinion, the wise course would be to confiscate the property of the +prisoners, and to place their persons in custody not in Rome, but in +provincial towns. + +Caesar's humanitarian statesmanship was answered by the grave austerity +of Cato. "The question for us is not that of punishing a crime, but of +preserving the state--or of what the degenerate Roman of to-day cares +for more than the state, our lives and property. To speak of clemency +and compassion is an abuse of terms only too common, when vices are +habitually dignified with the names of virtues. Let us for once act with +vigour and decision, and doom these convicted traitors to the death they +deserve." The decree of death was carried to immediate execution. In the +meantime, Catiline had raised a force numbering two legions, but not +more than a quarter of them were properly armed. He remained in the +hills, refusing to give battle to Antonius. + +On hearing the fate of Lentulus and the rest, he attempted to retreat to +Gaul, but this movement was anticipated and intercepted by Metellus +Celer, who was posted at Picenum with three legions. With Antonius +pressing on his rear, Catiline resolved to hazard all on a desperate +engagement. In exhorting his troops, he dwelt on the fact that men +fighting for life and liberty were more than a match for a foe who had +infinitely less at stake. + +Thus brought to bay, Catiline's soldiers met the attack of the +government troops with furious valour, their leader setting a brilliant +example of desperate daring, and the most vigilant and vigorous +generalship. But Petreius, on the other side, directed his force against +the rebel centre, shattered it, and took the wings in flank. Catiline's +followers stood and fought till they fell, with their wounds in front; +he himself hewed his way through the foe, and was found still breathing +at a distance from his own ranks. No quarter was given or taken; and +among the rebels there were no survivors. In the triumphant army, all +the stoutest soldiers were slain or wounded; mourning and grief mingled +with the elation of victory. + + * * * * * + + + + +EDWARD GIBBON + + +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--I + + + Edward Gibbon, son of a Hampshire gentleman, was born at + Putney, near London, April 27, 1737. After a preliminary + education at Westminster, and fourteen "unprofitable" months + at Magdalen College, Oxford, a whim to join the Roman church + led to his banishment to Lausanne, where he spent five years, + and acquired a mastery of the French language, formed his + taste for literary expression, and settled his religious + doubts in a profound scepticism. He served some years in the + militia, and was a member of parliament. It was in 1764, while + musing amidst, the ruins of the Capitol of Rome, that the idea + of writing "The Decline and Fall" of the city first started + into his mind. The vast work was completed in 1787. "A Study + in Literature," written in French, and his "Miscellaneous + Works," published after his death, which include "The Memoirs + of his Life and Writings," complete the list of his literary + labours. He died of dropsy on January 16, 1794. The portion of + the work which is epitomized here covers the period from the + reign of Commodus to the era of Charlemagne, and includes the + famous portion of the work dealing with the growth of the + Christian church. + + +_I.--Rome, Mistress of the World_ + + +In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome +comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised +portion of mankind. On the death of Augustus, that emperor bequeathed, +as a valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the +empire within those limits which nature seemed to have placed as its +permanent bulwarks and boundaries--on the west the Atlantic Ocean, the +Rhine and Danube on the north, the Euphrates on the east, and towards +the south the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa. The subsequent +settlement of Great Britain and Dacia supplied the two exceptions to the +precepts of Augustus, if we omit the transient conquests of Trajan in +the east, which were renounced by Hadrian. + +By maintaining the dignity of the empire, without attempting to enlarge +its limits, the early emperors caused the Roman name to be revered among +the most remote nations of the earth. The terror of their arms added +weight and dignity to their moderation. They preserved peace by a +constant preparation for war. The soldiers, though drawn from the +meanest, and very frequently from the most profligate, of mankind, and +no longer, as in the days of the ancient republic, recruited from Rome +herself, were preserved in their allegiance to the emperor, and their +invincibility before the enemy, by the influences of superstition, +inflexible discipline, and the hopes of reward. The peace establishment +of the Roman army numbered some 375,000 men, divided into thirty +legions, who were confined, not within the walls of fortified cities, +which the Romans considered as the refuge of pusillanimity, but upon the +confines of the empire; while 20,000 chosen soldiers, distinguished by +the titles of City Cohorts and Praetorian Guards, watched over the safety +of the monarch and the capitol. + +"Wheresoever the Roman conquers he inhabits," was a very just +observation of Seneca. Colonies, composed for the most part of veteran +soldiers, were settled throughout the empire. Rich and prosperous +cities, adorned with magnificent temples and baths and other public +buildings, demonstrated at once the magnificence and majesty of the +Roman system. In Britain, York was the seat of government. London was +already enriched by commerce, and Bath was celebrated for the salutary +effects of its medicinal waters. + +All the great cities were connected with each other, and with the +capital, by the public highway, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome, +traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and was terminated only by the +frontiers of the empire. This great chain of communications ran in a +direct line from city to city, and in its construction the Roman +engineers snowed little respect for the obstacles, either of nature or +of private property. Mountains were perforated and bold arches thrown +over the broadest and most rapid streams. The middle part of the road, +raised into a terrace which commanded the adjacent country, consisted of +several strata of sand, gravel, and cement, and was paved with granite +or large stones. Distances were accurately computed by milestones, and +the establishment of post-houses, at a distance of five or six miles, +enabled a citizen to travel with ease a hundred miles a day along the +Roman roads. + +This freedom of intercourse, which was established throughout the Roman +world, while it extended the vices, diffused likewise the improvements +of social life. Rude barbarians of Gaul laid aside their arms for the +more peaceful pursuits of agriculture. The cultivation of the earth +produced abundance in every portion of the empire, and accidental +scarcity in any single province was immediately relieved by the +plentifulness of its more fortunate neighbours. Since the productions of +nature are the materials of art, this flourishing condition of +agriculture laid the foundation of manufactures, which provided the +luxurious Roman with those refinements of conveniency, of elegance, and +of splendour which his tastes demanded. Commerce flourished, and the +products of Egypt and the East were poured out in the lap of Rome. + +Though there still existed within the body of the Roman Empire an +unhappy condition of men who endured the weight, without sharing the +benefits of society, the position of a slave was greatly improved in the +progress of Roman development. The power of life and death was taken +from his master's hands and vested in the magistrate, to whom he had a +right to appeal against intolerable treatment. These magistrates +exercised the authority of the emperor and the senate in every quarter +of the empire, inflexibly maintaining in their administration, as in the +case of military government, the use of the Latin tongue. Greek was the +natural idiom of science, Latin that of government. + + +_II.--The Seeds of Dissolution_ + + +But while Roman society persisted in a state of peaceful security, it +already contained within itself the seeds of dissolution. The long peace +and uniform government of the Romans introduced a slow and secret poison +into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced +to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the +military spirit evaporated. The citizens received laws and covenants +from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for their defence to a +mercenary army. Of their ancient freedom nothing remained except the +name, and that Augustus, sensible that mankind is governed by names, was +careful to preserve. + +It was by the will of the senate the emperor ruled. It was from the +senate that he received the ancient titles of the republic--of consul, +tribune, pontiff, and censor. Even his title of _imperator_ was decreed +him, according to the custom of the republic, only for a period of ten +years. But this specious pretence, which was preserved until the last +days of the empire, did not mask the real autocratic authority of the +emperor. The fact that he nominated citizens to the senate was proof, if +proof were needed, that the independence of that body was destroyed; for +the principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost when the +legislative power is nominated by the executive. + +Moreover, the dependence of the emperor on the legions completely +subverted the civil authority. To keep the military power, which had +given him his position, from undermining it, Augustus had summoned to +his aid whatever remained in the fierce minds of his soldiers of Roman +prejudices, and interposing the majesty of the senate between the +emperor and the army, boldly claimed their allegiance as the first +magistrate of the republic. During a period of 220 years, the dangers +inherent to a military government were in a great measure suspended by +this artful system. The soldiers were seldom roused to that fatal sense +of their own strength and of the weakness of the civil authority which +afterwards was productive of such terrible calamities. + +The emperors Caligula and Domitian were assassinated in their palace by +their own domestics. The Roman world, it is true, was shaken by the +events that followed the death of Nero, when, in the space of eighteen +months, four princes perished by the sword. But, excepting this violent +eruption of military licence, the two centuries from Augustus to +Commodus passed away unstained with civil blood and undisturbed by +revolution. The Roman citizens might groan under the tyranny, from which +they could not hope to escape, of the unrelenting Tiberius, the furious +Caligula, the profligate and cruel Nero, the beastly Vitellius, and the +timid, inhuman Domitian; but order was maintained, and it was not until +Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher, +succeeded to the authority that his father had exercised for the benefit +of the Roman Empire that the army fully realised, and did not fail to +exercise, the power it had always possessed. + +During the first three years of his reign the vices of Commodus affected +the emperor rather than the state. While the young prince revelled in +licentious pleasures, the management of affairs remained in the hands of +his father's faithful councillors; but, in the year 183, the attempt of +his sister Lucilla to assassinate him produced fatal results. The +assassin, in attempting the deed, exclaimed, "The senate sends you +this!" and though the blow never reached the body of the emperor, the +words sank deep into his heart. + +He turned upon the senate with relentless cruelty. The possession of +either wealth or virtue excited the tyrant's fury. Suspicion was +equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation, and the noblest blood of the +senate was poured out like water. + +He has shed with impunity the noblest blood of Rome; he perished as soon +as he was dreaded by his own domestics. A cup of drugged wine, delivered +by his favourite concubine, plunged him in a deep sleep. At the +instigation of Laetus, his Praetorian prefect, a robust youth was admitted +into his chamber, and strangled him without resistance. With secrecy and +celerity the conspirators sought out Pertinax, the prefect of the city, +an ancient senator of consular rank, and persuaded him to accept the +purple. A large donative secured them the support of the Praetorian +guard, and the joyous senate eagerly bestowed upon the new Augustus all +the titles of imperial power. + +For eighty-six days Pertinax ruled the empire with firmness and +moderation, but the strictness of the ancient discipline that he +attempted to restore in the army excited the hatred of the Praetorian +guards, and the new emperor was struck down on March 28, 193. + + +_III.--An Empire at Auction_ + + +The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne by the atrocious +murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the majesty of it with their +subsequent conduct. They ran out upon the ramparts of the city, and with +a loud voice proclaimed that the Roman world was to be disposed of to +the best bidder by public auction. Sulpicianus, father-in-law of +Pertinax, and Didius Julianus, bid against each other for the prize. It +fell to Julian, who offered upwards of L1,000 sterling to each of the +soldiers, and the author of this ignominious bargain received the +insignia of the empire and the acknowledgments of a trembling senate. + +The news of this disgraceful auction was received by the legions of the +frontiers with surprise, with indignation, and, perhaps, with envy. +Albinus, governor of Britain, Niger, governor of Syria, and Septimius +Severus, a native of Africa, commander of the Pannonian army, prepared +to revenge the death of Pertinax, and to establish their own claims to +the vacant throne. Marching night and day, Severus crossed the Julian +Alps, swept aside the feeble defences of Julian, and put an end to a +reign of power which had lasted but sixty-six days, and had been +purchased with such immense treasure. Having secured the supreme +authority, Severus turned his arms against his two competitors, and +within three years, and in the course of two or three battles, +established his position and brought about the death of both Albinus and +Niger. + +The prosperity of Rome revived, and a profound peace reigned throughout +the world. At the same time, Severus was guilty of two acts which were +detrimental to the future interests of the republic. He relaxed the +discipline of the army, increased their pay beyond the example of former +times, re-established the Praetorian guards, who had been abolished for +their transaction with Julian, and welded more firmly the chains of +tyranny by filling the senate with his creatures. At the age of +sixty-five in the year 211, he expired at York of a disorder which was +aggravated by the labours of a campaign against the Caledonians. + +Severus recommended concord to his sons, Caracalla and Geta, and his +sons to the army. The government of the civilised world was entrusted to +the hands of brothers who were implacable enemies. A latent civil war +brooded in the city, and hardly more than a year passed before the +assassins of Caracalla put an end to an impossible situation by +murdering Geta. Twenty thousand persons of both sexes suffered death +under the vague appellation of the friends of Geta. The fears of +Macrinus, the controller of the civil affairs of the Praetorian +prefecture, brought about his death in the neighbourhood of Carrhae in +Syria on April 8, 217. + +For a little more than a year his successor governed the empire, but the +necessary step of reforming the army brought about his ruin. On June 7, +218, he succumbed to the superior fortune of Elagabulus, the grandson of +Severus, a youth trained in all the superstitions and vices of the East. + +Under this sovereign Rome was prostituted to the vilest vices of which +human nature is capable. The sum of his infamy was reached when the +master of the Roman world affected to copy the dress and manners of the +female sex. The shame and disgust of the soldiers resulted in his murder +on March 10, 222, and the proclamation of his cousin, Alexander Severus. + +Again the necessity of restoring discipline within the army led to the +ruin of the emperor, and, despite thirteen years of just and moderate +government, Alexander was murdered in his tent on March 19, 235, on the +banks of the Rhine, and Maximin, his chief lieutenant, a Thracian, +reigned in his stead. + + +_IV.--Tyranny and Disaster_ + + +Fear of contempt, for his origin was mean and barbarian, made Maximin +one of the cruellest tyrants that ever oppressed the Roman world. During +the three years of his reign he disdained to visit either Rome or Italy, +but from the banks of the Rhine and the Danube oppressed the whole +state, and trampled on every principle of law and justice. The tyrant's +avarice ruined not only private citizens, but seized the municipal funds +of the cities, and stripped the very temples of their gold and silver +offerings. + +Maximus and Balbinus, on July 9, 237, were declared emperors. The +Emperor Maximus advanced to meet the furious tyrant, but the stroke of +domestic conspiracy prevented the further eruption of civil war. Maximin +and his son were murdered by their disappointed troops in front of +Aquileia. + +Three months later, Maximus and Balbinus, on July 15, 238, fell victims +to their own virtues at the hands of the Praetorian guard, Gordian became +emperor. At the end of six years, he, too, after an innocent and +virtuous reign, succumbed to the ambition of the prefect Philip, while +engaged in a war with Persia, and in March 244, the Roman world +recognized the sovereignty of an Arabian robber. + +Returning to Rome, Philip celebrated the secular games, on the +accomplishment of the full period of a thousand years from the +foundation of Rome. From that date, which marked the fifth time that +these rites had been performed in the history of the city, for the next +twenty years the Roman world was afflicted by barbarous invaders and +military tyrants, and the ruined empire seemed to approach the last and +fatal moment of its dissolution. Six emperors in turn succeeded to the +sceptre of Philip and ended their lives, either as the victims of +military licence, or in the vain attempt to stay the triumphal eruption +of the Goths and the Franks and the Suevi. In three expeditions the +Goths seized the Bosphorus, plundered the cities of Bithynia, ravaged +Greece, and threatened Italy, while the Franks invaded Gaul, overran +Spain and the provinces of Africa. + +Some sparks of their ancient virtue enabled the senate to repulse the +Suevi, who threatened Rome herself, but the miseries of the empire were +not assuaged by this one triumph, and the successes of Sapor, king of +Persia, in the East, seemed to foreshadow the immediate downfall of +Rome. Six emperors and thirty tyrants attempted in vain to stay the +course of disaster. Famine and pestilence, tumults and disorders, and a +great diminution of the population marked this period, which ended with +the death of the Emperor Gallienus on March 20, 268. + + +_V.--Restorers of the Roman World_ + + +The empire, which had been oppressed and almost destroyed by the +soldiers, the tyrants, and the barbarians, was saved by a series of +great princes, who derived their obscure origin from the martial +provinces of Illyricum. Within a period of about thirty years, Claudius, +Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian and his colleagues triumphed over the +foreign and domestic enemies of the state, re-established, with a +military discipline, the strength of the frontier, and deserved the +glorious title of Restorers of the Roman world. + +Claudius gained a crushing victory over the Goths, whose discomfiture +was completed by disease in the year 269. And his successor, Aurelian, +in a reign of less than five years, put an end to the Gothic war, +chastised the Germans who invaded Italy, recovered Gaul, Spain, and +Britain from the Roman usurpers, and destroyed the proud monarchy which +Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, had erected in the East on the ruins of the +afflicted empire. + +The murder of Aurelian in the East (January 275) led to a curious +revival of the authority of the senate. During an interregnum of eight +months the ancient assembly at Rome governed with the consent of the +army, and appeared to regain with the election of Tacitus, one of their +members, all their ancient prerogatives. Their authority expired, +however, with the death of his successor, Probus, who delivered the +empire once more from the invasions of the barbarians, and succumbed to +the too common fate of assassination in August 282. + +Carus, who was elected in his place, maintained the reputation of the +Roman arms in the East; but his supposed death by lightning, by +delivering the sceptre into the hands of his sons Carinus and Numerian +(December 25, 283), once more placed the Roman world at the mercy of +profligacy and licentiousness. A year later, the election of the Emperor +Diocletian (September 17, 284) founded a new era in the history and +fortunes of the empire. + +It was the artful policy of Diocletian to destroy the last vestiges of +the ancient constitution. Dividing his unwieldly power among three other +associates--Maximian, a rough, brutal soldier, who ranked as Augustus; +and Galerius and Constantius, who bore the inferior titles of Caesar--the +emperor removed the centre of government by gradual steps from Rome. +Diocletian and Maximian held their courts in the provinces, and the +authority of the senators was destroyed by spoliation and death. + + +_VI.--Reign of the Six Emperors_ + + +For twenty-one years Diocletian held sway, establishing, with the +assistance of his associates, the might of the Roman arms in Britain, +Africa, Egypt, and Persia; and then, on May 1, 305, in a spacious plain +in the neighborhood of Nicomedia, divested himself of the purple and +abdicated the throne. On the same day at Milan, Maximian reluctantly +made his resignation of the imperial dignity. + +According to the rules of the new constitution, Constantius and Galerius +assumed the title of Augustus, and nominated Maximin and Severus as +Caesars. The elaborate machinery devised by Diocletian at once broke +down. Galerius, who was supported by Severus, intrigued for the +possession of the whole Roman world. Constantine, the son of +Constantius, on account of his popularity with the army and the people, +excited his suspicion, and only the flight of Constantine saved him from +death. He made his way to Gaul, and, after taking part in a campaign +with his father against the Caledonians, received the title of Augustus +in the imperial palace at York on the death of Constantius. + +Civil war once more raged. Maxentius, the son of Maximian, was declared +Emperor of Rome, and, with the assistance of his father, who broke from +his retirement, defended his title against Severus, who was taken +prisoner at Ravenna and executed at Rome in February 307. Galerius, who +had raised Licinius to fill the post vacated by the death of Severus, +invaded Italy to reestablish his authority, but, after threatening Rome, +was compelled to retire. + +There were now six emperors. Maximian and his son Maxentius and +Constantine in the West; in the East, Gelerius, Maximin, and Licinius. +The second resignation of Maximian, and his renewed attempt to seize the +imperial power by seducing the soldiers of Constantine, and his +subsequent execution at Marseilles in February 310, reduced the number +to five. Galerius died of a lingering disorder in the following year, +and the civil war that broke out between Maxentius and Constantine, +culminating in a battle near Rome in 312, placed the sceptre of the West +in the hands of the son of Constantius. In the East, the alliance +between Licinius and Maximin dissolved into discord, and the defeat of +the latter on April 30, 313, ended in his death three or four months +later. + +The empire was now divided between Constantine and Licinius, and the +ambition of the two princes rendered peace impossible. In the years 315 +and 323 civil conflict broke out, ending, after the battle of Adrianople +and the siege of Byzantium, in a culminating victory for Constantine in +the field of Chrysopolis, in September. Licinius, taken prisoner, laid +himself and his purple at the feet of his lord and master, and was duly +executed. + +By successive steps, from his first assuming the purple at York, to the +resignation of Licinius, Constantine had reached the undivided +sovereignty of the Roman world. His success contributed to the decline +of the empire by the expense of blood and treasure, and by the perpetual +increase as well of the taxes as of the military establishments. The +foundation of Constantinople and the establishment of the Christian +religion were the immediate and memorable consequences of this +revolution. + + * * * * * + + + + +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--II + + +_I.--Decay of the Empire under Constantine_ + + +The unfortunate Licinius was the last rival who opposed the greatness of +Constantine. After a tranquil and prosperous reign, the conqueror +bequeathed to his family the inheritance of the Roman Empire; a new +capital, a new policy, and a new religion; and the innovations which he +established have been embraced, and consecrated, by succeeding +generations. + +Byzantium, which, under the more august name of Constantinople, was +destined to preserve the shadow of the Roman power for nearly a thousand +years after it had been extinguished by Rome herself, was the site +selected for the new capital. Its boundary was traced by the emperor, +and its circumference measured some sixteen miles. In a general decay of +the arts no architect could be found worthy to decorate the new capital, +and the cities of Greece and Asia were despoiled of their most valuable +ornaments to supply this want of ability. In the course of eight or ten +years the city, with its beautiful forum, its circus, its imperial +palace, its theatres, baths, churches, and houses, was completed with +more haste than care. The dedication of the new Rome was performed with +all due pomp and ceremony, and a population was provided by the +expedient of summoning some of the wealthiest families in the empire to +take up their residence within its walls. + +The gradual decay of Rome had eliminated that simplicity of manners +which was the just pride of the ancient republic. Under the autocratic +system of Diocletian, a hierarchy of dependents had sprung up. The rank +of each was marked with the most scrupulous exactness, and the purity of +the Latin language was debased by the invention of the deceitful titles +of your Sincerity, your Excellency, your Illustrious and Magnificent +Highness. + +The officials of the empire were divided into three classes of the +Illustrious, Respectable, and Honourable. The consuls were still +annually elected, but obtained the semblance of their ancient authority, +not from the suffrages of the people, but from the whim of the emperor. +On the morning of January 1 they assumed the ensigns of their dignity, +and in the two capitals of the empire they celebrated their promotion to +office by the annual games. As soon as they had discharged these +customary duties, they retired into the shade of private life, to enjoy, +during the remainder of the year, the undisturbed contemplation of their +own greatness. Their names served only as the legal date of the year in +which they had filled the chair of Marius and of Cicero. The ancient +title of Patrician became now an empty honour bestowed by the emperor. +Four prefects held jurisdiction over as many divisions of the empire, +and two municipal prefects ruled Rome and Constantinople. The proconsuls +and vice-prefects belonged to the rank of Respectable, and the +provincial magistrates to the lower class of Honourable. In the military +system, eight master-generals exercised their jurisdiction over the +cavalry and the infantry, while thirty-five military commanders, with +the titles of counts and dukes, under their orders, held sway in the +provinces. The army itself was recruited with difficulty, for such was +the horror of the profession of a soldier which affected the minds of +the degenerate Romans that compulsory levies had frequently to be made. +The number of the barbarian auxiliaries enormously increased, and they +were included in the legions and the troops that surrounded the throne. +Seven ministers with the rank of Illustrious regulated the affairs of +the palace, and a host of official spies and torturers swelled the +number of the immediate followers of the sovereign. + +The general tribute, or indiction, as it was called, was derived largely +from the taxation of landed property. Every fifteen years an accurate +census, or survey, was made of all lands, and the proprietor was +compelled to state the true facts of his affairs under oath, and paid +his contribution partly in gold and partly in kind. In addition to this +land tax there was a capitation tax on every branch of commercial +industry, and "free gifts" were exacted from the cities and provinces on +the occasion of any joyous event in the family of the emperor. The +peculiar "free gift" of the senate of Rome amounted to some $320,000. + +Constantine celebrated the twentieth year of his reign at Rome in the +year 326. The glory of his triumph was marred by the execution, or +murder, of his son Crispus, whom he suspected of a conspiracy, and the +reputation of the emperor who established the Christian religion in the +Roman world was further stained by the death of his second wife, Fausta. +With a successful war against the Goths in 331, and the expulsion of the +Sarmatians in 334, his reign closed. He died at Nicomedia on May 22, +337. + + +_II.--The Division of East and West_ + + +The unity of the empire was again destroyed by the three sons of +Constantine. A massacre of their kinsmen preceded the separation of the +Roman world between Constantius, Constans, and Constantine. Within three +years, civil war eliminated Constantine. The conflict among the emperors +resulted in a doubtful war with Persia, and the almost complete +extinction of the Christian monarchy which had been founded for +fifty-six years in Armenia. + +Constantius was left sole emperor in 353. He associated with himself +successively as Caesars the two nephews of the great Constantine, Gallus +and Julian. The first, being suspected, was destroyed in 354; the second +succeeded to the purple in 361. + +Trained in the school of the philosophers, and proved as a commander in +a series of successful campaigns against the German hordes, Julian +brought to the throne a genius which, in other times, might have +effected the reformation of the empire. The sufferings of his youth had +associated in a mind susceptible of the most lively impressions the +names of Christ and of Constantius, the ideas of slavery and religion. +At the age of twenty he renounced the Christian faith, and boldly +asserted the doctrines of paganism. His accession to the supreme power +filled the minds of the Christians with horror and indignation. But +instructed by history and reflection, Julian extended to all the +inhabitants of the Roman world the benefits of a free and equal +toleration, and the only hardship which he inflicted on the Christians +was to deprive them of the power of tormenting their fellow subjects, +whom they stigmatised with the odious titles of idolaters and heretics. + +While re-establishing and reforming the old pagan system and attempting +to subvert Christianity, he held out a hand of succour to the persecuted +Jews, asked to be permitted to pay his grateful vows in the holy city of +Jerusalem, and was only prevented from rebuilding the Temple by a +supposed preternatural interference. He suppressed the authority of +George, Archbishop of Alexandria, who had infamously persecuted and +betrayed the people under his spiritual care, and that odious priest, +who has been transformed by superstition into the renowned St. George of +England, the patron of arms, of chivalry, and of the Garter, fell a +victim to the just resentment of the Alexandrian multitude. + +The Persian system of monarchy, introduced by Diocletian, was +distasteful to the philosophic mind of Julian; he refused the title of +lord and master, and attempted to restore in all its pristine simplicity +the ancient government of the republic. In a campaign against the +Persians he received a mortal wound, and died on June 26, 363. + +The election of Jovian, the first of the domestics, by the acclamation +of the soldiers, resulted in a disgraceful peace with the Persians, +which aroused the anger and indignation of the Roman world, and the new +emperor hardly survived this act of weakness for nine months (February +17, 364). The throne of the Roman world remained ten days without a +master. At the end of that period the civil and military powers of the +empire solemnly elected Valentinian as emperor at Nice in Bithynia. + +The new Augustus divided the vast empire with his brother Valens, and +this division marked the final separation of the western and eastern +empires. This arrangement continued, until the death of Valentinian in +375, when the western empire was divided between his sons, Gratian and +Valentinian II. + +His reign had been notable for the stemming of the invasion of the +Alemanni of Gaul, the incursions of the Burgundians and the Saxons, the +restoration of Britain from the attacks of the Picts and Scots, the +recovery of Africa by the emperor's general, Theodosius, and the +diplomatic settlement with the approaching hordes of the Goths, who +already swarmed upon the frontiers of the empire. + +Under the three emperors the Roman world began to feel more severely the +gradual pressure exerted by the hordes of barbarians that moved +westward. In 376 the Goths, pursued by the Huns, who had come from the +steppes of China into Europe, sought the protection of Valens, who +succoured them by transporting them over the Danube into Roman +territory. They repaid his clemency by uniting their arms with those of +the Huns, and defeating and killing him at the battle of Hadrianople in +378. + +To save the provinces from the ravages of the barbarians, Gratian +appointed Theodosius, son of his father's general, emperor of the East, +and the wisdom of his choice was justified by the success of one who +added a new lustre to the title of Augustus. By prudent strategy, +Theodosius divided and defeated the Goths, and compelled them to submit. + +The sons of Theodosius, Arcadius and Honorius succeeded respectively to +the government of the East and the West in 395. The symptoms of decay, +which not even the wise rule of Theodosius had been able to remove, had +grown more alarming. The luxury of the Romans was more shameless and +dissolute, and as the increasing depredations of the barbarians had +checked industry and diminished wealth, this profuse luxury must have +been the result of that indolent despair which enjoys the present hour +and declines the thoughts of futurity. + +The secret and destructive poison of the age had affected the camps of +the legions. The infantry had laid aside their armour, and, discarding +their shields, advanced, trembling, to meet the cavalry of the Goths and +the arrows of the barbarians, who easily overwhelmed the naked soldiers, +no longer deserving the name of Romans. The enervated legionaries +abandoned their own and the public defence, and their pusillanimous +indolence may be considered the immediate cause of the downfall of the +empire. + + +_III.--Ruin by Goth, Vandal, and Hun_ + + +The genius of Rome expired with Theodosius. His sons within three months +had once more sharply divided the empire. At a time when the only hope +of delaying its ruin depended on the firm union of the two sections, the +subject of Arcadius and Honorius were instructed by their respective +masters to view each other in a hostile light, to rejoice in their +mutual calamity, and to embrace as their faithful allies the barbarians, +whom they incited to invade the territories of their countrymen. + +Alarmed at the insecurity of Rome, Honorius about this time fixed the +imperial residence within the naturally fortified city of Ravenna--an +example which was afterwards imitated by his feeble successors, the +Gothic kings and the Exarchs; and till the middle of the eighth century +Ravenna was considered as the seat of government and the capital of +Italy. + +The reign of Arcadius in the East marked the complete division of the +Roman world. His subjects assumed the language and manners of Greeks, +and his form of government was a pure and simple monarchy. The name of +the Roman republic, which so long preserved a faint tradition of +freedom, was confined to the Latin provinces. A series of internal +disputes, both civil and religious, marked his career of power, and his +reign may be regarded as notable if only for the election of St. John +Chrysostom to the head of the church of Constantinople. Arcadius died in +May 408, and was succeeded by his supposed son, Theodosius, then a boy +of seven, the reins of power being first held by the prefect Anthemius, +and afterwards by his sister Pulcheria, who governed the eastern +empire--in fact, for nearly forty years. + +The wisdom of Honorius, emperor of the West, in removing his capital to +Ravenna, was soon justified by events. Alaric, king of the Goths, +advanced in 408 to the gates of Rome, and completely blockaded the city. +In the course of a long siege, thousands of Romans died of plague and +famine, and only a heavy ransom, amounting to $1,575,000, relieved the +citizens from their terrible situation in the year 409. In the same year +Alaric again besieged Rome, after fruitless negotiations with Honorius, +and his attempt once more proving successful, he created Attilus, +prefect of the city, emperor. But the imprudent measures of his puppet +sovereign exasperated Alaric. Attilus was formally deposed in 410, and +the infuriated Goth besieged and sacked Rome, and ravaged Italy. The +spoil that the barbarians carried away with them comprised nearly all +the movable wealth of the city. + +The ancient capital was devastated, the exquisite works of art +destroyed, and nearly all the monuments of a glorious past sacrificed to +the insatiate greed of the conquerors. Fire helped to complete the ruin +wrought by the Goths, and it is not easy to compute the multitude of +citizens who, from an honourable station and a prosperous fortune, were +suddenly reduced to the miserable condition of captives and exiles. + +The complete ruin of Italy was prevented by the death of Alaric in 410. + +During the reign of Honorius, the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks were +settled in Gaul. The maritime countries, between the Seine and the +Loire, followed the example of Britain in 409, and threw off the yoke of +the empire. Aquitaine, with its capital at Aries, received, under the +title of the seven provinces, the right of convening an annual assembly +for the management of its own affairs. + +Honorius died in 423, and was succeeded by Valentinian III. His long +reign was marked by a series of disasters, which foretold the rapidly +approaching dissolution of the western empire. + +Genseric, king of the Vandals, in 429 crossed into Africa, conquered the +province, and set up in the depopulated territory, with Carthage as his +capital, a new rule and government. Italy was filled with fugitives from +Africa, and a barbarian race, which had issued from the frozen regions +of the north, established their victorious reign over one of the fairest +provinces of the empire. Two years later, in 441, a new and even more +terrible danger threatened the empire. + +The Goths and Vandals, flying before the Huns, had oppressed the western +World. The hordes of these barbarians, now gathering strength in their +union under their king, Attila, threatened an attack upon the eastern +empire. In appearance their chieftain was terrible in the extreme; his +portrait exhibits the genuine deformity of a modern Calmuck: a large +head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few +hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short, square body +of nervous strength, though of a disproportionate form. He had a custom +of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terror which +he inspired. + +This savage hero, who had subdued Germany and Scythia, and almost +exterminated the Burgundians of the Rhine, and had conquered +Scandinavia, was able to bring into the field 700,000 barbarians. An +unsuccessful raid into Persia induced him to turn his attention to the +eastern empire, and the enervated troops of Theodosius the Younger +dissolved before the fury of his onset. He ravaged up to the very gates +of Constantinople, and only a humiliating treaty preserved his dominion +to the "invincible Augustus" of the East. + +After the death of Theodosius the Younger, and the accession of Marcian, +the husband of Pulcheria, Attila threatened, in 450, both empires. An +incursion of his hordes into Gaul was rendered abortive by the conduct +of the patrician, AEtius, who, uniting all the various troops of Gaul and +Germany, the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Franks, under their +Merovingian prince, and the Visigoths under their king, Theodoric, after +two important battles, induced the Huns to retreat from the field of +Chalons. Attila, diverted from his purpose, turned into Italy, and the +citizens of the various towns fled before the savage destroyer. Many +families of Aquileia, Padua, and the adjacent towns, found a safe refuge +in the neighbouring islands of the Adriatic, where their place of refuge +evolved, in time, into the famous Republic of Venice. + +Valentinian fled from Ravenna to Rome, prepared to desert his people and +his empire. The fortitude of AEtius alone supported and preserved the +tottering state. Leo, Bishop of Rome, in his sacerdotal robes, dared to +demand the clemency of the savage king, and the intervention of St. +Peter and St. Paul is supposed to have induced Attila to retire beyond +the Danube, with the Princess Honoria as his bride. He did not long +survive this last campaign, and in 453 he died, and was buried amidst +all the savage pomp and grief of his subjects. His death resolved the +bonds that had united the various nations of which his subjects were +composed, and in a very few years domestic discord had extinguished the +empire of the Huns. + +Genseric, king of the Vandals, sacked and pillaged the ancient capital +in June 455. + +The vacant throne was filled by the nomination of Theodoric, king of the +Goths. The senate of Rome bitterly opposed the elevation of this +stranger, and though Avitus might have supported his title against the +votes of an unarmed assembly, he fell immediately he incurred the +resentment of Count Ricimer, one of the chief commanders of the +barbarian troops who formed the military defence of Italy. At a distance +from his Gothic allies, he was compelled to abdicate (October 16, 456), +and Majorian was raised to fill his place. + + +_IV.--The Last Emperor of the West_ + + +The successor of Avitus was a great and heroic character, such as +sometimes arise in a degenerate age to vindicate the honour of the human +species. In the ruin of the Roman world he loved his people, sympathised +with their distress, and studied by judicial and effectual remedies to +allay their sufferings. He reformed the most intolerable grievances of +the taxes, attempted to restore and maintain the edifices of Rome, and +to establish a new and healthier moral code. His military abilities and +his fortune were not in proportion to his merits. An unsuccessful +attempt against the Vandals to recover the lost provinces of Africa +resulted in the loss of his fleet, and his return from this disastrous +campaign terminated his reign. He was deposed by Ricimer, and five days +later died of a reported dysentery, on August 7, 461. + +At the command of Ricimer, the senate bestowed the imperial title on +Libius Severus, who reigned as long as it suited his patron. The +increasing difficulties, however, of the kingdom of Italy, due largely +to the naval depredation of the Vandals, compelled Ricimer to seek the +assistance of the emperor Leo, who had succeeded Marcian in the East in +457. Leo determined to extirpate the tyranny of the Vandals, and +solemnly invested Anthemius with the diadem and purple of the West +(467). + +In 472, Ricimer raised the senator Olybrius to the purple, and, +advancing from Milan, entered and sacked Rome and murdered Anthemius +(July 11, 472). Forty days after this calamitous event, the tyrant +Ricimer died of a painful disease, and two months later death also +removed Olybrius. + +The emperor Leo nominated Julius Nepos to the vacant throne. After +suppressing a rival in the person of Glycerius, Julius succumbed, in +475, to a furious sedition of the barbarian confederates, who, under the +command of the patrician Orestes, marched from Rome to Ravenna. The +troops would have made Orestes emperor, but when he declined they +consented to acknowledge his son Augustulus as emperor of the West. + +The ambition of the patrician might have seemed satisfied, but he soon +discovered, before the end of the first year, that he must either be the +slave or the victim of his barbarian mercenaries. The soldiers demanded +a third part of the land of Italy. Orestes rejected the audacious +demand, and his refusal was favourable to the ambition of Odoacer, a +bold barbarian, who assured his fellow-soldiers that if they dared to +associate under his command they might extort the justice that had been +denied to their dutiful petition. Orestes was executed, and Odoacer, +resolving to abolish the useless and expensive office of the emperor of +the West, compelled the unfortunate Augustulus to resign. + +So ended, in the year 476, the empire of the West, and the last Roman +emperor lived out his life in retirement in the Lucullan villa on the +promontory of Misenum. + + * * * * * + + + + +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--III + + +_I.--The Growth of the Christian Church_ + + +The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned +religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, +and by the habits of the superstitious part of their subjects. The +various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all +considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally +false; by the magistrate as equally useful. Under this spirit of +toleration the Christian church grew with great rapidity. Five main +causes effectually favoured and assisted this development. + +1. The inflexible and intolerant zeal of the Christians, purified from +the narrow and unsocial spirit of the Jewish religion. + +2. The doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional +circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important +theory. + +3. The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive Church. + +4. The pure and austere morals of the early Christians. + +5. The union and discipline of the Christian republic, which gradually +formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman +Empire. + +The early Christians of the mother church at Jerusalem subscribed to the +Mosaic law, and the first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were all +circumcised Jews. But the Gentile church rejected the intolerable weight +of Mosaic ceremonies, and at length refused to their more scrupulous +brethren the same toleration which at first they had humbly solicited +for their own practise. After the ruin of the temple of the city, and of +the public religion of the Jews, the Nazarenes, as the Christian Jews of +Jerusalem were called, retired to the little town of Pella, from whence +they could make easy and frequent pilgrimages to the Holy City. When the +Emperor Hadrian forbade the Jewish people from approaching the precincts +of the city, the Nazarenes escaped from the common proscription by +disavowing the Mosaic law. A small remnant, however, still combined the +Mosaic ceremonies with the Christian faith, and existed, until the +fourth century, under the name of Ebeonites. + +The immortality of the soul had been held by a few sages of Greece and +Rome, who were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts of the +field, or to suppose that a being for whose dignity they entertained the +most sincere admiration could be limited to a spot of earth, and to a +few years of duration. But reason could not justify the specious and +noble principles of the disciples of Plato. + +To the Christians alone the authority of Christ gave a certainty of a +future life, and when the promise of eternal happiness was proposed to +mankind on condition of adopting the faith, and of observing the +precepts of the Gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an offer +should have been accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every +rank, and of every province in the Roman Empire. The immediate +expectation of the second coming of Christ, and the reign of the Son of +God with His saints for a thousand years, strengthened the ancient +Christians against all trials and sufferings. + +The supernatural gifts which even in this life were ascribed to the +Christians above the rest of mankind must have conduced to their own +comfort, and very frequently to the conviction of infidels. The gift of +tongues, of vision, and of prophecy, the power of expelling demons, of +healing the sick, and of raising the dead, were prodigies claimed by the +Christian Church at the time of the apostles and their first disciples. + +Repentance for their past sins, and the laudable desire of supporting +the reputation of the society in which they were engaged, rendered the +lives of the primitive Christians much purer and more austere than those +of their pagan contemporaries or their degenerate successors. They were +insistent in their condemnation of pleasure and luxury, and, in their +search after purity, were induced to approve reluctantly that +institution of marriage which they were compelled to tolerate. A state +of celibacy was regarded as the nearest approach to the divine +perfection, and there were in the primitive church a great number of +persons devoted to the profession of perpetual chastity. + +The government of the primitive church was based on the principles of +freedom and equality. The societies which were instituted in the cities +of the Roman Empire were united only by the ties of faith and charity. +The want of discipline and human learning was supplied by the occasional +assistance of the "prophets "--men or women who, as often as they felt +the divine impulse, poured forth the effusions of the spirit in the +assembly, of the faithful. In the course of time bishops and presbyters +exercised solely the functions of legislation and spiritual guidance. A +hundred years after the death of the apostles, the bishop, acting as the +president of the presbyterial college, administered the sacrament and +discipline of the Church, managed the public funds, and determined all +such differences as the faithful were unwilling to expose before the +tribunal of an idolatrous judge. + +Every society formed within itself a separate and independent republic, +and towards the end of the second century, realizing the advantages that +might result from a closer union of their interests and designs, these +little states adopted the useful institution of a provincial synod. The +bishops of the various churches met in the capital of the province at +stated periods, and issued their decrees or canons. The institution of +synods was so well suited to private ambition and to public interest +that it was received throughout the whole empire. A regular +correspondence was established between the provincial councils, which +mutually communicated and approved their respective proceedings, and the +Catholic Church soon assumed the form and acquired the strength of a +great federative republic. + +The community of goods which for a short time had been adopted in the +primitive church was gradually abolished, and a system of voluntary +gifts was substituted. In the time of the Emperor Decius it was the +opinion of the magistrates that the Christians of Rome were possessed of +very considerable wealth, and several laws, enacted with the same design +as our statutes of mortmain, forbade real estate being given or +bequeathed to any corporate body, without special sanctions. The bishops +distributed these revenues, exercised the right of exclusion or +excommunication of recalcitrant members of the Church, and maintained +the dignity of their office with ever increasing pomp and circumstance. + + +_II.--The Days of Persecution_ + + +The persecution of Christians by the Roman emperors must at first sight +seem strange, when one considers their inoffensive mode of faith and +worship. When one remembers the scepticism that prevailed among the +pagans, and the tolerant view of all religions which was characteristic +of the Roman citizen in the early years of the empire, this harshness +seems all the more remarkable. It can be explained partly by the +misapprehension which existed in the mind of the pagan world as to the +principles of the Christian faith, and partly by the organization of the +sect. The Jews were allowed the exercise of their unsocial and exclusive +faith. But the Jews were a nation; the Christians were a sect. Moreover, +the Christians were regarded as apostates from the ancient faith of +Moses, and, worshipping no visible god, were held to be atheists. + +The Roman policy also viewed with the utmost jealousy and distrust any +association among its subjects, and the secret and nocturnal meetings of +the Christians appeared peculiarly dangerous in the eyes of the law. + +They were oppressed by the Emperor Domitian. Trajan protected their +meetings by requiring definite evidence of these illegal assemblies, and +an informer who failed in his proofs was subject to a severe or capital +penalty. But the edicts of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius protected the +Church from the danger of popular clamour in times of disaster, +declaring that the voice of the multitude should never be admitted as +legal evidence to convict or to punish those unfortunate persons who had +embraced the enthusiasm of the Christians. + +The authority of Origen and Dionysius annihilates that formidable army +of martyrs, whose relics, drawn for the most part from the catacombs of +Rome, have replenished so many churches, and whose marvellous +achievements have been the subject of so many volumes of holy romance. + +The martyrdom of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, on September 14, 258, was +one of the most notable of that period. Under Marcus Antoninus, the +Christians were treated harshly, but the tyrant Commodus protected them +by his leniency. After a temporary period of persecution during the +reign of Severus, the Christians enjoyed a calm from 211 to 249. The +storms gathered again under Decius, and so vigorous was the persecution +that the bishops of the most considerable cities were removed by exile +or death. + + +_III.--The Church under Constantine_ + + +From 284 to 303, during the reign of Diocletian, the Christian Church +enjoyed peace and prosperity, but in the latter year Galerius persuaded +the emperor to renew the persecution of the sect. An edict on February +24 enacted that all churches throughout the empire should be demolished, +and the punishment of death was pronounced against all who should +presume to hold any secret assemblies for the purposes of religious +worship. Many suffered martyrdom under this cruel enactment. Churches +everywhere were burnt, and sacred books destroyed. Three more edicts +published before March 304 led to the imprisonment of all persons of the +ecclesiastical order, compelled the magistrates to exercise torture to +subvert the religion of their Christian prisoners, and made it the duty, +as well as the interest, of the imperial officers to discover, to +pursue, and to torment the most obnoxious among the faithful. + +But after six years of persecution, the mind of Galerius, softened by +salutary reflection, induced him to attempt some reparation. In the +edict of toleration which he published on April 30, 311, he expresses +the hope "that our indulgence will engage the Christians to offer up +their prayers to the Deity whom they adore for our safety and +prosperity, and for that of the Republic." + +The triumph of the great Constantine established the security of the +Christian Church from the attacks of the pagans. Converted in 306, +Constantine, as soon as he had achieved the conquest of Italy, issued +the Edict of Milan (313), declaring that the places of worship which had +been confiscated should be restored to the Church without dispute, +without delay, and without expense. Though himself never received by +baptism into the Church, until his last moments, his powerful patronage +of the Christians, and his edicts of toleration, removed all the +temporal disadvantages which had hitherto retarded the progress of +Christianity. + +The faith of Christ became the national religion of the empire. The +soldiers bore upon their helmets and upon their shields the sacred +emblem of the Cross. All the machinery of government was employed to +propagate the faith, not only within the empire, but beyond its borders. +Confirmed in his new religion by the miraculous vision of the Cross, +Constantine, who was the master of the world, consented to recognise the +superiority of the ecclesiastical orders in all spiritual matters, while +retaining himself the temporal power. + +The persecution of heresy was carried out by Constantine with all the +ardour of a convert. An edict confiscated the public property of the +heretics to the use either of the revenue or the Catholic Church, and +the penal regulations of Diocletian against the Christians were now +employed against the schismatics. The Donatists, who maintained the +apostolic succession of Donatus, primate of Carthage, as opposed to +Caecilian, were suppressed in Africa, and a general synod attempted to +regulate the faith of the Church. + +The subject of the nature of the divine Trinity had early given rise to +discussion. Of the three main heretical views, that of Arius and his +disciples was the most prevalent. He held in effect that the Son, by +whom all things were made, though He had been begotten before all +worlds, yet had not always existed. He shone only with the reflected +light of His Almighty Father, and, like the sons of the Roman emperors, +who were invested with the titles of Caesar or Augustus. He governed the +universe. + +The Tritheists advocated a system which seemed to establish three +independent deities, while the Sabellian theory allowed only to the man +Jesus the inspiration of the divine wisdom. The consubstantiality of the +Father and of the Son had been established by the Council of Nicaea in +325, but the East ranged itself for the most part under the banner of +the Arian heresy. At first indifferent, Constantine at last persecuted +the Arians, who later, under Constantius, were received into favour. + +Constantinople, which for forty years was the stronghold of Arianism, +was converted to the orthodox faith under Theodosius by Gregory +Nazianzen. + + +_IV.--The Conversion of the World_ + + +The pagan religion was finally destroyed about the year 390, and the +faintest vestiges of it were not visible thirty years later. Its +influence, however, might be observed in many of the ceremonies which +were introduced into the Church, and the worship of martyrs and relics +seemed to revive a system of polytheism by the worship of a hierarchy of +saints. Among the most famous of the dignitaries of the Church at this +period was the Archbishop of Constantinople, who was distinguished by +the epithet of Chrysostom, or the Golden Mouth. He attempted to purify +the eastern empire, excited the animosity of the Empress Eudoxia, and +died in exile in 407. + +The monastic system had been founded by Antony, an illiterate youth, in +the year 305, by the establishment on Mount Cobyim, near the Red Sea, of +a colony of ascetics, who renounced all the business and pleasures in +life as the price of eternal happiness. A long series of hermits, monks, +and anachorets propagated the system and, patronised by Athanasius, it +spread to all parts of the world. + +The monastic profession was an act of voluntary devotion, and the +inconstant fanatic was threatened with the eternal vengeance of the God +whom he deserted. The monks had to give a blind submission to the +commands of their abbot, however absurd, and the freedom of the mind, +the source of every generous and rational sentiment, was destroyed by +the habits of credulity and submission. In their dress and diet they +preserved the most rigorous simplicity, and they subsisted entirely by +their own manual exertions. But in the course of time this simplicity +vanished, and, enriched by the offerings of the faithful, they assumed +the pride of wealth, and at last indulged in the luxury of extravagance. + +The conversion of the barbarians followed upon their invasion of the +Roman world; but they were involved in the Arian heresy, and from their +advocacy of that cause they were characterised by the name of heretics, +an epithet more odious than that of barbarian. The bitterness engendered +by this reproach confirmed them in their faith, and the Vandals in +Africa persecuted the orthodox Catholic with all the vigour and cruel +arts of religious tyranny. + + * * * * * + + + + +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--IV + + +_I.--Theodoric the Ostrogoth_ + + +After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, an interval of fifty +years, until the memorable reign of Justinian, is faintly marked by the +obscure names and imperfect annals of Zeno, Anastasius, and Justin, who +successively ascended the throne of Constantinople. During the same +period Italy revived and nourished under the government of a Gothic +king, who might have deserved a statue among the best and bravest of the +ancient Romans. + +Theodoric the Ostrogoth, the fourteenth in lineal descent of royal line +of the Amali, was born (455) in the neighbourhood of Vienna two years +after the death of Attila. The murmurs of the Goths, who complained that +they were exposed to intolerable hardships, determined Theodoric to +attempt an adventure worthy of his courage and ambition. He boldly +demanded the privilege of rescuing Italy and Rome from Odoacer, and at +the head of his people forced his way, between the years 488 and 489, +through hostile country into Italy. In three battles he triumphed over +Odoacer, forced that monarch to capitulate on favourable terms at +Ravenna (493), and after pretending to allow him to share his +sovereignty of Italy, assassinated him in the same year. + +The long reign of Theodoric (493-526) was marked by a transient return +of peace and prosperity to Italy. His domestic and foreign policy were +dictated alike by wisdom and necessity. His people were settled on the +land, which they held by military tenure. A series of matrimonial +alliances secured him the support of the Franks, the Burgundians, the +Visigoths, the Vandals, and the Thuringians, and his sword preserved his +territory from the incursions of rival barbarians and the two disastrous +attacks (505 and 508) that envy prompted the Emperor Anastasius to +attempt. + + +_II.--Justinian the Great_ + + +The death of the Emperor Anastasius had raised to the throne a Dardanian +peasant, who by his arts secured the suffrage of the guards, despoiled +and destroyed his more powerful rivals, and reigned under the name of +Justin I. from 518 to 527. He was succeeded by his nephew, the great +Justinian, who for thirty-eight years directed the fortunes of the Roman +Empire. + +The Empress Theodora, who before her marriage had been a theatrical +wanton, was seated, by the fondness of the emperor, on the throne as an +equal and independent colleague in the sovereignty. Her rapacity, her +cruelty, and her pride were the subject of contemporary writings, but +her benevolence to her less fortunate sisters, and her courage amidst +the factions and dangers of the court, justly entitle her to a certain +nobility of character. + +Constantinople in the age of Justinian was torn by the factions of the +circus. The rival bands of charioteers, who wore respectively liveries +of green and blue, created in the capital of the East, as they had +created in Rome, two factions among the populace. Justinian's support of +the blues led to a serious sedition in the capital. The two factions +were united by a common desire for vengeance, and with the watchword of +"Nika" (vanquish) (January 532), raged in tumult through Constantinople +for five days. At the command of Theodora 3,000 veterans who could be +trusted marched through the burning streets to the Hippodrome, and +there, supported by the repentant blues, massacred the unresisting mob. + +The Eastern Empire, after Rome was barbarous, still embraced the nations +whom she had conquered beyond the Adriatic, and as far as the frontiers +of Ethiopia and Persia. Justinian reigned over 64 provinces and 935 +cities. The arts and agriculture flourished under his rule, but the +avarice and profusion of Justinian oppressed the people. His expensive +taste for building almost exhausted the resources of the empire. Heavy +custom tolls, taxes on the food and industry of the poor, the exercise +of intolerable monopolies, were not excused or compensated for by the +parsimonious saving in the salaries of court officials, and even in the +pay of the soldiers. His stately edifices were cemented with the blood +and treasures of his people, and the rapacity and luxury of the emperor +were imitated by the civil magistrates and officials. + +The schools of Athens, which still kept alight the sacred flame of the +ancient philosophy, were suppressed by Justinian. The academy of the +Platonics, the Lyceum of the Peripatetics, the Portico of the Stoics, +and the Garden of the Epicureans had long survived. + +With the death of Simplicius and his six companions, who terminate the +long list of Grecian philosophers, the golden chain, as it was fondly +styled, of the Platonic succession was broken, and the Edict of +Justinian (529) imposed a perpetual silence on the schools of Athens. + +The Roman consulship was also abolished by Justinian in 541; but this +office, the title of which admonished the Romans of their ancient +freedom, still lived in the minds of the people. They applauded the +gracious condescension of successive princes by whom it was assumed in +the first year of their reign, and three centuries elapsed after the +death of Justinian before that obsolete office, which had been +suppressed by law, could be abolished by custom. + +The usurpation by Gelimer (530) of the Vandalic crown of Africa, which +belonged of right to Hilderic, first encouraged Justinian to undertake +the African war. Hilderic had granted toleration to the Catholics, and +for this reason was held in reproach by his Arian subjects. His +compulsory abdication afforded the emperor of the East an opportunity of +interfering in the cause of orthodoxy. A large army was entrusted to the +command of Belisarius, one of those heroic names which are familiar to +every age and to every nation. Proved in the Persian war, Belisarius was +given unlimited authority. He set sail from Constantinople with a fleet +of six hundred ships in June 533. He landed on the coast of Africa in +September, defeated the degenerate Vandals, reduced Carthage within a +few days, utterly vanquished Gelimer, and completed the conquest of the +ancient Roman province by 534. The Vandals in Africa fled beyond the +power or even the knowledge of the Romans. + + +_III.--Gothic Italy_ + + +Dissensions in Italy excited the ambition of Justinian. Belisarius was +sent with another army to Sicily in 535, and after subduing that island +and suppressing a revolt in Africa, he invaded Italy in 536. Policy +dictated the retreat of the Goths, and Belisarius entered Rome (December +536). In March, Vitiges, the Gothic ruler, returned with a force of one +hundred and fifty thousand men. The valour of the Roman general +supported a siege of forty-one days and the intrigues of the Pope +Silverius, who was exiled by his orders; and, finally, with the +assistance of a seasonable reinforcement, Belisarius compelled the +barbarians to retire in March of the following year. The conquests of +Ravenna and the suppression of the invasion of the Franks completed the +subjugation of the Gothic kingdom by December 539. + +The success of Belisarius and the intrigues of his secret enemies had +excited the jealousy of Justinian. He was recalled, and the eunuch +Narses was sent to Italy, as a powerful rival, to oppose the interests +of the conqueror of Rome and Africa. The infidelity of Antonina, which +excited her husband's just indignation, was excused by the Empress +Theodora, and her powerful support was given to the wife of the last of +the Roman heroes, who, after serving again against the Persians, +returned to the capital, to be received not with honour and triumph, but +with disgrace and contempt and a fine of $600,000. + +The incursions of the Lombards, the Slavonians, and the Avars and the +Turks, and the successful raids of the King of Persia were among the +number of the important events of the reign of Justinian. To maintain +his position in Africa and Italy taxed his resources to their utmost +limit. The victories of Justinian were pernicious to mankind; the +desolation of Africa was such that in many parts a stranger might wander +whole days without meeting the face of either a friend or an enemy. + +The revolts of the Goths, under their king, Totila (541), once more +demanded the presence of Belisarius, and, a hero on the banks of the +Euphrates, a slave in the palace of Constantinople, he accepted with +reluctance the painful task of supporting his own reputation and +retrieving the faults of his successors. He was too late to save Rome +from the Goths, by whom it was taken in December 546; but he recovered +it in the following February. After his recall by his envious sovereign +in September 548, Rome was once more taken by the Goths. The successful +repulse of the Franks and Alemanni finally restored the kingdom to the +rule of the emperor. Belisarius died on March 13, 565. + +The emperor survived his death only eight months, and passed away, in +the eighty-third year of his life and the thirty-eighth of his reign, on +November 14, 565. The most lasting memorial of his reign is to be found +neither in his victories nor his monuments, but in the immortal works of +the Code, the Pandects, and the Institutes, in which the civil +jurisprudence of the Romans was digested, and by means of which the +public reason of the Romans has been silently or studiously transfused +into the domestic institutions of the whole of Europe. + + +_IV.--Gregory the Great_ + + +Justinian was succeeded by his nephew, Justin II., who lived to see the +conquest of the greater part of Italy by Alboin, king of the Lombards +(568-570), the disaffection of the exarch, Narses, and the ruin of the +revived glories of the Roman world. + +During a period of 200 years Italy was unequally divided between the +king of the Lombards and the exarchate of Ravenna. Rome relapsed into a +state of misery. The Campania was reduced to the state of a dreary +wilderness. The stagnation of a deluge caused by the torrential swelling +of the Tiber produced a pestilential disease, and a stranger visiting +Rome might contemplate with horror the solitude of the city. Gregory the +Great, whose pontificate lasted from 590 to 604, reconciled the Arians +of Italy and Spain to the Catholic Church, conquered Britain in the name +of the Cross, and established his right to interfere in the management +of the episcopal provinces of Greece, Spain, and Gaul. The merits of +Gregory were treated by the Byzantine court with reproach and insult, +but in the attachment of a grateful people he found the purest reward of +a citizen and the best right of a sovereign. + +The short and virtuous reign of Tiberius (578-582), which succeeded that +of Justin, made way for that of Maurice. For twenty years Maurice ruled +with honesty and honour. But the parsimony of the emperor, and his +attempt to cure the inveterate evil of a military despotism, led to his +undoing, and in 602 he was murdered with his children. A like fate +befell the Emperor Phocas, who succumbed in 610 to the fortunes of +Heraclius, the son of Crispus, exarch of Africa. For thirty-two years +Heraclius ruled the Roman world. In three campaigns he chastised the +rising power of Persia, drove the armies of Chosroes from Syria, +Palestine, and Egypt, rescued Constantinople from the joint siege of the +Avars and Persians (626), and finally reduced the Persian monarch to the +defence of his hereditary kingdom. The deposition and murder of Chosroes +by his son Siroes (628) concluded the successes of the emperor. + +A treaty of peace was arranged, and Heraclius returned in triumph to +Constantinople, where, after the exploits of six glorious campaigns, he +peacefully enjoyed the sabbath of his toils. The year after his return +he made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to restore the true Cross to the +Holy Sepulchre. In the last eight years of his reign Heraclius lost to +the Arabs the same provinces which he had rescued from the Persians. + +Heraclius died in 612. His descendants continued to fill the throne in +the persons of Constantine III. (641), Heracleonas (641), Constans II. +(641), Constantine IV. (668), Justinian II. (685), until 711, when an +interval of six years, divided into three reigns, made way for the rise +of the Isaurian dynasty. + + +_V.--The New Era of Charlemagne_ + + +Leo III. ascended the throne on March 25, 718, and the purple descended +to his family, by the rights of heredity, for three generations. The +Isaurian dynasty is most notable for the part it played in +ecclesiastical history. + +The introduction of images into the Christian Church had confused the +simplicity of religious worship. The education of Leo, his reason, +perhaps his intercourse with Jews and Arabs, had inspired him with a +hatred of images. By two edicts he proscribed the existence, as well as +the use, of religious pictures. This heresy of Leo and of his successors +and descendants, Constantine V. (741), Leo IV. (775), and Constantine +VI. (780), whose blinding by his mother Irene is one of the most tragic +stories of Roman history, justified the popes in rebelling against the +authority of the emperor, and in restoring and establishing the +supremacy of Rome. + +Gregory II. saved the city from the attacks of the Lombards, who had +seized Ravenna and extinguished the series of Greek exarchs in 751. He +secured the assistance of Pepin, and the real governor of the French +monarchy--Charles Martel, who, by his signal victory over the Saracens, +had saved Europe from the Mohammedan yoke. Twice--in 754 and 756--Pepin +marched to the relief of the city. His son Charlemagne, in 774, seemed +to secure the permanent safety of the ancient capital by the conquest of +Lombardy, and for twenty-six years he ruled the Romans as his subjects. +The people swore allegiance to his person and his family, and the +elections of the popes were examined and authorised by him. The senate +exercised its rights by proclaiming him patrician and of the power of +the emperor; nothing was lacking except the title. + +A document, known as the Forged Decretals, which assigned the free and +perpetual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the West to +the popes by Constantine, was presented by Pope Hadrian I. to +Charlemagne. This document served to absolve the popes from their debt +of gratitude to the French monarch, and excused the revolt of Rome from +the authority of the eastern empire. + +Though Constantinople returned, under Irene, to the employment of +images, and the seventh general council of Nicaea, September 24, 787, +pronounced the worship of the Greeks as agreeable to scripture and +reason, the division between the East and the West could not be avoided. +The pope was driven to revive the western empire in order to secure the +gift of the exarchy, to eradicate the claims of the Greeks, and to +restore the majesty of Rome from the debasement of a provincial town. +The emperors of the West would receive their crown from the successor of +St. Peter, and the Roman Church would require a zealous and respectable +advocate. + +Inspired by these motives, Pope Leo, who had nearly fallen a victim to a +conspiracy (788), and had been saved and reinstated by Charlemagne, took +the opportunity presented by the French king's visit to Rome to crown +him emperor. On the festival of Christmas (800), in the church of St. +Peter, Leo, after the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, suddenly placed +a precious crown on his head. The dome resounded with the acclamations +of the people, his head and body were consecrated with the royal +unction, and he was saluted, or adored, by the pontiff after the example +of the Caesars. + +Europe dates a new era from his restoration of the western empire. + + * * * * * + + + + +THEODOR MOMMSEN + + +History of Rome + + + Theodor Mommsen was born at Garding in Schleswig on November + 30, 1817. He studied at Kiel University for three years, + examined Roman inscriptions in France and Italy from 1844 to + 1847, and attained his first professorship at Leipzig in 1848, + and the Berlin Chair of Ancient History in 1858. His greatest + work was the "History of Rome," published in 1854, and its + successor, the "Roman Provinces." On this work he brought to + bear a research and a scholarship of almost unparalleled range + and completeness. He was a man capable of vehement and + occasionally unreasonable partisanship, and a strict and + cold-blooded impartiality would have tempered the enthusiasm + of some of his portraits and the severity of others. These + defects, however, are less obvious when his history is + condensed in small compass. There are cases in which his + judgments are open to adverse criticism. But at the present + day it may safely be affirmed that there is no extant history + of Rome down to the establishment of the empire which can be + regarded as rivalling that here presented. Upwards of 900 + separate publications remain as a monument of Mommsen's + industry. He died on November 1, 1903. + + +Iapygians, Etruscans, and Italians, the last certainly Indo-Europeans, +are the original stocks of Italy proper. Of the Italians there are two +divisions, the Latin and the Umbro-Sabellian. Central Italy was occupied +by the Latins, who were established in cantons formed of village groups; +which cantons at an early age formed themselves into the loose Latin +League, with Alba at its head. + +The Roman canton, on both banks of the Tiber, concentrated itself on the +city earlier than others. The citizens consisted of the families which +constituted the larger groups of clans or gentes, formed into those +tribes. The remainder of the population were their dependents or slaves. +At the head of the family was the father, and the whole community had +its king, standing to it in the same relation as the father to the +family. His power, within the law, was absolute; but he could not +override it or change it on his own authority. This required the formal +assent of the assembled citizens. The heads of the clans formed a +separate body--the Senate--which controlled the appointment of the king, +and could veto legislation. + +By admission of aliens and absorption of other communities, swelling the +number of dependents, was gradually created a great body of plebeians, +non-citizens, who began to demand political rights; and whom it was +necessary to organise for military purposes which was done by the +"Servian Constitution." Gradually Rome won a supremacy in the Latin +League, a position of superiority over the aggregate of the other +cantons. + +In this community arose three political movements: (1) On the part of +the full citizen, patricii, to limit the power not of the state, but of +the kings; (2) of the non-citizens, to acquire political rights; (3) of +antagonism between the great landholders and the land-interests opposed +to them. The first resulted in the expulsion of the monarchs, and the +substitution of a dual kingship held for one year only. But in many +respects their joint power was curtailed as compared with that of the +monarch, while for emergencies they could appoint a temporary dictator. +The change increased the power of the General Assembly, to which it +became necessary to admit the non-citizen freeholders who were liable to +military duties. The life tenure of the members of the Senate greatly +increased the powers of that body, and intensified the antagonism of the +patriarch and the plebeians. + +At the same time, a landed nobility was developing; and when fresh land +was acquired by the state, the Patricians claimed to control it. But the +great agricultural population could not submit to this process of land +absorption, and the consequent strife took the form of a demand for +political recognition, which issued in the appointment of Tribunes of +the Plebs, with power of administrative veto. + +The struggle over privileges lasted for two hundred years. First the +Canuleian law made marriage valid between patricians and plebeians, and +instituted for a time military tribunes. The Licinian law, eighty years +later, admitted plebeians to the consulship, and also required the +employment of free labour in agriculture. The decisively democratic +measure was the Horticunian law, after another seventy years, giving the +exclusively plebeian assembly full legislative power. The practical +effect of the changes was to create a new aristocracy, semi-plebeian in +origin, and to reduce the personal power of the chief officers of state, +while somewhat increasing that of the remodelled Senate; rendering it a +body selfish indeed in internal matters, but essentially patriotic as +well as powerful. + + +_I.--The Description of Italy_ + + +During the period of this long constitutional struggle, Rome and her +kinsfolk had first been engaged in a stubborn and ultimately successful +contest with the non-Aryan Etruscan race; and then Italy had been +attacked by the migrating Aryan hordes of the Celts, known as Gauls, who +sacked Rome, but retired to North Italy; events giving birth to many +well-known stories, probably in the main mythical. But the practical +effect was to impose a greater solidarity of the Latin and kindred +races, and a more decisive acceptance of Roman hegemony. + +That hegemony, however, had to be established by persistent compulsion, +and there were three stages in its completion. First, the subjection of +the Latins and Campanians; then the struggle of Rome with the +Umbrian-Samnites; finally, the decisive repulse of the Epirote invader +Pyrrhus--in effect a Hellenic movement. The Roman supremacy established +through the exhaustion of the valiant Samnites required to be confirmed +by stern repression of attempts to recover liberty. But the Hellenic +element in Italy, antagonistic to the growing Roman power, in effect +invited the intervention of the Epirote chief. But his scheme was not +that of an imperial statesman, but of a chivalrous and romantic warrior. +His own political blunders and the iron determination of the Romans, +destroyed his chances of conquest. His retirement left Rome undisputed +lord of Italy; which in part shared full citizenship, in part possessed +only the more restricted Latin rights, and in part only rights conceded +under varying treaties. + +A sense of common Italian nationality was developing. But if Rome was +queen of Italy, Carthage was queen of the seas. Maritime expansion was +precluded, though Rome's position fitted her for it. Carthage was the +one Phoenician state which developed political as well as commercial +power. The commercial cities of North Africa were in subordination to +her, in the Western Mediterranean she had no rivals, her domestic +government was oligarchical. + +Roman intervention in the affairs of Sicily, where Carthage was the +dominant power, produced the rupture between the two great states which +was bound to come sooner or later. Sicily itself was the scene of the +initial struggle, which taught Rome that her victories on land were +liable to be nullified by the Carthaginian sea power. She resolved to +build a navy, on the plan of adopting boarding tactics which would +assimilate a naval engagement to a battle on land. These tactics were +successful enough to equalise the fighting value of the respective +fleets. The Romans were enabled to land an invading army under Regulus +in Africa. + +Though superior on land, the general's blundering led to a disaster, and +for some time misfortune by sea and failure by land dogged the Romans. +But Carthage failed to use her opportunity; she did not attempt to +strike a crushing blow when she could have done so. But the private +energy of Roman patriots at last placed on the seas a fleet which once +more turned the scale, whereas it was on land that the brilliant +Carthaginian Hamilcar had displayed his genius and daring. The first +Punic War gave Rome predominance in Sicily, and a position of maritime +equality. Sardinia was added to the Roman dominion, and her provincial +administration came into being. + +She was carrying her expansion farther over Celtic regions, when +Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, hurled himself against her, and came near +to destroying her. Hamilcar had conceived the idea of imperial +expansion, and given it shape by creating a dominion in Spain; he had +looked forward to the life-and-death struggle with Rome that was +destined to his son; for which Spain was to be the base. Hannibal, left +in control in Spain, deliberately challenged Rome to war. + +The challenge was accepted, war was declared, and Hannibal accomplished +the amazing feat of leading an army of 60,000 men from Spain and +effecting the passage of the Alps, while the Romans were landing an army +in Spain. In a brilliant campaign, he defeated the stubborn Roman +legions at Vercellae and the Trebia. + +But success depended not on the winning of victories by an isolated +force, but on the disruption of Italy. His superiority in the field was +again demonstrated at Trasimenus, but no Italian allies came in. He +outwitted Fabius, and then utterly shattered at Cannae a Roman force of +double his own numbers. For a moment it seemed that Italian cohesion was +weakening; but the Roman Senate and people were stirred only to a more +dogged resolution. + +Cannae failed to break up the Roman confederation. Generalship unaided +could accomplish no more. In Spain, where young Scipio was soon winning +renown, the Roman arms were in the ascendant, and in Sicily. No +effective aid was coming from Macedon, though war was declared between +her and Rome. Hannibal's activities began to be paralysed; by slow +degrees he was forced into the south. Hannibal succeeded in crossing +the Alps with fresh forces, but by a brilliant operation was annihilated +on the Metaurus. The time had come when Scipio could disregard Hannibal +and strike at Carthage herself. Even Hannibal's return could not save +her. The victory of Zama decided the issue. Carthage became virtually a +tributary and subject state. Spain was a Roman province, and North +Africa a sort of protectorate. + +The threatening extension of Macedonian power now demanded the +protecting intervention of Rome; an honest act of liberation for the +Greeks, but entailing presently the war with Antiochus of Syria. +Antiochus had left Phillip and Macedon in the lurch; now he sought to +impose his own yoke in place of theirs. The practical outcome was his +decisive overthrow at the battle of Magnesia, and the cession to Rome of +Asia Minor. Pergamus, under the house of Actalus, was established as a +protected kingdom, as Numidia under Masinissa had been. The Greek +states, however, were becoming conscious that their freedom was hardly +more than a name; Perseus of Macedon once more challenged Rome, not +without Greek support. Macedon was finally crushed by Aemilius Paullus +at Pydna. From that moment, Rome dropped the policy of maintaining free +states beyond the seas, which had manifestly failed. Virtually, the +known world was divided into subjects and dependencies of Rome, so vast +was the change in the forty years between the battles of the Metaurus +and Pydna. + +Rapid extension of dominion by conquest had demoralising results; the +ruling race was exposed to strong temptations in the provinces, and the +city remained the seat of government, while the best of the burgesses +were distributed elsewhere. Hence, the popular assembly became virtually +the city mob, while the ruling families tended more and more to form a +close and greedy and plutocratic oligarchy. The demoralisation was very +inadequately checked by the austerity of the censorship as exercised by +Cato. + +In the provinces, the Spanish natives revolted, and were only repressed +after severe fighting. In Greece, Asia and Africa, the Roman rule gave +neither freedom nor strong government. In Africa, the disturbances led +to the wiping out of Carthage; in Greece to the complete subjection of +the dependent states; in the Far East, a new Parthian power arose under +Mithridates. The Mediterranean was allowed to be infested by pirates. +Revolution was at hand. Politics had become reduced to a process of +intrigue for office emoluments, involving a pandering to the city mob +for its suffrages. + + +_II.--The Revolution_ + + +Socially, the most patent evil was the total disappearance of the free +agricultural class, the absorption of all the land into huge estates +under slave labour. The remedy proposed by Tiberius Gracchus was the +partial state resumption of land and its re-allotment. He adopted +unconstitutional methods for carrying his proposals, and was murdered in +a riot led by the oligarchs. Appeals to the Roman populace were not, +unfortunately, appeals to the Roman nation. + +His brother, Gaius, deliberately designed a revolution. He proposed to +work through the antagonism of the aristocrats and the wealthy +non-senatorial equestrian order; and by concentrating power in the hands +of the tribunate, hitherto checked by the restrictions on re-election. +In effect, he meant to destroy the oligarchy by making the Tribune a +perpetual dictator, and thus to carry through social reforms; to +establish also legal equality first for the Italians, then for the +provinces also. But these reforms were not particularly attractive to +the city mob, and the other side could play the demagogue. The condition +of Caesarism is the control of physical force; Gaius Gracchus fell +because he had not that essential control. The oligarchy remained +supreme. The plans of Gracchus for planting colonies and distributing +allotments were nullified. + +The evils of slave labour multiplied, and issued in servile +insurrections. In Numidia, the able Masimissa had been succeeded by +Micipsa. On Micipsa's death, the rule was usurped by his illegitimate +nephew Jugurtha, whose story has been told by Sallust. The war was at +least terminated less by the low-born general in command, Marius, than +his brilliant lieutenant Sulla. But Marius re-organised the army on the +basis which was to make a military despotism practicable, as it made a +professional instead of a citizen army. + +But now a new foe appears; the first Teutonic (not Celtic) hordes of the +Cimbri and Teutones; to meet with an overwhelming check at the hands of +Marius at Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae. The successful soldier allied +himself with the popular leader Saturninus; the programme of Gaius +Gracchus was resuscitated. But Marius, a political incapable, separated +from the demagogues, and by helping to crush them, effaced himself. +Livius Drusus attempted to carry out the Gracchan social reform, with +the senate instead of the tribunate as the controlling power; the +senatorial party themselves wrecked his schemes, and the antagonistic +power of the equestrian order was advanced. + +But the immediate outcome was the revolt of the Italians, the _socii_ +(whence the name social war). They were not citizens, not on an equal +footing with the citizens before the law. The revolt was suppressed, but +the legions were completely out of hand. The attempt of Sulpicius to +head the reform movement was answered by Sulla, who for the first time +led a Roman army against Rome, crushed Sulpicius, prescribed some of his +adherents, and placed the power of the senate on a stronger footing by +legal enactment. Then he went to the East, to conduct the war against +Mithridates. + +While Sulla was conducting his operations, military and diplomatic, with +skill and success in the East, his arrangements at Rome had left +discontent and disappointment seething. There was another revolution, +led by Cinna, Marius and Sertorius; it mastered Rome. Marius spilt seas +of blood, but soon died. For three years Cinna was supreme, but he had +no constructive policy. + +But now Sulla had finished his work in the East. He was returning at the +head of a body of veterans devoted to him; and his diplomacy won over +half Italy to his side. The struggle with the revolutionary government +was not greatly prolonged, and it was decisive. + +In plain terms, the Roman constitution had gone utterly to wreck; Sulla +was in something of the same position as Oliver Cromwell. He had to +reconstruct under conditions which made a constitutional restoration +impracticable; but his control of the efficient military force gave him +the necessary power. That any system introduced must be arbitrary and +find its main sanction in physical force--that it should partake of +terrorism--was inevitable. + +Sulla obtained the formal conferment on himself of absolute power. He +began by applying this rule of terror not vindictively, but with +impersonal mercilessness, against the lives and property of the +opposition. In the constitution which he promulgated the senatorial body +was alone recognised as a privileged class; the senate itself was +increased, it recovered full control of the judiciary and of +legislation; no power was left of cancelling membership. The tribunician +power was curtailed. + +The civil and military functions of consuls and praetors were separated. +They were to hold civil power in Italy proper during their year of +office; they were then to have a second year in military control of a +province. The planting of military colonies provided numerous garrisons +whose interests were associated with the new constitution. When Sulla +had done his work, he resigned his extraordinary powers with entire +indifference. In a little more than a year he died. + +The Sullan constitution saved the Roman empire from imminent collapse; +but it was impossible that it should be more than a makeshift, like +Cromwell's protectorate. There were huge classes with perpetual +grievances; the removal of the military forces to the provinces left the +city of Rome without adequate governors of the provinces themselves. And +there was no man of the hour of supreme ability to carry on work +demanding a master. + + +_III.--Pompey and Caesar_ + + +The young Graccus Pompeius was the most distinguished of the Sullan +party; Crassus was the wealthiest and most powerful of the Equestrian +group; Lepidus was the popular leader. A popular insurrection which he +headed was suppressed, and he disappeared, but Sertorius, once an +associate of Marius, had obtained a remarkable personal ascendancy in +Spain, and, in league with the Mediterranean pirates, threatened to be a +formidable foe of the new constitution. For some years he maintained a +gradually waning resistance against the arms of Pompeius, but finally +was assassinated. + +Meanwhile Tigranes, King of Armenia, had been developing a powerful +monarchy; and mutual distrust had brought on another war with +Mithridates, successfully conducted by Lucullus. Out of this war arose a +struggle with Tigranes, on whom an overwhelming defeat was inflicted at +Tigranocerta. But the brilliant achievements of Lucullus were nullified +by the mutinous conduct of the troops, and the factious conduct of the +home government. The gross inefficiency of that government was shown by +the immense extension of organised piracy, and by the famous slave +revolt under Spartacus, which seriously endangered the state. + +Pompeius on his return from Spain was barred on technical grounds from +the triumph and the consulship which he demanded. He was thus driven +into an alliance with the democratic party, and with Crassus. The result +was the fall of the Sullan constitution, and the restoration of checks +on the power of the senate. Pompeius might have grasped a military +despotism; he did not, but he did receive extraordinary powers for +dealing with the whole Eastern question, and when that work was settled +successfully, he would be able to dictate his own terms. + +Pompeius began his task by a swift and crushing blow against the pirate +cities and fleets, which broke up the organisation. He crushed +Mithridates in one campaign, and received the submission of Tigranes; +Mithridates soon after fell by his own hand, the victim of an +insurrection. Anarchy in Syria warranted Pompeius in annexing the +Seleucid dominion. The whole of the nearer East was now a part of the +Roman empire; and was thenceforth ruled not as protectorates, but as a +group of provinces. Egypt alone was not incorporated. + +Meanwhile, the democratic party at Rome were dominant, though their +policy was inconsistent and opportunist. Probably the leading men, such +as Crassus and the rising Gaius, Julius Caesar, stood aside from the +wilder schemes, such as the Catilinarian conspiracies, but secretly +fostered them. Catiline's projects were betrayed, and the illegal +execution of the captured conspirators by the consul Cicero was hailed +by Cato and the senatorial party as a triumph of patriotic +statesmanship. Catiline himself was crushed in the field. + +The definite fact emerged, that neither the senatorial nor the +democratic party could establish a strong government; that would be +possible only for a military monarchy--a statesman with a policy and an +irresistible, force at his back. But Pompeius lacked the courage and +skill. Caesar, as yet, lacked the military force. Pompeius, on his return +from the East, again allied himself with Crassus and Caesar, whose object +was to acquire for himself the opportunity which Pompeius would not +grasp. The alliance gave Pompeius the land allotments he required for +his soldiers, and to Caesar the consulship followed by a prolonged +governorship of Gaul. + +The conquest and organisation of Gaul was an end in itself, a necessary +defence against barbarian pressure. Caesar's operations there were +invaluable to the empire; incidentally, they enabled him to become +master of it. Caesar has left his own record. Gaul was transformed into a +barrier against the Teutonic migration. But Pompeius, nominally holding +a far greater position, proved incapable of controlling the situation in +Rome; he could not even suppress the demagogue Clodius, while the +prestige of his military exploits was waning. Fear of the power of the +Triumvirate was driving moderate men to the senatorial part; that party, +without an efficient leader, began to find in Pompeius rather in ally +against the more dangerous Caesar than an enemy. + +But they would not concede him the powers he required; which might yet +be turned to the uses of his colleagues in the Triumvirate; he could not +afford to challenge Caesar; and Caesar adroitly used the situation to +secure for himself a prolongation of his Gallic command. The completion +of his work there was to have precedence of his personal ambitions. +Crassus was sent to the Eastern command; and Pompeius remained in Italy, +while nominally appointed to Spain. + +Pompeius, indeed, attained a predominance in Rome which enabled him to +secure temporarily dictatorial powers which were employed to counteract +the electoral machinery of the republican party; but he had not the +qualifications or the inclination to play the demagogue, and could not +unite his aspirations as a restorer of law and order with effective +party leadership. Crassus disappeared; his armies in the East met with a +complete disaster at Carrhae, and he took his own life. Caesar and +Pompeius were left; Pompeius was not content that Caesar should stand on +a real equality with him, and the inevitable rupture came. + +In effect Pompeius used his dictatorship to extend his own military +command and to curtail Caesar's. The position resolved itself into a +rivalry between the two; Caesar declaring as always for the democracy, +Pompeius now assuming the championship of the aristocracy, and the +guardianship of the constitution. + +For Caesar the vital point now was that his own command should not +terminate till he exchanged it for a fresh consulship. As the law now +stood, he could not obtain his election without resigning his command +beforehand. But he succeeded in forcing Pompeius to break the law; and +in making the official government responsible for declaring war. He +offered a compromise, perhaps, in the certainty that it would be +rejected--as it was. He was virtually declared a public enemy; and he +struck at once. + +At the head of his devotedly loyal veterans he crossed the Rubicon. His +rapid and successful advance caused Pompeius to abandon Italy and fall +back on the Eastern Provinces. The discipline preserved, and the +moderation displayed by Caesar won him unexpected favour. Having secured +Italy, he turned next on Spain, and secured that. Swift and decisive +action was pitted against inertness. When Caesar entered Epirus the odds +against him on paper were enormous; but the triumphant victory of +Phansalus shattered the Pompeian coalition. Pompeius hurried to Egypt, +but was assassinated while landing. The struggle, however, was not over +till after the battle of Thapsus nearly two years after Phansalus. + +Caesar was now beyond question master of the whole Roman world. He had +made himself one of the mightiest of all masters of the art of war; but +he was even more emphatically unsurpassed as a statesman. In the brief +time that was left him he laid the foundation of the new monarchy which +replaced the ancient Republic of Rome. + + * * * * * + + + + +Mediaeval History + + +EDWARD GIBBON + + +The Holy Roman Empire + + + The third of Gibbon's divisions of his great history was + devoted to that period which is comprised between the + establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 and the final + extinction of the Eastern Empire with the conquest of + Constantinople by Mahomet II. in 1453. Although this was the + longest period, Gibbon devoted much less space to it than to + the preceding parts of his history. This fact was partly due + to the gradual diminution of Roman interests, for the + dominions of the empire became contracted to the limits of a + single city, and also to the fact that the material which the + most painstaking search placed at his disposal was distinctly + limited. But though the conquest of the Normans, to instance + one section, has been dealt with inadequately in the light of + modern research, the wonderful panorama that Gibbon's genius + was able to present never fails in its effect or general + accuracy. The Holy Roman Empire is, of course, properly + classified under Mediaeval History, which accounts for its + separation from the rest of Gibbon's work. + + +_I.--Birth and Sway of the Empire_ + + +The Western Empire, or Holy Roman Empire, as it has been called, which +was re-established by Charlemagne (and lasted in shadow until the +abdication of Francis II. under the pressure of Napoleon in 1806), was +not unworthy of its title. + +The personal and political importance of Charlemagne was magnified by +the distress and division of the rest of Europe. The Greek emperor was +addressed by him as brother instead of father; and as long as the +imperial dignity of the West was usurped by a hero, the Greeks +respectfully saluted the _august_ Charlemagne with the acclamations of +"Basileus" and "Emperor of the Romans." Lewis the Pious (814-840) +possessed the virtue of his father but not the power. When both power +and virtue were extinct, the Greeks despoiled Lewis II. of his +hereditary title, and with the barbarous appellation of _Rex_ degraded +him amongst the crowd of Latin princes. + +The imperial title of the West remained in the family of Charlemagne +until the deposition of Charles the Fat in 884. His insanity dissolved +the empire into factions, and it was not until Otho, King of Germany, +laid claim to the title, with fire and sword, that the western empire +was restored (962). His conquest of Italy and delivery of the pope for +ever fixed the imperial crown in the name and nation of Germany. From +that memorable era two maxims of public jurisprudence were introduced by +force and ratified by time: (1) That the prince who was elected in the +German Diet acquired from that instant the subject kingdoms of Italy and +Rome; (2) but that he might not legally assume the titles of Emperor and +Augustus till he had received the crown from the hands of the Roman +pontiff. + +The nominal power of the Western emperors was considerable. No pontiff +could be legally consecrated till the emperor, the advocate of the +Church, had graciously signified his approbation and consent. Gregory +VII., in 1073, usurped this power, and fixed for ever in the college of +cardinals the freedom and independence of election. Nominally, also, the +emperors held sway in Rome, but this supremacy was annihilated in the +thirteenth century. In the fourteenth century the power derived from his +title was still recognised in Europe; the hereditary monarchs confessed +the pre-eminence of his rank and dignity. + +The persecution of images and their votaries in the East had +separated-Rome and Italy from the Byzantine throne, and prepared the way +for the conquests of the Franks. The rise and triumph of the Mahometans +still further diminished the empire of the East. The successful inroads +of the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Russians, who assaulted by sea or by +land the provinces and the capital, seemed to advance the approach of +its final dissolution. The Norman adventurers, who founded a powerful +kingdom in Apulia and Sicily, shook the throne of Constantinople (1146), +and their hostile enterprises did not cease until the year 1185. + + +_II.--Latin Rulers of Constantinople_ + + +Under the name of the Latins, the subjects of the pope, the nations of +the West, enlisted under the banner of the Cross for the recovery or the +release of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greek emperors were terrified and +preserved by the myriads of pilgrims who marched to Jerusalem with +Godfrey of Bouillon (1095-99) and the peers of Christendom. The second +(1147) and the third (1189) crusades trod in the footsteps of the first. +Asia and Europe were mingled in a sacred war of two hundred years; and +the Christian powers were bravely resisted and finally expelled (1291) +by Saladin (1171-93) and the Mamelukes of Egypt. + +In these memorable crusades a fleet and army of French and Venetians +were diverted from Syria to the Thracian Bosphorus; they assaulted the +capital (1203), they subverted the Greek monarchy; and a dynasty of +Latin princes was seated near three-score years on the throne of +Constantine. + +During this period of captivity and exile, which lasted from 1204 to +1261, the purple was preserved by a succession of four monarchs, who +maintained their title as the heirs of Augustus, though outcasts from +their capital. The _de facto_ sovereigns of Constantinople during this +period, the Latin emperors of the houses of Flanders and Courtenay, +provided five sovereigns for the usurped throne. By an agreement between +the allied conquerors, the emperor of the East was nominated by the vote +of twelve electors, chosen equally from the French and Venetians. To +him, with all the titles and prerogatives of the Byzantine throne, a +fourth part of the Greek monarchy was assigned; the remaining portions +were equally snared between the republic of Venice and the barons of +France. + +Under this agreement, Baldwin, Count of Flanders and Hainault, was +created emperor (1204-05). The idea of the Roman system, which, despite +the passage of centuries devoted to the triumphs of the barbarians, had +impressed itself on Europe, was seen in the emperor's letter to the +Roman pontiff, in which he congratulated him on the restoration of his +authority in the East. + +The defeat and captivity of Baldwin in a war against the Bulgarians, and +his subsequent death, placed the crown on the head of his brother Henry +(1205-16). With him the imperial house of Flanders became extinct, and +Peter of Courtenay, Count of Auxerre (1217-19), assumed the empire of +the East. Peter was taken captive by Theodore, the legitimate sovereign +of Constantinople, and his sons Robert (1221-28) and Baldwin II. +(1228-37) reigned in succession. The gradual recovery of their empire by +the legitimate sovereigns of the East culminated in the capture of +Constantinople by the Greeks (1261). The line of Latin sovereigns was +extinct. Baldwin lived the remainder of his life a royal fugitive, +soliciting the Catholic powers to join in his restoration. He died in +1272. + +From the days of the Emperor Heraclius the Byzantine Empire had been +most tranquil and prosperous when it could acquiesce in hereditary +succession. Five dynasties--the Heraclian, Isaurian, Amorian, Basilian, +and Comnenian families--enjoyed and transmitted the royal patrimony +during their respective series of five, four, three, six, and four +generations. The imperial house of Comnenius, though its direct line in +male descent had expired with Andronicus I. (1185), had been perpetuated +by marriage in the female line, and had survived the exile from +Constantinople, in the persons of the descendants of Theodore Lascaris. + +Michael Palaeologus, who, through his mother, might claim perhaps a +prior right to the throne of the Comnenii, usurped the imperial dignity +on the recovery of Constantinople, cruelly blinded the young Emperor +John, the legitimate heir of Theodore Lascaris, and reigned until 1282. +His career of authority was notable for an attempt to unite the Greek +and Roman churches--a union which was dissolved in 1283--and his +instigation of the revolt in Sicily, which ended in the famous Sicilian +Vespers (March 30, 1282), when 8,000 French were exterminated in a +promiscuous massacre. + +He saved his empire by involving the kingdoms of the West in rebellion +and blood. From these seeds of discord uprose a generation of iron men, +who assaulted and endangered the empire of his son, Andronicus the Elder +(1282-1332). Thousands of Genoese and Catalans, released from the wars +that Michael had aroused in the West, took service under his successor +against the Turks. Other mercenaries flocked to their standard, and, +under the name of the Great Company, they subverted the authority of the +emperor, defeated his troops, laid waste his territory, united +themselves with his enemies, and, finally, abandoning the banks of the +Hellespont, marched into Greece. Here they overthrew the remnant of the +Latin power, and for fourteen years (1311-1326) the Great Company was +the terror of the Grecian states. + +Their factions drove them to acknowledge the sovereignity of the house +of Arragon; and, during the remainder of the fourteenth century, Athens +as a government or an appanage was successfully bestowed by the kings of +Sicily. Conquered in turn by the French and Catalans, Athens at length +became the capital of a state that extended over Thebes, Argos, Corinth, +Delphi, and a part of Thessaly, and was ruled by the family of Accaioli, +plebeians of Florence (1384-1456). The last duke of this dynasty was +strangled by Mahomet II., who educated his sons in the discipline of the +seraglio. + +During the reign of John Palaeologus, son of Andronicus the Younger, +which began in 1355, the eastern empire was nearly subverted by the +Genoese. On the return of the legitimate sovereign to Constantinople, +the Genoese, who had established their factories and industries in the +suburb of Galata, or Pera, were allowed to remain. During the civil wars +the Genoese forces took advantage of the disunion of the Greeks, and by +the skilful use of their power exacted a treaty by which they were +granted a monopoly of trade, and almost a right of dominions. The Roman +Empire (I smile in transcribing the name) might soon have sunk into a +province of Genoa if the ambition of the republic had not been checked +by the ruin of her freedom and naval power. Yet the spirit of commerce +survived that of conquest; and the colony of Pera still awed the capital +and navigated the Euxine till it was involved by the Turks in the final +servitude of Constantinople itself. + + +_III.--End of the Roman World_ + + +Only three more sovereigns ruled the remnants of the Roman world after +the reign of John Palaeologus, but the final downfall of the empire was +delayed above fifty years by a series of events that had sapped the +strength of the Mahometan empire. The rise and triumph of the Moguls and +Tartars under their emperors, descendants of Zingis Khan, had shaken the +globe from China to Poland and Greece (1206-1304). The sultans were +overthrown, and in the general disorder of the Mahometan world a veteran +and adventurous army, which included many Turkoman hordes, was dissolved +into factions who, under various chiefs, lived a life of rapine and +plunder. Some of these engaged in the service of Aladin (1219-1236), +Sultan of Iconium, and among these were the obscure fathers of the +Ottoman line. + +Orchan ruled from 1326 to 1360, achieved the conquest of Bithynia, and +first led the Turks into Europe, and in 1353 established himself in the +Chersonesus, and occupied Gallipoli, the key of the Hellespont. Orchan +was succeeded by Amurath I. (1389-1403). Bajazet carried his victorious +arms from the Danube to the Euphrates, and the Roman world became +contracted to a corner of Thrace, between the Propontis and the Black +Sea, about fifty miles in length and thirty in breadth, a space of +ground not more extensive than the lesser principalities of Germany or +Italy, if the remains of Constantinople had not still represented the +wealth and populousness of a kingdom. + +Under Manuel (1391-1425), the son and successor of John Palteologus, +Constantinople would have fallen before the might of the Sultan Bajazet +had not the Turkish Empire been oppressed by the revival of the Mogul +power under the victorious Timour, or Tamerlane. After achieving a +conquest of Persia (1380-1393), of Tartary (1370-1383), and Hindustan +(1398-1399), Timour, who aspired to the monarchy of the world, found +himself at length face to face with the Sultan Bajazet. Bajazet was +taken prisoner in the war that followed. Kept, probably only as a +precaution, in an iron cage, Bajazet attended the marches of his +conqueror, and died on March 9, 1403. Two years later, Timour also +passed away on the road to China. Of his empire to-day nothing remains. +Since the reign of his descendant Aurungzebe, his empire has been +dissolved (1659-1707); the treasures of Delhi have been rifled by a +Persian robber; and the riches of their kingdom is now possessed by the +Christians of a remote island in the northern ocean. + +Far different was the fate of the Ottoman monarchy. The massive trunk +was bent to the ground, but no sooner did the hurricane pass away than +it again rose with fresh vigour and more lively vegetation. After a +period of civil war between the sons of Bajazet (1403-1421), the Ottoman +Empire was once more firmly established by his grandson, Amurath II. +(1421-1451). + +One of the first expeditions undertaken by the new sultan was the siege +of Constantinople (1422), but the fortune rather than the genius of the +Emperor Manuel prevented the attempt. Amurath was recalled to Asia by a +domestic revolt, and the siege was raised. + +While the sultan led his Janizaries to new conquests, the Byzantine +Empire was indulged in a servile and precarious respite of thirty years. +Manuel sank into the grave, and John Palaeologus II. (1425-1448) was +permitted to reign for an annual tribute of 300,000 aspers and the +dereliction of almost all that he held beyond the suburbs of +Constantinople. + +On November 1, 1448, Constantine, the last of the Roman emperors, +assumed the purple of the Caesars. For three years he was allowed to +indulge himself in various private and public designs, the completion of +which were interrupted by a Turkish war, and finally buried in the ruins +of the empire. + + +_IV.--The Great Siege of Constantinople_ + + +Mahomet II. succeeded his father Amurath on February 9, 1451. His +hostile designs against the capital were immediately seen in the +building of a fortress on the Bosphorus, which commanded the source +whence the city drew her supplies. In the following year a quarrel +between some Greeks and Turks gave him the excuse of declaring war. His +cannon--for the use of gunpowder, for some time the monopoly of the +Christian world, had been betrayed to Amurath by the Genoese--commanded +the port, and a tribute was exacted from all ships that entered the +harbour. But the actual siege was delayed until the ensuing spring of +1453. + +Mahomet, in person, surveyed the city, encouraged his soldiers, and +discussed with his generals and engineers the best means of making the +assault. By his orders a huge cannon was built in Hadrianople. It fired +a ball one mile, and to convey it to its position before the walls, a +team of sixty oxen and the assistance of 200 men were employed. The +Emperor Constantine, unable to excite the sympathy of Europe, attempted +the best defence of which he was capable, with a force of 4,970 Romans +and 2,000 Genoese. A chain was drawn across the mouth of the harbour, +and whatever supplies arrived from Candia and the Black Sea were +detained for the public service. + +The siege of Constantinople, in which scarcely 7,000 soldiers had to +defend a city sixteen miles in extent against the powers of the Ottoman +Empire, commenced on April 6, 1453. The last Constantine deserves the +name of a hero; his noble band of volunteers was inspired with Roman +virtue, and the foreign auxiliaries supported the honour of the Western +chivalry. But their inadequate stock of gunpowder was wasted in the +operations of each day. Their ordnance was not powerful either in size +or number; and if they possessed some heavy cannon, they feared to plant +them on the walls, lest the aged structure should be shaken and +overthrown by the explosion. + +The great cannon of Mahomet could only be fired seven times in one day, +but the weight and repetition of the shots made some impression on the +walls. The Turks rushed to the edge of the ditch, attempted to fill the +enormous chasm and to build a road to the assault. In the attack, as +well as in the defence, ancient and modern artillery was employed. +Cannon and mechanical engines, the bullet and the battering-ram, +gunpowder and Greek fire, were engaged on both sides. + +Christendom watched the struggle with coldness and apathy. Four ships, +which successfully forced an entrance into the harbour, were the limit +of their assistance. None the less, Mahomet meditated a retreat. Unless +the city could be attacked from the harbour, its reduction appeared to +be hopeless. In this perplexity the genius of Mahomet executed a plan of +a bold and marvellous cast. He transported his fleet over land for ten +miles. In the course of one night four-score light galleys and +brigantines painfully climbed the hill, steered over the plain, and were +launched from the declivity into the shallow waters of the harbour, far +above the molestation of the deeper vessels of the Greeks. A bridge, or +mole, hastily built, formed a base for one of his largest cannon. The +galleys, with troops and scaling ladders, approached the most accessible +side of the walls, and, after a siege of forty days, the diminutive +garrison, exhausted by a double attack, could hope no longer to avert +the fate of the capital. + +On Monday, May 28, preparations were made for the final assault. Mahomet +had inspired his soldiers with the hope of rewards in this world and the +next. His camp re-echoed with the shouts of "God is God; there is but +one God, and Mahomet is the apostle of God"; and the sea and land, from +Galata to the Seven Towers, were illuminated with the blaze of the +Moslem fires. + +Far different was the state of the Christians. On that last night of the +Roman Empire, Constantine Palaeologus, in his palace, addressed the +noblest of the Greeks and the bravest of the allies on the duties and +dangers that lay before them. It was the funeral oration of the Roman +Empire. That same night the emperor and some faithful companions entered +the Dome of St. Sofia, which, within a few hours, was to be converted +into a mosque, and devoutly received, with tears and prayers, the +sacrament of the Holy Communion. He reposed some moments in the palace, +which resounded with cries and lamentations, solicited the pardon of all +whom he might have injured, and mounted on horseback to visit the guards +and explore the motions of the enemy. The distress and fall of the last +Constantine are more glorious than the long prosperity of the Byzantine +Caesars. + +At daybreak on May 29 the Turks assaulted the city by sea and land. For +two hours the Greeks maintained the defence with advantage, and the +voice of the emperor was heard encouraging the soldiers to achieve by a +last effort the deliverance of their country. The new and fresh forces +of the Turks supplied the places of their wearied associates. From all +sides the attack was pressed. + +The number of the Ottomans was fifty, perhaps one hundred, times +superior to that of the Christians, the double walls were reduced by the +cannons to a heap of ruins, and at last one point was found which the +besiegers could penetrate. Hasan, the Janizary, of gigantic stature and +strength, ascended the outward fortification. The walls and towers were +instantly covered with a swarm of Turks, and the Greeks, now driven from +the vantage ground, were overwhelmed by increasing multitudes. + +Amidst these multitudes, the emperor, who accomplished all the duties of +a general and a soldier, was long seen and finally lost. His mournful +exclamation was heard, "Cannot there be found a Christian to cut off my +head?" and his last fear was that of falling alive into the hands of the +infidels. The prudent despair of Constantine cast away the purple. +Amidst the tumult he fell by an unknown hand, and his body was buried +under a mountain of the slain. + +After his death, resistance and order were no more. Two thousand Greeks +were put to the sword, and more would have perished had not avarice soon +prevailed over cruelty. + +It was thus, after a siege of fifty-three days, that Constantinople, +which had defied the power of Chosroes and the caliphs, was +irretrievably subdued by the arms of Mahomet II. Sixty thousand Greeks +were driven through the streets like cattle and sold as slaves. The nuns +were torn from the monasteries and compelled to enter the harems of +their conquerors. The churches were plundered, and the gold and silver, +the pearls and jewels, the vases and sacerdotal ornaments of St. Sofia +were most wickedly converted to the service of mankind. + +The cathedral itself, despoiled of its images and ornaments, was +converted into a mosque, and Mahomet II. performed the _namaz_ of prayer +and thanksgiving at the great altar, where the Christian mysteries had +so lately been celebrated before the last of the Caesars. The body of +Constantine was discovered under a heap of slain, by the golden eagles +embroidered on his shoes, and after exposing the bloody trophy, Mahomet +bestowed on his rival the honours of a decent funeral. Constantinople, +desolated by bloodshed, was re-peopled and re-adorned by Mahomet. Its +churches were shared between the two religions, and the Greeks were +attracted back to their ancient capital by the assurance of their lives +and the free exercise of their religion. + +The grief and terror of Europe when the fall of Constantinople became +known revived, or seemed to revive, the old enthusiasm of the crusades. +Pius II. attempted to lead Christendom against the Turks, but on the +very day on which he embarked his forces drew back, and he was compelled +to abandon the attempt. The siege and sack of Otranto by the Turks put +an end to all thoughts of a crusade, and the general consternation was +only allayed by the death of Mahomet II. in the fifty-first year of his +age. + +His lofty genius aspired to the conquest of Italy; he was possessed of a +strong city and a capacious harbour, and the same reign might have been +decorated with the trophies of the New and the Ancient Rome. + + * * * * * + + + + +FRANCOIS GUIZOT + + +History of Civilisation in Europe + + + Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot, French historian and + statesman, was born of Huguenot parents at Nimes on October 4, + 1787. The liberal opinions of his family did not save his + father from the guillotine in 1794, and the mother fled to + Geneva, where Guizot was educated. He went to Paris in the + later days of the Empire, and engaged himself at once in + literature and politics. His lectures on the History of + Civilisation delivered in 1828, 1829, and 1830, during his + professorship at the University of Paris, revealed him as a + historian with a rare capacity for mastering the broad + essential truths of history, co-ordinating them, and + expounding them with vigour and impressiveness. His first + series of lectures was on "The History of Civilisation in + Europe," a masterly abstract of a colossal subject; the second + on "The History of Civilisation in France." From 1830 to 1848 + Guizot occupied high offices of State, ultimately becoming + prime minister; in 1848, like his master Louis Philippe, he + had to fly the country. He died on September 12, 1874. + + +_I.--The Nature of Civilisation_ + + +The subject I propose to consider is the civilisation of Europe--its +origins, its progress, its aims, its character. The fact of civilisation +belongs to what is called the philosophic portion of history; it is a +vague, obscure, complex fact, very difficult, I admit, to explain and +describe, but none the less requiring explanation and description. It +is, indeed, the greatest historical fact, to which all others +contribute; it is a kind of ocean which makes the wealth of a people, +and in the bosom of which all the elements of the people's life, all the +forces of its existence, are joined in unity. + +What, then, is civilisation--this grave, far-reaching precious reality +that seems the expression of the entire life of a people? It seems to me +that the first and fundamental fact conveyed by the word civilisation is +the fact of progress, of development. But what is this progress? What is +this development? Here is the greatest difficulty of all. + +The etymology of the word civilisation seems to provide an easy answer. +It tells us that civilisation is the perfecting of civil life, the +development of society properly so called, of the relations of men to +men. But is this all? Have we exhausted the natural and usual sense of +the word? France, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was +acknowledged to be the most civilised country in Europe; yet in respect +of purely civil progress France was then greatly inferior to some other +European countries, Holland and England, for example. Another +development, then, reveals itself--the development of individual life, +of the man himself, of his faculties, sentiments, and ideas. + +These two notions that are comprehended in the broad notion of +civilisation--that of the development of social activity and that of the +development of individual activity--are intimately related to each +other. Their relationship is upheld by the instinctive conviction of +men; it is proved by the course of the world's history--all the great +moral and intellectual advances of man have profited society, all the +great social advances have profited the individual mind. + +So much for civilisation in general. It is now necessary to point out +the essential difference between modern European and other +civilisations. The characteristic of other civilisations has been unity; +they seem to have emanated from a single fact, a single idea. In Egypt +and India, for example, the theocratic principle was dominant; in the +Greek and Phoenician republics, the democratic principle. The +civilisation of modern Europe, on the contrary, is diverse, confused, +stormy; all the forms and principles of social organisation theocratic, +monarchical, aristocratic, democratic, co-exist in it; there are +infinite gradations of liberty, wealth, influence. All the various +forces are in a state of constant struggle; yet all of them have a +certain family resemblance, as it were, that we cannot but recognise. + +These diverse elements, for all their conflict, cannot any one of them +extinguish any other; each has to dwell with the rest, make a compromise +with the rest. The outcome, then, of this diversity and struggle is +liberty; and here is the grand and true superiority of the European over +the other civilisations. European civilisation, if I may say so, has +entered into eternal truth; it advances in the ways of God. + + +_II.--Feudalism_ + + +It would be an important confirmation of my assertion as to the diverse +character of our civilisation if we should find in its very cradle the +causes and the elements of that diversity. And indeed, at the fall of +the Roman empire, we do so find it. Three forms of society, each +entirely different from the other, are visible at this time of chaos. +The municipalities survived, the last remnant of the Imperial system. +The Christian Church survived. And in the third place there were the +Barbarians, who brought with them a military organisation, and a hardy +individual independence, that were wholly new to the peoples who had +dwelt under the shelter of the empire. The Barbarian epoch was the chaos +of all the elements, the infancy of all the systems, a universal hubbub +in which even conflict itself had no definite or permanent effects. + +Europe laboured to escape from this confusion; at some times, and in +some places, it was temporarily checked--in particular by the great +Charlemagne in his revival of the imperial power; but the confusion did +not cease until its causes no longer acted. These causes were two--one +material, one moral. The material cause was the irruption of fresh +Barbarian hordes. The moral cause was the lack of any ideas in common +among men as to the structure of society. The old imperial fabric had +disappeared; Charlemagne's restoration of it depended wholly on his own +personality, and did not survive him; men had no ideas of any new +structure--their intellectual horizon was limited to their own affairs. +By the beginning of the tenth century the Barbarian invasions ended, and +as the populations settled down a new system appeared, based partly on +the Barbarians' love of independence, partly on their plans of military +gradation--the system of feudalism. + +A sound proof that in the tenth century the feudal system was necessary, +and the only social state possible, lies in the universality of its +establishment. Everywhere society was dismembered; everywhere there was +formed a multitude of small, obscure, isolated societies, consisting of +the chief, his family, his retainers, and the wretched serfs over whom +he ruled without restraint, and who had no appeal against his whim. The +power he exercised was the power of individual over individual, the +domination of personal will and caprice; and this is perhaps the only +kind of tyranny that man, to his eternal honour, is never willing to +endure. Hence the prodigious and invincible hatred that the people have +at all times entertained for feudal rule, for the memories of it, for +its very name. + +The narrow concentrated life of the feudal lord lent, undoubtedly, a +great preponderance to domesticity in his affairs. The lord had his wife +and children for his permanent society; they continually shared his +interests, his destiny. It was in the bosom of the feudal family that +woman gained her importance in civilisation. The system excited +development of private character and passion that were, all things +considered, noble. Chivalry was the daughter of feudalism. + +But from the social point of view feudalism failed to provide either +legal order or political security. It contained elaborate obligations +between the higher and the lower orders of the feudal hierarchy, duties +of protection on the one side and of service on the other. But these +obligations could never be established as institutions. There was no +superior force to which all had to submit; there was public opinion to +make itself respected. Hence the feudal system was without political +guarantee to sustain it. Might alone was right. Feudalism was as much +opposed to the establishment of general order as to the extension of +general liberty. It was indispensable for the reconstruction of European +society, but politically it was in itself a radically bad system. + + +_III.--The Church_ + + +Meanwhile the Church, adhering to its own principles, had steadily +advanced along the route that it had marked out for itself in the early +days of its organisation. It was during the feudal epoch the only power +that made for civilised development. All education was ecclesiastical; +all the arts were in the service of the Church. It had, during the Dark +Ages, won the Barbarians to its fold by the gorgeous solemnity of its +ritual; and, to protect itself against secular interference, it had +declared the spiritual power to be independent of the temporal--the +first great assertion, in the history of European civilisation, of the +liberty of thought. + +In one set of respects the Church during the feudal epoch satisfied the +conditions of good government; in another, it did not. Its power was +uniformly distributed, it drew its recruits from all classes, and +entrusted the rule to the most capable. It was in close touch with every +grade of mankind; every colony of serfs, even, had its priest. It was +the most popular and most accessible society of the time, the most open +to all talents and all noble ambitions. But, on the other hand, it +failed in that all-important requisite of good government, respect for +liberty. It denied the rights of individual reason in spiritual matters, +and it claimed the right to compel belief--a claim that placed it in +some dependence upon the temporal powers, since as a purely spiritual +body, governing by influence and not by force, it could not persecute +without the aid of the secular arm. + +To sum up, the Church exerted an immense and on the whole a beneficent +influence on ideas, sentiments, and conduct; but from the political +point of view the Church was nearly always the interpreter and defender +of the theocratic system and the Roman Imperial system--that is, of +religious and civil despotism. + + +_IV.--The Towns_ + + +Like the Church, the municipalities survived the downfall of the Roman +empire. Their history varied greatly in different parts of Europe, but +none the less some observations can be made that are broadly accurate +with respect to most of them. + +From the fifth to the tenth century, the state of the towns was a state +neither of servitude nor of liberty. They suffered all the woes that are +the fate of the weak; they were the prey of continual violence and +depredation; yet, in spite of the fearful disorders of the time, they +preserved a certain importance. When feudalism was established, the +towns lost such independence as they had possessed; they found +themselves under the heel of feudal chiefs. But feudalism did bring +about a sort of peace, a sort of order; and with the slightest gleam of +peace and order a man's hope revives, and on the revival of hope he +takes to work. So it was with the towns. New wants were created; +commerce and industry arose to satisfy them; wealth and population +slowly returned. + +But industry and commerce were absolutely without security; the townsmen +were exposed to merciless extortion and plundering at the hands of their +feudal overlords. Nothing irritates a man more than to be harassed in +his toil, thus deprived of its promised fruits. The only way in which +the towns could defend themselves from the violence of their masters was +by using violence themselves. So in the eleventh century we find town +after town rising in revolt against its despot, and winning from him a +charter of liberty. + +Although the insurrection was in a sense general, it was in no way +concerted--it was not a rising of the combined citizens against the +combined feudal aristocracy. All the towns found themselves exposed to +much the same evils, and rescued themselves in much the same manner. But +each town acted for itself--did not go to the help of any other town. +Hence these detached communities had no ambitions, no aspirations to +national importance; their outlook was limited to themselves. But at the +same time the emancipation of the towns created a new class, a class of +citizens engaged in the same pursuits, with the same interests and the +same modes of life; a class that would in time unite and assert itself, +and prevent the domination of a single order of society that has been +the curse of Asia. + +Although it may be broadly asserted that the emancipation did not alter +the relations of the citizens with the general government, that +assertion must be modified in one respect. A link was established +between the citizens and the king. Sometimes they appealed for his aid +against their lord, sometimes the lord invoked him as judge; in one way +or another a relation was established between the king and the towns, +and the citizens thus came into touch with the centre of the State. + + +_V.--The Crusades_ + + +From the fifth to the twelfth century, society, as we have seen, +contained kings, a lay aristocracy, a clergy, citizens, peasantry, the +germs, in fact, of all that goes to make a nation and a government; +yet--no government, no nation. We have come across a multitude of +particular forces, of local institutions, but nothing general, nothing +public, nothing properly speaking political. + +In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, on the contrary, all the +classes and the particular forces have taken a secondary place, are +shadowy and almost effaced; the stage of the world is occupied by two +great figures, government and people. + +Here, if I am not mistaken, is the essential distinction between +primitive Europe and modern Europe. Here is the change that was +accomplished in the period extending from the thirteenth to the +sixteenth century. Viewed by itself, that period seems a characterless +one of confusion without cause, of movement without direction, of +agitation without result. Yet, in relation to the period that followed, +this period had a tendency and a progress of its own; it slowly +accomplished a vast work. It was the second period of European +civilisation--the period of attempt and experiment, succeeding that of +origins and formation, and preparing the way for that of development +properly so called. + +The first great event of this period was the Crusades--a universal +movement of all classes and all countries in moral unity--the truly +heroic event of Europe. Besides the religious impulse that led to the +Crusades, there was another impulse. They gave to me an opportunity of +widening their horizons, of indulging the taste for movement and +adventure. The opportunity, thus freely taken, changed the face of +society. Men's minds were opened, their ideas were extended, by contact +with other races; European society was dragged out of the groove along +which it had been travelling. Religious ideas remained unchanged, but +religious beliefs were no longer the only sphere in which the human +intellect exercised itself. The moral state of Europe was profoundly +modified. + +The social state underwent a similar change. Many of the smaller feudal +lords sold their fiefs, or impoverished themselves by crusading, or lost +much of their power during their absence. Property and power came into +fewer hands; society was more centralised, no longer dispersed as it +formerly was. The citizens, on their part, were no longer content with +local industry and trade; they entered upon commerce on a grander scale +with countries oversea. Petty influence yielded place to larger +influences; the small existences grouped themselves round the great. By +the end of the Crusades, the march of society towards centralisation was +in steady progress. + + +_VI.--The Age of Centralisation_ + + +Already, in the twelfth century, a new idea of kingship had begun, very +faintly, to make its appearance. In most European countries the king, +under the feudal system, had been a head who could not enforce his +headship. But there was, all the while, such a thing as kingship, and +somebody bore the title of king; and society, striving to escape from +feudal violence and to get hold of real order and unity, had recourse to +the king in an experimental way, to see, as one might say, what he could +do. Gradually there developed the idea of the king as the protector of +public order and justice and of the common interest as the paramount +magistrate--the idea that changed Europe society from a series of +classes into a group of centralised States. + +But the old order did not perish without efforts to perpetuate itself. +These efforts were of two kinds; a particular class sought predominance, +or it was proposed that the classes should agree to act in concert. To +the first kind belonged the design of the Church to gain mastery over +Europe that culminated with Pope Gregory VII. It failed for three +reasons--because Christianity is a purely moral force and not a temporal +administrative force; because the ambitions of the Church were opposed +by the feudal aristocracy; and because the celibacy of the clergy +prevented the formation of a caste capable of theocratic organisation. +Attempts at democracy were made, for a time with apparent means, by the +Italian civic republics; but they were a prey to internal disorder, +their government tended to become oligarchical, and their incapacity for +uniting among themselves made them the victims of foreign invaders. The +Swiss Republican organisation was more successful, but became +aristocratic and immobile. The House Towns and the towns of Flanders and +the Rhine organised for pure defence; they preserved their privileges, +but remained confined within their walls. + +The effort at concerted action by the classes was manifested in the +States General of France, Spain, and Portugal, the Diet in Germany, and +the Parliament in England. All these, except the Parliament, were +ineffective and as it were accidental in their action; all they did was +to preserve in a manner the notion of liberty. The circumstances of +England were exceptional. The Parliament did not govern; but it became a +mode of government adopted in principle, and often indispensable in +practice. + +Nothing, however, could arrest the march of centralisation. In France +the war of independence against England brought a sense of national +unity and purpose, and feudalism was finally overthrown, and the central +power made dominant, by the policy of Louis XI. Similar effects were +brought about in Spain by the war against the Moors and the rule of +Ferdinand. In England feudalism was destroyed by the Wars of the Roses, +and was succeeded by the Tudor despotism. In Germany, the House of +Austria began its long ascendancy. Thus in the fifteenth century the new +principles prevailed; the old forms, the old liberties were swept aside +to make way for centralised government under absolute rulers. + +At the same time another new fact entered into European history. The +kings began to enter into relations with each other, to form alliances; +diplomacy was created. Since it is in the nature of diplomacy to be +conducted more or less secretly by a few persons, and since the peoples +did not and would not greatly concern themselves in it, this development +was favourable to the strengthening of royalty. + + +_VII.--The Spiritual Revolt_ + + +Although the Church until the sixteenth century had successfully +suppressed all attempts at spiritual independence, yet the broadening of +men's minds that began with the Crusades, and received a vigorous +impetus from the Renaissance, made its mark even in the fifteenth +century upon ecclesiastical affairs. Three main facts of the moral order +are presented during this period: the ineffectual attempts of the +councils of Constance and Bale to reform the Church from within; the +most notable of which was that of Huss in Bohemia; and the intellectual +revolution that accompanied the Renaissance. The way was thus prepared +for the event that was inaugurated when Luther burnt the Pope's Bull at +Wittenberg in 1520. + +The Reformation was not, as its opponents contend, the result of +accident or intrigue; nor was it, as its upholders contend, the outcome +of a simple desire for the reform of abuses. It was, in reality, a +revolt of the human spirit against absolute power in spiritual affairs. +The minds of men were during the sixteenth century in energetic +movement, consumed by desire for progress; the Church had become inert +and stationary, yet it maintained all its pretensions and external +importance. The Church, indeed, was less tyrannical than it had formerly +been, and not more corrupt. But it had not advanced; it had lost touch +with human thought. + +The Reformation, in all the lands that it reached, in all the lands +where it played a great part, whether as conqueror, or as conquered, +resulted in general, constant, and immense progress in liberty and +activity of thought, and tended towards the emancipation of the human +spirit. It accomplished more than it knew; more, perhaps, than it would +have desired. It did not attack temporal absolutism; but the collision +between temporal absolutism and spiritual freedom was bound to come, and +did come. + +Spiritual movement in European history has always been ahead of temporal +movement. The Church began as a very loose society, without a +properly-constituted government. Then it placed itself under an +aristocratic control of bishops and councils. Then it came under the +monarchical rule of the Popes; and finally a revolution broke out +against absolutism in spiritual affairs. The ecclesiastical and civil +societies have undergone the same vicissitudes; but the ecclesiastical +society has always been the first to be changed. + +We are now in possession of one of the great facts of modern society, +the liberty of the human spirit. At the same time we see political +centralisation prevailing nearly everywhere. In the seventeenth century +the two principles were for the first time to be opposed. + + +_VIII.--The Political Revolt_ + + +Their first shock was in England, for England was a country of +exceptional conditions both civil and religious. The Reformation there +had in part been the work of the kings themselves, and was incomplete; +the Reformers remained militant, and denounced the bishops as they had +formerly denounced the Pope. Moreover, the aspirations after civil +liberty that were stirred up by the emancipation of thought had means of +action in the old institution of the country--the charter, the +Parliament, the laws, the precedents. Similar aspirations in Continental +countries had no such means of action, and led to nothing. + +Two national desires coincided in England at this epoch--the desire for +religious revolution and liberty, and the desire for political liberty +and the overthrow of despotism. The two sets of reformers joined forces. +For the political party, civil freedom was the end; for the religious +party, it was only a means; but throughout the conflict the political +party took the lead, and the others followed. It was not until 1688 that +the reformers finally attained their aim in the abolition of absolute +power spiritual and temporal; and the accession of William of Orange in +that year brought England into the great struggle that was raging on the +Continent between the principle of despotism and the principle of +freedom. + +England differed from other European countries in that the essential +diversity of European civilisation was more pronounced there than +anywhere else. Elsewhere, one element prevailed over the others until it +was overthrown; in England, even if one element was dominant, the others +were strong and important. Elizabeth had to be far more wary with her +nobles and commons than Louis XIV. with his. For this reason, Europe +lagged behind England in civil freedom. But there was another +reason--the influence of France. + +During the seventeenth century, the French Government was the strongest +in Europe, and it was a despotic government. During the eighteenth +century, French thought was the most active and potent in Europe, and it +was unboundedly free thought. Louis XIV. did not, as is sometimes +supposed, adopt as his principles the propagation of absolutism; his aim +was the strength and greatness of France, and to this end he fought and +planned--just as William of Orange fought and planned, not against +despotism, but against France. France presented herself at that age as +the most redoubtable, skilful, and imposing Power in Europe. + +Yet, after the death of Louis XIV., the government immediately +degenerated. This was inevitable. No system of government can be +maintained without institutions, and a despot dislikes institutions. The +rule of Louis XIV. was great, powerful, and brilliant, but it had no +roots. The decrepit remains of it were in the eighteenth century brought +face to face with a society in which free examination and free +speculation had been carried to lengths never imagined before. Freedom +of thought once came to grips with absolute power. + +Of the stupendous consequence of that collision it is not for me to +speak here; I have reached the end. But let me, before concluding, dwell +upon the gravest and most instructive part that is revealed to us by +this grand spectacle of civilisation. It is the danger, the +insurmountable evil of absolute power in any form--whether in a form of +a despot like Louis XIV. or in that of the untrammelled human spirit +that prevailed at the Revolution. Each human power has in itself a +natural vice, a principle of weakness, to which there has to be assigned +a limit. It is only by general liberty of all rights, interests and +opinions that each power can be restrained within its legitimate bounds, +and intellectual freedom enabled to exist genuinely and to the advantage +of the whole community. + + * * * * * + + + + +HENRY HALLAM + + +View of the State of Europe During the Middle Ages + + + Henry Hallam, the English historian, was born on July 9, 1777, + at Windsor, his father being Canon of Windsor, and Dean of + Bristol. Educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, he was + called to the English bar, but devoted himself to the study + and writing of history. He received an appointment in the + Civil Service, which, with his private means, placed him in + comfortable leisure for his wide researches. His son, Arthur + Henry, who died at the age of 22, is the subject of Tennyson's + "In Memoriam." Hallam died on January 21, 1859, and was buried + at Clevedon, Somersetshire. The "View of the State of Europe + during the Middle Ages," commonly known as Hallam's "Middle + Ages," was published by the author in 1818. Hallam was already + well known among the literary men of the day, but this was his + first important work. It is a study of the period from the + appearance of Clovis, the creator of the dominion of the + Franks, to the close of the Middle Ages, the arbitrary + dividing line being drawn at the invasion of Italy by Charles + VIII. of France. + + +_I.--France_ + + +The Frankish dominion was established over the Roman province of Gaul by +Clovis at the opening of the sixth century. The Merovingian dynasty +degenerated rapidly; and the power passed into the hands of the Mayors +of the Palace--an office which became hereditary with Pepin Heristal and +Charles Martel. With the sanction of the Pope the Merovingian king was +deposed by Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, who was crowned king and +overthrew the Lombard power in Italy. + +Pepin was succeeded by Charlemagne, who completed the conquest of the +Lombards, carried his arms into Spain as far as the Ebro, and extended +his power eastwards over the Saxons as far as the Elbe. In his person +the Roman empire was revived, and he was crowned emperor at Rome on +Christmas Day A.D. 800. The great empire he had built up fell to pieces +under his successors, who adopted the disastrous plan of partition +amongst brothers. + +France fell to the share of one branch of the Carlovingians. The +Northmen were allowed to establish themselves in Normandy, and Germany +was completely separated from France. The Carlovingians were displaced +by Hugh Capet. The actual royal domain was small, and the kings of the +House of Capet exercised little control over their great feudatories +until the reign of Philip Augustus. That crafty monarch drew into his +own hands the greater part of the immense territories held by the kings +of England as French feudatories. After a brief interval the craft of +Philip Augustus was succeeded by the idealism of St. Louis, whose +admirable character enabled him to achieve an extraordinary ascendancy +over the imagination of his people. In spite of the disastrous failure +of his crusading expeditions, the aggrandisement of the crown continued, +especially under Philip the Fair; but the failure of the direct heirs +after the successive reigns of his three sons placed Philip of Valois on +the throne according to the "Salic" law of succession in 1328. + +On the pretext of claiming the succession for himself, Edward III. began +the great French war which lasted, interrupted by only one regular +pacification, for a hundred and twenty years. The brilliant personal +qualities of Edward and the Black Prince, the great resources of +England, and the quality of the soldiery, account for the English +successes. After the peace of Bretigny these triumphs were reversed, and +the English lost their possessions; but when Charles VI. ascended the +throne disaster followed. France was rent by the rival factions of +Burgundy and Orleans, the latter taking its more familiar name from the +Court of Armagnac. The troubled reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV. +prevented England from taking advantage of these dissensions; but Henry +V. renewed the war, winning the battle of Agincourt in his first +campaign and securing the Treaty of Troyes on his second invasion. After +his death came that most marvellous revolution wrought by Joan of Arc, +and the expulsion of the English from the country. + +In France the effect of the war was to strengthen the Crown as against +the Nobility, a process developed by the subtlety of Louis XI. Out of +the long contest in which the diplomatic skill of the king was pitted +against the fiery ambitions of Charles of Burgundy, Louis extracted for +himself sundry Burgundian provinces. The supremacy of the Crown was +secured when his son Charles VIII. acquired Brittany by marrying the +Duchess Anne. + +The essential distinction of ranks in France was found in the possession +of land. Besides the National lands, there were lands reserved to the +Crown, which, under the name of benefices, were bestowed upon personal +followers of the king, held more or less on military tenure; and the +king's vassals acquired vassals for themselves by a similar process of +subinfeudation. On the other hand freeholders inclined, for the sake of +protection, to commend themselves, as the phrase was, to their stronger +neighbours and so to assume the relation of vassal to liege lord. The +essential principle was a mutual contract of support and fidelity, +confirmed by the ceremonies of homage, fealty, and investiture, which +conferred upon the lord the right to various reliefs, fines, and rights +capable of conversion into money payments. + +Gentility, now hereditary, was derived from the tenure of land; the idea +of it was emphasised by the adoption of surnames and armorial bearings. +A close aristocracy was created, somewhat modified by the right claimed +by the king of creating nobles. Prelates and abbots were in the same +position as feudal nobles, though the duty of personal service was in +many cases commuted for an equivalent. Below the gentle class were +freemen, and the remainder of the population were serfs or villeins. It +was not impossible for villeins to purchase freedom. In France the +privileges possessed by the vassals of the Crown were scarcely +consistent with the sovereignty. Such were the rights of coining money, +of private war, and of immunity from taxation. + +Such legislation as there was appears to have been effected by the king, +supported by a Royal Council or a more general assembly of the barons. +It was only by degrees that the Royal ordinances came to be current in +the fiefs of the greater vassals. It was Philip the Fair who introduced +the general assembly of the Three Estates. This assembly very soon +claimed the right of granting and refusing money as well as of bringing +forward grievances. The kings of France, however, sought to avoid +convocation of the States General by obtaining grants from provincial +assemblies of the Three Estates. + +The old system of jurisdiction by elected officers was superseded by +feudal jurisdiction, having three degrees of power, and acting according +to recognised local customs, varied by the right to ordeal by combat. +The Crown began to encroach on these feudal jurisdictions by the +establishment of Royal courts of appeal; but there also subsisted a +supreme Court of Peers to whom were added the king's household officers. +The peers ceased by degrees to attend this court, while the Crown +multiplied the councillors of inferior rank; and this body became known +as the Parliament of Paris--in effect an assembly of lawyers. + +The decline of the feudal system was due mainly to the increasing power +of the Crown on the one hand, and of the lower ranks on the other; more +especially from the extension of the privileges of towns. But the feudal +principle itself was weakened by the tendency to commute military +service for money, enabling the Crown to employ paid troops. + + +_II.--Italy and Spain_ + + +After the disruption of Charlemagne's empire the imperial title was +revived from the German, Otto the Great of Saxony. His imperial +supremacy was recognised in Italy; the German king was the Roman +emperor. Italian unity had gone to pieces, but the German supremacy +offended Italy. Still from the time of Conrad of Franconia the election +of the King of Germany was assumed, at least my him, to convey the +sovereignty of Italy. In the eleventh century Norman adventurers made +themselves masters of Sicily and Southern Italy. In Northern Italy on +the other hand the emperors favoured the development of free cities, +owning only the imperial sovereignty and tending to self-government on +Republican lines. The appearance on the scene in the twelfth century of +the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa introduced a period characterised by a +three-fold change: the victorious struggle of the northern cities for +independence; the establishment of the temporal sovereignty of the +Papacy in the middle provinces; and the union of the kingdom of Naples +to the dominions of the Imperial House. The first quarrels with Milan +led to the formation of the Lombard league, and a long war in which the +battle of Legnano gave the confederates a decisive victory. The mutual +rivalries of the States, however, prevented them from turning this to +good account. Barbarossa's grandson, Frederick II., was a child of four +when he succeeded to the Swabian inheritance, and through his mother to +that of Sicily. + +It was now that the powerful Pope Innocent III. so greatly extended the +temporal power of the Papacy, and that the rival parties of Guelfs and +Ghibelins, adherents the one of the Papacy, the other of the Empire, +were established as factions in practically every Italian city. When the +young Frederick grew up he was drawn into a long struggle with the +Papacy which ended in the overthrow of the Imperial authority. From this +time the quarrel of Guelfs and Ghibelins for the most part became mere +family feuds resting on no principles. Charles of Anjou was adopted as +Papal champion; the republics of the North were in effect controlled by +despots for a brief moment. Rome revived her republicanism under the +leadership of Rienzi. In the general chaos the principle interest +attaches to the peculiar but highly complicated form of democracy +developed in Florence, where the old Patrician families were virtually +disfranchised. Wild and disorderly as was the state of Florence, the +records certainly point to the conditions having been far worse in the +cities ruled by the Visconti and their like. + +Of Genoa's wars with Pisa and with Venice a detailed account cannot be +given. Of all the northern cities Venice achieved the highest political +position; isolated to a great extent from the political problems of the +cities of Lombardy and Tuscany, she developed her wealth and her +commerce by the sea. Her splendour may, however, be dated from the +taking of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, when she became +effectively Queen of the Adriatic and Mistress of the Eastern +Mediterranean. In effect her government was a close oligarchy; possessed +of complete control over elections which in theory were originally +popular. The oligarchy reached its highest and narrowest development +with the institution of the famous Council of Ten. + +Naples and Sicily came under the dominion of Charles of Anjou when he +was adopted as Papal champion. The French supremacy, however, was +overthrown when the Sicilians rose and carried out the massacre known as +the Sicilian Vespers. They offered the Crown to the King of Aragon. It +was not till 1409, however, that Sicily was definitely united to the +Crown of Aragon and a few years later the same king was able to assert +successfully a claim to Naples. + +When the Roman empire was tottering the Visigoths established their +dominion in Spain. In 712 Saracen invaders made themselves masters of +the greater part of the peninsula. The Christians were driven into the +more northern parts and formed a number of small States out of which +were developed the kingdoms of Navarre, Leon and Castille, and Aragon. +Frontier towns acquired large liberties while they were practically +responsible for defence against the Moors. During the thirteenth century +great territories were recovered from the Moors; but the advance ceased +as the Moors were reduced to the compact kingdom of Granada. In the +fourteenth century the struggle for Castille between Pedro the Cruel and +his brother established the house of Trastamare on the throne. The +Crowns of Castille and Aragon were united by the marriage of Isabella +and Ferdinand. + +The government of the old Gothic monarchy was through the Crown and a +Council of Prelates and Nobles. At a comparatively early date, however, +the "Cortes" was attended by deputies from the town, though the number +of these was afterwards closely limited. The principle of taxation +through representatives was recognised; and laws could neither be made +nor annulled except in the Cortes. This form of constitutionalism was +varied by the claim of the nobles to assume forcible control when +matters were conducted in a fashion of which they disapproved. + +The union of Castille and Aragon led immediately to the conquest of +Granada completed in 1492; an event which in some respects +counterbalanced the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. + + +_III.--The German Empire and the Papacy_ + + +When the German branch of the Carlovingian dynasty became extinct the +five German nations--Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, Saxony, and +Lorraine--resolved to make the German kingship elective. For some +generations the Crown was bestowed on the Saxon Ottos. On the extinction +of their house in 1024, it was succeeded by a Franconian dynasty which +came into collision with the Papacy under Pope Gregory VII. On the +extinction of this line in 1025 Germany became divided between the +partisans of the Houses of Swabia and Saxony, the Wibelungs and +Welfs,--the origin of the Hibelines and Guelfs. The Swabian House, +the Hohenstauffen, gained the ascendancy in the person of Frederick +Barbarossa. The lineal representatives of the Saxon Guelfs are found +to-day in the House of Brunswick. + +The rule of the Swabian House is most intimately connected with Italian +history. In the thirteenth century the principle that the right of +election of the emperor lay with seven electors was apparently becoming +established. There were the Archbishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, +the Duke of Saxony, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the King of +Bohemia, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. In all other respects, +however, several other dukes and princes were at least on an equality +with the electors. + +In 1272 the election fell on the capable Rudolph of Hapsburg; and for +some time after this the emperors were chosen from the Houses of +Austria, Bavaria, or Luxemburg. + +Disintegration was greatly increased by the practice of the partition of +territories among brothers in place of primogeniture. A preponderating +authority was given to the electors by the Golden Bull of Charles IV. in +1355. The power of the emperor as against the princes was increased, as +that of the latter was counterbalanced by the development of free +cities. Considerable reforms were introduced at the close of our period +mainly by Maximilian. + +The depravity of the Greek empire would have brought it to utter ruin at +a much earlier date but for the degeneration which overtook +Mohammedanism. Incidentally the Crusades helped the Byzantine power at +first to strengthen its hold on some of its threatened possessions; but +the so-called fourth crusade replaced the Greek Empire by a Latin one +with no elements of permanency. When a Greek dynasty was re-established, +and the crusading spirit of Western Europe was already dead, the +Byzantine Princes were left to cope with the Turks single handed, and +the last of the Caesars died heroically when the Ottomans captured +Constantinople in 1453. + +Throughout the early middle ages the Church acquired enormous wealth and +Church lands were free from taxation. It was not till a comparatively +late period that the payment of tithes was enforced by law. Not +infrequently the Church was despoiled by violence, but the balance was +more than recovered by fraud. By the time of Charlemagne the clergy were +almost exempt from civil jurisdiction and held practically an exclusive +authority in matters of religion. The state, however, maintained its +temporal supremacy. When the strong hand of Charlemagne was removed +ecclesiastical influence increased. + +It was under Gregory the Great that the Papacy acquired its great +supremacy over the Provincial Churches. As the power of the Church grew +after the death of Charlemagne, partly from the inclination of weak +kings to lean on ecclesiastical support, the Papal claims to authority +developed and began to be maintained by the penalties of excommunication +and interdict. + +A period of extreme laxity in the tenth century was to be brought to a +close in the eleventh partly by the pressure brought to bear on the +Papacy by the Saxon emperors, but still bore by the ambitious resolution +of Gregory VII. This remarkable man was determined to assert the +complete supremacy of the Holy See over all secular powers. He refused +to recognise the right of secular princes to make ecclesiastical +appointments within their own dominions; and he emphasised the +distinction between the priesthood, as a cast having divine authority, +and the laity, by enforcing with the utmost strictness the +ecclesiastical law of celibacy, which completely separates the churchman +from the normal interests and ambitions which actuate the layman. + +In the contest between Gregory and the emperor, it seemed for the moment +as if the secular power had won the victory; but, in fact, throughout +the twelfth century; the claims which Gregory had put forward were +becoming practically effective partly from the great influence exercised +through the Crusades. These Papal pretensions reached their climax in +the great Pope Innocent III., who asserted with practical success the +right to pronounce absolutely on all disputes between princes or between +princes and their subjects, and to depose those who rejected his +authority. Throughout the thirteenth century Rome was once more mistress +of the world. + +The Church derived great influence from the institution of mendicant +orders, especially those of St. Dominic and St. Francis which recovered +much of the esteem forfeited by the old Monastic orders. Another +instrument of Papal influence was the power of granting dispensations +both with regard to marriages and as to the keeping of oaths. If the +clergy were free for the most part from civil taxation, they were +nevertheless severely mulcted by the Papacy. The ecclesiastical +jurisdiction encroached upon the secular tribunals; the classes of +persons with respect to whom it claimed exclusive authority were +persistently extended, in spite of the opposition of such Princes as +Henry II. and Edward I. + +At last, however, the Papal aggressor met his match in Philip the Fair. +When Boniface VIII. died, his successors first submitted to the French +monarchy and then became its nominees; while they resided at Avignon, +virtually under French control. The restoration of the pontificate to +Rome in 1375 was shortly followed by the Great Schism. For some years +there were two rival Popes, each of whom was recognised by one or the +other half of Western Christendom. This was terminated by the Council of +Constance, which incidentally affirmed the supremacy of general councils +over the Pope. The following council at Basle was distinctly anti-papal; +but the Papacy had the better of the contest. + + +_IV.--England_ + + +The Anglo-Saxon polity limited the succession of the Crown to a +particular house but allowed a latitude of choice within that house. The +community was divided into Thames or gentry, Ceorls or freemen, and +serfs. The ceorls tended to sink to the position known later as +villeinage. The composition of the king's great council called the +Witenagemot is doubtful. The country was divided into shires, the shire +into districts called hundreds, and the hundreds into tithings. There +appears to be no adequate authority for the idea that trial by jury was +practised; the prevailing characteristic of justice was the system of +penalty by fine, and the responsibility of the tithing for the misdeeds +of any of its members. There is no direct evidence as to the extent to +which feudal tenures were beginning to be established before the Norman +conquest. + +The Norman conquest involved a vast confiscation of property and the +exclusion of the native English from political privileges. The feudal +system of land tenure was established; but its political aspect here and +in France was quite different. There were no barons with territories +comparable to those of the great French feudataries. That the government +was extremely tyrannical is certain. The Crown derived its revenues from +feudal dues, customs duties, tallages--that is, special charges on +particular towns,--and the war tax called the Danegelt; all except the +first being arbitrary taxes. The violence of King John led to the demand +of the barons for the Great Charter, the keystone of English liberty, +securing the persons and property of all freemen from arbitrary +imprisonment or spoliation. Thenceforth no right of general taxation is +claimed. The barons held themselves warranted in refusing supplies. + +The King's Court was gradually separated into three branches, King's +Bench, Exchequer, and Common Pleas. The advance in the study of law had +the definite effect of establishing a fixed rule of succession to the +Crown. One point must still be noticed which distinguishes England from +other European countries; that the law recognises no distinction of +class among freemen who stand between the peers and villeins. + +The reign of Edward I. forms an epoch. The Confirmation of the Charters +put an end to all arbitrary taxation; and the type of the English +Parliament was fixed. In the Great Councils the prelates and greater +barons had assembled, and the lesser barons were also summoned; the term +baron being equivalent to tenant in chief. A system of representation is +definitely formulated in Montfort's Parliament of 1265. Whether the +knights were elected by the freemen of the shire or only by the tenants +in chief, is not clear. Many towns were self governing--independent, +that is, of local magnates--under charters from the Crown. Montfort's +Parliament is the first to which towns sent representatives. Edward +established the practice in his Model Parliament; probably in order to +ensure that his demands for money from the towns might in appearance at +least receive their formal assent. + +Parliament was not definitely divided into two houses until the reign of +Edward III. In this reign the Commons succeeded in establishing the +illegality of raising money without consent; the necessity that the two +houses should concur for any alterations in the law; and the right of +the Commons to enquire into public abuses and to impeach public +counsellors. Under the second heading is introduced a distinction +between statutes and ordinances; the latter being of a temporary +character, and requiring to be confirmed by Parliament before they +acquire permanent authority. In the next reign the Commons assert the +right of examining the public expenditure. Moreover the Parliaments more +openly and boldly expressed resentment at the acts of the king's +ministers and claimed rights of control. For a time, however, the king +secured supremacy by a coup d'etat; which in turn brought about his +deposition, and the accession of Henry IV., despite the absurd weakness +of his title to the inheritance of the Crown. + +The rights thus acquired developed until the War of the Roses. Notably +redress of grievances became the condition of supply; and the +inclination of the Crown to claim a dispensing power is resolutely +combated. It is also to be remarked that the king's foreign policy of +war or peace is freely submitted to the approval of Parliament. + +This continues during the minority of Henry VI.; but the revival of +dissatisfaction with the government leads to a renewed activity in the +practice of impeachments; and Parliament begins to display a marked +sensitiveness on the question of its privileges. The Commons further +definitely express their exclusive right of originating money bills. + +At this time it is clear that at least all freeholders were entitled to +vote in the election of the knights of the shire. The selection of the +towns which sent up members, and the franchise under which their members +were elected, seems to have been to a considerable extent arbitrary. Nor +can we be perfectly certain of the principles on which writs were issued +for attendance in the upper house. We find that for some time the lower +clergy as well as the higher were summoned to attend Parliament; but +presently, sitting in a separate chamber, they ceased to take part in +Parliamentary business. + +We have seen the King's Court divided into three courts of justice. The +court itself, however, as the king's Council, continued to exercise a +juridical as well as a deliberative and administrative function. In +spite of the charter, it possessed an effective if illegal power of +arbitrary imprisonment. + +So far the essential character of our constitution appears to be a +monarchy greatly limited by law but swerving continually into irregular +courses which there was no constraint adequate to correct. There is +absolutely no warrant for the theory that the king was merely a +hereditary executive magistrate, the first officer of the State. The +special advantage enjoyed by England lay in the absence of an +aristocracy with interests antagonistic to those of the people. It would +be truer to say that the liberties of England were bought by money than +by the blood of our forefathers. + +The process by which the villein became a hired labourer is obscure and +an attempt was made to check it by the Statute of Labourers at the time +of the Black Death. This was followed by the peasant's revolt of 1382, +which corresponded to the far worse horrors of the French Jacquerie. +Sharply though this was suppressed, the real object of the rising seemed +to have been accomplished. Of the period of the Wars of the Roses it is +here sufficient to say that it established the principle embodied in a +statute of Henry VII. that obedience to the _de facto_ government is not +to be punished on the ground that government is not also _de jure_. + + +_V.--Europe_ + + +In spite of the Teutonic incursion, Latin remained the basis of language +as it survived in Italy, France, and Spain. But the pursuit of letters +was practically confined to the clergy and was by them employed almost +exclusively in the interests of clerical authority. To this end a +multitude of superstitions were encouraged; superstitions which were the +cause of not a few strange and irrational outbursts of fanaticism. The +monasteries served indeed a useful purpose as sanctuaries in days of +general lawlessness and rapine; but the huge weight of evidence is +conclusive as to the general corruption of morals among the clergy as +among the laity. The common diversion of the upper classes, lay and +clerical, when not engaged in actual war, was hunting. An extended +commerce was impossible when robbery was a normal occupation of the +great. + +Gradually, however, a more orderly society emerged. Maritime commerce +developed in two separate areas, the northern and western, and the +Mediterranean. The first great commerce in the north arises from the +manufacture in Flanders of the wool exported from England. And in the +fourteenth century England herself began to compete in the woollen +manufacture. The German free manufacturing towns established the Great +Hanseatic League; but maritime commerce between the Northern and +Southern areas was practically non-existent till the fifteenth century, +by which time English ships were carrying on a fairly extensive traffic +in the Mediterranean. In that area the great seaports of Italy, and in a +less degree, of Catalonia and the French Mediterranean seaboard, +developed a large commerce. Naturally, however, the law which it was +sufficiently difficult to enforce by land was even more easily defied on +the sea, and piracy was extremely prevalent. + +Governments as well as private persons were under a frequent necessity +of borrowing, and for a long time the great money lenders were the Jews. +They, however, were later to a great extent displaced by the merchants +of Lombardy, and the fifteenth century witnesses the rise of the great +bankers, Italian and German. + +The structure and furniture of all buildings for private purposes made +exceedingly little provision for comfort, offering an extreme contrast +to the dignity of the public buildings and the sublimity of +ecclesiastical architecture. + +During the last three hundred years of our period it is clear that there +was a great diminution of the status of servitude and a great increase +in the privileges extended to corporate towns. Private warfare was +checked and lawless robbery to a considerable extent restrained. It is +tolerably clear that the rise of heretical sects were both the cause and +the result of moral dissatisfaction, tending to the adoption of higher +moral standards. Some of these sects were cruelly crushed by merciless +persecution, as in the case of the Albigenses. The doctrines of +Wickliffe, however, were never stamped out in England; and the form +which they took in Bohemia among the followers of the martyred John Huss +had little about them that was beneficial. + +The great moral school of the Middle Ages was the institution of +chivalry, which existed to animate and cherish the principle of honour. +To this a strong religious flavor was superadded, perhaps by the +Crusades. To valour and devotion was added the law of service to +womanhood, and chivalry may fairly claim to have developed generally the +three virtues essential to it, of loyalty, courtesy, and liberality. +Resting, however, as it did on the personal prowess and skill of the +individual in single combat, the whole system of chivalry was destroyed +by the introduction on an extensive scale of the use of firearms. + +We turn lastly to the intellectual improvement which may be referred to +four points: the study of civil laws the institution of universities; +the application of modern languages to literature, and especially to +poetry; and the revival of ancient learning. Education may almost be +said to have begun with the establishment of the great schools by +Charlemagne out of which sprang the European universities. For a long +time of course all studies were dominated by that of theology, and the +scholastic philosophy which pertained to it. Barren as these pursuits +were, they kept alive an intellectual activity which ultimately found +fresh channels. The Romance languages developed a new literature first +on the tongues of the troubadours and then in Italy--the Italy which +gave birth to Dante and Petrarch. It was about the fourteenth century +that a new enthusiasm was born for the study of classical authors, +though Greek was still unknown. And the final and decisive impulse was +given when the invention of printing made the great multiplication of +books possible. + + * * * * * + + + + +STANLEY LANE-POOLE + + +Egypt in the Middle Ages + + + Stanley Lane-Poole, born on December 18, 1845, studied Arabic + under his great-uncle, Lane, the Orientalist, and, before + going up to Oxford for his degree, began his "Catalogue of + Oriental Coins in the British Museum," which appeared in + fourteen volumes between 1875 and 1892, and founded his + reputation as the first living authority on Arabic + numismatics. In 1883, 1896, and 1897 he was at Cairo + officially employed by the British Government upon the + Mohammedan antiquities, and published his treatise on "The Art + of the Saracens in Egypt" in 1886, in which year he visited + Stockholm, Helsingfors, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and + Constantinople to examine their Oriental collections. He has + written histories of the "Moors in Spain," "Turkey," "The + Barbary Corsairs," and "Mediaeval India," which have run to + many editions; and biographies of Saladin, Babar, Aurangzib; + of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and Sir Harry Parkes. He has + also published a miniature Koran in the "Golden Treasury" + series, and written "Studies in a Mosque," besides editing + three volumes of Lane's "Arabic Lexicon." For five years he + held the post of Professor of Arabic at Trinity College, + Dublin, of which he is Litt.D. Mohammedan Egypt, his special + subject, he has treated in several books on Cairo, the latest + being "The Story of Cairo." But his most complete work on this + subject is "The History of Egypt in the Middle Ages," here + epitomised by the author. + + +_I.--A Province of the Caliphate_ + + +Ever since the Arab conquest in 641 Egypt has been ruled by Mohammedans, +and for more than half the time by men of Turkish race. Though now and +again a strong man has gathered all the reins of control into his own +hands and been for a time a personal monarch, as a rule the government +has been, till recent years, a military bureaucracy. + +The people, of course, had no voice in the government. The Egyptians +have never been a self-governing race, and such a dream as +constitutional democracy was never heard of until a few years ago. By +the Arab conquest in the seventh century the people merely changed +masters. They were probably not indisposed to welcome the Moslems as +their deliverers from the tyranny of the Orthodox Church of the East +Roman or Byzantine Empire, invincibly intolerant of the native +monophysite heresy; and when the conquest was complete they found +themselves, on the whole, better off than before. They paid their taxes +to officials with Arabic instead of Greek titles, but the taxes were +lighter and the amount was strictly laid down by law. + +The land-tax of about a pound per acre was not excessive on so fertile a +soil, and the poll-tax on nonconformity, of the same amount, was a +moderate price to pay for entire liberty of conscience and freedom in +public worship guaranteed by solemn treaty. The other taxes were +comparatively insignificant, and the total revenue in the eighth century +was about L7,000,000. The surplus went to the caliph, the head of the +vast Mohammedan empire, which then stretched from Seville to Samarkand, +whose capital was first Damascus and afterwards Baghdad. + +For over 200 years (till 868) Egypt was a mere province of this huge +caliphate, and was governed, like other provinces, with a sole view to +revenue. "Milk till the udder be dry and let blood to the last drop" was +a caliph's instructions to a governor of Egypt. As these governors were +constantly changed--there were sixty-seven in 118 years under the +Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad--and as a governor's main object was to "make +hay while the sun shines," the process of milking the Egyptian cow was +often accelerated by illegal extortion, and the governor's harvest was +reaped before it was due. Illegality was, however, checked to some +extent by the generally wise and just influence of the chief justice, or +kadi, whose probity often formed the best feature of the Arab government +in Egypt. + +Nor did the caliphs extort taxes without giving something in return. The +development of irrigation works was always a main consideration with the +early Mohammedan rules, from Spain to India, and in Egypt, where +irrigation is the country's very life, it was specially cared for, with +a corresponding increase in the yield. Moreover, the governors usually +held to the agreement that the Christians should have liberty of +conscience, and protected them from the Moslem soldiery. As time went +on, this toleration abated, partly because the Moslems had gradually +become the predominant population. At the beginning the caliphs had +taken anxious precautions against the colonising of Egypt; they held it +by an army, but they were insistent that the army should not take root, +but be always free to join the caliph's standard. But it was inevitable +that the Arabs should settle in so fertile and pleasant a land. Each +governor brought a small army as his escort, and these Arab troops +naturally intermarried with Egyptian women, who were constitutionally +inclined to such alliances. A few Arab tribes also settled in Egypt. + +This gradual and undesigned Arabising of the country would lead to +oppression of the Christians, to the "squeezing" of wealthy natives, and +occasionally to the institution of humiliating distinctions of dress and +other vexations, and even to the spoiling of Coptic churches. Then +sometimes the Copts, as the Egyptian Christians are called, would rebel. +Their last and greatest rebellion, which occurred in the Delta in +830-832, was ruthlessly trampled out by Turkish troops under Mamun, the +only Abbasid caliph who made a visit to Egypt. Many Copts now +apostatised, and from this time dates the predominance of the Moslem +population and the settling of Arabs in the villages and on the land, +instead of as heretofore only in the two or three large towns. + +The coming of the Turkish troops with the caliph Mamun was an ominous +event for the country. Up to 846 all the successive governors had been +Arabs, and many of them were related to the caliphs themselves. With +some unfortunate exceptions, they seem to have been men of simple +habits--the Arabs were never luxurious--and usually of strict Mohammedan +principles. They made money, honestly if possible, during their brief +tenure; but they did not harass the people much by their personal +interference, and left the local officials to manage matters in their +own way, as had always been the custom. They lived at the new capital, +Fustat, which grew up on the site of the conqueror's camp, and very near +the modern Cairo; for Alexandria, the symbol of Roman domination, was +dismantled in 645 after the Emperor Manuel's attempt at reconquest. If +they did not do much active good, they did little harm, and Egypt +pursued her immemorial ways. + +The last Arab governor, Anbasa, was a man of fine character, and his +term of office was distinguished by the building of the fort of +Damietta, as a protection against Roman raids, and by a defeat of the +tributary Sudanis near Dongola. + + +_II.--Turkish Governors_ + + +The Arabs have neither the ferocity nor the luxuriousness, nor, it +should be added, the courage and the genius for administration of the +Turkish race. In the arrival of Turkish troops in 830 we see a symptom +of what was going on all over the eastern caliphate. Turks were taking +the place of Arabs in the army and the provincial governments, just as +the Persians were filling up the civil appointments. The caliph's +Turkish bodyguard was the beginning of the dismemberment of the +caliphate. It became the habit of the caliphs to grant the government of +Egypt, as a sort of fief, to a leading Turkish officer, who usually +appointed a deputy to do his work and to pay him the surplus revenue. +Such a deputy was Ahmad-ibn-Tulun (868-884), the first of the many +Turkish despots of Egypt. Ibn-Tulun was the first ruler to raise Egypt +from a mere tax-paying appendage of the caliphate to a kingdom, +independent save for the recognition of the caliph on the coinage, and +he was the first to found a Moslem dynasty there. A man of fair +Mohammedan education, iron will, and ubiquitous personal attention to +affairs, he added Syria to his dominions, defeated the East Romans with +vast slaughter near Tarsus (883), kept an army of 30,000 Turkish slaves +and a fleet of a hundred fighting ships. + +He beautified his capital by building a sumptuous palace and his +well-known mosque, which still stands in his new royal suburb of Katai; +he encouraged the small farmers and reduced the taxation, yet he left +five millions in the treasury when he died in 884. His son maintained +his power, and more than his luxury and artistic extravagance; but there +were no elements of stability in the dynasty, which depended solely upon +the character of the ruler. The next generation saw Egypt once more +(905) a mere province of the caliphate, but with this difference, that +its governors were now Turks, generally under the control of their own +soldiery, and much less dependent upon the ever-weakening power of the +Caliph of Baghdad. One of them, the Ikhshid, in 935 emulated Ibn-Tulun +and united part of Syria to Egypt; but the sons he left were almost +children, and the power fell into the hands of the regent Kafur, a black +eunuch from the Sudan, bought for L25, who combined a luxurious and +cultivated court with some military successes and real administrative +capacity. + + +_III.--The Fatimid Caliphs_ + + +The Mohammedan world is roughly divided into Sunnis and Shia. The Shia +are the idealists, the mystics of Islam; the Sunnis are the formalists, +the schoolmen. The Shia trace an apostolic succession from Ali, the +husband of the prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima, hold doctrines of +immanence and illumination, adopt an allegorical interpretation of +scripture, and believe in the coming of a Mahdi or Messiah. The Sunnis +adhere to the elective historical caliphate descended from Mohammed's +uncle, maintain the eternal uncreated sufficiency of the Koran, +literally interpreted, and believe in no Messiah save Mohammed. + +The Shia, whatever their racial origin, form the Persian, the Aryan, +adaptation of Islam, which is an essentially Semitic creed. In the tenth +century they had established a caliph among the Berbers at Kayrawan +(908). They had thence invaded Egypt with temporary success in 914 and +919. When the death of Kafur in 968 left the country a prey to rival +military factions, the fourth of the caliphs of Kayrawan--called the +Fatimid caliphs, because they claimed a very doubtful descent from +Fatima--sent his army into Egypt. The people, who had too long been the +sport of Turkish mercenaries, received the invaders as deliverers, just +as the Copts had welcomed the Arabs three centuries before. Gauhar, the +Fatimid general, entered Fustat (or Misr, as it was usually called, a +name still applied both to Egypt and to its capital) amid acclamations +in 969, and immediately laid the foundations of the fortified palace +which he named, astrologically, after the planet Mars (Kahir), +El-Kahira, "the Martial," or "the Victorious," which gradually expanded +to the city of Cairo. He also founded the great historic university +mosque of the Azhar, which, begun by the heretical Shia, became the +bulwark of rigid scholasticism and the theological centre of orthodox +Islam. + +The theological change was abrupt. It was as though Presbyterian +Scotland had suddenly been put under the rule of the Jesuits. But, like +the Society of Jesus, the Shia were pre-eminently intellectual and +recognised the necessity of adapting their teaching to the capacities of +their hearers, and the conditions of the time. They did not force +extreme Shia doctrine upon the Egyptians. Their esoteric system, with +its graduated stages of initiation, permitted a large latitude, and they +were content to add their distinctive formulas to the ordinary +Mohammedan ritual, and to set them conspicuously on their coinage, +without entering upon a propaganda. The bulk of the Egyptian Moslems +apparently preserved their orthodoxy and suffered an heretical caliphate +for two centuries with traditional composure. The Christian Copts found +the new _regime_ a marked improvement. Mysticism finds kindred elements +in many faiths, and the Fatimid caliphs soon struck up relations with +the local heads of the Christian religion. + +The second Egyptian caliph, Aziz (975-996), was greatly influenced by a +Christian wife, who encouraged his natural clemency. Bishop Severus +attended his court, and Coptic churches were rebuilt. Throughout the +Fatimid period we constantly find Christians and Jews, and especially +Armenians, advanced to the highest offices of state. This was partly +due, of course, to their special qualifications as scribes and +accountants, for Arabs and Turks were no hands at "sums." The land had +rest under this wise and tolerant caliph. If he set a dangerous example +in his luxury and love of display, he unquestionably maintained law, +enforced equity, punished corruption, and valiantly defended his +kingdom. He fitted out a fleet of 600 sail at Maks (then the port of +Cairo, on the Nile), which kept the Emperor Basil at a distance and +assured the caliph's ascendancy from end to end of the Mediterranean +Sea. + +After these two great rulers the Fatimid caliphate subsisted for nearly +two centuries by no virtue or energy of its own. The caliphs lived +secluded, like veiled prophets, in their huge palace at Cairo, given +over to sensual delights (Saladin found 12,000 women in the Great Palace +when he entered it in 1171), and wholly regardless of their kingdom, +which they left to the care of vezirs, who were chiefly bent on making +their own fortunes, though there were many able, and a few honest men +amongst them. The real power rested with the army, and the only check +upon the tyranny and debauchery of the army lay in its own jealous +divisions. The fanatical Berber regiments imported from Tunis, the +bloody blacks recruited in the Sudan, and the mutinous Turkish troops +long established in the country, were always at daggers drawn, and their +rivalry was the vezirs' opportunity. In such anarchy the country fell +from bad to worse. + +The reign of Hakim, the frantic son of Aziz and his Christian wife, was +a personal despotism of the most eccentric kind, marked by apparently +unreasonable regulations, such as keeping the shops open by night +instead of by day, and confining all women to the house for seven years, +as well as by intermittent persecution of Christians and Jews; and also +by enlightened acts, such as the founding of the Hall of Science and the +building of mosques, for all the Fatimides were friends to the arts; and +ending in the proclamation of Hakim as the incarnation of the Divine +Reason, in which capacity he is still adored by the Druses of the +Lebanon. This assumption led to popular tumults and an orgy of carnage, +in the midst of which Hakim mysteriously disappeared (1021). + +His successors, Zahir (1021-1036), and Mustansir (1036-1096) did nothing +to retrieve the anarchic situation, of which the soldiers were the +unruly masters. Palace cliques, disastrous famines (one of which lasted +seven years, 1066-1072, and even led to the public selling of human +joints as butcher's meat), slave, or rather freedmen's, revolts, +military tumults, and the occasional temporary ascendancy of a talented +vezir, sum up the history of Egypt during most of the eleventh century. +The wisdom and firmness of two great Armenian vezirs, Bedr-el-Gemali +(1073-1094) and his son Afdal (1094-1121), brought a large degree of +order, but the last years of the Fatimid caliphate were blotted by +savage murders both of caliphs and vezirs, and by the loss of their +Syrian dominions to Seljuks and Crusaders. + + +_IV.--The House of Saladin_ + + +It was a question whether Egypt would fall to the Christian king of +Jerusalem or the Moslem king of Damascus; but, after several invasions +by both, Nur-ed-din settled the problem by sending his Syrian army to +Cairo in 1169, when the Crusaders withdrew without offering battle, and +the Fatimid caliphate came to an end in 1171. + +On the Syrian general's death, two months after the conquest, his +nephew, Salah-ed-din ibn-Ayyub (Saladin), succeeded to the vezirate, and +after Nur-ed-din's death, in 1174, he made himself independent sultan, +not only of Egypt but of Syria and Mesopotamia. Saladin was a Kurd from +the Tigris districts; but his training and his following were purely +Turkish, moulded on the Seljuk model, and recruited largely from the +Seljuk lands. His fame was won outside Egypt, and only eight of the +twenty-four years of his reign were spent in Cairo; the rest was passed +in waging wars in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, culminating in the +catastrophic defeat of the Crusaders near Tiberias in 1187, and the +conquest of Jerusalem and all of the Holy Land. + +The famous crusade of Richard I., though it resulted only in recovering +a strip of coast from Acre to Jaffa, and did not rescue Jerusalem, wore +out Saladin's strength, and in 1193 the chivalrous and magnanimous +"Soldan" died. In Egypt his chief work, after repressing revolts of +black troops and Shia conspiracies, and repelling successive naval +attacks on Damietta and Alexandria by the Eastern emperor and the kings +of Jerusalem and Sicily, was the building of the Citadel of Cairo after +the model of Norman fortresses in Syria, and the encouragement of Sunni +orthodoxy by the founding and endowment of medresas, or theological +colleges. The people, who had never been really converted to the Fatimid +creed, accepted the latest reformation with their habitual nonchalance. +This was really the greatest achievement of Saladin and his house. Cairo +succeeded to Baghdad and Cordova as the true metropolis of Islam, and +Egypt has remained true to the most narrow school of orthodoxy ever +since. + +Saladin's kinsmen, known as the Ayyubid dynasty, ruled Egypt for over +half a century after the death of their great leader. First his politic +brother, Adil Seyf-ed-din ("Saphadin") carried on his fine tradition for +a quarter of a century, and then from 1218 to 1238 Seyf-ed-din's able +son Kamil, who had long been the ruler of Egypt during his father's +frequent absences, followed in his steps. The futile efforts of the +discredited Crusaders disturbed their peace. John of Brienne's seizure +of Damietta was a serious menace, and it took all Kamil's energy to +defeat the "Franks" at Mansura (1219) and drive them out of the country. + +On the other hand, he cultivated very friendly relations with the +Emperor Frederic II., who concluded a singular defensive alliance with +him in 1229, to the indignation of the Pope. He was tolerant to +Christians, and listened to the preaching of St. Francis of Assisi; he +granted trading concessions to the Venetians and Pisans, who established +a consulate at Alexandria. At the same time he notably encouraged Moslem +learning, built colleges, and developed the resources of the kingdom in +every way. What had happened to the dynasties of Tulun, Ikhshid, and the +Fatimides, was repeated on the death of Kamil. Two sons kept the throne +successively till 1249, and then, in the midst of Louis IX's crusade, +the salvation of Egypt devolved on the famous Mamluks, or white slaves, +who had formed the _corps d'elite_ of Saladin's army. + + +_V.--The Mamluks_ + + +Political women have played a great role in Egypt from Hatshepsut and +Cleopatra to the Christian wife of Aziz, the princess royal who +engineered the downfall of Hakim, and the black mother who dominated +Mustansir; and it was a woman who was the first queen of the Mamluks. +Sheger-ed-durr ("Tree of Pearls"), widow of Salih, the last reigning +Ayyubid of Egypt, was the brain of the army which broke the chivalry of +France. + +At the second battle of Mansura in 1249, she took Louis prisoner. Then +she married a leading Mamluk emir, to conciliate Moslem prejudice +against a woman's rule, and thenceforth for more than two centuries and +a half one Mamluk after another seized the throne, held it as long as he +could, and sometimes transmitted it to his son. When it is noted that +forty-eight sultans (twenty-five Bahri Mamluks, or "white slaves of the +river," so called from the barracks on an island in the Nile, and +twenty-three Burgis, named after the burg, or citadel, where their +quarters originally were), succeeded one another from 1250 to 1517, it +will be seen that their average reign was but three and a half years. +The throne, in fact, belonged to the man with the longest sword. + +The bravest and richest generals and court officials surrounded +themselves with bands of warrior slaves, and reached a power almost +equal to the reigning sultan, who was, in fact, only _primus inter +pares_, and on his death--usually by assassination--they fought for his +title. All were alike slaves by origin, but this term implied no +degradation. Any slave with courage and address had the chance of +becoming a freedman, rising to influence, and climbing into his master's +seat. Every man was every other man's equal--if he could prove it; but +the process of proving it often turned Cairo into a shambles. + +The Mamluks were physically superb, a race of born soldiers, dashing +horsemen, skilled leaders, brilliant alike in battle and in all manly +sports. They were at the same time the most luxurious of men, heavy +drinkers, debauched sensualists, magnificent in their profusion, in +their splendid prodigality in works of art and luxury, and in the +munificence with which they filled their capital with noble monuments of +the most exquisite Saracenic architecture. Most of the beautiful mosques +of Cairo were built by these truculent soldiers, all foreigners, chiefly +Turks, a caste apart, with no thought for the native Egyptians whose +lands they received as fiefs from the sultan; with no mercy when +ambition called for secret assassination or wholesale massacre; yet +fastidious in dress, equipment, and manners, given to superb pageants, +laborious in business, and fond of music and poetry. Their orthodoxy is +attested not only by their innumerable religious foundations and +endowments, but by their importing into Cairo a line of Abbasid +caliphs--_faineants_ indeed, but in a manner representative of the great +caliphs of Baghdad, extinguished by the Mongols in 1258--and in +maintaining them till the Ottoman sultan usurped their very nominal +authority as Commanders of the Faithful. + +The greatest of all the Mamluks was Beybars (1260-1277). He it was who +had charged St. Louis's knights at Mansura in 1249, and afterwards +helped to rout the Mongol hordes at the critical battle of Goliath's +Spring in 1260; and he was the real founder of the Mamluk empire, and +organised and consolidated his wide dominions so skilfully and firmly +that all the follies and jealousies and crimes of his successors could +not destroy the fabric. He made his army perfect in discipline, built a +navy, made canals, roads, and bridges, annexed Nubia, organised a +regular postal service, built fortifications, mosques, colleges, halls +of justice, and managed everything, from the fourth cataract of the Nile +and the Holy Cities of Arabia to the Pyramus and the Euphrates, by his +immense capacity for work and amazing rapidity of movements. + +Egypt prospered exceedingly under his just, firm, and capable rule; he +was severe to immorality and strictly prohibited wine, beer, and +hashish. He entered into diplomatic relations with European powers to +the great advantage of his country's trade; and his bravery, +munificence, and justice have made him a popular hero in Arabic romances +down to the present day. + +None of his successors approached his high example Khalil indeed +recovered Acre and all that remained of the Crusader's possessions in +Palestine, and the Mamluks, who never lost their soldierly qualities +whoever happened to be their nominal ruler, handsomely defeated the +Mongols again in 1299 and 1303, and for ever saved Egypt from the +unspeakable curse of a Mongol conquest Nasir, whose reign covers most of +the first half of the fourteenth century, was a great builder, and so +were many of the nobles of his court. It was the golden age of Saracenic +architecture, and Cairo is still full of the monuments of Nasir's emirs. +He encouraged agriculture, stockbreeding, farming, falconry, as well as +literature and art, everything, in short, except vice, wine, and +Christians. + +The Burgi, or Circassian Mamluks (1382-1517), were little more than +chief among the emirs. Widespread corruption, the open sale of high +offices and of "justice," and general debauchery characterised their +rule. Yet they built many of the loveliest mosques in Cairo, and the +conquest of Cyprus, long a nest of Mediterranean piracy, by Bars Bey in +1426 may be added to their credit. Kait Bey (1468-1496) was a great +builder, and in every way a wise, brave, and energetic, public-spirited +sovereign, and was an exception to the general baseness. + +Egypt was rich in his day. The European trade had swelled enormously, +and the duties brought in a prodigious revenue. The Italian Republics +had their consulates or their marts in Alexandria, and Marseilles, +Narbonne, and Catalonia sent their representatives. The Indian trade was +also very considerable; we read of L36,000 paid at one time in customs +dues at Gidda, then an Egyptian port on the Red Sea. The Mamluk sultan +took toll on every bale of goods that passed between Europe and India in +the palmy days that preceded Vasco de Gama's discovery of the Cape route +in 1497. It was an immense monopoly, extortionately used, and it was not +resigned without a struggle. The Mamluk fleet engaged the Portuguese off +Chaul in the Bay of Bengal in 1508 and defeated them; but Almeida +avenged the honour of his country by a victory over the Mamluk admiral +Hoseyn off Diu in the following year, and the prolific transit trade of +Egypt was to a great extent lost. + +This final effort was made by the last great sultan of the Circassian +dynasty, Kansuh Ghuri (1501-1516), who also exerted himself manfully in +defending his country from the impending disaster of Ottoman invasion. +But the Othmanli Turks, greatly heartened by the conquest of +Constantinople in 1453, had been steadily encroaching in Asia, and, +after defeating the shah of Persia, their advance upon Syria and Egypt +was only a matter of time. The victory was made easier by jealousies and +treachery among the Mamluks. Kansuh fell at the head of his gallant +troops in a battle near Aleppo in August 1516; a last desperate stand of +the Mamluks under the Mukattam Hill at Cairo in January 1517, was +overcome, and Sultan Selim made Egypt a province of the Turkish empire. +Such it remains, formally, to this day. + + * * * * * + + + + +RAPHAEL HOLINSHED + + +Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland + + + Raphael Holinshed, who was born about 1520, is one of the most + celebrated of English chroniclers. The "Chronicles of England, + Scotland, and Ireland," known by his name, cover a long period + of English history, beginning with a "Description" of Britain + from the earliest times, and carried on until the reign of + Elizabeth, in the course of which, between 1580 and 1584, + Holinshed died. The work did good service to Shakespeare, who + drew from it much of the material for his historical plays. + The first edition, published in 1577, was succeeded in 1587 by + another, in which the "Chronicles" were continued by John + Hooker and others. An edition appeared in 1807, in the + foreword to which the "Chronicles" are described as containing + "the most curious and authentic account of the manners and + customs of our island in the reign of Henry VIII. and + Elizabeth "; and being the work of a contemporary observer + this is not too much to claim for it. Owing to the great scope + of this work, it is impossible to convey an impression of the + whole, which is best represented by means of selected examples + of the chronicler's method. Being the work of so many + different authors, the literary quality of the "Chronicles" + naturally varies; but the learning and research they show make + them an invaluable aid to the study of the manners and customs + of early England. + + +_I.--Master Holinshed to his Good Lord and Master, Sir William Brooke, +Knight_ + + +Being earnestlie required, Right Honorable, of divers my freends, to set +down some breefe discourse of some of those things which I had observed +in the reading of manifold antiquities, I was at first verie loth to +yeeld to their desires. But, they pressing their irksome sute, I +condescended to it, and went in hand with the work, with hopes of good, +although no gaie success. In the process of this Booke, if your Honor +regard the substance of that which is here declared, I must needs +confess that it is none of mine owne; but if your lordship have +consideration of the barbarous composition shewed herein, that I may +boldlie claim and challenge for mine owne. Certes, I protest before God +and your Honor, that I never made any choise of stile, or words, neither +regarded to handle this Treatise in such precise order and method as +manie other would have done, thinking it sufficient, truelie and +plainelie to set forth such things as I minded to intreat of, rather +than with vain affectation of eloquence to paint out a rotten sepulchre, +a thing neither commendable in a writer, nor profitable to the reader. +But howsoever it be done, I have had an especial eye unto the truth of +things, and for the rest, I hope that this foule frizeled Treatise of +mine will prove a spur to others better learned to handle the self-same +argument, if in my life-time I doo not peruse it again. + + +_II.--Some Account of the Historie of Britaine_ + + +As few or no nations can justlie boast themselves to have continued +sithence their countrie was first replenished, without anie mixture, +more or lesse, of forreine inhabitant mixture, more or lesse, of +forreine inhabitants; no more can this our Iland, whose manifold +commodities have oft allured sundrie princes and famous capteines of the +world to conquer and subdue the same unto their owne subjection. Manie +sorts of people therefore have come in hither and settled themselves +here in this Ile, and first of all other, a parcell of the lineage and +posteritie of Japhet, brought in by Samothes, in the 1910 after the +creation of Adam. Howbeit in process of time, and after they had +indifferentlie replenished and furnished this Iland with people, Albion, +the giant, repaired hither with a companie of his owne race proceeding +from Cham, and not onelie annexed the same to his owne dominion, but +brought all such as he found here of the line of Japhet, into miserable +servitude and most extreame thraldome. After him also, and within lesse +than six hundred and two yeares, came Brute, the son of Sylvius, with a +great train of the posteritie of the dispersed Trojans in 324 ships; who +rendering the like courtesie unto Chemminits as they had done before +unto the seed of Japhet, brought them also wholie under his rule and +governance, and dispossessing them he divided the countrie among such +princes and capteines as he had led out of Grecia with him. + +Then after some further space of time the Roman Emperours subdued the +land to their dominion; and after the coming of the Romans, it is hard +to say with how manie sorts of people we were dailie pestered. For their +armies did commonlie consist of manie sorts of people, and were (as I +may call them) a confused mixture of all other countries and nations +then living in the world. Howbeit I thinke it best, because they did all +beare the title of Romans, to retaine onelie that name for them all, +albeit they were wofull guests to this our Iland: sith that with them +came all kinds of vice, all riot and excess of behaviour into our +countrie, which their legions brought with them from each corner of +their dominions. + +Then did follow the Saxons, and the Danes, and at last the Normans, of +whom it is worthilie doubted whether they were more hard and cruell to +our countrymen than the Danes, or more heavie and intollerable to our +Iland than the Saxons or the Romans. For they were so cruellie bent to +our utter subversion and overthrow, that in the beginning it was lesse +reproach to be accounted a slave than an Englishman, or a drudge in anie +filthie businesse than a Britaine: insomuch that everie French page was +superiour to the greatest Peere; and the losse of an Englishman's life +but a pastime to such of them as contended in their braverie who should +give the greatest strokes or wounds unto their bodies when their toiling +and drudgerie could not please them or satisfie their greedie humours. +Yet such was our lot in those daies by the divine appointed order, that +we must needs obey such as the Lord did set pyer us, and this all +because we refused grace offered in time, and would not heare when God +by his preachers did call us so favourablie unto him. + +By all this then we perceive, how from time to time this Hand hath not +onelie been a prey, but as it were a common receptacle for strangers, +the naturall homelings or Britons being still cut shorter and shorter, +till in the end they came not onelie to be driven into a corner of this +region, but in time also verie like utterlie to have been extinguished. +Thus we see how England hath been manie times subject to the reproach of +conquest. And whereas the Scots seeme to challenge manie famous +victories also over us, it shall suffice for answer, that they deale in +this as in the most part of their historie, which is to seeke great +honour by lying, and great renown by prating and craking. Indeed they +have done great mischief in this Hand, and with extreime crueltie; but +as for anie conquest the first is yet to heare of. + +But beside those conquests aforementioned, Huntingdon, the old +historiographer, speaketh of another, likelie (as he saith) to come one +daie out of the North, which is a wind that bloweth no man to good, sith +nothing is to be had in those parts, but hunger and much cold. + + +_III.--Of King Richard, the First, and his Journie to the Holie Land_ + + +Richard the First of that name, and second sonne of Henrie the Second, +began his reign over England the sixt day of Julie, in the yere of our +Lord 1189. He received the crowne with all due and accustomed +sollemnitie, at the hands of Baldwin, the archbishop of Canterburie, the +third daie of September. + +Upon this daie of King Richard's coronation, the Jewes that dwelt in +London and in other parts of the realme, being there assembled, had but +sorie hap, as it chanced. For they meaning to honour the same coronation +with their presence, and to present to the king some honourable gift, +whereby they might declare themselves glad for his advancement, and +procure his freendship towards them, for the confirming of their +privileges and liberties; he of a zealous mind to Christes religion, +abhorring their nation (and doubting some sorcerie by them to be +practised) commanded that they should not come within the church when he +should receive the crowne, nor within the palace whilest he was at +dinner. + +But at dinner-time, among other that pressed in at the palace gate, +diverse of the Jews were about to thrust in, till one of them was +striken by a Christian, who alledging the king's commandment, kept them +backe from comming within the palace. Which some of the unrulie people, +perceiving, and supposing it had been done by the king's commandement, +tooke lightlie occasion thereof, and falling upon the Jewes with staves, +bats, and stones, beat them and chased them home to their houses and +lodgings. Then did they set fire on the houses, and the Jewes within +were either smoldred and burned to death within, or else at their +comming forth most cruellie received upon the points of speares, billes, +and swords of their adversaries that watched for them verie diligentlie. +This great riot well deserved sere and grievous punishment, but yet it +passed over without correction, because of the hatred generallie +conceived against the obstinate frowardnesse of the Jewes. Finallie, +after the tumult was ceased, the king commanded that no man should hurt +or harm any of the Jewes, and so they were restored to peace after they +had susteined infinit damage. + +No great while after this his coronation, the king sought to prepare +himself to journey to the holie land, and to this end he had great need +of money. Therefore he made such sale of things appertaining to him, as +well in right of the crowne, as otherwise, that it seemed to divers that +he made his reckoning never to return agan, in so much that some of his +councillors told him plainelie, that he did not well in making things +awaie so freelie; unto whom he answered "that in time of need it was no +evill policie for a man to help himself with his owne." and further, +"that if London at that time of need would be bought, he would surelie +sell it, if he might meet with a convenient merchant that were able to +give him monie enough for it." + +Then all things being readie, King Richard set forth, and, after great +hindrance by tempests, and at the hands of the men of Cyprus, who warred +against him and were overcome, he came to the citie of Acres, which then +was besieged by the Christian armie. Such was the valiancie of King +Richard shown in manfull constraining of the citie, that his praise was +greatly bruted both amongst the Christians and also the Saracens. + +At last, on the twelfth date of Julie, in the yeare of grace 1192, the +citie of Acres was surrendered into the Christian men's hands. These +things being concluded, the French King Philip, upon envie and malice +conceived against King Richard (although he pretended sickness for +excuse) departed homewards. Now touching this departure, divers +occasions are remembered by writers of the emulation and secret spite +which he should bear towards King Richard. But, howsoever, it came to +passe, partlie through envie (as hath beene thought) conceived at the +great deeds of King Richard, whose mightie power and valiantnesse he +could not well abide, and partlie for other respects him moving, he took +the sea with three gallies of the Genevois, and returned into Italie, +and so home into France, having promised first unto King Richard in the +holie land, and after to pope Celestine at Rome, that he would not +attempt any hurtfull enterprise against the English dominions, till King +Richard should be returned out of the holie land. But this promise was +not kept, for he sought to procure Earle John, King Richard's brother, +to rebell against him, though he then sought it in vaine. + +Yet were matters nowise peacefull within the realme of England, and +because of this, and likewise because the froward humours of the French +so greatlie hindered him in warring against the Saracens, King Richard +determined fullie to depart homewards, and at last there was a peace +concluded with Saladin. But on his journie homewards the King had but +sorie hap, for he made shipwracke on the coast of Istria, and then fell +into captivitie; and this was the manner that it came to passe. + + +_IV.--Of King Richard's Captivitie_ + + +King Richard, doubting to fall into the hands of those who might bear +him ill-will, made the best shift he could to passe through quietlie, +yet were many of his servants made captive, and he himself came with but +three men to Vienna. There causing his servants to provide meat for him +more sumptuous and fine than was thought requisite for so meane a person +as he counterfeited then, he was straightway remarked, and some gave +knowledge to the Duke of Austrich named Leopold, who loved him not for +some matter that had passed in the holie land. Moreover, his page, going +about the towne to change gold, and buy vittels, bewraied him, having by +chance the King's gloves under his girdle: whereupon, being examined, +for fear of tortures he confessed the truth. + +The Duke sent men to apprehend him, but he, being warie that he was +descried, got him to his weapon; but they alledging the Duke's +commandement, he boldly answered, "that sith he must be taken, he being +a King, would yeeld himselfe to none of the companie but to the Duke +alone." The Duke hearing of this, speedilie came unto him, whom he +meeting, delivered up his sword, and committed him unto his custodie. +Then was he brought before the princes and lords of the empire, in whose +presence the emperour charged him with diverse unlawfull doings. King +Richard notwithstanding the vaine and frivolous objections laid to his +charge, made his answers always so pithilie and directlie to all that +could be laid against him, and excused himself e in everie point so +thoroughlie, that the emperour much marvelled at his high wisdom and +prudence, and not onelie greatlie commended him for the same, but from +thenceforth used him more courteously. Yet did King Richard perceive +that no excuses would serve, but that he must paie to his covetous host +some great summe of monie for his hard entertainment. Therefore he sent +the bishop of Salisburie into England to provide for the paiment of his +ransome. + +Finallie the King, after he had beene prisoner one yeare, six weekes, +and three daies, was set at libertie on Candle-mass day, and then with +long and hastie journies, not keeping the high waies, he hasted forth +towards England. It is reported that if he had lingered by the way, he +had beene eftsoones apprehended. For the emperour being incensed against +him by ambassadors that came from the French king, immediatlie after he +was set forward, began to repent himselfe in that he had suffered him so +soon to depart from him, and hereupon sent men after him with all speed +to bring him backe if they could by any means overtake him, meaning as +then to have kept him in perpetual prison. But these his knavish tricks +being in the good providence of God defeated, King Richard at length in +good safetie landed at Sandwich, and the morrow after came to +Canterburie, where he was received with procession. From thence he came +unto London, where he was received with great joy and gladnesse of the +people, giving heartie thanks to almightie God for his safe return and +deliverance. + +The same yeare that King Richard was taken by the Duke of Austrich, one +night in the month of Januarie about the first watch of the night, the +northwest side of the element appeared of such a ruddie colour as though +it had burned, without any clouds or other darknesse to cover it, so +that the stars showed through that redness and might be verie well +discerned. Diverse bright strakes appeared to flash upwards now and +then, dividing the rednesse, through the which the stars seemed to be of +a bright sanguine colour. + +In Februarie next insuing, one night after midnight the like wonder was +seene and shortlie after newes came that the king was taken in Almaigne. +And the same daie and selfe houre that the king arrived at Sandwich, +whitest the sunne shone verie bright and cleare, there appeared a most +brightsome and unaccustomed clearnesse, not farre distant from the +sunne, as it were to the length and breadth of a man's personage, having +a red shining brightnesse withall, like to the rainbow, which strange +sight when manie beheld, there were that prognosticated the king +alreadie to be arrived. + + +_V.--Of Good Queen Elisabeth, and How She Came into Her Kingdom_ + + +After all the stormie, tempestuous, and blustering windie weather of +Queene Marie was overblowne, the darksome clouds of discomfort +dispersed, the palpable fogs and mists of most intollerable miserie +consumed, and the dashing showers of persecution overpast, it pleased +God to send England a calm and quiet season, a cleare and lovelie +sunshine, and a world of blessings by good Queene Elisabeth, into whose +gracious reign we are now to make an happie entrance as followeth. + +On her entering the citie of London, she was received of the people with +prayers, wishes, welcomings, cries, and tender words, all which argued a +wonderfull earnest love of most obedient subjects towards their +sovereign. And on the other side, her grace, by holding up her hands, +and merrie countenance to such as stood farre off, and most tender and +gentle language to those that stood nigh unto her grace, did declare +herselfe no lesse thankfullie to receive her people's good will, than +they lovinglie offered it to her. And it was not onelie to those her +subjects who were of noble birth that she showed herself thus verie +gracious, but also to the poorest sort. How manie nose gaies did her +grace receive at poore women's hands? How oftentimes staid she her +chariot, when she saw anie simple bodie offer to speake to her grace? A +branch of rosemarie given her grace with a supplication about +Fleetbridge, was seene in her chariot till her grace came to +Westminster, not without the marvellous wondering of such as knew the +presenter, and noted the queene's most gracious receiving and keeping +the same. Therefore may the poore and needie looke for great hope at her +grace's hand, who hath shown so loving a carefulnesse for them. + +Moreover, because princes be set in their seat by God's appointing, and +they must therefore first and chieflie tender the glorie of Him from +whom their glorie issueth; it is to be noted in her grace that for so +much as God hath so wonderfullie placed her in the seat of government of +this realme, she in all her doings doth show herselfe most mindful of +His goodness and mercie shewed unto her. And one notable signe thereof +her grace gave at the verie time of her passage through London, for in +the Tower, before she entered her chariot, she lifted up her eies to +Heaven and saith as followeth: + +"O Lord Almightie and everlasting God, I give Thee most heartie thanks +that Thou hast beene so mercifull unto me as to spare me to behold this +joy full daie. And I acknowledge that Thou hast dealt as wonderfullie +and as mercifullie with me as Thou diddest with Thy true and faithfull +servant Daniell Thy prophet, whom Thou deliveredst out of the den from +the crueltie of the greedie and raging lions; even so was I overwhelmed, +and onlie by Thee delivered. To Thee, therefore, onlie be thankes, +honor, and praise, for ever. Amen." + +On Sundaie, the five and twentieth daie of Januarie, her majestie was +with great solemnitie crowned at Westminster, in the Abbey church there, +by doctor Oglethorpe bishop of Carlisle. She dined in Westminster hall, +which was richlie hung, and everything ordered in such royall manner, as +to such a regall and most solemn feast appertained. In the meane time, +whilst her grace sat at dinner, Sir Edward Dimmocke, knight, her +champion by office, came riding into the hall in faire complete armour, +mounted upon a beautifull courser, richlie trapped in cloth of gold, and +in the midst of the hall cast downe his gauntlet, with offer to fight +in her quarell with anie man that should denie her to be the righteous +and lawfull queene of this realme. The queene, taking a cup of gold full +of wine, dranke to him thereof, and sent it to him for his fee. +Finallie, this feast being celebrated with all due and fitting royall +ceremonies, tooke end with great joy and contentation to all the +beholders. + +Yet, though there was thus an end of the ceremonies befitting the +queene's coronation, her majesty was everywhere received with brave +shows, and with pageants, all for the love and respect that her subjects +bare her. Thus on Whitsundaie, in the first year of her reign, the +citizens of London set forth a muster before the queene's majestie at +Greenwich in the parke there, of the number of 1,400 men, whereof 800 +were pikes, armed in fine corselets, 400 shot in shirts of mail, and 200 +halberdiers armed in Almaine rivets; these were furnished forth by the +crafts and companies of the citie. To everie hundred two wifflers were +assigned, richlie appointed and apparelled for the purpose. There were +also twelve wardens of the best companies mounted on horsebacke in +coates of blacke velvet, to conduct them, with drums and fifes, and sixe +ensigne all in lerkins of white sattin of Bridges, cut and lined with +black sarsenet, and caps, hosen, and scarfs according. The +sergeant-majors, captaine Constable, and captaine Sanders, brought them +in order before the queene's presence, placing them in battell arraie, +even as they should have fought; so the shew was verie faire, the +emperour's and the French king's ammbassadors being present. + +Verilie the queene hath ever shown herself forward and most willing that +her faithfull subjects should be readie and skilfull in war as in peace. +Thus in the fourteenth yeare of her reign, by order of her council, the +citizens of London, assembling in their several halles, the masters +chose out the most likelie and active persons of their companies to be +pikemen and shot. To these were appointed diverse valiant captaines, who +to train them up in warlike feats, mustered them thrice everie weeke, +sometimes in the artillerie yard, teaching the gunners to handle their +pieces, sometimes at the Miles end, and in saint George's field, +teaching them to skirmish. + +In the arts of peace likewise, she is greatlie pleased with them who are +good craftsmen, and shews them favour. In government we have peace and +securitie, and do not greatlie fear those who may stir up wicked +rebellion within our land, or may come against us from beyond the sea. + +In brief, they of Norwich did say well, when the queene's majestie came +thither, and in a pageant in her honour, one spake these words: + + "Dost them not see the joie of all this flocke? + Vouchsafe to view their passing gladsome cheere, + Be still (good queene) their refuge and their rocke, + As they are thine to serve in love and feare; + So fraud, nor force, nor forreine foe may stand + Against the strength of thy most puissant hand." + + * * * * * + + + + +EDWARD A. FREEMAN + + +The Norman Conquest of England + + + Edward Augustus Freeman was born at Harborne, Staffordshire, + England, Aug. 2, 1823. His precocity as a child was + remarkable; at seven he read English and Roman history, and at + eleven he had acquired a knowledge of Greek and Latin, and had + taught himself the rudiments of Hebrew. An increase in fortune + in 1848 enabled him to settle down and devote himself to + historical research, and from that time until his death on + March 17, 1892, his life was one spell of literary + strenuousness. His first published work, other than a share in + two volumes of verse, was "A History of Architecture," which + appeared in 1849. Freeman's reputation as historian rests + principally on his monumental "History of the Norman + Conquest." It was published in fifteen volumes between 1867 + and 1876, and, in common with all his works, is distinguished + by critical ability, exhaustiveness of research, and an + extraordinary degree of insight. His historical scenes are + remarkably clear and vivid, as though, according to one critic + "he had actually lived in the times." + + +_Preliminary Events_ + + +The Norman Conquest is important, not as the beginning of English +history, but as its chief turning point. Its whole importance is that +which belongs to a turning point. This conquest is an event which stands +by itself in the history of Europe. It took place at a transitional +period in the world's development. A kingdom which had hitherto been +only Teutonic, was brought within the sphere of the laws, manners, and +speech of the Romance nations. + +At the very moment when Pope and Caesar held each other in the death +grasp, a church which had hitherto maintained a sort of insular and +barbaric independence was brought into a far more intimate connection +with the Roman See. The conquest of England by William wrought less +immediate change than when the first English conquerors slew, expelled, +or enslaved the whole nation of the vanquished Britons or than when +Africa was subdued by Genseric. But it wrought a greater immediate +change than the conquest of Sicily by Charles of Anjou. It brought with +it not only a new dynasty, but a new nobility. It did not expel or +transplant the English nation or any part of it; but it gradually +deprived the leading men and families of England of their land and +offices, and thrust them down into a secondary position under the alien +intruders. + +It must not be forgotten that the old English constitution survived the +Norman Conquest. What the constitution had been under the Saxon Eadgar, +that it remained under William. The laws, with a few changes in detail, +and also the language of the public documents, remained the same. The +powers vested in King William and his Witan remained constitutionally +the same as those which had been vested in King Eadgar and his Witan a +hundred years before. Immense changes ensued in social condition and +administration, and in the relation of the kingdom to foreign lands. +There was also a vast increase of royal power, and new relations were +introduced between the king and every class of his subjects; but formal +constitutional changes there were none. + +I cannot too often repeat, for the saying is the very summing up of the +whole history, that the Norman Conquest was not the wiping out of the +constitution, the laws, the language, the national life of Englishmen. +The English kingship gradually changed from the old Teutonic to the +later mediaeval type; but the change began before the Norman Conquest. It +was hastened by that event; it was not completed till long after it, and +the gradual transition, was brought to perfection by Henry II. + +Certain events indicate the remoter causes of the Norman Conquest. The +accession of Eadward at once brings us among the events that led +immediately to that conquest, or rather we may look on the accession of +this Saxon king as the first stage of the conquest itself. Swend and +Cnut, the Danes, had shown that it was possible for a foreign power to +overcome England by force of arms. + +The misgovernment of the sons of Cnut hindered the formation of a +lasting Danish dynasty in England. The throne of Cerdic was again filled +by a son of Woden; but there can be no doubt that the shock given to the +country by the Danish Conquest, especially the way in which the ancient +nobility was cut off in the long struggle with Swend and Cnut, directly +opened the way for the coming of the Norman. Eadward did his best, +wittingly or unwillingly, to make his path still easier. This he did by +accustoming Englishmen to the sight of strangers--not national kinsmen +like Cnut's Danes, but Frenchmen, men of utterly alien speech and +manners--enjoying every available place of honour or profit in the +country. + +The great national reaction under Godwine and Harold made England once +more England for a few years. But this change, happy as it was, could +not altogether do away with the effects of the French predilections of +Eadward. With Eadward, then, the Norman Conquest really begins. The men +of the generation before the Conquest, the men whose eyes were not to +behold the event itself, but who were to do all that they could do to +advance or retard it, are now in the full maturity of life, in the full +possession of power. + +Eadward is on the throne of England; Godwine, Leofric, and Siward divide +among them the administration of the realm. The next generation, the +warriors of Stamfordbridge and Senlac, of York and Ely, are fast growing +into maturity. Harold Hadrada is already pursuing his wild career of +night-errantry in distant lands, and is astonishing the world by his +exploits in Russia and Sicily, at Constantinople and at Jerusalem. + +The younger warriors of the Conquest, Eadwine and Morcere and Waltheof +and Hereward, were probably born, but they must still have been in their +cradles or in their mothers' arms. But, among the leaders of Church and +State, Ealdred, who lived to place the crown on the head both of Harold +and of William, is already a great prelate, abbot of the great house of +Tewkesbury, soon to succeed Lyfing in the chair of Worcester. + +Tostig must have been on the verge of manhood; Swegen and Harold were +already men, bold and vigorous, ready to march at their father's +bidding, and before long to affect the destiny of their country for evil +and for good. Beyond the sea, William, still a boy in years but a man in +conduct and counsel, is holding his own among the storms of a troubled +minority, and learning those arts of the statesman and the warrior which +fitted him to become the wisest ruler of Normandy, the last and greatest +conqueror of England. + +The actors in the great drama are ready for their parts; the ground is +gradually preparing for the scene of their performance. The great +struggle of nations and tongues and principles in which each of them had +his share, the struggle in which William of Normandy and Harold of +England stand forth as worthy rivals of the noblest of prizes, will form +the subject of the next, the chief and central portion of my history. + +The struggle between Normans and Englishmen began with the accession of +Eadward in 1042, although the actual subjugation of England by force of +arms was still twenty-four years distant. The thought of another Danish +king was now hateful. "All folk chose Eadward to King." As the son of +AEthelred and Emma, the brother of the murdered and half-canonised +Alfred, he had long been-familiar to English imaginations. Eadward, and +Eadward alone, stood forth as the heir of English royalty, the +representative of English nationality. In his behalf the popular voice +spoke out at once, and unmistakably. His popular election took place in +June, immediately on the death of Harthacnut, and even before his +burial. Eadward, then, was king, and he reigned as every English king +before him had reigned, by that union of popular election and royal +descent which formed the essence of all ancient Teutonic kingship. He +was crowned at Winchester, April 3, 1043. But by virtue of his peculiar +character, his natural place was not on the throne of England, but at +the head of a Norman abbey, for all his best qualities were those of a +monk. Like him father, he was constantly under the dominion of +favourites. + +It was to the evil choice of his favourites during the early part of his +reign that most of the misfortunes of his time were owing, and that a +still more direct path was opened for the ambition of his Norman +kinsman. In the latter part of his reign, either by happy accident or +returning good sense, led him to a better choice. Without a guide he +could not reign, but the good fortune of his later years gave him the +wisest and noblest of all guides. + +We have now reached the first appearance of the illustrious man round +whom the main interest of this history will henceforth centre. The +second son of Godwine lived to be the last of our kings, the hero and +martyr of our native freedom. The few recorded actions of Harold, Earl +of the East Angles, could hardly have enabled me to look forward to the +glorious career of Harold, Earl of the West Saxons, King of the English. + +Tall in stature, beautiful in countenance, of a bodily strength whose +memory still lives in the rude pictorial art of his time, he was +foremost alike in the active courage and in the passive endurance of the +warrior. It is plain that in him, no less than in his more successful, +and, therefore, more famous, rival, we have to admire not only the mere +animal courage, but that true skill of the leader of armies which would +have placed both Harold and William high among the captains of any age. + +Great as Harold was in war, his character as a civil ruler is still more +remarkable, still more worthy of admiration. The most prominent feature +in his character is his singular gentleness and mercy. Never, either in +warfare or in civil strife, do we find Harold bearing hardly upon an +enemy. From the time of his advancement to the practical government of +the kingdom there is not a single harsh or cruel action with which he +can be charged. + +Such was the man who, seemingly in the fourth year of Eadward, in the +twenty-fourth of his own age, was invested with the rule of one of the +great divisions of England, who, seven years later, became the virtual +ruler of the kingdom; who, at last, twenty-one years from his first +elevation, received, alone among English kings, the crown of England as +the free gift of her people, and, alone among English kings, died axe in +hand on her soil in the defence of England against foreign invaders. + +William of Normandy bears a name which must for ever stand forth among +the foremost of mankind. No man that ever trod this earth was endowed +with greater natural gifts; to no man was it ever granted to accomplish +greater things. No man ever did his work more effectually at the moment; +no man ever left his work behind him as more truly an abiding possession +for all time. In his character one feature stands out pre-eminently +above all others. Throughout his career we admire in him the embodiment +in the highest degree that human nature will allow of the fixed purpose +and the unbending will. + +We are too apt to look upon William as simply the conqueror of England. +But so to do is to look at him only in his most splendid, but at the +same time his least honourable, aspect. William learned to become the +conqueror of England only by first becoming the conqueror of Normandy +and the conqueror of France. He found means to conquer Normandy by the +help of France, and to conquer France by the help of Normandy. He came +to his duchy under every disadvantage. At once bastard and minor, with +competitors for his coronet arising at every moment, he was throughout +the whole of his early life beset by troubles, none of which were of his +own making, and he came honourably out of all. + +In 1052, William paid his memorable visit to England. At that time both +Normandy and England were at rest, enjoying peace. Visits of mere +friendship and courtesy among sovereign princes were rare in those days. +Such visits as those which William and Eustace of Boulogne paid at this +time to this country were altogether novelties, and unlikely to be +acceptable to the English mind. We may be sure that every patriotic +Englishman looked with an evil eye on any French-speaking prince who +made his way to the English court. + +William came with a great following; he tarried awhile in his cousin's +company; he went away loaded with gifts and honours. And he can hardly +doubt that he went away encouraged by some kind of promise of succeeding +to the kingdom which he now visited as a stranger. Direct heirs were +lacking to the royal house, and William was Eadward's kinsman. The +moment was in every way favourable for suggesting to William on the one +hand, to Eadward on the other, the idea of an arrangement by which +William should succeed to the English crown on Eadward's death. The +Norman writers are full of Eadward's promise to William, and also of +some kind of oath that Harold swore to him. Had either the promise or +the oath been a pure Norman invention, William could never have paraded +both in the way that he did in the eyes of Europe. I admit, then, some +promise of Eadward, some oath of Harold. But when the time came for +Eadward the Confessor to make his final recommendation of a successor, +he certainly changed his purpose; for his last will, so far as such an +expression can be used, was undoubtedly in favour of Harold. + +There is not the slightest sign of any intention on the part of Eadward +during his later years to nominate William to the Witan as future king. +The two streams of English and Norman history were joined together in +the year when the two sovereigns met for the only time in their reigns. +Those streams again diverged. England shook off the Norman influence to +all outward appearance, and became once more the England of AEthelstan +and Eadgar. But the effects of Eadgar's Norman tendencies were by no +means wholly wiped away. Normans still remained in the land, and +circumstances constituted secondary causes of the expedition of William. + +It was in the year 1051 that the influence of strangers reached its +height. During the first nine years of Eadward's reign we find no signs +of any open warfare between the national and the Normanising parties. +The course of events shows that Godwine's power was being practically +undermined, but the great earl was still Jutwardly in the enjoyment of +royal favour, and his fast possessions were still being added to by +royal grants. But soon England began to feel how great is the evil when +a king and those immediately around him are estranged from the mass of +his people in feeling. + +To the French favourites who gradually crowded the court of Eadward the +name, the speech, and the laws of England were things on which their +ignorant pride looked with utter contempt. + +Count Eustace of Boulogne, now brother-in-law of the king of the +English, presently came, like the rest of the world, to the English +Court. The king was spending the autumn at Gloucester. Thither came +Count Eustace, and, after his satisfactory interview with the king, he +turned his face homewards. When a few miles from Dover he felt himself, +in a region specially devoted to Godwine, to be still more thoroughly in +an enemy's country than in other parts of England, and he and all his +company took the precaution of putting on their coats of mail. + +The proud Frenchmen expected to find free quarters at Dover, and they +attempted to lodge themselves at their pleasure in the houses of the +burghers. One Englishman resisted, and was struck dead on the spot. The +count's party then rode through the town, cutting and slaying at +pleasure. In a skirmish which quickly ensued twenty Englishmen and +nineteen Frenchmen were slain. + +Count Eustace and the remnant of the party hastened back to Gloucester, +and told the story after their own fashion. On the mere accusation of a +stranger, the English king condemned his own subjects without a hearing. +He sent for Godwine, as earl of the district in which lay the offending +town, and commanded him to inflict chastisement on Dover. The English +champion was then in the midst of a domestic rejoicing. He had, like the +king, been strengthening himself by a foreign alliance, and had just +connected his house with that of a foreign prince. Tostig, the third son +of Godwine, had just married Judith, the daughter of Baldwin of +Flanders. + +Godwine, however, bidden without the least legal proof of offence, to +visit with all the horrors of fire and sword, was not long in choosing +his course. Official duty and public policy, no less than abstract +justice and humanity, dictated a distinct refusal. Now or never a stand +was to be made against strangers, and the earl demanded a legal trial +for the burghers of Dover. + +But there were influences about Eadward which cut off all hope of a +peaceful settlement of the matter. Eustace probably still lingered about +the king, and there was another voice ever at the royal ear, ever ready +to poison the royal mind against the people of England and their leader. +It was the voice of a foreign monk, Archbishop Robert. Godwine and three +other earls summoned their followers and demanded the surrender of +Eustace, but the frightened king sent for the Northern Earls Siward, +Leofric, and Ralph, bidding them bring a force strong enough to keep +Godwine in check. Thus the northern and southern sections were arrayed +against each other. + +There were, however, on the king's side, men who were not willing to see +the country involved in civil war. Leofric, the good Earl of Mercia, +stood forth as the champion of compromise and peace, and it was agreed +that hostilities should be avoided and that the witenagemot should +assemble at Michaelmas in London. + +Of this truce King Eadward and his foreign advisers took advantage to +collect an army, at the head of which they appeared in London. Godwine +and his son Harold were summoned to the gemot, but refused to appear +without a security for a safe conduct. The hostages and safe-conduct +were refused. The refusal was announced by Bishop Stigand to the earl as +he sat at his evening meal. The bishop wept; the earl sprang to his +feet, overthrew the table, leaped on his horse, and, with his sons, rode +for his life all that night. In the morning the king held his +witenagemot, and by a vote of the king and his whole army, Godwine and +his sons were declared outlaws, but five days were allowed them to get +out of the land. Godwine, Swegen, Tostig, and Gyrth, together with Gytha +and Judith, the newly-married wife of Tostig, set sail for Bruges in a +ship laden with as much treasure as it would hold. They reached the +court of Flanders in safety, were honourably received by the count, and +passed the whole winter with him. + +Two of Godwine's sons, however, sought another refuge. Harold and his +younger brother Leofwine determined on resistance, and resolved to seek +shelter among the Danish settlers in Ireland, where they were cordially +received by King Diarmid. For the moment the overthrow of the patriotic +leaders in England was complete, and the dominion of the foreigners over +the feeble mind of the king was complete. It was while Godwine dwelt as +an exile at Bruges, and Harold was planning schemes of vengeance in the +friendly court of Dublin, that William the Bastard, afterwards known as +William the Conqueror, paid his memorable visit to England, that visit +which has already been referred to as a stage, and a most important one, +among the immediate causes of the Norman Conquest. + +Stirring events followed in quick succession. General regret was felt +among all patriotic Englishmen at the absence of Godwine. The common +voice of England soon began to call for the return of the banished earl, +who was looked to by all men as the father of his country. England now +knew that in his fall a fatal blow had been dealt to her own welfare and +freedom. And Godwine, after sending many petitions to the king, vainly +petitioning for a reconciliation, determined to return by force, +satisfied that the great majority of Englishmen would be less likely to +resist him than to join his banners. + +Harold sailed from Ireland to meet his father by way of the English +Channel. Godwine sailed up the Thames, and London declared for him. +Panic reigned among the favourites of King Eadward. The foreigners took +to flight, among the fugitives being Archbishop Robert and Bishop Ulf. +The gemot met and decreed the restoration of the earl and the outlawry +of many Normans. The king yielded, and accorded to Godwine the kiss of +peace, and a revolution was accomplished of which England may well be +proud. + +But a tragedy soon followed, in the death of the most renowned +Englishman of that generation. During a meal at the Easter festival +Godwine fell from his seat, and died after lying insensible for three +days. Great was the grief of the nation. Harold, in the years that +followed, became so increasingly popular that he was virtually chief +ruler of England, even before the death of Eadward, which happened on +January 5, 1066. His burial was followed by the coronation of Harold. +But the moment of struggle was now come. The English throne had become +vacant, and the Norman duke knew how to represent himself as its lawful +heir, and to brand the king of the nation's choice as an usurper. The +days of debate were past, and the sword alone could decide between +England and her enemy. + +William found one Englishman willing to help him in all his schemes, in +the person of Tostig, Harold's brother, who had been outlawed at the +demand of the nation, owing to his unfitness to rule his province as +Earl of Northumberland. He had sunk from bad to worse. Harold had done +all he could for his fallen brother, but to restore him was impossible. +Tostig was at the Norman court, urging William to the invasion of +England. At his own risk, he was allowed to make an incursion on the +English coast. Entering the Humber, he burned several towns and slew +many men. But after these ravages Tostig repaired to ask help of Harold +Hardrada, whom he induced to prepare a great expedition. + +Harold Hardrada and Tostig landed and marched towards York. A battle was +fought between the Mercians and Norwegians at Fulford, in which the +former were worsted, but Harold was marching northward. In the fearful +battle of Stamford Bridge both Harold Hardrada and Tostig were slain, +and the Viking host was shattered. The victorious English king was +banqueting in celebration of the great victory, when a messenger +appeared who had come at fleetest pace from the distant coast of Sussex. + +One blow had been warded off, but another still more terrible had +fallen. Three days after the fight at Stamford Bridge, William, Duke of +the Normans, once the peaceful guest of Edward, had again, but in quite +another guise, made good his landing on the shores of England. It was in +August 1066 that the Norman fleet had set sail on its great enterprise. +For several weeks a south wind had been waited for at the mouth of the +River Dive, prayers and sacred rites of every kind being employed to +move Heaven to send the propitious breeze. On September 28 the landing +was effected at Pevensey, the ancient Anderida. There were neither, +ships nor men to resist the landing. The first armed man who set foot on +English ground was Duke William himself, whose foot slipped, so that he +fell with both hands on the ground. + +A loud cry of grief was raised at the evil omen. But the ready wit of +William failed him not. "By the splendour of God," he cried, "I have +taken seizin of my kingdom; the earth of England is in my hands." The +whole army landed in order, but only one day was spent at Pevensey. On +the next day the army marched on eastward and came to Hastings, which +was fixed on as the centre of the operations of the whole campaign. + +It was a hard lot for the English king to be compelled to hasten +southward to dislodge the new enemy, after scarcely a moment's rest from +the toils and glories of Stamford Bridge. But the heart of Harold failed +him not, and the heart of England beat in unison with the heart of her +king. As soon as the news came, King Harold held a council of the +leaders of Stamford Bridge, or perhaps an armed gemot. He told them of +the landing of the enemy; he set before them the horrors which would +come upon the land if the invader succeeded in his enterprise. A loud +shout of assent rose from the whole assembly. Every man pledged his +faith rather to die in arms than to acknowledge any king but Harold. + +The king thanked his loyal followers, and at once ordered an immediate +march to the south, an immediate muster of the forces of his kingdom. +London was the trysting-place. He himself pressed on at once with his +immediate following. And throughout the land awoke a spirit in every +English heart which has never died out to this day. The men from various +shires flocked eagerly to the standard of their glorious king. Harold +seems to have reached London on October 5, about ten days after the +fight at Stamford Bridge, and a week after the Norman landing at +Pevensey. Though his royal home was now at Westminster, he went, in +order to seek divine help and succour, to pray at Waltham, the home of +his earlier days, devoting one day to a pilgrimage to the Holy Cross +which gave England her war-cry. + +Harold and William were now both eager for the battle. The king set out +from London on October 12. His consummate generalship is nowhere more +plainly shown than in this memorable campaign. He formed his own plan, +and he carried it out. He determined to give battle, but only on his own +ground, and after his own fashion. The nature of the post shows that his +real plan was to occupy a position where the Normans would have to +attack him at a great disadvantage. + +William constrained Harold to fight, but Harold, in his turn, +constrained William to fight on ground of Harold's own choosing. The +latter halted at a point distant about seven miles from the headquarters +of the invaders, and pitched his camp upon the ever-memorable heights of +Senlac. It was his policy not to attack. He occupied and fortified a +post of great natural strength, which he speedily made into what is +distinctly spoken of as a castle. + +The hill of Senlac, now occupied by the abbey and town of Battle, +commemorates in its later name the great event of which it was the +scene. + +The morning of the decisive day, Saturday, October 14, at last had come. +The duke of the Normans heard mass, and received the communion in both +kinds, and drew forth his troops for their march against the English +post. Then in full armour, and seated on his noble Spanish war-horse, +William led his host forth in three divisions. The Normans from the hill +of Telham first caught sight of the English encamped on the opposite +height of Senlac. + +First in each of the three Norman divisions marched the archers, +slingers, and cross-bow men, then the more heavily-armed infantry, +lastly the horsemen. The reason of this arrangement is clear. The +light-armed were to do what they could with their missiles to annoy the +English; the heavy infantry were to strive to break down the palisades +of the English camp, and so to make ready the way for the charge of the +horse. + +Like the Normans, the English had risen early. The king, after exhorting +his troops to stand firm, rode to the royal post; he there dismounted, +took his place on foot, and prayed to God for help. The battle began at +nine in the morning--one of the sacred hours of the church. The trumpet +sounded, and a flight of arrows from all three Norman divisions--right, +centre, and left,--was the prelude to the onslaught of the heavy-armed +foot. The real struggle now began. The French infantry had to toil up +the hill, and to break down the palisade, while a shower of stones and +javelins disordered their approach, and while club, sword and axe +greeted all who came within the reach of hand-strokes. + +Both sides fought with unyielding valour. The war-cries rose on either +side. The Normans shouted "God help us!" the English called on the "Holy +Cross." The Norman infantry had soon done its best, but that best had +been in vain. The choicest chivalry of Europe now pressed on to the +attack. The knights of Normandy and of all lands from which men had +flocked to William's standard, now pressed on, striving to make what +impression they could with the whole strength of themselves and their +horses on the impenetrable fortress of timber, shields, and living +warriors. + +But all was in vain. The English had thus far stood their ground well +and wisely, and the tactics of Harold had so far completely answered. +Not only had every attack failed, but the great mass of the French army +altogether lost heart. The Bretons and the other auxiliaries on the left +were the first to give way. Horse and foot alike, they turned and fled. +The whole of William's left wing was thrown into utter confusion. + +The strong heart of William, however, failed him not, and by his single +prowess and presence of mind he recalled the fleeing troops. Order was +soon restored, and the Norman host pressed on to a second and more +terrible attack. The duke himself, his relics round his neck, sought out +Harold. A few moments more, and the two might have come face to face, +but Gyrth, the noble brother of the English king, hurled a spear at +William. The missile narrowly missed the duke, but slew the Spanish +steed, the first of three that died under him that day. But William +could not fight on foot as well as on horseback. He rose to his feet, +pressed straight to seek the man who had so nearly slain him, and the +earl fell, crushed beneath the blow of William's mace. Nor did he fall +alone, for his brother, Earl Leofwine, was smitten to the earth by an +unknown assailant. + +The second attack, however, failed, for the English lines were as +unyielding as ever. Direct attack was unavailing. In the Norman +character fox and lion were equally blended, as William now showed. He +ventured on the daring stratagem of ordering a pretended flight, and the +unwary English rushed down the slope, pursuing the fugitive with shouts +of delight. The error was fatal to England. The tide was turned; the +duke's object was now gained; and the main end of Harold's skilful +tactics was frustrated. The English were no longer entrenched, and the +battle fell into a series of single combats. As twilight was coming on +an arrow, falling like a bolt from heaven, pierced Harold's right eye, +and he sank in agony at the foot of the standard. Round that standard +the fight still raged, till the highest nobility, the most valiant +soldiery of England were slaughtered to a man. + +Had Harold lived, had another like him been ready to take his place, we +may well doubt whether, even after Senlac, England would have been +conquered at all. As it was, from this moment her complete conquest was +only a matter of time. From that day forward the Normans began to work +the will of God upon the folk of England, till there were left in +England no chiefs of the land of English blood, till all were brought +down to bondage and sorrow, till it was a shame to be called an +Englishman, and the men of England were no more a people. + + * * * * * + + + + +JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE + + +History of England + + + James Anthony Froude was born at Darlington, England, April + 23, 1818, and died on Oct. 20, 1894. He was educated at + Westminster, and Oriel College, Oxford. Taking Holy Orders, he + was, for a time, deeply influenced by Newman and the + Tractarian movement, but soon underwent the radical revolution + of thought revealed by his first treatise, the "Nemesis of + Faith," which appeared in 1849, and created a sensation. Its + tendency to skepticism cost him his fellowship, but its + profound pathos, its accent of tenderness, and its fervour + excited wide admiration. Permanent fame was secured by the + appearance, in 1856, of the first two instalments of his + magnificent work, "The History of England, from the Fall of + Wolsey to the Defeat of the Armada," the last volume appearing + in 1870. This treatise on the middle Tudor period is one of + the most fascinating historical treatises in the whole range + of literature. It is written in a vivid and graphic prose, and + with rare command of the art of picturesque description. + Froude never accepted the doctrine that history should be + treated as a science; rather he claimed that the historian + should concern himself with the dramatic aspect of the period + about which he writes. The student may disagree with many of + Froude's points of view and portraitures, yet his men and + women breathe with the life he endows them, and their motives + are actuated by the forces he sets in motion. Of his + voluminous works perhaps the most notable, with the exception + of the "History," are his "History of Ireland in the + Eighteenth Century," 1871-74, and his "Short Studies on Great + Subjects," the latter aptly exhibiting Froude's gifts of + masterful prose and glittering paradox. + + +_I.--The Condition of England_ + + +In periods like the present, when knowledge is every day extending, and +the habits and thoughts of mankind are perpetually changing under the +influence of new discoveries, it is no easy matter to throw ourselves +back into a time in which for centuries the European world grew upon a +single type, in which the forms of the father's thoughts were the forms +of the son's, and the late descendant was occupied in treading into +paths the footprints of his ancestors. + +So absolutely has change become the law of our present condition, that +to cease to change is to lose place in the great race. Looking back over +history, we see times of change and progress alternating with other +times when life and thought have settled into permanent forms. Such was +the condition of the Greeks through many ages before the Persian wars, +and such, again, became the condition of Europe when the Northern +nations grafted religion and the laws of the Western empire on their own +hardy natures. + +A condition of things differing alike both inwardly and outwardly from +that into which a happier fortune has introduced ourselves, is +necessarily obscure to us. In the alteration of our own characters we +have lost the key which would interpret the characters of our fathers. +But some broad conclusions as to what they were are, however, at least +possible to us. A rough census taken at the time of the Armada shows +that it was something under five millions. + +The feudal system, though practically modified, was still the organising +principle of the nation, and the owner of land was bound to military +service at home whenever occasion required. All land was held upon a +strictly military principle. The state of the working classes can best +be determined by a comparison of their wages with the price of food. +Both were as far as possible regulated by Act of Parliament. Wheat in +the fourteenth century averaged 10d. the bushel; beef and pork were +1/2d. a pound; mutton was 3/4d. The best pig or goose could be bought +for 4d.; a good capon for 3d.; a chicken for 1d.; a hen for 2d. +Strong-beer, which now costs 1s. 6d. a gallon, was then a 1d. a gallon, +and table beer was less than 1/2d. + +A penny at the time of which we write must have been nearly equal in the +reign of Henry VIII. to the present shilling. For a penny the labourer +could buy as much bread, beef, beer, and wine as the labourer of to-day +can for a shilling. Turning then to the question of wages, by the 3d of +the 6th of Henry VIII., it was enacted that the master, carpenters, +masons, bricklayers, tilers, plumbers, glaziers, joiners, and others, +employers of skilled workmen should give to each of their journeymen, if +no meat and drink was allowed, sixpence a day for the half year, +fivepence a day for the other half; or fivepence-half penny for the +yearly average. The common labourers were to receive fourpence a day for +the half year; for the remaining half, threepence. + +The day labourer received what was equivalent to something near twenty +shillings a week, the wages at present paid in English colonies; and +this is far from being a full account of his advantages. The +agricultural labourer held land in connection with his house, while in +most parishes there were large ranges of common and unenclosed forest +land, which furnished fuel to him gratis, where pigs might range, and +ducks and geese, and where, if he could afford a cow, he was in no +danger of being unable to feed it; and so important was this privilege +considered, that when the commons began to be largely enclosed, +Parliament insisted that the working man should not be without some +piece of ground on which he could employ his own and his family's +industry. + +By the 7th of the 31st of Elizabeth it was ordered that no cottage +should be built for residence without four acres of land at lowest being +attached to it for the sole use of the occupants of such cottage. + +The incomes of the great nobles cannot be determined for they varied +probably as much as they do now. Under Henry IV. the average income of +an earl was estimated at L2,000 a year. Under Henry VIII. the great Duke +of Buckingham, the wealthiest English peer, had L6,000. And the income +of the Archbishop of Canterbury was rated at the same amount. But the +establishments of such men were enormous. Their retinues in time of +peace consisted of several hundred persons, and in time of war a large +share of the expenses was paid often out of private purses. + +Passing down to the body of the people, we find that L20 a year and +heavy duties to do for it, represented the condition of the squire of +the parish. By the 2nd of Henry V. "the wages" of a parish priest were +limited to L5 6s. 8d., except in cases where there was a special license +from the bishop, when they might be raised as high as L6. Both squire +and priest had sufficient for comfort. Neither was able to establish any +steep difference between himself and the commons among whom he lived, so +far as concerned outward advantages. + +The habits of all classes were free, open, and liberal. In frank style +the people lived in "merry England," displaying the "glory of +hospitality," England's pre-eminent boast, by the rules according to +which all tables were open to all comers without reserve. To every man, +according to his degree, who chose to ask for it, there was free fare +and free lodging. The people hated three things with all their +hearts--idleness, want, and cowardice. + +A change, however, was coming upon the world, the meaning and direction +of which even still is hidden from us, a change from era to era. +Chivalry was dying; the abbey and castle were soon together to crumble +into ruins; and all the forms, desires, beliefs, and convictions of the +old world were passing away never to return. A new continent had arisen +beyond the western sea. The floor of heaven, inlaid with stars, had sunk +back into an infinite abyss of immeasurable space; and the firm earth +itself, unfixed from its foundations, was seen to be but a small atom in +the awful vastness of the universe. In the fabric of habit which they +had so laboriously built for themselves mankind were to remain no +longer. + + +_II.--The Fall of Wolsey's Policy_ + + +Times were changed in England since the second Henry walked barefoot +through the streets of Canterbury, and knelt while the monks flogged him +on the pavement in the Chapter House, doing penance for Becket's murder. +The clergy had won the battle in the twelfth century because they +deserved it. They were not free from fault and weakness, but they felt +the meaning of their profession. Their hearts were in their vows, their +authority was exercised more justly, more nobly, than the authority of +the crown; and therefore, with inevitable justice, the crown was +compelled to stoop before them. + +The victory was great, but, like many victories, it was fatal to the +conquerors. It filled them with the vanity of power; they forgot their +duties in their privileges, and when, a century later, the conflict +recommenced, the altering issue proved the altering nature of the +conditions under which it was fought. The nation was ready for sweeping +remedies. The people felt little loyalty to the pope. The clergy pursued +their course to its end. They sank steadily into that condition which is +inevitable from the constitution of human nature, among men without +faith, wealthy, powerful, and luxuriously fed, yet condemned to celibacy +and cut off from the common duties and common pleasures of ordinary +life. + +Many priests spent their time in hawking or hunting, in lounging at +taverns, in the dissolute enjoyment of the world. If, however, there +were no longer saints among the clergy, there could still arise among +them a remarkable man. In Cardinal Wolsey the king found an adviser who +was essentially a transition minister, holding a middle place between an +English statesman and a Catholic of the old order. Under Wolsey's +influence, Henry made war with Louis of France in the pope's quarrel, +entered the polemic lists with Luther, and persecuted the English +Protestants. + +Yet Wolsey could not blind himself to the true condition of the church, +before which lay the alternative of ruin or amendment. Therefore he +familiarised Henry with sense that a reformation was inevitable. +Dreaming that it could be effected from within, by the church itself +inspired with a wiser spirit, he himself fell the first victim of a +convulsion which he had assisted to create, and which he attempted too +late to stay. + +Wolsey talked of reformation, but delayed its coming. The monasteries +grew worse and worse. Favoured parish clergy held as many as eight +benefices. Bishops accumulated sees, and, unable to attend to all, +attended to none. Wolsey himself, the church reformer (so little did he +really know what a reformation means), was at once Archbishop of York, +Bishop of Winchester and of Durham, and Abbot of St. Albans. Under such +circumstances, we need not be surprised to find the clergy sunk low in +the respect of the English people. + +Fish's famous pamphlet shows the spirit that was seething. He spoke of +what he had seen and knew. The monks, he tells the king, "be they that +have made a hundred thousand idle dissolute women in your realm." But +Wolsey could interfere with neither bishops nor monks without a special +dispensation from the pope. A new trouble arose from the nation in the +desire of Henry to divorce Catherine of Aragon, who had been his +deceased brother's wife, was six years older than himself, and was an +obstacle to the establishment of the kingdom. Her sons were dead, and +she was beyond the period when more children could be expected. Though +descent in the female line was not formally denied, no queen regent had +ever, in fact, sat upon the throne; nor was the claim distinctly +admitted, or the claim of the House of York would have been +unquestionable. It was, therefore, with no little anxiety that the +council of Henry VIII. perceived his male children, on whom their hopes +were centred, either born dead, or dying one after another within a few +days of their birth. + +The line of the Princess Mary was precarious, for her health was weak +from her childhood. If she lived, her accession would be a temptation to +insurrection; if she did not live, and the king had no other children, a +civil war was inevitable. The next heir in blood was James of Scotland, +and gravely as statesmen desired the union of the two countries, in the +existing mood of the people, the very stones in London streets, it was +said, would rise up against a king of Scotland who entered England as +sovereign. + +So far were Henry and Catherine alike that both had imperious tempers, +and both were indomitably obstinate; but Henry was hot and impetuous, +Catherine cold and self-contained. She had been the wife of Prince +Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII., but the death of that prince occurred +only five months after the marriage. The uncertainty of the laws of +marriage, and the innumerable refinements of the Roman canon law, +affected the legitimacy of the children and raised scruples of +conscience in the mind of the king. The loss of his children must have +appeared as a judicial sentence on a violation of the Divine law. The +divorce presented itself to him as a moral obligation, when national +advantage combined with superstition to encourage what he secretly +desired. + +Wolsey, after thirty years' experience of public life, was as sanguine +as a boy. Armed with this little lever of divorce, he saw himself in +imagination the rebuilder of the Catholic faith and the deliverer of +Europe from ecclesiastical revolt and from innovations of faith. The +mass of the people hated Protestantism as he, a true friend of the +Catholic cult, sincerely detested the reformation of Luther. He believed +that the old life-tree of Catholicism, which in fact was but cumbering +the ground, might bloom again in its old beauty. But a truer political +prophet than Wolsey would have been found in the most ignorant of those +poor men who were risking death and torture in disseminating the +pernicious volumes of the English Testament. + +Catherine being a Spanish princess, Henry, in 1527, formed a league with +Francis I., with the object of breaking the Spanish alliance. The pope +was requested to make use of his dispensing power to enable the King of +England to marry a wife who could bear him children. Deeply as we +deplore the outrage inflicted on Catherine, and the scandal and +suffering occasioned by the dispute, it was in the highest degree +fortunate that at the crisis of public dissatisfaction in England with +the condition of the church, a cause should have arisen which tested the +whole question of church authority in its highest form. It was no +accident which connected a suit for divorce with the reformation of +religion. + + +_Anne Boleyn_ + + +The Spanish emperor, Charles V., gave Catherine his unwavering support, +and refused to allow the pope to pass a judicial sentence of divorce. +Catherine refused to yield. Another person now comes into conspicuous +view. It has been with Anne Boleyn as with Catherine of Aragon--both are +regarded as the victims of a tyranny which Catholics and Protestants +unite to remember with horror, and each has taken the place of a +martyred saint in the hagiology of the respective creeds. Anne Boleyn +was second daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, a gentleman of noble family. +She was educated in Paris, and in 1525 came back to England to be maid +of honour to Queen Catherine, and to be distinguished at the court by +her talents, accomplishments, and beauty. + +The fortunes of Anne Boleyn were unhappily linked with those of men to +whom the greatest work ever yet accomplished in this country was +committed. In the memorable year 1529, after the meeting of parliament, +events moved apace. In six weeks, for so long only the session lasted, +the astonished church authorities saw bill after bill hurried up before +the lords, by which successively the pleasant fountains of their incomes +would be dried up to flow no longer. The Great Reformation had commenced +in earnest. + +The carelessness of the bishops in the discharge of their most immediate +duties obliged the legislature to trespass in the provinces most purely +spiritual, and to undertake the discipline of the clergy. Bill after +bill struck hard and home on the privileges of the recreant clergy. The +aged Bishop of Rochester complained to the lords that in the lower house +the cry was nothing but "Down with the church." Yet, so frightful were +the abuses that called for radical reform, that even persons who most +disapprove of the reformation will not at the present time wonder at +their enactment, or disapprove of their severity. The king treated the +bishops, when they remonstrated, with the most contemptuous disrespect. +Archbishop Cranmer now adopted a singular expedient. He advised Henry to +invite expressions from all the chief learned authorities throughout +Europe as to the right of the pope to grant him a dispensation of +dissolution of his marriage. The English universities, to escape +imputations of treasons and to avoid exciting Henry's wrath, gave +replies such as would please him, that of Oxford being, however, the +more decided of the two. Most of the continental authorities declined to +pronounce any dictum as to the powers of the pope. + + +_The Fall of the Great Chancellor_ + + +The fall of Wolsey was at hand. His enemies accused him of treason to +the constitution by violating a law of the realm. He had acted as papal +legate within the realm. The parliaments of Edward I., Edward III., +Richard II., and Henry IV. had by a series of statutes pronounced +illegal all presentations by the pope to any office or dignity in the +Anglican Church, under a penalty of premunire. Henry did not feel +himself called on to shield his great minister, although the guilt +extended to all who had recognised Wolsey in the capacity of papal +legate. Indeed, it extended to the archbishops, bishops, the privy +council, the two houses of parliament, and indirectly to the nation +itself. The higher clergy had been encouraged by Wolsey's position to +commit those acts of despotism which had created so deep animosity among +the people. The overflow of England's last ecclesiastical minister was +to teach them that the privileges they had abused were at an end. + +In February, 1531, Henry assumed the title which was to occasion such +momentous consequences, of "Protector and only Supreme Head of the +Church and Clergy of England." The clergy were compelled to assent. +Further serious steps marked the great breach with Rome. The annates, or +first fruits, were abolished. Ever since the crusades a practice had +existed in all the churches of Europe that bishops and archbishops, on +presentation to their sees, should transmit to the pope one year's +income. This impressive impost was not abrogated. It was a sign of the +parting of the ways. + +Henry laid his conduct open to the world, declaring truly what he +desired, and seeking it by open means. He was determined to proceed with +the divorce, and also to continue the reformation of the English church. +And he was in no small measure aided in the former resolve by the +recommendation of Francis, for the French king advised him to act on the +general opinion of Europe that his marriage with Catherine, as widow of +his elder brother Arthur, was null, and at once made Anne Boleyn his +wife. This counsel was administered at an interview between the two +kings at Boulogne, in October, 1532. + +The pope had trifled for six years with the momentous question, and +Henry was growing old. At the outset of the discussion the pope had +said: "Marry freely; fear nothing, and all shall be arranged as you +desire." But the pontiff, reduced to a dilemma by various causes, had +fallen back on his Italian cunning, and had changed his attitude, +listening to the appeals of Catherine and her powerful friends. And now +he threatened Henry with excommunication. + +Henry entered privately into matrimonial relations with Anne in +November, 1532, and the marriage was solemnly celebrated, with a +gorgeous pageant, at Westminster Abbey in the following January. On July +24 the people gathering to church in every parish read, nailed to the +church doors, a paper signed Henry R., setting forth that Lady Catherine +of Spain, heretofore called Queen of England, was not to be called by +that title any more, but was to be called princess dowager, and so to be +held and esteemed. The triumph of Anne was to last but three short +years. + + +_Protestantism_ + + +Wycliffe's labour had left only the Bible as the seed of a future life, +and no trace remained in the sixteenth century of the Lollardry of the +fourteenth. But now Protestantism recommenced its enterprise in the +growing desire for a nobler, holier insight into the will of God. In the +year 1525 was enrolled in London a society calling itself "The +Association of Christian Brothers." Its paid agents went up and down the +land carrying tracts and Testaments with them, and enrolling in the +order all who dared risk their lives in such a cause. + +The Protestants thus isolated were waiting for direction, and men in +such a temper are seldom left to wait in vain. Luther had kindled the +spark, which was to become a conflagration in Germany, at Wittemberg, on +October 31, 1517, by his denunciation of indulgences. His words found an +echo, and flew from lip to lip all through Western Europe. Tyndal, an +Oxford student, went to Germany, saw Luther, and under his direction +translated into English the Gospels and Epistles. This led to the +formation of the "association" in London. The authorities were alarmed. +The bishops subscribed to buy up the translations of the Bible, and +these were burned before a vast concourse in St. Paul's Churchyard. But +Wolsey had for two years been suppressing the smaller monasteries. +Simultaneously, Protestants were persecuted wherever they could be +detected and seized. "Little" Bilney, or "Saint" Bilney, a distinguished +Cambridge student, was burnt as a heretic at the stake, as were James +Bainham, a barrister of the Middle Temple, and several other members of +the "association." These were the first paladins of the reformation, and +the struggle went bravely forward. They were the knights who slew the +dragons and made the earth habitable for common flesh and blood. + +As yet but two men of the highest order of power were on the side of +Protestantism--Latimer and Cromwell. These were now to come forward, +pressed by circumstances which could no longer dispense with them. When +the breach with the pope was made irreparable, and the papal party at +home had assumed an attitude of suspended insurrection, the fortunes of +the Protestants entered into a new phase. The persecution ceased, and +those who were but lately its likely victims, hiding for their lives, +passed at once by a sudden alternation into the sunshine of political +favour. + +Cromwell and Latimer together caught the moment as it went by, and +before it was over a work had been done in England which, when it was +accomplished once, was accomplished for ever. The conservative party +recovered their power, and abused it as before; but the chains of the +nation were broken, and no craft of kings or priests or statesmen could +weld the magic links again, Latimer became famous as a preacher at +Cambridge, and was heard of by Henry, who sent for him and appointed him +one of the royal chaplains. He was accused by the bishops of heresy, but +was on trial absolved and sent back to his parish. Soon after the tide +turned, and the reformation entered into a new phase. + +Thomas Cromwell, like Latimer of humble origin, was the "malleus +monachorum." Wolsey discovered his merit, and employed him in breaking +up the small monasteries, which the pope had granted for the foundation +of the new colleges. Cromwell remained with the great cardinal till his +fall. It was then that the truly noble nature which was in him showed +itself. The lords had passed a bill of impeachment against +Wolsey--violent, vindictive, and malevolent. It was to be submitted to +the commons. Cromwell prepared an opposition, and conducted the defence +from his place in parliament so skilfully that he threw out the bill, +saved Wolsey, and gained such a reputation that he became Henry's +secretary, representing the government in the House of Commons, and was +on the highroad to power. + +The reformation was blotted with a black and frightful stain. Towards +the end of April, 1536, certain members of the Privy Council were +engaged in secretly collecting evidence which implicated the queen in +adultery. In connection with the terrible charge, as her accomplices +five gentlemen were arrested--Sir William Brereton, Mark Smeton, a court +musician, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, and, the accusation in +his case being the most shocking, Lord Rochford, the queen's brother. +The trial was hastily pushed forward, and all were executed. The queen, +who vehemently and piteously appealed to Henry, passionately protesting +that she was absolutely innocent, was also condemned, and was beheaded +in public on Tower Hill. + +Henry immediately after the tragedy married Jane, daughter of Sir John +Seymour. The indecent haste is usually considered conclusive of the +cause of Anne Boleyn's ruin. On December 12, 1537, a prince, so long and +passionately hoped for, was born; but a sad calamity followed, for the +queen took cold, and died on October 24. + +In 1539 monastic life came to an end in England. The great monasteries +were dissolved; the abbey lands were distributed partly amongst the old +nobility and partly amongst the chapters of six new bishoprics. On +January 6, 1540, was solemnised the marriage of Henry with Anne, +daughter of the Duke of Cleves, and sister-in-law of the Elector of +Saxony. This event was brought about by the negotiations of Cromwell. +The king was deeply displeased with the ungainly appearance of his bride +when he met her on her landing, but retreat was impossible. Though Henry +was personally kind to the new queen, the marriage made him wretched. + +Cromwell's enemies speedily hatched a conspiracy against the great +statesman. He was arrested on a charge of high treason, was accused of +corruption and heresy, of gaining wealth by bribery and extortion, and, +in spite of Cranmer's efforts to save him, passed to the scaffold on +July 28, 1540. For eight years Cromwell, who had been ennobled as Earl +of Essex, was supreme with king, parliament, and convocation, and the +nation, in the ferment of revolution, was absolutely controlled by him. + +Convocation had already dissolved the marriage of Henry and Anne, +setting both free to contract and consummate other marriages without +objection or delay. The queen had placidly given her consent. Handsome +settlements were made on her in the shape of estates for her maintenance +producing nearly three thousand a year. In August of the same year the +King married, without delay of circumstance, Catherine, daughter of Lord +Edmond Howard. Brief, indeed, was her reign. In November, 1541, she was +charged with unfaithfulness to her marriage vows. The king was +overwhelmed. Some dreadful spirit pursued his married life, tainting it +with infamy. + +Two gentlemen confessed their guilty connection with the queen. They +were hanged at Tyburn, and the queen and Lady Rochford, who had been +her confidential companion, suffered within the Tower. Once more the +king ventured into marriage. Catherine, widow of Lord Latimer, his last +choice, was selected, not in the interest of politics or religion, but +by his own personal judgment; and this time he found the peace which he +desired. + +The great event of 1542 was the signal victory of the English over a +Scottish army of ten thousand men at Solway Moss. King James of Scotland +had undertaken, at the instigation of the pope and of the King of France +to attack the English as heretics. The Scottish clergy were ready to +proclaim a pilgrimage of grace. But the English borderers, though only +shepherds and agriculturists, as soon as they mounted their horses, were +instantly the finest light cavalry in Europe. They so disastrously +defeated the Scots that all the latter either perished in the morass by +the Solway, or were captured. + +Henry died on January 28, 1547. He was attended in his last moments by +Cranmer, having sent specially for the archbishop. + +The king did not leave the world without expressing his views on the +future with elaborate explicitness. He spent the day before his death in +conversation with Lord Hertford and Sir William Paget on the condition +of the country. By separate and earnest messages he commended Prince +Edward to the care both of Charles V. and of Francis I. The earl, on the +morning of Henry's death, hastened off to bring up the prince, who was +in Hertfordshire with the Princess Elizabeth, and in the afternoon of +Monday, the 31st, he arrived at the Tower with Edward. The Council was +already in session, and Hertford was appointed protector during the +minority of Edward. Thus, the reforming Protestant party was in full +power. Cranmer set the willing example, and the other prelates +consented, or were compelled to imitate him, in an acknowledgment that +all jurisdiction, ecclesiastical as well as secular, within the realm, +only emanated from the sovereign. On February it was ordered in council +that Hertford should be Duke of Somerset, and that his brother, Sir +Thomas Seymour, should be Lord Seymour of Sudleye; Lord Parr was to be +Marquis of Northampton; Lord Wriothesley, the chancellor, Earl of +Southampton; and Viscount Lisle was to be Earl of Warwick. The Duke of +Somerset was the young king's uncle, and the real power was at once in +his hands. But if he was ambitious, it was only--as he persuaded +himself--to do good. + + +_Edward's Guardian_ + + +Under his rule the spirit of iconoclasm spread fast, and the reformation +proceeded to completion. Churches were cleared of images, and crucifixes +were melted into coin. Somerset gave the popular movement the formal +sanction of the Government. Injunctions were issued for the general +purification of the churches. The Book of Homilies was issued as a guide +to doctrine, care was taken that copies of the Bible were accessible in +the parish churches, and translations of Erasmus's "Paraphrase of the +New Testament" were provided as a commentary. + +Somerset was a brave general as well as a great statesman. He invaded +Scotland during the first year of his protectorate, on account of the +refusal of the Scottish government to ratify the contract entered into +with Henry VIII., by which it was agreed that Mary Queen of Scots should +marry Edward. At the memorable battle of Pinkie, on September 10, 1547, +the Scots were completely beaten. But Somerset was hastily summoned +southward. His brother, Lord Seymour, had been caballing against him, +and was arrested, tried, and beheaded on Tower Hill, on March 20, 1549. +But the fall of the protector himself was not long delayed, for under +his administration of three years his policy gradually excited wide +discontent. In various parts of the country insurrections had to be +suppressed. The French king had taken away the young Scottish queen, the +king's majesty's espouse, by which marriage the realms of England and +Scotland should have been united in perpetual peace. Money had been +wasted on the royal household. The alliance with Charles V. had been +trifled away. The princely name and princely splendour which Somerset +affected, the vast fortune which he amassed amidst the ruin of the +national finances, and the palace--now known as Somerset House, +London--which was rising before the eyes of the world amidst the +national defeats and misfortunes, combined to embitter the irritation +with which the council regarded him. + +His great rival, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, by constant insinuations +both in and out of parliament, excited the national feeling against him +to such a degree that at length the young king was constrained to sign +his deposition. He seems to have entertained no strong attachment to his +uncle. On December I, 1551, he was tried before the lords for high +treason and condemned. He was beheaded on Tower Hill on January 22, +1582. The English public, often wildly wrong on general questions, are +good judges, for the most part, of personal character; and so +passionately was Somerset loved, that those who were nearest the +scaffold started forward to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood. Before +this event, Dudley, by whose cruel treachery the tragedy had been +brought about, had been created Duke of Northumberland. The great aim of +this nobleman was to secure the succession to the throne for his own +family. With this purpose in view he married his son, Lord Guildford +Dudley, to Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duchess of Suffolk, to whom, +by the will of Henry VIII., the crown would pass, in default of issue by +Edward, Mary, or Elizabeth. + +In April, 1553, Edward, who had been removed to Greenwich in consequence +of illness, grew rapidly worse. By the end of the month he was spitting +blood, and the country was felt to be on the eve of a new reign. The +accession of Mary, who was personally popular, was looked forward to by +the people as a matter of course. Northumberland now worked on the mind +of the feeble and dying king, and succeeded in persuading him to declare +both his sisters incapable of succeeding to the crown, as being +illegitimate. The king died on July 6. The last male child of the Tudor +race had ceased to suffer. + +When Lady Jane was saluted by Northumberland and four other lords, all +kneeling at her feet, as queen, she shook, covered her face with her +hands, and fell fainting to the ground. The next Monday, July 10, the +royal barges came down the Thames from Richmond, and at three in the +afternoon Lady Jane landed at the broad staircase of the Tower, as +queen, in undesired splendour. But that same evening messages came +saying that Mary had declared herself queen. She had sent addresses to +the peers, commanding them on their allegiance to come to her. + +Happily, the conspiracy in favour of Lady Jane was crushed, without +bloodshed, although it had seemed for a time as if the nation, was on +the brink of a civil war. But, though Mary wished to spare Lady Jane and +her husband, her intentions were frustrated by the determination of +Renard, ambassador of the emperor. Northumberland was sent to the Tower, +and beheaded on August 22, and in the following November Lady Jane and +her husband were also condemned. Mary long hesitated, but at length +issued the fatal warrant on February 8, 1554, and four days later both +were executed. Lady Jane was but a delicate girl of seventeen, but met +her fate with the utmost heroism. + +Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, became the chief instrument of +the restoration of the Catholic faith under Mary. His fierce spirit soon +began to display itself. In the fiery obstinacy of his determination +this prelate speedily became the incarnate expression of the fury of the +ecclesiastical faction, smarting, as they were, under their long +degradation, and under the irritating consciousness of those false oaths +of submission which they had sworn to a power they loathed. Gardiner now +saw his Romanising party once more in a position to revenge their wrongs +when there was no longer any Henry to stand between them and their +enemies. He would take the tide at the flood, forge a weapon keener than +the last, and establish the Inquisition. + + +_The Reign of Terror_ + + +Mary listened to the worse counsels of each, and her distempered humour +settled into a confused ferocity. Both Gardiner and she resolved to +secure the trial, condemnation, and execution of her sister Elizabeth, +but their plans utterly miscarried, for no evidence against her could be +gathered. The princess was known to be favourable to the Protestant +cause, but the attempts to prove her disloyalty to Mary were vain. She +was imprisoned in the Tower, and the fatal net appeared to be closing on +her. But though the danger of her murder was very great, the lords who +had reluctantly permitted her to be imprisoned would not allow her to be +openly sacrificed, or indeed, permit the queen to continue in the career +of vengeance on which she had entered. The necessity of releasing +Elizabeth from the Tower was an unspeakable annoyance to Mary. A +confinement at Woodstock was the furthest stretch of severity that the +country would, for the present, permit. On May 19, 1554, Elizabeth was +taken up the river. + +The princess believed herself that she was being carried off _tanquam +ovis_, as she said--as a sheep for the slaughter. But the world thought +she was set at liberty, and, as her barge passed under the bridge, Mary +heard with indignation, from the palace windows, three salvoes of +artillery fired from the Steelyard, as a sign of the joy of the people. +Vexations began to tell on Mary's spirit. She could not shake off her +anxieties, or escape from the shadow of her subject's hatred. Insolent +pamphlets were dropped in her path and in the offices of Whitehall. They +were placed by mysterious hands in the sanctuary of her bedroom. + +Her trials began to tell on her understanding. She was ill with +hysterical longings; ill with the passions which Gardiner, as her +chancellor, had provoked, but Paget as leader of the opposing party, had +disappointed. But she was now to become the wife of King Philip of +Spain. Negotiations for this momentous marriage had been protracted, and +even after the contract had been signed, Philip seemed slow to arrive. +The coolness manifested by his tardiness did much to aggravate the +queen's despondency. On July 20, 1554, he landed at Southampton. The +atmospheric auspices were not cheering, for Philip, who had come from +the sunny plains of Castile, from his window at Southampton looked out +on a steady downfall of July rain. Through the cruel torrent he made his +way to church to mass, and afterwards Gardiner came to him from the +queen. On the next Sunday he journeyed to Winchester, again in pouring +rain. To the cathedral he went first, wet as he was. Whatever Philip of +Spain was entering on, whether it was a marriage or a massacre, a state +intrigue or a midnight murder, his first step was ever to seek a +blessing from the holy wafer. Mary was at the bishop's palace, a few +hundred yards' distance. Mary could not wait, and the same night the +interview took place. Let the curtain fall over the meeting, let it +close also over the wedding solemnities which followed with due +splendour two days after. There are scenes in life which we regard with +pity too deep for words. + +The unhappy queen, unloved, unlovable, yet with her parched heart +thirsting for affection, was flinging herself upon a breast to which an +iceberg was warm; upon a man to whom love was an unmeaning word, except +as the most brutal of all passions. Mary set about to complete the +Catholic reaction. She had restored the Catholic orthodoxy in her own +person, and now was resolved to bring over her own subjects. But clouds +gathered over the court. The Spaniards were too much in evidence. With +the reaction came back the supremacy of the pope, and the ecclesiastical +courts were reinstated in authority to check unlicensed extravagance of +opinion. + +Gardiner, Bonner, Tunstal, and three other prelates formed a court on +January 28, 1555, in St. Mary Overy's Church, Southwark, and Hooper, +Bishop of Gloucester, and Canon Rogers of St. Paul's, were brought up +before them. Both were condemned as Protestants, and both were burnt at +the stake, the bishop at Gloucester, the canon at Smithfield. They +suffered heroically. The Catholics had affected to sneer at the faith of +their rivals. There was a general conviction among them that Protestants +would all flinch at the last; that they had no "doctrine that would +abide the fire." Many more victims were offered. The enemies of the +church were to submit or die. So said Gardiner, and so said the papal +legate and the queen, in the delirious belief that they were the chosen +instruments of Providence. + +The people, whom the cruelty of the party was reconverting to the +reformation, while the fires of Smithfield blazed, with a rapidity like +that produced by the gift of tongues at Pentecost, regarded the martyrs +with admiration as soldiers dying for their country. On Mary, sorrow was +heaped on sorrow. Her expectation of a child was disappointed, and +Philip refused to stay in England. His unhappy wife was forced to know +that he preferred the society of the most abandoned women to hers. The +horrible crusade against heretics became the business of the rest of her +life. Archbishop Cranmer, Bishops Ridley and Latimer, and many other +persons of distinction were amongst the martyrs of the Marian +persecution. Latimer was eighty years of age. + +Mary's miseries were intensified month by month. War broke out between +England and France. For ten years the French had cherished designs, and +on January 7, 1558, the famous stronghold fell into their hands. The +effect of this misfortune on the queen was to produce utter prostration. +She now well understood that both parliament and the nation were badly +disposed towards her. But her end was at hand. After much suffering from +dropsy and nervous debility, she prepared quietly for what she knew was +inevitable. On November 16, at midnight, taking leave of a world in +which she had played so evil a part, Mary received the last rites of the +church. Towards morning she was sinking, and at the elevation of the +Host, as mass was being said, her head sank, and she was gone. A few +hours later the pope's legate, Cardinal Pole, at Lambeth, followed her. +Thus the reign of the pope in England and the reign of terror closed +together. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. +by Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. 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